The Day Of Judgment Series

The optimist says the world is everyday in every way getting

better and better. The pessimist says the world isn’t what it used to

be, but is going to the dogs. The Christian realist says they are both

right, because there are two kingdoms of reality. There is the world

order, or that realm in which sin and rebellion reign. There is the

kingdom of God, or the realm in which Christ reigns. Both will exist

side by side in conflict until the end. The Christian, as a realist, must

be both an optimist and a pessimist if he accepts the whole picture of

reality painted for us by Scripture. If the Christian refers to the

world as it is outside of Christ, then he has no choice but to be

pessimistic. The Bible clearly says that it will pass away and end in

destruction. There is no basis for optimism about the world. But we

must not have our vision so limited by the world order that we

cannot see the hand of God working in history.

We must open our spiritual eyes and recognize that there are

thousands of victories being won everyday around the world. We

are referring to the victories of light over darkness. The Christian

must balance his pessimism concerning the world with his optimism

concerning the kingdom of God. If he does not, he will not be an

effective servant of Christ. Paul shows us the balance between the

two in this passage. He paints a picture of the end time, and the final

revelation of the man of sin. The whole thing will end in every

rejecter of truth being condemned. Paul was certainly no

universalist. He knew that many would be finally lost. On the other

hand, as soon as he finished this awful picture he begins to sing a

song of thanksgiving in verse 13, because he is aware of another

whole realm of reality. He is aware that God has a plan of salvation,

and that there will be many elect, and this includes the

Thessalonians, who will not be a part of that awful picture he has

just painted.

We need to keep this dual vision before us-a lost and damned

world, an yet a glorious saved kingdom of God. Optimism is

essential to motivate us to win as many out of the world into the

kingdom before the day of judgment comes. Pessimism alone is a

pagan characteristic, for even they can see the signs of doom. The

following inscription was found on a Chaldean tablet in the Mosque

of St. Sophia in Constantinople. It was written 200 years before

Abraham, but it sounds like a modern prophet on the signs of the

times. It reads, “The times in which we live are decadent. It is

evident we are approaching the end of the age. Everyone has

disregarded the law. Children no longer obey their parents.

Everyone is eager to write a book.” Such statements can be found in

almost every age because every age is peopled by the sinful. The

world has also always had its men of sin, which means men of power

and leadership who are opposed to the will of God. They make life

on earth more miserable than it would naturally be. None has

fulfilled the picture that Paul paints for us in this passage, and so we

still await the coming of the anti-Christ.

In verse 11 Paul says the strong delusion that God sends upon

the world in that day will be for a very definite purpose with a

definite cause. The cause is in verse 10. It is because they received

not the love of the truth that they might be saved. The day of

judgment is a day to be feared by all who have not responded to the

truth, for before that day they will be led into a delusion that will seal

their doom. God permits Satan freedom to work in order to

accomplish His own purpose in causing evil men to condemn

themselves. Put a piece of cheese in a dangerous spot such as a trap,

and let the mouse’s nature do the rest. So God sends His bait into the

world, which is the deluding power of Satan, and lets the rebel

sinners follow their hero into judgment. They refused God’s truth,

and would not bow to Him, and so He makes sure they bow to the

one they adore that they might join him in his destruction.

History will end with a final demonstration of the folly of sin

and rebellion against God. It is of interest to note that God fully

cooperates with Satan in his plan, or, rather, God makes Satan

cooperate with Him. God permits Satan to do his best, but then He