First Things First (Again)!

Take your Bibles this morning and let's turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, you follow as I read these first 12 verses. 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 a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

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.

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 refuse to love the truth and to 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. Let's pray. Father, once more, we ask that you would guide our thinking.

And Lord, we pray that you would give us hope as we study these things, that we would know that the day of the Lord is coming and will appear, and victory will be yours and vindication ours as you come in all your glory. But until then, Lord, we pray that you would help us to be faithful and to understand the times. Grant us now the ability to understand that as we look into your word this morning in Jesus name amen If you've never been to a high school wrestling match, you need to go.

And I say that not because I'm invested in it pretty heavily, but because when you watch wrestling, you see life played out in front of you, okay? So here we are. Now, wrestlers wrestle for three periods unless they pin or get pinned. So you're in the second period, okay? You're in the second period. Your guy is ahead by three points, but he makes a mistake.

His opponent moves on him and gets him down on the mat, and he's starting to turn him, right? You've got to pin him. He's got the half in, and he's starting to turn him, okay? Now, there's 30 seconds left in the period. I can tell you right now what the coaches are yelling and what everybody in the stands are yelling. Here's what they're yelling.

Short time! Short time! Short time! They're all screaming that. That's so the wrestler knows he's only got a little bit of time to just hold him off. Don't get your shoulder blades at an angle.

They start counting points, and don't let them get your pin. And so everybody's screaming, short time, meaning hang in there, man. You only got a little bit ways to go. That's kind of what the passage here is telling us. When we see these things happening, it's short time. Hang in there, right?

Jesus is coming. Jesus is returning. Now, as we look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, let's remember what's happening here before we dive back into the text. You remember that Paul draws for his readers, or for us, a sketch of what happens before the day of the Lord, the day of Jesus' triumphant return to earth. We were examining that sketch last Sunday. So far we've seen that two events must occur before the day of the Lord.

The apostasy, a great falling away from gospel beliefs in the church, and riding the crest of that apostasy and intensifying that apostasy is the man of lawlessness, a powerful leader within the church who will lead it away from Christ and the truth. But we also noticed in verse 7 that the mystery of lawlessness is at work even now during the course of the entire age in which the church exists Apostasy has always worked its evil in the church and the spirit of the Antichrist has empowered many other Antichrists who have been present within the church all these centuries. Those currents will eventually all culminate into the apostasy and the Antichrist or the man of lawlessness.

So we saw that those two events must happen. The forces that drive those things have always been present, but at the end of the age they will all come together to produce the apostasy and the man of lawlessness. We also began to investigate the characteristics of the man of lawlessness. Our text tells us some things to look for in the man of lawlessness.

And here's what we saw or what we began to see. What the man of lawlessness is like when he reveals himself. We're going to see when he reveals himself. We're going to see how he reveals himself and what the purpose of God is when he reveals himself. Last week, we got as far as examining the first of those four characteristics. what the man of lawlessness is like when he appears.

And here's what we saw. He opposes and exalts himself against every other deity, demanding for himself all worship. He takes the place of authority in the church. He takes his seat in the temple of God, which we saw as a reference to the church. He declares himself to be God. All right?

So we saw last week what the man of lawlessness is like when he reveals himself. So let's move on as we continue to know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness. Okay? Now, we've already seen what the man of lawlessness is like when he appears. He exalts himself in the temple. He declares himself God.

Now, let's look at the next question. When does the man of lawlessness reveal himself? When does he reveal himself? He will make his appearance when God removes the power that restrains him. Verses 6 through the beginning of verse 8. Okay?

So here's what we read. 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 Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way and when the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth. So we see here his revelation.

Now what constitutes this restraining power? What is that? What is that? Many suggestions have appeared over the centuries, but nothing really fits. Some have said it's the Roman Empire and the emperor that's restraining him. Just God providentially using that power.

The problem with that idea is that the emperor himself was declaring himself God to be worshipped. And so that would contribute to the problem, not hinder it. Some have said the civil orders or the laws of society as they developed have hindered the revelation of the man of lawlessness. But as you look at verse 6, it's called a force, but in verse 7 it's called a person.

So it's not just civil laws. Some have said it's the preaching of the gospel, but the gospel is going to be preached right up until the end, right up until the day of the Lord. Some have said it's the Holy Spirit that will be removed. The problem with that is certainly Paul would have said the Holy Spirit. I mean, why would he be so vague at this point?

And the problem with that, of course, is the Holy Spirit's at work all the way up to the end, to the day of the Lord. Not up just to the near the end and then disappears. What makes it especially difficult is verse 6. Paul mentions this restraint. In verse 6, he mentions, and you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his time.

