2Thess 2:11-12
God Will Help You
We have a situation brewing. \\#11\\ "God shall send them a strong
delusion."
A. At the time this verse was written, it was a prophecy. To
this moment, it is a very difficult prophecy to comprehend.
B. Why? It is a prophecy of God sending a strong delusion.
1. The word "delusion" means error or deceit.
2. One preacher pointed out that the Greek word used is the
same word used for planet. The idea being that God will
send an error which will cause some to wonder as man used
to think the planets wandered.
C. The situation that we have is that I believe the spirit of
delusion is already here.
Let’s consider some thoughts:
I. The Source - God
A. Typically, God deals in truth not error. God is the God of
truth!
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
B. Yet, this verse makes it clear that God will send error.
C. How can God do that?
1. It teaches me that if you want to rebel against God, God
will help you.
2. When some people see something in the Bible they do not
understand, they tend to say the Bible is not true. When
I see something in the Bible that I do not understand, I
want to learn a new lesson. This verse teaches me a
lesson.
3. From another passage a few weeks ago, we learned that
if you do not want God, God will not force Himself on
you; but this lesson is step beyond.
D. In studying the Bible, we need to verify what we think we are
learning here with other Bible passages.
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I
raised thee up, that I might shew my power
in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
1. Some read into this verse more than what it says to create
a doctrine of divine control which the Bible does not
teach.
a. Pharaoh was not some tender-hearted man who sought the
truth.
b. \\#Ex 1:8-22\\ He was a cruel king who enslaved the
Jews, treated them with hatred, and demanded they
murder their own children.
d. History tells us that the Pharaohs demanded worship as
gods, claiming to be the emissaries of gods.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion
d. This went on for 400 years, generation after
generation \\#Ge 15:12\\.
e. God did not have to force this Pharaoh to rebel
against Him. He and his family had been doing it for
centuries!
f. But God did help him. God hardened this man’s heart
a little more each time he talked to Moses. God did
not pick the direction this man went. God aided him
in getting to his end destination quicker.
g. Hence, our lesson: if you want to rebel against God,
God will help you.
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man,
and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and
creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves:
2. This verse is different in that it is not dealing with an
individual but the whole human race.
a. Yet, it reveals the same truth.
b. If you want to do wickedly, God will "give you up to"
even worse behaviors.
c. That doesn’t mean God forces you to do them, but it
does mean that God makes it easier for you to do so.
d. How? I think God let’s our minds justify our actions.
e. I have told you before how our minds are broken. I
used to say of teenagers that they had the ability to
gather all of the facts and data and then reason
their way to a false conclusion. However, all people
have that ability.
f. It takes an intervention from God to help us see the
truth about sin, the Savior, and salvation.
g. If you don’t want to see that truth, God does not show
it to you.
h. Hence, our lesson: If you want to rebel against God,
God will help you.
E. This verse is prophesying a time when God will help the world
to believe a strong delusion. Why? Because they want to
rebel against God so God will help them.
II. Strength
A. God is not just going to send a delusion but a strong
delusion.
1. The Bible shows that God has helped both individuals and
the human race to believe error before.
2. However, never along the scale of what this verse is
indicating.
B. Strong to me means two things:
1. Most, if not all, will believe the delusion.
2. They will believe a far-fetched delusion.
C. Let me point out, I do not believe the delusion God is going
to send has been sent yet.
1. What I believe is that the spirit of delusion has been
sent; that is, the force or power of delusion is already
here.
D. For example, let’s consider homosexuality.
1. People wonder why Christians still make such a big deal
out of this sin.
a. First, fewer and fewer are.
b. But those who do so do so because it is such an
obviously sinful behavior.
(1) The Bible teaches it:
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as
with womankind: it is abomination.
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men with men working
that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which
was meet.
(2) Even as that verse says, nature teaches us that
it is wrong.
(a) You cannot procreate with two men or two
women.
(b) At one time, every culture outlawed this
behavior.
2. In order to accept homosexuality, one must turn his back
on God and the Word, as well as, deceive himself as to
what history and nature teaches.
a. Homosexuality is a threshold of rebellion against God
which is hard to cross in EITHER direction.
b. Yet, it is being accepted world-wide.
(1) Homosexuality is now legal in 23 countries.
(2) Every one of them has legalized homosexuality
since 2000!
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/06/26/gay-marriage-around-the-world-
2013/
(3) As if September of this year, Norway is the first
country where children as young as 6 can change
their gender! Anna Thullin, 10, was the first
to go from being a male to a female!
https://world.wng.org/2016/09/norway_allows_children_to_legally_
change_gender
(4) As of May 17, 2016, there were 74 countries where
homosexuality is illegal, but that number is
decreasing quickly. Most of those countries
have some kind of Muslim influence.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/gay-lesbian-bisexual-
relationships-illegal-in-74-countries-a7033666.html
c. In our state, this past week, Judge Roy Moore was
removed from his position as Chief Justice of
Alabama for enforcing the 2006 amendment to the State
constitution.
(1) Amendment #774, called the Alabama Sanctity of
Marriage Amendment.
(2) That amendment, approved at the ballot box,
clearly states that marriage is between a man
and a woman and that no county in Alabama may
issue a marriage license to two people of the
same sex.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Amendment_774
(3) In removing Judge Roy Moore, the issue of our
constitution was never addressed. There was no
hearing on it. It was just ignored; thus making
our State constitution of no worth.
E. Sin is not the only indication that the spirit of delusion is
upon us.
1. Politics - You may feel you have only two choices now; but
in the primaries, there were a lot of possibilities for
president. That fact that these two were chosen, in
large part by those who call themselves Christians, tells
me volumes about the spirit of delusion in our country.
2. The riots across our nation, the injustice of our legal
system, the popularity of socialism—all tell me that our
nation and our world is under the influence of delusions.
G. WHEN God sends HIS delusion, it will be easy for the world
to believe it.
1. God has not sent His delusion yet.
2. But the spirit of delusion is already present and it is
STRONG.
III. \\#12\\ Scope - What will be the purpose of design of God in
sending this strong delusion?
A. It will be to damn those who would not believe but took
pleasure in rebelling against God.
B. God helps those who want to rebel against Him to damn
themselves.
1. If you want to go to hell, not only will God not stop you,
He will help you.
2. If you don’t want the truth, God will make it easier for
you to reject the truth.
3. How?
a. God will quit dealing with you about sin.
b. God will quit sending people by to warn you about sin.
c. God will let your mind justify your sin.
d. God will send you friends that will encourage you in
your sin.
e. God will remove the guilt and shame of your sins.
4. To the end, you will receive the damnation that you want.
C. That is not the God I though was in the Bible.
1. Then you had better read the Bible again.
2. I am amazed at how many people have firm opinions about
God, sin, and salvation either never having read the
Bible or having read it only to suit themselves.
IV. Solution
A. There is only one.
B. You either continue on your way or you repent and turn to God.
<OutlineIndex> <Close Window>
