2 Thessalonians 2

0:00 Good morning again. Welcome to this gathering of Third Avenue Baptist Church. It's good to be with you to open up again to the book of 2 Thessalonians here for the second week in a row. We'll be in chapter 2 today. You can find that if you are a guest with us or maybe you're new to kind of just exploring Christianity and you don't have a Bible on your own, there should be some Bibles there in front of you. We'd love to give that to you as a gift from our church and you'll find where we're going to be on page 989. So it's a big book, hard to kind of just flip it open and find exactly where we are. We're just going to tell you exactly where, page 989. We're going to walk through a passage of the Bible today. It's actually going to be a really interesting, unique passage, so I think you'll be helped by being in that passage and seeing the words for yourself. So if I say the names Buck Williams or Rayford Steele? Does that mean anything to you? Oh, some of you, maybe. I don't know.

0:57 Maybe that was a laugh about something else. Probably not many of you wouldn't know those names. What about if I said Armageddon or Nikolai Karpathia, left behind? What if I sang DC Talks, I wish we'd all been ready, right? Do those things remind you of a certain thing? Do certain images start to pop up in your head? Maybe not for all of you, right? But if you're a child of the 80s and 90s like I am, then certainly the Left Behind series, I would hope, kind of looms large in your mind because it was like the Harry Potter before there was Harry Potter, right?

1:37 I mean, the Left Behind series was amazing. So, I mean, it should pop up all these different images of the end times. And either you've been taught just kind of crazy and wild things or all these different things that you just don't understand and you're interested in. But you've probably, all of you by this point, got different images floating around in your mind about the end times and about what the Bible says. Well, today we're going to be in one of those classic passages about the end times. And as with all passages about the end times, it's doing something.

2:09 It's not just there to give you a weird and wild and wacky picture about the end. It's actually intended to do something. As we learned from our study in Revelation last year, usually these types of passages are meant to encourage Christians who are suffering, to endure all the way to the end. And I think we're going to see quite a bit of that today. So let's pick back up a little bit of the background of 2 Thessalonians since we've just spent one sermon in there so far. So we're going to continue on in this letter. This is the second letter that Paul has written to this particular church that's actually going to factor in fairly significantly as we move in on to the sermon here in a second.

2:46 So remember, this church is less than two decades into the life of Christianity, really writ large, post the resurrection of Jesus. And so because of that, they've got some really interesting issues, really wild concerns that maybe don't plague you and I, Christians of today, as often. And yet certainly we can understand why it would have plagued them just as much. So they are a new young church plant in a major important city and in a major important city that was known for persecuting Christians, right?

3:17 Paul takes the gospel to Thessaloniki. He gets chased out of Thessaloniki shortly thereafter to a city not too far away, but far enough away that he feels like he should be safe. And they chase him out of that city as well. That's where this young church plant is. These are the types of people around them. So eventually, Paul sends Timothy back to check on them. He's worried about them, right? It's understandable. He planted this church, and he knows that this is not exactly a comfortable, easy place for Christians to live. So I want to check and see how they're doing. And word comes back to Paul, finally, that they're doing okay.

3:51 They're growing in the faith, that they're holding to the gospel. But not everything is great with this church. they're evidently believing some strange teachings, in particular about the coming return of Jesus. And they're undergoing consistent persecution for their faith. And so, sometime shortly after Paul writes a letter of 1 Thessalonians, he pens this letter that we're going to be looking at again today and reminds them that King Jesus will one day return and he will one day bring justice.

4:22 But they need to keep trusting him until that day. That's what we saw last week from chapter 1. but then we get to our passage for today, and apparently Paul needed to clear up some very important pieces surrounding the return of Jesus. So there were these significant issues cropping up in the life of the church regarding this, and Paul had to address it. So with that, let's read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We'll read the entire chapter together. So beginning in verse 1. Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, We ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or spoken word or letters seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

5:06 Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first. And the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

5:39 Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

6:18 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

6:57 All right, let's break down the structure of this as we get into it. I think it's actually fairly plain and obvious at a pretty easy, quick reading. So the only true question that there might be with the whole text is where to cut off the boundaries of the passage for today. And we'll see some of that here in a second. But here's how it all breaks down. So verses 1 and 2, that's where the major issue for the rest of the passage is first raised. So apparently the Thessalonians are very concerned that the day of the Lord has come. So they're talking about Jesus' second coming.

