The Great Apostasy
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Intro:
Intro:
So last week we began to look at chapter 2. And as we looked at it you remember that Paul had a heavy heart. You remember that his main concern for the young church was that they would not be shaken from the faith.
Paul expresses his heart in Chapter 2 concerning the people. He longed to see them stand firm in their faith and not to be shaken.
Paul was worried that the believers had a lack of understanding in the doctrine, the word of God and it’s teachings concerning the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ.
Host- Discuss the importance of knowing, understanding and applying the word of God in our lives.
Question- How does knowing God’s word affect my daily life?
And Paul would tell us why he had a heavy heart. It was two fold,
The people didn’t fully understand the doctrine of the rapture and of the second coming of Christ
There were false teachers in the area teaching that the rapture of the church had already happened.
Paul would
and so with a mixture of not having the proper understanding and of having false teachers, it really left the young church open to be deceived or to be moved from their faith.
and you remember that the basis of this was the fact that the people were dealing with persecution and so the false teachers would use this to be evidence as to them being in the tribulation period and therefore had missed the rapture.
And this led us to spend some time looking at the importance of knowing, understanding and applying the word of God in our lives
And we looked at the contrast of an individual who was spiritually mature and an individual who was spiritually immature and what really made the difference.
we looked at Hebrew 5, looking at the spiritually mature person was someone who made the choice to bring the word of God into their lives daily , exercising their senses and the outcome was they would gain insight to know what was good and evil, to know what was truth and false
so it was the daily intake of the word of God in a persons life that cultivated maturity towards the things of God.
Transition
And now today as we continue to look at chapter 2 we will look at what exactly Paul was trying to tell the church in Thessalonica
See as these false teachers are trying to deceive the people with miss information about the rapture of the church and about the second coming of Christ, Paul would tells us “No” the rapture has not taken place, we are not in the tribulation period by giving us things that must take place before the tribulation and before the second coming of Christ would take place.
And so this is what we are going to look at tonight , so take notes if you need to and if at the end of this you are confused, or have questions, please come and ask us leaders..... we would be more than happy to help out with any confusion
Read 2 Thess. 2: 1- 12
and so again Paul was correcting the false teachings that the rapture of the church had happened already come and that they were in the tribulation period, and that the second coming of Christ was at hand.
And what Paul does is he begins to tell us what must happen first before the second coming of Christ will happen. And for us as we look at this it serves us as a timeline if you would. We are able to look at these things that Paul wrote and get a picture of what will happen in the future. And so that is what we are going to look at.
Paul tells the believers not to be deceived about the Day of Christ, but (2) things must happen in order for the second coming of Christ to happen.
There must be a falling away
The Man of Sin will be Revealed
I. The Departure (v. 3, 5-8)
and so the first thing Paul address that must happen is the “ Falling Away”
That word in the original language is “ Apostasia” or Apostasy , which litterally means - “ To Depart”
And so some commentators seem to think that in order for the second coming of Christ to happen there first has to be a falling away, or a departure of the faith
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
what this speaks of is that in the last days many will leave , they will depart from their faith. This is evident in our society today. You can look around and see many people who grew up in the faith, as they get into the high school and young adult ages, begin to move away from the faith that they grew up in.
they begin to lose their faith they once had in Jesus, in the bible,in God. This being the case either because they get deceived as we talked about last week, or because the bible doesn’t match or approve of their new lifestyle and how they want to live . This is very common in our days.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
and as we look at society around us specifically in these days it is easy to look around and to see that people have departed from their faith.... they have chosen to aline themselves with that which will be socially acceptable, things that God considers evil, things that God and the bible declare to be sin. And yet more and more people who were at one point believers or still consider themselves believers , are living a life and are approving of things that would not please God.
and so as we look at what Paul said about what would have to happen in the last days in order for the second coming of Christ to happen, we can see a departure of the faith may have been what he was talking about...
