Ron Dunn Podcast - The Second Coming Part 5

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

Ron Dunn continues his sermon series on the second coming of Christ

Would you open your Bibles now to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and follow along as I read verses 1 through 14. 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, beginning with verse 1 and reading through verse 14. The message this morning is the signs of his coming, part two. This morning we're discussing out of this passage two primary themes. Last Sunday morning we discussed one of the signs before the day of the Lord shall come will be the great apostasy. There are two more mentioned in this second chapter of Thessalonians, and we'll read about these now. Second Thessalonians, the second chapter, beginning with verse 1 and reading through verse 14.

2 Thessalonians 2, 1-14 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away, an apostasy first, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things? And now you know what restraineth that he might be revealed in his time.

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now restrains will continue to restrain until he be taken out of the way. 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 even him whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the truth love of the truth that they might be saved and for this cause god shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believed not

the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness but we are bound to give thanks always to our god for you brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is election year, and what an exciting year it always is. I can hardly wait to have all of the glorious promises made to me all over again. And every man will come with his platform and his program and with his promises, with flattering speech, saying what he is able to do, and others will come with the same message, only it's what they're able

to do. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a man came on the scene who, without any doubt, demonstrated to us that he had absolute power and authority to stop all wars, to unite the world in one government, and to make everybody economically prosperous, and to end all religious divisions. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If a man were to come on the scene today and run for president of the United States, and there was absolutely no doubt that he could stop all war all over the face of the earth, that he could balance the economy, that he could unite this nation, would you vote for him?

You better watch out. He may be the Antichrist. Because the Word of God does prophesy that there is coming a world figure who will be able to do all these things and much more. And the world is riper now than it's ever been for that type of fellow. I was reading just a little while ago a prophecy that was made in January of 1931. Can you believe that? And the prophecy said that one of these days Israel will have its own nation again, its own state. Back in those days, there weren't any encouraging signs for a man to make that prophecy.

Yet, based upon the Word of God, he said there will come a day when Israel will be gathered again in its own country. And this same man in 1931 made a prophecy that one of these days there would be a United States of Europe. And that's what everybody's talking about now. The man that knows the word of God knows that certain things are going to come to pass and so he's not surprised when these things come to pass. And throughout the Word of God there is prophesied a great time of trouble coming on the face of the earth. It's called Daniel's 70th week. It's called the time of Jacob's trouble. In Revelation 7, 14 it is called the great tribulation. There is coming a time upon the face of this earth, a time, Jesus said, of which man has never seen or ever will see again.

And the central figure during this time is going to be a man that Paul calls the man of sin, that John calls the Antichrist, and that John again calls in the Revelation the beast. Daniel chapter 7, 8, 9, and 11, you read them when you get home, prophesies of this world dictator who is going to come. Revelation 13 and 17 describe his dealings and his power. Revelation chapter 19 describes his destruction. We'll be reading that in a few moments. But in this second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul has been giving to these Thessalonian Christians certain signs that prove that the day of the Lord has not come. The day of the Lord, as we saw a few Sundays ago,

is that time of beginning when God begins to pour out his wrath upon the earth. And some of these Christians had felt that maybe the Lord had already come back and that the day of the Lord was already upon them and that they were living right now in the time of tribulation. Because as Christians they were going through a time of intense persecution. And somebody said, well I'll tell you what's happened. We're in the flat middle of the great tribulation. And so they sent word to Paul,

hey, we hear the tribulation is upon us. Is this true? And so Paul says, no, the day of the Lord has not come yet, because the day of the Lord cannot come until, first of all, there is a great falling away, a great apostasy. And that's what we discussed last Sunday morning. And then there must be the man of sin revealed. But before the man of sin can be revealed, that which is now restraining, he says in verse 6, that which is now restraining, holding back Satan,

holding back the man of sin, he must be taken out of the way, verse 9. And that which now restraineth will keep on restraining until he be taken out of the way. And then, and only then, shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume, etc., etc. So Paul says in this second chapter there are three signs that must occur before the day of the Lord comes. First of all, there must be a great apostasy.

