"A Chink in the Armor"
Why paying attention to our affiliations matters when it comes to our personal and public witness of Christ.
Download or email this sermon Finally God Sends Deception
But then comes the third phase of God's judgment and that's the frightening one. He sends a deception. Remember in Kings and Chronicles and in Samuel, one time David numbered the people – the Lord motivated him to do it – and another time it was the devil. Was it the Lord or was it the devil that motivated David to number the people? Well, it was actually God using the devil.
Turn with me please to 2 Thessalonians 2 where it speaks of the antichrist, the man of perdition. It's speaking of the Last Days. It's speaking in verse 3 of the apostasia, in Greek, the “falling away” that will come with the manifestation of the antichrist. But look what it says in verse 11…
For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
The Truth is the Word of God. Jesus is the Truth; He's the Word, the Logos. If somebody doesn't love the Truth of Scripture, they don't love Jesus Christ. They can say all they want, have all the hallelujahs they want -- if they don't love the Truth of the Word of God they don't love the Word of God Who is Jesus, the Incarnate Logos. If you don't love the Bible you don't love Jesus Christ as far as God's concerned, that's it. "If you love Me keep My commandments." (Jn. 14:15) You don't love Him if you don't love His Word. And if people don't love the Truth, they don't love Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Jn. 14:6) And if they don't love Him it tells us why. It's because, in some way, they are taking pleasure in wickedness. When you find so called Christians who don't love the truth it's because they are taking pleasure in wickedness. Therefore the Lord will send upon them a deluding influence that they may believe what is false.
How will the antichrist con people? He's the ultimate judgment. God gives them over to his influence. If people can't see through an obvious false prophet and false teacher like Benny Hinn – if you can't see through Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland – what is going to happen when this stuff comes down? Therefore the Lord will send a deluding influence. In the book of Zechariah typologically the antichrist is called the "agent of God." It's a frightening prospect. It is a judgment.
Several years ago, in England where I live, I was frantically trying to stop the explosion of the things like the laughing and drunken revival from Toronto and Pensacola. I was trying to stop it but the Lord said "No, don't. You're not going to stop this." You can only warn the elect. You can rescue those who are honestly deceived but you can't stop it. Why? What you see today with the money preachers – the faith prosperity heretics, what you see with Toronto; what you see with the ecumenical movement – these things are not simply deceptions; they are judgments from God on a backslidden Church. It is God's judgment on Laodicea. (Rev. 3:14-22) The Lord will send a delusion that they may believe what is false. Remember that Laodicea is blind and it's first problem is that it doesn't know it's Laodicea. The Lord will send a delusion. Judgment begins in the house of God. It will not begin on Freemasons; it will not begin on false religions; it will not begin on corrupt businessmen on Wall Street or corrupt politicians – it begins in the house of God. Judgment will come on the Church before it comes on this nation, and it's coming on this nation. For abortion alone it must come, but it will come on the Church first.
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Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.