Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. Guess what happens when the church is gathered with Christ? The restraining influence through the church will be gone and evil will be left to itself. It will be a world gone wild. The world will get what it's always wanted, life without rules.
On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can live ready for Christ's return.
Now here's Dr. Graham with his message. The alias. The Bible tells us that there will be a final world disaster. is called the great tribulation.
And stepping to center stage at that point of history will be one that we know. as the anti Christ. The Antichrist. And we're going to take a look. at the Antichrist today.
Now the Antichrist Literally, the word anti, the prefects. It means against, so you could say this one is against Christ, and certainly true. But the word or the prefix anti also can mean instead of. That is Someone who steps or tries to step in his place. And so this one steps on the scene of history, just as Jesus predicted and prophesied in Matthew 24 that there would be false Christ.
and there would be those who claim to be Messiah. This one will claim to be Messiah. But while Jesus is the man of salvation, this one is the man of sin. While Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, this one is the man of sin who brings sin and judgment upon the world. This one is the Antichrist.
Now, I want to tell you at the outset of this message that I don't know who the Antichrist is, and neither do you. It is quite possible, in my view, that Satan has prepared someone in every generation to step in and rule the world with his hand of authority and the powers of hell. And So most likely there's someone living today. that could easily step in. in these times and be energized.
by Satan and become the final world Dictator. Turn with me in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And look at the first 12 verses of this passage.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. Not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if for From us as though the day of Christ, the day of Christ is the day of Christ's judgment, the day of tribulation on the earth, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day... will not come unless the falling away comes first. And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.
who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God. or that is worship.
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know. what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.
Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And when the lawless one is revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all powers and signs. and lying wonders. And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they do not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe.
The lie. that they may all be condemned who did not believe the truth. but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Paul gives us this passage of scripture, 1 Thessalonians 2, in response to a forged letter. A letter that had been written to the Thessalonian believers.
claiming that the day of tribulation had come. The believers were shaken by this. They were confused by this.
So Paul makes it clear to these Christians. Look. We are not yet in the day of Christ. I didn't say this. I didn't write.
A letter. If you heard this by some spirit of prophecy, apparently someone was prophesying that the day had come, he said, Don't believe it, because the day of Christ, this day of tribulation, will not come until first. The restrainer is removed. A falling away takes place, and the Antichrist is revealed. And then That great tribulation.
will come. And so, as we begin this message and look at this passage of scripture and profile the Antichrist, let's think about. Who he is. And first, the world conditions. which produce The Antichrist.
Well, the first thing that is mentioned here in the scripture is a spiritual Apostasy. The word apostasy means falling away. And We read here that there will be a great fight. Falling Away. a rejection of truth.
That's why in 1 John 4 Verses one through three. We read these words. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. but test the spirits whether they are of God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
And by this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God. And this Speaking of those who do not confess Jesus, is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now. Already in the world.
the spirit of the Antichrist. This spirit of denying Christ, which is the spirit of the Antichrist, is already in the world. In the last days, we are told. that many will depart From the faith. And we know is true in our own generation.
That spiritual apostasy is taking place at every quarter. We see it in the American church. Many mainline denominational churches. having turned from the truth. are now preaching lies.
And that is a trend. That we see in the last days that this great falling away will take place. You see, the Antichrist will be very involved in false religion. He will have a cohort in his crimes against humanity. known as the false prophet.
And they will preside over a religious system of World unity, a kind of global conglomerate church. and rule the people. through their hearts and minds. As Their own religion is practiced. And another reason that it will be a time of spiritual apostasy is because of the removal of the restrainer.
There will be a rejection of truth. But there will be then this removal of the restrainer. Look at it again. We're told that the lawless one will be revealed. at the time of the tribulation.
He will be worshipped as God. And then the Apostle Paul said, verse 7, For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Who is this he? Who is the restrainer?
Most likely your Bible is capitalized, the pronoun he. Because this He is none other than He, the Holy Spirit. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to restrain sin and evil in the world. God has deposited His Spirit. in His people, in His church.
We are the temple. of the Holy Spirit. And so guess what happens when the church is gathered with Christ. Guess what's going to take place? The restraining influence through the church will be gone and the world and evil will be left to itself.
It will be a world gone wild. The world will get what it's always wanted, life without rules. Lawlessness. In fact, the sin or the man of sin is called the man of lawlessness. And lawlessness will prevail in this time.
Why? Because the ministry of the Holy Spirit is removed.
Now, God's presence is not removed. God's Spirit still works. But his presence in the church by his spirit is taken away.