7:29 And Paul has a quick and kind of slight rebuke for them here in these first few verses. So that's the first section. And then verses 3 to 12, that's the next big section. And that's where Paul turns to a correction of their mistaken views. It's the largest chunk of the passage, and it contains, as you saw when we read it, a chunk of just interesting, crazy stuff. What in the world is Paul talking about there? Well, we're going to dig into that, of course, but know this for now.

8:00 His main goal in all of that is to comfort and encourage, to pastorally care for these Christians who are growing in their despair. So he's using all of that interesting stuff about the end times in a very specific way. And that's going to be important for us to keep in mind as we keep moving along. And then the last little section, verses 13 to 17. So even in the ESV, there's a break there. And so many commentators will suggest a break there. Is it a different section?

8:30 Does it go with this section? I don't think it's actually just tacked on to the end. I think it's actually very, very important in the ways that it connects to the first 12 verses. So you can see that in a few different ways. Look at verses 2 and 15. So there's connections there. You see spoken word and letter. So you see that repeated there in both those verses. And then same two verses, verses 2 and 15, you've got even thematic connections between don't be shaken on the one hand, but be strengthened or stand firm.

9:00 You see that at the end of the passage as well. And then the whole thing is just contrast, right? So verses 3 to 12, this is all about the unbelievers and the judgment that's coming their way. And verses 13 to 17 are comfort for the believers. So there's this connection between contrasting them. And then, honestly, if you just ended at verse 12, it's doom and destruction, right? The thing just ends with doom and destruction. But if you go all the way through verse 17, well, then it's comfort for the Thessalonians. And that's, in fact, exactly what Paul did in chapter 1, right?

9:33 He sought to comfort them. We saw that last week. Well, what all of that means, and again, this is important, so we're going to reiterate this over and over and over, is that this whole passage then is not predictive by nature, right? That is not what Paul is trying to do. Paul's not trying to give a blueprint for the future so that we can kind of map out exactly when everything's going to happen. No, it's pastoral in nature. He's trying to comfort hurting scared Christians so here's the main idea with all of that in mind Satan wants to deceive you and the antidote to his deception is knowing remembering and believing God's word Satan wants to deceive you and the antidote to his deception is knowing remembering and believing god's word and we've got three points for the rest of the sermon just with those three sections so uh verses one and two verses three through 12 and then verses 13 through

10:36 17 first point is crisis and then correction and then comfort another alliteration it works though trust me we'll see it all right first point crisis versus one and two so a few months ago my family and i went to atlanta for a part of our summer family vacation being big braves fans if you don't know that about us we are huge atlanta braves fans that's a whole other story ask me afterwards we wanted to catch some games while we were there so we went to a friday night game and had a blast the braves won big it was so much fun we were going to go back on saturday as well to catch the afternoon game so if you've if you're not a braves fan or if you've just never been there. It's a new-ish stadium, only a few years old, and the area around it's just built up with all these nice shops and restaurants, and it was a Saturday afternoon game in the middle of the summer, beautiful weather, so there were tons of people everywhere. It was so much fun to be there, just bustling with activity. Well, in the midst of all of that, and kind of moving from one thing

11:37 to another, and we'd gotten in line in the wrong spot, and so we needed to go to a different line to go do something else, at one point we realized that Gabriela, our youngest, was not with us any longer. We'd gotten separated somehow. So as you can imagine, in an instant, panic just consumed us. We're in a huge place with thousands of people, and our tiny little eight-year-old is not with us.

12:09 She was supposed to be right here, but she wasn't. What in the world? We knew exactly where she was supposed to be, but she wasn't there. We knew how it should have gone, but it didn't go the way we thought it was. Look, confusion and chaos just took over our hearts in an instant. If you've never been in a situation like that, it's hard to really kind of put it into words. Well, these new Christians in Thessaloniki must have been feeling something similar. They knew how things were supposed to go. were so they thought. They expected how things were supposed to go. They had a plan for how things were supposed to go regarding the coming return of Jesus. And yet it looked like things were not unfolding like that. And they were in a panic. They were distraught.

