Pastor Dana Kidder preaching from II Thessalonians 2:1-12 at Redemption Bible Church in Bellefontaine, OH.
Redemption Bible Church
Do Not Be Deceived (part 2)
There are at least 25 warnings against false teachers in the New Testament, and actually many more instances where the concept is simply alluded to. For example, each of the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all of them call us to be on our guard against those who would lead us astray by teaching things that are contrary to the revealed Word of God. So for example, in the midst of a series of rebukes for this very sin, Jesus says in Matthew 23, he says, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within your full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." And if that's an example of Jesus speaking out against the legalism and hypocrisy of Israel's leaders, he also warned against antinomianism, which is a total disregard for God's law. So in Matthew chapter 5, verse 19, it says, "Jesus says, 'Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'" Of course, the Apostle Paul is famous for his many warnings against false teachers, but we also need to remember that a false teacher isn't necessarily just someone upfront preaching or teaching a class. He warns about those within the church in any capacity who are stirring up division. So in Romans chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, Paul writes this, he says, "I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you've been taught, avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive." This is similar to what he tells Titus. Titus chapter 3, verses 10 and 11 says, "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self-condemned." And incidentally, according to those two passages, Romans 16, 17 and 18, in Titus 3, verses 10 and 11, according to those two passages, church discipline is handled differently for someone causing division than it would be for, say, an adulterer or some other unrepentant church member, and the reason for that is because the core motivation of the false teacher bringing division is to steal away the hearts of the naive, to convince them to believe wrong things about God and salvation. And as we're going to see today, God has promised to deal decisively with anyone who could be considered a false teacher. The Paul is not the only epistle writer who would write to warn the saints of false teachers infiltrating the church. At the time of the apostles, and here I'm really thinking about the latter half of the book of Acts and maybe even a little bit of the time period after Acts is written, when the church is established and growing, when new local leadership is being appointed in local churches and the epistles are being written and circulated. During this time, the Christians already knew themselves to be living in the last days. There's a real sense of urgency to the New Testament epistles, the letters. So both James and Peter write to a church that has been displaced because of persecution. They've had to flee for their lives. Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who are likewise spread across the empire. Jude writes. He writes to a church urging them to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And by the way, the New Testament writers, they don't always use precise or uniform language when talking about the big picture of how you ought to live in light of Christ's return. So for example, John will use the phrase of the term "last hour" and be speaking of the present, meaning the time that he wrote the words. So he says, "It is the last hour," and he was emphasizing the urgency of his instructions regarding that. But sometimes the various writers of New Testament letters will use the phrase "last days, last times." They'll use them interchangeably. Sometimes the last days will have last days of their own. In other words, in some places you will read that it is the last days, and in other places you will read something like when the last days come. And so the best way to read it is to think of this as something like when we get to the last days of these last days. And in that sense, the last days of these last days will have a final last day when Jesus will come to raise the dead and judge the world. That's part of his promise in John chapter 6, verse 40, when Jesus said, "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." In light of the kind of variances of language, and the urgency of the writings, listen to the Apostle John's sort of caution from 1 John chapter 2. I'm going to read just verses 18 to 22, and we'll get into 2 Thessalonians in a moment. So this is 1 John 2, 18. He says, "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore 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 have continued with us, but they went out that it might be complained that they are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you have all knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist. He who denies the Father and the Son." Now the Apostle John uses that word Antichrist in those verses several times. In fact, I believe that he is the only one who uses that word in the New Testament. Nevertheless the concept is found all over the place. We can also see clearly, we can see it clearly in our passage today, and that we looked at last week too, where Paul uses the phrase "man of lawlessness." And so John writes a little bit later in his first letter in chapter 4, verse 3, he says, "And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming, and now is in the world already." So according to the Apostle John, there will be many who oppose the gospel and attempt to lead the saints astray. He says in chapter 2 there, "They went out from us, but they were not of us. They did not belong to the covenant people of God. But as Christians," he goes on to say, "we are able to discern this because we have been to use His words, anointed by the Holy One, we have the Holy Spirit. We have God's revealed Word, and