Glenn Hall (9 Apr 2008)
"TWO SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING"

SEPARATION & LAWLESSNESS

TWO SIGNS OF CHRIST’S COMING

(By Glenn Hall)

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 NKJV) 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 [apostasy] 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.

Paul tells us in these verses that Jesus Christ will not return again until two great signs occur. (I) The first sign, that of apostasy, is three-fold. (a) The first aspect of apostasy will be a great falling away from the truths of God’s Word. This results in the world-wide harlot form of Christianity that we presently see. (b) Then, recognition of the harlot causes obedient Christians to separate from the spiritual whore, from the established church system. (c) This separation will culminate in the ultimate act of separation, that of the firstfruits rapture by God Himself! (II) Paul then forecasts the revealing of the Man of Sin, the man of lawlessness, as the second major sign. Both signs comprise a great mystery that has not been understood until very recently.

Paul, in fact, sums up the signs and all that accompanies them as the "mystery of lawlessness." Webster’s dictionary defines mystery as "a religious truth that man can know by revelation alone and cannot fully understand." This definition is wonderfully accurate, for the natural mind cannot apprehend the things of the Spirit and Paul’s words above are spiritual. The Mystery of Lawlessness can only be understood by spiritual revelation. Although I have some understanding of it, what even I have can only be understood if the Holy Spirit opens one’s eyes to see. Pray for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation before you begin. I have prayed this prayer for many years, but it was not until recently that I understood....

The Mystery of Lawlessness

Most Bible teachers consider the Man of Sin mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 to be only the one end-time antichrist. The apostle John wrote, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." He also said, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son" (1 John 2:18,19,22). The apostle makes it clear that this coming antichrist is not some new phenomenon, for many have already come. Paul says that this man of sin is part of a mystery and that the Mystery of Lawlessness is already at work. I believe that another identity of the antichrist who is to come will be revealed when we solve the Mystery of Lawlessness.

The term lawlessness basically means without law, but its Biblical meaning is far greater than this. As used in the Scriptures the term lawlessness means to be without God’s holy and revealed eternal law. The mystery of lawlessness that was already at work in Paul’s day was the leaven of turning away from God’s law, His standard of righteousness and justice. The leaven has slowly, but surely, spread throughout all mankind, including into most of His people. This is also the leaven of sin and explains why Paul so forcefully told the Corinthians to remove the sinner from their fellowship. See 1 Corinthians 5. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump," he said. Indeed, the leaven of lawlessness has leavened this lump called humanity. In many of our churches the leaven is the heresy of grace without law or love without accountability. In other churches the leaven is legalistic righteousness or standards of conduct based upon man’s measure, not God’s. "I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, I don’t go with girls who do." This is not God’s law; it is man’s, and he has made thousands of others that have kept God’s people in chains.

The leaven among other Christians is simply a denial of the inerrant Word of God. These have no truth in which to believe. The foundation of God’s authority rests upon His own declared Word. The Holy Scriptures contain that Word, yet almost all of mankind, including most believers, willingly turn away from it. In doing this we turn away from God’s government, the Kingdom of God itself, for God’s law embodied as righteousness and justice is the foundation of His throne, i.e., the foundation of his rule and authority. See Psalm 97:2 and 89:14. Only a remnant of obedient believers is left.

Natural Signs of Lawlessness

At this point I want to write about some of the things I have seen over many years as a lawyer and lawmaker that make me believe that we live in the days of the man of lawlessness. One of the most important signs was the O. J. Simpson murder trial. Everyone knows that he murdered his ex-wife and her friend. Some lawless people are pleased with the verdict, but, nevertheless, they do know that he is guilty. This trial is a sign to us because it clearly shows the culture of a lawless world and its legal system. We saw highly paid attorneys trick twelve men and women into voting "not guilty." Some of these attorneys teach others that this is their legitimate job and is a wholesome part of "justice!"

