The Mystery of Iniquity

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now let’s will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Unless you have been living under a rock or in a cave somewhere completely detached from all forms of electronic media, then you realize that we are living in unprecedented times in human history. We have seen a worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing extreme political polarization and division, increased global uncertainty, the increased advocacy of globalism by many of the world's leaders (including the Biden Administration), renewed racial unrest, rising immorality, increasing lawlessness and violence, economic instability that includes our current out of control inflation, the mind boggling national debt of over thirty trillion dollars and counting, supply chain issues, attacks on domestic energy production, rising fuel prices, wars and rumors of wars, and crises on the borders.

Then to add to all of that, we have pagan practices that have been allowed to take root such as, the rise of the government sanctioning and normalization of the LGBT movement, abortion, the redefining of the family, gender confusion, the collapse of the institution of the family, the assault on traditional biblical values, the federally mandated closing of churches, the watering down of the gospel, the unprecedented censorship and banning of contrary views and opinions by the media and most of the major social media companies, the escalation of far left propaganda, the rapid move towards socialism as the dominant worldview in the west, the decline of the impact and influence of the church in the west, the vaccine mandates that are being levied by governments as well as by many major corporations, the rise of deception and misinformation, and so on.

In short, America and the west is currently divided on just about every imaginable cultural, sociological, religious, political, and economic issue including race, the role of religion, the role of the Federal Government, the Constitution, sexual orientation, the use of the military, taxation, education, and so one. Astonishingly, this divide has become so wide, that many are going as far as having heated debates and confrontations over something as fundamental as what constitutes a family and debating on what is a man and what is a woman. And with all of these challenges and more, it has left many people discouraged, depressed and disillusioned. And with all of these gathering social, political, spiritual, cultural and economic storm clouds gathering, more and more people, believers and nonbelievers alike, are beginning to ask themselves, "what in the world is going on," and "does the bible have anything to say about the current state of affairs?"

When you listen to the rhetoric and opinions from many of the people and institutions of influence including, the mainstream media, many politicians, political activists, pop culture celebrities, college professors, and sadly many religious leaders, you are led to believe that the root of our problems can be directly traced back to such external things as the opposing political parties, racism, inequality, the police, the justice system, homophobia, former President Trump, and of course climate change. In other words, it is natural for we as products of the Adamic fall and who have been born with an inherent sin nature, to point to external people or things to blame for the issues that trouble us. We saw this in the Garden of Eden for example, when Adam famously (or infamously) replied to God by saying, "It was the women that you gave me."

However, the truth of the matter, is that the word of God actually does have a great deal to say about the times that we are living in, and all of the disturbing developments that are plaguing our world today. In fact, according to the scriptures, the reality is that much of the societal dysfunction that we are experiencing in our day is not rooted in any specific person, group, organization or thing in this natural world. But we are literally engaged in a spiritual battle that is being waged in the unseen realm, where events are being planned and orchestrated and then manifested here in the natural world. And it is all being done for the purpose of preparing and conditioning the world for the arrival of the antichrist.

One great example of this idea can be seen in the Apostle Paul's second letter to those new believers in the city of Thessalonica. In this letter Paul makes a very powerful statement that on the surface may seem somewhat benign to the casual reader, but is jammed packed with revelations that speaks directly to the times that we are now in. At the time, it was Paul's intent to correct false teachings that were being propagated regarding the Day of the Lord (the end times’ judgment). There were those who were falsely teaching that Christ was literally returning any day, which was causing many Thessolanicans to quit working and huddle together while they await the rapture. While others were promoting the idea that Christ had already come, and the believers in Thessalonica had been left behind. Paul realized that he needed to set the record straight about Christ’s return and our gathering together in Him at the Rapture. Paul begins to clear up the confusion by summarizing the fact that in essence, there would be two primary events that would have to occur prior to the Day of the Lord. And those two events are:

