Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Yeah. It's Matt Slick Live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at carm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live for answers.

Taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick, and you're listening to Matt Slick Live. If you want to give me a call, as usual, all you've got to do is dial 8772072276.

Yeah. And you can also email me, info at carm.org, info at C A R M dot O R G I'll put in the subject line video comment. Or radio question, and we can get your stuff. We have nobody waiting right now online, so it's up to you if you want to give me a call.

Alright, so I released a small video today, the three-god problem in Mormonism. And had a discussion about it with a Mormon yesterday, and then also after the show, really polite Mormon, really nice guy. And um You know, it's really interesting to me. That people just believe things that are false and refuse to abandon what is false. You'd think it'd be easy, but it certainly is not.

And I believe the reason is because people are emotionally vested. in what they think is the truth and it doesn't matter what the facts are. That you'll just believe what you want. You'll be the truth according to your own likeness, your own. your own feelings.

And it's a difficult thing to submit to the scriptures. It really is. It's not just for the unbelievers, it's for the believers as well. But the unbelievers don't want to submit to God's word. I cannot tell you how many times, also, within Protestant.

encounters. How many times have I shown people Scripture and they just refuse to believe what God's Word says? And so, um It's fascinating to me. It really is. You know, I do a great deal of evangelism online.

And regularly, weekly, I'm talking to someone in groups. going through stuff last night I was in a group uh talking to someone about baptism. And I don't know, 20 people in the room listening. And um And I was just showing him That baptism is not part of the salvation process. And the reason is simple.

Justification is a declaration of righteousness before God. which is by faith, Romans four five, Romans five one. Galatians 2.16 Philippians 3.9, but really simple. And yet there are people who say that you have to be baptized in order to be saved.

Well here's a problem. Colossians 2.14 says the certificate of debt being the sin debt. is cancelled at the cross, which is what it says, then it can't be canceled again at your baptism. This logic is so simple, if it's cancelled at the cross, is not cancelled by your baptism. And I was presenting this to a guy last night, just as an example of what I'm talking about.

And he understood what I was saying, but refused to accept it. Because if he had accepted it, then everything else he attached to this works righteousness process. would have uh just fell fallen like dominoes. And And I very politely just said, Look, is a sin debt cancelled when Jesus died on the cross? And he's, you know, well, according to the Bible, yeah.

I said, okay, then it's canceled again when you get baptized. And he couldn't answer the question, and just simply logic. And this is one of the things I like to do with people is to Posit logic issues to them based on scripture, if this, and that. And so many times I've found that people just don't want to believe it. They just don't want to believe it.

And I get it. You know, sometimes you just got to go, wait a minute, okay, I see the point. I've got to think about it for a while, make sure that there's not an exception or something I don't know about. And that's fair. Yeah.

But when I've talked about this, this gentleman last night said, Man, I've heard you go over this many times before, I think he said, I've heard it before.

Okay, so you've heard the argument before, and we're going over it again. and yet you refuse to believe what the Word of God is. It it's just To me it it Why do you do that? Why don't you just believe what it says? What is the leave?

I wonder how many churches would just be upset. Yeah. If the people just believe what the Bible says. You know, like no women, pastors, and elders. You know, Paul said they do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over men, but remain silent for Adam was first created.

You know, first Timothy two, twelve and thirteen. I mean, the you know what do you do about that? You know, and the elder is to be the husband of one wife. You can't have a, and an elder is a pastor. uh first Timothy five eighteen And 517 18.

You can't have a woman be a husband of one wife. And I'll show this to people.

So an elder can't be a woman, can he? And by the definition, a pastor is an elder, right? And not to have authority over men.

Well, I just don't don't accept that. What do you mean you don't accept it? It's right there. What are you talking about? I would accept it.

Why not? Why just don't believe it?

Well, why not? It's what it says. You know, and the sin deaths canceled at the cross. Colossians 2:14. Do you believe it?

No, it has to be bapt ba baptized to get forgiveness. That's not what it says. Things like this to me are so simple. That um You know, why don't you just believe? Just believe what it says.

Stop resisting the truth of God's word. And I know that there are people out there. who are going through this. You're resisting the Word of God. Because you don't like what it says and what it might cost you.

