In this sermon, the speaker reflects on a personal experience where he was tempted to engage in worldly activities but chose to follow the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He emphasizes the importance of stopping and reconsidering our actions and desires, recognizing when we are on the wrong path. The speaker then delves into the concept of salvation and the role of the Spirit in sanctification. He highlights the choice we have to either receive Christ and have life or refuse Him and face the consequences. The sermon concludes with a reminder to stand firm in the teachings of the Gospel and to trust in the reliability of God's promises.

So we open our Bibles to John chapter 5, John's Gospel chapter 5. John 5 and verse 36. But I have greater witness than that of John, for the words which the Father hath given me to finish, the same words that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another will come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. Shall we look to the Lord in prayer? Our gracious God and Father, we desire to thank you this morning for the privilege we have of spending this hour in thy presence, listening to thy precious word. We thank thee for the scriptures which testify to us of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee for each one here this morning who knows him as Lord and Savior. And as we have been singing, we do pray that thou wilt help us to set our affection on things above, for we realize that the things of this world pass away. And so we do pray that this morning thou wilt bless thy word to us, and that those who are amongst us who are still unsaved, that thou wilt speak to their hearts, and that thou wilt stir the hearts of those of us who are saved to be more concerned about souls and about living for our Lord Jesus. For the time is short. And so we commit ourselves to thee for thy blessing in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. If there is anyone, you might say, who is more accredited as having come from God the Father, it is our Lord Jesus Christ. You notice that in this fifth chapter of John, we have brought before us that when the Lord Jesus Christ came, he came with definite witnesses that he was really and truly the Son of God. Those of you who have Scofield Bibles, I believe it brings before us there that there are four definite witnesses that we have to the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, John the Baptist came as a shining and a bright light, a burning and a shining light, witnessing that he who was coming after him was indeed the Messiah. John the Baptist, you remember, said, There comes one greater than I. The world, of course, or the Jewish world, was waiting for the Messiah to come, the one who was going to deliver the people of Israel, and John the Baptist came as a forerunner. They tell us that in those days, when a king was going to come into a certain area, there was a herald who went before him, preparing the way for him and announcing that the king was coming. And that was the function of John the Baptist. He came proclaiming that the Messiah, the king, was coming after him. And when Jesus came, it was not only John the Baptist who witnessed that he was the Messiah, but the Father himself witnessed from heaven. You remember the 3rd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew? When Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit came down upon him, why, there was a voice from heaven which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And on another occasion, when Jesus was seen by Peter and John and James, transfigured on the mount, and Peter wanted to, you might say, make three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, who appeared with him in glory. And he made the statement, he says, Let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, why, the Father burst the heavens asunder, and he said, This is my beloved Son, hear ye him. And when the cloud disappeared, there was no one else there but Jesus. You know, people today try to bring Jesus down to the level of other religious teachers. They say, well, what is the difference between Jesus and Moses, or Jesus and Confucius, or Jesus and Mohammed? After all, these were great religious leaders as well. In what sense is Jesus greater than these? You know, I read an interesting little story recently about a little girl in China, and she heard the missionary telling her about how Jesus died and how Jesus rose again. And this little girl, she had in her home images of gods that she worshipped. And so you know what that little girl did? She took one of her little gods, and she went into the backyard, and she buried that little god. And after a couple days, three days passed, when she went out and she dug into the ground again, and there was her little god. And she says, well, my god didn't rise from the dead. I don't want this god. And she turned to the Lord Jesus because she believed that he rose from the dead. Why did he rise from the dead? Because the work that he accomplished on the cross proved that he is the son of God because he also rose from the dead. You and I know that Jesus is superior to all other religious leaders, not only because of what he taught, not only because of how he lived, but because of what he did when he died on the cross for our sins. All the other religious leaders, they all died because of their own sin. Muhammad died, Confucius died, these various Hindu gods died, but Jesus rose again because he died for our sins. They died for their own sins, the penalty