The Unfinished Story of Christmas | Part 2

The best is yet to be. Our hope looks forward to a coming Savior.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by Adrian Rogers. There are three things about the unfinished story of Christmas that ought to give us great cheer this season. In part one of today's message, we learned that we don't need to be disturbed.

In these gloriously dark days, our hope is not in politics, sociology, or science. Our hope is in Jesus Christ who is coming again. When we see him, we will wonder at his transforming love, his amazing grace, and his keeping power. If you have your Bible, turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7 as Adrian Rogers delivers part two of the unfinished story of Christmas. Now, you see, the Jesus who came the first time is coming again, and Christmas is not complete without the second coming of Jesus Christ. May I lay three things upon your heart? Three things that ought to give you Christmas cheer? Number one, according to this Scripture, you need not be disturbed.

Look, if you will, in verse 7. And you who are troubled, rest. Rest with us.

That is, be at ease. Quit your worry. Are you troubled today? Listen, it is not over yet.

There is an unfinished story. If you're troubled, rest with us. You say, Pastor, it's so dark.

Yes, it's gloriously dark because the darkest hour of the night is just before the sunrise. Our hope is not in politics. Our hope is not in sociology.

Our hope is not in science. The only sure hope, I say, for this jittery old world is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, just look in these verses for a moment. Look in verse 7 and think about who is coming again.

Look at it. We're not looking for some event in history. We're looking for Jesus Christ to be revealed. And when he's revealed, he's going to be revealed as the Lord Jesus. But think not only of the who of his coming, but think of the when of his coming. Look in verse 10 again, when he shall come. Not if, when.

There's no ifs, ands, and buts about it. Jesus Christ is coming again. We don't know when. It may be the afternoon at 2 32 that Jesus comes. But Jesus is coming again.

What a day that will be. The Lord Jesus is coming again. We think of the who of his coming. We think of the when of his coming. And then I want you to look with me for just a moment at the wonder of his coming. Let me mention some things that we will wonder at when we see him.

For example, we're going to wonder at his transforming love. Look at verse 10, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. His saints. Well, who do you think all those saints are going to be? They're going to be those who are stubborn, God-hating, unbelieving, wicked, lascivious people who were transformed, just like some of us. They're going to be those who were once ignorant and blind, who stumbled in darkness.

Folks, what transforming love. And we will wonder at his amazing grace. We will wonder not only at his transforming love.

We will wonder at his saving grace. Look again at verse 10. It doesn't say he's going to be glorified in all of those who gave tons of money to the church.

It doesn't say he's going to be glorified in all of those who lived impeccable lives or who were big shots. All of those who believe. I'm not talking about intellectual belief. I'm talking about the belief that says trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for one moment of faith. When you put your faith where God puts your sins, then that is grace, amazing grace.

There's nothing you can do to earn it, buy it, or deserve it. You put your faith in Jesus, and he'll save you, mister, and he'll keep you saved. And when you see him, you will wonder at his transforming power when you see the saints. You will wonder at his saving grace. Now I'll tell you something else you will wonder at.

You will wonder at his keeping power. Look again in verse 10. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired, now watch this, in what's the next little three-letter word? All them that believe.

Not a one is lost. You will be glorifying and admiring the Lord Jesus. All of those that believe. I led a man to Christ a while back, a little old man that came by asking for some money, and I was so busy. I just kind of brushed him off. I just took a little money out of my pocket and gave it to him and said, God bless you, $10 or $20, something I don't even remember. And I got back into my business, and God said, Adrian, you didn't talk to him about Jesus. I said, well, Lord, I'm busy. I gave him some money.

That isn't what he really needs. Lord, you know what? Well, anyway, God, he's gone. He said, you could catch him.

I said, you're right. I stopped and ran down the street and caught him. I said, wait a minute.

Come back a moment. I told him about Jesus. He was open. He prayed, received Christ as his personal Savior. I put my arm around him and hugged him and prayed for him and sent him on. I expect to meet him in heaven.

Why? Because our testimony among you was believed. What a privilege just to share the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I can hardly wait for the day when he comes to be glorified and to be admired, and he's going to show who's the King of Kings and the blessed and only potent hate.

Second thing I want to lay on your heart. You should not be deceived when 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, and now notice how Paul continues this. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him, that's called the rapture, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us. That the day of Christ is at hand. That literally means the great tribulation.

