I'm gonna open us up with a word of prayer and we'll get started. Father, we're grateful for today and grateful for the fact that in a changing world, you're the same yesterday, today, and forever. We do thank you, Lord, that you've given us a completed canon of scripture whereby we can understand the things of God We're thankful, Lord, for the promise that what you've given us in the scripture is sufficient for all matters of faith, godliness, and practice. I do pray, Lord, that you would make us good stewards, both in the Sunday school hour and in the main service that follows as we take a look into your word. We do acknowledge today, Father, our dependency upon the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit We also understand that we can do certain things as Christians in our natural selves, not to lose our salvation, but to alienate you by way of fellowship. And so you've given us provision for that. In 1 John 1, verse 9, we're just gonna take a few moments of private confession, if need be, to exercise 1 John 1, verse 9, so we can be in a position to receive this morning everything that you have for us through your word as illuminated by the Holy Spirit. We do pray, Lord, that everything that is said and done today at Sugar Land Bible Church might be edifying and ultimately glorifying to you. We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name, and God's people said, amen. All right, well, if you could take your Bibles and open them to 2 Thessalonians chapter two and verse 10. Just a few minutes ago I was having a... There we go. Hopefully you can hear me now. Just a few moments ago, I was having a conversation with David Hamilton, who is a member of the Fort Bend Independent School District, Fort Bend ISD. And he was kind of bringing me up to speed on some of the debates of things that are now being allowed into the school libraries. you know, just mild topics like books, advocating, having sex with Jesus, you know, just little things like that. And so he is actually here. Could you stand up for a minute, David, if you're in? There he is. Yeah, just stand just for a couple seconds so people can see you. He's going to be here during the main service also. kind of hanging around in between services in the foyer. And if you're interested in what's going on in this area of books and things that are being allowed into the public school libraries, into the public schools and things like that. As a sitting member of the board, he's on the correct side of these issues. And so he's here just as a resource. And you can talk to him to get up to speed. And he'll bring you up to speed in about 30 seconds. So with that being said, thank you, David, for your service. We appreciate it very much. Let's take our Bibles, if we could, open them to 2 Thessalonians 2, I think I said verse 10, but I really meant verse 12. And I know this introduction you guys have heard multiple times, but I'm thinking this will be the last Sunday you'll have to hear it. Not because I know when the rapture's gonna happen, But I think finally we'll be finished with the eschatological prophetic section of 2 Thessalonians, which is really the heart of the letter. Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey had planted the church there in Thessalonica. He had tractors all the way through the Book of Acts, the unbelieving Jews. And they kind of shadowed Paul and followed Paul everywhere he went. And so because of that group, he was actually kicked out of Thessalonica, that arrow, or excuse me, that circle up north. And he was pushed down south into Corinth, and that's where he got word that his church, filled with baby Christians, was now being persecuted by the same unbelieving Jews that had kicked him out of Thessalonica. And it's at this point he gets evidence or receives word that they had a big problem. And of course their problem was they had received a forged letter indicating that the day of the Lord, which we've explained very clearly is the tribulation period, had already started. And you see a reference to that in verse 2, that shook them up quite a bit because Paul had taught them that they would be removed from the earth before the tribulation period started. So, they got this letter allegedly from Paul contradicting what Paul had told them, and they didn't know what to believe. And if Paul could be wrong on this, if he can contradict himself here, how do you trust anything Paul ever said? So there's a reference to that letter in verse 2. It says that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed either by spirit or a message or a letter, as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord, i.e., the tribulation period, has come. So Paul had taught them that they were in the church age, and the next event on the prophetic horizon was the rapture of the church, and what would follow would be the seven-year tribulation period. But this forged letter shows up and says, nope, you've actually, if there is a rapture, you've missed it, and you're actually in the middle of the tribulation period. So they were really shaken to the core of their beings when they received that. And, you know, there's a lot of people today that kind of think this way. They think, you know, because of the solar eclipse that we just had, or, you know, some world event, the whole COVID issue, whatever, they think that we're in the tribulation period now. And if you don't believe me, just spend a little time on social media and you'll see everybody just saying, this is it, this is the end. They point to some political leader and say he's the Antichrist. Biden is the Antichrist. I think he's a little too old to be the Antichrist in my opinion, but we won't go there. So what Paul does is he lays out