But verse 7, it says, only he who now restrains it will do so until he's out of the way. So at one point, it's an it. At another point, it's a he. Now the Thessalonians knew what he was talking about. Because in verse 5, he says, do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And oh, I would so desperately like to have the notes that people took on Paul's sermon when he was preaching this.

But we don't. And frankly, we have to admit, we don't know. I hate saying that. I absolutely hate coming into a pulpit and saying, I don't know what it means. But I don't. So.

And you know what I found? Hardly anybody. knows. And the ones that are sure shouldn't be, by the evidence they deduce. But I am convinced of this, God gave us enough information. He gave us enough of what we need to know. So we may not know what the restrainer is or who the restrainer is, but we do know this, the man of lawlessness will not make his appearance until it's his time.

Verse 6, he will appear when it's his time. We do know that. And the man of lawlessness will not make his appearance until the time appointed by God. We must surely recognize that God is in control, that God is sovereign, and he operates through the restrainer by his providence. God has set the time of the man of lawlessness appearing, and he so works in the events of human history that the removal of this restraint, whatever it is, will happen according to his providential plan.

And that's what we need to know. The only thing we need to know is there's someone, something, restraining the revelation of the man of lawlessness. What that is, we don't know. But we do know that when the appointed time comes, God will remove that restraint, that restrainer. And the revelation of the man of lawlessness will occur when God says so, according to his plan.

At least we know that much. And at least that is what God intends us to understand, at the very least. And so when does the man of lawlessness reveal himself? When God removes the restraining power or person according to his plan. There's a time when he's going to be revealed. It's appointed by God, and when it's time, the restraint is removed, and the man will reveal himself.

How does the man of lawlessness reveal himself? Verses 9 and 10. 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 refuse to love the truth and so be saved. He reveals himself by a satanic display of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders resulting in great deception.

Satan is alive and well and he stands behind all the lawlessness that we see happening around us today but when this man of lawlessness explodes on the scene within Christendom he will appear with the energizing supernatural power of Satan behind him There's going to be something that has never been seen before. Oh, certainly, people are claiming miraculous signs today. All right, they're claiming it all over the place.

I remember just months ago there was something on the Internet about some African congregation raising somebody from the dead. That was a real big news for a while. Of course, it didn't stick because, you know, someone who comes back from the dead is pretty unmistakable. And so it really didn't happen. That's not going to be so with him. He's going to appear with powerful signs and wonders.

Now, the term that he uses here, power, signs, and wonders, are the terms used of Jesus when he appeared on the scene. For example, the gospel writer John loves the word signs. He used signs a lot. That's the idea. And what are those signs? When you read the gospel of John, signs are these miraculous things that Jesus does in order to point to the reality of his claims, that he is God and that he is the Savior and that he is the one, the water of life, the bread of life, and so forth.

And so that's what he uses. But all three of these terms, power, signs, and wonders, are used of Jesus when he was on earth. Likewise, when this teacher appears, he's going to do marvelous things in order to convince his hearers to believe him. except he will use these signs as a means of convincing them to believe lies and not the truth. And so even here, Paul seems to be setting up a parallel, which is another reason why we could call him the Antichrist.

Because just not to, and again, I'm not here to, well, I am here to lecture, I guess. But there's just certain things that are happening in this text. For example, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan. So the coming of the lawless one. Okay? That's that word.

We looked at it in 1 Thessalonians. Parousia. That's the word for coming. Royal coming The very word that used in 1 Thessalonians about Jesus coming is used of this man at his coming The signs and wonders and power are the same words used of Jesus Jesus was a teacher. This one obviously is someone who's trying to convince people to believe what he's saying.

All right. And so there's this opposite of Jesus who comes in in similar in a similar way in order to deceive people. And people will readily believe because people, even today, often credit miraculous, unexplainable things to God. I hope you don't do that. You know, so many people say, wow, I cannot figure out how we did that. It must be God.

Or to use a term that people love, it must be a God thing. Right? It has to be a God thing. I mean, how else do you explain these things? Well, just because you can't come up with some kind of scientific explanation for an unexplainable event, it doesn't automatically mean that God's behind it. It's amazing to me that people, when they can't explain something, they say, well, how do you explain this?

I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't mean it has to be from God. If it's inexplicable, it doesn't automatically mean it's from God. Why? I want you to look way back to Deuteronomy. Way, way, way back. In the beginning of the history of the people of God, God addresses this whole thing about someone coming along with miraculous signs.

