Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Well, good morning, everybody. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the lead pastor here at Village church East, and it is my privilege to welcome you to sub zero degree weather.
[00:00:13] Every one of us has one thing in common. We all woke up this morning and thought to ourselves, why, oh, why do I not live in Florida? Right?
[00:00:24] So. So for me, I woke up this morning and my wife rolled over, and she said to me this morning, it wasn't like, let me tell you 20 things I love most about you. That's usually what she says. She didn't say that this morning. Instead, what she said was, craig, I just want to tell you, it's -35 degrees outside.
[00:00:44] With the wind chill. Yeah, with the wind chill. So I said, well, let's cancel church this morning. And she said, heathen, no.
[00:00:56] So welcome to 2024. We're kicking it off with a bang. It's good to see you here this morning. If you're joining us online, welcome. You obviously don't have galoshes or you'd be here, but the rest of you are, and it's good that you're here this morning.
[00:01:12] One thing in 2024 that Beth and I did was we kind of got on this binge of watching this tv show called Alone. Have you seen this show called Alone? So it really is quite entertaining. These people are dropped off in the middle of godforsaken territory on the planet, and they have to outlast the other people that are dropped off. So they're all dropped off in different zones, like a three mile radius that they have to hunt and fish and build shelters in. They have to stay there long enough to outlast the other contestants. And I think there's, like, ten contestants. They sometimes each one is given 20 things, so they can only bring 20 things along with them to survive with. And it's kind of entertaining to watch them because a lot of them just give up because they're lonely, which is interesting because you think to yourself, it's got to be more than that. People would give up for more than that. But a lot of them give up just because they just can't stand the isolation. But a lot of them endure, like, 40, 50, 60, 70 days. So they start in the summertime and they work hard to get, or in the fall, and they work hard to get their shelters ready. And then a lot of them are there, like when the blizzards come put in the middle of Alaska or Siberia or some godforsaken area, and they just have to survive and outlast the other people and they never know how far they are along. They just have to just kind of endure until finally those who are in charge show up one day and say, you're the last man standing or the last woman standing. One skill that I learned while watching that show was how to make traps. Every one of them has to figure out how to get food. So they all have these really interesting ways of making traps. But there are three things in each of these episodes where they make these traps. Three things that are similar with every trap. Number one, it has to be camouflaged. It has to be put into a place where something will hop along or scurry along or walk along or whatever, and they don't see it coming. It has to be hidden, it has to be camouflaged. Number two, it has to be put on an area where there are a lot of animals walking through because you want to get the most bang for your buck. You only have a certain amount of wire that you can bring so that you can put the noose and it tightens around their neck, or a fall trap or whatever it is there, but you want to put it somewhere where you know there's a lot of traffic coming through. And three, you want to make sure that the trap holds, because if it's way far away from you and you're in your camp or just surviving under a rock somewhere for longer than the other contestants, you want to make sure if something does get caught in that trap, it holds.
[00:04:00] For the next three weeks, we're going to be talking about a series called traps.
[00:04:09] There is something going on in our world today where we are constantly walking into traps.
[00:04:20] Have you ever noticed how easy it is to fall into these things?
[00:04:26] I'm going to bring this up just because it needs to be said. How many of you have heard of social distancing? Heard of social distancing? Have you heard of the pandemic? Yes. All right, so you've heard of social distancing. Dr. Fauci did an interview this past week with a government oversight committee behind closed doors, and they asked him about social distancing. This is what he said.
[00:04:51] Fauci claimed that the 6ft apart social distancing recommendation promoted by federal health officials was likely not based on any scientific data at all. He characterized the development of this guidance by stating, quote, it sort of just happened.
[00:05:10] Now, I don't know about you, but I lived through the pandemic, and I was told this plastic glass between me and the barista is going to keep us both healthy, which is stupid to say, but anyway, okay, so maybe so, but social, you remember the social distancing thing? Yeah. And so that ball got rolling around the world and people bought into this with no scientific, no scientific data at all.
[00:05:38] Traps are called traps for a reason. They lure us in.
[00:05:43] They are placed in community, public, well traveled areas. They're way out there in the public light, and they are usually camouflaged as something good, something based on science, something that will save your life.
[00:05:58] We fall into these traps constantly. Satan is the master of setting traps for you and me. And I'm not saying that Fauci. I'm just using that as an illustration that became a trap that the world got caught in. And now all of a sudden, and by the way, if you're wondering if I just made that up, you can look this up. The group that interviewed him was the United States Health Committee on oversight and Accountability. And all of this is on their website.
[00:06:23] Now. Satan is the master of setting traps. And I'm not saying know Fauci had any nefarious ideas. You can think what you want about that. I'm just saying I think we live in a world where this happens more often than we think.
[00:06:37] I think Satan is a master of setting traps for you and me. He does this by spreading philosophies of life. He uses the tv influence, the media influence, the masses.
