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“Defeating Discouragement and
Deception” • 1.18.15 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- In chapter 1, Paul sought to ease the fragile minds of the
Thessalonians by commending their growth in love and endurance, while also
confirming their track.
- Suffering for Christ in a fallen world is a
normal condition and those that caused it proved their perdition. They were to
stay the course no matter what.
- In the section before us, Paul seeks to
further clarify the Lord's teaching on end times events.
-
They had not missed the rapture and they weren't living in the
Tribulation! He writes first, that they might not be discouraged. Take a look
at verse 1.
Intro.
• II Thessalonians 2:1,2 : "Now,
brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or
by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had
come." : Without
losing another minute, Paul jumps into the immediate concern of their day,
which was the understanding of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Jesus Christ is coming again!
That was yet to come in their day, and yet to come in ours, but the event is
happening nonetheless!
- When Jesus comes, regardless of
the various beliefs regarding His coming, we know that all Christians from all
time will be gathered together to Him!
- You and I will stand near
Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah. We might be rubbing shoulders with Peter,
Paul and Mary, the originals!
- I might look over and see Charles
Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd Jones and G. Campbell Morgan. We'll be together,
gathered as one giant church nation to Him!
- As I mentioned last week, it is
believed that someone claiming authority, perhaps even to be Paul himself, had
spread the false news that the Day of the Lord had already come.
- They were experiencing
increasingly difficult trouble and they confused, as most Christians do, the
tribulation that comes from living in a fallen world with THE Tribulation that
comes from wrath!
- Having been burned, I wonder if
they now felt a little foolish or perhaps even skeptical.
- The Apostle lovingly draws them
back and tells them what He tells us: Jesus is coming back again! Yes, there
has been disappointment and yes, the struggle intensifies.
- But the plan of God has not
changed! We still need to be ready and to treat this day as if it were our
final day! The Apostles were asking them to calm themselves in this regard.
- Paul says, "Don't let this
situation cause your heart to be moved like a typhoon moves the trees or become
alarmed by the noisy outcry of the crowd!"
- Don't be taken by someone
claiming to be spiritual or authoritative, even if there was a supposed letter
from the Apostle Paul himself!
- Paul is letting them know that
any new letter from him would complement, not contradict previous revelation.
That's the nature of scripture.
- When our interpretation is at
odds with the totality of scripture you can rest assured that the issue is with
us! Paul wouldn't write a letter that canceled out his previous instruction.
- Sadly, they had been shaken and
troubled. They had believed someone claiming to be spiritual and had beed duped
into believing a lie
- The day of Christ had not come.
Paul now seeks to set their mind at ease on that matter and exposes his second
purpose, that they might not be deceived.
• II Thessalonians 2:3,4 : "Let no
one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling
away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition, who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he
is God." : The key
issue is that deception is possible and there are those who have a desire to
cheat you. The deception will come from various spiritual sounding sources with
means.
- They will employ the same
vocabulary, but use a different dictionary. The same Bible verses will be
parroted, but without the context to establish their true authorial intent.
- Christians are called to protect
themselves and not allow deception to overtake them, especially in the realm of
eschatology. It is your responsibility to educate yourself as well.
- Today the deceivers have television
stations, internet sites, and celebrity followers! They have eye pleasing
graphics and ear tickling sensational music. Don't be deceived!
- What protects us from deception?
How can we neutralize that danger? Accurate knowledge.
- Paul lays out the facts that the
Day of the Lord will not come until certain things take place. If they hadn't
seen these things happen, then they knew that the Day had not!
- The Day of the Lord will be
preceded first by a falling away, an apostasy. This word shares it's origin
with the word "divorce" and is translated, according to context in
varying ways.
- A military official might call it
a "defection." A religious Jew would employ the word
"forsake." A leader of a mob might call it a "revolt."
- One prominent commentator (Wuest)
believes that this might be a euphemistic way to describe the Rapture. While I
do believe the rapture will occur first, I don't believe this refers to that.
- Paul foresaw a time when God's
people would abandon the truth of the gospel and the principles of their
community for something else and something infinitely less.
- First and second Thessalonians
are widely regarded as being among Paul's first letters. First and Second
Timothy are among his final letters. Note these verses there.
• I Timothy 4:1 : "Now the
Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,"
• II Timothy 3:1-5 : "But know
this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away!" : It
was true in the days of this letter and it is exponentially worse in modern
evangelicalism!
- The central Biblical principles
of Christianity are greatly diminishing in the presence of a new entrepeneurial
sideshow, which has kidnapped the term "Christianity" and formed a
bizarre hybrid.
- Aside from a style which seems
addicted to personality and the crass meeting of the most base carnality, there
has been a wholesale redefinition of Christianity's basic dogma in some places.