The Simpson verdict is not a fluke. It does not portray a rare result in our "justice" system. The United States Supreme Court over a period of decades has so perverted law and order in our country (by legalizing abortion, for example) that this kind of result is common. The cause, however, does not lie only with the Supreme Court. It lies with all who help corrupt the system. Attorneys who know their clients are guilty should not try to fool twelve jurors into believing they are innocent. This is not the job of an attorney. An attorney may legitimately try to mitigate the legal harm to a client, but to formulate lies that fool the jury is the basest form of deceit. To receive legal fees as payment to use one’s talents to pervert justice equates to taking a bribe. The Simpson case showed the entire world the state of justice and the law in America.

American injustice is further seen in another case with which I am very familiar. As a legislator I had the opportunity to draft and help pass a law to prevent state trial judges from letting certain convicted felons out of prison after only 120 days. This power was called the 120 day call-back rule. My law was passed to prevent judges from giving early probation in serious cases, particularly child sex offenses. Yet, since that law came into force in 1996, I have heard of numerous times that a judge has "called back" a serious offender after only 120 days.

For example, a middle aged man was convicted of repeatedly sodomizing a young teenage boy who lived with him and his family. A jury found the man guilty and recommended a 20 year prison sentence, which the judge ordered. After only 120 days, however, the trial judge let him out of prison, supposedly under the 120 call-back rule. Yet, both the conviction and the implementation of the probation came after my law went into effect. I wrote a letter explaining the new law to the judge, but to no effect. I called the local prosecutor. She did not return my call. I wrote a letter to the prosecutor and copied the State Governor and leaders of the State legislature. Nothing happened. After this early probation the man again had homosexual relations with at least one boy under age eighteen. A probation revocation hearing was had and the judge refused to put him back in prison. Finally, after repeated probation violations the man was incarcerated again. What is going on? The Mystery of Lawlessness is being revealed.

Again, in 1996 I learned that the local Division of Family Services was actively recruiting homosexuals to serve as foster care parents. I drafted legislation to prevent such destructive persons from adopting or serving as foster parents and introduced it for consideration by the 1997 General Assembly. The Speaker of the House assigned the bill to a hostile committee, one that he knew would kill the bill. I attempted to get my own political party to make the bill a caucus issue. That idea was turned down. My bill was deemed "too controversial" among other things. A "conservative" member of my own caucus even worked with the opposition to make sure that my bill could not be added as an amendment to another adoption bill being considered. One would think that passing a law to prohibit adoption and foster care by homosexuals would be a simple matter in our "Christian" society. Who would have ever guessed that even conservatives would work behind the scenes to prevent it from becoming law. What is going on? The Mystery of Lawlessness is being revealed.

Then, there is the golden idol called public education that teaches our children everything but the truth. Our kids can go to school and learn how to use drugs and guns, have sex, wear condoms, get abortions, that homo-sex is ok, that men evolved from animals, and any number of other evils. They learn just about everything except reading, writing, and arithmetic. The last thing these schools would ever teach is that God’s laws are eternal and His way is the way to eternal life. Yet most Christian parents send their own kids to these schools and all but a very few federal and state legislators send much of our earned income (taxes) to fund these false religious shrines. What is going on? The Mystery of Lawlessness is being revealed.

Perhaps the most profound sign of lawlessness can be seen in the actions of President Bill Clinton. As the chief law enforcement officer and the head of government of the United States, he perverted justice by lying under oath. He further perverted justice by saying that his lies were justified because the lies were only about sex. He turned the legal system into the lawlessness system.

Consider how completely his lies and the impeachment debacle fulfill 2 Thessalonians. First, as with O.J. Simpson, everyone knows that the President is guilty of many things of which he has been accused. The list is numerous and well known but the basic four allegations are these: 1)adultery (sex outside of marriage), 2) lying under oath, 3) taking campaign contributions from the Chinese, and 4) treason, i.e., providing military secrets to the Chinese by relaxed trade rules and allowance of espionage. The relationship to 2 Thessalonians is that although people KNOW that Clinton did these things, they BELIEVE the LIE that he did not. People truly know in their hearts that this President works wickedness as the ruler of the world’s greatest empire, but they prefer to believe that he is gracious, compassionate, and just misunderstood (he’s just a poor victim of child abuse, we are told). They willingly believe the lie that the accusations are part of some "vast right wing conspiracy." Why? "Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thes. 2:10b-12).

