Sermon Tone Analysis

Signs for the Second Coming of Christ, Pt.6 The Revelation of the AntichristThe Abomination of Desolation

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 (NKJV)

2 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.

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.

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.

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.

Introduction

Christian media has been set ablaze with speculations recently as to whether we are living in the last of the last days before the return of Christ.

With the recent Presidential election and 2 year pandemic and now the war in Ukraine and add to this the constant threat of new missiles from North Korea and the cracking down on churches in Canada and the rise of persecution of Christians through the world many seem to believe this is it.

According to one article written this past week, The war in Ukraine has reignited beliefs among some conservative evangelicals that Russia could help fulfill biblical prophecies about the end of the world.

These evangelicals, particularly charismatic Christians who focus on end-times theories, have long believed that Russia has a special role to play in the end times and are sharing new theories about why the invasion of Ukraine might be part of God’s plan.

Earlier this month, California megachurch pastor Greg Laurie, who was part of President Donald Trump’s inner circle of pastor-advisors, told his followers he saw a “prophetic significance” to what is happening in Ukraine.

And Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin was “compelled by God” to attack Ukraine.

Since then, people who engage in prophecy have been giving their own biblical interpretations of global events, particularly around Russia’s role in triggering the end of the world.

A Rapture Index that tracks what it sees as end-times activity recently increased its index to 187 out of 200.

The index hit 182 after Sept. 11, 2001.

In its most recent update, it notes climate change, the coronavirus and the rise of oil prices as factors for recent changes.

Conservative Christians have long looked at world events and pointed to biblical references as signs that what is happening in the world could fulfill biblical prophecy, and this time is no different, said Michael Brown, host of the Charlotte-based Christian radio show “The Line of Fire.”

“When you have Christians who already think about how we’re living in the last days and they see the continual moral decline of America, they see the church being marginalized, it doesn’t take much to tip the scales,” he said.

“Whenever Russia gets involved, it’s like, ‘Ah here it is, it’s the final conflict.’”

Some evangelicals once believed that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, was the Antichrist, in part because he had a birthmark on his forehead that conjured up concerns that it could be “the mark of the beast,” a biblical sign for Satan in the end times.

Perhaps Putin is “an Antichrist of our current time,” said Jeff Kinley, who writes on biblical prophecy and lives in Harrison, Ark., in a recent interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network

Russia’s war on Ukraine has some Christians wondering: Is this the end of the world?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/03/10/russia-putin-end-of-the-world/

To be clear, I do not endorse any of these as sound biblical exegetes or scholarship on the topic of eschatology.

Frankly, these kind of events are very hard to see clearly that we are at the time of the Return of Christ.

There have always been wars, and tyrants and dictators.

There have been diseases and pandemics in the past even worse than what we have experienced.

We have seen waves of horrific persecution of the church in the past.

So when we see wars, and rumors of wars and pestilence and disease and believers being led away and persecuted, it’s hard to know if you're close.

But, Paul and Jesus give us some specific signs.

Some non negotiable, non debatable, clear, obvious universal signs that are absolute and that tell you that you are in the season of His Return.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 (NKJV)

2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ……. 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.

Lesson

I. His Description

II.

His Desecration

III.

His Deception

I. His Description

2 Thessalonians 2:3 (NKJV)

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,

II.

His Desecration

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.

He’s Adversarial

He’s Egotistical

He’s Universal

He’s Counterfactual

He’s Adversarial

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NKJV)

4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,

ὁ ἀντικείμενος ….ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα,

He’s Adversarial

He’s Egotistical

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NKJV)

4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,

4 ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ⸆ καθίσαι ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶν θεός.*

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.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NASB95)

4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

sebasma: an object of worship

Original Word: σέβασμα, ατος, τό

Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter

Transliteration: sebasma

Phonetic Spelling: (seb'-as-mah)

Definition: an object of worship

Usage: an object of worship or veneration.

Cognate: 4574 sébasma – devotion shown to a deity, especially in relation to religious objects of worship.

See 4576 (sebomai).

Notice the verse again….

4. HE…. who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship,

He’s Adversarial

He’s Egotistical

He’s Universal

Revelation 13:7 (NKJV)

7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Revelation 13:8 (NKJV)

8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:12 (NKJV)

12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Revelation 14:6 (NKJV)

6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—

He’s Adversarial

He’s Egotistical

He’s Universal

He’s Counterfactual

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.

, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶν θεός.

1.

The Historical