therefore we have," he says, "knowledge and truth." This fits directly with Paul's repeated warnings against false teachers who slip into churches and teach things that can only be described as anti-Christ, as standing in direct opposition to Jesus Christ and His gospel. Now John sees these anti-Christ as numbering. He says many in 1 John 2, 18. Then in verse 22, he presents them as anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. And in this context of what John is saying here, this is presumably those who have finagled their way into a teaching role, some sort of teaching role in the church, whether that is a teacher of some kind or an elder or a pastor. Then in 1 John 4, remember, he says that the spirit of anti-Christ is already active in the world. This means that the work of evil is already active in the world, already opposing Christ and the gospel, already opposing the work of the church, but remember the gates of hell are no match for Christ and His church. The gates of hell are no match for Jesus Christ and the gospel, the message the church brings. While these things that John is saying are essentially the same things that Paul is saying in our passage today. So 2 Thessalonians 2, we're going to be looking really at verses 5 through 12, but it fits together with last week. So I'm going to read the whole starting in verse 1. The emphasis, Paul's emphasis is just a little bit different than John's, but he's saying essentially the same thing. I think you'll be able to see this as we walk through this. And the message really that both of them are getting across to the church is a simple one, do not be deceived. Do not be deceived. This is what both of them are saying to us. So let me read 2 Thessalonians 2, 1 through 12. Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus and are being gathered together to Him, we ask your brothers not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or objects of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was with you, I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed when the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but a pleasure in unrighteousness. I'm going to stop here and pray. Father, I pray that you would, I pray that I would decrease and that Christ would increase. I pray that you give us ears to hear. Help us to understand. Feed us from your word today Lord, in Jesus name, amen. So last week we looked at verses one to four and in those verses we saw that Paul called us to not be deceived that Christ had already come and also to not be deceived because there are still unfulfilled signs, namely a great apostasy or falling away of the faith and the rise of this man of lawlessness. And as we continue this week with the call to watch out for deception, there is actually an element from each the past, present and future. So three, I believe helpful tools that will help to keep ourselves from being deceived. So here's what I mean, beginning with the past. The first helpful tool is this, remember what you were taught and you will not be deceived. Remember what you were taught and you will not be deceived. Look at verse five. Paul says to the Thessalonians, do you not remember that when I was with you, I told you these things? Remember what you were taught and you will not be deceived. So none of this that Paul is teaching throughout these letters, especially with regards to Christ's return, none of this is new information for the Thessalonians. Paul had evidently taught often about the second coming of Jesus Christ and he expected them to understand what he was saying. In fact, it seems that what was going on there in the church at Thessalonica was that this church was becoming more and more vulnerable to error, to false teaching, to manipulation because they were in the process of forgetting the truth that he'd already taught them. This is actually a common problem in churches. The old, for example, the old mainline denominations in the United States and it doesn't matter which one we're talking about because they're all headed in the same direction. All those historic churches and denominations that now hold unbiblical positions on things like marriage, family, gender and so forth, they're all rooted in a rejection of the authority and the sufficiency of Scripture. But these are largely all churches and denominations who at their foundation, when they were founded, they held on to core biblical doctrines. They were faithful churches and yet they have forgotten and eventually just downright rejected them. But that drift doesn't happen overnight. It happens over generations when a church forgets the core truths of God's Word. It happens over generations. It happens when we fail to teach our children about Jesus. It happens when we fail to teach our children about Jesus. It happens when we fail to catacize them. It happens when we stop forgetting, when we forget about holiness and what it means to be holy as Christ is holy. It happens when we pay little attention to the warnings and admonitions surrounding Christ's return. And while it doesn't happen overnight, it can happen really quickly, it can happen really quickly when we get distracted with the tyranny of the urgent, when we forget the most important things. This is what happened at the churches of Galatia, for example. Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, Paul says, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ, he says. This is why Jude wrote at the beginning of his brief little letter, he said, "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed. Who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ?" Peter addresses the same things, especially in his second letter. You might remember at the end of his life, the Apostle Paul urges Timothy over and over in second Timothy, especially. He says, "Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David has preached in my gospel." Then he says, "Remind them of these things a little later, but as for you continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We can't be people who think that we will not forget these things. We can't be people who think, "Yeah, I learned that in Sunday school. I'm never going to forget it." So many Christians and churches are tossed to and fro by every wind and wave of doctrine by human cunning and by craftiness and deceitful schemes. But our sure and steady anchor must be Jesus Christ as He is revealed to us in the Word of God. We must remember what we have been taught so that we will not be deceived. The second helpful tool to help us understand the present even as we remember the past could be said like this, "Do not be deceived right now. Do not be deceived right now." Look at verses 6 and 7. And you know what is restraining Him now so that He may be revealed in His time, but the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only He who now restrains it will do so until He is out of the way. So in verses 3 and 4, we saw the things that must take place before the day of the Lord comes. And so at the time Paul writes this, he's calling them to look ahead to a time when apostasy will spread through the church and a man of lawlessness will stand in direct opposition to Jesus Christ. That's verses 3 and 4. And now in verses 6 and 7, Paul is contrasting that with the Thessalonians present reality. In fact, two present realities that in many ways are still present for us today. The first is this, that the rebellion against God and the lawless one, that the lawless one will embody is already at work in the world. And then the second is that, that that eschatological enemy is being restrained. Now remember, Paul is writing to correct the claim that the day of the Lord had already come. He's writing to bring comfort to afraid, weary, persecuted Christians, new believers even. And yet even though this purpose is very clear, we understand why he's writing. These four verses, verses 3 and 4 and 6 and 7, are among the most unclear verses of the Apostle Paul's writing. This is very difficult to interpret and apply. And yet I want to emphasize here, there are two things that we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt. Number one, although the day of the Lord is yet still future, we cannot let down our guard against the spiritual forces of evil. We cannot let down our guard against the spiritual forces of evil. In Ephesians chapter 6, we are urged or admonished, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. This is a spiritual battle. This is a war. And we cannot be content to sit comfortably and think to ourselves, well, in the end God wins anyway, so I don't really have to do anything. Just one Sunday, I go most of the time, or some of the time, true, I haven't read my Bible in a while. In fact, I'm not quite sure where it is. I can't remember the last time that I prayed, but I know God wins in the end, so we'll be okay. Beloved, he says, "Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm." That does not just happen. That doesn't just happen. We don't just stand firm in the evil day out of nothing. It doesn't just happen because, number two, we're not any safer from deception now than if the man of lawlessness was standing in our presence today. Because the spirit of Antichrist to use John's words is already at work in the world. Now, as usual, pronouns, it's the pronouns that make this so confusing. So the one restraining, look at verses six and seven, the one restraining is what is restraining, what? But in verse seven, we read, "He who now restrains." And if that's not confusing enough, so it goes from a what to a he. If that's not confusing enough, the one restrained, let me read verse six again. And you know what is restraining him so that now he may be revealed in his time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he's out of the way. But then, so that's in verse seven, restrains it, clearly referring there to the mystery of lawlessness. But what's the difference between the mystery of lawlessness and the man of lawlessness? Well remember, John had talked about the Antichrist or many Antichrist and also the spirit of Antichrist. And that phrase spirit of Antichrist actually think that's easy to understand because we understand phrases like the spirit of the age, which means something like the general public's line of thinking and actions at any given time. So the spirit of the age, Paul is saying that both the chief earthly enemy of God and the spirit of opposition to the gospel are being restrained, being held back or limited, although that spirit of opposition is already at work. So the real question here is who or what is doing the restraining? I don't know. One commentary I was looking at listed out seven different possibilities. And while it might be interesting to debate those things, for our purposes today, I believe it's sufficient to say that God and his divine sovereignty are ultimately responsible. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 24 verse 36, he said, "But concerning that day and hour, no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, nor the Son, but the Father only." See, for now, we'll get into some of the details as we unfold all of these things in the coming year or so. But for now, this approach, I believe, makes the most sense, especially in light of the fact that Paul is writing to comfort the Thessalonians. And so stressing God's sovereign control over these future events is really the purpose of this entire chapter. But even in the midst of this is the truth that while the man of lawlessness is being restrained or has yet to be revealed, the mystery of lawlessness to some extent is already at work. Now Paul uses that word mystery here. And he doesn't mean that it's some, even though there's some element to this, he doesn't mean that it's some puzzle that's hard to solve. That's not what mystery means, like a murder mystery, right? Paul regularly uses the word mystery to mean something that God himself reveals as he wills, as God wants. So