Let's seek the Lord's blessing on this reading of his word. O gracious God in heaven, we do rejoice and give thanks for your word. We thank you that your word is truth and that it is our only infallible rule for faith and life. And as we come to this passage and we just pray, Father, that you would just give us the wisdom and the guidance that we need and that your spirit would go forth with your word. that it would find within each of our hearts that rich, fertile soil that brings about great and abundant fruit for your glory. And so we ask now for your blessing upon your word. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, as we noted several weeks ago when we began our study of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, is that nothing stirs up fear and panic like the end times. Well, to help keep us rooted and grounded as we anticipate this time that is to come, we know and can give thanks that God has graciously revealed to us several precipitating events that lead up to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the final judgment and to the destruction of this world. And in this chapter of the Apostle Paul has particularly focused on two, the great apostasy and the coming of the man of sin. Now we've already considered the man of sin, we looked at the meaning of his name and what he'll do when he's revealed, and of course the various views of the identity of the man of sin that have been set forth throughout church history. And so now we turn our attention this morning to what's often referred to as the great apostasy. And according to what Paul says here in verse three, that the Lord Jesus Christ won't return until the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed. The falling away or apostasy and the revelation of the man in sin, of course, are closely related to one another. But before we consider the connection, it's important that we first understand what is meant by apostasy or this idea of falling away. Now, typically when we think of apostasy or of someone who was an apostate, we think of someone who's astrayed from or fallen away from the truth. That is, they've followed doctrinal error and have forsaken what they once claimed to be true. And there's certainly some elements of this, certainly as Paul uses this term here. And as we'll see, because of the deception of the man of sin and the mystery of lawlessness that's already at work in the world and in the church today, many who profess the name of Christ will fall away or apostatize as they seek after this false doctrine and teaching. And these are those of whom John says in his letter, 1 John 2, he says, They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest. that none of them were of us." So he's basically saying they ran out, but they never truly were of us. They never were true believers. Even Jesus refers to these who might apostatize. In Matthew 7, Jesus says, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I would declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And so they have this appearance of doing what is good and right all in the name of Jesus. And yet their hearts are far away from the Lord as they've turned away to lies and deceit. So they show by their apostasy that they were false professors of Christ and they were never truly known by him. They were only pretenders of the faith. But apostasy isn't merely a passive falling away. It also involves a conscious and active rebellion against God, against Christ, against his church, and against the gospel. In other words, it isn't just that people will say, oh, I don't believe in all that God stuff anymore. No, they're going to rebel against God and they're going to seek to oppose Him in any and every way that they can. Which also means that they're going to oppose and persecute faithful believers in Christ. Having exchanged the truth of God for a lie, they're going to actively suppress that truth. They're going to seek to overturn it and to destroy it so that they might pursue then the desires of their own sinful hearts without any fetters of God's law and God's commands. Now it's true that this is nothing new. That his apostasy has been happening since the days of the early church. And we see it even in the New Testament. It was happening when John wrote his epistle, warning of pre-gnostic groups who were denying that Jesus was the Christ come in the flesh. It was happening with the Judaizers whom Paul condemns in the book of Galatians. It was happening even here in Thessalonica, which is why Paul is writing this letter. That false teachers and these traveling prophets were coming into the church. They were looking to deceive and to lead people astray. Indeed, the apostasy often goes hand in hand with the mystery of lawlessness and the spirit of antichrist that's already at work in the world and which appears in every age. And again, we've talked about before. This is what the Westminster Confession of Faith warns of in chapter 25, verse 5. It says this, the purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error. And some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall always be a church on earth. to worship God according to His will. So this tells us that there is no perfect church, that every church is going to be a mixture of error and truth, but some are going to become so corrupt that they no longer become a church, they become a synagogue of Satan. But we also have that promise that Christ will always have a faithful remnant that He preserves here on earth. And so we see evidence again of this kind of apostasy even in our own day. And we look around, we can see, I think, of many denominations which at one time held very closely to the truths of the gospel and God's word, and yet now they're turning away and they're rejecting those even with great hostility. They have rejected the authority of Scripture. They have denied the divinity of Christ. They have denied the supernatural. They deny the resurrection. They embrace all kinds of immorality and wickedness that God condemns. And so they have apostatized. They have become synagogues of Satan and they no longer are to be considered a church of Christ. But