Discern The Antichrist

Please turn your Bible to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2

Thessalonians chapter 2. When you have that, please stand for the reading of God's word.

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.

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.

Amen. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for your word to be open to us and Christ revealed from it.

We pray that you would make this difficult passage plain to us.

We thank you for giving it to us. We thank you for revealing your plan to us. We ask that we would understand that plan.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, in previous weeks, we've been going through Luke 20, and we will continue in Luke.

But Luke 20, we've seen different challenges to Christ's authority.

And along with that, Jesus' own response and his instruction to his disciples about how to discern false teachers.

This is a series that I've wanted to preach for some time in 2 Thessalonians 2, but now seemed like the most appropriate time, immediately after we see

Jesus' instruction to discern false teachers. And so today we are going to hear about discerning the

Antichrist. Discerning the Antichrist. Today we are going to be looking at 2 Thessalonians 2.

And then in subsequent weeks, we'll be looking at some of the implications of that. This is a difficult passage that many people today do not agree on.

While there has been much agreement in the past, there is not today. And subsequent weeks will be difficult if we do not come to agreement today on the meaning of this passage.

So I am praying for the Lord's work of unity among us, that we would understand his purposes here, that we might see some of the implications of this message as we continue reading

Paul's words, as we continue studying Paul's words in subsequent weeks. This man of lawlessness that is spoken of here is also known elsewhere as the

Antichrist. There are several different places that he is described, and he is described in different terms in different places.

Sometimes as the man of lawlessness. Sometimes as the

Antichrist. Other times in different labels. And different people have different takes on the

Antichrist. But the Reformed position, and I would argue the biblical position, is that the

Pope is the Antichrist. You should discern that the Pope is the Antichrist. That is the office of the

Pope. Not particularly one Pope, but the office of the Pope is the Antichrist. Now, you'll find different positions about the

Pope in evangelicalism. Among the broadest kind of evangelical, you'll typically have the idea that, well,

Roman Catholicism was really bad at one particular time, but now in a lot of ways they've gotten better, and maybe many of Roman Catholics are saved, and it seems like they might be coming back to the truth and we might rejoin together.

Roman Catholics and Protestants. Among a lot of the modern Reformed, you'll see them say, well,

I believe that the Pope is un -Antichrist, but he is not the Antichrist.

We can't really know whether or not he is the Antichrist. But what you see in the historic, not just the

Reformed, that one branch of the Reformation, but really all the branches of the Reformation, historically among Protestants, was universally agreed upon that the

Pope is the Antichrist. Not just un -Antichrist, but the Antichrist.

I could quote all kinds of names for you. Zwingli, Luther, Calvin, Owen, etc.,

etc. I could just go on and list all kinds of names, because this was really the universal opinion among all the early members of the

Reformation. But not only is it the individuals who believe this, they thought that this was so important that when they gathered together to write this in the documents that they believed that people of their churches should affirm, they chose to make this one of the heads.

This was not something that would be left off, that people could disagree on. This was something that they wanted people to be in agreement on, and they thought that people could be in agreement on in their churches.

When they would write confessions of faith, they would only put those things that they believed everyone in their churches should be able to agree upon, and they would leave out things that were doubtful.

But this was not one of the things that they considered doubtful. The Helvetic Confession, the Belgic Confession, the

Westminster Confession, and then the Confession of Our Own Church, the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689.

Every single one of these confessions includes a statement about the

Pope being not just un -Antichrist, but the Antichrist.

This is something they believe is important, and it is something that is important biblically.

If there is so much revelation in Scripture about the Antichrist, so many commands to discern false teachers, in particular to discern the

Antichrist, ought we not treat this as a serious matter that should be not just a negligible thing?

Now, this is a doctrine that is gathered from many places in Scripture. 1

John 2 talks about it, 2 Thessalonians 2 talks about it, Revelation 17, 1

Timothy 4. There's lots of different places. Now, I believe that 2 Thessalonians 2 is the clearest of all of them, and that is where we are going to be focusing today, but understand that I am under certain limitations, that I am not going to be able to go in detail to all these different passages

Now, I will go to them some, and because I'm going to them some, that means that I won't be going through 2 Thessalonians 2 in fullest detail.

