This morning we're going to turn back in our Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, as we get a little bit closer to the midpoint of this letter, and then we're just about done with this second letter to the church in the city of Thessalonica, which was a city that was used to having their own way, and worshipping their own gods, and doing their own thing, and then the Lord Jesus came and started a church there. And within this church, there are many people that came out of Judaism and came out of idolatry, and now the Thessalonian people in the city, the citizens there, are struggling and perplexed. What is this new cult that has started? And they didn't like what they heard, because they heard these Christians saying that the Bible said that they're sinners. And no one likes to hear that they're sinners and they are condemned already because they don't believe in the name of the Son of God. And because of their condemnation, they're going to be eternally judged. No one likes to hear that. And so they decided they're going to start persecuting the Christians. And so, as we get into this particular lesson, we're going to be reading verses 6 through 12. I'd like to open then with a word of prayer and get right into our message. 2 Thessalonians 2, beginning in verse 6, he is writing to the suffering church in Thessalonica, and he asks, And now ye know what withholdeth, what is being restrained, that he, referring to that Antichrist that we looked at last week, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work. Only he who now letteth will let. He who restrains will continue to do his work of restraining until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked or wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Father, we come into your presence this day with a passage of Scripture that you have inspired, that you have instructed, and Lord, that you are now using to teach us about what things are going to be like in the future. We have here prophecy. Prophecy about what will happen before Jesus Christ returns to this world. And we know, Lord, that in the future, things are going to happen that seem very difficult and very scary to us. But Lord, through it all, I pray, and especially this morning as we look at what you teach, that you will help us to take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ is in complete control of every form of evil that we see and will see in this world to come. I pray, Lord, that we might take comfort in this and realize that even in the evil that we face today, that, Lord, we can come to you and plea and pray and ask you, Lord, to take that away and to restrain it so that, Father, we might be protected from the evil in this day as well. I ask, Lord, that You might take my words, and I pray that my meager words might preach the glorious riches of Jesus Christ through His Word, and that most importantly, Lord, it won't be my words that speak, but Your Word that does. We pray Your power, Your Spirit will come. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm not sure if anyone here is a rollercoaster fanatic, but for a while, when I was younger, I enjoyed rollercoasters. Now there are different kinds of roller coasters. There's the older roller coasters that you might be familiar with, the wooden rickety ones that start off really slow and you go up this really steep incline and it kind of shakes you all the way up and while you're going up you can look around outside and you can see the creation, you can see miles and miles away and it's really kind of relaxing until you just start to go over the edge and even still it's kind of slowly going down you kind of see what's coming up and you're able to kind of concentrate and this is what I'm going to expect as you see the curves and eventually the whole train goes down over there and you put your hands up and you yell and you scream and you get a thrill but you know what The enjoyment of some of those roller coasters, you still kind of have an idea of what to expect, right? Well, those were the old roller coasters. The roller coasters of today are designed to absolutely shake you from your foundation. I was able to go with my family to Disney World last summer. And my niece really enjoyed roller coasters, and I like roller coasters. I don't have a problem with going on the ones that go upside down. But it's been a long time since I went on one. And this particular roller coaster, it went from 0 to 60 in like 2 or 3 seconds. I mean, it was that fast. And I had no way to anticipate or expect what was going to happen when that roller coaster took off, because it took off so quickly and suddenly, and it was in the pitch black. I couldn't see where we were going up or whether we were going down. And I couldn't see where the curves were going to be. And for a while, just for a moment, I felt my heart stop. It had been probably 15 years since I'd been on a roller coaster like that before. And I literally had a problem even catching my breath. And so the first few seconds of that ride, it seemed like an eternity, I was thinking, am I going to be able to breathe on this ride? Because I was so absolutely shocked and stunned what it was going to be like. But, finally I was able to catch my breath, and I was able to enjoy the ride, and I looked over at my niece, who's a teenager, and she was just having a ball, and I was able to get into it myself, and very quickly the ride was over, just about as soon as it started. Sometimes when you're on a roller coaster, especially the ones that they make today, it seems like you're going to fly off the track. And that's the way it felt like for me. We were going upside down two or three times. It felt like I was just going to fall right out of my seat. That's always been kind of a concern to me, those rigs that they put down over your chest. When