of their sins, and so Jesus is proclaimed by the Father to be his son. But then there was a third witness, not only the witness of John, not only the witness of the Father, but the works that Jesus did. The works that he did showed that he was the son of God, that he is the Messiah, because none ever did the works that the Lord Jesus did. But the fourth witness that we have of him, we read in the 39th verse. He says, Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Now, as you and I look at this verse, we'll explain it for a moment. These people, the Jewish people, thought that if they read the scriptures, they were earning eternal life by reading the scriptures. As I said, I was a Roman Catholic at one time, and the Roman Catholics have a teaching that for reading the scriptures, you will be given certain days, you might say, of indulgence or freedom. If you read the scriptures, you'll have so many less days to spend in purgatory. And so they think that if they read the scriptures, they're going to earn eternal life. Now, that's what Jesus is talking against here. He says, You search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life. In other words, you do these things because you think that by doing these things, you're going to obtain eternal life. But the scriptures are given to us not in order that you and I might read them, and in so reading, earn eternal life. But the scriptures are given to us that they might make known to us our Lord Jesus Christ. Ye search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me. The scriptures are not given to us so that you and I can read them, and so hope that we will obtain eternal life because of something that we do. But the scriptures are given to us to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, that you and I might realize that he is the fulfillment of the scriptures. You know, there was a Christian one time talking with an atheist, and this atheist or agnostic, if you want to call him an agnostic. An agnostic is simply a person who says, Well, there may be something to it, but you don't know. An agnostic, that's a Greek word, which means agnostic is to know, agnostic is not to know. Just like our word, for instance, muse, means to think, amuse means not to think. And so, altogether, too many amusements have the tendency to cause us not to think. But anyway, agnostic, a person says, I'm an agnostic. That means, it may be so, but I don't know whether it's so. Now, agnostic is the word for not knowing. That is a Greek word, but the Latin word is ignoramus. And so when a person says, I'm an agnostic, you can say to them, Well, that's Greek. But you know, the Latin for that is ignoramus. Well, here we have this agnostic. He talked to this Christian, and he said to this Christian, Well, you know, Jesus was a very smart man. He was a very brilliant man. I don't deny that he was a very smart man. You know, he read the Old Testament scriptures, and so he saw what the Messiah had to do, and so he determined, I'm going to do these things. I'm going to do these things, and I'm going to teach these things, and then I'm going to allow myself to be crucified, and when I'm on that cross, I'm going to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he says, You know, that's why Jesus was such a smart man. And the Christian says, Well, you know, I don't deny that he was a very smart man. It's possible that he could have done that. But you know, the fact of the matter is, he had to be more than a man to choose where he was going to be born, when he was going to be born, what nationality he was going to be born, he chose his own mother. Jesus was born of a virgin. He chose his own mother. He chose his own nationality. He chose his own family. He chose the place that he was going to be born. He chose the time that he was going to be born. Now, to do that, he has to be more than a man. He has to be the very Son of God. And when you and I turn to the Scriptures, we find that the Scriptures bear witness to us of this person, Jesus. And if you and I will come to the Scriptures and read those Scriptures and see how Jesus is the fulfillment of those Scriptures, you and I see that Jesus, who came into the world 1,900 years ago, is indeed the Messiah. He is the Savior of the world, and he is the one that you and I are called upon to believe in. You notice we have here several negatives that the Lord Jesus brought before those people when they had these witnesses, the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the Father, the witness of the works that Jesus performed, the witness of the Scriptures. They had this fourfold witness, and yet to these people Jesus said, notice the 38th verse, "'Ye have not his word abiding in you.'" This is true of every unsaved person that is here this morning. "'You have not his word abiding in you.'" Because it is the word of God that convinces us. It is the word of God that convicts us and makes us realize that we are not right with God. And then you notice he says something else. "'Whom he has sent, he may believe not.'" The reason why you are not saved this morning is because you believe not. Oh yes, you may say, I believe all about him. Just as I mentioned yesterday morning, I believed all about Jesus. When that young fellow quoted to me, "'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,' I thought to myself, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I've always believed, but I'm not saved. What is the difference between believing about and believing on?' Well, I think of a little illustration. You