What’s it like before Jesus comes back?       

2Thessalonian 2:1-12

What will the world be like before Jesus comes back? What will the spiritual climate be like? What will the earth look like morally? What will the world be like from a global military perspective? What will it be like with regards to weather events? The Lord’s return: as a subject, do you give it much thought? What will it involve, how will it happen, when will it happen? We know that no-one knows the hour or day, but surely we can know the season. As Jesus said, you know “the summer season when the fig tree puts out its leaves,” in Matthew 24:32. So, we can discern the season of Christ’s return. What will be the conditions, the season; what will it look like?

It’s not an idle subject:- Paul devoted a good portion of both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians to the subject. It is not a passing consideration either. Paul wanted their theology to be right on this subject. He wanted them to have some clarity and conviction. He had already covered the subject in 1Thessalonians 4 and 5 in reasonable detail. He wrote “I don’t want you to be uninformed” (1Thessalonians 4:13), then he spoke of those who had died; they have hope and will rise again and return with Christ. So, Paul wanted the Thessalonians and us to think about the Lord’s return; to meditate on what the scriptures say about it and what it means for how we should live, as I trust we are doing this morning.

So, what did Paul say? I believe this is where we can combine what Paul said in 1Thessalonians 5 with our passage in 2Thessalonians 2. Read 1Th5:1-3. What does this peace and security look like? I think it will look amazing, it will be fantastic: unity, no trade restrictions, travel, low or no crime, impossible – no cash, cyber control at every point with trade, travel, health, housing, no rape or murder, everyone is being watched and tracked. As in Jeremiah’s day, this period will be defined by the system of the day which will say, ‘Peace, peace when there is no peace.’ (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11) It is like God is always there ready to judge and punish if anyone steps out of line. It is not God, it’s a manmade system, but what’s wrong with it really? It’s safe, it’s sustainable, it’s enjoyable. Provided you work within the rules of the system, there is peace and everyone is happy.

Only one thing will not be tolerated. What might that be do you think? Have a look at what Paul spoke about in 2Thessalonians 2:3,4; the ‘rebellion comes first’ and the ‘Man of Lawlessness’ is revealed, he said. What rebellion comes first? This is general world-wide rejection of God – specifically biblical Christianity; not necessarily of the church, because Paul said to Timothy of this time, “they will heap up for themselves teachers to tickle their ears, teaching them the doctrines of demons.” (1Timothy 4:1) Jesus said, “lawlessness will increase and the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) This is the one thing that will not be tolerated: Biblical truth about God. This will create a void for worship. People are created to worship. Sin means there is the potential to worship something/someone other than God. In this case the Antichrist.  Paul spoke about this “falling away” in 2Timothy 3:1-5: “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” These are not the world/outright atheists Paul was speaking about. These are those who acknowledge a deity; many will even call themselves followers of Christ, the appearance of godliness. This happens when church teaching, especially by Christian Pastors and ministers, speaks about God, but not “sin, righteousness and judgment.”

What is the one thing that won’t be tolerated? The preaching of the gospel, the preaching about the need to repent of sin, accept Christ. They won’t talk about Hell, eternal separation from God, won’t speak of repentance or holiness, only that you just need to believe in God and you are saved. No. If this is the case then even Satan is saved because He is a believer in Christ. My boys have features that look like me. You can tell they are my boys. How do we know a true follower of Jesus? They will have characteristics that reflect Jesus. They will not look like the world in their language, their conduct, their focus, where they invest; their time and their money will lift up Christ. The world will have no pull on them. Their home is in Heaven. They will bear the fruit and gifts or the Holy Spirit…and it will be obvious to everyone.

What is the Antichrist like? In 2Thessalonians 2:4, Paul referred to Daniel 11:36,37. A similar situation will happen again; only that the Jews will accept him as Christ to begin with, as Daniel spoke about in Daniel 9:27, until he breaks his covenant with them. It will be a little like Hitler did with the Jews in WW2, especially from this city Thessalonika, on the 15th March 1943. A total of 19 transportations were completed, carrying 42,830 Jews. 38,386 of the arrivals were immediately murdered upon arrival at Auschwitz. The end times Antichrist will be, if you can imagine this, “a Jew and a hater of Jews.” Think it would never happen? There were Jews who worked within the Nazi regime in WW2.

What is stopping all this from happening? Commentators love this passage. The meaning is simple - the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. He restrains lawlessness until He, the Holy Spirit, is taken out of the way so lawlessness may have full expression through this one who is described as the ‘man of lawlessness’ or ‘the lawless one’ in verses 4,8 &9. This is the Antichrist whom John speaks about in Revelation 13. What will he be like? Wonderful, charismatic, influential, excellent communicator, a motivator, extremely intelligent, boundless energy, logical, rational, a man of peace. Please don’t think he will have horns and a pitchfork. He will be an influential, powerful and obvious leader….and yet verse 9 says, “he will come by the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs”… and people believe it because “God sends them a strong delusion…” (verse 11) As Paul said in Romans 1, God hands them over to their desires because they continue to reject truth.

Jesus said what it will look like: (Matthew 24:1-14) wars rumours of wars, believers lose lives, famines, earthquakes, (verses 37, 38) as in the days of Noah.

What will the earth look like when Jesus returns? Just like what we are seeing now.

And yet verse 8 says of this lawless one that ‘Upon His Return’ ‘the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming’.

The breath of His mouth is the Word of God: the very thing the lawless one and the world at that time reject. The word for all our hearts today is simple. Feelings pass, friends and family come and go. The Word of God stands firm. We can only stand firm, be obedient, become more holy and set apart for His glory and worship Him in spirit and in truth, if we have and know the truth.

Finally, do you know Him? Do you know Christ, who upon His return will judge the righteous and the unrighteous, the living and the dead? If not, get to know Him today.