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The chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse number 10 where the Bible reads, Finally, my brother, who is strong in the Lord and the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Now, today, in honor of Independence Day, which is tomorrow, in honor of the 4th of July, we're celebrating Freedom Sunday, faith-forward Baptist Church, and I told you I was going to preach a sermon that was a freedom-oriented sermon, and that's why we're celebrating having a barbecue after the service, and the title of the sermon this morning is this, The Rulers of the Darkness of This World. Get that phrase that stands out there in Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 12, it says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but he's saying we do wrestle against principalities. We do wrestle against powers, and we do wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and then he restates it again, against spiritual wickedness in high places. See, the enemy of freedom this morning is the same enemy that's always existed, that's always been against freedom, and that is the kingdom of darkness, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places. Go, if you would, to John, chapter 8. John, chapter number 8, we'll come right back to Ephesians 6, but look at John, chapter 8. Here's a famous passage from John, chapter 8. It says in John, chapter 8, verse number 30, As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, you shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. We're going to come back to that concept, but go back to Ephesians 6. He said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Here he tells us that we need to put on the whole armor of God in order to stand against the wiles of the devil, because we're in a battle this morning against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places, and because of that, he said we need to take on the whole armor of God. Look at verse 14, what's the first piece of the whole armor of God? Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Just like he said, the truth shall make you free, he said the first piece of armor you're going to need in order to stand up against the rulers of the darkness of this world is having your loins girt about with truth. Go to 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10 is solved by way of introduction. 2 Corinthians 10. You see, our battle this morning is not against flesh and blood. We're celebrating the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July. Some people don't always know what these holidays are about. They think it's fireworks or whatever. But 4th of July is the anniversary of, in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. And really what that independence was, it was independence from being dominated by a foreign power. Basically it was another country, another entity, controlling our nation from the outside and oppressing and enslaving us. And in July 4th of 1776 was when we threw off that foreign power and took among ourselves that station among nations, free states, free nations, and that's what we're celebrating, independence, freedom from tyranny coming from a foreign power. And that's what I'm going to preach about this morning. But first of all, I want to show you that we're in a spiritual battle today. They fought, of course, over 200 years ago in physical battle against a foreign invader, a foreign enemy from across the ocean who was oppressing and enslaving them. Today, as Christians, our fight is not against flesh and blood. We're not here today to engage in a physical battle. You might see people open carrying, but we're not here to fight a physical battle because the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood. It's not a physical fight. It's a spiritual battle. He says we do wrestle against evil, though, and we do wrestle against the rulers of the darknesses of this world. If you look at 2 Corinthians 10, you'll see the same thing in verse 3. It says, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, carnal means flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So again, he's saying it's not a fleshly battle. Look at verse 5. Casting down what? Imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself to the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every what? Thought to the obedience of Christ. You see, our battle is a spiritual battle, and it's a battle for the mind today. It's a battle for the truth today. It's a battle for knowing the truth and preaching the truth and standing up for the truth and getting the truth in our minds because there's an enemy out there that wants to take away our freedom and that wants to take away from the truth and that wants to get us to believe lies and that wants to put us into bondage and slavery once again. Now, over 200 years ago, our country fought for its independence, fought for freedom, but today we're being brought into slavery once again. And there's an enemy out there that wants to keep us into bondage. You see, the enemy is real. Many people will, when you preach or talk about these types of subjects, will say, Oh, you're paranoid, right? You know, you try to tell them, Hey, wait a minute. There's an outside force that's trying to take over the United States. You tell them that the Bible tells us and predicts that there's going to be a one-world government. That's what the Bible says. And I can't understand how any Christian would look at you and say, Oh, you're a conspiracy theorist. You're a kook. You're paranoid. I'll just turn to you and say, You know what? Then do you just not believe the Bible? Because the Bible, we're going to see it in just a moment. The Bible tells us that there is coming a one-world government, and the Bible tells us that that spirit of Antichrist already exists in the world and is already at work today and that these evil forces, and people will often say, Well, who is it that's organizing all this? And some people will give all different answers. You know, the bankers, they'll say. It's the money masters, the bankers. And then other people will say, It's all the Jews that are doing it. And oh, you'd be careful to say it happened. And other people will say, It's the Catholic Church. It's the Pope. And they have all these answers. But I'll tell you who it is. It's Satan. And let me tell you something. Satan uses the bankers because the love of money is the root of all evil. And I'm not talking about the girl who takes your deposit. Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about the girl who empties out the ATM machine or something. I'm talking about the real, you know, the top money masters, the money changers and so forth. Yeah, the Catholic Church is run by Satan. Amen and amen. But the bottom line is, it's none of these just individual people. It's so much bigger than that. It's nothing that one man or one group of men could organize. It's something that's been going on over the centuries. It's a plan of evil. It's the rulers of the darkness of this world. It's spiritual wickedness in high places. And we're in a battle today against this. If we, I mean, Paul said we wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Not physically. Not a physical battle. But he said spiritually, what are the weapons of our warfare? The truth. The Word of God. Information. Preaching. Knowledge. Those are all the things that we see listed. You see, the devil and his minions that want to take away your freedom and that want to enslave our country both physically and spiritually, their enemy is the truth. Their tool is darkness. Their enemy is the light. The light represents truth. Whatsoever make it manifest is light. The light exposes the truth. Darkness conceals the truth. And you see, the battle today is for your own mind, first of all, and for the minds of others. Look down, if you would, again at 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. It said, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Here's the battle right here in verse 5. Casting down what? Imaginations. And every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Jesus said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And they said, hey, we be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? And I can imagine a lot of Americans today saying the exact same thing. Hey, we're Americans. We were born in America. We've never been in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? And Jesus looked at them and said, you're not free. He said, the truth will make you free. And he said, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. He said, what does that have to do with anything? What does sin have to do with freedom or non-freedom? Because sin is what always brings you into bondage. That's why. All throughout history, nations that became ungodly and wicked went into slavery, went into bondage, all throughout the Bible. The children of Israel committed sin. They'd go into bondage. They'd get right with God. God would send them a deliverer. Read the book of Judges. It happened 12 or 13 times in a cycle there. Every time they got right with God, God would deliver them and give them freedom because sin brings bondage and slavery with it, because sin destroys the truth, and sin brings darkness, and darkness brings slavery. And the rulers of the darkness of this world, they love to keep you in darkness. That's why there is an agenda today, not an accident. It doesn't just have my chance. There is an agenda today to destroy your mind with filth and ungodliness in order to bring you into bondage. That's what every movie that comes out of Hollywood is about. Every movie. Every movie that Hollywood puts out. Every TV show. And you might watch that show or that movie and listen to the music that's put out by the music industry, and 95% of that movie is as clean as a whistle, right? But that movie is a vehicle to get filth into your mind, to get darkness into your life, to get sin into your mind, to exalt itself against the knowledge of God. I mean, you watched the whole movie, but the makers of that movie just wanted you to get to that bedroom seat. That's why they made the movie, to tear you down, to get fornication into your mind. To get adultery into your mind. To get uncleanness into your mind. And you turn on the TV, and all the TV shows, they're funny and they have jokes, but it's all about showing you that sodomite queer character. That's all it's about. Just to get you used to it. Because it's a fact that throughout history, no ungodly, wicked, filthy society has ever been free in the history of mankind. When this country started out as a free country, people had respect for the Bible. They lived a clean life. They got married. They didn't live a lascivious lifestyle. They didn't go around just as whoremongers and whores. There was a decency in this country, and you can't have freedom without decency and without godliness and without righteousness. The Bible says righteousness exalts to the nation. And the people who founded our country even said that the republic that they designed was designed for a moral and righteous people. And that it wouldn't work. You know why? I like the song that we sang earlier. I think it was... Is it called America the Beautiful? Oh, beautiful for spacious skies. Did you notice how I talked about self-control? Because you see, people who are free, they control themselves. They govern themselves. They parent themselves. They take care of themselves. They are responsible for themselves and their family. But people who have no self-control, people who have no rules for themselves, people who can't control them, they will be ruled by others. They will be enslaved by other people who will make the rules for them. You see, freedom is not having no rules. You know, you hear the term of anarchy, and you think of all kinds of images in your mind. But freedom is not a lack of rules. It's not no rules. Freedom is making your own rules. That's what freedom is. It's not living by no rules. You see, the person who has no rules is not free because they're enslaved to sin, they're enslaved to their flesh and their appetites. The person who has no alarm clock is not going to be a free person. The person who has no rules, I just get up whenever I roll out of bed, and if I feel like going to work, I go to work. If I don't feel like going to work, I'm not going to go to work. Do you think that person's going to be free for very long? That person's not going to have the money to be free. That person's not going to have the situation of freedom