Hope for the End Times Series
Don’t Get Shook Up!
II Thessalonians 2:1-3
One of the most important truths we will ever learn is the truth of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus came 2,000 years ago to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and is going to one day come again and catch God's people up to meet Him in the air.
The overall theme of the second coming of the Lord is a stabilizing, encouraging truth and believers need to have this truth in their hearts and minds, especially if they are going to keep their hearts and minds right in the end times.
As we come to the opening verses of chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians, we find the Apostle Paul teaching these young believers about that very subject. In I Thessalonians, there are five chapters and each one of those chapters concludes with a reference to the coming again of Jesus.
So, they have been taught that Jesus is going to come. Notice that Paul does not set any dates whatsoever in this matter of the coming of the Lord. Date setters are often upsetters. The purpose of the teaching of the second coming is not to make us calendar watchers, but rather to build character and cause us to be witnesses to the lost, telling them of the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are several aspects that fit together in the mosaic of the truth of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are several pieces that come together that give you the total picture of all that is involved in the coming of our Lord.
For instance, in verse 1 it talks about "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
That is an overall term that brings together several aspects of this truth. That would include the rapture of believers. It includes the theme of the day of the Lord -- that great tribulation time on the earth. It pulls together the revelation when the Lord Jesus Christ will come back to this earth.
So, “the coming of the Lord Jesus” involves all these different aspects.
Now, these believers in Thessalonica were being confused in their minds and disturbed in their hearts because they were being taught something that was incorrect. They were being taught some aspect of this truth of the coming of the Lord incorrectly and as result they were disturbed and were being shaken in their minds and their hope was being shaken.
You may remember from our study of the opening verses, it appears they had lost hope. They were growing in love and fiath and their were patiently enduring, but no mention is made of their hope.
Understand, their hope is our hope which is the hope or the promise that the Lord Jesus is going to come again. Now for them, that truth had been shaken by some false teaching and this is what Paul is dealing with in this second chapter.
I think it bears mentioning that the same error in teaching is still around today. What is involved in “the day of the Lord” is still being taught incorrectly in some circles and as result it is bringing confusion to the minds of some of God's people.
Now, when the Bible talks about the day of the Lord, and by the way, that’s not the same thing as “the day of Christ”, he is picking up the theme he has already dealt with back in chapter 5 of I Thessalonians.
Notice verses 1-2
“The day of the Lord” is another way of referring to the Great Tribulation. It is a period of seven years time following the rapture when there will be judgment upon the nations of the world. Its primary focus is to prepare Israel to receive the Messiah when He comes back to this earth. In doing that, God brings judgment on those who have opposed and attacked Israel down through the years.
And by the way, it has nothing to do with the church. That’s why they are taken out of the world before this time. Revelation 3:10 it says, "Because you have kept the word of my patience I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth."
So, believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air in the rapture before the day of the Lord or the Great Tribulation begins.
These believers were being taught that the day of the Lord had already occurred. Some today are being taught that the believers are going to have to go through the Great Tribulation. Such teaching has a numbing effect on the blessed hope. Such teaching has a paralyzing effect on this matter of our trust and our faith in what the Lord is going to do for us in delivering us from this wrath to come.
So that's the atmosphere in which Paul writes these first three verses. In these three verses he talks about the end times and the day of the Lord in particular from several aspects and I think they are important for us today as we study these verses.
Think first of all about the end times in terms of their
I. Deception
verse 3
He's talking about some deceptive teaching which they are receiving. I don't think every time that deception is taught it is intentional in nature. I do not believe that every person who teaches error intends necessarily to do so. Sometimes people misunderstand scripture and misread scripture. They misinterpret Scripture and what they teach is deceptive. So it’s not that they intend it to be, but they have misread or misunderstand what God says in His Word. And that can happen to very sincere teachers of the Word of God.
On the other hand, here I think it is clear there is some intentional deception. \
Thus, Paul’s remark in verse 3, "Let no man deceive you..."
