1. Although this man will at first seem to have answers to the world’s problems, he will eventually bring
the world to battle at a campaign known as Armageddon (WW III). There will be nuclear, biological,
and chemical warfare and millions will suffer and die. Rev 16:12-16
a. Prior to the Lord’s return Satan will offer the world a counterfeit Christ (Antichrist). Through this
man, Satan will entice the world to submit to and worship him in an attempt to hold on to his power
on earth. II Cor 4:4; Luke 4:6; John 12:31; John 14:30; Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12; etc.

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b. Jesus alerted His followers to this development, warning that great religious deception will precede
His return to earth (Matt 24:4-5; 11; 24). Even now we are witnessing the development of a false
Christianity, an apostate church that will welcome this final world ruler. Apostate means one that
commits apostasy or renounces (abandons) the faith.
1. This developing church denies cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. It states that it doesn’t
matter what you believe or how you live your life as long as you are sincere and trying to be a
good person. After all, God is inclusive and there are many paths to God.
2. In the context of the days preceding the Lord’s return, Paul wrote that: (People) will act as if
they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly (II Tim 3:5, NLT).
3. Paul further wrote that seducing spirits will be unleashed on the earth that will draw people
away from the true faith (I Tim 4:1). These apostates will not be wild-eyed crazy men and
women, but appealing people with beguiling doctrines.
2. Jesus Himself taught Paul the gospel message that he preached (Gal 1:11-12). Part of Paul’s message
was that the Lord is coming back (I Thess 1:9-10). We get some important information from two
epistles that Paul wrote to a group of believers who lived in the city of Thessalonica in northern Greece.
a. The church had received some false information that the day of the Lord (Christ’s return) had
already begun. Remember, the term day of the Lord was the Old Testament name for what we call
the second coming of Jesus to cleanse the earth of sin, corruption, and death.
b. II Thess 2:3-4—Paul reminded his readers that two things must happen before this time of judgment
begins. There will be a falling away and the man of sin (final world ruler) will be revealed.
1. The Greek word that is translated falling away is apostasia which means to depart. The word
is used here, and one other time, for those who forsake the Law of Moses. Acts 21:21
A. In II Thess 2:8 Paul refers to this final ruler as the Wicked one. The Greek word Paul used
means lawless or lawlessness. Jesus used this same word when He warned of signs that
will precede His return. He said iniquity or lawlessness will abound. Matt 24:12
B. The ultimate form of lawlessness is the rejection of Almighty God because He is the
ultimate authority.
2. Paul explained that the mystery of iniquity (same Greek word, lawlessness) has been at work
since the fall of man, but that there has been a restraint on it which will be removed at the end.
A. The mystery of lawlessness—the hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority
—is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained until the one who is holding it back
steps out of the way. Then the lawlessness one will be revealed (II Thess 2:7-8, Amp).
B. That restraint has come through the presence of godly men and women and the ministry of
the Holy Spirit working in and through them. As Christian influence and Judeo-Christian
ethics and morality have decreased, particularly in the western world, we are seeing an
unprecedented surge of religious deception and lawlessness.
c. The final blow to the restraints will be the removal of the church. Remember that Paul previously
taught the Thessalonians that the Lord will come in the clouds and take believers off the earth.
1. The root of the Greek word translated falling away in II Thess 2:3 is used 15 times in the New
Testament and 12 times it means a departure from one place to another. A number of Bibles
translate the verse this way: except the aforementioned departure [of the Church to heaven] comes first (Wuest, Tyndale, Amplified in a marginal note). The idea is that Antichrist cannot
come on the scene until the church departs for Heaven with the Lord.
2. All the arguments we have about a pre, mid, or post trib rapture developed centuries later.
Note this quote from an Eastern Orthodox Church Father named Ephraim the Syrian wrote in
AD 373: All the saints and the elect of God will be gathered together before the tribulation,
and are taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at any time the confusion that

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overwhelms the world because of our sin.
3. There are serious consequences to abandoning God. Not only do you experience the results associated
with your choices, it has a progressively destructive affect on society (many lessons for another day).
a. In Rom 1:18-32 Paul describes the downward spiral that occurs when people willfully abandon the
Lord. It leads to increasingly debased behavior and ultimately results in a reprobate mind.
1. A reprobate mind is a mind that is unable to make decisions in its own best interests. Sin has a
darkening, corrosive effect on the mind (II Tim 3:8; Heb 3:13; etc.). Apostasy and lawlessness
make sense to the reprobate mind.
2. Paul further states that when people choose this path of willful rejection of the truth of God, the
Lord gives them over to their choices and the resulting consequences. Rom 1:24; 26; 28
b. When the final leader comes on the world stage, the entire planet will reject Almighty God in favor
of Antichrist. And God will give them over to their choice and all the ensuing consequences. You
don’t want Me? You want Satan’s counterfeit? You’ve got it, along with all that comes with him.
1. The consequences of their choice will be unlike anything the world has ever seen. With all
restraining forces gone, the wickedness of Satan and human hearts apart from God will be
demonstrated as never before. If Jesus did not return, every human being would die.
2. The Book of Revelation is primarily a description of this horror. In this book John describes
catastrophe warfare in the 21st century in 1st century terms and symbols (apocalyptic literature).
c. In his vision John saw Jesus open seven seals on a scroll. When Jesus opened the first seal, a man
on a white horse (identified elsewhere as the man of lawlessness) goes forth and begins his
destructive work. Rev 6:1-14
1. Jesus does not bring this man to power—Satan does (II Thess 2:9). The appearing of
Antichrist and the horrific events that follow (warfare, famine, disease, death, and tremendous
damage to the earth) is a direct result of their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The events on earth are connected to Jesus to make it clear that the calamity the people of earth
experience in this period is a direct result of their rejection of Him to embrace a false Christ.
4. God’s purposes are always redemptive. He is looking to save (not destroy) as many people as possible.
That will be true in this final tribulation period. If God’s heart was to destroy sinners, immediately
after the rapture would be the perfect time because there won’t be any believers on earth right then.
a. This time of tribulation is different from any other period in the history of man. Once it starts, in
just seven years, this present age will come to an end because a new age, the time of the restoration
of all things, is at hand. Acts 3:21
b. Billions of people who are alive on earth then will have only seven years to make a definitive choice
for or against the Lord. Radical action is necessary to save as many as possible.
1. Not only will wickedness be demonstrated as never before, there will also be more supernatural
signs of the reality of God given during the tribulation than ever before in the history of man.
They will be like the plagues of Egypt—demonstrations of God’s power designed to draw men
to Him by showing that He is the only God. For example:
A. Two witnesses with supernatural power will oppose Antichrist for three years. He will
kill them, but God will raise them from the dead in front of the whole world. Rev 11:3-12
B. An angel will preach the gospel. The entire world will hear him. This is the only time in
human history that such a thing has happened. Rev 14:6-7
2. The result? There will be a great harvest of souls out of the tribulation. Multitudes will be
saved by acknowledging Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Rev 7:9-14; Matt 24:14
A. They will wake up to the goodness of God and the wickedness of Satan and cry out for
mercy. Others will be hardened and continue to reject the Lord. Rev 11:13; Rev 9:20-21
B. The same sun that melts wax also hardens clay. The difference is not in the sun, but in the

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wax and the clay and the way that they respond to the sun.