This sermon from 2 Thessalonians 2 warns about the rise of the Antichrist spirit in the last days, emphasizing the importance of not being shaken in mind or troubled but standing firm in the truth. It highlights the need to love the truth, avoid the pleasures of unrighteousness, and be sanctified by the Spirit to overcome the spirit of Antichrist. The message calls for repentance, a return to the love of God's Word, and a firm stand against the influences of the Antichrist spirit.

Now it's right beyond Colossians, before Timothy, for our new believers. 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter. I'm going to read the first twelve verses, follow me if you will please. 2 Thessalonians 2, 1-12, falling away to the Antichrist. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way. Then shall that wicked, or the Antichrist, 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, 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 might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. All right, let's stop there and let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are seeing in these perilous times the beginning of an Antichrist movement that is sweeping this nation through Canada, United States, and now around the world. It's not New Age, it's Antichrist. It's Antichrist. And his spirit now is moving and taking control over all the secular. He's taking control of government, and now that spirit is moving into the church. Oh God, I pray that you wake us up this morning. God, shake us. Holy Ghost, come upon me. Let the anointing of the Spirit of God be upon me. I take your authority over every demon power, every prince of power and power of darkness. Satan, you have no place in this house. You have no place, lying spirits. I command you in Jesus' name to get out of this house, out of this church, out of minds that this message may be received. Spirit of the living God, come upon me. Let the Holy Ghost find us. Let the Holy Ghost mark us. Let nothing get past your Holy Ghost today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Paul here has outlined two frightful things that will strike the church just prior to the Lord's coming. Jesus said, as Paul said, Jesus will not come until these two awful things happen, and they're going to happen also in the church. Two things. Number one, a great falling away, a great apostasy in the church. Secondly, a spirit of Antichrist overcoming many who are backsliding. A spirit of Antichrist possessing many who are in the church. Now, folks, for years we've been preaching and teaching about the coming Antichrist, and we've been expecting a man, the son of perdition. Some have speculated that that man has already been born, that he's somewhere on the earth now, and perhaps even a man and soon to take power. Now, is there such a man as an Antichrist? I say, yes, there is a man of Antichrist. He's going to come one day, and he's going to be well-received, and I'll tell you why he's going to be well-received. He's going to be well-received even by many who were Christians, who have been prepared for his coming, and he's going to be revealed, and the only reason he's not revealed now, it's not his time, and the Holy Ghost is holding it back. But one day the Holy Ghost will lift his restraining hand, this man will be revealed, he'll be incarnated by Satan. He will demand and receive the worship of mankind, and then when his work is finished, his time is done, the Bible said he's going to be consumed with the mouth of our Holy God. But there is an Antichrist spirit, just as surely as the Spirit of Jesus Christ abides in us. The Scriptures say, because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Now, we have a Christ, a living Christ, who's a man now in glory. He has flesh, he has bone, he has hair, he has eyes. He's a living man because he's still got his manhood, even though he is God. He's a man in glory. He is there and we are here, but his Spirit is here. We are living through the Spirit. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Who lives in me? The Spirit of Christ. There is a man, Antichrist. You see, there are two Christ's in the world, Jesus Christ the Lord and Antichrist. Antichrist has a spirit. There is a spirit of Antichrist that is even now moving in the world, preparing for the coming of this man. Just as sure as you as a believer have the Spirit of Christ in you, there are people today that are absolutely possessed of the spirit of Antichrist. I'm going to show you today how it is overpowering many churches and that some churches, believe it or not, are directed by the spirit of Antichrist. We'll be talking about it in just a moment. Paul warns that there are coming false prophets who will preach another gospel and another Jesus. That other Jesus is the Antichrist. And they are going to be of the spirit of Antichrist. And there are going to be many apostate Christians in the last days. But folks, while we've been looking for this man, Satan has been creeping in by his spirit at preparing. You see, Antichrist is not going to suddenly appear on the scene and try to overwhelm mankind. Antichrist is not going to come and try to influence people. By the time he has come, there will have been first a trickle because Paul the Apostle said that spirit is already at work. It was at work in the primitive church. It's been working now. It's up to a stream. It's up to an ocean flow. And the Bible says by the