What You Need To Know About The Day of the Lord - part 2

Rory Mosley

006 The Day of the Lord – part 2

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (5-12)

June 19, 2011

As you know, last Sunday night we sort of

Got into the meat of this letter a little bit.

We know the Thessalonians were disturbed.

We know they had lost their composure.

And we know why.

(1-2) “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

They thought they missed the rapture

And where now under the day of the Lord judgment.

And so Paul writes to calm them down and straighten out the situation.

Last week we began this study, by looking at the first two points.

#1 THE REQUEST (1-2)

That was the two verses we just read in which we heard

Paul request them not to be so easily shaken.

#2 THE REQUIREMENT (3-4)

“Let no one in any way deceive you…”

And there we learned that to at least some degree,

Being deceived is our fault.

Paul told the Thessalonians not to let that happen.

Compounded with the fact that in his first letter he had already told them

To “test everything”, we see that the Thessalonians had not.

They failed to study the Scripture.

They failed to know the truth.

They were easy prey for the deceiver.

Paul required that they not let that happen again.

Tonight, we move on with our study of these first twelve verses

Concerning the day of the Lord.

And we are talking about what we all need to know about this day.

· A horrible day of wrath and judgment

· A day for the judgment of the wicked

· A day that is coming quickly

· A day that will not come unless the apostasy and anti-christ precede it.

So let’s continue learning about this day.

The Request, The Requirement

#3 THE REMINDER

2 Thessalonians 2:5

And really it would have been nice if we would have had time

To study this point last week right along with

His requirement not to be deceived.

For in one sense the two statements hint at the same point.

· On one hand the Thessalonians were deceived because they had failed to study the Scriptures (namely Daniel)

· On the other hand they were deceived because they had forgotten (or not paid attention) all that Paul told them when he was there.

We could still talk about their lack of discernment.

But namely here Paul is again settling them down,

Reassuring them that he had nothing to do with that letter they received.

“Do you not remember that while I was with you, I was telling you these things?”

I find it interesting that even though Paul was with the Thessalonians

A relatively short time, he still found time to teach on the end times.

That certainly highlights the importance of the study.

But what really has Paul concerned here

Is that regardless of all his time teaching them while with them,

It is obvious they haven’t remembered anything.

They heard something new

And immediately disregarded what they had already been taught.

What we actually have going on here is

Paul telling the Thessalonians to quit being so gullible.

Study the Scriptures, remember my teaching,

And quit grabbing hold of every new slick sounding idea.

And these by the way are not the first to get such a statement from Paul.

Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

All of those churches were to some degree

Being mislead through being naïve.

It is because they were not remembering what they had been taught.

We have mentioned it before,

But one of the main reasons for thorough preaching and teaching from the word of God is to help keep God’s people from being so gullible.

Remember what Paul told the Romans?

Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;”

Listen to what he told the Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:11-14 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;”

Certainly one reason we preach is to evangelize the lost.

But equally important; we preach to establish the redeemed.

Paul had taught them this,

So that when a lie came they would not be disturbed,

But because they had failed to study,

And because they had failed to remember,

Now they had lost their composure.

So Paul reminds them, of what he had previously taught.

Namely that the day of the Lord

Will not come before the apostasy and the anti-christ.

The Request, The Requirement, The Reminder

#4 THE RESTATING

2 Thessalonians 2:6-12

Since it is apparent that the Thessalonians had forgotten what Paul taught them while he was with them, it is important that he go over it again.

Now, the things he is about to say may be new to you,

But it most certainly was not new to them.

Notice how verse 6 starts, “And you know…”

That again reminds us that Paul is reviewing things he has already taught.

He told the Philippians:

Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”

It is that same type of repetition we have going on here.

He is making sure they get it.

So Paul is going to restate the important facts about the day of the Lord.

We already know it will not occur until the anti-christ arrives.

But there is really much more that should be known about all this.

1) THERE IS A RESTRAINT (6-7)

This is admittedly a difficult couple of verses to discern.

While it is clear that Paul has told the Thessalonians previously

About the restraint on the anti-christ,

It is also clear that he has never told us anywhere else in Scripture.

They knew, we don’t.

SO LET’S DO A LITTLE WORK

For starters, it cannot be God the Father.

Because the restrainer will be “taken out of the way.”

And so no one will come and remove God from His duty.

It cannot be the church.

For the restrainer is called “he”

It cannot be an angel.

For the restrainer is obviously binding the will of Satan.

It certainly isn’t Satan.

He would be chomping at the bit to turn this guy loose.

That really only leave two options for us.

Jesus or The Holy Spirit

And since the earthly ministry of Jesus is now over, and He has

(in one sense) been taken out of the way already.

It seems only fitting that the restrainer is in fact the Holy Spirit.

What matters however is this.

Satan and his puppet anti-christ

Are now restrained by God from rising to power.

If you will remember, every single world ruler who ever lived,

Was only brought to power under the sovereign plan of God.

Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."

Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”

And the anti-christ is no exception.

He cannot reign until God allows him to do so.

But rather, “in his time he will be revealed.”

Now there should be no doubt that it will actually happen,

For notice what Paul says next.

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”

We get an image of someone doing everything he can to spread lawlessness as far as possible.

We also get an image of someone holding him back.

The indication then is that we know the anti-christ is real

Simply because of the “mystery of lawlessness…already at work”

WHAT IS THE “mystery of lawlessness”?

