THE LAWLESS ONE (Part 3)
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 10, 2019 under PM Bible Study |
PM Bible Study Group: April 10, 2019 from 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
Theme: The Antichrist’s deceit comes as a judgment from God upon those who hate the truth.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
We have been examining Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians about the coming of the Antichrist into the world—’the man of sin’, as he calls him in verse 3; or ‘the son of perdition’; and also ‘the lawless one’ in verses 8 and 9 (in the New King James Version). It’s a dreadful subject; but one that the Holy Spirit has lovingly seen fit to teach us about so that we, as believers, will be well-informed and well-prepared.
The apostle Paul was led to write to the Thessalonian believers about this matter because they had been unsettled by some false teaching concerning the events of the end times. He prefaced his teaching on this matter with the words, “Let no one deceive you by any means …” (v. 3). And as we see from this evening’s passage, ‘deceit’ is a significant theme in the career of the Antichrist.
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First, let’s get reacquainted with the context. In verses 1-3, we were given the purpose for Paul’s instruction concerning end-times matters. He wrote;
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 … (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).
Paul was seeking to correct some serious misinformation that the Thessalonians had been given about end-times matters. He began by telling them what specific things must precede the Day of the Lord. One of these things is the appearance of “the man of sin”; that is, the Antichrist. In verses 4-5, Paul describes to us the nature of the Antichrist himself; and in verses 6-8, he affirms the sovereignty of God’s hand over the timing of his appearing. In all of this, Paul’s intention was to keep God’s people well-focused on their call to be faithful and obedient to the Lord Jesus.
This whole matter of keeping a proper focus, by the way, is an important thing to protect when it comes to the Bible’s prophetic teaching. It’s easy to allow our legitimate interest in end-times events to become motivated in the wrong direction. We can, for example, become so obsessed with end-times concerns that we fail to do our duty in the present. This seemed to be the problem that troubled the Thessalonians. Some of them appeared to have ‘checked-out’ of their duties and became irresponsible—relying on others to provide for them. We see evidence of this near the end of this letter (see 3:10-11). Others may become characterized by a sense of pride—thinking themselves ‘more informed of the times’ or ‘more zealous for the faith’ than others because of a confidence in their keen knowledge of end-times events; and even becoming divisive and argumentative. Some folks become premature in their predictions of things; and can be too quick to find prophetic significance in current events. Others may allow themselves to become obsessed with anxieties and fears—losing their peace, and taking hasty and extreme measures instead of trusting the Lord. There are lots of harmful ways that we can misapply the teaching of God’s word on end-times matters, and bring the wrong focus to things.
It’s never wrong, of course, to think about and carefully study the Bible’s teaching about end-times prophecy. In fact, it is a very good thing to do. But we need to always remember that the end result of it all should not be ‘fear’, or ‘pride’ or an inordinate material ‘preparation’ for things. Our eyes should never be taken off Jesus Himself. Instead, the result should be that we are more confident in our Lord, and are more faithful to His call upon our lives to do our current duties. Our goal in it all should be to make sure that when He comes, He finds us faithful in our labors for Him and established in our love for one another. As Jesus Himself taught us at the end of the Olivet Discourse;
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing” (Matthew 24:43-46).
In fact, at the end of this discussion to the Thessalonians Paul’s word was one of encouragement to them for their faithfulness and the call to keep on being faithful (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17). His instruction was to comfort their hearts and establish their labors for the Lord. So; let’s make sure that, as we consider these things, we keep the main goal in focus.
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Now; in the closing verses of Paul’s teaching about the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2, we find that he tells us about the nature of the Antichrist’s coming. He comes in deceit. The Antichrist fools the whole world. And this, in the end, is a matter of judgment from God. In our passage this evening, Paul writes;
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 did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
Did you know that, when it comes to people who hate the truth of the gospel and who prefer to believe lies instead, one of the ways that God judges them is by giving them what they want? They hate the truth; and so, God allows them to believe lies instead. We see this in the first chapter of the Book of Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:18-25).
And this is what we find in the verses before us. Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to teach us that the Antichrist’s deceitful career toward this world comes as a judgment from God upon those who hate the truth.
Notice that he comes …
1. ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF SATAN.
Paul writes in verse 9; “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan …” The people of the world will not be aware of this initially. But behind his activities will be the hand of the devil himself. And remarkably, they will even end up worshiping the devil as they celebrate the Antichrist.
