In the last devotion, we talked about who the Antichrist is, but what will happen to him? This devotion looks at what Paul says in in the future for the Antichrist.
Nuggets
- The Antichrist is going to be the exact opposite of Jesus.
- Satan is one day going to come out of the shadows, and the Antichrist is going to be a big step toward that.
- Satan is working really hard to turn people away from God.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the End Times category
End Times Churchy Words Focus
John was the only writer to so name the Antichrist. Paul did have a name he called him: the lawless one.
You know. A rose by any other name …
Let’s take a look at what Paul has to say to the Thessalonians.
Let's Put It into Context
According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, the antichrist “describes a particular individual or a group of people who oppose God and His purpose.” The Scriptures don’t specifically mention the antichrist by “name.” John is the only one who does that. Alexander described the term was referring “… specifically to characterise (sic) heresy denying the incarnation, person, and dignity of Christ as God-Man.”
Resources
The Lawless OneTitle
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way” (II Thess. 2: 7 CSB)
I think that it is interesting that Paul uses the term lawless one in most of these verses to describe the Antichrist. We just said that the Antichrist is going to be the exact opposite of Jesus. Jesus said, “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished” (Mt. 5: 17-18 CSB).
We’ve also said that the laws and commandments show us the character of God. Our obedience of them help us to imitate God. Obedience means to hear and carry out the instructions that God gives us.
By being the opposite of Jesus, the Antichrist would be filled with ungodliness. Godliness, equated with the Old Testament term fear of the Lord, is an attitude of reverence that is promoted by walking in His Spirit.
Look what Paul said. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work …” (II Thess. 2: 7 CSB). Oh, yes. That is scary.
But Satan has been working in this world since Adam and Eve. Obviously from the current state of the world, he has doubled down in his efforts.
Scott gave us some great bullet points to help us identify the Antichrist.
- He is wicked.
- He is destructive.
- He is ambitious.
- He is an usurper.
Oh, yeah. The name man of sin fits the Antichrist. With that list, we would say that he is rotten to the core.
Since Paul is talking about Jesus’ second coming, he said that “… but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way” (II Thess. 2: 7 CSB). Vaughan interpreted this to mean that lawlessness will get really bad before Jesus returns. However, he also implied a transition from the lawlessness to the lawless one.
Ooo, baby. Isn’t that scary? If what we are in now is the lawlessness, then it is going to get so much worse.
It kind of reads that there is just one thing holding the Antichrist back. The wording “… but the one now restraining …” (II Thess. 2: 7 CSB) is interesting.
I can think of things preventing the Antichrist from coming right now.
- “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24: 14 NLT). Everyone has to have the opportunity to choose God.
- “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (II Pet. 3: 9 CSB). God wants everyone who is going to accept the gift of salvation to do so.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Humphrey made an excellent point. “… the mystery of lawlessness …” (II Thess. 2: 7 CSB) “… is the power unseen, unknown except by its effects, which is ever working in the world for evil …” That explains a lot, doesn’t it? Satan’s workings is a mystery, unseen, and unknown — except by effects.
Can’t we as disciples see others today falling into sin’s trap because it is a mystery, unseen, and unknown? That is Satan at his best — subtly manipulating us to turn away from God and sin.
The Lawless One Revealed
“and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming” (II Thess. 2: 8 CSB)
Satan is probably content to work behind the scenes right now. I mean, how many times does God get — questioned at a minimum — blamed at a maximum for all of the bad things happening?
Yep, Satan is really glad that God gets to take the heat for death, disease, natural disasters — whatever happens that we would rather didn’t.
Oh, one day, Satan is going to come out of the shadows. Yes, the Antichrist is going to be a big step toward that.
One day, the Antichrist will appear and say he is above God’s laws and commandments. He will be — for a while.
Paul doesn’t give us any clue as a timeline. Is the Antichrist revealed one minute and destroyed the next? We will look at the answer to that question in the next devotion.
This has been described as the apocalypse, a prophetic revelation. What it is going to be is a dramatic demonstration of God and Jesus’ power.
Close made a comment that can be applied to our situation today. He wrote, “Some vainly hope that its overthrow will be accomplished by the cultivation of the human intellect and the diffusion of secular knowledge.”
I thought about all of last year’s discussions on global warming and how we need to listen to the scientists so that this earth is not destroyed.
This earth is going to be destroyed. It won’t be anything that mankind did or did not do. “… Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them” (Rev. 21: 11 CSB).
God has given us chapter and verse — only what we need to know — about how Jesus will return, Satan defeated, and all will be judged.
Satan and the Antichrist will be defeated. Sin will be abolished. God will be victorious in the end.
The timing has to be right because it sounds like Jesus is just going to consume him. Annihilated also sounds like an applicable word.
