That Day Will Not Come Unless!
2 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted
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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. 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.
We’ve looked at this briefly while studying 1 Thessalonians, but now I want to really dig into it. We’ll review some and have more insight to other. First, it’s clear that despite Paul’s first letter addressing erroneous beliefs about those who had died in Christ and those who were still alive and the coming of the Lord, there was a persistence in error in this church. Paul once again addresses the issue and goes even more in depth.
The Parousia of the Lord
The Parousia of the Lord
As we learned in our study of 1 Thessalonians, the Greek word “parousia” is used to refer only to the SECOND COMING of the Lord. It was used to refer to a King coming and STAYING permanently implying that the coming of the Lord is His permanent coming where He removes all of His enemies and sets up His throne on the earth. This is important because we established in the first study that it is at THIS coming that the catching away occurs. It’s NOT some secret middle of the night event. It’s a very public event complete with a sign in the heavens, a trumpet, a shout, and a visible catching away.
Here Paul says, “Now, brethren, concerning the PAROUSIA of our Lord Jesus Christ AND our gathering together to Him...” Paul once again puts the two events of His coming and our catching away TOGETHER.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Here in Matthew 24, we, again, see that the gathering together of the elect (saints in the Greek) is IMMEDIATELY AFTER the tribulation. And these are the only scriptures that reveal the timing of the catching away or what some have called the rapture. How people can keep separating the two is beyond me. We’ll get back to this.
Do Not Be Quickly Emotionally Unsettled and Upset
Do Not Be Quickly Emotionally Unsettled and Upset
The phrase here is “not be quickly emotionally unsettled and upset.” It also means “to move to and fro.” That sounds very closely related to Ephesians 4:14 where we’re not to be tossed to and fro like children by every wave of doctrine. The words are different Greek words, but the general idea of being tossed about in opinion and emotion is the same. And the primary tool the enemy was using was doctrine.
Paul pointed out three areas the enemy was using to deceive the church:
By Spirit. Spirit is pneuma in the Greek and refers to Holy Spirit, a human spirit, and a demonic spirit. The idea is that a charismatic manifestation like a prophecy, dream, vision, or trance was used to establish doctrine that was contrary to what the apostles taught. It appeared to be the Holy Spirit but was actually a demonic spirit. Spiritual gifts are NEVER to be used to establish doctrine nor prove that it’s God. The enemy also used demonic lying signs, wonders, and even “spiritual” gifts, which is why Paul told the Corinthians that only those with Holy Spirit can call Jesus Lord implying there were some demonic manifestations going on.
By Word. Word is logos. It can refer to “an emphatic word, declaration, etc.” meaning someone can declare as if from God something that’s false. But the crux of logos is that it’s the expression of God in His written word and the Person of Jesus. John 1:1. The implication is that some were using declarations and/or teaching from Scripture that the Lord had already returned. Many today use the same technique to preach a pre-trib rapture.
By letter as if from Paul and his team. The word letter is “epistle.” The implication is that it was a letter of authority as if from one of the apostles. Apparently, there were some writing “epistles” as if from the church leaders saying that the coming of the Lord had already occured.
These things were upsetting them in their mind, “the seat of emotions and affections, mode of thinking and feeling, disposition, moral inclination, and the heart.” I.e. the false doctrine going around was changing their mode of thinking and feeling as Christians and causing problems in the behavior of the church at Thessalonica (like not working) leading to disobedience because mind is also the “organ of moral consciousness.” The word “troubled” means “to be in a state of fear associated with surprise.” You can imagine that many thought they’d missed the second coming; therefore, they were doomed. This false teaching was causing some to backslide.
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,
How do you let no one deceive? Develop a love for the truth along with a practice of studying the Word and rightly interpreting it. Paul then gives two THINGS that must happen before the coming or Day of the Lord:
The falling away. The falling away is apostasia and means “rebellion, an abandonment, an apostasy.” Politically it referred to a rebel. However, it was particularly used for religious rebellion. In order to fall away, one must have first been part of something. It was a standing against and leaving behind or abandoning your faith in a god. For the believer, it’s abandoning your relationship with God. Some don’t believe that’s possible due to John 10:28 but, although, no one can snatch us from the Lord’s hand, we can decide to remove ourselves. And most of that will occur due to deception.
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
Depart is to “abandon a former relationship or association…to fall away.” The Greek word of apostasia is from this Greek used used in 1 Timothy, which is aphistemi. These will fall away because they PAID ATTENTION to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. How can you depart from the faith if you weren’t part of it to begin with?
