Transcript
We are in II Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 through 5, part 2. Last week we took the first couple of verses and this week we are going to finish out this important section.
We saw in II Thessalonians chapter 1 the instruction concerning afflictions or trials. He starts out with this message about afflictions and trials because the Christians in Thessalonica were told that because of the hardships and trials and afflictions they had to go through that they were being judged by God. Sometimes we get that way, we wonder, “Well, maybe God is bringing judgment.”
One of the phrases we used to hear is, “God is trying to kill me.” The problem is if He is trying to kill you, He would do it. He does not have to try and miss. God’s trying to kill me.
But Paul wants to write to them this second letter to correct the false teaching that the day of the Lord, or the tribulation period, had come and they are under the judgment of God. They even said that Paul wrote a letter saying that this is true, when in fact it was not true. But he said in chapter 1, he says, “Contrary to what you are being told, we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and for your faith in all your persecutions and afflictions that you are suffering.” He says in verse 5 of chapter 1, Which is evidence, and we emphasized that to you. Afflictions and persecutions are evidence that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, especially when you are suffering for your beliefs in Him. That you may be counted worthy. It is evidence so that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you are suffering.
So he says, “This is not the judgment day but your persecutions or afflictions are part of belonging to Christ and they are evidences that you worthy of the kingdom of God.” Interesting, suffering hardships is equivalent to being worthy of the kingdom of God. We are in a day and age where people are trying to share from the Scriptures that we need to get rid of all of our physical human afflictions and circumstances in order to make it easier. “God does not want us to suffer through these things.” Paul says suffering through these things is what makes us worthy of the kingdom of God because they are Christ’s sufferings, not ours.
And so he starts his letter off, before he gets to the subject of The Day of the Lord (or The Tribulation Period) and the proper teaching about it, he tells them about their afflictions. No you are not afflicted, you are not suffering hardship because you are being judged by God, but rather because you belong to Christ. The enemy is after you and God allows him to go just so far, but God Himself in His righteousness and in His grace keeps those who are His.
So in chapter 2 that we started last week is The Instruction Concerning the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is a Biblical phrase from Joel chapter 2 as well as Acts chapter 2 designating a seven-year tribulation period that God is going to bring judgment upon the earth. It is called The Day of the Lord. It is when He brings that judgment. In Paul’s first letter he told them that we are going to be removed and then the judgment is going to come. As he details in I Thessalonians chapter 5. So now he gets to the instructions concerning The Day of the Lord, or The Tribulation Period in theological terms. The first twelve verses of chapter 2 is the prophecy concerning The Day of the Lord, chapter 2 verses 1 through 12.
Chapter 2 verses 1 to 5 that we are finishing up today is the introduction to the central theme of the letter in verses 6 through 12 that we will begin next time. In verses 1to 5 it is the correction concerning The Day of the Lord. So he starts out in verse 1 by saying, Now we ask you, brothers. As we mentioned to you last week that term we ask you or we beseech you is all at the beginning of the verse. Some translations put it at the end of the verse. But this tells us, Now we ask you, brothers, regarding two things, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him. So he says, We ask you.
Last week we also saw verse 5, Do you not remember that still being with you, I was saying these things to you? I have already taught you about these things regarding the coming of the Lord and our gathering together to Him. So the first thing we saw last week was Paul’s reminding them of his prior teaching, the prior teaching of Paul.
Verse 2 that we took last week starts out literally in the Greek text with the word for. The word shows a purpose, the purpose for his writings. So it is important that the translation be in there. I am writing (or asking you) for you not to be quickly shaken from the mind, that is the literal translation from the mind.
So we saw in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 7 through 16 a more detailed teaching of what Paul teaches about being shaken or tossed around by every wind of doctrine. He says – we saw from last week in that text, again Ephesians chapter 4 verses 7 through 16. In verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 4 Paul started out by saying God took the captives (people who were captive to sin) and released them, forgave them, and set them free. But out of the captives – that would be you and me who are sinners saved by grace, we have now been set free from sin enslaving us – but he says, out of the captives God took captives for Himself from the believers and He gave them back to the body of Christ as gifts, he says in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7. But then the gifts that He gave is in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11: He himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor teachers. That last expression is all one person, a pastor teacher. So He gave these men, these functions, back to the body of Christ. He said in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 12 the purpose for Him giving them back. He says number one (and there are three of them) for the equipping of the saints. We have heard that verse many times over, over the years. The word equipping is the word (katartidzō). And (katartidzō) is a medical term for the mending of broken bones. In Mark chapter 1 it is used for the disciples who were mending their fishing nets. So it means to mend. So to equip the saints means to mend the saints. As we shared with you last week the important thing to understand is once a person is saved, we are then involved, we enter into a mending process.
Whereas as Paul said in Romans chapter 12:2, Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so God over the years, through the hearing of the word changes the cortex of the brain and our perception process becomes how God perceives things, rather than how we perceive things.