And look what Jesus’ weapon is going to be! “All Scripture is breathed out by God …” (II Tim. 3: 16 ESV).
We were thinking some big, noisy battle where the balance for victory could toggle back and forth, weren’t we? We see horses and sickle.
It sounds like Jesus is going to use the Word of God to defeat the Antichrist.
Satan’s Work
“The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie, and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing …” (II Thess. 2: 9-10 CSB)
Oh, yeah. Satan is working, too. He is working really hard to turn people away from God. Yes, I bet he thinks he is succeeding, especially the last couple of years.
Thomas wrote that Satan’s operations were
- “Sensuous.
- “Marvellous (sic).
- “Deceptive.
- “Unrighteous.
- “Destructive.”
We talked in the last devotion about Satan and the Antichrist both being liars. Sin is made appealing by being sensuous and marvelous. Any way it is packaged, sin is against God, making it unrighteous and destructive.
Smyth argued that disciples shouldn’t totally ignore sin. He wrote,
- “If we have been compelled to observe the evil of the world we need to look on until we see its darkness beneath the brightness of the Lord’s presence,
- “On the other hand, we must not shrink from any knowledge of the evil of the world.”
So, what does that really mean? As children of God, we are in the palm of His hand. We are safely within the harbor of His love.
But Satan is picking at us. He is trying to divide our focus so we will denounce God. He is there whether we pay attention to him or not.
It is kind of like when I was a kid on the farm. If I played outside in the evening, it was going to get dark on me whether I was paying attention to it or not. If I was paying attention — and doing what Mom and Dad wanted me to do — I would come in before dark. If not, I may be having a good old time — but I would probably be in trouble.
Disciples can’t say, “I’m good now. I don’t have to do anything.” We need to keep watch so Satan doesn’t tempt us. We need to witness to others so they can know Jesus as their Savior.
Followers of the Antichrist
“… They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie, so that all will be condemned — those who did not believe the truth but delighted in unrighteousness” (II Thess. 2: 10-12 CSB)
At first glance, we might read this to say predestination. Predestination, in a biblical sense, is being given salvation without choosing it and without repenting. Someone else has made the decision, and it can’t be prevented or changed.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
Well, doesn’t this verse kind of say that? God is forcing them not to believe? That means He has chosen that they will not get His gift of salvation.
Oh, wait. We blew right by verse 10. “… They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved” (II Thess. 2: 10 CSB).
They did not accept the gift of salvation. They did not admit their sins, believe Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer, and confess a God as Sovereign Lord.
That is the only way anyone will receive eternal life.
Look at how Paul describes the ones about whom he is talking. “… those who did not believe the truth but delighted in unrighteousness” (II Thess. 2: 10-12 CSB).
It makes it seem like they not only chose not to accept God’s gift, but they also actively chose to continue to sin. They delighted in doing the opposite of what God wanted them to do.
Making the Connections
One issue the Thessalonians faced was the belief that Jesus’ return was at hand, and they stopped living their lives. The only problem with that is He didn’t come right then.
Yes, it really appears we are in the end times now. We have to take Nick Fury’s advice in The Avengers — “Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”
That is good advice for us. It doubly is so when we hook it to Jesus’ admonition that we aren’t supposed to try to figure out a day and time that will happen.
We are to be as Vaughan told us. He wrote that we should be “… a Church restless and feverish in anticipation of the Advent.”
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
The defeat of the Antichrist may be hard for a non-believer to understand. How can we clearly and succinctly tell others about him?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
Molyneux wrote, “All admit that Christ will come; but few invest it with sufficient importance.” I am always leery of qualifying something with the terms all or never.
Still, I don’t think that is an accurate statement for today. It feels like it should be, instead, “Few admit that Christ will come; and even less invest it with sufficient importance.”
Don’t be one of them. Invest in what is important — seeking God.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Close argued that Satan is trying to destroy the church from within. I don’t know when he wrote that, but that’s still happening! Disciples have to work doubly hard not to let Satan break the unity — and peace.
Manton gave us a good to do list:
- Watch and pray (Mt. 13: 25)
- Reform and repent (Rev. 2: 5)
- Be fortified and established by knowledge (II Pet. 3: 17), by grace (Heb. 13: 9; I Jn. 2: 20)
One of these days, the Antichrist will be revealed. We have to be strong enough in our faith to withstand the warfare Satan will throw at us leading up to then.
Father God. We choose You. Strengthen us when we must tell Satan to go away. We choose You today, tomorrow, and through eternity. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: What Is the Tribulation? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Is the War in Heaven? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Happens in the Middle of the Tribulation? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Is the Rapture? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Will the Tribulation End? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Will the Tribulation Begin? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Who Is the Antichrist? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Consequences of Setting Our Affections Below – Seeking God with Elaine