before the second coming of Christ I want to show you just how cold just how Godless just how sinful people on this Earth will become now before we dive in let this be a warning to you pray that you will never become this kind of individual the first group of people that I want to highlight are those found in Revelation 9 now for you to understand just how evil these people are you need to First understand what has happened in Revelation chapters 8 and 9 now for context the world goes through seven trumpet judgments that
take place during the tribulation period after the Rapture of the church here is a brief summary of each judgment and you will be shocked to hear how people react after going through all of this the first trumpet according to the Bible hail and fire mixed with blood are thrown down to earth causing destruction of vegetation and trees onethird of the world's trees are burned up in this plague and all the grass is consumed for the second trumpet a great burning mountain is thrown into the sea resulting in the death of a third of sea creatures
and the destruction of ships a third of the sea turns to blood a third of the ships sink and a third of ocean life dies the third trumpet will see a great star falling from the sky and it poisons a third of rivers and springs causing many to die this star is given the name wormwood for the fourth trumpet the Earth will see a third of the sun moon and stars are struck resulting in a third of the day and night being darkened the fifth sixth and seventh trumpets are referred to as the three woes
for the fifth trumpet something truly terrifying is Unleashed according to the Bible a bottomless pit is opened releasing demonic locusts that torment those people who did not have the Seal of God on their foreheads the sixth trumpet will be the introduction of four devilish mercenaries four angels are released to kill a third of mankind with an army of 200 million Horsemen resulting in great Devastation and death now the seventh and final trumpet announces the coming of God's kingdom and the Judgment of the Nations the Bible in Revelation 11: 19 says then God's temple in heaven
was opened and within his Temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant and there came flashes of light lightning Rumblings peels of Thunder an earthquake and a Severe hail storm now after all of this after all of these Supernatural and devastating events you would think people would fall to their knees and call out to God for Mercy but no that's not what happens Revelation 9: 20-21 says the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work work of their hands they did not stop worshiping demons and Idols
of gold silver bronze Stone and wood Idols that cannot see or hear or walk nor did they repent of their murders their magic Arts their sexual immorality or their thefts how heartless must you be how cold and sinful must you be to refuse to repent even after a set of extraordinary judgments by God this this is the unfortunate reality of the last days people will fall away and reject the faith people will prefer to hear doctrines of demons over the truth of the Gospel people will harden their hearts some will begin in Christ but fall
away later in life others will begin in the world but come to Christ later in life and this is nothing new from the very beginning when Jesus had 12 disciples they all saw the mirac mirales they all saw people being healed and amazing acts of God but Judas fell away the Bible actually says the devil entered his heart King Saul was an anointed one when he started out but he lost his way and the Bible tells us that the spirit of God departed from him and he was tormented by an evil spirit he started well
but he fell away in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 the Apostle Paul warns the Thessalonian Believers about the coming Rebellion or apostasy that would precede the day of the Lord now I would like to give you four illustrations of how someone can fall away and rebel from God firstly there can be a gradual drift imagine a ship without an anchor slowly drifting away from its intended course apostasy often begins as a gradual Drift from prayer a gradual Drift from Reading God's word a grad ual Drift from walking with God-fearing friends and opting to spend more time with
ungodly people Hebrews 2:1 warns us and says we must pay the most careful attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not Drift Away apostasy can start with neglecting our relationship with God slipping away from his presence and prioritizing worldly matters over spiritual ones for a Believer who once eagerly attended church and read their Bible daily if they are not careful they can gradually find themselves to be less engaged and if this goes on for too long they will eventually replace their passion for God with worldly passions and distractions this can be
the beginning of a falling away my second point is the fantasy of false teachings a man once traveled to a foreign country he was an adventurer a thrill seeker but in this particular particular place the resort that he stayed in was a compound and all tourists were given instructions not to leave the compound under any circumstances but this man thought this is a beautiful country every person I've come across is so friendly and welcoming what's the worst that could happen if I venture out for some sightseeing well he did so and in doing so he
was exposed to all manner of danger and found himself as a victim of crime you see just because everyone he came across smiled doesn't mean they meant well and in this day and age just because someone quotes the Bible or sounds like a Christian that doesn't mean they are in 2 Timothy 4:3 to4 Paul warns for the time will come when people will not put up with sound Doctrine instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear apostasy can take
root when Believers are enticed by false teachings that cater to their desires rather than God's truth my third point is a deep internal issue it is all about complacency or the erosion of convictions imagine a fortress with a sturdy wall but it begins to gradually crumble under the Relentless assault of the elements apostasy can occur when a believer's convictions are eroded over time often due to peer pressure such societal Norms a desire to fit in or compromise just as Galatians 5:7 warns you were running a good race who cut in on you to keep you
from obeying the truth apostasy may happen when we compromise our convictions for the sake of worldly acceptance when you begin to compromise on God's standards and deem certain things acceptable even when the word of God says otherwise this is the beginning of apostasy my final example is the neglect of Spiritual armor imagine a situation where there is a fierce War raging between two sides and there is a soldier who neglects to wear their armor on the battlefield exposing themselves to enemy attacks in Ephesians 6: 10-11 the Bible says finally be strong in the Lord and
