Be Careful What You Believe Series

Series: Continued Encouragement [#3]

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU BELIEVE

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Introduction:

As I began preparing this sermon, I remembered something that happened to a preacher friend of mine many years ago. He pastored a Church and the Church was struggling with low attendance and low participation. When I saw him on Monday, he said that his Church had more people in attendance than ever before. The reason was, a man with the same name was in the Sunday Police Report for beating his wife; and people wanted to see what kind of pastor would beat his wife. My friend said that he spent a lot of sermon time talking about being careful in what you believe.

The Thessalonian Church was worth bragging about. This Church was being persecuted on a regular basis, yet they continued on faithfully. The evidence of this was in how they allowed God to lead no matter what the circumstances. Paul was praying for them that they would be reminded that it is through the power of Christ that they can do these things and that they were being prayed for regularly. It is so important that we intercede for one another often. What was the focus of their prayer? The focus was that this Church would glorify God in all that they did.

Paul began this 2nd chapter by warning them to be careful in what they believed. This message applies to each of us today.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 (NIV)

1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us- whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter- asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.

When you hear something, do not be…

1. Alarmed by rumors.

These Christians were being lied to about the coming of Jesus. They had been told that Jesus had already come back to this Earth and they were living during the Tribulation. While, we will be studying this over the next couple of weeks, I want us to look at this in a general way. We are lied to all the time; and we need to learn how to react in a proper way. Paul lists several ways that we can be lied to.

You can be lied to by…

? Believing everything others say.

There were some in Thessalonica who were saying that Paul and other Ministers were saying that Jesus had already returned. Paul told them to not be alarmed by these rumors. If you want to know what I said, just ask me. I hate when others succeed at speaking for me.

You can be lied to by…

? Believing what “important people” are saying.

It always surprises me when people believe something because a famous movie star says it; or because a popular person says it; or a popular religious speaker says it. You need to test what people say with Scripture.

You can be lied to by…

? Believing what is in print.

Paul was speaking of letters that were accredited to him that he did not write. We live in a time that it’s hard to know what to believe in the News Paper, magazines, Social Media, and on the internet. It goes back to that idea of, “If it is on the internet it must be true”; which we all know is not true.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 (NIV)

3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

When you hear something, do not be…

2. Deceived in any way.

When Paul says, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way”, he meant that. How do you avoid being deceived? The Bible tells us to put these things to the test. Scripture gives us the answers.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (NIV)

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

Test…

? All prophecies.

Hold on to the good and reject every kind of evil. If preaching or teaching contradicts the Bible, then reject it.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Test…

? And approve what God’s will is.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

Test…

? Yourself.

Conclusion:

Be careful what you believe. People need to see that we trust in God and His Word for our answers.