First Things First

If you would, take your Bibles and turn to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. You would follow as I read the first 12 verses of this chapter. 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 that 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 have the truth, 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 do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Let's pray.

Father, now we pray you would accomplish your purposes in our hearts this day. We pray that your word would speak to us, would help us to know certain things that we might be a people of hope. So help us now as we look through this and seek to understand it for your glory Lord so you will be glorified in our lives Thank you now in Jesus name amen My dad had a sister whose name was Clara.

Clara died rather young because, as a result of what was then called scarlet fever. For years she was confined to bed, and the pastor would regularly visit her and the family. Her father, my grandpa, had a picture of the president hanging in the house. This would have been back in the 30s. The president then was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Now, I cannot imagine my grandpa as a Democrat, but he was an immigrant from Holland, and so there was a certain sense in which, unlike most of us naturally born people, held the office in high regard, and so out of respect, he had a picture of the president hanging in the house. and one day in one of his visits the pastor informed my grandpa that FDR was indeed the antichrist but grandpa was not buying it and he told the pastor in no uncertain terms that he was wrong now of course FDR was not that horrible fiend that we all fear but why even worry about it anyway.

Why even worry about these things? Why even be interested in them? Well, here's two reasons. Because if you're so interested in eschatology, the doctrine of last things, you might forget about hope. The reason why we study that doctrine. And if your eschatology is wrong, you might lose hope.

Now, the congregation back there in Thessalonica, to whom this letter was originally written, that congregation was losing hope. And they were losing hope because they had the wrong view of the last days. They had heard that the day of the Lord had already come. You recall in those first three verses, they had been shaken. They had been alarmed. They were shifting in their beliefs because someone, we don't know who, had told them that the day of the Lord had already come.

And they had heard that the day of the Lord meant the resurrection of those who had died And that hadn happened It meant that they would be completely freed from sin And that hadn happened It meant that the whole world would see the victory of Jesus and God's people would be vindicated. But that didn't seem to be the case. And so because they thought the day of the Lord had come, they were distressed because all those things had not happened that they were expecting.

So in order to relieve their distress, as we look at our text, Paul writes them and he says to them, the day of the Lord has not yet arrived. Those promises will indeed be fulfilled, but two events must happen before the day of the Lord and before all those magnificent promises are fulfilled. There has to be two events. In other words, the day of the Lord has not arrived yet because these two events must occur first.

Now, it's like your little guy, your little boy. It's near Christmas and he wakes up one morning and because of a dream or something, he's a little confused and he's crying. And as he comes down from upstairs in his bedroom, you say, what's wrong? He says, I miss Christmas. I miss Christmas. and you say to him, hey, Bob, you didn't miss Christmas. You didn't miss Christmas.

Remember, remember that the day before Christmas, we go to grandpa and grandma's house, right? And we have a special dinner with them. And then after that, what do we do? Well, we go to church for the Christmas Eve service, right? Have we done that yet? No.

So Christmas hasn't come yet, okay? That's what the Apostle Paul is trying to do here, You're saying, look, the day of the Lord has not come yet, because two events have to happen. So be looking for those before you look for the day of the Lord. So in the same way, God tells you the final day of Jesus' return will certainly happen. But only after these events transpire.

Now, what exactly is the day of the Lord? What exactly is the day of the Lord? Now, if you remember, just a few months ago, well, maybe longer than a few months, we are in 1st Thessalonians the 1st Thessalonians the first letter that Paul wrote to this congregation and he describes the day of the Lord in chapter 4 if you remember that and he calls it he calls that what he describes in chapter 4 he calls that the day of the Lord he identifies it as the day of the Lord in chapter 5 In chapter 4 he describes it this way, Jesus will appear in the heavens with a cry of command from the archangel.

Those who have died will come out of the graves and they will be transformed. with glorified bodies as they come out of those graves. And anybody who's alive, we Christians who are alive when Jesus appears, will also be transformed. And then those who have died in their transformed bodies, being raised from the graves, and those of us who are alive, having now transformed bodies, change in a twinkling of an eye, now we all, both those who have died and those who are alive, we both ascend to meet Jesus in the air.

And then he comes down to the earth and we come with him in a great victory parade. Okay? In a triumphant victory parade. And that's the beginning of glory. Righteous vengeance and judgment on unbelievers as we see in chapter 1 of this epistle. Judgment will fall on unbelievers.

