In the end JESUS WINS January 21, Thessalonians 2:1-12

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1 I. Introduction In the end JESUS WINS January 21, Thessalonians 2:1-12 This section is one of the main reasons that Paul wrote 2 nd Thessalonians; it is the heart of his letter. Paul wrote this section to deal with the Thessalonians loss of hope and joy through confusion about the end times. In his first letter Paul had already written about both the Rapture and the Day of the Lord. Yet only a few months later and these baby Christians have become confused again. Someone had deceived the believers into thinking that they had missed the Rapture and were already in the Day of the Lord. The misleading teachings probably first came through a prophetic utterance in one of their meetings, and then it was supported by false teachers who taught that the increasing persecution was a sign of the Last Days. The final straw was a letter claiming to be from Paul that supported the teachings of these false teachers. Today s Scripture is one of the most difficult in all of Paul s writings. It has given rise to more speculative and varied interpretations than any other section of Paul s letters. Unlike much contemporary teachings on eschatology, i.e. the end times, Paul s motive wasn t sensational but pastoral. His goal wasn t to gratify curiosity about the end times, but to comfort confused Christians. He limited his letter to what was necessary to correct the errors that robbed them of their joy, hope, and peace. The difficult part for us is that he is reinforcing things he had already taught them and, since we do not know what it was that he had taught them, we are sometimes left with questions ourselves. To calm their hearts and stabilize their faith, Paul; explained that they were not in the Day of the Lord. The reason was simple: the Day of the Lord could not arrive until certain other events had taken place. He then proceeded to review for them the prophetic events that make up God s plan regarding the end times beginning with the Rapture of the Church. II. Regarding the End Times A. The Rapture of the Church Paul wrote that the confusion started Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him. He had described this single event which we call the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4: He reminded them that the coming of our Lord and our being gathered to him wasn t two separate events, but one great event that will occur suddenly and without warning; he wrote that the dead in Christ and those who were still alive will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Paul wrote that he was concerned that the Thessalonians not become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. In 1 Thess. 5:21 Paul had written Test everything. Hold on to the good. The Thessalonians had 1

2 failed to do that, so when the false teachers misled them into thinking they were in the Day of the Lord, they panicked. To settle their minds and their confusion, Paul needed to disprove the lies of the false teachers so he moved to signs of the coming Day of the Lord beginning with the revealing of the Antichrist. B. The Revealing of the Antichrist In verse 5 Paul wrote, Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? The Thessalonians had forgotten that Paul had told them that the Day of the Lord will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Paul had obviously taught them about the rebellion or the apostasy since he didn t say any more about it. People have been rebelling against God and His Word from the beginning of time, so Paul must have had something more specific in mind. The Bible tells us that rebellion against God will reach its peak in the last days turn to Paul s last letter, turn to 2 Timothy 3:1-5. But even these things weren t what Paul had in mind. When Paul wrote the rebellion he implied that he had something special in mind and it had to do with the man of lawlessness. Contrary to the NIV translation, Paul then gave another name for the man of lawlessness in verse 3 of today s Scripture, he called him the son of perdition or destruction. The man of lawlessness, who John calls the Antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7), will be so completely devoted to the destruction of all that relates to God s purpose and plan that he is called the son of destruction. Although we don t have the time to go into much detail whole books have been written on this topic, let me quickly summarize the Antichrist in the last days. In a lesser role, this man will be on the scene before the Rapture of the church. Revelation 17:12-13 says that he will be a peaceful political leader who unites ten nations of Europe into a strong power bloc. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 seems to imply that the Antichrist will bring a time of peace to the world. Along the way, Daniel 9:27 says he will make a covenant with Israel to protect her and permit her to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. This agreement will be for seven years. Somehow obviously through the power of Satan, he will temporarily solve the Middle East problem and Israel will rebuild her temple in peaceful times. It is the signing of this treaty, not the Rapture of the church, that signals the start of Daniel s seventieth week found in Daniel 9. This seven-year period, which is called the Tribulation by many, is also known as the Day of the Lord. Daniel 9:27 also says that after three and one-half years, the Antichrist will suddenly reveal his true nature when he will break his treaty with the Jews and take over their temple. This is the beginning of the rebellion of 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Energized by Satan and aided by the false prophet, the Antichrist will proclaim himself God and will set himself up in the Temple itself this is what Jesus called in Matthew 24:15, the abomination that causes desolation. The man of sin, the Antichrist, will oppose everything that belongs to any other religion, true or false. He will organize a world church that will, by worshipping him, actually worship Satan. As Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:9: The coming of the lawless 2