Transition
But there are other commentators that view this as the “ Departure of the Church”, speaking about the Rapture of the Church.
and this is very possible as well.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
So Paul addressed this in his first letter. Stating that Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, and those who were dead shall meet him along with those who are alive on earth.... that is you and i , this speaks of the church of Jesus, those who have placed their faith in Him as their Lord and Savior, we shall be “ Caught up” - in the air with Jesus
This speaks of the Rapture of the Church , “ Departure from this Earth”
Transition
See in the book of Revelation the apostle John is given a revelation into the future
Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
so John was basically told how to write the book , an outline if you would. And he was first to write the things which he has seen , the heavenly scene that John has been given insight into.
then he was to write the things that are.... and for the next few chapters ( Chp. 2,3) John writes about the churches and it breaks down as the different church ages throughout history.
Then you get to Rev. 4:1 - Where John writes the things that will be- and it says-“ After these things” - after what things? After the church has been taken away to be with Jesus. From this point on in the book of Revelations you do not see the church on the earth until we return with Christ.
Then from Rev. 6-19 you see what we call the “ Tribulation Period” , a 7 year time period where God pours out his wrath and judgement on the earth, on those who rejected him. Where we will have seven seals , seven trumpets and seven bowls that are open representing different forms of judgement through plaques, earthquakes, hailstones , wars etc.
This is the tribulation period that the false teachers were trying to convince the believers that they were a part of.
now let backtrack to chp/ 5
And what we see a scroll with 7 seals on it being held by God and an angel crying out “ Who is worthy to open the seal?” and we would see that the Lion of Judah, Jesus was worthy to open the scroll, or the title deed to the earth that has been in under the rule of Satan
And in chp. 6 , Jesus would begin to open up the first of seven seals on the scroll.
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
so the very first thing to come out of the seven seals was one who comes on a white horse and he had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went to conquer.
This is the Anti- Christ. A False Jesus.
And this takes us back to 2 Thess. as Paul tells us the two things that must happen before the Second Coming of Christ
II. The Anti- Christ is Revealed (v. 4)
and so Paul would tell us that in order for the Second Coming of Christ to come there first must be the “ Departure of the Church” or the Rapture- but also the Anti- Christ will need to be revealed as well.
and as we briefly looked at we see that according to the book of Rev. the church is taken away first in the rapture, then what we see is the beginning of the tribulation period which is a 7 year period. And the first seal that is open in Chp.6 of Rev. is that the Anti- Christ makes his appearance on the Earth.
A. Who Is the Anti- Christ?
well here in 2 Thess. 2: 3-4 we begin to see this Anti- Christ being named by different names that describe who he will be and what his end will be
Man of Sin (v.3)
this is a name that is given to the Anti- Christ, but it gives us insight as to who he will be. He will be one who is against the Authority of God and of God’s law.
the very name of Anti- Christ is telling , that he is against anything that is of God. He is the opposite of God, “ Instead of Jesus” he is not equal to God, but he is against the things of God including God’s people
2. Son of Perdition (v.3)
and this means “ Son of Destruction” which speaks both of what he will do when he is in authority , he is going to bring destruction to the world, but also what his end will be, he will be destroyed in the lake of fire at the end of the tribulation period at the second coming of Christ.
3. He Will Oppose Anything that is of God (v. 4)
this is the very nature of who he is , he opposes anything of God
4. He will Be put in Power By Satan (v. 9)
His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;
He shall destroy fearfully,
And shall prosper and thrive;
He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
the anti- christ will be established by satan for the purpose of destroying the earth and to exercise his authority on the earth .
B. What Will the Anti- Christ Do?
we will run through a few things that the anti- christ will do when he appears
He will Rule the Nations
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
and i know this can sound crazy, but in a nutshell what it is talking about is the (10) horns are (10) nations that will be under the control of the Anti- Christ, the last final world empire over the earth.
So he will be a political leader who is ruling many nations
2. He will Establish Peace with Israel
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
you can look at the news any day and what you will find is a division over the Nation of Israel. You have conflicts in Israel even today over the land. And what you find is that all of the world is at one point trying to figure out how to deal with the issue and how to bring peace in Israel between the Nations in and around it.