Matthew 24:11-12 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.”

We would all agree that we live in a day of “lawlessness”.

We recognize that it is not the goal of society to submit to God’s laws.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet”.

When the restrainer is removed, and the anti-christ is set free,

Lawlessness will spread at an unbelievable rate.

What we see now is merely him working from behind restraints.

Some day he will be let loose and “lawlessness” really will be evident.

But for now, the presence of some lawlessness reveals he is real.

The fact that it is not full blown reveals he is restrained.

2) THERE IS COMING A REVELATION (8-10)

It is obvious what we mean when Paul says, “Then that lawless one will be revealed…”

He may be restrained now, but some day he will be turned loose.

Some day he will be revealed.

And let me show you some truths about this revealing.

FIRST – It is SHORT-LIVED (8)

While it is certain that he is coming, one thing that is also certain is

That he doesn’t get to hang around long.

Scripture had appointed his rise and his fall.

Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”

You probably know that number better as 3 ½ years.

We even know why his days are short.

Matthew 24:22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

So it is evident that once he is revealed his reign will be short-lived

SECOND – it is SATANIC (9a)

(9a) “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan”

Make no mistake about it, this guy is of the devil.

He comes to do Satan’s will.

I don’t care how slick he looks…

I don’t care how convincing he sounds…

I don’t care what he does with medicare...

THIS GUY IS OF THE DEVIL

Revelation 13:1-2 “And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”

Even Daniel recognized his allegiance to Satan.

Daniel 8:24 "His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.”

Daniel 11:39 "He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.”

His reign is short-lived, his reign is satanic

THIRDLY – it is SEDUCTIVE (9b-10)

(9b-10) “with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

He will show up with a bag full of tricks like you have never seen.

He will have “all power”

He will perform “signs and wonders”

He will use “all deception”

It is clear to see how a world increasingly mesmerized with the mystical

Will be quickly ensnared by him.

He is a one man deceiving machine.

But the main reason he will be so deceptive

Is not because he is so good at it,

But because those who he works on desire it.

Notice why they will be deceived by him: “because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

These people will be deceived because they have rejected truth.

And since they have rejected truth, they are open for deception.

And when you couple that with the greatest deceiver of all time,

Is it any wonder that the world will fall under his spell?

Revelation 13:3-4 “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"

Revelation 13:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

And if that is not bad enough, the anti-christ will even have the help

Of his own personal false prophet called “the beast”

Revelation 13:11-14 “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.”

I mean deception will be everywhere,

And because these people refused to love the truth,

They will be deceived.

And can we just say a few words here of the absolute importance of loving the word of God?

Psalms 119:97-98 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine.”

Psalms 19:7-10 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.”

Loving the word of God is absolutely essential.

We have already seen that the Thessalonians were disturbed because they hadn’t studied the truth,

Now we read that the world will be judged because they didn’t receive or love the truth.

There is a Restraint There is coming a Revelation

3) THERE WILL BE A RECKONING (11-12)

Now that certainly takes on a whole new element doesn’t it?

If you assumed people are deceived

Simply because they do not know the truth, you are wrong.

· It is true they don’t know the truth…

But the reason they are deceived is because

God is punishing them for their lack of love for His truth

By causing them to be deceived.

“God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false…”

DOES GOD DO THAT?

Ask Ahab.

1 Kings 22:19-23 “Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' "The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."

It is evident that God takes people who love to disregard the truth,

And gives them exactly what they want.

Here we have people who would not love God’s truth…

Here we have people who would not listen to God’s voice…

So God gave them what they wanted.

God sent them “a deluding influence”

God made them “believe what is false”

And that means that

Not only is the anti-christ restrained until God lets him reign,

But that when he does, he will be an instrument in God’s hands

To purposely deceive those who did not love His truth.

WHY WILL GOD DO THAT?

(12) “in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

God gave them a lie to make sure they get judged.

They had failed to listen…

They had failed to love truth…

God had enough.

And so God set the anti-christ loose and let him deceive all of them,

That they would never hear the truth, never repent, and never be saved.

SOUND HARSH?

Did I not tell you last week that the day of the Lord was a terrible day?

Isaiah 13:9 “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”

Zephaniah 1:15 “A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness,”

The day of the Lord is a terrible day of wrath in which He will destroy the sinners who have refused to love His truth and turn from wickedness.

The reason the anti-christ must come first

Is because God uses the anti-christ to secure the judgment

Of the wicked by reason of his deceptive tactics.

He is a pawn in the game.

And so having learned all that, let me clearly state

What you need to know about the day of the Lord.

1) It is terrible

2) It is sudden

3) It is for all those who did not love God’s truth

That is why anti-christ comes first

(because God uses him to secure the judgment of those who didn’t)

And Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of this.

They thought they were under the day of the Lord judgment.

Paul says “No” it is for all those who do not love God’s truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

And so Paul tells them that the day of the Lord is not designed for them,

But it is important that they continue to hold to the truth.

THAT IS PAUL’S POINT

You must cling to the truth.

If you don’t,

Not only will you be disturbed or shaken from your composure,

But you may also find yourself judged as one who did not love the truth.

Obviously that’s not everything there is to know about the day of the Lord.

Obviously there is much more that God could have told us.

But as we said last time, we are on a need to know basis.

And God has chosen to tell us

All we need to know in regard to that day.