Hello, my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends,
If you’ve been with us on the journey the past few days, we’ve been looking at some very powerful words written by Paul the apostle, 2000 years ago, which could not be more relevant to our world of ‘artificial intelligence’; ‘virtual reality’; cyberspace; advanced technology and much more. We’re with Paul in Corinth, in the year 51ad, as he is writing his second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, Macedonia.
If you have not read the “Walking with Jesus” the past two days, I urge you to consider going back, as it all fits together. Today we join Paul again as he writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Here’s that verse with some explanation: “The secret power of lawlessness [Satan’s power of evil, fully opposed to God] is already at work; but the One who now holds it back [the Holy Spirit of God] will continue to do so until HE is taken out of the way. [by Almighty God the Father] And then the lawless one [the AntiChrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming.” (2 Thess. 2:7,8)
This victorious coming of the Lord Jesus is His second coming in great power as Jesus will lead His angelic army in battle against 10 great human kings and their huge armies, all amassed for the purpose of totally opposing God and bringing Satan’s kingdom of evil to reign over all the earth. (Rev. 17:12-14; 19:11-19) The victory of supremely powerful Jesus will be thorough and complete!
John describes this amazing victory of Warrior Jesus in this way, in the Revelation: “The beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur…” (Rev. 19:20)
Can you see, my friends, how the Holy Spirit of God led both Paul and John to write details of this great future battle, at two different times, from two different places? Yet as you read these accounts you might imagine Paul and John were both sitting in the same room, writing at the same time! That is the wonder of Scripture being a miracle of God! (2 Peter 1:20,21)
Paul continues now with further explanation: “The coming of the lawless one [the AntiChrist] will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thess. 2:9,10) Please remember, my friends, that Jesus Himself said whenever Satan speaks, he speaks lies, for that is his native language. (John 8:44) Satan’s objective, with the human race, is ALWAYS deception, drawing humans to doubt or outright reject any and all of God’s truth.
Have you seen the deceiving power of wickedness at work in your city, your own extended family, even your own life? This is a major theme Paul wrote about in all his letters. Romans 8:5-9. “The mind governed by the sinful nature is hostile to God, it does not submit to God’s truth, nor can it do so.” And listen to 2 Corinthians 4:4“The devil, the god of this age, has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.” Friends, do you see and understand the schemes of the devil which BLIND people to seeing the truth of God, while they embrace the deception and wickedness of the devil?
That’s why this statement of Paul’s in 2 Thessalonians is so powerful: “…wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.” All around us we see people refusing to love God’s truth. What is the result of a person rejecting or refusing to believe God’s truth? One word…PERISH! Perish, you’ll recall, is mentioned in John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9; John 10:28 and here in 2 Thessalonians 2:10. “Perish” does not mean die, nor does it mean cease to exist. “Perish” means irreversible, irreconcilable separation from God, for all eternity!!!
Do you see, my friends, that Paul’s words here in 2 Thess. 2:9,10 are a very clear description of Satan’s desire for every human being, and the full extent of all the devil’s schemes against the human race are so that: “…wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.”
Perhaps you ask… ‘what truth are people refusing to love which can save them?’ The TRUTH of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which Paul was boldly proclaiming! The truth of WHO Jesus is, the Son of God. The truth that every person is born with a sin nature which leads them further and further away from God. The truth that we can’t fix our sin problem. The truth that God is the ONLY one who can rescue us from our sin condemnation, and He did so by sending Jesus to become our Savior.
This is why Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) My friends, it is so important that we are able to look at our world and discern the deceitfulness of all the voices who claim, and even demand, that there are multiple roads to God, multiple paths to heaven, many different ways the condemnation for our sin can be abolished or pardoned.
Sadly, thousands of people every day are passing into “PERISH” an eternity apart from God, because of their refusal to believe Jesus and His Gospel Truth! That is why Paul wrote: “…wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.”
Once again, we pause to reflect on these essential truths and consider how these truths impact the city where you and I live, our extended families, wherever they are, and especially how these truths affect you and me! And here’s a song to help us with this reflection, my friends…
Today’s Scripture is 2 Thess. 2:7-10.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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