know, several years ago in Des Moines, Iowa where I lived, in the Montgomery Ward store they had an accident. You know, the elevator in that building suddenly fell, and as it fell, some people were injured. In fact, I don't remember exactly, but I think that even one person was killed. You know, that stirred up an interest in all the elevators in the downtown section, and they began to examine them and test them, and to approve or disapprove the condition of those elevators. Now suppose, for instance, I came to a building. Let us imagine, for instance, that there is a building of six stories, and there are only stairs to five stories. To get to the six story, I've got to get in that elevator. And so I come to the elevator, and there's a keeper there, a caretaker, a director, whatever it is, operator, and I say to this operator, is this elevator reliable? Absolutely. Will this elevator take me to the sixth floor? Absolutely. It's the only way. And it has been approved. Yes, you see the city seal here. It shows it's been tried, tested, and approved. It's in top-notch condition. And as I look at that elevator, and I say, you mean to say that that will take me to the sixth floor? I don't have to do anything else but step in? And she says, yes, that's all you have to do. And I stand there. She says to me, don't you believe? Oh, yes, I believe. Don't you believe what I say? Yes, I do. Don't you believe it will take you to the sixth floor? Yes, I do. Don't you believe that it's reliable? Yes, I do. Well, she says, won't you step in? I believe all about it. But it's only when I step into that elevator, and if you've been in an elevator, and I'm sure all of you have, what do you do when you get into that elevator? Do you try to lift yourself? Do you try to help that elevator lift you? No. You simply step in, and when you step in, you let it do all the work. You not only believe about the elevator, but now you believe in it because you have committed yourself to it, and you are trusting entirely in that elevator. You are not going to help that elevator lift you. You are not going to try to raise yourself. You have committed yourself entirely to it, and that's what it means to believe on the Son. To believe on the Son means that you have committed yourself entirely to Him. You are trusting solely in Him and in what He has done on that cross, not in Jesus and keeping the Ten Commandments, not in Jesus and the Church, not in Jesus and your works, but wholly and solely in what the Lord Jesus has done for you. Now, there are many who believe about, but here it says, Him that God hath sent ye believe not. Do you believe Him? Do you believe what Jesus says? Do you believe when He says to you, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by Me. And then notice what it says in the 40th verse, Ye will not come to Me that you might have life. Him whom God has sent you believe not. But now the thing is, you will not come to Me that you might have life. It's only when you come to Christ that you can have life. And He says in the 42nd verse, But I know you that you have not the love of God in you. You will not receive His word, you will not believe Him, you will not come to Him, and the result is, you do not have the love of God within you. Because we were singing about having that love within our hearts, but it can only come into our hearts when you and I come to Him. And then in the 43rd verse He says, I am come in My Father's name, and you receive Me now. Oh yes. You know, this is a wonderful thought here. Salvation is a gift. It is not a bargain. This watch that I have here is to me a gift. It was given to me by my wife. Not on my birthday, not at Christmas time, not on any special occasion. When she gave me this watch, I said, how come? She says, I love you, and I want to give it to you. And she gave it to me just because she loved me. It wasn't my birthday, it wasn't Christmas, it wasn't our anniversary, it was a gift because she loved me. And I just took it. It's a good watch. In fact, it's got an alarm on it. It can wake me up. But I got it. I didn't pay one penny for it. I didn't pay one dollar for it. If I were to sell it here, if I were to offer this to anyone for one dollar, it would not be a gift. It would be a wonderful bargain, but it wouldn't be a gift. And salvation is not a bargain. Salvation is a gift. And how do you and I get this gift? He says, I have come in my Father's name, and you receive Him. Salvation is receiving Him. Receiving Him. The Bible says, As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name. And every one of us who have received Him have never regretted it. I received Him at the age of 18. My only regret in life is that I didn't receive Him sooner. I wasn't raised in a Christian family. I wasn't raised under the sound of the gospel. It was 18 years of my life, and I look at those 18 years before, and I just look at them as wasted, lost time. My only regret is that I hadn't received Him sooner. And the choice is up to each one of us today, will I receive Christ, or will I refuse Him? To these people, Jesus said, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. Now, what if you don't receive Him? You'll miss out on life? But I want you to notice the contrast here. He says, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another come in his own name, you will receive. And I want to bring before you this morning that there is a choice. I mentioned last night about this tribulation period that is coming, that one reason why this tribulation period is coming is not