Father, we thank You for the real meal that we came for today. The opening of Your Word and the privilege of hearing it recited from memory, to be able to read through 1 John 4 for communion as well, to spend time in 2 Thessalonians. It is a joy to realize the position that You put Your Word in for all eternity. It's forever settled in heaven. It's an eternal book. Powerful. True. Unchanging. And yet it reveals a lot of stories, a lot of problems, a lot of sinners in their lives and their deeds. So as we look at some of what will take place potentially in the near future, may we be prepared. And if it doesn't happen in our time, may we be prepared to be able to teach our children what to be prepared for, and our grandchildren, and our neighbors, and our friends, fellow believers. So help us to understand your word, I pray. And thank you for the privilege. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We're working our way through 2 Thessalonians. Fairly young church. Dealing with a lot of issues. You guys can fall asleep easier this way too. I just realized that. Elbows on the table. Some of you could even slouch over and pretend like you're praying. Don't even try it. We have a monitor at each table that is supposed to throw things at people who do those things. So you don't want to find out who that monitor is. But in this passage, these young believers were being taught critical things, and Paul tells them this is critical. We have a tendency to kind of say, well, it's too hard. Prophecy's too hard. What's coming up in the future is too difficult to keep it all straight. And Paul said, when I was with you for a short time, I hammered this and hammered this and hammered this. And that's what he brings up in this passage. I wanted you to know. Paul didn't know when it was going to take place. But God revealed through him what was going to take place, and in doing so, passed it on to them so they were prepared and not caught unaware, not deceived and entrapped by the One who will come. So as you look at 2 Thessalonians 2, starting with verse 5, we read these words. He says, Do you remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? So obviously this is the second part to last week. What things was He telling them? What went on in verses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of chapter 2? This is always open book exam. You can open your Bible and find the answers right there. He was which? Okay, specifically in verses one to four, there would be a specific false teacher. Okay, he's going to come back. And what were they thinking in the church in the first four verses? The day of the Lord had already happened, and they're all worried. They thought they'd been left behind. Right? That's why that movie Left Behind was probably created. No, I don't know. Barbara? Some could have, and they will lead up to that where he'll tell them, snap two, you've read ahead. So there is that problem. There's a tendency for us to slack off. If God told you that Christ is coming in two days, what would you spend time doing? I heard all kinds of things out here. I heard somebody say they'd clean their house. Weren't you taught to never leave a dirty house for the next person that's going to take over? No, I heard very positive spiritual things in preparation for His return, especially telling other people. I'd warn them, it's coming. So what should this be doing to us today since we don't know when it's coming? Doing the same thing. Cleaning our houses, right? Oh, telling other people about what's going to take place. And so here you have these younger believers thinking the day of the Lord had already come and they were left behind because they were going through horrible suffering and persecution. It was already there. And Paul writes them in the first four verses and he said two things have to happen first. What are the two? The apostasy is going to take place and The man of all of us, this will be revealed. That's that apocalyptus idea. Disclose, manifest. I'm sorry, Bob, I keep moving and the post is just going to have to stay right there. But it's going to be obviously revealed to you, manifested, unveiled. You're not going to miss him. That's kind of odd, because the day of the Lord is God's judgment. This tells me, and again, in a nutshell, with limited time, although you have a meal after this, so I can go extra long. that the whole picture of the day of the Lord is not the Great Tribulation. And I keep stressing that and trying to remind people. The great tribulation you're going to enter into. The church is going to go through the great tribulation. The great tribulation is not the day of the Lord. The great tribulation will happen. During that process, you will see the man of lawlessness. You will see the apostasy. And I told you last week, I think that's Israel defecting. I think it's Israel telling the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, that he's their Messiah. That it's okay for him to set himself up in the temple and be their God. That is as defective as you can get. They are revolting against everything that God had told them in the Old Testament. And that's my opinion because I can't prove the apostasy, but it leans toward that. Everything to do with the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, the little horn and a variety of names revolve around Israel. We've described it as if Israel is a lake or the world's a lake and Israel is where the rock lands and the ripples go out. That's what the Antichrist is going to do. He's going to focus on Israel. He's going to claim to be the Messiah, the Antichrist, the instead of Christ, the one opposed to Christ. He's going to set himself up there and that's where he's going to rule from to rule the world. So the apostasy makes sense that that's the last place that should have apostasy and the first place he wants control of because that's the chosen people who are going to worship him if he can convince them to do so. So as you look into this, And verse five, he says, do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? You are forgetting so easily and so quickly, and he tells him right there, the idea I was telling is specifically an imperfect tense. I put it on your outline for you just so you'd understand what that was. What is an imperfect tense? Not very common, but it shows up once in a while in the scripture and it is. Very good, Gary, you looked it up or you have a super sharp memory. Continuous action in past time. Paul goes out of his way to put this in a tense that says, I was telling you and telling you and telling you and telling you in the past. When I was here, I kept going back to this subject. That's fascinating. How important is prophecy? It isn't just our curiosity that's got us glued to whatever somebody is going to say about it, that's got people buying all umpteen books about it. It's critical for holy living in 1 Peter 3. In lieu of what's coming, what sort of people are you to be? In verse 14. Did I say 1 Timothy? 2 Timothy. 