Jentezen Franklin - Satan's Master Plan
Hello, and welcome to Kingdom Connection. Thank you so much for joining us today. You will not want to miss this program. But first, I want to start today's broadcast by asking you to join me in prayer. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine. I believe in the power of prayer, this broadcast goes all over the world. We need to pray for the precious Ukrainian people. Agree with me right where you're sitting, right where you're watching this program:
Lord Jesus, I pray for the precious people of the Ukraine. I pray, God, for their protection. I pray for help of the Lord. I pray for peace. I pray, God for some kind of, just divine help that will come to that people and let this ministry, and let all the other people in the ministries and the believers rise up and pray and give and do all that they can do to make a difference for the people in Ukraine. We thank you for that, we ask that, spare the people. Have mercy, O God, on the nation of Ukraine. We ask it in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen and amen.
I really believe today's message is going to touch you and open your eyes. You're about to hear some things that maybe you've never heard, but it's right in God's Word, and it's concerning the last days and prophecies so call a friend and tell them to tune in. This is an extremely important message that will open your eyes, and then I'm gonna come back in just a moment, and I'm gonna share with you some ways that you can help provide aide to the people of Ukraine.
I wanna take a few moments and go to the Book of 2 Thessalonians 1, and just 2 Thessalonians 1:7. And listen to what it says, we'll back up to 2 Thessalonians 1:6. "Since it's a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you", that's kind of a neat verse. If people are troubling you, and they're doing it in an unjust, evil way, God said, "If they trouble you", listen to this, "It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you". You better not mess with God's people. And notice what he says: "And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power"...
I wanna keep reading, for just a moment, and then I'm gonna make sense, and I'll tell you where we're going. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1: "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him", that's talking about the Rapture, the catching-up of the saints: "We ask you, not to soon be shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit", don't be troubled, "Either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ has already come". He's saying some are gonna try to deceive you and tell you, you've missed it, the Lord has already come. He's writing to these people, there were false prophets, and he said, "Don't let stuff going on trouble you".
2 Thessalonians 2:3. "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition", that is a reference to the Antichrist: "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, that is worshiped, so he sits as God in the temple, showing himself to be God". "For the mystery of iniquity", and many translations translate correctly that word iniquity, the mystery of lawlessness: "is already at work; only He who now restrains will do until He is taken out of the way. And that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming".
And I know you're wondering, what in the world are you reading all those verses for? Because I wanna teach out of 'em today. God has stirred my heart, and I wanna talk to you today about "Satan's Master Plan" in the end times. Satan's master plan, and the first thing I wanna say to you, as we see the signs of the times, as we see the world in turmoil like it's never been before, there are three tremendous truths concerning the end times that are contained in the verses that I just read. The stage is set for the drama of the ages. We are seeing prophecy be so fulfilled in such a rapid pace, it's almost like the end times are in the New York Times every day, when we pick up the news and read it, or watch it on television. But the first thing that Paul says we are to do when we start seeing all of these things begin to happen, when we start seeing the signs of an Antichrist, and I'll explain all of that, coming on the scene.
The first thing he said in that verse of 2 Thessalonians 1:7 was, "Make sure you who are troubled rest with us". He said, "Number one, don't be disturbed. I want you to have peace in the middle of all the unrest", peace in the middle of all the uncertainty economically, socially, in all of the upheaval we're seeing politically, all of that. He said, "To my people, I want you", listen to those powerful words, he said, "You who are troubled, rest with us", the King James says. You who are troubled, come on in to the camp of the church, and into the body of Christ, and rest with us. Do not be troubled. One translation said, "Do not be disturbed". Another one said, "Do not be dismayed", when you begin to see this. God's people are not to be upset, and anxious, and worried, and fearful. Keep hope alive.
We have a sovereign God who is in control, and He knows what He's doing. He has a plan for His children, and for His church, and listen, and I wanna put that verse up over and over, "You who are troubled, rest with us". I understand your paranoia. I understand your worry. I understand your needing something to help you escape. If you don't know Jesus, I would be highly alarmed. I would be highly troubled seeing what we see now, going on. But you who are troubled, come, rest with us. Rest in the promises of God. Rest in what Jesus did at the cross. Rest in the fact that He said, "I'm coming back, in the middle of all of it. I'm going to let My plan for My children be released like never before". And so, he says you are not to allow headline hysteria to take over your mind, take over your heart, and cause you to be fearful and tormented, and worried, and afraid.
And I'm saying to you today that the hope of the world is not in politics, the hope of this world is not in the economy, the hope of the world is not in science or medicine. The hope of the world is in Jesus Christ, and His soon return. "For the Lord Jesus shall appear", He said, "Those of you who are troubled, come, rest with us". And then, the next part of that verse says, "For the Lord Jesus shall appear". You know, Jesus, the One who was crucified. The One who was spit upon. The One who was ridiculed. The One who was nailed to that hellish tree, that same Jesus said, "I am going to appear. I'm going to appear suddenly, and secretly, and sweetly, to My people, and I am going to catch them away". When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, the text said, which means when? When the Lord Jesus shall be, that means, that's timing.