And let me tell you something. Just Just think about what you're saying and what you're thinking. I don't want to bend to the word of God because of what it might cost me. Wow.

Well, that's foolish. That is Stupid. is stupid. I don't want to trust what God says. I'd follow after him because I might not like it, might not get comfortable, you know, might be uncomfortable.

Okay. And what's that got to do with truth? What's going to do with uh your relationship with Christ? you know, abandon uh such sinfulness. And Follow Christ.

It's simple. I to me, it is simple. It's one of the advantages, like I've said before, that I have as a non-denominational guy. Who's not bound by denominational church in a clergy setting? I don't have to follow.

what the denomination tells me I have to follow. I just read scripture to the best of my ability. Not saying I got everything perfectly understood, but I read the scriptures and just follow what it says: the sin deaths canceled at the cross. That's what it is.

Okay? Women aren't to be pastors and elders. Uh there you go. Uh okay, now what? Mm-hmm.

Wow.

I don't know. To me it is uh it's easy. Uh And But it didn't always, I get it, it didn't always used to be easy, though, because I had ideas, I had desires, I had wants. It was basically me against God. And I wanted God to go over to where I was.

You know, I'm walking along the path of God. He's over there to my left, a couple hundred feet. There's this the illuminated path of God's Word, His will. And well, I like things over here where I am because I've constructed my own little path. And I walk along, I glance over the to to where he is and his path, and I can see a few boulders and rocks and uh valleys illuminated by him.

So I'll I'll just I'll be careful of those big things. But the little ones, no, I want those for myself. I want to make sure that I'm the one who decides where I go. You know what it should be is we veer off towards that that light. And we go towards the light, the lit path of God's Word.

and we get into it.

So that it's all around us, left and right. We're in the middle of it. To do that, means you got to believe what the Bible says. You can't get in there. And abide in the light, the presence of God, by not accepting what it simply says.

You know, 1 Peter 2:24, He bore our sin in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His stripes we are healed. He bore our sin and his body on the cross. You know, there are actually people who deny the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ. What that means is, as he was our substitute, exactly what Isaiah 53 says: he bore our sin, which is legal consequence, legal issue, on the cross. That's exactly what he did.

And they say, no, we don't believe in that. I'm like, what? What? What is wrong with you?

Now we believe in recapitulation theory. He lived a good life, and he lived all aspects of the good life perfectly, which reopened the door for me to live my life, my aspects of my different times and situations of life, so I can cooperate with God to be saved. Look at how good I'm gonna be. You know the foolishness of such uh just false gospels. to me is Is head scratching.

You know, I'm kind of reminded what I would cause my wife, my late wife, to do. You know, be talking to her, and she'd stare at me and she'd rub her forehead and go, heh. And I just, you know, leave backwards, you know, like Homer Simpson in the bush there, you know, which is so. It it is it's It's like this, you know when people say these things, I just okay, I'm out, man, I don't get it. Why why are you not believing God's word?

See ya. But people have their own desires. Man, and one of the things I've been praying more and more and more recently. A lot more. Yeah.

Is I don't want to do my will. I only want to do his will. I don't want to. Do anything that's of me, I want to do everything of him. That's it.

I've been asking the Lord, Lord, just just. Tell me what you want. And if I'm already in your will, confirm that I am. And if I'm out of it some way, let me know. Just going.

I don't care what it is. I don't care what it cost me. Just tell me. And I want to follow it, give me the strength to do it. And that's been my prayer.

over and over and over as I get older and older, particularly in the past few weeks. You know how many of you? Want to serve God on your own terms. You want to create your own light on your own path. your own wisdom.

You can only see so far. That's the problem with creating your own light, your own little system of truth. The light on your path is only Well, you know, a few feet. The light of God just goes out forever because it's infinite wisdom that He has. And which would you rather be in?

Your own path or his? Your own light or his? Or you want a little bit of his, you get close enough to where it illumines enough of what you want, but you stay separate. you stay confident in your own ability. Yeah, borrowing the light of God.

I'm getting closer to it, but I don't want to get all the way. because there's things I like. in my little shadows of my life. Yeah. Anyway It's something to think about, something to consider.

