2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

0:32 chapter one but we were kind of um uh starved for time so um for the sake of context i will We'll dip a little bit back into chapter one as we get into chapter two. Not much, but just a little bit. But you will need a Bible for tonight. There is a Bible, I believe, close to you if somebody didn't pinch it and walk out. But we have stocked the place with Bibles throughout so you can follow along. It's always good to have a real Bible, a physical Bible. Of course, you're welcome to use your fake Bibles on your iPad or iPhone. but there's something about having an analog Bible because it's nothing but that. You cannot receive a text or a phone call or any other mode of communication. All it is, is the word of God, which is all you need. So it's, um, it's good to have that. If you don't have one, that's just a plug for getting a Bible, but we're in chapter two. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for an opportunity to gather, to be refreshed, to get tuned up in our faith, to learn, and thus to grow. As Peter said, to grow in grace, to grow in that unmerited favor and blessing and mercy, to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2:03 So increase not only our knowledge, but your grace in our lives. Help us, Lord, to understand these things that were dear to the heart of Paul, things that he infused into a church after being with him only three weeks after founding it. So, Lord, I pray that you would unravel some of these things that needed unraveling for the Thessalonians. and we pray that the net result would be an excitement for the future. In Jesus' name, amen. There was a little boy who got on an elevator with his father in New York City, and at that time it was the only tallest building in town, the Empire State Building, the world's tallest building at the time. They got on the elevator, and the elevator went up, and went up pretty rapidly, and they saw the numbers flashing, 10th floor, 20th floor, 30th floor, 40th floor. And as the elevator went up that high, the little boy got a little scared and tugged on his dad's shirt, and he said, Daddy, does God know we're coming?

3:16 He thought he was going to go all the way to heaven that day. Does God know we're coming? Well, the truth is God does know when we are coming, to his kingdom. I was in the hospital today, not for myself, but visiting a patient who was discovered to have cancer and they did lung surgery on her. And we prayed together and I reminded her of the fact that our days are numbered and they're in the Lord's hands and we're not leaving until he's done with us. And once he's done with us, who wants to hang around anyway. And I visited with her and prayed with her. And then I was leaving or I was trying to leave. I was trying to find the elevator. And this often happens when I visit a local hospital, somebody else recognized me and said, pastor skip my husband's up here in the ICU. And he would love it if you'd go visit him as well. So I stopped and visited him and shared with him, your days are in the Lord's hands. He knows when you're coming and he knows if he wants to keep you here, it's for a purpose and you want to find what that purpose is and live for the glory of God.

4:34 The Thessalonians believed not that they were coming to heaven, but that they had experienced a loss of the coming of the Lord that Paul had told them. Let me explain that. They believed, some of them, that they were in the tribulation period, that the Lord had come and they missed it. And now they're suffering the wrath of God that the Bible predicts the coming wrath of God in that tribulation period. Now you remember in the first letter that Paul wrote, 1 Thessalonians, it is really more about his coming for the church, what we call the rapture of the church. We give it that name. It is a name that comes from a Latin translation that simply means the catching away of, the sudden catching away of the church, which is outlined beautifully and without controversy in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

5:51 It is unmistakably the rapture of the church. Our gathering together with him. Those of us who are alive and remained, Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 4, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with him. second Thessalonians is focused on the second coming the day of the Lord the time of judgment that is coming upon the earth what you might differentiate by calling one rapture and the other revelation, or rapture and second coming. But I say rapture and revelation because if you'll notice in verse 7 of... 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 7, he says, And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus, here's the word, is revealed.

7:00 Apocalypse, revelation, revealed, unveiled from heaven with his mighty angels. so here he is talking about that second coming of christ which will take place after the rapture so we're talking about two different events and paul will interweave both of these events he did in first thessalonians and he does in second thessalonians so let's call one rapture and the other revelation william mcdonald who wrote a commentary on the whole new testament gives a little outline we're going to put up on the screen so we can just see the difference. I thought this would be helpful to make a comparison. Rapture and Revelation. The rapture, Christ comes to the air. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. At the revelation or the second coming, he comes to the earth. Zechariah 14. His foot touches the Mount of Olives and it splits in two.