The day of Christ is the day of judgment that is coming to the world. Paul, there were some who were thinking that they were in the great tribulation because times were so hard. And then he says, look in verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means. Now the point I'm making is you should not be deceived.

Let no man deceive you by any means. For ye shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth 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 yet with you, I told you these things, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.

Only he who now letteth," or restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way. Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and 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, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness." The point is, we need not be disturbed, and we should not be deceived. Again, look in verse 3, let no man deceive you.

Now let me give you the background for this. Paul is writing to the saints at Thessalonica, and they were going through excruciatingly hard times. And somebody had written a devilish lie, a forged letter, had signed Paul's name to it, and said, you're already in the great tribulation. You have missed the rapture.

You're already in the great tribulation. And Paul said, now wait a minute. Don't be deceived as if you've gotten some letter from us. No, that is not true. Now, it was a lie, and he took the opportunity of a lie to tell the truth, because there can't be a lie unless it's a lie about the truth. So now he has this truth.

He's going to declare the truth. Now, what has happened is this. From the time that Jesus Christ came into this world, Satan has been moving against him. Satan moved in the heart of Herod, who is a type of the antichrist, to destroy all the boy babies, hoping to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. And all through his earthly ministry, Satan tried to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we come to the last days when Satan will fling his final insult into the face of God. The final blasphemy will consummate not in the Christ, but in the antichrist. The Bible here calls him the man of sin. Look in verse 3, let no man deceive you. That day, that is the day of Christ, shall not come except there come a falling away first.

The word of falling away means apostasy. And that man of sin, not a man of sin, but that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Now, this agent of blasphemy is going to be the man of sin. He is Satan's counterfeit of the Christ of Christmas, who is coming again. This man of sin, I want you to listen.

If you're not careful, you'll be deceived by the spirit of antichrist, so listen very carefully. This man of sin has many aliases. Now, right here, he is called the man of sin. I looked this up in other translations.

Let me give you some other translations. We'll help you to see just who he is. In one place, he was called, the same word is translated, the man of lawlessness. That is, he will not be subject to the law of God. Another translation gives it the incarnation of wickedness. Now, Jesus was the incarnation of God. This man, this man of sin, the incarnation of wickedness. Another translation gives it the champion of wickedness.

Another gives it wickedness in human form. You see, Jesus Christ was God in human form. There is coming in the last days one who is the devil in human form. The apostle John called him in the book of Revelation chapter 13, he calls him the beast. In his epistles, he calls him the antichrist.

Anti means against and instead of. He is one who is coming who will be against Bethlehem's baby and will show himself instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. This man, the Bible calls the man of sin.

Back in the Garden of Eden, history began with the sin of man. It will consummate with the man of sin. He will be the epitome of evil. You see, the devil has always wanted worship.

That's what he's all about. He wants to be like the most high God. He's always wanted to be worshiped. I will be as God. I will resolve my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the most high, Satan said. Now we see him in the end of the age and we're seeing so much of it today which makes me believe that we're at the end of the age that Satan himself wants to be worshiped and is finally gaining the worship on this earth that he wants. Look in verse 4, 2nd chapter of verse 4. It speaks of this man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. That's exactly what Satan wanted to do in Isaiah 14.

Or that is worship so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Now that tells us that the temple in Jerusalem is going to be rebuilt one of these days. And don't you think that they're not making plans to rebuild the temple?

They are. In rabbinical circles, they are not talking about, I'm talking about ultra-orthodox. They're not talking about if the temple is going to be rebuilt.

They're simply talking about when it will be rebuilt. All of the orthodox Jews around the world are going to say, now, now we can worship according to our ancient traditions. But then the man of sin, this beast, this antichrist, this son of perdition will himself move into that temple and say, you want to worship God? Well, you are looking at him.

I am God. And the Bible says in verse 4, so that he as God sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. And wicked blasphemies will belch out of his heart and in out of his mind. It is what the Bible calls the mystery of iniquity.

Now, it's already at work. Look in verses 6 and 7. You're in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. Now watch this, And ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. The word withholdeth means restrains. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.

Only he who now lets, that's old English for restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way. Now he says the mystery of iniquity doth already work. There is unbelievable wickedness in a world today. Have you seen it? I mean it is the mystery of iniquity.

But there is a restraining force. Look at it. And you know what withholdeth. Now what is the what there? What is it? What is restraining Satan today?

