In this sermon, Pastor Joseph Babij begins a new series studying through the book of Revelation. Pastor Babij explains the opening blessings promised to those who hear and heed the book. Pastor Babij also explains the concept of “the day of the Lord” using 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 and what must take place before the day of the Lord comes.
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this morning for those praise songs they do kind of Usher us into heaven and make us ready to hear the word of God so why don’t we do that we’re looking at this morning I’m going to begin in Revelation to this morning and then also I want you to be ready to turn to Second Thessalonians the passage that we read because I want to look at that also today so Revelation chapter 1 we’re going to look at verse 1 through3 today but before I get there let me have a word of prayer Lord this morning as we do come before you we praise your name because Lord we know that you have sent your son father to die in the place of sinners like us and that Lord when we finally understand that truth and that faith is granted to us and repentance and we turn from our unbelief and and we turn from what we were trusting in to save ourselves and we turn to Christ Everything Changes our whole world view changes you transform our mind you give us a new heart you give us ears to hear you give us a will to want to do your will Lord you give us hope that no one else has you give us the word of God that we can know what you want we couldn’t know what you’re going to do so what a blessing is that Lord I pray we’d never ever take for granted of it especially these days when you call us your church Church to be faithful in the midst of lies all around us the truth still rings in our heart and we’re still to speak it from our mouth and live it in our life and when people do see the truth and hear the truth they know it’s the truth and so I pray Lord as we enter this study of Revelation and the end time things that you would use it to bless us and bolster our faith and give us a confidence in who you are like we’ never had before and I pray you make us strong soldiers to be able to stand up against anything today and especially to be able to detect and expose the lies of the enemy Satan himself because we know the truth and the truth makes us sets us free and I pray this in Christ’s name amen so this morning Revelation we’re looking at this incredible last book of the Bible so the Book of Revelation is a book containing apocalyptic literature which surely cultivates within us and should cultivate within us a uh Stronger faith but it also captivates attention it stirs imagination it points to our glorious future Destiny it does address the future but the main focus of Revelation is the exaltation of Jesus Christ the theme of the book of Revelation is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Christ if you look at verse 7 of chapter 1 it says behold he is coming with the clouds he’s coming but Revelation is not for speculating about future things it’s not for satisfying any kind of curiosity and it’s definitely not for entertainment Revelation is an open book it is not meant to be sealed it is a revelation to be read and heard and obeyed The Book of Daniel has connections of course in the Book of Revelation in the book of J Daniel Daniel was told seal these words and seal up the book until the end time many will go back and forth and knowledge will increase but the Book of Revelation chapter 22 in verse number 10 says this and he said to me do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near so then this Revelation is to be understood and yet parts are metaphorical and symbolic it takes serious study and contemplation to get a handle on this particular epistle but when you do it will change you for ever now according to some the Bible’s unclear about end times eschatology or the study of last things only divides Christians some say they finally conclude just be a pan millennialist it will all pan out in the end eschatological agnosticism appears to have become the fashion of our day and for sure there are plenty of conspiracy theories flying out around out there today and on YouTube and the internet which you should limit yourself from watching and certainly it’s going to pan out the way God intends but the fact does not absolve the believer of their obligation to study and believe the prophetic scriptures that describe how it will pan out the repercussions of of not studying future things are are far-reaching because once people ignore or dispose of the true meaning of the word of God and the truth contained therein they can justify anything they can say anything they can conclude anything and today it seems like people like to conclude things wrongly and believe it because everybody’s truth is equal to everybody else’s truth well that’s the biggest lie ever so without faith in the sufficiency of scripture and without the foundation of the Old Testament including the message of the prophets it will become easier even for Christians to believe a lie so ask yourself today what lie am I believing and what truth am I ignoring or outright rejecting scripture not only admonishes Christians to be ever watchful but even confers a special blessing upon those who carefully study the portions that most completely unveils the grand climax that God has planned and for history if you look at the last chapter of Revelation in verse number seven of chapter 22 it says and behold I am coming quickly and then it says this blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book so we receive a blessing just by reading this book if I were to give a general outline of the whole book of Revelation it would be something like this chapter one is the glory of Christ the things that are seen chapter 2 and three would be the Church of Christ the things that are and then chapter 4 through chapter 22 which is the largest section of Revelation it’s the future