2 Peter. I knew I said something wrong there. It's 2 Peter 3 around verse 14. But he's wrestling with this idea of someone who's going to do something to hold us back or has been doing this for a while. So he says, I taught you about the rapture. I taught you about the day of the Lord. I taught you about apostasy. I taught you about the Antichrist, the man of Wallis. And I've taught you over and over and over again, because that was what was important for you. In verse six, he says, and you know what restrains him now? Him going back to the man of lawlessness. How did they know who restrains him? Because Paul taught them. It made it very clear. Why didn't Paul write it down? Why didn't he say the man of law or the one who's restraining is? Because he didn't, we have debate today. Some think it's government. Some think it's just God in general, the Holy Spirit specifically. Some think it's government, that there's all this out there. Some think it's the gospel. As long as the church preaches the gospel and people are coming to Christ, it'll hold the sin back. It's not a general picture of sin. It's a man. It's an individual who's coming. And as you go to Scripture, there's only one thing clearly that holds him back, and we'll get to it in a moment here. But they knew, and it's Oida, they had head knowledge. They knew the facts about this. They had learned it from Paul as you go through this. The one who restrains, presently restraining him now so that in his time he may be revealed. And you know who that is, Thessalonians. So from their standpoint, he was still holding them back. God was keeping this man of lawlessness from taking over. The idea of restraining here, you know, in high school we used to do intramural wrestling. I was never on a wrestling team. You know, I didn't go out for it as a sport and get a letter and that kind of thing. But they did a lot of it in school. And so you'd always get into a class and they'd pair you up according to your weight. You couldn't always get the perfect weight in a PE class. But the coach always paired me up with this one guy who was stronger than me. I don't know why he did it. I think he liked to see me scrap with him because I couldn't let him beat me. And I'd have floor or mat burns all over my body when I got done. Because this guy would slide me all over. I knew where sand was, anywhere on that mat, any kind of dirt or grit. I found it. And he just drove me, drove me, drove me the first round. Second round, we're pretty even. Third round, I would always restrain him or pin him. Why was that? Because I was a great wrestler? No, because he was a smoker. And I knew. I just have to hold out long enough and he'll start gasping and choking for air and I've got him. But he was also kind of a thug that hung out in the back 40 with all the other smokers and the ruffians and the people who'd go around beating up people if they didn't give them what they want. But I still couldn't let him win. And I've pinned him. That's what's going on here. The restrainer has been pinning the Antichrist, the man of all sins, holding him back, holding him back, holding him back. In the sense that God is not allowing the man who is ultimately going to take that position to finally burst forth. Satan doesn't know who it is. Satan has to have different individuals. Satan doesn't know the future. We've shared a bunch of this already. And so he has people ready to step in when God says, OK, you can go. The thing that Satan does know, though, he does know Scripture. He can see events, and he knows what's taking place, and he knows when it's closer than when it's been in the past. And so as you look at this picture, he's writing to the Thessalonians. He's telling them, I don't want you afraid that the day of the Lord has come. You know that the God has someone holding him back, this man of lawlessness. And he said it says it two different ways. And back in that passage, he calls him, if I can find it here real quickly. The man of lawlessness in verse three, and then he refers to it as Where's the other form of it in here? You can help me out if you see it there. The mystery of lawlessness is what I'm looking for. I'm in 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse 7. That's why I haven't gotten there yet. So this mystery of lawlessness is what he's talking about. So that in a sense is the Antichrist, the physical human being, has not yet been born and grown up to become that leader. But the mystery of lawlessness has been going on for a long period of time. You're seeing that today taking place. But the man of lawlessness, the ultimate one, is going to be clearly revealed. You will not miss him. He'll be the one sitting in the temple declaring himself to be God. Will that stand out? What is odd about that in the Jewish temple? High priest goes in there, and when does he go in there? Once a year, only with appropriate blood. Yeah, they talk about putting a rope on him to pull him out if he were to die. But he has to go in there with a proper offering. If he brings the wrong offering in, he dies. If he does something wrong while he's in there, he dies. That's what this song we just sang this morning is. I'll meet you at the... Between the wings of the cherubim. It's the mercy seat that he's talking about there. That's in the Holy of Holies. And we talked last week with the idea that somebody's going to come along and sit there and tell you that I'm God, worship me. That is the most weird, profane, revolting thing that you could think of as a Jew. And yet it looks to me from Scripture that that whole nation's going to sell out. Now, there's going to be a remnant that won't. It's not going to be everybody, but the nation as a whole, the bulk of them are going to sell out. And so he tells you in this point in time, God says, I'm holding them back. Don't worry. Thessalonians, you think the day of the Lord has come. You think the dead in Christ are not going to resurrect. No, that's not true. We explained that in 1 Thessalonians 4. You think the day of the Lord has already come. No, that's not true either. It's bad, but that'll be a whole lot worse and you won't be here. It's a time of judgment for the world, not for believers. And so he's trying to comfort them with these words. And he explains them in verse 7 that I wasn't getting far enough to get to for my own sake. He says, for the mystery of lawlessness, This secret truth that previously had been unknown is already at work. It's something that you don't really understand because you can't see it yourselves. It's ultimately satanic. But the mystery of Lawlessness is already at work, it's already active, it's already in operation. Only he, now he switches over from the neuter that was elsewhere to a masculine here, only he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way. So he's talking about some kind of for some kind of entity, but it's very personal. It's masculine here, where the idea up in verse six, you know what restrains him is neuter. It's just how you would put things properly in the way the Greeks would have written it. But this is some individual here, the one who now restrains this mystery of lawlessness and ultimately the man of lawlessness will do so until he is taken out of the way. Kind of an interesting description here and a few things that are missing. Let me grab a couple and then back up to the bigger picture. The idea of taken here is actually a middle voice. It looks like it's passive. You know, if I were to take you out of the way, you wouldn't do anything. I'd be doing it. So you're just passively being taken. That is not the case here. This is a middle voice. That would mean he is taking himself out of the way. So some think, well, that's obviously the Holy Spirit. And they lean toward that very heavily. for a variety of reasons but when you go to scripture we spent some time looking at michael the archangel and i explain to you that i believe the restrainer is michael the archangel every time he shows up in scripture he shows up with a uh... description of working all to protect israel let me give you the five quickly as i zoom through here a little bit if you want these and i don't give them to you uh... repeated enough for you to write down you get a copy of this uh... d uh... cd But I believe Michael's the restrainer