 Yeah. So I think some of you have already seen the, you know, the final assessment which has been posted in the e-platform and also in Google Classroom. So even though we'll be finishing Second Thessalonians next week, you know, you can get started with the multiple choice questions. And I think even if we, you know, even without having attended the last session, I think you should be able to answer the questions. You just look up the verses, you know, the answers are there in the verses which are mentioned. So you will be able to, you know, you can actually finish the final assessment questions. So just keep that in mind, you know, because now, you know, we are reaching the end of this course. So nobody should miss out on their marks. So yes, Second Thessalonians. In Second Thessalonians, I think it is in Chapter 2 that we get to know that someone had spread the wrong information that the day of the Lord had already come and gone. You know, these believers in Thessalonica were undergoing a lot of severe persecution regarding the, you know, access to the assignment being restricted. I again reopened the thing. So I'm sure it should be available now. Every time I close that assignment form, it again, you know, goes back to the default. I'm not sure why it does that. Every time I open the form, I, you know, reset it. And then when I close the form, it goes back to its default mode. But I did that again. And so I'm assuming that, you know, it's no longer restricted. So yeah, you can try to access it right now if you wish. Yeah, I think, you know, you will be able to access it. So yeah. So coming to the Second Thessalonians, the wrong information that is given by somebody to this Thessalonian believers is that the day of the Lord has already come and gone. So these believers had been undergoing very severe persecution. And so they thought that, you know, the Lord has found them unsatisfactory. And so he has left them. He has not collected them and taken them along with him. And now they have been left behind to face the tribulation period. It's what these poor people, I know, were thinking in their minds. So they were very discouraged. They were very confused. They were thinking that, you know, this intense suffering that is happening is because the day of the Lord has finished coming. And now the Lord has gone away with his people. And they have been left behind to suffer a lot of persecution. So therefore, Paul immediately sits down and writes another letter to them, telling them that certain events need to take place before the Second Coming will happen. So he gives some details regarding that regarding what the things which will take place before the actual Second Coming will happen. So he assures them that the day of the Lord has not yet occurred and certain events, some some some end time events will first need to happen only after that the Second Coming will take place. So details regarding that are given over here in this second letter. So coming to chapter one, if we could have someone read out for us the first five verses. Yeah. So Second Thessalonians chapter one verses one to five. Second Thessalonians chapter one verses one to five. Greetings Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God's final judgment and glory. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other. So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. Yeah. So here Paul begins with some words of encouragement because these believers have been going through a lot of suffering and they are now feeling very abandoned, very insecure. And so he assures them and he tells them that they are on the right track. He says your faith is growing more and more and we are so grateful to the Lord for this and we are thanking him regarding this and he says we are boasting about your perseverance to all the other churches. We're telling them about how you guys have held on to God in spite of all the difficulties and trials that you are enduring. And so he says all this is evidence that God's judgment is right. You know, he basically is saying to these believers, in spite of all the persecution that you are suffering, you have held on to God because you believe that God will reward you one day. You completely believe in his faithfulness. You completely trust in his genuineness. So even though so much persecution has happened, in spite of that, you have held on to him because you believe he is just, he is fair and he will reward you. And this is the evidence that God's judgment is right. So all the people who are watching you will realize that your God must indeed be very, very faithful. Otherwise you would have abandoned him and gone away a long time ago. Why are you still holding on? Why are you still persevering in spite of all the suffering and trials? It's because you know he is completely faithful. He is completely fair and just. So you know that he will never do injustice. So this is like evidence and proof to the world that God is indeed a faithful God. So the way we respond to our circumstances and our difficulties will show people what we really think about our God. It will be like a demonstration to them of who our God is. When we are going through severe trials, if we become very, very flustered and very worried and we go into depression and we become deeply anxious and we respond in all of those negative ways, then the people who are watching will think, Oh, their God is also like our God's. When things go bad, times are tough, you're on your own. When everything is fine, then you can say God, God. But when you're in the middle of a trial, you're on your own because these people's God also seems to be like our God's. That is the impression which people would get, the wrong impression which people would get. On the other hand, when they see a believer going through a severe time of trial and they see him continuing to rejoice, continuing to pray and not giving up, and they see that person continuing to thank God in all circumstances, then it's like evidence to them that, Oh, here is a God who can be trusted even when things are