I think that what we ought to be doing is desiring God more than ourselves, desiring Him more than our spouses, our families, more than our jobs. desiring him. What are you going to take with you to heaven when you go? You to take your job. You take your family.

You take your works, your goodness, your baptism. None of it's gonna go there with you. What you need is is to focus on what he is. You're gonna go to heaven, you're gonna meet him. I want to be with him.

I want to be next to him. I don't need any rewards. I don't need I don't even know what the reward would be. I have no idea. What does it mean to re be rewarded in heaven?

What, uh I'm taller? I want a bike. Stronger, better looking?

Well what? Um The only thing I can think of That would be of any value. would be closer to him. every ward had been closer to his presence. That.

would be the best. Nothing else would compare. Nothing else would compare to the infinite holiness of the pure, majestic, sovereign King. whose presence emanates into space and time. and the closer you get the more it's in your heart and your soul.

Wow.

That's what I want. I want to be with him. I want to have that time. in a place with my lord. Just want to be next to him.

That's good enough for me. That's all I want in heaven. And I don't know what you want in heaven. You know what I mean? My late wife is there.

I'll meet her. And maybe you know reminisce on times here. But What's important is How close to the Lord can we get? What fellowship can we have with one another in Christ? Those are the things I think we need to consider.

But that's what in my opinion, might be the greatest reward we can get in heaven.

So praise God. All right. Hey folks, there's the music. Breaks coming up. Once you give me a call, 877-207-2276.

Back with Cody from Texas. We have three open lines. Give me a call. Be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, all you have to do is dial 877-20. 72276. Let's get to Cody from Texas.

Cody, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt. Hey, I just wanted to ask uh a couple of questions. John, in regards to Mary, The tradition being taught about her being anywhere from twelve to fourteen years old.

It like there's no actual evidence of that. Like, where is that where where did that come from? It's just tr uh hearsay, basically, throughout history and stuff like that. It's not biblical.

So we can't say it was true or was not true. The Bible does not tell us her exact age, it just doesn't say.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. And so I'm in Texas of course and I kind of post in the chat and rumble. You guys get our elbow, by the way.

And um I was uh we we just had a election yesterday. uh runoff for the Republicans. And Ken Paxton won it. And so the guy he's running against is a Democrat named James Tellerico. And I'm seeing like on really large podcast platforms.

where a lot of women are going on there and promoting him. But he is a PCUSA seminarian And you've like And so, and those girls are really, to be honest, when they're examining the world views. They fall apart. They tend to be more spirit, you know, Christian by name only. Right.

Yeah, and so, like, he's got some uh some statements that he's made in the Texas House. Like saying God is both masculine and feminine. And everything in between, God is non-binary. And he tied that in. The reason he's saying that is to arguing that trans children are made in God's own image.

Well, all people are made in God's image. But to say that there are trans children who are is just an example of being stupid. He doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know how to think. Um I'd love to debate him uh publicly. Biblically, you know, in public.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And the other thing I'll post in the chat, like, He's also said that Jesus was a radical feminist. Then he used the Annunciation story, Mary's consent. to argue for abortion rights and claim the Bible is inconsistent on marriage.

Yeah, brother. Yeah, he's just a hireling of the evil one. And. You know, if you're going to speak of the Bible, at least you should know what it actually says. I thought about running for office.

Well, I mean, in a science fiction context, Metzlick runs for office. And people go to my website and they say, You're against homosexuality. That's right, I think it's a sin. And trans, that's right, I think it's a sin. And abortion, that's right, I think it's a sin.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'd never get to that.

Well, you used to be a follower of the German painter when everybody called you Slickstein. Right? Schlichteen. Yeah, um, Schlichteen was the German. Yeah, but, um,.

Yeah. So the PCUSA is is liberal. It denies biblical inerrancy. It affirms open theism in a lot of areas. The gender neutral stupidity of addressing God.

Denies the substitutionary atonement of Christ, ordains homosexuals. It is what we would call an apostate false church. Flat out, okay. Right. Flat out.

And just so everybody's clear: like, I mean, the masculine language for God is the Father, King, Lord, all that stuff. is deliberate and dominant throughout scripture.