because they're going to be enslaved by their own appetite. It's somebody who has to just get up and just think, I don't have that cigarette. They're not really free. They're not really making their own decisions. They're a slave to that thing. You've heard of someone being a slave to the bottle. You see, freedom comes when you do what you want to do, when you decide what you want to do and you do it and you set your own rules and you set your own goals. The person who's truly free, they get up in the morning, but it's when they decide to get up in the morning. It's not someone else forcing them to get up. They get themselves up. They get themselves to work on time. They decide for themselves, I'm going to be faithful to my wife. I'm going to be faithful to my marriage vows. I'm going to keep me only under her so long as we both shall live. It's not the person who just says, oh, I got a free love. I mean, look at what the 1960s generation has brought us. Oh, they're free love and free dope. All it brought is a bunch of broken homes, a bunch of immorality, a society that has no respect for the things of God. And are we freer today than we were then? No, because it's a fact. God told us that if you commit sin, you will become a servant and a slave. And if you have godliness and righteousness and integrity, that will bring freedom in your life. Because people who can govern and take care of themselves, they don't need somebody cracking the whip over them all the time. You know, there are employees at your job like this. And it's funny because he actually dealt with this in Ephesians chapter 6. He said, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. You know, there are people at work, they only do their job when somebody's standing over them telling them, do it, do it, do your work, get work, stop talking. Does that person get paid very much? No, it's the guy who governs himself that gets paid more. He doesn't need a babysitter. And today in America, our government thinks that they need to babysit us. See, step one in the plan of the rulers of the darkness of this world is to take away our morality and integrity and to get us enslaved to sin. Because if they can get us enslaved to sin, then they can step in and be our babysitter. And the nanny state today is a direct result of the wicked and ungodliness of our society. You see, the more ungodly and wicked and filthy people our lives become, it becomes easier for the government to convince us, see, you need us to keep you in line. You need us to protect you from these monsters. You need us to protect you from the ungodly and wicked, vile people. But they're the ones who make us that way by promoting it through Hollywood, promoting it through the public pool system, promoting it through every avenue at all times, cramming it down our throat. You need to get free this morning. You know, before our country is ever going to be a free country, it starts out, you need to get free this morning. You need freedom in your life. You need to decide that I am going to let the truth make me free. I am not going to fall into the hands of the rulers of the darkness of this world and let them control my mind. I'm going to pick up my King James Bible. I'm going to shut off the TV. I'm going to shut off the radio. I'm going to throw out the newspaper and the magazine, and I'm going to pick up the book that is the truth. Jesus Christ said thy word is truth. This book is the truth. And if you'll get up every morning and read this book and spend hours in this book and shut off the TV and spend more time in this book and throw the TV out the window and throw out the radio, then you'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. But you see, if you're not even free, how do you expect your country of unbelievers to be free? You're saved and you're not even free. You let that TV brainwash you. You let that radio brainwash you all day long. And you let the magazine rack brainwash you when the truth is right here. This is what you need. This is the light of the glorious gospel that will shine in and dispel the darkness in your own mind. Then you might be able to bring freedom to others. Now, let's identify the enemy today. Who are the rulers of the darkness of this world? You say, that's kind of vague. Well, the Bible says principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places. First of all, let's see the agenda. Go to Revelation chapter 13. Revelation chapter number 13. And if you think that I'm some kind of a kook or conspiracy theorist right now, it just shows that the brainwashing is working really well in your life. They really got you good when they put those TV programs in front of you. They really got you straight out. They'll laugh at anybody. The sermon I'm preaching this morning, we're in the laughing stock of the world right now. All the little smug little politicians. I had this news reporter from Germany. I was talking to him. And he says to me, you know, he's talking about all this stuff. And I was trying to explain some biblical stuff to him about what I'm about to show you. About like a world government. Because what's Independence Day all about again? Oh yeah, it was when we threw off some foreign power, outside power, controlling us and we decided to govern ourselves as a nation. Become independent. But today, we're going back into bondage to a foreign power through a world government. Now, here's the thing. Throughout history, governments have become oppressive. Have you ever heard the saying that says power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? You see, people who get in power, it corrupts them. God never intended to have human leaders in great power. See, he designed a system of the judges where there was no ruler. It was just every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And they had judges and they looked to God as their supreme king. And they had the word of God as their legal guide. But you see, if you remember in 1 Samuel 8, in the Bible, they went to Samuel the prophet and they said, we want to have a king to be like all the other nations. And Samuel said, no, you don't want to have a king. Bad idea. You need to stick with God as your leader. You need to stick with the Bible and stick with the system of the judges. That's going to bring the most