12:56 These new believers had a very particular concern centered on this second coming of Jesus. And it's actually going to help us to see why they're so worked up if we look back to 1 Thessalonians. And so flip back a few pages there in your Bibles. It should be, in fact, probably just one page to chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians. And we're going to start in verse 13 and read a fairly long chunk without a ton of explanation. But I think it will set the stage for us as we jump into what the Thessalonians were struggling with in 2 Thessalonians.

13:27 So chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians, verse 13. Paul writes, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

14:05 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Now keep going into chapter 5, immediately following. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, there's peace and security. Then sudden destruction, the same word from chapter 1 of 2 Thessalonians, right?

14:39 Eternal destruction, referring to hell. Then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman. And they will not escape. We'll stop there. So, again, we're not going to explain everything from this passage from 1 Thessalonians. But among the many different things that we could say about this, what Paul means by all of this, is that this coming of Jesus here in chapters 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians, this one will be public. It will be physical. It will be visible, and it will usher in the final judgment. In other words, it's the second coming. He's not talking about something else. He's talking about the second coming. So back over here in our passage, right, he's writing to the same church, perhaps months, less than a year, certainly a relatively short amount of time later.

15:29 what Paul is referring to then in our passage is the same thing. He's using much of the same language. So this is clearly then our passage for today about the end of the age when Jesus will return to take his people to himself and reign forever. This day would come like a thief in the night. We saw that in 1 Thessalonians, right? It would be sudden and it would be without warning. So given that, given all of that, the Thessalonians were afraid.

16:00 They were afraid that the time had in some way already come. What does that mean? How could that possibly be the case that they're sitting around worrying that this had already come? What would that even mean? Well, there's two primary ways to understand their concern or this false teaching even that they've heard. The first one's this, that the coming of Jesus had in some way, in some spiritual way, already happened. So in other words, think of it like this, that this second coming from 1 Thessalonians 4, it had happened, but only in a spiritual sense. So everyone's still here physically, but spiritually some people have been raised, and the rest of us haven't, and we don't really even know who it is or who it isn't. Well, there's obvious problems with this thinking, right? Not to say the least of which is just strange and weird, and the text doesn't allow that at all. But if that was the error, if that was actually what they believed, then Paul's response and correction of them is

17:01 just completely off base, right? His response to them is about the timing of all of this, not the nature of all of this. Surely Paul would have actually just attacked them if their error was the nature, but he goes after, no, no, no, no, friends, these two things have to happen. Then that can come, right? So he's convinced, as we just saw in 1 Thessalonians, that no, the second coming is going to be public. It's going to be physical. It's going to be visible for the entire world to see, and if their thinking is that it's only spiritual, Paul would have gone after that, but he didn't. He said, no, no, no, there's two things that need to happen, so it can't be that. Well, then maybe it's that the coming of Jesus had physically happened, like the thing had come, and they were left behind, thus the books, right? Well, there's problems with this one as well, and in fact, maybe even worse problems. The Thessalonians then, in that case, would have had to believe that not only they, but Paul and his companions had been left behind as well, right? So, look, in verse, was it

18:02 verse 1, verse 2 here, they are shaken because there's a letter that appears to have come from Paul that the day of the Lord has come. But if Paul's left behind and he's writing that, he's not in really a good spot to help you guys either, right? He's been left behind himself. So that's crazy. No way they would have thought that. So what were they believing? What in the world are they all upset about? Well, I think the best way to understand their incorrect belief and their concern is that the day of the Lord has started in some fashion, right? Don't think 24-hour period necessarily when you hear day of the Lord. It's the final coming return, and it started in some fashion, and they've missed it, or they've misunderstood it. And that's caused great alarm for them. So put yourself in their shoes for just a moment. Try as best you can. You truly believe these things that Paul has told you, that he's taught you in person from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and chapter 5, that the dead in Christ are going to rise first, and you're going to rise, right? All these things that we just read. And then for some reason you think all of that's happened

19:05 and you've missed it. I mean, it'd be maddening. It'd be disheartening beyond anything you've ever felt, wouldn't it? Look, I know that you and I tend to think about the end times discussions with with a note of charity for people who have different views than yourself. It's definitely not something that keeps you awake. It's definitely not something that would cause you to be shaken, right, or alarmed. But the Thessalonians were truly distraught over this. They were shaken.