in his mighty power put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil schemes apostasy can take hold when Believers neglect their Spiritual armor leaving themselves vulnerable to the enemy attacks a more practical example of this is a Christian who over time becomes relaxed in their prayer life and begins to neglect reading the Bible this will leave them spiritually exposed and unprepared to withstand the challenges of Faith however in these last days that we're talking about I want to encourage you as a Believer there is no need for
us as children of God to live in fear because the Bible tells us in Acts 2:1 17 and in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on All Flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams the Bible says in Titus 2:3 waiting for our blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ Saints we have a blessed hope Jesus Christ The Return of Our Lord is the Blessed hope
we have as his children and so don't be disheartened don't be discouraged don't be discouraged regarding the events of this world but rather keep your eyes on Jesus keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ the Bible gives us Insight that there will be a series of events that will shake the Church of God here on Earth the Bible speaks about certain events that will impact the Christian Community and you will find that nearly the entire chapter of 2 Thessalonians 2 is dedicated to warning us as Believers about these things which are to come now I
won't read the entire chapter but if you read through 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 you'll find that the Bible tells us sever several things to watch out for when it comes to the return of Christ this passage of scripture talks about a Great Rebellion against God that will happen different translations use different terminologies but it's the same meaning over and over again in the last days there will be a great falling away a Great Rebellion the great apostasy and briefly let me read 2 Thessalonians 2:3 let no one deceive you by any means for that day
will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed the son of predition so we will see people falling away from Christ to put it a different way imagine that there's a train called Christianity and this train is traveling to a destination called heaven now on this train called Christianity you can see the world you can see the glitz and the glamour of the world you could see the riches of the world you could see it all and so as this train called Christianity gets closer and closer to its
destination there's a man who appears on every station this man is the Antichrist and he targets everyone on the train he calls for them to step off the train and come and enjoy life in peace he calls for the passengers to take it easy you can come off that train and get back on on at any time enjoy yourself and you see this is what happens in the last days the closer and closer we get to the return of Jesus Christ the more we will see people who have been riding this train called Christianity for
many years we'll see them fall away and rebel if it's hard to believe just look at how many pastors start off well but ultimately fall and never recover this is not to judge because we all fall but we need to open our eyes to what scripture says there's a difference between falling into sin or a moral lapse of judgment and living a double life and to further explain the role of the man of lawlessness the son of predition or in other words the Antichrist let me read the Amplified translation of 2 Thessalonians chap 2: 1:3
so that we can fully grasp the gravity of what we're being told the Bible says now in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him we ask you brothers and sisters not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a so-called prophetic revelation of a spirit or a message or a letter alleged to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has already come let no one in any way deceive or ENT trap you for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes
first that is the Great Rebellion the abandonment of the Faith by professed Christians and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction the Antichrist the one who is destined to be destroyed so if we are to deconstruct this verse we can come to the understanding that firstly there will be a gather in to meet Jesus Christ that's in verse one secondly there will be people speaking falsely people claiming to be prophetic who will aim to deceive and say Jesus has already come that's in verse two the third point is we are warned let
no one in any way deceive or entrap you that is a clear indisputable warning to us as Believers and then the Bible tells us that there will come a time where there will be a rebellion against God where people who claimed to be Christians people who professed to be Christians people who appear to be Christians will turn their backs on the faith and walk out of the church this I believe is the effect and result of deception from the Antichrist I believe some will be deceived into walking away and others will make the choice to
walk away but regardless of the method or influence the message that I would like to tell you today is do not be included in this group of people which the Bible prophesizes about do not be a part of the group of people who walk away from the faith pray for discernment pray for the Lord to pour out his spirit in your life so that you would not be led into falsehood we need to stand on the core principles of the Gospel a gospel that teaches us in John 14:6 that Jesus Christ is the way the
truth and the life and there is no other way that you and I can get to heaven or get to God without acknowledging that Christ died and rose again anyone who tells you that this isn't the case is a liar we need to stand on the core principles of the Gospel the message of John the Baptist in Matthew 3: two is still relevant today thousands of years ago he preached the message of repentance saying repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near that same message of repentance is needed today you do not mix Holiness
and sin you don't mix Darkness and Light good and evil do not coexist one displaces the other and so any doctrine that tells you otherwise will lead you to deception any doctrine that tells you that you can freely sin and walk with God is lying to you in closing I pray that you will hold on to 2 Thessalonians 2:14-17 to this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ so then Brothers stand firm and hold to the Traditions that you were taught by by us either
