Most of us know the story of the Titanic, a British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912 while in route from England to New York City. This was a tragedy that killed almost 1,500 people.  However, what many may not know is what the band on the Titanic did during this atrocity. Steve Turner’s book, titled “The Band Played On”, describes it this way: “After the iceberg ruptured the Titanic, the band played–bright music, dance music, comic songs—anything that would prevent passengers from becoming panic-stricken”. In this very moment of immense crisis, two things were happening: 1) Women and children were being told to exit the ship via lifeboats and 2) bright, upbeat music was being played to prevent panic. Today’s culture is much the same way; while scripture is warning us about God’s coming judgment  (i.e., the day of the Lord), culture is playing bright, cheery, dance music to prevent people from heeding this warning.

Now, the Day of the Lord is not to be confused with the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week for God’s people to worship.  In the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord was a day of judgment or doom. In the New Testament, the Day of the Lord is when Christ returns to earth, judges those who reject Him and sets up his physical kingdom on the earth. By reading 1 Thessalonians 5, we learn that the Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly and cannot be predicted. 2 Thessalonians 2 informs us that, because of the persecution and affliction that accompanies the Day of the Lord, the Thessalonian Christians thought they had missed the return of Jesus and the gathering of His people. Today’s passage reveals four messages to the Thessalonian church and to us today. The first message is…

Do not be deceived by false teachers

As noted above, the Thessalonian church had been fooled. They believed that the Day of the Lord had come and that they had missed the final gathering of God’s people. Now, the Bible does not specifically state the source of the false teaching that the Thessalonians had received. Perhaps, because of all the turmoil and persecution they were experiencing, they mistakenly felt  in their spirit that they had missed Jesus’ return. Perhaps it was a traveling teacher seeking to manipulate them. Or, maybe they received a written letter from someone who signed his name to it claiming to have apostle-like authority. Regardless of the source, Paul instructs the Thessalonians to “Let no one deceive you in any way” (2 Thessalonian 2:3a).  Brothers and sisters, as was the case in the early church, false teachers exist within the Christian church today. Some manipulate for money, some exploit for control while others desire to be considered intellectual. Regardless of what motivates each individual false teacher, this warning that Paul gave the Thessalonians also applies to us today: DO NOT be deceived by false teachers!….

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