II Thessalonians 2:9-14
Let’s begin again with verse 10. Remember the anti-Christ has now, since the middle of the Tribulation, become the absolute world despotic leader. And with the today’s technology, it will be so easy for the population to be under his thumb. I always have to stop and comment, do you realize that none of this end-time prophecy could have been even imaginable had it not been for our technology? But you can see now that our technology is making it so believable. We know that there is going to be a technology that will globally position every individual. They’ll know where we people are, there’s no place to hide.
So during the Tribulation this will all peak, and they’re going to have whatever technology is needed to fulfill what we see in the Scriptures, and that’s what makes it so believable. Twenty years ago this was still something that you had to take by pure faith, but today you can just see it coming faster and faster. I was reading an article the other day about fiber optics, and we haven’t heard a lot about that technology in the past few years, but now all of a sudden the communication experts are coming back to fiber optics and they’re realizing that they can just almost exponentially increase the number of messages going on just one little hair breath line, it’s just mind boggling.
And when they can tell you that they can put all the New York Times newspapers that have ever been printed on a little chip then you can see where we are as far as technology goes today. I read another little article where this is the whole thrust of our electronic industry, as these chips keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller. There’s almost no limit to it. Well, all of this is just telling us that it’s getting the world ready for this absolute governmental control of the masses.
Now I guess the first thing I have to clarify, because two or three at break time got the idea that I said that no one could be saved during the Tribulation. I did not say that! And I’ve got to clarify that. Only those who have heard the Grace Gospel, that Christ died for them and rose from the dead, and they can have it free for nothing by simply believing it, and they have rejected it, they’re not going to have a second chance. They’ve had their opportunity. They’ve understood it. They’ve considered it. The Holy Spirit enlightened them, but they said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I’m having too much fun. I don’t want to give up my wicked lifestyle. I’ll do it later." Well, bless their hearts, and I feel for parents who are weeping for children out there that are in the world and lost.
But don’t give up. I’ll never forget years back I had a dear old gentleman and we were talking about this very thing. And I could see the tears running down his cheek at the back of the room. He came up afterward and I asked him, "What’s the matter?" And he said, "Les, I’ve got two grown sons who grew up in our local Sunday School class, but they never heard the Gospel. And they are out there in the world and are making big money and they are lost. If the Lord should come tonight, they’ll be left behind." And I said, "Well, at least you can take comfort in the fact they haven’t heard the Gospel. They’re not in that category." He said, "No, but they’ll be left behind." Well, he doesn’t know, but here just a week or two ago, we got an e-mail from one of those boys and he had come to know the Lord and was studying our material. Oh, how I wish I could have let that weeping father know. So, one of the two have come in and maybe the second one will come too. So never give up. If you’re parents out there and your kids are out in the world, don’t ever give up. You just keep praying and praying and praying that the Lord will somehow open their hearts.
Let’s first qualify, if I was misunderstood. I didn’t say that but I might have been misunderstood. Come back with me quickly to Revelation chapter 7. We’ve always got to clarify first if there’s a need. And we’ll just start at verse 3.
Revelation 7:3
"Saying (the angels) Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till (time word. They need a segment of time. What are they going to do?) we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
And then he comes in and lists that it’s 12,000 young Jewish men from each one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, I think Dan is left out, if I’m not mistaken. It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at this. And one of the other sons of Joseph is brought in. But nevertheless, there will be 12,000 young Jewish men each out of the 12 tribes of Israel. Now you see the doubter scoffs doesn’t he? He says, "Well no Jew knows what tribe he’s from." Well, I know the Jews don’t, at least most of them. But God does. And you know God in His Sovereignty, in His own way of doing things has somehow or another preserved 12,000 young men that will be identified with each one of the 12 original tribes of Israel, except Dan, because they went into idolatry. But, these 144,000 young Jewish men, virgin men, never been married, are going to go out and circumvent the globe. I’ve always said this is Israel’s redeeming moment. What the nation failed to do back there in Acts chapter 1, 2, and 3, these 144,000 Jews are almost going to make up for.
Now, I think, and I don’t like to quote people unless I’m real sure, but I think it was Tim LaHaye, in one of his books, that made the comment that he thought more people would be saved, and if he finds out that I said this and I’m wrong, then I apologized before he even has to call me. But I’m sure he wrote in one of his books on Revelation that he feels that there will be more people saved during this 7-year period under the preaching of the 144,000 than were saved in all the ages of the church. Now, you say, "How can that be?" Well you’ve heard me use the numbers. Why is God going to bring such wrath and judgment on this last closing generation of people? Because of the numbers. There are more people living on the planet right now than have lived all the way back.