plans of Christ the things yet future so in that sense I’m giving you a hint that I’m going to handle the Book of Revelation in a futuristic way but we are going to look at the literal text on what it says because we want to stick to the text Revelation 1 verse number 11 says saying write in the book what you see and send it to the seven churches to Ephesus to samarina to pergamum to thyra to Sardis to Philadelphia to leoda now in verse number chapter 1 verse number 19 it kind of gives us that outline it says therefore write the things which you have seen the things which are and the things which will take place after these things so it’s almost like the past the present and the future given to us in Revelation but we’re going to see in Revelation Jesus Christ not as a humble servant but as a conquering King as a ruler as the master of the universe as the one who has authority over everything and he has the last word and if you know Christ you’re on The Winning Side see that’s where you want to be you don’t want to be on the wrong side of this message because if you are you are still under God’s condemnation which you need to be rescued from so this morning we’re going to look at really one major point with several points underneath it is the blessing from heaven for the Servants of God versus 1 through three and I want you to notice in verse number one it says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his bond servant let me just stop right there this word revelation is the word we get apocalypse from it means an uncovering a disclosing a revealing it’s a revealing of what God discloses and what God makes known when he wants to make it known so the Book of Revelation is one Progressive unfolding of the revelation of Christ himself by Christ himself that Jesus is the one who originates the Revelation so in other words a blessing comes from the source of the Revelation where where does that message come from it comes from God himself he is the source and if he is the source then everything that comes from him is going to be trustworthy we are able to believe it without any kind of dispute or argument because it is true it is true so we see that Jesus is the one who originates the Revelation the message that comes to us he is the source God speaks directly from Heaven about Heaven’s favorite subject and what is the favorite subject of Heaven Jesus Christ Jesus is the favorite subject of Heaven it should be our favorite subject also so our favorite person Jesus Christ so the rest of verse number one shows us the chain of divine revelation if you notice it says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his bond servants the things which must soon take place and he sent and communicated it by his Angel to his bond servant John in other words God Jesus Christ to the angel to John the bonder servant to all the servants who are going to heed this message the phrase the things which soon take place denotes something that is necessary and binding and a sure fulfillment of the purpose of God revealed by the prophets coming out now unsealed in the Book of Revelation it describes the event as imminent an imminent event is event that can happen at any single time any time any time of day any month any year it can happen so imminence is an event that is possible any day but impossible no day in other words it must happen it’s going to happen if we just think of scripture for a moment we find that the mindset of imminency of Christ coming today has been in scripture all over the place let me just read you some of the passages in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 ver9 it says for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and you turned to God from Idols to serve a living and true God and then to do what to wait for his son from Heaven whom he raised from the dead that is Jesus who rescues us from the Wrath the come so the Thessalonians had this sense that they were to go wait for Jesus to come and then in Romans chapter 13: 11 it says do this knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed again this sense of Salvation being coming to its conclusion and its completion when Christ comes and then James 5:9 says the judge is standing right at the door and then 1 John Chapter 2 it says children it is the last hour and just as you heard the Antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have appeared from this we know it is the last hour so it’s a sense in Scripture that Christ is coming every single generation of Christian lived their life as if Christ was coming that’s the only way to live to be ready for that day so God is in a sense pulling back the curtain in order to show Believers something previously hidden and unknown and when we get a glimpse of what’s going on in the spiritual realm and we see that the source of that Revelation comes directly to us from Jesus Christ Our Lord then we realize you know what this is a blessing to know this who else knows these things except Believers and people that are actually taking the word of God seriously and reading it and getting into the details and and thinking through it meditating upon it that becomes a great blessing to us to know things that come directly from from God to us so we can live our life and make ourselves ready so the blessing comes from the source of the Revelation secondly in verse number three of chapter 1 the blessing comes from the promise of the Revelation notice in verse number three of chapter 1 blessed is He who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near so this direct blessing comes to those who read it or it could also mean that it’s the public reader because back then people didn’t necessarily have Bibles they walked around with they went and they heard it read but they came and they went and they listened to the reading of scripture and then secondly in our passage a direct blessing comes to those who listen to it it’s one thing about somebody reading it it’s another thing about somebody who’s