Jesus in the Psalms

Rooted in Devotion: Jesus in the Psalms

As we have been studying the psalms thus far this summer, our focus has been on how the psalms teach us to pray and worship God.  As Martin Luther once stated, “Whoever has begun to pray the Psalter earnestly and regularly, will soon take leave of those other, easy, little prayers of their own and say: ‘Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which I find in the Psalter.’”  We’ve talked about making the psalms your own:  How many psalms do you own?  How many can you recite?  Pray?  Pour over?  Sing? Comfort yourself in?  Collect the Psalms.  Master them.

Jesus Mastered the Psalms as Prayer

New Testament Scholar Scott McNight reminds us that “Jesus was a master of the Psalms.  Whenever he heard them, in the synogogue and at the temple, he took them to heart, for the Psalms spilled constantly from his lips… His entire life was bathed with Psalms… Jesus prayed the Psalms and Christians have always followed his example.” 

The Psalms were often on Jesus’ lips as he taught and prayed.  Indeed, during the evening of his arrest, betrayal and subsequent crucifixion, the most emotionally intense period of his life, the words of the psalms came flooding back to him, comforting and strengthening him.   Four of Jesus’ seven recorded sayings from the cross are quotes or allusions to the psalms.  Jesus had mastered the Psalms.

As Christians, if we truly want to pray like Jesus, we would master the psalms as well, and draw closer to him as we prayed his words.  But there is another purpose to the psalms and it also connects us to Jesus.  The psalms were not only used by Jesus, they were used of Jesus.  That is, Jesus not only prayed the Psalms, he fulfilled the psalms, so that in reading and mastering them through the prophetic witness of the New Testament, we are drawn closer to Christ himself, the one to whom all the Psalms testify. This is sometimes called Messianic nature of the psalms.

Jesus Fulfilled the Psalms as Prophecy

The authors of the New Testament were divinely led by the Holy Spirit back time and time again to the Psalms.  In his book, Finding the Old Testament in the New, Henry M. Shires identified 350 citations in the New Testament from the book of Psalms alone - roughly 20% of the total verses of the Psalms.  Moreover, 120 of the 150 Psalms are referenced in the New Testament. 

Author James Sire, after fifty years of praying the psalms concluded, “As I pondered the psalms and read scholars, I came recently to the conclusion that all the Psalms were Jesus’ own.  All of them – the beautiful and the ugly, the glorious and the grim, the plain and the elaborate, the blessings and the curses: every single one of them has been filtered through his heart and mind.  Indeed, every psalm is a psalm of Jesus.”

“Critics often attempt to minimize the Old Testament phraseology and descriptions that find fulfillment in Christ as being merely coincidental. If there were only two or three such instances, this might be the case. However, in the face of hundreds of such specific fulfillments, it is impossible to account for such a phenomenon on the basis of coincidence alone. Rather, one must recognize the plan and design of God in writers of the Old Testament since they foreshadow and specify so many things that find their fulfillment in the life of Christ.”

Think of it this way: suppose forty or more men should enter a room. These men come from different countries and from several different centuries five hundred or more years prior to our time. Each brings a piece of marble and, in order, they place their pieces of marble together. When they have finished, they have the completed statue of a man. Any observer would conclude that each of these men must have received their instructions for designing their piece of marble from one master mind. How much more true it is when writers of the Old Testament have written a perfect word picture of Jesus, centuries in advance of His coming. When He finally arrives, He fits perfectly the word picture composed by all of these men from different centuries and different countries. Certainly, these men must have been inspired by God’s Spirit in order to portray such an accurate picture of Jesus centuries in advance of His arrival on Earth.

Psalm 22: Prayer and Prophecy Meet on the Cross

No Psalm melds the two facets of Jesus' relationship to the psalms as clearly as psalm 22.  It speaks so clearly of Jesus that it is omitted in the cycle of Sabbath readings in Jewish synagogues.   Messianic Jewish Christian Commentator Max Isaac Reich has identified 33 separate prophesies in this psalm, all fulfilled at the cross.  It is the Psalm that Jesus, nearly drained of all strength, prayed as he hung on the cross," My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?" He truly was forsaken by God the Father as he took the form of our sins, becoming, as Psalm 22:6 says, “a worm and not a man.”  The worm referred to was a special worm that was used in Israel to make expensive crimson red dye.  Only the richest and most noble people could afford to wear clothes colored by this die, but the glorious color only came by crushing the worm.  As commentator H.A. Ironside puts it, “the glorious garments of our salvation are the garments that have been procured by his pain and suffering.   Yet as we read this psalm, we not only hear the prayer of Jesus, but we see in stunning detail his suffering foretold hundreds of years beforehand as if the psalmist was an eye-witness to the cross. 

Listen to the words of this psalm as (Grace or Ryan Fergusen) reads it for us.