the prerequisites for the day of the Lord. He gives them five reasons why they are not in the seven-year tribulation period. The first reason is they haven't seen the departure. And we spent a lot of time there explaining that the departure is not speaking of the doctrinal departure of Christendom from truth. That issue is dealt with in other letters, but here it's speaking of the departure of the church. In other words, what he's saying is you're not in the tribulation period because you're still here. And for the tribulation period to happen, the rapture…you couldn't be here. And so because you're still here, because the rapture hasn't happened, just take a deep breath is what he's saying. You're not in the tribulation period. And of course when they got this forged letter, they had no systematic theology to consult. They had no New Testament to consult, because this is only Paul's third letter. You know, they couldn't consult the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation wouldn't be written for another, what, four decades or so. They clearly didn't have John's Gospel yet. They didn't have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John yet. They didn't have Jude. They didn't have 2nd Peter. They didn't have 1st Peter. I mean, the only books that they could have had at this point were Galatians, which doesn't deal with these eschatological issues. First Thessalonians, just now they're getting Second Thessalonians. Maybe they had some awareness of the Book of James and the Gospel of Matthew, but even with those books, we don't know if they circulated into Thessalonica. So the only person that they could really receive proper doctrine from would be their spiritual father, the apostle. So that's why he's answering them in this letter. He says, you haven't seen the departure. Number two, you haven't seen, and I've got the verse divisions where you can see these in 2 Thessalonians 2, you haven't seen the lawless one, or the antichrist in the temple. You have not seen the removal of the restrainer. which is another synonym for the rapture, as we've explained it. You have not seen the destruction of the lawless one, who is gonna come with satanic miracles of such power that he will only be able to be overthrown by Jesus personally and directly at Christ's second coming. And then the last one is you haven't seen the destruction of the lawless one's followers, verses 10 through 12. So, the last few weeks, I know I've had to miss a couple of weeks, but if you can think back to a couple of weeks ago, the last couple of weeks we've been dealing with this destruction of the lawless ones' followers, which is in verses 10 through 12. We know that these antichrist followers in the tribulation period are going to be judged, verse 10 indicates that. And the reason they're going to be judged is they're in a circumstance that they put themselves into. They have refused to believe the truth. So the implication is they had the ability to receive the truth, but they wouldn't receive it. And then verse 11 is a description of the judgment that these Antichrist followers will be under at this particular point in the future. God is actually, verse 11, gonna give them over to a diluting influence. He's gonna let them believe what they wanna believe. And we spent some time talking about how God does that with people. He does that with nations. He did it with Pharaoh of the Old Testament. In other words, an individual in a society can go so far as God says, okay, I'll give you what you want. If you want delusion, you can have it. And in fact, I'll assist you in the diluting process. So it's really a frightening description of what these people are under there in verse 11. And then you come to verse 12, which is the judgment's purpose. Why is God doing this? And so, we pick it up there in verse 12, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 12. It says, "...in order that they all may be judged, who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." So you'll notice this expression here, in order that they all may be judged. In other words, God sends deliberately this judgment of delusion because He is a God of judgment. One of the distinctives of the Christian worldview is that this life ends in judgment. You're not going to get that perspective from a reincarnation person who says we just kind of get recycled backwards into other life forms. You're not going to get this perspective from paganism in general. But the Bible is very clear that this life ends in judgment. God has the right to judge because God is both our creator and redeemer. In other words, if you complain that God is a God of judgment, you're complaining against the person that has the ultimate credentials to judge. I mean, there's no higher credentials than that. God is creator, God is redeemer, so he has the right to bring judgment. The great American statesman Daniel Webster was once asked, what is the most sobering thought that has ever entered your mind? And if you know much about Daniel Webster, he was brilliant. So someone asked him, what is the greatest thought you've ever had? And his answer was, he quickly responded, quote, my personal accountability to God, a close quote. So anybody that's a believer in the Bible, anybody that's a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ understands this idea that this life ends in some form of judgment for everybody, as I'll explain in just a minute. Acts 17, verses 30 and 31, this is Paul's appeal on Mars Hill. Paul says, therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. And that means what? Change of mind. Because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. And this is the speech that Paul gave on Mars Hill, and I've actually been