2 Thess 2, Why It Is Better to Give Than Receive – the True King’s Heart.Sunday August 20, 2023
Theme: The false christ, the beast, wants to take while the true Christ risks His very life to give.
The Lord said it is better to give than it is to receive. Why is that true?
Do you expect people to give to you? Not just materials, but attention, thanks, recognition, affirmation, chores, etc. Do you say to yourself, “It is only right that they do so?” The heart of the true King will change this seemingly right, but false, mind. The false, in this case, is made very much to look like the new.
In his plan of becoming sovereign master of creation, Satan will seat his great masterpiece in absolute power.
Ironically, considering his desire to claim sovereignty, Satan is not allowed to seat his great man in power until God lets him.
2Th 2:6-8 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 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 Then that lawless one will be revealed …
But he is no match for the true Messiah King.
2Th 2:8-10 whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work …” Satan’s masterpiece is not an original.
This one, who has many names in Scripture, is not original. As it turns out, nothing that Satan does is. Everything that God does is – He is the only Creator.
There have been many kings in history that have already acted like he will. Stalin of recent history, Nebuchadnezzar of old, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and unfortunately many kings of Israel and Judah.
Painting: The painting depicts the surrender of the Gallic chieftain after the Battle of Alesia (52 BC)
Caesar went into Gaul in 58 B.C. and in a nine-year period killed perhaps one million Gauls and enslaved another million. And yet in Caesar’s Gallic Wars, and in later Roman literature, we read that Rome brought civilization to Gaul. The elite of Gaul were to wear purple togas, enjoy habeas corpus, and have aqueducts, so it was all for the good.
It was all for their own good, right?
We know that the man of sin in the Tribulation will rule a world empire. This is also not new.
The success that made Rome an Empire, destroyed Rome by degrading the elements that made it great. And herein lies the clue that makes the vast difference between Christ and the Antichrist.
The Lord said it is better to give than it is to receive. Why is that true?
(Hint: context - Acts 20:28-30 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”)
The counterfeit king receives. The true King gives.
All the empires of world history have attempted to plunder the worlds around them. A one world government is not a new concept.
Picture: British Christmas postage stamp. Around 1900, the British Empire ruled 12 million square miles.
Today, something like a world empire of some of the world’s elites. Their vision is of a transnational ruling class.
Rev 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
Rev 13:1-2 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
Dan 7:3-8 "And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. 4 "The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. 5 "And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, 'Arise, devour much meat!' 6 "After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.
Even if this beast could amass all the power of Christ, what would he lack?
The Lord said it is better to give than it is to receive. Why is that true?
The fourth beast is like the others but fiercer and more destructive, however, in essence he is the same. He wants sovereign power and worship. The elites of every powerful nation in history have all wanted the same.
As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun,
Ecc 1:8-11 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. 9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. 11 There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.
The man of sin wants what God alone can have.
The true Christ has what God has because He is God.
The Lord said it is better to give than it is to receive. Why is that true?
The heart of the true King is the help of others, the salvation of others. When one gives and another receives, they rejoice together. This is distorted when one is elevated above the other, whether the giver or receiver.
Php 2:5-8 Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Why would He do this?
Unlike the beast and all those who came before Him and acted like him in order to gain the kingdoms of the world, Jesus risked losing His kingdom so that many could enter with Him.
The fact that there is noting new under the sun, that other kings and elites have followed the same pattern of the man of sin to come, is an effective revelation for us to understand our own continued temptation from our own flesh. We are all capable of the lack of charity, the lust, the love of money, and more that all make up the composition of the beast.
As Christians, even devout ones, we are in danger of being absorbed with self, what self gets, what it should get, what others should be doing and giving to us. We even say that it is right that they do such-and-such for us, but is that the mind of the true King?
But a far greater thing is also true of us. Every believer, without exception, is endowed with the power to be like Christ and to live life under the rules, laws, and ways of His coming kingdom.
Php 2:1-5 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
The great difference between the false and true Christ is the character of heart.
Php 2:6-8 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
God rewards the righteous heart. Mat 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Php 2:9-11 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Often the reading of this passage in church is stopped here. Let us keep reading.
Php 2:12-18 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain [It is better to give than to receive]. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith [Paul is being persecuted by rulers], I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
Rom 8:10-11 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Application: It is the character of your heart that matters. The fruit of the Spirit is…
We are not taking vows of poverty or relinquishing all power, but we have temperance – going so far and now farther as our Lord commands. We are prudent – having practical common sense in all matters. We are just and courageous.
You are to concentrate on and love giving, not receiving.
Our outward possessions and circumstances mean nothing without the character of Christ’s heart – the heart of our King, warrior poet (Psa 45).
With His heart, all of our things gain their meaning and their usefulness – our things, our time, our energy is to be used for others and then we will rejoice together.
We see them as God does and so use them as He wills.
The false christ has all the things and none of the heart and look at what happens to him.
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