In history’s darkest hour, God himself was nailed to a cross, a Roman instrument of torture and execution.  Jesus has not slept for two days and has been beaten, humiliated, tortured and abused.  At the foot of the cross, evil men cast lots to divide up his garments.  All who saw him mocked him, saying, “He trusts in the Lord, let the Lord deliver him.” His strength poured out of him like water, his shoulder bones dislocated from the jarring weight of his body bearing down on the cross.  As death drew nearer, his heart sac filled with fluid, like wax melting within his breast.  Thirst overwhelmed him and made his tongue stick to his jaws.  Hanging there naked and exposed, stretched from limb to limb, every bone could be counted.  His hands and feet are mangled by the nails as if torn apart by a lion.  Yet no rest could be found, for the Romans had devised crucifixion to draw out the death of the guilty, to make them suffer as long as possible.  All of these painful details are foretold in Psalm 22.

Jesus did not, and possibly physically could not have prayed the whole psalm, but in praying the first words of the psalm, he prayed the psalm in its entirety. This is a rabbinical technique called “Ramesh” quoting a part of a text to point the listeners to the entire text.  In praying this text, we actually get a glimpse of the mind of Christ as he hung on the cross.  Many have misunderstood the “Why have you forsaken me?” to be a cry of despair, but Jesus knew that psalm and he knew how the psalm ended!  He knew the change in the psalm beginning in verse 21 - You have rescued me!  The second half of the psalm speaks of the saviour’s exaltation.  It talks of all the families of the earth coming to worship the Lord, for (verse 28) kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations!  The psalm ends with a cry of victory, verse 31: they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. This cry was echoed in Jesus’ final words “It is finished”  He has done it!  The worm was crushed for our glorious covering! 

Here is Jesus, our high priest, praying with us one of the most painful songs of human experience.  There is no pain you have faced that he hasn’t felt.  No alienation from God or man that he didn’t experience.  As much as the Psalms are our cries for deliverance, help and justice, they were his cries.  Yet he didn’t just pray the psalms, he lived the psalms, and found victory in the psalms.  He lived their victory and was raised up before all men.  And he calls us into the same glory: “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied, those who seek him shall praise the Lord.  May your hearts live forever.’  What a meal – we eat this meal today remembering our worm who was crushed to cover us.  Are afflicted one whose suffering was vindicated by his rising from the dead.  The man from heaven who taught us to pray, even as he learned to suffer.  Jesus of the Psalms.

Jesus in the Psalms

Jesus as Creator: Hebrews 1:10-13; Psalm 102:25-27

Jesus is the Incarnate Son: Hebrews 10:5-7; Psalm 40:6-7

Jesus is the Son of Man: Hebrews 2:6-9; Psalm 8:4-7

Jesus is the Son of David: Psalm 132:10-18

Jesus is David’s Lord: Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:41-46

Jesus is the Lord’s Annointed: Hebrews 1:8-9; Psalm 45:6-7

Jesus has authority over Angels and Demons: Psalm 91:11-13; Matthew 4:5-7

Jesus is a teacher of parables: Matthew 13:34-35; Psalm 78:2

Jesus is zealous for the Lord’s House: John 2:17; Psalm 69:9

Jesus is the rejected stone: Matthew 21:42; Psalm 118:22

Jesus is the betrayed friend: Psalm 41:9; John 13:18

Jesus is seen as the suffering, crucified Messiah: Psalm 22

Jesus is the resurrected one: Psalm 16:8-11; Acts 2:25-32

Jesus is seen as the exalted, victorious Lord: (Acts 2:33-36; Psalm 110:1)

Renewal

How can you find peace when your dreams seem to be shattered? How can you feel calm even in the most frightening situations? How can you end your recurring feelings of shame? The psalms give a clear picture of how God responds to those who experience disappointment, fear, and guilt. When we understand God’s great love for us in all these circumstances, we can experience the renewal he provides.

Renewal brings growth out of disappointment: Psalm 107

This psalm is addressed to the “redeemed of the Lord,” referring to God’s redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Any mention of the wanderings in the desert reminded the Israelites of their forty years in the wilderness – a time when they longed to return to slavery in Egypt because at least that was predictable. Later the Israelites were enslaved by the Babylonians just as they had been by the Egyptians, yet God rescued them when they cried out to him.

Sometimes life leads us to dark places – places where all we feel is utter disappointment.  Yet God can both renew us and even grow new dreams and opportunities as we live through those trying times.

In this Psalm we find four groups of people.

1) The first are the seekers (4-5): they are the restless hearts wandering through life without any purpose or destination. They are disappointed with life.

2) The second are the slaves (10-12): these are people who brought on their troubles themselves because they had rebelled against God’s words. In sinning, they became slaves to their sin, addicted to it. They find they can no longer control themselves or stop their wicked heart. They are disappointed with their powerlessness over sin.