So it's not just a cultural thing. Right, absolutely. It's not just I mean, don't get me wrong, there's some feminine imagery. Like when he says like a like a like a mother in Isaiah or a hymn In the gospel. Yeah, it's simile.

As a hen covers her chicks, you know, with her wings, God does that. It's not saying he is feminine in any way. God identifies himself in the masculine for a very specific theological reason.

Well, I mean, he's certainly not referring to himself as non-binary. It's stupid and it's one of the signs of the apostasy that's coming. uh out of Second Thessalonians two.

Well you go, brother. God bless you.

Okay. That sounds good, brother. God bless. Have a good one.

Okay. Bye. All right. Thank you. All right.

Um you know, since we brought this up It talked about the apostasy. I think I'm going to get into that a little bit. Just read a little bit of what it says. in 2 Thessalonians 2. About uh about this So It says this.

This is dealing with what is going to happen, the prophecy about the return of Christ. But I think it's really interesting for us to focus on it every now and then. But this is what it says.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. that you not be quickly shaken from your composure, or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter, as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

Now, the day of the Lord is the return of Christ. And notice it says the day of the Lord. There's not five or six days of the Lord, there's just one day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. And he's talking about the return of Christ.

Okay, let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless. The apostasy comes first. and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction.

Now the apostasy, opposed to CR. means the falling away.

So the falling away from biblical and truth. The apostasy has to occur. It doesn't tell us a whole bunch here.

Well, what does it mean? Is it a church group? Is it a geographical area? Is it a time frame? It doesn't say.

So we have to speculate just a little bit. Apostasy means falling from the truth.

Well, if. We were to go to a parallel that Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1. But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter day letter times excuse me Some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

So Apostasy.

Okay, that means falling away from the truth that something is no longer biblically true. All right. The Mormons uh They claim to be the true church. They claim there was an apostasy. And that they are the restoration of that church.

And I'll show you why that doesn't work in a sec. But the. the uh Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, I asked them Is your church the true church? Oh, yes.

Well then, according to Second Thessalonians 2.3, doesn't it have to go apostate in order? Before the Christ returns. Yeah. and is of real subtle question And I've actually been kind of surprised at how effective it is. I've had people in those groups just say, that's a good point.

And what are you going to say? If your church is the true church, And the apostasy comes first, that's because of your true church, right? Because Catholics claim to have about 1.1 billion people as Catholics. That means they're the true church. It means it's got to go to apostate.

So, what are you going to say? Eastern Orthodox claim the same thing. They're going to have to, in that day, about 350 million, they're going to go apostate.

Now, the Mormons will say, no, the apostasy already came, and we are the ones who restored it. You sure the truth?

Well, check this out. Let no one anywhere deceive you, for it will not, this return of Christ will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. The son of destruction. Notice what Paul does he relates them. He doesn't say they're going to happen at the same time exactly.

But he says the apostasy comes first and the man of law the sister is revealed. both have to occur before he returns.

So, if the apostasy comes first, Mormonism would say, for example, it was all of Christendom. And we'll get back from the break. We'll talk about this a little bit more. There's a break. Hey, we've got five open, well, three open, excuse me, four open lines.

You need to call 877-2072276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, it is easy: 877-207. 2276.

Okay, so I was going through before the break there the issue of the apostasy. And dealt with the issue of the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, and this verse is really a problem for them.

Now, the Mormons have used it with me over the years, saying that the apostasy has to come forth and that they are the restoration of the church.

Well, just to make sure they understand that nothing in there says that it's about a restoration. He just says there's an apostasy that comes, and a man of lawlessness is revealed.

So, the apostasy in the man of lawlessness precedes the return of Christ. It's not a mandate to restore anything or start a new church. Nothing in there says that's what was to happen. And the verse describes an apostasy as a negative event to watch for. not a divine plan that needs restoring.

This is just an implication. They say, see the apostasy, we're now the true church. Wait a minute, where does it say in there, any place that a restoration of a truth needed to occur or would occur? It does not. That's critical.

What is interesting is that it's concurrent, the issue of the events, the apostasy and the arrival of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness. Yeah. So the hypothesis is marked as being first. which suggests that it precedes or inaugurates Or helps to helped the Antichrist arrive. They the men of lawlessness.

