I. The Restraining Vs. 6, 7
A. The Mystery Of Lawlessness V. 7a
1. The work of Satan has existed in the world since his interference with Adam & Eve.
2. The work of Satan has always been to try to replace the truth of God with a lie.
3. “Mystery”- That which is hidden, not obvious for what it is. (Disguised as good)
4. Satan’s work against God & mankind is hidden & misunderstood in many ways.
a. It is dressed up as humanism, false religion, & is in many segments of politics.
b. It appears as human advancement, but in reality, it is degradation & destruction.
c. It is a multi-pronged attack through all the cultural avenues of man.
5. The biggest deceitful work of Satan will be the raising up of the Anti-Christ.
6. Eventually, the terrible truth of Satan and Anti-Christ will be understood by all upon the earth. Until then, the plan of Satan moves steadily forward, dressed up as good and benevolent efforts for all of mankind.
B. The Restrainer Vs. 6, 7b
1. The fulfillment of Satan’s plan against God and man has been and is currently restrained.
2. Satan seeks to control the world and seeks to have the Antichrist worshipped as God.
3. Satan’s plan continues to this day but is held back by God until a certain time.
4. Who is the one restraining Satan? There are different ideas on this.
a. The Church. We are salt and light and have a morally preserving influence in this world. (Matthew 5:13, 14)
b. Holy Spirit- Not that the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the world but will at some point no longer restrain Satan and his efforts to bring forth Anti-Christ.
c. Michael the Archangel- Michael is seen as the warring angel in Scripture. It might be his assignment to withstand this Satanic effort in the heavenly realm. (Daniel 10:13, 21; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7-9)
5. The Church will be gone when the Restrainer allows Satan free reign.
a. I believe that the Church will be gone when the man of sin is revealed.
b. Consider the madness and wickedness that will prevail when God’s restraining power is removed from the Earth, and Satan is free to run forward with his plan to possess a man through whom he will do miracles, and whom he desires to receive worship.
II. The Revealing
A. The Revealing V. 8a
1. Satan cannot bring forth his man until God allows it.
a. Martin Luther– “Satan is God’s Satan”. Not God’s equal but created.
2. How foolish is the pride of Satan, wanting the glory of being worshipped as God, but not even able to act out this masquerade until God allows.
B. The Spiritual Workings Of Anti-Christ V. 9, 10a
1. Anti-Christ will be spiritually equipped to do miraculous or pseudo miracles
2. The empowering will come from Satan. (Revelation 13:11-18: the false prophet)
3. We saw this kind of spiritual power in Exodus, when Jannes and Jambres, magicians of Pharaoh, matched some of the miracles done by Moses. (Exodus 7:8-12)
4. Simon the sorcerer- wrongly proclaimed “the great power of God”. (Acts 8:9-13)
5. This is a general warning against following signs & wonders. They can be counterfeit, or they can be real. NOTE- Does it glorify Jesus, etc?
C. Anti-Christ’s Destruction V. 8b
1. When Jesus physically comes back to Earth, He will destroy Anti-Christ simply by shining brightly announcing victory. (Revelation 19:11-21)
2. Isaiah 11:4 He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
III. Those Who Will Follow Him Vs. 10b, 12
A. They Are Eternally Lost Vs. 10b, 12a
1. People who are eternally lost are people who reject the truth of God.
a. These will be the ones among whom Anti-Christ gathers a following.
2. They (like other generations) reject the general revelation of God in creation.
a. Romans 1:18-20- God is revealed in nature.
b. Psalm 19:1-4- God revealed in the stars; speaks to all men, every language.
3. They reject the truths of God written upon their hearts.
a. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has put eternity written on their hearts.
b. Romans 2:14-16 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
B. They Choose Unrighteousness Over Truth V. 12b
1. Notice the contrast of what they reject and what they accept.
a. They reject truth, but love unrighteousness
i. Not: “They reject truth and accept falsehood”.
ii. Not: “They reject righteousness and have pleasure in unrighteousness”.
b. They reject that which is known, and can be known, and instead, choose that which is morally wrong.
c. Opponents of the Gospel often claim that you cannot know for sure that the Bible is true, that God exists, and they claim that their rejection of Jesus and Christianity is based on lack of knowledge and proof.
d. The Bible says the exact opposite regarding opponents of the Gospel. People reject that which is knowable about God, and instead choose unrighteousness.
e. The rejection of the Gospel isn’t based upon a lack of information, but upon a rejection of the information which is known to all of humanity.
f. The rejection of the Gospel message is not an intellectual rejection, but a moral rejection.
g. Jesus said the same thing in John 3:19-21.
19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
2. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion. V. 11
a. These who perish choose to ignore truth, based upon moral reasons.
b. Based upon their rejection of truth, God sends them a lie.
i. The article in the Greek denotes a certain lie, “THE lie”.
ii. These people believe the biggest lie possible: The Anti-Christ is God
c. Poole- “They were first deluded, which was their sin; and God sends them strong delusion, and that is their punishment.”