And so part of what will happen is this political leader will have smooth words and will bring peace between Israel and the nations around her for 3 1/2 years.
and you can imagine what it would be like if a political leader came and was able to bring world peace. People would jump all over that bandwagon
3. He will Allow the Temple to be Built
in AD 70 the temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Roman General Titus. They destroyed the whole thing leaving no stone unturned just like Jesus had prophesied.
and til this day the Nation of Israel has not had the opportunity to rebuild it’s temple. They are not able to make sacrifices for their sins. The area where the temple used to stand is now under the control of the Muslims and they have a holy site there now which is the Dome of the Rock.
and so even today when you go to Israel , they are preparing the instruments for the new temple that will be rebuilt. But it looks like a miracle would have to take place for that to happen, but what if a new political leader was able to bring peace in Israel and would be able to make a peace treaty that would allow the Jews to rebuild their temple.
this mans would be hailed a miracle worker, possibly even the Messiah.
4. He will work signs and wonders (v. 9)
He will be able to work signs and wonders with the power that Satan gives him
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
And so at some point this man gets a mortal shot to the head. A shot that he should have died, and yet by the workings and power of Satan he is healed and lives and the people marvel and worship him.
they basically begin to call him the Messiah.
4. He Deceives the People (v. 9-11)
God allows the people to be deceived who have rejected him to believe the lies
Transition
now this seems to happen all within the first 3 1/2 years. This political leader has established his authority over the nations, people are following him, then after those 3 1/2 years he does something
5. He Sits on the Throne and Declares Himself God
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
what this is speaking about is that after 3 1/2 years of being nice, this political leader will go into the rebuilt temple, into the holy of holies where God’s presence is and he will sit on the altar and declare himself God, declare that all worship him.
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
so at this point things change and the anit-christ reveals his true colors and makes war against those who do not worship him, where we see those that will flee into the mountains which we believe to be petra
Transition
Now there are many things that happen in the midst of the tribulation period that we do not have time to.
But the main thing to remember is , Paul was saying that there were (2) things that must take place first before the second coming of Christ
The Departure of the Church
speaking of the rapture.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
The spirit of the anit christ is already at hand, their is an attitude that is evident in our world today. An attitude that is contrary to God, to his word and to his people.
we live in a world that denies Jesus Christ as God, they deny he existed , they deny his authority , they deny He is the only way to Salvation
and just like the anti- christ , they offer an opposing offer to Jesus, you don’t need religion or Jesus, just be a good person. Just treat people the way you would want to be treated
All roads lead to heaven, if God is a God of Love then He wouldn’t send anyone to Hell.
These are all lies and deception , trying to get you to buy into the opposing thing of God, anything that will be a replacement of God and of Jesus.
Transition
And what is important to know and understand is that what is restricting the anit chrsit from being revealed is the Holy Spirit working in the church, in you and i.
we are to be those that are standing up for righteousness in how we live, in how we speak, in the things we agree with, in the things we vote for. We are the only line of defense as God works through us against a world that is completely contrary to God.
think about it , if we as Christians do not oppose abortion, if we do not oppose same sex marriage, if we do not oppose the world view that their are many genders, What would the world look like?
If the world is this corrupt now with us Christians making a stand, can you imagine what the world would look like if we did not make a stand?
And one of the big reasons that the world is growing more and more corrupt is that people are departing from the faith, they are being deceived because they do not know the word of GOD, and will follow everything else other than God.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
WOW - This verse sounds like Paul was writing that about today and about our society . Gives us the understanding that we could be living in the last days based on the characteristics of the people he wrote about.
2. The Anti- Christ Must be Revealed
and as bad as this guy is going to be the good news is ...
We won’t be here for it
He will get destroyed at the second coming of Christ
at the end of the 7years of the tribulation period, Jesus returns with his church , you and i and He will destroy all who rejected him at the battle of Armagedon , and the anti-christ will be cast into the lake of fire and satan will be bound for 1,000 years and Christ will establish his milenial rign
Conclusion
the bible tells us that no man knows the time and place when these things will take place and to be watchful and not be caught not ready.
Know today how your relationship with God is today. For i would hate for you to be living a life that would not please God today and we find that the Lord returns tonight.