time the Antichrist is revealed, he will have already prepared the hearts for his coming. They will receive him. How will many receive him? Why would certain so-called Christians, backslidden apostates, ever turn to the Antichrist? Because they are of his body, of his spirit, and like-minded. And he is now in the world preparing hearts to receive him when he comes. And there are some sitting here now, believe it or not, who are going, should the Antichrist be revealed in our time, are going to quickly, openly receive the Antichrist. Because you have already had the seed, the spirit of Antichrist planted in your heart, and we'll go on with it here. Paul said, for the mystery of iniquity did already work. It's already at work. The spirit of Antichrist, Paul said, is already at work. He's already moving. He's already taking position. He's already coming into power. I want you to go to 1 John, please. Second chapter. 1 John 2, verse 15, begin to read with me. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. But the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth it will have God abide with him forever. Now listen to this. Little children, it is the last time. How many believe that? How many believe this is the last time? Folks, if it was the last time when Paul wrote this, or John wrote this, could you imagine how late it is now? Almost 2,000 years later, how much closer, how more real is this text? Little children, it's the last time. You've heard that Antichrist shall come. Even now there are, what? Many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. It means that there are many that have been infiltrated and possessed by the spirit of Antichrist. The spirit of Antichrist, John is saying, is already moving, it's in many hearts. The spirit of Antichrist. There are many, not the man, not many Antichrists, but the spirit of Antichrist in many. Now, in this passage, John is telling us those whose hearts are still in love with the world, those who are still bound by lust, have opened themselves to the spirit of Antichrist. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, it's not of the Father. Who's it of? It's of the Antichrist. And there are many that are still given over to that. I want you to go to verse 22. Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is what? Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Look at me, please. Anyone, John is saying, who has not come unto the total lordship of Jesus Christ, has opened himself to the spirit of Antichrist. If you sit here this morning, and he is not lord of everything in your life, you've given him a portion of your life, you're serving him 90%, but he is not totally lord in your life. You have denied him. You've denied his lordship. It's not that you go around cursing his name, but you have denied him. You have not believed to him for full salvation. You have believed and trusted him for half salvation. You are not serving him with all your heart and mind and soul and body. You have opened yourself, according to John, to the inroads, the in-making of the Antichrist, spirited into your heart. This is so very, very clear. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeeth the Son hath the Son, Father also. It's not just to say, well, I believe Jesus was God in flesh. It's saying, Jesus, you are God in flesh in me, with all power and all authority over lust, over sin and everything else, and I yield to your lordship. Amen. Hallelujah. Now, let's go on. Those who are righteous, who worship God in spirit and truth, are the prime targets of the Antichrist spirit. Look at verse 4. Go back to 2 Thessalonians. And, folks, keep your hand here at 2 Thessalonians. Second chapter. Keep your hand there, so you keep coming back. Put a marker or something, because we're coming back there all morning, back to this. Verse 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, all that is worshiped. Look at me, please. This spirit of Antichrist is opposed to those who walk closely with the Lord Jesus Christ, those who walk with God in intimacy, and those who are worshipers. This is what the devil is after. This is what the Antichrist wants for himself. And he's going to come against everybody. He's going to come against every true believer who walks in the intimacy of Jesus Christ. He's going to come against you with everything the Antichrist possesses. That spirit, that invading spirit, he's going to come against you and try to attack you, and try to get you to stop worshiping. He'll try to stop your intimacy with the Father. He'll try to give you doubt and fear about the advocacy of the cross of Jesus Christ. He will do everything to make inroads to hinder your worship. There's nothing the devil wants in this church more than to worship. To kill and destroy, worship. That's what he wants in you more than anything else. He will do anything. He's not out to get you to be a drug addict, an alcoholic prostitute. He's not trying to get you to lie and steal and curse. He'll do that only if it disturbs your worship. He'll do it only to rob God of his praises. He's after worshippers. And if you're a worshipper, a true worshipper, don't be surprised when everything out of hell comes against you. When the Antichrist spirit comes and tries to knock you away. Don't be surprised by it. Who opposeth and exalts himself above all that is called God, and all that is worshipped. Paul warns that a spirit of lawlessness is at work