Now Would Mormonism then be one of the signs that precedes the arrival of the Antichrist, if the apostasy is so? I would say so. Particularly since I've studied Mormonism for so long. And I just released a video today, as a matter of fact, uh on YouTube, uh the three god problem. Mormonism has a three-god problem, and Alma 11 says there's only one God, period.

And yet, you go to DNC 130.22, I think it is 132.20. It talks about God, different kinds of gods, and becoming gods. You know, God the Father is a God who has a body, He's eternal. The Holy Ghost is a God without a body, and He's eternal. That's.

There's two types of gods right there. And then becoming gods. It's three kinds of gods.

So, what does the word God mean? It becomes meaningless. You cannot define it apart from the revelation, so to speak, of the scriptures.

So, there's an apostasy there in the fact that it's just self-refuting. And the whole idea is that something's self-refuting, you can't trust it, okay? But what's interesting here is that the Antichrist says he opposes himself, he opposes and excuse me, opposes himself, he opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship.

so that he takes his seat in the temple, displaying himself as being God.

Now I've been to Israel twice, and been to the Dome of the Rock twice, And the dome of the rock It's hard to describe. But Uh let's just say That if the Dome of the Rock was not there and the area was roughly a square, it's not. But let's just use it as just for illustration. It would probably take you about four minutes to walk, three or four minutes to walk from one s and one side of the square to the other side of the square. It just at a decent pace.

And so it would take a bit, alright? And the Dome of the Rock is kind of not it's not in the middle, it's in the center ish, kind of the one side ish. And there's plenty of room for the temple to be built Next to it. If it were to occur, now there's also a lower level near there where. the temple could be built.

As far as I'm just talking about room, not talking about the Archaeological location issue. I'm just saying just the room. There is another area down below. I think it's 10 steps, something like that. Steps.

I don't remember exactly, but not that many. One flight of stairs down. And there's a big area, and you could have a temple built there if needed. And so There's plenty of room for it, so the temple to be rebuilt. And this would have to be there for the Antichrist to Uh be present.

Now, I think it's interesting. When you go, and I've got a picture on Carm. When you go to the Dome of the Rock, and near one of the entrances You can walk up to it. There is a tile. And when you look at the tile, it looks like a demon.

I'm not joking. You can go to Carm and just look up Dome of the Rock picture, and you can go there and you can see. I was standing there with Eric Johnson, and he pointed it out to me. I took a picture and said, Oh my goodness, it looks. And it's not an exaggeration, it does.

You can check it out.

So, what I think is interesting is that when the temple is rebuilt, it is a functional denial. of the person of Christ. Because they're going to have sacrifices saying the sacrifice of Christ was nothing and was not true, it was under sacrifice. which is the same as Islam.

So the Jewish people and the Muslims will be Uh In the same theological boat regarding Christ's death. Burial and resurrection as a sacrifice. They'll both deny it. And they're both going to have their major areas of worship right next to each other. I think that is interesting.

I really do.

So, uh And I can go on. I've got a caller waiting, so I think I'll go on that, go on after this, and go through a little bit more, okay? After we get the caller, let's get to Dave from North Carolina. Dave, welcome. You're on the air.

Yes, I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you yesterday evening. It was you had about thirty seconds and uh I can't get an answer. That's all. No problem. But it was concerning hell.

Okay. Jesus said that um Hell was created for the devil and his angels. And uh The fallen angels and uh It it doesn't say for man. But else But he does emphasize that all men will be cast. In eternal fire.

Uh which I thumb is hell. Is that correct? Yes, but notice what it says. He's saying to those on his left, the people, on his day of judgment. Those on the left are the ones who are the goats.

They're the ones who are judged. The ones on the right. are the ones who are saved. Right, the right side is You know, it's a pun in English. It's the right side to be on.

When Jesus was telling them to cast a net, they cast it on the right side of the boat, and they caught fish. And so the right side is the symbol of power and authority, and the Antichrist, as an example, will have his right eye and right arm withered. And so symbolizing his lack of proper authority from God. But at any rate, so what it talks about this in Matthew 25 is the judgment, the sheep and the goats, and things like that. And the goats are the people on the left.