only because people refuse the Lord Jesus and have rejected Him, but because they are going to receive someone else. And that person, our Lord Jesus talked about here, this person that is coming is just as much a person as Jesus Christ. The world today is looking for a religious leader. The world today is looking for a person who will meet their spiritual needs. Having rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, people today are looking for a religious personality. A young man came to my home one time, and I engaged him in conversation about the Lord, and my, he seemed to be so interested. And I invited him into my home. And you know, we sat down and we talked together about salvation and about the Savior and how to be saved. And after talking for about an hour or two hours, this young man says, well, he says, you know, I've been trying different churches, but he says, after listening to what you have to say, it's not the thing that I want. It's not the thing that I want. I says, it may be that it's not the thing that you want, but it's the thing that you need. Because if you don't have Christ, the Bible says there is no other way. People today are looking for a religion that they want. Something that will please them. Something that will tickle their intellect. Something that will please their fancies. And they think that the matter of religion is something that they're left to choose or decide for themselves. But you know, the Bible is very plain to us that it's either God's way or Satan's way. It's either going to be Christ or it's going to be anti-Christ. We're going to look at this person that's going to come for a few moments. Let us turn to the first epistle of John, the first letter of John, chapter 2. I want you to notice, John gives us a description of this person. Notice he says in the first epistle of John, chapter 2, it says, Little children, it is the last time. And if you've got a critical translation, you'll notice it says, Little children, it is the last hour. It's not only the last time, but you might say it is the very last hour. You and I are in the last hour, we might say, of God's day of salvation. It says, Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, that anti-Christ shall come. Now, John is the only one who uses this title, the anti-Christ. Now, the anti-Christ can be taken in two different ways. Anti means to be against. Notice it tells us here, Little children, it is the last time, and as you have heard, that anti-Christ shall come. Even now are there many anti-Christ, whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father. Now notice what it tells us here. John tells us very definitely there is a person coming who is the anti-Christ. Now, as I said, we can think of two things here. Anti- means to be against Christ. And it tells us here in the 22nd verse, Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? In other words, this person denies that Jesus, who came 1,900 years ago, is really and truly the Christ, that he is really and truly the Messiah. So one thing that anti-Christ does is he denies that Jesus, who came 1,900 years ago, is the Christ. But the second thing that he does is he comes presenting himself as the Christ. He comes presenting himself as the Messiah. The world today is looking for a Savior from their problems. Notice what John says here. He says in the 18th verse, Little children, it is the last time, and as ye have heard that anti-Christ shall come, even now are there many anti-Christs, whereby we know that it is the last time. In other words, Satan is preparing the world to receive this anti-Christ by sending before many who come with anti-Christian teachings. What are anti-Christian teachings? Well, for instance, one anti-Christian teaching is that this book that you and I hold in our hands is just a book of myth. You know, there are some people who tell us that the story of Adam and Eve is not an actual historical event. Adam and Eve are only figments of the imagination which were produced to just illustrate or set forth some spiritual truth. That the story of the fall of man is not actually so. That man has not really fallen. That man is evolving. You know, the theory of evolution is something that presents quandaries of problems. For instance, the thing that amazes me is, I don't know how many of you ever read H.G. Wells' History of the World or the History of Mankind, but I remember reading a few chapters of it and his illustration was, well, out of this plural plasm developed gradually a little creature that was in the water. I know one day this little creature, this fish was washed out of the water and you know this fish thought, my breathing in the air is so nice, I'd like to live in the air. And so that fish decided, now this is the way H.G. Wells presents it, that little fish decided, well, I'm going to become a polliwog. And so it becomes a polliwog, you know. It could live on the land or it could live in the water. And so as generations, and of course you know all these theories of evolution, they always need millions of years because, you know, you won't be there to confirm whether it's true or not. But anyway, you know this polliwog one time was walking on the land and it saw a tree and so it decided to climb that tree and it climbed that tree and it thought, boy, it would be nice if I could get down from this tree without crawling down. I know what I'll do, I'll develop some wings and become a bird. And so lo and behold, that polliwog through the centuries decides to become a bird. And so gradually it evolves. But