May it please God to be with
us as we continue our meditation in the second epistle of Paul
to the Thessalonians and tonight we'll read the first three verses
in chapter 2. So chapter 2, the second epistle
of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians, verses 1 and 3. Now, we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter, as from us, as that day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. As most of you know, we've already
considered the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians.
Now we come to the second. And in both of these epistles,
there are a number of times when the Apostle Paul refers to the
end of all things, the end of time, when time shall be no more. And that great day when the Lord
will return in the clouds and every eye shall see him, that
wonderful day of the resurrection. So think that you and I will
be there. Every person, no one who's ever
lived would escape that great day. Well the Apostle here As
we begin this second chapter, he's speaking to the Thessalonians
that they should not be over-concerned, that they may think it's going
to come immediately, because there will be those signs which
will declare to the Church of God, those who have eyes to see,
when that day is approaching. He speaks to them and he speaks
very lovingly. He says, now we beseech you,
brethren. Clearly he wanted them to listen. He wanted them to hear these
words. They weren't just vain words.
He says, now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. We know there will be, therefore,
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there will be that
gathering together unto him. Those who are called, those who
are chosen, those who have died already will rise from the dead. Those who are on the earth at
that time will be caught up together to meet him in the clouds. And
as the Word of God tells us, so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Now, to the Church of God, that
is a wonderful occasion. And it's something that the true
Church of God are looking forward to. It's not a morbid day. People won't be sorry that it's
come. Those in the world will be sorry
because they won't have fulfilled their objectives, they won't
have fulfilled what they wanted to do. But you see the great
mercy is to be amongst those whom God has loved with everlasting
love. What a blessing if you and I
are among that number. And so the Apostle tells us here
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him. What a gathering that will be.
It's difficult for us to imagine, isn't it? Right from Adam and
Eve, right to the last person who is converted on this earth. We don't know who that will be,
but there will be a last person. And all those will be gathered
together. What a gathering. What a consideration. something to meditate upon, is
it not? And so he goes on to speak to
these Thessalonians and say that you be not soon shaken in mind
or be troubled they perhaps were expecting it to happen very quickly
but the Apostle was telling them that it won't be just like that
neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter, as from us as
that the day of Christ is at hand. Well, quite clearly it
was not at hand. We passed over 2,000 years since
the apostle wrote that, and still this has not come to pass. But
what we can be sure of is this, the day must be far closer than
when this was written. And so the apostle goes on. and
tells us in the third verse, let no man deceive you by any
means for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Well he's referring of course
here to the devil that evil one, the serpent, but he tells us
here quite clearly that that day will not come except there
come a falling away first. That means a turning away from
the things of God. Well surely, in our day today,
that is true. There has been and there is a
falling away. It's a very sad day in which
we live. And when the apostle wrote to
Timothy, he wrote really explaining this situation. And in the fourth
chapter of the first epistle to Timothy, we read of this great
truth. He says, now the Spirit, the
Holy Spirit, speaketh expressly that in the latter times, the
times that we are in now, some shall 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, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth." Well, we can observe
in the day and age in which we live this being fulfilled really. And he says, he speaks expressly
that in the latter times Some shall depart from the faith. Many people today depart from
the faith. We know we have that great deceiver,
the devil, who goes about with his one aim to deceive people
and to turn them away and to depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, where we
only have to Think of the doctrines and the things that the government
have passed over recent years with regard to homosexuals and
things like that. We see how wrong and against
scripture is. And yet people try to justify
it. And so here is a fulfillment
of that. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. They're not truthful. They're
not honest. having their conscience seared
with a hot iron. The picture there is that if
something is seared, if your hand for instance feels things,
and you pass a hot iron and point it so it burns it, it becomes
seared and you don't have the same sensation of feel as you
would if it was not seared and so the example is here having
their conscience our conscience seared with a hot iron so people
their conscience is not affected by those things which are wrong
and forbidden to marry saying it's not needful. How many people
today do not marry? They think they can do what they
want to do and they don't marry. I think I'm right in saying the
majority of people who live together nowadays are not married, at
least in our country. It's a very sad statistic, is
it not? And commanding to abstain from
meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving
of them which believe and know the truth. And then we can go
to the second epistle that the Apostle wrote to Timothy. And
in the third chapter, the first three verses there, the Apostle
again speaks in very similar veins. This know also that in
the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves. We see that, don't we? People
are selfish, only interested for the most part in their own
lives and what they're going to do, not concerned about other
people. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents. unthankful, unholy. We only have to look round, don't
we, to see those things being fulfilled. How many people do
blaspheme today? Take the name of the Lord in
vain. How many children today are disobedient
to parents? And how many people today are
unthankful? And how many people today are
unholy? And also, Without natural affection. Truth breakers. They don't keep
their promises. False accusers, accuse people
wrongly. Incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded. Lovers of pleasure, more than
lovers of God. And then, sadly, there are those
who, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
The Lord says, from such, turn away. So there we have a very
clear picture really of the signs of the times, the signs of the
last times. And as the Apostle writes here
to Thessalonians, and that man of sorrows be revealed, the son
of perdition, and there shall be a falling away first. 2,000 years plus have passed
since the apostle wrote this. And over those years, there have
been changes, up and down, but now it would appear that we are
in the end of time. You young people may be here
when the Lord returns. When you see him come in the
clouds, we all may be here, because we don't know when they will
come. but the day must be getting closer when the Lord will return. The Word of God tells us this,
be ye also ready, because we know not what a day nor an hour
may bring forth. Well, may these words here be
instructed to us and may we, among those who wait and watch
for the Lord's appearing, and be amongst those who are not
afraid of that day because we have the wonderful evidence that
we are in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has died
to take away our sins and we are complete in him. Indeed, we are washed in the
blood of the Lamb. Well, if you and I are blessed
with this evidence in our own hearts, then we can be sure,
by the grace of God, it is well with our soul. And whenever the
Lord shall come, it will be well. Well, may we be each concerned
to have the evidence that we are ready, should that day come,
to each one of us. We'll leave those remarks