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
How can you prophesy, cast out demons, and do many wonders in His name unless you are a Christian? You can’t! The seven sons of Sceva proved that! But this verse reveals the key thing that made them vulnerable—the practice of lawlessness. Practice is the Greek word for “work or labor.” It’s being active and cultivating meaning that those who the Lord commands to depart from Him had already departed a long time ago by actively cultivating lawlessness. Lawlessness is a violation or rebellion against divinely instituted law. Love keeps us out of lawlessness.
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
You could say that those who fall away didn’t #1 receive a love of the truth and were deceived and #2 entertained sin in their heart either by never fully selling out to the Lord.
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We see here two things: 1) an evil heart of unbelief departs from the living God and 2) the deceitfulness of sin (lawlessness) hardens your heart. All of this is tied together and makes one vulnerable to deception and falling away.
The man of sin is revealed. Sin is “to act contrary to the will and law of God.” Again, it’s lawlessness. The man of sin is the epitome of all the lawlessness of man into one person who becomes a world leader and tries to seduce all nations to rebel against God.
Revealed is “apokalupto,” the exact word used to describe the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). The enemy is sending a counterfeit Messiah before the true Messiah returns to deceive the nations as much as he can. If this pandemic has shown us anything, it’s shown us how easy it is to deceive an entire nation through fear and misinformation. Not a single bullet needed to be fired. The fear of death makes mankind vulnerable to anyone and anything saying that they will keep us safe.
Again, Paul is very clear: the coming of the Lord will NOT precede the falling away and the revealing of the man of sin. If, as I’ve shown in the scriptures, that our catching away is at His second coming then this blows any pre-trib doctrine out of the water. It can’t happen just any time. Certain conditions must be met first including these two.
The man of sin is also called “the son of perdition.” Son is huios and that’s important because a huios is one who looks like their father in character versus teknon, which is referring to a newborn babe. Fig. huios refers to “a pupil, disciple, follower, the spiritual child of someone…imitators.” The man of sin is deceived himself thinking he’s God, etc., but what this tells us is that he is absolutely sold out to rebellion against God.
Perdition is destruction. The Greek says that it is an allusion to the Antichrist, means “one determined to remain spiritually lost.” There was only one other person defined as a son of perdition—Judas Iscariot. John 17:12.
Dan. 7:25; 8:25; 11:36; 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 13:5
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.
Opposes is “to be hostile toward.” It’s an adversary and “the one lying against” another. He also exalts, which is “to rise up in pride against.” See the entire reason Satan actually believes he can “beat” God is because he is that prideful, which is why the Bible says that pride comes before destruction. JUSTICE IS THE ANSWER TO PRIDE. PRIDE TRIGGERS THE NEED FOR JUSTICE. Every criminal was prideful enough to think he or she could get away with it. Every unjust act is from a sense of pride and thinking they could get away with it. In fact this word exalt could be translated “because of pride, one rises up in opposition to.”
The word “above” is actually AGAINST. This could be translated, “…he who is hostile toward and rises up in pride himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped.” Daniel lets us know that the antichrist forsakes all gods even his own because he sees himself as a god and the only one deserving of worship. The best example of this is Hitler (and the painting).
Now God here is theos in the Greek and is “any one of many different supernatural beings regarded as having authority or control over some aspect of the universe or human activity.” It was a word that referred to gods or spirits and that the NT writers used to refer to the one true God. Again, the antichrist isn’t going to be against just our God. He will be against all gods—Allah, Buddha, etc., which is why Paul said, “…or that is worshiped.” Anything worshiped other than him, the antichrist will oppose.
With this understanding in mind, the next phrase brings a whole new meaning: “he sits as God.” Sits is “to take a position” and God is again any god including our God. Temple is “a building in which a deity is worshiped” or any temple that’s dedicated to a god and can refer to the temple in Jerusalem. God is, again, any gods including our true God.
In other words, the Antichrist isn’t going to necessarily sit in the Temple in Jersualem and declare himself as God there; although, I wouldn’t rule it out. But he’s going to exalt himself above all gods and all temples.
Just like Nebuchadnezzar demanded that all worship him so will the antichrist. And to prove that he is a god or the god, he’s going to publicly demonstrate it with lying signs and wonders.
5 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.
Nope, we sure don’t Paul?! Lol! The point is that Paul had already taught them all of this when he was last with them, but they had allowed deceptive doctrine to deceive them into believing it was all over revealing the incredible power of doctrine of devils.
What is restraining. What is an entity, state or event and later. It’s the “the, this, that, and how” meaning “the source of the restraining.” Restraining is “to have hold, hold down, quash, suppress, restrain, hinder, withhold.” Many have said that it’s the Holy Spirit restraining but the phrase doesn’t really point to a person although that can’t be excluded. What is restraining is a WHAT. If it was a person, Paul would have used a different Greek word. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the what is.
