WWUTT 541 God Sends a Strong Delusion?

Hey, make no mistake about it, the Bible talks about those who have been prepared from before the foundation of the world for salvation in Jesus Christ.

The Bible also talks about those who have been prepared for destruction when we understand the text. Many of the

Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt

.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of 2

Thessalonians chapter 2 and still talking about the man of lawlessness. Didn't really finish up that section last week.

So I'm going to come back again to verse 7 here and read through verse 12. Paul writes, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Since finishing up our previous lesson in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 on Wednesday, I've received a few emails from folks giving me their theories on who they think the restrainer is and who the lawless one might be.

And I've appreciated those explanations, all of which have been scriptural or biblically based.

So they're giving a biblical explanation for their reasoning concerning the lawless one and the restrainer.

And I appreciate that. If you're going to make a biblical case, you should be able to back it up with scripture. But reading through the different theories, what this is affirmed for me is that no one really knows what this means.

It's not as clear as many might say that it is. And so that's why

I feel like I'm in good company with Augustine who said, I don't understand what this means. I don't know what this apostasy is.

I don't know who the lawless one is, what the restrainer means. So there's still quite a bit of mystery surrounding what

Paul is exactly talking about here. And I want to believe that the Thessalonians knew exactly what he was talking about, especially when

Paul makes statements like, do you not remember that when I was with you, I told you these things?

Verse five. So maybe there are some things that Paul gave in detail to the

Thessalonians that we just don't have the details of. And by him recalling briefly some of the things he taught to them, they're able to fill in the blanks with all the other stuff that he personally gave to them when he was teaching the

Thessalonians because they forgot. And that's why they were led astray by a false teacher who said, hey, the day of the

Lord has already happened. And Paul goes, hang on, we told you about these things when we were with you.

And so then when the Thessalonians are going, oh, yeah, you did. And recalling those things that Paul had taught, now their hearts are comforted and they're not so easily shaken by somebody claiming to be an apostle or deliver a word that the day of the

Lord had already come. So maybe there were some things that were said to the Thessalonians we just don't have access to.

And that itself is a theory. I don't know that for sure. One of the theories that I received related to who the restrainer is and who the lawless one is, is that the restrainer was civil

Rome and when civil Rome fell, ecclesiastical Rome was was revealed, which would be the man of lawlessness.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with that because it implies that the restrainer was the government and then the lawless one is a theocracy, which is a form of government.

So so the government restrained another form of government. See, that that's why

I don't really like that explanation. Plus, I think it gives way too much credit to the pope in the

Roman Catholic Church. Yes, he is an antichrist and antichrist, but may not be the antichrist.

So anyway, I love the theories. I like working through them in my mind, but right now they're just theories.

So the lawless one or the mystery of lawlessness is already at work that we can agree on.

Right. So Paul said it here, whether or not the restrainer has been moved out of the way the antichrist has been revealed.

We can agree that the mystery of lawlessness is at work in the world today.

Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the

Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

So when Christ returns, that work and activity of Satan is over. It's done there.

There is no more evil. There's no more death. There's nothing else that is happening on the other side of Christ's return that isn't holiness and righteousness and justice and glory and honor and power now and forever.

Amen. Everything that is on the other side of Christ's return is perfection. He brings in his his peaceful kingdom.

He eliminates everything that is evil. He pours out wrath on the wrongdoer.

He destroys the devil and his angels. All of these things wiped out by the breath of his mouth.

He has that much power, that much sovereignty, that much authority that he can destroy his enemies so easily.

And we rejoice in reading those things, in knowing that we are among those who are the overcomers.

We, along with Christ and his heavenly host, coming back in fire, inflicting vengeance, which we read about in chapter one.

We are the overcomers, those who will receive the kingdom of God prepared for us from the foundation of the world, as it says in Matthew 25.

So then, verse nine, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan.

So we have a contrast here. We have the second coming of Christ, which is by the activity of the holy one, the son of God.

But prior to his return, there's going to be the coming of the lawless one.

And that's like an it's like an imitation second coming of Satan.

It's the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders.

So Christ also comes back with power and signs and wonders.

But Satan is going to precede his coming with false doing by deceiving people, leading them astray.

