WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.679 So we're going back, we're looking at a number of months ago, we looked at First Thessalonians 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:06.160 in our evening worship. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.120 So we've come back to look at the second letter that Paul wrote to this young church that 00:00:10.120 --> 00:00:14.599 he had founded and he'd left and then heard about various things and wrote the second 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:16.160 letter to them. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.480 And we've been looking at that, we've done chapter 1 and we're looking at the first 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.559 part of chapter 2 through to verse 12. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:29.960 We called the series of First Thessalonians chosen because it speaks a lot about God choosing 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:34.240 His people and then we've called the second one, still chosen. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:38.399 So this is a really fascinating passage. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:43.480 It's talking about end times and I think end times kind of really interests lots of people. 00:00:43.480 --> 00:00:50.480 It's always been a magnet for discussion, for speculation and for various interpretations 00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:55.520 in the Bible and in lots of different ways just in what's happening in society around 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:56.520 us. 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:01.000 And some of us, there's a lot of younger people here tonight but some of us who are a bit 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.760 older will remember some of the false claims that we've heard about the second coming of 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:12.000 Jesus or people claiming to be Jesus, some of you might remember David Koresh from the 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.480 branch Davidian in Waco in Texas in 1993. 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:24.080 He claimed to be the Messiah and that he had a group of followers who would usher in 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:26.040 the end of the world. 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:31.320 And it ended up the end of the world for them actually, 75 of them were killed when federal 00:01:31.320 --> 00:01:32.880 agents stormed the building. 00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:39.960 It was a tragic end to a really sad story of abuse and deception and misinformation. 00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:47.200 And then on the UK side of things some of you might remember David Ike, the sports presenter 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.719 who one day claimed to be the Son of God returning. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:56.560 I think that was probably in the early 90s as well, and there's many more stories of 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:03.319 people who have claimed to either be Jesus or that Jesus is about to come or it was going 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:08.639 to happen at the year 2000 or it's going to happen at some point which people want to 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.680 work out. 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:15.639 And so when we come a passage like this, I think you'll find it interesting and challenging. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:21.959 Now the temptations that this early church faced might be different from some of the 00:02:21.959 --> 00:02:28.279 temptations we face today, but I think the truth of God's Word and the teaching that 00:02:28.279 --> 00:02:34.439 comes from God's Word out of their situation obviously still applies in our lives as we 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.479 look at it. 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:43.479 I think most scholars and commentators of the Bible would accept that this is one of 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:50.000 the hardest passages in the New Testament, and I just say that as a rider at the beginning 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:55.399 of the sermon so that if I get it all completely wrong that you'll forgive me. 00:02:55.399 --> 00:03:01.399 I stand on the shoulders of one of the greatest theologians and philosophers of the early 00:03:01.399 --> 00:03:07.959 church Augustine who said, particularly of verses 6 to 8, and like last time I'm going 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:15.360 to take my old Bible to read as well just because it's slightly easier to look at. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:21.560 Augustine said, particularly verses 6 to 8, that really very difficult section about 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.879 the lawlessness and the lawlessness of one being revealed. 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:34.800 He said, I frankly confess I don't know what it means, so I feel quite good if Augustine 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:35.800 is saying that. 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:43.520 However, we will look at this passage and try and unpack it in its context, how Paul responded 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:48.160 to what was being taught, and then how we apply that in our own lives. 00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:53.840 And I think as we move through it, there'll be two main things that I want us to consider 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:01.760 as we go through the situation that was happening in the church in Thessalonica and Paul's 00:04:01.760 --> 00:04:05.400 divinely given response and as we apply it. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.319 The first is confusion and the second is clarity. 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:16.680 So hopefully by the end of this there'll be less confusion than clarity and more clarity. 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:22.759 So there was definitely confusion in this young church concerning the coming of our 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:27.840 Lord Jesus Christ because remember Paul had taught about this in his first letter and 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:29.360 he'd obviously spoken to them. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:34.720 He said, I don't want you to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy report 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:39.680 or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:47.920 So there was confusion in this early church because either someone was, had sent a letter 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:54.200 purporting to be from Paul or someone was teaching or giving a prophecy, it's not really 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:56.120 that clear exactly what happened. 00:04:56.120 --> 00:05:01.400 Paul himself doesn't seem to know there's something that has gone amiss, but it was 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:07.079 causing great alarm and great insecurity and disquiet because they were being told that 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:12.319 Jesus had already come back, that they had missed the second coming of Jesus that He'd 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:13.319 already returned. 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:21.039 Now again, we're not sure exactly why people said that and we're not exactly sure of the 00:05:21.039 --> 00:05:26.199 circumstances that led to them saying that or what they hoped to gain by saying that, 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:33.360 it seemed to unsettle this young church, maybe they felt that if God Jesus already had returned, 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:41.159 they missed it, they missed it and they were left behind and they felt abandoned. 00:05:41.159 --> 00:05:45.279 Maybe that's what they were struggling with that they were being persecuted and they think, 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:46.279 well, what? 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:48.120 Have we just missed out on the whole thing? 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:52.000 Has Jesus come back and taken His followers with them? 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:58.839 We don't know, but they were unsettled and alarmed and that was causing confusion. 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:03.879 Not only were they listening to dodgy theology, which they were listening to hear, but they 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:09.399 were doing so having forgotten the apostolic teaching because Paul says in verse 5, Don't 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:14.319 you remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:19.079 Now we know from the first letter that he spoke about the coming of Jesus Christ in 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:24.879 the last time and obviously he told them more than he wrote. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:30.519 So he, they did have a fair amount of knowledge of the teaching. 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:37.159 First Thessalonians 3 speaks about the coming of the Lord and there was clearly a degree 00:06:37.159 --> 00:06:41.560 of teaching, almost more teaching here on the second coming in these two letters than 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:47.519 anywhere else in the Pauline epistles. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:52.599 But it does remind us even at this point, just as an aside, how clearly Paul recognized 00:06:52.599 --> 00:06:55.000 his own teaching as from God. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:07:03.399 It was divinely authoritative and the church was founded on the apostolic message. 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.639 He wasn't just another prophet or another teacher. 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:13.719 He had been given his message by God and it was Scripture and he already recognized that 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:19.600 he was in one way challenging them about why they'd already forgotten his teaching and 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:24.240 were listening to others who were teaching a false message. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.280 His teaching was God-breathed. 00:07:26.280 --> 00:07:28.600 It was divinely inspired. 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:34.200 So they were confused because they were listening to dodgy theology because they'd already forgotten 00:07:34.200 --> 00:07:40.800 what they'd been taught and what Paul had said and also possibly because there was so 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:46.680 much lawlessness in the world around them that it just made life difficult for them 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:47.680 as believers. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:53.439 Verse 7 he says, for the secret power of lawlessness is already at work. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:59.280 So in the world they lived in, there was a lot of lawlessness from God. 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:07.199 There was an anti-law, an anti-love at work, not love but hate, not justice but injustice. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:12.560 And there was also a subtle darkness that masqueraded as light. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.279 We'll see a little bit more about that later. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:21.279 Where truth was being told in the name of Jesus but it was actually from Satan. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:28.879 It was actually from the king of darkness, even sometimes in the name of Christ. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:34.639 And that caused confusion for them where they were hearing teaching that purported to be 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:42.000 from the apostles or from Jesus and yet it was not the truth. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.480 So there was confusion, they were alarmed and they were unsettled as Paul says in this 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:49.240 chapter. 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:50.240 Confusion. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:58.240 So Paul comes into the situation with clarity within reason. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:04.120 There's definitely a degree of clarity even though this is one of the hardest sections 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:10.080 of Paul's teachings and I don't pretend to understand all of it by any means. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.440 However, there are certain things that are crystal clear in this passage and it's great 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:25.759 for us because all of us have a future to look forward to that includes this passage. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:30.840 Jesus will return on that great last day. 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.440 That's what he says with clarity concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ours 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.280 being gathered to Him. 