2 Thessalonians 2:1-14
Notes
Transcript
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Background to 1 and 2 Thess
Background to 1 and 2 Thess
Persecution
Paul established the church in Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. According to Acts 17 Paul was not in Thessalonica long before begin run out of town by some of the Jews from the synagogue there.
A short while after this, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the young believers there. Timothy, supposedly had a great report about the church, but there were concerns...
Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians around 49-51 AD to address some concerns. 2 Thessalonians was written a few month later, most likely, to clarify, again, some of the issues.
The main issue that is dealt with OVERALL by both 1 and 2 Thessalonians is in regards to the 2nd coming of Jesus...
Both these letters deal heavily with the 2nd coming.
EVERY Chapter mentions the 2nd coming (well, except for 2 Thessalonians 3)...
10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.
13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
1 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. 4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 10 When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.
But, it was NOT only about the second coming, but about the necessity to stand firm and be holy until the day of the lord (2nd coming)...
They also deal with the necessity of believers to be sanctified holy by the Holy Spirit...
2 For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
In 1 Thessalonians the issue seems to be that some were concerned that the dead in Christ would miss out on the coming of Christ. Paul’s teaching/instruction there is to address those who are concerned about the dead in Christ and to assure teh believers that teh dead will in fact participate in the coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
2 Thessalonians Issue
2 Thessalonians Issue
In 2 Thessalonians there is a fear in the church that they missed the second coming - or that they were in the midst of the turbulent time leading up to the second coming (probably due to the persecutions they were facing)...
Also, apparently someone might have sent a letter claiming that the 2nd Coming has passed...
2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.
Paul writes to the church to assure them that they in fact did not miss anything.
But Paul also encourages them to consider this from God’s perspective. That God is indeed working a plan and ultimately, God will remain supreme and in full control. Nothing that they are facing will halter or hinder God’s plan. This is the background of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-14
Current persecutions
Apparently lawlessness
Evil is running amuck in the world. I cannot think of the situation of the New Testament world, and our world even, without considering Psalm 12:8
8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.
Evil has gone off the deep end, and someone needs to do something about it.
Paul encourages the church that God will in fact do something about the pervasiveness of evil, but at the right time.
To do this, Paul borrows from Jewish Apocalyptic thought. In the Jewish Tradition, there would be such a thing as The Day of the Lord where God would step foot on earth and claim His Kingly authority. The time leading up to the Day of the Lord would be a time of great tribulation for the world and the people of God. This is so that evil could be exposed for the evil it actually is. No one will assume that something is evil because evil will be so apparent that ALL will know what is evil. Then, on the Day of the Lord, God would step foot on the and judge the world and the evil in it(and when God steps foot on earth all Creation responds). On this day, God would right all the wrongs of the world.
But, a HUGE part of Jewish Apocalyptic Thought is that this is ALL ACCORDING TO GOD’S SOVEREIGN PLAN for God to direct history to God’s desired end for it.
For God to fully be declared as King, all powers that seek to usurp God’s authority and reign must be shown for the evil that they are, dealt with, and destroyed. This is what The Day of the Lord will be (or in Christian circles the 2nd Coming). This theme will be returned to in the Letter of Revelation in a couple of months.
Specifically in the background of Paul’s teaching is the one that has been come to be known as the anti-Christ. One who is vehemently opposed to God and is used as a tool from Satan/evil to oppose God.
25 He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.
25 He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.
36 “The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed, but only until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place.
The idea is that evil will seek so badly to destroy God’s goodness that there will be one that will seek to be a poser to Christ, but ultimately do the exact opposite...
Yes, Jewish tradition holds that there will rise one like Pharaoh, or Nebuchadnezzar, or Antioch Epiphanies, or Caligula who sets himself up as God himself. Who is a tool used by Satan to distract people from what God is doing.
