What you expect will affect what you get. What do you expect?

 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed 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. ³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷ 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. ⁸ Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

In this passage from 2 Thessalonians 2:17, in today's daily reading in the One Year Bible, Paul is writing to the church about Jesus return at the end of the age. While Paul found it neccessary to address the false teaching that was arising saying that Christ had already returned, we should note that in order for that teaching to exist, it shows that the people lived with the expectation that Christ would indeed return and soon. Something I wonder how many people truly live in today, an expectation of the soon coming of Christ. I am not talking about the world's disregard, I am saying that if the church truly lived as though she expected to see the return of her beloved she would act differently. Praise, prayer and preaching would take precedence over programs. Ministering and serving would be part of the mission and comission to declare the gospel to all the world, not merely a humanitarian act to satisfy our obligation to do good. Worship would be with the expectation that Jesus will come and be present. I don't mean to be critical of all ministries in all these aspects. There are many ministries doing some or much of this well. But the overall church today has very much lost it's focus.

What I want to briefly look at is something that stood out to me in this passage that may help us to understand and change things in our personal lives and then flow into church life from there. 

³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God...⁷ 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...¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Again these things are written about a time to come, a time before Jesus returns when satan will actually set himself up as god. Look at verse 7 though. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work...he who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Lawlessness was already at work 2000 years ago when Paul wrote this and it has been working ever since. The one who restrains is the Holy Spirit, living in and through believers. Let's look at this on a personal level. It says that the son of destruction will take his seat in the temple of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

This is where the battle lies for each one of us. God wants to be established on the throne in the temple of our body. Satan also wants that place. The Holy Spirit is given to us to restrain the evil one. We have the choice, by our free will to take that restraining influence out of the way. Satan will never initially demand that we bow to him. He only wants to draw us from God, strengthening the delusion and minimizing the restaining influence of the Holy Spirit. That's the power of sin in our lives it causes seperation from God and gives satan access to the temple of our body. James speaks to this in chapter 4

⁴ You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.    

 Here is one of those areas when we need to understand  the meaning of individual words used in scripture. When scripture says that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, it is not in conflict with what James says here that being a friend of the world makes us an enemy of God. James is talking about world systems, the fallen things of the world. There can be only one on the throne of the temple of our lives. God jealously desires that it be Him. The choice though is ours. Each one choosing for ourself who will be on the throne of our life. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

As we individually seat God on the throne of our temple He will ignite within us an expectation of His soon return and we will live each day expecting Him. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, forgive me for the ways that I have been a friend of the world, for the lusts, greed and self centeredness I have allowed in my life. Thank You Jesus that You paid the price for ALL my sin, past present and future. I choose today to draw near to You, knowing that You desire to draw near to me. Holy Spirit fill me, overwhelm me, take Your seat on the throne of this temple. Help me to live today and each day in the expectation of Your return.