And you know what it does? It doesn't say that if a miraculous sign is performed, it's from God. It doesn't say that. Deuteronomy chapter 13. Deuteronomy chapter 13. Listen to what Moses says to his people.

Listen to this. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the lord your god is testing you to know whether you love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul you shall walk after the lord your god and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice And you shall serve him and hold fast to him But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commands you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Do you see what he says there? He says someone can come along and perform miraculous signs. That's not the test. What's the test? Is he teaching truth? Martin Luther said it can rain miracles all day long.

But if the miracle worker doesn't say follow the Lord, it doesn't matter what he does. Listen, just because you can't explain it doesn't mean it comes from God. You have to ask what accompanies those signs. Is it truth or is it falsehood? Is it truth or is it falsehood? I plead with you.

There's so many people today who are led astray. They say, well, the only explanation is God. Not necessarily so. Examine what they're saying, not what they're doing. That's the test. Now, what Paul says here is these signs and wonders lead to people embracing his wicked deception.

They are taken in by those signs. and you will see the wholesale seduction of people to believe his claims and obey his commands because they're led astray by those signs. You may ask, why would anyone believe the Antichrist's claims of divinity and authority? Well, he tells us right here in the text. He says, for a moment. The book of Ephesians clearly shows us man in his unconverted, unregenerate state.

What is a person like before he becomes a Christian? Well, look at chapter four. or verse 17. Now this I say in testifying the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles, the unbelievers do, in the futility of their minds, the vain thinking, the futility. Someone has once said, unbelievers not only have the wrong answers, they're not even asking the right questions.

Alright? That's the way they are. They're futile. Their minds are going. They're very intelligent. But they're turning, turning, turning, turning, and they don't get it.

They don't get it. All right? Let's continue. They are darkened in their understanding. They can't understand. They are alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to what?

Their hardness of heart, you see. They're darkened in their understanding. They're futile in their thinking. They don't know. Why? Because their hearts are hard towards God.

You know, faith precedes understanding. I believe, therefore I understand. Look over at chapter 2. What has to happen? Chapter 2, you remember, the Apostle Paul describes people who are perishing as dead in their trespasses, a prisoner of Satan, a prisoner of their own desires, a prisoner of the philosophies of the age. They think that they're free, but they're not free at all.

They're prisoners on all fronts. And what does he say in response to that? He says then in verse 4, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. It isn't anything you've done. God has to step in with new birth in order for you to understand anything. it's got to do something in your heart before you you you believe all right so back to second thessalonians then why are people believing this antichrist claims to divinity and authority because they're perishing and they're perishing note in our text here verse 10 and they're perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved they refuse to love the truth and so be saved Look it not enough to know the truth It not enough to know the gospel Okay Possession does not guarantee that you be protected from deception Possession does not mean, does not guarantee that you'll be protected from believing the lie.

It's not possession that offers protection. Rather, it's affection. it's affection it's not just possessing not just knowing it's loving the truth that's what he says because they refuse to love the truth isn't it interesting he doesn't say because they refuse to believe the truth they refuse to love the truth you will be easily led astray if you don't love the truth of God if you don't love the gospel if it doesn't strike you so that it has your affections and you think it's the most important thing in the world i know lots of people who have been carried away who knew the gospel they knew it they could tell you you're saved if you trust in jesus who was raised from the dead and died for our sins they can spout the whole gospel off they could take you through romans and show you the romans road but it didn't mean much to them. So notice, he says, that these people are deceived because they refuse to love the truth and to be saved.

So how will the man of lawlessness reveal himself? By a wholesale deception of those who do not love the truth by means of satanic empowered signs that he produces. that's the how the last question of the four characteristics what is he like when is he revealed how is he revealed and what is God's purpose when he's revealed verses 11 and 12 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. Simply stated, God's purpose in the revelation of the man of lawlessness is judgment.

It's judgment. He executes his judgment by sending a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false. You say no wait a minute Wait just a minute God sends a strong delusion God sends a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false How is that righteous? How is that fair? God, you don't do that kind of stuff. Well, I would agree with you, except that's not what this text says.

God sends a strong delusion. How is that righteous? Okay, let's take it apart for a moment. First of all, you must see that God does not send this delusion to people who love and earnestly seek the truth, does he? He's not playing games and saying, oh man, those people are really searching for me. Oh man, they're really expending themselves trying to know me.

I think I'll send a delusion and confuse them so they can't find me. Is that what's going on here? Is that what he's doing? And the answer is no, that's not what he's doing. Note, therefore. Okay? here's a freebie for you whenever you see a therefore in scripture you've got to ask yourself why is that therefore why is that there because he's saying therefore God sends them a strong delusion therefore why is that there here's why he's saying because they refuse to love the truth and be saved he sends this delusion they refuse they don't want to love the truth They don't want to be saved.

Those are the people that he sends the delusion to. Notice as well the end of verse 12. Look at the end of verse 12. Who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Who are the people to whom he sends this delusion? He unleashes this delusion on people who do not believe the truth.

People who don't believe God anyway are the recipients of this delusion. They don't believe God anyway. So he sends them this delusion. He sends it to people, note, who take pleasure in unrighteousness. Again, you find affection, right? But not a love for the truth, not an affection for the truth, but an affection or pleasure in wickedness.

He sends a delusion to people who love their wicked ways more than the truth that would save them. Now look as we go through this text you ought to see these currents running through our culture today that will finally culminate in this We see these currents we seen them since the beginning of the church but you can see them today People love wickedness, don't they? They enter into homosexual lifestyles, produces nothing but misery, but they love it.

This is the right way, they say. People cheat on their wives, right? they cheat on their wives they cheat on their husbands they don't think anything of it why they love it they want their pleasures you see so god sends this delusion not on earnest seekers of the truth but to those who hate the truth of god and they love wickedness they are the ones to whom he sends this delusion now why does he send that delusion this is again where judgment comes in. He does it to bring about greater condemnation.

That's what he says. So that, okay, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned. Okay, God sends this delusion to truth haters so that they believe what is false and bring about their condemnation or their punishment. Condemnation means more here than just the verdict of guilty. It includes the penalty.

So the condemnation here is the punishment, the penalty exacted. And what is that penalty? We saw it in chapter one, when Jesus appears with his angels of flaming fire to trouble those who have troubled you, right? To take vengeance on the wicked. And so, God sends this delusion to truth-haters so that they believe what is false and bring about their own punishment.

Now, in all of this, God acts judicially. This is important to see. God acts judicially. That is, God often judges people. Listen, God often judges people by giving them what they want. right let me say that again god will often judge people by giving them what they want for example in numbers 11 we won't read the story you remember in numbers 11 the people are complaining they're howling at the it's like they're howling at the tents, their tents, at the entrance to their tents.

All these people howling. We don't want manna. We're tired of manna. Where's the meat? Where's all the good food from Egypt? And Moses has reached the end of his rope.

And he says, God, just kill me. I can't take this anymore. Right? He says, Lord, did I bear these people? Did I give them birth? Lord, these are not my people.

They're yours. You just kill me. I'm so tired of this. And of course, God steps in and helps him out. but this is what God says to Moses do you remember? he says look they want meat I'll give them meat I'll give them quail quail is going to come in and I'm going to give them so much quail this is what the text of the scripture says I'm going to give them so much quail it will come out their noses it will come out their nostrils and in a little while quail will be so loathsome to them they won't want it anymore that was God's judgment you see he gave them what they wanted a lot of what they wanted.

Okay? Now look at Romans chapter 1. Let's see another example of God's judicious, or not judicious, I'm sorry, God's acting like a judge and punishing people by giving them what they want. Romans chapter 1 verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness Okay? So the wrath of God is being revealed.

And it goes on to say that they're suppressing the truth. God says, I'm clearly evident in all creation. And you all have heard me say this. There's no such thing as an atheist. Everybody knows there's a God. That's what Romans 1 says.

They suppress the truth. They suppress it. They hold it down. They don't want to believe it. They'll come up with everything else, but they suppress the truth. And because of that, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.

What is that wrath? Verse 24. Therefore, God, because they're suppressing the truth, because they don't want to acknowledge God, because they want to worship the creation rather than the creator, because all that's going on, what's God going to do? Therefore, there's that word again, because they've suppressed the truth, therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever Amen For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

Drop down to verse 28. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. What is God's judgment? He gives them what they want. He says, okay, I'll give you up to all your lusts. I'll give you up to all that.

Go ahead. That is a sign of the judgment of God. I remember one time, years ago, this is back in the dark ages when I was in seminary, in the late 70s. I remember a student asking one of my seminary professors, do you think America is under the judgment of God? And his response was, I don't think it's a question of if. I think we are.

Why? Because it's getting worse. That's a sign of God's judgment. And that was back in the 70s, folks. The point is, God will give people what they want. And so it is here.