3 one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. Most people that study prophecy feel that the abomination that causes desolation will occur 3 ½ years after the Antichrist makes his covenant with the Jews (Daniel 9:27). This will begin a period of intense persecution and tribulation in Matthew 24:21 (NAS) Jesus said, For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. This will begin a reign of terror of Satan against Israel and Christianity. He will control the world s economic system to the extent that citizens must bear the mark of the beast to be able to buy and sell. The Antichrist will lead the world astray into destruction turn to Revelation 13:1-18. C. The Restrainer There is the Raptured church, there is the Revealed Antichrist, and then Paul reminded them of the Restrainer back in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 he wrote, And now you know what is holding him, i.e. the man of lawlessness, back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. The phrase and now you know indicates that the Thessalonians understood what force currently restrains the Antichrist because Paul had told them when he was with them. Therefore, Paul did not repeat it here a fact that has led to endless speculation as to what it is. Since neither humanity nor angels (Daniel 10:13; Jude 9) have the power to restrain Satan, many Bible scholars identify the Restrainer as the Holy Spirit of God, i.e., God does the restraining so that he, i.e. the man of lawlessness, may be revealed at the proper time. Satan, of course, doesn t want to operate on God s schedule. If he could, Satan would have revealed the Antichrist long before now. But in Isaiah 46:10, God said, My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. God will not allow the Antichrist to be revealed until it is right according to God s schedule; until all the redeemed, who God chose for salvation before the world began, are gathered into His kingdom. Verse 7 of 2 Thessalonians 2 says, For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. Even though the Antichrist is being restrained, evil, lies, immorality, hypocrisy, all manner of sin, and false religion are present and grow increasingly worse just look around. Things are so bad that this past week two parents were arrested for keeping their 13 children captives in their own house. Throughout the US policemen are being attacked and have to defend themselves. But if this is bad, what will it be like when the Holy Spirit stops holding back the man of lawlessness? The phrase taken out of the way doesn t mean that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the world. This is impossible, since, as God, He is omnipresent. Nor could anyone be saved during the Tribulation without His presence. The phrase means that He will not be restraining the forces of evil as He is today. 3

4 D. The Return of Jesus Christ At the height of his power, when he seems unstoppable, the Antichrist will meet his end Daniel 7:26 says, His power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Revelation 19:20 describes it this way, But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. The most hellish and powerful ruler in human history will be crushed Jesus Christ will return and, as Paul wrote in 2 nd Thessalonians, will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splender of his coming. Christians have nothing to fear from the Antichrist or Satan 1 John 4:4 says, You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Because of His awesome power, Jesus will overcome the Antichrist and all his cohorts with just the breath of his mouth. E. The Resisters The Book of Revelation tells us that a great number of Jews and Gentiles will be saved during the 7-year Tribulation period. But, sadly, the majority of the world s population will be lost. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:9b, They perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved. These are the resisters. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But some choose not to believe, these people, these resisters, will be judged and will suffer forever because they would not receive and believe the truth. In fact, their hearts will be so evil that they will not even have any love for the truth. They resist God and His love and His gift of eternal life. Paul went on to write that they not only do not believe the truth, but they delight in wickedness. Paul s comment about the resisters is rather sad a person can so resist the truth that he finally becomes deluded and has to believe a lie. There can be no neutral ground either we believe the truth or we believe a lie. To reject the truth means to receive the lie. A person can resist the Holy Spirit only so much before God will honor their request. Last Sunday we read Romans 1, verse 21 which says, For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Because of that, the end of Romans 1 (vv. 24, 26, 28) says 3 times that God gave them over to the consequences of their own sinful choices and as 2 Thessalonians 2:12 says, So that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. III. Conclusion The identity of the man of lawlessness, the date and time of the Rapture and the Tribulation are questions that some discuss calmly but others make them an important part of their Christian fellowship. Some go to great lengths even dissecting words to determine what they feel are important criteria regarding the Last Days. Some get so caught up with speculation that they lose the sight of the main points of this 4

5 passage or for that matter of God s Word: In the end, Jesus wins. This is the reason that Christians especially those experiencing severe persecution or those experiencing severe physical or emotional issues can have joy and peace and hope in the end, Jesus wins. No matter how dark the situation, in the long run Jesus will be triumphant. As Paul wrote earlier in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. In the end, JESUS WINS. Without a doubt, the time about which Paul wrote is quickly approaching. It is interesting to speculate about the particular events and people, but we must not forget that the prime directive, the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, is to Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey God s Word. We need to do our part in sharing the Gospel with others in our words and our actions. Difficult times, even persecution, will come to each one of us and how we respond will be the ultimate testimony to others about our relationship to God. Turn to 1 Peter 4: May each one of you be able to answer as Joseph did to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. May people come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior through what they see in your life. Don t give up hope--remember, in the end, JESUS WINS. 5

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