Secondly, there must be a great apostasy. Secondly, there must be a great absence. There must be a great absence, and then will come the great Antichrist. But the great Antichrist, the man of sin, cannot be revealed until, first of all, that restraining power is taken out of the way. And there's going to be something that is present in the world this morning that is going to be removed before the man of sin can be revealed. Now, the big question that we have to answer today is what is this thing or this power or this principle

that the apostle is talking about that is restraining? Look at verse 6. And now you know what withholdeth. That word means restrains or holds back. That he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth. Your King James Version says letteth.

And in the 1600s when this version was written, to let meant to hinder. But it doesn't mean that today. Only he which now restrains, which holds back, will continue to restrain until he be taken out of the way. There is something that is restraining Satan from completely manifesting himself today, and that's going to be taken out of the way. Well, the obvious thing is that Paul does not identify what this is. To these early Christians, it was obvious.

That's why Paul didn't name it. It was obvious what the restraining power was. Now, some have said that the Holy Roman Empire was that which restrained, but I know nobody much believes that anymore because the Holy Roman Empire has long since been taken out of the way and yet the man of sin has not been revealed. Some believe that this refers to government, human government. And yet I find it difficult to believe that this is the interpretation

because human government will still be in force when the man of sin is revealed. He will set up his own government and be a dictator. Others believe that it is the church. The church is what is restraining Satan, and it will be taken out of the way. Well, what is this thing of which Paul is talking about? I think the clue is this, that whatever it is, it must be stronger than the devil. Whatever it is, it has to be stronger than Satan because it is the only thing that is holding Satan in check. Now as far as I'm concerned, there is only one thing that is more powerful than Satan, and that's the Lord. That's God. He is the only one who is able to restrain

Satan he is the only one human government could not do that if Satan wanted to he could go ahead and overpower and he's already corrupting government the church of the Lord Jesus Christ today is living far below its means and its power and on every hand you see Satan just running rampart. The only thing that is more powerful than Satan is God himself. In 1 John chapter 4 and verse 4, the apostle says, He that is within you is greater, is more powerful than he that is within the world. I believe there will come a time when God will no longer restrain. Right now, God is restraining evil.

God is holding back Satan from doing all that he wants to do. You see, as bad as the world is, it's not as bad as it could be. And no man is ever as evil as he could be. Because the grace of God, the power of God, is restraining Satan from completely expressing himself to the fullest extent. But one of these days, God is going to remove that restraining power. I believe that restraining power, of course, is the Holy Spirit. And I believe what Paul is referring to here is when the Spirit of God is taken out of

the world, and then the Spirit of God will work as He did in Old Testament times, as the Spirit of God worked from the throne of god coming upon men temporarily but not being permanently present within men but god is going to someday stop restraining sin and evil and when that which is now restraining is taken out of the way then the man of sin shall be revealed so this great absence is god's restraining power god's restraining power if you'll read over in romans chapter 1 beginning with verse 18 and verses following you'll find that god did this before in the olden times with the heathen god left off in certain individual cases his restraining power and allowed sin to run its course in the lives of nations. And so God has done this in part previously, but he's going to do it in whole

at this time. And there's going to become a time in our history when God is going to say, it's enough. I've had it. And sin is going to run its course. It is enough. The Gentile body of Christ is fulfilled and the time is ripe. The time has come and God is going to run its course. It is enough. The Gentile body of Christ is fulfilled and the time is ripe. The time has come and God is going to remove His restraining force and influence and power from this world and then is going to come

the great Antichrist, the man of sin, that wicked one, the son of perdition. Now, who is this of which the Bible speaks? The man of sin, the antichrist, the beast, the wicked one, the son of perdition. Is this merely a principle or is it a person? Is the man of sin merely a figure of speech to illustrate and typify the power of sin? I do not believe it is because it is never spoken of as merely a principle. It is