The Book of Revelation tells us about this. In Revelation 13, Satan is presented to us as ‘the dragon’ and the Antichrist as ‘the beast’; and it says;
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:1-10).
The Antichrist will not come on to the world scene simply because circumstances of world-politics were ripe for his appearance. His coming will be a spiritual matter of a diabolical nature. The devil has been waiting for multiple centuries to set his man upon the world scene, and to deceive people into worshiping him—and he will do so all in an attempt to destroy the work of Jesus Christ in this world and to war against those who believe and are saved (see Revelation 12:17). This coming world-leader and world-influencer will be more demonically controlled than any tyrant or dictator that humanity has ever known.
And then, notice that his coming is …
2. WITH DECEITFUL WONDERS THAT FOOL THE WORLD.
Because he is a devil-empowered ruler, he will be able to deceive the world with false miracles and wonders. Paul writes that he comes “with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish …” (vv. 9b-10a).
The nature of these signs is shown to us in that they are ‘lying wonders’ and ‘unrighteous deceptions’. But it seems clear that they still are convincing and powerful in their persuasive influence. Jesus warned about this too. In speaking to His disciples about the end times, He said;
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (Matthew 24:23-25).
Praise God that Jesus did not say that these false christs and false prophets would succeed in deceiving the elect! But they will try—and their influence will be powerful. And when the Antichrist comes, followers of Jesus will have to be even more determined to stand against the tide than today! Though the elect will not be deceived, the whole unbelieving world will be very much under deception. Revelation 13 goes on to tell us of how Satan will even raise up a false prophet that will be used by him to fool the whole world about the Antichrist. It says;
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Revelation 13:11-17).
It’s hard to imagine the difficulty that the saints will be under when the whole world is powerfully deceived by these lies!
And finally, notice that the Antichrist’s coming is …
3. AS A JUDGMENT UPON THOSE WHO HATE THE TRUTH.
Satan is not ultimately sovereign in all of this. He is only allowed to introduce his man into the world at the time when God permits him to do so (see 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). And even then, it is ultimately as a judgment from God upon those who will not accept the truth but who prefer to believe lies. As Paul says, these things some upon those who are ‘perishing’; “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 did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (vv. 10b-12).
Notice first that the Antichrist’s coming is accompanied by a strong delusion from God. As we have learned from Romans, this is a way that God often judges unbelieving people. They do not want the truth, and prefer to believe false things, and refuse to honor God or give Him thanks, and persistently reject His offer of salvation in the gospel; and so, He gives them what they really want. They want delusion; and so, He send them strong delusion. Paul writes that it’s “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved …” What a horrifying judgment! But nevertheless, how just a judgment it is! They rejected the truth because they didn’t want to be saved by it.
Now; that tells us about God’s part in this dreadful exchange. But notice the part that the deceived one’s play. The Antichrist’s coming is with condemnation for rejecting the truth in order to keep on sinning. As Paul says, this is “that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Do you notice that it’s not simply that they may believe “a lie”? Rather, it’s that they may believe the lie—a very specific lie—the lie of all lies. It was the lie that was told in the Garden of Eden: “Has God indeed said …?” (Genesis 3:1). To deny that God has spoken into this world is the great lie of the devil that has run throughout the ages. Almost every major moral and social controversy in our world today has it’s roots in the debate between those who believe that God has authoritatively spoken in His Word, and those who say, “Has God indeed said?” The devil’s great lie will become embodied in a single man who will persuade the whole world that the God of the Bible does not exist and has not spoken authoritatively—that mankind is free to make his own rules and to be his or her own god. What a horrible lie! What misery has been brought upon this world because of it! What horrors the devil will bring upon the world when he deceives the whole world into believing it!
And it’s not simply because they were deceived into believing the lie. The people of this world will be motivated because they ‘had pleasure in unrighteousness’. Just like Eve—who saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise; and thus took and ate—the people of this world will likewise act because they were allured by the pleasures of unrighteousness.
The devil’s man will have no difficulty at all in persuading the unbelieving people of this world to believe the lie.
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This is horrible to read. But let’s remember the purpose of it all. It is not to scare us or to inordinately fascinate us. It is to call us to faithfulness to our Lord. Paul went on to write;
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 by 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 (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17).
Let’s keep close to our Lord, keep deeply in love with each other, and keep faithfully to our service to our Master—ever watchful for His coming. And then, we will be in the condition that this passage is meant to keep us.
EA