19:37 Brothers and sisters, what shakes you? Would you say you're the type of person who's easily or often shaken or alarmed? I would assume for most of us that it may not be because of the same theological reason. It's not because you think the day of the Lord has come and you've missed it. But it's the same result in your heart at the end of the day. Don't give yourself over to that. Don't be easily shaken. You might look at their situation here in 2 Thessalonians and say, well, at least I'm not shaken over the end times.

20:13 I'm shaken over financial matters, right? Or at least I'm not worrying about graphs and charts and trying to read the tea leaves. I'm actually worried about my health. I'm sick. I'm ill. I'm not well. I'm worried about something that matters. Friends, that kind of thinking reveals two things. First, we don't understand how important the end times actually are. And we certainly don't understand the comfort that we as Christians are to derive from them. That's actually one of the major points that Paul is trying to make here, that the certain coming of Jesus is a massive source of comfort for us.

20:50 But secondly, it shows that we don't understand how prone we are to being deceived into types of thinking that just do not align with Scripture. It's normal to have a certain level of concern and questions about our finances, for instance, and how the Lord's going to provide for us, or about our health and whether or not the Lord is going to take care of our bodies. It's okay to be concerned at some level about those things, but to become shaken or alarmed about those things is to entirely disregard what the Lord has made clear in His Word.

21:21 Look, the point is not to not ever think about those things. The point is to not let our hearts run out in front of the Scriptures and in front of the promises that we have that are certain, that the Lord has given us clearly in His Word. So friends, whether it's a big concern or a small concern, be sure to submit it to the good and clear promises and the authority of Scripture, and don't let it shake your faith. Look, what happened to the Thessalonians here is something that we have the tendency, and we can probably fairly easily just kind of shrug off and say, oh well, simple honest mistake, right? They got that wrong, and all the more it was about something that just doesn't really matter, right? But doing that, doing that kind of thinking ignores the very same dynamic. It doesn't account for how this dynamic actually plays itself out.

22:15 That's what Paul is concerned about. He says this same dynamic, when played out to its logical end, is one that would cause your pagan neighbors, O Thessalonians, to face God's wrath. And it will do the same for us today. Like, it might seem like a crisis of simply misunderstanding a doctrine that's going on here. But there's actually a massive, hidden undercurrent beneath all of this that when left unchecked is going to lead to destruction.

22:47 And that's why Paul speaks clearly here and seeks to correct these new believers. So here's point number two, correction. And this is the big chunk of the text, verses three through 12. So no one likes to be corrected, right? It's not a shock to any of us. We like to be right. We like to be told that we have good ideas or even that when we see things differently than others that our ideas are at least still plausible, right? Your viewpoint's, nah, it's still plausible. I think you're wrong, but I can see how you got there. Paul just doesn't care about that at all here, right?

23:18 he he's not giving them any ground at all he calls the situation for what it truly is he says you've been deceived like they're not just slightly misunderstanding it's not a minor tweak a little minor adjustment that needs to happen theologically they've been deceived and his reasoning for this is actually fairly simple it's fairly straightforward he says that day can't have come because these two things haven't happened yet guys we talked about this those two things have to happen, and then the day of the Lord will come. Look at verse 3. That day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Those things have to happen, and then he sets off to explain what those things are. He doesn't want them to have any doubt in their minds about the coming day of the Lord. So kind of summarizing those verses, he says when the man of lawlessness is revealed, he'll proclaim himself to be God, but for now he's being restrained. The man of lawlessness is being held back, and he's being restrained by someone or something that

24:19 apparently the Thessalonians know about. Look at that, verse 6. He just says, you know what is restraining him now, right, and just kind of throws it out there, like, remember when we talked about that and I told you who that is? Yeah, you know what it is, right? They apparently knew what it was, and then he goes on and says, when the man of lawlessness comes, the Lord Jesus will destroy him, right, he'll take him out, and then he kind of turns around and describes all of that activity to the work of satan to the influence of satan himself and he says that satan is doing this verse 10 in order to deceive people and finally he says those people those people who've been deceived they're perishing because and this is important because they've rejected the truth of the gospel and thus they face god's righteous wrath oh man there are so many things to answer here, right? What is apostasy or rebellion as the ESV translates it? What is man of lawlessness?