8:02 two different events one he comes into the air not all the way to the earth we meet him in the air so shall we ever be with him and then the revelation he comes to the earth second the rapture he comes for his saints first thessalonians four at the revelation of the second coming he comes with his saints we come with him and enter into the kingdom age. Third, the rapture is a mystery. First Thessalonians 15, he speaks about the mystery, a truth that was not revealed in the Old Testament times, but the revelation is not a mystery. It is the subject of many Old Testament prophecies. Every Jewish person anticipated the coming of Messiah and his worldwide rule. number four at the rapture christ coming for his saints is never said to be preceded by celestial portents now this is right out of a commentary so i would have phrased it a little bit differently but in other words the rapture is a signless event there are no preceding signs it can happen at any moment paul expected it at any moment and if he expected it to come 2 000 years ago, guess what? It could happen at any moment. Whereas the revelation of the second coming, his coming with his saints will be heralded by signs in the heavens. Number five, the rapture is identified with the day of Christ. The scriptures are given, but the revelation of the second coming is identified with the day of the Lord, the day of Christ versus the day of the Lord. Number six, the rapture is presented as a time of blessing. Also, 1 Thessalonians 4, comfort one another with these words, whereas the revelation or second coming, the main emphasis of the revelation of Christ is on judgment. If you know Revelation chapter 19, Jesus comes back. It

10:09 is his culminating judgment upon the earth and upon God haters. Number seven, the rapture takes place in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, 1 Corinthians 15. This strongly implies that it will not be witnessed by the world. The revelation or the second coming will be visible worldwide. Every eye will see him. Number eight, the rapture seems to involve the church primarily, and the scriptures are given. I'm not going to go through all of them. The revelation or second coming involves Israel primarily. That's the 70th week of Daniel, then also the Gentile nations. Nine, at the rapture, Christ comes as the bright and morning star, Revelation 22. I like that he put that. Whereas in the revelation, he comes as the son of righteousness with healing in his wings, Malachi 4.2. A subtlety and nuance, but nice to know. And finally, number 10, the rapture is not mentioned in the synoptic gospels, but as alluded to several times in John's gospel, whereas the revelation or second coming is characterized in the synoptics, but hardly mentioned in John's gospel. And I don't think there's number 11, is there? Yeah, that's it.

11:26 Okay. So these are the difference between these two events, rapture and second coming or rapture and revelation. Now, somebody often asks when this is brought up, well, how do we know these events don't happen almost simultaneously, as some people say they do, that Jesus will come back for his church, that is, come back, take us away, and then immediately come back to the earth? How do we know there's an interval of time between these two events? Here's how we know that. Here's why I believe that we are going to be raptured before the tribulation period and why there's a time interval between those two events. Number one is the 70 weeks of Daniel, which is the prophetic backbone of all future prophecy. 70 weeks, the angel told Daniel, 70 weeks of years or 490 years are determined for your people Israel and the city of Jerusalem to do certain things. Then it gives the timetable. Seven weeks and 62 weeks or 69 weeks of years are given. After that, it says Messiah will be killed. He will be cut off, but not for himself.

