The Mystery of Lawlessness Is Already At Work

Rev Mar’s May 10 sermon’s transcript.

Please download PDF from here: The Mystery of Lawlessness Is Already At Work

 

The Mystery of Lawlessness Is Already At Work
2Thessalonians 2:1-12
A. Title: The Mystery of Lawlessness (2Thessalonians 2:7)
B. Objective. To understand what the global crisis is all about? The pandemic we are
facing now is not only a health issue, it is not only an economic issue. As the world is
focused on COVID-19, there are movements that many fail to observe and know that
they have Biblical and prophetic significance. What we will do is look at the events
behind the COVID-19 pandemic and look at them from a biblical lens. But I have to
refresh your memories from our past discussions and make clear some of the terms
I will be using in this sermon for a better understanding of this week’s message of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be using 2Thessalonians 2:1-12 as our text.
C. Introduction/Review
1. In the past weeks, part of the prophecy studies we had, we have mentioned the
unwavering determination of man to rule the earth. From the very start of creation
the Bible says, “God blessed the first man and first woman and God said unto
them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.’” (Genesis 1:28) We know the story that
during the course of their stay in the Garden of Eden where the Lord placed
them, they disobeyed the Lord by the sly and deceptive words of the devil and
were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. From there on, they were driven out and away from the Garden and all their
efforts to rule and benefit from the earth were only futile and against the will of
God. We read that when mankind multiplied, the heart of the Lord sighed
because though they were “mighty men, men of renown” but the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:4-5) Those generations of men that
were corrupt and violent were destroyed and ended by the Lord sending a great
flood that covered the whole earth except the eight members of the family of
Noah (Genesis 6:9, Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation and
walked with God), who believed the preaching of Noah, a preacher of
righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). After the flood, the men were instructed again to be
fruitful, and multiply and to bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply
therein. (Genesis 9:7) But, instead of following the word of the Lord to multiply
and cover the whole earth, in disobedience, they dwelt together in the plain of
Shinar to build a name for themselves using their own technology instead of what
the Lord has provided for them. For example, they used “bricks” instead of
stones and “bitumen” (asphalt) instead of mortar. They said, “Come, let us build
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ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name
for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis
11:3-4) And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one
language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that
they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and
there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s
speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth,
and they left off building the city. Therefore, its name was called Babel, because
there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD
dispersed them over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:6-9)
2. From there, one can trace the relentless pursuit of man to rule the earth in his
own terms and not in the terms of the Lord who gave him the authority to rule the
earth as such. From the time of Nimrod who ruled the kingdom of Babel in the
plain of Shinar (Genesis 10:9-10), to the Pharaohs of the Egyptian Empire, to
Sennacherib of the Assyrian Empire, to Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian
Empire, to Cyrus and Darius of the Medo-Persian Empire, to Alexander of the
Grecian Empire, to the Caesars of the Roman Empire, to Charlemagne, to
Napoleon, to Hitler who with Napoleon had visions of ruling a unified Europe, to
Lenin, to Stalin, of the Soviet Union, to Mao Zedong of the Communist Party of
China, to Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge and others, who all aimed to rule the earth
outside of the terms of God.
D. The Last Human Attempt To Rule The Earth.
1. But there is a final human government that will rise from the old Roman Empire,
and this is the feet of the statue dreamt by King Nebuchadnezzar which is made
of iron and clay, partly strong and partly weak. This is the last human government
in the series of human governments and empires which only goes to show the
utter failure of man to rule in his own terms as instigated and coerced by satan,
the father of lies who came to steal, kill and destroy. This government will be
headed by the antichrist (aka. man of sin, the first beast out of the sea, man of
perdition) assisted by the false prophet (the second beast out of the earth) who
will head the one-world religion by causing everyone to worship the antichrist.
a. The antichrist is revealed when he confirms the covenant with Israel and with
many nations. The covenant will allow Israel to build the third temple on the
Temple Mount and allow the resumption of the sacrifices and burnt offerings
and will establish a false peace and security in Israel for 7 years. This is a
false peace and security because 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, “For when they
shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” Why? Because in
the middle of that 7 years, the antichrist would break the peace covenant and
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persecute the Israelites, and would put an end to the oblation. He will oppose
and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he
as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (Daniel
9:26-27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9)
b. In the Book of Revelation, John describes the antichrist to be the ruler of this
vast empire on earth having power and great authority given to him by Satan
himself (Revelation 13:2) that he may continue for 42 months or 3 ½ years or
the second half of the 7-year Tribulation period. The antichrist shall receive
worship from “all the world” (Revelation 13:3-4), and shall have authority over
“every tribe, people, language and nation” (Revelation 13:7). The antichrist,
having received authority from satan, shall rule this global or one-world
government, sovereign over all other jurisdictions through a unified digital ID
certificate which is the mark of the beast or the mark of the antichrist. This will
be the universal system of controlling all activities and commerce, and this is
where the idea of a one-world economy comes in. Revelation 13:16-17
describes the mark of the antichrist to be required for anyone to transact
business. This means anyone who refuses the mark will be unable to buy
food, clothing, medicine, or go to school, or go to work or perform other
necessities of life. No doubt the vast majority of people in the world will
succumb to the mark of the beast simply to survive.