the more the gospel spreads throughout the earth and the more converts are made and hearts are changed and sinful men come to Christ across the globe, we know that the more this truth comes under attack by this Antichrist spirit that is present in the age. And of course, this is going to have a culminating effect as time goes on, as people turn away from the truth and even attack again aggressively the truth of the gospel. And they're going to be searching for something else to cling to. They're going to be looking around for another standard, for another source of hope. One that allows them to do whatever is right in their own eyes. They're going to look for something that refuses to call sin, sin. So that they can continue to live in their sin. They're going to look for something that's tolerant of every form of evil and wickedness, but will have no tolerance for the true light of the gospel. And what will happen is a powerful faith vacuum will be created and the fields of rebellion and unbelief will be widespread and will be ripe for the harvest. And then suddenly, the man of sin will be revealed. The man of sin won't only be the ultimate fruit of the great apostasy, he will then also become its leader. In fact, the level of rebellion will only increase when the man of sin is revealed, as he will continue to deceive multitudes. And so as we look around the world today, as we look at the visible church, that is those who profess to be Christian, and we see the threats and the waverings are happening already, we need to realize that in the end times, before Jesus Christ returns again, it's going to get much worse, as the great apostasy will be ushered in by the man of sin. But this time hasn't yet come. And there's a reason why it hasn't yet come. Because even now, the man of sin is being restrained. And we see this in verses 6 and 7. And now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time. 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. There's as much speculation about who the restrainer is as there is about who the man of sin is. And perhaps the most popular view is that initially it was the Roman Empire, but then after it ceased to be the Roman Empire, because the Roman Empire no longer exists, but it morphed into, more generally, the government's, the civil government's rule of law and order. But this seems very unlikely for two key reasons. First, governments, though truly all governments are appointed by God to wield the sword for good, we know from the reality is that the civil governments have often not lived up to that high calling. And they have not only been the chief persecutors of God's people, but have themselves also been ministers of lawlessness. And also, as Paul has described the man of sin and his tactics and methods, we see that there is a great supernatural power behind them, a satanic power much too strong to be held back by even the most faithful of human governments. I'm reminded, then, that ultimately your battle is not against flesh and blood. But as Paul says, it's against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. And so it doesn't seem likely that the rule of law and order is the restrainer. The second thing we should note about this restraint is that restraint doesn't mean that the man of sin has no influence at all. Again, as we've seen, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, and there's already apostasy taking place in every age. Restraint means that the full force is being held back. and that the influence, though present, is greatly limited. And so that's the restraint. Thirdly, there's a time when this restraint will be taken out of the way or will be removed. and removal, here again, doesn't necessarily mean that the Restrainer will no longer be existent, as many commentators seem to assume. It just simply means that the Restrainer will be no longer standing in the way of the man of sin. In fact, it's quite possible that the Restrainer will simply step aside with great intent and purpose, allowing the man of sin to begin his work, and that he'll be revealed and carry out this work, deceiving people into apostasy. finally we note that when the restrainer is removed it will be at the appointed time. See that here said he may be revealed in his own time. So the man of sin has his own time that is appointed. Well it stands to reason that there really then is only one restrainer who could hold back the spiritual power of the man of sin. And there really is only one Restrainer who has the power and the authority to appoint times and seasons. But we don't know who this specific Restrainer is. We do know, and we can know, that ultimately the restraining force is the Lord's doing. The Lord is the one who is working to restrain using whatever means he has planned and determined. And we'll look at some further evidence of this a little later. But for now, we acknowledge that for God's own plan and purpose, the man of sin is being restrained. And even though his influence and antichrist spirit is at work in the world presently and has been, it is greatly limited. And yet at the time that God himself is appointed, the man of sin will be revealed, and the full power of his influence will be unleashed. And that is what will empower, then, this great apostasy leading to the deception of many. But who is it that will be deceived during that time? Who's going to fall away? Who's going to rebel against God and become followers of this man of sin? Paul identifies them in verse 10 and then in verse 12 with two key features. First in verse 10, he says, they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Which is essentially as what he says in verse 12, who did not believe the truth. Now, the truth here is, of course, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of Jesus coming to die for undeserving sinners, paying the penalty that only we deserve, giving up himself that we might have the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. A most blessed and gracious truth. And yet not only will those deceived not believe it and they're going to reject it, but they're going to hate it. They won't love the truth. They're not going to cling