1. A great apostasy (or rebellion) and

2. The revelation of the man of lawlessness (aka, the Antichrist).

Paul's first observation centered around a warning and emphasis that before Christ returns, there would be coming great falling away or apostacy. So, what exactly is this great apostasy that Paul warned about? The Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 means “departure, falling away, defection, revolt, a defiance of an established system or authority; a rebellion; an abandonment or breach of faith; and an abandonment of the truth of God's word.” Generally speaking, this end times apostasy, which I absolutely believe that we are experiencing right now, is the mass “falling away” of people from God, and the satanic antagonism towards the truth of God's word that has escalated exponentially in these days as the world prepares to receive the lawless one who claims to be God (verse 4). In short, it is an unprecedented, worldwide revolt against all things godly, to that point that even many who claim to be Christians has been and will be deceived by.

In other words, the day of the Lord, or the final judgement will be preceded by a wholesale rejection of God’s revelation, which represents a further “falling away” of an already fallen world. In fact, regarding the final days, Jesus also warned His disciples about this coming apostacy in Matthew 24:10-12: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”

Jesus warned that many will fall away due to the impact and influence of many false teachers who will arise and teach error and lead many people away from the truth of the gospel. He goes on to add that one of the disturbing results of these false teachings will be a tremendous amount of disorder and a rejection of biblical standards of goodness and morality, along with a complete abandonment of the truth. In other words, there will be a rebellion against biblical virtues and submission to God. The ultimate result of this self-centered lawlessness will be the loss of love. Christ uses the imagery of love becoming "cold" which suggests a corpse, or something dead and lifeless. This suggests that as humanity falls further away from biblical morality, it will become less loving which in turn will lead to an even greater escalation of inhumanity.

The indications of the great apostasy of the end times alluded to by Paul and by our Lord can be summarized by the following signs:

• Widespread deception

• The emergence of false prophets

• The abounding of Iniquity

• A worldwide rejection of God

• The love of many waxing cold

• Ethnic conflicts

• Warring political systems

• The move towards globalism

• Apathy and lack of discernment among believers

• A great "falling away" from the faith

Satan, as the deceiver of mankind, continually plants seeds of doubt in the minds of individuals. Using false teachers and poorly equipped bad teachers, Satan distorts, twists and outright lies to corrupt our understanding of the Word of God. Few churches today minister verse-by-verse expository and exegetical teaching and preaching in order to give a faithful interpretation of God’s Word. Most mainline and the new mega churches have abandoned sound doctrinal teaching and replacing it with subjective and experiential content (feelings-oriented beliefs). And it is this drift away from consistent and hermeneutically sound biblical exegesis that has been a major contributor to the demise of biblical discernment among many Christians. And the result of the of this widespread biblical illiteracy and lack of discernment has led to the cultural and societal impact and influence of Christianity being supplanted by satanic secularist worldviews. And the uncomfortable truth of the matter is the fact that churches, pastors, and believer’s all bear partial responsibility for the current state of the culture.

Lack of discernment of the signs of the times

One of the most troublesome consequences of this dearth of consistent, sound biblical exegesis, along with Indepth expository preaching and teaching from most pulpits, is the problem of widespread biblical illiteracy among Christians. And the unfortunate consequence of widespread biblical illiteracy among Christians is the systemic lack of spiritual discernment regarding the signs of the times, or the ability to be able to distinguish the spiritual warfare or prophetic strands that are connected to current events and how these events are related to the last days. Interestingly, this is a problem that is not unique to today’s culture. In fact, this problem of lack of discernment was also systemic among the Jewish Religious leaders of Christ’s day.

Note for example, the famous encounter in which Jesus gave a stinging rebuke to some Pharisees and Sadducees who were members of two of the leading religious sects of the day, and who came to Him attempting to trick Him by asking Him for a “sign.” Mathew describes this encounter when he writes, “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times (Mathew 16:1-3NKJV).

