"The Man of Lawlessness pt. 3"

Introduction

It is a hard thing to imagine that human beings would follow along so easily when the man of lawlessness comes on the scene.

At one time I imagined that he would be so easy to spot that once he was identified one could easily know it was him and just decide not to follow along with his leading.

But Scripture doesn’t seem to be so optimistic about man’s ability to discern his identity as the man of lawlessness from the point of human reasoning.

Remember the spirit of Antichrist that the man of lawlessness will embody is already in the world. And fallen man will gladly follow but not just because of man’s nature. There are forces behind the scenes that are also at work that our text this morning tells us about.

We see the man of lawlessness is not just on his own in what he is seeking to carry out. Look at verses 9-10*

I. The Deceptive Activity of Satan (9-10): 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

First we see the Satanic activity of false signs and wonders (9).

Satan is behind the coming of the man of lawlessness. When God’s appointed time comes and the restraint is over then the man of lawlessness will come foreward onto the political landscape of the day.

The man of lawlessness will do supernatural acts and false miracles. He will in an unholy manner reflect Christ working of miracles in the world. But as verse 10 tells us, deception is the intent behind the power displays. Satan is manipulating through his actions.

The Satanic activity of the power displays is to deceive the unbelievers (10).

Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:24 “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

If they could deceive the elect they would but it is not hypothetically possible. But their display of miracles will be very convincing.

This is why Jesus says in Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”

The triumph of the Cross was proved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. These events solidify forever who the real Christ is.

Many of the world’s religions boast of miracles in their religion and in their founders.But Christ alone fulfills the Scriptures by His blood atonement and the testimony of it’s sufficiency by His resurrection from the dead declare His exclusivity.

But the wicked have no love for the truth of the gospel. The light of the gospel has come into the world but they reject the gospel. Because men love darkness because their deeds are evil and they actually love their sin. They hate the light of the gospel because it exposes the darkness of their hearts (John 3:19-21).

The evil one will easily sway the masses by appealing to their sin natures and appetites. The display of miraculous power will be icing on the cake. It is hard to say if the power display is supernatural in miracles or metaphorical of power to do impressive things in the world through human effort.

Regardless of which it is, Satan is the one behind it.

People already in our day are conditioned to look to government for our needs in the place of God. Government has gladly taken His place to a large degree. Though it is popular for government leaders to pay lip service to God they still, at times make promises that only God is capable of keeping.

This is one of the reasons why we need to have a biblical worldview. One that goes beyond just informing us with truth but really challenging our worldview. We are so conditioned in the west to think of government as that entity that fixes all of our problems in life.

It is true that government is God’s servant to reward good and punish evil but what if government doesn’t see the categories of good and the evil in the same way God does.

Government will establish its own definitions regarding such categories and invoke a standard that is contrary to the supreme governing authority of Christ. And in the end seek to take his place as the supreme sovereign. This is the spirit of Antichrist in the world which is currently present and has been in the world since the fall of man.

The man of lawlessness will direct the focus upon himself and people will look to him as if he were God. Satan is busy seeking to rob God of his glory in the world and certainly it is fitting for him to direct this unholy embodiment of man’s sinful nature in such a direction.

Some believe that Satan is just a metaphorical character that is not real and only exist as a figurative being in the Bible. That is not true.

He was once an angel who sought to subvert God’s rule for his own rule. He was cast out of heaven and embodied that ancient serpent that tempted Eve in the garden with eating the forbidden fruit in order to be like God.

He is also the one behind the rise of Antichrist in the world in all generations and he will embody the fallen nature of man in the final man of lawlessness.

But there is another power at work behind the scene besides Satan. God is at work exercising His judgement in and through all of this. Look back at your text to verses 11-12*

II. The Judicial Purpose of God (11-12): 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Notice that verse 11 says God sends them a strong delusion (11).

But the term “Therefore” at the beginning of verse 11 tips us off that this is an act of judgement on God’s part due to their refusal to love the truth of the gospel and be saved.

This is not some unjust act on the part of God but one that He is justified in. They had no love for the truth or the gospel.

They are living out their sin nature and they hate the light of the gospel because they love their sin just like John 3:19-21 says.

This is similar to the kind of judgement of God we see in other places. We see something similar in Romans 1:18-32 where God gives people over to their own sinful appetites because they suppress the truth about Him. That is the purpose behind it as verse 12 makes clear.

The “strong delusion” is that they will look to the Antichrist in approval and follow him as he asserts himself into the place of God.

Christian beware of looking to government for the things that Scripture tells us only God can give.

Government is accountable to God as His steward but for government to assert itself into God’s place is improper and an immoral evil.

Yet governments do it. Communist governments most often promote atheism. Socialistic governments that want to remove God’s influence on society are in the end promoting human government as the highest authority to provide for human needs.

Some governments start off simple but through the years they grow and become bigger and more powerful in the authority they exercise over people.

Our own government has been that way throughout history. If you read the Constitution and you study history you can see how the power of government has grown. And it is true of the governments of other nations as well.

As government grows we the people become more and more dependent on government to meet our needs and to solve our problems instead of looking to God.

For the Christian we can never loose the focus of our faith. Don’t let government eclipse your view of the Son of God. Government is accountable to God to act in accordance with biblical instruction for its rule over a society.

For Government to ostracize God from society is morally corrupt and from the evil one.

And if we think it is good and proper for government to take God’s place then we are being deceived.

God purposely exercises condemnation upon those who believe in government to this degree (12). “In order that” denotes the purpose and intent of God.

Notice there is no mixing of words here by the Apostle Paul. God is the one who is in control exercising His divine intent. His intent here is the vindication of the truth of the gospel over and above man’s pleasure in unrighteousness. He will cause them to pursue the direction that will result in their own judgement.

God done this with Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus. He hardened Pharaoh's heart to the point that Pharaoh would not let His people go. And Pharaoh pursued the Hebrews right down into the Red Sea.

From a rational perspective this is when I think I would have turned back. If Yahweh has parted the Red Sea I don’t think I would want to follow through in hot pursuit. But Pharaoh did and he, and his army were destroyed.

The man of lawlessness and his followers will be destroyed too by the breath from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ as He comes triumphant riding on the white horse as seen in Revelation 19.

Christian when we believe in God and His gospel it has a trickle down effect on how biblical truth about God permeates all areas of our lives.

The gospel goes beyond just securing our salvation. It liberates us to believe the truth and to be transformed by it in how we live.

Truth exposes the destructive nature of unrighteousness and the folly of taking pleasure in it.

“Pleasure” here in verse 12 literally means “to consider something as good and worthy of choice or consent” (BAGD).

He is describing a people who “had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Sounds like so many aspects of our society and culture.

It seems like most of it came about in such a subtle manner. And yet here we are and it is like prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes.

III. Conclusion

It appears that loving the gospel and loving the truth of God is the only safe place to be. It is the only way to not be deceived by the evil one or being judged by God.

What about you today? Are you in that safe place?

Unbeliever you need a Savior.

Christian do you love The Lord Jesus? Christian do you love the gospel? Do you love His truth?

Does your life bear this out? Questions are easy to answer but transformation being lived out progressively is a whole lot harder than just saying it.

But the gospel is worth loving because it triumphs on our behalf even in the midst of our failures. And we encounter God’s grace in the gospel and fall deeper in love with Him.

In that encounter we come to love our sin less and our God more.

Confess your sin and rest in Him.

Lets pray!