Falling Away to the Anti-Christ — David Wilkerson

Now, it's right beyond Colossians and before Timothy for our new believers. Second Thessalonians, the second chapter. I'm going to read the first 12 verses. Follow me, if you will, please. Second Thessalonians 2, 1 to 12, falling away to the Antichrist.

The Falling Away and the Man of Sin

Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering unto him, that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as 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, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Remember you not that when I was with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

Then shall that wicked, or the Antichrist, 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 with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and 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 might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. All right, let's stop there and let's pray.

Prayer Against the Antichrist Spirit

Heavenly Father, we are seeing in these perilous times the beginning of an Antichrist movement that is sweeping this nation through Canada, the United States, and now around the world. It's not New Age, it's Antichrist.

It's Antichrist. And his spirit now is moving and taking control over all the secular. He's taking control of government, and now that spirit is moving into the church. Oh God, I pray that you wake us up this morning.

God shake us. Holy Ghost come upon me. Let the anointing of the Spirit of God be upon me. I take your authority over demon power, every prince of power and power of darkness. Satan, you have no place in this house.

You have no place, lying spirits. I command you in Jesus' name to get out of this house, out of this church, out of minds that this message may be received. Spirit of the living God come upon me. Let the Holy Ghost find us.

Let the Holy Ghost mark us. Let nothing get past your Holy Ghost today. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Now Paul here has outlined two frightful things that will strike the church just prior to the Lord's coming.

Apostasy and the Coming Antichrist

Paul said Jesus will not come until these two awful things happen, and they're going to happen also in the church. Two things. Number one, a great falling away, a great apostasy in the church. Secondly, a spirit of Antichrist overcoming many who are backsliding.

A spirit of Antichrist possessing many who are in the church. Now folks, for years we've been preaching and teaching about the coming Antichrist, and we've been expecting a man, the son of perdition. Some have speculated that that man has already been born, that he's somewhere on the earth now, and perhaps even a man and soon to take power.

Now is there such a man as an Antichrist? I say yes, there is a man of Antichrist. He's going to come one day, and he's going to be well received, and I'll tell you why he's going to be well received.

He's going to be well received even by many who were Christians, who have been prepared for his coming, and he's going to be revealed, and the only reason he's not revealed now, it's not his time, and the Holy Ghost is holding it back.

But one day the Holy Ghost will lift his restraining hand, this man will be revealed, he'll be incarnated by Satan, he will demand and receive the worship of mankind, and then when his work is finished, his time is done, the Bible said he's going to be consumed with the mouth of our Holy God.

But there is an Antichrist spirit, just as surely as the Spirit of Jesus Christ abides in us. The Scriptures said, because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father.

Now we have a Christ, a living Christ, who's a man now in glory. He has flesh, he has bone, he has hair, he has eyes. He's a living man because he's still got his manhood, even though he is God. He's a man in glory.

He is there and we are here, but his spirit is here. We are living through the Spirit. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Who lives in me? The Spirit of Christ. There is a man, Antichrist. You see, there are two Christ's in the world, Jesus Christ the Lord and Antichrist.

Antichrist has a spirit. There is a spirit of Antichrist that is even now moving in the world, preparing for the coming of this man. Just as sure as you as a believer have the Spirit of Christ in you, there are people today that are absolutely possessed of the Spirit of Antichrist.

I'm going to show you today how it is overpowering many churches and that some churches, believe it or not, are directed by the Spirit of Antichrist. We'll be talking about it in just a moment. Paul warns that there's coming false prophets who will preach another gospel and another Jesus.

That other Jesus is the Antichrist. And they're going to be of the Spirit of Antichrist. And there are going to be many apostate Christians in the last days. But folks, while we've been looking for this man, Satan has been creeping in and by his spirit preparing.

You see, Antichrist is not going to suddenly appear on the scene and try to overwhelm mankind. Antichrist is not going to come and try to influence people. By the time he has come, there will have been first a trickle because Paul the Apostle said that spirit is already at work.

It was at work in the primitive church. It's been working now. It's up to a stream. It's up to an ocean flow. And the Bible says by the time the Antichrist is revealed, he will have already prepared the hearts for his coming.

They will receive him. How will many receive him? Why would certain so-called Christians, Baxland apostate, ever turn to the Antichrist? Because they are of his body, of his spirit, and like-minded.

And he is now in the world preparing hearts to receive him when he comes. And there are some sitting here now, believe it or not, who are going, should the Antichrist be revealed in our time, are going to quickly, openly receive the Antichrist.