[00:06:49] He throws things out there for the purpose of deluding us into believing one thing.
[00:06:56] He can make these traps so camouflaged that people walk right into them. He puts them in the most public places. So all of a sudden now, people, en masse, believe these things. And he makes it so believable that people walk right into it. And before they know it, they're trapped and it becomes a noose around their neck. They're so unwilling to change at that point because they've bought into it that their pride becomes an issue and they're not going to back down. In fact, some of them are so committed to it that they must necessarily spread it themselves.
[00:07:28] Now, I want you to know that this happens across the spectrum, and we're going to talk a little bit about where that happens in our world today. But I want you to give you one verse before we jump off into our main passage. And this is two Corinthians eleven, verse 14. Listen to this. This is how well of a trapper Satan is. Listen. Verse 14 from two Corinthians eleven. Even Satan disguises get the idea of the trap there. Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of the light church. Why would Satan disguise himself as an angel of light.
[00:08:04] Because he's looking to trap people.
[00:08:07] He wants to get people caught off guard. He wants to promote himself as something they don't see so that he can trap them in his delusions.
[00:08:18] But look at the next verse, verse 15. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
[00:08:34] These influences that trap us, these philosophies of life that trap us, these things that we see, people around us that we love walking right into, and we go, that doesn't sound right. Have you really vetted that thought out a little bit? And we think to ourselves, obviously they haven't, but they're going, yeah, absolutely, I have. You haven't thought this through. And it becomes almost a delusion that they've bought into, and now they're selling to the people around them.
[00:08:59] So I want to take you to our main passage for today, which is second Thessalonians chapter two.
[00:09:07] Second Thessalonians chapter two deals with these demonic delusions in a pretty interesting way. Here's how it reads. I want to start down in verse nine, and then we're going to back up. 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, this passage right here is talking about the end times.
[00:09:39] When this world, the clock, runs out, there will be one significant figure that comes up. He will be referred to as the Antichrist. It's all the way through the New Testament. You can read it there if you want to. A lot of different passages. Jesus himself talks about this. All right, you keep that verse up there for a minute. This passage is talking about that moment of time when he will be revealed. Bible calls him the lawless one, as well as a bunch of other names, but he will come and he will disguise himself as a servant of righteousness. Whatever he says, people will go. That sounds right. That sounds scientific. That sounds good. That sounds like something that will save me. That sounds like something that will make my life better. But his agenda is the same as the devil's agenda, by the way, the father of lies, which is why we call him the devil. He will have the same agenda as the lawless one, and they will simply bring wicked delusions to lead people astray from the truth. He will be the epitome of a professional setter of traps, and people will buy everything he says, hook, line and sinker.
[00:10:54] People will be so trapped by demonic deceit that they will not be able to comprehend the truth at all.
[00:11:01] This will not happen overnight.
[00:11:03] This will happen through a process of deceit and delusions so that once we get to the final delusion, the great lie, we can call it, people around us who don't believe in Jesus Christ will buy into it easily.
[00:11:20] It won't be a hard sell. It won't be like selling ice cubes to eskimos. It won't be like that at all. It's going to be very easy because people will be used to buying into the delusions. So the great delusion will be easier to buy into. This will be a common belief held by the masses. And the reason is they refuse to love the truth. They choose to love a lie.
[00:11:50] Verse eleven goes on to tell us, therefore, God sends them a. What's the next two words? There.
[00:11:57] Now, if you've been deluded, that's bad, but how about a strong delusion?
[00:12:04] God will send them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that he may all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
[00:12:19] This final delusion will originate in the spiritual realm, which is why we sang some of the songs we sang this morning. This final delusion that will bring about the end times and the hell that will be wreaked upon the earth will come from the demonic realm. It will come from there through people who seem to be trustworthy. They will spread among humans like wildfire. And people will begin to believe stuff you absolutely thought nobody could ever believe in their right mind.
[00:12:50] It will be a world where you look around and you think to yourself, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And people out there will be going, that's not dumb. That's the way we all should think.
[00:13:03] These delusions will become widely accepted by those who are perishing. That means those who are not followers of Jesus Christ.
[00:13:11] Those who are on a one way trip to the father of lies.
[00:13:18] Eventually, the strongest delusion will come. It will be sold, and God will allow humanity to buy into every word. Why would God allow that to happen? Because they have no intention of listening to the truth. They have every intention of believing the lie. Because if they believe the lie, they don't have to deal with the God of truth.
[00:13:40] In fact, the Bible, if you remember the verse that we just read, the last two words they had pleasure in. Sorry, could you throw that up again? I'm throwing Chris off. They don't believe the truth. But they had. What is that word there that starts with a P?
[00:13:55] They had pleasure in unrighteousness. It is their preference.
