2 Thessalonians 2 THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS // INTRO This morning, I want you to think about a dear friend whom you haven’t seen in a while You love this person, you and are excited about them coming to your home to see you after a long absence So you get ready You clean the house from top to bottom You scrub the toilets You bring out the plush towels Replace the shower curtain You get busy vacuuming and dusting, and planning their favorite meals And you just can’t wait to see this person, and you’re longing to just sit down together and catch up I want to ask you if you have ever experienced that situation or one like it? (show of hands) Well, for as long as I can remember, I have had a deep longing to see Jesus Even as a young boy, I wanted to see Him I wonder if it was fed by my parents who accepted Christ when I was very young I can’t tell you WHY that was the case for me so early on, but it was the thing that drew me to the Word of God It was as if God had arrested me in my formative years, never to let me go As I was recently discussing that time of my life with family in Georgia (remembering back MANY moons ago), someone asked whether that longing ever interfered with my daily life, or relationships I had to think about that for a little bit, but I came to the conclusion that I do not believe it interfered with my life because we are told in Scripture to read it, to study it, and to hide God’s Word in our hearts We’re told to be vigilant when it comes to the Lord’s returning And there is no amount of that vigilance, done in the purity of the Lord’s ways, that leads to wrong or evil It only ever leads to good when the heart’s motive is to know God more, and love Him more deeply And the Spirit keeps those who are His! I look back, and those were wonderful, slow days, many years hence But now things in our world are VERY different now! The world is on fire and spinning out of control Wars and rumors of wars Allegiances that are now, or in the process of being broken Countries and nation-states driven by power and greed Yes, these things were in our world in the 1960’s, 70s, 80s, and on til today, but it’s different now, and things are changing rapidly The beautiful blue planet that the Lord made is teetering out of control And this is one of the reasons why I believe we are close to seeing Jesus! It’s been a while since I did this, but I used to ask high school and college-aged students about their experiences related to time speeding up And whereas several years past, they would generally NOT say that they felt like life or the culture around them were speeding up or moving faster, now that has changed! In fact, it’s not just younger people who are experiencing what feels like time flowing more quickly It’s people from all walks of life What I think that means is that there less and less time, and that makes sense This world is not our home But are we ready for His coming again? We cannot make our most precious investments in THIS life, where rust and moth destroy and thieves break in and steal Rather, we must store up our treasures in Heaven where moths cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal We’ll have eternity with Jesus for those who are in Christ, but here and now, time is literally fleeting So take that image into our culture and our world at this moment in time We must warn people of the wrath to come They have to have the bad news to appreciate the good news, and the Lord has called us to go and tell And with that, let’s dive into our text // TEXT & EXPOSITION [1] Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ …and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, [2] not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Being gathered to Jesus? What’s that all about? Paul is writing about the Harpazo - or what we call the Rapture of the Church So let me explain how that name came to be The word “Rapture” has multiple definitions in English It can be an expression or manifestation of ecstasy, or passion, or a state of experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion And those are great things in their proper contexts, but we’re talking about something else In the Bible, the word “Rapture” is “To seize suddenly and take or carry away” It’s actually where we get the word “raptor,” which is a large bird of prey that swoops down suddenly, catching up its prey in it’s talons and carrying it off But the basic idea here is that we are snatched (if you will) and go UP when Jesus calls the Church home But the Thessalonians were hearing false reports (whether innocent or malicious, we don’t know) that the Rapture had already happened So Paul was writing to them so that they wouldn't be shaken in their minds, or alarmed that the Day of the Lord has already come and gone It is coming! Of that, you can be sure…and right soon! It will be an unmistakable, worldwide event, and it’s on the horizon So Paul gives some “road markers” to help the Christians going forward [3] Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, [4] who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. [5] Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? Paul is pleading with Christians to not let anyone deceive them (as Chistians) in any way Christians (unless you’re young in your faith) should know the Bible well, be familiar with it’s content and how it is laid out We need to know what God’s Word tells us and teaches us, especially about what’s still to come Paul gives a rough timeline here The Day of the Lord (as we talked about last week) is one of the names of the 7 years of tribulation upon the earth And Paul is helping them understand that they had not missed it, and He does this by reminding them of some things that still have to happen There is a rebellion coming before the Day of the Lord Not just any rebellion, but a rebellion against the Lord and His way A throwing off of the constraints of the Lord in exchange for what many will see as freedom But it will NOT be freedom - the Bible is clear about that! It will be utter bondage, as the text of Scripture bears out And then