Now, some years ago, we did preach a series on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and if you want to go see the archive of the sermons where we did that, you will be able to see a verse -by -verse exposition of this passage, but in order to include all the information that I think will be most helpful for you to discern the

Antichrist, we will not be going through every single verse this week, and we will be not going to every single passage elsewhere.

We can't, but I will be going to some of those things for your help, or for your good.

Now, imagine if we were to teach on some other thing that an audience could be skeptical about.

Imagine that there were an audience that's skeptical about the Trinity. Now, the Trinity is not derived from one passage of Scripture, that's derived from many passages of Scripture, because the doctrine of the

Trinity has many different parts to it. The doctrine of the Trinity has the Father being

God, the Son being God, the Spirit being God, the Father not being the Son, the Son not being the Father, and the

Spirit and the Spirit not being the Father and the Son, them being distinct. They are all one God, but they are distinct persons.

Now, you would have to go to many different passages, and if you were in front of a very skeptical audience, it would not be possible to address every single objection.

Well, today I'm under the same limitations. I would like for us to have unity on this so that in subsequent weeks, we can come together with the understanding and foundation of who the

Antichrist is. But today I'm limited in how I'm able to present this to you, so just understand the limitations that we are working with.

There's much Scripture that points to this, and would need to be brought in for an exhaustive demonstration.

Also, before we begin looking at this passage, I would like to remind you one of the important things about eschatology, eschatology being a view of the end times.

Many people think of eschatology as being unimportant, or even in some ways, unrelated to the

Gospel. Well, the reality is that understanding God's purposes in the end times is related to the

Gospel in at least two ways. One, His plan for the salvation of His people is the good news.

Two, it is through His salvation that we become not merely

His servants. It is through that new covenant that we are not merely His servants, but His friends. Jesus says that He doesn't just treat us as servants, but treats us as friends.

And what a friend is, is someone who He explains His plan to.

When you speak to a servant, you just tell them to do the thing. You don't explain to them what the purpose is. You don't give them the motivations.

When I give my kids commands, and they ask me why, trying to get me to justify myself, if they are sincerely curious about something and they ask why,

I'll answer, of course. But if they're trying to get me to justify myself, I won't always answer. I'll just say, no, you need to obey what

I'm telling you. This is how you would treat someone who needs to be obedient and is not a friend.

But Jesus has welcomed us in as friends, so that He is giving us not just commands that we must follow, but He is explaining why

He has given us those commands. He is explaining His whole purpose in the future that He has laid out for us.

So, to know His plan for the future is one of the very benefits of the gospel that we have in Jesus Christ.

To know the future and His purposes for it is to have more fully of Jesus Christ.

This is, in itself, one of the benefits of the gospel. And so, I would like for you to approach this passage in this way, not that this is something auxiliary to the gospel, but rather, this revelation from Jesus Christ is itself one of the benefits that He has purchased for us in dying for us, welcoming us into His kingdom, so that we might be

His friends and share with Him in His plans for the future. As you consider this passage, we should begin with understanding the context in which

Paul addresses this man of lawlessness. In chapter 2, verse 1, he says,

Now, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and 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. So, what's happened here in Thessalonica? Well, it seems that people have gotten a letter ostensibly coming from Paul that has said that the day of the

Lord has already come, the resurrection has already happened, something along those lines. We see this in other letters, too, where this was a belief that occasionally invaded the church, the idea that the resurrection had already happened, the day of the

Lord has already come. You're not supposed to be looking for something. And we see that Paul was trying to prepare them to understand what

God's purposes were and when Jesus would come back. He says in verse 5, Do you not remember that when

I was still with you, I told you these things? This is something that he's prepared them for. And this is something that he even now, in this very letter, makes sure that they're not duped by anyone because in chapter 3, verse 17, he writes,

Now, if he does this in every letter, why doesn't he point this out in every letter?

Well, it's important in 2 Thessalonians because the people have received fake letters or they might be in danger of receiving fake letters from Paul.

And Paul is letting them know, this really is my letter. This is my signature. It's a big word there, my own name.

This is how you know it's from me. He does not want them to be deceived. So likewise, we should not be deceived.

We need to understand what God's purposes are for the future in order that we might not be deceived.

Now, you might not think that, oh, well, if I got a letter from Paul, obviously I would know it was fake. Sure, but there are other ways that you might be deceived and we are commanded to understand these things in order that we wouldn't be deceived.

