By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at Life BPC 8am & 11am Svc, 2014-12-07

Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Question: Whenever you feel down, distressed or disappointed, what is your source of comfort? Some sources of comfort are good but not always dependable. E.g. Family and Friends – They can provide much needed comfort, but each of them may have their own problems to cope with when you need them, and even when they are available, they may not be able to empathise with you.

Other sources of comfort may add on stress to your distress later on. E.g. Some turn to food for comfort (‘comfort food’ – but overindulgence may result in costly health issues). Others find comfort in things that they already have at home. A recent survey revealed that many of us live in cramped conditions because we love to keep all our junk that have sentimental value – e.g. old photos, gifts, souvenirs, trophies, broken or outdated electrical items, and clothing that is out of fashion or too small. The stress caused by all the clutter is the price we pay for the comfort these things bring.

Is there any source of comfort that is absolutely dependable and will not add more stress to our distress? Many Christians have testified of finding great comfort through praying and reading God’s Word. Many have also found much comfort in counting their blessings – seeing what God has done for them. All these are able to bring comfort because they originate from the same thing: God’s love for us. This morning we will see that we are always loved by the Lord, and this matchless love is our greatest source of comfort! Let us turn to our passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17.

You may remember that in the first part of this chapter the apostle Paul had been warning the Thessalonians about the signs of the End times. In particular, he told them about the coming of the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, when there will be great worldwide deception which will result in the widespread rejection of God’s truth. The result is that many will fall under the same condemnation as the Antichrist.

But now, as we come to our passage we see a very sharp contrast between these people and God’s people. According to vv.10,11, those who perish will be deceived and deluded – “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”.

But according to v.13 those who are loved by the Lord will be saved and sanctified – “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”

The huge contrast between these two groups is due to the special love that God has for His people. They are His ‘beloved’ and hence they enjoy all the benefits and blessings that come from His love for them. This does not mean that God has no love for the rest of humanity. God is very gracious to all people in all parts of the world at all times; and everyone – both good and bad – is able to enjoy His common grace. He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends the rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). But the only love of God that can bring real comfort to us is the love that is expounded here in this passage, the special redeeming love that God has for us who are His people. We are now going to see three great features of His love that should produce a good response in us.

1.  The Proof of His Love for Us

God not only says that He loves you. He has proven His love by doing many things for you. The very first proof is found in the choice He made from the beginning, as mentioned in in v.13 – “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.” What beginning is this? Was Paul referring to the beginning of his ministry to the Thessalonians? No, this beginning actually goes all the way back into eternity past. Ephesians 1:4 tells us – “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him…”

Let us pause for a moment just to absorb the full glory of this proof of God’s love. Isn’t it marvellous that long before you ever knew God or heard about Him, and even before the entire universe was created, you were already in His thoughts? This truth should really warm your heart. Who are you, that you should be known by God, loved by God, and chosen by God right from the very beginning? Would the Lord God Almighty, the great Creator of the heavens and the earth have nothing better to do at the beginning than to be thinking about you? Who are you?

Perhaps you think that you must be quite special in God’s eyes. Perhaps you think that God had already foreseen your unique holiness and faith from the beginning. Perhaps He knew that unlike many others you would readily respond to His Gospel with faith, love and obedience. And this caused Him to choose you to be saved. But if that is the case, then this verse should read, “He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,because we would be holy and without blame…” But it says that God has chosen us… “that we should be holy and without blame before Him.”

The same thing is mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:9 – “[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesusbefore the world began.” Dearly beloved, God chose you deliberately in order to give you holiness and faith. He had planned to make you holy from the beginning, and that means washing all your sins away with the blood of Christ, and giving you a new nature that hates sin and loves holiness, so that you may gradually become like Him. This is the meaning of ‘sanctification of the Spirit’ in v.13 of our passage.

But perhaps you may then say, “But didn’t I have a part in my salvation? I believed in the truth and turned to Christ. Wasn’t that how I was saved?” Well, that’s what it looked like at the time when you were saved – you believed, and therefore you were saved. But now, looking back, you see that this was actually God’s doing, not yours, since this verse says that God had chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now you know that the faith that you had to believe in Christ came from God. And this brings us to the next thing that proves His loves for you: His calling you to believe in Christ for salvation.