they put that down, I make sure that that is going to keep me in. I will push and push and push on that just to make sure that it is locked in position. And sometimes I'll even push it a little bit closer to get me really tight so that I know I won't fall out. Sometimes it feels like you're just going to fall right out. Sometimes you might know someone who drives like that, right? But the fact is, even though it feels like it's going to fly off the track, most of the time it doesn't, right? Because it's still on a track. The message that we're going to be looking at today is about evil. Not a really pleasant topic, but just like the train, the roller coaster that just seems to be out of control, today it seems like evil is out of control as well, doesn't it? It seems like, it feels like, it's like a roller coaster of today. Just turn on the TV. You can watch television show after television show. You can watch movie after movie. You can look on the internet. You can watch the newscast. And you realize that evil doesn't seem to be decreasing. It seems to be increasing. All around the world. It seems that way, perhaps because now we get more information. We live in the information superhighway age, and we get all this information about bad, bad, bad news, and it seems like evil is out of control. Well, you know, just like we see that today, the Thessalonians saw the same exact thing. I remember reading several different articles that were written from, you know, maybe five centuries ago, and then about three centuries ago, and then last century, and even today. And every one of these Christians writers says that things are worse today than they've ever been. Things are worse today than they've ever been. They thought that 500 years ago. They think that today, and you know what? In the Thessalonians they thought that then as well. Paul, you don't know what we're going through. It is worse today than it's ever been. Because they felt like evil was out of control. here in this church, what things would be like before the return of Jesus Christ from heaven. In fact, if you look back at verse 5, Paul told them this. Don't you remember that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? He told them about someone who was going to come called the Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition that we are met with in verse 5. in verse 2 and 3, but he basically says that this man is going to come and evil is going to reign on earth. It is going to be worse and worse and worse than you've ever seen or experienced before in your life. And so, because they saw evil just run amok, because they thought that evil had just finally been unleashed in their own day, much like we feel like in our day, they thought that the day of the Lord had already come. Look at verse 5. I'm sorry, not verse 5, but verse 2. He says, don't be troubled, don't be shaken in your mind or be troubled, neither by spirit or by word nor by letters from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Or that could also be translated as if it has already come. You see, they felt like because everything was so bad, that maybe Jesus Christ was either on His way or had already come and they missed it. Because they saw how bad things were. But Paul explained to them, as we looked at last week, that the day of Christ had not yet come, and that things were going to get even worse before He comes. Now, that's not a real comforting thing. I could stand up here before you and say, you know what? Life is going to get better. You might be going through trouble right now, but life is going to be a lot better. Just give yourself a year. Give yourself two years. Give yourself ten years. It's all mind over matter. I can tell you those things, but I can't say for certain whether things are going to get better. In fact, for most of us, as we age and we get sick and we have problems, things are going to get worse for us. Now, that's not a real popular subject. That's not why preachers that preach that things can get worse in your life, they don't have millions of people trying to watch them on TV or come into their church. It's because that's not a popular subject. But Paul is saying the same thing to the Thessalonians. He says, you know what? As bad as it seems like for you right now. And remember, they were going through persecution. They were suffering for their faith. As bad as it seems like right now, it's going to get a whole lot worse. And that's not real comforting, Paul. That's not real comforting at all. But, when he comes to verse 6, He teaches something that really ought to be a comfort to believers. And from this passage, beginning verse 6 to verse 12, He teaches that even though things are going to get worse and worse and even more out of control, He teaches that no matter what, Jesus Christ is still in control. You see, the comfort that a Christian gets is not in the fact that life may get better. Now, we know that ultimately, after life, things will get better in heaven, right? But the comfort that a Christian gets is not in the fact that life may get better, because it may not. But the comfort that a Christian derives is from the fact that even when things get worse than they are now, even though it seems impossible to get any worse, Jesus Christ is still in control of your situations. He's still in control of the issues and the problems and the circumstances that you face. And so we aren't so resting in what is going to happen, but we are resting in the One who is in control of what is going to happen. And so Paul says, don't be concerned about what's going to happen, even though it's going to be getting worse. Look at verse 2 again. He says, don't be shaken in your mind. Don't be troubled in your heart. But rather, take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ is in control no matter what. Now this