The Man of Lawlessness

This has been such a busy week between work, the kids, and working on my sermon for Sunday. I am outting the finishing touches on it now. Here is a little advance clip:

Who is this Man of Lawlessness 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2:12

Before we begin, Rupertus Meldenius once said: “"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque (or, omnibus) caritas."
or,

“In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty, but in all things Charity”.

There is a lot of difficulty in understanding this passage of Scripture that we’re going to study today. It is one of the most difficult. If not the most difficult in the entire Bible, it is at least one of the most difficult that Paul ever penned. No one (myself included) can be 100 % sure to have found who or what the man of lawlessness is. There is just not enough information about it. It is evident that we don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle. So, the best that can be done is to get as much as we can from it, accept it, pray on it, and move on.

Like every other New Testament epistle, the Second Letter to the Thessalonians is an occasional letter (that means it was written with an occasion in mind) and was written to answer some problem that had risen. Therefore, we’ll approach the text this morning by setting forth the background of the Thessalonian Correspondence first, then by discussing who or what the man of lawlessness is.

“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, NIV).