freedom. And I'm not going to go into all the details of that chapter, but read 1 Samuel chapter 8. It explains to them they don't want to have a king. But they said, no, give us a king so we can be like all the other nations. They made them a king. Who knows what the name of the first king was of Israel? Call it out. Saul, right? Saul was a good guy. He was a humble man. He was a godly man. He was a spiritual man. He was a righteous man. But what happened when he became king? He became a bad person. And he got worse. I mean, within a few years, he became a wicked person to the point where he's trying to kill his own son. He's trying to kill David. He kills a bunch of priests. I mean, he's going to witchcraft and everything. He got wicked. Why? Because he couldn't handle that power. Because mankind is not intended to have that power. That's why. The next king, David. A man after God's own heart, a great godly man. But when he became king, what does he do? He multiplies a bunch of wives, commits adultery, commits murder. I mean, he got into a bunch of sin. And really, even though he was a good king, he still did a lot of bad stuff because mankind is not designed to be in that position of power. And so all throughout history, governments become abusive and take away people's freedom and they enslave the people. And so throughout history, what people have done is they always moved from one place to another, right? Like when there wasn't enough religious freedom in, say, Holland. What'd they do? They get on the Mayflower and they go to North America to try to get some freedom. To try to get away from the oppressive government. You know, they left Europe to get away from the Catholic Church, to get away from an oppressive government, and to get some freedom. And throughout history, it's always been like that. You know, people fleeing from one country into another. Everybody know what I'm talking about? You know, and the Soviet Union cracks down on Hungary in 1956, and then a couple hundred thousand people do what? They flee over the border into Austria to get out from under an oppressive government and to get themselves to freedom. But see, the problem is that what's coming in the future, according to the Bible, is a world where there will be no freedom anywhere because it's going to be a world government oppressing the whole world. Oh, you're crazy. Okay, well, let's read about it in Revelation chapter 13. This is a prophecy about what's coming in the future about the Antichrist. It says in Revelation chapter 13, verse... You know, we kind of have to read the whole chapter. I don't really want to read the whole chapter just for sake of time, because we've already read a few chapters. But let's just start reading. It starts out in... Well, let's just start out in verse 4. This is talking about the Antichrist, Satan. It says in Revelation 13, 4, And they worshiped the dragon, that's Satan, which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is life unto the beast? Who is able to make war with them? And it was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things in blasphemy, and power was given unto him to continue forty in two months. That's three and a half years. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacles and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. Who are the saints? Believers, according to Bible Christians. So this guy's going to come into power, and he's going to blaspheme God, and he's going to make war with the saints. He's going to persecute Christians. And it says he's going to overcome them. He's going to win that battle. And it says... It was given unto him, verse 7, to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power was given unto him over all hindrance and tongues and what? Every nation is going to be under one person's power. Is that what that says? One man is going to have power over all the nations. This is what's coming. This is not a fairy tale. This is the word of God. This is the Holy Bible telling us what's coming. He says, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the land slain from the foundation of the world. So not everybody's going to worship him, but everybody whose names are not in the book of life are going to worship him, it says. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here's the patience and the faith of the saints, and I've helped another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. And he exercised with all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and then which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, or miracles, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth from the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. What area geographically is this being enforced in? The whole world, every nation. You get that? And he causeth all, verse 16, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and threescore and six. Of course, the proverbial 666. And so what the Bible is prophesying here is that there's going to be a man, a leader. He's the antichrist. He's going to claim to be, and we're going to see in a moment in other passages, he's going to claim to be in the second coming of Jesus Christ. He's going to claim to be the Messiah unto the Jews. He's going to claim to be the fifth imam unto the Muslims. He's going to be the next Buddha or whatever, reincarnation, because Buddha's spirit keeps getting reincarnated from the Dalai Lama into some other guy or whatever, whatever false belief they have. He's going to come, and all the nations will worship him. He'll be a ruler over all the nations. He'll be persecuting the saints and causing them to be killed because he's going to say that anyone who will not worship the beast will be killed, and he's also going to make people have a mark in their right hand or in their forehead, and that if you don't have that mark in either your right hand or your forehead, you're not going to be able to buy yourself anywhere. Now, a lot of people probably throughout history have read this and probably had trouble understanding it, saying, how could that be? How could that take place? But you know what? Today, we can understand this perfectly. As we get closer to this, we can see how this could happen. I mean, can't you just imagine it now? Go into a grocery store, and you'd just