12:53 Then there is the 70th week of Daniel, which is treated as a separate entity altogether. 69 weeks have been fulfilled. The 70th week of Daniel, called the time of Israel's trouble or Jacob's trouble has yet to be fulfilled. That seven-year period, that 70th week of Daniel will be what we typically call the tribulation period. Now I say the tribulation period, the great tribulation period is not seven years. The great tribulation period is the last part of the seven-year period, the last half, to be exact 42 months, or to be more exact 1,290 days. That is also given in scripture. The first will be relatively peaceful the first part of it. The second part will be hell breaking loose upon the earth. There will never ever be there never has been there never will be a time as bad as that great tribulation period, Jesus said, and the angel said to Daniel. So because of the 70-week configuration of Daniel, 69 have been fulfilled. Between the 69th and the 70th week of Daniel, we have what we call the church age. We are living in a hiatus, a comma, a long period of grace where instead of dealing with the nation of Israel, 70 weeks are determined for the nation of Israel, there is now this hiatus where God is pouring out grace and mercy upon all the non-Jewish nations of the world, including us, and he is building his church. But the time is coming when the 70th week of Daniel will be enacted, and that is at the rapture of the church. After the rapture will come a seven-year period broken in the middle by an event called the abomination of desolation, also mentioned in

15:00 Daniel three times, more specifically in Daniel chapter 9, 26 or 28, also predicted by Jesus. And then will come that last period, the great tribulation period. So that's reason number one. I believe that there is an interval of time between rapture and second coming. reason number two is the chronology of the book of revelation the book of revelation is not a hard book to understand honest honestly i know people think it is i used to have friends that would take lsd and read it because they could said they couldn't understand what it meant without it and then they took lsd and they swore they understood it well i mean they made up the weirdest things i wouldn't recommend that by the way that is not a good hermeneutic but it really is not a tough book to understand. It is outlined for you. John is given the things which he sees, the vision of Jesus Christ in chapter one, the things which are, that is the church age, Revelation chapter two and three, and the things which would take place after these things. That's chapter four to the end of the book, the future. So John writes about that. He writes about the vision. He writes about the church age. The church is mentioned over and over again in chapter two and three. And then in chapter four, it is not mentioned at all.

16:28 It's not even seen at all until the very end of the book. So between chapter four and chapter 19, that is the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth. And that is outlined in the book of Revelation. That's the chronology of it. so I believe there's an interval of time between these two great events that Paul talks about in first and second Thessalonians my bible pages keep turning I think because of the air conditioning sorry keep trying to find my place so um in verse eight of chapter one I'm not going to go too much into it but look I've already done it so why quit now it's chapter one let me just kind of frame this for you. Paul, Paul is writing to encourage them because they are being persecuted, the Thessalonians. Paul himself had been persecuted when he was in that town. They had to fetter him away at night because of the persecution that was against him. And it only grew worse because the church kept growing and it was antithetical to everything the secular Thessalonians believed in.

17:40 And so the Christians there were given immense persecution. And so Paul writes to encourage them in chapter 1. And he is trying to lift their sights on that which is eternal. Think of your life in terms of the eternal, not the temporal. Not, am I having a good life? Am I enjoying my best life now? Forget about your best life now. Think about your best life later. Think about your life in times of future judgment and future reward. And so that's why he says in verse 7, to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord from and from the glory of his power. When he comes in that day, revelation, second coming, to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. This is the Revelation 19 event when he shows up from heaven and comes to the earth in visible glory. It is not rapture, it is revelation. Now I touched briefly on something last time. I want to just finish these threads, tie these threads together. In verse 9, as he's looking to the future, he talks about unbelievers being punished with everlasting destruction.

19:39 And I mentioned a couple of words last time. I'm going to mention them again. Two popular belief systems, both of which are wrong. One is called universalism. the other is called annihilationism universalism is the idea the erroneous idea that everybody will eventually be saved we all kind of make our own way we all make our own mistakes we all have our own deal and eventually god just sort of overshadows all that and we all get saved in the end so it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you believe something and you don't offend anybody. Just keep going. Coexist. Coexist. Universalism. the other belief is annihilationism there are some believers who say that you will not or an unbeliever will never suffer an eternity in hell because a gracious god would not do that nobody could sin enough in a lifetime to be warranted a sentence that is more than a lifetime. It's an eternal sentence. Where's the justice in that? So they make something up called annihilationism. It will be as though you didn't even exist. You will cease to exist.