always spoken of as a definite person. And you'll notice in verse 3 it says, and that man of sin be revealed. There is a Greek definite article before man of sin. It reads like this, there must come a falling away first and that the man of sin be revealed. Now there is a Greek law in grammar that says if a noun has a definite article before it, it refers to a specific and definite thing or person. If it does not have a definite article before it, it refers to an influence or an idea or a characteristic. And so this title, the man of sin, has before it the Greek definite article thee, which means the apostle Paul is speaking about

a specific and definite person. And I do not believe he is talking about a principle or a philosophy, but he's talking about a person, a human being. He may already be here. He may already be alive because it says in verse 6 that he is going to be revealed in his time. And that word revealed simply means to be unveiled, to be seen for what he really is. And it's very possible that even right now the man of sin is alive somewhere on the face of the earth, but he just not, has not been revealed as such. I do not know.

But it says he will be revealed in his time. That means in his season. There is a time when it's his hour, just as Jesus said, mine hour is not yet come. And then there was a time when he said, mine hour is come. And that was his time and that was his season. So there is an hour, there is a time, there is a season when the Antichrist, who may already be alive on this earth, will be revealed. He will be shown and made clear what he is. And he will come on the scene as a world dictator. Now I want us to examine these passages and see what are some of the characteristics of this Antichrist.

And it's going to be very interesting, I think, as we discover just what kind of individual he is. All right, first of all, this person, this Antichrist, will be a man who defies God. Notice in verse 4, He opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. In Daniel chapter 7 and verse 25, Daniel prophesies that this man will stand against God. And so the Antichrist is going to be a person who is against Christ. That's what the word anti means. It means someone who opposes, someone who is against God.

He is going to defy God. In Matthew 24 and verse 15, Jesus says he will even sit in that holy place. And this will be the abomination of desolation that Daniel prophesied when the Antichrist comes and he defies and opposes God by seating himself in the holy place in the temple of God over in Jerusalem. He is going to be one who will be God's adversary. You see, all human history, all human history has simply been a struggle, a conflict between God and Satan.

Did you know that? Let me recommend that you read The Invisible War by Donald Gray Barnhouse. The Invisible War by Donald Gray Barnhouse. The Invisible War. And there is an invisible war that has been going on since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden. And even before that, when Lucifer, the star of mourning, rebelled against God and was cast out. And all human history has simply been the outworkings of this war, this conflict between God and Satan. And it's going to come to a head and a climax. And the sin of man is going to finally become the man of sin.

And just as Jesus Christ was the fullest expression of the power of God, so the Antichrist will be the fullest expression of the power of Satan. And these two are going to meet in deadly conflict as we'll see in a few moments but he is one who will defy and oppose God but not only this he will not only defy God he will deify himself he will deify himself notice what the apostle says in that fourth verse who oppose us and exalt of himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. You say that's unbelievable. We would never today worship a man as God. Oh, yes, you would. It's happened before.

Don't you know that history repeats itself? The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. Don't you know that history repeats itself? Don't you know that the reasons the early Christians were thrown to the lions and torn asunder is because they would not say, Caesar is Lord. They were commanded to come and drop a little pinch of incense into the fire and they were to say, Caesar is Lord. And the Christians would come, and they would drop that little pinch of incense into the fire, and they would say, Christ is Lord.

And it says in Revelation chapter 13, verse 8, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Notice again verse 15, Revelation 13. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, and the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

You see, we said sunday morning that before the antichrist can come the first thing that has to happen is that jesus christ be removed from the throne of people's lives and already he's been removed from the throne of religion and from the throne of preaching and from the throne of teaching in many seminaries and the way of the antichrist is being prepared people are no longer bowing down to worship jesus as lord now they sing about him and they they talk about him and everybody admires him but few people follow him as lord and so he is going to deify himself and i want you to know if a man came on the scene that had the power that this man has and is able to work miracles and is able to do lying wonders

and is able to bring worldwide peace and to economize the whole world and to unite this world, the world will fall down and worship him. Those that have not their names written in the Lamb's book of life. Now not only is he going to deify himself, but he is going to deceive the world.

