Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

“ 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 perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. ¹³ But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. ¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”

Our text paints a bleak picture, yet it speaks of good hope. But what is good hope? Is it like saying your football team has a good chance of making the playoffs? That’s not what our text means by good hope. A good chance means less than 100%. But the good hope mentioned here is the certainty that God has loved us and has given us everlasting consolation. This is what is meant by good hope—a hope that is certain, like someone’s word being good. It’s something you can trust absolutely.

No sinful human being’s words are 100% reliable, but God’s are. The hope our text speaks of is a hope that won’t disappoint. No matter how good a chance your favorite team has to make the playoffs, they could still disappoint their fans and fall short. But God wants you to know that you have a good hope—a hope that won’t disappoint, a hope that is yours by grace. We are to comfort our hearts in bleak times with this hope. Comfort your hearts in the knowledge that this hope is good, and comfort your hearts in the assurance that this hope is by grace.

Are things bleak? They certainly are for many people. Inflation has been crazy. Russia is threatening nuclear war. China is threatening to invade Taiwan. Iran and Israel are on the brink of all-out war. And those are just some of the bigger issues. That doesn’t even include the personal challenges you might be facing. Yet, it is not because of anything like those that Paul was concerned for the Thessalonians. It is not because of these types of things that Paul prays that our Lord Jesus Christ and our God and Father would comfort their hearts and establish them in every good word and work. Are there things worse and more bleak than nuclear war? Yes. Yes, there are—the falling away and the coming of the man of sin, the son of perdition.

What is this falling away, and who is this man of sin, and why does he bring perdition? Perdition is a word for eternal ruin. Not even nuclear bombs bring eternal ruin. The world’s worst nuclear disaster was Chernobyl. In 1986, it sent clouds of radioactive material across the countryside. It will take a long time for all that to dissipate. Some 40 years later, plant and animal life are still showing deformities. And yet, plant and animal life are coming back strong.

The man of sin, this son of perdition, brings worse destruction. The destruction he brings to those ensnared by him is eternal. Slowly, plant and animal life are returning to Chernobyl. It might take a couple of hundred years, but eventually, there will be no radioactive material left. But the lies of the man of sin bring eternal destruction to those who believe them.

Who is this man of sin, this son of perdition? It is the papacy. Paul goes on to describe this son of perdition in more detail. He describes how the son of perdition would sit in the house of God, claiming for himself the authority to speak for God. The papacy claims to be God’s vicar on earth, to speak for God. How does the son of perdition bring destruction? With unrighteous deception, he leads people to believe the lie and be damned. What lie is this? It’s the lie of Catholicism—that people can contribute to their salvation. This is the lie Paul warns about here and throughout his letters. No matter how pious and godly someone seems, those who teach anything other than that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift from God, won for all people by Christ, are spreading destructive lies. They might think they are helping, but they aren’t. Their lies can kill souls. It is the rejection of the truth that we are saved by grace alone for Jesus’ sake that damns. That rejection is the greatest sin. This is why the papacy is called the man of sin and the son of perdition.

And yet, as terrible as this son of perdition is, he is only a symptom of the problem. Notice that our text says something would come before the man of sin. What would come first? The falling away. God mentions how the forces that would lead to the formation of the papacy were already present in Paul’s day, but they were being restrained. What was restraining them? God was restraining them through His Word.

When people no longer loved the truth that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift from God that Christ won for us all, then the son of perdition arose. It is the Gospel truth of salvation by grace through faith that keeps the error of works righteousness at bay. However, when people stopped loving that truth, Catholicism and the papacy came forth and brought perdition.

So, as terrible as the lies of the papacy are, they are only a symptom of a deeper disease—a disease that arises again and again. It’s the disease of ungodliness, leading us to stop loving the Gospel. Do you think the falling away that began in Paul’s time was the first or the last time? In the time of the Judges, people fell away from loving the truth many times. It happened before King Josiah’s reign. It was rampant during Jesus’ earthly life. Jesus warned Israel during His earthly life that if they didn’t produce the fruits of the kingdom, the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others. Time and time again, when God brought the truth that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift of God, eventually (perhaps in one generation, perhaps in ten), they no longer loved that truth. Their itching ears didn’t want to hear about their sinfulness anymore. They grew bored of hearing how Jesus forgave them in grace. They wanted to hear that they could contribute to their salvation. They grew in ungodliness and took pleasure in unrighteousness. The land where that happens lives in perdition greater than Chernobyl.

And yet, God wanted the Thessalonians and us to have consolation and good hope. How can we have such hope when such things are going on? Let me ask you—how did God break the power of the papacy? Not with armies, but with the breath of His mouth, as verse 8 tells us. This happened at the time of Luther. It happened at the time of Josiah. The lie held sway over people’s hearts, but God, in grace, brought His Gospel to save. Armed with that Gospel, do not despair but have good hope.

This is how we, and the Thessalonians, are to be consoled and comforted. We have a good hope by grace. Do you love and cherish the truth that we have the free forgiveness of sin as a gift of God as much as you should? No, none of us do. But do you love it some? Yes, by the work of the Spirit, we do love it some. We have not yet lost the light of the Gospel. It is still here for us and shines with comfort and consolation, giving good hope—a good hope that gives us 100% assurance that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift of God to you through Christ Jesus.

You and I are forgiven for not loving the truth as much as we should. We are forgiven in grace because of what Christ did. This is how we know our sins are forgiven. We are forgiven because Jesus was punished for our sins as much as we should have been. You and I are forgiven for all our sins. And at Christ’s glorious coming, we shall be taken to heaven. How amazing is the grace that gives us freedom from sin, death, and the devil, and life in heaven. Hold on to this good hope.

—Pastor Aaron Ude

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Rapid City, SD

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