Who is this Man of Lawlessness?
JCC 18.10.09 am
2 Thess 2:1-10
The end times began two thousand years ago
The Christian era is the last era and, therefore, it is the end times
1 Jn 2:18
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
One event is the appearance of “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess 2:3) or anti-Christ
The term ‘antichrist’ is unique to John’s epistles. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the antichrist is called “the man of lawlessness” and in Revelation 13 he is identified as “the beast”
A final personal incarnation of evil who will be overthrown “with the breath” of the Lord Jesus at his coming (2 Thess 2:8)
This event is still to come
Many films out about the end times, 2012 being the latest one
It’s as if the devil is making a mockery out of what will happen, but turning it into an event that man can control, and making everything ok to give a happy ending
What can we do to change or stop this lawless man? Nothing
How can we stop the end coming? We cannot
The power of lawlessness is already presents though not as obviously as it will be
If you think things are bad now, this is mild compared to what will be
“Lawlessness” is opposition to God
Everything that defies the purposes of God in creation - rebellion
Today, Christians are not allowed to pray, to wear a cross, to worship in a church if it affects the residents
Illustration:
A church in London sold off the manse house; the person who bought it sold it on to a Muslim; now that Muslim has just won a court action to stop the church singing praise and worship because he can hear it. Yet we are to put up with calls to prayer bellowing across Cities, street processions by the Sikhs’ etc
“Lawlessness” is at work wherever human beings “refuse to love the truth” (2 Thess 2:10) and “delight in wickedness” (2 Thess 2:12)
People do not want the truth today
The people live a shameful life
They have no need of God, they have everything
Jesus said it would be like in the days of Noah
Matt 24:36- 39 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
The ark we now have is Christ; in Christ we are saved
Who closed the door? God did, ad he will again
Evil is rampant now, but will get much worse
It is being restrained at the moment
Who is, the one who now holds it back? The Holy Spirit
The Thessalonian believers are aware of whom he speaks about: “During my visit with you,” he reminds them, “I used to tell you these things” (2 Thess 2:5)
Paul’s veiled reference leaves us questioning whose identity it is
It is with the same questions we want to identify this man, beast or anti-Christ
Greek and Hebrew letters in their alphabets had a number value
For example: the numerical value of the name of Jesus in the Greek is "888."
Using that kind of reasoning, people have come up with a number of possibilities
E.g. Nero, Caligula, and Trajan as the Beast because their names could be turned into the number 666
The Reformers of the Middle Ages experimented with numerology and often taught that the Catholic church & the various popes showed the value of 666
The Reformers of the Middle Ages experimented with numerology and often taught that the Catholic church & the various popes showed the value of 666
It is not my intention to tell you who the man is, but to contend against the theology of fear that has been built around this passage by the followers of many popular Rapture teachers. They have often declared various things to be the mark of the beast
What difference would it make if we knew who it is? We cannot stop him
Much of what the Bible reveals is wrapped in strange symbolism:
· Beasts
· Horns
· Dragons
· Wheels with eyes etc.
We can understand the realities of what will take place by the clues
Though the Bible does not give us specific dates and detailed events, it does reveal general events and the kind of time during which these events will take place
(We looked at these last week)
The Holy Spirit has the power to hold back iniquity
When the church is raptured, the restraint will be lifted
This does not mean that He will be taken out of the world but all restraints against sin will be removed, the Holy Spirit will remain on earth during the tribulation to convict people of their sins and convert them to Christ
Those who except God during that time will be martyred by beheading
We may think this cannot happen in our time, but Islam still beheads for apostasy from Allah
This man obviously relates to the coming of anti-Christ
It wasn’t just Paul who declared the end times
Jesus did too Matt 24
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
John writes in his letter, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18)
What will this man do?
He will create a one-world government
He is the anti-Christ
He is against Christ and everyone who belongs to him
He will be Satan’s tool for corrupting the world and turning people away from God
He will be given power by Satan to accomplish his will
The Bible says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)
He is the false messiah who desires to replace and mock the rule of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ
In Revelation 13 we see an evil trinity:
Satan copies everything God does
· Satan, symbolized by the dragon who is standing on the shore of the sea;
· The antichrist, symbolized by the beast that comes out of the sea;
· And the false prophet, the head of the one world religion — the beast who arises out of the earth and causes people to worship the antichrist
Satan, the antichrist and false prophet: these three unite in a desperate attempt to establish their own government and overthrow the kingdom of God
Rev 13:1 – The beast rose from the sea
Rev 17:15 tells us that water is a symbol for “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. So the beast will arise from a populated area, from among many people & nations
Rev 13:2 The dragon gave the beast his power and his seat and great authority.
The dragon is the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the world. Rev 12:9
But their efforts will fail and Christ will overthrow them
Global terrorism and international conflict cannot be controlled by the United States alone, or any other nation
Troubles in Afghanistan and the middle east
The need of a one-world government
Growing problems of global community will require a united government
Disaster areas that need help
The United Nations and its forces have been largely ineffective because of their limited jurisdiction, and the problems the world faces will call for increased authority and military power
Did you know the head of the UN is a Muslim?
Will the one world religion embrace Islam?
The man will disguise his true motives in the beginning and appeal to the masses
The book of Revelation describes the antichrist’s intent and evil purpose
The lawless one opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven
He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them
We see three things in Rev 13
John moves from the heavenly vision to an earthly one v1
1. He was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
The Antichrist will come into power not by war, but by tricking the world into believing that he can offer peace.
The Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for 7 years, but will break it after 3 ½ years
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:6-8)
Is your name written in it?
2. He will create a one-world economy
Revelation 17:13
When the kings give their power to the beast, it’s not just their military power but also their economic power
We hear so much about the mark of the beast, which is 666
The book of Revelation says, “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17)
Many speculations to this mark
· Bar codes
· DNA
· Banking chips
Now the church goes looking for the meaning of the mark and becomes as superstious as the world
Films like Damien, Omen, Rosemary’s baby add to the spectacular
3. He will create a one world religion
This is lost in the knowledge of one government and money system
Rev 13:4 they worshipped the dragon, which gave power to the beast
The beast received power from Satan making it a power figure and is also worshipped making it a religious figure, combining both religious and political authority
Religion will be seen as one of the major sources of conflict in the world
Even today, schools want an end to RE to resolve difficulties with teaching which may offend
There will be a call to unite all religions into one, under the guise of attempting to bring peace and unite the world
These are things going on since the 90’s
Catholics worshipping with other religions
We may think this impossible, but look how things are changing quickly concerning political correctness
They will say that no one has the right to exclusive truth claims
It is illegal to say Jesus is the only way to God
It says: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)
The antichrist will appear to be a great leader and will permit people to practice their own religion, as long as they recognize all religions are equal and also worship him
He copies a death and resurrection
Revelation 17:8
The Antichrist will die in the middle of the Tribulation
This is the same time that Satan will be cast from Heaven (Again)
At this time, Satan will indwell the Antichrist, which means he will be resurrected
This story has an happy ending: (we have the end of the story)
Revelation 19:19-21
We see that the Antichrist and false prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire alive before the Great White Throne Judgment
We need to make sure we are ready
Like Noah and his family, doing the opposite to the rest, building for God despite being ridiculed, mocked and labeled a fanatic
Make sure our doctrine in correct
Make sure our name is written in the lamb’s book of life. Amen
