The Danger of Being Shaken

Intro

so last week we began to look at the book of 2 Thess. and Jay reminded us of the background of the church

the fact that Paul had established the church in Thessanlonica on his second missionary journey. You remember that he was able to establish the church within a few weeks, yet as an uproar would begin Paul was forced to leave the area.

Because the church was a young church, Paul feared that they would be deceived or that they would be moved because of the the persecution in the area

so we found him sending Timothy to both encourage and to bring back news of the church to Paul who was in the city of Corthin at the time. So Paul hearing great news from Timothy of their faith, their hope and their love writes the first letter of 1 Thess.

and within the letter there are a number of things that Paul addresses that may have been questions the believers had, one of these things was the “ Rapture of the church”

and Paul addressed some of their concerns about the rapture of the church in his first letter. Now we get to the second letter and it is obvious through the letter that there were still some areas that the believers had questions about , areas that they had not fully understood and so what we get is Paul writing this second letter to the church

Now the 2 letter to the Church of Thess. is broken down like so

Chp.1 - Paul addresses the persecution that was happening in the area

Jay spoke about this last week and the need to persevere through the trials

Chp. 2- Paul addresses the false teachings about the second coming of Christ

which we will look at today and the next couple of weeks

Chp. 3- Paul addresses the conduct of some of those in the church who have misunderstood the rapture and the second coming of christ

And so with that bit of background into our study we will be picking it up today in Chapter 2. And what we are going to do is to break this chapter into 2 maybe 3 different studies.

The main topic in this chapter is the Second Coming of Christ which is big and complex subject with alot of moving parts. And as i looked at this chapter i thought it was too much to try to get it all in one sitting because i don’t want to just move through the study , but i want the subject to be understood so we are going to break it down a bit to help us understand this chapter and what Paul was addressing better.

Read - 2 Thess. 2: 1-3

And so this is how far we are going to go today in chp. 2. Because as Paul begins to address this concern there is alot we can pick up on and things that are applicable to our lives today.

I. Paul Addresses His Main Subject (v. 1-3)

And so Paul here begins to tell us what the main subject of his thought is and what he will be addressing.

He tells us that the subject he is concerned about, their understanding of the coming of the Lord Jesus and our Gathering together to Him

two different events in the bible.

1. The Rapture of the Church ( Gathering Together )

1 Thess. 4: 16- 17

“ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord”

And so Paul has already addressed this subject in his first letter to the church. What we call the Rapture of the Church , the gathering, where the Lord will come down and call his church , those who have placed their trust and hope in Him and will be “ Caught up” with Him in the air.

2. The Second Coming of Christ

now the second coming of Chris is a completely different event . This is an event that takes place after ....

A. The Rapture of the Church

B. The Tribulation Period

C. Then the Second Coming of Christ

where Christ will return to earth with heavenly hosts and the church to establish His Kingdom on earth.

At this Second Coming, the Anti- Christ will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Satan will be bound for 1,000 years.

Christ will establish his Kingdom on earth for 1,000 years- ( The Millinial Reign )

And like i said there is alot of things here so we are going to take it slow and really look at these things.

But it is this subject that Paul is concerned about .

and although Paul addressed the rapture of the church in his first letter, the fact that he is still concerned and is writing again about this subject of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ- shows us that there was still confusion in the minds of the people. And the reality that, they were confused mixed with false teachers who had their own understanding of things, really concerned Paul about the ability of these young believers to stand firm and not be shaken in their faith.

And so as we move on to verse 2 we get to see Paul’s heart . What he was really concerned about was much more than if the people had proper understanding of a doctrine but it was that a wrong understanding of a biblical truth could lead to them being moved away from their faith.

And this is what we will spend the majority of our time looking at today. The Danger of being Shaken.

II. The Danger of Being Shaken (v.2-3)

So Paul gives us insight as to what he was concerned about. He did not want the people to be “Shaken” or “Deceived” concerning the biblical truth of the second coming of Christ.

See from the text we are able to gather that there were false teachers who were proclaiming different truths or a variation of truths concerning the second coming of Christ. Now we do not know exactly how these false teachers were spreading these lies but Paul gives us a few things that may have been possible.