the worst. So it makes them sit up and pay attention. It makes them realize that this living God is very different from the other Gods, that here is a God who can be trusted even when things are completely dark. And when they see this believer giving thanks even in such circumstances and rejoicing, it really proves to them, it's evidence to them that this God is right in all that he does, which is why when Rup Paul, when he's writing to the Corinthians, he boasts about these Macedonian believers, the ones who are here in Thessalonica and in Philippi, he boasts about them and he says that in the midst of the severest trial, these guys are overflowing with joy, he says. So these were people who trusted God and because they trusted God in the most difficult circumstances, it proved to the whole world that they believe in a God who is completely faithful. So the way we respond to our trials can be a great testimony to the people who are watching us, to the world which is watching us. So in verse 6, he goes on to say, God is just, he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. So if we could maybe have someone read out for us all the way from verse 6 up to verse 12. Yeah. Second Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 6 to 12 please. Verse 6, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of God, grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah. So Paul says over here that God is just, see sometimes justice may not be received while we are still on this earth because sometimes our persecutors you know they it looks like as if they have won you know and we are not given the justice which we deserve while we are still here but a day will come when every account will be settled every wrong that has been done you know will be punished. So even though these Thessalonians might not have received justice you know while they were still alive on the judgment day all the wrong that was done against them that will be punished without faith. So that's an assurance that believers are given you know because especially now in the end times when the persecution is increasing and the law enforcement forces are working against us rather than for us you know when believers go out to the police station and you know file their complaint because of the injustice which is being done to them the police officers sometimes are unwilling to even take down their written complaint you know they they refuse to file their complaint. So we are living in times where justice may not be received on this earth but the assurance that we are giving is that God is just and one day every wrongdoing will be punished. So Paul says this will happen and the Lord is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels you know which is what revelation 19 talks about how God will come to bring judgment. So judgment will be brought upon the people who are living at that time you know in the end times and also judgment will be declared against all those who have done wrong against the church again and against the followers of God through the ages. So last class when we were talking about the difference between rapture and the second coming we talked about how Jesus will descend upon the Mount of Olives it talks about how you know his feet will rest upon the Mount of Olives and so in that passage Zechariah 14 versus 3 to 4 this is what it says over there in Zechariah 14 3 to 4 then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as he fights on a day of battle on that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. So in the second coming when the Lord comes he will avenge all the wrong that has been done to believers. So the Lord has his own timing sometimes justice may be received right now you know in our current day but sometimes the justice will be seen in the end time when on the judgment day when everyone who deserves to be punished will receive punishment for whatever wrong they have done. So we never have to think you know that we have just been left that God ignored our pain that God ignored the wrong that has been done to us no the Lord does not overlook any wrong every wrong doing will be punished so except of course if a person repents of their sins and comes to him under his covering so in that case whatever rotten things that person has done all of those sins will be forgiven in the same way our sins were also forgiven you know so that privileges there and in those cases the injustice of that the punishment for that has been borne by Jesus Christ on the cross so he has paid for the wrong which was done so that person will not be punished Jesus would have taken that punishment upon himself but in all other cases the punishment will come upon the people who have harmed and hurt the people of God. So in verse 11 he says with this in mind we constantly pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. So here he says that it is God who will make you worthy of his calling how will he make us worthy by his power there are two things that the Thessalonians believers were desiring for first they had a desire for goodness they really wanted to become more holy they really wanted to please God they really wanted to live good lives so this desire for goodness which they had all assures them that God will make this happen by his power the second thing which they desire is that every deed should be prompted by faith they want to do good deeds for God you know out of their love out of their faith. So Paul says that this too they will be able to do by the power of God we pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you is what Paul says so God will glorify himself by fulfilling these two desires you know just like these Thessalonians we too have a desire for goodness we don't want to continue living in sin we want to leave our old ways and become more pleasing to him so this desire for goodness which we have God will fulfill it by his power in the same way there are so many deeds which we are doing you know out of faith and out of love God will cause us to succeed and you know be effective in all these good