Now this is where I want you to listen very, but he is going to deceive the world. Now this is where I want you to listen very closely. He is going to deceive the world. Look at verses 9 through 12. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, that means he's going to get all of his energy and all of his power from the devil. Let me just stop here to say, as we draw closer to the end, and as you're hearing so much today about supernatural happenings,

you had better not accept anything supernatural until, first of all, you're sure of its source. His coming is going to be after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. You know what that little expression, lying wonders, means? It means things that can't be explained. A fellow does a miracle and you just can't explain it away. You say, there's some trick to it. No, there's no trick to it.

You cannot explain it away. He does a miracle and you cannot explain it. You think it must come from God because no man can do the things that thou doest except God be with him. But this man's energy comes from the devil. Verse 10, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth,

that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall... Now notice, God is doing this. You say, I thought the Antichrist was doing this. Listen, the Antichrist doesn't know it, but he's just the instrument of God. And all of this is under the direct control of God. All of this is the judgment of God.

God shall send them strong delusion in order that they should believe a lie. They will believe a lie that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. God says you've been listening to the gospel for 2,000 years

and you have refused to believe the truth and you've had pleasure in unrighteousness and you've had no pleasure in righteousness and so here's what I'm going to do. As I did with Pharaoh, he hardened his heart against me and then I'm going to seal the bargain, second the motion

and I'm going to harden his heart. And he said, I'm going to send you a strong delusion. I'm going to blind your eyes. You're going to believe a lie. In order that you may be damned. I'm going to seal the fate that you've chosen. You made the motion.

I'm going to second it. And the Antich I'm going to seal the fate that you've chosen. You made the motion. I'm going to second it. And the Antichrist is going to come with lying wonders. Let me read in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 8. Paul is prophesying of the end times. And he says in verse 8, Now as Janus and Jambres withstood moses so do these also resist the truth paul says that as the time grows closer to the end and the end and the last days come upon us they're going to be people in the world like janus and jambres now who were they

you read back over in ex Exodus chapter 7 and those chapters following and you'll discover that those two men were sorcerers and magicians of Pharaoh who exactly duplicated the miracles that Moses and Aaron did with the rod of God. They duplicated the miracles of a man of God. And Paul says you'd better watch out, you'd better be certain of the source of these supernatural things. Don't accept it until you're sure of its source, because as the time comes to the close, there are going to be people just like that who can duplicate the miracles of God. He's going to deceive the world. That's why you need to know the book. That's why you need to be grounded in the book. Somebody comes along and works a miracle, we just say they must come from God because they're able

to heal. They're able to do this. They're able to cause things to happen. They're able to work miracles and so we just swallow it. You need to know the book. You need to be sure. 1 John 4 says, try the spirits, because there are many spirits in the world that are not of God. And so the Antichrist is going to come, and he's going to deceive the world. The book of Revelation says the way he's going to gain the world's attention is he's going to receive a fatal, a mortal wound in his head. And yet he's going to recover. Let's use an illustration. What do you suppose would have happened if after John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in 1963,

a few days later he came back on the scene? Do you not believe that the world would have fallen down and worshipped him and said he's God? Well, now he says the Antichrist is going to receive, as it were, it's not a real fatal wound probably, it's as it were a mortal wound in the head and he's going to recover. He's going to fake it. He's going to deceive the people.

It's going to look like he's dead. It's going to look like he's received a wound from which nobody can recover, and yet he's going to have a miraculous recovery, and he's going to gain worldwide attention and interest by that. He's going to make Life magazine in the headlines, and Reader's Digest will run an article about him. And he'll be on worldwide television.