3) The third are the sick (17-18): They also brought their trouble on themselves, but these people are dealing with the consequences that their sin brought about. They have become sickly and weak because of their sin. They are disappointed in their vitality

4) The fourth are the sailors (23-27): These are the ambitious people, who set out to conquer the world. They are the conquerors, the business people, the world-changers. Yet at some point they ran into a wall that knocked them down and they found that no matter how hard they tried or how creative their solutions were, they were defeated by it. They are disappointed in their dreams.

Yet in each circumstance, their disappointment drove them to the same place. After each description of these groups of people, the psalmist proclaims, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” It is through these times of disappointment that the Lord provides an opportunity for us to draw near once again to him and renew our sense of his redemption. For it is not the disappointment we face that makes us, but who we face it with. We understand that when we face disappointment and turn to the Lord, the Lord can use that disappointment to strengthen us. James puts it this way: “consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be pure and complete, lacking nothing.”

Psalm 107:2 declares: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” This is the power of a personal testimony. This is coming together as a body and sharing how the Lord brought you through personal tragedy or disappointments. Sharing it with one another does two things. First, it is a confession of the Lord’s grace to yourself. As you repeat your testimony you shore up your faith. Second, it is an advertisement of the Lord’s grace to others. Others who may be struggling through similar disappointments can see how the Lord redeemed you and take heart. This is how renewal becomes contagious.

Renewal brings faith out of fear: Psalm 55

Our brain and nervous system respond to fear dramatically. When we walk into a potentially dangerous situation, our nervous system immediately kicks in with a fear response. Our bodies release adrenaline, which intensifies our awareness and gives us extra energy. This reaction in the brain prepares us to run or defend ourselves, which we call the “fight-or-flight” response.

In this psalm, David wants to fly. He wishes he were a dove so that he could escape his circumstances. A trusted friend has turned on him and he just wants to get away. Maybe you’ve been there. You just want to crawl up into a ball and hide under your covers. You’ve thought about running away from your problems.

In verse 16-17 David takes courage and instead of running away and instead of fighting back, he prays in faith, “But I call on God and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice.” In overcoming his fears, David needed continual prayer. It wasn’t enough to pray once and say, well God heard me, that’s done. No. He prayed until fear turned to faith. In the morning when he woke up and couldn’t get out of bed, he prayed until fear turned to faith. In the evening when he lay awake and couldn’t sleep, he prayed until fear turned to faith. At noon, when he couldn’t eat his lunch because of the sense of dread in his gut, he prayed until fear turned to faith. That’s one thing to be said about fear: it makes us faithful in prayer. Yet, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Pray until you receive this mind of Christ and you will find yourself renewed.

Renewal brings forgiveness out of sin and guilt: Psalm 32

Have you ever tried to understand why forgiveness feels so good? True forgiveness is more than a feeling. It is relief from the spiritual, mental, emotional, and even physical torment caused by remorse and guilt. This psalm was written shortly after David confessed his sins of adultery and murder. He speaks of how, when he tried to hide his sin, his strength and health diminished and he lost the joy in life. We know the story of how, when the prophet Nathan pointed out David’s sin to him, David immediately repented. I believe the Holy Spirit was already preparing his heart by pointing out his guilt to him that when Nathan spoke it was like a pin pricking a balloon. Sorrow and repentance came flowing out. Not simply emotional tears, but a relief of the soul that has been tormented by sin. This is repentance that brings renewal. Repentance is a little used word today in the Western church. We prefer to talk about rededication, or making a decision to follow Jesus, or coming to Christ. And because we have repentance-free conversions we have no experience of the exhilaration that comes from truly having our sins forgiven. Here is the gospel. All us are sinners. We have chosen to disobey God and we are therefore guilty of breaking his divine holy law. Our guilt condemns us and destroys us. We will all destined to die in our sins. Our guilt also kills us day by day. We suffer depression, failed relationships, sickness, weakness, hurt. We turn to alcohol, sex and pornography, video games and other diversions; we immerse ourselves in our careers, in our kids lives, in our recreation, anything to cover up and push away the understanding that we have rejected God and have been accordingly rejected by the only One whose approval really matters. This kills us. The only way of salvation is through Jesus Christ, who loved us to die our death. He suffered our pain, our rejection, our death so that we could be forgiven and acceptable to God. But we must repent. Look at your life. Look at what sin has done to destroy you. And turn away from it. Take it to Jesus and tell him – Jesus, I loved this more than you and it destroyed me. I hate it now and I want you. Forgive me, Jesus. Forgive me, Jesus. And by faith, you receive full forgiveness because of what Christ did on the cross, and you get up from your knees in the power of the resurrection that raise him from the dead, to new life. It’s exhilarating isn’t it? Christian, repentance is for you as much as it is for the unbelievers. We continually walk in repentance, hating sin for what it does to us, and bringing it to Jesus, daily confessing that we love him more than this junk in our lives. That is renewal.