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:41.160 We ask you not to become unsettled, he says in verse 1. 00:09:41.160 --> 00:09:45.840 And then in verse 8 and 9 he says, and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:51.720 Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroyed by the splendor 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:53.759 of His coming. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:59.240 Powerful picture of a future event that we will be part of. 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:05.080 And he's coming back on that last great day. 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:11.080 That's a theme in part of Thessalonians, the first letter and it's also mentioned in the 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:15.240 first chapter of the second letter that we've looked at again. 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:16.759 And he repeats it here. 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:23.279 He's crystal clear and absolutely full of clarity that Jesus is coming back and he's 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:33.360 coming back not in humiliation, not in anonymity as it were, but with power and great glory. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:34.879 Jesus will come back. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.679 Everything on that day will be made clear. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:45.120 It's absolutely certain that the future that this world holds ends in this world with Jesus 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:48.039 coming back in power and great glory. 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:53.079 And there's no doubt in Paul's mind and his divinely inspired message that he's got from 00:10:53.079 --> 00:11:00.159 God that there will be complete victory over evil and darkness on that day. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:04.759 We can see that and know that from our own understanding of the Scripture and of Jesus 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:10.879 Christ who already has defeated the power of darkness on the cross. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.879 On that day it will be destroyed. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:20.320 I've often said that, haven't I, here, on the cross he defeated, on the end day he destroys. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:25.200 And that's a great and powerful truth that is spoken of here. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.480 And we see hints of that, authority and glory and power in the life of Jesus. 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:32.700 We've looked at it over the last few months in different ways in church. 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:39.759 We saw it recently in the way he commanded evil spirits out of Legion. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.080 Remember that when he forced them into the pigs? 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:44.600 He just, they fell at his feet. 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:50.440 He was absolutely authoritative and powerful over the dark spirits. 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:59.920 We saw it on Wednesday evening when we looked at Lazarus and Jesus simply commanded Lazarus 00:11:59.920 --> 00:12:01.800 to come out of the grave. 00:12:01.800 --> 00:12:04.400 Lazarus come forth. 00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:05.400 No doubt, three words. 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:12.559 There was no complicated, there was no nothing but absolute authority as he spoke. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:19.000 We see it in the resurrection, Jesus Christ defeats the power of darkness and death at 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:20.000 his resurrection. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:27.319 We've seen it in every single new birth when people have become Christians because anyone 00:12:27.319 --> 00:12:30.439 who is a Christian has been born again of the Spirit. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:36.680 Being spiritually dead, they are brought to life by the power of Jesus Christ. 00:12:36.680 --> 00:12:43.040 And we're told that he will come on that last day for his own concerning the coming of our 00:12:43.040 --> 00:12:47.440 Lord Jesus and our being gathered to him. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:51.600 We're in this passage if we're Christians. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:58.160 We're absolutely in the divine message that God brings here, that we will be gathered 00:12:58.160 --> 00:12:59.160 with him. 00:12:59.160 --> 00:13:00.160 Gathered to him. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:03.480 He's coming for his own. 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:07.719 We spoke this morning about home and it's a homecoming. 00:13:07.719 --> 00:13:10.120 That is our homecoming. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:12.439 And he's totally clear about that. 00:13:12.439 --> 00:13:14.639 He's absolutely certain. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.719 It's unambiguous teaching. 00:13:16.719 --> 00:13:22.480 We will be part of that day if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, either 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:28.559 by being alive when he comes back or we'll be resurrected from the grave when he comes 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:29.559 back. 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:35.399 It's an astonishing fact of our future that we can rejoice and give thanks for if we are 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:36.399 Christians this evening. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:40.799 If you're not a Christian this evening, then you need to wrestle with this truth and wrestle 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.239 with the person of Jesus and wrestle with his claims because it's really kind of all 00:13:45.239 --> 00:13:47.079 or nothing, isn't it? 00:13:47.079 --> 00:13:52.119 He's either a nutcase or he is the living God who he says he is. 00:13:52.119 --> 00:13:53.719 And we need to contend with that. 00:13:53.719 --> 00:13:57.759 And what is clearly taught here in Scripture. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:05.439 So the clarity is that Jesus Christ is coming back on that last day. 00:14:05.439 --> 00:14:13.600 He's also clear about lawlessness being real until then, but also restrained. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.919 He says that in verse 7, the secret power of lawlessness is already at work, but the 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:24.960 one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:31.160 This is what it says in the NIV in 2 Thessalonians in the ESV in verse 7. 