the Man of Lawlessness (one of the name names in Scripture for the Antichrist) will come on the scene (and we are SO close now - just watch what’s happening in the Middle East, especially Israel) He is called the Son of Destruction, and Satan will inhabit this man at some point before it’s all done He will oppose and exalt Himself over every so-called “god” among the nations (including YHWH) Now, I don’t know precisely how it will go down, but I hope and pray that we will be gone by then because what comes next is heinous He (the Antichrist) will have the pride and moxy (and power, at that point in time) such that he opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god and every object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God And this was something that Paul was already warning Believers about in his day So don’t tell me that Biblical eschatology is mostly comprised of the thoughts of theologians and thinkers from the 12th through the 21th Century! Or that john Darby invented this doctrine of his own accord during his lifetime (1800-1882) No way! Paul was warning Christians in his day about these things, long before John Darby and others [6] And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. [8] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. So there is a force - actually a Person - who is restraining the Lawless One, the Antichrist even now That Person is the Holy Spirit, the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity And this is where we come in He (The Holy Spirit) lives in US! And this is why the Rapture of the Church is such a big deal With Christians on earth, boots on the ground, heads in our Bibles, and preaching the Gospel to the people around us, Satan is restrained So the Restrainer here in the text is the Holy Spirit who lives and works in us and through us And when we are out of the way (via the Harpazo - Rapture of the church), then literally all Hell will break loose Now, the mystery of Lawlessness is already at work There are many religions that are leading people astray At some point in the future, I believe after the Rapture takes place, there will be a new, one-world order AND a one-world religion under the rule of the Antichrist I can’t tell you definitively when or how it will manifest, but it will, and it’s already happening in some regards But the only reason that we don’t have it already is because of the Restrainer (He who restrains) This is none other than the Parakletos - the Holy Spirit He is the one who is restraining evil in the world, and largely He does it though us, the Church But when the Trumpet of God sounds, and we are caught up together in the clouds so as to always be with Him, then all Hell will break loose on the earth, literally! And then the Restrainer will be removed, and the Antichrist kingdom on earth will go forward quickly, because the Man of Lawlessness knows that his time is short And he is a liar, and will be indwelled by the Father of Lies, Satan, our Adversary [9] The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, [10] and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. [11] Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, [12] in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So when he comes on the scene, he will work all kinds of signs and wonders All that He will do - the signs and wonders that will deceive the nations - will all be by the power of Satan, NOT God He is the MASTER of DECEPTION! And look how Paul ties it in to people who don’t believe on Jesus Christ He says that they will come under a wicked deception because they refused to love the truth! So before going on, let’s just quickly address a few of the deceptions that are already entrenched in our day… What are some of the biggest deceptions in our day? Let's take a quick look at just 6 lies in our culture 1 - Transgenderism is normal First of all, it’s a lie No amount of medications, drugs, hormones, hormone blockers, or surgeries can ever change one’s gender To put it succinctly, if God is the Maker of all things, including human life, then only HE has the power to assign gender I know there are a lot of people who would hate hearing that, and as a result, hate me It’s ironic because they talk about love all the time, but it’s a love of self And additionally, we are not to far off from being a culture/world that will punish those who say what is true, and celebrate those who outright lie And the lie become the truth for those who are deceived (Satan is the Master Deceiver) A total of 27 studies, pooling 7928 transgender patients who underwent any type of surgical procedure found the prevalence of regret was only 1% What that tells is is that our culture and our world are less and less under the influence the Bible and the Gospel, and more so embracing the lies of Satan God made Humanity binary And no amount of hormones, puberty blockers, or surgeries can ever change that 2 - Homosexuality is normal Our culture has accepted that this is the way things should be, and beneath that belief are the deeper presuppositions These are the beliefs that we don’t normally articulate because they’re way down in our souls, and we commonly take them for granted But we can’t afford to ignore those as Christians God made MALE and FEMALE, and He did NOT make them interchangeable God’s design for humanity in the context of love and marriage is ONE biological Man and ONE biological Woman together in holy matrimony 3 - Everyone is “good at heart” The idea that people are “basically good” dovetails with the rejection that people are inherently sinful And yet, that’s what the Bible tells us about ourselves We are not naturally good at heart We are, by nature, sinners, but when we put our faith in Jesus, He gives us a NEW heart and new wants, and a new agenda, and direction for our lives in this world 4 - Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a biblical Christian Because of one’s choice to do what they WANT to do, rather than what they SHOULD do, we are dealing with a culture that presumes to think they are more gracious and loving than God Himself Being “spiritual” is the new non-committal It means you have some interest in unseen things, but you’re mostly unwilling to take a firm stance about any of it Ultimately, this is a bad trade whereby people hang onto their own goodness and best thoughts instead of seeking the One who made them and loves them The only “spiritual influence” the Jesus wants for us only comes from the Holy Spirit 5 - All faiths are of equal value Especially in the US and Europe, it is fashionable to consider all faiths as being of equal value Jews and Muslims are on the extreme end of that reality, as they are generally morefully invested in their belief systems than other religions But what I find alarming is how many are abandoning Christ (deconverting from Christianity) What they will hear on that day will be the words, “Depart from me, I never knew you!” 6 -The dismissal of absolute truth We are now a culture with a strong commitment to personal, subjective morality You will hear it in schools, in public, and almost anywhere you go in Western culture You are having a conversation, and in that context you make a truth claim about something Someone will quickly correct you by saying, “There is no such thing as truth, there’s only MY truth!” Making truth whatever you want it to be robs it of being true A thing is either true or not true - those are the only options Those are just a few of the worldviews challenging the Judeo-Christian worldview, at this moment in time And there are many more that we don’t have time to unpack But what I want you to know that I do not hate anyone, even the people who are opposing the TRUE TRUTH of Jesus at this moment in history See, if they do not repent, it will not be you or me that they will have to answer to, but instead they will answer to the Lord Jesus Christ We have a very rapidly closing door with regards to our mission to seek and save the lost When the trumpet sounds (and I promise it will be unmistakable) then we will all be taken in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and so will we ever be with the Lord, nevermore to be parted In that moment, there will be no more Christian witness on earth There will be no Holy Spirit on the earth as He will be fully indwelling those of us who will then be with the Lord [13] But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. [14] To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. [15] So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. The people Paul was preaching to and writing to were the first fruits of God’s harvest He wanted them to continually be giving thanks for our fellow brothers and sisters, and also because we’re going to obtain the glory of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ! He urges us to stand firm! Too many Christians are giving way, and that usually leads to falling away (from the faith!) So don’t give way - don’t compromise your belief in Jesus! And here we are now…coming to the conclusion… [16] Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, [17] comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Jesus’ blood-bought children ought to be the most thankful people on earth He has saved us, He loves us, and He chose us as the firstfruits These are incredible realities that many blood-bought Christians take for granted Sanctification is the process of God working holiness and Christ’s likeness in us, His redeemed ones There is no other way to gain it Sanctification is by the Holy Spirit, and it only comes through a genuine love of Jesus and belief in the Truth of the Gospel And we have this promise that we will attain it fully (by grace alone) the glory of our Lord Jesus Think about that! // APPLICATION We should give thanks always and at all times, even when things are hard Let us praise our Lord in the midst of hardship, even as it draws us closer to us And again, I believe that we are VERY near to the coming of Christ We live in exciting times, Church! And we know that we are beloved of God because He saved us, buying us with His own blood God has chosen you (plural - the Church) as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth Not by works! Just belief! How incredible is that!! Now, I will add that we should do good works, but not to gain credit or standing with God Our good works are are an overflow of the abundance of God’s goodness to us And out of that, we love with God’s agape love And everything on this list is what the Lord wants to give to you To this he called you through the Gospel message, so that you and I may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ We’re going to need new eyes to see Jesus and each other in glory! And there will be no more sickness and no more death, for death has been defeated And we will live with Him forever and ever, and even though I can’t fathom that, I know it’s true, and here’s the reason why… Jesus loves me, this I know For the Bible tells me so Little ones to Him belong They are weak (and so are we) But He is strong In my intro, I talked about a dear friend coming to visit, and being excited to see him That was just an illustration, but there is a reality to it, as well The reality now is our longing to see Jesus face-to-face THEN, (and I can’t say definitively when) we will see Him in all His glory and splendor As C.S. Lewis put it “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight” When Jesus comes again and puts His feet on the earth once more, He will usher in a glorious time of peace that no one in history could imagine So then, brothers and sisters in Christ, stand firm and hold to that which you have been taught by the Word of God, and do not waiver Jesus is coming soon! Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and every good word! Amen! May it be so! // PRAY // SING // GO When the trumpet sounds (and I promise it will be unmistakable) then we will all be taken in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and so will we ever be with the Lord, nevermore to be parted And we know that we are beloved of God because He saved us, buying us with His own blood AMEN! AND THANKS BE TO GOD! EMMAUS ROAD CHURCH, YOU ARE SENT!!