We are going to pray now. Silently. I offer you this time, to bring your disappointments to God. Where is God working in this situation? Bring your fears to him; turn your fears into faith. Bring your sins to him. Tell him you love him more than the sin your repenting from. In a few minutes I will pray and have the worship team come up.

Prayer

Rooted in Devotion: The Book of Psalms

Sermon Series Adapted from “Crash Course on the Psalms” Christianity Today Bible Study 

Intro: Seminary: I didn’t know how to pray:

Point: The book of Psalms teaches us how to talk to God

1) Prayer begins in Solitude: Read Psalm 46

Psalm 46 is a dramatic crisis. In it we see the worlds fall apart: mountains fall into the sea and the world falls apart. It is enough to strike terror into the heart of the bravest man. Yet in verse 8, we are reminded that God’s works are even more devastating for God is above all man. In this sort of crises, I tend to react in busyness. But here are ordered, “Be still and know that I am God.” In the context of the psalm, this is actually a rebuke. It is so common in our crises, in the things that tear apart our worlds that we begin to see our circumstances as God, our situation as God. It is an act of faith in those situations to quiet our souls – to be still – and know deep within our hearts that God and God alone is our refuge and our strength, our very present help in trouble. In Psalm 62, David writes of personal conflict. He is being personally attacked by people who wished to throw him down from his position. One may be tempted to respond with bitterness. These people were blessing him to his face, but reaching around to stab him in the back. He writes in 62:5: For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Solitude and Silence, as useful aspects of prayer, are difficult to attain in the loudness and business of today. Steve May, in an article entitled “Solitude and Silence” writes “The first thing we need to do when we get in God’s presence is be still. The second thing we need to do is be still some more. Then we can begin to listen, and then we can begin to hear from him and experience his power in our lives.” Being still is hard, especially amid the distractions from this world – not just the noise but the problems, the needs, the catastrophes. I must admit, when I am faced with crisis, I tend to react in busyness. When I am faced with conflict, I tend to react in bitterness. The lesson is simple, when your world is falling down around you, when those you trust betray you, instead of reacting in busyness and bitterness, react first in solitude and silence.

Is you life full of noise and people? Are you lucky to have a moment even to go to the bathroom alone? The first principle of a prayer life is to carve out time to be still and know that God is still on His throne. It’s not easy. I know of a lady whose mother used to sit in a corner with a blanket over her head to have her quiet time before the Lord. There is a story of a man named Viktor Frankl, who, while in a Nazi concentration camp, would sneak out to a tent in which corpses were kept in order to find privacy. This week, carve out a time and a place each day to spend ten minutes alone in prayer. You might need to lock yourself in a closet, but schedule a time and place for silence, and then attend to it. In order to calm yourself, read psalms 46 and 62.

2) Prayer is to be Honest: Read 73

In this Psalm (which happens to be my favorite) we read Asaph’s shockingly honest confession. He envied the wicked. They had been arrogant, they scoffed, they spoke with malice they were violent and yet they appeared blessed. In verse 13 he basically says, “Is it really worth it to be a Christian?” This isn’t the type of prayer you generally hear in church. Notice in verse 15, he didn’t take his doubts public and air them before the congregation, but he dealt with them by bringing them into the presence of God. Verses 16-17. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God.” The psalmist found his answer by coming into God’s presence, in that day coming into the temple and hearing the worship of his people, and expressing himself honestly before his father in heaven.

The honesty of the psalms can be very shocking to us as modern Christians. In psalm 137 the psalmist mourns the loss of Jerusalem. He is an exile in an enemy land that killed his countrymen and destroyed his home. They are weeping by the waters of Babylon while they are being mocked by their captors. At the end of the psalm, he cries Psalm 137:8-9 “O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” This is a shocking, violent text, yet it invites us to observe the honesty with how we can approach God. The psalmist was furious, and that was his wish for retaliation. However, rather than committing the violence himself, he offered his desires to God to do with what the Lord willed. Do you have a tendency to hide your emotional life from God and others? Look, God knows your heart. If you’re angry, tell him your angry. If you’re sad, tell him of your sadness. If you’re frustrated at your apathetic walk, express your frustration and ask him to energize your spirit. Tell him the details. Don’t be afraid. Write your prayer in a journal and then read it aloud to God.

3) Prayer Involves Asking God for Help and Thanking God for Hearing: Psalm 13

Another honest Psalm. Four times David asks “How long?” He was asking God for help to relieve him from four burdens:

1) feeling forgotten by God

2) feeling cut off from God’s favor

3) experiencing deep depression

4) suffering the humiliation of defeat

Yet David continues to ask and wait, ask and wait. The last couple of verses are an example of faith before God’s answer to prayer is evident: Psalm 13:5-6 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

In Psalm 116 we see the other side of faith, Psalm 116:1-6 I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!" Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.