deeds that we are doing by the resurrection power which he has given us so we can have confidence that we will be able to live a righteous holy life and become more and more sanctified not by our own strength but by the resurrection power of God and in the same way we can have the full assurance that if we are doing anything you know out of faith out of love for God any good deed that we are taking up God will cause us to succeed in it by his resurrection power so his resurrection power is available for living a godly life and his resurrection power is available for doing ministry work doing good deeds helping those who are in need you know so in all of this God's resurrection power is available and at work so God himself will make us worthy of his calling because you see if you remember these Thessalonians were worried they were thinking that God had left them behind because he found them lacking he thought that they are not worthy and so he left them behind and he just collected all the other believers and went away is what they were thinking so here Paul is assuring them and telling them don't worry you too will be made worthy God will do this by his resurrection power so you know if any of us are out there thinking that you know I will never really amount to anything the things which I am doing will never really bear any fruit because I'm so small and insignificant this these words which Paul writes over here are applicable even to us God will make us worthy of his calling no matter how small we are or how insignificant we are by his resurrection power he will fulfill our desire for goodness and living a godly life by his resurrection power he will cause every deed you know that we are doing for him to be successful this is something that God will work in us through his power so he will make us worthy of his calling we never have to think that you know I will always stay unworthy we do not have to you know live under that kind of a wrong impression so this is basically what Paul you know says in chapter one he assures them that they are on the right track and he comforts them that you know if they if they hold on to this right track God will do what is required God will make them worthy and so then he goes to the you know the the key issue that they are facing and he talks about that in chapter two so if we could have someone read out for us the word the first seven versus yeah second Thessalonians chapter two versus one to seven please now brethren considering the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him we we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us as though the day of crisis come let no one deceive you by any means for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed the son of petition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worship so that he sees as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God do do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and now you know that it is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time for the mysteries of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way yeah so here Paul assures them and tells them don't worry the day of the Lord has not come yet so he says in verse two he says do not become easily unsettled or alarmed that Greek word that is used over there literally talks about you know someone who has been shaken in their mind is like they have received a very shocking jolt you know that because that's basically how the this one believers felt when they heard this wrong teaching that God has finished coming and has collected his people and gone away so it is like a shock to them it is like a jolt it unsettled them in their mind so he says do not become unsettled do not become alarmed by this wrong teaching and so then he goes on to say two two main events have to take place before the second coming will happen so the first is that a rebellion will occur and the second thing is that the man of lawlessness will be revealed so only after these two events have happened only then the second coming will take place so the first one is that the rebellion will occur that word which is used over there that's the Greek word apostasia it literally talks about someone who is turning their back and walking away from the position which they had held earlier so it's talking about a very deliberate decision of being told the truth and then choosing consciously and saying no I don't want this truth I choose to walk away so it's like an outright rebellion so a time will come when and in fact we're already seeing that happening now where you have a major portion of the church turning their backs on God turning their backs on the word of God and walking away I mean we're seeing that all over the world right many many people who used to be attendees in the churches are now turning their back on the church and walking away and now you have a new kind of church coming in you know they're calling them progressive churches not sure whether you heard that term there are progressive churches being set up everywhere these are new types of churches where whatever you want to do you do you know you feel like doing something you do it there's no longer any obedience to the word of God you know so people say oh yeah you know the word of God is can be adjusted to modern times we are progressive in our thinking is what they say so you have a large section of the church which is walking away in open rebellion they have turned their back on what God has said they no longer have respect and they no longer regard the word of God as being authoritative you know they they exert their own authority they decide what is right and what is wrong and they have the temerity to call it a church you know they actually call it progressive church but in fact these churches are not progressing they're in fact backsliding into a very you know bad condition of total destruction so the first thing is that the rebellion will occur there'll be a major move away from the church of God there'll be millions of people walking away from the truth walking away