actually listening to it and not listening to it or daydreaming or off somewhere else or thinking about something else no somebody who is into soon with what God is saying in the word of God and they are listening they’re the public listener and they are listening to what God says they want to know what God says and they don’t want to leave until they know what God says see that’s when it’s read and then notice in verse number three it says this there’s a direct blessing to those who obey it it’s not just listening and hearing it is once you receive that word it said blessed are those who heed the things which are written in it to heed it that the the one who is privately and publicly obeying that the word of Revelation Demands a response from us and the response is obedience to our Lord see blessing comes to those who obey not those who just hear and walk away not those who read and and don’t heed what they read but those who to hear it and respond to it in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ so the message about the exaltation of Jesus Christ brings from that blessing encouragement and comfort in order to bolster our faith to continue to be obedient to continue to press on especially if persecution comes and suffer uffing comes that we’re going to continue in that see that is the promise that God gives us that when we’re engaged in this prophecy that it will bless our lives it will bolster our faith it will allow us to look at the world and see the world’s going nuts and yet the truth Still Remains that God has not changed his plan no matter what the world is about right and that’s what’s the strength of the church and that’s the blessing that comes we know something you know what if it wasn’t a part it wasn’t the word of God it wasn’t for God’s church we would not know these things we would all be walking in darkness like you and I before we became Christians that’s what we did we Bounce from Pillar To Post we didn’t know what was right and what was true right we were hoping some things but we didn’t know but when you come to the word of God it surely clears it up quite quickly that God’s given us a promise here but I want to notice and we spend more time on this last one in verse number three the blessing comes from the purpose of the Revelation now look at the end of verse number three there’s something dangling there in verse number three it says for the time is near you know what that is that’s imminency we’re to live that way today the time is near now you have to ask the question what time is near be ready for the time when Jesus comes back again so The Nearness of the Lord’s return is meant to challenge Christians to live a faithful and holy life based on what they heard and what they are obeying and what is that that Jesus is coming for his church he’s coming for his bride which is the church that Jesus is coming to judge the world this time and Jesus is coming to establish his kingdom and it will be here on this Earth in the millennial period the Lord has coming so the revelation of Jesus Christ and uh is is that he’s coming in verse number seven behold he is coming with the clouds and he is coming soon now that brings me to the point of this last one the purpose of the Revelation for the time is near now you have to say what time is near well it’s got to be the unveiling of the day of the Lord or the day the Lord’s day see one thing has to happen before the Lord Jesus comes back again and it’s got to be the trumpet of God in other words the next major event on God’s calendar of events is the coming of Jesus Christ see are you ready for that are you ready you must be ready that’s going to be the conclusion you must be ready so what is the day of the Lord well I’d like you to take your Bibles and I want you to turn to Second Thessalonians you have to take go forward for that 2 Thessalonians and I want to look in some detail on this passage because I want to answer the question because the time is near and the day of the Lord is at hand what are we to look for in the time of uh being near means the suddenness of what is coming the specific thing on God’s timetable in his judgment and wrath in which he will pour out on the world well in 2 Thessalonians if you notice in verse number one of chapter two it says now we request request you Brethren what regard with regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him now let me just stop there for a minute that in the second chapter of Thessalonians the Apostle Paul is addressing a problem which was causing confusion among the Believers and what was the problem that was caused it caused actually deep concern among the Church of the Thessalonians apparently someone had caused concern on the part of Believers with regard to their relation ship to the day of the Lord in chapter 2 verse number two notice what it says it says that you not you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come so someone came into the church and says listen the reason why you’re going through Tri tribulation is because the day of the Lord has come you’re under God’s judgment well Paul’s saying no that’s not the case so consequently the letter takes on a flavor providing Assurance to Believers which includes at least two things first an assurance that the day of the Lord had not yet come and secondly an assurance that Believers will have no involvement in the day of the Lord so the day of the Lord is described in scripture as a frightening time in human history it was a day familiar to the Hebrew prophets and was known as a time in which God’s sovereignty was manifest in a particular way the prophet Joel calls it the great and awesome day of the Lord Amos the prophet wrote alas you who are longing for the day of the Lord for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you and he says this it will be darkness and not light as when a man flees from a line and a bear meets him or goes home and leans his hand against the wall and a snake bites him will not the day of