WWUTT 538 The Restrainer?

When the lawless one is revealed, he's going to deceive the world with false signs and wonders and proclaim himself to be

God. But he doesn't even hold a candle to the one true God who is just going to whip him out with a breath of his mouth when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, talking about the great apostasy and the man of lawlessness as we looked at yesterday and we'll continue on from there.

I'll begin again in verse 1, reading through verse 12. Paul says, now concerning the coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you brothers not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the

Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so -called

God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God proclaiming himself to be

God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things and you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the

Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

So yesterday we were talking about the rebellion the man of lawlessness being revealed the son of destruction who exalts himself against every so -called

God or object of worship. It's it's not merely enough that a person would worship a false God.

They have to worship the Antichrist. That is the way that he asserts himself so that he takes his seat in the temple of God.

He would proclaim himself as preeminent. Not God but he is the one who is above all things.

Do you not remember Paul says this is verse 5. So here we are picking up where I left off yesterday.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things. So once again when we were back in 1st

Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5 I said that there are some who teach that Paul was bringing a new revelation that had not yet been talked about either by Christ or by the

Apostles in their ministry. But as I pointed out when we were in those chapters this had been taught before Paul wasn't delivering a new revelation.

He was just telling the Thessalonians things that he didn't have the chance to tell them when he was with them.

But what we're reading about here is something that Paul has told the Thessalonians before even saying don't you remember that when

I was with you I told you these things previously in 1st Thessalonians 5 he said

I don't have to tell you about the times and seasons because you already know. But then when somebody led them astray by telling them well leading them astray kind of in a loose sense it doesn't seem to be that the

Thessalonians have lost faith or there are people falling away from Christ. That doesn't seem to be the case but rather they've been shaken in mind by this message that has come from a deceiver telling them that the day of the

Lord has already happened. So Paul is going okay well I guess I did need to remind you about some of the things that you're looking for or that you will see rather before the day of the

Lord comes. So don't you remember that when I was with you I told you these things and you know what is restraining him now the lawless one talking about the lawless one again you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

So yesterday I mentioned that I don't know I don't know what the apostasy is

I don't know who it relates to whether we're talking about an apostasy in the church or we're talking about just the general rebellion of mankind getting worse and worse leading up to the day of Christ maybe that's what the rebellion is in reference to I don't know who the lawless one is

I'm pretty comfortable saying it's the Antichrist but some of the things related to who that is and what we will see

I don't know what that means I'm with Augustine when Augustine was reviewing these passages and saying

I don't know what they mean what this does say to me though is that there are other things that are going to happen prior to Christ's return and we need to be careful we need to be careful not to fall away we need to be careful not to be led astray by any false teacher performing great signs and wonders those things will happen prior to Christ's return and then

Paul says that that there is a restrainer the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way

I don't know what that means either I don't know who this restrainer is and there are different theories about who that restrainer is one of which is that the restrainer is the

Archangel Michael so you have the reference in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 where he says at that time shall arise

Michael the great prince who has charge of your people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time but at that time your people shall be delivered everyone whose name shall be found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever but you

Daniel shut up the words and seal up the book until the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase and all these things look very familiar we see them stated in other places except for that reference there in verse 1 where it says at that time shall arise

Michael the great prince who has charge over your people and there shall be a time of trouble so it appears there that Michael is the one who is restraining the man of lawlessness

Michael who is the archangel is preventing the mystery of lawlessness from culminating in this personification of the son of destruction the

Antichrist himself so Michael is restraining that from happening until the proper time and then

God will say okay it's time and Michael will kind of get out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed only he who restrains it will do so until he is out of the way that's a theory

I'm not saying that is actually the the explanation of this particular passage but I like that one there's another theory that the

Holy Spirit is the one who is restraining the man of lawlessness and when the church is raptured and the

Holy Spirit leaves with all the saints who go up to be with the Lord then the spirits out of the way and the man of lawlessness is he reveals himself and he's able to kind of run amok because the spirit isn't here to stop him that's reading into the text though because we don't see that being the case at all and clearly the way that Paul is talking about this he's warning