And so this is the task that he has given us. It says in verse 3, Until the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

So what has to happen before Christ will return before the day of the Lord? The man of lawlessness, that is the

Antichrist, the man of lawlessness must be revealed. He must learn who he is first. And until that happens,

Jesus is not going to return. This thing must happen first.

Now, many people will say something along the lines of, they'll confess some kind of agnosticism.

They'll say, well, I believe that the Pope lines up with everything here in 2

Thessalonians 2, and so I can say he is an Antichrist. However, I cannot say he is the

Antichrist because there might be someone else later that fulfills all these things also. Well, Paul's whole point here is that you are supposed to discern the

Antichrist so that you can be ready for the coming of the Lord. If you could not tell who he was, if someone could fit the whole bill and then not be that person, then

Paul is giving a very odd command. He's telling you to discern the undiscernible. But Paul is telling you to discern what is discernible.

The fact that you can discern it means that if someone fits the bill, that is the one.

If someone fits the bill, that is the one. There is no place for saying that the Pope is merely an Antichrist if he fills the fullness of this passage.

Instead, he must be the Antichrist if he fills the fullness of this passage.

Paul speaks of this as the mystery of lawlessness in verse 7. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

If you aren't familiar with the term mystery, a lot of people think the term mystery refers to something that cannot be understood or that is maybe even illogical.

That's not what the word mystery means. The word mystery in the Bible refers to something that is hidden and then later revealed.

For example, the gospel is frequently called a mystery because it was hidden, but then later was revealed.

In Ephesians 5, Paul describes the one -flesh union of man and woman as a mystery because the thing that it is hiding, the nature of the consummation, there is the consummation between Christ and his church is coming, and we do not know what that is going to be like yet, but one day we will.

One day that mystery will be revealed. And so it is here that this mystery that he's talking about is not a mystery in the sense that it cannot be understood by anyone, but that it cannot at the time of his writing because it is hidden, but will eventually, to some people in the future, from the perspective of Paul's writing, will have everything that they need in order to understand the mystery of lawlessness.

Now, another passage that I think is helpful to understand what he's getting at with this notion of the mystery of lawlessness can be seen in 1

Timothy chapter six, or excuse me, 1 Timothy chapter three, verse 16. If you turn just a few pages over, 1

Timothy is the next book, 1 Timothy three, verse 16. He speaks about the mystery of godliness.

Okay, so mystery of lawlessness, mystery of godliness, these are parallel. It says,

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. It was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the

Spirit, seen by the angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

What is the mystery of godliness? Well, the mystery of godliness is Christ himself in all of his works.

This was not made known until the fullness of time when Christ became incarnate, when he died on the cross, was raised again.

This is the mystery of godliness. It was hidden, and then was revealed. He became manifest in the flesh, vindicated by the

Spirit, seen by the angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

The mystery of godliness is no longer a mystery. It was a mystery, but now it has been revealed.

That's why earlier in this passage the requirement for elders and deacons is that they hold the mystery of the faith.

This is not saying that they believe something that can't be known. It is telling us that they must believe the thing that has now been revealed, that was hidden, and now is revealed.

This is the requirements for elders and deacons. They hold the mystery of the faith. What is the mystery of godliness? Christ himself in all his works.

Immediately after that, he begins speaking of the mystery of lawlessness.

He doesn't call it by that name, as he does in 2 Thessalonians 2, but listen to these words. 1

Timothy 4, verse 1. The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Okay, so he's saying that in later times there's going to be a great lawlessness.

There's going to be a great ungodliness. So he first starts in verse 16 by saying there is godliness has been revealed.

This mystery of godliness has been revealed. And there will be a later time where there will be great lawlessness. It's something that's hidden right now from Paul's perspective, but it will be revealed eventually.

Now all of these things, people advocating for celibacy and requiring abstinence from food, etc.,

etc., all these things, teaching of wicked spirits and the doctrines of demons, these are all things that existed in some measure at Paul's time.

He's not saying that those things didn't exist. He's saying there's going to be a significant way that those come about in the future.

And so they are to be on guard for a significant way that those things will be about.

The mystery of godliness has been revealed. The mystery of lawlessness is coming. Now Deuteronomy tells us that the secret things belong to the

Lord, but things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever. It is wrong to want to pry into mysteries, things that have been hidden.