for five reasons. Daniel 10.13, where we read when we go back that he fights for Daniel against the prince of the kingdom of Persia. So his role is working for Daniel, a Jew, and he's helping Daniel out. That one wouldn't push you one way or the other when you look at that, but that's Daniel 10.13. In Daniel 10.21, He gets a little stronger when he says that Michael the archangel specifically stands firmly against spiritual forces opposing Israel. That's a little stronger. He has a broader role there. He's working to protect Israel more in general. So you have 10.13 and 10.21. And then one more time in the book of Daniel in chapter 12, verse 1, it specifically says something that I want to read for you, because this one to me carries the greatest weight to tell me that the restrainer is Michael the archangel. And he says in Daniel 12, 1, now at that time, and chapter 11 is talking about the Antichrist. At that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time, your people, everyone who's found written in the book will be rescued. So once again, it's a focus on Israel. It's a focus on Michael, the archangel. It tells you right there he stands guard and it says that he will arise. And the translation behind that is the idea that he will stand away or stop. Now, I lost my word to let me see if I can find it back in the actual context where I wrote it. Staying still is a better one and I think that's what I wrote in here. But the picture here is that Michael the Archangel is the one holding back the mystery of lawlessness and then ultimately the man of lawlessness. And so he is an individual and seems to point to that in Daniel 12.1. There it is. Stand still is another way. The primary meaning of this word in Daniel 12.1 is to stand, but it always means to stand still or to stand up or to stop. In some ways, Jonah 1.15 talks about Jonah being thrown into the ocean, into the water when the storm was raging and the sea stopped its raging. That's the same word. The sea stood still is how you could translate that. So here you have Michael, the archangel who stands guard. over his people, all of a sudden he stands still in regards to his people. And you go, what is that? And then there'll be a time such as Israel has never seen. It's horrible what's coming. And so that one, to me, makes it obvious that it has to be Michael the Archangel to me. In Jude 9, you remember how Michael the Archangel disputes with the devil over the body of Moses. And we're not given a lot of details what's going on there, but here's Michael again. Here's the leader of Israel again. And he's protecting the body of Moses after his death. Who knows what the devil wanted to do with him. Probably make him an object of worship as he did with so many things. And then lastly in Revelation 12 verse 7. So we have Daniel 10.13, Daniel 10.21, Daniel 12.1, Jude 9, and Revelation 12.7. There's war in heaven against Satan and his angels. Michael and his angels war. They defeat him and Michael throws him down to the earth and it says that Satan knows he only has a short time. So I've shared some of that in the past, maybe more on Wednesday night even. But to me, it clearly reveals Michael, the archangel, is a restrainer. He is the one who is restraining right now. The mystery of lawlessness, ultimately the man of lawlessness. And at this point in time, he tells them there that he restrains until he is taken out of the middle, out of the way. Nothing will happen until Michael steps aside. What does that say to you? Since I am rambling on and on, I'll give you a chance to respond a little bit here. What stands out, Mary? Well, that's in control. Okay. What it's going to be, what it's going to do, and we count this for just enough for whenever we need to know. Just like your parents did, right, when you were a little kid. That's right. So, it doesn't matter who it is, but we know there was The one that will tell him when to do it. When to back off. Okay, good. Other comments that you see here? Dana? Those that believe that it's the Holy Spirit, the reason they believe it's the Holy Spirit is because if God takes the Holy Spirit out, that means that they have to surrender. Yeah, because the Holy Spirit indwells believers. So it's a position that believes that the Holy Spirit goes because the church went. But nothing in scripture teaches that. Nowhere in scripture do you see the Holy Spirit ever going away from the situation we're in now. Because he's also then going to be dealing with Israel. Anyway, so there is no biblical reason for that. It's a logical conclusion if you're pre-tribulational in your view of the rapture. Linda? things to look forward to, or to understand what is coming, and signs to look at. So that as believers, we do not have to be afraid. We can see things as they are happening. Right. And so there again, God is orchestrating this. It's not going to be haphazard. He's in control, totally. I like to think that he's restraining because he's still wanting more to come to him. Okay. You know, a specimen's behavior, he's giving that sign. OK, because when he stops restraining, what happens on Earth? Verses 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 that we're going to look at rapidly here, and it's not going to be a good picture. So God in restraining lawlessness is actually helping people to come to Christ. There's a greater deception coming when Michael, the archangel, pulls away from this restraining position. The world's in big, big trouble. It doesn't automatically bring God's judgment at that point, but it does bring tribulation. Because Satan will be loosed in a way that he's never been loosed before, to work through a man. And a man will have a position that he's never had before. But it will be a short time. And so God's going to cut it short according to Matthew 24, 22. Because if He doesn't cut it short, no one will survive this time. Satan is evil. And if you don't submit, you will die as far as he's concerned, if God allows that. So you're moving down to verse 7. The mission of Lawless is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way. And you go into this picture that the one is what he's taught them is past. The Restrainer is restraining the Mystery of the Lawlessness in the present, and he's going to be taken out of the way in the future, and you kind of see these things coming together. We talked about the Wizard of Oz, that picture of him being behind the curtain, working all those levers, and the mighty Oz, and how can you question and challenge me, and I told you last week when Toto comes up and pulls the curtain out of the way, and here's this phony. That's exactly who this guy's going to be. He's going to be a phony. You're going to see some things that Satan's going to be able to do. I spent at least a couple of hours looking up one word yesterday. It was exciting. And I finally told Bev, I finally, I got it. I finally figured out what I was looking for. And this is a part I share with you because I don't think people realize you think you're supposed to just read the Bible and it's okay. Got it. Next, next, next. Being diligent to present yourself or prove to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth takes time. You're in a gold mine with a pick and a shovel. It's hard work. And I think a lot of people don't want to give God five minutes in the Word if they even give Him that. And they expect Him to work miraculous things in their life the rest of the day. They don't understand. They don't understand what this is. They don't understand the treasure they have. Why would you only spend five minutes in the gold mine? Is that all the gold you want? If you find