the Lord be Darkness instead of light even gloom and no brightness in it at all in other words when the day of the Lord comes you’re not going to be able to run from it wherever you go it’s going to overtake you it’s a day of Darkness it’s a day of judgment it is a day as the Hebrew Pro prophets would say in the climax of the wrath of God upon the Earth so Paul reassures the Thessalonians that in spite of the false teachers saying that the day of the Lord had come and you are in Tribulation because you are under persecution the truth of the matter was that the day of the Lord had not yet come because the Apostle Paul said you’re still here and the scripture records that there are certain things which must occur before the full force of God’s eschatological judgment will be manifested and poured out out upon the world now what events are we talking about well there are three events that must occur before the Judgment of the day of the Lord and what’s the first one look at chapter two of Thessalonians verse number three and it says this let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first let me stop right there so what’s the first thing that must take place the Rebellion or the falling away that the day of the Lord is not present unless first in sequence within that day there has come the apostasy and it seems clear that the word here means a religious Revolt apostates are those who fall away from the truth they fall away from True Faith they abandon what they firmly formally possessed or believed and the term describes those who whose beliefs are so deficient as to place them outside the scope of true Christianity for example a liberal denomination that denies the authority of scripture or they deny the deity of Christ an apostate denomination or even those who reinterpret scripture to their own destruction there’s many that will fall into that particular group but those who Fall Away into apostasy demonstrate that their faith was never real to begin with true Christians do not apostasies they will persevere till the end they were elected by God they’re Sanctified by God and they will be glorified go by God but remember what it says in 1 John Chapter 2 it says they went out from us but they were not really of us for if they had been of us they would have remained with us but they went out so that it would be shown that they were not of us in other words those who apostasies leave the truth Faith they leave the true church and they go away from what they believe as if it doesn’t mean anything and if they haven’t really heard it and they really haven’t obeyed it as the scripture tells us just like in John chapter 6 Jesus gives a message of a a a strong message of the gospel and this multitude that’s following him they leave Jesus turns to his disciples says will you guys leave also and they says no you have the words of eternal life so 12 people leave out of a multitude of people the multitude leave in the 12th stay hus and Alexander they reject Faith the Bible says in Timothy and they are handed over to Satan because of what they did Deus leaves the Apostle Paul and and the truth because he loved this present world so there are examples of these are examples of a larger and a wider spread of religious apostasy that will take place in the last days prior to the day of the Lord when people will lapse into error and demonism again the Apostle Paul says this in Timothy chapter 4 but the spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith and what do they do if they fall away do they just live out there in in space no it says and they pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of Demons by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron meaning people at that point have a seared conscience they have no moral compass for what is right and wrong and what is true and false seems like talking about today so that’s the first thing that happens there must be the falling away but now look back at chapter 2 verse number three let no one in any way deceive you but it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction so the second thing the next thing that happens after the apostasy is that the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction now the Old Testament book of Daniel pointed to another yet future historical figure which fits the description of the Antichrist and the personage is identified within Daniel 7 the little horn and this is what it says about the little horn it says for as for the 10 horns out of the out of this Kingdom 10 Kings will arise and another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones so this little Horn of Daniel SE seven is the coming man of sin the coming man of Destruction and he will rule for seven years until he is destroyed by Christ at the second coming he is the ruler who will come the Bible says and what will he do when he comes he will make a covenant with Israel and he he is the one of the 10 toes meaning the 10 things that come out of the nation the Gentile Nations and this little horn who emerges from the ten horns will be the prince and he makes a covenant to protect the Jews from their enemies and probably he does that so he they’re able to build the temple and restore the sacrifices in Jerusalem do you know for your information do you know that the Jews have been preparing for this end time Temple since 1967 that everything’s ready for the temple everything’s ready you talk to a Jewish person they’ll tell you it’s all ready we’re just waiting for the time well this particular man is called the willful King in Daniel in Zachariah he’s called the foolish Shepherd in 1 John Chapter 2 he’s called the one who is the anti Christ to his coming in Revelation 6 he is the rider on the white horse in Revelation 13 He is the Beast and of course right here in Thessalonians he is the man of lawlessness he is the Lawless one who is not Satan but some definite person who is doing the work of Satan because in the end times there’s going to be an Unholy