11/7/21 2 Thess. 2:1-5, 13-17 “The Secret of Life!”

05 Nov 11/7/21 2 Thess. 2:1-5, 13-17 “The Secret of Life!”

11/7/21  2 Thess. 2:1-5, 13-17        “The Secret of Life!”

I have heard people say that sometimes they have a hard time finding the blessings in their lives.  You might know what I usually will say to something like this, “Just look around you.  They are everywhere.”  If you are having trouble finding blessings this week, then just think of this.  This isn’t an election year!  That’s a blessing!  We had some minor ones but nothing big.  We don’t have to listen to all the lies and rhetoric until the next time we vote.  Often times I think that some of these candidates actually think that they can come through with their promises.  Then they get to the gridlock of government and it all disappears.  It is unfortunate that we are almost to the point where we aren’t represented by anyone in Congress.  I remember one year it was so bad that on that Tuesday when we voted I also had to go to the dentist and I didn’t know which was worse!! The point of all this is that things aren’t always as they seem.  This is part of our reading today.  We have to be careful as to whom we follow and that the people who say they are from Christ are actually from Christ.  Let’s see if we can find or be genuine believers.

This time of year can get a little out of hand for pastors and others.  There are lots of events going that I would like to attend.  Last weekend we had a dinner in another town and that was great.  There have been a couple of lutefisk dinners but we haven’t been able to make them.  We have gone to a couple of turkey dinners that were great.  There are harvest festivals.  There are fall meetings and the farmers are doing their best to be done before winter comes.  We are still trying to make it to our grandson’s college football games so our Saturdays are full.  And then on top of all these special things that we do, we had the regular things happening.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy all of these things and I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.  But it does get hectic once in a while.  Sometimes when we get back after a particularly long day, we like to turn on TV and watch a program.  There is nothing worse at this time than to watch something for an hour and find it will be continued next week.  Usually there is no way I will see it next week.  There are other shows that come on and we don’t have a clue as to what is happening because we didn’t see it last week.  In cases like this, we are just lost.

Now I have spent many years being lost and I don’t like that either.  The biggest problem about being lost in life is that you don’t even realize you are lost.  The only thing that you really know is that something is wrong.  And often times when you are really lost, you think that there is nothing wrong.  You begin to think that this is normal which it isn’t!

This is kind of what was happening to the Thessalonians.  In the first book of Thessalonians, Paul tells them of the second coming of Christ.  These people were being severely persecuted by the Jews and Paul was giving them some hope.  He had been there for only a few weeks before the Jews ran him out of town.  He then goes to nearby Corinth and writes these two letters.

The people knew of the second coming and now Paul has to tell them that the people in their midst who had been telling them that they had missed the second coming were just plain wrong.  These people were losing all hope because of this and Paul is writing to reassure them that this had not yet happened.

I think that for the most part we do ok with this.  But there is a school of thought that is not very popular today where they think that Jesus has already come back and we are now in the 1000 year reign.  Just from a common sense outlook, I don’t see this at all.  I think that we would mostly agree that Jesus has not come back yet.

Also, we have had several charismatic leaders come along and tell us that they are the Christ.  We have had people like David Koresh and Jim Jones who have fooled a lot of people and led them to their senseless deaths.  We can read about these types of people who have come along all through history.  They claim to be the Messiah and of course they are just people like you and me except that we are sane and they are not.  I hope you get the picture.  Usually we don’t bite on these things but we have to be vigilant.  These people do come along every once in a while and they are very persuasive.

Another reason that the ancients had to be vigilant was so that they wouldn’t be deceived by the man of lawlessness or the antichrist.  The antichrist will come and set himself up as god.  He will do all things evil because he is a form of Satan.  Even at this early time, the problem of the antichrist is upon them.  These people are baby Christians.  They do not have the luxury of studying all of these writings for centuries.  These people are still easily swayed in their beliefs.  After all, their regional religions would take little of this religion and mix that with several other religions to form a new one they wanted.  Now people have been coming to them with all kinds of different beliefs and now they think that they have missed the tribulation.  Paul is telling them that before the tribulation, the antichrist must come.  There are certain things that have to happen before there can be a tribulation and the coming of the antichrist is one of these things.

I have noticed over the years that talk of the antichrist is very popular among certain groups.  It is the talk of the town right now that we are in the end times and that the antichrist will be showing up soon.  People talk like this will be an exciting time.  It won’t be.  It will be a terrible time.  And it depends on which school of thought you subscribe but many people feel that the rapture will come to take them away from all the chaos and suffering to come.  We need to remember that the Bible isn’t real clear on how this is all going to work.  Some experts feel we will be raptured after the antichrist and some feel it will be before.  No one knows for sure.

I have also heard many times that he is already here.  I think every president in the last few decades has been compared to the antichrist.  The leaders of our enemies have been called the antichrist.  This type of talk is everywhere.  I would just like to remind us today that we will know when the antichrist has arrived if we are still here.  We are Christians and we will know this.  It is the people who don’t know Jesus that will not have a clue and will follow this ruthless leader to where ever he leads them.  I personally think that he will lead them in an attack upon all Christians.  You may say that this is already taking place and maybe you are right.  However, I don’t see anyone filling the role of the antichrist.  We as Christians also have to beware that we are not deceived into wrongful thinking like this.  We can speculate on these things but we need to remember that our main job is to help our neighbors know Jesus Christ.  That is the biggest blow we can deliver to Satan.