And they're going to fall for an imitation. And they're going to see the things that Satan does. And they're going to think, oh, wow, amazing.

Look at all this stuff. How can you deny the power in these miracles and these signs that are being performed?

But they're not going to be powerful. In fact, they're going to be worthless. In fact, those who are in Christ, who are not going to be deceived by such things, we're going to be standing there looking at this stuff going, what's the big deal?

What in the world are you being so tickled over that you are falling so easily for?

And then when Christ returns with his miraculous signs, then it's going to be it's going to it's going to show up like, yeah, guys, here's power.

OK, the stuff you are following after that wasn't powerful. None of that was even miraculous. Here's the power and the signs and the wonders.

I remember a fourth of July, several years back, it was it was in my hometown in southwest

Kansas. So a small little bitty community, but they always had a great fireworks show every year.

The high school football field was where they would be shooting fireworks. So half the town would show up.

They would either be in the stands or they would be out in a field nearby the football field, parked in their cars or tailgating or something like that to watch a grand fireworks display.

Well, I remember one year a thunderstorm coming up. And if you've ever been out in western

Kansas or eastern Colorado, Nebraska, the Badlands, anywhere up there where land is flat and level and you can see thunderstorms, big thunderheads, anvil shaped thunderclouds coming from miles and miles away, then then you might have a sense of what this probably looked like.

So so coming from the West, right behind the grandstand where everybody is sitting and watching the fireworks display, there was this massive thunderstorm that was coming up and lightning flashing and just these amazing looking peels of lightning bolts ripping across the sky.

And I remember I remember looking back at it going, this is more amazing than the fireworks show.

And it was almost like God with his his signs in nature showing us. Yeah, I can do even better than this.

Guys, look at this over here. I was more enthralled with the thunderstorm. I was turning around and looking the other direction instead of watching the fireworks show.

So God's signs and wonders are going to be much greater than anything that man can produce.

And especially the lawless one who is described by the number of a man, six, six, six, as we read about in Revelation 13.

So he's going to come with all these false signs and wonders. But those who are in Christ, it's going to fail to impress them.

We're not going to be led astray by the lawless one. We're going to be looking for the holy one,

Jesus Christ, who is going to return and wipe out the lawless one and all of his evil deeds.

But the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders.

And God is going to allow him to be able to do that. We read this again. Revelation 13 last week talks about the same thing.

He is given authority over those who follow after the beast, who follow after Satan, who do the things that their father, the devil, did.

He will have authority over them. And the things that he says they will listen to, the things that he does, they will be awed by.

They will follow the lawless one with all the activity of Satan, with power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing.

You think about the thesis statement to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, his first letter to the

Corinthians. So First Corinthians 118 is where it says that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. So those who are perishing, they are not in Christ.

Their hearts are still dulled, seared consciences. Their hearts are hard. They they make a mockery of the gospel instead of listening to and obeying the gospel.

These are those who are perishing. They're not being saved. The message of the gospel is not hopeful for them.

It is foolishness. And so to those who are perishing, they will be deceived with all the wicked deceptions of Satan because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

That sounds similar to something that Paul said in Romans one. God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.

Amen. Romans one twenty six. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions for their women exchange natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.

Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Why did they behave in such ways? Because it was the condition of their heart, because they did not worship

God. They worship the created things because they did not want to recognize the truth, but rather walk in lawlessness.

And so they are given up to follow the lawless one, deceived by his power and false signs and wonders because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

They walked in unrighteousness. They followed the lies. So God is going to turn them over to be deceived by the lies.

Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion. That's what we have in second Thessalonians to eleven.

God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false.

So we talk a lot about God predestining those for salvation. Well, there are also those that he has predestined for destruction.

And we read about that in Romans nine. That is also in Romans nine. In Romans nine, we read about those who have been prepared for from the foundation of the world for salvation.

And in Romans nine, it also tells us about those who have been prepared from the foundation of the world for destruction.

As Paul says this in Romans nine, twenty two, what if God desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called.

So here in this section, we have it described for us, those who have been prepared for destruction and those who have been prepared beforehand for glory.

