2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 Part Two
Verses 9-10: This
“lawless one” will do mighty acts pointing to him as
supernaturally empowered. His whole operation will be deceptive,
luring the world to worship him and be damned. The career of the
coming lawless one is more fully described in Rev. 13:1-18).
2 Thessalonians
2:9 "[Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with
all power and signs and lying wonders,"
“After” meaning
in accordance with.
“The working of
Satan”: The antichrist is so energized by satanic power that he can
even counterfeit the signs of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12).
In the last lesson,
we talked about this man of sin who would come in the end of the
church age. We, also, saw that even though he had great power, he was
no match for the Lord. The Lord will consume him with the Spirit of
His mouth which is the Word of God. He (the evil one) will be
destroyed by the Light of the Lord.
You can easily see
from the verse above that he had some power, but it is overcome by
the power of the Lord. Many will be deceived, because they base their
belief on signs and wonders. We should base our belief on the Word of
God, and then we will not be deceived.
We learned in Exodus
that the evil magicians could do some of the miracles that Moses did
by the power of God, but they could not do all of them. We know then
that their power is limited.
2 Thessalonians
2:10 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved."
“Them that
perish”: His influence is limited to deceiving the unsaved, who
will believe his lies (Matt. 24:24; John 8:41-44). They perish in the
deception because of Satan-imposed blindness to the truth of the
saving gospel. (John 3:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:4).
(Greek apollumi)
means “the lost” or “the perishing.” These are lost because
they did not receive (Greek dechomai) the gospel. (Contrast this with
the Thessalonian believers in 1 Thess. 2:13).
We see from this,
that some will believe this deception. Just as Eve was deceived in
the garden, many will be deceived by this man of sin. Antichrist just
means against Christ. The Truth in the Word of God will set you free.
Try the spirits, and
see whether they be of God, or not. Any spirit that does not elevate
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the anti-christ spirit.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"
“God shall send
them strong delusion”: shows that the judgment of God will already
have fallen on them (Matt. 13:10-17 for a similar instance).
People who prefer to
love sin and lies rather than gospel truth will receive severe,
divine recompense, as do all sinners. God Himself will send judgment
that insures their fate in the form of a “deluding influence” So
that they continue to believe what is false. They accept evil as good
and a lie as the truth. Thus does God use Satan and Antichrist as His
instruments of judgment?
Since they are not
interested in the Truth of God, they will fall for a lie. Temptation
is always around us to sin and to believe a lie. The protection we
have is the Truth of God. God sent the Truth to those who will accept
Him. Those who rejected Him will be sent strong delusion as
punishment.
2 Thessalonians
2:12 "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
“Damned”: As God
has always judged willful rejection by giving men over to impurity
and degrading passions (Rom. 1:24-28), so in the last days God will
sovereignly seal the fate of those who persist in following Satan and
his counterfeit Christ. As in all ages, those who habitually reject
the truth are judged by being left to the consequences of their sin.
I have said over and
over, we are a free agent. We can follow God and be saved, or we can
follow Satan and be doomed to hell. There are only two kinds of
people really, those who believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation, and
those who do not believe who are damned to hell. The flesh life will
lead a person into damnation. All unrighteousness is sin.
Those who practice
sin are not of God, they are of their father the devil. When we
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are made righteous in the sight
of God. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and put in
right standing with God. Those who reject Jesus, remain in their
unrighteousness.
Verses 13-14
“Salvation … Sanctification”: Just as there were specific
elements in the character of the Antichrist (verses 10-12), so there
are characteristics of the saved. In these two verses, Paul swept
through the features of salvation, noting that believers are “beloved
by the Lord,” chosen for salvation from eternity past (Rev. 13:8;
17:8), set apart from sin by the Spirit, and called to eternal glory,
i.e., the sharing of the very “glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul’s main point
in this section was to remind the Thessalonians that there was no
need to be agitated or troubled (verse 2) thinking they had missed
the rapture and thus were in the Day of the Lord judgment. They were
destined for glory, not judgment and would not be included with those
deceived and judged in the Day.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:"
“From the
beginning” implies that from the start, the work of God was
intended to bring them to salvation (i.e. glory, verse 14) rather
than to judgment.
