In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij continues looking at 2 Peter 3 and focuses on the phrase “the day of the Lord.” Pastor Babij explains the background of this phrase and, considering 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, clarifies the Bible’s own assurance that believers will have no involvement in the day of the Lord. More specifically, Pastor Babij walks through 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 and explains:
1. A Bogus Claim (vv. 1-2)
2. The Correct Condition (vv. 3-4)
2a. A defiance yet to come (v. 3)
2b. A defiance with the appearance of the man of sin (vv. 3-4)
Full Transcript:
Let’s take our Bibles and turn to several places that we’re going to look at. We’re going to be in 2 Peter 3 and 2 Thessalonians today. Last time we looked at that Jesus is coming again. Life and history are heading somewhere and we Christians know we are living in the last days which started with the first coming of Jesus and will continue until the end of the age.
We are looking for the blessed hope and even though it has ben 2,000 years since the Apostle Peter penned these words, the admonition remains the same as when he first wrote them. Be ready and stay continually prepared. Don’t forget that God’s time table is not our time table. We must be ready to press on for the Lord.
I came across a short story of a man named Ben. When his boss died, they told him that he had gone to heaven. Ben spent many years with his boss. Ben shook his head and said that he was afraid his boss did not go there. The people were confused and Ben replied that when his boss went on a trip or a journey, he talked about it a lot and planned months before it happened. He had never heard him talk of going to heaven.
Now that can tell a lot about a lot of people and how true this short story is that people get ready preparing for so many things in this life but neglect the most important thing: to get ready for eternity which is a lot longer than this life. So Christians ought to be getting ready each and every day and living in the presence of Jesus Christ and before the eyes of God. We know that Jesus will return again. First for His Church and then He will return with His saints to establish His kingly reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The Apostle Peter wanted the recipients of his letter to have their remembrance of Christ’s Second Coming to be uncontaminated by the seductive influences of their own senses and flesh and the subtle attacks of the mockers of truth. From last time we were in this text, we learned that in order to get the truth of the Second Coming of Christ to stick in the minds of the believers, the Apostle Peter reminded all who would hear and read his two letters that Christ will come because three facts have been established. The Word of God had announced it, over and over again. The mockers attacked it. And the Lord God Himself has affirmed it.
But there are always questions surrounding the Second Coming of Christ, such as how will He come? What will happen when He comes? When will He come? What should the followers of Christ do until He comes? Not all questions about end times teaching can be answered in order to satisfy everyone’s curiosity and inquiring minds. We need to stay within the framework and boundaries of Scripture.
So some questions aren’t going to be answered because the Scriptures don’t answer it. We do know dogmatically that Christ will come because God keeps His promises. We also know from the admonitions of God’s Word that it is imperative for all Christians to be informed about end times teaching and to remain informed from the Word of God. So that every Christian will be ready for what’s next on the Lord’s program and be faithful until that day.
So today I would like to focus your attention on two similar and important phrases found in two passages in 2 Peter 3. Then I would like you to turn to 2 Thessalonians to see a problem that caused a deep concern at the church of Thessalonica surrounding these phrases. 2 Peter 3:10, 12 says:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
I would like to flesh those passages out this morning but that’s not my intention today. Today, I want to highlight two phrases that are similar: the Day of the Lord, and the Day of God. These two passages answer the question how will it come. In both passages, the Day of the Lord will come like a thief with plunder, destruction, and devastation.
At one time, water brought judgment. This time, fire will do so. It will alter the Heavens and the earth forever. Saying that, turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. The Scripture is giving encouragement and assurance to suffering Christians. These Thessalonians, because of their identification with Jesus Christ, were coming under severe trials. The Apostle Paul purposed to encourage the christians to persevere even in the face of Jewish opposition and heavy persecution. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14, it says:
For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.
These Thessalonians were under persecution and opposition of the Jews. They were receiving beatings for it but they remained faithful to the Word of God and were continuing in the truth of Scripture. In order for them to do that, some doctrinal issues had to be addressed and corrected. This could be the same for us today who wonder about the details of the last days and the Day of the Lord. There is always a reason why any portion of Scripture is penned. This second epistle to the Thessalonians is no exception.
Something happened and a new problem had arisen between the time of the writing of the two letters. In 2 Thessalonians 2 the Apostle Paul is addressing a problem that is causing some confusion among the believers. What was the problem that caused deep concern among the church of Thessalonica? Apparently someone had caused concern on the part of believers with regard to their relationship to the Day of the Lord.