in the world and in the church. And now we know that what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Verse 6, look at it. Now we know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Who is withholding the Antichrist from taking over the whole nation and the whole world right now? The Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit who abides in you. Not the Holy Spirit in some cosmic atmosphere. But the Holy Ghost in the church. The Holy Ghost in you and I. And it's this church and other Holy Ghost church and Holy Ghost people that are holding back the anarchy of hell and Satan in this city. They talk about the crime rate going down or up. Folks, if the Holy Ghost was lifted from this church and other churches, this city would be a raging hell right now. Because the stench of hell is already in our schools. The stench of hell is in our courts. The stench of hell is in our churches. Can you imagine what it would be if the Holy Ghost begins to step aside and say, Be revealed. It's the Holy Ghost holding back the storm. Once you go to 2 Peter, go to Hebrews and keep turning right. I'm not trying to be facetious. We've got a lot of young converts that still don't know where to find certain chapters. 2 Peter, the second chapter. Folks, I'm going to tell you something. Listen to me before you read this. Careless, lazy Christians are going to be overcome. They're not going to be able to stand. You're careless about reading your Bible. You're careless about the things of God today. Folks, the perilous times that are coming, and the closer you see Jesus, the closer we get to His coming, there's going to be ever-increasing light. And folks, there's ever-increasing revelation, ever-increasing power of the Antichrist that's being released by the devil right now before the full revelation of the Antichrist. Because when He comes, His coming is just going to be the last step, like stepping through a piece of tissue paper. It will have all been prepared. The hearts are ready, all prepared for His revelation. He's not going to have to prepare anything. The devil will have already prepared it. The Spirit of Antichrist will have already accomplished His will. And sadly, many Christians are going to be overcome. I want you to start reading with me 2 Peter verse 17. He's speaking to the church, and certain ones in the church. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh to much wantonness those that would clean escape from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. But if whom of a man is overcome, they are the same as he brought into bondage. Now listen to this. For if after they've escaped the pollutions of the world to the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, these people claim to be saved to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see that? And then it says, then they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Now folks, listen to me. There are going to be Christians overcome by the Spirit of Antichrist that's at work right now. They're going to be overcome. These are those who've escaped the pollutions of the world, who were delivered by the power of God to the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but now they've turned aside for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness. They knew the way. They knew the way of righteousness. Then, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them, but it's happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog has turned to his own vomit again, the sow that was washed to her own wallowing in the mire. How many... Look at me, please. How many do you know who've turned away from God and they're going back to their old habits? They've gone back to their old world. Folks, I'm going to tell you, you don't just backslide. You don't just fall away from the Lord. Now, he has to be talking about the church because what does a sinner have to fall away from? He can't fall away from anything. He's already in the pit. The only falling away are those who have something. You don't just fall away from Jesus. You fall into something. It's not just the falling away. It's falling into. You fall away from Christ and you fall into the spirit of Antichrist. No one simply backslides. It's a falling into something, falling into the spirit that's in the world trying to take control. Now, folks, listen to me. John proves that the spirit of Antichrist is powerfully at work in the church. I want you to go to 1 John 4 now. 1 John 4. 1 John 4, verse 3. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that, what? Spirit of Antichrist. It's what I've been talking about. Whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now, what? It's in the world. It's in the world now. John said, you've heard that the Antichrist is coming. You've heard a man is going to come and be worshipped. But he said, wake up. That spirit is already at work. And he's talking to the church. That spirit is already here. The spirit of Antichrist is at work. Even now, already in the world, that spirit of Antichrist. Go back to 2 Thessalonians 2.4. So that, verse 4. Who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now folks, look at me. Quit looking to Jerusalem. Quit looking to the rebuilding of the temple where this man is going to come in and set himself up. He's already on the throne. He's already in his temple. You say, what is the temple? What is the temple? Go to 1 Corinthians 3. Did you know he was going to sit in the temple of God and show himself to be God? How many know that? He said he's going to be revealed. He's going to sit in the temple of God and show himself to be God. All right, 1 Corinthians 3. Verse 16. Know you not that ye are what? The temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Go to chapter 6. Familiar scripture, but I want to show you something. Verse 19. What? Know you not that your... This is 6, 19 of 1 Corinthians. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own. Go to 2 Corinthians 6. You want to establish this well in your mind. You're familiar with it. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their people, and they shall be my people. Look at me, please. How can such an incredible, awful, frightful thing happen that at one time, the living God sat on his throne, ruling and reigning in a vessel. How is it, now that the Holy Ghost has departed and that temple, that throne of the heart, has been vacated through lust, through pride, through covetousness, through gossip, through slander, through all of the things that we've been warned about time after time after time. How is it that we have many Christians who have grown careless, who don't walk righteously before Him anymore. And how is it that the spirit of Antichrist has moved in now and taken over, and according to this 2 Thessalonians 2, he now sits in his temple, showing himself to be God. In other words, he is in control. He is absolutely in control. There is always going to be a Christ on your throne. I don't care where you are, serving Jesus or serving the old devil, there will always be a Christ on this throne. It will be Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, or the Antichrist. There will be a Christ. Every man walking these streets has a Christ on his throne. We know the Antichrist is in full control of the secular media, all secular television, theater, all the networks, all the printed material. All now are under the control of the spirit of Antichrist. Who but Antichrist could so bias the American press, and so bias the editors and the writers and the actors, so that abortion is called a right rather than a sin? Who but the Antichrist could justify now euthanasia? Did you hear recently, or read in the newspaper, a psychiatrist now in the United States who believes in euthanasia, killing off the old and infirm? He is willing to kill off anybody who is mentally ill. Who but Antichrist is a killer? Kill off the old and the infirm? We ought to be shocked in the United States because in the Philippines and in Asia, they honor and they revere their old folks. Those who are old, they are revered. Here, we want to kill them. Who but the spirit of Antichrist could be behind it? Who but Antichrist could mock everything that is sacred and holy and worshiped in filthy movies and wicked, vile programs on television? The Antichrist is producing MTV. Literally, the Antichrist spirit is in full control of Fox television. I read, I don't watch that stuff because I don't have television, but MTV, from what I read, and Fox television, in the newspaper, you just look at some of the reviews and some of the absolute filth. Who but the Antichrist? Who but the spirit of Antichrist could be behind it? And folks, he's getting bolder and bolder. Our society is on the brink of becoming a raging hell. But sadly, that same Antichrist spirit is moving rapidly into the church of Jesus Christ. We talk about the gates of hell not prevailing against the church, but folks, you've got to know that he's talking about a certain church, an overcoming holy remnant church. He's not talking about that great church mess that's out there being ruled and reigned by the spirit of Antichrist. He's talking about a particular church called out from the world. Only that church will prevail. The gates of hell will not touch that church. But I'm telling you right now, all over the United States, the spirit of Antichrist is absolutely establishing churches. That's exactly what this new outsider-friendly gospel is all about. Who but the Antichrist would go out door to door and knock on doors and say, do you go to church? No. Well, what would you like your church to be like so we can get you to come? And based on a survey, what people want. They don't want sermons, so they have skits. They don't want two hours, they want one hour. And they want no conviction. And so what we have now is another gospel with no cross, no repentance, no judgment, but you are allowed to sit there and be soothed in your sins, and you're told about the grace and the mercy of God, but nothing of his judgment, nothing of hell, nothing but heaven and mercy and grace has become a license to sin. Oh, but the Antichrist would build a church on a survey. What would you think if I went out, I went out in the streets and I found all the kids that are playing hooky from school. And they don't go to school. You say, well, what kind of school would you like so I'll build a school that you would like. But you tell me what you want in a school. You know, we have two hours a day, three days a week. One to three o'clock. No lectures, fifteen minutes, no algebra, no calculus, no science. And we want nothing but pizza and snacks for noon. And we want no lectures, we want no laws, no rules, we want to come and go as we please. We want no grades. We could have the biggest school in New York and every dropout would run. I could go all over, write books and tell everybody about the successful school in New York that was designed on a survey with teenagers dropping out of school. So now when they've been prepared for nothing, not prepared to live, what are preachers going to do when they stand before the throne of God? And these people have not been prepared for eternity. They don't even have, they heard a message on hell. Never heard a reproving message. What's going to happen when those preachers stand before God? It's a damnable thing. From the pits of hell, it's the Antichrist spirit. Who but Antichrist can tell people they can drink from two cups? The cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. 