005 What You Need to Know about The Day of the Lord - Part 1

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (1-4)

June 12, 2011

Last Sunday night we concluded Paul’s opening section of this letter.

By in large it was an introduction meant to calm the Thessalonians down.

To say they were anxious and confused is an understatement.

They had become convinced that they were caught in the middle of

“The Day of the Lord” judgment.

At least that is what someone told them.

And when they took that knowledge and then examined the persecution they were enduring, they actually started to believe it.

I would imagine it was nothing short of panic.

Did we misunderstand?

Did we fail to please God?

Why are we suffering?

In chapter 1, Paul set out to “STOP THE BLEEDING” more or less.

He calmed them down with some very reassuring truths.

Our Purpose – is to give you grace and peace

Our Pride – is you, for your endurance

Our Perspective – is that those who persecute you deserve what is coming

Our Prayer – is that you hold on and continue to strive for godliness

It was a calming and reassuring message.

Tonight Paul starts to get into the factual or theological side of the letter.

While encouragement comes in many forms, we know that

All true encouragement must contain the truth of God’s word.

Our emotional state is far too fickle to guarantee constant hope,

If we are to be composed we must have the truth to fall back on

In those moments that simply feel wrong.

So in chapter 2, that is precisely what Paul is doing.

He is giving the Thessalonians truth they can fall back on,

Even in those moments when it sure feels like they are under God’s wrath.

The result is an absolutely invaluable chapter in which we see

What every Christian needs to know about the day of the Lord.

Now to be certain, we already do know some things about it.

First, WE KNOW IT IS A DAY OF WRATH AND JUDGMENT

Scripture is saturated with this reminder.

Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.”

Other prophets were far more descriptive.

Zephaniah 1:14-18 “Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD'S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

Isaiah 13:6-16 “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger. And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.”

Even in the New Testament we learn the same:

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”

It is blatantly obvious throughout Scripture that

“The Day of the Lord” will not be a pleasant day.

In reality we have only seen two days like in all of history.

One was the great flood

The other was the crucifixion

This will be a day when God’s fury toward sinners is restrained no longer.

We also know that IT WILL COME SUDDENLY

We just read where Peter and Paul both said it will come “like a thief”

Meaning it will come suddenly and unexpectantly.

Matthew 24:48-51 "But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Those are two facts that we are well acquainted with.

But understand that is not all that we need to know about that day.

Certainly the Thessalonians knew that.

They knew it was a day of judgment,

And they knew it would come suddenly.

(They learned that in Paul’s first letter)

However those facts did not keep them from now experiencing anxiety, fearing that the day had overtaken them.

So in order to be at peace, they needed to know more.

And that is why Paul is writing.

That being said, understand the purpose of this chapter.

IT IS NOT TO GIVE YOU A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING

OF THE EVENTS OF THE END TIMES

(No book in Scripture is for that – not even Revelation)

The purpose is not to satisfy your curiosity.

The purpose is to strengthen your faith.

To put it another way, we are all on a need to know basis.

God tells us what we need to know in order to live of life of faithfulness.

But God is not in the business of giving us full disclosure.

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

We know all that we need to know in order to be obedient.

That means that the purpose of this chapter is pastoral.

Paul is writing to help the faith of the Thessalonians.

WE STUDY IT THAT WAY AS WELL.

Do not enter this chapter with an expectation

To fully understand the blueprint of the end.

Enter this study looking to have your faith established

In spite of a certain coming judgment.

Here in these first twelve verses there are 4 points I want you to see.

(2 tonight)

#1 THE REQUEST

1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

And when you read those two verses, it becomes very clear

What the problem is in Thessalonica.

The Thessalonians were recipients of some bad information.

It was either “by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

That means that either someone received a demonic vision…

Or someone preached a deceptive message…

Or someone wrote a fraudulent letter in Paul’s name…

Claiming that “the day of the Lord has come”

It is also quite possible that all three occurred.

That someone had a vision, preached a message, and forged a letter.

So if we put ourselves in the Thessalonian’s shoes

We understand their confusion.

This was a new church,

· But they received a supernatural vision,

· Heard what appeared to be a prophetic message,

· Then received a letter from Paul (or so they thought) confirming that message.

There didn’t seem any reason to doubt what they were hearing.

(SATAN IS CRAFTY IN HIS DECEPTION)

There are times when Satan speak

And sound so much like God it isn’t funny.

Let’s not forget that he actually had Jesus on the temple about to throw Himself down before our Lord discerned the situation. (But He was on the temple)

Satan is deceptive, and he is feeding on this baby church.