21:10 And yet, Paul talks about everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. And I told you what that word meant last time, but let me read something to you that Jesus said. You don't have to turn there, and if you're taking notes, you can just write down in your notes Matthew 24 and 25.

21:33 In those chapters, Jesus is speaking eschatologically, speaking about the end of time, the future events. He's going all the way to the future of his coming, and he talks about the tribulation period in Matthew 24, and he says this, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. In chapter 25, one of the verses, Jesus says, then he will say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into, listen, into annihilationism, into being wiped out, and it's as though you didn't exist ever before. Into heaven because we're all going to be saved eventually in the end, no matter what you believe. No, he will say, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And final verse of that chapter, and these will go way into everlasting punishment.

23:06 the word for everlasting is ionios it means ongoing perpetual never ceasing never ending these will go away into everlasting punishment now listen carefully but the righteous into eternal life. The word eternal is the word ionios. It's the same exact word for unbelievers being an eternal punishment. Those of us who believe will have eternal life. Same word. So if you say they are going to be annihilated, it will not be eternal. Then you also have to say, because of this verse, that our life will not be eternal. You see the problem with that? So Paul is writing to a group of Christians who are being persecuted, and he says, don't worry, God is going to bring justice in the end. You're going to find eternal rest, and you're going to be eternally rewarded. And I want to encourage you to keep going, because those persecutors, God is going to even that score one day.

24:25 Either by them accepting Christ like you did and being saved from eternal damnation, or they'll reject the truth and they will suffer eternal, ongoing, everlasting consequences. I tell you, that's a sobering thought. And if there was any motivation or impetus for our evangelism, this is it. Because according to Jesus Christ, and this is a very sobering thought, according to Jesus, most people who have ever been born will go to hell. at the end of the sermon on the mount he talked about the narrow gate and the wide gate and very few enter the narrow gate but many enter the wide gate into everlasting destruction i found a clip by rc sproul who was a was a brilliant theologian and he talked a little bit about this ongoing perpetual punishment of hell.

25:36 It's just a minute and a half. We're going to play this clip. I wonder what people are doing. Jesus doesn't describe every activity that they can watch here. But he does describe two responses of humans who have been consigned there, where he says, in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Some people, when they wake up in hell, will be devastated. And they won't find enough water in their eyes to satisfy their need to weep. They'll be sobbing. Oh, no, not here. Oh, God, please have mercy upon me. Be the greatest disappointment they could possibly experience to wake up in hell. But then the other group will be there, won't be weeping a bit. they'll be gnashing their teeth which is a biblical metaphor for human fury how dare you god put me here the angry or the anger of the damned will know no bounds now as i said i sure don't want to end up in hell the one thing i know for sure that if i do if i've deceived my all these years. And if I'm one who says, well, Lord, Lord, didn't I do this? And didn't I do that? And he looks at me and said, please leave. I don't know you. And he sends me to hell. One thing I can promise you that I'll be a weeper, not a gnasher, because if I know anything about theology, I know that if he sent me to hell tonight, I could make no just complaint against him.

27:25 Heavy. So these shall be punished, verse 9, with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. When he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. Now, in chapter 2, he's going to answer, I hope, three questions that arise out of this chapter. Have you noticed that when you read the Bible and you get answers for the questions you have, it gives rise so often to more questions? So he is going to answer their issues, their wondering about the future. But it does bring up three questions in chapter two. What is the falling away? What is the apostasy that he will speak of? What does that mean?

28:24 The second question, who is the man of sin that he is going to refer to? And then number three, what or who is the restrainer of that man of sin? All those three issues are dealt with in chapter two, which I planned to go through tonight. Well, let's get at least a verse in. now brethren concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and our gathering together to him what is the gathering together of him it's none other than what he talked about in first thessalonians chapter four the rapture of the church so shall we ever be with the lord We will meet the Lord in the air. You see, these Thessalonians were wondering if we are in persecution, perhaps we are in the tribulation period that Paul had mentioned to us.

