The Return Of The King: Signs Of The Times Series

INTRODUCTION

OPENING TITLE SLIDE

• Have you ever noticed how quickly rumors can spread?

• A single false report can travel faster than the truth.

• Whether it’s breaking news on your phone, a whispered conversation in a hallway, or a dramatic post on social media, confusion can grip hearts almost instantly.

• Such confusion is the root of why Paul wrote the passages we have been examining concerning the Second Coming of Jesus.

• A rumor had swept through the church: Jesus had already returned, and we missed the party.

• Can you imagine the panic?

• The fear?

• The doubt?

• Some believers were shaken to the core.

• Others were confused about what they’d been taught.

• In the middle of the storm, Paul steps in with a steady voice, reminding them that God’s plan isn’t determined by human panic, false teaching, or deception.

• We’re living in a time when confusion, fear, and speculation about the end times are just as real.

• Turn on the news, scroll through your feed, or walk into a coffee shop; everyone seems to have an opinion on the future.

• One thing you need to know about the awesome God we serve is that He does not want us to live in fear; He wants us to live with confidence in who He is and who we are in Him.

• He wants us to live with confidence in His word.

• We have said in the first three messages in this series that only God knows when He will send Jesus back; however, we will see some things that must happen before Jesus comes.

• The interesting aspect of the text today is that people have speculated who Paul is speaking of when he tells the Thessalonians about the man of lawlessness as well as the timeline.

• One thing I want to stress from a timeline standpoint is that the events Paul shares with us in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 take place BEFORE the Second Coming, not after.

• This information is important to know because folks have developed bad theology concerning the Second Coming.

• As it was during Paul's writing of 2 Thessalonians, not understanding the truth can lead to bad theology and possibly impact how we live our lives, along with perhaps waiting for certain "signs" to come before we would consider coming to Jesus.

• The undercurrent to the message today is as follows.

• Where do you go for truth?

• When it comes to faith in Jesus, we go to the Bible.

• I cannot tell you how often people have ideas about God, Jesus, or any other faith issue, and they will share their views with me.

• If the view does not appear to line up with Scripture, I will ask where they find their thought in the Bible.

• Most of the time, their thought or view is not found in the Bible or is taken out of context from the Bible.

• When Paul deals with incorrect teaching, Paul combats the teaching with the truth of God's Word.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–3 NET 2nd ed.

1 Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,

2 not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.

3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

• In moments of fear and uncertainty, people will cling to whatever voice seems the loudest, even if it isn’t true.

• That’s exactly what happened in Thessalonica.

• Paul steps in like a calm voice in the storm, reminding them, “Don’t be easily shaken or alarmed.”

• The problem wasn’t just the rumor itself; it was the confusion it caused in the hearts of believers.

• Before the rebellion… before the revealing of the lawless one… before the return of Christ, Paul addresses this first reality:

Confusion can shake your faith if it isn’t anchored in the truth.

• Let’s look at verses 1–3 and see what Paul says about this time of confusion.

SERMON

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

I. A Time of Confusion

• In the latter part of 1 Thessalonians, Paul explained the events that would occur as Jesus returned.

• Some had deceived some of those in the church into thinking they were in the midst of the Day of the Lord.

• This deception led people to live in a way that was not pleasing to God.

• The wrong ideas folks were being tricked into believing were having a negative impact on some in the church.