So the purpose for God giving these people back to the body of Christ as gifts for the equipping of the saints. Secondly, For the work of ministry, so that the saints would be able to minister to one another from being mended, in fact, sharing in the mending process.
And thirdly, For the building up or development of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is built up and matured through ministry of God’s Spirit through the members of the body of Christ. The goal of all of this in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, Until we all come to the unity of the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The word perfect means mature. All of this is to take place, to arrive that we all are one in maturity. That we should no longer be children tossed and carried around by every wind of doctrine. So in Ephesians chapter 4, that is Paul’s in-depth teaching of how believers need to be established, need to hear the word on a constant basis for the renewing of the mind.
In fact, that is what the word says here – back to II Thessalonians chapter 2, for you not to be quickly shaken from the mind. It is the same word used in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 for the renewing of the mind. It is the word (nous). There are many Greek words that describe the processes of the brain and its functions. The word (nous) describes the perception ability, the perception ability of the mind. And so he says, For you not to be quickly shaken from the perception.
Paul ministered to them, they gained a perception as to the taking away of the believers, then the judgment of God comes, but now they have been changed and shaken and taken away from that perception to a different perception of the mind. That is very important for our study for today. By three things – Neither be shaken from the mind nor to be troubled – three things:
1) Neither through spirit.
He says, “If a spirit comes to you and brings you a message from God and it is contrary to what God’s word says, it is false.”
2) Nor through word.
That is teaching, speaking. Some people have ingenious teaching systems, but they are their own, they are not from the word. They are not of the word.
3) Neither through letter, as through us.
So Paul says, “If you get a letter and it supposedly it is from us,” and Paul is even including himself, “if it is contrary to what we have taught you, then it is false.” Even if it has Paul’s name on it, it is not from Paul.
As that the Day of the Lord has come. We ended off there last week with saying – notice the translation: Day of the Lord. The oldest Greek manuscript uses the word Lord. The other manuscripts use the word Christ, The Day of Christ has come. But the oldest manuscripts should be used here, Day of the Lord is the day of judgment as we said earlier. In Joel chapter 2 he says the Day of the Lord is the day of God’s judgment. And Peter used that in Acts chapter 2 in his message and quoting from Joel that the day of the Lord shall come with judgment and destruction. So he says, “If any of these things happen: a spirit comes with a message, somebody comes up with an elaborate teaching system, if someone comes up with a letter – if any of this happens it says the Day of the Lord, the time of judgment of God has come they are false.”
I am surprised what we have today. There are people in the pulpit who say, “The reason why we are going through all these hard times is because we are in the tribulation period.” He comes right out and says exactly what Paul says is false if it contradicts his teaching or the perception that Paul gave.
Now in verse 3 it says, Anyone should not deceive you according to any way, because that day will not come unless two things happen, the apostasy should come first, and secondly, the man of sin, some texts say the man of lawlessness, should be revealed, the son of perdition. Perdition means destruction.
Basically verse 3 is rehashing for them the two things that must happen before the Day of the Lord comes. Two things must happen. First of all, there must be a falling away. Some texts say there is a falling away here instead of apostasy, but the term falling away is represented by one Greek word, apostasy. So that is the literal translation. For years this is one of the places in this chapter that certain people in the body of Christ took it that the falling away is making reference to the church, the removal of the church, the falling away from the earth, taking up into heaven. Well the word in the Greek text for the term falling away is the word apostasy. It is one word. It is a falling away from the faith, not the removal of the church from the earth. There must be an apostasy first.
What is interesting, I follow the news a lot and quite a few articles in the last couple of weeks of how religious leaders are lamenting the fact that people are leaving churches. One article actually said, “People are losing their faith in church.” And I thought to myself, “Good, because you are not supposed to have faith in church.” You are supposed to have faith in Christ, not the church. Put your faith in the church, you are going to be disappointed. Put your faith in Christ. But it is interesting, in the last days there is going to be a falling away from the faith not revival. Everybody proclaims revival. There will not be revival. There will be little pockets of the moving of God’s Spirit to bring people to Christ, but it will not be a revival.
In fact, Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 and says, The spirit expressly says that in the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. The Bible says that in the last days there will not be revival, there will be a falling away. There will not be revival but a falling away from the faith. And the reason the people are going to be falling away is because they are going to take heed, or pay attention, or respond to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. Notice the order in which Paul wrote to Timothy, seducing spirits first, doctrines of demons second. People are seduced by experiences, stimulating experiences. And they believe the doctrine that goes with it because the experiences are so real, they feel it. They believe the doctrine that goes along with the experience not knowing that they are probably totally misusing the Scripture itself. It does not matter what the Scripture says, people follow experiences.
Paul says two things must happen before the day of the Lord comes. The first is that there must be an apostasy, a falling away from the faith. Second, And the man of sin should be revealed, that is, the son of perdition or destruction. He has to be revealed first before God’s judgment can come.
In I John chapter 2 is John’s version of Paul’s teaching – that Paul referred to as the son of perdition, John refers to as the antichrist. In I John chapter 2 verse 18 he says, Little children, it is the last hour: and as you heard that the antichrist is coming. The word anti does not only mean to oppose but it also means to take the place of someone.