to, you know, you can go to the location where he gave this. And he's talking to people that are totally steeped in paganism. He's talking to people that have an awareness of spirituality, but they don't know Jesus. He even makes reference to their own poets that speak of spirituality. He makes reference to the tomb to the unknown God that they had set up. He says you're obviously spiritual people. But here's something you may not know, this life ends in judgment. In fact, God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. So this is the kind of thing that Paul's getting at here in verse 12. In order that all may be judged. And in the scripture, what we see are four different judgments. Different groups of people in the Bible are judged by God at different times. There's going to be a group of people that will survive the tribulation period, and they receive their judgment on the earth at the sheep and goat judgment. In other words, Jesus at that time has to separate believers from unbelievers. These are tribulation period survivors. The unbelievers are cast off the earth into Hades, and those that are believers enter the millennial kingdom in non-resurrected bodies. So that's a judgment that's very well described in Matthew 25, verses 31 through 46, and he's doing that with Gentile survivors of the tribulation period. And around that same time, there's a parallel judgment for the surviving Jews of the tribulation period. Which ones are believers, which ones are unbelievers? Unbelievers cast off the earth into Hades. Believers enter the millennial kingdom in their non-glorified bodies. And that's a judgment that we call the judgment of the Jews in the wilderness. And you'll see a reference to that in Ezekiel 20, verses 33 through 44. Going to the far right-hand side of the screen, there's another judgment. This takes place after the millennial kingdom is over. It's for all unbelievers. And it's a frightening judgment described in Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15. And as people's names in that judgment are not found in the Lamb's book of life, then they're going to be judged by the books. If you're not in the book, you're going to be judged by the books. So that particular judgment is for the unsaved of all ages. The books, I think, is a record of people's sins. And so people are given different degrees of punishment in hell, in the lake of fire, based on those books. And they're considered for that purpose because their name is not found written in the book. the Lamb's Book of Life. So that's why when Jesus sent out the Seventy to offer the kingdom to Israel in the first century in Luke 10, The disciples, the 70, came back and they were rejoicing because even the demons were in submission to them. And Jesus, at the end of Luke 10, makes this statement. He goes, don't rejoice that the demons submit to you. Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Because once a person trusts in Christ, they're inscribed into the Lamb's Book of Life, meaning that they're not a candidate for the great white throne judgment whatsoever. But those that never trusted in Christ will show up at this great white throne judgment. And by the way, I was just talking to Jim Schneider when I was out there, a VCY radio, when I was out there doing a conference with them in Milwaukee a couple of weeks back. And you know, when you meet someone for the first time, you know, one of the questions is, how did you get saved? How did you come to know the Lord? And basically what he told me is that his mother went to a prophecy conference where they were preaching on the great white throne judgment. And she realized that she was going to show up at that judgment because she wasn't saved. So she went home from the conference, she kind of went into her back room, all the kids were wondering, I think there were several kids in the family, little kids, you know, where did mom go? And she was back in her room, you know, trusting Christ as her Savior. And then she turned around and led all of her kids to Christ, based on this judgment that she had just heard about at a prophecy conference in a church that, you know, she wasn't even planning on going to, but someone invited her to it. So there's a lot of people out there today saying, well, you know, don't teach prophecy. It doesn't have any impact. It just confuses people. It divides people. And the truth of the matter is we need to hear about this future judgment. You know, that's one of the reasons we do prophecy conferences, you know, here at Sugar Land Bible Church. I mean, we want people to have some kind of understanding and awareness of what the future has for them if they have never trusted in Christ. Now the second to the right there is the Bema Seat Judgment, and now that's your judgment, and that's my judgment as a Christian. That's not a judgment to determine heaven or hell, but it is a judgment to determine rewards that we have the potential of receiving above and beyond salvation. five crowns will either be given or not given to individual Christians at that particular judgment. And so this doesn't determine heaven or hell, that issue's already resolved the moment you trust Christ as your Savior, but it is a judgment to determine how we conducted our earthly sojourn as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, did we really allow the Lord to use us the way he wanted? Or did we sort of take grace as some sort of license to lapse back into carnality or fleshly activity? When a Christian does that, they don't lose their salvation, but they can potentially lose rewards at the bama seat. So it's interesting how God has this whole thing ferreted out. depending on what group or category a person is in, everybody is gonna face some