I could write about dozens of similar examples of lawlessness and you could add to my list. I’m sure you see the picture, though. It is a picture of man without law. All of these examples of lawlessness exhibit manifestations of the delusion prophesied by Paul. They are further described by John in his picture of Babylon the Great in Revelation 17-18. "Babylon the Great," like lawlessness, is another mystery. The term is a spiritual code-word for the entire world system from which the whole Bible warns us to separate. Even more signs of Christ’s soon return appear within Babylon the Whore.

Lying Signs and Wonders: The Spiritual Signs of Lawlessness

Many will disagree with what I have written here. Deception, apostasy, idolatry and harlotry all characterize the prophesied end of the age, however, so take heed before you recklessly criticize. I write this that those who possess God’s Spirit within will hear His Word and become obedient to His command. Beloved, this is the last minute of the last hour. It is no longer just the last hour as John wrote. See 1 John 2:18. It is time for the slumbering virgins of Christ to awaken and be filled with the oil of God, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 25. Those who continue to sleep will sleep through the return of Christ for His Bride and be thrust unaware into the darkness of the DAY OF THE LORD, the Great Tribulation. This writing sounds a warning to the people of God. "Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand" (Joel 2:1).

Paul said the Day of the LORD "will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thes. 2:3). Both have occurred and are still in process as I write. Also, he says, "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" (2 Thes. 2:9-10). These signs and lying wonders have also come to pass and are yet continuing. The lying signs and wonders usually take the form of supernatural manifestations that gullible people believe to be the work of God. At this time we see people all over the world hungering for supernatural events, so much so that they fail to judge the events by the Word and Spirit of God. They run to churches where they hear that spiritual things are happening. They want that "spirit," that "power," that "anointing," they learn about, but they fail to judge the fruit of the spirit before they partake. They have the means to judge, but they fail to use it. They have failed to study and know the written revelation of Jesus, the Word of God. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

The latest, and probably most dangerous lying sign to date, is the so-called "Renewal" or "Toronto Blessing" movement. The things going on at the Brownsville Pensacola Assembly of God are the same. I have personally seen the fruit of this spirit in several local charismatic churches, in one of which I was a member for over four years. Many articles and books have been written concerning the supernatural phenomena occurring in these churches, so this writing will not go into great detail about the meetings of these groups. Instead, I will focus on several manifestations common among those who have gotten caught up in it.

First, it is well known that one of the things that often occurs is that participants of the meetings take on characteristics of animals. I have heard accounts of people acting like lions, dogs, and chickens from many varied sources. The question has to be asked, "Would God manifest His presence among us by making us assume the mind of a beast?" The Biblical answer is clearly and unequivocally "NO!"

Here are some scriptures that show that God would not be moving on His people to cause them to act like common beasts: "Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses" (Daniel 5:21, NKJV). The NIV version reads, "He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal ...." The psalmist Asaph writes, "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you" (Psalm 73:21-22). Jude tells us that the term "brute beast" speaks of the natural mind, not the spiritual mind. See Jude 10. When John saw the man of sin in his vision of the Day of the Lord he described him as a beast:

(Rev 13:1-2 NIV) "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. {2} The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

The sea often represents mankind as a whole in the Scriptures, so here is a picture of a beast arising from mankind with Satan giving him his power. Is there any more fitting manifestation of Satan’s spirit, then, than that of a beast?