The other part of the deception is that they have missed the rapture.

Notice Paul writes “with regard to the coming our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him”

Now this statement is a clear indicator

That both of these events happen at the same time.

The Greek sentence structure indicates that Paul is not talking about two separate events, but one event in which two things occur.

In other words “the coming of our Lord and our gathering”

Occur at the same time.

What we don’t know for certain is if this event occurs at the same time as “the day of the Lord”

In other words:

Does Paul speak of three events here or just two?

Is it COMING, RAPTURE, & DAY OF THE LORD?

Or is it RAPTURE & COMING (which is the day of the Lord)

In other words, is “the coming of the Lord” that Paul speaks of here

The actual second coming, or is it a preliminary one?

Are their preliminary ones?

Revelation 14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

That event is clearly not the second coming,

And yet the Lamb is standing on Mount Zion.

And this again is what leads to some of the confusion

Regarding the timing of the rapture.

Honestly, I teeter and totter as to when it occurs.

At times I am certain it is before the tribulation, at times I am certain it is at the end.

In reality it is absolutely impossible to be dogmatic about it.

Regardless of which side you choose, you have to do some

Pretty good dancing around certain Scriptures to make your point stick.

My objective is really just to prepare you for either.

So either “the coming of our Lord” is the second coming, and that means it is also “the day of the Lord” and the rapture occurs at the same time.

Or “the coming of our Lord” is a preliminary coming associated with the rapture and “the day of the Lord” is the second coming occurring later.

It is one of those two, and I cannot be dogmatic about either.

The good news is that either way

The purpose of this text remains the same.

For regardless of which is true, either way,

The Thessalonians thought they missed the rapture

And where now in the midst of “the day of the Lord”

This has greatly shaken their faith.

Paul writes to reveal that neither has occurred.

Regardless of when you think the rapture is,

Rest assured it has not occurred.

And so Paul has a request.

“Now we request…that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed”

Certainly if you thought you were under God’s divine wrath

It would greatly rattle you as to the validity of your faith.

Obviously you would lose your “composure”

Obviously you would “be disturbed”.

Paul says don’t be.

If you are disturbed because of what you have been told about missing the rapture, then you are disturbed for no reason.

Don’t be shaken.

First – The Request

#2 THE REQUIREMENT

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

First Paul asks them not to be disturbed, here he gives them a command.

“Let no one in any way deceive you”

And I really like the way Paul phrases that statement.

It indicates to us that at least to some degree

Being deceived is really up to us.

We are deceived when we “let” it happen.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT PAUL TOLD THE THESSALONIANS IN HIS FIRST LETTER?

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

But it is obvious the Thessalonians had not fully obeyed that command.

They were not despising prophetic utterances,

But they also were not examining them carefully.

Discernment is the responsibility of every believer.

We are called to test the spirits

1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

We are called to test our leaders

1 Timothy 3:10 “These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.”

Revelation 2:2 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;”

Even Jesus said we would know false prophets “by their fruit”

We are called to test our own thoughts

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

We are called to test even our own faith

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

And obviously this testing requires a study

And understanding of the truth of God’s Word.

The point is that the Thessalonians had failed to discern

And they let themselves be deceived.

Paul now commands them to quit letting it happen.

And he provides them with the truth they need to counter that deception.

And the truth Paul gives them to counter the deception is that

The day of the Lord could not possibly have come, because the falling away has not occurred and the anti-christ has yet to be revealed.

We know that God’s word is clear

That Christ will not come until the anti-christ appears.

So if the anti-christ has not appeared,

Then obviously this is not “the day of the Lord”.

Is what you are experiencing bad? – yes

But it is not the divine wrath of Holy God.

Someone lied to you.

Quit letting them.

Now to be certain, those who are deceiving the Thessalonians

Could easily say, but the anti-christ has come.

And the apostasy has occurred.

1 John 2:18-19 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

But those are types of anti-christs and that apostasy is not full blown.

But since there is an argument to be made,

Paul actually goes a little further with his explanation.

Paul here gives some undeniable specifics about the anti-christ,

To prove that he has not appeared, and therefore Christ has not yet come.

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,”

Paul is not talking about a minor defection, but a massive one.

Nor is Paul referring to an anti-christ, but THE anti-christ.

(the actual “man of lawlessness” the actual “son of destruction”)

Paul is talking about the events our Lord spoke of.