And so, I want you to see that He's coming on-time. He's not gonna be one second late. He's not gonna be one second early. As a matter of fact, the prophet Malachi in the Old Testament said, "To you who fear His name shall the Son of Righteousness", listen to this word, "arise with healing in His wings". Arise is like a reference to the sun, and the sunset, or the sun rise comes every morning at a set time. Two things about the sun rise. Number one, you can't hurry it up, and number two, it can't be stopped. And the same is true about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, "I'm gonna arise with healing in My wings", and you can't hurry it up, but nothing can stop it. Nothing can stop Jesus from coming again. He's coming right on-time.
And I want you to understand the first thing that He says is do not be dismayed by all that is going on. Have faith in Me. I will take care of you. I will provide for you. I will protect you. I will defend you. I will shelter you in My arms. Do not be dismayed. And then, secondly, he says, "And do not be deceived". Look at that verse, in 2 Thessalonians 2, where he says, "And make sure", listen to this verse, he said: "And let no one deceive you by any means; for the Day of the Lord", he's talking about the day when Jesus comes: "will not come", listen: "unless the falling away come first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition".
Now, this is very, very important. He said, "Don't be deceived, because the devil is a deceiver". One of the things that Satan will do in the end times is come as the father of lies. He will use deception, but there's a real revelation. It said Christ will not come until, first, the Antichrist is starting to be revealed. Well, he's talking about, when he says, and notice the specific wording, the man of sin. That shows you how far the human race has come. We started out with the sin of man in the garden of Eden, and by the time it's the last days, it'll be the man of sin. There will be a man of sin. What is that? He's called the Antichrist. One of the biggest names of the Antichrist, and I thought this is so amazing, is the lawless one. The lawless one.
And what we're seeing is the beginning of social unrest and lawlessness in the streets of our cities, and entire neighborhoods being taken over with lawlessness, and it just seems like people have lost their minds, and law and order is now just out of control in so many areas. It is one of the signs the lawless one is about to be revealed. The man of sin, as the Scripture calls him. It goes on to describe this man in the Book of Revelation, and it says he is the epitome of evil. He is a man of lawlessness. He is a champion of wickedness. Revelation 13 calls him the beast, meaning he will have the nature of a beast. He will be anti-Christ. He will be anti-church. And isn't it amazing that he said that Jesus would not come until there first be a great falling away.
Well, a falling away has to do with the church, and people going to church and being a part of church, and could it be that this shutting down of the churches is part of the Antichrist spirit trying his best to cause many to fall away, families and generations to fall away from the habit of coming to church and worshiping God, and there is a great falling away that has to happen before Jesus comes, and before the Antichrist is revealed. He said that he's anti-Christ, he's anti-church, he's anti-Israel, and he's anti-Bible. And all of that I'm saying to you is simply this, Satan has always, in Isaiah 14, he said, "I'll exalt myself before the throne of God, and I'll set myself up, and I'll cause people to worship me", and when the Antichrist comes, he will come, and he will not only take over the world, but he will cause worship to leave the church, leave God.
Now, the church is gonna be taken out, and I'll explain that in a moment, but notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, it says the Antichrist will be revealed. The word revealed means exposed, shown for who he is. Means that when the coming of Jesus is near, it can't happen, the coming of Jesus can't be near, unless the beast is here. Which tells me, I believe, with all of my heart, that the coming of the Lord is near, therefore, I believe that the Antichrist, the beast, is alive and well on this earth. The unveiling of the beast is what we're beginning to see in our world, as we are watching things that we never dreamed would take place in our lifetime.
Now, listen to what 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 says, they are so important. "That he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of iniquity is already at work". The mystery of lawlessness, he said, will start to show itself just before the beast will be revealed, but before the beast is revealed, Jesus will come again. The Bible declares that that spirit is being held back. Now, this is the good news, and I want you to get excited about this, because the Bible said in 2 Thessalonians 2:7: "Now He who restrains", and the word restrains, the Bible declares that that spirit is being held back, now the King James says: "He that letteth", the word let means to restrain, so who is the restrainer? Who's holding back the hordes of hell from taking over? Who's holding back the Antichrist from being revealed? Who's holding it back? He tells you who.
There is someone who has Satan on a leash. Satan cannot do everything he wants to do. Someone is restraining Satan's Superman, the Antichrist, and do you know who it is? Do you know who it is? It's the precious Holy Spirit. He cannot have his way as long as the Holy Spirit is on this earth, and let me make this point big. The Holy Spirit lives in us. He doesn't live in buildings, He said, "Your body is My temple". This is why, when the Rapture takes place, and Christians are taken out, we take all the Holy Spirit that's here. He goes with us. Then, the Bible said, as long as He's here, which means as long as we're here, we are the restraining force. The Holy Spirit has a two-fold ministry right now through you, and that's why Satan hates you. He hates Christian families, he hates Christian churches. He hates Christian preachers, he hates anybody, because we are the restrainers. We are the one that holds back the hordes of hell from taking over this world.