any in five minutes? Or are you going to take the time that necessary to make it work? And so here's this guy, this phony, and Michael the archangel is going to reveal him in one sense, but the world is going to be totally deceived by him. And so when you get into verse 12, I mean verse 8, that leads down to 12, you get into this whole area of revelation about him. He says in verse 8, then, when is then? Okay, after restrainer is taken away, then that lawless one will be revealed. Michael backs off and the curtain gets pulled back and you finally realize who this guy is. But the world sees the Wizard of Oz and they go, whoa, you're even greater with the curtain removed than you were without the, I mean, with the curtain covering you up. And believers are looking at that and going, what? What foolishness? Don't you see the obvious deception of what's going on here? Oh, no, no. He's our Savior. He's the one who's going to deliver us. He's the one who has all the answers. And He's going to do some things here to prove that to them in a very dangerous way. He says, "...the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming." Here's where I found some really fascinating things, and there's no way for me to share them this morning. You're going to have to do your own study or come up and talk to me later, but I'll share what I can. At that time, after restraining is taken out of the way, the Antichrist is revealed. That's in the passive. That is a form of the same word, apocalypses. This is the revealing that Christ is going to have one day when all every eye will see him. This tells you he is a physical form who takes up a position that the CNN and the Fox cameras can get a view of and shine him around the world, right? They're going to disclose him and all of his temporary glory. But he's revealed or unveiled here, and the man of all of this is also mentioned in verse three. If I go back a little bit here, he says, but no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first. And the man of all of this is revealed. There it is the same thing. Verse three, verse eight. He's repeating a phrase there. He wants them to see you're not going to miss this person. You're not going to miss who he thinks he is and who he claims to be. And the false prophet in Revelation 13, the second half, is going to do some things to make him blow you away. He'll deceive, if possible, even the elect. You ain't seen nothing yet. You know, I talk about Abraham Lincoln because that was my day. The Audiotron or whatever they call that. Yeah, that word. And anyway, But he's up moving, turning, talking in sync with everything. Now they've got a new one. I've been back to Disneyland a number of years ago. It wasn't the original. They've replaced it with a better one. But this, this Antichrist, they're going to put a statue up and you're going to think it's real. How impressive will that be? What do we call that today? AI? Artificial? Intelligence. You're going to think this statue is real. It's going to blow people away. You have to read your Bibles to figure that out. Look at Revelation 13 to see a little bit of it. But he's laying this out. He says that the guy's going to be revealed. The Lord is going to slay him. The idea of slay here is to put to death. How does He slay him? What tool does He use? The breath of His mouth. Look at Isaiah 11. You go back in the Old Testament. There's five major prophets after the books of poetry. And you get to Isaiah, it's the first of the major prophets, because it's just a big book about prophecy. Isaiah 11, kind of in the middle of your Bible, if you have a whole Bible. In verse 4, look what Isaiah said a long time ago, talking about God, specifically Jesus. the one who is to come. It says in verse 4, but with righteousness He will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth, and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth. That's kind of interesting. And then He says, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Isn't that odd? How is He going to do that? How did He create everything? He spoke it into existence. He said, and it was done. It happened. How's he going to take care of evil? He's going to speak and it will take place. Do you know anybody that works like that? Besides your mother? Okay. Oh, they slay you by the breath of their mouth. Very good, Jim. A little more. It can keep coming. Yeah, you better get out of that hole. Okay, you better stop. All right. But it doesn't mean bad breath here. It's the idea simply by His spoken Word, He is in control, and He determines what is going to happen simply by speaking it. Can the devil do that? How does the devil do it? Don't speak too quickly, because we're going to explain a few things here that are not what I ever knew before. I found some of these out yesterday. He's going to use a man, the Antichrist. He's going to use a false prophet. He'll use deception. But he's going to do some things. And I'll wait till I explain the three things he's going to do down here. And I was shocked. I did not realize how powerful he was until I did some research on those words. And Bev finally had to call me out of the goldmine to have dinner. I was enjoying it. I just couldn't believe what I was finding. But here he's going to slay him with the breath of his mouth. Just take note of that. The utterance of the Lord will bring judgment upon the antichrist. Fascinating. And he'll bring to an end. He'll basically destroy or annihilate. I like to translate this to put him out of business. You know, shop closed, no longer open. But he's going to bring him to an end What? The appearance of his coming. What is that going to be? What's that? Christ himself. But what is he talking about here? Appearance. Anybody look that word up this week? It literally means outshining, glorious display, or you can even translate it with the idea of brightness, of His presence. This is parousia, His coming and presence with. He is going to bring them to an end simply by showing up. Remember what Moses could not do on the mountain? He couldn't look on God and live. God put him in kind of the cleft of the rock, and he saw his back parts, and there's some interesting things going on there. But he did not see God. No man in 1 John can look on God and live. That's the picture here. What happens when he shows up in all of his glory? He brings the inner Christ to an end of that process. It doesn't say it's instantaneous, but it tells you there's this brilliant manifestation of Christ, this glorious display It's going to blow people away. It's talk. It happens or it occurs with the rapture. And I'll give you these. I'm not going to read them. First Timothy 614. Same words used there. Appearing. Talking about Christ's return. Context is about the rapture. First Timothy 614. And also Second Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 8 use the same word appearing. Paul's writing, just like he did to the Thessalonians, 1 Timothy 6, 14, 2 Timothy 4, verses 1 and 8. He talks about the appearing at his rapture. And this is the same appearing he's talking about here that will bring to an end, put out of business. And again, don't get the idea here that this is instantaneous, that he's just going to melt him on the spot. But when you go back to Zechariah 14 and they stand there and their tongues rot out of their mouths. And you can probably make a good movie out of some of that for what people are watching these days. It's going to be a major occurrence or a major situation for anyone who is unsaved and especially the Antichrist and the false prophet. This is how what Christ is going to be doing. So he's telling him right up