Paul also tells us that there will be wars and rebellion.  Many things must happen before there are end times, before the antichrist comes.  We can also read about this in the gospels.  There is really no sense in getting too excited about these things because I don’t think that they are happening yet.  We may be seeing the beginning of such things but I’m not going to spend a lot of time thinking about this yet.

Paul also goes on to tell his audience that Jesus wins.  That’s right, Jesus wins.  All these terrible things will happen because it is God’s way of cleansing His world.  But in the end, God wins and Satan loses.  The basketball score will be God 49-Satan-14.  All the promises that God has made to us will come true.  We will get to the perfect place called heaven.  There will be a new heaven and a new earth.  We will be given new bodies.  There will be no pain or death.  These things will happen.  But the end times must come first because of the people who do not believe in Him.  The people who love the truth and love God will be saved but woe to those who don’t believe.

I think of all the people today who mock God.  This is about as dangerous thing that anyone can do.  But we see it all the time.  They say, ‘Well God didn’t give me what I wanted so I don’t believe in Him.’  They will tell us that there are only certain things in the Bible that they can believe because science can disprove most of it.  They will tell us that there has to be more than one way to God and then they set about to find other ways.  I was reading in Ezekiel a couple of days ago and it dawned on me.  We can do a lot of things that are against the word of God but the worst thing that we can do is to have other gods that we worship before our God.  This is about the worst that we can do.  Look around you into our world.  Worshiping other gods is the politically correct thing to do.  If you ask me, our country is in big trouble.  I think that it is time for revival!

Now Paul shifts gears a bit.  He tells them and us that we were chosen by God.  Many people like to think that they are the ones choosing, but it is God who chose you before the beginning of time.  You are one of the chosen ones.  These ancients were suffering greatly and Paul is reminding them that they are chosen.

Also we can’t let ourselves be distracted by what is happening in the world.  It is easy for us to do.  As a society, we have allowed abortions to be performed on demand.  We have allowed so called same sex marriages to happen.  We have allowed so-called trans people into our pulpits.  We have allowed world religions such a strong hold on us that they threaten destroy the world.  We have a lot of the same problems that these ancients had.  I can go many places in our area and talk about the wondrousness of Jesus Christ and get laughed at.  But we cannot let these things become a distraction.  We belong to Christ.  He loves us and will get us through all of these things and more, much more.  He has been doing this for centuries.

We are to stand fast in the Lord.  He will carry us all the way.  One of the ways that we can do this is to look at the older people in our congregation.  Young people and middle aged people, you think that you have all the problems.  You think you don’t have time for anything.  There are lots of bad things going on in your life.  Don’t ever think that you are alone.  We older people have been through all of this and more and look where we are sitting on this Sunday morning (watching this broadcast).  We are right here in church because we have lived lives where bad things happen.  We have lived parts of our lives in pain.  Look to us for advice.  Look to us when things are down.  Jesus Christ put us here and will keep us here so that we can teach people younger than us.  Older people, you still have a job and that is to be a helper and role model for the younger folks.

God has a plan for all of us.  It doesn’t matter who you are, God loves you and has a plan.  Part of the beauty of this plan is that we often don’t know what it is.  I don’t have a clue as to His plan for me.  But I do realize some of the parts after they have happened.  After I have been faithful to Jesus, I get the greatest feeling on earth.  He blesses me with joy.  This is one of the greatest rewards God gives.  This is why I always tell you to be faithful to God.  Stick with Him through thick or thin.  Then you will get glimpses of what your life is all about after things have happened.  Paul knows this as he tells the ancients to stand firm.

We could spend a lot of time digging our way through this passage and it would be worth every minute.  But I really think that the last two verses sum up everything here and everywhere.  “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.”  Wow!  It is no wonder that you feel so good when you do good or speak good.  God is with you.  God is watching your every move.  God loves you when you find yourself to be unlovable.  And then he will reward you.

Our world reminds me of a movie called “City Slickers” as referenced by Scott Carmer.  Do you remember it?  It’s about these 3 city guys who go out west to spend some time on a dude ranch.  Curly is the trail boss played by Jack Palance and Billy Crystal talks to him while on a ride.  Curly says, “You city folks come up here every year, same age, with the same problems. You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope, and come down here thinking two weeks will untie it. None of you get it. Do you know what the secret of life is? The secret of life is just one thing (Curly holds up a finger). You stick to that, and everything else don’t mean nothing.”  Billy Crystal had to ask, “What is that one thing?”  And Curly responds, “That’s what you have to figure out.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have that one thing figured out.  It is Jesus Christ.  It is only Jesus Christ.  If you have Him, then you will need nothing else in life.  Jesus will give you life because without Him there is no life.  And Jesus loves all of us so much that He is willing to be there for everyone, everyone in the world.  As we take communion in a few minutes (the next time you’re in prayer time), think about this.  How can I go and be Jesus Christ for my neighbor?  You may be surprised as to how easy it is.  Jesus loves you, this I know.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.