The psalmist cried out for help and God sent aid. Yet his response to God goes beyond a quick quiet prayer whispered under his breath. In response, the psalmist praises God crying “gracious is our Lord, and righteous and merciful”. (5). He confesses his inadequacy reminding himself that it was the Lord, not himself who saved him (6). He also realizes that God’s grace has allowed him new life and he wasn’t going to squander that gift (I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living” (9). He encourages others to hold firm to their belief in God (10-11). He lifts up the cup of salvation (13): He participates in communal worship – the lord’s supper meant something different to him having experienced the grace of God. (17) In the presence of all the people he brings the sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise, telling of what the Lord has done for him.

This is very counter-cultural. We live in a culture of complaining. We complain about the weather, the price of gas, our jobs, the pastor’s sermons going long, all sorts of little things that irk us. If you have a tendency to complain, write down on your paper the things you most often complain about. Use this list to write prayers for help and or thanksgiving. For example if you complain about the commute home from work, write a prayer asking God to help you overcome obstacles that put you in a situation where you have to commute. Then think of what you can thank God for in your commute. When you’re tempted to complain, use that temptation as an opportunity to ask for God’s help and thank him for his blessings and love. “Every Blessing you pour out I turn back to praise, when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say Blessed be your name.”

The Return of Christ: Part 2

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Last week we began studying the return of Christ, which is the hope of the church. We learned that Paul’s teaching of these things arose from a very practical need in the church – people needed to know what would happen to their brothers and sisters in the Lord who had died. These baby Christians were grieving and in danger of losing their faith, for they had not understood the link between the resurrection of Jesus and their own destiny as believers. God’s word is clear: since Christ rose from the dead, the dead in Christ shall also rise. As Christ ascended into heaven after his resurrection, so he will descend and all who are in Christ, either dead or alive will rise to meet him in heaven and be with him forever. So we don’t grieve as the world grieves and we encourage each other to look forward to that day. We then learned that, although Christ’s return will come upon unbelievers suddenly and without warning, we believers are to build each other up in faith, hope and love as we see the day of Christ’s return approaching. While no one knows the hour or the day of his return, Christ did teach us that his coming would be preceded by certain signs that we are to recognize and heed, allowing us to prepare ourselves for his return and spread the gospel to those who are ignorant of his return with a sense of urgency.

In Matthew 24, Jesus instructed us that the following signs would mark the end of the age and be signs of his coming.

•False prophets will come and lead many astray (4-5)

•Wars, rumors of wars and famines (6-8)

•Persecution and hatred of Christians (9)

•Great Apostasy (many fall away to betrayal and apathy) (10-13)

•Gospel proclaimed worldwide (14)

•Desecration of the Holy Place in Judea (15-16)

•Great earthquake in Jerusalem (29) (Revelation 6:12-13)

The interesting thing that we observed about most of these signs was that most of them have been evident in every age of the church. For example, false prophets have been leading the church astray even from the New Testament era. The Apostle John could write in 1 John 4:1-3: “many false prophets have gone out into the world” who possess the “spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and now is in the world already.” Sadly, a quick glance at human history reveals that in every age we have been plagued by war and famine, although the dawning of the modern atomic age has elevated the death tolls and destruction caused by modern warfare to levels unimaginable to the Biblical writers. It is no longer laughable to imagine a modern conflict that could wipe out portions of the world’s populations spoken of in Revelation. More people died in the wars of the 20^th century than all other centuries combined. In regards to persecution, the church has sought the return of Christ under the Roman persecutions of the first two centuries, at times violent splintering of the church since the reformation, and the African and Asian persecution of the last few centuries. Yet more Christians were martyred for their faith in the 20^th century than all other centuries combined. In regard to the expansion of the gospel, the early church considered the gospel to have spread to all the ends of the earth under the ministry of the Apostles. In the colonial era, the gospel could have been said to have been preached throughout the whole world as the sun never set on the British Empire. In the previous generation, Billy Graham and various radio ministries broadcast the gospel over political and geographical borders. Yet in our generation, we may yet see Christ’s words literally fulfilled as the gospel is brought to every single language and people group. Here is the point: these signs are general enough that every generation of Christians has had to be on their toes because indeed they saw that the end could come in their day, yet they are specific enough that when the end finally comes we will not be able to miss it if we are looking. The other amazing thing is that today more than any other time in history, we are seeing these things occurring on levels and degrees heretofore unimaginable in the history of the church. Be ready.

Now, as we looked at the signs in Matthew, we saw two that we agreed that have not occurred yet and are harder to identify as things that have occurred throughout every era of the church. Namely, the Abomination of Desolation and the great earthquake in Jerusalem, which will be accompanied by signs in the heavens, possibly a meteor shower. These final two signs will be unmistakable and evident to all.

