Please open your Bible now to  2 Thessalonians chapter 2. My desire, my heart prayer today is just to express what this chapter says, just for us to see what God says, and then to consider the well-founded hope that He promised to those who believe in Jesus. 

Look at, I'm going to have you just look at beginning at verse 13 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 

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 of the spirit and belief in the truth, to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 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, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us that believers in Jesus Christ can live with realistic positive hope and courage at all times. As we just read, it's called good well-founded hope by grace. It's a possibility. I hope everyone this morning who's sharing this time with us is saying amen in your heart for that well-founded hope that God has given to you. 

Let me have you just consider a contrast. In Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 through 13, Paul declares to the Ephesian believers that before they were saved, they were without God in the world, having no hope. Any person who is without the Lord, without Jesus as Savior, has no viable hope as he looks to the future. 

In contrast, when Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 8 of Romans, he said we who are believers are in a world that's experiencing travail and groaning and suffering, and we even groan with this world in this trouble. But he said we're saved by hope. In the midst of the groaning and the travail, Paul said we have hope. We have well-founded saving hope. 

Let me have you consider those two questions relative to your own life. Do you know the difference right now as you sit in this place? Do you know the difference of what it was like to live without God before you were saved, without Christ, having no hope? And the difference right now of being saved by the hope of Jesus Christ. 

Simon Peter said we were born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I think the reason I mentioned that at the beginning today is I think to have biblical understanding of our hope, we need to understand the information that God has put into this second chapter regarding the impending trouble, the imminent disaster that's going to strike planet Earth. 

I'd like for you to take a moment right now and turn to the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, and I want us to look at the description of what is destined for this planet and the people who have no hope. Turn to Revelation chapter 15, please, in your Bible. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, chapter 15. 

And I'd like for you to start at verse 5. Follow this statement. After these things I looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. This is a vision, a revelation that the Lord gave to the apostle John. 

And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, having their chests girded with golden bands. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 

And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power. And no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. Now that scripture, that revelation, that preview of the future declares that God is going to pour out on planet earth His intensive wrath after He takes His church, after He raptures His believers. 

And let's read about that. Let's read about those seven bowls of wrath starting in verse 1 of chapter 16. What's the destiny for this world? Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. 

So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it became blood as of a dead man. And every living creature in the sea died. 

We take these predictions literally concerning the future. The wrath that God’s going to pour out on this planet. Look at verse 4. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water saying, you're righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be because you've judged these things. 

For they've shed the blood of saints and prophets and you've given them blood to drink for it's their just due. And I heard another from the altar saying, even so, Lord God, all my true and righteous are your judgments. 

Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. See this vision. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of God and His power who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give Him glory. 

This is what 2nd Thessalonians has in mind when it talks about the destiny of the world, the future of this planet, the destiny of humanity. Verse 10. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom became full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and they did not repent of their deeds. 

Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up so the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them to battle of the great day of God almighty. 

Folks, we're looking at what is going to happen on this planet imminently, soon. God's wrath is going to be poured out on this planet and in light of that Paul says it's possible to live with well-established hope. 

Look at verse 16 of this chapter. And they gathered them together in the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying it’s done and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was a great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 

Now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. I'm often amazed at that statement when I read Revelation. The cities of the nation. What's going to happen to America? Ultimately the cities of the nations, whether it's Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, the cities of the nations are all going to fall. 

And great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away and the mountains were not found and great hail from heaven fell upon men each hailstone about the weight of a talent that's a hundred pounds and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail since the plague was exceedingly great. 

These are the things that Paul has in his mind when he writes to the Thessalonian Christians and said you can have well-founded hope in light of the terrifying predictions for planet earth. You can live every day with hope and one thing I've noticed in preaching from the book of first and second Thessalonians is all about hope in the light of the wrath of God that's imminent and going to happen to planet earth. 

Paul said to the Thessalonian Christians, comfort one another with these words of hope for those who are believers in Christ. 

Now I find that second Thessalonians chapter 2 divides into two separate paragraphs and I want to talk about them and teach what those two paragraphs tell us relative to our hope and concerning the future the destiny of the world. 

