Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house not a creature was praying - not one in the house
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with babe on her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.
When out of the East there arose such a clatter
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash!
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here
With light like the sun sending forth a bright ray
I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!
The light of His face made me cover my head
It was Jesus! returning just like He had said
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the names of every saved man…
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said "It’s not here" my head hung in shame
The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above
With those who were ready He rose without sound
While all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees… but it was too late
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight
Oh, if only I’d been ready, been ready tonight.
In the words of this poem the meaning is clear
The coming of Jesus is now drawing near
There is only one life - and when comes the last call
We’ll find that the Bible was true after all.
APPLY: There are Christians who fear that this poem will apply to them. People who are afraid they’ve not lived good enough lives, not been quite faithful enough, or maybe, just maybe, they’ve committed the unforgivable sin.
I. The people at Thessalonica were afraid - maybe Jesus had come & they’d missed him.
II Thess. 2:1-2 tells us: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”
These Thessalonican Christians were suffering from a degree of uncertainty about their salvation.
ILLUS: A friend of mine named Gary was approached by a preacher from a denominational church whose goal was to convert Gary to his congregation. The preacher asked: “if you died today are you sure you’d make it to heaven?”
Gary wasn’t sure… (and it bothered him)
That preacher proceded to cite Gary’s uncertainty as proof that he was not saved. To that preacher, if you didn’t believe your salvation was eternally secure, you weren’t a Christian.
It’s interesting… Paul didn’t say that to the Thessalonians. Instead, Paul taught that the central issue of salvation wasn’t what you felt. It was what you thought. It was your attitude toward the truth.
II Thess. 2: 10 says (about the condemned) " They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
By contrast: II Thess. 2:13 tells the believers there: “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” It was their belief in the truth that saved them… not their feelings of “savedness.”
Those who were loved by God were those who believed the truth. Those who were perishing would do so because they refused to love the truth. That was the dividing line between those accepted by and rejected by God.
II. Now, I’ll get back to that… but 1st we should address the question: Who was this "Lawless One"/ "Man of Lawlessness?" If I don’t address that question, there’ll be people bothered by that issue all through the sermon, and so I’m going to clear this question right at the very start so we’re not distracted.
…SO, who is this "man of lawlessness?" Well, I’m here to tell you right now… I DON’T KNOW.
Some have speculated: that he was the Roman conqueror Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A. D. (20 yrs after this letter was written). Titus did enter into the Tabernacle, and later (as Emperor) he was considered a god.
Still others have considered the lawless one to be the Papacy – the line of Popes who have declared they are the voice of God in the church or temple.
Or others have taught that the man of lawlessnes is to be a future tyrant who will enter a rebuilt tabernacle and declare himself to be divine (they often identify him with other prophetic characters found in the books of Daniel and Revelation.)
Any one of these possibilities might be accurate. BUT I don’t know who this "man of lawlessness" is… and neither does anyone else. Paul neither cites other scriptures to identify the "lawless one" nor is this passage ever quoted elsewhere in scripture. If we’re going to be honest with Scripture, we need to recognize this.
III. Why do I point this out?
Because Paul’s main thrust in this letter was not to focus on "the man of Lawlessness." In fact, this was the only time Paul ever referred to him all his letters - and Paul wrote nearly 1/2 our New Testament.
NO, Paul was not distracted by speculation about who this "lawless one" was. Paul only used this information to assure the Thessalonians that Jesus hadn’t come yet.
These Thessalonians were Christians who’ve had faith shaken by false teachers who’d built their teachings around their own personal theories of the 2nd Coming. And Paul wanted to encourage and assure the Thessalonian believers of their salvation. SO, he started out by describing why people would perish in the 2nd Coming.
It’s interesting that these (who would be condemned) were going to perish because they’ve refused to love the truth (vs 10). They had made a decision about Jesus - they had refused.
Romans 1:18-19 tell us that when God comes again - no one will have an excuse because: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."
Apparently in everyone’s life there comes a point where a decision is made. And in that decision they either decide for the things that please God (righteousness and holiness) or they decide for things that will please them (pleasure and security).