he does this, for example, Paul uses this word in the benediction to the Romans. And in Romans 16, verses 25 and 26, he says, "Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed through the prophetic writings and has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith. The mystery that was kept secret but is now exposed is the gospel that is being proclaimed." That's what he's saying. Again, he uses this idea of mystery being something that God reveals when he wants to, to talk about both faith and godliness. So in 1 Timothy chapter 3, in verse 9, he says that elders must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And then talking about how we ought to behave in the church, he says in verse 16 of 1 Timothy 3, "Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness," colon, here's the mystery. He was manifested in this flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. Jesus is the embodiment, Jesus is the mystery of godliness revealed by God. Here he's simply saying that lawlessness or evil is already working in secret. However, Christians can see these things. These can discern good from evil, especially when it's pointed out to us. Because as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, he says this in verse 14, "The natural person," he means unbeliever using their mind, "does not accept the things of the Spirit, capital S, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he's not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." The spiritual person, he's talking about believers here, those who are filled with God's Holy Spirit, the spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one, for who has understood the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ, Paul says, "Because the Holy Spirit is working in us, we are able to understand the signs of the times." Remember how John put it, this was very near the beginning, I said from 1 John chapter 2, "You have been anointed by the Holy One and have all knowledge. You have the Holy Spirit and the Word of God," he talks about truth a little bit later. You have the Holy Spirit, therefore you can discern the times. You can understand what is good in evil. You can see what's going on around you and see that there is evil at work in the world trying to destroy God's people. Christians have spiritual discernment because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit and therefore we are able to understand the mystery of lawlessness at work in the world today. Here's an example. I want to give you just one example of the working of the mystery of lawlessness even from recent memory in our own country, four years ago. Some states made a concerted effort to close churches during the pandemic while allowing other entities to remain open, liquor stores and whatever. As we look back on this especially, we can see that this was the mystery of lawlessness at work, that the spiritual forces of evil were attempting to close down churches of God. We can look back and see that's clearly what was going on, that the spiritual forces of evil were trying to destroy Christ's church, but that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. Only he can remove the lampstand from the church to use language from revelation. Only he can shut down and close churches and he only does so when they have turned their back on him. We are called to not be deceived even today as the mystery of lawlessness is at work in our society and our world, but then also tomorrow. So this is the third, I think helpful tool that looks toward the future, so we could say it like this, do not be deceived in the future and you will avoid judgment. Do not be deceived in the future and you will avoid judgment. Pick up in verse eight and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved, therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that they may all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So Paul tells here the Thessalonians saints that there will be a time when the restraint will be removed and then the lawless one will be revealed. And while there is a certain supernatural element to this, Paul does not do anything to satisfy our curiosity here. Paul does not do anything to satisfy our curiosity here. He doesn't give us any details as to the lawless ones, the man of lawlessness, his identity for his actions. He just goes straight to his demise. You notice that? I believe the point that is underlying all of this is an undertone of God's unchallengeable sovereignty, his unchallengeable sovereignty. So in other words, this lawless one is pictured here as the pinnacle of all that the world, the flesh and the devil can muster to battle against God and his people and he does have some real power. He does have some real ability to deceive but Jesus will snuff him out completely like a match on a windy day such as his power. He had better images, a match versus a thousand burning sons, completely consumed, gone. The point is that Christ's appearing will completely destroy the enemy. He will be made completely and utterly powerless. So verses six to eight, six, seven and eight are really a summary. So the lawless one is restrained but will be revealed and his power is already active but when Christ returns he will be utterly destroyed. That's the summary, verses six, seven and eight. But then verse nine to twelve are really focused on the response of the world, the response of unbelievers beginning with Satan's work. We have to remember that this rebellion that we're talking about, this apostasy is the work of Satan. Satan has planned. He has worked to open the way for the lawless one to come in and deceived. That's why this lawless one, John calls him the anti-Christ because actually he is to come in the same way that Jesus did in verse one. So look back at verse one. Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, just that word, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse nine, the coming of the lawless one. Then it goes on to say that he will be given power, signs and the ability to work wonders. Although their origin is false, it is lies. He's full of deception. He will come to deceive the perishing. He will come to deceive those whose foolish minds are blinded. He will come to deceive the world. But it's even worse than that. Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 24, he says, "For false Christ's and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead people astray, if possible even the elect, even the elect. And those among the people of God." John Stott, British theologian, said, "The coming of anti-Christ will be such a clever parody of the coming of Christ that many people will be taken in by this satanic deception. The coming of anti-Christ will be such a clever parody of the coming of Jesus Christ that many people will be taken in by that deception." As you wonder how people can be so easily deceived, and then you see them line up to see an image of Jesus and a piece of toast or a statue of Mary supposedly crying or faith healers filling stadiums back in 2012. One Christian magazine that's mostly irrelevant had this incredible headline. This is a real headline from the year 2012 to a magazine that was marketed toward young adults essentially. This is the headline, "Pastor who heals people by kicking them in the face is surprisingly popular. Pastor who heals people by kicking them in the face is surprisingly popular. This happened in Lakewood, Florida. This is a whole revival that happened in 2012, for false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect." There comes a moment when God hardens the hearts of the wicked. Look at verses 11 and 12 again, "Therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that they may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in righteousness." The battle of good and evil is not a fair fight. Ever thought about that? The battle of good and evil is not a fair fight. Satan is not God's equal in any way. Even those who refuse to believe, they're actually fulfilling God's purposes when they find pleasure in unrighteousness. In fact, I would say that these verses here, what he's talking about, that this is actually simply an eschatological summary of Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1, just listen to verse beginning in 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God as plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Something to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who has blessed forever, amen." So I headline this week that in Queens, New York, there's a rise in animal sacrifices. That's because of this. That's because of this. Down in verse 28, "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malicious. They are gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." So what about us? Here's the command, "Hold fast to the trustworthy Word of God. Remember the things that you have learned from it. Remember what your Sunday school teachers taught you about Jesus. Remember what the various preachers that you've heard over your life that have told you the truth of God's Word. Remember what they have said. Remember what God's Word says. We have an advantage over most of history in that you have somewhere within an arms reach a copy of God's Word. There's a bunch in the chairs around. Many of you bring it. If you don't have a paper, I would encourage you to have a paper copy, if you don't have a paper copy, I've got like four or five apps on my phone. And I know that almost all of you have a phone in your pocket or your hand. We have God's Word. We have all generations have access to God's Word. We can remember it. We can hold fast to it. Remember the things that you have learned from God's Word. And stand firm today, stand firm in the armor that God has equipped you with, truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the sort of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And keep alert in prayer. That's a summary of Ephesians 6. Because Jesus Christ is coming, we proclaim this in the Creed, Jesus Christ is coming to judge the quick and the dead. For as 2 Corinthians, chapter 6 verse 2 says, "In a favorable time, I listened to you. And in a day of salvation, I have helped you. Behold." Listen to this, "Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation." If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, today is the day. Now is the day of salvation. Pray with me. Father, I pray that we would hold fast to the things that we have been taught from your Word. That we would remember. As Thomas wrote, "Your Word, have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you." Father, I pray that we would hide your Word in our hearts, in our minds. That we would be so directed by your Word, that we would remember it. That if one day we didn't have access to your Word, that we would be able to remember the things that you have said to us. Through the faithful parents that have taught your Word, through the Sunday School teachers, the sermons, the things that we've listened to online, the podcast, whatever it is, Lord that we would remember your Word. I pray that we would stand firm today in the armor of God, that the good shepherd has equipped us with. Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace and faith, salvation, the Word of God, that we would keep alert in prayer today. Father, that we would be looking forward to, not judgment, but Christ's return, where we may partake of the marriage supper of the land, that we can come and eat and drink with Jesus Christ in his presence. So Father, as we come to the supper now, as we who are your people, those who have repented and believed, who have been made alive in Christ as we eat and drink and so proclaim Christ's death, Lord, we do so with thankful hearts, knowing that you have saved us, that we are safe in the arms of Jesus. Father, I pray that we would hold fast to you as you continue to hold fast to us. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]