1 Corinthians 10. I'll tell you something. As long as I'm in this pulpit, and I'm being one person, and I know that too with Brother Carter, we will not babysit this people. You're going to hear the heart of God. 1 Corinthians 10. Verse 20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You can't be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? You know, folks, I have a pastor friend who just delights to get up and tell his congregation, if you're really mature in Christ, you can handle all of this stuff. He's talking about movies, he's talking about television, if you're mature, you can handle it. No, folks. It's not a matter of handling it. It's a matter that you can't have fellowship with devils. It's a matter you can't drink out of two cups. You drink the Lord's cup or the devil's cup. You can't sip out of both sides. You say, Pastor, it's scary. How can a Christian be overcome by the spirit of Antichrist? Well, there are two causes Paul gives in 2 Thessalonians. Go back, please, to 2 Thessalonians. Second chapter. Are you still ready to hear the rest? Cause number one. Now, folks, if you're ever going to be given over to the spirit of Antichrist, here are the reasons. I'm going to give you two. They receive not the love of the truth. Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteous and them that perish. Why? Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now, look this way, please. Verse 12 says, and they will all be damned who believe not the truth. Most Christians simply endure the truth and don't appropriate it to their hearts. Will you please go to Jeremiah, the fifth chapter. Folks, I'm preaching you Bible. Chapter 5. Verse 1. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem to see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof. If you can find a man, if there be any that execute a judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I'll pardon it. And though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return. Look at me, please. This is so very vital. God's saying, Jeremiah, go find me some man. Go find me anybody that just has a heart for the truth. I'll pardon that one, and I'll use it. But he said, look what's happening to people. They say that they love me. They say that I rule in their lives. But he says, they don't receive correction anymore. They don't want to be reproved. There's anger in their heart. They're not grieving at the preaching of the word. When it cuts to the marrow of the bone, they call it anger. In verse 30, he said, they're not stricken. They don't grieve. They refuse to receive correction. They've made their hearts harder than a rock. They say, the Lord lives in me. Most people sitting here this morning would say, well, I love God's word. I haven't lost my love for the word of God. Let me give you three ways to determine whether or not you have the love of the word of God in your heart. First of all, you have lost your love for the word of God if it's a difficult job for you to get to church. And you're bored, and you don't look forward, and you no longer look forward to the assembling of yourself with believers. The scripture said, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhort one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. The Lord is saying, the closer we are to the coming Lord, the more perilous the times, the more important it is that you gather with God's people. There are some that get so excited, they just love coming to church. They come every time the doors are open. I know some of you have family obligations, you have job obligations, and God understands that. I'm talking about those who sit at home, those who become bored. They don't want to hear the message anymore. They're just bored. The house of God is not alive to them anymore. They drag themselves. If you're dragging yourself to this church, God help you, you're opening yourself to the spirit of the man of Christ. Tragic thing that's happening across American Canada. I just, last week in Texas, and some pastors were telling me how crazy things are getting. They said, Brother Dave, we've already shut down our midweek because nobody comes. We're shutting down Sunday night because already we just have a handful, we have to show a movie, or we have to have a concert, we can't get people to come. Prayer meetings are gone. And so, what we have now is a one hour to one and a half hour Sunday morning meeting. And the people are rising up. There was one pastor, he's being driven out of his church. It was a prosperity church, and he came in to start preaching. God got a hold and started preaching holiness and separation from the world. They're driving him out on a rail. They don't want to hear it. There's no love of the truth. Oh, they love it