Christians about something that is going to happen prior to the coming of Christ not the coming of Christ and then the lawless one is going to be revealed that's not the sequence of events that we have going on here so there is a restrainer that is keeping the lawless one from doing his thing right now even though the mystery of lawlessness is already at work we can observe that in the world you people are evil okay you feel the mystery of lawlessness every time you're tempted with something and you want to give in to that temptation and you want to sin that's the mystery of lawlessness at work in your members as long as we inhabit this flesh we are constantly going to be battling against the temptations of the flesh the world bombarding us with all of its different philosophies and ideas attempting to woo us away from the things of God and instead follow after the path of the devil this is the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience that Paul talks about in Ephesians chapter 2 the prince of the power of the air this is the mystery of lawlessness at work all around us but but it's not yet lawlessness personified and that's what the

Antichrist really represents he is he is the man of lawlessness demanding the worship of all people that he would exalt himself above all other things in this world claiming to be

God proclaiming himself to be God so when the restrainer is out of the way the lawless one is revealed and this is the one whom the

Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth so again verse 8 the lawless one will be revealed whom the

Lord Jesus will he'll just do that and he's gone I mean that's that's how much power

Christ has over this guy so yeah he's gonna come with great signs and wonders and he's gonna deceive a lot of people and he's even gonna proclaim himself to be

God but when compared with God he's nothing once Christ comes this guy's not gonna be able to stand he will be destroyed by Christ with the breath of his mouth that's the illustration that Paul is giving there of just the glory and the righteousness of Christ remember that he he shows his might and power in chapter 1 where he talks about him coming from heaven with mighty angels and flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know

God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction but we who have believed in the gospel will behold the glory of his might and we will marvel among those who have believed so so Paul gives a very glorious image of Christ in chapter 1 and he comes back to it again here even in chapter 2 the glory of God is so great that this powerful lawless one will not be able to stand against him he will be wiped out with the breath of his mouth brought to nothing by the appearance of his coming verse 9 the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders kind of talked about that already

I was working ahead a little bit there verse 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved so these are people who are walking in sin they are believing the lie and the condition of their heart to go after Satan is exposed all the more when the lawless one is revealed why is it that they are so easily deceived in walking after Satan once he comes with all deception and false signs and wonders well because that was the condition of their heart anyway they had the mystery of lawlessness at work in themselves so of course they're gonna follow after the devil because their father is the devil that's what

Jesus says in John chapter 8 and your your desire is to do what your father did he was a murderer from the very beginning

Jesus says I read to you from Revelation 13 yesterday but I only went as far as verse 9 let me keep going from there well let me

I'll read verse 9 again where John says if anyone has an ear let him hear that's where I stopped and then he goes on if anyone is to be taken captive to captivity he goes if anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword he must be slain here is a call for the endurance and faith of the

Saints and that's what Paul is doing here with the Thessalonians he's calling for them to endure do not be led astray into apostasy do not fall away from the faith that was delivered to you and that you believed in that's that's his warning about the rebellion about the great apostasy do not be led astray by the lawless one with all of his false signs and wonders these things must happen prior to the coming of Christ that's what

Paul is warning about so this is a call for the endurance and the faith of the Saints just as John says here now verse 11 then

I saw another beast rising out of the earth it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed it performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on the earth telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain also it causes all both great and both rich both small and great both rich and poor both free and slave to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name this calls for wisdom let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is 666 now

I stated to you earlier that I am NOT a preterist I am NOT a person who believes that all of these things have already taken place and were fulfilled with the destruction of the temple in 70

AD however I do believe based on study that I've conducted on this passage related to the mark of the beast and in Revelation 13 this is talking about Nero Nero is the the one whose number was calculated to be 666 however just because it is

Nero that John references and and I don't even necessarily believe that the book of Revelation was written prior to 70

AD could very well have been written after and yet this reference is still to Nero why is that significant well because Nero was just a very very evil

Emperor and he did awful awful things and so John is using Nero but not using his name because he doesn't mean for an understanding of the beast to be limited to Nero but Nero's name has been numbered as the number of man and that is 666 which is the number of imperfection it's also a trio of sixes so it's a false

Trinity whereas God is the Holy Trinity you have the beast and the beast and the dragon which present a false

Trinity and so then you have the number of that beast which is 666 was like three man numbers that make up this this mark of the beast so Nero is this evil personified but he is not he's not like the final