29:33 And so what Paul is going to be saying in the next few verses is relax. You're not in the tribulation because two events have to happen for the tribulation to come about. First of all, our gathering together to him, the rapture, and the revelation of the man of sin that the Bible speaks about. Those two things have to happen. So you're not in that tribulation period. So he says, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you, or we beseech you is the better term, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Paul identifies three sources of the misinformation that had come to the Thessalonian church first of all by spirit it seems that there were those who came and said I I've been given a spiritual revelation from God about the future events that are coming on the earth and this is what it is. We are going to go through the tribulation period.

31:03 then he mentions or by word people were coming in giving teachings expressing ideas false teachers sometimes not false teachers solid teachers with wrong information third or by letter as if from us. It would seem that they would take letters and say, now here's another letter that Paul the apostle wrote. And in this letter, he says, we're going to go through the great tribulation period. So he identifies three sources of misinformation that were coming to the Thessalonians. This is why at the end of this letter, notice in chapter three, verse 17, Paul ends by saying the salutation of Paul with my own hand which is a sign in every epistle so I write in other words he would always dictate his letters to an amanuensis a secretary who would write it down but then at the end of the letter he would write the final words and sign his name to it so they would know it's an authentic letter from Paul that's that's his handwriting he wrote this letter. So don't be shaken by these things. Then he says in verse three, let no one deceive you by any means for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first. And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worship so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

32:58 Now let's kind of take that thread by thread. Notice in verse 3, let no one deceive you. As a general rule, new believers are more easily deceived.

33:19 Makes sense. They're gullible because they only have limited information. They've read a few things. They've heard a few things. There's a lot more things they don't know. That's true for all of us. I hope we are always growing and learning. I know I am. One of the great, somebody asked me recently, what is the best part of your sermons? And I always say the preparation. It's because I discover things and they're either things I have forgotten, but most usually new things I learn, even though I've gone through and taught it many other times. I learn and I see new things. It's the thrill of discovery. when I was a brand new believer I'll never forget the conversation I had about end times with a a fellow believer now I was I was mature I was maybe two weeks old in the Lord man I knew my stuff I thought and so he asked me and he used the term rapture of the church he says what do you think about the rapture of the church? I said, what on earth are you talking about? I've never heard the term. So he explained that the rapture was a catching away. The Lord's going to come in the air. We're going to be caught up with him. And I, I laughed. I said, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. I don't even believe in that. I never was raised hearing that that was an event too. So, so I never believed in it until that conversation. And he said, well, it's in the Bible. And he told me where I went home and I read the Bible and I changed my theology.

35:12 I hope you do the same. I hope every time you read the Bible, you adjust a little more how you think theologically. So brethren, he says, let no one deceive you by any means. You're young in your faith. Paul only spent three weeks with them. And it's been several months. He wrote his first letter. It's been a few more months. He wrote a second letter. They're no more than a year old in the Lord. Paul has already invested quite a bit of knowledge about the end times in this young, fledgling church. But they're young still. They're new still. And Paul in Ephesians says, I don't want you to be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, which is characteristic of new and younger believers. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first.

36:16 The words falling away is a single word in the Greek language. It's the word apostasia. Apostasia or apostasy. And apostasy is an English word that means falling away or rejection or moving away from a position that you once held. It often speaks of the backslider or somebody who once believed but then is turned away from that belief. So the falling away or the rejection of the truth or the movement away from the truth, that day will not come until the falling away comes first. So what does that mean, the falling away? This seems to be a sign that people can look at. There's going to be a falling away. Well, some think it means the falling away of Christian believers, that we believers or those believers who were once orthodox in their thinking and solid Bible believers will then, you know, reconstruct their faith and depart from the faith. Could be, but I would contend that that's been the case since Christ. In every generation, there has been a rejection by some of the truth. In every generation, there are some who say they believe, but they're like the seed that is sown on the soil that doesn't bear fruit, or the cares of this world take it away, or they get choked up by the tribulations, etc. I think that's in every generation. Now, other people interpret this falling away or departure, it could be translated apostasia, as a reference to the rapture of the church. In fact, my pastor, Chuck Smith, even introduced this thought. I remember in the Bible study, and I'd never heard that before, he said, you know, it's possible that he's speaking of the departure of the saints into heaven at the rapture of the church. That is the falling away or the catching up or the removal of.