c. What about the second beast or the false prophet, the cohort of the
antichrist? Rev 13:12-17 And the second beast exerciseth all the power of
the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in
the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of
those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; and cause
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
d. Those who go through the Tribulation period will have an excruciating
choice—accept the mark of the beast in order to survive or face starvation
and horrific persecution by the Antichrist and his followers. Those who would
not submit to the antichrist but choose to endure, even to martyrdom, and
come to Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period will be saved and their
names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8).
2. When will the last global rule of the antichrist start? Will the believers in Jesus
Christ be subjects of the global government of the antichrist or will the believers
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in Jesus go through the Tribulation period, a period when the Lord Jesus will be
pouring His judgment upon a disobedient world?
a. The Bible teaches that there is an event called the Rapture, an event
described in several parts of the Bible when the Lord Jesus Christ will come
and take out His church from this world into His glory. John 14:1-3 “ Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
This is also described in detail in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “ For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
“ Behold, I shew you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed.”
b. Nota Bene: Take note that the Rapture is different from the Second Coming
and they are not interchangeable. Review our past lessons where I have
presented the differences of these two events. To summarize the differences,
the Rapture is when the Lord Jesus Christ comes for His church (the dead
and the living) and they meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and
the Lord takes them out of this world into the Father’s house in His glory. The
Second Coming is when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the earth with His
church, His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives (Zechariah
14:4) to defeat satan, the antichrist and the false prophet and then establish
His Millennial kingdom or His 1,000 years visible and personal reign over all
the world from Jerusalem, the city where the Lord has put His name.
c. Let us go back to our question: When will the Rapture occur vis-à-vis the
7-year Tribulation period? The three primary views are: (1) pre-tribulation –
the rapture occurs before the tribulation period, (2) mid-tribulation – the
rapture occurs at or near the mid-point of the tribulation period, and (3)
post-tribulation – the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation period. It is not
the purpose of this session to present the detailed differences of the four
teachings but I have put down below distinct reason why we take
pre-tribulation rapture as the most reasonable:
1) Pre-tribulation. This teaching distinguishes the Lords program for Israel
from the Lord’s program for the church. The tribulation period is referred to
as the last week of Daniel’s “70 weeks (of years) determined (by the Lord)
upon thy people (Israel) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for
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iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24). This is the time
when the Lord deals with Israel after they rejected the Lord Jesus as their
Messiah. This is the time of preparation for Israel’s restoration (Deut.
4:29-30; Jer 30:4-11). It is not a preparation for the Church for glory. It is
during this period that the partial blindness of Israel is removed and they
will finally recognize and receive Jesus as their Messiah and finally say,
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:39). This
is a period when the church is saved from the horrific judgment the Lord
will pour upon the disobedient world. Some supporting verses:
1 Thessalonians 1:10 “ And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come.” 1Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” Revelation 3:10 “Because
you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the
hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on
the earth.”
2) Mid-tribulation. The problem here is that the church or body of believers
(dead and living) becomes divided which is not scriptural because the
Bible teaches unity and not division of the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 1:10;
Ephesians 4; Psalm 133:1). If the rapture occurs in the middle of
tribulation, only those who are living will go through the tribulation while
the dead will not. Why should there be a differential treatment of the
members of the church.
3) Post-tribulation. This teaching makes the rapture nonsensical or it has no
purpose because as soon as the dead and living believers are taken up
then they come back to earth with the Lord. (Revelation 9:11-17) And if
the living are raptured and given glorified bodies with the dead, there will
be no one left to populate and be governed in the Millennial kingdom
because everyone will be having a glorified body. (Revelation 20:6)
3. Now, let us look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11, our text we use to understand what is
going on behind the scenes of the COVID-19.
a. The Rapture. In the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, he
describes to them in detail how the rapture goes. The Thessalonians later
became disturbed because they received a forged letter or a wrong teaching
telling them that the rapture, which Paul taught them in his first letter to the
Thessalonians, has occurred and they have been left behind and their dead
loved ones remained in the grave and were not resurrected as in the rapture.