Another common occurrence of those deceived by this "renewal" move is that its adherents become dogmatic about "getting out of the mind." The devil has used a very clever trick in this deception. The Bible does instruct Christians to have the mind of Christ and to renew their minds of flesh by the Holy Spirit. So, on the one hand it is a good thing to get out of a fleshly mind. But, this is not the emphasis in this movement. Rather, the emphasis of the "blessing" is not to question the manifestations of the spirit involved. Participants are exhorted to eagerly accept whatever the spirit wills and to not quench this spirit by analyzing or criticizing it with their minds. These instructions deliberately cause the participants to fail to judge the spirit’s fruit by the Word of God. In so many words they are instructed to become zombies. Those who fail to follow their instructions are called legalistic and made to feel as if they have truly missed the present move of the Holy Spirit. This "getting out of the mind" is a very great deception. It is actually founded on the lawlessness of the grace heresy because it attacks with the dirty word, "legalism." It’s author is none other than the dragon himself.

Concerning using our minds, the Word of God says: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). By accepting this doctrine of demons to stop using their minds men have literally abandoned the knowledge of God. God will judge them: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done" (Romans 1:28). Rather than abandoning our minds, Christians are to have a mind that is a slave to God’s law. See Romans 7:25. Further, our mind is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, not a counterfeit spirit. See Romans 8:6. Paul teaches that we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind" so that we can test and approve God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will. See Romans 12:2. Brethren, the Holy Spirit would not do to our minds today what He did to Nebuchadnezzar’s mind twenty-six centuries ago in judgment. In that day God turned the king’s mind to that of a beast in judgment. Turning the mind of a Christian to a beast’s today would be anything but a "blessing." Beware the false teacher who tells you to turn off your mind and encourages you to follow whatever spirit he manifests.

The Great Separation (Apostasia)

What we see today in the "Blessing" and other false moves of the evil spirits is part of the first aspect of the Great Apostasy spoken of in 2 Thes. 2:3. Various translations of the Scriptures call the apostasy different things, but the clear message conveyed by all of them is that there will be some great falling away from the truths of God just prior to the revelation of the Man of Sin and the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ. Can there be any doubt that this is actually occurring as you read this? Consider the churches you know. Consider the sins in which Christians routinely walk. Consider the difficulty that you personally have conveying truth to another Christian. These are the carnal believers who refuse to obey the truth of God. I am not writing to them. They do not have ears to hear. I am writing to you who know that you walk in the doctrine of Christ. The end of all things is near and only the remnant on the narrow path will hear the words of Christ, obey them, and so save their souls.

Brethren, I believe that the great falling away is happening right now and that it has been going on for some time. How else can you describe churches that do not excommunicate brazen sinners, but instead ordain them as pastors, elders, or bishops and charismatic churches that fall on their knees and howl like beasts? How can you describe thousands upon thousands of churches that fail to speak out against the repulsive lawlessness of our day? If this is not apostasy, then the word has no meaning. Paul says that the Man of Sin is revealed at the time of this great falling from God’s truth. After that the Day of the Lord comes. Look up, for Christ’s coming is at hand.

The Greek word translated as apostasy in many Bibles is generally interpreted to mean a defection or falling away from truth. This word "apostasia," though, is the verb form of the noun "apostasion." Apostasion is used three times in the New Testament and is translated as "divorcement" each time. Strong’s defines this word to mean "something separative." Surely, a divorce between a husband and wife is among the most grievous and profound of all separations. Concerning this marriage between a man and a woman Jesus said, "they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" Matthew 19:6. The verb "apostasia" used in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, therefore, speaks of separation as well as apostasy from the faith. We could even translate "apostasy" as "separation from the faith." I believe Paul meant more than even this, however.

I believe that Paul implies that a manifest separation of Christians from the world will precede the revealing of the man of lawlessness. Remember his words to the Corinthians:

(2 Cor 6:17-7:1 NKJV) Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." {18} "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We have already seen what this separation from the world means for us who obey Christ. This aspect of apostasia, the separation, defines one of those end-time signs to be seen just before the great tribulation and the second coming of Christ, and it leads to an even more controversial separation.

Today there exists a huge "camp" in the world known as Christianity. This camp comprises Babylon the Great and consists of myriad types of churches: Catholic, denominational, charismatic, and independent. Most of these churches have separated from the true faith. Many still preach salvation by the blood of Jesus, but they preach little else that Jesus, the apostles, and prophets taught. They left "the faith" described in Scripture and now teach the doctrines of demons and men. Many cling to demonic manifestations as miracles from God. This huge "camp" is Babylon the Great, harlot religion. This explains why most visible churches look so much like the world. This also explains why Paul exhorts Christians to "go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no enduring city, but we seek the one to come." Hebrews 13:13-14.