[00:14:02] So they believe what is false. They believe actually, interestingly enough, this Verse. See, when the in the Orange word says they believe what is false, that actually reads. In the greek, they believe the lie.
[00:14:19] It doesn't say they believe what is false. Literally, in the Greek, it says they believe the lie, capital T-H-E. And so I'm studying the scriptures, and I'm going like you're probably thinking to yourself, what is the lie?
[00:14:36] The lie is anything that opposes and exalts itself up against the truth that God reveals.
[00:14:45] The lie is anything that exalts and lifts itself up against the truth, which is what God reveals.
[00:14:54] In fact, it talks about this again in Romans 125. In Romans, it says, because they exchanged the truth, capital T-H-E they exchanged the truth about God for the lie, capital T-H-E. They exchanged one for the other, and they worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forevermore. The lie is about replacing God.
[00:15:20] Every lie under the lie deals with replacing God, and it results in changing who is worshipped, changing who has authority, and promoting the creature over the creator.
[00:15:40] The lie that everybody will believe that will bring about the end time, has a lot of little lies leading up to it that are based on the lie. And the crucial point of the lie is it elevates the creature rather than the creator. It replaces who has authority over us, and it changes who we worship. That is the lie. The LiE becomes believable. When the truth becomes irrelevant, the lie is easier to buy into. And the deeper you sink into the lie, the more believable it becomes. In fact, if you read further down in Romans 128, listen to this, it says, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, believing the lie rather than the truth, they did not see fit to acknowledge God. God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
[00:16:36] When you exchange the truth for what leads to the lie, you end up taking pleasure in unrighteousness, and you will debase what God has given to you and believe a whole lot of things that debase this body as well.
[00:16:57] Believing the lie will bring about one result, they are no longer able to stand the truth.
[00:17:08] When you believe the lie, you end up giving up the truth. In fact, it becomes almost something that makes you sick.
[00:17:19] You can't even hear it anymore. You can no longer endure it. In fact, in two timothy four three, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. A time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. That is the truth.
[00:17:32] A time is coming when people will not endure the truth but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and they will wander off into myths.
[00:17:49] This gap will have to be filled where God's truth had once been something humanity followed. Once the truth is given up, a gap is left. And what fills the gap? A land of confusion where anything becomes truth.
[00:18:08] Brothers and sisters, we are living in a generation today. I never thought we would actually be using words like, well, that's your truth. But this is my truth. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Try saying that in a court of law.
[00:18:23] Go to a court of law. I swear to tell.
[00:18:26] You know how it goes. I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Right? That's what you say.
[00:18:37] Then you put the Bible away and you sit down, and then somebody accuses you of something, and then you use that line and see how it goes. Well, that's their truth. But I have my truth.
[00:18:49] Removing the truth brings a large category of all kinds of other truths based on the lie.
[00:19:02] And that lie, remember, will be disguised. This is traps disguised as righteousness, disguised as something good, disguised as something that will benefit society, disguises something that will benefit you. Disguise as something that will elevate you, that will evolve our race into something more tenable.
[00:19:26] We currently live in a land where we actually personalize the truth. And I find it interesting that it's no longer a ruse. In modern culture, there are all kinds of truths, which means there is no the truth any longer.
[00:19:45] If you read down, keep going. In two Thessalonians two and verse twelve, it says this in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. This is about the truth versus the lie.
[00:20:03] Why would somebody not want to know the truth?
[00:20:08] If there is the truth out there, why would somebody not want to know it? It's a good question. I mean, aren't all of us seeking the truth about life?
[00:20:18] And yet when we hear the truth, some of us pull back from it. We don't like hearing the truth.
[00:20:27] In fact, Jesus tells us the answer to that very question. Have you heard about John 316? That's a good verse. We love that. For God so loved the world, gave his only son, whoever believes in him should not perish. Do you know what the next verses after that talk about the lie.
[00:20:43] Here's what it says. Verse 19. And this is the judgment.
[00:20:48] Light has come into the world. That's Jesus. And people love. Think of the truth as the light. After all, Jesus did say something like that, right? I am the way, the truth and the life, right? This is a judgment. The light, the truth has come into the world. And people loved what?
[00:21:07] People loved darkness rather than light. Why? Because their works were.
[00:21:15] This is not me talking. This is Jesus. I'm stealing all of this from him.
[00:21:20] Because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light. They do not come into the light because if they do, their works will be exposed.
[00:21:35] The demonic realm offers us pleasure in unrighteousness so that we do not seek the truth. Because if you're taking pleasure in unrighteousness and you believe the truth that God has given us in his word, you are accountable to God.
[00:21:57] That is a fearful place to be, don't you think? Can you imagine being accountable to God?
[00:22:04] I'm so glad we're not accountable to God.
[00:22:08] How many people in here are accountable to God?
[00:22:12] Yes. If your hand's not up, it's just because you're timid. I know. But every one of us is accountable to God.