First of all the first paragraph is verses 1 to 12 and it's all about we have prophetic truth and you might be saying pastor Krenz how can I how can I experience this hope and Paul is saying we have the prophetic word the word of God which tells us concerning the future we have prophetic hope. 

And secondly the second half of this chapter says we believe God's faithful word of truth in those two statements folks we find the secret of this well-founded hope. 

So I want you to follow in your Bible again as we read from the first paragraph, the first 12 verses, and just listen intently to what the Holy Spirit moved upon the apostle Paul to record. 

Now brethren concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in our gathering to Him we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or trouble either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us as though the day of Christ had 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 perdition 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. 

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way 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. 

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. 

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

We have prophetic truth and it’s that truth, that prophetic truth that gives us our assurance and our hope at this time. New covenant prophetic hope is all related to the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering to Him. 

I'm not here to give you a false hope today that America is going to return to its roots and that Christians will be spared from persecution from martyrdom from imprisonment. The major thing that Jesus taught about persecution for that will come upon the church in the end of the age is that this He said in Luke 21:13, this will turn as an opportunity for testimony. 

And one thing we can just about count upon is that Christians in America are ultimately eventually going to experience similar persecution that's raging all over the world as many believers are giving their lives for the sake of the gospel. 

And so in light of this Paul is talking about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him. Folks, that statement is our hope that Jesus is coming He's going to gather us together to Himself. 

And here's what Paul tells us in this paragraph he said we should not be shaken in mind, troubled or deceived thinking that the day of the Lord is here. 

And that was true for the Thessalonian believers because persecution was great. They thought that perhaps the day of the Lord had already come. 

I want to turn to an Old Testament scripture which influenced their thinking. It's the book of Zephaniah, that's near the end of the Old Testament, a short prophetic book written about 400 years before Jesus was born. 

And listen to what Zephaniah said about the ultimate, eventual coming of the day of the Lord. I'm reading from Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 14. He said this, The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out. 

Now as we read this, remember that the people at Thessalonica, about 50 years after the resurrection of Jesus, thought that the trouble they were experiencing, the persecution they were experiencing at that time, indicated that they were already involved in the day of the Lord. 

Listen to what Zephaniah says about that day. Look at verse 15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. 

God said, I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men because they've sinned against the Lord. Their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in that land. 

Now that was a description by one of the prophets, numerous of the prophets spoke about that, of the eventual day of the Lord, the eventual day of God's wrath and judgment. And so when persecution came in the first century against the Thessalonian church, they were disturbed. They were troubled and confused because they thought the day of the Lord had already come. 

Because in Thessalonica, their persecution was severe. They were driven from their homes and families. They had no means of income. They were refugees living in dens and caves as Hebrews 11 tells us. And Paul states to them there are two reasons they should not consider that they were in the day of the Lord, because it's going to be much worse than they were experiencing. 

And this was not the time of the day of the Lord for the Thessalonian believers. The day of the Lord will not happen, folks, until after the rapture of the church. And I hope everyone here is familiar with what this terminology, the rapture of the church, is that time promised when Jesus is going to come and evacuate all believers from planet earth. 

That is an imminent event. The dead in Christ will rise out of their graves and we who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And the Bible says that's our comfort. Be comforted by that truth. 

The day of the Lord will begin with seven years of terrible tribulation for planet earth. Then a thousand years of reign when Jesus reigns as king over the world from the city of Jerusalem. But before the day of the Lord comes, there will be a falling away. 

And Paul and the Holy Spirit used the striking terms, there will be an apostasy. And that refers to deliberate, ultimate turning from God's saving truth. And our New Testament speaks of that so often, that the day is coming when many will turn away from the truth of Jesus Christ. 

It will be a time of absolute rejection of Jesus and the saving gospel. And that's happening. That's happening in a great way across the world today. They went out from us, said John, but they were not of us. And what happens when people reject Jesus Christ, having heard the saving gospel, and reject him? And the book of Hebrews answers that question. 

For the person who turns away, deliberately turns away from the saving gospel of Christ, there's a fearful looking of judgment and vengeance and God's wrath. There's going to be a massive turning away from the truth of the gospel. And then, Paul told the Thessalonians, the man of sin is going to be revealed. 

