Sermon Tone Analysis

Fearless (2 Thessalonians 2)

Fearless (2 Thessalonians 2)

Chris Booth / General

Thessalonians / Day of the Lord; Man of Lawlessness; Gospel / 2 Thessalonians 2:1–17

Keep Calm, the day of the Lord is yet to come!

Therefore, keep fighting.

Notes

2 Thessalonians 2

 



Fearless (2 Thes 2) [SLIDE]

Be Fearless for the Day of the Lord is yet to come.

Therefore, keep fighting.

September 11 is marked on everyone's calendars as a day when the world changed.

I remember when September 11 happened.

Mum woke me up before school.

I was in high school at the time.

Mum was particularly brave as I was going through a phase of life where pyjamas were "optional".

But she came into my room, woke me up, and I just remember her saying "America has been attacked."

I couldn't get my head around it.

What? [SLIDE]

So we walked out into the lounge room and saw what was happening on the TV.

It was horrific.

I remember seeing people jumping out of the buildings to end their life quicker.

I remember seeing the second plane hit.

The confusion.

The tragedy.

The sadness.

The anger.

It was all swirling around, and I spent the rest of that day just—worried.

To be honest, I had no idea what was happening in the world.

Was this the end?

Our belief in how the world should be going was blown up.

Shattered.

And the people doing it?

They did it in the name of God.

In the wake of these attacks, the world was shaken.

We find a similar situation of fear in Thessalonica as we read 2 Thessalonians 2. As we read, we will be reminded to be Fearless for the day of the Lord is yet to come.



1. Fearless in Chaos (2 Thes 2.1-2) [SLIDE]

Let's look at 2 Thes 2.1-2.

[SLIDE]

2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 NIV

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.

There is Chaos in Thessalonica.

The essence of what has happened is that someone has come into the church and started shaking people up saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

Look at verse 1 (and 1 Thes 4) 2 Thes 2.1 [SLIDE]

2 Thessalonians 2:1 NIV

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,

This day of the Lord—this day of judgement—involves us being gathered to Jesus.

For those who put their trust in Christ, the day of the Lord is the day when we will be called home.

Therefore, we are not be unsettled or shaken about this day.

[SLIDE]

Now some think that this lie that was being spread was that the day of the Lord was a literal 24 hour period so they were living on absolute tenterhooks about all the persecution they were facing.

They thought they were suffering because that very day was the day of the Lord.

Others believe that it was more the Jehovah's witness idea.

The JW's believe that the Day of the Lord has already come, and Christ has already returned in some spiritual sense.

The falsehood of the JW's is sadly historically well documented and leaves their reputation as intellectually and theologically corrupt.

In the end we aren't sure exactly what lie they were being sold.

What we do know is that the Day of the Lord is the day when God will ultimately act in judgement.

He is coming to make all things right.

Just before in 2 Thes 1.6-10 Paul described what will happen on that day.

[SLIDE]

2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 NIV

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.

This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.

This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

So if you are in in the church in Thessalonica and someone says that this day has already come - how are you feeling?

You might be a little confused.

If the day has already happened, why are we not gathered to Jesus in glory?

Where are my angels?

You might be a little worried.

I mean, this was supposed to be the day and nothing seems to be the way we thought it would be, so maybe we believed a lie.

Maybe this Christianity thing isn't legitimate.

Maybe the one's committing the terror attacks are right.

Maybe it's their God that is the right God. [SLIDE]

Paul needs to correct this issue.

This the one appointment, as Tim said a couple of weeks ago, that we cannot miss.

Paul wants to make sure that we are rock solid on this truth.

Either people will believe these lies that are being spread and:

a) Relax and become idle, or

b) Continue to suffer and conclude that Jesus is a lie.

And this is just as much an issue today.

So let us not get sucked into chaos such as this.

Let us know, in the midst of chaos, that there is a God.

That he is good.

Let's look at how Paul corrects this chaos.

[SLIDE]



2. The Correction to be Fearless(2 Thes 2.3-12)

Paul begins at 2 Thes 2.3-4 [SLIDE]

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 NIV

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Paul says that you couldn't have missed the day of the Lord because before that day comes the rebellion will occur, and the man of lawlessness will be revealed.

[SLIDE]

2.1—The Man of Lawlessness (2.3-4)

This Man of Lawlessness or Antichrist will oppose God and try and convince people that he is the one to follow.

(For OT allusions see Isa 14.13-14; Dan 11.21,36.)

The Man of lawlessness is bad news.

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything.

He will set himself up in God's temple.