For example, in 1 Thess. Paul dealt with the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. He had this to say in 1 Thess. 4:16-18. We read, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Then Paul spoke of the rapture again in 2 Thess. 2:1. We read, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM.” This gathering that Paul spoke of is the rapture of the church as God gathers His children unto Him.
Then, after Paul told them about the RAPTURE, he also told them about the DAY OF THE LORD.
WHAT IS THE DAY OF THE LORD? “The day of the Lord” is that period of time that deals with the beginning of the tribulation period.
As you may already know, during the tribulation, wicked people, who have rejected the REAL CHRIST, will be forced to accept the FALSE CHRIST. How? God said, 2 Thess. 2:11, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
There have been many dreadful times on this earth, but the tribulation will surpass them all. No person would want to find himself here at that time!
Paul was not the only one who talked about THE DAY OF THE LORD in scripture.
• In Acts 2:20 Peter spoke of it. We read, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable DAY OF THE LORD come.”
• In 2 Peter 3:10, Peter again spoke of it. We read, “But THE DAY OF THE LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
• John talked about it in Revelation 6:17. He said, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
The reason Paul wrote the Thessalonian Christians about it was because false teachers had been teaching the rapture had already taken place and that the DAY OF THE LORD WAS AT HAND. The new Christians were being taught that they were already living in the great tribulation period.
Since they had been suffering so severely it was not hard to convince them that perhaps they were living in the tribulation period.
That was not the case, but that was what they were being told. Paul felt he needed to comfort them. Paul comforted the young Christians. This was...
I. HIS ENLIGHTENMENT
What did he enlighten them about? He enlightened them about the coming of the Lord. Look at 2 Thess. 2:1-2. We read, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the DAY OF CHRIST is at hand.”
Again I remind you that the GATHERING that Paul spoke of in verse 1 had to do with the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. Paul was saying, in verses 1 & 2, that they should not let anyone confuse them about the coming of the Lord.
Paul had some harsh things to say about the false teachers.
We all should thank the Lord for people who love the souls of men enough to do their best to speak out against false teachers and preachers and expose them for what they really are. To do so is not being UNKIND. It is simply doing what must be done before those men and women perished because of falling prey to their teachings.
It is never pleasant to have to say negative things about people. However, sometimes it is necessary to do that which IS NOT PLEASANT.
Such was the case in our text. Paul did not mention names, but those Christians were well aware of who Paul was identifying as false teachers.
Paul told them not to let the false teachers shake them up about the Lord’s coming. Then he showed them how before Christ came to rapture them there were certain things that would transpire.
A. APOSTASY MUST FIRST COME
Look at verses 3-12. We read, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Notice, he said, “...let no man deceive you by any means...” Those who were deceiving them had even used a forged letter, as if Paul was supporting their teachings. That was why Paul said, verse 2, “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the DAY OF CHRIST is at hand.” That is, Paul knew that Satan used all kinds of TRICKERY AND DECEPTION. Satan doesn’t have any limits to how low he will stoop to accomplish his purpose.
In these verse Paul assures them that Christ will not come until at least two things come to pass.
1. FIRST, THE ORGANIZED CHURCH WILL DEPART FROM THE FAITH
Look at verse 3. We read, “...except there come a falling away first...” “Falling away” here means: “Removing.” We call this “apostasy.”
We see a clear picture of this departure from the faith in Revelation 3:14-22, where John wrote of the Laodicean church, which is the last of the seven churches he wrote of. Many believe that church represents the age in which we live--the age of the LUKEWARM church--which is neither cold nor hot.
Illus: It is not too unusual to hear of denominations stating that they are changing their beliefs these days. That is, they no longer believe in things they once clinged to as tenets of faith.
For example, there are churches who once PREACHED and TAUGHT against abortion, homosexuality, gambling, movies, dancing, immodest dressing etc.
But, no longer. These churches have not changed the world, but the world has certainly changed them.
Illus: A man in Columbia, South Carolina, attends a large Methodist church down town. He very casually said one day, “We, as a church, voted yesterday that we no longer believe in the virgin birth of Christ.”
Before the DAY OF THE LORD can occur, Paul said there will be a DEPARTING FROM THE FAITH.
Gradually the professing church is drifting further and further from what this Bible teaches. That is why we hear so very little preaching in our churches today.
• That is why we hear television preachers preaching so many things that can not be found in scripture.
• That is why the worship services are so often filled with announcements and drama.
• That is why old songs, based on God’s Word, are being replaced by songs which contain little or no Biblical truth.
Yes, these things are happening because God’s church has drifted from the Word of God.
All who have been raised in old-fashioned, Bible-preaching churches have something to compare what is going on today to. What is sad is that those who have never been in such churches have nothing to compare today’s watered-down messages to.
They attend these LUKEWARM churches, where God’s Word is not preached, and they think this is the way it is supposed to be.