sort of future judgment. And God has the right to bring in a future judgment because he's our creator and he's our redeemer. There you see the Second Advent, Thousand Year Kingdom, followed by the Great White Throne Judgment, and that's that one on the far right for unbelievers that I was trying to make us aware of. Now what's real interesting here is you look at verse 12. It says, in order that all may be judged. a good translation of that is might be judged. And that's the Greek verb krino, and that verb is in the subjunctive mood. In other words, when God brings this diluting influence on the human race because they would not believe in His Son at this point here in the tribulation period, and the world experiences judgment, what he says here is they might be judged. Or maybe they will be judged. Now why would it say that? Because it's related to the condition of the human heart. People will show up at the great white throne judgment largely because they chose to be there, they made a decision. So maybe they'll be judged, maybe they won't. I mean, if you're not a candidate at the Great White Throne Judgment, there is a judgment at the bama seat, a judgment of rewards, but a person doesn't have to show up at the Great White Throne Judgment, because whether they show up at the Great White Throne Judgment or not relates to a decision that's in their hands that they can make. So God will judge, but whether a specific individual is judged depends on them. That's why it's in the subjunctive mood here, cry no. So how do you avoid the future judgment of God for the unbeliever? It's very simple. It's in John 3, verse 36. It says, the one who believes in the Son has eternal life. But the one who does not obey the Son, obey meaning fulfill the command to believe, but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. That's why you're dealing with this subjunctive mood here in verse 12. whether a person is actually going to be judged or not depends on them. Are they going to trust in Christ for salvation, or are they not? I mean, that judgment is clearly coming, but it doesn't have to impact every single human being, because human beings ahead of time can take precautionary measures by trusting in the provision of the Savior. And as you look at verse 12, it says, in order that they all may be judged, now watch this, who do not believe the truth. Lewis Barry Chafer writes this upwards of 150 passages of scripture. Condition salvation upon believing only. Genesis 15 verse 6, then he, Abram, believed in the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abram was justified before God because he fulfilled a single condition. John 3.16, which you probably have memorized or know by heart, says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, Acts 17, 30 and 31, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Doesn't that sound like a religious person there? What behavior do I gotta engage in to make myself right before God? And they turned around, Paul and Silas, back to the Philippian jailer and they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. So you're either a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ or you're not. And being a believer has nothing to do with intellectual assent, although that's part of it, but it has to do with the idea of trust. When you study that word in Greek, koine Greek, the Bible was written in koine Greek, the New Testament, it has to do with the idea of reliance, dependence, or confidence in. You understand the truth of who Jesus is, and then it's more than just intellectually grasping that. It's putting one's faith for their eternity, the forgiveness of their sins, and the safekeeping of their soul exclusively into the God-man Jesus Christ. And the moment that a lost human being does this is the moment they've fulfilled the condition. that God requires, which is non-meritorious. This is the only thing that we have the ability to do, which in the mind of God is non-meritorious, meaning salvation is by faith alone, it is the free gift of God, lest any man should boast. God has orchestrated salvation in such a way that man gets no credit for it through his religious activities. Romans 4 verses 4 and 5 says, to the one who does not work but believes. That's the man that's justified. So in the mind of God, the only thing a lost sinner dead in their trespasses and sins can do before God that is non-meritorious, meaning, God, you owe me this one because of something I did, is to trust or is to believe in the gospel. God says, okay, you fulfilled the condition that's non-meritorious, and at that point, you have the gift of eternal life, and I'll take my son's righteousness and transfer it to you. so that you're just as positionally righteous as Jesus himself. And the only people that can ever experience this are people that have believed, fulfilled the single condition that God requires. So that's why you see the Apostle Paul here emphasizing believe. I mean, why are these end-time Antichrist followers under a judgment of delusion? Because they did not believe the truth. In fact, if you go back to verse 11, you'll see an emphasis on believe again. For this reason, God will send upon them a diluting influence so that they will believe what is false. And then you go back to verse 10, and it uses the word receive. Because they did not receive the love of the truth, so as to be saved. So this whole issue of faith is really the starting point in God. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse six says, without faith it is impossible to please him. So whether you have a relationship with God or not has zero to do with what kind of church you go to. You know, sitting in a church does not make a person a Christian any more than sitting in McDonald's makes someone a hamburger. It has nothing to do with what kind of meritorious life you've lived or haven't lived. It has to do with the condition of the heart, which is trusting in the finished work of Jesus to fix the greatest problem that we have, our sin debt before a holy God. And by the way, God doesn't grade on a curve because a lot of people out there say, well, I'm okay because I'm not as bad as that guy over there or that girl over there. Well, that's not the standard. God is not judging people in the end for how they fared relative to their spouse or their kids or their parents or their neighbors. It's a judgment whether we have measured up to the perfect character of God or not. And that's an extremely high standard, isn't it? All of us, regardless of personal piety, have broken that standard. Maybe not in deeds, but at least in thought and motivation. And that becomes the standard. So all of us are careening for the judgment of God. That's the hopeless condition that the human race is in. But in that hopeless condition, God provided a remedy, which is Jesus and what he accomplished 2,000 years ago. So the whole world right now is savable. Every single person in the human race alive today is savable, but they are not saved until they receive non-meritoriously this free gift, which can only be accessed by way of faith. So that's why everything with God starts with faith. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1 5-7, now for this reason also applying all diligence in your faith. And now he begins to talk about once we have faith, how do we grow? In your faith, supply moral excellence. And in your moral excellence, knowledge. And in your knowledge, self-control. And in your self-control, perseverance. And in your perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love. Dr. Thomas Constable of these verses in 2 Peter says, unlike other New Testament ethical lists, Peter used here a literary device called a sorits, also called a climax or a gradatio, meaning things are moving upward As you learn to walk by faith, then the Holy Spirit says, okay, now let's add the next layer in your growth. Not your birth, but your growth. Let's add moral excellence. And then in your moral excellence, let's add knowledge. So you're kind of climbing up this stair step, if you will. I see some of you at the gym doing the stair step. And the reason I see you doing the stair step is I have a good vision because I'm not doing the stair step myself, but that's another subject. But you're climbing up these stairs, and you don't even have a staircase to climb in terms of growth until you enter by way of faith. That's why Peter here mentions faith first. Because whether a person has a relationship with God or not depends totally on faith. Now, some people stay with faith and they never add these other things as the Holy Spirit enables them, and they basically are Christians that are infant Christians, carnal Christians, we might call some backslidden Christians, but that's not what God wants for you. He wants you to keep walking. And He wants you to graduate. What's the name of this in Latin? I think that's Latin. Gradatio. I think that's how you say that. He wants you to not just be born, but to grow. But you can't grow until you're born. And you can't be born unless you have faith alone in Christ alone for salvation. So this becomes one of the reasons why the Apostle Peter, as he's talking about these people experiencing this end time delusion in the tribulation period, I mean, they're in the condition that they're in because they did not believe the truth. Verse 10 says they did not receive the truth. So is this two steps here? You gotta receive, then believe? Believe, step one, receive, step two. No, these are synonyms. Different words, same meaning. Receive in Scripture is used frequently as a synonym for believe. That's how it's used in John 1, 12. But as many as received Him, To them, he gave the right to become children of God. Now, what does it mean to receive? John, help me with that. John says, I'm so glad you asked. Because after the comma, he says, even to those who believe in his name. So he did use the word receive, but he explained what receive means. Receive means to believe, which is to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. So the dominant word that's used for the condition that the lost must fulfill over 150 times is the word believe. They have to trust in the Savior. And sometimes the New Testament will throw in a synonym for the word believe, like the word receive. And notice that these people are in the condition that they're in, in this end time delusion, because they did not believe the truth. It doesn't say they didn't have the ability to believe the truth, because in Reformed theology today, a five-point Calvinism, which is growing like you've never seen, particularly among young people, they have a view that man is so depraved, he doesn't even have the ability to believe the gospel. So to them, depravity means inability. So God has to do something on the front end. He has to impart the gift of faith to people. Because if he didn't impart the gift of faith to people, they couldn't believe. And they have a doctrine called regeneration precedes faith. God must cause a person to become born again so that they can believe the gospel. Well, you say that's a wonderful doctrine. Well, who gets the gift of faith? Oh, we didn't mention it, did we? Just the elect. The very small fraction of the human race that has been elected or chosen by God unto salvation receives the gift of faith. Everyone else, they don't have an ability to trust in Christ, and so they don't get what they need to trust Christ. Which opens the door to people showing up at