[00:22:20] Why do people love darkness?
[00:22:23] Because their deeds are evil. Church, can I just ask you a really scary question? Who else loves darkness other than people?
[00:22:32] Some animals.
[00:22:34] But who else?
[00:22:37] Demons.
[00:22:39] Demons thrive in darkness.
[00:22:43] If you have the image of God, if you have humans who love darkness, they are imitating the demonic realm.
[00:22:55] Two thessalonians two, verse twelve.
[00:22:59] In order that all may be condemned. Remember, we read this. Who did not believe in the truth but had. And there's that p word, pleasure in unrighteousness.
[00:23:12] Verse three, back up two Timothy two. Let no one deceive you in any way.
[00:23:19] For that day will not come, that final day, unless the rebellion comes first. That final day when the clock ticks down and this world ends. And it will someday. That day will not come until the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. The son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming. Read this with me, if you will, because it strikes fear into my heart. Proclaiming himself to be.
[00:23:56] Proclaiming himself to be God.
[00:24:00] That lie is culminated in the Antichrist. He will be known for this. He will be known for proclaiming himself to be God. There will be some moment in time when he says, you want something to worship. Why not start with me?
[00:24:15] And people will do it.
[00:24:17] But I want you to know, even though we're talking about end times here, did you know that there are many antichrists? Did you know that the Bible tells us there are many antichrists that lead to the final one.
[00:24:33] Don't believe me? I'm glad. How about Jesus own words?
[00:24:38] Actually, this isn't. We'll get to that in a minute. But here's one. John 218. Listen to this, children. It is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, no, this is the last hour. Now, that was 2000 years ago. Why would he say that? Because all of these antichrists, all of these people that are influenced by the demonic realm to spread these delusions are influenced to spread something that looks like the lie, and the lie is always the same.
[00:25:18] The followers of Jesus, however, cannot be duped.
[00:25:22] They know the truth, and the truth has set them free from being caught in lies. Don't you love how this all revolves around traps?
[00:25:29] The truth? Jesus said, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Because all of us are so subtly lured into these traps. In fact, the Bible reminds us that all of us were in the same boat. All of us were caught in these traps. The only thing that freed us from these God forsaken, weird, delusional traps spread by the demonic realm through people who gladly follow it because they don't believe anything that deals with the truth. The only reason we are out of that we are freed from that is because Christ has set us free.
[00:26:09] He comes along and he looses the noose off our necks. And he goes, you've been believing a lie.
[00:26:15] And we go, oh, yeah?
[00:26:17] Where do I look for truth? And Jesus says, well, I'm glad you're starting with me, because I am the way the truth and the life.
[00:26:27] Followers of Jesus cannot be duped.
[00:26:30] Jesus says, I'm sorry. First, John 218. If you go down to verse 21, it says this, I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it. And because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar? Church. Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? You want to know who's spreading the lie? People who say that Jesus is not God's son. People who say that Jesus is not deity, people who say that Jesus did not rise from the dead, people who do disagree with the gospel, they are spreading the lie because it goes against the truth.
[00:27:16] Who is the liar, verse 22. But he who denies that Jesus is a Christ, this is the Antichrist. He denies not just the son, but he denies. Who else? Church.
[00:27:28] You can't believe in God the Father and not believe in Jesus Christ.
[00:27:34] That's the lie.
[00:27:37] The liar will tell the lie in a lot of different ways. And there are lots of liars in our world today, and they will tell the lie in a lot of different ways. But whatever the lie is at the root of it, Jesus is not the Christ. Jesus is not God's son, and Jesus is not your authority.
[00:27:58] The life is anything or, I'm sorry, the lie is anything that props itself up against the truth.
[00:28:09] Your truth must necessarily at some point intersect with Jesus Christ. Now this is where you're probably thinking to yourself, well, Craig, this is very philosophical this morning. I'm not sure how this applies to our life. I mean, I agree with all that gospel stuff and the lie and all of that, but how does that really apply? Here's where it applies.
[00:28:32] All truths, all things that people believe must necessarily at some point intersect with what Jesus said.
[00:28:43] Whatever you believe about life and death and family and schools and the pandemic, and whatever you believe about any of those things in life, all of those things at some point must necessarily intersect with Jesus Christ. You're thinking to yourself, what does jesus have to do with the pandemic? I'm glad you asked.
[00:29:06] The truth of Jesus intersects every other truth that a person might have.
[00:29:14] Here's the easiest way to figure this out. If you're being sold a part of the lie, whoever's selling you what you think might be a lie, simply stop the conversation and ask this question.
[00:29:28] What do you think about Jesus Christ that will stop the conversation like you never believe, and it will force them to reveal where their truth came from.
[00:29:49] Because, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, our truth comes from Jesus Christ, comes from God's word, and is reminded to us constantly by the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. That's the truth.