This DEPARTING begins gradually, but notice, it does not stay that way.
2. SECONDLY, THIS DEPARTING WILL BECOME ONE OF TOTAL APOSTASY
The Greek word, that is translated as “falling away,” means more than just a departing from the faith. The root word actually means: “Departure or removal from.”
What was Paul alluding to? He was saying that once the DAY OF THE LORD begins there is going to be such a removal of the teaching of God’s Word, It will virtually cease to exist on the face of this earth as we know It today.
This is why Jesus, speaking of the DAY OF THE LORD in Luke 18:8, says, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” There is a question whether there will be any faith on earth. We know that some (Jews) will be saved during the tribulation period, but there will be such a small amount of faith left on earth that the question is asked, “...shall he find faith on the earth?”
While the church, born-again Christians, are here there will be faith here. That is, churches, like this church, hear about the DEPARTURE OF THE TEACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD AND WE SPEAK OUT AGAINST THAT HAPPENING. But, when God raptures His own, there will be no one here to speak out against it. The apostasy will be so great that the FAITH that the church had adhered to will no longer exist.
Paul assured them that before the DAY OF THE LORD would come, there had to be this DEPARTING FROM THE FAITH. He also told them something else had to occur.
B. THE ANTI-CHRIST (MAN OF SIN) HAD TO BE REVEALED
Look at verse 3. We read, “...except...that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
WHO IS THE MAN OF SIN? He is the anti-Christ. When he is revealed the tribulation period has already begun.
There has been a lot of speculation as to who that man might be.
Notice, the Bible refers to him as “...THE SON OF PERDITION.” Look at John 17:12. It gives us the clue as to who the anti-Christ might be. We read, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but THE SON OF PERDITION; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” That is, many believe that Judas will be re-incarnated and become the anti-Christ. There are two reasons for this:
1. FIRST, ACCORDING TO JOHN, WE KNOW JUDAS WAS ONE OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES BUT HE WAS NOT ONE OF THE LORD’S CHILDREN
Look what Jesus said about him. We read in John 6:70, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a DEVIL.”
2. SECONDLY, AGAIN, JESUS REFERRED TO HIM AS “...THE SON OF PERDITION...” (John 17:12)
Many believe that as Christ became flesh and dwelled among us, so will Judas be re-incarnated and will become flesh and dwell among us.
However, whether it be Judas, or whomever, we do know this; that Paul tells us the ANTI-CHRIST will be here on earth, ready to make his move, before the Lord takes His own to be with Him.
WHAT WILL HE DO WHEN HE IS IN CONTROL?
Look at verses 4-5. We read, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?”
WHAT WILL HE DO? The Bible makes it clear what he will do. He will oppose all that is godly and exalt himself above and demand to be worshipped.
WHY WILL HE OPPOSE GOD? Because he will want to be worshipped as God. The devil will oppose all that is God-like because he can never be HOLY like God. He will draw wicked men to himself, not through holiness, but through wickedness.
The devil knows he can draw large crowds of sinners through wickedness. For example,
Illus: There can be a day, like Saint Patrick’s Day, and have exhibit booths showing you the history of Ireland and only a small crowd will come to see, but if there is a feast down town with alcoholic beverages, dancing, sexual promiscuity, etc., the streets will be filled.
The devil has always known how to draw a crowd.
Illus: Howard Stern is probably one of the most wicked men living in recent years. He could never draw a holy person to himself, but all the wicked people who know about him seem to love and adore him.
The devil has always known how to draw a crowd. For example,
Illus: We have wicked politicians in America who can stand up and say:
• ”I believe a woman should have the right to stop the heart beat of her child,” and there are people in our society who will adore them.
• ”I believe in legalizing drugs,” and there are people who will adore them.
• ”I believe in the legalization of pornography, and the selling of liquor and beer,” and there are people in our society who will adore them.
The devil has always wanted to be worshipped, but he knows the only way he can get mankind to adore him is to appeal to the wickedness in their hearts--so he OPPOSES ALL THAT IS GOD-LIKE. He knows, from years of experience, if you want wicked people to follow you all you have to do is OPPOSE all that is GOD-LIKE.
However, once he draws them, next he will REQUIRE people to worship him.
WHERE WILL HE DWELL? Look at verse 4 again. Scripture tells us where he will dwell. We read, “...he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
Conclusion/Summary:
Paul knew the Thessalonian Christians had been misinformed about the rapture. He wanted to ENLIGHTEN THEM. They were shook up because they were being told they were in the great tribulation period because of the sufferings they were going through. Paul wrote and told them that was not the case, that two things must transpire before that could happen.
(1) Apostasy.
(2) Anti-Christ.
I. HIS ENLIGHTENMENT
A. APOSTASY MUST FIRST COME
B. THE ANTI-CHRIST (MAN OF SIN) MUST FIRST BE REVEALED