In His response, Jesus soundly criticized these religious leaders for their inability to discern God’s actions and timing in their generation. They failed to recognize and discern the purposes of God because their hearts were far from God. They embraced a form of religion and pronounced it with their lips, but their hearts and focus were in the wrong place. But what was the most astonishing about these religious leaders was the fact that the very redeemer whom the prophets prophesied about was literally standing in their midst, but yet there were unable to discern who it was that they were speaking to.

In many ways, this lack of ability or spiritual awareness to be able to discern the signs of the times is precisely what is taking place here in America by many church leaders. Consider for example, the fact that we went over a year where churches across America and around the world were mandated by the government to lock their doors to public worship, while at the same time, rioting in the streets were allowed to go maskless as they burned down whole neighborhoods. Yet, once churches were able to reopen, many churches proceeded to conduct regular services like normal as though nothing had happened. There was little to no examination of scripture to see if God's word had anything to say about what was happening. Nor was there much evidence of a renewed interest in the study of the books of Daniel, or Revelation, or of the study of bible prophecy in general. Instead, for the most part, many churches simply resumed normally as though nothing had happened.

The revelation of the man of lawlessness (aka, the Antichrist).

Secondly, Paul pointed out that at some point after this great apostacy, then the man of lawlessness will be revealed. So, who is this man of lawlessness? First of all, he is a literal person. He is often referred to as the Antichrist. He will be Satan’s henchman, a pseudo-Christ who will perform miracles, signs, and wonders by the power of Satan and ultimately deceive the world. He is referred to as “the beast” in Revelation 13:1–10, “the little horn” in Daniel 7:8, and “the king who does as he pleases” in Daniel 11:36.

According to 2 Thessalonians 2:4, this man of lawlessness is the one who “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.” Clearly, this has not yet happened; no one since Paul’s time has set himself up as God in the Jewish temple. Two thousand years have passed since the epistle was written, and the “day of the Lord” has not yet come. Paul assures us that it will not come until the falling away or great apostasy comes first. However, although it is clear that this man of lawlessness has not yet made his appearance on the world stage, it is clear that one day he will certainly be revealed. So, who then is this man of lawlessness?

But Paul in his letter to the believers in Thessalonica, also pointed out something very interesting. Even though this man of lawlessness has not yet been revealed, the invisible spirit of antichrist has been working in the world throughout history but will be increasing its evil activity more and more as we get closer to the end of this age. John in fact wrote that many antichrists would precede the coming of the ultimate Antichrist (1 John 2:18). In other words, the last days will be characterized by an escalation of the behind-the-scenes activity of this antichrist spirit that will be manipulating and influencing events here on earth, for the purpose of conditioning the world for the acceptance of the man of lawlessness. Paul referred to this behind-the-scenes demonic activity as, "The mystery of iniquity."

What exactly is the mystery of iniquity? To be specific, the “mystery of iniquity” refers to the spiritual battle that is being waged in the unseen realm that is impacting and influencing events here on earth in the natural. Events that will one day culminate in the appearance of the Antichrist. In other words, there is an antichrist spirit that is already at work in the world preparing and conditioning the world for the antichrist's control, but it is currently being restrained so that the world is not quite as evil as it could be and one day will be. But once the Restrainer, which is the church of Jesus Christ, is removed from the world, then the full onslaught of satanic evil will be unleashed on the world and upon those who are left behind.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 concerns the working of lawlessness in the world, leading to a worldwide rebellion against God. It works in secret right now, but it is working. The revelation of this lawlessness will coincide with the revelation of the Antichrist, mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The man of sin’s rise to power will represent a climax of lawlessness, a satanic movement against the administration of God. This secret, behind-the-scenes movement is as yet restrained but waiting to be revealed with all of its diabolical fury.

Paul echoed this idea of the spiritual warfare that is ongoing in the unseen or spirit realm in his letter to the believers in Ephesus when he said, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). In other words, while we are preoccupied with the struggles of this life that are occurring in the natural realm, while we debate things like politics, economic issues, world affairs, culture, gender, and so forth, there are literal satanic forces that are at work in the unseen realm that are literally and directly impacting and influencing the actual events that are taking place down here on earth in the natural that has so many people divided. And that is especially true when it comes to geopolitical, religious, racial, cultural and economic issues.