We have to understand this prepares us for the central theme of II Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 6 through 12. When the antichrist comes, when the man of sin is revealed, he will oppose Christ by taking His place. Not by standing up and speaking against Him, but by standing up and saying that he, that is the antichrist, the man of perdition, that he is the Messiah. That is how we know when a religious group is a cult. One of the things about a cult is that the leader says he is the Messiah.
Continuing in first John, And we know that is the last hour. Verse 19, They went out from us. In other words, these people started out with the believers. He goes on to say, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. This is interesting as it goes along with what Paul said in I Corinthians chapter 11 verse 19 where Paul said that it is necessary for divisions to come in the body of Christ, just to find out who everybody is. Only those who belong to Christ are going to follow the truth. Those who do not follow Christ are going to follow false doctrine, false experiences. So whether a person was attracted by the excitement or stimulation, or attracted to social programs, or whatever it was; over a period of time it will be revealed that they had to leave because that is why God manifests whether people are of Him or not. You cannot leave His word if you belong to Christ. You can try. You can stay away but you have to come to the word. You cannot leave His word. You cannot leave Christ if you belong to Christ.
Again articles on the Internet are posted of the high percentage of people who are Christians who are leaving the faith. You cannot leave the faith if you are of the faith. If you have Jesus Christ living inside of you, you cannot leave. You can try but God’s Spirit will not let you.
Back to I John chapter 2 verse 19, They went out, so that they might be manifest that none of them were of us. Verse 20, But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. This chapter is not saying that every believer as soon as he receives Christ, he knows everything. He is going to show them that the anointing is the fact that they were taught by him, that is, John, and the teaching is the anointing. So if you are taught by the Scriptures, the inspiration given to John and Paul and Peter and some of the others, that is the anointing of God. And you have the anointing of God in you if you belong to Christ. And that anointing is going to match up with the inspiration of God’s word. They have already been taught because John taught them.
Notice what he says in verse 21, I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Verse 22, Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. And that goes well with John chapter 5 where it says that the Father and the Son are honored together. You cannot separate them. Verse 23, Whoever denies the Son, does not have the Father: he who acknowledges the Son has the Father. Verse 24 Therefore let that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. So it is not that they had their own special anointing where they know all things. They were taught at one time. They heard it. They were established by John and established by Paul. The thing that they heard is the anointing and that he is talking about.
Verse 24, Let that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son, and in the Father. Verse 25, And this is the promise that he hath promised us, eternal life. Verse 26, These things I have written unto you concerning those who try to deceive you – that is, take you away from the teaching. Verse 27, That the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. Obviously he is not talking about the fact that believers do not need to be taught, because he is telling them – and he will continue in verse 27 to say that they have already been taught, and you have heard. Now that you have heard it and been taught it from the word, you do not for anybody to come up and tell you from a spirit, “I have a message from God,” and contradict what the scripture says.
Like Paul said, making reference again to Galatians chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, if anybody comes to you and proclaims a gospel that Paul has not proclaimed to you – that means in addition to what he says or changes anything – that person is not from God.
I John chapter 2 verse 27, But you have no need for anyone to teach you: but as the same anointing – Which one? The one they heard. The same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it taught you, – notice past tense: and as it taught you, they were already taught – you will abide in him. So this text in I John chapter 2 is not saying that a believer is left on their own with their own special market on the anointing of God. These brothers had the anointing and everybody who has Christ living inside of them has the anointing that matches their anointing. And their anointing teaches us we get established in the things of Christ.
Every believer has The Anointed One so I want to connect this – what we just took from I John chapter 2. The word Christ, (Christos) means anointing. I think it is kind of interesting, this man of sin or the antichrist is going to stand up and say, “I am the anointing of God in human form.” So you have to be careful when somebody comes along and confesses and presents himself as having a market on the anointing of God. Every believer has The Anointed One. Jesus Christ is The Anointed One. He is Jesus the Christ, the anointing of God. And when He teaches us, we have the anointing both in spirit and in truth. You see, the Scriptures and the Spirit have to go together. He is saying, “You have already been taught. You have been taught correctly. You do not need anything new to carry away and to take you away from that what you have already been established in.”
So next week that is what we are going to get into in verses 6 through 12. All of this is the introduction. Paul bringing up his prior teaching and the purpose for which he is making request of them is for them not to be shaken or troubled or removed from the truth; either by somebody with a message from God, either in spirit form or some kind of teaching, as well as a false letter. And the position of the son of destruction. He will oppose the things of God and exalt himself and present himself as being God, and all of that will happen first before the Day of the Lord comes. So now we are primed and ready to study the Day of the Lord, which we will get into starting next week.
So next week in verses 6 through 12 we are going to take the central theme of the book, when Paul talks about the very Day of the Lord or the tribulation period, as he goes back and explains it in detail.
Let’s close with prayer.