the final judgment and basically saying, God, you're being really unfair with me. because you told me I had to believe to avoid the great white throne judgment, and now I'm learning I didn't even have the ability to believe. And the Calvinist comes back and says, well, God is free to do that because he's God. So they have a doctrine called double predestination. There's a small fraction of the human race elected unto salvation. Everyone else is elected unto damnation. In fact, they were created to experience damnation, double predestination. I was just watching a video by R.C. Sproul, the late R.C. Sproul, an advocate of Calvinism in which he says, your own mother could show up in hell. And throughout the ages, you'll be rejoicing because God is doing what his justice requires, even though your own mother didn't have the ability to receive the gospel. I'm sorry, folks, but we don't teach that kind of stuff here. What the Bible says is God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3, I think it's around verse eight. 1 Timothy chapter two, around verses one through four says, God desires all to be saved. and come to a knowledge of the truth. In other words, if someone shows up at the great white throne judgment and is escorted into the lake of fire, they're not gonna be able to point to God and say, you're unfair, because you never gave me the chance. They will be in that condition because of their own choice. The unbeliever is accountable for their own unbelief. So we reject the idea that depravity equals inability. We believe in depravity. We all have a sin nature. But God has made certain provisions through the proclamation of the gospel and the convicting ministry of the spirit, whereby a person can hear the gospel, come under the conviction of the spirit, which by the way, goes out into the whole world. John 16, verses seven through 11, and believe the gospel. So every single human being is savable. Yeah, but what about all these passages about election? Look, let's let God deal with that. A lot of that stuff is just above my pay grade, to be honest with you. I know how God acts, and I know what I'm supposed to do. God says preach the gospel to every creature. go into all nations and fulfill the great commission because every single human being is savable. And if a person ends up not being saved, they'll have no one to blame but themselves. That is exactly what Paul is saying here. Verse 12, in order that they may be judged who did not believe the truth. It doesn't say here they didn't have the ability to believe the truth. It says, they did not believe the truth. So unbelievers are accountable right now for their own unbelief. And this is how Jesus deals with people constantly. John 3 verse 18. He who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe in him has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So unbelievers are already in a state of judgment. It's sort of like the sword of Diomacles waiting to fall on them. And they're in that state of judgment, Because they did not believe. That's what Jesus says in John 3, 18. Meaning that they have the ability to believe, but they won't do it. Nowhere does it say here they don't have the ability to do it. John 5, verse 40. Jesus speaking to his detractors, he says, and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. Why didn't they have life? Because they wouldn't come to him. Why wouldn't they come to him? They were unwilling. So in all of these judgments, basically what God is doing is he's giving people over to what life choices they've made. And then kind of finishing off verse 12, the last part of verse 12 is sort of an explanation as to why they wouldn't come to Christ. Who did not believe the truth, verse 12, but took pleasure in wickedness. They wouldn't want to come to Jesus by way of faith for fear that he would rearrange their life. That's what keeps people away from Christ. Gosh, if I get too close to Jesus, he's gonna reshuffle my file drawers. I mean, he's gonna change the way I think about things, and I like the way I think, even though the Bible says that our current thoughts are in a state of darkness. He's gonna change my lifestyle, and I like my lifestyle. I don't wanna change it. And I'm afraid that if I get too close to the things of God, that somehow He is gonna rearrange my life. And in the walk of discipleship, He will rearrange your life. You don't rearrange your life to get saved. You receive the free gift of salvation to get saved, and then God says to grow, which is not something that all Christians decide to do. Some remain in a state of infancy and carnality. That's why some are not fully rewarded at the Bema Seat Judgment, although they're still in heaven, smelling the smoke on their garments, so to speak. But in the walk of discipleship, Jesus will rearrange your life. And quite frankly, you want him to rearrange your life. Because your life as it currently exists stinks. Jesus said in John 10 verse 10, I have come that they may have life and have it to the abundance, have it to full. So yes, he will rearrange your life, he will rearrange the way you think, he will rearrange the way you talk, he will rearrange the way you act. And then after walking with him for a while, you'll look back at your life the way it used to be and you'll say, Lord, thank you for rearranging things. Because your way of doing things is way better than mine. That's the walk of discipleship. Becoming a disciple doesn't get you saved. The walk of discipleship is for the saved. But people have enough of a knowledge of who this Jesus is that this is what keeps them away from believing in the first place because they love their wickedness. It says it right there in verse 12. Who did not believe but took