In short, this "mystery of iniquity" it is the invisible power of the spirt of antichrist that is being restrained by the Holy Spirit? The forces that would bring the Antichrist to power are eager to establish his unholy kingdom, but they are currently being restrained or held back from going completely unchecked. The Spirit convicts the world and indwells the church, enabling God’s people to be a limiting influence on the world’s evil. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the world is right now thwarting the revelation of the man of lawlessness, which of course is why the assaults on Christianity and biblical values have intensified. Wickedness is not getting quite the traction that it ultimately desires in seizing global power, but this will one day change. Upon the departure of the church from this earth (at which time the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence will depart) at the rapture, the mystery of iniquity will have free rein, and the tribulation on earth will begin (Matthew 24).

In essence, we truly are living in unprecedented times in human history. Just consider for example the following partial list of global examples of this spirit of iniquity at work that has happened just in the past two years:

• Nearly the whole world was in lockdown from the Covid 19 virus.

• For the first time ever in the history of the world, businesses, travel, sports, shows and entertainment all across the world just stopped and subsequently having a major impact on world economies.

• Bill Gates and others desire for global digital Id, mandatory vaccinations, and the chipping of all human beings.

• Former UK Prime Minister (among many other world leaders) has called for a GLOBAL GOVERNMENT to be formed to tackle this global event

• The emergence of the Great Reset movement by many world leaders including the current US President.

The mystery of iniquity is already at work in the world

As we contemplate the world around us, the above movements and events which, like storm clouds, are growing more dark and ominous. These dark clouds are definite signs that we could be approaching the end times. As I pointed out, there is an escalation of evil in the world that can't be denied. But if I were to encapsulate all of the activities of this spirit of antichrist, or this "mystery of iniquity" that believers in Christ should be aware of, I could summarize everything into two categories: 1. The rush towards globalism, and 2. The disintegration of morality in the culture.

(1) THE RUSH TOWARDS GLOBALISM

Revelation 13 is crystal clear that the end game for Satan is to rule the world and be worshipped. This he will accomplish through the Beast (a.k.a. the Antichrist) and the False Prophet. He will attempt to orchestrate a one world society which is the opposite of what God intended. We learned from the Tower of Bable account for example, that it was God’s desire to have nations, and Satan is always against God’s ways and plans. Modern globalists want to create a one world order, economically, politically and religiously. Many who are pushing this globalist agenda apparently are completely clueless to the fact that they are being influenced by a demonic "spirit of iniquity."

Recently, President Biden stated: “Things are shifting. There is a New World Order forming and we have to lead it.” Now, I don’t know if this is his idea or one of his handlers, but whatever the human source, it is a demonic spirit of antichrist philosophy which will fully mature during the Tribulation period. This openness to a one world order has become extremely popular, especially since the pandemic. Eventually, once the man of lawlessness is revealed, this one world, globalist system will materialize. However, the spirit of this globalist movement it is with us today and is growing.

On another occasion, Joe Biden adviser Brian Deese after being asked a question about the fairness of high gas prices, responded by highlighting the importance of the "liberal world order." Deese speaking to CNN’s Victor Blackwell was reflecting on comments by Joe Biden during his speech at the NATO summit in Madrid on the same day. Blackwell asked, “what do you say to those families that say, ‘listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years?’” Deese responded by saying, “This is about the future of the Liberal World Order, and we have to stand firm.” These and many similar acknowledgements from leaders from countries around the world, should actually send shock waves of discernment throughout the Christian community. But sadly, they have virtually gone completely under the radar.

But what has been arguably the most blatant example of this spirit of antichrist that is loose in the world, has been this worldwide response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Amazingly in fact, the Covid pandemic revealed and brought about some incredibly stunning realities. We saw for example, the willingness by tens of millions of citizens around the world to automatically submit to all of the authoritarian government mandates without so much as a question. This seamless adherence to authoritarian mandates by so many around the world demonstrated just how susceptible and vulnerable people could be to the influences of this antichrist, globalist agenda.