Because you have already had the seed, the spirit of Antichrist planted in your heart and we'll go on with it here. Paul said, for the mystery of iniquity did already work. It's already at work. The spirit of Antichrist, Paul said, is already at work.

He's already moving. He's already taking position. He's already coming into power. I want you to go to 1 John, please. Second chapter. 1 John, 1 John 2, 15, verse 15, begin to read with me. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

The Spirit of Antichrist and Love of the World

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

But the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth it will have God abide with him forever. Now listen to this. Little children, it is the last time. How many believe that? How many believe this is the last time?

Folks, if it was the last time when Paul wrote this, or John wrote this, could you imagine how late it is now? Almost 2 ,000 years later, how much closer, how more real is this text? Little children, it's the last time.

You've heard that Antichrist shall come. Even now there are what? Many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. It means that there are many that have been infiltrated and possessed by the spirit of Antichrist.

The spirit of Antichrist, John is saying, is already moving. It's in many hearts. The spirit of Antichrist. There are many, not the man, not many Antichrists, but the spirit of Antichrist in many. Now in this passage, John is telling us those whose hearts are still in love with the world, those who are still bound by lust, have opened themselves to the spirit of Antichrist.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, it's not of the Father. Who's it of? It's of the Antichrist. And there are many that are still given over to that. I want you to go to verse 22.

Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is what? Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Look at me please. Anyone, John is saying, who has not come unto the total lordship of Jesus Christ, has opened himself to the spirit of Antichrist.

If you sit here this morning and he is not lord of everything in your life, you've given him a portion of your life, you're serving him 90%, but he is not totally lord in your life. You have denied him.

You have denied his lordship. It's not that you go around cursing his name, but you have denied him. You have not believed to him for full salvation. You have believed and trusted him for half salvation.

You are not serving him with all your heart and mind and soul and body. You have opened yourself, according to John, to the inroads, the inmaking of the Antichrist spirited into your heart. This is so very, very clear.

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeeth the Son hath the Son, Father also. It's not just to say, well, I believe Jesus was God in flesh. It's saying, Jesus, you are God in flesh in me, with all power and all authority over lust, over sin, and everything else, and I yield to your lordship.

Amen. Hallelujah. Now, let's go on. Those who are righteous, who worship God in spirit and truth, are the prime targets of the Antichrist spirit. Look at verse 4. Go back to 2 Thessalonians. And folks, keep your hand here at 2 Thessalonians, second chapter.

Keep your hand there so you keep coming back. Put a marker or something because we're coming back there all morning back to this. Verse 4, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.

The Antichrist's Attack on Worship

Look at me, please. This spirit of Antichrist is opposed to those who walk closely with the Lord Jesus Christ, those who walk with God in intimacy, and those who are worshipers. This is what the devil is after.

This is what the Antichrist wants for himself. And he's going to come against everybody. He's going to come against every true believer who walks in the intimacy of Jesus Christ. He's going to come against you with everything the Antichrist possesses.

That spirit, that invading spirit, he's going to come against you and try to attack you and try to get you to stop worshiping. He'll try to stop your intimacy with the Father. He'll try to give you doubt and fear about the advocacy of the cross of Jesus Christ.

He will do everything to make inroads to hinder your worship. There's nothing the devil wants in this church more than the worship. To kill and destroy, worship. That's what he wants in you more than anything else.

He will do anything. He's not out to get you to be a drug addict, an alcoholic prostitute. He's not trying to get you to lie and steal and curse. He'll do that only if it disturbs your worship. He'll do it only to rob God of his praises.

He's after worshipers. And if you're a worshiper, true worshiper, don't be surprised when everything out of hell comes against you, when the Antichrist spirit comes and tries to knock you away. Don't be surprised by it.

Who opposeth and exalts himself above all that is called God and all that is worshipped. Paul warns that a spirit of lawlessness is at work in the world and in the church. And we know, and now we know that what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

Verse 6, look at it. Now we know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. What and who is withholding the Antichrist from taking over the whole nation and the whole world right now? The Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit who abides in you. Not the Holy Spirit in some cosmic atmosphere, but the Holy Ghost in the church. The Holy Ghost in you and I. And it's this church and other Holy Ghost church and Holy Ghost people that are holding back the anarchy of hell and Satan in this city.

They talk about the crime rate going down or up. Folks, if the Holy Ghost was lifted from this church and other churches, this city would be a raging hell right now. Because the stench of hell is already in our schools.

The stench of hell is in our courts. The stench of hell is in our churches. Can you imagine what it would be if the Holy Ghost begins to step aside and say, be revealed? So Holy Ghost holding back the storm.