AND WHEN THAT TIME COMES - there are people who will erect walls between themselves and truth, because the truth isn’t what they want to hear.
For many people, truth is what they "want" to believe. Truth is what fits their experience or their expectations. BUT it’s what they "want" to hear that will be truth for them - and they will settle for nothing else.
ILLUS: They’re like the 4 year old boy from Nashville who went with his grandfather into the woods to select a Christmas tree. They tramped all over, but the boy couldn’t find a tree that suited him. Finally, it began to get dark and cold, and the grandfather said they would have to quit looking. "We’ll have to take the next tree." he said flatly.
The boy looked up sadly and said: "Even if it doesn’t have any lights either?"
You see, for that boy, just any old tree wasn’t a Christmas tree… FOR HIM, the only tree worthy of being a Christmas tree was a tree with lights on it. That’s what he was looking for and he’d settle for nothing else. AS LONG AS he looked for such a tree, he wasn’t going to get real tree.
IV. When people MAKE a decision to REFUSE to love the truth… they open themselves up to deception and delusion. They accept falsehood & half truths. They do this because it helps them to live their lives the way they want to and it helps them justify decisions they’d otherwise be ashamed of.
ILLUS: In the most recent issue of Focus On The Family Magazine, Dianne Matthews remembered when she was a young girl in 1st grade the little girl behind her had brought a beautiful tiny Christmas gift to school and placed it on her desk. It was wrapped in white glossy paper and tied up with a sliver of red cellophane. "Immediately," she said "I was captivated. I had never seen anything so exquisite. Day after day, the tiny gift caught my eye, and my active imagination tried to guess what miniature treasure might be inside…
"I longed for that object with all the power a 5 year old can muster. Finally, I became convinced that it should be mine. I deserved it because I desired it. Since I rode an early bus to school, it was a simple matter to slip into the empty classroom one morning. My hands eagerly tore open the tiny present. Inside I found - nothing."
Ephesians talks of people who’ve had their conscious seered & caloused… they’ve lived so long in falsehood they don’t realize how empty their gift boxes of truth have become.
ILLUS: Pilate is an excellent example. He was willing to do whatever was necessary to maintain his position of power in Jerusalem… even crucifying a man who he knew wasn’t guilty - Jesus.
When confronted by the righteousness of Jesus Pilate says something revealing. In John 18:37 we read this exchange:
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
… and Pilate replied: "What is truth?"
Pilate didn’t care about truth. In fact, long before this he’d decided there was no ultimate truth. AND SO, he refused to accept that Jesus knew anything of absolute truth.
V. But Pilate’s question is a good one = what is truth?
Jesus said: the Bible is the truth. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
* If you want a book to heal your heartaches, give you guidance and comfort your soul = look into the Bible.
* If you want a book that will reveal your inner weaknesses and teach you to become a better person = look into the Bible
* If you want to know what God’s will is for your life, and you want to know how to please Him… look into the Bible
But the Bible is the truth "only" because it tells us about the source of all truth.
Repeatedly Jesus told His disciples: "I tell you the truth…" (31 times in Matthew alone). The Gospel of John declared = Jesus came into world "Full of grace & truth.” And when teaching His disciples, Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes unto the Father except by me."
JESUS then, is "The Truth" that you need to love to be assured of salvation.
VI. One last observation: there is something very troubling about what Paul writes in II Thess. 2. Paul writes: that those who "refuse to love truth" are sent "a strong delusion" (vs. 11-12).
Who sends them this strong delusion?
God does.
God sends a strong delusion?
That’s what it says.
There are a lot of people who would be uncomfortable with that. BUT I’M NOT - God is an equal opportunity employer.
If someone wants to know the truth - God will give them what they want. God will move heaven & earth to make sure they know the truth.
However, if someone refuses to love the truth - God will give them what they want as well. They want falsehood? God will give them falsehood. BUT ultimately, when the day of judgment comes - no one will have an excuse… for God will have given them what they wanted to know
CLOSE: My question for you today is: what do you want?
How do you want to face the judgment day?
Will it be as someone who has "refused to love the truth?"
Or will it be as someone who has believed and embraced truth?