If you look with me at 2 Thessalonians 2:2, it says:
That you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Consequently, the letter takes on a flavor providing assurance to believers which include at least two things. First, an assurance that the Day of the Lord had not yet come. Secondly, an assurance to believers that they would have no involvement in the Day of the Lord. With that in mind, this brings up a bogus claim in verses 1 and 2. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1:
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him.
I believe that’s put together like that for a specific reason that the believers are looking for Christ and for them to gather with Him. In verse 2, Paul brings up the bogus claim that the believers be not quickly shaken from their composure or be disturbed by a spirit, message, or letter as if from him.
It was highly probably the Thessalonians received a pseudo Pauline letter that the Day of the Lord was upon them or had already passed. The very fact that they were going through severe persecution along with a letter that they thought their beloved Apostle wrote moved them to conclude that the Day of the Lord had come upon them and they were in tribulation and hopefully waiting for the imminent appearance of Christ.
In verse 1, their attention was directed to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gathering together to Him. It’s not hard to understand that if the Thessalonians thought this letter was from Paul but it was not, that they were going through tribulation and this letter was saying that the Day of the Lord had come and they would be thrown off balance and disturbed concerning the truth about the Day.
Why should the idea of the Day of the Lord cause such an alarm and disturb the peace of mind in the believers in that region of the world? Probably the most prominent events in their thinking could include tribulation, judgment, and destruction. Such a betrayal occurs in many of the related Old Testament passages from which the concept actually comes. Joel, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Daniel, etc. all talk about this.
It was to be a time to strike terror into the hearts of men. Thessalonians begun to wonder if they had fallen victim into the day of judgment and missed it. Keep in mind that these believers were well informed concerning the end times. Look now back at 1 Thessalonians 5:1:
Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you.
He’s talking about these believers not being in the dark about the Day of the Lord. They were well instructed in eschatological matters. From this passage there’s a pre-understanding of the end times and it is assumed in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, which says:
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night.
In other words, he is being more specific here and he says to them and full well about end time teaching. For sure they have receive prior definite detailed information about times and seasons to the extent that he writes to them that they have no need of anything to be written. It’s clear that the Thessalonians needed no more instruction. They needed encouragement and correction. By way of calling attention to the facts which they know already accurately, Paul is actually calling them back to what was originally taught. We all have to be brought back to what is originally taught in the Word of God. The writer assumes that the readers have an Old Testament of the Day of the Lord.
Actually the phrase in the Greek with the absence of the article, before the day was a way that Paul places an emphasis on the quality of the day. In other words, the Day of the Lord is a day like no other. It is a day of such character that belongs to the Lord alone. The Day of the Lord includes more than one day or even a short period of time. It also includes a complex if events that extend over a period of time and culminates with the events described in 2 Peter.
Now when you read 2 Peter it looks like you have one day and then the Lord comes and you have a new Heaven and earth. But there are many things that happened before that day. It’s like in the days of Noah. He did get into the ark on one day but he preached for 120 years before that telling people of what was going to take place before he walked into that ark and the judgment fell.
So the Day of the Lord is a day that is an extended period of time and a complex of events. We are living in the church age right now and we believe that the next thing that will happen is the rapture of the Church, which is going to be taken up and that begins the tribulation period of 7 years. Following that, we have the Second Coming of Christ and then the millennial kingdom comes. Then the final judgment, new Heaven and earth, eternal state, and lake of fire are coming at the end.
So 2 Peter is actually taking about the finale of the Day of the Lord when it finally comes. Thessalonians is talking about a problem of a monkey wrench being thrown into their understanding. The Day of the Lord is triggered by the rapture of the Church and extends to the creation of the new Heaven and earth after the close of the millennial age and includes a period of tribulation during which a lot of deception and sinful living and behavior happen.
