We all like a bit of novelty and innovation, but what we’re going to see here is how important it is to delight in the truth. Not just any truth: The truth that really matters. Truth about God, about you. And where you can find truth.
Because someone had told the church at Thessalonica a big fat lie – and it was causing distress.
So as we go through this tricky chapter, Paul’s message is quite simple: Don’t be deceived by anyone; remember the truth of the Bible; delight in the truth; and then stand firm, and hold on.
In our internet age when all sorts of information come at you all the time, this is a timely message.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in October 2025. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Don’t be deceived (1-3a)
Read 2 Thess 2:1-3a.
Last week we looked at how the church at Thessalonica could take some comfort in being persecuted because they knew Jesus would bring justice when he returns to the earth.
But someone had been teaching that Jesus had actually already returned! How rubbish was that news for those suffering?! Could it be true?
Not really. Paul wrote in his first letter (1 Thess 4:16): For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
That sounds like something you’d probably notice. Who’d suggest that had already happened?
The Jehovah’s Witness movement predicted that it would happen in 1914. Then, when nothing visible happened, they said that Jesus had in fact come and taken his throne in heaven. It’s just that you couldn’t see it. What nonsense and lies.
What to expect at Christ’s return
Look at what Paul says we’re to expect on the day of Christ’s return in v1:
- The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ – where ‘coming’ denotes the actual physical presence of someone.
- Our being gathered to him – hardly something to be done in secret.
So don’t be easily upset or troubled. Who might trouble you?
- A prophecy – lit. a “spirit” – apparently supernatural source. Beware anyone saying “God said to me…” God has spoken, and it’s written down for you here.
- A message – lit. a “word” – spoken with seeming authority. YouTube is full of people leading vast churches of people lapping up false teaching.
- A letter supposedly from us.
The Church of England bishops have been debating and agonising over the issue of same-sex relationships for years. In truth, it’s a question of biblical authority. One liberal thinker said that although we can see what the Bible says we need to understand what the Spirit is saying to us today – as if the Spirit would change his mind.
The bottom line here is clear: Don’t be deceived.
Trust the truth that’s been written down for you already.
But what about when something really big happens? Or there’s a teaching that seems new but is taking off around the world? Don’t be dazzled:
Remember the truth (3-10)
The issue at Thessalonica was whether or not Jesus had already returned. The answer from Paul is to remember what he’d taught them. Don’t be dazzled by grand theories and speculation: Remember the truth, and interpret what you see around you through that lens.
So he digs in to the the relevant truth – and some of this is pretty tricky stuff!
Read 2 Thess 2:3-4.
The day of Jesus’ return won’t come until two things have happened:
- “The apostasy comes first”
- Apostasy is the rejection of God, his word, his rule.
- Does Paul mean that will happen in the wider church, or in the world in general?
- It’s not clear, but either way you should expect social and moral decline.
- If you’ve seen the news lately, you might well think we’re on the road already.
- “The man of lawlessness is revealed”
- The man doomed to destruction, who sets himself up to be worshipped. But who is he?
- There have been many suggestions down the years.
- One of the most popular is to suggest the Pope (or the office of the Pope). Plenty of false teaching there.
- Others have suggested politicians or war mongers.
- It does seem to be a particular person, but then Bible prophecy often does have multiple fulfilments.
- Whoever he is, his coming will be marked by lawlessness and anarchy, apostasy away from God.
So many questions!
We have so many questions! Who is he? When will he come? What’s to stop him coming right now? Is he already here? Read 2 Thess 2:5.
Right. Since we weren’t there, that’s not altogether helpful! Peter wrote this about Paul’s letters (2 Peter 3:16): There are some things hard to understand in them. And so say all of us.
But Paul does explain a little: Read 2 Thess 2:6-8a.
So the man of lawlessness is somehow already working, though he’s held back, restricted. But where? How?
St. Augustine was born in 354 AD and became one of the most influential Christian thinkers there have ever been. His works are still studied in Bible Colleges. His insight on this verse is insightful and encouraging: He said, “I frankly confess I do not know what he means.”
That really is encouraging because if he didn’t know then maybe the Spirit has clouded our thinking for a reason. We’re not meant to be calculating the day or time. But we are to be ready for it.
Restrained but active
So what is restraining the man of lawlessness? Maybe it the proclamation of the gospel. Or possibly the presence of civil governments that limit wickedness. For me, I think this is equivalent to the binding of Satan in Revelation 20. What I do know is that there are so many theories that most people are wrong – and I might be one of them.
More importantly, the man of lawlessness is at work and things are only going to get worse.
So what will happen when he’s released from his restraint? What horrors will he spill out on God’s people? Read 2 Thess 2:8.
The most one-sided battle of all time. Satan defeated by the breath of Jesus’ mouth. Pff.