Believers will receive their glorified bodies. we will take up residence on a renewed earth, free of sinners, free of sin's curse, to live eternally. And then in chapter 5, Paul identifies that return with the day of the Lord when he writes, For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord, what I just talked about, that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Now, it's not my intention this morning to pick a fight.

But the idea of a secret rapture of believers before the day of the Lord cannot be found anywhere in Scripture. You cannot find it. Scripture speaks of one unmistakable victorious return of Jesus that is obvious to everyone who's alive on the earth. All through the New Testament, that's what you find. one unmistakable victorious return of Jesus right that's evident to everybody on the earth now those listen and some of you are not familiar with what I'm talking about some of you are but I just want to say this those who believe in a secret rapture are still our brothers and sisters, right?

And I do not mean any disrespect. These are the people who loved me and brought me to Christ. These are the people who loved my wife and led her to Christ. And they're wonderful people. But at this point, let's say we're going to disagree. I think this is what the Bible teaches.

Now note this as well. Look at verse five. Five. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things. It's obvious here that Paul had taught the Thessalonians on these matters when he and his mission team arrived in the city to establish that congregation. They had talked about this.

They had taught them about this. Okay. Now look, as we proceed through this passage, you're going to see that there's still things that nobody understands in this passage. I kind of wish that I had the notes that someone took on the sermons that Paul was preaching on this and that we could have found them and wrap up everything that's mysterious in this passage.

But that is not the case. But let me just say this. God did not make any mistakes. Although some of these things are still mysterious and we're never, and you're going to find out, we're never going to quite be able to grasp what they mean. God has given us enough. He's given us what we need to know in order to have hope and to look forward to the day of the Lord.

Now, what do you need to know about the day of the Lord so that you do not lose hope? In the remainder of this chapter, from verse 3 through verse 12, I think there are three things that we need to understand. Know that two events precede the day of the Lord. So first thing, know that two events precede the day of the Lord. Number two, know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness.

And number three, know the end of the man of lawlessness. Those are three things that we're going to see in this chapter. And look, I'm just going to warn you ahead of time. I want us to understand this, and so I've dived into it. So, okay, we're not going to get through the entire passage today. All right, please bear with me.

But I think it important enough that we understand this Paul thought it was and I want us to grasp this All right So what the first thing Know what two events precede the day of the Lord Know what two events precede the day of the Lord Verse 3, 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. What are the two events? Well, the first event is called the rebellion, or more accurately, the apostasy.

Now that word that's translated rebellion is used throughout the New Testament to refer to falling away, falling away from faith. It's referring to those who once professed allegiance to Jesus, but who eventually abandoned that allegiance. And apostasy can be seen in one of two ways or both ways, okay? One is those who become apostate in life. That is, they're part of the people of God.

Their profession seems genuine. They seem to be Christians. And then at some point, they say, I don't believe this anymore. And they fall away. They fall away from the people of God. They quit coming to church.

They eventually say, I don't believe that. I can give you many personal examples. Of 35 years here in ministry, I can tell you many people who were once here, part of us, who have fallen away. Apostate in life. And then you can become apostate in belief. That is to say, you abandon orthodox doctrine.

You can become apostate not only in life, but you can become apostate in belief. Call yourself a Christian, but don't believe the doctrines of Christianity. Now notice that Paul calls this the apostasy. He doesn't say a apostasy. And he doesn't say an apostasy is going to come. He says the apostasy.

He uses the definite article. There must be a great climactic turning away from the Lord Jesus and his word before the day of the Lord. and tremendous apostasy abandoning belief in what the church has believed in what the gospel proclaims and since is and since he uses the word apostasy no this great rebellion must happen in the church its apostasy its its believers falling away That the way the term is used entirely in the New Testament The word can be used about rebellion against government. It can be a term that's rebellion.

But it's used almost entirely, in fact, as far as I know, entirely in the New Testament about falling away from the faith. It's the word that's used for that. And since he uses the word apostasy, that gives us at least something that the great rebellion happens in the church. All right? Now, please keep in mind that this does not mean that such people necessarily abandon the label Christian.