38:22 And as good as that thought is, I don't think that's what he means. The reason I don't think what it is, what it means is because he connects the falling away or the apostasy or the departure, the apostasia, with the next phrase, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. Then it describes him, this very unique person coming in the future. He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. No, what Paul is speaking about, about the future apostasy, is something known as the abomination of desolation. Something that will be done in the future tribulation period by a person we call the Antichrist. Typically called the Antichrist, Paul here calls him man of sin and son of perdition. Now we call him the Antichrist, that's sort of the name that stuck, but there are probably 30 different terms for this individual.

39:46 I had a friend who believed there were 50 different names. I'll go with the 30. here are some of the names he is called he's called man of sin he's called son of perdition these two verses that we saw he's called the antichrist first john chapter two he's referred to as the little horn in daniel chapter seven he is called the king of fierce features or countenance daniel chapter eight he is called the prince who is to come daniel chapter 9 26 He is known as the willful king, Daniel 11, 36. Zechariah 11 calls him the worthless shepherd. Revelation 13, the beast out of the sea. Revelation 13 again, the beast out of the earth. Revelation 17 and 18, the scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. Daniel 11, the king of the north. Daniel 11, 40, the king of the south.

40:41 Revelation 19 and Revelation 20, the false prophet. I contend that they are two different individuals. This is again William MacDonald. And John chapter 5, the one who comes in his own name. Remember the reference Jesus said, I have come in my father's name and you didn't receive me. One will come in his own name. Him you will receive. That's the Antichrist. Paul calls this Antichrist, this future ruler, he's coming in the tribulation period, the man of sin,

41:16 the son of perdition. He will be Satan's masterpiece. He will come to the earth. He will solve the crisis in the Middle East. He will bring peace between the Arab nations and Israel. He will sign a covenant with Israel, a seven-year covenant, and then he will break the covenant. In Daniel chapter 9, it says he will make a covenant with many for one week, one seven-year period. In the middle of the week, at the three and a half year mark, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of desolation, he will bring an abomination. Daniel called, referred to this as the abomination of desolation. It is the ultimate falling away, the ultimate departure, the ultimate apostasy, because it is a man, a very evil man, claiming that he is God, sitting in the temple at Jerusalem, demanding to be worshiped as God.

42:30 now something about the abomination of desolation the Jewish people ever since Daniel the prophet mentioned abomination of desolation saw a fulfillment of that abomination of desolation in their history which is to us now past tense there was a man in Jewish history who was an enemy of the Jews he was a Seleucid king He was Antiochus IV, or also called Antiochus Epiphanes. He put an end to the Jewish sacrifices in the temple. He took and slaughtered a pig on the altar of sacrifice and spread the juices of the swine around the temple area, butchered the priest, wanted to kill the Jews. When that happened, the Jews thought of Daniel and said, this is what Daniel was referring to. This is the abomination that brings desolation in the temple.

43:31 the only problem with that interpretation that may be aid and abomination of desolation it is not the abomination jesus came along years later and said to the jewish people when you see the abomination of desolation as spoken by daniel the prophet standing in the holy place you who are in the city, you know, flee to the mountains. If you're in Jerusalem, get out of town. So Jesus in Matthew 24 spoke of that, not as a historic event, but as a future event, something that hasn't happened yet. That is what Paul is referring to in the falling away. The great apostasy will be when a man, a very evil man claims that he is God by sitting in the temple in Jerusalem.

