Blessed Assurance Message 11 in Getting Ready To Meet Jesus Sermon Series (A Study of I & II Thessalonians ) II Thessalonians 2:1-12 NKJV

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD S DAY EVENING, March 24, 2013 MESSAGE 11 IN SERIES: Getting Ready To Meet Jesus (I & II THESSALONIANS) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Blessed Assurance Message 11 in Getting Ready To Meet Jesus Sermon Series (A Study of I & II Thessalonians ) II Thessalonians 2:1-12 NKJV Please open your Bibles to tonight s scripture text in II Thessalonians, chapter two. For right now I would like to just read verses 1, 2. 2 Thessalonians 2:1,2 (NKJV) 1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 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. P R A Y E R ************************************************************************************ I n t r o d u c t i o n The Thessalonian Christians had been looking forward to the coming of Christ. And then came that fake letter; the letter supposedly written by the apostle Paul. Whatever was said in that fake letter ter deeply concerned the Thessalonians. The words were convincing enough to cause them to wonder if they weren t already in the Day of the Lord, the predicted time of divine judgment. If that was so then the persecution they were suffering was proof they were living in the Great Tribulation and had missed the coming of Christ.

2 In this second chapter of Second Thessalonians, the apostle Paul not only gives them the Blessed Assurance that they are NOT in this period of divine judgment, but he also gives them two very definite signs which cannot occur until the Lord has removed the true Church from this world. Paul reveals those two signs in VERSE 3. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, (there s sign #1) and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, (there s sign #2) Now let s take a closer look at these two signs. SIGN #1: The Rebellious Apostasy (v.3a) 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first. 1. Before the day of Christ, before God s terrible judgment can come upon the world, there will be a great apostasy. 2. That word apostasy means a FALLING away or a DEPARTURE from doctrinal truths; apostasy is a flagrant REBELLION against God s word. The apostle Paul writes in II Timothy 4:3,4... For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (NKJV)

3 3. There are three truths about apostasy we need to understand. TRUTH #1: An INDIVIDUAL can commit apostasy. If you have been with us for our Wednesday night Bible study you probably remember the name Simon the Sorcerer in Acts chapter 8. Simon the Sorcerer had heard the gospel, believed it and was immersed. But when he saw that the apostles had a supernatural power to perform miracles, he tried to buy the power from the apostles. Simon had fallen away or departed from the the truth and Peter sternly warned him that unless he repented he would perish. (Acts 8:20) TRUTH #2: A CHURCH can commit apostasy. On his third missionary journey, the apostle Paul came to the city of Ephesus. And Acts 19 tells us Paul spent three years there establishing a growing, thriving Church. But just forty years later the scene was entirely different. In Revelation 2,3 the Lord dictated seven letters to the apostle John to the seven Churches of Asia. The very first letter was to that Church in Ephesus Paul established four decades earlier. The Lord rebuked the Church for having forsaken their first love. In other words, the Church at Ephesus had already started down the road to apostasy and the Lord lovingly called them to repentance before they went past the point of no return. TRUTH #1: An INDIVIDUAL can commit apostasy. TRUTH #2: A CHURCH can commit apostasy.

4 TRUTH #3: An entire DENOMINATION can commit apostasy. Some time ago I told you about a mass religious movement that is going on right now called the Ecumenical Movement. The goal of the Ecumenical Movement is to unite all Church denominations together as one by throwing out doctrinal differences and uniting together for causes such as gay and lesbian rights, same-sex marriages, the ordaining of gay ministers, and abortion rights. Some of the apostate denominations that belong to this ecumenical movement include: the Christian Church (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST), the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Churches of America, the Episcopal Churches of America, the Church of the Brethren, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, just to name a few. These apostate denominations belong to a much larger organization called The World Council of Churches whose goal is to create a One-World Church. Brothers and sisters here is an important truth we need to understand: Not every Church that calls itself a Church is the true church! Satan has sown many tares among the wheat! And when Jesus comes back He is only coming for the TRUE CHURCH..the Bible teaching, Bible preaching, Bible practicing, Bible obeying Church. You and I are already seeing the stage being set for this Great Apostasy Paul writes about in verse 3. Once the Lord removes the true Church from the world, the false Church that is left behind will totally rebel against the word of God and become the Antichrist s harlot. (Rev.17)

5 This brings us to SIGN #2: The Revelation of The Man of Sin (vs. 3,4, 9-12) 3 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, 4 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. (now skip down to verses 9-12) 9 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (A) Who Is The Man of Sin? Notice in v.3 Paul refers to this individual by two names: the man of sin, and the son of perdition. -THE MAN OF SIN will be a man who personifies SIN. He will be the incarnation of SATAN himself. He will be a man who has no MORALS or VALUES. Some translations refer to him as the man of LAWLESSNESS, meaning he will neither respect or obey any laws of man or God.