from the things of God and walking away from whatever the word of God has commanded and we are actually seeing that happening even now and it'll probably continue to increase you know even as the end times keep progressing the second thing which will take place before the second coming will be the you know revealing of the man of lawlessness in our Christian circles that word anti Christ is being used you know for this particular person but over here Paul just describes him as man of lawlessness because in the New Testament that word anti Christ is generally used for you know false teachers false prophets people who have taken an anti Christ stand you know rather than being for Christ they are anti Christ they're against Christ so that the word in the New Testament is generally used for people who are false teachers and false prophets but you know in our modern Christian circles generally this man of lawlessness he is referred to as the anti Christ that final man who will come and lead the people into deception so there's much debate about who this person is and from where he would come and what he would be like in Daniel 11 this person is mentioned so Daniel 11 versus 36 to 37 if someone could read out for us Daniel 11 36 and 37 Daniel 11 was 36 and 37 then the king shall do according to his own will he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god shall speak blasphemies against the god of gods and shall prosper till the Roth has been accomplished for what has been determined shall be done he shall regard neither the god of his fathers nor the desire of women nor regard any god for he shall exalt himself above them all yeah so here it talks about this person who will come in the end times he will it says he will not have regard for any god but will exalt himself above them all so this person will portray himself as a god he will he will declare that he is divine and in fact he will succeed to some extent it says because everyone you know will will believe in him and they will go after him so this is the kind of anti Christ who's talked about in Daniel 11 36 to 37 it says that he will in verse 37 it says he will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women here it's referring to you know the Hebrew women who were longing to be the mother of the Messiah you know the Israelite nation was always eagerly looking forward to the to the revealing of the Messiah and it was a longing among the women of Israel that you know they should receive the honor of becoming the mother of this Messiah when he is born in fact this privilege was not given to any of them it finally comes to one you know unknown youngster named Mary so she's the one who is granted this privilege of becoming the mother of the Messiah so here in verse 37 it's talking about that how this anti Christ will have no regard for any gods nor will he have any regard for the Messiah but rather he will exalt himself above everyone so when people talk about this topic of anti Christ they generally refer to two people in the past who were like an anti Christ the first person that that is generally referred to is Antiochus Epiphany this was a person who you know lived about about 200 years before the coming of Jesus to 15 BC to 164 BC this was a Syrian king who comes and you know attacks Jerusalem and just to dishonor the temple and just to you know dishonor the Jewish people he goes into the temple and he installs a new altar over there to the to the pagan gods Zeus so he makes a new he builds a new altar inside the Jerusalem temple and over there on that altar he sacrifices a pig specifically because the Old Testament says that I know the Jews should not either sacrifice pigs or eat them and so he deliberately does this as an act of open rebellion that Greek word apostasia so he basically basically indulges in an open act of rebellion against God so people generally refer to Antiochus Epiphanus as an anti Christ a second person who's generally referred to as an anti Christ is Emperor Gaius Caligula this was basically the Roman Emperor in AD 40 it's like shortly after the you know the the resurrection of Jesus he sets up a statue of himself in the Jerusalem temple he makes a large statue of himself he sets it up inside the Jerusalem temple and he tells all the Jewish people to bow down before this statue and in fact many of the Jews who refuse to do that you know they are tortured and all of that so these are some people who came in the past who openly rebelled against God and you know basically established themselves as a God so the anti Christ who will come in the end times he will be something like this and so in the Thessalonian passage it says in verse 4 it says he will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or his worship so that he sets himself up in God's temple so there's some debate about where exactly this anti Christ of the end times will set himself up some people say that the Jerusalem temple will be rebuilt at that time and he will set himself up in that Jerusalem temple because right now you know right I mean the temple is no longer there it was destroyed in AD 70 and after that in the middle ages the mosque was built over there so right now there is no temple but the belief is that in the end times the temple may be rebuilt and the anti Christ may set himself up over there I will will continue to look at this theme of the anti Christ and you know cover some details regarding this in our next session so right now we'll just close with the word of prayer Lord we just thank you so much for the things that we could learn from the Thessalonian letters we pray O Lord that we would remember these things and apply them in our lives help us to prepare ourselves O Lord for your second coming enable us to be sober and awake and alert O Lord so that when you come you will be very pleased to see us the way we are and we will we will receive praise from you so we pray O Lord that we will remember all the instructions that are given in chapter 5 and we would apply them to our own lives thank you Lord in Jesus name amen amen thank you