Let No One Decieve You, 2 Thess 2:1-12

Let No One Deceive You

2 Thess 2:1-12

Chapter Two of 2 Thess, begins with another important discussion on the end of time. Again, as the book relates to the church in Thessalonica, it is believed the Apostolic band is answering questions that Silas and Timothy brought back with them. Eschatology, or the doctrine of the last days seems to have taken root in their minds.

The Christian way of looking at the end of the world was very different than the Pagan beliefs of repeating cycles of aeons. The Christian Gospel has a very personal end--you must repent and believe before the end comes. There will not be another chance to get it right. That is why evangelism in the churches was so important. That drove Paul to go to Thessalonica in the first place. He reasoned with them in the synagogue until some with a newfound faith wanted to align themselves with the Apostle and his truths. That's what started the riot in the city.

There are many people who have questions about the end of the world. I don't believe we are given all of the details; only enough to have an awareness of what God will yet do in this age and how it will end when the new age begins. There are some things we are better off not knowing. Yet, many seek to fill in the gaps in extra-biblical ways making themselves appear to be wiser than all who have come before.

It is happening with the modern events in the Middle East. How does ISIL fit into biblical prophecy? Who is the USA in biblical prophecy? We would do much better to take the scriptures as they are given--vague realities that God will do something grand and glorious to sort it all out in his time. We need not worry about the details. That is what gets people, including Bible teachers, in trouble.

Let's read the text for today. Then I want to make some observations and comments to comfort you in the same way the Apostolic band sought to comfort the Christians of old.

1. The Subject

2 Thes 2:1-12 1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

2. The Question

1b we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 

3. The Deception

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 

4. A Reminiscence

5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 

5.  The Mystery of Lawlessness

7 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. 

6. The Lawless One

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

7. A Strong Delusion

11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Let's look at the text:

1. The Subject

2 Thes 2:1-12 1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

The writers are calling the attention of the saints to something new. The last topic is done, now their attention is turned to something new. It is not brand new to them. The topic is found in  the first letter and little bits of the doctrine they are going to look at have relevance here and there. Yet, this subject is still important for the Apostle's to straighten out for them in their thinking. Through the church in Thessalonica, we are taught about both personal and general eschatology. Personal eschatology is about life and death, faith and life, belief and unbelief, the fate of the dead after life in this world. General eschatology deals with the end of the age and the judgment of all things. 

The words:

"concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him" show us that these things are related, and perhaps on the topic somewhat extensive, but surely not exhaustive.

2. The Question

1b we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 

The Apostolic Band under the leadership of Paul, no doubt, command the believers in yet another creative way. They ask the church not to do something.

They are not to be shaken in their thoughts or troubled in their lives by any news or teaching that comes by word or letter that says or seems to say the day of the Lord has come. The news probably refers to an oral report from some traveler where the letter would be an epistle from one of the Apostles or at least claiming to be from them. This is something we know occurred in the Early Church.

Don't be shaken as if Christ has come. There are some things to look for that must first come to pass before the end can come.

We do not have inspired commentary from church history, but there are a few times when these sorts of things seemed to have happened, just like people see things like this happening in our day. We don't know--it is best if we leave it vague. The end has not come. We are not living in the New Heavens and the New Earth--even though some think so. If this is the new heavens and the new earth someone lied to us about its glory.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC, some thought it was the end of the world. When Antiochus Epiphenes sacrificed a pig on the altar, it was thought the end was near. With the fall of Jerusalem again in AD 70, others thought it was definitely the end. With those and other horrific events having occurred, the end has still not come. So, the word to them is relevant to us--don't be shaken by any report about the end of the world. I don't know if these signs point to things that are still future to our time. Some may be; others may have already occurred. Some may have happened in one place and not another. We don't see history with perfect understanding of God is doing at any moment anywhere in the world. The gospel may be advancing in one place while the forces of darkness seem to be gaining in another. Regardless, God is in control--He has always been.

3. The Deception

This is not some small thing. There has been or there will be a great falling away or apostacy from the truth--many will be deceived into believing what is untrue. They will go from the truth to what is not true, but somehow justifying themselves that they were mistaken. A great deception will come over believers in lands where the gospel had once had a strong presence. DO you start to see why some believe this is going on now?

With this falling away before the Day of the Lord, there is a man of sin who will be revealed--who hasn't yet been made known.