if you tell them how merciful God is, how gracious God is, and He is all of that. But they want to be told what God will do for me, how He'll bless me, how He'll prosper me, but not what I can do for Jesus. I can give my life and sacrifice and be a missionary. Are you still glad when they say, let us go into the house of the Lord? The second way you can know that you're losing your love is by reading someone else's name into the message instead of your own. You're going to hear a raging, powerful message saying, oh, thank God, He's finally reaching Brother So-and-so. Thank God, Sister Smith, she's got it. She's getting it. God, pour it on her. How many of you have taken this message to heart right now? How many of you are being moved and convicted in your own heart, and you're not thinking about anybody else? You're saying, God, pour the word into my heart. Sign number three, when reproof angers you rather than humbles you. But you've said it not on my counsel. You did not want my reproof. You despised all my reproof. Proverbs 1.30 Correction is grievous unto those who forsake the way. I've heard people say, oh, I've heard a set of Brother Carter's messages like mine. It's too hard. He's angry. Oh, you better believe we are angry at the devil and sin and everything that would attack God's people because we're shepherds. We're angry at that and not at people. But the Bible said, correction is grievous to those that forsake the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. He that hateth reproof shall die. All right? Cause number one is a loss of love for the word of God. Cause number two, verse 12, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Look at me. Pleasure madness. Pleasure madness. Folks, I'm coming near the end, but I've got to get this into your heart, if you will, please. That they had pleasure in unrighteousness. I want to prove to you right now that in the last days that the lovers of pleasure are going to be more inside the church than outside the church. When we think of lovers of pleasure, we're thinking of gamblers, and we're thinking of prostitutes, we're thinking of drug addicts, we're thinking of the jet set, we're thinking of those that are out in the bars and the racetracks, we're thinking all the lovers of pleasure are there. That's not what the Bible says. 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Just turn right. A few pages. Third chapter. 2 Timothy 3. Do you have it? Verse 1. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despised are those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Look at me. Listen to this list. Blasphemers, unholy, truce breakers, false accusers, fierce, traitors, in God's house. This is in God's house, folks. That's what Paul is talking to Timothy about. He said, beware. These are going to be, this is going to be the spirit of Antichrist in the last days. They're going to be those who are in love with their pleasures, the pleasures of unrighteousness. The pleasures of unrighteousness. He said, because of this, this Antichrist spirit is going to come in. Because they don't know the truth, and because they're given over to the love of pleasure. Now, it says more than the love of God. It intimates that there's a measure of the love of God. But there's more of the love of the world. He's talking about so-called believers. And folks, if you sit here this morning, you have not laid down the pleasures of this world. And he's talking about the pleasures of unrighteousness. Before I close, I have to get this off my heart. Listen to me now. Because you will stand before the judgment seat, and I'm going to be there when you pass under the rod. I'm totally convinced now, more than ever, that cable television, filthy movies, both in the theater and the home VCRs, is the number one cause, is going to be the number one cause of hearts being prepared for the Antichrist. The number one. Because the eye is the gate to the heart. And he's going to march right through the eye, and take control, and sit on the throne of the heart because of filthy, corrupted, jaded eyes. I remember a minister friend of mine, a number of years ago, telling me when not to rest, and he said, and I wouldn't pay much attention, it didn't hit me at the time, he said, you know, I've got one of those big, what do you call those? Satellite dishes. And it has Playboy on it. He said, those movies are so dirty, sometimes I feel like taking an axe and just go chop it down. I never thought anything about it, until later, a year later, when he took a fall into a deep immorality. I thought, how did he know that it was so bad? And what angered him that he was going to take an axe and chop it because he's watching it? And then that took a terrible fall, an awful fall that brought great reproach on so many. You go ahead, and you go to the show, go to a movie, pluck down your five or six dollars, and you sit there, and listen to me good now, you sit there, and you sit there, well, there's blood and violence, and you sit there, while the name of Jesus Christ is cursed and mocked and run through the mud and trampled, and the name of your holy God is cursed. And I'm going to tell you what you've done. You've just drunk from the cup of the devil, you have fellowship with demons, and you've provoked God to jealousy. And you have supported the Antichrist spirit, and the Antichrist spirit, that Satan sees where you're at, he knows where you're sitting, in the