But it is also wrong to fail to recognize mysteries that have been revealed.

Prior to the coming of Christ, it would not be right for someone to want to know all the specifics of how

God was going to accomplish the gospel that He had told the people about, that He had hinted out, that was given in shadowy figures.

But, after it has been revealed, it would be wrong to ignore the mystery of godliness that Christ has come, that He has risen.

The same is true with the mystery of lawlessness. It's wrong to peer into it ahead of time, and that's how many people feel about it.

They don't believe it has happened, so they think it's wrong to worry too much about the mystery of lawlessness.

But, if it has been revealed, if the mystery of lawlessness has been revealed, then we are commanded to recognize it and to understand it.

So what is this mystery? How has it been revealed? Who is this one who is the man of lawlessness?

First, I think it's helpful to just understand what the term Antichrist, that John uses in 1

John chapter 2, means. John says that Antichrist is coming, and many Antichrists are already here.

So, he says there's one, there's one central one, but then there's many other who have sort of a similar spirit to that Antichrist.

What is, what does Antichrist mean? Well, a lot of people imagine, because they're primarily thinking about the way they use the term in the

English language, anti means against. So, the one who is Antichrist is the one who is, in the most obvious ways, against Christ, opposed to him, hostile to him.

In some senses, that is true, but that's not necessarily the best way of thinking about it. Anti, in Greek, also frequently means in place of.

So, for example, in Christian theology, you might have heard the terms type and antitype.

That comes about explicitly in Hebrews chapter 11, where it talks about Isaac having been raised from the dead as a type.

When Isaac is delivered from death on Mount Moriah, when he is not sacrificed, when

God had commanded his sacrifice, because God provides a substitute, a ram that will be sacrificed in his place, says that Abraham received him back as a type.

Now, what is, what is a type? The word type refers to the imprint of something.

Okay, if there is a, if there is an, if you're writing with a typewriter, what are the letters?

Right, the letters are these imprints that are, those are, the type is the imprint.

Now, the antitype is the thing that is making the imprint. So, in Christian theology, when we talk about type and antitype, we're talking about something that is pointing to something else.

Right, so, for example, Isaac received back as a type, so his salvation from death is a type, it is an imprint of the resurrection, it points to the antitype.

So, on one hand, you could think about type and antitype as being against each other. On the other hand, you realize that one is, in a sense, functioning in place of the other, that in this analogy, it's functioning in the place of this other thing.

So these ideas are not totally different, this idea of in place of versus, versus against because it is because the type is against the antitype, because it is pressing that it has this substituting nature.

But so it is with the term anti, and many different in these times, a lot of times the notion of againstness transforms into in place of -ness.

So, one Greek word is antibalo, the word balo means to cast or to throw, antibalo means to exchange, to throw one thing in the place of another, right, to exchange two things.

So, when you think antichrist, your mind should not only be thinking of one who would be very much against Christ, you should be thinking about one who is, who is substituting himself for Christ, who is acting the most authentically in a, in place of Christ.

And by authentic, I mean is making the most substantial claim to that.

Who is functioning as, another word for substitute, the vicar, is functioning as a vicar of Christ.

And this is, of course, what the Pope calls himself, a vicar of Christ. Who is the one who has most authentically made that claim?

So, the meaning of the term anti, meaning substitute, meaning in place of.

Now, this is spelled out in this passage in a couple of ways. It says, in verse four, 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. Now, many people think that what this means is that the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt and then someone, probably some

Jewish figure, will set himself up in that temple. However, as you look throughout the

New Testament, very consistently, what is the temple? As is said repeatedly, you are the temple of God.

God's people, gathered together, are the temple. And then, additionally, there is the notion of a universal church, a universal gathering of God's people that has not been fully manifest yet.

We won't gather together physically until that last day. But, there is a universal church.

There is a temple. Now, the term universal is also the term

Catholic. In fact, in our own confession, it says that we are the Catholic church.

I don't know if you know that, that I'd be happy calling myself a part of the Catholic church.

