With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

2 Thessalonians 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

¹³ But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

In today’s text, Paul speaks of the end of the age and the return of Christ. It says:  With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,  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. 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.    Many people spend much of their time and energy focusing on the timing of these things. The text continues saying:  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, 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. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.    Throughout history people have tried to identify evil leaders as the anti-Christ and tried to interpret world events based on end time prophecies, so that they might know the time of Christ’s return. In Matthew 24:36-44, Jesus Himself says:   “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,but My Father only.But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”      None of us know the day or hour; neither of Christ return to earth or of the time that our days on earth might end. Not knowing when, Jesus says:  “Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”   Rather than trying to determine the day, we should make ourselves ready today and every day.

The text says:  The mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 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; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 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. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,  in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.   Even then, at the time Paul wrote this letter, lawlessness was already at work. How much more then is lawlessness present today?     Again, the text says:   Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,  in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.    Some would take this and say that God is unfair. It says He sends a deluding influence. Here’s the thing. It says: Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason…     The fault is not with God. John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world that He gave His only begottenSon, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.     All that is necessary to avoid the deluding influence is to believe the truth and to love the truth. If we believe the truth, we will not believe what is false. We will not be deceived and we will not take pleasure in wickedness. To be ready for Christ’s return, regardless of the day, we should be certain that we love and believe the truth and that we take pleasure in what is good rather than in wickedness.

Rather than finding fault with God we should believe the truth that the text says:   God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.  God’s choice is that we believe the truth that because of His love Jesus died for our sins. It is only in rejecting the truth that we are deceived.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.    Amen.