The whole millennial and judgments follow all of that during the millennium. So we know that God has events that are going to take place before the final finale of the conclusion of the Day of the Lord. In other words, this Day of the Lord was familiar to the Hebrew prophets and was known as the time in which God’s sovereignty was manifested in a particular way. For example, the prophet Joel in Joel 2:30-31, says it is the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord:
I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
In Amos 5:18-20 says this:
Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; as when a man flees from a lion and a bear confronts him, or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
In other words, in that passage of Scripture there is no where to run when the Day of the Lord comes and is instituted. The only way to be rescued from it is to be ready and the way to be ready is to know Christ as Lord and Savior. So both of these Hebrew prophets connect the Day of the Lord with the climax of God’s wrath upon the earth. Daniel referred to it as a time of trouble. In Daniel’s 70th week, prior to the Messiah’s earthly reign, the point is that the Day of the Lord is closely associated with judgment in Scripture.
The Thessalonians understood that based on what the Old Testament said, the Day of the Lord began with a period of intense earthly suffering that serves as a prelude to Messiah’s personal return to earth. It’s a complex of events, not just one day. The Thessalonians demonstrated their resolve and perseverance under trials. Since the last letter they received persecution intensified and some among their number had concluded the they had indeed entered that period of wrath.
Now brethren, if one day you woke up and someone you thought was in the know told you that your persecution shows that you are already in the Day of the Lord, when you were expecting the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him to be later, you too would be confused and frightened! Well this was a bogus claim and needed to be corrected. This is what 2 Thessalonians 2 onward does because it begins to make a correction to the conditions that will be in place prior to or in the scheme of the Day of the Lord. So let’s look at the correct condition which I will start this morning and finish next time.
We’re going to look now at 2 Thessalonians 2 where Paul expresses his concern that the beloved believers would not be deceived concerning end times. He intends to dispel their ignorance by teaching that the Day of the Lord could not have already taken place. The Thessalonians thought they were in the Day of the Lord because they were in tribulation and they received a letter they thought was from Paul but really was not. So Paul explains to them that the Day of the Lord had not yet come because they were still there on the earth.
Scripture records that certain things must occur before the full face of God’s end time judgment is manifested. First there is going to come a defiance. You’ll see this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4:
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
You can’t really get away from the force in this text since the verb is in the imperative meaning to really seduce and deceive someone to lead them astray. Paul broadens the warning to go beyond conversation and letters to include trick. It’s so amazing how gullible some of the saints are when a deceiver pulls off a stunt like this. In this case, like a letter disguised to come from the Apostle Paul to deceive them and pull the carpet out from underneath and throw them off track.
Also you notice in this passage of Scripture that unless the apostasy comes first of several in a sequence of happenings, the Day of the Lord will not be present. The word apostasy is the Greek word defined as falling away and is closely related to the Greek for divorce or to separate. It seems clear that the Word of God means a religious revolt that people are revolting against the truth. In fact, apostates are those that fall away from true faith and who abandon whatever they formally professed to believe.
The term describes those whose beliefs are so deficient as to place themselves now outside the scope of true Christianity. So when God is denied and does not fit the narrative of the day, people think they can do and live the way they want. A man recently wrote a book called, The Dark Agenda. The premise is a war to destroy Christian America. So he is onto something and maybe he is an unbeliever writing and noticing things going on in the world. The government is undergirding the Christian foundation of this nation, and if we don’t have a Christian foundation in some respect, we don’t have a nation.
So those who fall away at apostasy demonstrate that their faith was never real to begin with. True Christians persevere until the end and do not apostatize. Many can hear the truth and give verbal consent that they hear it and still walk away from it. Something will cause them to walk away. It’s like in John 6 when Jesus told them the Way, the Truth, and the Life and how to be right with God. There was a multitude of people following Him! After He got done preaching, they all left except for 12 people who were His disciples. They had nowhere else to go since Christ was the Way into the Kingdom of God.
Demus in 2 Timothy loved the present world and walked away because the enticement of the world was more enticing than Christ Himself. These and many other examples in Scripture lead to a larger and wider spread of apostasy that will take place in the last days prior to the Day of the Lord. Also Scripture records that there is another thing that must occur before the full force of God’s end time judgment can be manifested.
Now if you’re turning back to 2 Thessalonians, look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3 which says:
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed.
Now the Word of God is correcting whatever that letter said and the Old Testament book of Daniel pointed to another yet future historical figure which fits the description of the Antichrist. This person is to be identified with the man of lawlessness. Now that’s why I had Daniel read this morning because the little horn in Daniel 7 and the final ruler of the last Gentile empire is symbolized by a little horn: the Antichrist. It says in Daniel 7:24:
As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will humble three kings.