front, don't worry. Yes, the Antichrist is going to back out and you could see the Thessalonians and what do they start doing? No, no, no. Don't back off. Don't turn him loose. We've got enough trouble already, and you're telling us we aren't even in the day of the Lord. And now you're going to turn this maniac, man of lawlessness, loose on us. Can you imagine these young believers? They're in a panic. And so Christ is telling them, don't worry about that. I'm going to turn him loose, but I'm coming back. And when he's revealed, ultimately the Lord is going to slay him and bring him to an end. Relax. You never get worked up or anxious about anything, do you? The election, some of you did very well. I was impressed. I was really impressed Wednesday night after the election. Great attitudes, biblical attitudes, genuine joy, genuine trust. That's contagious, that passes on. We may have a president that we may not desire or have voted for, but we still have Jesus as king. We don't have to panic over it. God is using tools and this may be a dry run for what's coming. Right? What's He trying to do with America? Make it moral? No. It's righteousness that exalts a nation. He wants America to be righteous. You can be moral without being righteous. He's not settling for a lesser compromise. He wants America holy. And so He's going to give America what it needs. And if it means breaking America and bringing it to His knees, then all the believers say, Amen. So be it. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. You know, we throw that part in there. And so here he is, giving them a little bit of hope in there. And then verse 9 says, going back to the lawless one, the one who's coming, his perousia, his presence, his arrival and presence with, is in accordance with the activity of Satan. Oh, that's great. That's comforting. This word activity here is where we get our word energy. Translated in some of the versions and in two other spots, the operation or the active power of Satan himself. This is what's going on here. Interesting word, and it's interesting how it shows up three times. Once here and two more are coming. In verse 11, it's called diluting influence or diluting operation. It's the same word. But this is what he's after. This is the one he's following is Satan himself. And he describes it, this activity of Satan in three ways with all power and signs and false wonders. And that's where I got bogged down yesterday. I spent the two hours at least in this. Maybe it was even three. There weren't any good football games on. You know, I was trying. So don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm in the mine with a radio and a TV and some, you know, good food. I'm not suffering as I'm in there. I don't want you to misunderstand. But as I'm looking at these things, I went through these and I said, OK, here's what I'm going to do today. I've got some time. I'm going to look up power, signs and wonders. And I want to see specifics. What is a power? What is a sign? What is a wonder? Because if I were to give you a piece of paper right now and have you write down specifically, what are these? You'd kind of go, And you go ahead and give me a guess. What are they? Either in general or specifically. Okay, things that would not normally happen in our lives or in the world. What word do we put on those? Miracles. And all three of these at times in Scripture are translated miracles, although they're very distinct from each other. What is a miracle? Is it a miracle that I got an A on a test in school? No, that's not a miracle. Even though I may say that's a miracle. But it's not a miracle. What's a miracle? Something to kind of explain because it is against the natural laws or against the laws of nature. It is supernatural. And so whenever you hear somebody use the word, most of the time I hear it used, it's wrong. And I'm learning to keep my mouth shut, so I will not correct very often. But it's a supernatural event. That's what a miracle is. So don't let all the lesser things become miracles. They're not. So as you go in here and you recognize that what he's bringing up here is these are counterfeit miracles, but they're miracles. And this is what blew me away when I looked at it. These are, and I'll give you three ways of describing these. Power is supernatural ability demonstrated. And I'll read these again. Power is supernatural ability demonstrated. Emphasis on ability. Signs is divine authority claimed. And again, I emphasize authority. I'll emphasize the A words. Power, supernatural, ability demonstrated. Signs is divine authority claimed. And wonders, in this case they're false wonders, but wonders, well I'll put the two together. False wonders are counterfeit abnormality manifested. I had to find another A in there, so it was a little harder to find. But they are power is supernatural ability demonstrated, science is divine authority claimed, and false wonders are counterfeit abnormalities manifested. Now let me explain the difference between these. They all go together. This is the activity of Satan. It's a package deal. But they're distinct from each other. When I looked at the word power, it's the word dunamis, which typically we get the word dynamite. And that's what people grab on to typically. But it's powerful deeds, mighty works. And then I threw it here because at times it's miraculous cures. When I go into scripture and I only grabbed a few of them, it's the power to heal the bleeding woman who had a 12 year hemorrhage. That this word is used, power left him, Jesus. And that's in Mark 5.30. In Acts 4.7, Peter healed the lame man. He actually healed him back in chapter 3, but now he's getting in trouble, and they want to know where this power came from to do this. Peter did it. So there's power, this supernatural ability to heal this lame man. When you go into Acts 19, verses 11 and 12, there are extraordinary miracles to the point that they even took a handkerchief from who? It's Acts 19, you split the book in half, who's in the first half of the book? Peter, second half of the book is Peter, Paul to the Jews, Peter to the Gentiles, kind of a generality, but it's how it works out in there. Paul to the Gentiles, did I say it backwards? Peter to the Jews, Paul to the Gentiles. OK, I meant that. But as you look at it, you've got him and they're taking a second half of the book, Paul, they're taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and taking it where? Acts 19, if you want to look up 11 and 12. They're taking his sick people. And what happens to the sick people? They're healed. They get well. Is that supernatural? Let me have one of your handkerchiefs. We'll test it out. Will yours work? I've got some people in here who would love to try it. I have a friend of mine that I went to Bible college with. He ordered one of these in the mail. He was always getting into all this stuff. He ordered one of these handkerchiefs. There's a lot of places out there that will sell you this handkerchief. It's been prayed over and blessed. Again, I'm trying to work on not being mocking, sarcastic. So I'm trying not to go there. I am still growing in my old age. So I'm not trying to mock, but it was said to him because they believe, the people that said it believed it, that it really would. And so we saw how it all, all the process, how it all worked. But it is not what God promised. Because when you go back to 2 Corinthians 13, it was the signs of an apostle. That's the second word. I'm sorry I had to bring that one up. It was the apostles that were doing extraordinary miracles. Miracles. For a particular reason. It marked them out. And that's another whole sermon. But as he