If you haven't seen anything, you need to see that we could lose our freedom like that, we could be thrown into concentration camps, we could see the economy crash, all of that is being restrained by one thing, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a two-fold ministry. Number one, to help the saints. He's called the Comforter, and He's here to empower and help us, but to hinder Satan, hallelujah. And He's doing both at the same time. He's helping the saints, and He's hindering Satan, and no wonder the devil hates church, no wonder we got governors who are saying, "I won't even let 'em get together", and making law that you can't sing, you can't pray, you can't chant. Well, we don't care anymore, we've just had about all that we can have, and we are going to sing, and we're going to shout, and we're going to restrain the forces of evil, and give our children and our children's children a little bit more time to win the world, and then Jesus is coming again.
The Holy Spirit in us will be taken out of the church. The believers that are full of the Holy Spirit will be taken out, and then the road block on Satan's super highway will be removed. And when that happens, a flood of wickedness will come, it's called the Great Tribulation. And then, the Antichrist will come. But praise God for that restrainer, and Satan's master plan is tied to a master man, and he's the Antichrist. He will turn this world into a concentration camp.
Revelation 3:18 says every inmate will be numbered, and that number is 666. And it says, in that same verse, that without that number, no man will be able to buy or sell. No sign, no sale. No mark, no merchandise. And how is all this organized? Through computers. The more machines act like men, computers are taking over, and the more machines act like men, the more men will act like machines, they'll fall right in order. They'll fall right, when the church is gone, when the restrainer is gone, when the people of God are gone, then will come the Antichrist, the revealing of the beast. He will immediately, for seven years, begin his reign, and it'll be three-and-a-half years of a global charmer. He'll be handsome, he'll be powerful, he'll bring economic prosperity, not just to America, but all over the world. It'll look beautiful. But there will also come to any, and there will be people who are saved during the Tribulation, and there will come days of torture and terror for any one left behind who believes in Jesus Christ, and refuses to take the mark of the beast.
But here's what he said to you and me, and I'm almost closed. He said, number one, when you see all this starting to happen, don't be disturbed. You who are troubled, come rest with us, hallelujah. I'm saved, I'm on my way to heaven. I'm just making sure I'm getting my family on-board, I'm making sure that I'm ready. I'm making sure that my eyes are focused on the prize. You who are troubled, come rest with us. You who are disturbed, don't be disturbed, and then secondly, he said, "Don't be deceived". The Antichrist will come with lies, and many Christians are turning away from holiness and living the truth, and loving, and the gospel's being mixed with this and that, and this and that, and it's not a pure gospel, don't be deceived.
The Bible said that even the very elect will get deceived by stuff that'll get 'em into other things, that pull 'em away from the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. But then, it ends with a powerful thought. Don't be disturbed, don't be deceived, don't be disappointed. You will not be disappointed, because 2 Thessalonians 2:8 says this. "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom God will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming".
It's then that 666 will be taken over by 777. There's coming a day when 666, all of evil, all of hell, all that Satan has got, is going to come face-to-face with 777. And when 666 meets 777, 777 is going to consume him with His breath. We won't be disappointed when our Savior comes. We won't be disappointed when He splits the eastern skies. We won't be disappointed when we come riding back with Him, and set up His Kingdom, and rule. And every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, Jesus is Lord. Don't be deceived. Just 'cause everybody else is turning away and falling away and going back to wickedness, don't be deceived. Stay true to God, because if you do, you will not be disappointed. He's coming, just like He said He would. Pray this prayer with me, everybody:
Lord Jesus, I give You my life. I give You my family. I give You my sin. I believe the word is true. I believe, just like the prophecies of Your first coming were fulfilled, I certainly believe You lived and You died and rose again for me, and I believe that the same Book is telling me the truth that I've heard him preach today. I receive You, Jesus, as my Savior, and get me and my family ready for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
So what are we to do? What are we to do, Pastor? Pray for your loved ones. Win souls. Start sharing messages like this. Begin to fast and pray with me in these end times, that God would cause great light to come on the church and through the church. Comfort one another. Keep faith, hope, and love alive in times like these. Run to the arms of God. And I plead the blood of Jesus over every home, I plead the blood of Jesus over every person watching me today, by television, by internet, wherever this is being seen, I claim miracles in people's lives, especially of deliverance and salvation. Let backsliders come home. We love you, we're praying for you, and now is the time, like never before, to be very sure your heart is right with God. It starts with you, and then get your family saved. Get 'em saved, go after souls now. Like never before.