It is along these same lines that Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonian church. Somehow, between the writing of the two letters to the Thessalonians, a disturbing message had entered into the church. The Thessalonians had been led to believe that the Lord Jesus had already returned and that they had missed Him. Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians to caution the new believers to be discerning of what they hear from their teachers regarding Christ’s return, and to assure them that the Lord’s return will be unmistakable. Paul writes in 2:1-12:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

First, Paul says, we must be discerning. Someone had evidently, between the first and second letters come to the Thessalonians and told them that they had missed out on Christ’s return. Therefore Paul says, be discerning in what you hear from your teachers regarding Christ’s return. For example, the Jehovah witnesses claimed Christ secretly returned in 1914. Don’t believe it.

Second, he says, you know you haven’t missed the return of Christ, because there will be two unmistakable happenings before Christ’s return and they haven’t happened yet. The first we will cover quickly: there will be a rebellion: better: apostasy, falling away. This is probably the apostasy spoken of in Matthew 24. It comes from within the church in betrayal and apathy, and outside of the church in persecution.

The antichrist will be revealed. This is the heart of Paul’s answer to the Thessalonians – you haven’t missed Christ’s return because the antichrist has not been revealed yet. The church will see the antichrist, whether you are pre-mid-or post somehow he is going to be revealed before Jesus takes you away. Notice that it does not tell us how the antichrist will be revealed as such, only that he will be revealed before the end. Personally, I believe that we will see him rise to power, persecute the church, and commit grievous blaspheme (the abomination) at the site of the temple. Paul taught these things to the very young Thesslaonian Christians:

•He has no regard for God’s law (3): the man of lawlessness. It may not mean that he is a lawbreaker, but that he is a law unto himself. He may speak the language of moral relativism – denying absolute rights and wrongs.

•He will bring destruction (3): He is a destroyer even though he looks like a builder. We saw last week that the end will come when people are saying to one another “there is peace and safety”. Many connect the revelation of the antichrist with a prophecy in Daniel 9:27 which states “he will make a strong covenant with the many”, seeing in this vision a peace brokerage between Israel and the nations. Yet, as 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, “while they are saying ‘there is peace and safety’, then sudden destruction will come upon them.”

•He claims a divine prerogative for himself (4): who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, whether publicly or privately, this man will blaspheme God. He may promote a new humanism, just as the serpent in the garden promised, “your eyes will be opened and you will be as gods!” It will be subtle at first, but ego and power will drive him to make more outward blasphemies.

•He commits the abomination of desolation in the holy place (4): He will take his seat in the temple proclaiming himself to be God. I think it is very reasonable to connect this act with the “abomination of desolation” spoken of in Daniel 11 and 12 and Matthew 24. In Daniel 11, Daniel details the rise of a historical figure from the North: Daniel 11:31-32, 36-37 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. Most scholar agree that Daniel is prophesying about the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes. John MacArthur: He was a Syrian king who reigned in Palestine from about 175 to 163 B.C. He called himself Epiphanes which means "the great one." The people called him Epimanes, which means "maniac." . . . Antiochus Epiphanes was a great persecutor of the Jewish people. The apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees describe how he tried to stamp out Jewish religion, and in so doing slaughtered thousands of Jewish men, women, and children. In one of the worst acts in Jewish history, Antiochus desecrated the Temple by slaughtering a pig on the altar, forcing the priests to eat pork, and setting up an idol to Zeus. The Jews then abandoned the Temple, not wishing to go into a defiled place. That put a halt to the daily sacrifices (as predicted by Daniel 11:31), until the Jews regained control of the Temple during the Maccabean revolution. The important thing for us to understand is that while the Jewish people of Jesus’ day understood the abomination to refer to a past event, Jesus spoke of it as a future event that is still to come. That is to say that Antioches Epiphanies was merely a foreshadowing or a type of the antichrist who is to come. Some people tie Jesus’ prediction of the Abomination of Desolation to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD70, but that event did not reflect the personal and blasphemous nature of the event as described in Daniel and here in 2 Thessalonians. Whether the Temple is rebuilt or whether the antichrist stands in front of the Islamic Dome of the Rock (which is built upon the Temple) I believe that he will personally commit a grievous act of blasphemy against God that we will be witness to. 

•He is now being restrained: Verses 6-7 indicate that he (or his spirit) is currently being restrained. The restrainer will be removed allowing him to rise to power. Much discussion here. Something or someone is restraining evil until it will finally give way and allow the lawless one to be revealed. It’s a mystery of lawlessness, but here are some ideas:

•Government: early interpretation. Paul didn’t want to say the government because it could put the church in danger so he is careful not to name it. Antichrist will come to power in a period of anarchy

•Michael the Archangel: This is from revelation 12:7-12. Michael is restraining the devil by warring with him in heaven, but will ultimately cast him down to earth, at which point he will use the antichrist.