goes down through here, he's telling you that these were the power, the evidences of power. So what is Satan going to do with all power? Potentially, he will heal people. He will be able to send a handkerchief for real and have somebody put it on whatever person and have it healed. He'll be able to. What was the third one I gave you here? Heal this bleeding woman just by touch. They may walk up to Him, touch Him, and He'll be healed. Is that possible? Is that what this word means? How is Satan going to do that? I don't know. Somehow God is either going to allow it, or Satan has a lot more power now than you think. And when the restrainer is taken away, some of that will open up. I don't have time. I'm already running out of time, so I can't go too many places. Power is supernatural ability demonstrated. Then you get into signs. The reason I call this divine authority claimed is because these signs are just that. You're driving down the road. Here's a road sign. What's it there for? It gives you directions. It gives you warning, help, assistance, whatever it may be. This is the authority. What he's going to do is he's going to put these signs out there and it's this kind of remarkable proof. A distinguishing event. An extraordinary miracle again. that he's going to claim that proves that he is God. Do you think that could deceive people? It's not going to be like it is today. And again, I'm not trying to be sarcastic. There's a lot of places that are claiming to be doing healing. They're lying to you. They're lying to you. That's not how it works. Go to Scripture. Go figure out what God's doing in Scripture. And I can't go into explanation of that very well either, so you can talk to me later. But here, he's pretending to be the Christ, and he's putting up these signs and says, see here it is, here's my authority, here's my badge, here's my proof. And he throws something up. Examples of it. Revelation 13, 13, fire out of heaven is referred to as a sign. Is that going to get anybody's attention? We could have done those chickens that way yesterday. When you're butchering chickens, the worst part of it is trying to figure out what to do with the feathers. Man, if he'd just toast them like they do in the cartoons. You ever seen those? Where the bird has feathers one instant and no feathers the next instant? It'd be great. But I'm being sarcastic, but now I'm picking on the Antichrist. So I get away with that. But it's referred to as a sign here, Revelation 13. John 12.18. Raising Lazarus was a sign. What's the devil potentially going to do through the Antichrist? No way! He's going to raise people from the dead? And especially in chapter 13 of Revelation, He's going to raise Himself. Or the false prophet will do it. Jeanette? This again, you're going to have to get opinion because there are not dates in scripture. I believe this is happening before the rapture because you have the day of the Lord. I believe you have the abomination of desolation in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel. Then you have, then you have the great tribulation. Then the rapture occurs and then the day of the Lord. So I've given you that picture. I have diagrams. If somebody wants one, I'm not trying to confuse you, but there's a series of events that are taking place. He's going to be manifest and revealed basically as far as I'm concerned with the abomination of desolation. I don't even think he's necessarily revealed with the covenant. I think when he's revealed as God and sets himself up as God, it'll be with the abomination of desolation right in the middle of the 70th week. You're getting my opinion now, because I can't give you a timeline, but I can give you what I think is happening. At that point, a whole bunch of people, the remnant of Jews who don't believe, they're out of here, because he's going to go after them. And you see that in Revelation 12. Then you also see the whole picture there of, get my brain back on where I'm at with all of this. Well, the Great Tribulation I think kicks in at that point. Fourth of the world's going to die. Revelation 6 verses 7 and 8 with the fourth seal being broken. And so you have a number of issues here. And so here, the Satan, then if what I'm saying is true, he shows up basically the middle of the Great Tribulation. I mean, the middle of the seventh, we get Daniel. He shows up and begins the Great Tribulation and it's cut short. He knows he only has a short time. The Great Tribulation, I don't know how long it's going to be. And that's the hard part. You can't determine when the rapture occurs. You can't determine a lot of stuff because you don't know how long the Great Tribulation goes, how long day of the Lord goes. But to answer that quickly, and I don't know if I made sense out of it. And so here he is with power, the supernatural ability demonstrated with signs. Another one is the feeding of the 5,000. John 6.14 was a sign. What's Satan potentially going to do? Take away hunger? And yet you have famine with the breaking of the fourth seal. So I don't know how this is going to work. And again, as you see with politicians, they serve those who serve them. Don't they? Hold your heads up and down. Tell me your silhouette. And too often, we do that. That's what unloving unbelievers do. They serve themselves in whatever capacity they're in. So here he gives a few examples. The first one reveals the source, the power here. He's going to claim this from God because of the supernatural ability. Ultimately, it's going to be from Satan, who is very powerful. They're going to appeal to the understanding. These signs are going to amaze and dazzle people. These extraordinary miracles that are going to take place. And thirdly, these false wonders. Counterfeit abnormality manifested. Something strange causing the beholder to marvel. And again, I put down here, attesting miracles. These false wonders. Here's an example of it. Acts 2.19. Blood, fire, and smoke. It goes back to Joel 2. A quote from there. That is called a wonder. People are going to marvel at the blood, fire, and smoke that they see. You have to go back to Acts 2.19 to understand that. Acts 7.36, Moses' miracles in the wilderness for 40 years were wonders. They marveled when they saw what Moses did for them through the wilderness. But backing up, the thing that's also called signs, I mean wonders, are the ten plagues he performed before they got into the wilderness. In Exodus 11 verses 9 and 11, it calls them wonders. Ten plagues, miracles in the wilderness, ultimately the blood fire and smoke, these are all wonders. They appeal to the imagination. People are going to be blown away. Why do they go to the movie theater today? Why would you pay that kind of money to watch something? You're expecting all three of these, aren't you? You want it to be Powerful, full of signs. Did you see that? Did you see that? And then they're going to go, whoa! That was the best movie ever. This is just a picture of entertainment. But it's on a supernatural level. The world is going to flock after Him. They will do anything and they will worship Him because of who He's claiming to be. And it says specifically all these things will take. Well, you see it in your script, in your word, you diagram it, it comes out different with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of wickedness. That's what kicks in. Even people who don't want to be swallowed in by this are going to be sucked in because of the delusion, the seduction of this cheating, beguiling. This word deception here is that which gives a false impression. And someone described it, as I was looking through this, as unrighteousness excited by