you know, the thing that puzzles me is how all these creatures could decide to become things and here we are men, men, the most intelligent, the highest of all these created beings, of all these creatures, and somehow or other we've lost that ability. Now, you know, I'd like to go to the moon, but you know, they tell me I can't go to the moon and I can think and I can think and I can think, but I can't develop those organs that can make it possible for me to go out into space without any contraption, without any spaceship, without all the material that I need. Where did we lose that ability to develop those organs and to develop those means that these little creatures have? Another thing about the theory of evolution is this. Why is it that all other creatures are born into the world and they're all dressed up? Did you ever notice that? A cow, a cat, a dog, a bird, they're all born into the world, they're all dressed up. The bird has its feathers, the cow has its... the cow, the dog, all of them have their coats, but you and I are born into the world naked. Why is that? Where did we lose that ability that somehow or other we have to put on dress? The Bible tells us, the Bible tells us, man was made in the image of God. When man sinned, he found he was naked. And so you and I, we wear clothes unconsciously every day witnessing whether we realize it or not, we're fallen creatures. We're not ascending and evolving. We are sinful creatures and we cover our shame with our clothes because we are sinners. Well, here we have brought before us that man is not evolving, but you know, men come to the Bible and they say the fall is just a figment of the imagination, and today we have teachers who are telling us, preachers who are telling us you can't depend on the Bible. It's only a book of myth and a figment of imagination. There are preachers... there's a new book coming out written by seven preachers in England and the title of it is The Myth of God Incarnate. In other words, that that one who came into the world 1,900 years ago is not God. That Jesus never claimed to be God. I don't know what kind of Bible they're reading because the Bible that I read, I hear him say, I and my Father are one. I hear him declaring very plainly that he, the Father, and the Spirit are all co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent. But you see, these false teachers are anti-Christ. They're telling us, for instance, that God is too loving to punish any of his creatures forever. Do you think that God would send any of his children to the everlasting fire? No, he's not going to send any of his children to the everlasting fire, but the fact of the matter is all are not his children. If we're not saved, we are not his children. We are children of disobedience. We are children of wrath. We are children of unbelief. And that's why we need to be born again. That's why you and I need a real, vital experience with our Lord Jesus Christ, where you and I need a vital relationship with him. And so even now are there many anti-Christs, these false teachings that people are imbibing. Do you wonder why it is that Christian science, Seventh-day Adventism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses are increasing? Do you wonder why they are multiplying? Why, years ago, the J.W.'s, for instance, used to say that there would be only 144,000? And they were the 144,000? But now, because they've got over two million people following them, why, they've got to revise their theories, they've got to revise their teachings. But what do they teach? They teach that Jesus was only the highest creature. They teach that when man dies, he's going to have a second chance. They teach that when men are consigned to a lost eternity, they're going to be burned up, and that's the end. None of us are going to live forever who are not saved. If you're not saved, you and I, we're going to exist as long as God exists. But everything is preparing the world today for the coming of this person, the anti-Christ. What's he going to do? He's going to deny that Jesus is the Christ, and he's going to deny both the Father and the Son. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, and we read about this person. Notice what it tells us here about this person. And you notice he's quite a contrast with the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 2, in verse 1, it says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. 2 Thessalonians 2. He says, I beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him. That's the hope of the Christian. You know, many people are looking and are wondering, is this person the anti-Christ, or that person the anti-Christ? These Thessalonians were going through great trials as Christians. They were going through great troubles, and false teachers were coming amongst them, and they were saying, Do you know that you're in the tribulation period? Do you know that you're going to go through this awful time of suffering? Last night I pointed out that those of us who are saved are not going to go through this awful time of trouble. This awful time of trouble will not come until after our Lord Jesus takes us out of this world. You know, if you're unsaved, you can be thankful that there are still Christians here, because the very moment the Christians are gone, the door of salvation is going to be closed. And that time of trouble that I was speaking about last night is going to come. And so Paul says, I beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon shaken in mind. Don't allow anyone to upset you or to mislead you or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ or of the Lord is not only at hand, but is now present. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. And you know, as you and I see people turning from the Bible, as you and I see people denying truths of the Bible, as you and I see people denying the Lord Jesus, it's sad, it's sorrowful, it brings grief to my heart that the Lord says that's what's going to happen. You know, that's one of the proofs of Christianity. You take communism, for instance, and they say we're going to sweep the whole world. False teachings will say we're going to get the whole world. We know that Christianity is not going to convert the world. We know that Christianity is not going to turn all people to the Lord. We know that instead, more people are going to turn away from the Lord. They're going to turn away from the Word of God. We know that today there are countries where 50 years ago they were open to the Gospel. Africa was open to missionaries. India was open to missionaries. Various countries were open to missionaries. Today they're pushing them out. Today they don't want them. You know what it tells me? It tells me that the coming of the Lord is very close. Because when these countries turn away the Gospel, there's nothing left for them but the judgment of God. And so the Lord says there's going to be a big falling away. When you see this, you know that the coming of the Lord is near. But it will not come in its fullness until after the people of God are taken away. And it says there shall come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed. Now, you know, this person is called the man of sin because he is the very incarnation of sin. Sin in all of its forms is manifested in this person. You know, when the Lord Jesus was here, he was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But this man, the Antichrist, he will not call himself Antichrist. He will call himself Christ. But Jesus says, or the Word of God says, he is Antichrist. He is against the Lord Jesus and he is a false Christ. And so the Lord calls him Antichrist. He says he is the man of sin, the son of perdition. That is going to be his end who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Now, who is this person? What is the temple that he is speaking about? Israel today, as I mentioned last night, came into existence in 1948. Those of you who were watching the visit of Sadat to Israel saw a picture on television, I'm sure, of the Mosque of Omar, the Dome of the Rock there in Jerusalem. That Moslem building which we visited when we were there in 1974, which is on the exact spot where the Jews had the Temple of Solomon built. That is the only spot in Jerusalem where a temple can be built. And the Bible tells us that in a coming day there is going to be an erection of the temple on that spot. And this person, who we believe is going to be a Jew, who will be the religious leader as well as the political leader of the nation of Israel, we know that Israel today is in a very delicate position. Israel today, you might say, is being tossed about. They have no sure friends. They have the United States, but the policy of the United States is fluctuating. Whereas instead of being 100% for Israel because of the oil crisis and because of our mechanical technology where we are so dependent upon oil, we are sort of favoring the Arabs as well as the Jews, and so Israel today is wondering what sort of security do we have. It may be that we are going to have to stand alone. Israel is only a little country surrounded by enemies on every side. How is this little country going to stand? They need an ally. The U.S. has been their ally and is their ally and may continue to be their ally, but perhaps not 100% as we have been in time past because we are considering we need oil, and so we've got to pacify the Arabs and keep them happy as well as try to help Israel. The Bible tells us that in the Western world there is going to rise a confederacy of ten nations headed by one man whom we read about in the 13th chapter of Revelation who will be the leader of that confederacy, one whom the Bible describes as the Beast, and in the 7th chapter of Daniel it describes him as the Little Horn. In other words, he is a power who makes an alliance with this Jewish leader. There is going to rise in the nation of Israel a leader, and this leader denies that Jesus is the Christ. He confesses, I am the Christ. And you know, this person comes with credentials, too. Notice what it says here in the 8th verse. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. If you'll read Revelation 13, 11-18, you can read that for yourself, you'll see that Jesus came with miracles. Jesus came with marvelous signs to prove that he was indeed the Son of God. Now, this person is also coming with signs and wonders. You know, lots of people today are looking for miracles in science. The charismatic movement today professes to be a revival of apostolic science. It is a counterfeit. In other words, it is a counterfeit of the works of the Spirit, but we see multitudes of people flocking after it. I remember I read that John Wilbur told the story of two men who went into one of these charismatic movements, and one man got up and started talking in Hebrew. He was a Hebrew professor. And so he started talking in Hebrew, and when he finished, another man jumped up and said, I've got the interpretation. And so he proceeded to say something, and when he sat down, the other man got up and said, that is not the interpretation at