Paul teaches us that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. When one truly desires to live in righteousness and justice before God he will usually find that he must separate from his church because it has left the faith. When he does this he will suffer persecution from other believers, just as Jesus suffered at the hands of the self-righteous Jews. Yes, when one desires to live godly in Christ Jesus and therefore separates from the camp, he will find that other Christians force him to bear the reproach of his decision. Few risk this ostracism and forced shame that comes from whole-heartedly obeying Christ. This is what Jesus means when He says the following: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. {27} "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26-27 NKJV).

Now we see that the "apostasia" speaks of separation from the faith (which is the common definition of apostasy) by the disobedient, separation from the world system by obedient believers, and, ultimately, separation from the harlot church system (which is also part of the world) by those who love the truth. Harken now to the Word of the Lord: "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven.’" Hebrews 12:25.

False Shepherds and the Great Deception

The evil spirit behind lying signs and wonders floods today into many Christian churches. Churches that have willingly accepted these lying spirits stand guilty of sin before God and they will pay a penalty. God allows them to be deceived because they have not loved the truth and given themselves in obedience to it. See 2 Thes. 2:10.

God wrote his truth in His Word, the Bible, and it is embodied in the person of Jesus, the Messiah. The verses and books comprising both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible teach God’s truth. Yet, the churches have violated His laws and have taught His people that they are null and void, to be ignored and even blasphemed. The great deception sweeping the churches is possible because the people have no means of defense or offense. The shepherds do not provide them with the helmet of (soul) salvation. And, they hand their people broken swords. The people do not stand guiltless before God, however, because they can read the Bible and pray for ears to hear on their own.

Jeremiah prophesies concerning the shepherds of today’s churches and the soon coming reign of Him Who rules with a rod of iron:

(Jer 23:1-10 NKJV) "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD. {2} Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the LORD. {3} "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. {4} "I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD. {5} "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. {6} In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. {7} "Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' {8} "but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land." {9} My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words. {10} For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.

Yes, Jeremiah speaks to the common pastor of today’s apostate churches. They shoulder much of the blame for the state of God’s church, as do the self-proclaimed prophets who wander from sea to sea across this earth, feeding off of the poor in spirit. This true prophet warns us concerning these false ones:

(Jer 23:11-32 NKJV) "For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness," says the LORD. {12} "Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the LORD. {13} "And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err. {14} Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. {15} "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.'" {16} Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD. {17} They continually say to those who despise Me, 'The LORD has said, "You shall have peace" '; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, 'No evil shall come upon you.'" {18} For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? {19} Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury; A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. {20} The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. {21} "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. {22} But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. {23} "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off? {24} Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD. {25} "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' {26} "How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, {27} "who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. {28} "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?" says the LORD. {29} "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? {30} "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who steal My words every one from his neighbor. {31} "Behold, I am against the prophets," says the LORD, "who use their tongues and say, 'He says.' {32} "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," says the LORD, "and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all," says the LORD.

Many "prophets" these days bolster and lift up the false "blessing" movement and wicked political leaders like President Clinton. If they cannot discern the spirit behind these things, then how can they discern the Holy Spirit? How, then, can they be true prophets of God?

The Two Men of Creation

(1 Cor 15:45-58 NIV) "So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. {46} The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. {47} The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. {48} As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. {49} And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. {50} I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. {51} Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- {52} in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. {53} For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. {54} When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." {55} "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" {56} The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. {57} But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. {58} Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

The first Adam is the natural man. The first Adam represents the man of the flesh, man without the Holy Spirit and man without God. The first Adam is the corporate total of all men who possess not the Spirit of Christ. This is the man of sin. When we understand the Mystery of Lawlessness we will see that the Man of Sin, on one hand, represents all of mankind outside of Jesus Christ. All cultures and countries on the earth have progressively moved to a state of lawlessness. Total anarchy results from complete lawlessness. But the world will not see anarchy on the whole. Instead, it will witness totalitarian rule under THE Antichrist. The Antichrist is one particular man who represents the other hand of the man of sin. The Man of Sin, therefore, is also one single man. He is the beast that comes out of the sea. See Revelation 13:1-18.