is a principle that we learn, not only for the future, but also a principle that we learn for the present, today. Things may get worse in your life. But Jesus Christ is in control. And we can take comfort in the fact that Christ is there with you and for you every single turn of that topsy-turvy roller coaster. Jesus Christ is in control. So how does Christ show His control over evil and over the situations that we face in life? Even when it seems like it's spinning completely out of control? We need to remember that like a roller coaster, even though it may feel like it's going to fall off the track, it still is on the track most of the time. It is still attached firmly and strongly to that. And that is why I will actually get on that roller coaster. Because I know the designers and the engineers, unless there was some mistake or some oversight, they designed it to hug that track so tightly that I will be safe. when I ride that rollercoaster. Now, if that rollercoaster had flown off that track the day before, I can tell you I'm not going to ride that rollercoaster. In fact, if it had ever fallen off the track, if I knew about it, I wouldn't get on the rollercoaster. But most of them are so hugging tightly that track, and we need to realize that even when life seems like, and the error and the evil in life seems like, it's just flying out of control, there's still a track. And that track is the plan of Jesus Christ and His control, so evil does have a limited duration. How long do roller coaster rides last? Sometimes it feels a lot longer than they are, but usually just a couple of minutes. And it's over. Now, evil seems like it is so powerful and strong in this life, but the fact is, this life is nothing compared to eternity. The existence of this world is nothing compared to eternal life with Jesus Christ. And so evil, like a roller coaster, has a limited duration, but it also has a definite destination. When I start off on a roller coaster, I know where it's going to end up. Right back there. You go in a big circle with a lot of curlicues all the way around until you get back to the starting point. The fact is God has a plan for evil. God is in control of it. He has a purpose and a plan, and it is going into that destination, and we don't have to be concerned, but we can take comfort in Christ's control. Now, how does Christ show His control over evil? We see three ways in these verses. The very first one, is that the Lord restrains evil. The Lord restrains evil. We find in verse 7 that there is a spiritual energy at work today. Look at verse 7. It says, for the mystery of iniquity. There is an energy of sin that is at work today in this life. You see, this is the evil that we see today that seems to increase every day. The sin that we see and the evil that we experience is coming from this principle, this mystery of iniquity that does already work. But even when we see sin and evil around us, we don't have to be concerned because Christ is in control. Now, how does He do this? He restrains evil. Much of my heritage is Dutch. In fact, my grandmother and my grandfather came directly from Holland. So I have a lot of Dutch blood in me and I really enjoyed reading some of the Dutch books like Hans Brinker and the Silverskates. And Hans Brinker was a legendary figure, and this particular book was written by someone who did not come from Holland, but she used the name Hans Brinker, which was a Dutch boy from which a myth basically came about, that as he was walking home one day from school, and he noticed these great big dikes there that basically surround much, 27% of the land of Holland, And as he was seeing these dikes, he noticed that one of those dikes had a hole in it and water was spurting out. Remember the story, what did Hans Brinker do? He took his finger and he stuck it there in the hole to prevent it from getting any bigger and to keep the water from flooding all of Holland. Now why was that important? Why are those dikes important? Because in Holland, in the Netherlands, 27% of the country lies below sea level. But that land is right up against the sea. And so what they've done over the last hundreds of years is they have tried to reclaim more and more land, and they've pushed the sea out farther and farther, and they've built these dikes. And these dikes are made out of stone and clay and dirt, and they've built them so big to keep the waves and the intense strength of the water from the North Sea from entering into their land. And so that was a very major thing when Hans Brinker walked by, and there was these great big dikes separating the land from the sea, and he's about 10 feet under the water. So when he saw that water spurting out, he was worried. And he was concerned for his family's safety. He was concerned for the safety of his city. And so he plugged it up and he stayed there. So someone said, hey, where's Hans? Where's Hans? And they looked for him, they found him, and finally the people of the village were able to come and reinforce the dike so that they could be safe. After many tragic floods in the Netherlands, which literally have killed thousands, and they have lost hundreds of square miles of land, that's when they started building these dikes so that they could restrain the water from destroying land and buildings and homes and people. It restrains it. And the dike we can use as an illustration, as a picture of what Jesus does to evil. Do you realize that even when evil feels like as strong as an ocean, and you've seen those waves, and you've seen those waves when a hurricane is starting to come on the shore, and those waves can get really big and really strong, and they can do tremendous damage. They can pull people under and you'll never see them ever again. And those waves can do some tremendous damage. But Jesus Christ is like a dyke. And He can plop