We are back in 2 Thessalonians today.

Apparently the persecutions were so severe in Thessalonica that some believers there were terrified that they were ALREADY IN the day of the Lord. So Paul feels compelled to calm them down and correct their misinterpretation of events. He tells them the day of the Lord is STILL in the future. And he tells them “Do not panic, or be alarmed about this!  NASB Do not be shaken from your composure!”

Of course that is really good advice for every Christian in any situation! God wants you to have peace.  If you live with any level of panic God wants to take that from you. The word of the Lord to you and me, is “let not your heart be troubled.” The Lord says “in quietness and trust is your strength.”  Even in personal crisis or world crisis, God wants us to have calm and trusting hearts. 

In this passage the Thessalonians are especially admonished to not be alarmed about the day of the Lord. And we should not be alarmed about it either, or alarmed about anything associated with end time events, or the end of the age. Jesus said, "when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is not yet." Mark 13:7

The end times WILL come with tribulation and trauma. But, we of all people should be the least nervous about world events, the least panicked by rumors of upheaval or disasters. For a couple of reasons:

First: The day of the Lord will play out just as the Lord ordains it.  Our God is in charge!  So we are to be anxious for nothing!  Secondly..For the believer all end time trauma and tribulation will be resolved into glory for us at the coming of Jesus. No matter what IS happening to us now, or will ever happen to us we have one destiny: resurrection and glory and safety with our Lord Jesus. Forever! 

*The alarm among these believers was about “the day of the Lord”. So what is the day of the Lord? The “day of the Lord” refers to that future day when God will set things right with His creation. It is a day of wrath for the unbelieving and a day of salvation for God’s people. Chapter 1:8 “The Lord Jesus Christ will come with His mighty angels, with blazing fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel.”

But for believers, it is the day our Lord comes from heaven for us. In verses 1,2.  Paul equates “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him” WITH “the day of the Lord.” Although the end times may have much persecution, testing and even martyrdom, the day Jesus comes for us is a day of relief, resurrection and glory!

However scripture DOES teach that the transition from this age to the next IS a time of great trauma. The earth shakes and the seas roar. There are signs in the sky, panic on the earth, people dying of fright, people running for cover.

And because of these prophecies of end time trauma, whenever things look bad, we can be quick to say, this is the End or this is the day of the Lord.  Christians have proclaimed the end of the age during various persecutions and troubles all throughout history: during WW1&2, after 9/11, whenever there are massive earthquakes, or wars in the Middle East, there are always some in the church who say this for sure is the END.  

This premature belief, was something like what was going on with these believers at Thessalonica. They mistakenly thought the day of the Lord has come. Literally “the day of the Lord is present”.

Jesus DID teach us to LOOK for His return, to understand the times. And to be ready for his coming. But he also taught us to wait for His return with composure and confidence. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are NOT alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.” Disturbing things WILL happen but Jesus exhorted us to NOT be upset, or alarmed. 

Paul taught the same thing. “We ask you NOT to be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say the day of the Lord has begun.” One of the marks of false teaching is that it creates alarm in hearts and in the church. 2 Tim. 2:18 Paul warned of “men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they UPSET the faith of some”.  When someone spreads a teaching through the church that creates a sense of panic and crisis, beware!

Paul tells them not to be alarmed by the false message that they are in the day of the Lord even if it comes by a spirit. Or by someone claiming to have received this information from a spirit or spiritual dream or vision. Don’t be impressed by that.

Second: Don’t believe it even if it comes by a spoken word, or by a prophetic word. If someone claims to have received special knowledge that this is the day of the Lord, ignore that too. 

Third: Do not believe it even if you get a letter supposedly from me! Verse 3 “Let NO one deceive you in any way!” 

***Then Paul tamps down their alarm by emphasizing that they are NOT in the day of the Lord because the day of the Lord hasn’t happened yet. And he gives them two things that MUST precede the Lord’s coming, and will clearly mark that day!  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.” 

First “THE rebellion” must come first. Not just any rebellion but THE rebellion. THIS rebellion is unique! One of a kind. It will be rebellion on such grand scale that it will be unmistakable.  

It seems from other scriptures that many who CALL them-selves Christians will drawn into this. 1 Tim. 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith, and follow deceiving spirits.  Jesus said, “At that time many will turn away from the faith.”  So beware.

I think 2 Tim. 3 gives a good idea of what this rebellion will look like. “But understand this, that in the last days there will be difficult times. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”  

We see those things today. But THE rebellion of the last days will be a massive magnification of all these attitudes.  People will throw off all restraints and openly proclaim their hatred and rebellion against God on a worldwide scale. 

Psalm 2 “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains, and throw off their shackles.”  

Paul said, “The day of the Lord will not happen until the rebellion comes first.”  

Second: (also in verse 3) The day of the Lord will not happen until the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” The rebellion will have a leader and Paul calls him the man of lawlessness.   It doesn’t seem Paul is speaking figuratively here. So he’s a man, not a force. He’s empowered by Satan but he’s not Satan. A “man of lawlessness” is at the forefront of things just prior to the day of the Lord. 

