Impossible, Part 8, "The Motivation for World Missions"

The Motivation for World Missions - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
"Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 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 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…"

Three reasons to believe in the imminency of Christ’s return:

1) The widespread apostasy within the modern “Church.” Apostasy is the abandonment and renunciation of the foundational tenets of Christianity. By definition, there are more apostate “churches” in America than true churches. God calls the end times church a “harlot” in Revelation 17:5.

“It was the teaching of cheap grace. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession….Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

2) Israel recently signed a peace treaty with her traditional enemies. The Abraham Accords, brokered by the Trump administration, could possibly be the treaty used by the Antichrist to broker the seven-year peace treaty described in Daniel 9:27.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
"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."

3) Movement toward global Marxism, even in western civilization. Revelation 13 describes a global system of world Marxism that will temporarily unite the nations politically and economically.

“This pandemic has provided an opportunity for a reset. This is our chance to accelerate our pre-pandemic efforts to reimagine economic systems that actually address global challenges like extreme poverty, inequality and climate change.”
—Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister

“The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world."
—Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum

2 Thessalonians 2:5-8
"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 is 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 nearness of Christ’s return should be our motivation to take the gospel to our neighbors and the nations! We are all called to be missionaries! The only question is, where?

Life is fleeting. The world is fading. Only the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ will last forever!