be so shocked because, you know, you pull out this piece of paper, and I mean, of course this piece of paper is worth something, right? I mean, look at it. It's got a picture of Alexander Hamilton on it. You know? Look at the little... Look, you hold it in the light, and you see a little watermark. Of course people are going to give me goods and services for this piece of paper. No, they're not. Because one day you're going to pull out this little worthless piece of paper out of your pocket, and you're going to say, okay, here you go, and they're going to say, sorry, we don't accept cash. Just scan your hand right here. Brrr. You say, I don't have a hand. No, okay, well, everybody's got a forehead, so you're not scanning your forehead. So the bottom line is that the Bible's teaching us that we're going toward a cashless society. We see that. Where you can't buy or sell without a mark. And notice that the King James Bible, unlike a lot of the modern Bibles that are filled with deception, tells us that the mark of the beast will be in, notice the wording, in their foreheads. Do you see that in verse 16? Or in their hands. So this could be some kind of a microchip or a barcode or something, but it's going to be inside. Okay. Now, this isn't something that you just go to the DMV and just fill out a form and just get this mark. You have to worship the Antichrist to get this mark. You have to worship that satanic Antichrist in order to receive the mark in your right hand or in your forehead. So, you know, believers are not going to be doing this. They're not going to be receiving the mark. Other people won't necessarily be taking the mark. And they're going to be killed. Many people are going to be killed and persecuted. And even the ones who are not killed, they're not going to be able to buy or sell. So it's going to be tough to stay alive and to make it during this time. Now, this time is going to be cut short, thank God, because, of course, Jesus Christ is going to come in the clouds. And, you know, because the Bible says, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. I mean, eventually everybody would be killed, you know, with this kind of a crackdown. But he said, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Jesus Christ is going to sound the trumpet, come in the clouds, and the rapture will take place. But, you see, go if you would to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. While you're turning there, let me read you a few other scriptures here. We saw in Revelation 13 this man who's going to rule the entire world, and he's going to make people get a mark in their right hand or forehead in order to buy or sell. And he's going to be persecuting and putting to death believers who will not do it. But not only that, you're turning to 2 Thessalonians 2. I'll read for you from Revelation 17. In Revelation 17 it says, The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Verse 17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled, because the antichrist is also called the beast. You see, there are going to be ten kings, the Bible says, ten world leaders if you would, ten rulers, that are going to give up their own sovereignty or give up their own rulership and give all their power and strength unto the antichrist. They're going to relinquish their power of their nation, their leadership, and give it to this man so that he's controlling the entire world. That's how it's going to go down. That's what it says in Revelation 17. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2. We're going to read about the same person. It says in verse 1 of 2 Thessalonians 2, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is coming again. And by our gathering together unto him. That's the rapture where we're caught up together with him in the clouds. That's talked about in 1 Thessalonians 4. That you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Which man of sin? He's going to explain more about it. 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. So here we see the Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition, is going to stand in the temple of God, exalt himself above all gods, and say, I am God. He's going to claim to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. He's going to claim to be the Messiah that the Jews have been looking for. You see, the Jews don't accept Jesus as the Messiah. They're still waiting for the Messiah. Guess what? He's coming for them. He's the Antichrist, and they're going to receive him. Many false Christians who are not really saved, but they're trusting in their own works to save them. They don't really believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They're going to be fooled by the Antichrist and think he's the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Catholic church and the pope will put his arm around him and say, this is the second coming of Jesus Christ. You know, apostate Christian leaders and Christian phoney preachers all over the world, you know, from Rick Warren to Joel Osteen, will say, this is the second coming of Jesus Christ. And their followers will believe it, and they'll follow that. He says here in verse 5, remember you not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? So this isn't some new doctrine or new teaching. He'd already explained it to them before. 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 thou letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked 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. This is all straight out of Revelation 13. Remember the dragon gave him his authority? With all power and signs and lying wonders. Remember we talked about that in Revelation 13, he's going to be performing miracles, because he's claiming to be Jesus. And it says, power, signs, 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, who believe not the truth, but at pleasure and unrighteousness. Isn't it interesting now, people who have pleasure and unrighteousness, they don't want to hear the truth. They don't want to believe the truth. Remember how I told you, people who live in sin, they go into slavery and bondage? In fact, that's what Jesus talked about. Because the truth makes you free, and sin puts you in slavery. And people who live a life of sin, they're not interested in the truth. And