The church at Thessalonica was hearing some incorrect doctrine regarding Christ’s return. Some taught that He had already come. Of course, this was not true—when Jesus comes, He will take His children out of this world, prepare to judge the world and the Antichrist and settle this question once for all. Paul wrote to the church to correct their misunderstanding of the doctrine of the return of Christ. He outlined and delineated a portion of history yet to come. Note several important facts that Paul presented in the second chapter of II Thessalonians:
1. The Restraining of
the Antichrist (2:1-7)
The "man of lawlessness"
is the Antichrist. He cannot appear until some specific events
take place.
A. The Apostasy
There must first be an apostasy; the church will rebel against Christ even as the world rebelled against Him. This is already happening in the church through the denial of God’s Word, the rejection of Christ as the only way of salvation and the acceptance of evil behavior as being consistent with the Christian life. The church will not be destroyed—a remnant of faithful believers will remain.
B. The Antichrist.
Before the Antichrist can be revealed "he that letteth will let until he be taken out of the way." That is, the One who is restraining the wicked works of Satan must be removed before the Antichrist can be revealed. He is the Holy Spirit! When Christ returns for the church and raptures us out of this world, the Holy Spirit will be removed with us. Only then will the Anti-Christ be unrestrained.
2. The Recruiting of
the Antichrist (2:9-12)
After the church has
been removed and Her members carried to the Judgment Seat of Christ.
It is at that time the Antichrist will begin a great recruiting
process. He will seek to get the entire world to follow him.
A. Power.
The Antichrist will display feats of great power. He will have a charismatic personality. The world will receive, enthrone, and declare him to be god.
B. Perjury.
He will use lies and deceit to mislead the people. Those left behind will not know to reject him, there will be a great delusion just before the great damnation. Many, who have never heard of Christ, will be saved and will not follow Antichrist. But any person who has heard the gospel will be deluded and will follow the Antichrist right to destruction.
2. The Resisting of the
Antichrist (2:13-17)
The spirit of Antichrist is already at work in
our world. By these means we must resist him:
A. Stay Involved.
Remain in fellowship with Jesus. Walk and talk with Him daily. Don’t give up. We must get up! We must not back up, let up, or shut up till we are taken up!
B. Stay Informed.
t become ignorant of Satan’s devices. Learn and practice the Word of God. Stand in the armor of God—resist the devil and he will flee from you.
C. Stay Encouraged.
Keep on praising and keep on praying!
3. The Revelation of
the Antichrist (2:8a)
The period of time between the rapture of the church and the destruction
of the Antichrist will be seven years. This is divided into two
sections:
A. The First Three And One-half Years.
During this period, Anti-Christ will consolidate the political, economic and religious sectors under his control. At the end of this period, he will set himself up in the Temple in Jerusalem (rebuilt by that time); pull off the mask he has been wearing and declare himself to be god!B. The Second Three And One-half Years.
During this period, horrible events will take place on earth: oppression, starvation, torture and war. The world system has sought to expel God and do things in an humanistic way; it will have an opportunity to do so. The results will be so terrible that people will beg to die but they cannot!
4. The Removing of the
Antichrist (2:8b)
Jesus will eventually gather His army—the
saved of all ages—and come to the earth. We will not actually
do any fighting, we will watch, not war. Our war with Satan is
in the present, once we are with Christ; we will never have to
resist Satan again (hallelujah!). Jesus will destroy him and his
forces with the breath of His mouth and cast them into the lake
of fire! Jesus will reign with His saints forever! With the Antichrist,
you have defeat, death, damnation and destruction to look forward
to. With Christ you have grace, glory and goodness forever! Which
will it be for you? Who will you serve?
Closing Devotional Thought: Second Thessalonians 2:16-17 contains a beautiful benediction. This blessing penned by Paul to the Christians at Thessalonica is instructive and. inspirational. In it we observe how good God has been to each of us and how we should be conscientious in return.
A. The Source of This Blessing
Personal Interest Of Jesus
Our blessings are in Christ. Sinless, He left Heaven for us and
resisted every temptation in order to qualify to die for us,
bearing our sins in His body. He intercedes for us before the
Father. He sent the Holy Spirit. He will return to take us to
be with Himself forever! Every true blessing to the Christian
comes through Jesus Christ!
Paternal Interest of the Father
Some people look at God the Father as angry and mean, while looking
at Jesus as loving and kind. The Bible teaches us that this is
not true. God is love! God so loved the world that He sent His
Son! We are blessed through the Son because of the love of the
Father. God loves you!
B. The Sweetness of This Blessing
Paul declared three sweet blessings: a. His Love for us. The
idea here is of love, which exists, not due to the life of the
loved, but due to the life of the Lover. God is the Lover and
as long as He lives, His love for you is secure.
His Life to us.
Paul spoke in this passage of "everlasting consolation,"
possible only in eternal life. Sometimes we find consolation
in our thinking, think you are going to die, however the Doctor
says you are going to live, you will have temporary consolation.
In Christ, you have the assurance that you will live forevermore!
That is everlasting consolation!
His Long-suffering with us
Our hope is not based on wishing, for we could not wish ourselves
to be good enough for God. Our hope is not based on our condition.
We are hopeless sinners, even after we are saved. There is no
experiential eradication of sin—our hope is based on grace!
God is long-suffering with us! He will not desert us to our foes!
C. The Subject of This Blessing
Paul addressed two subjects in this beautiful benediction:
Roger Pickett
Born In Prayer and Kept By Power