6 The other name the apostle gives to this man is -THE SON OF PERDITION Son of perdition means one who is DOOMED or the one doomed for DESTRUCTION UCTION. There are two individuals called the son of perdition in the scriptures. -Jesus called Judas Iscariot the son of perdition in John 19:12. -Paul calls the man of sin the son of perdition here in verse 3 of our text. Judas Iscariot pretended to be a follower of Christ and he even appeared to be a true follower of Christ, but in John 6:70 Jesus said, Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil. Just like the devil himself Judas disguised himself as an angel of light, but inwardly, he was the son of perdition, the one doomed for destruction. Paul tells us the same will be true of the man of sin the son of perdition who will be revealed before the Day of Christ s judgment. This has led many to believe the man of sin the son of perdition the Antichrist will be a man similar to Judas Iscariot, someone who will rise up out of the apostate Church, more specifically, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. (AS S A SIDE NOTE: The man who just became pope is the first JESUIT PRIEST to be elected in the entire history of the Roman Catholic Church. After doing some research on THE JESUITS I believe this appointment of Pope Francis could possibly prove to be very significant from a prophetic standpoint. I would encourage you to do some personal study on THE JESUITS. You will not only find the material interesting and deeply disturbing. )

7 (B) What Will the Man of Sin Do? (vs. 4, 9-12) 9 1. First, he will OPPOSE and EXALT himself above all that is called God or is worshiped. (v.4a) This means the man of sin will lead a REBELLION to completely destroy anything HOLY or SACRED. The man of sin will demand to be WORSHIPED above God and not tolerate worship of anyone other than himself. Simply put, the man of sin will be a self-centered. self-absorbed.fame craving.. power-hungry. dictatorial ego-maniac. 2. Secondly, the man of sin will sit as GOD in the TEMPLE of God. (v.4b) The Greek word Paul used for temple in this verse indicates The HOLY of HOLIES or The Most HOLY Place rather than Temple as a whole. Remember the Holy of Holies was where the Ark of the Covenant was located. It was the portion of the temple identified with the very presence of God Himself. It was a place so holy, so sacred that the High Priests was the only one allowed to enter, and that was just one time a year on the Day of Atonement. It was a place so sacred and so holy, the High Priest had to thoroughly wash himself, and put on special garments, and bring sacrificial blood, and burning incense with him to let the smoke cover his his eyes from a direct view of God. (Ex. 28; Heb. 9:7) Paul tells us that one day the man of sin the son of perdition the most godless, satanic man to ever live will have the audacity to sit in the Holy of Holies and demand worship from the entire world. Daniel and Christ both refer to this atrocity as the abomination that causes desolation.

8 It is important to note that currently there is NO TEMPLE in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed by a Roman Invasion of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. The Temple that Paul speaks of is yet to be built. Most Bible scholars believe it will be built sometime during the first 3 ½ years of peace leading up to the 3 ½ years of Great Tribulation. The blueprint for that temple was given to the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel Thirdly, the man of sin will SHOW himself as GOD.. (v.4c) The man of sin, the Antichrist, will be Satan s version of Christ. In other words, the man of sin will be a Jesus impersonator. Today we have man Elvis impersonators. They look like Elvis, dress like Elvis, talk like Elvis, and sing like Elvis, but they re NOT ELVIS are they? They are impersonators! They are impostors! The man of sin will show himself as God or impersonate God the Son. JESUS is the SON of GOD. The man of sin is the SON of SATAN. JESUS was REVEALED by His heavenly FATHER. The man of sin will be REVEALED by his hellish FATHER. JESUS had the POWER of His Father. The man of sin will have the POWER of his father. (Satan) JESUS was God in the FLESH. The man of sin will be SATAN in the FLESH. JESUS is the SAVIOR of the world. The man of sin will proclaim to be the SAVIOR SAVIOR of the world. JESUS HONORED His heavenly Father in all that He did. The man of sin will HONOR his father, Satan in all he does.

9 He will OPPOSE and EXALT himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped. He will SIT AS GOD IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD. He will SHOW HIMSELF AS GOD. 4. Fourthly, the man of sin will perform SIGNS and LYING WONDERS (v.9) Counterfeit miracles are nothing new. Remember in Exodus 7 when Pharaoh summoned his magicians Jannes and Jambres to duplicate the miracles performed by Moses? Satan is a master of the counterfeit. And through the man of sin or the Antichrist he will work his best black magic. Satan will empower the man of sin to do all kinds of signs and lying wonders to deceive people into following him. Jesus performed miracles by the power of His heavenly Father to point man to the TRUTH. The man of sin will perform miracles or black magic to entice man into Satan s LIES. The man of sin will take advantage of man s vulnerability to SEEK after SIGNS. He will do things that are seemingly IMPOSSIBLE to lure mankind into Satan s WEB. And according to VERSES many will be so spiritually blind at that point they will follow the man of sin to their own destruction. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

10 What Paul is saying is that multitudes of people in the world will have had the opportunity to obey the truth of the gospel and be saved, but because they would rather chase after lies, God will give them what they want. He will turn them over to The Liar. (C) What Is Restraining The man of sin? (vs. 5-8) 5 Why haven t the great apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin happened yet? Paul tells us in VERSES Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 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. 8 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. Who is doing the restraining? The restrainer is God s HOLY SPIRIT. As long as the Holy Spirit is indwelling every true Christian who is in this world, the great apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin will not happen. When Paul says, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work he is telling us all the INGREDIENTS for the great apostasy and the rise of the Antichrist are already at work, in fact these things have been at work since Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians. And you and I can see how the mystery of lawlessness is increasing year by year in our own time. When the Lord comes to get us, the restraint of the Holy Spirit will be lifted and the great apostasy will erupt, and the man of sin will come on to the world stage. C O N C L U S I O N As we close tonight s message let me leave you with this one closing thought: The Blessed Assurance that Paul gave to the Thessalonians is also OUR BLESSED ASSURANCE. Let us be THE TRUE CHURCH! Let us NEVER ABANDON THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE TRADITIONS OF MEN! LET US BE FOUND FAITHFUL WHEN JESUS CHRIST COMES TO TAKE T US HOME.