His hand down and stop evil and restrain evil and keep evil away when He chooses. And that is what Jesus Christ will do in the future as well as today. We see that He restrains evil for His purpose. In verse 6 it says, And now you know what withholdeth Or what is restraining that He might be revealed in His time? Who's He talking about? He's talking about that man of sin. the Antichrist that will come in the future. And he says that God is now doing a work of restraining, of withholding, so that this man of sin will come at His appointed time. Now what does this teach us? It teaches us that God has a plan in place. He has a track on which this world sits. The rollercoaster of evil sits on this track that God has placed, and right now, He is working it out in His time. You see, there is a time that will belong to this Antichrist. But until that time, God is restraining the influence of evil and sin. You know what? Things may be worse today than they have ever been before, but things are not as bad today as they could be if God took away His influence of restraining evil. God restrains evil for His purpose. But there will come a time, and this is yet in the future, when His restraint, as it says in verse 7, will be taken away. It will be taken away. And what's going to happen is evil will be allowed to rule completely for a short time. But yet, it's still under God's control. Now imagine what it's going to be like if evil is bad today and God is still restraining evil. Imagine what it's going to be like when God takes His restraining hand off of this world and evil will rule completely until its time is done. But God is still in control. No matter how bad things get, no matter how bad things seem, God is still in control and He can restrain evil whenever and wherever He chooses. He will do it then. He does do it now. He not only will restrain evil for His purpose, but He also restrains evil through a person. In verse 7 it says, For the mystery of iniquity is already at work. But only he who now letteth will let. He who is now doing the work of withholding or restraining evil will continue to do his work of restraining until he, the one who is restraining, is taken out of the way. God is restraining evil through a person. Now, I believe that this verse is talking about the Holy Spirit. Now, we don't actually see His name in these verses. This is an interpretation. There are some people that believe that it's about government people, how God has placed governments and this is what he uses to restrain evil. There's certainly something to be said about that. But I believe that these verses distinctly clarify for us that God himself is restraining evil through the work of the Holy Spirit, because there will come a time in verse seven where he, referring to who I believe is the Holy Spirit, will be taken out of the way so that evil can just run amok. Right now, the Holy Spirit resides in us as his people in his church in this world. And I believe that there will come a time before this son of evil, this evil man, the Antichrist will come on the scene. And I believe before that the church will be caught up into a rapture. And what's going to happen when we're caught up in the rapture? The Holy Spirit who is within us will also be taken up and his restraining influence will no longer be in this world. And that will let the Antichrist and Satan himself do whatever he wants. And as bad as it seems now, it's going to get a whole lot worse. And yet Christ is still in control. But not only will He restrain it in the future for a purpose through His person, but also He restrains evil in the present. Until that time when the Antichrist comes, in verse 7 again, it says, the mystery of iniquity does already work. It already is here. Do you realize that you personally experience the mystery of iniquity every time that you are tempted or confronted with sin and evil? Every time that someone is trying to get you to do something wrong, or every time that you are tempted in your own heart to do something wrong, every time that you watch something on TV that is wrong, you have now been influenced by the mystery of iniquity that works even right now today. And yet God is still in control. Do you realize that God, who does restrain and will restrain evil, can restrain the evil in your life today? In the Lord's Prayer, you don't need to turn there, but Matthew 6.13, the Lord just assumes that we're going to experience the presence of evil. And he says this, when you pray, pray this, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Do you realize that whenever you face temptation and sin confronts you, do you realize that you are now facing the mystery of iniquity that's already worked today? And God says all you have to do is pray. Pray and ask that I will remove that evil from you and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not. God still restrains evil. He can restrain the evil in your life. He can restrain the evil in your family. He can restrain the evil in our church because God is in control of evil. So we can take comfort in the fact that Christ is in control. A second way that God shows that Christ is in control is in verses 8-10 that the Lord removes evil. Not only does He restrain evil, but He also removes evil. There is another spiritual energy that will be at work during the time of the Antichrist. Look at verse 9. It says, there will come even him whose coming is after the working of Satan. This is the satanic energy that will be present with the Antichrist. If you think it's bad now, it will be nothing compared to then, because the Lord's restraint will be removed, the dike will break, and the rushing torrent of water will completely overwhelm the world with sin. That is not going to be a pleasant place to live. And even though it's going to seem like all hope is lost, even then, under