00:14:31.160 --> 00:14:39.320 It says for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:46.120 it will do so until he is out of the way. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:51.120 Augustine didn't really know what that meant and I'm not sure I do either. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:57.360 But it does seem to suggest that lawlessness, well we understand that, we know lawlessness 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:08.159 is at work, we know there's a lot of evil and darkness and rebellion in the society. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:13.759 We may take it from other scriptures, but not sure from here, but it clearly is restrained. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:19.200 It's being held back for a certain amount of time. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:24.240 We're aware of good being called evil, we're aware of evil being called good, we're aware 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:32.160 of terrible realities, but this passage and others does suggest clearly that evil is being 00:15:32.160 --> 00:15:33.160 restrained. 00:15:33.160 --> 00:15:40.720 It is only doing what God is allowing it to do in the mystery of His providence. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:46.360 There's common grace, there's love, there's laughter, there's baptisms, there's food 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:52.440 and drink and joy and happiness and whispers of God all over our existence, all over our 00:15:52.440 --> 00:16:00.639 lives this evening, pointers to His grace and love in Christ. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.000 And the evil is being restrained. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.560 We are not as... 00:16:03.560 --> 00:16:07.879 This society is not as dark as it could be without God's restraining grace. 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:14.840 This world is not as brutal and evil and horrible without God's restraining grace on us. 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:20.240 We need to be aware of that lawlessness and of the darkness that exists and not just hide 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.360 from it as if it isn't significant or important. 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.240 So lawlessness is real, but it is restrained. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:33.040 But there will be a day when that restraint will be lifted. 00:16:33.040 --> 00:16:34.840 There will be a day. 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:44.240 And this is the, in many ways, the difficult, the most difficult part as we're taught here 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:52.600 that there will be a final rebellion and that will be unleashed just before Jesus comes back. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.200 Verses three and four, don't let anyone deceive you. 00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:03.639 In any way, for that day will not come, that is Jesus' return will not come until the rebellion 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:09.880 occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed for destruction. 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:12.319 And then in verses eight to 12 we have these words as well. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.319 And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.879 breath of His mouth, destroyed by the splendor of His coming. 00:17:19.879 --> 00:17:24.000 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, displayed 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:31.519 in all kinds of evil and darkness, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.519 and wonders. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:37.119 And in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing, they perish because they 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.159 refuse to love the truth and be saved. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:45.560 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. 00:17:45.560 --> 00:17:53.519 So that's a very striking passage and it's clear to Paul as he's given this message that 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:58.400 there will be a fight, there will be, God has said to him, there will be this final rebellion, 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:05.279 it will be unleashed before the end and this character will appear. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:11.440 Now I have no idea who that character will be or what he is going to be like. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:16.920 The man of lawlessness, the man doomed for destruction, very possibly the Antichrist 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:21.200 of 1 John 2.18. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.119 It seems to be suggesting there will be a false apocalypse. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:31.039 1 John 2.18, dear children, this is the last hour and you've heard the Antichrist is coming, 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.879 the Antichrist, not Antichrist. 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.680 The Antichrist is coming and even now many Antichrists have come. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.880 This is how we know it's the last hour. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:48.600 So it's being revealed that before Jesus' return there will be an Antichrist figure 00:18:48.600 --> 00:18:50.240 just before the end and it's revealed. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.360 We don't know the exact time, we don't know the day, we recognize that. 00:18:54.359 --> 00:19:05.079 But what is revealed is that Christ will come back when this character has appeared. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:09.919 It's an anti-Perozia, it's an anti-false apocalypse. 00:19:09.919 --> 00:19:15.159 And he speaks in verse 4 about, he will oppose everything, exalt himself over everything 00:19:15.159 --> 00:19:19.799 that's called God or is worshiped so that he sets himself up in God's temple proclaiming 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:21.319 himself to be God. 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:30.000 And that is quite a picture, that is quite a character that he will be powerful enough 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:37.200 to do counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders that whether they will be evil signs and wonders 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:40.960 or whether they will be exposed as being evil, we can't tell. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:51.000 But it seems there will be a powerful maelstrom of confusing deception and false teaching or 00:19:51.000 --> 00:20:02.359 someone who purports to be God, Koresh, Davidike, you know, in a very small way, they've tried 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:03.640 to do the same thing. 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:08.519 But someone who comes potentially as an angel of light even though it's Satan. 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:13.319 Now there's a couple of sections that speak about Satan coming as an angel of light and 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:14.920 2 Corinthians 11. 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:18.640 No wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.840 It's not surprising then that servants, masquerades of righteousness, their end will be what their 00:20:22.840 --> 00:20:23.840 actions deserve. 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:25.320 This is all about not being deceived. 00:20:25.320 --> 00:20:28.680 This is all about not being naive as Christians. 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:37.840 And then also in Matthew 24, and this is again speaking of this time, for there will be great 00:20:37.840 --> 00:20:43.280 distress unrivaled from the beginning of the world until now and never equaled again. 00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:46.920 In those days, if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive but for the 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:48.640 sake of the elect these days will be shortened. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.160 At that time, if anyone says, look here's the Messiah there, don't believe him. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.880 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:56.880 to deceive. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:01.759 If possible, even the elect see, I have told you in advance. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.279 Again there's different interpretations of when this is happening. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:12.560 Some of it definitely seems to have happened at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:19.480 But this is clearly speaking about the end times and a character. 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:22.519 I don't know who he's going to be and I don't know how it's going to be revealed that this 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:24.319 is what he'll be like. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:32.480 But he is deceiving those who have already refused to love the truth and be saved. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:37.519 Those who refuse the gospel and refuse to become Christians, God sends them in judgment 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:42.480 a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:57.480 Now that coming, that anti-Perozia is short and it is, he is utterly destroyed and blown 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:03.960 away by the coming of Jesus who we are told will overthrow him with the breath of his 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.799 mouth and the splendor of his coming. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.200 It's a great picture. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.559 The breath of his mouth and the splendor of his coming, that is the picture we're given 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:19.720 of Christ's second coming. 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:20.720 Take a break. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:29.319 I'll just finish with some thoughts in terms of application of this difficult truth that 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:36.480 is nonetheless got enough clarity for us to be absolutely certain of what our future as 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.160 Christian holds and our place in that. 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:45.160 However difficult before Jesus coming back is going to be and we will be, we've been 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.480 given this mystery. 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:51.759 It's been declared to us so that we can know and be prepared. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:57.920 What does a 21st century believer take away from a passage like this and from the truth 00:22:57.920 --> 00:22:59.920 like this? 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.599 Well the first thing is that truth matters. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.519 It all comes all through this language in the way they were deceived, in the way that 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:11.399 they listened to things that didn't come from the apostolic foundations that they'd been 00:23:11.399 --> 00:23:13.599 given. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:18.240 And it's important for us not to feel like we're left behind as Christians, that God 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.519 has abandoned us or he doesn't care or he isn't interested. 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:27.480 And that happens when we don't understand our theology, when we don't understand who 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:35.559 God is and what he says about himself and what he promises to do and be and give to 00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:36.559 us. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.240 And we can't be naive about lawlessness as if when we see all these evil things we think, 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:45.640 oh well God can't really be in charge and I'm sure He's just given up. 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:49.400 It's too easy and it's too cheap to think like that. 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:51.440 We've got to be alert and vigilant. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.039 We've got to know the truth. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.279 We've got to avoid every kind of evil ourselves. 00:23:56.279 --> 00:24:01.920 And we've got to soak in the Bible and its gospel message and know it, you know, I sometimes 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.720 feel very guilty. 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:15.240 I haven't really pressed on my young people here over these years just the importance 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:22.879 of knowing the truth and reading the living Word of God and soaking it up. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:28.920 We can't faff around with the gospel and with Jesus and with the truth. 