But, that is why whenever I refer to Roman Catholicism, I always label it Roman Catholicism because it is not the true

Catholic church. But this is the idea that this one will set himself up as head of the church, as head over the universal church, as head over the church

Catholic. And that is, once again, precisely what the Pope has done. Now, in addition to that, he will also make himself out to be

God. Now, this does not necessarily mean that he is God in the most explicit way where he claims to himself the actual, where he denies

Christ in all the most explicit ways. Augustine said the following, A more lying

Antichrist is he who with his mouth professes that Jesus is the Christ and with his deeds denies him.

So, Augustine is, he is preparing, if you do not know who Augustine is, that is 5th century in the 400s, he is preparing people for the

Antichrist who is coming and he is saying, when you are looking for this guy, he is not going to be someone who denies

Christ explicitly. He is not going to be someone who denies the reality of God explicitly, but he is by his works going to deny him and put himself in his place.

And this is something that the Pope has frequently done he has given all judgment to himself so that he is the ultimate decider of what is true.

Scripture, tradition, all of that bows to him and his final decisions. There are a number of statements you can find in historic

Roman Catholic documents that speak about the Pope more explicitly as God too. There is a very famous phrase in a 14th century piece of canon law.

Canon law is like a book of church order. It is just laws that would govern a church. And this explanation in the margin says, and this is authoritative, it is not just a marginal note that would not be authoritative, speaks of Dominum Deum Nostrum Papum which means our

Lord God the Pope. Now, this has been denied by many people.

This is a statement that has been applied to the Pope but it is there present in the old manuscripts.

Additionally, more canon law, Gratian's Decretals which is probably the most significant piece of canon law.

In fact, in the upcoming conference that we're going to have on retrieving a Doctrine of Simony, a lot of the work that I'm doing is going through Gratian's Decretals looking at what old laws were against Simony.

It says in there, it is shown clearly enough that the Pontiff cannot be loosed or bound by secular power.

Pontiff being the Pope. For it is agreed that he was called God by the pious Prince Constantine and it is manifest that God cannot be judged by men.

This is very important Roman Catholic document.

Now, you can take any single one of these more explicit statements and come up with reasons why that shouldn't be taken as meaningful, but at the end of the day, there are so many numerous quotes that demonstrate him taking on this role of being the ultimate judge, that there's a preponderance of evidence, there's a cumulative case to be made that he is doing this, and who has set himself up as God, as head of the church instead of Jesus Christ, as the

Holy Father instead of God the Father, as the vicar of Christ instead of the Holy Spirit, taking on the titles of the

Trinity, is it not? Once again, the Pope. Now, having gone through the meaning of the

Antichrist, that you should think of someone who is not the most against God so much, you know, it's not necessarily some figure who's going to be, you know, a satanic priest or something like that, right?

That's what a lot of people imagine, it has to be something in the church of Satan, that's going to be the thing that's most against God. Okay, so having gone through the meaning of what the

Antichrist is, consider also the circumstances of the Antichrist, the circumstances of the

Antichrist, meaning the place and time. To cover the place, please turn to Revelation chapter 17.

The place is not discussed here in 2 Thessalonians 2, but it is fairly relevant.

Revelation chapter 17, I'll just read verses 9 through 12.

This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

There are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come, he must remain only a little while.

As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.

And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast.

There are a number of things here. There's seven heads which refer to both seven mountains and seven kings, and there's also ten horns which refer to ten kings.

This is all very shadowy imagery. This would take a while to unpack all of it, but the thing that the audience at John's time as they are reading this would recognize immediately seven mountains.

The city of seven hills is Rome. This speaks of an empire that is at Rome.

You look through Daniel, you look at these visions of these different beasts. They always are talking about these different nations and empires.

What is the one here? He's letting them know this is the one of the seven hills. This is Rome. Just to give you a brief explanation of these other parts because I think that's helpful, although once again

I'm not going to be able to handle every possible objection. When it speaks of seven heads, six that have happened, one that is yet to come and then another, an eighth that's later, what's going on there?

Well, Rome had been at the time of John governed by six different kinds of governmental structures.

There were kings, there were consuls, there were tribunes, there were decimbers, dictators, then pagan emperors and then the one that would come for a very short while were those ostensibly

Christian emperors. And then who comes after that that is headed to destruction? The son of perdition.

By the way, perdition just means destruction. This is what it's talking about there. It's talking about the one that is headed to destruction.

It's talking about the son of perdition of 2 Thessalonians 2. Who is that eighth that is like them but also yet distinct because he's not really the same thing but yet has a similar sort of power?

