THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 23, 2020.

SUBJECT: THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS!

Memory verse: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” (Second Thessalonians 2 vs 7.) 

READ: Second Thessalonians 2 vs 6 - 12: 

2:6: And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
2:7: For the mystery of lawlessness is already work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

2:8: And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming:
2:9: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders,
2:10: and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2:11: And for this reason God will send them  strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
2:12: that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

INTIMATION:

We are in the last days—the time between Christ’s first and second comings. The Scriptures warn us about the happenings that will dominate the world before the second coming of Christ. A new world order that will be headed by the Antichrist; Satan tool for his final battle. However, throughout history there have been individuals who epitomized evil and who were hostile to everything Christ stands for. These antiChrists have lived in every generation and will continue to work their evil. Then just before Christ’s second coming, “the man of sin....the son of perdition,” a completely evil man, will arise. He will be Satan’s tool, equipped with Satan’s power. The lawless man will be the Antichrist.

“The mystery of lawlessness is already at work” means that the work that this AntiChrist will do is already going on. Mystery means something no one can discover but something God will reveal. Lawlessness is lack of respect for the law, illegality, anarchy, wildness, unruliness, lack of restraint. It is the hidden, subtle, underlying force from which all sin springs. Today the world is being ravaged by lawlessness which is going on to a certain extent, but the man of sin had not yet been revealed. However, the movements of lawlessness are usually not the result of one individual. Individuals only become the instigators of a mood that prevails in a particular society. 

Civilization which still has a veneer of decency through law enforcement, education, science, and reason, has not been able to contain the lawlessness. Instead it has, through science, assisted in sophisticating the lawlessness. Today we have seen the conspiracy theory in high places occasioning the manufacturing of viruses in laboratories and released into the air to attack human population. This is what the Bible called “spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6 vs 12.) Although we are horrified by these lawlessness and criminal acts, we have yet to see the real horror of complete lawlessness. This will happen when the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 

Why will God allow this to happen? To show people and nations their own sinfulness, and to show them by bitter experience the true alternative to the lordship of Christ. People totally without God can act no better than vicious animals. The Bible reveals a God who hates evil and will one day do away with it completely and forever (Revelation 20 vs 10 - 15). We don’t need to understand every detail of how God works in order to have perfect confidence in His absolute power over evil and His total goodness toward us. 

It is dangerous, however, to label any person as the Antichrist and try to predict Christ’s coming based on the assumption. The man of sin (lawlessness) is mentioned in the Scripture, not so we might attempt to identify him, but so we might be ready for anything that threatens our faith. If our faith is strong, we don’t need to be afraid of what lies ahead, because we know that the lawless man had already been defeated by God, no matter how powerful he becomes or how terrible our situation seems. God is in control, and He will be victorious. Our task is to be prepared for Christ’s return and to spread the gospel so that even more people will also be prepared.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for all You wrought for us in redemption through Christ’s atonement for our sins. Satan is a defeated foe, and by our faith in Christ, we stand victorious in Him. Endue me with the spirit of faith that I may remain faithful to the end, and receive the crown of glory in eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!