44:29 Here's what's interesting about that. There is no temple. There's a mosque on top of that temple area. And if the Jews just decided today, you know, we're going to bulldoze that thing and build a temple. You think you have problems in the Middle East now? You just have started World War III. and yet all of these scriptures necessitate that at some point in the future a Jewish temple has to be rebuilt in Jerusalem how can the Antichrist otherwise sit in the temple and claim to be God so this has brought a puzzle to interpreters throughout history and I don't know that this solves it, but there was an archaeologist some years ago who wrote a series of articles in an archaeological publication called Biblical Archaeology Review. His name was Dr. Asher Kaufman, and he did a deep dive into the science of archaeology of the Temple Mount, and he believed firmly, and he mapped it out, that Solomon's Temple and Herod's Temple was not built look where that golden dome is today, the mosque.

45:53 but that it was built farther to the north. And there is a place on the temple mount that is a piece of bedrock that is covered by a little stone covering, a cupola. And that is called the Dome of the Tablets. And the Dome of the Spirits is called the Dome of the Tablets, they believed, because of the tradition that the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant was placed on that rock. It's further to the north. Now, why I bring this up is because in the book of Revelation, when John is giving a measuring rod to measure the temple in the tribulation period, the angel says don't measure the outer court that is given for the gentiles to trample now what's interesting is if you follow asher kaufman's belief and you were to build a jewish temple where he says the temple originally stood it could allow the golden dome of Islam to remain there. It is in the court of the Gentiles. It is in the outer court.

47:09 Let the Gentiles have it. It's profane. What's also interesting is there are several groups, one in particular, I've met them, I've talked to them, who are trying hard, have already drawn up plans to rebuild the temple. They have the menorah. They have the altar of incense. They have the priestly garments. They have all the furnishings ready made, ready to be placed in the temple once it's built. Of course, it's controversial. A lot could be said. I will not say it because I'm looking at the time, but I'm just bringing all this up. At the future, in the future sometime, an individual will show up. He will make a covenant with Israel. He'll break that covenant. He'll sit in the temple and he will say, I am God and demands worship. You can read Revelation chapter 13, chapter 14, all about the Antichrist and the false prophet who give more details than Paul does here.

48:17 Verse five is interesting. He says, do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things. Now this always blows my mind. You get people saved and they're saved for three weeks only. And you tell them all about the future, the Antichrist, the rapture, the second coming. That's how long Paul was in Thessalonica before they forced him out of town.

48:54 Three weeks. And yet Paul thought these were important enough doctrines and not too deep for these young believers to get a grasp on. Well, he told them a lot of things. Obviously, they'd forgotten some of those things and they're now in persecution. So they're thinking, we're in the tribulation. Paul spoke about the day of wrath, but he says, do you not remember that I was, when I was still with you, that I told you these things. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. Something is holding back this man of sin from being revealed. What is it? For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. only he who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way and then the lawless one aka antichrist aka son of perdition aka man of sin then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. Okay, what is this restraining force that is keeping the Antichrist and these events from unfolding? What is it or who is it? And I say what is it or who is it because in verse 6, you know what is restraining. And then in verse 7, he puts a personal pronoun to it.

50:43 He, and notice it's capitalized in your Bible, right? He who restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. So there have been many guesses as to who or what this restraining influence is. Some have said it's the government.

51:05 I don't see that as restraining much of any moral evil. It does some. It is called to do that, but it doesn't do a great job of that. Some say it's the preaching of the gospel. Some say it's the binding of Satan. You know, there's this erroneous idea that Christians run around saying, I bind you Satan here and I bind you Satan there. And I just wish people who do that would bind him for good so he didn't keep coming back. Some say it's the Jewish state. I don't think any of those are good explanations as to what is hindering the full expression of evil and the full revelation of the Antichrist. I think it is best to see the restraining power as the Holy Spirit. And not just the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit in particular indwelling his church. You see, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and you and I, we are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. The salt of the earth, salt was something that kept meat from being corrupted, from bacteria just taking over. You salt it, and that retards, slows it down, stops it in some cases. You and I were the salt of the earth. The Holy Spirit living in the church is holding it back. It is holding back the full judgment of God. Now, you remember in Genesis when the angels were going to go into Sodom and destroy it?