the worst possible condition of sin, Christ is in control. How? He removes evil. If you drive toward Indianapolis, you notice that there's a dam on the west side of Indianapolis. And this dam holds back some of the waters that are now being used for drinking water and for irrigation within the city of Indianapolis. But as you drive by, and you see that dam, and they're all over the world, they're all over the country, some are big, some are small, but the whole purpose is to hold back water, those dams, just like a dike. But the purpose is different, it's to control it, and to dispense it as needed. Most of these dams also have something called a spillway. And the engineers have designed these dams so that if water gets too full in these dams, or in these reservoirs, they can then open up the spillway and water will rush out. But as that water rushes out, those engineers have also designed it to avoid more water going out than what they want, is they can stop it immediately. They can put something down and stop that water down that spillway. They can control it to do whatever they want it to do and whenever they want it to do it. And that is exactly how the Lord Jesus will control evil. There will come a point in the future where God will say, OK, devil, it's all yours. I've removed my restraining power and now you can do anything you want in this world. That's going to be bad. But the Lord Jesus says I'm still in control because there will also come a time after I have released the spillway of evil that I will put a stop to it and eventually remove it completely so evil will never have another influence in this world ever again. He is in complete control to stop and remove evil. And we see this through His removal of the incarnation of evil. It says in verse 8, Then shall that wicked one be revealed. Who's it talking about there? It's talking about the Antichrist. It's talking about, as we see in verse 3, the man of sin and the son of perdition. This man will be a real man. And he will be the incarnation of evil itself. and he will be completely possessed and used by Satan. It really reminds us of Judas. Remember as Judas was leaving the upper room? In order to betray the Lord Jesus, it says in the Bible that Satan went into Him. Satan himself went into Judas and possessed and controlled everything that he was doing. Well, the Antichrist, who will be a real man, will be possessed by the devil himself to do whatever kind of evil that comes to mind. But as we see later on in verse 8, he won't last long. He won't last long. Because it says, the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. He will remove evil. He will also remove the impression of evil. You see, the Antichrist is going to be a pretty impressive figure. on the world scene. He will impress many. In fact, he will impress most people in the world. Jesus puts it this way in Mark 13, 22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise and will show signs and wonders to seduce. If it were possible, even the elect, even those who know Christ as their Savior during this time, and there will be some, the Lord says He will be so subtle and so impressive that most close to all the people in the world will follow after Him because they want Him as their Christ. And how will He do this? It says in verse 8, He will do this I'm sorry, in verse 9, He will do this with all power and signs and lying wonders. Through the authority of His power, He will be a leader. He will be someone that people will look up to. He will be someone that they think, this is who we've been waiting for! And they will follow Him because they want to. Also, He will be impressive through the attraction of his signs. He will do signs. He will do wonders, the amazement. He will actually perform miracles to impress people. But the fact is, they are all counterfeits. It calls them lying wonders, counterfeit wonders. Do you realize that Jesus Christ displayed the exact same things that are listed here in verse 8? You don't need to turn there, but in Acts 2, verse 22, it says that Jesus performed power and wonders and signs, or miracles and wonders and signs. But there was a difference. Jesus was approved of God. This man, this Antichrist, will be doing it according to the working of Satan. But when Jesus did His works, and wonders and signs. What did people do? Most people rejected Him. There was just a few people that clung to Him. In this day, when the Antichrist reigns, most people will follow after Him. The same ones that would have rejected Christ are now going to follow after this one as their Christ. And very few will follow after Him. It's a topsy-turvy situation. But the fact is, this impressiveness of evil in his life will not last long either, because Christ will remove it. A third thing that Christ will remove is the influence of evil. How will the Antichrist impress and get such a gathering together? It says here in verse 8 that he will do it with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. He will influence those who reject Jesus by using sin as the deception. Do you realize that the reason why people sin is because they love it? The reason why people sin is because they love it. Sin is appealing on the outside. It even says in the Bible that there is pleasure in sin for a season. But inside, sin is appalling. And yet the Antichrist will say, look at all these wonderful things that God, through His law, was trying to keep you from. All these beautiful, wonderful things. And he will say, this sin is not really sinful. It's a delight, it's a joy, it's a pleasure. And they will just fall right in after and say, this is wonderful! Why didn't we do this before? It's because they love it. Sin is deceptive. There's an example in Proverbs. You don't need to turn there, but the example in Proverbs is that of wine. Wine, it says in Proverbs. Do