The Son of Perdition

Introduction

Paul has just reminded the believers in Thessalonica that the tribulation period will not begin until there is a great falling away and the Antichrist is revealed.

He has written to relieve their fears and anxiety, but also to give them further details concerning the last days and specifically concerning the agenda, the rise, and the ultimate destruction of the “man of sin” that shall be revealed.

The spirit of antichrist was already at work in the early days of the church (I John 4:3) and is still at work today but the son of perdition, often referred to as the antichrist, has not yet been revealed and will not be revealed until after the rapture of the church.

Tonight we will take a look at the details Paul shares concerning this man of sin.

First let us examine:

His Agenda (Vs. 3b-5)

When the antichrist is revealed what will be the agenda that he will strive to accomplish in the world?

It is this man of sin who will lead the falling away that shall take place and who will promote sin and lawlessness among men as never before.

The primary agenda of the antichrist is to turn men away from God and to cause them to worship him as God.

He will work to oppose all that is right and holy. The work of the antichrist will be diametrically opposed to the work of Jesus Christ. Christ came to seek and to save the lost and to bring men to God while the antichrist comes to turn men away from God and to bring about their ultimate condemnation and destruction.

His agenda is also to exalt himself as God. Just as Jesus Christ humbled himself and sought to exalt the father the antichrist will seek to exalt himself above God that he may be worshipped in the place of God.

The temple in Jerusalem will one day be rebuilt Daniel 9:27 and the antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews which he will subsequently break, then he will lift up himself as the object of worship in the place of God.

He will set up a monument in the temple of himself and all the world will worship it.

It is clearly seen that the antichrist’s agenda is that of Satan himself who also sought to exalt himself to be worshipped as God. Isaiah 14:12-15- Satan’s agenda. Satan even attempted to cause Jesus Christ to worship him. Matthew 4:8-9- temptation of Christ

We can plainly see this same agenda being advanced even in our society today but when the antichrist rises there will be little to no opposition to his agenda and it will be advanced quickly like never before. The agenda we see being advanced around the world today should cause us to recognize that the Lord could certainly be returning soon.

The question may be asked “how would such a man come to power?” Paul gives us some information regarding this point.

His Rise to Power (Vs. 6-8a & 9-11)

When the antichrist rises to power he will basically rise unopposed as many are deceived while still others support his agenda and ideology.

In this passage we see that there is a force that has prevented his rise up to this point. There is a restraining force that the Thessalonians were well aware of for Paul had already spoken to them about it previously.

The most logical conclusion that we can draw is that this force is the presence of the Holy Spirit as he indwells believers in the local church. II Thessalonians 2:6-7- one day this restraining force will be taken out of the midst of the world.

Again the most logical explanation is that this speaks of the rapture of the church, when the church is removed the primary avenue for the working of the Holy Spirit will no longer be present in the world.

This does not mean that the Holy Spirit will not work in the world any longer for if this were true then there would be no one saved during the tribulation period but we know based upon scripture that there will be many saved during this time.

The rise of the Antichrist is without opposition because before his rise the church has been raptured and removed from the world.

We ought to recognize our role in the world today to oppose the forces of evil and immorality and anything that is in opposition to God and His Word. Imagine for a moment a world absolutely devoid of real Christianity and it is easy to see how the antichrist could so easily rise to power.

Much of what we see developing in the world today is because of the decline of sincere Christianity in our world.

But what about those who are unbelievers? Why are they so willing to support and ultimately worship this son of perdition?

We find the answer in II Thessalonians 2:9-11- they will be deceived by the signs and wonders that he does.

Those who may otherwise have refused to believe will be given strong delusion such that they willingly worship and follow the antichrist and his agenda.

Those who have rejected the truth (Jesus Christ- John 14:6) will now embrace a deadly lie.

What will be the ultimate end of the antichrist and those who follow and worship him? Finally we see:

His Ultimate Defeat (Vs. 8b & Vs. 12)

The antichrist will quickly rise to power over the entire world system but his power will be short-lived for at the end of the seven years Jesus Christ will return to wage war against him and all of his followers.

He will not reign one moment past the time that God has ordained. Despite all of his power and influence and despite being worshipped as God it will be clearly seen that he is not God when Christ returns to defeat him.

When Christ returns the antichrist will be quickly and decisively overthrown. The spirit of His mouth will defeat the antichrist and the brightness of His coming will defeat the forces of darkness at work in the world. II Thessalonians 2:8

What will become of those who have believed his lies and rejected the truth? These also will be ultimately condemned. II Thessalonians 2:12

Those who reject Christ, who refused to believe the truth and who enjoyed and took pleasure in living in unrighteousness will now face damnation.

The good news is Christ will ultimately be victorious. This should cause us to examine ourselves to make certain that we are on the winning side for not one of us would want to face the fate of those who reject the truth.

So many in our world are embracing sin, lawlessness, and immorality, sadly many of them never consider that this aligns them against the truth and that one day they will suffer the consequences for rejecting it.

No one who rejects the truth will escape the righteous judgement of God and all will be condemned to eternal punishment.

Revelation 19:20- beast and false prophet cast into the lake of fire/Revelation 20:10- devil cast into the lake of fire/ Revelation 20:14-15- all who have rejected the truth finally cast into lake of fire.

Conclusion

By this passage we can recognize the agenda of satan and we can plainly recognize those in our world today who are working to advance his agenda in the world.

We ought to do all that we can to oppose this agenda and to bring our community, our nation, and our world back to God while we have the opportunity.

One day we shall be raptured and then the man of sin will be unveiled and will advance the agenda of satan without restraint. Thankfully we will not be present for the terrible events that the antichrist presides over.

Let us be sure that we are doing our part as the local church to oppose the advance of evil and to promote the advance of righteousness! Let us be ready always for the return of Christ for it could be very soon.