6 Now you are aware of the ruling power so that he may be fully revealed when his time comes.
The Passion says:
An intransitive verb meaning “to rule” or “to hold sway” or “to possess.” The Aramaic likewise is “Now you know that which controls.” The neuter form of the Greek participle suggests a principle, not a person, which could be referring to the mystery of lawlessness in human hearts (v. 7). However, some see “it” as the god of this world (Satan) or the Roman Empire, which ruled the world in the days of Paul’s writings.
Simmons, B. (Trans.). (2017). The Passion Translation: New Testament. BroadStreet Publishing.
If it was the Roman Empire or Satan then why are we still here. The Roman Empire fell and Satan is still the ruler of the world. But whatever is restraining will be removed and he will be revealed (apokalupto) in his own time. Time is “kairos” and is an opportune time unlike chronos, which is the succession of minutes. It’s an appointed time, set time, certain time that interjects itself into chronos 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.
Mystery is something that’s hidden. The idea is that it’s something that wasn’t known before. There’s a hidden work, activity, power of sin in the world. It’s been here since before the fall. And it’s not just the devil. Like what made the devil fall?
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Before the enemy is released, the Lord returned, defeated the beast and his armies, threw them into the lake of fire, arrested satan and sent him to prison, the Lord and his saints reigning over the world for 1,000 years after being resurrected, and the enemy is still able to deceive and convince some to rebel with him when he’s released implying that the mystery of lawlessness or rebellion was still at work even with God himself on earth! And that’s why Revelation 20:6 says this:
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
In our resurrected state, the mystery of lawlessness has no influence meaning that those who survive the end of the age but are not part of this first resurrection and chose not to rebel after the enemy is freed will always need to resist that mystery!
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
24 “And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
This is after the new heavens and new earth implying that as a reminder to never again rebel, all those not part of the first resurrection have to do is go few those who transgressed against the Lord in the place of judgment where the fire is not quenched.
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.
In the first reference to a retraining, the Greek is neuter means an “it.” Here in verse 7 it changes to masculine implying a person. Listen to the NLT:
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.
The NKJV implies that the He is God by capitalizing he. There’s just not enough here to know for sure. But we do not that an impersonal force and a person will hold back the revealing of the man of sin until the perfect time and then bam! He is revealed. But the Lord will destroy Him with the breath of His mouth and by the splendor of His coming!
6 Now you are aware of the ruling power so that he may be fully revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already active, but the one who prevails will do so until he is separated from out of the midst. 8 Then the “outlaw” will be openly revealed, and the Lord will overthrow him by the breath of his mouth and bring him to an end by the dazzling manifestation of his presence.
The Working of Satan
The Working of Satan
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.
Guess what. Coming is parousia! Yep. Implying that the “coming” of the lawless one is intended to be permanent in the mind of him and the enemy. And for a while it will be. His coming is according to the working of Satan.
Working is “energeia” and one of the power words. It’s active power that is demonstrated with all power (dunamis), signs (miracle with a spiritual end and purpose; a supernatural event, wonder), and lying (false) wonders (an unusual sign, especially one in the heavens, serving to foretell impending events like a particular arrangement of planets). What’s crazy is you have people in different denominations that say that miracles ceased with the apostles making people prime targets for deception when the antichrist shows up with his false prophet performing lying signs and wonders to prove that he’s a god.
Unrighteous deception is “leading into error with something that is wrong.” And that’s what’s wrong with deception—it looks so right and believable. Among is within “those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.” Perish speaks of eternal death. They are fast approaching eternal death because they did not accept an offer that benefits and that’s the "love of the truth” that would lead them to be saved! I.e. they rejected the offer of the gospel of the kingdom. You can see that there are two people: 1) those who fall away and 2) those who rejected the invitation to be born again.
Strong delusion. Strong is energeia again. Delusion is “to cause to be mistaken.” I.e. those who are perishing have rejected Him over and over; therefore He’s going to help them along in their own destruction and bring an end to all authority and rule outside of His own. So this delusion has a power behind it that attaches itself to the rejection of truth on the inside of those perishing and causes them to believe what is false. It’s like Pharaoh ending his own country, Ahab being deceived to go into battle, etc.
Those who will be sentenced as guilty are those who did not believe the truth and HAD PLEASURE in unrighteousness. Pleasure means “to think it good or think well of something. These liked injustice, what was wrong, what was evil, and what harmed others. You can always trust that when God begins to actively seek the destruction of someone, His judgment is righteous and true. It’s never unfair.
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,