deceit. It's weird. You can testify to this. When you're tempted in an area that you have told yourself time and time again, I don't want to do that ever again. So we'll pick on food today. Food's a pretty neutral thing that we can pick on and all of us struggle with. Oh, I'm sorry. I just messed up your whole meal, didn't I? Take small portions, wait until everybody's done, then go back and pig out, okay? But make sure everybody gets through the line. But as you look at this delusion... Now you've got me totally lost. It's that feeling... I have to go kind of in a nebulous area for you. It's that feeling you get when you feel like, I couldn't help myself. You've been there, haven't you? You've told yourself and told yourself and told yourself, this is wrong. You pick the sin that you've done it with. This is wrong. I don't want to ever do this again. And then you find yourself right in the middle of it. How did you get there? Your choice, but this is why, right here. It was the unrighteous, excited deception that took you there. You got so excited, your flesh got so worked up, you said, I can't say no. I have to do this. And that means you're walking by the flesh as a believer. You've told the Holy Spirit to go away. He can't. But you've grieved Him, you've clinched Him. But it's all deception of unrighteousness, of iniquity. This injustice, this desire to violate the law is what you went after. He's writing to them. He's saying, you guys relax, the day of the Lord has not come yet, but I am going to have the antichrist revealed. I'm going to take the restrainer away. He's going to come in. Christ is going to deal with him eventually, but he's going to work with the activity of Satan, the operation of Satan, all the energy of him, the adversary, power, signs, false wonders, all the deception of wickedness. Why? And it's for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. They made a choice. If I told you today, this building is going to get hit by a F-14 fighter jet. Today at 2.15. You have a choice to make, don't you? You could be here. Some of you probably still will be because Prairie House doesn't start until 2.30. But if you really believed me, what would you do? First off, you'd get your camera for this wonder you're going to behold. How far back can you stand and still watch? You've got to make sure which direction it's coming in from because it may skip. But it's going to hit here as its first point of contact. What do you do? Eat fast. Eat, drink and be merry for today we die. You're going to get out. That's going to be your primary concern. And then once you're out safely with your camera at a safe distance, then what are you going to do? Oh, you may have to tell a few people around here what's going to go on. Well, you know the time. You can warn them all the way up to 2.14. I shouldn't use the word 14 if it's an F-15. Anyway. But if you start looking at it, who do I think about first? tend to think about me, then once I'm safe, then I start kind of going out in concentric circles until I make sure I'm going to really be safe. He's going in here and he's deceiving these people. And what they said was, I don't believe your message. I don't believe that Jesus Christ came, that He died, that He resurrected, that He's coming back in judgment. I don't believe there's any such thing as sin. I think it's all man-made. It's people's opinions. What is law? You look at our country today. How are we handling the law? Matthew 24, 14, because of lawlessness, the love of many will go cold. You're seeing it. I don't know how long that's going to go before the end, but it's cold. Laws are there to be broken. You've heard that joked about for a long time. Now you're seeing it lived. It is very subjective. Everybody's innocent. Go to prison. Ask them, do you belong here? The majority of them will tell you no. How can that be? Can they all be innocent? You find it because people think they are. But here's what they're doing in verse 10. This is the last section we'll wrap up. He says they did not receive. That is a middle voice again. They did not receive for themselves the message that was passed on to them. Destruction is coming at 215. I don't believe you. OK, sit in a building. It's warmer here than it is out there. You probably find a lot of benefits for staying in here. You can eat seconds or thirds or fourths. You can do whatever. But you don't have to believe my message. But if I'm right, you will die. An F-14 will not fit in this building moving at 500 miles an hour with a tank of gas. Jet fuel. I shouldn't call it gas. And so you're going to have serious problems if it arrives. But they did not receive it. They did not welcome it, to take it into their hands, to accept it, to admit that it was true. Specifically, they did not receive the love of the truth. They didn't receive what was genuine, what was real. A Latheist is the idea of what is genuine and real. What comes across as the real McCoy would be maybe a way we put it. They didn't believe that. And if they had, they'd be saved. This is what's happening today. They'd be rescued. They'd be delivered from what judgment is coming. You go out today and tell people that Christ is coming back and the world's going to be judged, and He's going to burn it with fire, and what will they say to you? Let's do a test. They'll think you're crazy. They'll laugh at you, won't they? Go ahead, try it. Do it ten times this week. Take a piece of paper, write down the notes. Don't do it in front of them, and don't laugh at them. Let's see what they say. Tell them Jesus Christ is coming back to judge the world. And so 2 Peter 3 again, where's the promise of His coming? For ever since our fathers fell asleep. And so here you have this problem, this struggle they're going through. They don't think it's true. For me, I went and checked it out for myself. I went to all the historical, prophetical, archaeological, textual, I went to everything I could find to prove it for myself. And I remember the day when I finally realized, I'm done. I don't doubt anymore. I've never questioned it since then. Because I put it to the test and proved it to be true. And so here they're not receiving the love of the truth. They leave themselves extremely vulnerable. They won't take the truth. They won't allow themselves to be saved. And so he says in verse 11, for this reason, God will send upon them a diluting influence, a diluting operation. The same activity of Satan here. You're going, how can God do that? And what you find here is a parallel that I try to map out on one of my pieces of paper. If I can find it. The parallels. Verse 10. Unbelievers are deceived by Satan. They reject the truth. They refuse the rescue or the salvation. So God parallels that. He says, OK, if you're going to let Satan deceive you, then I'm going to allow the Antichrist to lead you astray when he shows up. And that ultimately is what's going on here. He'll send upon them a deluding influence. I think this is a specific act of Satan himself working through the Antichrist to lead them astray. To convince them that what is true is false and what is false is true. And that's what you're seeing today. They're calling evil good and good evil. They had a banner on a church, I think in Alabama, right after the election. It said on the top, election results. Gays win. What did it say on the bottom? Unborn lose. That's all it said. Election results. Gays win. Unborn lose. It has split the town in half. You think that's amazing? Isn't it true? Did you look at it? I know how thoroughly you looked at it. Elected results of first woman, lesbian woman in Congress from the state of Wisconsin. A bunch of