“Spirit and
belief”: Salvation can occur only as a work of the Holy Spirit and
through the means of belief.
Paul is saying that
God chose them for salvation from the foundation of the earth. This
looks like predestination, but I believe Paul is speaking of the fact
that God foreknew that they would believe. You see, they had to
believe the Truth, before they were set aside for God's purposes
(sanctified). Salvation is offered to whosoever will.
This is saying that
God knew at the beginning, because He saw into the future those who
would believe. Notice, in the verse above, Spirit is capitalized
meaning that this was speaking of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy
Spirit of God that leads us into all Truth. The Word is the Truth.
The Holy Spirit teaches us the meaning of the Scriptures.
2 Thessalonians
2:14 "Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
“By our gospel”
(see Romans 10:17): Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.”
Paul now explains
that God sent the gospel by Paul to them.
1 Corinthians 1:21
"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew
not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe."
Paul says, they were
touched in their spirit at the bringing of the good news of the
gospel by him and were saved. The glory of the cross, was for the
Father and the Son, but was also for all who would believe. To
believe makes us one with the Father and the Son. His inheritance is
our inheritance.
1 Peter 1:3 "Blessed
[be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to
his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," "To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you," "Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time."
I Peter 1:6 "Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in
heaviness through manifold temptations:"
We, Christians, should greatly rejoice, knowing the wondrous provision He has made for us. While we are in this life, we will have temptations. They come to make us strong in the Lord. Every time we overcome a temptation, we grow a little bit. Job faced many temptations and never faltered at all.
When we are going
through difficult times, we should read about Job and how he lasted
through it all. Hold firm to the faith and great will be your rewards
in heaven.
1 Timothy 6:12
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,
whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession
before many witnesses."
Mark 13:13 "And
ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that shall
endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
2 Thessalonians
2:15 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions
which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle."
“Stand fast …
hold”: This direct exhortation called for appropriate response to
the great truths Paul had just written. In place of agitation should
be strength and a firm stand? In place of false teaching should be
faithful adherence to the truth?
“Traditions …
taught” refers to more than customs. In view here is the totality
of the apostolic doctrine as it was given to them.
Paul is encouraging
them to stand fast in their faith. Paul had taught them the Truth in
his sermons and is, also, teaching them the Truth in the letters he
writes to them. He explains to them that this teaching will be the
only thing they should accept. They should not listen to every wind
of doctrine that comes along.
Stay with their
first love, and do not wander and they will remain steadfast in the
Lord. Many people today are constantly looking for some new doctrine.
That is a very dangerous thing to do. Stay with the pure Word of God.
The daily study of the Bible is the best recommendation I can make
for staying with the Truth.
Make sure the Bible
you read is not watered down to tickle the ears of those who do not
want to conform to God.
“Verses 16-17:
“Now our”: This is one of many benedictions Paul has given in his
letters. In it, he invoked God’s power based on His love and grace,
as the true source of encouragement and strength (1:11-12; 3:5-16).
2 Thessalonians
2:16 "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our
Father, which hath loved us, and hath given [us] everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace,"
Our consolation and
hope lies in Jesus Christ our Lord. Consolation in the verse above
means comfort. By grace are you saved, it is a free gift. The hope of
the resurrection is what comforts all of us. We are not like the
world that has no hope. We are looking for that city whose maker is
God.
The greatest love
known to man is that the Father would give His Son for a world of
lost sinners. This message is not just from Paul, but from the Lord
Jesus Christ, Himself.
2 Thessalonians
2:17 "Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word
and work."
Paul is saying, God
will help us to the end. Stay with the Truth in the Word, and work to
show you approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.
We work, not from obligation, but in Love and praise of our Father
who first loved us. Be established, do not be wishy-washy.
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