You can be apostate and still call yourself a Christian. for example south of us i became aware of this cult when i was at school down at cedarville just south of here 80 some miles okay and some of my friends came from around the area of minster and new bremen south a little bit south and west of us and it was back in the 70s i know you don't you can't believe that i can remember that far back but i was alive in fact i was a college student in the 70s and they told us my friends from that area told us about this cult called the way maybe you've heard of it maybe not it's a local cult they believe that they're true christians but they deny i mean they meet for worship and everything but they deny that jesus is god they deny the deity of jesus now they call themselves true christians they say we're the ones who are false so you see you can be apostate in your belief and not abandon the christian label there are denominations today denominations whole church denominations who have abandoned biblical doctrines on gender and homosexuality and they have even abandoned such basic beliefs the most basic belief of all the resurrection of Jesus and they still call themselves the church and so when we say that there's an apostasy and this rebellion is going to happen in the church it doesn't mean that everybody just runs away and says we're no longer Christians it says we are Christians, but they don't believe what the gospel teaches. And so that's what I believe Paul is referring to. There is this great climactic apostasy that will happen in the church Okay that the first event The other event that he mentions here in verse 3 is the revelation of the man of lawlessness The revelation of the man of lawlessness Riding on the crest of that apostasy is this man of lawlessness.

When it says in verse 3, let no one deceive in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion or the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction that and indicates that the two are connected these two are going to happen now you can see that he even promotes that kind of apostasy when you look down at 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 takes it to another level. He rides the crest of apostasy and encourages it and intensifies it and grows it with his own deceptive teaching. Now, who are we thinking about?

What word is ringing in your mind right now? What do we call this man of lawlessness? What's his other name? You know it, don't you? Sure you do. It's called Antichrist. now the word antichrist antichrist is used four times in the new testament the word antichrist is only used four times in the entirety of scripture that may surprise you that may surprise you all four are in the epistles of the apostle john so let's look at first john let's get an idea of what's happening here.

1 John chapter 2, verse 18, children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. There's two references. Verse 22, who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? this is the antichrist he who denies the father and the son so the apostle john essentially saying there's lots of antichrists around okay they're around already they deny the father and the son that's an antichrist but he does make a reference to particular person in verse 18, it appears.

Okay? Now look over at 2 John, the next epistle that he wrote, verse 7. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Now he's talking about people around who have the wrong belief about Jesus, they're the antichrist. Okay?

Now that surprises you, I'll bet. I'll bet you that surprises you. That's only four times that word is used. Now I have no doubt that the Antichrist is the one that we're reading about here, the man of lawlessness, he's the one. This is probably that man, no doubt that this is that man. But note that Antichrist is alive and well today.

Even if we don't see this manifestation of it yet. now this also gives us a clue that this antichrist does not come from outside the church but from within it it's not necessarily a great political figure may not be a political figure at all the emphasis is here is on apostasy and that he comes from within the church it is pointless trying to identify him with Nero or Hitler or Henry Kissinger or Barack Obama, as I've heard some people say, or even some Jewish Antichrist, since this figure arrives from within the church or has some obvious connection to the church. Okay? So if we're looking for this Antichrist, if we're looking for this man of lawlessness, he's not coming from the outside.

He's coming from the inside. Now notice in verse 3, Scripture also calls him the son of destruction. This is a reference to his destiny. This is a reference to his destiny. OK, the phrase emphasizes the destruction of this man of lawlessness. He destined to be destroyed You see that in the last part of verse eight whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming And so he destined for destruction Now some of you as you listen and some of you with the backgrounds that you have, many of us have different kind of backgrounds in this area, but the tendency when we talk about these things is fear.

I'm afraid. I'm afraid if he shows up when I'm alive. You may find yourself fearing this future figure, but you should find comfort in these words. Just as Paul intended to comfort the Thessalonians by saying he is the son of destruction, this one who exalts himself in opposition to God and as powerful as he might be, is destined for destruction, he will meet his end on the day of the Lord.

And so whoever he may be, whenever he shows up, we don't need to be afraid. He will be destroyed. He will be destroyed. Now here's something I think that we must take special note of. That even though this occurs at the end of the age, and it is unmistakable, you will know who he is as we go through and describe what he is like. everybody will know those who are true believers will know who he is it will be at the end of the age it will be unmistakable it will not be entirely new to us why look at verse 7 what does he say in verse 7 he says for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work for the mystery of lawlessness This man is the man of lawlessness.

Well, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Listen, the currents that lead to this climactic apostasy and antichrist have been present with us since the days of the Apostle Paul. The currents that are going to lead us to this unmistakable revelation of the man of lawlessness and the apostasy that accompanies him, these currents have been part of the church since the days of the apostle paul the currents that'll lead to that climax have been part of the experience of the church for centuries we always have those seeds with us those currents have always been with us that what he says The mystery of lawlessness is already at work He wrote that when 2 years ago You see, apostasy has always been a problem.

It's always been a problem. Why were many of the epistles of Paul written? Why? To battle people who are falling away from orthodox belief, from what he had said in the gospel. Right? For example, Galatians is written against the apostatizing, against apostasy of work salvation that had infiltrated the church.

Remember at the beginning of Galatians he says, if anybody else, if anybody preaches a different gospel than the one I gave to you, let him be damned. That's what he writes, right? He's writing and saying, I gave you the gospel, don't fall away from it. the book of Colossians you had Gnostics and these ascetics had infiltrated the church with wrong doctrine still claiming to be Christian and he wrote about that and said no you've got it wrong this epistle is written for that very reason the day the Lord has come they were believing it they were falling away from what he had taught them he's saying no that's not true in first Corinthians in first Timothy you remember he talks about so-called Christians who had abandoned the proper doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of believers.

So apostasy has been around since the beginning. Look at 1 John chapter 2 again. Let's read the whole thing in context. Not the whole epistle, by the way. But just the Antichrist context. Let's look at what...

So we see that even John recognizes this mystery of lawlessness, if you will. Verse 18 of 1 John chapter 2, children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it. and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ This is the Antichrist he who denies the Father and the Son No one who denies the Son has the Father Whoever confesses the Son has the Father Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

And this is the promise that He made to us, eternal life. What's He saying? You see the mystery of godlessness and the lawlessness at work already. Many Antichrists have gone out. They deny the Son. Therefore, they deny the Father. and he goes on to say right they've left us they've fallen away they're not part of us if they were they would have remained with us but make sure that you what notice um but if what you heard let what you heard from the beginning abide in you if you abide in the truth i gave you then you will remain you see and so we see even john indicating that there is this problem even in in the churches he was ministering to.

Apostasy has always been around. It's still with us. Listen, listen to this. Marcus Borg lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the canon theologian of the Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. That means he occupies a place of importance.

He's a theologian. He's a canon, which is a position in the church. He's identified with a Christian denomination. What does he say? He dismisses the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus as inconsequential to the faith. He writes, Easter is not about believing in a spectacular long ago event, but about participating in what we see in Jesus.

You don't have to believe in a physical resurrection of Jesus. Now, this is a Christian theologian saying this. That's apostasy. Right? That's downright apostasy. All right?

So, we see then that apostasy has always been with us. It's part of the current that's leading this climactic apostasy at the end of the age. The spirit and the beliefs that drive the Antichrist, that drive this man of lawlessness, have been present for centuries. The Apostle John has just told us that. He says there's many Antichrists around. Anybody who denies the Son is Antichrist. so what's the point these events this revelation of the man of lawlessness this great apostasy does not come out of a vacuum but are the culmination of these currents that have been part of the church for centuries except that at the end it was intentional and grow and bring with it this man of lawlessness.

So what does that mean for you today? What does that mean for you? All right, already, you know, I'm, listen, already I'm feeling really uncomfortable up here because this is more of a lecture than it is a sermon. And I hate that. But I think it's necessary for us to learn these things and so it might be more of a lecture. But what does it mean for us today?

Let's think about that for a moment. is this. You must know and believe the word of God. You must know it. You must know what the Bible teaches. You must be vigilant, knowing what is true, so that you know what is false, so that you are not carried away with apostasy and belief. If you cannot withstand the false teaching today if you do not know the truth now you won't be able to stand against the incredible supernatural deception that is coming when the man of lawlessness shows up because the description here is a man of incredible power and deception and if you don't know the truth now in the currents that we're in if you're alive then be careful you may be easily carried away you must know the truth be vigilant in knowing the truth and be vigilant in guarding that truth so what must happen before the day of the Lord a massive apostate movement toward the end of history in the church is one, and the other is bringing along, brings along with it this figure known as the man of lawlessness.

Okay? Why is the man of lawlessness called that? This is where our text tells us to know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness. How are we going to know when he shows up? All these things are going to happen. Like what things?

Let's look at them. In this text, we need to see, if you want to know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness, then in this text, here's what you need to see. What is the man of lawlessness like when he reveals himself? Number two when does he reveal himself Number three how does he reveal himself And then number four, what is God's purpose when he reveals himself?

Right? You want me to give those again? You guys are all scribbling away. What is the man of lawlessness like when he reveals himself? when does he reveal himself how does he reveal himself and what is God's purpose when he reveals himself God has a purpose in the revelation of the the man of lawlessness now I'm going to set your minds at ease right now I'm not going to go through all five of those today that would be taxing you I believe alright but I want us to look at the very first one what is the man of lawlessness like when he reveals himself this is in verse 4 so we're in the know the characteristics of the man of lawlessness what's the first one we needed to know what is the man of lawlessness like when he reveals himself.

Verse 4. Who opposes? He 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. Okay? What is the man of lawlessness like when he appears? He opposes and exalts himself against every other deity.

He opposes and exalts himself against every other deity. He opposes any and every other deity, whether the God of the Christians or any other object of adoration. He sets himself up as the adversary of anyone or anything who would claim people's religious devotion. He is the one who demands exclusive religious devotion. Okay? Against every deity, not just the Christian God, but against every deity.

He not only opposes, but he exalts himself, placing himself in a position above all others, pressing his claim to be the proper and legitimate object of worship. You can see an illustration of this in Daniel chapter 11. Let's turn to Daniel 11. You will see something like this that happened back before Jesus Daniel 11 Let's look at verses, just look at verses.

We're going to take a little snippet out of Daniel 11, verses 36 and 37. And the king, and the king shall do as he wills. It's talking about this king of the north. And the king will 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.

He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god for he shall magnify himself above all. Now what's Daniel talking about here? This is a prophecy of Daniel. But it was fulfilled, that prophecy was fulfilled about 170 years before Jesus was born. You can read about it in a book that's not part of the canon of scripture called the book of Maccabees, which is the story of the Maccabees and the revolt against this king.

This king is, this prophecy was fulfilled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, about 170 years before Jesus was born. He profaned the temple. He claimed that he should be worshipped of all other gods. Right? And he demanded that worship. Now, it's interesting.

He's Antiochus IV Epiphanes. You know what the word epiphany is? It means it's revelation. He claimed to be the magnifying God on earth. He claimed to be the God on earth. Right?

So, here it is. This is what already happened. We can see a prototype. of what we're talking about here, way back 170 years before Jesus was born. Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He demanded the worship of the Jewish people. He desecrated their temple and demanded that he be worshipped above all other gods.

So we shouldn't be surprised when this happens at the end of the age. It's happened before. Notice the second thing. It says that he takes a seat, or how does our translation put it? ESV puts it. It says so that he takes his seat in the temple of God He takes the place of authority in the church You say wait a minute it says temple of God That true That phrase temple of God is found nine other times in the New Testament outside of this book It's found nine other times and almost always, almost always refers either to Christ or to the church. in fact in the the apostle paul uses that phrase temple of god five times outside of this epistle and every time paul means the church so listen if we're reading this right you know we want to pour things in this is our tendency we want to pour our beliefs into what the scripture says so i want to look at the scripture and say how is that phrase used the apostle paul always uses it when he refers to the church so we shouldn't think that he's not going to use it that way when he uses it here this is his common way of referring to the to the church the temple of god so it doesn't refer to some literal temple maybe built in israel it refers to the church but you say it says he takes his seat in the temple of god like he's gonna enthrone himself in a temple no to sit on the throne or to take a seat speaks of a place of authority or rule doesn't always mean I'm sitting on a throne.

If you want to see an example of this, let's look at Matthew 23 for a moment. Listen to what Jesus says. Matthew 23. Notice. Verse 1. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat.

So practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do. for they preach but do not practice. What is he saying there? They occupy a place of authority. When we read about Jesus sitting down on the Father's throne, in fact, in Revelation chapter 3, it says Jesus conquered. We don't have time to look it up. But Revelation 3, 21-22.

Jesus conquered and therefore sat on the throne. Does that mean like he just kind of got the Father to move over a little bit? And then it goes on to say, and those who conquer will sit on his throne with him. So every Christian who conquers, are we going to have this huge, gigantic throne? Right? We're all believers from all ages that are sitting there with Jesus?

No! It's not talking about a literal throne. A seat of authority. We who conquer are going to have authority in the new heavens and the new earth. All right. So it's a place of authority.

So he takes a place of authority in the church. So Paul writes that before the day of the Lord, this latter day enemy will come into the midst of the church or grow up in the midst of the church and will cause it to become predominantly apostate and unbelieving. He will lead a massive falling away from orthodoxy within the church throughout the world. and he actually declares himself God.

Now that may be hard to swallow, right? Oh yeah, who's going to believe that? Who's going to believe it? People have been doing this for centuries, and others have bought into it. The people of Thessalonica themselves, this would have run true in their head. They would not have a problem believing that.

Why? Because in the day that they lived, what was going on? The Roman emperors were what? Declaring themselves God, and expecting people to worship them, right? In the city of Thessalonica was this great temple dedicated to the divine Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. Now, you all know Caesar Augustus, right?

In the days, Luke chapter 2, in the days of Caesar Augustus, this was a man named Octavian, a relative of Julius Caesar, who conquered in a great war and became an emperor. He's the first emperor of the empire. They called him Augustus, which means revered one or the one to be worshipped. That's what Augustus means. And so they had a temple. For the Thessalonians, it's not hard to believe, they surrounded by people who go to this temple dedicated to Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus to offer their worship They know what it about Remember the penalty for those who would not say Caesar is Lord Remember that?

If you didn't go to the temple, throw your pinch of incense in the fire and declare Caesar is Lord. By the way, do you know that Caesar also called himself a savior? The savior of the world was a common title for Caesar Augustus, the savior of the world. Does that ring any bells? Do you see what's going on back then? What happened to those who wouldn't declare Caesar is Lord?

They are in big trouble. Yeah, but that wouldn't happen today. Oh, really? Have you heard recently of the... My Korean is kind of off, okay? So if I get it wrong, don't hold it against me.

The Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Have you heard about that? I bet you have. Because in South Korea, where the coronavirus has broken out, they've traced it back to this church. It seems to have come from this church. Now, it has nothing to do with their theology.

It's just that that... It's not like they're doing this on purpose or anything. But it caused everybody to look at this church, and you know what it is? It's a church, a Christian church, where the pastor, Pastor Lee, claims to be the returned Christ who's come back. and he's got thousands of followers not only in south korea but all over the world don't tell me that people aren't going to buy this thing when someone proclaims himself god nah no one will buy that plenty of people are buying it they have bought it that is how foolish sinful man is all right so what is the man of lawlessness like when he appears He part of the professed church who will lead it in a massive departure from the faith while still claiming to be Christian He will oppose all other religious devotion, demanding that all worship him since he proclaims himself to be God.

This is why he is the man of lawlessness. And here's where we will stop. Here's where we're going to stop. But I hope you start to understand that although we don't know everything, right, we know enough that will help us. Today we focused on what precedes the day of the Lord, the great apostasy and the appearing of the man of lawlessness. We focused on that, but let's not lose our real focus.

Some of you here may be fearful when you hear these things. Oh, I hope I'm not alive when that happens. But listen, this is written to encourage hope within us. let's not forget it here is the assurance that the day of the Lord will certainly come the day of the Lord when Jesus returns to judge and to reward and to glorify and vindicate his people is a certainty and our hope is in the assurance that the day of the Lord will come Listen, Jesus died in order to purchase a people for himself.

Jesus offered up his life to redeem a group of people that would be identified with him. And he died in that redemption. He frees them. He rescues them from sin. He rescues them from the penalty. You're guilty before God.

You must pay. And yet Jesus came and died Why so that you will not have to pay He paid for you And He comes to rescue us from the power of sin Even now as we live and as we devote ourselves to Him by His Spirit, He delivers us from the power of sin. He died to free us from the tyranny of sin. But note, He died to rescue us not just from the past sin, not just from the present sin.

He died to rescue us from the very presence of sin. You see? and the day of the Lord is coming the day of the Lord is coming and when it comes we will finally gloriously be rescued from all of sin no sin around us no sin in us perfection in every way and so he writes about the man of lawlessness and this apostasy so that we will have hope that even the most powerful man opposed to God who has ever lived in the history of the world will not win. Jesus will.

You see? So even though we've zeroed in, pull out, don't lose your focus. It's about the triumph of Jesus in the day of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word, which tells us enough so that we can have hope. Thank you for this word, which points us to Jesus, our great Redeemer and Savior.

Oh God, now as we come to this table, help us to see him, we pray. We ask this now in Jesus' name. Amen.