25:15 Who is the restrainer, right? There's just wild, crazy stuff. And look, I'm going to level with you right now and tell you, I do not know, and I'm not going to try and tell you who those things are, right? Look as far and as long as you want. There are far smarter people than I who have said, we don't know who those things are that is not what the lord has given us we simply do not know who those things are and yet i think there are clues here that help us get closer to the answer closer to what we should expect and that's what we'll try to do here in just a few minutes so we'll kind of pick apart those interesting pieces within uh all of paul what paul's doing here so first apostasy or rebellion well it's evident that they would have understood what paul references here, right? He simply refers to it, moves on, and verse 5 indicates they already know what it is. He just says, guys, remember the rebellion? That's going to come. And they should be going, oh yeah, the rebellion. We remember when you taught us about the rebellion and what that means. Well,

26:16 the word itself actually always, in the Bible, always means a religious rebellion. So this is not political. This is not some sort of upheaval with an army. This is religious rebellion. But who commits then this religious rebellion? Well, it seems like it has to be those who've outwardly committed themselves to God, right? In order to rebel, you've actually got to turn and rebel from someone or something. So it's those who've outwardly committed themselves to God. So that would rule out the world at large, right? Can't be the world at large. They've never outwardly committed themselves to God. They would also rule out the Jews. They've already turned away. Now the gospel is going forth to the Gentiles as a as a whole so it seems like it's people within the visible church that's where Paul is locating this apostasy it happens within the visible church people who who would proclaim to be Christians but have never actually been converted what about man of lawlessness this one gets a ton of play in the commentaries and probably in your own mind

27:16 as well. Who is the man of lawlessness? And he certainly got a ton of play in the Left Behind series. So, well, it's best to think about a few different things about this passage first to help us, again, try and get closer to who the man of lawlessness is. What should we be concerned about? What should we think about? Well, first is what we think about the temple and how that factors into who the man of lawlessness is. Look there in verse 4. He will take his seat in the temple temple of God. Was this a physical temple? Surely not. Surely not. It would have been out of place theologically for Paul to refer to a physical building that Jesus had already openly abandoned, right, and said, this is for you Jews. You can have this. I'm walking away from this, and I'm not going back into it, right? And now we know from the rest of the New Testament that God never promises to indwell a physical building again like he did with the temple of Solomon's time, but he indwells his people by his spirit, right? His church. So not a physical temple. Well, then what about church?

28:18 It seems like that's probably right. In fact, in the New Testament, anytime temple of God is used with the exception of one time, it refers to the church, to the people of God, right? It's probably, that's a really good idea. The problem is, though, here that neither Daniel nor Revelation use temple like that. And this is clearly an apocalyptic bit of text. So maybe not that. We don't know. I think a better option is just simply to see it as a metaphor, right? Paul is using stock proverbial language to simply say that this man of lawlessness is going to take his seat and proclaim himself to be God. He's going to, by his actions, try to announce to everyone that he is God, taking his seat in the temple. Like, we use this type of language all the time. In fact, the best Christmas movie ever, Elf, uses almost this exact phrase. Do you remember it? You sit on a throne of lies, right? Well, buddy, the elf there doesn't mean that the fake

29:24 Santa Claus is literally sitting on a piece of furniture composed of words that are not true, right? That's not even possible. We immediately know that no, he's using some type of figurative language to say, you're basically the king of liars. You're the biggest liar ever that you're like the king of them. That's what he means by that. And that's essentially what Paul's doing here. This man of lawlessness acts in such a way that it's as though he's trying to make himself God, as though he could sit in the throne in the temple of God. So that's the first thing. But secondly, about the man of lawlessness, we need to remember that Paul is just really drawing from all these different apocalyptic places, so especially Daniel. So for instance, Daniel chapter 11 verse 36 says this, and the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak astonishing things against the god of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done. It sounds strikingly like what Paul is describing here. This man would proclaim himself to be God and do outrageous

30:30 things against God. So this is all apocalyptic texts, right? And with apocalyptic texts, we have to remember that pictures are being painted for us that are often not clear. They're often murky. It teaches often and more clearly, more obviously, through images that evoke rather than simply describing to us exactly what's going on. We as a culture, we as a people, don't easily and often relate to that, but that's what apocalyptic literature is doing. It's painting images for us that are meant to do things in our minds and do things in our hearts. And that's why this language is just hard to nail down, honestly. It's very difficult language. But third, and I think importantly, we can finally say that the man of lawlessness is the one who at the end of the age, will exalt himself to the place of God. So how do we know that? How do we know that he's going to exalt himself to the place of God? Well, very straightforwardly, verses 3 and 6, he just hasn't come yet, right? He has not come yet, and his coming, in fact, will be connected to the second