52:48 and Abram found out they're going to destroy it. He's got a nephew living in Sodom, so he's not too stoked that God's going to wipe him out. So God says, Abram says, won't the Lord of the earth do right? Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked? If I could find 50 righteous people in Sodom, would you spare it? God said, deal. Find me 50 righteous people, I'll spare the entire city. Well, you know the story. He had to talk them down to, well, would you do it for 40? What would you do it? Well, how about 20? What if I found 10 righteous people? God said, you find me 10 righteous people, I will spare the city. In other words, God says, I will withhold my judgment on unbelievers that will catastrophically destroy them because I will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. That's a principle of scripture. That is why we believers are not going through the great tribulation period.

53:48 that's a principle of God. First Thessalonians chapter 5, God has not appointed us to wrath. That is the wrath of God poured out on the earth. So he makes a difference in judgment. So here we are, the church living in the world, salt of the earth, light of the world. We speak up against abortion, against homosexuality, against moral issues. It never sets right with the world around us. Just like you rub salt into a wound. Ouch, it stings. Just like you turn a bright light into eyes that have grown accustomed to the darkness. Ouch, turn off that light. Right? The world wants to get rid of your voice. One day, they'll have their dream come true. the salt and the light will be removed from off the earth the holy spirit indwelling the church the church will be lifted up gathered together to christ lifted up into heaven now you think the world is bad now when the church is removed when the holy spirit is taken not out of the world, but out of the way, it says. Out of the way. The Holy Spirit will still be very active in the world. One of the greatest revivals is going to happen in the Great Tribulation period. But the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way. And when that happens, if you think it's bad now, the world will quickly become a festering, oozing sore that will demand the full judgment of God, also known as the Great Tribulation period.

55:37 So, I got to put a marker here so that air condition doesn't steal my page. Okay, so, the coming of the lawless one, verse 9, is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. and again in verse 7 he the holy spirit dwelling in the church is taken out of the way not out of the world and i want to stress that because this doesn't mean that when the holy spirit is taken out of the way that people will not be saved during that tribulation period we know they will be read revelation chapter 7 not now but later there are 144 000 jews who are sealed saved during the tribulation period, 12,000 out of each tribe. That constitutes the fulfillment of Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. All Israel will be saved. And then in Revelation 7, John said, and I saw a multitude that no man could number.

56:46 from all over the earth, out of every tribe, every tongue, every kindred, every nation. They're not Jews. They're Gentiles. And the angel says to John, who are these? And John goes, I don't know. You know. He said, these are those who come out of the great tribulation who have washed their garments white by the blood of the Lamb. This is an innumerable multitude of saved Gentiles in the tribulation, evidently, who come to faith by the witness of the 144,000. So there will be a huge revival during that time. The Holy Spirit will be very, very active. And we'll close in verse 12. with all unrighteous deception, verse 10, among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, not a lie, but the lie, and that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

58:04 We'll close there next time. By God's grace, we're going to finish the book. Chapter 3. the question I want to leave in your minds is one of the most important questions of all. What is the lie? I'm not going to answer that. We'll have to wait until next time. Thank you, Father, for the opportunity to gather, to read your word, to consider what Daniel wrote, what Jesus said, what John detailed in Revelation, what Paul mentions, and what Paul had deposited theologically in the hearts, in the lives of believers at Thessalonica in just a short period of time.

59:03 Lord, I pray that we will be encouraged to look past the temporal into the eternal, knowing that one day we will be at rest, we will receive our abundant reward, we will be glorified when Jesus is glorified, and Jesus will be glorified when he comes back again and shows the world that he can take sinners and transform them into saints. who will inherit the kingdom, the kingdom for a thousand years on the earth and the eternal kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth. Thank you that we can be encouraged in the present and peer into the future. Strengthen us.