And he'll say, what I've done for myself I can do for the world and the world will follow him he's going to be a dictator not only will it deceive the world he will also dictate to all the world now very quickly let me read from Revelation chapter 13 this is man is going to be a worldwide dictator he's going to dictate politically revelation 13 and verse 4 and they worship the dragon which gave power unto the beast and they worship the beast saying who is like unto the beast who is able to make war with him listen he's going to bring worldwide peace verse 7 and

it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And all power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. He is going to rule the world politically. He is going to rule the world economically. Look in verse 16 and 17 of that 13th chapter. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, maybe their social security number, who knows, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. You say, that's hard to believe.

I don't think it's hard to believe. You read your newspapers and you read U.S. World Report and U.S. News and Time Magazine and Business World and you'll already discover that economic leaders are looking forward to the day when you won't need money or a check. You'll just have a number and you'll buy and pay your bills and everything else with that number. Don't you know that already?

I'm not telling you anything new, Aaron. You know this is what we're coming to. Man, you talk about power, you talk about control. This is what they want. It'll simplify things and make it so much easier and so much convenient that if people didn't have money and when you got paid you didn't receive a check or money that was put into a fund and that was drawn against however many times you use that number and you were giving a number or card and you bought and you sold if you didn't have that you couldn't buy and sell that's not

far-fetched that might have been 50 years ago but it that may have been 50 years ago but it's not far-fetched today man we're we're we see the the of it. Coming events cast their shadows before. We already see the seeds of this. He's going to dictate to the world economically, and this is how he will cause many people to fall down and worship him because many people, their God, the Bible says, is their stomach. And if you cannot buy and sell and do work and commerce without worshiping the beast, you'll worship him.

He's going to rule the world politically. He's going to rule the world economically. He's going to rule the world economically. He's going to rule the world religiously. Verse 8, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Friend, is your name written in the book of life?

If your name is not written in the book of life and the day of the Lord comes today or tomorrow which it could very well come you will be falling down and worshipping the beast he'll rule the world religiously verse 15 and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak

and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed one final point. This Antichrist defies God, deifies himself, deceives the world, dictates to all the nations, and will be destroyed by Christ. I just read over and over again that verse 8 because it's such good reading. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume

with the breath of his mouth like a blast from a mighty furnace. Just with the breath of his mouth he shall consume him and destroy him. That word means to put out of business. And shall put him out of business with the brightness of his coming.

Did you see that? With the brightness of his coming. That's all Jesus has to do. You know, Jesus doesn't have to expend and exert any energy. He just comes. And His coming is so glorious and so bright that the Antichrist is put out of business just with the brightness of His coming. All he has to do is to speak with the breath of his mouth.

He shall destroy you. Now let me read Revelation 19. 19 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, and with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together under the supper of the great God,

that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them and the flesh of all men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before

him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse. Which sword proceedeth out of his mouth? And all the fowls were filled with their flesh." That's the shortest war in history. The Antichrist and all the kings of the earth and all the armies of the earth gather on the plains of Megiddo, which Napoleon said years ago was

the world's natural battlefield. They will be there to stand against Christ, the Antichrist. And the Lord and all of his saints will come. And that will be all there is to it. When he comes, he'll simply take the beast and the false prophet, which is his prime minister, and cast them into the lake of fire.

And the rest shall be destroyed. All of those that receive the mark of the beast, those who do not have their names written in the Lamb's book of life. You say, how do I get my name written in the Lamb's book of life? Jesus writes it down when you come to him. And he says, he that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. You can't write your own name in it because you can't find it. Your pastor in no church affiliation can write your name in the Lamb's book of life because I don't know how in the world I would get to that book. He is the keeper of that book. And Revelation chapter 5 says he holds that book in his right hand. And the only one that can write your name

in the book of life is Jesus. Do you know him? Do you know him? Have you trusted him as your Savior? Have you repented of your sins and called upon the name of the Lord for salvation? Do you know him this morning? Let's pray together.

Every head bowed, every eye closed. We're going to have a word of prayer, then we're going to stand together in just a moment. Our choir is going to lead us in a hymn of invitation. Some sitting in this building today, your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, The Lamb's Book of Life. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.