The man of sin is Satan incarnate as a human leader. Jesus taught his disciples that this man of sin is going to come. This religious leader will come to the world. He'll win the worship of people all across the world. He'll force people to receive his mark on their right hand or their forehead, even to survive to buy or sell. 

And the man of sin will come at the time of the day of the Lord. So Paul said, I want to remind you that you shouldn't be shaken in mind or distressed or confused by the persecution that's going to come upon Christians near to the time of the rapture and before the day of the Lord. 

And he said, secondly, I want you to remember what God told us. Two specific things he said we need to remember concerning this time. First of all, he said, we need to remember who is restraining evil in the world today. 

At this time in history, God has a force in the world restraining the ultimate wickedness of mankind. And who is it that's restraining evil in the world today? It's the Holy Spirit who indwells believers. And so the church by means of the Holy Spirit is a restraining influence in our world today against the ultimate wrath, the ultimate sin, the ultimate rejection that men will have for God's Son, Jesus Christ. 

And we need to remember also, he said, that there is a mystery of iniquity in the world that's working in the hearts of men and leaders. There's a sinister, mysterious force that Paul called lawlessness that permeates humanity and is influencing, corrupting our culture and our society. There's a defiant, rebellious, hateful attitude called iniquity. 

And if you wonder what's going on in the world as you hear the news or watch the news or read the news, you wonder what in the world is happening in the world. Paul said it's called the mystery of iniquity. The Holy Spirit is working to restrain evil through the church, through believers. And yet there's a subtle influence in our world that Paul called a mystery, a mystery of lawlessness. 

He said, I want you to remember those things. And so I just remind you of those two things this morning from this text. Remember that God has a restraining influence concerning iniquity and sin and His ultimate wrath in the world today. 

And when that restraining influence is taken out of the world, the mystery of iniquity will explode like a volcano of sin on humanity. And then the third thing he told us in this first paragraph is that we know that God will send strong delusion to those who refuse to believe. 

I'd like for you to look at verse 11 and 12 again. How is God looking upon this situation in which we're living? And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

And there are two indicators concerning who these sinners are and why God judges them with strong delusion. There are people, Paul said, who do not love and believe God's truth. What is the truth that God offers to humanity today? The truth to believe. The very first statement of the Bible is the truth God created the heavens and the earth. 

That's the first principle of truth that God has given to humanity. Isn't it sinister and subtle how Satan has been so clever to deny that truth with the system of evolution taught in all of our educational institutions? 

Our little children from the youngest to the top, the college students are taught that God did not create this world. It happened by time and chance. They didn't love the truth. They didn't believe the truth. Therefore, God sends them strong delusion. 

What is the truth? Matthew 1:21, call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. That's the truth. And God will cause people to believe Satan's lie instead of God's truth. Satan blinds the minds of those who do not believe in Christ. 

I'm glad for that verse of scripture that we could begin our service with today, 2 Peter 3:9. God is not willing for any to perish. And yet the same Bible tells us most people will perish. Jesus said it's like this. God gives a generous wedding invitation for his son, a banquet in the palace for his son. And he said most people make light of that invitation, deny that invitation, and refuse to come. 

I just want to say this morning, dear people, it's a matter of being willing to believe. If any man wills to know God's doctrine, he'll know the truth. And I hope this morning as we share this time, in your hearts and in my heart, we're saying, Lord, I'm willing to believe the truth. 

Who are these people whom God will send strong delusion? There are people who refuse to believe God's saving truth and they find their pleasure in unrighteousness. Jesus talked about that. He said men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. 

I think it comes right down to this for you and me today as we read this scripture. Is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ the supreme pleasure of my life? I'm so thankful I can answer that affirmatively. God's provision for us, His truth, prophetic truth, and the gospel. 

And Paul said, set your mind on these things. Meditate on these things which give us our hope. 

Thanks for listening to the Word of God. Please bow with me in a prayer right now. 

Father, thank you for this kind of a promise in the context of what seems so disappointing, in the context of a world that's more and more rejecting Jesus and the saving gospel. And Father, in the setting of predictions of ultimate wrath for humanity, thank you for good hope, well-founded hope, and assurance, Father. 

We love you, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.