The Man of Lawlessness
March 1, 2015 Evening Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: The world stage is being set for the arrival of the anti-Christ.
Focus Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Supplemental Passage: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:2-3 NASB)
Introduction: Speak about contemporary news stories of atrocities throughout the world. Speak of the violence towards Christians in the Middle East and North Africa.
I. Deceives Everyone (Except the Elect)
a. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22 NASB)
b. And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it--gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions. (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 MSG)
II. Already at Work
a. The secret power of evil is already working in the world now. But there is one who is stopping that secret power of evil. And he will continue to stop it until he is taken out of the way. (2 Thess 2:7 MEV)
b. ISIS is beheading Christians and working to set up an Islamic Caliphate.
III. Pretends to be God
a. He will defy every god there is and tear down every other object of adoration and worship. He will go in and sit as God in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. (2 Thess 2:4 TLB)
b. The Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 MSG)
c. “There is no God but Allah” – a false god; not simply another name for our God
Application/Invitation:
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. (2 Thessalonians 2:7 NASB)