by our spoken word or by our letter now may the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us Eternal comfort and Good Hope through Grace Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word a room full of Christian students were asked the question how many of you believe in signs and wonders someone quickly said it depends on who they're from the devil or Jesus the professor responded and said regardless of who they're from how many of you believe that signs and wonder can happen all the hands
went straight up he then asked so you believe that Jesus Christ can perform signs and wonders the class was in agreement yes he can then the professor asked do you believe that the devil can perform signs and wonders students hesitantly answered with no real conviction about the answer to this question most students put their hands up then the professor said boldly Matthew 24: 24 for false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect you see many people believe that only Jesus can
perform great signs and wonders however this is true of the devil as well the Bible says my people perish for a lack of knowledge and if you don't have the knowledge that's in the Bible the knowledge that reveals how the devil is capable of Performing great signs and wonders then how will you distinguish the work of God and the work of Satan 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and 10 says the coming of the Lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all Wicked deception for those who are
perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved now hear that carefully with all power and false signs and wonders and with all Wicked deception saints of God there is a great EV evil among us and this evil is called deception it's designed by the enemy and an attempt to trick us to fool us into believing evil for good so the task at hand for all believers is how do we distinguish the Divine from the Diabolical 1 John 4: 1:3 says beloved do not believe every Spirit but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God for many false prophets have gone out into the World by this you know the spirit of God every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God this is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming and now is in the world already so you see if you are to ever see great signs and wonders test the spirits and you may be wondering well how exactly do I test the spirits what do
I do well the passage of scripture we've just read said in verse 2 and three every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God this is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming and now is in the world already if that spirit acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in the flesh here on Earth died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God then that spirit is from God however if that spirit
says anything else but Jesus the Bible says this is the spirit of the Antichrist so the next time you see a preacher a prophet or anyone performing anything in the Supernatural before before you clap before you accept it before you say anything pray for the Holy Ghost to give you discernment and then wait wait to see if that act was glorifying Jesus Christ as Lord before you clap test the spirit to see whether it confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord test whether or not that miracle that healing that act or wonder is it really to
the glory of God or is it to exalt that person is God being given the glory and honor or is the man or woman on stage saying look at me I can do this all day long we need to test the spirits and I believe that the majority of the devil's signs and wonders boil down to four major objectives money Fame pleasure and power the devil will perform signs and wonders through people which are driven by one of these objectives 1 John 4: 4-6 says Little Children You are from God and have overcome them for
he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world they are from the world therefore they speak of the world and the world listens to to them we are from God whoever knows God listens to us whoever is not from God does not listen to us by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error so understand there are two Spirits in operation the spirit of truth and the spirit of error the spirit of error is in the world it's the spirit of the Antichrist and the the Bible
clearly says that they speak from the world and the world listens to them however you and I are not of the world as children of God the Bible tells us that we have overcome them because greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world so test the spirits before you allow someone to stand before you as a man or woman of of God pray for sensitivity pray for the holy spirit to guide you in truth so that you may not be led astray there are people of God out there people
who are being mightily used by the Lord in various ways however there's also those sent by the devil to create confusion to create an illusion of Truth when it's really deception so I encourage you we must be a people who are joined with the spirit of Truth we must be a people who are filled with the Holy Spirit we must be a people who tests the spirits we must be a people who are governed by the truth that is Jesus Christ although we live in this world we do not and we should not fight our
B battles like the world in fact the weapons that we have available to us aren't physical weapons but note how the Bible says for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty in God the word of God is one of the weapons that we have as children of God it's a weapon that is powerful the conflicts you face the battles you face the Lord has the final say over all of that so I encourage you people of God to trust God trust in the word of the Lord trust in his promises and you
will have the victory no one is so holy so saved that they have no internal private things that they're dealing with the Bible says those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires that verse is all about identifying that sin within that ungodly desire that unhealthy passion and then saying no to it get to the point where you say my love for God is greater than my love for anything else that's how you crucify your flesh the best way to identify what the stronghold you face in your life is
you you have to look at the area in your life where you face a constant battle the area that you struggle the most and the reason you need to identify this is because the devil is cunning and deceitful he will know what the giant or stronghold struggle with is and so we need to be alert because the devil will plant a seed in your mind a seed that he will attempt to entice you with and should you bite the bait not only will that seed lead you to fall into sin or oppression but it then