other laws and things. There's a bunch of them out there and a lot of it's not even reported, let alone all the smaller cases. And so they've made a statement and people took sides in Tam. Some are saying it's about time somebody said this. Others are saying, how dare you? Who knows what this is going to end up resulting in. And people are going, oh, we're supposed to love everybody. We're supposed to be united. We're supposed to bring them all together. That's not what Jesus said. He didn't say to hate and to bring division to yourself, but He said that His what? His what? His Word would divide. And divide who? How close are relationships? Families. A mother against her daughter-in-law. A mother-in-law against daughter-in-law. Father against son. You can look at the examples that are in Scripture. Is that tight relationships? They're going to divide over this? Yeah. Because this is critical to our lives. But the parallel goes on here in verse 11. They're deceived by Satan. They're going to be deceived by the Antichrist. God is going to send upon them a deluded influence. That's where people get upset. What it can be translated in, he will dispatch upon them a deluded influence. You know when the restrainer backs off, guess what he's doing? What is God doing? Turning the Antichrist loose. He's dispatching him. He said, I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried. I'm long-suffering. I'm not willing that any should perish. I've paid your way in full. I've offered it to you for six, well for two thousand years, but I've told you before that prophecies about what was coming. I've done everything I possibly can. I've sent you the prophets. I've sent you my own son. I've written down the scriptures. I've sent you preachers and teachers to pass it on to you. And what have you done with it? and bit on it and threw it out. And so God goes, there's an incoming. I can't do anything about it. My justice demands payment. And the world says to God, You have no right. How dare You judge me? Who do You think You are? They don't know Him. So I think what this talks about in verse 11, He's going to allow the antichrist to lead them astray, cause them to wander into error. And this word is used in a couple of, well, I won't go back. I'm already running out of time. He'll cause them, he'll say down a little farther, to believe what is false. They're going to believe the lie. Remember, they rejected the truth. So God says, OK, only one thing left. I'm going to cause you to take what is false, to believe the lie. And then He says thirdly, in order that they all may be judged. You refuse the salvation, the payment of your sentence to be paid for, and now you leave me with one option. I will judge you. And there will be no lawyer there, no advocate, no propitiation for your sins, you will pay for your own. Thus, you have hell. God did not create hell for man. Matthew 25, verse 41. He created hell for the devil and his angels. God never desired for man to end up in hell. In spite of what people, they get so mad at God. And as we read in Sunday school, some cults and religions get rid of hell, water it down, say everybody's going to get out of there eventually. They come up with all this stuff and they're calling God a liar. Their sin hasn't been atoned for because they rejected the payment. Deceived, rejected the truth, refused the rescue. God allows them to be led astray with the antichrist, causes them to believe the lie, and thus they receive judgment. Sad, but true. What are we doing about it today? We've got to tell them. We've got to warn them. And so he gives you verse 12, the rest of it. in order that they all may be judged. Two things, did not believe the truth. He reiterates that. They didn't accept what was real and genuine. That's what that word means. What is genuinely true. But, and here's the other side of it to emphasize, they took pleasure in wickedness. Rejected the truth, received unrighteousness. And the term he puts there for took pleasure is to approve, literally to think well of, but it's the idea of taking delight in this wickedness. This lawlessness, this unrighteousness. That's where our world's at today. Does it surprise us that our whole country is turning towards sin? Kill the babies before they're born. Kill them when they're being born. Partial birth abortion. Kill them after they're born. Infanticide. Lesbians. Go for it. We don't need marriage. Destroy marriage. Destroy the home. Undermine all of it. If you go into a relationship between two homosexuals, whether they be male or female, it is unnatural. It doesn't work. It leads to all kinds of unhealthy conditions. And I don't need to go into detail. Do you understand part of the health problem and the health cost in America today is homosexuality? They will tell you nothing about it. I have a book by an emergency room doctor out of San Francisco. They ostracized her when she wrote a book about what was going on there. Who she treated and what she treated them for. It is sad. It shouldn't cause us to get angry. It should cause us to weep. They're lost. They're deceived. Don't fight them. Don't beat on them. Tell them the truth. Pray for them. Look for ways to model it before them. Love them in spite of their anger and their hatred toward you. That's the only thing that's going to penetrate. That's what God did for us. That's what broke through to me was His love. So this passage I could spend a lot more time on. I'm always frustrated. I'm a frustrated preacher. Never enough time. I left out half of what I could have shared and four times more of what was in there. But the picture's so clear. Thessalonians, I know you're young believers. Relax. The Day of the Lord is not coming upon you. Christ is going to deliver you. But before that, there will be a couple little things. Man of lawlessness. You know, the Great Tribulation. It might bother you. But it's not the Day of the Lord. And it's not coming from God. And I will never leave you or forsake you. Let me work through those times to help you to grow up. Get ready. Get dressed spiritually to be the bride that Christ is looking for when He returns. You're not earning that. You're appropriately becoming what you are before Him. But there should be no fear, 1 John 4. There should be no panic on the part of believers. There should be no hate toward what you see happening in this country. There should be a lot more prayer. I spent a lot more time praying about this election and since this election for areas that God said, Oh, I finally got your attention. Yeah, I was cruising along. Everything was fine for a while there. And I had hoped that we were going to get things turned around. Turned around how? Financially? Maybe. Spiritually? Nothing's changed. Nothing would have changed with an election. They need the gospel. Go tell them. Christ died for you. He resurrected. And especially tell them He's coming back. Love them. Don't mock them. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the real meal that we came for today. The opening of Your Word and the privilege of hearing it recited from memory, to be able to read through 1 John 4 for communion as well. to spend time in 2 Thessalonians. It is a joy to realize the position that you put your word in for all eternity. It's forever settled in heaven. It's an eternal book. Powerful. True. Unchanging. And yet it reveals a lot of stories, a lot of problems, a lot of sinners in their lives and their deeds. So as we look at some of what will take place potentially in the near future, May we be prepared. And if it doesn't happen in our time, may we be prepared to be able to teach our children what to be prepared for.