[00:30:04] If you ask a person, say, now you believe this, can you just tell me, what do you think of Jesus? And if they back off, then you have to know wherever their source of truth came from, it did not originate with Jesus.
[00:30:24] We are experiencing a world that has become extremely dark, quickly and confusing.
[00:30:35] They are confused and now they openly admit it. I am confused about this, but I know what I believe about this. And your simple answer to that is, if you're confused, how can you stand on solid ground for those of us that are followers of Jesus Christ. I am not confused about where my foundation is. And if you ask me, my view of any subject on the planet, it will always revolve around what does God say in his word?
[00:31:05] What did Jesus say about this thing?
[00:31:08] And whatever Jesus says, as hard as it is for me to believe, or as much as I think I wish he hadn't said it that way, I must necessarily agree with it, because he is the one I worship.
[00:31:25] If they deny that Jesus is a messiah as he claimed to be, if they deny that he sent from God to be the savior of the world, if they deny the risen, resurrected Lord, if they deny the gospel story, then whatever it is that they are saying as truth will have to change, or they will have to change. Jesus had a conversation recently with somebody just like this, and we were talking about beliefs in a certain subject.
[00:31:52] And necessarily that conversation went to Jesus. And it just amazed me because it had nothing to do about Jesus. It was about cognitive studies that are going on in the world today and how the synapses of the brain are reconnecting and how we can do different activities to reconnect the brain and stuff like this. And inevitably that conversation just kind of went on and on and on until it landed with Jesus. And that's when the whole thing went south.
[00:32:25] What ideas does the father of lies try to sell us today?
[00:32:28] I think there's five main things, five main categories that the father of lies would like to get us to change our views on, that God simply does not change his views on. Here are the five. I think it's image who we are as human beings, children, family, authority, and eternity.
[00:32:49] Those five subjects I think deal with are the things Satan attacks the most, trying to sell the lie to get the truth out of here. So let's break each one down. I think Satan tries to go after the image. The image is simply that we are created in God's image. And what God would say about that is, you are created in my image. If you're human, you have a soul, you are created in my image, you are fallen. But I can fix that. That's God's view. The view of the world is, well, let's talk about humanity.
[00:33:25] We evolved by chance from stardust 45 billion years ago.
[00:33:33] Because of that, we are responsible to nobody nor one another. The reason we do good is simply because it makes us feel good. There's a part of humanity where we should do good. You ask them why, and they simply say, because it's the thing to do.
[00:33:50] Listen, if I didn't have Jesus Christ as my savior. You would have to work really hard to convince me why I had to be good to you. Why do I have to be good to you? I want to take everything you have and make it my own. I've only got this long to live. I'm gladly taking what you have and living off of it myself.
[00:34:06] If I'm not responsible to my creator, if I'm just a wisp of stardust on a rock 45 billion years ago, I don't have anything to be. I'm not responsible to you. But they don't go down that road because there's a part of the image of God still in them that says, you should be good, but they don't know why.
[00:34:26] So the image is turned into hyper individualism. That's your truth. That's my truth. The world revolves around me.
[00:34:34] There's also a dualism. I'm not responsible for the bad things I do. There's something way down deep inside me that makes me do that. I'm not responsible for him. He shows up once in a while and does his own thing, and that's his problem. But I, Craig, am basically a good person.
[00:34:53] Other things are to blame. The little me inside of me or my habits I can't get control of. You can't blame me for having an accident on the highway and killing your loved one because I was drunk, because I don't like being drunk. That's not the person I want to be. And that wasn't really me that did it in the first place. Or better yet, my dad was a drunk. I don't have a choice.
[00:35:15] It's always blame. It's always cast. I'm a victim of circumstances. You can't blame me for who I am. I'm not evil. The evils in the world. I'm a victim of the evil that's in the world. I am what I feel.
[00:35:31] My truth are things that are paramount to me. You see, what happens is you take the image of God.
[00:35:38] God created you as his image and gave you purpose. And you change that into a part of the lie, which is you execute God and you elevate self.
[00:35:52] You worship and serve the creature, me, rather than the creator, who is blessed forevermore.
[00:36:02] Satan wants to destroy image, our version of image in our head. He wants to destroy our children.
[00:36:10] He doesn't even camouflage this. In our world today, God says children are a gift from him, meant to be protected and meant to be used to further life. As I created the lie says, my body, my choice. That's a lie.
[00:36:31] My body is not my body. Right? My body belongs to who? Church? Who does your body belong to? God. God owns you. He created you. It is not your body and your choice. You are God. You better watch out for what he wants you to use your body for.
[00:36:50] So my body, my choice has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths of aborted babies around the world.
[00:36:58] Explain to me how some mom who loses her baby in a miscarriage refers to that blessed little thing as a baby, but another mom, at the exact point of time that this mom lost her baby, aborts it and calls it a fetus.