False Truths Proclaimed

The Spirit ( Prophecy)

The Word

The Letter

so is was event that these false teachers were proclaiming their lies either through the spirit or a spiritual gathering , maybe saying it was a prophecy or at a pray meeting

it was possible that they were saying that Paul had said specific things, possible in a teaching or in a sermon

or that Paul had written a letter confirming what they were saying.

So Paul is saying don’t be shaken or deceived by these false teachers coming with these lies and saying that it is from me.

see what the false teachers were teaching was that the rapture of the church had happened already and that they were in the tribulation period.

And the basis for this teaching was because of the persecution that they were dealing with. They would say that because of the persecution that they were dealing with , it was evidence that they were in the middle of the tribulation period and the coming of Christ was at hand

and what this produced was the young believers to feel that they had missed the rapture and had missed being with the Lord, so their faith would be shaken by the deception.

And this is why Paul is writing to correct those lies so that they would not be deceived and they would not be moved from their faith.

Transition

So as i looked at this heart that Paul had for the young believers i couldn’t help but relate to what we as leaders feel for you. That we live in a time and age where there is a lot of things out there proclaiming to be truth, proclaiming to be the real thing etc… and many people buy into these things.

buying into false truths, false securities , false perspectives , false narratives and the outcome of that can be devastating to their faith and their relationship with God.

and so you see us here week in and out proclaiming truth to you in order that you would not be shaken from your faith and that you would not be deceived with lies

So lets look at this. HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT IN MY LIFE?

We can see the things that Paul addressed and see that this is very similar to today and how satan works uses the same tactics to hinder your faith as he did with the believers in Thess.

The Spirit ( Prophecy )

Paul spoke about the spirit or prophecy. This speaks of possibly a spiritual gathering. A time and place where they were gathered to worship God or to pray- and an individual could take advantage of the situation to proclaim a new word of the Lord in that circumstance. A word that does not match or is not in line with the rest of the bible.

What does that look like today?

You would be surprised that not all people who use the bible to preach from are actually being biblical and are preaching truth. The assumption that we can have is that if a person is teaching on a pulpit , in a church , teaching online , has a fancy title that what they are teaching is biblical and is according to the word of God and according to the will of God.

and the reality is that that is not the case. There are many people out there today who are preaching a false gospel, a false truth , false salvation, false grace and are causing people to be shaken from their faith and to be deceived.

i was talking to a buddy on Monday who was telling me of a story of his son who is a good kid, who has gone through bible college and who reads the bible every day , was watching a preacher online.

This preachers name is Todd White. And the video they were watching was of this guy out in the mission field doing what looked to be good things. Sharing about Jesus and helping the poor. The guy has long dreadlocks and looks young and cool.

so from the surface it looked like a good message and someone worth listening to. Yet the reality is this guy has a false message. He preaches a false gospel and a false Jesus and actually takes advantage of people for their money. But from the outside , in a quick glance he looks good.

and there are many false teachers like that. And the reality is that many people are shaken from their faith and deceived by religious gatherings.

There has been a video circling social media recently about a pastor who has had all these visions and dreams about the season we are in today, with covid and the social unrest. And many well intended christians have jumped on the bandwagon with this thing just believing everything as truth because this guy is a pastor. And many of these people have had their faith shaken.

there is a good documentary called “ The American Gospel” on NetFlix that is really good and it shows how well intended people with a right heart were deceived and shaken from their faith

People are deceived by lies because they don’t know truth.

2. The Word

Paul would talk about the word. Or literally things that are said. Some would have said that Paul had said a specific thing concerning the second coming of Christ. They would attempt to use his words to prove their options or their agenda.

You see this play out in our lives today. You have many people who have their own opinions on things, their own thoughts on a matter and you will see this through social media or different platforms that they intend to proclaim their opinion through there words in order to convince you and i that they are right.

we have seen this play out with the whole black lives matters. When the whole thing first started everyone was jumping on the bandwagon of BLM, people we automatically posting things with the hastags, pics, .

there was a pressure that was circling from social media and the current culture that made you feel that you had to jump on the bandwagon to be socially accepted.

and what we have seen is many well intended people get caught up in the narrative of the culture , in the words and the opinions of the culture and have allowed themselves to follow and support things they really don’t know. They have been shaken and deceived by the words of the culture proclaiming truth.