Let us look at v.14 –  “Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You may remember that we had Gospel Sunday here last week, and in his preaching Pastor Colin urged those who were present to prepare to meet their God, by turning to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Well, as this was preached, God may have called someone and saved Him. This calling is the unseen supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He convicts a person of his sins, enlightens his mind to understand and love the truth, and draws him to trust in Jesus Christ to save him. God has been calling people like that since OT times. Listen to what He said in Jeremiah 31:3 – “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

God also did this to those in Thessalonica whom He loved with an everlasting love when Paul, Silas and Timothy came and preached the Gospel to them. This is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 – “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance…” As a result of this, the Thessalonians were gloriously saved, and they instantly became heirs of glory with Christ! Paul mentioned this in Romans 8:16,17 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” This glory will be ours when Christ returns, but it is already reserved for us and it is as good as ours!

Doesn’t all this provide overwhelming proof of God’s love for you? Because God loved you from the beginning, He chose you to be saved. Then at a certain point in your life, God sent the Gospel to you and called you through the Holy Spirit to believe in Christ. Since then He has been sanctifying you, and one day He will bring you into the full glory that is found in Christ! All these events are linked together in sequence forming a solid unbreakable chain from beginning to end. This shows that God’s love for you never fails. His sovereignty works in every part of the process to ensure your salvation. And that means that: Once saved, always saved!

One common question that is often asked is, “If this is the case, then how about our human responsibility? Isn’t it removed by God’s sovereignty? Aren’t we just being carried along without any will of our own to exercise in salvation?” Actually the very opposite is true. Without God working in us, we would not have the will to believe in Christ at all, because we were all dead in sin. It is only through the Spirit’s work of renewing our wills that we were able to choose freely to obey God as we ought. And the truth of the Gospel then became so clear and so dear to us that we loved it and we willingly trusted in Christ alone for our salvation.

Perhaps there may be someone here who has not done this yet. You have heard the Gospel before but you have not responded to it with faith in Christ. But somehow the Word of God that you heard recently has had some impact you, and you are becoming convinced that it is true. This may be the Holy Spirit calling you to believe in Christ for salvation. Please do not wait any longer. You must come right now to Jesus, and make Him your Lord and Saviour. Do this and then you will receive assurance from God’s Word that you truly belong to Him and that you have been loved and chosen by Him from the beginning.  Only those who have truly believed in Christ for salvation are able to have this assurance, conviction and confidence. Because it comes through…

2. The Power of His Love Working in Us

This is the second feature of God’s love that we can learn from our passage. It is given in v.15 – “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”Notice that it begins with the word ‘therefore’ and this shows that this ought to be the result of all that God has done for us, as described in the two preceding verses. There are two things that we are able to do, and should be doing. Firstly we have the courage to stand fast amid the end-time apostasy.

Remember that the Thessalonians were under great pressure at that time to depart from the faith because of intense persecution. Now that they know that things may get even worse if the Man of sin is revealed in their time, Paul exhorts them to stand fast. This exhortation is very meaningful to us who we are living in the End-times. And thus we must take it seriously and be resolved to stand fast.

Our crisis of faith may come very subtly. We live in an increasingly globalized world today. Increased globalization will bring increased desire for peaceful coexistence. This will probably result in stronger and stronger calls for tolerance – the idea that all beliefs and religions are valid and lead to the same God. But in the name of tolerance those with moral values and spiritual values that are very different from ours will expect us to keep silent about our biblical values because it is offensive to them. Evangelism will be considered to be very disrespectful. If we say anything that seems to criticise their sinful lifestyle or to imply that their beliefs are false we will be accused of hate speech. When this happens, we will have to make a choice: Shrink back and keep silence, or Compromise our convictions and join them, or Stand fast on our convictions.

We must choose to stand fast. But how do we find the courage to stand fast? We can find it by the power of God’s love working in us. God will not leave us to struggle alone against the world. His love for us will ensure that we have the courage and strength to do what is required of us. In Ephesians 6:13 we are told that God has lovingly provided us with His own armour for this very purpose: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”

Besides standing fast, the other thing that we are able to do with God’s enablement is to hold the Truth we have received. This is mentioned in the latter part of v.15 – “Hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle” The term ‘traditions’ here refer to God’s truth which Paul had given to the Thessalonians both during the time he was with them, as well as in the first epistle he had written to them.

