We are still looking into 2Thessalonians 2:1-12 but moving down the page just a bit, to where we have this statement in our context of verses 7-12; "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he (now I have stated that this is the only time that I know of where the body of Christ is spoken as a he, usually the church is a she.) 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 (presence). 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." Now I might say that we are living in these times today as a general statement based on what we both see and hear in the open news agencies. I say "open," because as I have seen for myself not all news resources are that open, many in fact most news medias today are run as anything but. they sound more like commentaries with a skewed slant of socialism leading to hypocrisy. Where those of the closed society of liberalism and social Democrats proclaim a progressism as disclosed in our text. Because they can not stand what i am about to share.
In General, Godly Sincerity is who we are,
"We conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you." (2Corinthians 1:12)
God not only wants our lives characterized with godly sincerity toward His word, He desires to mark our lives with godly sincerity as well. "We conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity . . . and more abundantly toward you." As the Apostle Paul and his missionary team evangelized throughout the known world, and as they ministered among the churches, they functioned in both arenas with simple, Christ-like genuineness. And by doing so met with stiff opposition by the politically religious communities of the Jews.
The world is filled with pretense and attention to outward appearances. Many within the LORD's church have yielded to this temptation in these directions. The flesh of each of us is enticed to develop an exterior image (a veneer of sorts) that does not match what should be going on inside. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day for such an attitude. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation" (Matthew 23:14). These men were actually taking advantage of the helpless widows. Yet, they stood in public and made long prayers, hoping to be considered as godly in the eyes of the people.
Their hypocrisy, as with today, was not only a matter of observable, contradictory behaviors, but the very core of their being was drastically different from what they appeared to be outwardly. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:26-27).
Our LORD loves sincerity and hates hypocrisy. However, it takes a working of GOD by His grace to effect the sincerity that GOD desires. "We conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God." Human ingenuity cannot produce the genuineness that GOD wants to see in our lives. GOD's grace is the only sufficient resource to bring about this godly characteristic of life. GOD by His grace works within our hearts, where true sincerity must be formed. "First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matthew 23:26).
Delusions of the Arch Deceiver,
Concealment of Sin,
Genesis 3:8 of 8-19 "They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?' And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?' The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.' To the woman He said, 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.' And to Adam He said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'"
Joshua 7:21 of 16-21 with 2Kings 17:9 "So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to Him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me." And Achan answered Joshua, "Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
2Kings 17:9 of 7-18 "And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, 'You shall not do this.' Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "'Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by My servants the prophets.'" But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They despised His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers and the warnings that He gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only."
Proverbs 28:13 of 9-14 "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance. A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity."
Isaiah 29:15 of 15-16 "Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding?"
Isaiah 30:1 of 1-5 with Ezekiel 8:12 "'Ah, stubborn children,' declares the LORD, 'who carry out a plan, but not Mine, and who make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for My direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. For though his officials are at Zoan and his envoys reach Hanes, everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace."
Ezekiel 8:12 of 7-13 "And HE brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then HE said to me, 'Son of man, dig in the wall.' So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And HE said to me, 'Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.' So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. Then HE said to me, 'Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, "The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'" He said also to me, 'You will see still greater abominations that they commit.'"
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