[00:37:22] Is it a fetus? Is it a baby? It can't be both.
[00:37:27] The lie is God has not created us. The lie is we are not made in his image. And so we buy into a lot of versions of this, and all of them result in Satan stealing our kids.
[00:37:41] He loves death. He just does. So he's professional at going after children. He doesn't even hide it anymore. That's why this stuff is being taught and promoted in school. The stuff that my kids learn in math class has nothing to do with math anymore. It has to do with humanity. It has to do with sociological impacts. It has to do with philosophies that some guy in his mom's basement and his underwear decides to put on his media computer, and it gets so popular, it's bought around the world.
[00:38:14] That's what's being taught to our kids. It's not even hit anymore, and you have to believe it. You can't even have a business without hiring a certain amount of certain people in order to be a part of that business anymore, or your business is going to be rejected.
[00:38:28] Satan is after the youngest in the womb and in the communities. Why? Because if he can get the youngest, he can get the most innocent and he can do the most damage. Lies starting humanistic philosophies taught at the lowest levels of our teaching structures.
[00:38:45] And listen, when my kids were young, they weren't allowed to talk about certain subjects.
[00:38:52] Beth and I had subjects. We talked about ourselves, but we wouldn't talk about them with them. Nowadays, kids that are eight, six, seven years old are talking about stuff I'm not old enough to talk about.
[00:39:06] Satan's after our kids.
[00:39:08] Number three, he's after the family. God's version of family is to leave Cleveland, become one flesh. It's in Genesis two, right from the very beginning. Family is built on God's structure of a man who loves a woman, a woman who loves a man. Seeing themselves come together to be one flesh, a husband and wife who are dedicated to one another for a lifetime. In fact, Jesus said this. Okay, let's get rid of it all. Jesus said, what God has joined together, let no man separate. Who puts two people together for marriage, according to Jesus himself.
[00:39:39] Okay, one more time. Jesus says, what God has put together, let no man separate. Who puts two people together in marriage? Who does that and who separates them?
[00:39:50] Man.
[00:39:53] Marriage is God's plan for procreation, for making life happen. And then he gives roles for the men and roles for the fathers and roles for the mothers. This is what is intended. But in our society, we are infiltrated by sin so that we suffer under the weight of it. And so husbands behave in terrible ways, and wives behave in terrible ways, and children behave in terrible. And soon those family structures are broken apart. But it's not because God dropped the ball. It's because we did, because we're not clinging to the truth like we should.
[00:40:28] Instead, the lie is that men are the problem in society, especially white, middle aged men.
[00:40:34] Men are the problem in society. Feminism reigns.
[00:40:38] This is all about the family, the free sex. Sex outside of marriage is not even an issue anymore. Nobody believes that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage anymore except for God, because it's all the way through scripture. Okay, we don't even talk about that one anymore.
[00:40:53] There's a definition less marriage.
[00:40:56] Marriage is what God said. But, yeah, let's change marriage into this, and it won't be long before marriage is changed into something we can't even understand anymore.
[00:41:07] And eventually, it just doesn't become important.
[00:41:12] Rebellious children in the home. Parenting negligence. Parents who abuse their kids instead of protecting them.
[00:41:20] The family is meant to be God's blessed structure for this planet.
[00:41:26] This is his intention.
[00:41:28] And when it falls apart, we are meant to go. Yeah, that sounds normal. It's not normal.
[00:41:34] It's based on the lie.
[00:41:38] What about authority?
[00:41:41] Authority is obey those over you. You can read about this in scripture. You got a boss. The Bible says you should obey your boss.
[00:41:51] You got an authority over you. The Bible says you should obey that. My kids run into officers. Police officers. And if the police tell them this, if the police officer tells you to get on the ground, what do you do? Well, have a conversation with them. Attack them. No police officer says to get on the ground, you get on the ground. Why? Because they are the authority and they have guns.
[00:42:15] Obey those over you at the job. Obey the kings. Pray for your king. Pray for your presidents. Pray for your leaders. Pray for those who are in politics over you. Pray for them, obey them, pay your taxes. Did you know that's in the Bible? It literally says pay your taxes.
[00:42:35] You know what the devil says? Don't listen to authority. Be suspicious of everybody who says they have authority over you. Every authority over you is evil. They all have a hidden agenda. Destroy those things. And the woke agenda by the way is all about destroying authority. It's all about propping your own version of authority up against the authorities that are over you now. Questioning and removing them, destroying authority structures and victimhood eventually will result in anarchy. Everybody has a right to destroy authority because everybody is a victim.
[00:43:15] Number five, destroy souls. Eternity.
[00:43:20] God talks a lot about our souls and our eternity.
[00:43:24] And God's version of this is there is one God and one mediator between God and men.
[00:43:31] The lie that we are sold is good people go to heaven. That is not true. Not one good person ever went to heaven. Not one.