all. This man spoke in Hebrew, and I understand Hebrew, and I know what he said, and so this was not the interpretation at all. And so that broke up that meeting. That was the end of that meeting, because, you see, they had no way of confirming. Now, whether you believe it or not, I spoke in tongues last year. I went over to Israel, and I went into Nazareth, and there was a company of Christians. And I got up and I spoke in English. And, you know, another man got up, and he, as he said, stood right beside me. It was the only time I ever had spoken in tongues. And I spoke in English, and, you know, this man translated into Arabic. So to them I was speaking in tongues. But this man interpreted my tongues. When I was in Haifa, while there was a company of 50 Jewish people there, Hebrews, some of them understood English, but the majority of them did not. And so I spoke in tongues there, too. I spoke in English, and there was a man stood up as I was speaking, and he interpreted into Hebrew. So I spoke in tongues. And those are the tongues that the Bible speaks about. I was in New Orleans in a meeting one time, in a breaking of bread meeting, and a man got up and spoke in tongues. He prayed in Spanish, and I didn't understand a word that he said. And nobody interpreted, but I heard him say, Señor Jesus Christos. And so I knew that he was talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that much Spanish. But nobody interpreted, so I didn't get any benefit from his prayer. But I think that all of these signs that people are looking for, healings, tongues, miracles. Now, I believe that the Lord heals. I believe that the Lord heals. And the Lord can heal and answer the prayer. And I know there are people who have been healed in answer to prayer. But I had a wife who died of cancer. We prayed for her. She was a spiritual woman. She was a godly woman, the mother of my two sons. But she died of cancer. Sometimes the Lord heals. Sometimes the Lord does not heal. It's just as His will. But when we come to the biblical gift of healings, everyone they laid hands on was healed. Everyone they contacted. There were three things about the healings of the Bible. First of all, everyone was healed. They were healed instantly. And they were healed perfectly. Those are the three criterions, you might say, as to biblical healings. Everyone was healed. Everyone was healed perfectly. Everyone was healed instantly. But that's not true of many so-called healings today. And that's why I doubt about many of these so-called signs. But what is it doing? You know what it's doing? It's preparing people for the reception of the Antichrist, who is coming. And he's coming with signs and wonders and miracles, but he's doing it by the power of Satan. Notice what it says here in the 9th verse of 2 Thessalonians 2. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan. When Jesus was here, he did the miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Antichrist will do the miracles by the power of Satan. And why is it? Notice what it says in the 10th verse. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but have pleasure in unrighteousness. God says, you won't believe my truth, you'll believe the lie. You won't have the Christ, you will have the Antichrist. You won't have salvation, therefore you'll have damnation. The choice is up to each one of us. Which am I going to have? Notice he tells us here in the 13th verse, that we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereupon he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught. Notice we have some verbs here that I'd like to close with. You know, they tell the story of two men who were listening to a lecture. It wasn't a Bible lecture, it was some kind of a lecture. And as they were listening to the lecture, it was all sort of vague, and one said to the other fellow, he says, let's get up and go. This is rather uninteresting. And the other one says, wait until he gets to the verbs. When he gets to the verbs, you know verbs are words of action. And so we're going to get to the verbs here for a moment. Christ has come. If we receive the Christ, we'll have life. If we refuse the Christ, it will be the end to Christ. And the delusion is going to be so great that people may think they're not going to be deceived, but they're going to believe the lie. Notice what Paul says here. He says, Beloved, we are bound always to give thanks to God for you. Brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you through sanctification of the Spirit. First of all, we have, how do we come into the blessing of salvation? The Spirit of God speaks to our hearts and makes us realize what I'm in, what I'm following, is of no value. It's of no worth. This thing that I'm in is wrong. I'm on the wrong path. I'm going in the wrong direction. I'm going to the wrong end. I've got to stop. And I've got to reconsider. And you know you stop and reconsider. I said yesterday morning when I was giving my testimony, how that young fellow, my friend, my good friend says, Joe, I've got four tickets to the dance tonight. Let's go. I want to go. I can arrange dates. And I said, no. I've got something else on. I believe that was sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit of God was already working in my heart and making me realize that's the wrong way. That's the wrong course. That's going down to destruction. That's going in the wrong direction. And I don't want to go that way. I want to stop. I want to consider. I want to make sure that I want to get on the right road. Sanctification