3. The Letter

the false teachers in Pauls days used him and his writings as a way to twist and to deceive people. In our day you will have many people including at your schools who will call into question the word of God and the writings found in the bible.

they will call the bible false and they will call into question the vilidity of the bible, if it is really true

and many people as they move into high school and college get challenged on these things and because of their lack of knowledge they believe the lies and are moved from their faith

Transition

and the one thing that all these have in common .... people get shaken and deceived when there is a lack of understanding of the word of God, and this creates spiritual immaturity

III. The Cause Of Spiritual Immaturity ( Heb. 5:12-14)

the writer here addressing the dull hearts of the readers and their inability to understand the things of God, or literally the things of Jesus.

and he begins to tell us the reason for their dull hearts. Because of their spiritual immaturity.

And the writer contrasts two different group of people and he shows us what makes them different from one another.

Spiritual Immature Person vs Mature Person

A. Drinks Milk

the writer uses the illustration of a baby drinking milk. He calls those that are spiritually immature babies who need to drink milk. In other words we understand that if you have a baby with no teeth you couldn’t give him a steak to eat. That sounds weird right?

A baby is not developed enough to be able to chew the steak and to digest it. And the reference he is using is that a person who is spiritually immature is someone who is only eating milk, only eating the basic things of God.

in other words they only have an understanding of very basic things concerning God. Maybe only know john 3:16. They know that they are saved but maybe thats it. They don’t have an understanding of what God’s will for there lives is, they don’t know how God would want them to live, they don’t understand about the grace of God

all of these things that a person begins to grow in their understanding and knowledge which translate into their daily lives. I’ve made this illustration before but it would be like watching a high school senior in a diaper.

by all intended purposes they look like they should be mature , they even have facial hair , yet they are walking around with a diaper . Many of you are like this, where you have grown up in the church , you have heard the stories of the bible, you have memorized scripture, yet you are spiritually immature

your life hasn’t changed, your life has not been affected by what you have been taught.

The mature Christian is one who has moved past the basic things of God , like the baby and milk and has moved on to understand and apply the deeper things of God into his life and his life has began to be changed by these truths.

What is the reason?

B. Exercising their Senses (v.14)

What the writer tells us is that a mature person is one who “ exercises their Senses “

What he is talking about is that a spiritually mature person is one who is daily exercising the practice of eating the word of God. He has made it a part of his daily life.

And the more he digs into the word of God, the more he spends time with God, the more he understands, the he is transformed , the more he grows.

we all understand the concept of exercising and the need to put into place a program of consistent workouts if i want to see results, if i want to see change , if i want to see growth.

the spiritually immature person is one who does not exercise the practice of getting into the word of God. They find themselves being distracted by other things other than the word of God.

I cannot stress how important it is for you at this age to begin to develop the habit and practice of reading the bible daily. But more than just read it , to actually spend time meditating on it and to see how it applies to your lives.

when i first got saved i was 17. i was a junior in high school . And at the time i was home schooled but for different reasons than some of you guys, i was kicked out of 3 different high schools my freshman year so i was forced to go into home school my last 3 years in order to graduate on time

so because of i was home schooled i was able to work during the day. i actually worked at In- n -out and then at night during the winter we would hit MT. High and snowboard at night . I had a sweet system at the time. But when i got saved i didn’t know anything about the bible. i had never read it

so when i became a christian i began the bible and i couldn’t get enough of it. I had a routine that was i woke up , i would read the bible ( a few chapters), i would then pray for all of my family and friends that didn’t know Jesus. Then i would listen to (1) chuck tape, which was a bible study on a tape.

and that was my schedule before i went to work at in -n - out and before i went snowboarding. That is what i did the first few years when i became a christian, and you know what happen?

i began to grow spiritually, i began to understand the things of God, my life began to change, i even began to teach the bible. But my point is that it was through the consuming of the word of God in my life, and the making it a daily practice that i began to grow.

I think sometimes because you guys have heard the bible all your lives, because you have heard bible studies all your life , you don’t understand the importance and the impact of the word of God in your live.

then we see the results of daily exercising the word of God....

3. Discernment between Good and Evil

what a person gains in the daily practice of the word of God in their lives is that they begin to get an understanding between what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is a lie.

as we have seen this comes through a person who brings the word of God into their lives daily, but the person who doesn’t will not be able to know what is good or what is bad, they won’t know what is true and what is a lie

and ultimately these are the people who are moved or shaken from their faith, those that are deceived.