Once you go to 2 Peter, go to Hebrews and keep turning right. I'm not trying to be facetious. We got a lot of young converts still don't know where to find certain chapters. Second Peter, the second chapter.

Christian Carelessness and Falling Into Bondage

Folks, I'm going to tell you something. Listen to me before you read this. Careless, lazy Christians are going to be overcome. They're not going to be able to stand. You're careless about reading your Bible.

You're careless about the things of God today. Folks, the perilous times that are coming and the closer, you see Jesus says the closer we get to His coming, there's going to be ever-increasing light.

And folks, there's ever-increasing revelation, ever-increasing power of the Antichrist is being released by the devil right now before the full revelation of the Antichrist. Because when He comes, He's coming, it's just going to be the last step, like stepping through a piece of tissue paper.

It will have all been prepared. The hearts are ready, all prepared for His revelation. He's not going to have to prepare anything. The devil will have already prepared it. The spirit of Antichrist will have already accomplished His will.

And sadly, many Christians are going to be overcome. I want you to start reading with me verse, second chapter, second Peter, verse 17. He's speaking to the church and certain ones in the church. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh to much wantonness those that would clean escape from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption.

But if whom of a man is overcome, the same is he brought into bondage. Now listen to this, for if after they've escaped the pollutions of the world to the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, these people claim to be saved to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see that? And then it says, then they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Now folks, listen to me. There are going to be Christians overcome by the spirit of Antichrist that's at work right now.

They're going to be overcome. These are those who've escaped the pollutions of the world, who were delivered by the power of God through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But now they've turned aside, for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness.

They knew the way. They knew the way of righteousness. Then, after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them, but it's happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog has turned to his own vomit again, the sow that was washed to her own wallowing in the mire.

How many, look at me please, how many do you know who've turned away from God and they're going back to their old habits? They've gone back to their old world. Folks, I'm going to tell you, you don't just backslide.

You don't just fall away from the Lord. Now, he has to be talking about the church because what does a sinner have to fall away from? He can't fall away from anything. He's already in the pit. The only falling away are those who had something.

You don't just fall away from Jesus, you fall into something. It's not just the falling away, it's falling into. You fall away from Christ and you fall into the spirit of Antichrist. No one simply backslides.

It's a falling into something, falling into the spirit that's in the world trying to take control. Now, folks, listen to me. John proves that the spirit of Antichrist is powerfully at work in the church.

I want you to go to 1 John 4 now. 1 John 4. 1 John, the fourth chapter, verse 3. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that, what? Spirit of Antichrist.

That's what I've been talking about. Whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now, what? It's in the world. It's in the world now. John said, you've heard that the Antichrist is coming. You heard a man is going to come and be worshiped.

But he said, wake up, that spirit is already at work. And he's talking to the church. That spirit is already here. The spirit of Antichrist is at work. Even now, already in the world, that spirit of Antichrist.

Go back to 2 Thessalonians 2, 4. So that, verse 4, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

The Heart as the Temple of God

Now, folks, look at me. Quit looking to Jerusalem. Quit looking to the rebuilding of the temple where this man is going to come in and set himself up. He's already on the throne. He's already in his temple.

You say, what is the temple? What is the temple? Go to 1 Corinthians 3. Did you know he was going to sit in the temple of God and show himself to be God? How many know that? He said he's going to be revealed.

He's going to sit in the temple of God and show himself to be God. All right, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. Know you not that you are what? The temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Go to chapter 6.

Familiar Scripture, but I want to show you something. Verse 19, what? Know you not that you're... This is 6, 19 of 1 Corinthians. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own.

Go to 2 Corinthians 6. You want to establish this well in your mind. You're familiar with it. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their people, and they shall be my people.

Look at me, please. How can such an incredible, awful, frightful thing happen? That at one time, the living God sat on his throne, ruling and reigning in a vessel. Now that the Holy Ghost has departed and that temple, that throne of the heart has been vacated through lust, through pride, through covetous, through gossip, through slander, through all of the things that we've been warned about time after time after time.

How is it that we have many Christians who have grown careless, who don't walk righteously before him anymore? And how is it that the spirit of Antichrist has moved in now and taken over, and according to this second Thessalonians, the second chapter, he now sits in his temple, showing himself to be God.

In other words, he is in control. He is absolutely in control. There is always going to be a Christ on your throne. I don't care where you are, serving Jesus or serving the old. There will always be a Christ on this throne.

It will either be Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, or the Antichrist. There will be a Christ. Every man walking these streets has a Christ on his throne. We know the Antichrist is in full control of the secular media, all secular television, theater, all the networks, all the printed material, all now are under the control of the spirit of Antichrist.

