AM Oct 5th 2 Thess 2

October 5th       2 Thessalonians 2          C. Programme of the Lord         The Day of the Lord

1: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5: Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Paul continues to encourage the believers not to be tossed about like a small boat in a storm, nor to be confused by so-called prophetic utterances, nor by messages or fake letters that are supposed to have come from Paul, which say that the day of the Lord has arrived. He says, do not be led astray by any of these or other methods because the day of the Lord will not come until there is a general departure from the faith and the antichrist is revealed to the world – the son of damnation. Paul says that this man will oppose God and seek to dominate every religion and cult in such a way that he will sit in the temple in Jerusalem as if he is God. (Don’t you remember these things when l told you all this? says Paul) The Holy Spirit prevents this happening until the time appointed. This great evil is a thing that is already at work in the world. The work of the antichrist is secretly at work but the Holy Spirit stands in the path of the antichrist to prevent all this from happening and he will continue to do so until the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way. (This will occur at the Rapture) And only then will the antichrist - the evil one, be revealed. He is the one that Christ will personally kill by the breath of his mouth. He will destroy him by the glory of his presence. Paul describes the antichrist as one whose promotion will be due to the supernatural power of Satan, who will perform powerful signs and wonders which deceive men. The antichrist will use every deception of unrighteousness to those who are unbelievers – who do not love the truth that they might be saved. And so God will send them a total blindness so that they will believe ‘The Lie’. (I.e. that the antichrist is God) So that they will be judged who do not believe the truth of God but have pleasure in sin. Paul reveals so much in this passage about the antichrist and explains that he cannot come to power in the world until the Holy Spirit, in the Church, has left this world.