Those are the ungodly people. They're going to go to hell. That was originally designed for Satan and his fallen angels. They're going to join them.

Well Okay, since man lost people are going to be uh will go to hell. Yes. Then hell also was created for them too, right?

Well, what it says, it was prepared for them and the angels.

So it says Into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. It doesn't say created only for, it just says prepared for them.

So, all we can do is say it's prepared for them. Does it mean it's not prepared for others?

Well, obviously not, since they're going to go there. That's right. That's what I'm I'm thinking.

Now, I heard a pastor say Yeah. Recently that um God doesn't put send nobody to hell. That they send themselves to hell by not believing. You know, that's stupid. How do you feel about that statement?

It's just stupid. I'm sorry, it just I gotta say stupid when it's stupid. It's stupid. God doesn't send you. You do it yourself.

Give me a break. God's the one on the day of judgment. He's going to be the one sending you his action. of Placing you into hell. He sends you there.

He's the judge.

So he will say It's a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian server Jesus kind of a theology. You know, God doesn't do it. He wants you to believe. It's all up to you, please. It's all up to you, you, you, you.

And so believe, because you're going to send yourself there. It's not him doing it. He's basically helpless. It's up to you and your free will. It's this kind of low theology, crackerjack theology, mamby-pamby theology that's being taught.

It's it's dumb. That's right, there it is. Yeah. Well, as soon as he said that, I punched my wife, and I said, that's not true. You punched your wife?

Well, not punched. A little elbow nod. Oh, elbowed. Yeah, I got that.

Okay. The loving one, the nod. Here, look at it. Look at it. There you go.

I got arm hits from my late wife. I got arm hits from her. I loved them. They were great. Yeah.

Well you know, and we and I talked to her a little bit about it afterwards. And she said, well, it is true that If you reject God, it's your Decision to either receive him or reject him, and if you reject him, then you're sending yourself to hell. How do you deal with that? The first premise, is it your decision or God's decision? You cannot come to me unless it's been granted to you from the Father.

John 6:65. Philippians 1:29. Exactly. To you, it has been granted to believe. Philippians 1:29.

Whose decision is it?

Now this is very uncomfortable for a lot of people. It is. People hate that. They do hate it because they want the blonde-haired blue Caucasian serfer Jesus to bow before.

Okay, Buzzard, you want to hang on because there's a break or are you done?

Okay, what do you got? Um I think I'm done. I'm baby. God bless, brother. All right, hey folks, if you want to give me a call, you can.

8772-07-2276. I'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, well, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, you can. It's easy. 877-20-722-76. All right, now we've got nobody waiting, and I feel like going through the rest of, well, not the rest of, but continue on in 2 Thessalonians 2. I think it might be interesting for people to understand about this, this apostasy, this arrival of the Antichrist, because people, well, they want to know more about him.

All right, so um Alright, let's see.

So I went, and it says, where he will exalt himself in that temple.

So the arrival of the Antichrist cannot come until the temple. has been rebuilt in Jerusalem. Uh Third temple, and he makes a pact, an agreement. When you, let me just tell you, folks, when you start seeing The Temple being built in Israel.

Okay. Get the helmet. On, get the helmet on. It's coming, okay? You gotta be ready, all right.

So he goes on, he says in verse 5: Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

Now, this is really an important verse. I use this quite a bit. because the Um The okay, here we get to this. See, there's so much here to talk about with this little bit. Don't you remember while I was with you, I was telling you this.

A lot of times the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics will talk about their tradition and that they need to follow the tradition.

Okay. And I say, look, in 2 Thessalonians 2.5, Paul was w telling the um The Thessalonians, like, I was with you, I was telling you this. And see, they got it wrong. They got it wrong. And so I started a study.

I did a study. On examples of apostasy in the early church. recorded in the Bible. within the Christian church. Of Things are going wrong.

So, Paul warned about being captivated by vain philosophies and traditions of men, Colossians 2:8, etc. The Corinthian church had a sexual immorality problem. And um they're getting drunk at the Lord's Supper. and some were denying the resurrection of Christ. the Ephesian church.