Trinity one represents the father one represents the son one represents the Holy Spirit and we’ll get to that later in Revelation but this person is a man of sin who is hidden somewhere who will be suddenly manifested he will be suddenly revealed and the Bible says in Daniel he’s a self-willed man it says then the king will do as he pleases that this particular man of sin will be unchallenged by authorities he will be arrogant and he believes he will function sufficiently by himself and the bottom line is Antichrist does whatever he wants whenever he wants to whomever he wants without restraint with no one even questioning it because he will have full authority to do what he needs to do and if you go against that then you’re done if you notice in verse number four of chapter 2 of Thessalonians it says who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God an object of worship so that he takes a seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God and here’s the big lie the big lie that the world’s going to believe is he is the Messiah that he is Jesus returned and he is the one sitting on the throne and he proclaims himself to be God that’s the big lie and no what the whole world’s going to believe it the whole world is going to believe it so the Antichrist will go far beyond anything the world has ever seen this egotistical man will exalt and magnify himself he’ll have a huge ego and the verbs used are verbs used only of God in the Old Testament so he’s referring to himself with Old Testament words that he’s God and he asserts himself against God and he what does he do he takes his seat in the temple displaying himself as being God and people will believe that he is God so Antichrist and what are the Jews waiting for anyway they’re not they didn’t believe Jesus came the first time as Messiah they’re waiting for the Messiah well here’s the Messiah for them and they do believe that that’s why he makes peace with them in the land and he allows them to establish their Temple and and start sacrifices again that’s what he allows them to do and they’re like psyched because they’ve been waiting for this for thousands of years Antichrist will present himself to the world as being God atheistic he will exalt and magnify himself above every God so Antichrist will be an atheist and reject all religions except the one he establishes when he declares himself to be God so the sense is the day of the Lord is not present unless first in sequence within that day there has come an apostasy and following the apostasy beginning the revealing of the man of lawlessness and therefore the falling away and the revealing of the man of lawlessness are signs which fall within the early stages of the day of the Lord after it has begun and not prior to it so based on these findings the Apostle Paul can encourage his readers of uh that the non-occurrence of these signs means that the delay of the Lord had not yet begun yet and God promised promises you not wrath but rest not judgment but his presence now that leads me to the next thing what is the next thing that happens before the day of the Lord can be fully poured out well notice in verse number six of Thessalonians it says and you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed now you notice that the word he’s using here he says you know Thessalon you already know this I already told you this but when you’re first reading this you you don’t know yet so the the very this very telling word to know is really in the perfect tense and uh it’s important exegetically because the force of the perfect tense is simply that it describes an event that is complete in the past and has result existing in the present and what the results is that you remember you know very well what I’m talking about they’re not deceived they heard it before and so he’s reminding them you know what is holding him back you know what’s holding back the man of lawlessness the real purpose for the restraint is that it has a Divine Purpose and that is the restraint is that he the man of lawlessness may be revealed in his time at in other words at the proper time there is something presently being exercised to hold back the unveiling of this man of sin one commentary said the restraint prevents the premature manifestation of the man of sin as a very embodiment of iniquity so in one way the could be alive today but his character is being masked you don’t really see who he is so see this man of sin can only be revealed when the time is ripe when history is ripe it’s a divinely appointed time and another words God is in control of all of it and the man is going to be revealed at the right time that God decides but those two things and this third thing has to happen yes God knows how to control the activity and the advancement of evil they don’t know who this man is although they do know what his character will be like and they know what holds him back from being revealed now you say well what is it that holds him back from being revealed well look at verse 7 of chapter 2 of Thessalonians it says for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way so you must agree with this passage that the aggressive forces of evil are already operative and evident all around us in the world it was then then it is even more so now but if you look at the passage it says the mystery of lawlessness what does that refer to well the term of course Mysterion mystery does not mean something mysterious or intelligible but rather something formerly unknown but now revealed that is something undiscoverable by human search and only known when God reveals it so the Lawless the lawlessness of verse 7 is not simply referring to disorder and violation of law but it is referring to what is behind the lawlessness behind the lawlessness is the aim of the devil to overthrow the law and the rule of God it’s always been there but this is when it’s it’s at a fever pitch level if we look at the world right now and we say wow look at all this crazy stuff going