seat of the ungodly. And you're going to sit there, and you're going to take that. You rent a movie, and put it in your VCR? Now folks, I'm not standing here saying, in our office we have VCRs, and we watch the tapes that come in. We are taping this right now on video. I'm not against that, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when you go, and you go past those dirty movies, or even PG-13 now, even PG's, Curse the Name of Jesus. Do you not even have the grace to get up and walk out? If you sit there, you wouldn't sit there and let them curse your wife, or your husband. You wouldn't sit there and let them curse your, they named your children like that, and you would get up and scream, and say stop it, and run out. And yet you'll sit there, and let the name of your Christ be maimed, sit in front of television and watch filthy, filthy, rotten stuff, and let that spirit of Antichrist seep into your soul, provoking the Lord to jealousy. You know what it is? It's called a sacrifice to the devil. That's what God calls it, a sacrifice to demons. God help us. Now, before I close, I'm going to give you the good part. Hallelujah. Go back to 2 Thessalonians. They're going to be just a precious body, Paul says, who are going to rise up against the spirit of Antichrist, and they are going to stand strong. They will never be overcome. They're going to overcome the world, the flesh, the devil. They're going to overcome the wicked one, the Bible says. Hallelujah. Verse 13, 2 Thessalonians 2. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you. Here's that special people. Brethren, be loved to the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through what? Sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Oh, look at it for just a minute. I really believe that this church, the great majority that are sitting here this morning, you're here because you love the truth. You're not afraid to be reproved. And because of that, God sanctifies your spirit. He sanctifies your mind. He convicts you when you've done wrong so that you don't run out there and say, oh, everything is all right. But you examine your heart before the Holy Ghost. The Word, a sharp two-edged sword, pierces and it heals you. Hallelujah. Wherefore, He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand firm, or fast, and hold the traditions which have been taught by word of our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Hallelujah. Folks, keep your heart open to the Word. Love the Word of God. God will establish you. When that antichrist spirit comes in like a flood, the Word of God lifts up a standard against it, cannot make an inroad to you. The more wicked this world becomes, the more righteous you will become in the name of the Lord. I'm going to give you one last verse, Psalms 125. I want you to take this promise home with you. Psalms 125. Folks, you've got to memorize this. First three verses. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. Oh, let the devil rage. Let the antichrist spirit come. You won't be moved because you're on the Word of God. Hallelujah. Verse 2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forever. Listen to this. For the rod of the wicked, that's the rod of the antichrist, the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Look at me. He's got a rod. That means authority. But His authority, and His power, and His reign will not come upon the righteous. Shall not rest upon you. But God said, I'll give you power and authority. You will not be overcome by Satan. You will overcome the world and overcome. This is the faith that overcomes the world, even the testimony that overcomes the world, even our faith. How many believe you can overcome the wicked one? Will you stand? Lord Jesus, send Your Holy Spirit and bring conviction. Lord, there's some people need to repent. They've got to repent, Lord, of carelessness and of just slipping away from the love of the Word. God, You told me to call people to repentance this morning. Lord, there's some that come for the first time and they've been shocked by what they've heard. They've been moved and they've been convicted. And others, Lord, have been in this church for a long time. And there's some, Lord, that are getting hardened by the Word. Oh, God, don't let us get hard. Let us receive it and open our hearts. Lord, I believe already some have had the inroads of the Spirit of Antichrist into their heart and it needs to be plucked out. It has to be driven out of their hearts this morning. If the Word of God has convicted you this morning, I want you to get out of your seat from the balcony, go to either side stairs and come down the aisle. And you're here now, and you say, Oh, Brother Wilkinson, I don't want that Spirit of Antichrist. The enemies try to make inroads into my life. If you need to repent, if you say, Oh, Brother, they prayed for me this morning. I don't want to give in. I want to be able to stand strong. Some of you still have habits. Some of you still have lust. Some of you are still not walking in His righteousness. Some of you are compromised. Some of you need to be delivered from being a couch potato and watching all that filth. God wants to cleanse your mind. God wants to put a new heart in you this morning. Hallelujah. In the aisles in here, have never come forward in this church before. Raise your hand, please. Your first time to come forward in this church? Yes. God bless you. God bless you.