We read in Proverbs 16, for the Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

First, Peter to eight says that they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

And in second, Timothy four, I believe I read this section last week. But Paul says to Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead.

And by the appearing of his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching, for there's going to be a time when it went because as Paul is instructing

Timothy to preach the word and be ready in season and out of season, there's going to be a season in which people are going to be converted by the preaching of the word.

They are going to be cut to the heart. They will be convicted. They will turn from their sin.

They will repent and they will worship Christ. That's the season for the gospel. And then there will be another time when it is out of season.

But yet by preaching the gospel, there are men who are going to refuse it and so receive the due penalty for their error.

They are going to be brought to destruction, which God has prepared them for. And so that's that's what

Paul means by preaching the word in season and out of season. Even when there are those who are not turning from sin and are worshiping

Christ, the gospel is still doing a work of God for his glory. Paul says, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

If you've ever listened to Paul Washer, you've probably heard him say that false teachers are a judgment.

God sends false teachers as a judgment upon those who have itching ears, who are looking to accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

Why are there tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people following Joel Osteen?

Because they want to, because they're looking for that kind of teaching. And Joel Osteen fulfills that for him.

Same with Benny Hen, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, who is like the right hand is spiritual advisor for the president of the

United States. Why is it that he would listen to a person, a false teacher, a heretic like Paula White?

Because that's the condition of his heart. That's who Trump follows after, somebody who will affirm a prosperity gospel for a guy who happens to be a multimillionaire,

I guess a billionaire, I guess he is. So he stores up for himself teachers to suit his own passions.

And that's why people follow after these guys is because that's what they have in their hearts. So those are the teachers that they listen to.

They are not grateful to God. So they turn to a different gospel and God will turn them over to destruction if they don't repent and follow

Christ. Now, lest anyone read this word and think to themselves, well, how do

I know that God is prepared for prepared me for destruction or for eternity with him in glory?

How do I know? What if God has prepared me to be destroyed by his wrath at the very end?

How can I know that I'm going to be saved? And that's when you need to come back to chapter one. This is why

Paul opens up his letter to the Thessalonians this way when he says God will destroy those who did not obey the gospel of our

Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the

Lord and from the glory of his might. When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed.

Do you believe in the testimony of Jesus Christ, the gospel that was spoken to you?

You have turned from your sin and you worship Christ the Lord as holy. Then you're among the saints who are going to marvel at him on that day.

You are not going to be among those who disobeyed the gospel and were thus destroyed.

So that's why Paul opens his letter that way to give assurance to the Thessalonians that they have believed the gospel.

And so they haven't missed out on the day of the Lord. They're going to be participants on that day, marveling with the saints at the glory and honor and power of Jesus Christ.

We have nothing to fear of that day if we are in Christ Jesus, because we will be delivered from the wickedness of this world and the wrath of God upon that unrighteousness and instead will dwell in his holy kingdom forever.

So concluding this statement again, verses 11 and 12 at the end of this section, Paul says, therefore,

God sends them those who are perishing a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Contrast that with those who believed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that Paul talked about in chapter one, believe the gospel and be saved.

But let us also carry the gospel, present the gospel to those who are perishing so that they will hear the gospel and turn from their sin.

They will repent and be saved from the wrath of God on that great day. As Paul also instructed

Timothy in Second Timothy, chapter two, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach patiently, enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from a snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

As we don't know who the elect are, we also don't know who those are who have been prepared for destruction.

All of us at one point followed the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

And so we heard the gospel and repented from that. We turn from that by the grace of God and worship

Christ instead. So this is why we must carry the gospel, because there are those who are presently following after the prince of the power of the air, and they need to hear the gospel so that they will escape from the snare of the devil and so be saved, following after Christ to the very end and will join with him in glory as all of his saints will marvel on that very day.

Amen. Lord, we thank you for this gospel that was delivered to us, that we might be rescued from sin and brought into your righteousness and keep us walking that path of righteousness for your name's sake.

Thank you for the love and grace that you have shown us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And may we carry that message of love and grace to a lost and dying world so they also would be saved and receive this promise of glory with Christ in his eternal kingdom forever.

And we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching, and we thank you for including us in your

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