even if they weren't, they wouldn't know the truth, because they're deceit, because they're darkened by all the sin. That they partake of. But look what he says here in 2 Thessalonians 2, as plain as the nose on your face. Verse 3, Let no man deceive you by any means. There are people out there that want to deceive you about this. And he's saying, don't let them do it. They say, OK, Professor, what are they going to deceive us? What's the big lie that they're going to tell us? OK, well look at it. He says in verse number 2, That you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away burst, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted 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. Look, he said in verse 3, that day shall not come. What day? The day of Christ. The day of his coming in the clouds and our gathering together unto him. He says, That day shall not come, except there come a falling away burst, and the man of sin be revealed first, and he sets himself up in the temple of God, and he says that he's God. But there's a deception today and a lie out there that says, The day of Christ is at hand. Isn't that what they're saying in the churches across America? Isn't that what the Baptists are saying and the Evangelicals are saying and the Pentecostals are saying? And they say, He should come at any moment. They say, Jesus Christ is coming at any moment. And the day of Christ is at hand, he said, Don't let them deceive you. Don't let them lie to you. Don't be fooled by it. That day shall not come. The antichrist is coming first. That's what he said. Read it. I don't understand how anybody can read. I mean, are you so blinded? Have you been so blinded through false preachers or TV or Kirk Cameron or Tim LaHaye or Left Behind series or some video game or some board game or some Christian novel that you read that you can't even see the clear scripture right in front of you where God is trying to warn you today and say, Look, somebody is going to try to deceive you and tell you that Jesus Christ is at hand. And his day is not at hand. The antichrist will come first. That's what it says. I don't understand how else to explain it to you. But people will still go around teaching, He's coming at any moment. And you know what? There's so many reasons why that's so bad. Number one, this teaching has become so popular and Hollywood has promoted this with their Left Behind series. Because of the fact that this is how the antichrist is going to prove to people that he's Jesus Christ. Because they're waiting for Jesus to come at any moment. And guess who's going to show up on a white horse? The antichrist. He's going to say, I'm Jesus Christ. They're going to say, Here he is. Here he is. Let me just break it down to you this way. Who is the mainstream of evangelical Christianity think is coming back at any moment? He could come at any moment. Who do they think? Jesus. Who's really coming? The antichrist. So who are they going to think he is? The antichrist. And obviously the ones that are saved, don't figure out that they've been, I'm sorry, that they've been stupid. I'm sorry. I'm just going to spell it out. People who can't understand these four verses that I just, I don't know if they're not saved or dumb or what. Or I don't know what they're, what they're trying to lie to themselves about. You know, I'm just, I'm sick of it this morning. I'm just spelling it out like it is. You know what? They're going to figure it out and say, You know, like King Saul, I played the fool. I mean, that's what it says. And there's no scripture that teaches Jesus to come back at any moment. It's the biggest lie. It's a big deception. And he says, Don't let, and look, I'm just obeying the Bible this morning. I'm not letting them deceive me. Maybe they'll get into your, they're not getting into my head. They're not going to deceive me. And they're not going to deceive our church either, as long as I'm the pastor. I'm going to stand up here and expose this. And so, number one, that's the agenda. But number two, what's the other deception about? Well, the deception that Jesus Christ can come at any moment. You say, Why is that so important to the devil's plan? The second reason it's so important to the devil's plan is that people will not even care that this is going on, because they, Oh, we're going to be gone before that happens anyway. Who cares? Have you seen this mentality? Yeah. They say, Oh, who cares? The trumpet's going to sound before any of this happens. No, it's not. The Bible says, All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The Bible teaches that there will be a day where freedom is gone in the United States of America. Gone. It's already going. It's already on its way out the window. There will be a day when it's completely gone. And there will be a day when the Congress of the United States means nothing. That body that got together and signed the Declaration, it means nothing. And the President will mean nothing. And the Supreme Court will be nothing, because it will be a world government that's running things. It will be a world government that takes away our freedoms. It will be a one world government, and then they'll just decide to all give their power to one man. That body of ten. And they'll say, This is him. This is our leader. He's going to solve all our problems. He's the second coming of Christ. He's going to unite all religion. He's going to bring peace all over the earth, except for those who won't worship him. They're going to die. They're going to have you beheaded. But everybody else is going to be out of your paradise. It's going to be great. Unless you're one of those Bible believing fundamental Baptists or Christians, or somebody who actually believes the Bible, you are going to have to go. And anybody else, even people that aren't Christians, who just won't go along with it, they're going to be killed. Anybody who won't take that mark. Some people are just going to be freaked out and not want to take it, even if they're not even a Christian. I mean, some people today don't even have a driver's license. They're probably not going to be down there getting a barcode. Saved or unsaved. They're just a Christian. But the bottom line is here that this is real. This is reality. Now, what's the sermon about? I've got so much