Paul’s intent in this passage is to correct the false teaching that the “Day of
the Lord” had already come and the Thessalonian believers had been left
behind to endure the Lord’s judgment. The term “Day of the Lord” is the day
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when, after the Messiah, anointed by the Spirit of the Lord, has “proclaimed
the acceptable year of the LORD, that day is the day of vengeance of our
God” (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19) to an unbelieving world. So, the day of the
Lord or the day of vengeance of our God is the Tribulation period. In
correcting the false teaching that the day of the Lord has come, Paul writes in
verse 1 that concerning “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (i.e., second
coming) and our (their) gathering together unto Him” (i.e., the rapture), there
are two events that must happen before the “Day of the Lord” or the day of
vengeance of our God or the Tribulation period.
b. The two events before the Tribulation period are (a) the “the falling away first”
(Gr., apostasia or departure) and (b) that the “man of sin (the antichrist) be
revealed, the son of perdition.” Yet there is something that is holding the
appearance of the antichrist at that proper time. Though the “mystery of
lawlessness” is already at work or as the apostle John puts it, the “spirit of the
antichrist” is already in the world (1 John 4:3), the antichrist will not be
revealed until He (the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit) who is now restraining the
antichrist will be “taken out of the way”.
c. How does the Holy Spirit restrain the nefarious work of the antichrist? The
work of the Holy Spirit is to convict, to reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness and of judgment (John 16:7-11). The Holy Spirit that is
indwelling the believers, works through them. In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus preached that believers in Christ are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world to prevent spiritual decay and spiritual blindness and cast out
spiritual darkness. The “falling away” that must happen before the antichrist is
revealed could be understood in two ways: (1) it may mean the taking away
or departure or rapture of the church and/or (2) it may mean the departure of
people from sound doctrine in the last days and having itching ears they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn
away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
So when the Church, the body of believers, is raptured or caught out of this
world, the convicting work and the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is
also taken away by the removal of transformed lives of believers conformed
to the image of the Son of God who do not walk after the flesh but after the
Spirit. When the restraining force of the Holy Spirit through the rapture of the
Church is taken out of the way, the flood gates of the darkness of this world
and spiritual wickedness in high places, evil and wickedness in high places
would have been opened (Ephesians 6:12). The world by then would have
entered a period when wickedness will be so great by the coming of the
antichrist after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
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wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For
this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
d. After the Church is taken away then the antichrist, the man of sin is revealed
(2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). When he is revealed, he will be accepted as the
world leader and he will confirm the peace covenant with Israel and with
many nations (Daniel 9:27). This will be the start of the 7-year Tribulation
period when the antichrist will reign over the global government that will be
put up. In other words, the rapture of the Church precedes the Tribulation
period at the end of which is the second coming of the Lord here on earth to
destroy the last attempt of man to rule the earth through the global or
one-world government of the antichrist.
E. The Final Kingdom.
1. Outside of the terms of the Lord’s truth, righteousness, justice, holiness, grace
and mercy, man’s efforts and endeavors to rule and govern the earth will be put
to nought just as the Lord Jesus said, “For without Me, you can do nothing” (John
15:5) or “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30). On the other hand, as the Lord taught in the
Sermon on the Mount, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).
(For anyone to enter the kingdom of God, he must be born again; he must be
given the right to become a son of God by believing and receiving the Lord Jesus
Christ as his all in all. If you love the world or the things that this world can offer
(the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life) you cannot
enter the kingdom of God.)
2. This is the reason why all the kingdom of men were dashed to pieces by the
stone uncut with human hands from the mountain and the stone covered the
whole earth. This stone is the figure of the kingdom of God from heaven to
replace all failed human governments. The prophet Daniel said as he interpreted
the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar, “And in the days of these kings shall the God
of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” This is the kingdom that will be set
up by the Messiah, the Christ, whose name is Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), for it is
now God Himself reigning among men as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, “For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
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God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and
upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
(Isa 9:6-7)
F. Behind the Scenes. We are living on the threshold of the age that is about to come.
This is the age when the antichrist will reign during the Tribulation period. The
mystery of lawlessness is already at work or the spirit of the antichrist is already in
the world but the Holy Spirit and the Church are still restraining the wicked one, the
antichrist from being revealed. If the stage for the revelation of the antichrist is being
set at the background, then the rapture which comes earlier is imminent. What
backstage activities are being prepared for the revelation of the antichrist?