31:36 coming of Jesus. Do you see how Paul does it? He connects both of us. He says, Jesus is going to return once all this happens, right? So they are related to one another in some way, and And just almost hilariously, Paul sneaks this in in verse 9 and says that the coming of the man of lawlessness, right? It's the same word talking about the coming of the man of lawlessness and the coming of Jesus. The coming of Jesus is obviously the coming, the second coming, the thing that brings us to the end of the age. And yet he uses that same word.

32:07 He had other words he could have used. He has the same word to almost show this guy's even trying to parallel what Jesus is doing. And yet Jesus just wipes him out with the breath of his mouth. so beyond those things though friends we just don't know who or what the man of lawlessness is we can speculate all day long theologians have tried to literally since the time paul penned this and yet we don't know so what about the restrainer maybe maybe we can figure out who the restrainer is then right well the thing we can say about this restrainer confidently is that the origin of the restrainer is God himself. And we know that because the restraint is a good thing.

32:48 It's obviously holding back evil from taking place. And because in verses 6 through 7, those two times where restrainer is mentioned, there's actually an underlying grammatical shift between the gender of the Greek. So you've got a neuter and then a masculine. If you don't know Greek or if you don't understand grammar, that's fine. Basically what that means is that we're talking about something that is probably an it, and then something that's probably a he, and that's not ever how the Bible in one passage refers to God, though we would refer to, obviously, the Spirit in that very way.

33:22 That's not what is going on here. So it seems like that's not God that's being referenced there. And then finally, it says that he's going to be revealed in his time. God is the one who controls that type of language. He sovereignly controls when things are done in a certain time. But as to the identity, as to the actual identity of who the restrainer is, there are what feel like millions of different options. But I think that probably the best option for us is to say that they are a combination of just several different forces and hold that loosely. It could be civil government. It could be the preaching of the gospel. It could even be the ministry of an archangel like Michael. That's one that commonly comes up, or just the common grace of the Lord in restraining evil and not allowing evil to go as far as it one day will. The point is with this, just like the man of lawlessness, we don't know who it is or what it is. So wow, that seems like

34:27 a lot of stuff that we don't know about the Bible. I thought the Bible was clear. I thought we could understand the Bible. So what are we supposed to do? Do we just throw our hands up here and say, whatever, I don't understand this. Let's just walk away from this. No, I don't think so at all. Remember, remember that Paul is addressing a specific concern, and he's answering that concern with a specific hope in mind.

34:58 He's aiming to comfort. He's aiming to encourage. He's aiming to care for Christians who are growing in their despair. And he's doing a certain thing with this passage. And even if we don't know the exact identities of those characters, of those players within this, we can still with complete confidence see what Paul is doing here. And here's finally the meat of his point in all of this. Look at verse 9. He says that this work is driven by Satan himself. Satan has deceived those who have refused to love the truth and this has caused their destruction.

35:37 So these end time events, they will happen in a certain way, in a certain place with certain people. Yes, but all of that evil that will be unleashed is being directed. It's being guided by Satan, by our enemy. And at that time, because people didn't believe the truth, because instead they believed what is false, God keeps them in that delusion. This is like Romans 1 where Paul says that God gives them over to their own lives and to their desires. They've found pleasure in disobeying God rather than doing what's right. They've not believed the truth.

36:10 They've shaken their fists in God, at God in rebellion. And so God has finally just given them over to themselves and their wicked desires. He's now sending them a strong delusion as, get this, this is important, as beginning pains of the eternal judgment that's awaiting them. That's what's happening here. God's sending them a strong delusion. It's just a taste of what is coming for them. Look, that day is fast coming our way. We don't tend to think of our death as kind of imminent, as right here in front of us, but it's coming. And the sad reality is that some of you in this room may find yourself under the strong delusion sent from God because you have not loved the truth, because you've rejected the gospel. You love something, you believe something, you take pleasure in something. This passage is not denying that. In fact, it's actually affirming that, that you do those things. Your life confirms that as well. But