Pharoah declared he was god and demanded others worship him
Nebuchadnezzar did the same, asking the exiles to bow down and worship him
Antiochus Epiphanies in about 170 BC entered the inner sanctuary of the temple and sacrificed a pig on the alter
In 63 AD the Roman general Pompey marched into the temple and entered the Holy of Holies (where ONLY the high priest could enter…)
In 41 AD (about 8 to 10 years before this letter was written) the Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula ordered a statue OF HIMSELF to be placed in the Temple courtyard. Although, this order was never followed through
It is also worth noting, the Roman Emperor, Caesar, claimed himself to be Lord. Nero believed he was the god Apollo reincarnated...
These are ALL images that would run through a Roman, and Jewish, believer’s mind when words of the “Lawless One” who would set himself up as God would be declared and written.
Oh, and ALL OF THESE MEN are dead!!
Yet, we must hear the warning of John Stott about how the Lawless One and evil is active in our day...
We detect its subversive influence around us today - in the atheistic stance of secular humanism, in totalitarian tendencies of extreme left-wing and right-wing ideologies, in the materialism of the consumer society which puts things in the place of God, and the end of moral absolutes, and in the social permissiveness which cheapens the sanctity of human life, sex, marriage and family, all of which God created or instituted.” (Quoted in Woolsey, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 140)
Maybe we need to jump ahead to what John tells the church in his letters...
18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.
22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
When Paul writes about the lawless one, I am reminded, they are already here, and I am reminded to check myself (and maybe that is Paul’s point) to see what side of the battle lines I am on...
Paul does not write this to frighten the church but to encourage the church!
Paul does not write this to frighten the church but to encourage the church!
But, for Paul, the Church will not be fooled by this person or these people in history. Those who follow Christ will not be duped by these false gods who try to usurp YHWY's authority.
13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
God would destroy evil ---- easily!
These lawless men (or The Lawless One), these antichrists (see 1 john) these false authorities who are the face of evil will be done away with. They will all go the way history has proven evil men will go.
7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
But, please remember, for Paul, 2nd Coming is ALWAYS framed as an encouragement for the church.
But, please remember, for Paul, 2nd Coming is ALWAYS framed as an encouragement for the church.
Paul does NOT write these words about the 2nd Coming to encourage the church to mark off on a calendar the progression of End Times events.
Paul declares that it will be sudden - there is NO USE trying to decipher WHEN it will happen. For Paul, the important part is to be ENCOURAGED and READY!
1 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
Be encouraged that Christ WILL return. Our labor, our struggle WILL be made beautiful. AND BE READY WHENEVER IT HAPPENS!
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
18 So encourage each other with these words.
Leon Morris helps us to best understand the point:
“Paul’s purpose is to meet the need of his friends, not to satisfy their (or our) curiosity. His unfolding of the picture is not with a view to providing them with a timetable of events at the end so that they will be in a position to anticipate the course of events step by step. He writes to assure them that whatever happens, God is over all: God is working out His purposes and will continue to do so until the very end. The Man of Lawlessness and the great rebellion must be mentioned, but Paul’s interest is not in them. his interest is in God and the working out of God’s purpose. (Quoted in Woolsey, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 144)
It's not about dates/times
It's not about speculation
It's not about adding events together to come up with a calendar/schedule
It's about God destroying evil, after evil has abused its power for too long...
It's about the hope of the Gospel that in, by and through Jesus Christ there is full salvation from evil, not just now in our life, but also at the end when Christ returns
It's about sharing in the glory of Christ when He does return
For Paul, and for us, the hope of the Second Coming ULTIMATELY is about living our lives NOW with that victory in mind.
Because of the cross, death, resurrection and hope of Christ's coming again we live knowing that sin and evil is already defeated - no matter how ugly it is now...
Whether it's persecution, suffering, or we are living in the face of great lawlessness - we live with the assurance of victory that Christ's return will ultimately bring.
Yes, Christ WILL return. So HOW WILL YOU LIVE NOW in light of that truth!!!