Another verse where the same exhortation is given is Hebrews 2:1 – “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” The extraordinary effort that is required to stand fast and hold the Truth is something like participating in a tug-of-war. This is not an easy sport. It requires strong legs that can stand the strain and strong hands to grip the rope tightly. It also requires mental concentration to last through the storm until the victory is won. If you succumb to tiredness, you will lose your grip and foothold and be dragged away.

Living the Christian life is like a tug of war. We are up against formidable opponents – the Devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. If we are not vigilant enough, we may fall in an unguarded moment, and then we will be dragged all the way down into sin. God wants us to stand our ground well – that’s His command to us, but He also gives us the loving assurance that we are not doing this alone. He stands with us all the way, and it is only with His enablement and strong support that we can stand our ground against opponents that are too strong for us.

In every tug-of-war match the key player is the one who stands right at the end of the rope – he is called the anchor man. He is usually the biggest and strongest member of the team. His heavy weight gives him the advantage of digging his feet firmly into the ground, and being at the end of the rope enables him to wrap the rope around his body so that it will never slip from his grasp.

Let us look at the last two verses of our passage to see who our anchor man is – “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” Our anchor man is the Lord Himself who puts His whole weight behind us. This gives us all the confidence that we need to stand fast and hold the truth we have received.

Let us see what Paul wrote about this confidence just a few verses later in 2 Thessalonians 3:4 – “And we have confidence in the Lord touching you that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.” Paul was confident that God would enable His people to do all that is required of them. Here we see the power of God’s love working in us. This love is our grounds for confidence. There is actually no greater comfort for us than this, as we face all the challenges of living for Christ in a world full of sin and uncertainty!

3. The Perfect Security from His Love for Us

This is found in verse 16 – “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace…” You will notice that two persons of the Holy Trinity are mentioned here. The first is our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, He is not just ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ but ‘our Lord Jesus Christ Himself’. This brings out the truth of the intimate relationship He has with us. Our Lord is joined to us in such a strong union, that nothing can ever separate us from Him.

This comforting truth is expanded in Romans 8:38,39 – “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” But that’s not all. Our security comes with a double lock, for we are kept by God the Father as well. Here, He is not referred to only as ‘the Father’ but “even our Father which hath loved us and hath given us…” Every child of God will naturally cry out to Him, Abba Father! What an intimate term of endearment this is!

As our loving Father, God always takes delight in giving good gifts to us who are His children. Here in v.16 we are told that He has given us two precious gifts: everlasting consolation and good hope. Everlasting consolation is probably the comfort we can have at all times to help us to cope with our present trials. This comes through the Holy Spirit. He is the divine Comforter who resides within the heart of every believer.

The other gift which the Father has bestowed upon us is good hope. In the context of Thessalonians this must be understood as the hope of Christ’s second coming, the hope that keeps us going as we looking forward to seeing Christ face to face. You will notice that v.16 ends with the words ‘through grace’. This is an important detail that we must not miss, because it really shows what kind of love our Father has for us – It is a gracious love, a love that is unconditional, a love that is bestowed on unworthy sinners like you and me. We stand amazed that God should love us when we do not deserve His love at all. This glorious truth is expressed so well in Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Dearly beloved, aren’t you glad that God has loved you with a love that is as great as this? This morning you have seen the proof of God’s love in your salvation and your sanctification. You have seen the power of God’s love working in you to strengthen you so that you may stand fast. You have seen the perfect security that comes from God’s love for you, secured by a strong double lock.

From all this I trust that you can see that the Love of God is the ever-flowing spring and fountain of all the good you have and hope for – your salvation, your sanctification, your strength and your security! The question before you now is: How should you respond to such great love?

Firstly, you must be very thankful for it This is what Paul was moved to do as He thought about God’s love for the Thessalonians. He said in v.13, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord…” (v.13) I suggest that you spend time alone with God today just to bow down in grateful reverence at His feet, worshipping and adoring the greatness if His infinite love. If your heart has been cold, let God’s love warm it until it throbs with renewed love for Him.

Secondly, you should respond to God’s love by being comforted by it (v.17) as it is so much better than the comfort you have in family and friends, in food and in anything we have. Why should you turn to these weak sources for comfort when you have one as great as this? God’s love will bring better comfort and encouragement to you in any distress, loss, disappointment or bereavement.