The man of lawlessness will appear with seductive lies. And because people embrace the pleasure of wickedness rather than the salvation of God's truth, God sends a delusion to cause further confusion. They're confused enough. He says, well, I'm going to give you more. That's what you want? If you want to pursue that, I'll give you more.

And so they don't believe the truth. And so they willingly follow the man of lawlessness and reap their just condemnation. They're already under judgment. He's given them what they want. They don't want to believe the truth. And so he says, okay.

He sends the delusion. And so God accomplishes his purposes of judgment through the revelation of the man of lawlessness. So we know what to look for in the man of lawlessness. What is the man of lawlessness like when he reveals himself? He takes a place of authority in the church, actually claiming to be the sole object of devotion for all people everywhere.

When will he reveal himself? When the restrainer is moved by God's providential plan. How does he reveal himself? by satanic empowered signs and miracles that will convince people of his false claims. What is the purpose of God when he reveals himself? God purpose is to bring judgment on those who love their sins more than the saving truth of God So there is what the character of the man of lawlessness All right There's one last thing that's in this text that we haven't seen yet.

Know, don't just know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness, know the end of the man of lawlessness. Back in verse 8. And when 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 Lord Jesus will suddenly appear and He will violently kill the man of lawlessness.

When it says kill there, it means violently kill him. And He will do this by a mere word. He will do this by a mere word. The Lord Jesus will break the power of this incredibly powerful man. This man who claims to be God, who has supernatural power that accredits him, will in a moment be completely stripped of all his power. In a moment.

That fast. All his power is gone. This man who seems to be of incredible power and miracle working wonders will be stripped of his power like that. The only thing Jesus has to do is say, you're done. And he's dead. that's it with a word the man ceases to exist Jesus will dethrone this antichrist by just showing up last part of that verse right he will kill him with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming now look wrestling season is over but when you win normally, sometimes, you know, you get someone and you pin them in 30 seconds.

I'm talking about real wrestling here now, okay? And they get out there. They're standing up. You've got to take your man down. And if he doesn't get away from you, you've got to get him down further. You've got to work real hard to turn him over to get him pinned, right?

And if you watch these guys, it is three periods two minutes apiece seem like eternity am i right guys yeah it eternity for them right and it hard hard work to defeat your opponent But Jesus just shows up and his opponent is not just prostrate his opponent is vaporized Jesus just shows up, he just walks on the mat, he's done. Alright? Jesus has such power that he just appears and the victory is his.

That's the point he wants you to get here. You're done. That's it. It's all over. All the persecution, all the lies, all the deception, all that came with this man is done in a nanosecond. That also means that Jesus will exalt those who have suffered, and he will honor those who have been despised by the world in front of the whole world that have followed this man. so you see the last thing we have to see here then is this why does he tell us this he tells us this so we know the day of the Lord of the victory that is ours is coming now our children used to love to go to grandpa and grandma's house go to the farm in Iowa that was a 12 to 13 hour trip it was an eternity is what it was six kids in a van 13 hours all right for them it was forever but their excitement would grow as we got closer the great big gigantic span a suspension bridge across the mississippi river we're getting close the town of Osceola time to get our shoes on you come to Afton we're only by then 10 miles away and they see the pink elephant I don't know what the pink elephant was I don't know why it was there but someone had a pink elephant outside big giant pink elephant you see the pink elephant you know we are that close to be into the farm.

Now that's what the Apostle Paul is doing for us here. He's saying to us, he's saying to us, these things must happen before the day of the Lord, before the day of victory, before the day that Jesus is glorified in himself and with us. When he glorifies us. That day is certainly coming. And when you see, when you see these things happening, know that it'll be soon.

And it is guaranteed. You've got to look at these not as something to fear, not now as saying, oh yeah, now my curiosity has been satisfied. You need to read these verses with hope, knowing that these are landmarks that point to the finished journey. that Jesus will appear and in a moment change everything. And we will find that we will be honored and exalted before an unbelieving world to enter into a perfect, now a perfectly harmonious world where everything's working the way it should.

And life is now what it should be That how you think when you read these words Father thank You for the words You given us Thank You for the hope they give us. Lord, we certainly can fear when we hear about the power of evil. And yet, Lord, You cause us to look to You and to see that You merely appearing will change everything forever. Help us to focus our eyes not on the landmarks, but on the end of the journey.

Help us, Father, so that your name will be glorified in us, so that we will be a people of hope in a hopeless world. In a dark world, we will be people who are radically different in our attitude towards life. That because of what we know about Jesus, the King who conquers, we will be always a hopeful people. So grant that, we pray. Thank you for your word today.

In Jesus' name, amen.