May I tell you what it is? It's the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know Jesus said, we are the salt of the earth and we're the light of the world. You take the light out, you take the salt out and corruption begins. Darkness cannot overcome light. Darkness can never turn out the light.

We are the light, we're the salt. And he says, now you know what withholdeth. But then it says, only he who restrains shall restrain.

There's a what and there's a he. The what is the church. The he is the Holy Spirit who lives in the church. And he's restraining antichrist, holding back antichrist. Now the mystery of iniquity is working, but the church is here and the Holy Spirit in the church is here. But one of these days, soon and very soon friend, we're going home. One of these days the trumpet will sound and we're going up and out of here and then you have taken the light out and you've taken the salt out and the corruption begins. And when that happens, a flood gate of iniquity is going to come upon this earth. And you might as well try to dam up Niagara Falls with toothpicks as to hold back the flood gate of wickedness that will come. You see right now, Satan is on a leash. He can only go so far. But then he's going to be released and hell will have a holiday and demon spirits will infest this earth and the Great Tribulation will take place. And those people had the idea they were already in the Great Tribulation. Paul says, no, no. Not yet.

There is a restraint. But one of these days he is coming upon this earth. And friend, when that happens, when antichrist comes, you don't want to be here. Now there's some people who get the idea that you can hear the gospel in a sermon like this and after Jesus comes then you can get saved. Nope.

Sorry about that. You refuse Jesus Christ with your eyes wide open. You are going to believe the antichrist and God will see to it.

Continue to read. Look in II Thessalonians, the second chapter, verse 8. And then shall that wicked, literally that means that wicked one 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, that's the antichrist, with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause, he goes on to say, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie.

When you don't receive the love of the truth, when you will not accept the truth when it is preached, it is God's righteous, ironic, poetic justice that you will believe a lie. This antichrist is coming. You'll be the devil in the flesh. His intellectual genius will be great, his authority overpowering, his hatreds extraordinary, his techniques superb. Men will be willing to die for him and children will betray their parents for him. And you will believe him because he will come with all wonder signs and lying wonders.

Now, the Christ of Christmas is coming again. You need not be disturbed. Rest with us. Number two, you must not be deceived. Don't let the spirit of antichrist deceive you. Let no man deceive you. Here's the third thing and here's the hallelujah part, you will not be disappointed.

You will not be disappointed. Look in chapter 2 verses 13 and 14, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are two aspects of his coming. First of all, he's coming secretly for his bride and then he is coming with his bride. He's coming sweetly like a bridegroom. He's coming sovereignly like a king.

There was no room for him the first time when he came, no room in the end. When he comes again, he's coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The unfinished story of Christmas is this, that Jesus is coming again. And what Paul is telling us is this, that when he comes, 777 is going to take care of 666.

That's what he's saying. That our Lord shall reign. Jesus came the first Christmas to die in the sinner's place. Jesus is coming the second Christmas to receive the sinner to himself. Our faith looks backward to a crucified savior. Our love looks upward to a crown savior. And our hope looks forward to a coming savior. Do you know Jesus? He is coming to be glorified, admired in all them that believe. Would you believe on him?

I'm not talking about mere intellectual belief. Will you trust him? Put your faith in him. Will you do it now? Would you pray a prayer like this? Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me. I believe that you're the virgin born son of God. I believe you paid my sin debt with your blood on the cross.

I believe that God raised you from the dead, and I now receive you by faith as my Lord and Savior. I trust you now. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Save me, Lord Jesus.

Did you ask him? Then with childlike faith, thank him. Thank you for doing it, Lord Jesus.

I receive it by faith, and that settles it. You're now my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my friend. In Jesus, I will make this public.

I will not be ashamed of you. Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, let us celebrate with you. Go to our Find God's Love page on the website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section where you can share your testimony or tell us how this message or others have made a difference in your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love.

Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Mention the title, The Unfinished Story of Christmas. This message is also part of the insightful series, The Mystery of History. For the complete collection, all four insightful messages, call 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Do you know Jesus and believe in his first and second coming? Do not be disturbed, deceived, or disappointed. Adrian Rogers said the only hope of this jittery old world is the second coming of Jesus Christ. We hope you'll join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. Here's a note we received from a newlywed who wanted us to know how these messages have helped him in this new chapter of his life. He writes, I got married this year and I continue to grow closer to the Lord through Love Worth Finding's daily devotions, the app, and all of your resources.

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