in my notes, I'm going to wrap it up here pretty soon. There's so much evidence of this in the Bible. Let's go back to Ephesians 6 real quickly, and I'll read you a few other verses here. Of course, the famous prophecy in Psalm 2 about the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their courts from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall laugh in the derision about the kings of the earth uniting together against Jesus Christ. Of course, that's what we're talking about that's going to happen someday. You say, well, what's the moral here? What do we do? What are you preaching to us? I mean, okay, this is a depressing sermon. You know, the Antichrist is going to come and kill us and unite the whole world. What do we do about it? Well, I'll tell you what. He says in Ephesians chapter 6, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. First of all, you've got to know it's coming and be strong and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wows of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. What does God ask of us? What does he require us to do about this? He requires us to stand, to stand, to be armed. He says, how are you going to be able to withstand in the evil day? He said, you need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You need to know the truth. You need to stand strong in your faith and be ready for it. Now look back at Ephesians chapter 5 verse 11. Just one page back in your Bible. In Ephesians 5 and 11, because we're talking about the rulers of the darkness of this world, it says, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. So what is God asking of us? We know the end of the book. We know in Revelation 13 that one day, and maybe it's not even going to happen in our lifetime because this mystery of iniquity was already at work even in Paul's day. The plan was in progress even thousands of years ago. It's over the centuries been moving forward inexorably. It may not happen in our lifetime. You know, I mean, in some ways, hopefully it doesn't happen in our lifetime. It may be a hundred years from now, but it could be right around the corner. I mean, we see the signs around us that it could be very soon. So what do we do about it? Because we already know that the Antichrist is going to make war against the saints and that he's going to overcome them. We're not going to defeat the Antichrist. You know, I know there's a video game like that or something, you know, but we're not going to be able to overthrow the Antichrist. Eventually, the Antichrist will make war against the saints and he'll overcome them. Many people will be killed. Many people will be persecuted. But we know that in the end, we're on the winning side. The Antichrist is going to be cast into hell. We're going to rule and reign with Jesus Christ on this earth for a thousand years. I mean, we are on the winning side in the long run. But in the short run, you know, let's face it. The Antichrist is going to overcome the saints. We know it's going to happen. In the end, he's going to be overcome. So what do we do? Do we just roll over, not care about it, doesn't matter? No. God still expects us to wrestle. That's what he's telling us to do. And he's telling us not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather, reprove them. What does reprove them mean? Tell them they're wrong. Point it out. Expose it. Preach against it. Stand tall and say, you know, this whole world may be following this devilish plan. The whole world may be going into darkness and sin. But I don't have to and my family doesn't have to. And as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. We're going to gird our loins with truth. We're going to stand tall. And we are going to still be left standing at the end of it. And they can kill the body. The Bible says, fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body. Now, you see, they can kill this body, but they can't make me have fellowship with their works of darkness. They can't make me be a part of it. They can't make me bow down to that image. They can't make me fill my mind with television and all of their brainwashing to get me to think that even the most disgusting, filthy sins like sodomy, homosexuality are normal. They're not going to get in my head. I'm going to stand tall. I'm going to know the truth. And you know what? This whole world may go into bondage. And this country may lose its freedom. But I will never lose my freedom. Because Jesus Christ said, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. The truth will make you free. You don't have to be in bondage today. This whole world could go into bondage. They could go into bondage tomorrow as a nation. They could shut down everything and plant a policeman outside your door with a machine gun and put a barbed wire fence around your house and whatever. Put you in an orange jumpsuit and throw you in a jail cell and beat you and enhance and interrogate you. But let me tell you something. They cannot take away your freedom because your freedom is the fact that you know the truth and that you're standing up for the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth and righteousness and godliness. And if you have control of your mind, if you can cast down imaginations, he said you've won the battle. The weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal. It's not a handgun. It's not a machine gun. The weapon is the truth. Preach the truth. Believe the truth. Know the truth. And the truth will make you free. And they can handcuff your hands, but they can't handcuff your mind. They can't handcuff your mind. I mean, they can do anything to your body, but they can't take away your soul. And so our job today is to have no fellowship with it. Stand against it. Reprove it. Not be a part of it. And you say, well, it's a waste. You're going to lose eventually in the end. You can't win. You know what? I can win in my life, and I can win in the lives of those that I influence. And the people that I preach to in Faithful Word Baptist Church, they can be free. And the people that hear my sermons through some other format, they can get the truth, and they can be free. And everyone else who stands for the truth can be free and make others free because it's not about a physical freedom. It's about a spiritual