opens the door to a potential stronghold or some kind of bondage as an enemy the devil will never present someone else's weakness or struggles to you he will not plant a thought about alcohol when he knows you struggle with lust no he will always find the area that you are the weakest in and he will use that against you that's why it's so important for us to be honest with ourselves and look introspectively at the areas we need deliverance from because the enemy will see that as a route to disrupt our walk with Christ this
point is supported by 2 Corinthians 2:1 where the Bible says so that we would not be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs the devil is witty and has evil designs so we must be diligent we must be vigilant we must be alert and always on guard against any potential breach by the enemy in our minds the devil will try and plant a seed within you when he can't affect you physically that's what I'm talking about when I say name your enemy take a good honest look look at yourself what is
the devil trying to use to distract you from being an effective Christian what's he using to discourage you doubtful thoughts thoughts of insecurity or inadequacy name your enemy and rebuke it there are a lot of things happening in this world there is a lot of evil the Bible in 2 Corinthians 4:4 says in their our case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God think about that for a moment the God
of this age the God of this world Satan has prevented unbelievers from seeing the light of the Gospel now in case you didn't know the devil is very influential on this Earth whether you see it or not whether you believe it or not the devil can and has influence on the ideals opinions and standards in this world that's why the Bible says the God of this world the devil has his tentacles in the world's philosophies they are in so many institutions and you may think well how exactly does he do this well look at the
driving force of many many major companies it's money money has become a god an idol to many people including the bosses of many major corporations they will track your movements watch what you're watching analyze what you click on some even take your personal information and sell it with the objective of what money money is the number one objective money is the only objective for so many institutions in this world yet the word of God says the love of money is the root to all evil but you see the God of this world the devil he
blinds unbelievers and they don't see this they don't see how money has become an idol to them another example to illustrate just how the God of this world the devil has blinded the minds of unbelievers is this the Bible tells us to flee sexual immorality the Bible tells us that fornicators and adulterers and the sexually impure will not inherit the kingdom of God however in this world what type of content is searched for the most on the Internet it's all sexually explicit content that is related to opposing the word of God one site by the
name of Covenant eyes reported that 30% of Internet content is pornography 30% of content online is geared to promoting sexual impurity and the sad thing is the number of visitors to these sites are in the billions this is the work of the God of this world sure enough if you take a look at this world through the lens of the Bible you will notice a trend what the word of God stands for the world is against what Jesus Christ stands for and represents the world is against those who have been blinded by Satan live under
a delusion they won't see that the Love of Money drives so many ungodly things instead they will focus on the notion that everyone needs money everyone needs to make a living of course and the Bible never says money is evil it says the love of money is evil and when you love money so much that you're willing to do things that are unethical and immoral then money has become an idol when you're willing to steal or to overlook the detrimental effect you have on others all so that you can make money then it has become
an idol to you when you love money so much that you're willing to stand in front of a camera and not only commit sexual sin but lead others to commit sexual sin then money has become an idol take a look at what the Amplified version says in 2 Corinthians 4: 3:4 but even if our gospel is in some sense hidden behind a veil it it is hidden only to those who are perishing among them the God of this world Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the Illuminating Light of
the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God the devil wants you as far away from Jesus Christ as possible he wants you to be blind from the truth even if it is right in front of you the devil wants you to take God casually not seriously meaning you use God like a convenience store you go to him when you need something and if you don't need anything then you put him away that's blindness now with this all being said I want to be very clear about this next Point while the
devil is described as the God of this world he is limited he is not all powerful the devil rules the Earth in a limited capacity but he does not have ownership of the earth nor is he all knowing omnipresent and omniscient he is not the devil has boundaries because God is still Sovereign and holds the final say Revelation 12:12 says therefore Rejoice oh heavens and you who dwell in them but woe to you oh Earth and sea for the devil has come down to you in a great wrath because he knows that his time is
short the devil's time on this Earth is short and what I want you to understand is that Hebrews 12:2 says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God when you look to Jesus there is no devil no demon that can blind you when you look to Jesus there can be no love for money in your heart because your love for Christ is greater when you look to
Jesus you cannot be blinded distracted or whisked away by immorality sin greed or pleasure I encourage you to really focus be fixated on the Lord this way you can't go wrong this world needs belief belies who are full of Christ it needs Spirit-filled believers who can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world be so filled with the word that the light of Jesus Christ will shine through you into this world we are not commanded to hate anyone in this world we are commanded to love our neighbors as we love ourselves
This Love that the Bible speaks of is one that can only be shown to others when you yourself have received Jesus Christ unbelievers may be blinded by the God of this world but as Christians we need to ensure that we are overflowing with the love of Jesus Christ so much so that they will have to see the truth they will have to see the way to eternal life [Music]
