Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 133

May 12;        2 Thessalonians 2:8;       189/260;        ‘The Lawless One’

2 Thessalonians 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.

Chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians is all about the rapture of the church and the revealing of the antichrist, called the lawless one.  Verses 1 & 2talks about the rapture of the church and the fear the church had that the rapture had already happened.  Verse 3 tells us the  rapture cannot occur until there is a falling away.  ‘Falling away’ can also mean departure. The departure is the rapture of the church.  The antichrist cannot be revealed until the church is taken to heaven by Jesus.  That event is called the rapture.  Verses 6 & 7 teaches that there is something restraining the antichrist, so that he cannot be revealed.  That something is the church.  The antichrist is no match for the authority the church of Jesus Christ has.  Verse 7 gives more clarity by saying that the antichrist will be restrained until the church is ‘taken out of the way.’  Taken out of the way is the rapture.  Once the church is in heaven the antichrist will reveal himself as a man of peace.  Things will be relatively calm during the tribulation period of 7 years until the middle of the tribulation, when the antichrist will reveal who he really is, the pawn of satan.  His reign of terror will be crushed by the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the tribulation.  This event is called the second coming of Christ.  The antichrist will be thrown into hell and satan will be bound for one thousand years.  End times are all about Jesus.  The antichrist plays a minor role.  The tribulation will be tough, multitudes will be saved and many will be martyred.  God’s grace will help then as now.