It is the antichrist that comes after. And then what are the ten horns?

Well, the ten horns, once again in Daniel, you see the same thing, ten horns that come out of beasts are always kingdoms that come from other kingdoms and this is what would happen is that ten kingdoms would come out of Rome as it falls from power.

So the short of this is you should understand the people who are reading

Revelation 17 would understand that John is warning them about something that is going to come out of Rome and there's, he's giving them time frame, there's going to be one more system of government and then after that you will see the rise of this other one, this eighth one, the son of perdition, the one that is headed to destruction.

Now, going back to second Thessalonians 2, and this will come together in a second, what about the time of the antichrist?

What about the time of the man of lawlessness? Many people imagine this to be something that's happening only immediately before the end.

Or they imagine that it's something that happened already at that time very immediately after Paul's own time.

There's a problem with both of those. First, Paul speaks of, he speaks of the mystery of lawlessness already being at work.

In verse 7, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. This is something that's already happening.

There's already a spirit of antichrist at work and building up. A lot of people would say that, well, the antichrist just has to be one man.

This is going to all happen in one generation. What's the problem with that? The problem with that is

Paul is saying that this person, this office, anyway, it already exists.

You know what is restraining him now? So Paul is talking about it as being something that sort of exists then but is being restrained.

So it is something that necessarily must take place over time. And then 1 Timothy 4 .1

that we looked at says it's going to be in later times. So it's not something that was immediate. It's also something that must be later, but it existed at Paul's time.

So it must be a whole line of people. An office. It's not just a single individual that would just happen in one generation and be done.

And that's surprising people because they see this as just being one man. It sounds like it's just one man. Daniel 11 gives us a precursor to this passage.

There's an antichrist -like figure who comes, sets himself up in the temple, sets up the abomination of desolation, and ultimately this is fulfilled in between the two testaments in Antiochus Epiphanes who sacrifices a pig on the altar.

That's why the temple has to be rededicated. And that's where Hanukkah comes from and all those things.

In Daniel, that antichrist figure is referred to as the king of the north. There's also a king of the south.

But the king of the north, in that passage, and this is something that even secular scholars agree on, all the different camps in Christianity, all the different secular scholars agree on this.

This is not something where you just have to be in one camp to believe this. They understand the king of the north as referring to all the different Seleucid kings that lead up to Antiochus Epiphanes.

So in Daniel 11, in this passage that leads up to this notion of an Old Testament antichrist who sets himself up in the temple, it speaks of him as a single person when it's actually a whole line of people that culminates in a single person.

That's what's happening here. There is a line that is building up that will be revealed.

So this is not something that just happens at the very end. It's not something that just happens at the very beginning.

This is something that builds up and then is revealed. It is a line of men.

So timing -wise, you should understand this as Paul has explained. This is something happening in his own time, but the revelation of it will happen later.

Now, the real thing, and this is the part that I find most persuasive.

So if you're struggling to accept a lot of the things I'm saying, and I know because it's all over, there's so many details that have to be pulled together.

This is what I believe is the most persuasive that explains that timing, is the idea of the restrainer.

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. So at some point, this one restraining the man of lawlessness being revealed is going to be moved out of the way, and then the man of lawlessness is going to be revealed.

Some people believe that this is the Holy Spirit. I find that hard to understand. At what point would the

Holy Spirit be moved out of the way? And why not speak plainly about the Holy Spirit as well?

Is it not evident that Paul is speaking euphemistically about something that he doesn't want to name by name in order to not come off as too hostile?

He is referring to the Roman Emperor. The Roman Emperor is the restrainer who would keep the

Antichrist, keep the man of lawlessness from being revealed. Why would you set yourself up in the temple of God as the head over all the church during a time of persecution?

That doesn't make any sense. No one is going to do that. No one is going to paint a big red target on their back and ask themselves to be persecuted in that way.

The one who is restraining him, the Emperor, must be removed, and then the man of lawlessness will be revealed.

The space will be made open for him to set himself up as head over all the church. And this is not only the understanding of the

Reformers. Not every Reformer believed the restrainer was the Emperor, however many of them did.

That was the majority opinion. It was not only the majority opinion among the early

Protestants. This is also a very common even majority opinion among the early church, long before the revelation of the

Antichrist. I would like to read you several quotes. These are 4th century quotes.