You want to remember, the world’s population for centuries and centuries was like 500,000,000 – half a billion – that’s all. Then it wasn’t until about the mid 1800 hundreds that that doubled to 1 billion. And that happened in about the early 1900 hundreds. Now, of course, it has doubled and doubled to where we’re now 6 and one half billion. And it’s going to double again in a few more years. So, it’s numbers. And so, yes, I can see the potential that there could be more people saved in the Tribulation than would have ever been saved in the Church Age. I’m not saying that I agree with that 100%, but I do know this. Revelation chapter 7 and verse 9. After these 144,000 young Jews have been commissioned and have been sent out around the planet, they will go supernaturally. They won’t have to buy airline tickets. They won’t have to learn languages. They won’t have to fear for their life. No one can take their life from them. That’s the purpose of the seal in their forehead. But they will evidently suffer privation, hunger, heat and cold, imprisonment, but they can’t take their lives. Now look what the results of their missionary endeavors will do.
Revelation 7:9a
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number….’
Now I know that’s a large number. And look where they come from. Not Israel! They come from all nations. And kindred, and people and languages. You know what that tells me? Even into some of these third world nations, where they have all these different dialects, these 144,000 Jews are going to penetrate every one of them. And they’re not going to have to stop and learn the language. They’re not going to have to stop and get transportation. They’re going to go like the wind. And they’re going to have a tremendous response. But, who are these people? They are people who have never heard the Gospel of the Grace of God that we find in Paul’s Gospel of I Corinthians 15:1-4. They are people who have never heard it and rejected it. These are people who will not have taken the mark of the beast, because Scripture tells us as soon as they agree to that mark in the forehead or the hand, they shut off their opportunity for salvation.
Now immediately if you will just sit and think for a moment, what part of the world has the most people who have never heard Paul’s gospel, and who are not up on all this technology, that as soon as the world is announced that everyone is going to have to have this 666 number to buy or sell, what area of the world could care less? Well a good portion of the third world countries. They’re not use to credit cards, or our high technology, and I can see the masses of Pakistan, India, and China and places in Africa where these people will respond to this gospel of the kingdom.
Matthew 24:14
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
Not the Gospel of Grace that is preached here in the Church Age, but these 144,000 will be preaching the same gospel of the kingdom that Jesus and the disciples preached during his earthly ministry, and there is a difference in these two messages. So these people who have not taken the mark of the beast, the 666, they’re going to respond by the millions. But we also know by Scripture that they’re going to be martyred as soon as they believe. And technology will play a role in that also. Just as soon as they make their profession of faith the authorities will know it, and they’ll be put to death. So consequently only a precious few of those Tribulation believers will survive, but there will be some survivors of the Tribulation Isaiah tells us.
Isaiah 24:6
"Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."
But to qualify now where I was misunderstood, Yes there are going to be multitudes saved during the Tribulation, but it can’t be anyone who has heard and contemplated, and rejected Paul’s Gospel. And their punishment for doing this, they are going to come under the complete wrath of God, and in order to justify God’s wrath, they are going to embrace this anti-Christ and his system as what the world was really looking for in the first place. Here in II Thessalonians, chapter 2 Paul makes that so plain. Verse 10 again.
II Thessalonians 2:10
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness (there’s nothing righteous in what they do) in them that perish; (they’re going to be lost for all eternity) because they received not the love of the truth, (which we pointed out in our last program, which was the Gospel, that Christ died for them, and rose from the dead, as we saw in I Corinthians 15:1-4) that they might be saved." Oh they had the opportunity but they rejected it. Now verse 11.
II Thessalonians 2:11
"And for this cause (what cause? They heard Paul’s Gospel and rejected it. Plain enough? They’ve heard the Gospel, they considered it, but they rejected it, and so consequently, for this cause) God shall send them strong delusion, (He’s going to fry their brain, or mix up their thinking,) that they should believe a lie:"
They’re going to say, "The anti-Christ is the God we’re looking for. He’s the Messiah that the Bible was talking about. He’s the one we can follow, and we won’t have to change our lifestyle. We can keep on doing what we’ve been doing when we follow him. And that’s the delusion that God will put in the mind of every human being, regardless of where they are on the planet who have heard Paul’s Gospel and rejected it. Listen! If I were a lost person in the world today, I would rather have never heard the Gospel, than to sit under it Sunday after Sunday, week after week, and reject it. So to those who have heard, contemplated it, and rejected it, that God will send a delusion to change their thinking. And what is their thinking going to do now? It’s going to make them believe the lie!
And what is the lie from Genesis chapter 3 to Revelation chapter 20? That you can be like God. Am I right? That’s the lie. In fact let’s go back and look at it in Genesis chapter 3, because that’s where it all began. This is all part of the Satan’s lie, and he’s a master in carrying it out. Here Eve, of course, is in the Garden looking at the tree, and the serpent that Satan was using speaks to her.
Genesis 3
"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:" Now what is that? A lie. Eve did die spiritually, and later on physically, but Satan said, "she wouldn’t" Now look at verse 5.