Antichrist, Secular Culture, and the Church

Who but Antichrist could so bias the American press and so bias the editors and the writers and the actors so that abortion is called a right rather than a sin? Who but the Antichrist could justify now euthanasia?

Did you hear recently, or read in the newspaper, a psychiatrist now in the United States who believes in euthanasia, killing off the old and infirm? He's willing to kill off anybody who's mentally ill.

Antichrist is a killer. Kill off the old and the infirm. We ought to be shocked here in the United States because in the Philippines and in Asia, they honor and they revere their old folks. Those who are old, they're revered.

Here, we want to kill them. Who but the spirit of Antichrist could be behind it? Who but Antichrist could mock everything that's sacred and holy and worshiped in filthy movies and wicked, vile programs on television?

The Antichrist is producing MTV. Literally, the Antichrist spirit is in full control of Fox television. I read. I don't watch that stuff because I don't have television. But MTV, from what I read, and Fox television, in a newspaper, you just look at some of the reviews and some of the absolute filth.

Who but the Antichrist? Who but the spirit of Antichrist could be behind it? And folks, he's getting bolder and bolder. Our society's on the brink of becoming a raging hell. But sadly, that same Antichrist spirit is moving rapidly into the church of Jesus Christ.

We talk about the gates of hell not prevailing against the church. But folks, you've got to know that he's talking about a certain church, an overcoming holy remnant church. He's not talking about that great church mess that's out there being ruled and reigned by the spirit of Antichrist.

He's talking about a particular church called out from the world. Only that church will prevail. The gates of hell will not touch that church. I'm telling you right now, all over the United States, the spirit of Antichrist is absolutely establishing churches.

That's exactly what this new outsider-friendly gospel is all about. Who but the Antichrist would go out door to door and knock on doors and say, do you go to church? No. Well, what would you like your church to be like so we could get you to come?

And based on a survey, what people want. They don't want sermons, so they have skits. They don't want two hours, they want one hour. And they want no conviction. And so what we have now is another gospel with no cross, no repentance, no judgment.

But you are allowed to sit there and be soothed in your sins. And you're told about the grace and the mercy of God, but nothing of his judgment. Nothing of hell. Nothing but heaven and mercy and grace has become a license to sin.

Who but the Antichrist would build a church on a survey? What would you think if I went out in the streets and I found all the kids that are playing hooky from school? And they don't go to school. You say, well, what kind of school would you like so I'll build a school that you would like?

But you tell me what you want in a school. You know, we have two hours a day, three days a week. One to three o 'clock. No lectures, 15 minutes, no algebra, no calculus, no science. And we want nothing but pizza and snacks for noon.

And we want no lectures. We want no laws, no rules. We want to come and go as we please. We want no grades. We could have the biggest school in New York and every dropout would run. I could go all over, write books and tell everybody about the successful school in New York that was designed on a survey with teenagers dropping out of school.

When they've been prepared for nothing, not prepared to live, what are preachers going to do when they stand before the throne of God? And these people have not been prepared for eternity. They don't even have, they heard a message on hell.

Never heard a reproving message. What's going to happen when those preachers stand before God? It's a damnable thing from the pits of hell. It's the Antichrist spirit. All but Antichrist can tell people they can drink from two cups, the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

The Two Cups: Fellowship With Christ or Demons

First Corinthians 10. I'll tell you something. As long as I'm in this pulpit, there will not be one person, and I know that too of Brother Carter, we will not babysit this people. You're going to hear the heart of God.

First Corinthians 10. Verse 20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.

You can't be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? You know, folks, I have a pastor friend who just delights to get up and tell his congregation, if you are really mature in Christ, you can handle all of this stuff.

He's talking about movies. He's talking about television. If you're mature, you can handle it. No, folks, it's not a matter of handling it. It's a matter that you can't have fellowship with devils. It's a matter you can't drink out of two cups.

You drink the Lord's cup or the devil's cup. You can't sip out of both sides. You say, pastor, that it's scary. How can a Christian be overcome by the spirit of Antichrist? Well, there are two causes Paul gives in 2 Thessalonians.

Go back, please, to 2 Thessalonians, second chapter. Are you still ready to hear the rest? Cause number one. Now, folks, if you're ever going to be given over to the spirit of Antichrist, here are the reasons.

The First Cause: Rejecting the Love of Truth

I'm going to give you two. They receive not the love of the truth, verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteous and them that perish. Why? Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

Now, look this way, please. Verse 12 says, and they all be damned who believe not the truth. Most Christians simply endure the truth and don't appropriate it to their hearts. Will you please go to Jeremiah, the fifth chapter.