Yeah. They believe in their first love. I think it's Revelation 2:4. I'm not sure. I think it's what it is.

In the Galatian church, they had the following of a different gospel. And Paul says, Who's bewitched you into thinking about this? Seeking to be justified by the law, the Laodicean church. They have become lukewarm. the Pergamum Church, They had uh false doctrines of Balaam.

The Sardis church was spiritually dead. Thessalonica, which you already talked about, confusion about the return of Christ. The Tyatira church uh tolerated Jezebel, who taught immorality and idolatry.

Now check this out. Judas blew it, Barnabas was carried away in hypocrisy, along with Peter. Galatians two thirteen. Peter denied Jesus three times.

Alright. Then there's individuals who taught and did bad things. Alexander the coppersmith did much harm to Paul, 2 Timothy 4. Ananias and Sapphira, light of the Holy Spirit, deem us. Deserted Paul.

Theotrephes accused John unrighteously. Hymenaeus and Alexander left the Christian faith. Hymenaeus and Philetus said the resurrection had already happened. Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ. Philegius and Harmogenus turned away from Paul.

Simon Magus tried to buy the Holy Spirit.

Now, I can give you all the references. And I wrote an article on this: examples of apostasy in the Christian church at the time to go look it up. And Then there were false infiltrators in the church, antichrists. Is spoken of in 1 John. False apostles in 2 Corinthians 11.

False teachers, 2 Peter 2. Hebrews was a warning of drifting back to Judaism. The Judaizers of Acts 15 and Galatians. 3 and 5. The unscrupulous persons that were turning grace into licentiousness and denying Jesus, that's Jude 4.

We have the last days people will become ungodly, people will mock the things of God. Later times, many will fall away, many will not endure sound doctrine, and will succumb to myths, as 2 Timothy 4. And so I have a summary here. And the summary Man, there's a lot. And of, I think I don't know how many things there are here.

Let me see if I can give you a quick count. Of how many things that I've found by just doing research in the Bible on examples of apostasy. And I have 42. 42. Yeah.

Uh So, I think it's interesting. Me, I love this kind of stuff. You know, I'm nerdy.

Okay, I like computers. Sci-fi and Bible study. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, anyway, when it talks about this, do you not remember while I was with you, I was telling you these things? That means that this idea of tradition, you got to be careful of it. Because just something tradition goes old, does that mean it's true? No, it doesn't. And yet, what the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the EO, and the RC will say is: we have the sacred tradition.

And I've asked them.

Okay. Is there a list of these sacred traditions? I mean, how do you know what traditions from Paul or James or Peter. How do you know? What is our list of these things?

When I ask, they never say there's a list.

Well, how do you know there are traditions? Our church just knows. What? What do you mean it just knows?

So it can make something up and then say, hey, this is from a tradition. Really? Where'd you get this? It's such an ambiguous thing, and people don't even think about it. You know, it's like you get some medicine and someone goes, Look, uh, here's some medicine.

Okay, well what kind is it? We're not exactly sure where it came from. But our our doctor says it's it's okay. I thought you I got your it does well, who made it?

Well, he doesn't know. Uh How do you know it's accurate? No, he doesn't. Um Okay, uh So is it true medicine?

Well, we don't know. We believe it is because they said it was. Who said it was? The people who gave it to us. This is the kind of thing.

You think, I need more information. But no, People will, hey, look. Catholic Church said it's tradition, so therefore it's tradition. It's okay. I don't have to think about it.

Oh. Man. Mm-hmm. Anyway, here's an interesting verse in 2 Thessalonians 2.6, and you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. What restrains him now?

There's been some debate about that. Is it the Christian Church? That's taken away pre-chip rapture. Is it the Holy Spirit who's removed with the pre-chip rapture church is out of the way? Maybe.

I don't believe those were the case, but it could be. Or could it be that what restrains him now would be revealed? I've heard some commentators say that the restraint issue is like the presence of God being there. He just stops restraining, lets it. continue.

I personally think that's the case. Just my personal opinion. I think that the restraint that God has given upon the world. has been lessened. We see now the incredible rise of homosexuality, the incredible rise of abortion, the incredible rise of Islam.