37:11 what you need to see, friend, is that you're not believing the truth of the gospel, that if you're not believe in it, and if you're taking pleasure instead in what God's word says is not pleasing to him, then you are condemned by those very actions. Friend, believe the truth. Believe what is laid out in front of you here as the truth that Jesus is the coming king, that he is the one who offers salvation. And do as Paul says here, believe it and so be saved. That's the offer held out to you if if you find yourself as one of those who've rejected this up until this point but there's also a strong warning in here for christians so if satan is the one who aims to deceive right then he's aiming at the church he's aiming at us as well as those who are clearly under his influence so the very fact that paul talks of apostasy here reminds us that one of the greatest problems of the church can always come from within her own ranks. The church has never been immune

38:15 to the threat of false teaching or destructive lies. Friends, that means that we cannot afford the luxury of simply growing at ease here in this world and in this age. Only the church, only the church that holds fast to the gospel till the end has the right to claim that the gates of hell will not prevail against her. That's why we pray each week here in this room that God would protect the preaching that comes from this pulpit and would keep it faithful to his word. That's why we pray each week here in this room that God would give us unity as a church around the gospel. That's why we pray each week in home groups. That's why we have home groups and we aim to be vulnerable and accountable to one another in those groups. We know that Satan wants to deceive us. We know that He wants to lead us into destruction, but we know even more so that the way we prevent that from happening is by feeding on God's Word together.

39:14 Now, friends, there's no room for complacency. There's no room for complacency either in your own life or in our corporate life together. We must be diligent to preserve our faithfulness to the word of God the Thessalonians concern here was that the day of the Lord had come and it had passed them by and they're shaken because of it but Paul says no it hadn't come no here's how you know here's here's what that day is going to look like the rebellion is going to come the man of lawlessness is going to be revealed the wicked are going to be judged right Jesus will take care of all this friends remember that that's what he's telling them remember what you've been told you've heard these things and yet you seem to be drifting from them. Remember what you've been told. And he's doing that all for a reason, all for a very specific reason. He wants them to be comforted. And so our third point, the comfort from this text.

40:12 So back in Atlanta, when we got separated from Gabriella, the thing that we wanted most in that moment was simply to find her, right? To find her, to know that she was all right, to know that she had not actually been kidnapped or harmed in any way. We didn't even know how long we'd been without her, but it had been long enough for something bad to have happened. And we just wanted to hold her and know that everything was okay again. Praise God, we found her. And the moment we knew that she was okay and that she wasn't hurt, that we were all going to make it, we just swooped her up, right, and held her and offered her comfort, offered one another comfort in that moment. Well, that's what we want in a moment of crisis, right? That's the thing we long for. We need to be comforted, to be reminded of truth. And Paul knows this is true of the Thessalonians as well. They need comfort in the midst of their chaos, in the midst of their panic.

41:11 Well, we've got to step back and see that context for just a second. Remember, they have thought that the coming of Jesus has happened. They've misunderstood it, and it's put them into this pit of despair. They are lost without a hope, they feel, and they need comfort. And what's Paul's response? How does he help them? What does he try to do in that particular moment? Well, it's interesting what he does. He corrects their misunderstanding, right? He doesn't let their misunderstanding go unchecked. He actually corrects it with teaching from God's Word, and then he points them to what God has done for them, to how God has saved them, to what they've learned from even himself, to the authoritative teaching that Paul has given them. And all of that is designed to bring them comfort. He doesn't point to their circumstances. He doesn't tell them to stop and just think on happier things. He doesn't even try to minimize what they're enduring, saying, it's really not that bad. I mean, guys, just get over it, right? Just move on. No, he simply points to something bigger

42:15 than their current situation. And it's fascinating how he does this. Look at the contrast he's drawing between them, the Thessalonians, and God's enemies. So verse 10, he uses language like those who are perishing, right? They need to be saved. And then verse 13, he calls the Thessalonians those who are saved, right? Clear contrast there. Does it again with this lie and truth kind of theme. So those who refuse to love the truth, they believe what is false, they don't believe the truth, they take pleasure in unrighteousness. And then on the other hand, it's those who believe in the truth, right? There's those clear two camps there. And what he's doing with that is he's homing in on something incredibly important for us. He's driving out a comfort that has two vital pieces to it. Number one, he points out that all of this is by God's grace. All of this is by God's grace. Look what he says. He chose you. He sanctifies you. He's given you his word. He'll bring you to the point of glorification. It's just like he's building a fortress around their hearts, protecting

43:17 and encouraging them as he points them to the things that the Lord has done. He loves you. He chose you. He saved you. He sanctifies you. He's called you to obtain the glory of a son Jesus. And then verse 16, he's given you comfort and eternal hope. He couldn't be clearer on what he's trying to do for the Thessalonians in that moment. And yet there's another key piece. What's he do there in verse 15? He tells them to stand firm in their faith and to hold to the teaching that he's given them. Like this isn't some sort of physical posture, right? You don't stand firm like that.

