NOT YET
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
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.
3 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;
4 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, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 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:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Intro:
- Someone posing to be Paul, had written a letter to them stating that the Tribulation had already started.
- The believers were instantly shaken in faith and became troubled in spirit.
- To calm their hearts and shaken faith, Paul explained that they were not in the Day of the Lord. The reason was simple: that Day could not arrive until certain other events had taken place.
- There were sure and clear signs that the Tribulation was not taking place. Paul in essence gives them logic so they can draw a logical conclusion. A must precede B, since A has not yet occurred, then B could not be occurring.
1. Defiance (vv. 1-4)
- v. 1-2 – Calm down! Don’t you remember what I told you earlier? It’s still true.
v. 3 – That day cannot come until there first be a “great falling away” and then “that man of sin be revealed…”
1) Defiance of
- The Greek word for apostasy, apostasia, can mean either political revolution against government or religious rebellion against God.
- Paul uses the definite article – the apostasy. This suggests that he was referencing a religious and political condition of which they would be aware of.
- So in essence he says, “Look around you. People are still coming to Christ, churches are preaching the gospel, our ministries are moving forward. There is still order rather than chaos. The apostasy hasn’t happened yet. Therefore, you are not in the Day of the Lord.”
- “What you are experiencing may very well be hard, but it isn’t the Tribulation, because we have not yet seen THE great falling away, i.e. apostasy.”
2) Defiance of the “
The man of sin (lawlessness) will oppose every god and object of worship, claiming to be greater than all gods. In fact, he will claim to be God himself, taking a seat in the Temple (tribulation temple).
Paul never used the term Antichrist. This term is used only by John. However, we use the term Antichrist to refer to the world dictator whom Paul designated as the “man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” and the “lawless one” (i.e. Wicked – v. 8).
- The Greek prefix anti has two meanings:
Satan not only opposes Christ, but he wants to be worshiped and obeyed instead of Christ.
Overview of the Antichrist:
1] The
2] The
3] The peace-
4] The
5] The
Paul in essence says to the Thessalonians that based on what you already know about the man of sin, then you should know that you are not in the Day of the Lord.
- Logic – The Day of the Lord is marked by the coming of the man of sin. The man of sin has not yet been revealed. Therefore, the day of the Lord has not yet begun.
- The Greek word for apostasy, apostasia, can mean either political revolution against government or religious rebellion against God.
2. Delay (vv. 6-7)
- Something is holding Satan back from revealing “his man.” What is that? The
-Most Bible scholars agree that the Restrainer is the He will not be taken out of the world, but He will be taken out of the midst to allow Satan to go to work.
There are two programs at work in the world today: God’s program and Satan’s program.
- God’s timetable for His program is unchangeable by Satan. Just as there was a “fullness of time” at the coming of the Christ child, even so there will be a fullness of time for the coming of the Antichrist. It will happen when God’s sovereignty dictates.
Once the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit has ceased, then the Antichrist can be revealed.
Paul logic and argument: since the Restrainer has not been removed, the Antichrist has not yet been revealed. Since the Antichrist has not been revealed, the Day of the Lord has not begun.
3. Destruction (vv. 8-9)
- When Jesus returns, He will judge the Antichrist by the “the spirit of His mouth…and the brightness of His coming.”
- The verbs “consume” and “destroy” do not mean annihilate. Rev. 20:10 indicates that Satan and his associates will be tormented in the lake of fire forever.
We could translate that statement this way: “Whom Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth, and bring an end to his operations by the outshining of His presence.”
The point about destruction isn’t a proof that the Day of the Lord has not begun, but Paul reminds them that when the Day turns from darkness to light, it will happen at Jesus’ literal second coming. At the return of Jesus to this earth there will be a judgment of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet and a destruction/defeat of the Antichrist’s kingdom. (cf. Rev. 19)
4. Delusion (vv. 10-12)
Prior to Jesus’ return to this earth at the end of the tribulation, many on earth will come to believe that the Antichrist is their
While a great number of Jews and Gentiles will be saved during the tribulation, the vast majority of people will reject Christ and be lost forever. Did these people have opportunity to believe and be saved?
- God has no delight in judging the lost. God is not “willing that any should perish, but that all should come unto repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9)
These people will be judged because they did not repent, believe truth, receive Jesus. They instead chose a lie.
In these verses, Paul teaches a sobering truth: a person can so resist the truth that he finally becomes deluded and has to believe a lie. There can be no neutral ground: either we believe the truth or we believe a lie. To reject the truth means to receive the lie.
Verse 11 reads literally, “That they should believe the lie.” What is “the lie”? The lie is the idea that man is his own God, in charge of his own life; therefore he can do whatever he desires to do in order to please himself or make himself better by human effort.
Point: None of the persecutors or oppressors the Thessalonians are facing are performing signs and wonders to convince people. However, Paul as an apostle is performing signs and wonders and miracles confirming the message of the gospel to be true.
- So, since the enemies are not performing signs and wonders, they are not in the Day of the Lord.