- In many "churches,"
every doctrine is up for debate. Every Christian principle from history,
ancient or recent, is challenged. Every belief that once defined a Christian
seems no longer to apply.
- Every generation has said that
they saw this happening before their very eyes and I can say today that I see
the exact same thing.
- The Evangelical church at large
is defecting from classical Christian belief, forsaking Biblical standards and
revolting to form some new monstrosity which bears little resemblance to
Christianity!
- It has been happening since
Paul's time in pockets, but is happening today in more respectable and widely
accepted circles. Let no one deceive you!
- When this wholesale falling away
is complete, a person will be revealed. Before I get into this, do you see how
the greater evangelical church is being lulled right into this?
- They have set up for themselves
celebrity Pastors who have ditched the exercise of sequential expository
preaching for winsome series titles based on eisegesis, catering to felt needs.
- This is precisely what Paul said
would happen in the last chapter of his last letter to Timothy.
• II Timothy 4:1-4 : "I charge
you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living
and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season
and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and
teaching. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their
own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they
will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." : The carnal Christian world, many of
whom are unconverted, rush to find their favorite, in order to consume some new
tidbit of inspiration that fills them momentarily.
- When that person has failed to
satisfy them, they move on to another person. Do you see it?
- When all our inspiration comes
from a person, that person needs to constantly invent new material to satisfy
fleshly adherants to what amounts to self-help religion.
- It is no wonder that the world at
large will buy in wholesale to a man, even if according to scripture, he is a
"man of sin" and a "son of perdition!"
- He is the representative of sin!
He is full of sin and bent upon sin, finding all fulfillment in the violation
of God's law. He is a son of destruction and bent upon the ruin of man's soul!
- He is revealed after a time of
religious apostasy and actively seeks to oppose God and to exalt himself! He
stands as an explicit adversary to God who seeks to raise his profile above
God's!
- What many "Pastors" do
today implicitly in that they elevate their own ideas above the Word, he will
do explicitly and to a degree that we would look upon as utterly, blatantly
blasphemous!
- Whatever is called
"God" or whatever is worshipped, he will seek to supplant and will
offer himself as the only legitimate object of worship!
- Now, this is where it get's
interesting. Here is where our pre-tribulation, pre-wrath, pre-millenial
position comes into focus. He will raise his platform upon the only platform
that matters.
- He will seek to put his name as a
replacement to the Name above all names! He will do so where God has chosen to
set His very own Name! Really, there can be no other place.
- The term "sits" speaks
of assuming the throne, and he will act as if the Kingdom which rightfully
belongs to God is simply being conferred to him!
- Indeed, he will demonstrate some
power that will verify his position in the minds of those watching. They will
see this take place in the physically rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.
- The fact that Paul asserts the
locality triggers an alert in our mind as to the relevance of the Temple of
God, which today, does not exist.
- Depending on who you talk to, the
actual foundation of the temple and where it can be built, is debatable, though
most agree it cannot be built because of the proximity to the Dome of the Rock.
- For those of you who are unaware,
the Dome of the Rock sits next to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and is Islam's
4th holiest site on planet Earth.
- Islamic legend purports that this
was where Muhammed ascended to heaven, while most seem to believe that this
edifice is simply a giant bit of boasting over Islam's defeat of Christians!
- With such being the physical and
political case, one wonders how the Temple can possibly be re-built!
- Most believe that the Man of Sin,
the Antichrist, will be a leader who will be able to navigate this exact
political time bomb and present a solution that will satisfy both sides.
- Put this together: A re-defined
church culture which has dieted on vacuuous culture centric anecdotes put forth
by Pastors promoting their own agendas.
- A generation that enjoys such a
diet loses all ability to discern between truth and error, thus buying into
deceptive Satanic measures.
- When the Rapture takes away all
truly converted believers in Christ, who will be left that even understands
what must be spoken? There will be no voice against it.
- The celebrity driven culture will
embrace someone who can make sense of it all, especially now that the
intolerant "fundamentalist" or "traditionalist" Christians
are out of the way!
- This is the perfect scenario for
an uber politician to sweep into and begin an unprecedented agenda for peace.
This begins what is commonly called "The Tribulation."
- For the sake of clarity, it is
synonymous with other terms such as "Jacob's Trouble" or Daniel's
70th week, which we have access to in Daniel 9.
- In that chapter, Daniel describes
a period of peace that is interrupted at the exact midpoint of the Tribulation
period. The agreement to rebuild the temple will be the centerpiece.
- For three and a half years, that
will hold firm according to Daniel 9:27. Then, the Antichrist will stand
in the Holy Of Holies in the rebuilt temple and put an end to sacrifiice.