Ambrose. If you don't know these names, know that all of them are actually very significant Christians during that era.

4th century. The Apostle says that the Antichrist would appear after the fading of the

Roman Empire. This is Ambrose interpreting this passage. He says the Apostle is telling us that the

Antichrist would appear after the fading of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire hasn't faded yet for him, but he's saying it's going to fade and then the

Antichrist is going to appear. He knows that this is what's going to take place. Cyril of Jerusalem, also 4th century.

The Antichrist was prophesied to come when the times of the Roman Empire have been completed. He likewise in the 4th century is saying the

Roman Empire is going to be completed and then we will see the Antichrist arise. Chrysostom in the 4th century says when the

Roman Empire is taken out of the way then he shall come. This is in a sermon that he's preaching on 2nd

Thessalonians and he's preparing his congregation, he's telling them what's going to happen. He's saying okay, the mystery of lawlessness has not yet been revealed, but know that this is what's going to happen.

The Empire is going to decline in power and then one in Rome is going to set himself up as head of the church.

Tertullian, 3rd century, this is in the 200s and listen to this because this brings together that passage in Revelation also.

Interpreting this passage for us, 2nd Thessalonians, this can only be this restrainer. This can only be the

Roman state who's breaking apart and dispersal among king kings will produce the

Antichrist and then will the evil one be revealed. The Antichrist So he's interpreting 2nd

Thessalonians 2 but he's also bringing in Revelation 17. He understands Revelation 17 to be the fact that Rome will break into ten kingdoms.

It hasn't even happened at this point but he understands it. He says at some point Rome is going to break into ten kingdoms and this is what happened to Rome and when that happens that is the restrainer being moved out of the way because the restrainer is the

Roman Empire. At that point when it breaks into ten kingdoms that's when the

Antichrist will be revealed. These are all people in the early centuries before the

Roman Empire fell. They understood that the Roman Empire is going to fall and then one in Rome will set himself up as head of the church.

They were anticipating this beforehand. Then the reformers seeing it all universally agreed this is what happened.

As Rome fell, one in Rome set himself up as head of the church and here we are.

You can look at the history. After Gregory the Great, one of the bishops of Rome, after that you really see

Rome claiming more supremacy for itself. The bishop of Rome claiming that status, setting himself up as head over not just his own church, which no man is head of his own church even, only

Christ is, but not even doing that but setting himself up as head over the church Catholic, over the universal church.

Then since that time, since Luther's time, you've seen a decline in his power.

So this is all the things that one would expect and you have all these statements of people who have come earlier than the fall of Rome who are anticipating exactly this thing.

Now having covered the meaning of the Antichrist and then the circumstances of the

Antichrist, I'd like you to also consider the danger of the Antichrist. The first thing that most people think that causes them to reject this doctrine that the

Pope is the Antichrist, the first thing is just that, okay, well why should we believe the reformers?

They were just products of their own time. They were looking for the biggest bad guy. The Pope was the biggest bad guy.

Clearly he's not anymore, so they must have been wrong about this, right? Not the case at all.

They didn't understand, they understood exactly what would take place. They did not believe that the

Antichrist would be the biggest bad guy for all time. They understood that he would lose power.

In verse 8 when it says and then the lawless one will be revealed by whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

They understood this to not be one event where he's killed and then destroyed, but two events that he would be killed with the breath of his

Christ, in other words the reformation robs the

Antichrist of his power and then after that, eventually

Christ will return and fully destroy him. They would not be surprised by what they see. They were not just products of their own time where they saw something and if they lived today they wouldn't be surprised.

That's what a lot of people think. If they lived today they'd be surprised. They'd say, oh he's declined in power, clearly this wasn't the one.

No, this is exactly what they were predicting would happen, that he would decline in power.

And this is what has happened ever since Luther. He's declined in power. Yet, at the same time, that is not to say that he is utterly powerless in every sense.

You know, for those of you who have joined us in door -to -door evangelism around this neighborhood, is it not the case that a good 25 to 50 percent of the houses in this neighborhood are under his power?

Is it not the case that he has a significant hold over many people, especially in a lot of other countries?

It's a significant hold on them still. He is declining in power but he still has great power.

The term rebellion here in one of these earlier verses, verse 3, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first.