So you can imagine. In the midst of all of this spiritual apostasy, the Holy Spirit is removed. Christians are gone. And then there will be someone who will step up to the plate and say, Trust me, I can handle things. I can get things under control.
And he does that, and world conditions will... Produce that because not only of spiritual apostasy, but secondly. political alignment. Political alignment.
Now, the Antichrist will be a political figure, as we'll see more clearly in just a moment. We're told in Revelation chapter 13. In fact, turn with me, just hold your place in 2 Thessalonians and go to Revelation 13, the last book of the Bible. And chapter 13. Verse 1 says, I stood on the sand of the sea, that is, John, as he's being given this look into the future.
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns... ten crowns and on his heads. a blasphemous name. When John sees this beast rising out of the sea, speaks of the sea of humanity. The swirling, seething sea of humanity in the midst of all of this lawlessness, governments will falter.
We can already see some of this taking place. Western Europe is but a shadow of its former self. China is advancing in the world. and governments as we know them today will falter and will seek International unity in the midst of all of this great disaster. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, The Alias.
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Now, let's get back to today's message, the alias. We're talking about world conditions which will Promote The Antichrist to power. And we're saying, one will be spiritual apostasy. Two will be political alignment. As these political alignments take place with the Antichrist stepping into power.
And then. economical authority. We're told you're in Revelation 13. Look down at verse 16. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast.
or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is six. Six. Six.
But what is this number all about? In these last days. Man will no longer be a name, but will be turned into a number. And it will be for the purpose of creating a cashless society. And if you have a cashless society and everyone is ID by this particular number of the beast, taking the mark of the beast, then everyone can be controlled.
There's no freedom. Everyone is under the auspices and the authority of the beast. And that's what we're told in Scripture, that he will have great authority and complete dominion. He will be the final world dictator. The reason being, he controls the money.
Not only does he control people's minds by sending them strong delusion, but he controls people's money. And if you control the money, you control their lives. No one will buy. Or do merchandise without this mark. No mark, no merchandise.
And it will all be in a form of a number.
Now, there may have been a time when people looked at that and wondered, well, how could that be? How could the whole world have some kind of a mark or be controlled by some kind of identification? But we don't wonder about that today, do we? through microchips and digital technology and computers. It would be very easy to bring everyone under the control of a number.
and a digital chip. Maybe placed in the hand, placed on the forehead. Years ago, this Seemingly was impossible, but now we know it is possible. Do you remember after 9-1-1, there was quite a bit of talk about a national ID card? And in many ways, it sounds like a good idea to control the population, to know who's in the country and who's not, that everyone would just have this ID number and this ID national card that you would use as a passport in the country and outside the country.
It sounds like a great idea unless someone of evil intentions took it over. And one day, someone of evil intentions will take over the world and will control this world through a cashless society. And if you want to merchandise, if you want to buy, if you want to have money even to eat, you will bear the mark of the beast. You will believe the lie.
Sometimes we're asked the question, We're people who are left behind Will they have an opportunity. after the rapture of the church to confess Christ. The scripture tells us that there will be people who will come to faith in Christ during the Great Tribulation. The book of Revelation tells us that 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be. Men who are saved by the cross and the love of Christ will go around preaching the gospel and many will come to Christ.
But there's no indication in the Bible that anyone who has previously rejected Christ will be given a second chance. And you should not certainly build your future or expect a future with God if you live without Christ and die without Christ or face an eternity at the second coming of Christ. Why would you risk your eternal future on some flimsy idea that you just might? Hope, I hope, I hope, get a second chance someday. What we just read in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is that this evil one, this Antichrist, will send them strong delusions so that they will believe the lie.
And in this day of the tribulation, these lies will be believed. you will have a delusion. Your mind will be blinded by the untruth, by the lies of the wicked one.
So don't, do not wait. Another day to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Well, these are the world conditions. But let's look very quickly at the wicked character. of this Antichrist. We're told in Revelation 13 that he is a beast, a beast rising out of the sea.
Now When you read the word beast, You know, you think of some Halloween monster. But let me just say that the story of the Antichrist, of the beast who rises out of the seas of nations, It's not some Rosemary's baby horror story. This is not a Halloween fantasy. A monster story. As a matter of fact, the beast is a very beautiful beast.
I say that because when you read Revelation 13, you discover that he is worshipped as God. He will be attractive and appealing to the masses.