The second Adam, or second man, is Jesus Christ. The second Adam also speaks of the body of Christ, those who believe that Jesus died for their sins. Only two men exist in all creation, Adam and Christ. This is the lesson of Hagar and Sarah and their sons Ishmael and Isaac. The first woman and her son represent the natural man, Adam. The second two are types of Christ. The first is the natural; the second the spiritual.

Paul teaches about the two men of creation just before he expounds upon the second coming of Christ. This second coming can happen only after the man of sin is revealed, says Paul in 2 Thessalonians. A principle that God has put into place in creation is first the natural, then the spiritual. First, the natural man, the man of sin will be revealed. Then Jesus will be revealed when He comes again. God now reveals this natural man as unredeemed corporate humanity. Mankind as a whole is lost and lawless. Mankind en masse, therefore, represents one aspect of the man of sin. This corporate, wicked man will soon willingly receive the Antichrist as its world ruler. The antichrist is the other aspect of the man of sin. When his sinful nature is fully revealed then God will reveal the spiritual man. This is the Son of man and of God, Christ and His body.

Sitting as God in the Temple of God

One of Satan’s greatest deceptions has been to get Christians to focus only on natural Israel and speculation concerning a natural temple being rebuilt there. Many Christians believe that the building of the temple in Israel is among the first "final" steps in the culmination of all things. They believe this because 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says that the man of lawlessness "sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Others have hypothesized that the temple itself does not have to be built, but that sacrifices must again be offered at the place where the original temple stood. I believe that this idea comes because many see that the end is at hand, but they also see that no physical temple now exists.

But, is a physical temple in Jerusalem the only thing that Paul was talking about? What, really, is God’s temple? Jesus and the apostles repeatedly made it clear that God’s temple is the body, soul, and spirit of the human being. "Destroy this temple and in three days I will cause it to rise again," said Jesus in John 2:19, speaking of his death and resurrection. Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:16, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" In 2 Cor. 6:16 he wrote, "For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." In Ephesians 2:19-21 he says, " Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord...."

Regarding mankind, first came the natural man, Adam. After him came the spiritual man, Jesus Christ. It is even so with the temple of God. First was the natural physical temple in Jerusalem in which God dwelt before Israel was removed in judgment from the land. With the coming of Christ God made His home in the renewed spirit of man. The day will come when antichrist defiles a new temple in Israel, but Paul also speaks of the temple called man here in 2 Thessalonians.

We already see lawlessness taking up residence in this temple called man. Many people also consider church buildings to be temples to God, although this is not Biblically correct. Because of the Great Apostasy, we now see demonic manifestations in people within church buildings. This lawlessness within man is Satan sitting as God in the Temple of God. Satan sits in, with, or beside both unbelievers and Christians (who really are the temple of God). They themselves sit in today’s so-called temples to God, the church buildings. Sitting within this temple called man, Satan moves man to ever greater acts of wickedness and lawlessness. He is even now preparing mankind, including many Christians, to willingly embrace the endtime Antichrist when he is soon revealed. All who accept the Antichrist will do so because they refused to love the truth in order to save their souls (not their spirits). Therefore God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the Antichrist’s lies and accept his authority. Please re-read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.

 

Summary

Paul prophesied that two major signs would take place just before the second coming of Jesus the Messiah. They were that the Great Separation (apostasy) would occur and that the Man of Lawlessness would be revealed. We now see apostasy from the gospel in full bloom in the world’s churches. We also see God’s obedient people separating from both the world and the harlot church. And we see the Man of Sin, all of mankind, display his humanistic power and pride. This corporate man readies himself to receive Antichrist as his king. Surely, Jesus comes soon.