This little horn of Daniel 7 is the coming man of sin: the Antichrist, who rules for seven years and is destroyed by Christ at the Second Coming. The ruler who will be coming, the prince, in Daniel 9 will make a covenant with Israel and is one of the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2. The little horn that emerges from the ten horns makes a covenant with Israel and protects them from their enemies so they can build their temple and restore their sacrifices.
The man in Daniel 11 is called the willful king. In Zechariah 11, he is called the foolish shepherd. And he is called a man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians and the Antichrist in 1 John 2:18, which says:
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
Also in Revelation 6:2, he is called the rider of the white horse and in Revelation 13 he is the beast that comes out of the sea, which represents the Gentile nations. So the attributes of this character cannot go unnoticed. The Apostle Paul is pulling from Daniel who has already given us a good description of the evil character of this end time man. This man of lawlessness and this son of perdition and destruction is not Satan. But some definite person who is doing the work of Satan.
The implication is that the man of sin is hidden somewhere who will be suddenly manifested and revealed that will be his apocalypse. In Daniel 11, he is self-willed which means he will do whatever he pleases and desires. He will have an unchallenged authority. The Antichrist will arrogantly believe that he can function sufficiently without anyone else and without God. The bottom line is that the Antichrist can and will do whatever he wants whenever without restraint or anyone questioning him.
2 Thessalonians 2:4 says:
The son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship.
So the Antichrist will go far beyond anything the world has yet to see. He is egotistical. Daniel 11:36 says:
He will exalt and magnify himself.
He has a huge ego! In fact the verbs used here in Daniel are only used of God in Scripture and those who impiously assert themselves against God. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 also says:
So that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Like I said, I’m not going to finish this passage today but I wanted to give those things out to you about how he is correcting them about the events that will take place in this sequence of time called the Day of the Lord. So the Antichrist will present himself to the world as god, who will be an atheist. Daniel 11:36 again says:
He will exalt himself and boast against every god and will speak dreadful things against the God of gods.
So the Antichrist will be an atheist and reject all religions except the one that he establishes himself when he declares himself god. The sense is the Day of the Lord is not present unless first in sequence within that day there has come an apostasy, a falling away of the true faith. Therefore the falling away and the revealing of the man of lawlessness are signs which all within the early stages of the Day of the Lord after it has begun and not prior to it.
So based on these findings, Paul encourages his readers that the non-occurrence of these signs means the Day of the Lord has not yet begun. But it’s coming. See God promises believers not wrath, but rest. Not judgment, but his presence. If you look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1 it says:
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him.
He is encouraging them to think about the Lord coming to get them. Also look at 1 Thessalonians 5:9:
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I believe that he is talking about eschatological wrath. Also in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, it says:
And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.
So whatever way that one would interpret that, the Lord is going to rescue believers from the wrath that is going to be poured out on the world and we are not going to be here for it. So then the Day of the Lord is first triggered by the rapture of the saints in the air to meet the Lord and to be with Him forever, which triggers the start of God’s wrath identified by the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness. Consequently, the coming of Christ for His Church is followed by an extended period of time which God releases all the judgment within the tribulation period.
So God’s children whom He loves will be caught up to Himself before the seven year period. Of course, by saying that I am saying that this is a pre-tribulational rapture of the Church before the tribulation. I believe that 1 & 2 Thessalonians make that argument. So the Day of the Lord is coming but it is not here yet.
The mockers back in 2 Peter mocked the notion of Christ’s return and willfully conclude that there is no God or judgment. They proceed in this thinking because they don’t want to give up their lusts because they love their sin. By their assessment and forgetful view of history, things seem to be the same that’s why they come up with question of where this is coming from. They don’t see anything happening or any indication that He is even coming at all.
Why is that? The day that all this stuff takes place, there’s going to be a narrative in the world that is just going to kind of say that we don’t see anything so it must be peace and safety. That’s going to be the mantra of the day, no one should worry because everything is going to be alright and stay the same. Well look back to 1 Thessalonians for a minute in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6, and notice what Paul says to them there:
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober.
Be ready to serve the Lord! These false teachers and believers have selective memories and don’t desire to recollect anything that is true. I mention it this morning because there is a war on righteousness and truth. People don’t even know what truth is today and it is being undermined and twisted so those who are in control can control people.
