2 Thessalonians 2

Welcome/Background

Introduce yourself, put away phones, offer Bibles

We will be in 2 Thessalonains 2, and we will jump around a little bit because I don’t want to make you guys read the whole chapter.

Background/Recap: Remember that the church in Thessalonica was struggling with fear of the Lord’s return, and they were horribly confused because they were suffering persecution from false teachers. These people were trying to teach the Thessalonians that Christ had already come back and they missed it. They were also teaching people to quit their jobs because the Lord was coming back soon. Both of these ideas conflict but it shows the amount of confusion going around the church, but the “Lord is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33).”

Tonight’s topic as we look at 2 Thessalonians 2 is going to be interesting, as we will see Paul give encouragement to the Thessalonian church by showing them more details about the end times. Paul does discuss the Anti-Christ, but I want to model tonight’s sermon based on how Paul teaches is which is in a manner of encouragement.

I think end-times things tend to shake us a little because it’s often concepts that are hard for us to wrap our minds around. It can be kind of fear or anxiety inducing especially if you’re an overthinker or someone with an active imagination. So I wanted to teach these things to you in a way that shows you we have nothing to fear as Christians on the right side of the spiritual war that’s been going on since the beginning of time.

Introduction

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 ESV

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

2 Thessalonians 2:8–9 ESV

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,

2 Thessalonians 2:15–17 ESV

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Pray

Transition: Like I said before, I know these concepts can cause uncertainty for us, but I want to encourage you in saying...

Point 1- We Know How the Story Ends

Illustration: When I was in elementary school, I had a friend named AJ who I thought was so cool because he had a gold chain and I wanted one. I don’t know if you know this but that’s how you discern if somebody’s cool, if they have a gold chain. But we’re in the library one day looking at books. I’ve got a Series of Unfortunate Events book in hand about to read it, and AJ comes over to me and he tells me he could read any book in a couple minutes and know what happens, and I’m a slow reader so I was like, no you can’t! He said yeah, I just open the book to the last chapter and read it. Fun fact, he read the last page of the SoUE book to me and spoiled the whole series for me.

Rightfully angry, I told him that was stupid, but Christians have this ability unlike any other faith or system of beliefs. We can simply read about the future and how the world will find its conclusion in the comforting hands of its Creator.

Connection to Text: explanation of the Anti-Christ and how he has to come before Christ returns

Admittedly, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the events of the end because the events leading up to Christ’s return are presented in a way that makes it hard for us to understand because I don’t think we’re quite meant to know everything.

There are some signs though that Jesus gives us in Matthew 24 that point us towards His return. He lists signs like the hearing of wars erupting between the nations, the occurrence of weather-caused catastrophes, and false teachers will rise up and try to lead us away. As we see here in the text, there will also come an Anti-Christ.

I want to talk about this for a second.

The Anti-Christ:

In understanding this figure I think we need to look at why Paul talks about him, what he says about it him, and what we need to do with this information.

It’s important to understand why Paul talks about this figure (Why does Paul talk about this figure?)

Paul’s goal in informing the Thessalonians was not to scare them but to remind them of what he had already previously taught them while he was with them in person. Remember the church was confused and anxious because some thought they had already missed it while others thought that Jesus was coming back tomorrow.

So in reminding them that the Anti-Christ must first come before Christ returned, he’s fixing their false understanding of Christ’s return. He’s rebuttling the false teachings that have been spread throughout the church to restore peace in them.

Looking at what he says about the Anti-Christ: (What does Paul say about the Anti-Christ?)

He says the son of lawlessness will exalt himself above every other god, and he will claim that he is God. Not only is this wicked person going to exalt themself above all fake gods, but he will say that he himself is God, the Creator, the Alpha, the Omega, the Holy One.

He will set himself in God’s position and order that he must be worshipped and not the true God, which causes us to also think that he is going to be an influential figure in the world. It’s not going to be someone everyone hates.

He will produce signs and wonders, meaning he will try to trick people with fake miracles- possibly healings and things like that, though it won’t be by God’s power. Paul says it will be by the doing of Satan, and these deceptions will lead people away from the faith.

There will be people that are fooled into following this wicked leader.

These facts sound scary because it’s a work of Satan, the deceiver and accuser, but if you look in verse 8, you see what will happen to this figure.

Verse 8 says,

2 Thessalonians 2:8 ESV

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

Jesus will come and lay waste this wicked figure who has attempted to claim God’s glory and worship.

It says He will take him out with His very breath- probably referring to the way that God formed Creation with just His words. The same way Jesus formed the world is the same way He will bring the story to a close and take those who are His up to be with Him and judge those who have denied Him.

Explanation: Christ will destroy him with ease.

Tie-together/Application: Christ wins, so why should we fear?

So what does that mean for us Christians now who are being bombarded with headlines about possible wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, acts of evil all around the world, and whatever else our feeds show us?

For the Christian, we know we don’t have to worry about how things will end because we know that our hope is placed in Christ, who will handle it all in the end.

We know that evil will come but it will not prevail because it will have to stand before our God, the One whom can destroy it with His very breath.