Your third response to knowing God’s love is to be steadfast in upholding it. God’s redeeming love is one of the greatest biblical truths that we should hold fast and must never compromise. (v.15). This relates especially to the doctrines of grace (e.g. the article in today’s weekly) which emphasise that salvation is of the Lord.

Our fourth response is to be faithful through the love of God. Paul said, “For the love of Christ constraineth us...” (2 Corinthians 5:14) Knowing how much God loves you should constrain you to be faithful and established in every good word and work, as mentioned in v.17. Perhaps it is time for you to examine your areas of service. Have you always been giving the excuse that you are too busy whenever you are approached to serve? Are you too busy to do your best for One who was not too busy to do His best for you? Please think about it carefully.

And finally you must respond to God’s love by being ready to share it with others. God’s love is one of the key truths of the Gospel by which sinners are called to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Paul brought the Gospel to the Thessalonians (v.14) and according to 1 Thessalonians 1:8, they shared it with many others. If you have truly tasted and seen that God’s love is so good how can you just keep it all to yourself? As Christmas is now just around the corner, please use this opportunity to declare His great love as widely as you can while you still can!

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at Life BPC 8am & 11am Svc, 2014-11-16

Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 

The year-end vacation for primary and secondary schools and JC1 students officially began yesterday. This is the time of year that many people look forward to. Students are probably thinking about how they will spend the next 6 weeks. Working adults look forward to a much needed break and to receiving their year-end bonus. Families and friends look forward to enjoying an overseas vacation together. Those in the commercial world look forward to the increased business they usually have at Christmas time. But there is something far better that we should all be looking forward to much more than these things, and that is the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Bible provides a lot of teaching on this. Do you know that there are over 1,500 prophecies of Christ’s Second Coming in the Bible? For every prophecy of His first coming mentioned in the Old Testament, there are eight predicting His Second Coming of Christ. It is also mentioned once in every five verses of the New Testament. All this teaching on the Second Coming has been given so that we may be well prepared for this great event. One particular passage where such teaching is given is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8. This passage consists of two parts.  The first part helps us to understand... 

1. Why We Need to Know the Signs of His Coming 

The apostle Paul had given the Christians at Thessalonica much teaching about the signs of the Lord’s second coming. He had done this during the time he spent with them at Thessalonica (v.5), and also in his first epistle to them (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4-5). But despite all that Paul did, the Thessalonians were easily shaken in mind and troubled because they did not apply what he had taught them. The words “shaken in mind” in v.2 convey a picture of a boat that is tossed to and fro in a storm. Something had caused them to be confused and very anxious, and it added on to their affliction, as we had seen in the previous chapter that these Christians were already suffering from persecution at that time (1:6). Paul’s pastoral love for them moved him to write this epistle in order to calm them down. This gives us the first reason why we need to know the signs of our Lord’s coming: 

a. It helps us to avoid confusion and anxiety (v.2a). 

Much unnecessary confusion and anxiety comes from our ignorance about the unknown. The future in particular is a big unknown and this often makes people fearful and even panic when ominous things start to happen. For example, many people changed their travel plans this year after the two Malaysia Airlines disasters. “What if the plane I travel in disappears or is shot down?” The recent news of beheadings by the Islamic State have made many people anxious about the future, especially when their leader just issued a call yesterday for ‘volcanic eruptions of jihad” all over the world. “What if this movement continues and cannot be stopped? What if they were to come here?” 

Are you worried about the future? Please be assured that the Lord knows the future. Here in His Word He has provided us with sufficient knowledge about the future, including the signs that will precede His coming. They are designed to help us, not harm us. They are designed to quieten our troubled hearts by giving us the calm assurance that He who holds the future cares for us and will definitely take care of our needs. Besides that, the signs of His coming are also designed to…

b. It keeps us from being deceived (vv.2b,3a) 

This is the second reason why we need to know these signs. In next week’s message we will learn about the great End-time deception. But there have been deceivers within the church since the time when Paul wrote this epistle to the Thessalonians. Paul warned them about this in v.3 – “Let no man deceive you by any means…” These deceivers used various means to shake the faith of God’s people. For example, they used prophecies that supposedly came from the Holy Spirit. They used hearsay and teachings which were distorted. And v.2 mentions that they even used forged letters to deceive the Thessalonians. There is only one way to deal with all these methods of deceptions: Use knowledge about Christ’s return which comes from the right source – the only reliable source, which is God’s Word! 