- He will declare himself to be God,
an event that Jesus calls the "Abomination of Desolation" in Matthew
24:15 and Mark 13:14.[i]
- From that point on, the Jewish
people recognize that they have made a mistake in trusting in the Antichrist
and will flee for their lives during that last three and a half years.
- That period of time is called
"The Great Tribulation" and Jesus describes it as being worse than
any other period in history! Their troubles were bad, but definitely not like
this!
• II Thessalonians 2:5-8 : "Do you
not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is
restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is
already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is
taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will
consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His
coming." : What
Paul has just relayed in this letter was a re-statement. He had already shared
this with them!
- In three weeks time, Paul had
shared what might be viewed as "Advanced Eschatology." He viewed it
as necessary doctrine for the people of God and we won't part with it in our
day!
- It may be complicated and
involved, but if you are a Christian, it is vital that you seek to understand
it. He tells them this to keep them from deception.
- Understand that this is his only
motive. It's necessary truth for the encouragement of the believer and then, as
a safeguard from deception.
- Any other use of prophetic timelines
and description is simply "showing off." That wasn't Paul's attitude.
He wants them to know these things, including the power that restrained these
events.
- This was not mysterious to them.
They knew of this. They knew what was restraining or hindering the Antichrist!
- There will come a time when he
will be revealed. It's only a matter of time, as the seeds of lawlessness are
already in the ground, ready to blossom into full flower!
- This brings us to a fascinating
scripture: Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the
way. That which is hindering the work of lawlessness is a person!
- He now restrains. He is presently
holding back the eventual tide. He will continue to do this, but will one day
be taken out of the way or out of the midst.
- Who is the He that Paul refers
to? Who would have such influence and capability? Sincerely, can this be anyone
other than the Holy Spirit?
- Can this refer to anything other
than the rapture of the church? When His influence through the church is
removed, then this man will be unveiled, but will be the object of God's wrath!
- By the way, the Holy Spirit
cannot "leave" Earth. He is God and is omnipresent. Souls will be
saved and kept in the Great Tribulation. What Paul means is that He won't
maintain this function.
- Consequently, the Antichrist will
have tremendous success, but his tenure is already determined and his fate is
already sealed!
- He is destined for doom, as Paul
says that the Lord will consume, utterly destroy him and render him obsolete
when He outshines the Antichrist in His coming!
• II Thessalonians 2:9-12 : "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of
Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception
among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that
they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but
had pleasure in unrighteousness." : Make no mistake. The man of sin and perdition. The lawless one
is coming.
- But his coming is powered by,
energized by Satan himself. His entire influence will be extended through this
man and his ministry will be marked with Satanic resource.
- This word "power" is
the same word that refers to the power that comes upon the believer from God.
It's a dynamic here as well, but it's source is Satanic!
- He will prove his claims with
signs, remarkable supernatural occurences. He won't be in love with the truth.
He'll inspire with lying wonders or pseudo miracles.
- Understand that his power will be
real and that these signs will be authentic. Paul knows that there is real
power employed. That has never been disputed.
- In the Old Testament, when Jannes
and Jambres opposed Moses, they were able to reproduce several miraculous
feats. The Antichrist will do the same thing to confirm his falsehood.
- Whatever unrighteous deception
can be employed will be employed and those who perish can only blame
themselves, for they have refused to love the truth and be saved!
- There are such incredible
benefits for those who believe, but there are also awful promises for those who
refuse to believe.
- God has given chance upon chance
and has lovingly presented the truth about His Savior Jesus Christ, but they
did not receive it!
- It's baffling on this side of
conversion to consider why anyone would refuse to come to Christ. The answer is
much simpler on the other side.
- Men and women are dead to the
call of Christ! When the gospel is preached, there is a window of opportunity
and a believing heart brings life from death!
- But a heart that is hardened by a
refusal to believe and love for evil dark deeds, will reap the reward of an
even darker deception.
- In fact, their position is made
worse by the judgment that comes upon them in their wholesale belief in a
delusion, literally a mental straying. They will buy the lie wholesale!
- He does this that they might trust in the lie and that they might
be damned who did not believe the truth but found their pleasure in
unrighteousness.
Conclusion
- The Lord tells us this to comfort us. We who
have trusted in Christ will never need to fear missing the Rapture or
experiencing God's wrath in the Tribulation. Jesus is coming!
- But there are some who need to be warned now:
A failure to believe is belief in a lie that will only be strengthened by
continued refusal to repent and believe. Friend, Jesus is coming!
- May His Word do the work in your heart today!
[i] For
those who would like a fuller treatment of this concept, please refer
yourselves to the CCF New Testament index under Matthew 24:15-28, a message
entitled "Abominations And Carcasses."
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