freedom. And, you know, maybe we can prolong the inevitable. Obviously, Jesus Christ is coming back at a certain time. We know that. But let's face it. That may not happen in our lifetime. You know, people 100 years ago, they thought it was going to happen in their lifetime. I mean, people who were living during World War II said, this is it. This is the end. This is the armament. You know, people have always said that. And then they didn't care about wrestling against the rules of the darkness of this world. You know, we ought not fall into the same trap of thinking, well, it doesn't matter. It does matter. God said there's spiritual wickedness in high places today. And you know what? That includes the United States of America. There is some spiritual wickedness in our country in high, high places. Let me just translate that for you. Spiritual wickedness, worshipping Satan. I mean, that's what it is. Our leaders today in America literally worship Satan in many cases. It's true. And you say, well, how do you know which ones? It's the ones who are working toward this plan that I've been showing you of a one world government in Revelation 13. They're working for Satan. They worship Satan. They follow his lead. When you see politicians, and I don't care if these politicians stand up and say they're a Christian. You know, so many of them, it's so easy to say, oh, God bless America, you know? Jesus loves us, you know? I mean, you hear the most ungodly people quote the Bible. It's politics. They kiss babies, too. They don't really think those babies are cute, okay? They're just, it's all a show. I mean, they're politicians. You know, they stand up and, you know, God bless everyone, you know, as they promote every kind of filth and agaminess, as they kill all kinds of innocent people and win warfare and war fields, as they invade a bunch of countries. Why? To bring about a one world government. To get it all out of the canopy of the United Nations and to get us all in the world court and the world government, you know, and the European Union and to get it all together and the international monetary love of money root of all evil fund, you know? And let's get it all together. And look, you should not support these people. I don't care whether they're Republican. I don't care whether they're Democrat. Anybody who's a part of this program is evil. You need to not support them, not have anything to do with them, and, you know, I'd rather be, I'd rather lose a battle standing tall for what I believe. Free in the mind and in the soul. It's okay, you know, you're not a loser. Just because you take a beating or are killed, that doesn't make you a loser. You know who the loser is? The loser is the person who sells out their integrity. The loser, the loser is the person who sits in front of that box all day just believing everything that's full up to them. That's what makes you a loser. But when you read the Bible and when you know the truth and when you see the world for what it is and you see the agenda and you stand tall against it and you have freedom in your heart and in your mind, you don't just think the way you're programmed to think, but you actually let the Bible renew your mind and tell you how to think. You know what, you're a winner. You're on the victory side. I don't care if you take a beating. I don't care if you are killed for the cause. You know, they can't kill the soul. They can't kill the spirit. They can only kill this body. And you know what, this body, one day we're going to be in a new body anyway. So it's meaningless. And so what is God asking us to do? To be free. You know the first command that God ever gave to man? He told him to be free. Did you know that? In the garden of Eden. Even before he told them. You know, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of Eden. The first thing he said to them was, of all the trees of the garden, now may it freely eat. He gave them freedom. You know, there was one restriction. He said don't eat this one tree. But he said you're free to eat whatever of the other trees you want. Giving you all these choices, all this freedom. God loves freedom. The Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There's liberty. God wants us to have freedom. And that freedom comes from knowing the truth, setting our own rules, not living a life of sin just because the world says it's okay to do it, letting God guide us in the truth and clean living and righteousness and godliness, keeping our minds and bodies free and standing up tall and saying, you know what? I don't care if the whole world goes down the wrong path. I'm going to stand for the truth. I'm going to preach the truth. I'm not going to participate in this garbage. I'm going to reprove it. I'm going to stand against it. I'm going to expose it. That's what makes you a winner. That's what makes you free. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer for me. Father, please help us not to be deceived today. There are so many deceivers. Even in the Christian world, there's so much deception teaching that Jesus can come at any moment. We just read a verse that said that's impossible in 2 Thessalonians 2, 1-4. God, there's so much deception out there and so many lies and most people are falling for it hook, line, and sinker as we lose a little more freedom every day in our country. But Father, this Independence Day, help us to declare our own personal independence. No matter what our country's doing, no matter what our nation's doing, whatever our political parties are doing, help us personally today, dear God, today and tomorrow, declare our own personal independence in our own hearts and in our spirits and to decide I'm not going to let them brainwash me. I'm going to read the Bible. I'm going to get the truth. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to do what's right in my own eyes as I see it in God's Word, not what someone else is telling me. Father, please just bless this food to our body as we partake of this great 4th of July feast that we're about to enjoy and bless all those that are here, dear God, and I pray that if there's anybody here who's not saved today, just simply because they don't believe in Jesus Christ, I pray that today they would talk to someone and be saved. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.