Please don’t be taken in by anyone who claims that he knows exactly where and when the Lord Jesus will return. Many have been deceived through using the wrong sources of information, e.g. the prophecies of Nostradamus, a cryptic death note left by a Jewish rabbi, the Mayan calendar, the ‘four blood moons’ and apocalyptic traditions from different parts of the world. Today, there are hundreds of websites, books and movies about the end of the world. Those who read and watch them may be end up being really ‘shaken in mind and troubled’. They present so many different scenarios that people end up becoming more confused and anxious! 

In v.2 of our text we see that the Thessalonians ended up in a state of confusion and anxiety because of a false teaching that the Day of Christ had already arrived. Although our English Bible states what the deceivers were saying as ‘the day of Christ is at hand’ the verb used here is in the perfect tense, which implies completed action. Thus they were saying that the Day of Christ is already here. 

What is this Day? It refers to the future time when God’s wrath will be poured out on all unbelievers of the world as judgment for their sins. This day had been mentioned in Malachi 4:5– “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” This day corresponds to the seven bowl judgments mentioned in Revelation 15:7; 16:1– “And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever…And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” 

Now the Thessalonians were being told that this Day had arrived. They were in it. This was terrible news. They were already bearing great persecution from men (1:4,5). As if that wasn’t bad enough, now they would have to bear the awful wrath of God as well. But in his first epistle Paul had told them that God had not appointed them to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9) and that the Day of the Lord will only overtake the children of darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5). Paul had assured them that believers who are still alive would be raptured, caught up to meet the Lord in the air, before this awful Day of the Lord comes. (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

But now, they were told something entirely different – the Day of the Lord has already come and they were now in the thick of it. This made them confused. “Didn’t Paul tell us that we would be removed before this comes? Has he taught us wrongly?” The forged letter mentioned in v.2 made them believe that Paul had changed his teaching and said,“Sorry brethren, I’ve got really bad news! There is no rapture. The wrath of God has come on the world, and now we believers just have to endure it.” What a disappointment this was for them! No wonder they were so shaken in mind and deeply troubled. 

In order to clear up their confusion and allay their anxiety Paul now assured them that his teaching on this had not changed at all. Hence he mentions the rapture right at the beginning (v.1 – “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him…”) Then he goes on to tell them of three events that must take place first before the Day of Christ. Since these events had not happened yet, they could not be in the Day of Christ. These events and all the things that lead up to them would be observable as signs that the Rapture and the Day of Christ are approaching. This brings us now to consider: 

2. What We Need to Know of the Signs of His Coming 

Now, before I begin to explain these signs, let me first say that they been interpreted in different ways by good Bible-believing scholars. It is not easy to say whose interpretation is correct. There is no disagreement at all on things that are clearly taught in the Scriptures like Christ’s coming, the Rapture and resurrection of believers, and the judgment of all unbelievers. The disagreements are only on the exact sequence in which the events take place, and the identity of those involved in these events. Whenever we study prophetic passages concerning the last days, we cannot be absolutely dogmatic and insist that our interpretation is 100% correct. What I am going to show you now, is what I believe to be the most reasonable interpretation of these signs. The first one that is mentioned here is: 

a. The Rebellion of Apostate Men (v.3) 

This is mentioned in v.3 as “a falling away”. The words ‘falling away’ are translated from the word ‘apostasia’ from which the word ‘apostasy’ was derived. It bears the idea of a rebellion against God, or a movement away from God. The same term is used as a verb in 1 Timothy 4:1-2– “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times someshall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”  The words ‘shall depart from the faith’ here refers to the falling away that will take place in the end time rebellion. 

More details about this rebellion are given in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 – “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” Rebellious attitudes like these have existed in every age of history. But they will grow to unimaginable proportions in the last days. All this is already happening today. People are becoming increasingly desensitised to sin and evil Many believe that there are no moral absolutes and that everything is relative. Things that were once regarded as being wicked and sinful are now accepted as normal. The prevailing thought is that the end justifies the means. Anything can be done for success. 

