Jan 23, 2022. II Thessalonians 2:5-12

Posted byJohn Sanzone

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THE LAWLESS ONE. II Thessalonians 2:5-12. 01/23/2022. #04.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-12 [New King James Version]

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 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 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

  1. The Restrainer
    1. The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit
      1.  Matthew 5 the Spirit dwells in believers, making them the light of the world
        1.  The Spirit works through believers
        1.  Jn. 3:19 the world hates the light, so the world hates saints indwelt by light
      1.  Spirit restraints (inhibits) the evil of men
    1. The Holy Spirit has several functions on earth
      1.  John 16:8-11 convicts the world of sin
      1.  Convicts the world of righteousness (what is holy and right – all know what is right)
      1.  Convicts the world of judgment (the knowledge that we must give an account)
      1.  Ephesians 1:13-14 seals believers permanently
      1.  The guarantee (security) of our salvation
    1. The Restrainer limits sin on earth
      1.  If it were not for the Spirit indwelling saints evil would be far worse on earth
      1.  Matthew 24 once the Spirit is removed, sin and destruction nearly destroy the earth
    1. At the Rapture the Restrainer is removed with us
    1. Man and Satan are free to fulfill their evil desires
  2. The mystery of lawlessness
    1. Once the Restrainer is removed, the Lawless One (Antichrist) will be revealed
      1.  The mystery (hidden) of lawlessness stayed hidden until time of its revealing
      1.  The Antichrist is empowered by Satan
    1. The Antichrist will be able to do signs and wonders
      1.  Has the power to do false miracles
      1.  Many will be deceived and worship the Man of Lawlessness
      1.  As in days of Noah, men will be driven to engage in great wickedness, even more than days leading up to Trib. (II Timothy 3:1-9)
    1. Note that signs and wonders are not evidence of God
      1.  Occultists can do many deceptive wonders empowered by demons
      1.  Luke 24 our evidence is grounded in Word
    1. God will destroy the Antichrist, False Prophet, and the Beast along with Satan
  3. The strong delusion
    1. The reason why men will follow Satan and the Anti-Christ is that they rejected Christ
      1.  When God’s love is spurned, he turns them over to their own destructive desires (Romans 1)
      1.  It is not sin that ultimately destroys sinners, but rejected the One that paid for sins
    1. After the Rapture, God will send a strong delusion that evil men will believe The Lie (Satan’s lie)
      1.  Genesis 3 as Eve believed The Lie and fell
      1.  Psalm 106:15 God aids wicked man to follow their own lusts to their own destruction
    1. The God of love will not only allow man to go his own way when The Son is rejected, but also aid him in the process to receive their just judgment
      1.  Men believe lies because they want to believe them, for it fits their desires
      1.  Hebrews 6:1-4 to reject Lord is to embrace Satan and all he stands for (no neutrality)
    1. John 3:15-19 love spurned is hatred embraced

Key verse: 2 Timothy 3:1-9

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.