He’s the man OF lawlessness.  He’s lawless!  He submits to no authority, and to no law.  He considers himself absolutely above the law of God. And will lead the whole world down a path of rebellion against God’s laws. 

He’s also called “the son of destruction”. Or the man who is born for destruction. He will lead the world to it’s destruction and he himself will be destroyed. Verse 9 The Lord Jesus Christ will “kill this man” and “bring him to nothing”. 

He is identified by monstrous pride and directly claiming the place of God. Verse 4 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. 

He opposes God yet will demand to be treated like God.  Like Stalin or Hitler or Mao only in a more extreme way. He “takes his seat in the temple of God”. Again, this doesn’t seem to be figurative expression. But that would mean a rebuilt temple. Or some take it to mean the church. But the main point he puts himself in the place of God. Many world leaders have exerted this kind of monstrous pride. The man of lawlessness will carry that pride to an unprecedented extreme.    

Verse 5 “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. (no we don’t. We weren’t there when Paul gave them this information)

But the point is something or someone is holding him back now. So that he may be revealed “at the proper time”.  

We are not told who or what is holding him back (and there are many theories) but ultimately it has to be God.  At the right time God will remove His hand of restraint, this man will be revealed, and these events will develop quickly. 

**Then verse 7 “the mystery of lawlessness is ALREADY at work”.  This malevolent spiritual power that will be fully manifest in the Antichrist is already here!  You and I are already up against this force. That’s why it’s hard to be a Christian! That’s why you find yourself swimming against the tide!  Why life feels like a fight. Why you feel alone at times in standing for righteousness.  There’s a power working against you, and against Christ. And you feel that.

Our experience of evil men in rebellion against God is real and it is pervasive. But it IS restrained.  It would be much worse if it were not. But some day this restraint WILL be removed or “taken out of the way”. Verse 8 “And then the lawless one will be revealed.”  

I think it is a mistake for us to overly focus on who this person might be. In my lifetime I’ve heard dozens of speculations about who might be the Anti-Christ. And to some THIS becomes their Christianity.  They aren’t absorbed with loving and serving Christ, but rather with WHO is the anti-Christ. 

This is a mistake for a couple of reasons. First it makes us look foolish because none of them turn out to be that guy.  But also Paul presents this as an unmistakable person.  No one will be saying, do you think maybe so and so is the Anti-Christ.  This man will lead such an overt world wide rebellion that no one will be wondering if he is that guy. 

Paul’s point is the day of the Lord will not happen until these two events happen.  So don’t get out over your skis so to speak.  Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves. Don’t think the day of the Lord is here before it is. The lawless one and this great rebellion are clearly at the very end of the age, because they will be brought to an end by the appearing of the Lord Jesus.

But above all Paul’s word to us is “Do not panic”. Keep your composure because, no matter how wicked or powerful this man is, the Lord Jesus will completely overpower him and destroy him at his coming.  Verse 8 “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.” 

Ultimately, we should have no alarm about the day of the Lord, OR the coming rebellion, OR the Anti-Christ, because Jesus will slay the man of lawlessness. He will annihilate him and the world’s wickedness when he comes. 

And He will do it “By the breath of his mouth.”  It won’t require some great effort by Jesus to kill this man and end this rebellion. Our Savior is all powerful and invincible.  This is our confidence and hope. In days of evil. 

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine press. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords” (Revelation 19:11-16).   

It is this view of the Lord Jesus, as Victorious Warrior and Conquering King, that calms our fears and bids our sorrows cease. Some people only know about a meek and mild Jesus who could not vindicate us or save us. He IS gentle and humble but when he comes back, he comes in power and authority.  And our eternal safety is in the almighty hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have no need to fear any thing.

What do we take away? 

*We should not be agitated or fearful about the day of the Lord or about end times or about ANYTHING in our future. 

We are not to be a nervous people. We belong to God, we are loved and nothing can happen that can separate us from that love.  Keep your composure, peace, confidence. 

*Second *We should not be easily excited or overly  presumptuous that every world crisis means this is the end. Jesus taught us to wait for His return with composure and confidence. “When you hear of wars and revolutions, “see to it that you are NOT ALARMED. These things must happen, but the end is not yet.”  That is essentially Paul’s message.

*Third: We should NOT pay attention to anybody who teaches things about the day of the Lord that are not clearly taught by the apostles.  Paul said, “See to it that you are not deceived about anything”. That’s a good warning. Where the scripture is not clear or specific, it’s never good “to go beyond what is written.”

*Live with complete confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ to  conquer all evil and evil people. When Jesus comes, all tribulation, all trial, all pain and death will turn to glory and resurrection for us. So trust in the Lord Jesus, no matter how much upheaval comes into your life, or into the world. We’ll all be safe and happy together with Him forever.

This is our hope.  It is the promise of the gospel.  It is the end goal of the Christian life.  And so we can walk through life with composure and peace safe and secure from all alarm!