To show just how imbalanced the final battle will be on the Day of the Lord, let’s read 2 Thess 2:8 [READ].
What will the Final Battle look like? Well, it’s not much of a battle. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with what? With the breath of His mouth. A little puff of air. A spoken word. Along with his breath, just the fact that Jesus, the Creator God, the one who said, let there be light and there was light, that God whose essence is light, this is not created light, this is light from the Crea-TOR–light is who He is. Just the fact that He has arrived, the brightness of His coming causes Satan and all of his minions to be pushed into a corner where they have to await judgment.
It’s not much of a battle. All Jesus has to say is–Satan, I bind you. And Satan has no choice. He will be bound up for 1,000 years during which time Jesus will establish his millennial kingdom here on earth. You can read about this in Rev 20. Then, after the 1,000 year reign of Christ, Satan is going to be released for a short time and then it’s game over. Satan and all of his minions will stand before the great white throne of judgement and they will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, the very place where the man of lawlessness and the False Prophet have already been sent to. And Satan and all of his minions will be tormented eternally.
Brothers and sisters, demons are real. I have seen them with my own eyes. But don’t be afraid of them.
Matt 10
28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Demons and those influenced by demons can kill your body, but only God has the right to destroy both your body as well as your soul eternally. Fear God, not Satan. The only thing Satan can do to you is to lie and to make you believe that he is more powerful than he is. He’s lost the war. He will still pick his fights and battle for your soul. Satan knows where he’s going. He knows he’s going to hell and he wants to drag as many of us down with him as he can.
It’s like those who are caught in a scandal and they say, I’m not going down alone. If I’m going down, I’m taking you down with me. That’s Satan’s attitude. He is like a kid who has been caught red handed and he is throwing a tantrum. The only thing he can do is to deceive.
Don’t fall for the miracles and signs and wonders just because you are blown away by what you see and witness. I’m sure what the Antichrist is capable of doing will be very, very impressive. You’re going to think, I’ve only read about Jesus doing things like this in Scripture. Because he is the master of deception, the Antichrist will do similar things as Christ did during His earthly ministry. Healings, mass feedings, calming the storm, you name it, I’m sure we will see things that will make our jaws drop. But the goal is deception so that you end up bowing down to the Antichrist and ultimately to his master, Satan instead of Jesus Christ.
As a final warning, not only will Satan use all of his bag of tricks, even God it says in v11-12 will send a strong delusion to aid people in believing what is false.
2 Thess 2:11-12 [READ]
You might think, what’s up God? It’s bad enough that Satan is deceiving us. You mean, God, you are going to join him in causing the people on the fence to be deluded. This is not fair, God. What’s up?
Let’s look at the context starting in v9. 2 Thess 2:9-10 [READ]
These people are not on the fence. It says, they are already perishing. Why are they perishing? Because, v10, they did not accept the LOVE of the truth in order to be saved. It’s not enough to nod your head in agreement every Sunday. You may nod your head at church for your entire life and still you might be on the path of destruction.
Mental assent is necessary, but it’s insufficient for salvation. Having Christ as your goal intellectually is necessary but it’s insufficient. Why? Because you have to not only accept the truth in your head, you need to LOVE the truth with your heart.
In Matt 24, Jesus warns that as lawlessness multiplies, the love of many will grow cold. Only the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Who will believe in Satan’s deception and who will believe in the delusion sent by God? In other words, who’s going to be condemned to hell?
2 Thess 2:12 [READ]
Those who did not believe the truth. Really believe in their hearts. And why didn’t they really believe the truth? Because they enjoyed unrighteousness. They derived joy from being unrighteous. They loved unrighteousness. Instead of loving the truth, instead of loving Jesus, they loved what was dark and evil and deceptive.
Salvation is not a head issue. Salvation has never been a head issue. Salvation is always a heart issue. Do you love the truth? Do you love Jesus? If you can answer, yes, Jesus, today I love you, and you can say tomorrow, yes, Jesus I love you tomorrow, and Lord willing, 50 years from now, you can say, yes, Jesus I love you 50 years from now on your death bed, then and only then will you be saved.
Choose Christ today. Chose to love Christ today. If your love has grown cold, seek him again with all your heart. Time is short. Be urgent to get your heart right before the Lord. Love Christ today and keep on loving Him every moment of every day until He returns. This is the only way to insure that you are on the path of eternal life and not the path toward eternal destruction.
Let me finish by reading the closing verses of this chapter.
2 Thess 2:13-17 [READ]
Brother and sisters, I don’t want anyone in this room to end up in hell. If you don’t know Christ, cry out to Jesus to save you this afternoon. If you are a believer, then keep believing. Keep loving. Stand firm in your love for Jesus.