Our Lord Jesus described the same phenomenon in Matthew 24:12– “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” As the End draws nearer, sin will increase and love for God and for one’s fellow man will decrease. The only love that will increase a lot is self-love, which is expressed today in individualism and self-worship. This will eventually lead on to the next event, which is … 

b. The Revelation of the Antichrist (vv.3,8) 

Who is the Antichrist? Here in v.3 of our text he is called “the man of sin, the son of perdition.” The first term describes his character – He is the Man of sin. In v.8 he is called ‘that Wicked’. There have been many wicked men in history, e.g. Nero, Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. But this man will be far worse than all of them because he will reveal the full character of Satan himself. He will therefore be the ultimate rebel, murderer and deceiver all combined into one. 

The second term in v.3 describes the Antichrist’s destiny – He is the son of perdition. Perdition means eternal destruction and misery in hell. This man of sin will be totally devoid of any hope of redemption. No mercy or pity can ever be shown to him. One reason for this is that he has no pity or mercy at all for others. His aim is to drag as many people as possible into perdition with him! 

Though he is referred to here as the man of sin and the son of perdition, the more commonly-used designation for him is “the Antichrist.” This comes from 1 John 2:18 – “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” One meaning of the term ‘antichrist’ is one who takes the place of Christ, i.e. a counterfeit Christ. What distinguishes this final Antichrist from all the rest is that he will not only take the place of Christ, but he will do that by demanding to be worshipped as God in the Holy Temple. This brazen act of self-deification is described in v.4 of our text – “…who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 

Some of us may think that since the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70 and has not been rebuilt yet, this act of the Antichrist will probably not happen so soon. However, within the last 30 years a movement known as the Temple Institute has been doing what exactly king David did: making all the preparations for the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (including the detailed plans, materials, the sacred furniture and temple vessels) and preparing the priests and Levites to resume all their services. Everything is now ready to be implemented. 

There is only one ‘show-stopper’ that stands in their way: The Dome of the Rock sits on the site of the Temple, and any attempt to remove it would instantly ignite a global religious war. This place is the most hotly-contested property in the world today. Just last week, a visit made by a group of Jewish MPs to the Temple Mount sparked off a series of riots, clashes and one death. 

It makes us wonder: How can the Antichrist ever get to sit in a Temple that can never be built? Some have suggested that the Temple Mount is not the actual place where the Temple once stood. There is evidence that the actual site of the Temple is about 500 meters south, on Israeli territory. Hence it is believed that when the Jews are convinced of this discovery, they will immediately erect the new Temple there. Others believe that God will send an earthquake or perhaps a stray missile from Hamas to destroy the Dome of the Rock. But even if that takes place, what is there to stop the Arabs from keeping their shrine and rebuilding it? 

Perhaps this is more likely to happen: The Antichrist will use his all negotiating skills and resources to mediate an agreement between the Israelis and the Arabs. In this new agreement the Jews are allowed to rebuild their Temple right next to the Dome of the Rock. By doing this, the he will finally resolve this age-old dispute and bring a lasting peace to the Middle East to everyone’s relief. Perhaps through this and many other amazing feats, the Antichrist will impress all nations so much that they readily elect him to become the first President of the World. 

From Revelation 13 we learn that the Antichrist is the one who will preside over a one-world government. The stage is being set for this: The world is moving now in this direction. The APEC summit was held last in Beijing week, and the G20 leaders are now meeting in Brisbane. Walls are coming down. Economies are becoming global and more interdependent. In a way that has never happened before, nations are holding hands and talking about forming a one world government. A campaign for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) was formed in 2007. As of July 2013 it has received the support of over 850 Members of Parliament from over 90 countries worldwide, in addition to over 350 non-governmental organizations and 16 Heads or former heads of state or government and foreign ministers. The target date to form the UNPA is 2015. The union of the entire world into one is now on the horizon. One day soon the sun will rise on a united world, and the Antichrist will become its bright and shining star. 

Who will he be? Some say he will be the US president, but others claim that he must be the Pope. Some say that he will be a Jew from Europe. No one really knows. But when he has gained sufficient power to do anything he likes with impunity, he will reveal his true colours by sitting in the Holy of the Holies in the Temple and claiming to be God. This is the revelation that is mentioned in vv.3 and 8 of our text. 

According to Revelation 13:16-18, the Antichrist will then require everyone on earth to receive a mark on their forehead or hand, which has to do with the number 666. Those who refuse to receive this mark and worship him will be persecuted in the Great Tribulation. They will not be able to buy or sell anything without bearing his mark. This will be a time of great suffering for all true believers in the world. 