[00:43:41] Sinners go to heaven.
[00:43:43] Jesus came to save not good people. Jesus came to save what sinners?
[00:43:50] God loves everyone and he would never judge anyone. A lie. Jesus said himself, do you know that God the Father doesn't do the judging? Do you know Jesus is the one that will be the final judge? Did you know that? Again, it's in the gospels. Jesus himself reveals that the lie is that Jesus is not the only way to the Father. And yet Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
[00:44:20] The lie is that religion is all evil and churches are all bad.
[00:44:24] I didn't mean to spend that much time on those things, but I think it needs to be said, we are living in a land of confusion. Phil Collins this is a land of confusion. Yeah.
[00:44:37] Life in the 80s when it was good.
[00:44:40] God says one thing about these things. The demonic delusions trap us into believing another truth about these things. And remember, when your truth is forced to change God's truth, let me say it one more time. When your truth is forced to change God's truth in his word, you are deluded by the lie.
[00:45:02] Let me give you this. Ephesians 612 reminds us we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness. Spiritual forces against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
[00:45:17] So if the lie ends up destroying the truth about all of those five different categories, what is the end result? Do you know what happens after that? Once those five categories are torn apart by the lie, you know the end product?
[00:45:36] Lawlessness, complete anarchy. Because the world cannot stand on a lie.
[00:45:47] So if you look back in two thessalonians two, let me read you the verse that we read before and see if this lands differently for you. Now. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is then revealed. The son of destruction. Rebellion will lead to his revelation. Rebellion against authority. The collapse of authority structures, the collapse of civilization leads to the lie. The one who brings the lie at the end times.
[00:46:22] And everybody will buy into it.
[00:46:25] Verse four. He will oppose and exalt him. He who opposes and exalts himself against every so called God or object of worship, so that he takes the seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Church. Do you remember how the lie started? How did the lie start in the Garden of Eden?
[00:46:46] Do you remember before the Garden of Eden, what was Satan's response to God's authority?
[00:46:55] Rebellion got cast out, right? He questioned. Then he shows up to Adam and Eve and he does the same deal. He looks at Adam and Eve and he says, who are you to be jerked around by him?
[00:47:11] Literally?
[00:47:14] Adam and Eve.
[00:47:16] The temptation was for them to stand up to the authority of God.
[00:47:24] I find it interesting that God doesn't hold anything back from me. God.
[00:47:29] Satan went to Adam and Eve and he said, listen, you're having the same problem I did. I think God's holding something back from me and I think he's holding something back from you. Wouldn't you like to know what that is? Wouldn't you like to have that kind of authority structure? Wouldn't you like to push him aside and sit on his throne?
[00:47:52] It's always the same.
[00:47:54] The point is, demonic delusions never change. They just wear different faces.
[00:47:59] Demonic delusions in our world today, they don't change. They just wear different faces. Satan always plays the same cards. Same cards, same cards.
[00:48:11] Here's the good news. Second, Thessalonians six.
[00:48:15] And you know what's restraining him now so that he may be revealed in the time. So apparently there's something holding back the man of lawlessness from showing himself. Verse seven. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.
[00:48:30] Only he who now restrains it will do so until he's out of the way. Church. What is holding back the lie from taking over the world?
[00:48:40] God.
[00:48:41] God's hand holds back total and complete anarchy.
[00:48:48] God's hand holds back the total destruction. God's grace holds it back. The local church holds it back. And christians around the world hold it back because we do not buy into the lie.
[00:49:04] Wouldn't you like to wake up and get on the team, Jesus?
[00:49:08] By the way, we don't have the time to do this, but later on the next verse, it says, God will do away with the man of lawlessness by the breath of his mouth. It's great.
[00:49:18] Gone.
[00:49:20] Until then, though, the lie is available to all who would believe it.
[00:49:25] Verse nine. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all powerful signs, 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. Those who are perishing always buy the same lie. You don't have to listen to God. You can make your own truth.
[00:49:47] You won't be accountable to God. There is no God. A great spaghetti monster in the sky. Don't believe that mess.
[00:49:54] You are your own God.
[00:49:56] Satan always plays the same card. And if you buy into the lie, you're buying into his lie.
[00:50:08] People around us are buying into all the lies that are simply the appetizer for the main course to come. The guy who sells the biggest lie of all, he is the one to worship. G. K. Chesterton says this. When men choose not to believe in God, they do not believe, therefore, in anything.
[00:50:26] They themselves become capable of believing in anything. Let me read it for you one more time. When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing.
[00:50:37] They then become capable of believing in anything.
[00:50:42] So what? Number one, don't be surprised at what people buy into.
[00:50:46] I know I fall into this trap too. You got to be kidding me. Is that what we're talking about now?