Genesis 3:5a
"For God doth know…"
See how Satan brought God in. And the politician is the same way if he’s worth his salt, and has a great big important message, and I think F.D.R. was probably one of the masters at doing that. They never end a speech without it, and it’s usually in the last sentence or paragraph, who do they have to mention? God. Oh somehow they’ll say, "May God bless our nation," or something like that. See they’ve got to bring God in at least that much. But see Satan is a master at it. He doesn’t say, "Now I’m telling you." No he says, -
Genesis 3:5
"For God doeth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened (of course God knew in a far better way than Eve could have ever understood.) and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Isn’t that what the human race is looking for? Oh to have the power of a god, and that’s the lie. See Christianity never teaches that we will be God. The New Agers do, and other cults do, but our Gospel never teaches that we become God. We’re going to be joint-heirs with Christ, we’re children of God, but we’ll never be God. Remember that. See that’s the lie of Satan, "Oh come on Eve, eat of the fruit, and you can be like God." That’s the lie. All right, this constant urge to believe the lie of Satan is going to carry all the way through the human experience. Now back to II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 11 again.
1I Thessalonians 2:11
And for this cause (because they rejected Paul’s gospel) God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" That they don’t need the Gospel of the Grace of God - they’re going to follow this man anti-Christ. Now verse 12. What’s the end result? It’s frightening. I mean this is something to be scared about for an unbeliever, or at least they should be.
II Thessalonians 2:12
"That they all (these people who have heard Paul’s gospel, have considered it, they know it’s the truth, but they say, ‘not now, maybe later at a more convenient time’) might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
See God isn’t going to condemn them because of their evil works. That was just an outflow of their old Satanic nature, which all of us had the potential. But why will God in justice and righteousness condemn them to such a fate? Because they rejected the truth of the Gospel. You know we were talking the other day, if the Gospel of the Grace of God was something that would just demand a million dollars or a trip overseas, or to climb some high forbidding mountain, people would be after salvation by the millions.
But here God offers something that is absolutely free for nothing, you don’t have to do anything, but believe it, then let God do the rest, but what do the masses say? I’m not interested. They could care less, and I’m sure the heart of God breaks when he sees the masses of humanity so indifferent. Now it would be different, and I can understand their rejecting the Gospel if God was laying a lot of demands on them, like a lot of the cults do. And listen, followers of cults take on those demands gladly. But here in Grace, God doesn’t expect that, God says, "I’VE DONE IT ALL, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE IS BELIEVE IT!"
Many people may say, "Now Les, why do you make such an emphasis on just believing? Now listen, everyone of us are human, and I’ve used this example before. Anyone of us if we were suddenly caught in a position that we had just witnessed something, regardless if it was an accident at an intersection, or maybe a murder or whatever. We had witnessed it, we saw it happen, and we knew every little detail without any doubt in our mind. And if someone asked us what we saw and heard, we could tell them with all the honesty at our disposal, and if that person who asked then turned around and said, "I don’t believe you. What is he calling you? A liar! Now you see every person that rejects this offer of God’s Grace in so many words is saying, "God you’re lying to me. I don’t believe it." But when you do believe it, it just thrills the heart of God to such an extent that He saves us to the uttermost. Oh it’s so simple.
I had a lady quite a few years back who was in such distress about her eternal destiny, and so after our class one night she came up and wanted to know the plan of salvation, so she could have the hope of glory. So I explained Paul’s gospel in all of it’s simplicity. I said, "Just recognize that you’re a sinner, that you’re undone, and that Christ had done everything that needs to be done, and all you have to do is believe it," and that poor lady looked up at me with almost the eyes of a Cocker Spaniel and said, "That’s too simple."
Isn’t it sad? Now if I would have told her, now listen lady if you can scrape up $50,000 or if you can do this or do that for salvation, she would have been elated and tickled pink. But when you tell the lost that it’s so simple, that all you have to do is believe it with all your heart, they just shake their head and say, "I can’t buy that." Oh it’s sad, I tell you it’s sad. Now back to where we were in II Thessalonians. So when these people believe the lie instead of the Gospel, verse 12 says –
II Thessalonians 2:12a
"That they all might be damned (for all eternity) who believed not the truth…"
The only reason they will go out into eternity lost is they didn’t believe the Gospel. A verse comes to mind, and I’m going to use it in our closing moments. Come over to the Book of Hebrews chapter 3. It’s been a long time since we’ve used these verses. Remember it’s always been this way. Now what we’re talking about in Hebrews chapter 3 is when the children of Israel were brought up to Kadesh Barnea on the southern border of the Promised Land, and they have just come from the experience of Mount Sinai where they had built that golden calf, and had fallen into the idolatry that they had brought out of Egypt. But now God has brought them up to the border and He told them to go on into the land and take it. He said, "I’ll drive the Canaanites out with hornets, you won’t have to lift a single weapon, you won’t have to lose a drop of blood, just go in and take it, but what did they do? Oh they said, "We can’t do it, we’re like grasshoppers in their sight." So now look what God’s controversy was with them.
Hebrews 3:17-19
"But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18. And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19.
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
1-800-369-7856
How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
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