However, their time of affliction will be shortened when Christ comes and the Rapture and Resurrection of all believers takes place. Perhaps we may see this happen within our lifetime. The Antichrist may already be living today, just waiting for the time when he will be revealed. That will trigger off a series of events that end with his demise at the Battle of Armageddon. 

And the time when he will be revealed depends on the next sign which is mentioned in vv.6-7 of our passage: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” The words ‘withholdeth’ and ‘letteth’ in these verses refer to the same thing – something or someone that restrains the revelation of the Antichrist. Thus the sign that precedes the Antichrist is…

c. The Removal of the Restrainer (vv.6-7)

Many have tried to identify this restrainer. Some have suggested that it was the Roman Emperor. They allege that as long as he ruled the empire from Rome, the bishop of Rome had limited powers. It was only after Emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople in AD 324 that the bishop of Rome was able to rise up to become the Pope. However no pope in history has ever matched the description of the Antichrist given in our passage of Scripture. 

In recent times others have suggested that the restrainer that will be removed is the Church. They believe that as long as the Church remains in the world, it acts as an influence against sin and lawlessness (cf. Matthew 5:13-16). As the salt of the earth, true believers everywhere exert an influence that restrains the rapid moral decay in society. As the light of the world, they restrain spiritual darkness from exerting its full power. But after they are removed from the earth in the Rapture, spiritual darkness and moral decay will grow and spread rapidly, until their putrid stench makes the world most ripe for judgment. 

Others believe that the restrainer that will be removed is the Holy Spirit. They say that this explains why the Greek word for restrainer in v.6 is in the neuter form while the one in v.7 is in the masculine form. Since the Greek word for ‘spirit’ happens to be neuter, the word ‘restrainer’ is put in the neuter form in v.6. But since the Holy Spirit is a person and not an object, the masculine form is used in v.7 for the same word. 

All this may sound very technical and difficult for many to understand. But it goes to show how difficult it is to identify this restrainer. However, there is one thing that is very certain – no matter who or what this restrainer may be, God is the ultimate cause of his removal. From verse 6 we learn that God will take the restrainer away at a time determined entirely by Him. And so, God is in control of all things. 

For reasons that are best known to God Himself, He has deliberately left the restrainer’s identity unknown. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that there are things which are not meant for us to know – “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever...” 

Thus we have seen what Paul used to teach the Thessalonians that the day of Christ had not yet come in their time: The Rebellion of Apostate men, the Revelation of the Antichrist, and the Removal of the Restrainer. This means that they need not be shaken out of mind or troubled any more. The truth has made them free! The same thing is true of us. This truth shall also make us free. Like the Thessalonians we may one day have to face persecution if the Antichrist is revealed within our lifetime. But if this happens we have the comforting assurance of being removed from this world before God begins to pour out His righteous judgments on it. 

From other passages of Scripture on the End times we know that after being caught up or resurrected to meet the Lord in the air, we will receive rewards at the Judgment seat of Christ, and enjoy the delights of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And when the world’s sin and darkness has reached its highest peak, we will descend with Christ to purge the world and to defeat the Antichrist. This will not be a long protracted battle. In fact, it will be over in a matter of seconds as v.8 of our text says –  “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” All it will take to bring the Antichrist to an end is one breath from Christ. The mere appearance of Christ in power and glory will dissolve all the forces that are arrayed against Him. 

And then Christ’s victory will usher in the golden age of His millennial kingdom on earth! What a glorious outcome that will be. What a comfort this is to all who are now going through trials and tribulations. How glad we should be when we see more and more signs of His coming. Let us watch and be sober. In the days to come there will be more developments in the world and especially in Israel, which will eventually lead to all these events. Dearly beloved, we are living in momentous times – the End Times. This should produce a sense of excitement in us! As Jesus has said in Luke 21:28 – “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” 

But at the same time, all this knowledge should produce a sense of urgency in our hearts: The same kind of urgency we feel whenever a deadline is getting nearer and there is still plenty of work left undone. If the day of our Lord’s Coming is fast approaching, then we should be concerned that there isn’t much time left to do His work. Our Lord Himself was concerned about the shortness of time that He had to do His work on earth. He said this in John 9:4 – “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Let us all be more fervent in doing His work while we still can.