Elements City Church
Living Hope week 9 - Do You Love the Truth?
Join us Sundays this Fall 2022 as we walk through a powerful couple books of the Bible that the Apostle Paul wrote to a church he planted in Thessaloniki. In these works, he inspires a people that are living in uncertainty, to keep living by a dynamic faith in Christ and to persevere with hope, even as they were facing opposition and pressure from a culture that didn't believe or so much care for their beliefs. Followers of Jesus Christ should live with one foot in this world and the other in the world to come. We should be fully engaged with this life AND we should also live with an awareness of eternity. Having this double perspective - gives us wisdom for our 'here and now'. It shapes our priorities, impacts our schedules, influences our dreams and our decisions. It fuels our hearts for the gospel and for people around us to know and experience Jesus.
Locations & Times
Elements City Church
1825 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA
Sunday 5:00 PM
Thanks for joining us!
Whether you're on-site or online, we are praying that tonight will be an encouragement to your soul. May God whisper to you and help you in taking your next steps in a journey with Him. If you're new, we'd love to have you fill out our connection card.
https://connect-card.com/yr4Y0g8VLBSqzKXeubjb"The theological emphasis of 2 Thessalonians can be summarized as this:
God’s people will not be judged but will achieve peace and God’s glory if they are not deceived by false teaching about Christ’s final coming by standing firm in the truth of Scripture and not forgetting it."
GK Beale
God’s people will not be judged but will achieve peace and God’s glory if they are not deceived by false teaching about Christ’s final coming by standing firm in the truth of Scripture and not forgetting it."
GK Beale
We must be rooted in historical, orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy (belief and theology) and orthopraxy (application and action) should align with historical church practices and will allow us to endure to the end, but it’s not just about having the knowledge of these things -- there must be a genuine love in our hearts for them, because there is a genuine love in our hearts for God and a desire to obey Him.
There is a disconnect in how Paul writes this section, and how it is often preached:
Paul writes so the reader would not be shaken by what will happen in the last days, but instead have confidence in the knowledge of God’s sure victory.
When many preach this passage the focus is often on what we’ll read about next: the man of lawlessness. Rarely is it on Paul’s desire to comfort the Thessalonians and ensure they aren’t alarmed or deceived by what is to come.
Paul writes so the reader would not be shaken by what will happen in the last days, but instead have confidence in the knowledge of God’s sure victory.
When many preach this passage the focus is often on what we’ll read about next: the man of lawlessness. Rarely is it on Paul’s desire to comfort the Thessalonians and ensure they aren’t alarmed or deceived by what is to come.
Tonight's passage only contains two imperatives, both of which occur by verse 3.
So the two points of application are striaght-forward:
1. Do not be shaken or quickly alarmed.
2. Let no one deceive you in any way.
So the two points of application are striaght-forward:
1. Do not be shaken or quickly alarmed.
2. Let no one deceive you in any way.
vs. 3
The Greek word used for "rebellion" is the same word that translates as "apostasy."
The great rebellion referred to here is a reference to a great falling away of many people who claim to have faith in Jesus.
The Greek word used for "rebellion" is the same word that translates as "apostasy."
The great rebellion referred to here is a reference to a great falling away of many people who claim to have faith in Jesus.
How can the Thessalonians experience the peace and calm that Paul wishes for them? His answer in verse 3 is, "Let no one deceive you in any way."
"Paul is convinced that deceit is at the root of their mental and emotional disturbances. If we are shaken from our senses and lose our balance and feel alarmed and fretful and begin to act in ways unworthy of our call, it is because deceit has taken root somewhere in our minds.”
John Piper
"Paul is convinced that deceit is at the root of their mental and emotional disturbances. If we are shaken from our senses and lose our balance and feel alarmed and fretful and begin to act in ways unworthy of our call, it is because deceit has taken root somewhere in our minds.”
John Piper
The power of Satan and lawlessness may be strong, but Jesus is infinitely stronger!
vs 9
The coming of the lawless one is a satanic parody of the return of Christ.
God creates. Satan cannot. Satan can only produce a counterfeit.
The whole point of a counterfeit is that it has the appearance of being useful, when, in reality, it is only a cheap imitation.
The coming of the lawless one is a satanic parody of the return of Christ.
God creates. Satan cannot. Satan can only produce a counterfeit.
The whole point of a counterfeit is that it has the appearance of being useful, when, in reality, it is only a cheap imitation.
We must not make signs and wonders the grounds for our faith or the criterion of truth! These signs and wonders are counterfeit, not because they aren't miraculous -- they have satanic power -- but because they don't point to truth! They lie.
John Piper
John Piper
How do we love the truth in a post-truth culture?
Post-truth:
Oxford Dictionaries popularly defined it as "relating to and denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."
Post-truth:
Oxford Dictionaries popularly defined it as "relating to and denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."
5-Minute Nerd-Out
The Enlightenment/Modern Philosophy and the rise of Postmodern Philosophy
The Enlightenment/Modern Philosophy and the rise of Postmodern Philosophy
vs. 10
This is the problem Paul warns us about in verse 10. The problem isn’t that we need to understand the timing of Jesus’s return. The problem is what Paul says pulls people into this deception: it’s the tendency of the human heart not to love the truth, but to, instead, find more enjoyment in unrighteousness — to find joy not in the God of truth, but in the ways of lawlessness.
The man of lawlessness will create the great apostasy and rebellion by making unrighteousness seem more pleasurable than truth.
This is the problem Paul warns us about in verse 10. The problem isn’t that we need to understand the timing of Jesus’s return. The problem is what Paul says pulls people into this deception: it’s the tendency of the human heart not to love the truth, but to, instead, find more enjoyment in unrighteousness — to find joy not in the God of truth, but in the ways of lawlessness.
The man of lawlessness will create the great apostasy and rebellion by making unrighteousness seem more pleasurable than truth.
“The longer you meditate on the writings of the apostle Paul, the more clearly you see that genuine, deep spiritual experience depends on genuine, deep biblical knowledge. Things like faith and love and peace and joy—these precious, subjective experiences of the heart—depend on the mind's apprehension of objective biblical truth. . . Knowledge exists for the sake of love.”
John Piper
John Piper
So how do we grow a love for truth?
1. We need to know the truth of God’s Word.
2. We need to love the Truth -- Jesus Christ.
1. We need to know the truth of God’s Word.
2. We need to love the Truth -- Jesus Christ.
Thank you for financially partnering with us!
Thank you for enabling us to be the Church in our city! Your gifts help fuel the mission of Elements City Church, as well as our capacity to share His love with as many as we can. You help us bring the HOPE and LIGHT of Jesus to our city! You can give online at the link below or through the Elements app.
http://elementscitychurch.org/giveWhether you joined us on-site or online, thanks for being with us tonight!
Join us next Sunday as we continue our series through 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Living Hope: Living as People of Hope in Uncertain Times.
Join us next Sunday as we continue our series through 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Living Hope: Living as People of Hope in Uncertain Times.