Then, if you look back to verse 2 you see the cause and effect about which Paul is concerned.
Verse 2
They were “shaken” or “unsettled” and “troubled”.
The idea is that of a building being shaken by an earthquake or a ship being tossed by a sudden storm that arose. And the structure of what he says is the idea that this false teaching hit the church at Thessalonica like an earthquake, unseetling them and causing deep distress.
It caught them off-guard and shook them to hei very core of their being.
That’s the effect. And the cause was how this teaching was delivered.
Notice how Paul continues:
Verse 2
“by spirit or by word or by letter."
Most wrong teaching is an abuse of the Holy Spirit. It is a misuse of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers. Evidently there were those who had come to the church in Thessalonica who claimed to have some special revelation in a spiritual utterance.
Now keep in mind they didn't have the New Testament Bible completed like we do. It wasn’t quite as easy to do a reference check and see if the teaching lined up with Scripture.
They depended on God’s messengers like Paul. was in the process of being written.
So apparently there were those who were coming in public worship and they were claiming to have a word from the Lord, claiming the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and even forging letters from Paul with a message that contradicted what Paul had already taught them.
What were they teaching? They were saying that the day of the Lord is at hand. They were saying that they were in the day of the Lord right then.
Obviously, that was not true. Notice how deception works. It takes the atmosphere in which people find
themselves at that time at exploits it.
What was going on in their lives? We read it already. These young Christians were going through all kinds of persecution and tribulation. They were suffering persecution because they were Christian.
In addition to the tribulations, the normal pressures and problems and difficulties of life, they were being persecuted for their faith. And all of sudden, hitting them like an earthquake, there comes this deception saying, "You're having troubles and being persecuted because you missed the rapture. You are in the Great Tribulation. Paul said so. See ? Here’s his letter.”
And as a result of that, they lost their hope. They lost their joy. They lost their victory in the Lord. And they were shaken to their very core because of false teaching.
I love the little Peanuts cartoon where Lucy is looking out the window at a terrible rainstorm, and she says, “I wonder if it will rain and rain until the whole earth is covered in water?” And Linus, the theologian of the gang, replies, “No. God promised Noah in Genesis 9 that never again would he clood the earth, and He put a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of His promise”
Lucy says, “Whew, that sure makes me feel a lot better!”
Linus responds, “Sound doctrine has a way of doing that.”
Invariably false teaching causes people to lose their joy in the Lord, but sound doctrine, right teaching will always get you re-centered when things are tough.
So, he deals, first of all, with end-time deception. Then he speaks a word in verse 3 about end-time-
II. Correction
Now he's going to correct the error.
verse 3
There will be two events that will trigger the day of the Lord. One of those events will mark the end of the church age. The other event will mark the inauguration of the day of the Lord.
First, there will come a “falling away”.
Now the word here translated “falling away” is apostasy. If you been coming on Wednesday night, you know we are studying the little book of Jude. In it, Jude deals with apostates or false teachers.
And typically, “falling away” is the primary translation of the word.
Now for those who believe that is the correct interpretation in this verse, they maintain at the end of the church age there will be an apostasy, a falling away or rebellion from the faith.
And I believe that is true. In fact, I think it will take two primary forms and we are witnessing both of those today.
First, there will be a Doctrinal Departure.
I Tim.4 :1
He is saying that in the last days there will be those in Christendom that will depart from the very truths of the Scriptures and they will be seduced by demonic spirits and they will fall for doctrines of devils.
There will also be a Devotional Departure.
Matthew 24:11-12
Jesus says in the end times, there will be a tendency for believers to grow cold in their faith, to get indifferent in their love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen: Christianity is basically and fundamentally a love affair with the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is loving Jesus Christ.
The church at Ephesus was reprimanded by Jesus because the “left their first love”. The church at Laodicia was, “neither hot or cold, but lukewarm.”