not look upon wine when it is red, when it gives its color in the cup and moveth itself aright. When you put wine in a cup, it looks so beautiful. It's got a beautiful color. It has a wonderful fragrance. You see the bubbles going up and it's just a beautiful, wonderful thing to see. And you think, I cannot wait to consume that wine because it will delight me and it will give me peace and it will give me happiness and I can drink it and my cares will go away and I can enjoy it. But the Lord says in Proverbs 23, 32, at the last, it biteth like a serpent and singeth like an adder. That is what sin is like. sin will destroy, even though for a season it seems appealing. The fact is, even with this influence, Christ will come and remove it. It says that the Lord will consume him and all his influence with the spirit or the breath of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. You know what? Jesus Christ is in so much control of evil that nothing is going to take away His power. It says here that when the Lord comes, He will consume them with the breath of His mouth. All it's going to take is His breath! I don't like dandelions. My neighbor has a lot of dandelions in their yard. And I've noticed over the last several years that because they have a lot of dandelions, guess what? If I don't keep control of it, I'm going to get a lot of dandelions. The thing I don't like about the dandelions is when after they are all yellow and pretty, then they turn white. And they have these heads on them that are just filled with seeds. And I can see a great big wind coming into my yard or my neighbor's yard and blowing all those seeds into my yard. I'm thinking I'm going to have a lot of work next year trying to get rid of these dandelions. But I remember when I was a kid, I'd take those dandelions with a white hat on there and I just blow them off. And now that I realize what they are, I cringe whenever I see a child doing that in my yard. They're blowing those seeds all over the place. That's what God's going to do. When Christ comes, like slamming the spillway shut. He's gone. Effortlessly. Jesus Christ is in complete control. Not only that, it says that the very brightness of His coming, all it will take is His presence. You don't need to turn, but in Revelation 19, it's on your message guide. Look it up this afternoon. Verses 19 through 21. The Antichrist is going to gather up all the armies of the world. If you've ever seen a deployment, some of you have been in the military, some of you have been in some battles and some wars, and you know what it takes to deploy an army in order to fight a battle. It takes a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy. It says in Revelation 19 that the Antichrist is going to gather all the armies of the world to Israel. And there's going to be millions and millions of people that are going to fight against the Lord. It's going to take time. It's going to take money. It's going to take energy. And after all that work, He's going to be really disappointed. Because when Jesus Christ comes, at His very presence, He will be consumed off the face of the earth. He and the Antichrist and the beast will be sent into the lake of fire. And all those that have been following after Him will be sent to hell as well. It says that the Lord will just take them and throw them away. Just take them. That quick, that sudden, that effortlessly. And that's why we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ is in control of evil. Not only does He restrain evil, He will remove it. But also in verses 11-12, we find that the Lord also, through His control, reproves and judges evil. In that time, when the time of the Antichrist, why is it that they will follow after this man? Because in verse 11 it says, for this cause, what cause in verse 11? Because in verse 10 it says, because they did not receive the love of the truth, because they were not saved, for this cause God will judge them by sending them a strong delusion so that they should believe a lie. So that also they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure and unrighteousness." So what's going to happen to those who follow after the evil one? God's going to judge them. Now, we all know from Hebrews it says that a man dies once, and after that, the judgment. Every man will be judged after death. But these verses are talking about a judgment that some will receive by God during their life. It says again, for this cause, because they received not the love of the truth, God will send to them a strong delusion, which is this energy of error, so that they will believe the devil's lie even more than they already did. This spiritual energy is sent by God Himself. It is a strong delusion and it is part of God's judgment of their sin and their rejection of the truth. And through this he reproves evil. On March 31st, 1889, the entire town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania was wiped out. when the South Fork Dam was completely overwhelmed by floodwaters, and the water came rushing down the valley, it came down 40 miles per hour, and reports said that at times it was 60 feet high. Can you imagine looking up and there's a 60 foot wall of water coming rushing right at you, and your house, and your family? And there's nowhere to turn, there's no way to escape, and you know the power of that water, you know you're going to die. And that's what exactly happened in Johnstown. It killed 2,209 people, including 99 entire families. Gone. At the face of this earth. Swept away. That's a tragedy. But the worst part of this tragedy is that that entire town was warned no less than three times before that dam broke. Three times someone came over and said, the dam is getting weaker and weaker. You must leave. You must flee. You must go to higher ground or you're going to die. You're going to be