Remembering the problem at Thessalonica, we need to ask: Has any of this happened yet? No, it hasn’t. So Jesus has not yet returned either.
But there certainly is evil in the world because Satan is at work, even if he is restrained: Read 2 Thess 2:9-10. Satan is deceiving people. He tempts you to think that sin is better than holiness. He wants you to love lies more than truth.
But what happens to those who reject the love of the truth and embrace deception? They perish. You perish, if you reject God’s gift of life in Jesus Christ. But John 3:16 shows God’s love. He calls you to life, if you will turn from your unrighteousness in repentance and faith.
Do it now, if you never have. Pray to the Lord for forgiveness, and turn to him. Come to life rather than choose to perish. Then:
Delight in truth (11-14)
The contrast between truth and lies isn’t just an intellectual exercise. Your eternity is in the balance. There are eternal consequences for everyone here. Many people embrace Satan’s deceptions because they simply prefer sin and unrighteousness. Will God hold out mercy and grace forever? Read 2 Thess 2:11-12.
There might be someone here with only a veneer, a surface layer, of righteousness – for a purpose, for show. Like those people who go to church just to get their children into a specific school. It’s a religious sham, really. Privately, maybe you really delight in unrighteousness. After so long, the Lord God will abandon you to delusions so that you believe the lie. Your unrighteousness will justly condemn you. You will spend eternity in hell – your chosen destination because you did not want God’s grace, love, or rule.
But the contrast between lies and truth is shown in the contrast between what happens to those deceived, and those who believed God’s truth. A Christian’s delight is in God: Read 2 Thess 2:13-14.
If you’re a Christian, it’s because God loved you. He chose to love you, and he loved to choose you.
Chosen by God
Though you are a sinner, he chose you for salvation. That is, salvation from sin, achieved in two ways (in v13):
- “Sanctification by the Spirit.” For a Christian, there are two aspects to your sanctification (‘being made holy’). First, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and united to Jesus: You’ve gone from being unclean to holy. You are sanctified by nature. Second, that inner reality must grow and flow outwards in your life as you become more and more like Jesus. That’s the slow process of sanctification. But it’s that first transformation into sanctification that marks your salvation – the indwelling Holy Spirit.
- The second element in your salvation that Paul mentions is your “belief in the truth”. What truth? That you are a sinner before God in need of saving! And that God wants you to be saved and has sent Jesus so that you will be.
So if that’s God’s plan for you, how does it happen in time? V14 “He called you to this [salvation] through our gospel”. He called you here, today, to hear this good news. God wants you to be saved, so he calls you to himself.
Why? “So that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”! That’s what God wants for you.
Don’t be deceived. Don’t be dazzled by outlandish promises of something that doesn’t fit what is written in the Bible.
The noonday sunshine of truth here in the Bible outshines the flickering candle of all Satan’s lies put together.
Delight in the sanctification of the Spirit in you and in the gracious revelation of saving truth – and don’t turn away! Then:
Stand firm, hold on (15-17)
Now, you might not get put out about the second coming of Christ. For you, maybe it’s just not something that will shake your faith.
But here’s the thing: Something probably will shake you at some point:
- You might find your faith shaken by someone undermining the truth of the Bible.
- Or maybe the historical reality of the resurrection.
- For many, faith gets shaken by grief, or suffering.
- Even the darkness of depression can shake you.
- Or it might simply be that you have sinned in some way and think that you’ve blown it with God – hope is gone.
Don’t be deceived. Remember the truth. Delight in it. Some in Thessalonica were being deceived by false teachers who seemed so legit. You might well feel shaken if you start to unclip yourself from the truth of God in the Bible. Lies are Satan’s native language. He will lie to you and persuade you to love unrighteousness and welcome his deceptions.
So read 2 Thess 3:15.
That’s not the traditions of the church. He means the apostolic tradition – the truth he taught as someone sent by God to teach. This truth written down. Know what the Bible says. Hunger and thirst for it. Don’t settle for just one service on a Sunday if you can help it at all: Hunger and thirst for God’s word read and preached.
Jesus at work in you
As you do that, the prayer of v16-17 comes to you. Read 2 Thess 2:16-17.
On the basis of all you know from the Bible, you know he loves you. He sent Jesus to save you while you were far away.
You know he has given eternal encouragement and good hope. Hell is not your destiny. He who has the son has life. “Whoever believes in me,” said Jesus, “even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). That life comes to you by grace, and all of this is only revealed to you through the Bible.
Eternal encouragement. Eternal hope. By grace.
And here’s the thing: Knowing all that grace from God, Jesus himself – personally – will encourage your heart and strengthen you. He will work in you so that you stand firm in the truth. Jesus will encourage you so that you hold on to what you were taught.
And in doing that, he will encourage and strengthen you in every good work and word!
As you love, forgive, encourage, and witness. To his glory.