2 Thessalonians 2:1-13 – “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  NKJV

While these verses are sufficient in themselves to identify the need to be concerned, aware and vigilant in our present world I want to advance a couple of simple thoughts.  Paul spoke of the “mystery of lawlessness” that was already at work in his day and how can anyone deny has taken giant steps in ours?  We focus on that verse and talk about the Holy Spirit, or the Church being removed so the devil will have no further restraint and then total chaos ensues on planet earth.

In this passage, the apostle warns of a time of incredible apostasy and warns that the Day of Christ would not come UNLESS there is a massive falling away and the man of sin is revealed.  He spoke of a time in which Great Deception would be prevalent in the world and even in the church or especially in the church.  He spoke of a time in which God would send or allow a strong delusion to permeate the religious world.  In his counsel and warning to Timothy Paul spoke of “perilous times” coming in which evil men would grow worse and worse.  Does that not remind you of this day?

Without getting into the debates about the Coming of the Lord, Pre, Mid, or Post Tribulation or Millennialism let me ask this question, “When God lifts the restraints in this world do you really want to be around to witness it?”  

We live in a world where there have been over about two billion abortions have transpired over the past 50 years.  We live in a world where Islamic jihadists are brutally slaughtering Christians and anyone who will not convert to Islam at an alarming rate.  We live in a world where “lives do not matter” or so it would seem to a growing number of people. 

We are seeing the ever-increasing boldness of evil and watching as society has begun calling evil good and good evil.  We live in a world where some in Church leadership have adopted a coexistence policy to the point, that they no longer declare the ONLY PATHWAY to salvation as Jesus Christ.  It is becoming an extremely dangerous world and in many parts of this planet, if you are a professing Christian, it is doubly dangerous.

What would it be like if there were no spiritual or moral restraints in this world?  What would the world be like if people followed the evilness in their hearts and did or took whatever they wanted whenever they wanted? 

There is coming a time exactly like that and although I refuse to adopt a mentality of Escapism.  I am praying that God spares us from that horrific world.  Knowing that the world of terror is coming is another reason to address the condition of our hearts.  The restraints will be, and we may be witnessing the lifting of them now, so I urge you to rekindle the flame of your first love with God.

God bless you as you go through this day!