pleasure in wickedness. John in his gospel records this, John 3, verses 19 through 21. This is the judgment that light has come into the world, Jesus Christ. I mean, you would think that the human race, when light showed up, would applaud the light. Yay, the light is here. But John says that's not the reaction of people. This is the judgment that light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. I don't wanna get too close to the light, because if I get close to the light, the light will expose the darkness that I'm living in. And I like the darkness. I like my sin, I like my adultery, I like my substance abuse, or whatever the issue is. I like my profanity. I like my illicit relationships. I like surfing on the internet and watching a bunch of things that I shouldn't be watching. I like doing that. And because I like doing that, I don't wanna get close to Jesus, because Jesus is gonna rearrange that. This is the judgment that light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. In other words, they loved their darkness and their sin more than they loved the light itself. For everyone who does evil hates the light. And by the way, as a Christian, you are the what of the world? Light of the world. Well, there's the explanation as to why the world doesn't receive Christianity. Because your very presence in your job, your family, your place of employment, just by you being there, exposes everything going on around you. It's not you doing it, it's Jesus filtering his light through you because he said, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. So as you get around people who are living in darkness, your presence is really not appreciated. And don't take it personally, they wouldn't appreciate Jesus if he was there as well as the ultimate light. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. That's the problem. If I get close to the light, I'm gonna be exposed. But he who practices the truth, you guys wanna practice the truth? I would assume that, because you're here. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. How do you ever get to a point in your life where You're doing the works of God rather than the works of Satan, rather than the works of self, rather than the works of flesh. You have to come to the light and allow Jesus to expose what's happening in your life so he can put you in the right direction. You know, it's, the paralytic there in John 5, he was in that state, what, 38 years? This has always been curious to me. When Jesus goes to heal this man who had been in this state for 38 years, Jesus asks him a question. You'll see this in John 5. Do you want to get well? I've always thought, well, that's a no-brainer. Of course he wants to get well. I mean, who wouldn't wanna not be a paralytic anymore? But Jesus asked him that question because later he says, stop sinning or something worse will happen to you. I believe that's in John 5 as well. So that's why he asked him the question, do you wanna get well? Because in his case, and this is not true in all cases, But in his case, his sin was putting him into this place of physical incarceration. And Jesus comes to him and says, I'm willing to heal you, but you have to want to get well. Because if you want to get well and you want to stay well, you've got to give up whatever it is that was incarcerating you, because the wages of sin is what? Is death. I think that's why he asked him the question, do you want to get well? He's trying to figure out, does this guy really want to come to the light or not? Because obviously doing it his way wasn't helping him, was it? Jesus says, I've got a whole different program for you. But you gotta be willing to give up this issue, whatever it was. We're not told what the specific sin was. And I wanna be very clear, we're saved not by works, by way of grace. But you cannot grow in your newfound salvation given to you by grace unless we're willing to come to the light continually and let the light expose. Because sin is fun. You heard it here first. There is a momentary window of pleasure that sin brings. Hebrews 11 verse 25 of Moses, it says, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoying the passing pleasures of sin. Sin does bring a certain level of excitement, but it's very short-lived. The long-term consequences are much more profound. And this is why Paul is explaining that these people are in the condition that they're in because they would not believe. Why wouldn't they believe? Because they were taking pleasure in wickedness. Now, I wanna head off something at the pass here that I've heard people teach with greater assertiveness of recent. and it's this idea based on these verses. They say this, if a person hears the gospel in the church age, and understands the gospel in the church age, and rejects the gospel in the church age, and consequently misses the rapture, which ends the church age, they will go into the tribulation period and they will have no opportunity to believe. Has anybody ever heard that? And they'll gravitate right to these verses 10, 11, and 12 to teach that. I understand what they're doing. They're trying to create urgency in people. If you hear the gospel, understand the gospel, reject the gospel, miss the rapture, then you're gonna go into the tribulation period and you're gonna have no opportunity to believe. Because after all, it says here, For this reason God will send them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. So get saved now or you'll miss the rapture and you'll have no opportunity. I do not think that's what this passage is saying. Now don't get me wrong, you should trust Christ now and participate in the rapture. That's the path of least resistance. But if by chance you hear the gospel, reject