What has to happen before Christ Returns?
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
The “apostasy” has to come first.
Second, the “restrainer” has to be removed.
Finally, the antichrist has to be revealed.
What does 2 Thessalonians 1:2-12 reveal about the “antichrist”?
First, he will be lawless. That’s why “government” plays a major role in restraining him. Twice in this passage “lawlessness” describes the antichrist. In v3 he is “the man of lawlessness” and in v8 he is “that lawless one.” This word for “lawlessness” means “being or behaving in open defiance to the law, both God’s Law and man’s law. It describes the main character quality of the antichrist.
You see this clearly in the first part of v4, “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship.” In other words, the antichrist is “a law unto himself” and “answers to no one.” Nevertheless, he will answer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
V8 says the Lord Jesus will slay the antichrist with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the splendor of His glorious appearing. That is what Paul means at the end of v3 when he describes the antichrist as “the son of destruction.” He is “the son of destruction” in the sense that he is “destined to be destroyed” by the splendor of Jesus’ glorious appearing.
Second, the antichrist will “display himself as being ‘God’” at the end of v4.
To “display” means “to show off” or to “proclaim to an office.” In this context, “proclaiming himself that he is ‘God.’” He will do this when “he takes his seat as ‘God’ in the Temple” according to v4.
The antichrist, just like Satan, will be full of pride and vain glory. Satan said to himself, “I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the mount of assembly far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High” [Most High is a title for God]. But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths (Isaiah 14:13–15, TLB).
Finally, the antichrist will “appear” to have “supernatural power” according to v9: “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, [who is a liar, see John 8:44] with all power and signs and false wonders,” literally, “signs and wonders of a lie.” “A lie” characterizes all the activity of Satan because he is a liar and the father of fraud and falsehood. Likewise, the antichrist, energized by Satan, will be a liar, a fake, and a fraud.
Heed the warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:10: the only ones who will be “deceived” and “perish” are those who “did not receive the love of the truth [i.e., the Gospel of Jesus Christ] so as to be saved.”
John 1:12 (NIV84), “Yet to all who received [Jesus], to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
Are you ready to receive Jesus? Then believe—adhere to, trust in, and rely on—His Name to save you from sin and you will become a child of God through faith in Him.
1 John 5:13 (NASB95), “These things I have written to you who believe [i.e., adhere to, trust in, and rely on) ... the Name of the Son of God, so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you have eternal life.”
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For more information visit: jenkinsmemorialbaptistchurch. com.
Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.
