2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.  The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

Paul continues his teaching about the end times by teaching more about the “lawless one”, or Antichrist.  He has established that the day of the Lord, which I believe to be the seven-year Tribulation, will come after the Antichrist has been revealed.  Even though the “mystery” or philosophy of Antichrist was present in Paul’s day as it continues to be today.  The true revelation of the Antichrist will only happen after the removal of the restraint and then the day of the Lord will become a reality.  The Lord wants us to know this important information about the Antichrist.

     

THE DEATH OF ANTICHRIST IS CERTAIN: We must never think of the battle between Christ and Antichrist as some sort of epic struggle between two equal powers.  Our Lord Jesus will kill the Antichrist with His breath.  All the power and grandeur of the Antichrist’s reign will be brought to nothing.  It will be blown away as chaff at the second coming of Christ.  All human achievement that is focused on the glory of man instead of being consecrated to the glory of God will be worthless.  The Antichrist will be the most powerful and influential political leader this world has ever seen up to this point in history.  However, his reign and life will be immediately blotted out like a candle when confronted with the glory of Jesus.

 

THE POWER OF ANTICHRIST IS SATANIC: The Antichrist will perform miracles that defy the rules of science.  The power to do these miracles comes from Satan.  It seems that the Antichrist will be possessed by Satan.  This will give him the ability to perform false signs and wonders.  Satan is a powerful being and he will be given great freedoms during the day of the Lord.  However, it is important to remember that the power of our Lord is far greater.  Human achievement and satanic power can be impressive, but they are no match for the glory of God.

 

THE GOAL OF ANTICHRIST IS DECEPTION: God loves truth and has revealed the truth in His Word and by His Son.  Antichrist will do all in his power to distort the truth so he can deceive as many people and nations as possible.  God’s truth has the power to free mankind of sin and all the consequences of sin.  Antichrist will try to deceive so that people will refuse to love truth and find salvation.  The result of this deception is destruction.  Mankind apart from the Gospel and forgiveness through faith in Christ is under the wrath and condemnation of God.  Those who reject Christ will be judged by God.  He will send them into delusion so they will believe in false religions and worship false gods.  They will be condemned because they hated truth and loved sin.

 

APPLICATION: Don’t live in fear of Antichrist or even the power of Satan because the Lord Jesus has complete power over them.  He alone is worthy of our fear and worship.  Don’t be impressed by human achievements.  Love the truth revealed in God’s Word.  Study the Scripture and don’t be deceived by human or demonic philosophies.  Warn the people around us of the dangers of being deceived and remaining under the condemnation of God.  Believe the truth and love righteousness.  

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