So he is a beautiful beast. But he is also a prideful beast. 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 3 and 4 says, Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For he is the man of lawlessness revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose, and he will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up.
in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Now, that's been Satan's scheme and plan from the beginning, even before the beginning of time. How did the devil become the devil? Isaiah 14, Lucifer, the son of the morning, said, I will exalt myself above the throne of God. I will be like the Most High. And Lucifer, the son of the morning, became...
Satan, the father of the night, because of his pride, because of his rebellion, he has always desired worship. To be as God. And so now Satan is receiving worship through the Antichrist. And he gets what he's always wanted, and that is the worship of mankind without God.
So this beast is a prideful beast, a beautiful beast. and a powerful beast though he starts out smoothly and And softly His true colors are revealed. As this counterfeit leader, this clever leader reveals himself. And the delusion. The deception.
comes full circle. This is why we need to know the Word of God today. This is why we need to preach God's truth today. To separate truth and error lies. From era.
Because in the day of Christ, when this judgment comes, there will be so much deception. And people will be so gullible. And it's a tragedy beyond anything I can imagine.
So many people today are showing up at churches all over America and around the world, and they never hear the word of God. They never hear the gospel.
Some of you know it. You grew up in churches where you never once heard the gospel of the cross and the resurrection of Christ, the gospel of God's grace and God's salvation. That's a tragedy. And that is a setup. by sin and Satan himself.
And so know who this Antichrist is. He is one who is coming to destroy to delude. defile and to damn. People without Christ. He will be the pawn of Satan, but I'm so glad that's not the end of the story.
And I bring you to the conclusion, which is the woeful condemnation. of the Antichrist. You know, I'm calling this message the alias. Because he is the alias. of Satan.
And he is the one. Who will be judged even as Satan is judged? You say, How do you know that?
Well, I've read the end of the book. Turn over to Revelation chapter 19. Verses 19 and 20. And I saw the beast. The kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army.
And then the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped in his image. And these two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Let me tell you what happens. Finally, 666 runs into 777. And he comes against the menu.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who with the word of his mouth defeats and destroys him. And that is when the eternal kingdom of God is set up. Back in. In 2 Thessalonians 2, we read that Jesus will come in the brightness of his coming. You know, when Jesus comes...
In the rapture for his church, it will be somewhat of a private affair. It will be a private party. for invited guests only. and the way you get invited. It is to respond to the whosoever will of Christ and say yes to his grace and his love.
Jesus loves you. He died for you. He rose again. He wants you to be with him forever. And you're invited to the party, but the first coming...
When Christ comes for his church, this will be a private affair in one sense, but when he comes at the end, This will be his glorious appearing. He will come in the brightness of his coming. And the Bible says every eye will see him, and they also which pierced him. All the enemies of Christ will recognize who he is, that he is Lord, and he will bring final justice to the earth. And he will rule this planet.
There will be retribution of evil. The Antichrist will be defeated and destroyed. No wonder the Antichrist is called the Son of Perdition, the Son of Hell. And when the final judgment takes place of all the earth, then our Savior will rule as King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Now, what I want you to see is this: that even in the midst of this chaos and confusion of the tribulation, even as the world has gone wild. Even in the midst of the control and the rule of this Antichrist, God Almighty is still in control of everything. This is all a part of his plan. This is all a part of his prophetic schedule. as he prepares the world for his coming and glorious kingdom.
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Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? First of all, I want you to understand that the Antichrist will not come until after the rapture of the church, until all believers are taken up into heaven. But the spirit of the Antichrist already exists today. You can see it in the form of hate, violence, murder. countless sins that plague our world, and most of all the rejection of Jesus.
I also want to remind you that for the Antichrist to be revealed, the Holy Spirit of God must be taken from the world. And when that occurs, many will end up condemned to an eternity without God, as they will be deluded and deceived. By the Antichrist. That's why I don't believe in any second chances for people who reject Jesus today. As Paul states in 2 Thessalonians 2, 9 and following, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Those are sobering statements, my friend.
So, let me encourage you today to understand the urgency of getting ready for the return of Jesus. Understand that now is the time that you need to receive Christ if you don't know him, and if you do know him, that you will be faithfully and fervently sharing the good news of Jesus with your family and your friends. I want to encourage you right now to begin praying and thinking about people you know who need to know Jesus and that you will be faithful and fervent in sharing Christ with those loved ones and with those friends. May God help us in view of the things to come. to be ready always.
to give a defense for our faith and to invite people to know our Savior. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we'll send you a copy of Dr. Graham's book, The Jesus Book, as our thanks. Text the word book to 59-789.
And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about God's final plans for the Middle East. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