43:59 That's not what he's talking about. He's not adding to God's word saying, yeah, this tradition that you've given. This is in addition to God's Word, how some have taken that. No, that's not what he means. It's simply a reminder to stay the course, to keep the faith, to believe God's Word. You see what Paul has done in just a few verses? God is now pictured as the one who loves and comforts and strengthens believers, as opposed to the one who condemns and judges and destroys unbelievers. Those unbelievers persecuting the Thessalonians, they will be judged, right? The ones working evil on that last day when Jesus returns, they will be judged as well.

44:43 But you Thessalonians, you are loved and you have been saved by God. Let that comfort you in your affliction. Friends, our God is eager to give you comfort. He's eager to strengthen you. By his spirit, he wants to purify you and make you more devoted to himself. We can look at passages like this all day long and see things like that, right? That is just throughout the Bible. So then, why is it that we often struggle to believe that?

45:21 Why does your heart and mine become shaken and alarmed, to use Paul's language, and doubt that God sees you in your trouble, let alone that he would actually give you comfort in your trouble? Is it because of stress? You're just kind of overwhelmed with things? Maybe busyness? You just haven't even stopped to give it a second thought? Maybe it's a weakened faith. You're just in a season where your faith has been weakened by the things of this world.

45:52 Perhaps it's a fear of hearing a no come back if you do ask for it. Friend, I'd ask you, have you even asked God for comfort in your situation. Like, I suppose there are different reasons for each of us, but brothers and sisters, know this. Our God is a God of comfort for all of His people. Go to Him. Ask Him today in your trouble for help, and He will give you comfort. But that's not the only way we can apply this part of the text. The thread running through all of this has been that the Thessalonians had almost been deceived, right? All the way back up to verse two, verse three rather. He says, don't let anyone deceive you, right? They'd forgotten what they'd been taught. And so Paul tells them to stand firm and to hold to the teaching.

46:44 Brothers and sisters, you have an enemy who wants to deceive. That's what happened to the Thessalonians. And the way to fight off that deception is not something magical. It's not something mysterious. It's not something super spiritual. It's to know God's Word. It's to remember what you've been taught week in and week out from this pulpit, from your own devotions, from other Christians, from your home group leaders. It's to believe the truth of the gospel. Like this isn't something we simply say up here to ourselves kind of as a Christian truism. It's literally what was causing the Thessalonians to slip away. Not knowing, not remembering, not believing God's word is actually a satanic scheme to lead people away from God right up until the time Jesus returns. It's not a matter of being a better Christian or of being a smarter Christian or a more outwardly well-behaved Christian because you know God's word more than others. It's about

47:48 recognizing that we have an enemy who desires to drag us into doubting God's Word and who wants to wreck everything in our lives. And the way we fight off his deceptive ways, it's simple. It's with God's Word. Look, if your confidence is in anything other than God's Word, you will be shaken and alarmed. Seek to know the Word, to remember the Word, to believe the Word of God. It's your way of standing firm against our enemy for all the things we could say about this passage for all the interesting pieces all the end times discussion and how it's all going to play out the thing we know now and the thing we're certain of today is this that satan wants to deceive you and the antidote to his deception is knowing remembering and believing god's word brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the truth. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come to you

48:57 humbled by the fact that we are too weak to fight off our enemy on our own. We know we have an enemy because you've told us clearly in your word and because that's been our experience from day one, and yet we have the great hope and the great confidence that through Christ's work on our behalf, there is a salvation offered to us. There is a coming relief offered to us. There is an eternal home for us, your people. God, strengthen us to stand firm. Help us to hold fast to your word. Help us to find ways to encourage one another to do those very things so that we might together sing praises around the throne of the Lamb on that day. We pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.