The coming of the man of lawlessness

(2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)

This section of scripture speaks about the coming of the man of lawlessness, or the man of sin. It is a clear sign that the end times are here and that the Lord will also return soon too.

Paul speaks here about this sign of the coming of the man of lawlessness and some of the things we can and will expect to see when he does appear. And it is evident that things are escalating to the point where his arrival is imminent.

Jesus too spoke about the coming of the man of lawlessness quoting the words of Daniel regarding his coming and the signs leading up to the second coming of Christ. In all of these words and the mention of the coming of the man of lawlessness, we see that it will be an evil time such as has never been seen before, and it will not end until Jesus returns and puts this man of sin down.

The coming of the man of lawlessness

In order to understand some things about the events surrounding the coming of the man of lawlessness, let us look at the scriptures under review today.

3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, 12 so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)

There are many issues in these words, so we eill look at some of them individually.

The mystery of lawlessness

The first thing to consider in identifying this man is the mystery of lawlessness. What is lawlessness?

Lawlessness is sin. It is the breaking of God’s law and the complete rejection of the teachings of God.

This will be one of the great hallmarks of the coming of the man of lawlessness. Sin will reign and even be revered as something good rather than the evil that it is.

Consider some of the things going on in the world today.

The rise of immorality, which is everywhere. Fornication, adultery, and same sex relationships are standard fare in many television shows and movies, and they are held up as being good. And in the case of same sex relationships, in an increasing number of countries around the world a person can be arrested, fined, and imprisoned for trying to convert a person from a same sex lifestyle. That is certainly the case here where I live as laws have recently been passed to even condemn prayers offered to the Lord in this regard for specific individuals.

Then there are such things as “Greed is good,” which was a catch-cry from a movie some years ago. This is not the way of the Lord. Greed is NEVER good. It is anathema to the ways of the Lord and is just another expression of the evil preceding the coming of the man of lawlessness.

We could also consider the lack of discipline of the younger generations. You cannot smack a child these days to teach them right from wrong. It is this lack of discipline that leads so many to accept and even laud what is wrong in this world. And the lack of discipline is potentially the biggest driver of the violence, hatred, prejudice and many other social evils in the world. But to smack a child who needs to be disciplined to teach them right from wrong, is seen today as some kind of brutality. And the one disciplining the child can be taken to court and even have their children taken away from them.

And there are many other things that could be added to this list that are in stark opposition to the ways of God that show and increase the lawlessness and sin of the world.

The activity of Satan

The above is just the beginning of the times and activities of Satan that is increasing daily in the world. The activity ff Satan has just one goal. To destroy the people of the world, and especially those who seek to follow God.

Satan cares nothing for people. He hates the creation of the Lord and he especially hates those who want to get out of the evils of this world by following Christ Jesus.

His ways are laced with evil, wicked deception, lies, and the glorification of the flesh. His activities are on the increase as his time of destruction draws nearer. He is in his last days and the evils that escalate daily in the world are his last fling to try and bring down and destroy as many people as possible, taking them to the burning lake of fire with himself.

Much more will occur before the end. The activity of Satan will escalate and grow, especially after the coming of the man of lawlessness. When that man of sin is revealed, then the activity of Satan will grow.

He will cause “pretended signs and wonders” to occur. They are “pretended” because they will do nothing of any value or good but only aim to excite the passions of people. They will be a bit like a fireworks display that excites the senses, but does nothing of value.

And the activity of Satan will also be directed against the church. He will escalate his activities to try to destroy the church, and as scripture says, this will be a time for the endurance of the saints.

The coming of the man of lawlessness with delusions

Finally we see that as the world goes after and follows the ways of this man of sin, they will be deluded into believing him.

And to make their sin even worse, God sends a strong delusion on those who are to follow the man of sin. They will be deluded into believing that evil is good and good is evil. And if you consider the issues in the world I mentioned above, along with all the different forms of evil that the world considers good and good evil today, then it is clear this mystery of lawlessness and the delusions are already occurring.

The end times are upon us and these signs will continue. The coming of the man of lawlessness will not be far away as all of the signs identified in the Bible are happening now.

Watch and prepare. Focus your mind upon Jesus and His teachings and do not be swept away by the delusions that will lead to the destruction of the deluded. Because with the coming of the man of lawlessness, we will shortly see the coming of Jesus Christ as He is the one who will put down the man of sin and all forms of lawlessness when His kingdom is established.

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