[00:50:52] Those who are perishing are just waiting to buy the next lie. You ever wonder how your loved ones are dying on this hill in 2024, but in 2021, they were dying on another hill. And in 2018, they were dying on another hill. And in 2026, they'll be dying on another hill. Don't ever be surprised at what people are buying into. Those who are perishing are just waiting to buy into the next wicked delusion.
[00:51:18] It's what people do who don't have a solid foundation.
[00:51:23] The only thing that makes the difference is the grace of God that is still at work in our world today. God's truth is still prevalent. I'm allowed to speak it from the front.
[00:51:33] God's truth is still holding back the wickedness the world is capable of doing. This world is not as bad as it could be. God's truth is still changing lives. That's why the psalmist says, I love your word. It is a lamp to my feet like bread to my stomach. It is like light for my eyes, sweeter than the honeycomb.
[00:51:57] God turned that light on for us. He loosed the noose around our necks. If we know him as our savior. And the only reason we can believe the truth is because he has allowed us to believe it. Number two, be sober. Satan's objective is to distort the truth everywhere he has since the garden of Eden. His playbook never changes. He will always raise his own authority over the authority of God, and he will convince everybody in this world to do the same.
[00:52:28] Our job is to cling to the truth.
[00:52:31] Our job is not to be right, by the way, that's God's job. Our job is not to be the light. Our job is to be a reflection of the light to the world around us. Two corinthians, ten, five. This is our job, church. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
[00:52:55] That's our job. Number three, take heart. Wicked delusions are for those who are perishing. They will follow delusion after delusion after delusion. Whatever next?
[00:53:06] I have my own theory about what's coming next in this world, by the way. The things that we will begin to buy into. And it's kind of scary. You can see it if you want to. It's in romans one, the fall of civilization.
[00:53:20] People will follow delusion after delusion. But I want to tell you, the elect, those who follow Jesus Christ are preserved until the end. If the noose has been taken off you by Jesus Christ, you cannot be duped again. Isn't that great?
[00:53:36] Craig? Why would you say that? Because I use Jesus own words. Listen to this. Matthew 24 24. Jesus says, false Christ, that's antichrist. False Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders. These are plural. There are many of these.
[00:53:56] False Christ, false prophets, plural, will arise and performs great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible.
[00:54:07] Even the elect. My favorite two words in the Bible are right there. Do you know what my favorite two words are?
[00:54:14] If possible? Do you know what that tells me? Jesus says it is impossible for those who follow Jesus Christ to be duped.
[00:54:25] Isn't that great?
[00:54:27] Those who follow Jesus. If you're truly a follower of Jesus Christ, you cannot be duped. It's not possible. But the lies will be so significant, they will be so popular, they will be on all the well trotted plane. They will be so camouflaged they will be so tempting, you will seem to get the most pleasure out of following them that the world will buy into it, but not followers of Jesus Christ, because that is not possible.
[00:55:00] If you are part of follower of Jesus Christ, you will not buy into those lies that are being sold. So if you think you live in a world of confusion and you're the only one that's thinking straight, you might be right.
[00:55:15] I want to encourage you though.
[00:55:18] Don't seek to be right.
[00:55:21] Seek to find God's truth and to be a light in the darkness. That's what we're called to do, to reflect the light, the truth of Jesus Christ to the world around us.
[00:55:32] I want to pray with you, and then we're going to do communion together. Chris is going to come up and lead us in this. So let me close with word of prayer. Father, I'm grateful for our time this morning. It's been kind of heady.
[00:55:46] Some of these things are hard to talk about because we ourselves feel like we've been duped. Sometimes those that are very close to us have been duped.
[00:55:57] Demonic deceptions that are in the world around us have influenced the lives of those that we really love. And it's frustrating. It's frustrating because we want to live righteously.
[00:56:09] We want to redeem the past. We want to be a part of what you're doing. Some of our lives have been just pummeled by people who have been duped, people who've believed lies.
[00:56:21] Some of us have been really hurt.
[00:56:23] Marriages have been hurt. Relationships have been hurt.
[00:56:34] And yet we know that whatever has happened in the past is simply an opportunity for you to show your grace.
[00:56:44] And so we just roll that all up and we put it in a suitcase and we give it to you, and we ask you to redeem it. And from this point forward in our lives, Father, help us to be purveyors of truth.
[00:56:57] Help us to seek the truth. Help us not to be ashamed of the truth. Help us to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ if it's the last hope for humanity as we know it, because it is.
[00:57:08] Help us never to be ashamed, because the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the very power of God. And so, Father, we stand here at village church east proclaiming this truth that can change lives.
[00:57:25] And whatever lies people, whatever delusions they're buying into.
[00:57:30] Thank you, Father, that they all eventually intersect with your claims in your word.
[00:57:36] And when that intersection happens, help our church, help your people around the world to stand up for the truth, no matter how difficult that may be. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