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:34.640 We need to love the gospel and know Jesus as He reveals Himself. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:37.360 You know verse 10 speaks about that, doesn't it? 00:24:37.360 --> 00:24:43.160 That the people perish because they refused to love the truth. 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:51.320 And if we love other things before the truth, then we are part of a deception that is far 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:57.759 deeper and more brutal than anything we will have an experience in this life. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:04.359 Vital to know doctrine because doctrine speaks of God and speaks of Jesus Christ, the knowledge 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:05.759 of God. 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:10.240 And the most important prayer you'll have and I have is praying for wisdom. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:14.919 The wisdom that comes from knowing God and knowing His truth to let our conscience be 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:21.759 governed by that and to be rooted and grounded as our discipleship picture from Jeremiah 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:25.200 speaks of, rooted and grounded in the living water. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:30.880 That is the Word and the Person of Jesus Christ, that law of love and the parameters it gives 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:36.080 us to live in a certain way that is glorifying to God. 00:25:36.080 --> 00:25:43.480 Because what you love and what I love rules our heart and rules our choices. 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:46.799 There's so much false teaching going around. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:55.839 You only need to tap on your keyboard in any spiritual subject and recognize the amount 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:02.120 of false teaching that is teaching that sometimes our itching ears wants to hear. 00:26:02.120 --> 00:26:03.720 What are you listening to? 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:05.839 What are we listening to? 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:07.559 Even what you're listening to in the name of Jesus. 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:10.559 Oh, well, that's in the name of Jesus, it's fine. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:15.240 It might just be false doctrine and heresy that is going to lead you astray. 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:20.159 It's important that we remember the apostolic foundations, the truth of God's Word, the 00:26:20.159 --> 00:26:26.000 revelation as it's given, the Word of God is living and active sharper than a double-edged 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.839 sword. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:34.119 And we need to remember within that the deceptive power of evil because he counterfeits all 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:35.679 that's good, isn't it? 00:26:35.679 --> 00:26:38.559 You think Satan's going to come at you with a red face and two horns? 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.279 That's not how it works. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.039 He comes as an angel of light. 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.000 He comes as an angel of light. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:54.839 And we need to recognize that he is destructive in all he says and does and sin is destructive. 00:26:54.839 --> 00:27:00.240 I was given a great book a few years ago actually for some of it, a couple that I married and 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:05.000 it was the most unusual gift I'd ever been given for doing a wedding which was a book 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:10.640 by Platynga called A Reviry of Sin, marvelous book, great book. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:12.359 And he quotes there about sin. 00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:16.880 He says, everything sin touches begins to die but we do not focus on that. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:22.680 We see only the vitality of the parasite glowing with stolen life. 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:30.400 We mustn't be taken in by the deceptiveness of sin and recognize that truth matters. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:31.400 So that's the first thing. 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:35.920 The second thing is the future is in God's hands, not ours. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:38.360 Isn't that great? 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:39.600 That's the perspective. 00:27:39.600 --> 00:27:46.040 We live today in the light of the first apocalypse, Jesus first appearing. 00:27:46.040 --> 00:27:50.240 We live in the light of what He has done on the cross. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:56.759 And we live in the knowledge that our times are in His hands and time itself is in His 00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:04.119 hands as He ushers in His second glorious apocalypse. 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:08.000 So let's avoid speculation as to who the man of perdition might be. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.720 There's been lots of speculation in the past, the Roman Emperor's popes, Napoleon, Mussolini, 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:18.839 Hitler, the UN, Saddam Hussein. 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:25.319 Interestingly Ronald Wilson Reagan was regarded by some as the anti-Christ because he's got 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:30.919 six letters in each of his names, 666, and he did recover from a serious wound, which 00:28:30.919 --> 00:28:36.079 Revelation speaks of. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:43.720 There's lots and lots of people in there that have been touted as the man of perdition 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:47.839 or the anti-Christ. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:52.439 Let's focus on preparation, not speculation. 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:58.160 We will absolutely know when that day comes, and it's in His hands. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:06.000 And we are part as believers of something unbelievably great. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:12.960 The mystery has been to a degree anyway, revealed to us, and let us trust and pray that God 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:14.440 will open our eyes. 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:21.000 1 Corinthians 2, 6-10. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:24.319 We do not speak a message of wisdom among nature, but the wisdom of this age, or of 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:26.160 the rulers of this age, you are coming to nothing. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:31.599 No, we declare God's wisdom a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:33.240 our glory before time began. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.920 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would have not crucified 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:37.920 the Lord of glory. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:44.559 However, as it is written, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:48.519 mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love Him. 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:51.960 These are the things revealed to us by the Spirit. 00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:58.599 The futures in God's hand, we have the mystery of Godliness revealed. 00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:06.079 And the last thing that I want to say in application is, and I certainly don't mean this flippantly, 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.720 is that Jesus wins. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:09.799 Jesus wins. 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.039 There's only one victor. 00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:21.639 This is a complete and utter mismatch to think that evil has any, in any way, is alongside 00:30:21.639 --> 00:30:23.519 Jesus in power and glory. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:28.399 Jesus is the King of kings, and Jesus wins. 00:30:28.399 --> 00:30:35.799 And you need to ask yourself on whose side you're living and who you think will win for 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:41.839 you, win through for you in your life if it's not Jesus Christ and in what you're trusting. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:43.720 Jesus wins. 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:46.079 And so how are we called to live? 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:48.720 We're called to live simply. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:59.199 We are to love mercy, walk justly, and live humbly before our God, Micah 6, verse 8. 00:30:59.199 --> 00:31:01.919 Live with that obedience and faith. 00:31:01.919 --> 00:31:10.519 And we ever need to prioritize, I would say, plug coming up, praying together, praying together 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.720 to this one we meet tomorrow morning at 7.30 online. 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:18.119 You don't even need to get out your pajamas. 00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:21.639 Just come and join us in prayer. 00:31:21.639 --> 00:31:23.559 We're praying for the lost. 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:25.480 We're praying for the deceived. 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:27.960 We're praying for those who don't know Jesus. 00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:31.879 You will do nothing more important than that 40 minutes tomorrow. 00:31:31.879 --> 00:31:33.599 Nothing. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:35.000 Just come if you've never been before. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:38.559 If you're new to the congregation, just come along and pray. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:41.839 You don't need to pray out like that, but your encouragement, your face on the screen 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:44.519 will be a great encouragement. 00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:47.919 We need to encourage one another in the light of the opposition we face. 00:31:47.919 --> 00:31:54.599 We're bound together in order to reach out in love. 00:31:54.599 --> 00:32:01.679 If ever, if we ever had confidence to live in enemy territory and share the gospel of 00:32:01.679 --> 00:32:04.799 Jesus, it's when we read a passage like this. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:05.799 Amen. 00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:06.799 Let's pray. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:14.319 Father God, we pray that we would recognize the deep truth in a passage like this, truth 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:16.680 that's very difficult to unpack. 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:23.000 Truth that obviously Paul spoke to the church in Thessalonica about in ways, in more detailed 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:26.359 ways than we're given even in Scripture. 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:32.159 For their situation and their time, they were persecuted people and they were afraid and 00:32:32.159 --> 00:32:33.159 confused. 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:39.120 And we're often afraid and confused, we question you and we challenge you and we doubt you 00:32:39.120 --> 00:32:41.840 and we shake our fist at you sometimes. 00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:44.040 And we think you're not important. 00:32:44.040 --> 00:32:45.600 We think you're weak and powerless. 00:32:45.600 --> 00:32:50.920 Forgive us for all these thoughts, even when they just sneak into our mind. 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:54.480 When we don't even want to think like that, forgive us we pray. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:01.080 We confess our sins and we ask Lord God that you would show us your glory, that you would 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:06.359 open up your truth to us, that you would keep us from deception, that we would learn more 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:11.240 and more, that we would hunger and thirst after righteousness, that we would find that the 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:22.720 most practical applicable truth for our day-to-day living when we know and our focus on the majesty 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:27.679 and the beauty of our Savior, that's the greatest motivation for living our lives of beauty. 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:32.600 We pray for the young people here at the onset of their lives, that they would be founded 00:33:32.600 --> 00:33:39.039 well in Jesus and the scripture and truth, that they would learn to hunger and thirst 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:48.840 and that nothing we do as older people would be a discouragement or a disincentive or anything. 00:33:48.840 --> 00:33:51.279 Lord God, we pray that in Jesus' name. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:59.279 Amen.