Matthew 24:15-22 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

At that point Jesus had already mentioned in that many will be mislead (5).

He also mentioned that many would fall away (10).

Those are to be sure times of apostasy.

But this is even greater than those.

This will be a time of such great peril

That only those pre-selected by God will be able to endure it.

You may indeed see apostasy today, but it is nothing like that day.

Paul says an apostasy like that has yet to occur,

And an anti-christ like that has yet to appear.

In fact, Paul gives more information about this “son of destruction”

(4) “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called go or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

So if you are still clinging to the fact that anti-christ has appeared, Paul here silences you.

Someone says, “I’ve seen anti-christ, he is here.”

Paul would then say, “Really? You’ve seen the man go into God’s temple and declare himself to be God? You’ve seen the man exalt himself above every other god?”

And obviously the answer is “no”.

You see, your circumstances may look a lot like what you think

The day of the Lord will be.

But if you will only study the word of God,

You will find that this in fact is not what you think. It can’t be.

Now, let’s push this idea of discernment a little further.

Paul told them “let no one in any way deceive you”

And as we said, it was their responsibility

Not to be doofed by this message.

Furthermore Paul says they should have known

It wasn’t the day of the Lord because the anti-christ hadn’t arrived.

So that brings us to this question.

SHOULD THE THESSALONIANS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO KNOW THAT ANTI-CHRIST HAD NOT ARRIVED?

And the answer is yes.

All the information Paul just delivered is information

He got from reading his old testament.

Paul didn’t get this from the book of Revelation (it had yet to be revealed)

Paul got this from his old testament.

Do you want to know about the anti-christ?

Daniel 8:23-26 "In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. "His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. "And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency. "The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future."

Daniel 11:29-35 "At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. "For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. "Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. "By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. "Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. "Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. "Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.”

Daniel 11:36-39 "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. "He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. "But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. "He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.”

Daniel was very descriptive about this man.

How he comes to power.

What his reign is like.

The blasphemy he will commit.

And this will all occur before the day of the Lord.

For Daniel clearly indicated in chapter 8:25 that he would be broken “without human agency”

In Daniel 11 he says:

Daniel 11:45 "He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.”

And the point to all of this is not to give you facts about the anti-christ

So that you can be end times scholars.

The point is to remind the Thessalonians that had they simply studied their old testament then they would not be so easily shaken by this obviously false vision, sermon, and letter.

They were being disturbed needlessly.

And today we have a very simple illustration

Of this exact type of thing occurring.

There were people who literally gave their entire life savings to the charlatan in California who convinced people that the rapture would be May 21.

Had they only read their Scriptures it would have been clear to them

That no man can know the day nor the hour.

But that prophesy is not all.

Today, what with all the tornadoes, and floods, and fires, and earthquakes, it has led many to speak of the nearness of the end.

That in fact may be true.

But talk of the end has also led some to be distressed and disturbed by it.

That should not be happening.

Matthew 24:6-8 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

Jesus clearly taught us that things like wars and famines and earthquakes

SHOULD NOT CAUSE US FEAR.

In fact He said, “see that you are not frightened”

Those things are not the end.

Natural disaster are not the end.

Jesus called them “the beginning of birth pangs.”

Don’t be afraid of all those things,

They are not the revealed wrath of God.

Those things are merely indicators

That God’s revealed wrath is getting close.

Natural disasters are not the result of God’s wrath,

They are the result of something else.

Isaiah 24:19-20 “The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”

Scripture is clear that the earth will begin to fall apart

Because of all the sin it is forced to hold.

Sin is a cancer, a corrupting, destroying cancer.

And as sin spread, the earth will be the casualty.

But when you see all these wars and famines and earthquakes,

Don’t be afraid that God is judging you.

Those are indicators of the rise of sin.

But with sin rising at such a degree, that is an indicator

That God’s judgment must be getting close.

The point being

Understand the truth,

Don’t be deceived,

Be established in your faith.

It is the same type of thing here.

Paul wants the Thessalonians to know the truth,

So that they won’t be deceived and won’t be shaken.

You see he is a little disgruntled that they were so easily deceived.

Have you not read the Scriptures?

Beyond that, look at what he will say in verse 5, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”

It is apparent that the Thessalonians

Were not discerning the truth they had been given

And this was leading to their being disturbed.

Obviously we learn some valuable lessons here.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE DAY OF THE LORD?

Everything Scripture says about it.

Namely it is bad.

It will occur suddenly.

It won’t come until after the appointed apostasy and anti-christ.

We’ll see more next time.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”