Antichrist or the one necessarily that is being spoken about in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 John says many

Antichrists have come and so Nero is just a type he is a type of an

Antichrist and so many Antichrist have come the Pope is an Antichrist I believe even our own president is an

Antichrist Vladimir Putin is an Antichrist and we need to be careful not to be led astray by the lawlessness of lawless men hold fast to the true word that has been taught to us pray

Lord Jesus come quickly be looking for his sign in the heavens which all the world will see the coming of Christ and there will be no mystery as to what it is that has just happened people are not gonna vanish the people left behind are looking around going well where did where did the people mysteriously disappear to we will see

Christ in his heavens coming with his army his angels and flaming fire as we have talked about in 2nd

Thessalonians chapter 1 now before I leave Revelation 13 I got about three minutes left here to finish up this lesson but I wanted to say something about the mark of the beast because this it's caused a lot of confusion in fact one of the more controversial chapters that's happened with John MacArthur in recent years is when he was asked if a person receives the mark of the beast can they still repent and I think that we even asked those kinds of questions because we don't really quite understand what is being meant here by this mark this goes all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 6 where the

Lord says here O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates when you love the

Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength you will show that you love him by the things that you do and the thoughts that you think that is what is meant by bind them on your hand and let them be as frontlets between your eyes and so when

John makes this reference in Revelation 13 to the mark of the beast this is saying that those who follow the beast do the things that the beast does they show by the works of their hands and the thoughts that they think that they are followers of the devil that is the reference so anybody who follows after Satan instead of following Christ has the mark of the beast already the

Beast's mark is seen in the work that they do and in the things that they think and so consider then what

Paul says again in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 the lawless one will be revealed whom the

Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved therefore

God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness they thought with their minds the ways of the beast they did with their hands the unrighteousness of the beast and remember also what we read yesterday

Revelation 13 verses 7 and 8 the Beast was allowed to make war on the Saints and to conquer them and authority was given it over every tribe and people in language and nation and all who dwell on the earth will worship it everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the

Lamb who was slain those who are in Christ are sealed by his spirit those who are not in Christ are sealed with the mark of the

Beast and all those who followed the Beast and worshiped it are those whose names were not written in the book of the life book

I did that again just like I did yesterday the book of life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world so God sends a strong delusion so that they might be exposed and destroyed who were predestined to be destroyed for their wickedness so you have heard these warnings therefore take guard over your heart that you will not be led astray by any false signs and wonders or anyone who would proclaim themselves to be as great as God we must look to our

Savior fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God a day is going to come when he will return bringing his kingdom with him and all will see him in the air and he will wipe out the lawless one with the breath of his mouth all evil will be no more by the appearance of Christ and then we will dwell with him forever in glory those who believed upon his name turn from their sin and did the things that Christ commanded us to do rather than doing the things that the

Beast did amen amen glory that we have these promises that have been given to us in this word we cling to and hold fast to and know that our deliverance will come and evil will be put to an end let's pray

Lord I thank you for these words that we have read today and I pray that they would continue to enliven our hearts all the more overjoyed and overwhelmed by the the love and mercy and grace that you have shown us through our

Lord Jesus Christ that we would not be wiped out with the devil and his angels but instead we would reign with Christ forever in glory once we were rebels of the kingdom and then we become heirs of the kingdom sealed by the

Holy Spirit for the day of redemption so Lord we we ask for that day to come soon we ask that the full number of your saints would be realized that we would be faithful to take the gospel of Christ to the world so that those who have been written in the

Lamb's Book of Life would turn from their sin they would believe the gospel and so be saved you mean for us to be the instruments that you have chosen to take your gospel to the world and so let us do so sharing the gospel with our friends our family members co -workers people that we are close to that we encounter on a regular basis and and even strangers that we might meet give us an opportunity to preach the gospel so that lives would be saved from the coming judgment we ask that you forgive us our sins and lead us in righteousness for your name's sake in Jesus name amen you've been listening to when we understand the text with pastor

Gabe Hughes Monday Tuesday and Wednesday Gabe will be going through a New Testament study then on Thursday we look at an

Old Testament book on Friday we take questions from the listeners and viewers tomorrow we'll pick up on an