to it. They won't obey the call of the gospel to repent and believe and trust in Christ for salvation. And again, this can apply even to those who are in the church, those who may claim outwardly to know God, but inwardly they haven't loved the truth of the gospel, nor did they receive the love Christ demonstrated in the gospel. Again, as John said, that they would go out from us, but they were not of us, because if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. And so their going out demonstrates that they truly were not believers in Christ. The result of this rejection and hatred of the truth, again, is just that they weren't saved. For it's only through believing the gospel of Jesus Christ that one can be saved. And so if they've hated and rejected the gospel, Well then of course there's no way for them to be saved. There's none of this all paths lead to one and the same God nonsense that we hear peddled today even by some who claim the name of Christ. Which is a perfect example of those who have rejected the gospel and who have apostatized. Now Jesus was quite clear and very emphatically so. He says in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me. Friends, Jesus is the only way to salvation. And yet those who will follow after the man of sin when he's revealed will not only reject this way, but they're going to hate it and despise it. Well, a second feature of those who rebel against God, again, is in verse 12, is that they had pleasure in unrighteousness. And so instead of seeking the Lord in faith by believing the gospel, instead of finding their delight and pleasure in Him and in seeking after His glory in all things, they're going to take pleasure in wickedness. They're going to delight in sin and enjoy the violation of God's law. They're going to extol self over both God and others. They're going to follow the philosophy of doing what's right in their own eyes. They're going to look out for number one. They're going to be their own boss. They're going to ultimately worship self as their own idol God. These are the ones who will be deceived. But how is it that those who reject the gospel and seek the idolatry of self indulgent sinfulness, How will they also be deceived by the man of sin? So they're going to reject the truth. How are they then going to be deceived by this man of sin and be led to their own destruction? Well, there are three ways. At first, the rejection of and hatred for the truth of the gospel, of course, is going to leave them with no solid foundation to stand upon. They're going to give up the very truth and the foundation upon which their hope and faith is to be built. They will have no support, no strength, no anchor, and no hope. And so when any wind or false doctrine or teaching is going to come their way, they're going to be very easily moved, they're going to be very easily duped, they're going to be taken in. Because they've rejected the only unmovable, infallible standard of truth. Because they have no way now of discerning what's true and what's error, what's going to lead them to life, what's going to lead them to destruction. And so such weakness is going to open them up to be very easily deceived by the smooth talking, miracle performing, false promise making man of sin. Well, this leads us to the second reason that they're going to be so easily deceived, and that is that the power, the signs, and the false wonders the man of sin will perform. Again, we looked at this last time, that these will be very convincing, and people are going to see them, and they're going to be amazed, right? And again, we see people caught up in these kinds of things where there's false prophets and false miracle workers, and people are all amazed by what is, they perceive these false prophets are doing. They're going to be caught up in the emotion and the fervor of this charismatic personality. They're going to be drawn by His power and promise. In fact, so convincing will the man of sin be, Jesus even warns back in Matthew 24, He says that false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Now we know that it's not possible for the elect to be misled, but Jesus mentions this to show just how influential and powerful these signs were going to be. That if it were possible to mislead the elect, Well, then those who have no such hope, who have no security in Christ, well, they certainly don't stand a chance and will most certainly be deceived and will follow very easily after this man of sin. A third reason why these rebellious unbelievers will be easily led astray is found in verse 11. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie. We see here that those who harden themselves against God's truth and the gospel will be further hardened in their own hearts. This is what the Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans 1, when he says, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. So hardened will they be in their hearts, that thinking they're wise, God is going to allow them to be fooled into believing the lies of the man of sin. They'll see then no light whatsoever. They'll see no truth, no mercy, and no grace. They're only going to see darkness. And ultimately, they'll see their own destruction. Again, we remember that the mystery of lawlessness, the spirit of Antichrist, and the move toward apostasy are already evident in the world today as people are being deceived by many false prophets and preachers. But these will reach their greatest height when the man of sin is revealed. But that isn't everything that's slated to happen as we quickly review the timing of events. First, we acknowledge that the mystery of lawlessness is already sowing seeds of apostasy in the world and in the church today, sowing seeds of discord, deception and a rejection of the truth of the gospel. There's evidence again of this in every age. But it's going to continue and even get worse as the end draws near. Then at the time which God himself has appointed, the man of sin will be released from the restraints that are currently holding him. And we find something similar to this in Revelation 20. When the Apostle John, speaking of the end times, says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. The dragon is bound. That is, he's restrained for a time. A time that God has appointed. But then after that thousand years is up, we see in verse 3, He must be released for a little while. Well, not only does this passage in Revelation give us some great insight into the possibility of the restrainer, but also to the man of sin. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the man of sin is going to be Satan incarnate. But it does seem obvious, at least, that there's a significant connection between the restraint of God upon Satan before his brief release, and the restraint upon the man of sin and his release at the end of the age. After the restrainer is moved out of the way, again that's going to happen according to God's sovereign plan and purpose, the man of sin will be revealed to all on the earth. And only then will we know for certain who the man of sin is. At his revelation, he'll begin his work of deception, rebellion, and destruction, drawing many to himself. The work of the man of sin will culminate again in the rebellion and the great apostasy, where a vast host of the world's population will turn away from any gospel light. They're going to reject the truth. They won't believe the love of God displayed in the gospel. Friends, this will be a difficult and trying time for the church, for the faithful believers in Jesus Christ. With the outright rebellion and disregard for God and his laws, those who continue to cling to God's truth revealed in the gospel are going to suffer greatly. And there'll be much suffering and persecution. And so, beloved of God, this is what's coming. But let's not panic. nor be dismayed because we've been given a promise by our Lord Jesus Christ that He will always preserve a faithful remnant and the gates of hell and even the man of sin will not prevail over His church. But not only do we have that great promise, We also know, as Paul has here informed the Thessalonian believers, so we too are now informed that when the man of sin is revealed and the great apostasy reaches its climax, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will not be far behind. He will surely come. He will come, and in verse 8, the Lord will consume the lawless one with the breath of his mouth and bring the man of sin and the great apostasy to an end. And just by the brightness of His coming, the man of sin will be destroyed. Victory will come. Friends, it's assured. It's assured because Christ has already won for us the great victory over Satan's sin and death through His death and His resurrection. And though the man of sin will come and he will wreak havoc to destroy, and he'll lead astray, he's going to think that he's going to prevail. But with one simple word, he'll be destroyed by Christ. And not only will the man of sin be destroyed, but those who've been deceived by him, who've rejected the truth, who've hated the gospel, they too shall be condemned and perish. This will be the certain end of the great apostasy on the man of sin. Brothers and sisters, what does this then mean for us, for the church of Christ today? what means first that we must take heed carefully to Paul's warning here in verse 3. Let no one deceive you by any means. Let no one deceive you. We need to be alert to these things which God has graciously revealed, and we need to then cling to what we know to be true, even the truths and the promises that God has given to us in His Word. We need to know the Word. and to cling to its promises and faith, so you will not be deceived. But friends, it isn't enough to simply just know with head knowledge the Word of God. You must also believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the truth of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ is Lord. You must, by grace through faith, receive the truth with love and you will be saved. And so, friends, today, today, if you would hear God's voice, do not harden your heart, do not reject the gospel, do not despise the love of God through Jesus Christ, but believe on him, believe on Christ. Even today. And you will not be disappointed. You will not be disappointed today. And you will not be disappointed at that turbulent time. You will not fall away when the man of sin is revealed. Because you will have the great hope. And you will have the assurance. You will have the security of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the assurance that the man of sin will be destroyed. you will enter into the glorious presence of the Lord where there's fullness of joy forever and ever and ever to the glory of God alone. Let's pray. Oh gracious God in heaven we do rejoice and give thanks for your word And for this important reminder, again, just a reminder to be steadfast and true to your word, that we should be diligent readers of your word. And it's not that we would have the head knowledge, but that your spirit would go forth with your word and draw each of us in closer to yourself. And it truly is a living word, and that you would apply its truth to us. that we would cling to its promises as you give us assurance of these things because we know these turbulent times are yet ahead and we see again evidence of it all around us. And so we just pray that you would help us even this congregation of your people, those gathered here, that you would help us to stand firm in your truth, to embrace these things, to be on guard, to be on the lookout that we would not be swayed by such deceptions. but that we would strive in your grace to be beacons of light and hope in this world. And that through our witness, many would come to know the truth and to believe the truth and to embrace the truth of Christ and come to salvation in him. And that you would continue to build your church as you have promised and that you would always preserve that faithful remnant knowing that there is many assaults and attacks that will come upon her. And so we just praise you and thank you, God, for these things. And we pray again that your spirit would apply these truths to our hearts, each and every one, drawing us all closer to yourself, all to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.