J.Davidson Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 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. 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 worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And 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, 2 Thess 2:1-9 NKJV. |
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The great thing is to get the true picture, whatever it is. ( Winston Churchill ).
A Teaching: by: J.Davidson
QUESTION:
In 2 Thess.2:10, where it says, "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." I have always interpreted the love of the truth to mean man's love of the truth. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if I am wrong in that. It could also mean God's love revealed by His Truth. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm beginning to think my second idea is the right one. What do you think? ANSWER:
2 Thessalonians 2 is a new theme for Paul to the Thessalonians. He introduces Christians to "the man of lawlessness." Paul opens the chapter by writing: "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 Paul's explanation of what will happen on earth at the time of the rapture of the saints ("the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him"). Paul is a prophet and gives us insight to the end times from his perspective as the Apostle of Grace. He looks at things from the vantage point of Christians who will join Christ in the air in the twinkling of an eye to be with Him forever. John gives us insight to the end times from his perspective as Apostle of the Kingdom. He looks at things from the vantage point of Jews who will go through the Tribulation and witness the hatred of Satan and the wrath of God. Christians will rejoice in Christ their Lord and Savior. Jews will rejoice in Christ their Messiah. Let's see what's next. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception 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, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV. Let's observe several important points. 1. Satan is behind the coming of the lawless one. 2. Satan will use all kinds of lying tricks to deceive people who are perishing. 3. Those who perish do so because they "refused" (ouk edexianto ) the love (agapen ) of the truth (aletheias ). Edexianto , is a verb and means "to not receive gladly or welcome". Agapen , is a noun and means "love, generosity, kindly concern." Aletheias , is a noun and means "the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter." (Cramer) The perishing did not welcome the love of the truth.
4. If the perishing had welcomed the love of the truth, they would have been saved. The word "saved" is sothenai . It is a verb and means "to be rescued or delivered from danger." Paul teaches only one method of salvation: that's BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. The world has had the truth of Christ's Love for 2,000 years and most people still don't welcome it into their lives. The truth that the perishing would not welcome is the Gospel of the Grace of God. 5. For that reason, that they refused to welcome the truth of the Gospel of Christ and be saved, God will send them a powerful delusion so they will believe the lies Satan tells. One of the lies may be about what happened to millions of people in the twinkling of an eye. One second we're here, the next second we're gone. Where did we go? What happened to a large part of the population of the world? Satan will have a convincing lie ready for that one and God will send a powerful delusion to those who wouldn't welcome the love of the truth so they believe the lie. We have already seen through the centuries how large groups of people will believe the lies of religious leaders. The man of lawlessness will be a religious leader and will preach Satan's lies as the truth. "Delusion" is energeian planes . It means "a working of error, a wandering, a forsaking of the right path." 6. God will send the delusion so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. This day is coming and may be fast approaching. What do we do? "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:15-16 We have nothing to fear from the future. We know what will happen to unbelievers during the Tribulation. We know that we will not be among them. Our duty now is to hold to the teachings of Paul and continue in good deeds and words. Amen
J.C. Harkins | | If you would like to recieve this weekly devotional please (Click Here) . Please visit our website and click on the links tab where you will find bible games and new study materials to help in your journey. Contributing writers and editors are Janie Davidson, Denise Feller, Sherri Lynn, and Anna Popescu. Website Designer Keith San Miguel Borja. Johnny is the head writer for GEM Ministries. He resides in Arizona with his wife Sylvia. We would like to invite all comments and suggestions, please contact us at gem7ministires@yahoo.com and don't forget our website gem-ministries.org
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