Let's read:

3 Let no one deceive you by any means;

Many will try--they will even use doctrines that sound plausible from the Christian scriptures to draw some away. DON"T LET ANYONE USE ANY MEANS TO DRAW YOU AWAY. RESIST! People will try to pacify you to their errors. This happens all the time. At some point, someone fitting this description will come and do what these verses tell us.

And, there are many through history who have been identified with these words: General Titus, a number of the Roman Emperors, Kings, Generals, Hitler, Mussolini, Ayatollah Khomeni, Saddam Husein, and others including two notable Americans: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. And, do you know what? Those of us who were alive in the  70s survived by God's grace. The end is coming, and perhaps a great deception that must be resisted by God's people.  

Yet, there will be a falling away…the devil and his followers can be very clever.

Here is the description of man of sin… FIRST THE APOSTACY, THEN THE REVELATION OF THE MAN OF SIN….

3b for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 

What an audacious character. A man utterly given over to sin and wickedness. The one who will lead all of his followers to an eternal death in the Lake of Fire--and he knows it and he can't escape it, but as the personification of Satan, he will take as many with him as is possible--even those who were once professing believers.

How is it that people who once walked with God could fall away and serve the Devil of lawlessness and wickedness? Why is it some don't persevere while others do?

I think our confession hits the nail on the head in Chapter 17, On The Perserverance of the Saints:

1._____ Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, whence he still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality; and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon; notwithstanding, through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from them, yet he is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palm of his hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all eternity.( John 10:28, 29; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 John 2:19; Psalms 89:31, 32; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Malachi 3:6 )

The answer as to why some don't fall away is this: they are kept by the power of God through Faith--it is not due to their own freewill.

Add to that:

2._____ This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him, the oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. ( Romans 8:30 Romans 9:11, 16; Romans 5:9, 10; John 14:19; Hebrews 6:17, 18; 1 John 3:9; Jeremiah 32:40 )

3._____ And though they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves, yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. ( Matthew 26:70, 72, 74; Isaiah 64:5, 9; Ephesians 4:30; Psalms 51:10, 12; Psalms 32:3, 4; 2 Samuel 12:14; Luke 22:32, 61, 62 )

Yet, there are some who never had faith who joined themselves to God's people for their own reasons and purposes. Apostacy is an ugly thing. One of the worst experiences in my ministerial experience has to do with a child brought to me by the parents. This young person wanted to apostatize in order to date someone they met at school. This person answered all of the diagnostic questions consistently. They said that they had only pretended to be a Christian because that is what the parents wanted. I became the bad guy for not trying to talk the person out of apostatizing. It was and remains an ugly situation. That's what sin and apostacy will do to you.

Many people are one or two great sins away from throwing in the Christian towel. Always seek to make your calling and election sure….

4. A Reminiscence

5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 

The falling away and great Deception will not happen while God's hand of restraint is active. They had been told this before.

Either Paul, Timothy or Silas told them at some point when he was with them. The writer does not identify himself by name. Paul is problematic due to the chronology of events we know from Acts, unless, these were some of the first things taught by Paul in the synagogue before they believed.

Yet, this man of sin has his own time. God will reveal him in such a way that we won't be left guessing.   

5.  The Mystery of Lawlessness

Lest the people sit back and take life without due seriousness….

7 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. 

6. The Lawless One--will know defeat

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

Many are deceived by adding works to faith. For salvation we must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is not a faith that is alone--The Lord has good works for us to do that he has prepared for each of us and all of us. Those who live by faith will make it through this difficult time. Yet, there is also ….

7. A Strong Delusion

11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

I think this has always been the case. Judas was deluded, Annania and Saphira were among them as well, Simon the magician and all of the False Apostles and Prophets believed a strong delusion.

Many who profess to be believers are deluded in their minds--they don't live in the ways we have the Christian life described in its basics. They did not and do not continue to have a love for the truth. A love of intense reverence for all God has spoken and his agents sent out to teach it in churches and to the nations.

These deluded people and those who follow them….

12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Theological error is unrighteousness insomuch as it fails to love God with the whole mind.

What charge needs to be made as we come to the Lord's Supper?

Are you really Christ's?

Do you live for him?

Is there any degree of these realities in your heart and in your life?

Do you see yourself as weak and in need of the keeping power of Christ? Then join the rest of us, come feed upon the one who alone can give us the life we need and nurture us by his Spirit for the rest of this age and through the age to come.

If you aren't perservering, why not? You are in a very dangerous place--repent now and believe the gospel. See yourself as a sinner bound for hell, if God does not intervene and give you what you don't deserve--a full and free salvation.