on what used to be true is false what’s false is true you know what was male was supposed to be male now it’s male and whatever you want it to be well you say where does that come from well there’s the crazy mindset the depraved mind of re of Romans chapter one and a depraved mind is a mind who cannot think anymore they have no more they they’re conscience is seared they have no moral code anymore they do not know the difference they’re just living by what the passions of the flesh the desires of the heart what the world system says you ought to do that’s what that’s the whole world is heading in that particular de Direction so even though this man of sin is not revealed yet the spirit that will permeate his career is is already operational in the world even though this lawlessness is working now it is working under restraint that means lawlessness is not as bad as it will be something is in its way from fully gushing out but it will not always be the case that’s what we’re see in in this book and we see in Revelation something is in its way and that restrainer will be removed look at verse number seven of chapter 2 of Thessalonians again second Thessalonians says look with me it says only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way so only the one holding back now another literally till out of the way he becomes that whatever or whomever is performing this restraining function is to be taken out of the midst of everything and then there will be manifest and unrestrained monstrous evil which which will go to such depths as to defy explanation and description so who is the restrainer well all sorts of interpretations if you read commentaries have been suggested the Roman Empire human government Satan himself Elijah the Angel Michael the preaching of the gospel and others but the important question one must ask to answer who is the restrainer is what is able to hold back the Endeavors of Satan who can hold back evil from exploding from its confine well the answer is only a supernatural being can truly hold back the workings of Satan and the fact that the restrainer will be out of the mist seems to speak of one who is now in the midst that seems to point clearly to the Holy Spirit the spirit of God who is now here in person as an indweller of the saints that the indwelling spirit will be out of the midst of this present scene when the returning Christ calls his church back to himself and since the removal of the restrainer takes place before the manifestation of the lawlessness this identification implies a pre-tribulational Rapture of the church now I need to remind you it doesn’t say that the holy spirit will be taken out but that the restrainer the holy spirit will be taken out of the way the difference lies in the difference between residence and presence as a member of the godhead the spirit is omnicient has always been in the world and he certainly will continue to be present during the seven-year tribulation call the seven-year call called the tribulation but at Pentecost when the church was born the Holy Spirit assumed a special relationship to the church as its indweller that the church is the temple of God on Earth so after the completion of the work that he has in the church he will resume the relationship he had with mankind before Pentecost so when the Holy Spirit which is the indwelling of Believers making up the body of Christ the church removes his residence not his presence then and only then can the man of lawlessness be revealed consequently the church must be removed before the man of sin is fully exposed now that’s the Rapture of the church in the Rapture of the church Even in our doctrinal statement it’s says this is the personal bodily Return of the Lord Jesus Christ before the 7-year tribulation to translate his church from this Earth and between this event and his glorious return with his Saints to reward Believers according to their works so after the Rapture of the church he will no longer be baptizing people into the body of Christ and using the presence of the church Church in the world to restrain the forces of godlessness the forces of evil and Breen Brethren not until the church is removed from the earth and the spirit lifts his all powerful restraints will the Lawless Antichrist be revealed now saying that I want you to consider for a moment what does the church actually do in the world yes the church preaches the gospel but if we read in scripture the church is to be salt in the world right and what does salt do salt holds back the spread of corruption and provides flavor to the World by preaching the gospel and by the goodness of God’s people we have been ordained for good works in the world and when people see our good works they glorify the father who is in heaven right so the church functions as salt in this world but the church also functions as light in the world right we are the light of the world in the sense that the gospel of light shines through what Satan’s trying to do to blind people and it exposes the wickedness and the sin in the heart and a person begins to see who Christ is and that he’s their savior he died in their place and they call on him as Lord and Savior and become new creatures in Christ so light pushes es out the darkness and exposes evil that Jesus Christ is the great light that shines through us and penetrates the darkness with the gospel but the church is salt it’s light it is also the protector of truth right first Timothy 1 3:15 which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and the support of Truth so what happens though when salt is extracted you know what happens Decay and Corruption take over what happens when light is withdrawn darkness and spiritual blindness abound what happens when the truth is removed deception disillusionment permeate Society and lies are masquerade as truth that’s what happens now in saying that look back at 2 Thessalonians verse number 8-2 I want you to see what it says there it says then verse number eight then the Lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming that is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders verse 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved verse 11 for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false in verse 12 in in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness so that’s what’s going to be happening in our day and it’s going to progress that way and the Apostle Paul points his point is that this man is yet to be revealed but won’t be until the worldwide apostasy and then the Rapture of the church because the church is the one holding back evil he can’t function if the church is here he can’t function if the church is here he has to to fully function The Church Must Be Gone So Believers will be taken out of the way they will not in other words I believe from scripture that they will not go through the through the tribulation uh that’s according to the pre pre-tribulational position so you have to ask the question why has God delayed for 2,000 years to pour out his judgment and wrath on the world why is he still delaying well there’s only one scriptural answer for that God’s merciful and God’s longsuffering amen because that’s what it says in Peter you know what it says in the Apostle Peter says this in 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you not wishing that any for any to perish but for all to come to repentance but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a Roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense Heat and the earth and its Works will be burned up see the Lord is delaying so people can be saved specifically for God’s elect to be saved because if you read the first verse of chapter one of Peter you’ll find out he’s talking to those who are elect so if you haven’t repented and you’re still in unbelief and in your sins then God’s against you today is the day to make yourself ready for the things that are going to come and they’re going to come quickly they’re going to come you have to be ready now because the Lord can come tonight he can come tomorrow the imminency must be in our minds and we must be ready we must know the Lord as our savior if we don’t we’re not ready but if we do even if you do some are not ready you need to be ready by the way you live your life in Holiness and godliness so in other words for those who are making themselves ready what do we do in the meantime you know what we do we read we hear we obey we keep the word we preserve the truth we prevent truth Decay we receive the blessing intended for us who obey also what do we do we’re Witnesses we’re light in the world we shared the gospel with those who haven’t heard it yet also we are salt and therefore we are to live holy lives to prevent corruption and give flavor to the world and the goodness of God to the world that’s what we’re to do and we’re to grow in Christ not to sit around twiddling our thumbs we’re to grow in Christ we’re to become more like a soldier in Jesus Christ we have no time to waste there is no time to waste and then look at the admonitions in scripture we are to keep alert it says in Matthew 24:42 therefore be on the alert for you do not know which day your lord is coming we’re to be ready to obey the Lord to worship God no matter what to be ready for his coming and praying for strength as Matthew 24:44 says for this reason you also must be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will and then as you do that you keep watch you watch yourself and your Doctrine you watch in prayer to stand up against the traps of Satan you grow in the word of God and in the truth so you’re able to see the enemy’s deceptions and then you watch out for each other watch out for each other you’re praying for each other that’s what the church does so it remains in the world as Salt and Light and the upholder of truth that’s all our job that’s not just the job of pastors all of our job and then what we go home and we live our regular Liv lives and we do the things we have to do to live life but we do it in a different way we do it like this I know I know something other people don’t know and because I know what the scriptures say I can live my life no matter what comes I can live my life and I can live it in a way that would Gusto with boldness as a soldier in Warfare I can live there and be confident that what I read in this word will come true and all the things I said to you this morning will take place because our God is not a liar he tells us the truth so I want your faith to be blessed and to be strong so you can live your life for Christ amen let’s pray Lord this morning I do thank you so much or the word of God Is So exact it’s so convicting it dispels all fantasy all conspiracy theories it just gives us what you want us to know and when that takes place Lord we live in every day in our mind with the truth that you’ve given us because the source comes from you we live each day with the promise you have given us that what it says in the word of God will take place that those who read it and hear it and Obey it will be blessed and Lord also it gives us the hope for the future that Lord you are coming you are coming to get your church you are coming to get your Saints you are coming to get your bride and you’re going to take us back to heaven where you are are and where you are you’re preparing a place for us that where you are we may be also and that Lord we know there in heaven will be the beac SE judgment where you’ll judge us based on our works as a Believer and not for sin and then we’ll have the marriage supper of the lamb and prepare to come back with you to this Earth To Rule and Reign for a thousand years so Lord thank you at the word of God has given us your plan so we don’t have to wonder we know what you’re going to do CU you tell us and I just pray Lord take all these things and make us strong in these days to be Salt and Light and upholders of Truth and I pray this in Christ’s name amen let’s Stand Together [Music]