An Inside Job
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Our Scripture text this morning comes from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
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. 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, 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 refused 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 did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We are again looking at one of the most hotly debated topics in the Bible: The Antichrist and the events surrounding his appearing. I have decided to spend two weeks on this passage, but even at that I do not have time to address every issue or interpretation of this text. Perhaps in the future I will devote a whole series of sermons on the End Times, but the best I can do these two weeks is hit what I think are the most important and practical points. The points I want to concentrate on today is that the Antichrist will arise from within the church and the Great Rebellion or Apostasy that is associated with his appearing will begin from within the church, moreover the spirit of lawlessness that will characterize both the Antichrist and his followers have already started to manifest itself within the church and will continue to do so until it final great manifestation prior to Christ’s Second Coming.
It was confusion about Christ’s Second Coming that led Paul to write about the Antichrist and the Great Rebellion. According to 2 Th 2:1-2, there were false teachers who had infiltrated the Thessalonian church and they were teaching that the Resurrection and Second Coming had already taken place. Paul addresses this false teaching by reminding them of what he had taught them when he was with them:
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,
In other words, certain things must happen first before the Second Coming will occur: There will be a Great Rebellion and the Man of Lawlessness must be revealed. The Man of Lawlessness goes by several names in the New Testament: In the letters of the apostle John he is called the Antichrist and in the Book of Revelation, he is identified as the Beast. This figure is hinted at throughout the Old Testament and Daniel writes about him and the rebellion associated with him extensively. In fact, we can tell that Paul is using Daniel by the language he is using in this passage. In addition, Jesus when He taught about this time in Matthew 24, cites Daniel as well. What is apparent in looking at what Daniel, Jesus and Paul teach, is that this shadowy figure doesn’t arise from outside the community of faith, but from within!
The Final Antichrist Will be an “Insider”
The Final Antichrist Will be an “Insider”
The first clue that we find that the Antichrist is an “Insider” is that Paul says he will be “revealed” this is the Greek word apocalypsis, the very same word Paul used of Jesus in the previous chapter:
and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
This language suggests that the Antichrist is a counterfeit redeemer with a counterfeit unveiling. In addition, Paul says that this man will deceive many with counterfeit signs and wonders. (2 Th 2:9) This description fits perfectly with Jesus’ warning of false christs in Matthew 24.
In addition, when Paul cites Daniel in verse 4, “he (that is the Antichrist) takes his seat in the temple of God,” he is not thinking of the physical temple in Jerusalem. This is self-evident when you look at what a temple is: The basic definition of temple is the place where God’s glory dwells with His people. Originally, it was the Garden of Eden. Then it was the Tabernacle, followed by the First and Second Temples, but when Jesus came everything changed. In John 2:19-22 we hear Jesus declares:
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
In the opening chapter of the Gospel According to John, we are told that Jesus came and “tabernacled” among us. Jesus is now where God’s glory dwells. (John 1:14). After Jesus died upon the cross we are told the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom. (Mt 27:51) This was a sign that the temple was now Ichabod—the glory had departed. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the church in tongues of fire, just as the glory of God descended upon the Tabernacle and the First Temple. Jesus said that “where two or three gather together in my name, there I am among them.” This is why the church is called the temple of God in the New Testament.
I don’t what anyone here to take this as anti-Semitic, but we must speak the truth in love. Modern Judaism is a false religion. Even if the Jews in Israel managed to rebuild a physical temple on Mt. Zion, it would not be the temple of the true and living God. It would no more be the temple of God than a Buddhist or Hindu temple, because the glory of God would not be there! Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus alone is the true temple of God and the glory of God is only manifested where His people gather in His name!
What this means is that the place the Man of Lawlessness seats himself in authority is the visible church! It is within the gathered church that the Antichrist will deceive many by means of counterfeit signs and miracles, leading to the Great Rebellion or Apostasy against God.
The Great Rebellion Will Begin “Inside” the Church
The Great Rebellion Will Begin “Inside” the Church
If you read 2 Thessalonians 2:3 in different translations, you will note that some translate the underlying Greek word “rebellion” and others as “apostasy.” Both translations are correct. The word literally means “to fall away” and it is used primarily in the Bible to speak of a religious rebellion against God that results in apostasy. Jesus taught that the visible community of God was like a field of wheat that Satan planted weeds in, so that what grew up was a mixed field. In Jesus’ explanation of The Parable of the Wheat and Weeds he says:
He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Daniel foresaw this Great Apostasy, writing of the Antichrist:
He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
Jesus also spoke of this Great Apostasy:
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
You see, the danger is from within, not from without. In fact, the real danger is within each and every one of us, for who are the ones who will be deceived by the Antichrist? 2 Thessalonians 2:10 tells us, it is those who “refuse to love the truth.” It is not enough to “know” the truth. It is not enough to “affirm” the truth. To be saved we must “love the truth,” because Jesus is the Truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Why will so many professing Christian “fall away” when the Antichrist reveals himself? It is because they love something or someone more than Jesus!
This bring us to the third and final point:
The “Mystery of Lawlessness” Has Already Begun Inside the Church
The “Mystery of Lawlessness” Has Already Begun Inside the Church
When the apostles used the term “mystery” they are speaking of an Old Testament doctrine that was not fully understood or revealed. For example, it was revealed to Abraham that through him all the Gentiles would be blessed. The Jews however, never dreamed that this would mean that the Gentiles would be grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel, becoming full heirs and children of Abraham! This was an old revelation made richer and fuller when Jesus came and fully explained the Gospel.
Daniel clearly taught that this time of Apostasy and Rebellion would be a time of lawlessness. What he didn’t see was that there would be two “comings” of the Messiah. The first would be for the purpose of salvation and the second would be for the purpose of judgement. In between these two comings would be a time of grace and mercy in which Gentiles would be grafted into the remnant of Israel. It is during this time that a “restraint” would be placed on Satan and the man of lawlessness, so that the Gospel could be preached to all the Gentile nations. During this period “the spirit of lawlessness” would still be at work within the church, but it would be greatly hindered. Rather, than a great world-wide apostasy, there would be small, localized apostasies. Rather than the final great manifestation of the Antichrist, where would be small, localized antichrists. The apostle John writes of this:
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
What this means is that when it comes to the End Times people are worried about entirely the wrong things: They worry about the future, when they should be worried about the present. The spirit of lawlessness and false doctrine is already at work in the church. We see it all around us. Are you guarding your heart and making sure your doctrine is pure?
Rather worrying about the Final Antichrist, you should be worried about all the antichrists and false prophets that are in the church today! Satan deceives because he presents himself as an angel of light. Jesus warned us that false teachers would use the same tactic—they come as wolves in sheep's clothing. False teachers are dynamic speakers who not only teach what our “itching ears what to hear,” but they are the most likable, nice people we will every meet. But the standard by which we must judge all teaching is the Word of God, not how popular they are.
Finally, we worry about suffering tribulation at the hands of the Antichrist, when we should be worried about suffering wrath at the hands of God! To suffer persecution and tribulation is a good thing—it means we are true believers. What professing Christians in China are being persecuted today? Is it not those whose profession is true? What professing Christians are not being persecuted? Is it not those who compromise with the government and have a false profession? This is how it will be when the Final Antichrist reveals himself and the Great Apostasy begins.
So, let us prepare by putting on the Armor of God and hiding God’s Word in our hearts, rather than building fortified shelters and storing up provisions.
Let us pray.