•The Holy Spirit: Through the church, the Holy Spirit restrains evil. Many pre-tribbers believe that the rapture of the church will mean the removal of the restrainer (the Holy Spirit) so that the anti-Christ can come to power. Less spiritual is that the church will be marginalized and persecuted allowing the evil one to come to power.

•God!

•His coming is by the activity of Satan (9): The antichrist, at some point is his career, will be animated by Satan, perhaps even possessed.

•He will be able to do great miracles and signs (9): On account to the Satanic power by which he is animated, he will be able to perform signs and miracles.

•He will deceive many: be careful and warned. Even if this false Messiah down in Florida that I told you about last week started doing miraculous things and even raised someone from the dead, do not believe him. The wicked will be deluded (verse 9) by the activity of Satan with signs and wonders to be a deception for the unbelievers so that he will be just in his judgment.

•He will be killed by Jesus(8) Christ will destroy him in his coming: (verse 8) Jesus will ultimately kill the antichrist at his coming by a word of his mouth

He Who Loves the Truth Will Be Saved

Piper: The apostasy comes to a crushing climax in verses 9–12 with an incredibly heavy force of delusion and deceit. According to verse 10 the signs and wonders of the man of lawlessness deceive those who are perishing. Why? Why are they so vulnerable? Why do many professing Christians leave the truth and follow falsehood? Paul's answer at the end of verse 10 is that they refuse to love the truth (literally: they did not welcome a love for the truth). Notice: it is not merely an issue of knowing or believing in a merely mental sense: it is an issue of loving. And this means that saving faith—faith that will endure to the end through the affliction now and through the apostasy to come—is not merely an accepting of truth but a loving of truth. Verse 10: "They perish because they refused to love the truth."

We can be sure that when the man of lawlessness comes, his signs and wonders will be used to support claims that appeal to our natural desires. Therefore the only defense against this appeal will be a deeper desire for God. If Christ is our portion and our treasure, if he satisfies our longings, and if we love the glory of his gospel, then the mystery of lawlessness will not overcome us, and our love will not grow cold and we will endure to the end and be saved. May the Lord grant us all to receive the love of the truth. Amen.

The Return of Christ: Part 1

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 

I remember my first time witnessing in, and the guy said “Jesus is alive.” My first thought was, “Alright, this is going to be easy.” It turned out this fellow was apart of a fast-spreading sect named Lightning from the East is alarming Christian communities across China by winning large numbers of converts to its unorthodox tenets, often by abducting potential believers. Its followers, who say they number 300,000 but whom observers measure in the tens of thousands, believe that Jesus has returned as a plain-looking, 30-year-old Chinese woman who lives in hiding and has never been photographed. They credit her with composing a third testament to the Bible, writing enough hymns to fill 10 CDs and teaching that Christians who join her will ascend to heaven in the coming apocalypse. The Jehovah’s witnesses for long have taught that Jesus would return in 1914 – now they teach that he invisibly returned. In Miami there is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda who believes he is Jesus and the antichrist and has hundreds of followers.

Thessalonians were also confused about the return of Christ. Sometimes we think teaching about the return of Christ is confusing and shouldn’t be taught to new believers – Paul and the missionary team taught new believers these things in the short time they spent in Thessalonica.

Hope for the living and the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (ESV)

The Thessalonians were confused. The reasons for their confusion were, if Jesus is the way to eternal life, how come some of us are dying? The basic statement of our faith is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” They had a misunderstanding regarding death. Paul’s teaching on the end times and return of Christ arose out of a very practical pastoral concern in the church. The resurrection is the grounds for our hope. John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her (Mary), "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 1 Corinthians 15 also explains that our Christian hope is that Jesus rose from the dead. As a result, since Jesus rose, those who have died in him will also rise with him.

Jesus return will not be a secret return. The Lord himself will descend with the cry of command, Voice of the Archangel, The trumpet of God. Acts 1:6-11: “So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (ESV)

The Latin for “Caught up with him” is “raeptius.” This is the word we get the English word ‘rapture’ from. The rapture of the church is simply our being caught up with Jesus in heaven. The word “rapture” is taken from the Latin word translated into English as “caught up” in verse 17. Christians disagree as to the timing of this event in relation to the “tribulation”, a period of time (often seven years) before Christ’s return in which God’s judgment will be poured out upon the people’s of the earth. Although since the 1800’s many American evangelicals have held that the rapture will occur before the tribulation – the “pre-tribulation” position, the dominant view throughout church history has been to link the rapture to the return of Christ – the post-tribulation position. Still other views place the rapture near the middle of the tribulation. The important thing to remember and what all agree on is that the church on earth will be gathered together with those who have died in Christ to be with Him forever. It will all turn out all right in the end. Therefore we don’t mourn as the world mourns (verse 13) and we are to encourage one another with these words (verse 18) However, we don’t just encourage the mourners, but encourage all who are suffering.