Illustration: This last weekend, I went to go see Star Wars Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith with some good friends. Many of you know I love the Star Wars movies, one might even call me a mega fan because I know too much about these movies. But I’m watching the movie having a great time, but we get to the climax of the movie where Obi-Wan Kenobi has to fight Anakin Skywalker because he’s turned to the dark side and overthrown the Jedi. For the person who is watching this scene for the first time, this might be kinda crazy, mind-blowing even, but not for the guy who’s seen the movie more times than he can remember, not including the fact that he’s seen all 6 movies that follow this one in the timeline. I know how the story is going to end, you think I’m worried about the inbetween? I know everything works out in the end.

We can rest in Christ knowing that He will handle everything in the end and defeat those who come against us.

We can also stop listening to the scientists that keep saying we have an asteroid heading for earth and will wipe us out. You’d think they’d learn by now, and you’d think we would learn by now that we know how that an asteroid is going to end everything, but Christ will.

Transition: We know how the story ends, but if you’re anything like me, you might also be concerned with what happens in the meantime. So what about in the meantime?

Point 2- We Know How the Story Continues

Connection to Text: The Thessalonians were led astray by deception, and like the Thessalonians we need to cling to the instructions God gave us through the apostles (scripture) as we continue pressing on in the faith

Paul says, 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17

2 Thessalonians 2:15–17 ESV

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Explanation: It’s almost like he’s saying these events are going to happen before Christ returns, but until then, you have other things you need to be doing.

He encourages the Thessalonians to stand firm in the faith because it is going to be tried as it already is through the suffering of persecution

He reminds them to cling to the instructions they have been given from the apostles’ teachings and letters because they were inspired through the Holy Spirit.

He also prays that the Lord would bring comfort to their hearts as they press into their faith and continue to do good works that the Kingdom of God would grow.

Application:

These are all instructions that carry over to the modern day Christian 2000 years later as we are still waiting on Christ to return

Like the Thessalonians, we also must hold tight to the Gospel because there are all kinds of false teachings out there that are trying to lead us astray, some have even been made specifically for the purpose of leading us astray.

Some of these teachings might be blatant false religions that promise inner-peace or a track to work up to God or heaven, though they fail to recognize the fact that man is helplessly unable to live a perfect-enough life to accomplish this without the help of a Savior.

Some teachings might be as sneaky as saying happiness is what matters most in the world. That sounds good because we all want to be happy, but the pursuit of happiness is fleeting because it often focuses on the temporary rather than the eternal. It often clings to quick-fixes and sometimes self-medication when life gets tough and this is a trap that often leads to addiction and self-destruction.

We also need to cling to the instructions of the apostles, also known as the Word of God or scripture. The Lord gave us teachings and instruction through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through the apostles for the purpose of equipping His people to cling to Him.

I’ve said this before this year, but it might have been to the middle schoolers, Satan knows the Bible. He knows how to distort it and use it to manipulate people. We saw it in the Garden of Eden when he manipulates God’s instruction not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge.

What does that mean for us though? It means we have to know the Word better than Satan, better than false teachers, and the wicked people that want to lead God’s people astray. Satan even tried to use scripture against Jesus when he was tempting Him in the wilderness. How did Jesus respond? With more scripture. We have to cling to the Lord and His Word because it keeps us grounded in Gospel.

Finally, we must continue on in doing good works that bring glory to God. We have to keep showing people the love of Jesus, We have to keep ministering to the hopeless and the lost, we have to keep serving people and metaphorically washing feet because that’s what Jesus did. That’s what brings people to know Jesus.

We cannot let fear and anxiety hold us back from bearing fruit for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion

Illustration: I’m gonna wrap up with this story: A few years ago I’m still living with my parents, I’m not married or anything, but I’m chilling in my bed room and I’m like I think I’m gonna nap. But I get a text from one of my high school best friends, with whom I still keep in touch with to this day, his name’s Luis. I get a text from Luis and he’s like hey man, whatcha up to? I don’t really respond because I’m like nah, I’m gonna nap. I fall asleep on this couch I had in my room, and I wake up like an hour later, and Luis is in my room playing with my 3D printer, and I was like bruh what are you doing here? He’s like you didn’t see my text? I told you I was coming, and I look at my phone and sure enough, he did. It about gave me a heart attack because I thought he was my sleep paralysis demon. I was like why is the demon a 6’2” jacked Mexican dude this time? Oh that’s Luis.

Application: Guys, Jesus has told us He’s coming. Don’t fall asleep on Him. Stay busy until He returns because there’s much to do.

If you’re here today, and you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you haven’t made Him Lord of your life, or you keep putting it off because you’re afraid of the change it will bring to your life, you are dead in your sin and in need of a Savior. You need to be saved from your sin, and you need a relationship with Christ because at the end of it all, He will stand victorious. All will bow and worship Him, though you have a change and even an invitation to make Him Lord of your life.

If that is something you would like to do please come find myself or a leader, and we would love to talk with you, pray with you, or answer any questions you may have.