Point Harbor Community Church

1 John 2:18 (NLT)
Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

Castro / Hitler / Mao / Stalin / Nero…

They weren’t the Antichrist…

But they were all doing On-the-Job-Training for the gig.

According to God’s Word, the antichrist is a very real and is headed our way…

A very real world leader who will make his appearance – be revealed…
Quite possibly in the near future…

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 NLT
"Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him."

Paul says, “You’re obviously confused about some of this stuff… let me give you some CLARITY…
2 - "Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun."

Important distinction:
The Day of the Lord is NOT the Rapture.
The Day of the Lord IS the Tribulation.

"Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us."

Here’s a good place for me to give you the warning that I lay down from time-to-time…

Just because you saw it on Christian TV, doesn’t mean that it’s true.
Just because it’s for sale in the Christian Bookstore, doesn’t mean that it’s godly.

3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great …

Apostasy… “defection from the truth”
1. Against God
2. Against God’s Word

3b..and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.

The Antichrist… “revealed”
1. Jesus has his REVELATION
2. Anti-Jesus has his as well
3. Jesus – personification of Righteousness
4. Antichrist – personification of Sin

4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God…

6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.
7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.

“Steps out of the way”– Greek expression for declining to do battle.

What’s Paul saying here?
That the Antichrist won’t and can’t be revealed UNTIL the person who is holding back lawlessness “Steps out of the way”.

There is a Restrainer of Sin – who needs to step voluntarily out of the way…

Early Church Scholars thought that was a reference to Rome and the Emperor,
But, He gone.

I think – and you can disagree – that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit…
Indwelling the Church.

8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed,

“Revealed” = “apocalypse”
1. Throw off the veil
2. Step into the light

but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

Back to our Antichrist-Selfie -
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.
11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.
12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

What’s he saying?

That God’s not just a neutral player in this…

If you refuse to love and accept the truth –

God will give you over to your delusion…

God says – “I gave you MY TRUTH…”

If you’d rather embrace / enjoy evil than embrace my truth,

I will CAUSE you to be greatly deceived…

If you are here…
Enjoying your secret sin, rejecting God’s truth on your sin,

Not wrestling with it, and struggling with it…
But enjoying it whether secretly or openly,

He promises to give you over to it!

If this is you – you are playing with FIRE!

Romans 1:24 NLT
24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies…

If that sounds like you, then what should you do? Repent!
Agree with God - His Truth on your issue…
Ask Him for deliverance while there’s still time…Before He actively gives you totally over to your desires and passions and there is no hope.

What is it that you are loving more that God’s truth?

What decision do YOU need to make today?

Don’t put that thing off…

CLARITY - JESUS is Coming Back!
(The Real Christ!)

The Second Coming of Christ (although those exact words “Second Coming” don’t appear in the text) has the Biblical support of 300 mentions in the NT!

CLARITY - There’ll be a period of Tribulation lasting 7 Years.

Daniel 9:27 TEV
That ruler [the Antichrist] will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him."

CLARITY - A world leader will arise (Anti-Christ)

CLARITY - The Antichrist will go to war with the People of God – and then, The Returning Son of God—resulting in the Battle of Armageddon.

CLARITY - Jesus will win an rule and reign from Jerusalem physically and personally for 1000 Years.

CLARITY - At the end of the 1000 years – there will be one last rebellion – Satan will finally be put imprisoned for eternity.

CLARITY -God will do a REBUILD
New Heavens and New Earth
Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

CLARITY - God’s people will populate the New Heaven and the New Earth forever!

SECOND COMING SCRIPTURES:
Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:36; Matthew 24:44; Matthew 25:32; Mark 13:32-37; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:4; 1 Thes. 4:11-18; 1 Thes. 5:2; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 3:10-12; 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28; Hebrews 10:37; James 5:8; Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 1:7; Rev. 22:20

Mark 13:3-5
Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked him, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?”
Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you…”

Which tells me Jesus knew that many of His own people would be what? Misled!

1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. –

1 John 3:2-3
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Back to our Antichrist-Selfie
2 Thessalonians 2: 10-12 NLT
10 He [the Antichrist] will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and
11 So God will causethem to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.
12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

Don’t let that be YOUR SELFIE!