That's why I just kind of keep my eyes on the skies because if there is anything that characterizes the average church in these days it is luke-warmness and indifference and lack of fervent love for the Lord
Jesus Christ.
So no doubt about it, there is coming an apostasy. But I’m not convinced that is what Paul is talking about here.
Now remember, he is writing to encourage these young believers who have been shaken in their understanding of the rapture and tribulations. And he is now saying there are two things that will usher in “the day of the Lord”.
And the first one is not an apostasy, but the apostasy. There’s a definite article there.
If it’s not the falling away from the faith and love for Jesus, then what is it?
Well, the word “apostasy” can mean and usually does mean “a falling away”, but it can also mean “a going away or a taking away”.
Paul, I believe, is talking about the rapture. And he is saying “Don’t get all shook up, believing you are in the Great Tribulation, because before that day comes, you will be going away.”
There is an apostasy that must happen before the Tribulation begins. That’s the first thing and that even will mark the end of the church age.
Then he says the second thing that will take place is
The Antichrist will be revealed and that will mark the beginning of the Tribulation.
Verse 2
We'll talk about the Antichrist next week in detail, but his unveiling will mark the inauguration of the day of the Lord. And we’ll talk about the signs and wonders next week.
So he has given us here a word concerning the end-time deception and then a word of end-time correction. But notice what happens next.
Remember, he is correcting this false teaching, and he is encouraging these believers to not get all shook up. What is he so positive? Because he knows a little something about end-time
III. Celebration
He gives us a word of victory, a word of joy.
Verse 1
Now remember, he's talking about the rapture of the church and our home-going to Jesus. The blessed hope of the church is not that we are heading into the Great Tribulation. The blessed hope of the Lord is Titus 2:13, "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ."
I'm not looking for the Antichrist. I'm looking for the real deal! I’m looking for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Paul says, “I want to remind you, not only is He coming, but you and I will be gathered together with Him.”
That will phrase “our gathering together to Him” intrigues me because it is used only one other time and place in Scripture.
Know where? Some might think of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where we are “caught up together with them in the clouds”. That’s a good guess, but that’s not this word.
The only other place in the New Testament this phrase is used in Hebrews 10:25. You know what it says?
“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Listen: Every time you and I gather together in
God's house as believers, you and I are getting a precious foretaste and anticipation of the day when one day we will all be caught up together in the rapture to meet the Lord in the air. Every time we come together we are having a dress rehearsal for our gathering together.”
Every worship service is to be a reminder of our home-going to heaven. Every prayer meeting is to be held with hope in mind. Every Bible study is to lift up the name of Jesus and remind us of what’s awaiting us one day.
In I Thessalonians 4 he says, "Don't sorrow as those who have no hope." You have hope! The Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the dead believers in Christ shall be raised first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord!
I have good news for you. I'm not going to get all shook up, because, praise God, one of these days I'm going to get "took up." That's not good grammar, but it's good theology. Listen: You’ve got a reason to celebrate!
Got bad news from the doctor? That’s OK, Jesus is on the throne. The stock market crashed? It’ll be all right. Family have needs? There’s a God Who’s looking after you! Nay sayers and dooms dayers got you down? Put them in their place with the precious promises of God.
We’re going Home! We’re gathering together with Him.
And until He comes, I’m going to gather together with you and be encouraged by your faithfulness and God’s faithfulness to you. And I’m going to rest in His care and serve Him until He comes.
I’m not going to be deceived by the false teachers and I’ll not be mislead by bad information. I will choose to celebrate the Lord here with my fellow believers until I can celebrate Him there in His presence with the saved of God for all eternity.
Now, here’s the deal. Jesus is coming again. He’s going to catch His bride away to be with Him in the clouds. What if it were today? Are you ready?
If Jesus should come this very day, would you be caught up to meet Him? Are you born again? Do you know you are saved?
If you want to meet Him there, you’ve got to meet him here.
Let’s pray