it, miss the rapture, find yourself in the tribulation period, there's absolutely nothing in this passage that says you won't have further opportunities. Because we know in the tribulation period itself, many people are gonna be saved through the work of the 144,000. through their evangelistic work, Revelation 7, 1 through 8, an innumerable multitude from all nations will come to know the Savior. We know that these particular judgments in the book of Revelation, particularly the seal judgments, mirror the birth pangs of Matthew 24. Each birth pang mirrors a seal judgment. And by the time you get to Revelation 7, which is between the sixth and seventh seal judgment, you have the evangelistic activity of the 144,000, which is mirrored in Matthew 24.14, which says the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. And if that weren't enough, you'll have the two witnesses, I would think, Revelation 11, preaching the gospel. And if that weren't enough, John writes this, Revelation 14, verse 6, I saw another angel flying in midheaven. having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. He said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and springs of water. In other words, the gospel is gonna be preached aggressively in the tribulation period by men and also by an angel. So that's why many people are going to get saved. So if that's true, you can't use this passage to say if you hear the gospel in the church age, reject it, miss the rapture, you're going to go into the tribulation period itself where salvation will be an impossibility. Because we know that there are many salvations in the tribulation period. So when I was taking Dr. Pentecost for the Thessalonian letters at Dallas Seminary, and we got to this subject, he brought up this issue. And the way he explained it is people are forcing this text, 2 Thessalonians 2, to deal with an issue that it's not dealing with. The only thing this is dealing with is what unbelievers in the tribulation period will experience. It is not dealing with what happens to people who reject the gospel and miss the rapture. That is an interesting question, but it's not being dealt with here. But because preachers try to add a sense of urgency to their message, they frequently will say this, you'll have no opportunity in the tribulation period when the text isn't dealing with that issue. It's not dealing with the church-age believer or person, I should say, that rejects the gospel and misses the rapture. It's not dealing with that question. It's only dealing with Christ rejecters in the tribulation period. So let's be urgent, but let's not make the Bible say more than it's saying. Thomas Ice, if you're interested in this, on the Pre-Trib website has an excellent article called Salvation in the Tribulation Period. And he says the context of the entire passage relates to what will happen in the forthcoming tribulation period. The context for when they did not receive the love of the truth in verse 10 will be taking place during the tribulation period. The second Thessalonians 2 passage is talking about the response of unbelievers during the tribulation period. If this passage were referring to an unbelieving response prior to the tribulation period, with the result that such a decision would impact one's destiny during the tribulation period, then the passage would have been worded differently in order to convey such a message. Since it is not so configured, then there is no support for the belief that a person's rejection of the gospel necessarily seals his fate if he enters the tribulation period. Specific support that verses eight through 12 encompass events that will transpire in the tribulation period begins in verse eight and says, and then the lawless one will be revealed. In other words, the then denotes a shift from the current church age to a future era, the tribulation period. Nothing in verses eight through 12 takes any part of that passage out of the context of the tribulation period. all, in my opinion, would agree that verses 8 and 9 refer to the Antichrist's will during the tribulation period. Verse 2 is clearly related to its preceding context and speaks of something that will take place during the tribulation period. So this view that if you hear the gospel, miss the rapture, go into the tribulation period, and you can't be saved from these verses is forcing into these verses something it's not talking about. This is talking about unbelievers or earth dwellers in the tribulation period itself. So I think our message of the gospel is urgent enough without adding things. And a lot of preachers will add something to it, which I'm not interested in doing, because God in the book of Revelation puts a pretty severe warning on people, doesn't he, at the end of the book, about adding and subtracting from what he already said. So that takes us to the end of verses 10 through 12, where now Paul's audience has an answer to the forged letter. You're not in the tribulation period, because there hasn't been a departure. You haven't seen the lawless one in the temple. The restrainer hasn't been removed. You haven't seen the destruction of the lawless one, and you haven't seen a destruction of the lawless one's followers. So with that being said, we're through with the hard stuff, I think, of 2 Thessalonians 2, leaving just verses three through 17 of the next chapter, and then chapter three. So that will only take us maybe 10 years to finish that. So let's pray. Father, we're grateful for prophecy, end times information you've given to us. Help us to be urgent, but manage these teachings properly as your church, which is the pillar of truth. We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name, God's people said. Happy intermission.