April 8th, 2017

• 2 Thessalonians was written around 51d.C. Less than 20 years after Christ's death, Christians were already forgetting Jesus' teachings and warnings about deception, delusion…
• Paul explains that injustice was working. Jesus was almost gone out and  evil and deceit were already a problem. The situation was not worse because the hand of God was still holding the enemy. Our situation nowadays is not worse because God has control over everything.  There are still churches and leaders committed, teaching the truth, there are still true Christians, but things are no longer lost because of the Holy Spirit.
• But when the Lord withdraws, the enemy will really stand up and will deceive many. And according to the Bible it's going to be a spectacle! A show! Satan will try to copy the glorious deeds of God.
• The copy to deceive must be very similar to the original. Thinking about Christianity, unfortunately the enemy of our souls knows our God and His Word much better than many Christians. And people are fooled very easily. 
• This explains why we see so much gospel nonsense these days, in the doctrines imposed by men: sometimes too "heavy" - almost impossible fasts and extraordinary vows… And on the opposite side, we see a soft gospel, too light, where people rely on the lies like “no problem on doing/behaving/saying”, the gospel of permissiveness. And other problems as idolatry, trading of faith.
• The enemy will do everything to catch people. Those who let themselves be deceived will perish. Those who refuse to love the truth will accompany the devil.
• You will not be deceived if you love truth. The truth is Jesus.The more you know the Truth, the less cheated you will be. It is a growing, inexhaustible process of growth.
• Reading the Bible and praying are sine qua non conditions for Christians to survive in these end times.
• When Jesus comes, the church will rise and those who remain will still stand a chance of being saved, but it will be much more difficult without the help of the Holy Spirit.
• The man of sin will declare himself divine and sit in the temple of God, acting as if he were a god. He will not allow anyone but himself to be worshiped. And God will not be "here" to help people to resist.  
• Paul is alerting people! The New Testament had not yet been written, and the essential beliefs of the Christian faith were being communicated through preaching and letters from the apostles. Having believed the truth, the Thessalonian Christians should now keep it and stand firm in their faith. Using truth is a guaranteed way to keep it. Something you don´t use, you tend to lose. More than studying it is necessary to put into practice the Word of God. Everything that we experience is closer, more intelligible, more real ...
• God does not want us to get lost. He wants us to take possession of the glory of Jesus Christ. God chose us to be saved. But we must choose to be saved. We must have faith in the truth and allow the Holy Spirit to act in us by sanctifying ourselves.
• Salvation is accomplished by the Spirit as we place our faith in Christ. Salvation happens through a balance between the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and faith in the truth. 
• What for would the Holy Spirit to speak to those who have no understanding of the Word? For nothing…
• And the Word without the Spirit? For those who have no understanding, the Bible would become just a collection of 66 books, written in a poetic or narrative way, with historical character in some parts ... 
• Choose salvation!  Seek the Holy Spirit and the Truth! Let us not be deceived! Let´s receive and embrace the saving grace of Christ obediently.

From Ana´s message.