Watch and Wait for His Return (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (ESV)

When is this going to happen? Paul says, I don’t need to write you about the times and seasons. Because he taught them already? Because no one can now – Jesus said that not even the son knows the day or hour of his return (Matthew 24:36). Paul explains that the coming of Christ will come “Like a thief” (referring back to Jesus in Matthew 24:43). The unbelievers will be surprised, when they think they are secure, destruction will come on them. Things will be looking good. It will look like an era of hope and renewed peace. In such a time, they will come to destruction. Do not be surprised, we are not like those to whom the thief comes and we had no idea he was coming. We should see the signs of his coming and prepare ourselves accordingly. I believe that any view of the rapture must teach us to watch out for these things.

What are the signs of his coming? Reading Matthew 24:1-29 we see:

· False prophets will come and lead many astray (4-5)

· Wars, rumors of wars and famines (6-8)

· Persecution and hatred of Christians (9)

· Great Apostasy (many fall away to betrayal and apathy) (10-13)

· Gospel proclaimed worldwide (14)

· Desecration of the Holy Place in Judea (15-16)

· Great earthquake in Jerusalem (29)

Notice, all but the last two have happened in every generation? Therefore, keep awake and sober, building each other up. It doesn’t mean that we become crazy prophecy hunters, but that we put on faith, love and hope. We do not get fearful, for God hasn’t destined us for wrath, but with soberness, understand the reality of the hardships to come.

Its Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (ESV)

The Thessalonians thought they had missed it. Someone had evidently, between the first and second letters come to the Thessalonians and told them that they had missed out on Christ’s return. Therefore Paul says, be discerning in what you hear from your teachers regarding Christ’s return. For example, the Jehovah witnesses claimed Christ secretly returned in 1914. Don’t believe it.

There will be a rebellion or apostasy: This is probably the apostasy spoken of in Matthew 24. It comes from within the church in betrayal and apathy, and outside of the church in persecution. In that climate, the antichrist will be revealed. This is Paul’s answer to the Thessalonians – you haven’t missed Christ’s return because the antichrist has not been revealed yet. The church will see the Antichrist, whether you are pre-mid-or post somehow he is going to be revealed before Jesus takes you away. Personally, I believe that we will see him rise to power, persecute the church, and commit gracious blaspheme (the abomination) at the site of the temple. Paul taught these things to the very young Thessalonians Christians. The Antichrist will:

o He has no regard for God’s law

o He is a son of the destroyer even though he looks like a builder

o He claims a divine prerogative for himself

o He commits the abomination of desolation in the holy place

o His coming is by the activity of Satan

o He will be able to do great miracles and signs

o He will deceive many

o He will be killed by Jesus

Verses 6-7 indicate that he (or his spirit) is currently being restrained. The restrainer will be removed. Much discussion here. Something or someone is restraining evil until it will finally give way and allow the lawless one to be revealed.

o It’s a mystery of lawlessness

Þ Government: Paul didn’t want to say the government because it could put the church in danger so he is careful not to name it. Antichrist will come to power in a period of anarchy

Þ Michael the Archangel: This is from revelation 12:7-12. Michael is restraining the devil by warring with him in heaven, but will ultimately cast him down to earth, at which point he will use the antichrist.

Þ The Holy Spirit: Through the church, the Holy Spirit restrains evil. Many pre-tribbers believe that the rapture of the church will mean the removal of the restrainer (HS) so that the anti-Christ can come to power. Less spiritual is that the church will be marginalized and persecuted allowing the evil one to come to power.

The wicked will be deluded (verse 9) by the activity of Satan with signs and wonders to be a deception for the unbelievers so that he will be just in his judgment. Christ will destroy him in his coming: (verse 8) Jesus will ultimately kill the antichrist at his coming by a word of his mouth

He Who Loves the Truth Will Be Saved

Piper: The apostasy comes to a crushing climax in verses 9–12 with an incredibly heavy force of delusion and deceit. According to verse 10 the signs and wonders of the man of lawlessness deceive those who are perishing. Why? Why are they so vulnerable? Why do many professing Christians leave the truth and follow falsehood? Paul's answer at the end of verse 10 is that they refuse to love the truth (literally: they did not welcome a love for the truth). Notice: it is not merely an issue of knowing or believing in a merely mental sense: it is an issue of loving. And this means that saving faith—faith that will endure to the end through the affliction now and through the apostasy to come—is not merely an accepting of truth but a loving of truth. Verse 10: "They perish because they refused to love the truth."

We can be sure that when the man of lawlessness comes, his signs and wonders will be used to support claims that appeal to our natural desires. Therefore the only defense against this appeal will be a deeper desire for God. If Christ is our portion and our treasure, if he satisfies our longings, and if we love the glory of his gospel, then the mystery of lawlessness will not overcome us, and our love will not grow cold and we will endure to the end and be saved. May the Lord grant us all to receive the love of the truth. Amen.