“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,” 2 Thessalonians
2:8-9 KJV
Desperate times
call for desperate measures. Are you familiar with that saying? If one were to choose to apply that to the
current events we are seeing in this country, as well as around the world, who
would you say is the one who is desperate?
Who, or should I say what, entity desires nothing more than the
overthrow of society as we know it, and the objective to which is the total
control of this world? I think you have
guessed by now that Satan, the evil one who has, since creation, tried to
corrupt and control this world, is the one who is behind all the evil we see
occurring in the world right now.
Most students of prophecy, or even those who only passingly
familiar with what the Bible teaches about the tribulation period which is soon
to come upon the earth, will recognize the passage above from Thessalonians as
referring to the coming world leader, most often called the antichrist. Yet many miss the one word which helps to
explain exactly what we are seeing in the world today, and the reason for the
violence which seems to be evolving into an almost daily occurrence. The word I am referring to is found in verse
9, and it is the word “after”.
You see, we as believers are told, and most are willing to
accept, that the individual behind the evil we are seeing today is none other
than Satan. Of course, some might well
ask the question why it is all of a sudden increasing to the extent we are
seeing with signs of only getting worse and not better. Personally, I see a
parallel between what Satan is doing, and what a conductor of a symphony does
as he conducts an orchestra. I have had
the opportunity to watch many performances by some of the world’s greatest
conductors and it is always amazing to me to watch the intensity build as the
conductor leads the orchestra to where he wants them to go, the grand finale.
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. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 NKJV
Did you notice Paul’s comment, “already at work”? Of course, Satan has been working against our
Father since the Garden of Eden, but in the context of the preparation for the
appearing of his minion the antichrist, Satan is now creating the conditions
which will allow the antichrist to take power as easily as he will. It seems a simple premise, but many miss the
fact that in order for one man to become the world’s “Mr. Fixit”, the world has
to be broken. What we are seeing now
with such an increase in violence is Satan leading the world to the finale
which will usher in the reign of his chosen one.
All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:8
NIV
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are
the beginning of birth pains. Mark
13:8 NIV
When Jesus spoke to his disciples in the garden concerning
the point in time that we have so obviously arrived at, He chose to use the
example of a woman in labor to illustrate how events would unfold. Although some might argue that the events
Jesus was referring to occur exclusively within the seven year tribulation, I
believe the picture we are given is enlightening in the fact that for nine
months of a pregnancy it is painfully obvious that a woman is preparing to give
birth. Not only do I believe some of the
events Jesus referred to can occur before the beginning of the tribulation, I
am certain what we are witnessing today in this world and the dramatic increase
in violence is a sign the labor is upon us.
As I watch the world attempt to explain away the increasing
level of violence we are witnessing and place the blame for it on something or
someone, I often hear things like the Far Left, the New World Order, the
Illuminati, the Bilderburg Group, and even George Soros, one of the world’s
richest men. While not disagreeing with
any speculation for the possibility of some or all of these entities having a
hand in the violence we are seeing, my question for you today is rather
simple. Who do you think is behind
them? You see although the world looks
for an easy, explainable scapegoat, as believers we understand that the
presence of evil in this world lies at the feet of only one source, Satan. Men are simply the tool he uses to accomplish
his goals.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately
wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah
17:9 NKJV
I believe that not only the overall upsurge in violence
around the world, but even the outright hatred exhibited in our country right now
comes from just one source. Satan is
orchestrating the evil we see today and is using it to lead an unbelieving
world to the point in time where they will gladly embrace the appearance of
Satan’s handpicked world leader who will usher in the period of time which will
eventually threaten the very existence of the world we know. Unfortunately for
those who choose to embrace this “savior”, rather than bringing the utopia they
believe will come, the result will be something much different. How bad will things get?
“men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of
those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will
be shaken.” Luke 21:26 NKJV
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not
been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. “And unless
those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake
those days will be shortened.” Matthew
24:21-22 NKJV
As believers we are told that the violence during
tribulation period will be so bad that not only will men die simply from the
fear they experience, if God did not intervene and stop the tribulation at
seven years every man, woman, and child on earth would die. This is Satan’s plan for this world, and what
we are seeing now is Satan orchestrating events to bring his plan to
fruition. I believe the labor pains are
only going to get worse, and according to the Word of God, they will not stop
until He comes to put an end to it. Our
responsibility today as the church, the body of Christ, is to recognize the
enemy, resist the enemy, and reveal the enemy.
When an unbelieving world wonders at the violence we are seeing, we as
believers are afforded the perfect opportunity to share the hope of our
deliverance.
“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 NKJV
Of course, while the deliverance from the evil of this world
is available to all, it’s guaranteed only to those who choose to accept it by
believing on the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you are reading this today and have never
made that decision, you can do it right now wherever you might be by simply
praying a prayer like this;
Jesus I know
that I am a sinner, and have sinned against you. I believe you loved me enough to send your
Son Jesus to die for my sins, and that He rose from the dead so that I can
live. Forgive me of my sins and come
into my life and help me to live for you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
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