So a generation with that mindset will be unprepared for anything that is on God’s calendar. The warning in 2 Peter is this day of God’s justice will come like a thief when it comes on these who don’t expect it. Like a burglar who comes with stealth to sift through your belongings while you are asleep. Let’s look back now at 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
That’s the finale of the Day of the Lord that Peter is talking about. He doesn’t mention anything in between. The Day of the Lord will happen when people least expect it and are least prepared for it. The false teachers will be teaching to undermine the truth of the coming of Christ and the events that will take place. When the false teachers undermine the believe in God’s promises and the promise of His coming which is a huge doctrine in the Christian faith and the Word of God, then they deny God Himself.
But remember that God keeps His promises and will be back, whether you go first or He comes, we are going with Him. He will come just at the right moment. Will there be ample evidence of His return if people look at the truth. But it will happen when people are willfully and ignorantly unprepared for what will take place. So ultimately, the point is that the world will end and this close of human history will come unexpectedly. When the cataclysm arrives, it will be final.
God will destroy the cosmos with fire as well as the ungodly and He will create a new Heaven and earth for His people where righteousness dwells. But God is delaying because the loving nature of God has lead to His patience. This results in more time for more people to repent of their sins and come and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That’s what it says in 2 Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
God is holding out on all these things with His great patience so people can be saved. Now if you are saved and you know it, what are you supposed to be doing in the mean time? I will mention some things more in future messages but if you look at 2 Peter 3:14:
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.
Make sure the you are in Christ and be diligent and sober-minded, not lazy. Peter started out his book to make sure you are elect and chosen. It says in 2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.
Be diligent and make sure you are a believer! Don’t put it off or for some other time because you are not guaranteed tomorrow, no one is. And then notice the next thing he says in 2 Peter 3:14:
Be found by Him in peace.
Be found in the peace of God or with God because the only true peace you can have is in your heart when you’re right with God. That means to be about peace with God is by the blood. Romans 5:1 says:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The blood of the Cross washes away my sin, takes away the condemnation, and satisfies the justice of God so I can be saved and know it. Not to think I’m saved or hope I’m saved. I know I am! Not based on anything I have done, but everything God has done. That is salvation! While we wait, we make these things are present in our lives. The next thing we do to live spotless and blameless lives is to look at how you live and your conduct, words, and thinking.
All those things are to be considered by a believer because we are getting ready to see and go to Him so we can be spotless and blameless. Not perfect, because only God makes us perfect. But we are being sanctified, set apart, and made holy. Notice again the next thing in 2 Peter 3:17:
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.
You want to stay stable as a Christian? Make sure you have your armor on and are watching out for everything that comes in your life. Every person you meet, every thought in your mind, every book you read and teacher you listen to. Guard everything! I was having a conversation with someone and I said I don’t believe anyone anymore. The only thing I believe is this: the Bible.
There is so much garbage being spewed out constantly over the airwaves. If people are getting that as their constant diet, they’re going to be thrown off because it feels like having a firehouse shooting garbage into your mind. They say garbage in, garbage out. Keep the garbage out of your mind and be on guard. Keep the whole armor of God! Ephesians 6:11 says:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
in 2 Peter 3:13 it tells us to keep looking. It says:
But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Look to eternity because that’s where we are heading! This world is going to pass away because it’s disposable. Look to eternity! Until then, look at 2 Peter 3:18:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
So are you ready? Is the Church ready? Ready for persecution? It seems like it is coming quicker than we want. We need to be ready and stable, strong, unmovable Christians. We are not going to bend to some pressure. God will make us that way because He will give us the strength when it is needed.
Let’s pray. Lord, thank You again for the awesomeness of Your Word. Thank You, Lord, that You take care of everything. Lord, make us faithful believers and make us soldiers in the field. Make us strong in the faith that anything Satan can hurl at us, we hold up the shield of faith and ward off all his missiles. Let us have our feet shod in preparation for the gospel peace. Let our breastplates of righteousness be on in trusting in Your righteousness for our salvation. Lord, let us put on the helmets of salvation in which our minds are constantly being transformed by the Word of God and making us strong soldiers who are able to battle with deception and things that are not true and bring them in and under the light of Scripture to expose them. I pray that we would take up the short dagger and the sword of the Spirit so we can fight off those lies with the truth of Scripture and be found victorious as we pray and speak the mysteries of the gospel to others as we ought to. Lord bless us and give us strength during these days and I pray in Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen.