2 Thessalonians #03: an exposition of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, December 2, 2012.
Intro:
Is the return of Christ imminent? I mean, could He come at any moment? What about the things happening in Egypt right now? Is this part of the end? It certainly seems like things are about to explode over there. Israel is uneasy. Iran, Syria the Palestinians and you know Russia is involved in all of this. The fiscal cliff. The economic chaos that’s going global. Prophesy websites are abuzz. I checked the Rapture Index (remember I referred to it a few weeks ago) it is sitting at 185 just 1 point below it’s record high. Is this it? I have no idea. It may be and then again it may not be. What I do know is that we are not to live a roller coaster existence up and down emotionally and spiritually dependent upon the latest news or the Rapture Index! We are to watch, certainly. We are to anticipate, of course. We are to long for His appearing and we are to live each day is if this is the day. Just how are we to live and what is to be our attitude toward the return of Christ? For so help we turn to Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian believers chapter 2.
Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
Paul is writing to this beloved congregation. You remember he and Silas established the church but after just 3 weeks of ministry they were run out of town by a mob threatened by this new teaching. They went to Berea and the same crowd followed and stirred up trouble there as well. From there they went to Athens. From Athens Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how the church was doing.
- His first letter was in response to that report.
- They were growing in grace and knowledge.
- Their faith had become an example throughout the region.
- Yet there were problems.
- There were questions about the return of Christ.
- What about those who die before He returns?
- Will they be at a disadvantage?
Now some weeks or a few months later Paul is writing them again. There are still questions about the return of Christ. Apparently there has been some false teaching that has created unrest and uncertainty. There are those who fear that Christ has already returned and they missed it! Paul writes to calm their fears.
This is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to decipher. There is simply a lack of information. What is clear is that Paul has gone over this material in detail with the Thessalonian believers (2:5-6). He doesn’t go through it again because they already know it. But we don’t! We are left to try and piece it together from one side of a phone conversation. Therefore we must be both cautious and charitable. Good and godly people, who equally love the Lord and the Scripture can disagree over interpretation.
Allow me to make a few general comments and then focus on what I want to share from this text.
- I am not a Dispensationalist.
- I do not hold to the theology of the Scofield Study Bible or the Left Behind series.
- I do believe in the rapture – it is there in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and again here 2 Thess. 2:1.
- I don’t believe in a “secret” rapture of the church and then the return of Christ 7 years later.
- Look at 2:1 – one event, Christ comes and our being gathered to Him.
- I believe there will be a person who will be the antichrist that’s here in 2:3-12.
- Yet John is clear, the spirit of antichrist was alive and well in the first century.
I offer that simply as disclosure so that you know where I’m coming from. You may not agree with me and that’s fine. I have many friends who are wrong about a lot of things!
As we come to look at the text before us, I’m convinced that more often than not we are so focused on the details we miss the greater truth. In our determination to uncover the identity of the antichrist or the time of our Lord’s return we fail to recognize the point of the biblical writer.
What I think is clear from this text is that…
Thesis: Our thinking about the return of our Lord ought to be characterized by patience, reason, optimism and faith.
We ought to be thrilled at the prospect of His coming.
Signs that the time is drawing near ought to cause us to rejoice.
I want to point out three (3) things from our text.
- Thoughts on eschatology (study/doctrine of last things) are too often accompanied by fear and anxiety. (2:1-2)
- The return of the Lord will be preceded by a time of great turmoil and uncertainty yet God will still be in complete control and Christ will bring a quick end to it all when He comes. (2:3-8)
- While His return signals the end for those who deny the truth and delight in unrighteousness, we are to live in the sure and certain hope of His establishing, sanctifying work in us. (2:9-17)