Gtcotr/ws050620
2 Thessalonians 2
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.
The
take-a-way from Part 1 last week was “Don’t be afraid
of the coming of the Lord!” Yes, that last day will come unexpectedly
for many people. It will be like a thief in the night for the world but, not
for the Believer.
Paul
is writing this letter to the Church in Thessalonica not only about the coming
of the Lord but also about our gathering together unto Him. They are
both the same. Talking about the rapture of the Church. Do not be afraid of
either one … whether corporately or individually which will happen to us all.
End
time events should not scare us, even our end time. Anyone who uses the coming
of Jesus, or the threat of going to be with Him to try to alarm or control people
is mistaking, misusing or misrepresenting the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2
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,
That
day will not come before the apostasy – Greek: apostasia
= forsaking.
This
subject has been one of the main debates among Bible scholars throughout the
centuries. Discussions concerning the timing of the coming of the Lord has
divided whole denominations and even close friends and families have separated
over differing opinions as to when and in what order the end time events will
take place.
I
cannot claim that I have the answers, but I can tell you that we are in the
last days and that it is the last hour. How can I know for sure? Well I have it
on good authority … almost 1900 years ago the last living Apostle of the Lamb
wrote:
1 John 2:18 Little children,
it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even
now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
This
apostasy spoken of by the Apostle Paul was written to the Church in Thessalonica
over 40 years before the Apostle John declared it to be the last hour. By that
time, about AD98, John had witnessed the beginnings of that great falling away
from the sound doctrines of the Gospel.
John
penned a letter dictated to him by Jesus to the seven major Churches located
closest to him geographically. He also wrote about an apocalyptic event that
would take place called the tribulation period, which I believe will happen
after the catching away of the saints.
2 Timothy 3: 1-5 details the spiritual and moral
climate of the world during the last days leading up to the tribulation period.
We are told:
·
Perilous
times will come
·
Men
will selfish; greedy; boasters; filled with pride; they will say ungodly
things; disobey their parents; be unthankful; unholy; unloving; unforgiving;
slander people; without self-control; brutal; despise things that are good;
disloyal; stubborn; sarcastic; love carnal pleasure more than God; they will
look like Christians but act like the devil.
·
Stay
away from them, they have forsaken the Gospel message of Christ and have become
apostate Believers.
2 Timothy 3
1 ¶
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For
men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good,
4
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God,
5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people
turn away!
2 Thessalonians 2
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.
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.
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.
How can the Believer in Jesus Christ be
certain they are not deceived by this spirit of the antichrist, which the
Apostle John says is already in the earth?
1 John 4
1 ¶ Beloved, do not believe
every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false
prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is
of God,
3 and every spirit that does
not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is
the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is
now already in the world.
So,
in light of these things, what can we conclude about the coming of the Lord? I
will leave you with 2 do not’s, and 1 do ...
1.
Do not be afraid of the coming of the Lord.
2.
Do not live the life of an apostate Believer.
3.
Test every spirit because the spirit of the Antichrist is already
here.
Receive
Christ and you will be saved and safe!