doomed. Your family's going to be wiped away. They were warned. They were warned. They were warned. And yet, they ignored the warnings. And what happened? They perished. That's what verses 11 and 12 are talking about. The judgment that God gives to them in life is something that is deserved. You see, they had ignored God's previous warnings. God, through His Son, and through His Church, and through His Word, has given warning, after warning, after warning, after warning, after warning to you, and to me, and to these people. And if they do not receive the love of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it says here that they will deserve God's judgment. Not just after death, but also in life. It says here it was for this cause. They did not receive the gospel. They were not saved. It says here basically that they were guilty. They are completely at fault because of God's judgment. We must never think that God judges someone who does not deserve judgment. Every person that is judged by God deserves it. They brought it on themselves. The Bible clearly teaches that. And in these verses, in the future, that's what's going to happen. And God will judge them not just at their death, but also in their life. This judgment is deserved. But also, this judgment is very, very, dangerous. The judgment that this is talking about is the judgment of God in their life, where He gives them and sends them a strong delusion so that they should believe the lie that the devil is giving to them. His purpose here in giving this judgment is to punish. Look at verse 13 or verse 12. It says that In other words, this is the reason why God is sending them a strong delusion that they all might be damned. His purpose is to punish. But once again, it's their own fault. Because they believe not the truth, it says in verse 12, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. This judgment will happen then. Do you realize this judgment can also happen now? The most dangerous kind of judgment is the judgment that God brings to a man that is still alive. Turn with me into Romans chapter 1, because we see the same kind of judgment that will happen during the time of the Antichrist happening even in times like these. Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 21. It says, after God has given them things, men, things to see who He is and what He's about. It says in verse 21, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Those that reject God and His light, what is going to happen to them? Yes, they will be judged after death, but there are some that God will judge in this life. Because look at verse 24, it says, Wherefore, because they rejected God, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness. Very similar to sending the strong delusion that they should believe a lie. He gives them up to their own uncleanness. Look at verse 26. For this cause, God gave them up. The exact same phrase. Unto their own vile affections. And then verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over. That's actually the same phrase that we saw in verse 24 and 26. God gave them up over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. This is why. The Gospel message is so urgent. Think about it in your life. Are you at the point where you have heard warning, after warning, after warning, after warning from the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you personally at the point where God is going to say, no longer will I offer to you the warning of the Gospel. Because you have chosen to reject me and to reject the love of my truth. And now I'm going to give you over to the love that you really have, the love of your own evil and the love of your own sin. This judgment is very dangerous. That is why it is so urgent for you to cling to Jesus Christ. That is why it is so important for you while you have this opportunity here sitting and hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. There may come a time in your life when judgment will come and God will simply leave you in your sin. When will you believe the truth and turn from the pleasure and unrighteousness? That's what it talks about in Second Thessalonians. If you believe the truth, you will not take pleasure in righteousness. But if you take pleasure in unrighteousness, you will not believe the truth. They are two sides. They are two opposites. You can't have one and the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot have one and the other together. You can't be a Christian. You can't be saved and love sin. And so the Lord says here, in 2 Thessalonians, there may come a time where this judgment happens. The fact is, if you believe the truth and you don't love unrighteousness, you can take comfort that Christ is in control. So today, where do you stand? You know, the Antichrist will come. And that's a scary topic to discuss, but the Lord is in complete control. We don't have to worry. But what about the evil that we face today? If you are trusting in His control even today, you don't need to be afraid. You don't need to worry, because He's still in control of it. He can restrain it. He will remove it. And yes, He does reprove it. When it seems like the roller coaster of sin in this world is out of control, remember that there's still a track. And that train is still attached to the track of God's perfect plan. And we can take eternal comfort in the fact that Christ is in control. That's what these words are teaching us. It's so that I can take comfort in Christ's control. Are you? If you love unrighteousness, you cannot take comfort in the control of Christ, because His control will be over you. He will reprove your sin. If not in this life, certainly in the next. Make sure you have Christ as the one who saves you from your sin. Make sure that you have the love of the truth, because if you don't, This can happen to you.