This same vulnerability will likewise be true in the seven-year tribulation, but only magnified exponentially. During Covid, the globalists were able to witness just how the global economy could be manipulated, while at the same time, they were able to manipulate entire countries and entire economies with their Covid protocols. Now, as never before, it is easy to imagine just how the world could be economically controlled by the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and just how the infamous “666” could be seamlessly implemented worldwide. More world crises will accelerate the move towards globalism and especially if a person arises who can grab hold of the reigns and bring some order from the chaos. (Read Revelation 13).

Then of course, it is the growing "Great reset" initiative that has been signed on my many of the world's leaders. The Great Reset Initiative is the name of an economic recovery plan drawn up by the World Economic Forum in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The great reset is the brainchild of Klaus Schwab Founder of the World Economic Forum. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to spawn an international rallying cry for those who were sympathetic to or pushing for this “reset,” as it was a global crisis involving nearly every government. “The entire planet was talking about one thing,”

• Their goal is to USE CRISES (such as the pandemic, and climate change) an impetus to “TRANSFORM (OR RESET) WORLD ECONOMIES.”

• It starts with a CRISES, which leads to CAOS, which leads to CONTROL, which leads to COMPLIANCE (Which is precisely what the world witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic).

• The Pandemic and Vaccine crises has been essentially an international power grab designed to CONDITION the citizens of the world to except the future agenda of the antichrist without so much as a question.

• The Covid-19 response protocols served as a template, a model and a harbinger of things to come.

In a recent article by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum titled, Capitalism reset and new social contract post covid-19 crises, argues that the long-term economic consequences of the pandemic will exacerbate the climate and social crises that were already underway, and this will make more urgent the “great reset” of our economic and social systems. According to the author “we must build entirely new foundations for our economic and social systems” if we want to create a healthier, more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world.

Professor Klaus Schwab believes is feasible mainly because of the “changes we have already seen in response to COVID-19”, which have forced us to quickly and radically abandon some habits in our lifestyles that were considered essentials prior to the pandemic. This “great reset” would be based on three pillars:

1. Steering the market towards fairer outcomes, bearing in mind environmental and social risks and opportunities and not just focusing on short term financial profits.

2. Ensuring that investments pursue shared goals, such as equality and sustainability. In this regard, the author mentions the European Commission €750 billion recovery fund which represents a major opportunity for progress.

3. To harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the public good, especially by addressing current health and social challenges.

Now, to the unbeliever and to the carnal undiscerning Christian, these words may actually sound like a good thing. However, the reality is that this entire globalist movement, language and agenda is literally originating and being influenced in the unseen realm by the spirit of antichrist. Furthermore, not only is it imperative that believers are able to discern that this globalist or "great reset" movement is being orchestrated by the spirit of antichrist and is directly linked to the eventual rise of the antichrist, who many Christians believe will come and establish a one-world government in the very last days of world history, but we must be prepared to warn the naive and undiscerning world what is really going on.

(2) The Disintegration of Morality in the Culture

In contrast to the predominant narrative relating to the issue facing the west in general and America in particular, I would like to make the argument that the true elephant in the room, or the real problem that has gone virtually ignored by many activist, media pundits and religious leaders, is the attacks, devaluation and breakdowns in the family and the marginalization of the impact and influence of the Church that has been slowly metastasizing over the past fifty to sixty years is actually “the root” of much of the dysfunction that we are facing in our modern culture. And these assaults on the institutions of the family and the church have been nefariously, purposely and systematically orchestrated by literal antichrist spirits.