That's the Greek word apostasia. It is talking about an apostasia, turning away from the face, a rebellion.

That's the same word that was used in 1 Timothy 4, 1, where it says, now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith.

That's the same, it's the verb form of the same word, that some will rebel, some will apostatize from the faith.

He's speaking on that same thing. Is this not the case? Is not Roman Catholicism a religion of compulsory idolatry?

Where in order to participate in it, you must engage in real idolatry, bowing to images. Is it not a religion of necromancy, where you speak to the dead?

Necromancy is not all the things you see in Dungeons and Dragons where you're trying to raise the dead or anything like that.

Necromancy as forbidden in Deuteronomy chapter 18 is simply speaking to the dead. It is an abomination before the

Lord. And is that not a significant aspect of what Roman Catholicism is?

Idolatry and necromancy? Praying to the dead? And then all these things that 1

Timothy 4 describes beyond the doctrines of demons. They forbid marriage, require abstinence from foods.

Do they not have all kinds of laws around celibacy, around fastings? Fasting is good.

Celibacy is right for those who are not married. But the kind of laws that they set up around these things are what 1

Timothy 4 is describing in that later apostasy that would arise. All of these are substantial things.

And then of course, at the core, what all that legalism comes from and goes to is a works -based righteousness that sets up either the individual or the church structure or the

Pope himself as the one who would give someone a real sense of peace, a real sense of justification.

Christ has come. The mystery of godliness has been revealed and the mystery of lawlessness likewise has been revealed that would distract from this good and perfect gospel that God has given.

He has given a perfect gospel in His Son that we might be saved, that we might not be saved based on our own works, but by His perfect work.

This apostasy conflicts with the work that the Lord has done.

And it can only be remedied by a recognition of how dangerous it is so that we would point to the

Lord Jesus as the answer to such things. Discern the matter in front of you.

We are not to be those who would not be ready for anything that would become about just as the

Thessalonians weren't ready to hear about the, they hadn't listened to Paul's previous words and so they were led astray by this letter.

We are to be ready to hear the truth about the mystery of lawlessness that we would not be led astray by it, that we would not allow others to be led astray by it.

Now there are many different implications and applications of this. In the next, Lord willing, three subsequent weeks, we will talk about those implications.

But right now, just a couple of things. Guard against deception.

Guard against deception. The way that you do that is by understanding the truth that God has given. God has given us precious truth.

He has welcomed us into his kingdom and called us friend that we might know what his plans are, that we might understand these things.

And Paul has commanded that you be on the lookout in discerning this so that if you are a person who lives before the mystery of lawlessness is revealed, you would be looking for it.

And if you are one who lives after the mystery of lawlessness has been revealed, you would recognize it and act accordingly.

We are ones who live after the mystery of lawlessness has been revealed. We must discern the matter and we must act accordingly.

And this is good reason for rejoicing too. There is much reason to rejoice that we live in the time after Christ.

There was a time before Christ. There was a time of shadowy figures that were pointing to the greatness of Jesus Christ.

It is a wonderful blessing to live in New Testament times, but is it not a special blessing to live not just in New Testament times, but in times beyond not just the mystery of the revelation of godliness, but times beyond the revelation of the mystery of lawlessness?

This is something to rejoice in. We are able to look back and understand more fully than even the early saints did what

God's work has been in the revelation of his gospel. To understand that truth, to embrace it more wholly, because with that revelation of the mystery of lawlessness, the gospel has come in fuller clarity.

Through the reformation, through God's work in revealing this antichrist figure, in revealing this man of lawlessness,

God has given us a greater clarity of the gospel that we might enjoy it more fully.

So my encouragement for you today would not be just to discern this matter, but also to rejoice in it.

There is a great reason living on this side of that revelation of the mystery to rejoice in what

God has done and that he has called you friend in order that you might understand the things that he is doing in his gospel.

Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, no doubt this is a difficult passage.

We pray that you would open our eyes to understand. We pray that you would grant us unity about this matter as you granted the early

Protestants, and we pray that you would help us in subsequent weeks to understand this truth. We also pray for your great blessings on the ordinance of baptism that we are about to observe.

We pray that our hearts would rejoice, that we would be filled with the right kind of zeal as we witness the goodness of your work in the life of Catherine Dix, as well as in the life of this own church.