1. United Nations News . A sustainable global economy must arise once COVID-19 1
pandemic is reversed, UN chief tells G-20 summit. World leaders at the G-20
virtual summit held on Thursday committed to inject over $5 trillion into the global
economy to counteract the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. The Guardian . Former UK PM Gordon Brown calls for global government to 2
tackle coronavirus . The more you intervene to deal with the medical emergency,
the more you put economies at risk,’ says Gordon. He is calling world leaders to
create a temporary form of global government health experts and the heads of
the international organisations to tackle the twin medical and economic crises
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is not something that can be dealt with
in one country,” he said. “There has to be a coordinated global response.
3. Science Alert. Gates Foundation Says We’ll Need to Work Together to 3
Vaccinate 7 Billion People The wealthy Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called
Wednesday for global cooperation to ready COVID-19 vaccines for 7 billion
people, while offering an additional US$150 million toward developing
therapeutics and treatments for the virus. Bill Gates is also funding ID2020.
4. The ID200 Alliance is building a new global model for the design, funding, and
implementation of digital ID solutions and technologies. No government,
company or agency can solve this challenge alone. Setting the future course of
digital ID and navigating the associated risks is a challenge that requires
sustained collaboration and global partnership. The ID2020 Alliance working in
1 https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1060442
2
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/26/gordon-brown-calls-for-global-government-to-tackle-co
ronavirus
3
https://www.sciencealert.com/vaccinating-billions-will-require-the-whole-globe-to-work-togethersays-gates-foundation
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partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees are now
drafting a Manifesto which lays out shared principles and forms as starting point
to guide the future digital identity globally. Identity is vital for political, economic
and social opportunity. The present system of identification is archaic, insecure,
lacks adequate privacy protection and for over a billion people to keep track, it
would be inaccessible.
5. Rice University has developed a technology of vaccination called Quantum-dot
tattoo which hold vaccination record. A pattern of 1.5-millimeter microneedles
that contain vaccine and fluorescent quantum dots are applied as a patch. The
needles dissolve under the skin, leaving the encapsulated quantum dots. Their
pattern can be read to identify the vaccine that was administered. This is the
technology for tracking everyone with the mark on the right hand or on the
forehead to allow them access to goods and services.
6. Forbes . Gates called for a “national tracking system similar to South Korea”, 4
saying that “in Seattle, the [University of Washington] is providing thousands of
tests per day but no one is connected to a national tracking system” and that
“Whenever there is a positive test it should be seen to understand where the
disease is and whether we need to strengthen the social distancing.”
G. Where is the crisis leading us to?
1. While our eyes and attention are transfixed on what is going on with COVID-19,
there are back stage events that are setting up the stage for the revelation of the
antichrist and his government.. It is a deceptive stage when fear for health and
life is induced. While the virus should not be ignored but the fear being induced is
simply unwarranted and fueled by the mainstream media when authorities say
that there will be a second wave or the virus has already mutated.. The fear
cause people to accept a global government that is supposed to bring solutions
to the crisis or pandemic. People playing the end-time roles may not know it but
they are playing the role that is predicted in the Bible. They are speeding up and
promoting the formation of a global government. Without the corona virus, no one
would have expected things would be moving so swift toward a global
government, global digital economy and an ecumenical religion by syncretism,
(i.e., a pick and mix approach to combine religious traditions and practices) to
come up with solutions to tackle the problems of this world. Behind all the press
and political posturing, you see a satanic influence of strong deception. This is
the mystery of iniquity mentioned by the apostle to the Thessalonians that is
4
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/03/18/bill-gates-calls-for-national-tracking-systemfor-coronavirus-during-reddit-ama/#18d7d2b26a72
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already at work to bring about the soon revelation of the antichrist. But before
that happens, we are out of here. We would have been raptured.
2. A New World Order in the making. By all its looks, COVID-19, and its far
reaching repercussions, has started to usher in a New World Order for leaders to
come together under one world government, one world economy and one world
religion to come up with solutions to the crisis. There will be a global government
and global economy where everyone will be vaccinated to be traced and tracked
before anyone can go back to work, business, school or mass gatherings like the
church.
H. Why has the Lord allowed this global crisis?
1. It is to remind us that this world is not our home. We are pilgrims, just passing
through. It is a great error for a Christian to plant the roots of his life too deeply
into the temporal soil of this world that will pass away. The Bible says that our
citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and that we should set our affection on
things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
2. Knowing that we are in the last days, Paul wrote this to Timothy and to us, “I
charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the
quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine.” (2Timothy 4:1-2)
3. And because we are transients not residents in this world, the crisis reminds us
of the soon and very soon return of Jesus to rapture His church. Knowing the
time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation
nearer than when we believed (Romans 13:11). We are living on borrowed time.
The window to get ready is closing. Mat 24:42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not
what hour your Lord doth come.” Therefore we should be ready when He comes
to rapture His church.
10 May 2020 Message of the Lord