In other words, the family, the most fundamental institution in society, and the church which is supposed to be the moral arbiter of a stable society, has been severely weakened over the last several decades. And it has been the undermining, the deteriorating, and the destabilizing of these two crucial and fundamental institutions that has opened the door and paved the way for all of the wickedness that has taken over in our society. And especially, it is these attacks on traditional biblical family principles that are perhaps the most dangerous of the enemy’s strategies. In other words, just as he did in the Garden of Eden, the enemy has managed to redefine the word of God in order to contradict what God has said, for the purpose of deception and distraction. And it is the byproduct of this devaluation of the traditional family, that has had a widespread degenerative impact on the culture and that has grown to become a cultural plague on society as a whole.

In other words, the enemy is fully aware of the fact that when you have strong, intact traditional families in communities around the country, you will generally then have strong, impactful and influential churches. And when you have churches in the community with strong leadership combined with strong biblical teaching, evangelism and outreach, discipleship, and an emphasis on combating the culture while building and equipping strong families, then those communities will likely be healthy much healthier. However, when church leaders allow secularism and secularist worldviews to dominate unchecked and unchallenged from the pulpits, and when you do not have strong church leadership combined with strong biblical teaching or when religious leaders are more influenced by the God hating secularist culture, than they are influenced by the “rightly divided and rightly applied word of God” then all of society will be negatively impacted.

Notice the following connection between the institutions of the family and the church:

When the family fails:

• Communities Fail

• Schools Fail

• Government Fails, and

• The Church Fails

Likewise, on the flip side of that equation:

When the church fails:

• Families Fail

• Schools Fail

• Government Fail, and

• Communities Fail

In other words, there is a symbiotic or interdependent relationship between the institutions of the family and the church. That is why Satan’s purpose of pushing for abortion, government sanctioned gay marriage, rampant immorality, transgenderism, and the normalization of homosexual and lesbian lifestyles is to destroy the family and its societal importance as God created it be. To take this assertion a step further, there is an obvious hostile attack that is being waged against the family and against the institution of marriage by every institution of influence in the culture, including: the media, pop culture, big tech, academia, the public school system, the courts, and sadly even many religious organizations.

Interestingly, these attacks on traditional, biblical family principles have become increasingly more blatant on one hand, while yet being increasingly ignored or under emphasized by activists, politicians and religious leaders on the other hand. Furthermore, the societal dysfunction that we are facing today including: the high divorce rate, the high crime rate in the inner-cities, drug abuse, the rash number of unwed single mothers, the multitude of illegitimate children, the increasing acceptance and normalcy of homosexuality and lesbianism, sexual perversion and the alarming high number of abortions are obvious indicators that there is a link to the devaluation of the traditional family unit and the diminished impact and influence of the church.

In short, the devaluation of the God-ordained family is a huge step forward for this one world, or new world order. Families, which are central to stability of nations, need to be muted in their influence. That is why we should not be surprised when the Disney Corporation for example, states that ideas of gay marriage and transgenderism will be a central part of their stories going forward. We should not be surprised when school boards approve and push for so many family destroying ideas. Who would have thought that having drag queens read stories to kindergarteners was a great idea? Who would have thought that encouraging first graders to contemplate whether or not they would like to change their sexual orientation was something healthy? All of it comes from the Evil One, and it does support Satan’s purpose in bringing about his ultimate end game.

Finally, the mystery of iniquity has been at work for a long time. And it is arguably more imperative now than ever before, that believers become discerning as to how all of the cultural, political, social, economic, and spiritual dots are connected to the signs of the times. Because when the "restrainer" is taken away, and the antichrist is revealed and the full measure of iniquity is finally unleashed in all its hideousness, the world will be shaken to its core. The Antichrist, who leads the descent into lawlessness, will set a new standard of wickedness. The enormity of the acts of moral monsters such as Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Robespierre, and Caligula will pale in comparison to the evil of the Antichrist.

But in the meantime, believers still have the opportunity and the privilege of helping restrain the mystery of iniquity even as they look for their blessed hope, the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. At His second coming, Jesus will reign as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. By the breath of His mouth, He will destroy the works of the enemy. The Antichrist

will have “his power taken away and completely destroyed forever” (Daniel 7:26).