What a horrible religion. the uh incredible rise of of secularism. And various illicit sexual perversions. And let's just say that there's a lot of stuff that um In governments and stuff like that. I won't get into that.

So then he says in verse 7, For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so. until he's taken out of the way.

So it seems to be something to do but maybe the Holy Spirit. Take it out of the way. What does it mean? Removed? Because you could let someone pass right next to you.

You're stopping, you could stop someone from coming in through a door. or you can let someone pass it while you're still there at the door.

So it we don't know what it means.

So, anyway. Then that lawlessness one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearing of his coming. This is interesting to me. Because I see so much eschatology in Matthew 24, Luke 17, Mark 13, Matthew 13. And it talks about the return of Christ.

Two men taken, one is left, the ones who are taken are the wicked. And the lawlessness will be revealed. whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth.

So his word is going to kill him somehow, going to slay the Antichrist. which I think Probably. This is just me guessing. Yeah, I'm just guessing. That will probably be um uh concomitant with a world church Organization, group that's going to side with him.

Maybe the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, the Mormons, and maybe even Islam will all join together. and with the Antichrist religion. Because the idea of self-deification.

Now that's a problem in In Islam. But if the Imam is who's the Antichrist is a Muslim, then they could get into that and maybe succumb to it. Anyway, there's some Some interesting discussions possibly there. He says in verse 9 of 2 Thessalonians 2: That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.

Now, pay attention to this. Powers, signs, and false wonders. He's going to be able to do miracles. He's going to do stuff that's going to impress the bejeebers out of people. What do you do?

If there's a big gathering on TV, it's live, you're watching, and um And some miraculous thing happens and he rises or makes other people rise, whatever. People are going to start flowing to him. Do you just follow him? This is why you have to be careful. Don't trust the miracles as truth.

Trust God's word as truth. The Catholics and East Orthodox, they're just primed and ready to follow after somebody who just does miracles because they say miracles prove that they're true. It doesn't prove they're true. It doesn't prove that. But You know, with power, signs, and false wonders, and with all deception.

all the deception of wickedness. For those who perish, people are going to be deceived greatly. And what would be the kind of deception that might possibly be there?

Well, you can become gods. That's one of the deceptions that is prevalent throughout history in a lot of different theological systems. Even Catholicism says that Jesus died to make us gods. And even Eastern Orthodox talks about this and uses the same phraseology in the quote, I forgot who it's from, might make men gods. And they have a process called theosis, which is becoming godlike, except not divine, but so like Christ.

You're moving so close to Him, you become saved.

So there's this these underlying principles that are within those systems that are there that could be used very easily to support the idea of human divinity. And so there that would be a great deception, wouldn't it? If he, the Antichrist, comes and does miracles and says, if he were to, I don't, I'm not saying I don't know what he would say, but if he says we are all divine, we can all do these kinds of things, oh, and he's doing miracles, he's proving it. Who's going to join 'em? Who's going to join them?

The Mormons are right there. Hey, we're going to become gods. The Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, might take a little bit more convincing, but the Catholics especially are accustomed to these Marian apparitions and things like that. in the sacrifices offered to Mary and these these apparitions, they're they're already uh halfway there and the Cath the Eastern Orthodox are about a quarter, a third of the way there, in my my uh subjective opinion.

So it says, with all deception and wickedness of those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth.

So as to be to be saved. The truth. What's the truth? The Word of God. Study the Word of God, folks.

You need to know it. You need to study God's Word. That's the key. That's the safety net, the Word of God. Not miracles, not a restored church, not true apostolic authority.

No. The Word of God. It points to Jesus. You have to know who Jesus is. You have to know who the true God is, and you've got to follow that true God and true Christ.

Not the false gospel of Mormonism, the false gospel of Eastern Orthodoxy, the false gospel of Roman Catholicism, the false God of Islam. Uh Follow Jesus. And he's revealed in scripture. Get on your knees, pray, read that word, and ask him to open your heart and your mind to it. Because you don't want to be wrong on the Day of Judgment now, do you?

Hey folks, we're at a time. May the Lord bless you by His grace. We'll be back on here tomorrow, Lord Welling. And we'll talk to you then. Have a great one.

God bless. Another program powered by the Truth Network.