Folks, I'm preaching you Bible. Chapter 5, verse 1. Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. See now and know and seek in the broad places thereof. If you can find a man, if there be any that executed judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I'll pardon it.

And though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they've not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but they've refused to receive correction.

They have made their faces harder than a rock. They've refused to return. Look at me, please. This is so very vital. God's saying, Jeremiah, go find me some man. Go find me anybody that just has a heart for the truth.

I'll pardon that one, and I'll use. But he said, look what's happening to people. They say that they love me. They say that I rule in their lives. But he says, they don't receive correction anymore. They don't want to be reproved.

There's anger in their heart. They're not grieving at the preaching of the word. When it cuts to the marrow of the bone, they call it anger. In verse 30, he said, they're not stricken. They don't grieve.

They refuse to receive correction. They've made their hearts harder than a rock. They say, the Lord lives in me. Most people sitting here this morning would say, well, I love God's word. I haven't lost my love for the word of God.

Let me give you three ways to determine whether or not you have the love of the word of God in your heart. All right, first of all, you have lost your love for the word of God if it's a difficult job for you to get to church.

And you're bored. And you don't look forward. And you no longer look forward to the assembling of yourself with believers. The scripture said, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhort one another.

And so much the more as you see the day approaching. The Lord is saying, the closer we are to the coming Lord, the more perilous the times. The more important it is that you gather with God's people. There are some that get so excited.

They just love coming to church. They come every time the doors are open. I know some of you have family obligations. You have job obligations. And God understands that. I'm talking about those who sit at home.

Those who become bored. They don't want to hear the message anymore. They're just bored. The house of God is not alive to them anymore. They drag themselves. If you're dragging yourself to this church, God help you.

You're opening yourself to the spirit of the Antichrist. Tragic thing that's happening across American Canada. I just, last week in Texas and some pastors were telling me how crazy things are getting.

They said, Brother Dave, we've already shut down our midweek because nobody comes. We're shutting down Sunday night because already we just have a handful. We either have to show a movie or we have to have a concert.

We can't get people to come. Prayer meetings are gone. And so what we have now is a one hour to one and a half hour Sunday morning meeting. And the people are rising up. There was one pastor, he's being driven out of his church.

It was a prosperity church and he came in to start preaching. God got a hold and started preaching holiness and separation from the world. They're driving him out on a rail. They don't want to hear it.

There's no love of the truth. They love it if you tell them how merciful God is, how gracious God is, and he is all of that. But they want to be taught what God will do for me, how he'll bless me, how he'll prosper me, but not what I can do for Jesus.

I can give my life and sacrifice and be a missionary. Are you still glad when they say let us go into the house of the Lord? The second way you can know that you're losing your love is by reading someone else's name into the message instead of your own.

You're going to hear a raging powerful message say, oh, thank God he's finally reaching brother so-and-so. Thank God, Sister Smith, she's got it. She's getting it. How many of you have taken this message to heart right now?

How many of you being moved and convicted in your own heart and you're not thinking about anybody else? You're saying God pour the word into my heart. Sign number three, when reproof angers you rather than humbles you.

But you've said it not on my counsel. You did not want my reproof. You despised all my reproof, Proverbs 1, 30. Correction is grievous unto those who forsake the way. I've heard people say, oh, I've heard a set of brother Carter's messages like mine.

It's too hard. He's angry. Oh, you better believe we are angry at the devil and sin and everything. It would attack God's people because we're shepherds. We're angry at that and not at people. But the Bible said, correction is grievous to those that forsake the way.

The Second Cause: Pleasure in Unrighteousness

And he that hateth reproof shall die. He that hateth reproof shall die. All right. Let me, cause number one is a loss of love for the word of God. Cause number two, verse 12, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Look at me. Pleasure madness. Pleasure madness. Folks, I'm coming near the end, but I've got to get this into your heart, if you will, please. That they had pleasure in unrighteousness. I want to prove to you right now that in the last days, that the lovers of pleasure are going to be more inside the church than outside the church.

When we think of lovers of pleasure, we're thinking of gamblers, and we're thinking of prostitutes. We're thinking of drug addicts. We're thinking of the jet set. We're thinking of those that are out in the bars and the racetracks.

We're thinking all the lovers of pleasure are there. That's what the Bible says. Second Timothy. Just turn right a few pages. Third chapter. Second Timothy three. Do you have it? Verse one, this know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despise of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away.

Look at me. Listen to this list. Blasphemers, unholy, truth breakers, false accusers, fierce, traitors, in God's house. This is in God's house, folks. That's what Paul is talking to Timothy about. He said, beware.