is the Spirit of God. Salvation is the beginning of the work of the Spirit of God when he shows me I'm on the wrong road. I'm in the wrong condition. I'm going with the wrong crowd. I'm going to end in the wrong place. And I don't want to end there. And it makes me stop and consider and ponder. What must I do? And then the second thing is belief of the truth. Belief of the truth. The gospel is the truth. A man came into a bookstore on the West Coast one time and he says, as he looked at the religious books, I see that you're a man who's seeking the truth. And the proprietor says, no, he says, I'm not. You're not seeking the truth? With all these religious books here? He says, no. Why aren't you seeking the truth? He says, I've got the truth. I've got the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when I have the Lord Jesus Christ, I have the truth. The gospel is the truth. The truth. That Christ came into the world to save sinners. That on that cross he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chance of a tomorrow of peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. The truth is that Christ came into this world to save you and me by giving his life for us and by rising from the dead. How do I know that what Jesus did is enough? How do I know that what Jesus did satisfied God? You know why? Because the third day Jesus rose from the dead and Jesus lived. A teacher asked a bunch of kids in the school one day, Who is the greatest living person? This is some years ago. One boy said, The biggest one is Willie Mays. He's the best ball player there is. Another girl said, Oh, this ought to be she's the greatest living person. Another boy says, Oh, the President of the United States. And one little girl said, The greatest living person today is the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? Jesus does. Oh, she says, In Sunday school I heard that he rose from the dead. Jesus lived. Yes, he did. And he wants to be a reality to you. He wants to be your life. He wants to make life worth living. He wants to give you a peace, a joy, a satisfaction that you can't find anywhere else. No matter what you're trying, no matter what you're in. There's only one answer to all of our needs, to all of our problems. That's the Lord Jesus. And the truth is presented to you and me. Will I believe it? Will I receive it? Sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit of God today is convincing people they're sinners and need the Savior. And he brings the truth before them. Have they noticed? Whereunto he calls you by our gospel. And that's what the Lord is doing this morning. He's calling you. He's calling you. What's going to be your response? Oh, how often he's called you, hasn't he? He called you when you were sick. He called you when that friend of yours got saved. I remember one of the first times the Lord called me, and I didn't know it. I was only a lad of nine years old at the time, and one of my best friends, Johnny, he played third base, and I played first base on our team. And Johnny contracted pneumonia, and Johnny died. And I can still see myself under my front porch crying because Johnny is gone. But Johnny knew the Lord. He was raised in a Christian home, and I believe that Johnny knew the Lord. But I didn't know the Lord. And I still see myself as a lad nine years old sitting under that porch crying for the loss of my friend, Johnny. God is calling me, and I didn't know it. God called. He's calling you. He's calling you in these meetings It's not by accident that you're here. It's not by chance that you're here. You're here because God is calling you, and he's calling you via the gospel. But the question is, what is going to be your response? Are you going to turn a deaf ear to his call? Are you going to take a chance that there's plenty of time because Jesus may come today? We don't know. He's going to come sometime. He could come today just as easily as another time. He called you by our gospel, and he's calling you to the obtaining of the glory. When he calls you by the gospel and you respond, you'll obtain the glory. Instead of the tribulation, instead of the antichrist, it's going to be glory. You know, there's nothing to compare with the passion that is ahead for the child of God. I wouldn't change places with the richest, the greatest, the most famous unsaved person that there is in the world today for one second because all the glory they've got is all going to pass away. But for those of us who are saved, it's going to be glory and a portion. It's going to last forever. In John chapter 10, we read these words, and at this I'm quoting. Jesus says, The thief comes not for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. That's what the antichrist is. He comes to steal. He's coming to kill. He's coming to destroy. Jesus says, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Let me tell you this morning, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, you haven't yet begun to live. You don't know what life is until you come to Christ. Why not make that choice today? Why not come to Christ? He's calling you. I believe the Lord is speaking to someone here this morning. If I can help you after this meeting, don't be afraid. I'll be glad to talk with you. If you've got problems, if you've got questions, He'll help you. That's what we're here for. I'd be delighted to show you how you can be saved and how you can learn. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I'm going to have Steve Brockholz propose this meeting to you. Will you speak? Please.