Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if you’ve ever seen a magician work with their sleight of hand and illusions causing you to see what you can’t really believe is true. I’ve known two professional magicians in my lifetime, both of whom worked many years to become very proficient at their illusions. In the public conversation we are beginning to hear the phrase “AI”, or “Artificial Intelligence” quite a bit. This was preceded by another phrase which became very popular over the past few years: “Virtual Reality”. And of course, for several years the world of graphic arts, media and cinematography has been creating amazing scenes on the screen that look very real, but they are not! I wonder if one of the most challenging aspects of living, in the next few years, is going to be the ability to discern what is real and what is artificial, illusion, ‘virtual reality’, ‘AI’??
Let’s rejoin the apostle Paul as he’s writing his second letter to his Christian friends in Thessalonica, Macedonia in the year 51ad. Evidently word had come to Paul that some false teachers had been sowing seeds of confusion and discord among these relatively new Christians.
Remember, they didn’t have the written Bible as we now have it. They have only recently received Paul’s first letter; the Gospels accounts of Jesus had not yet been written. They had a fascinated hunger to learn so much more about Jesus, but Paul, Silas and Timothy were all in Corinth, a long distance away from Thessalonica, so Paul felt some urgency in writing a second, clarifying letter. We’re in chapter 2 and Paul is trying to clarify questions related to the return of Jesus Christ which he had written about in his first letter.
Here again is what Paul wrote for clarity: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day [The Day of the LORD] will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He 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.” (2 Thess. 2:3,4) Yesterday we discussed that this man is the same person John described in Revelation 13, the AntiChrist. He will be empowered by Satan and fully and violently opposed to God, God’s truth, God’s purposes, God’s people. He will elevate himself, demanding the allegiance and even worship of all humanity, requiring his mark in order to buy and sell. (Rev. 13:17)
This part of John’s description almost sounds like it’s right off the technology front pages today: “Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. It performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to deceive the inhabitants of the earth… It forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark on their right hands or their foreheads, so that they could neither buy nor sell unless they had the mark. This calls for wisdom…” (Rev. 13:11-18)
Now, knowing what you do about chip technology and the approach of a ‘cashless society’, and ‘virtual reality’, and ‘artificial intelligence’, can you easily see John’s description becoming reality in the near future in your country, your city? What will you do when they show up at your front door offering you the mark of the beast and warning you that you will be unable to engage in any financial transaction without the mark? Do we agree with John’s last four words… THIS CALLS FOR WISDOM?
Do you agree that the wisdom John calls us to is the wisdom found in the Holy Spirit of God living within God’s people, and opening their minds and hearts to understand God’s Word as well as to discern God speaking to them with clarity in such an illusionary time? While I applaud the advances available to us with cell phone technology, may I strongly urge you my friends, to resist the widespread tsunami, which I have seen recently, of replacing the WRITTEN Word of God with Cell phone downloads of various Bible apps!
While it’s great to be able to carry God’s Word with you on cell phone everywhere you go, oh I urge you to nurture your God given appetite for the pages of God’s Word. Study them, mark them up with your notes, personalize your Bible so when the day comes that you approach the end of your life, your well worn Bible will be among the most prized possessions you can pass along to your descendants!
Now look closely at Paul’s words to the Thessalonians which respond to what John wrote about the AntiChrist: “And now you know what is holding him [the man of lawlessness] back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the One who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accord with how Satan works…” (2 Thess. 2:6-9)
We understand who this ‘man of lawlessness’ is, right, the AntiChrist! We also understand that he is empowered and guided by Satan himself, and we have seen Satan’s power since the day of Adam and Eve. In fact right now, looking at your part of the world, what would be your description of Satan’s power as seen in the everyday, practical reality of life in your city? But here’s the question I close with today… WHO is the very powerful person Paul describes as “the One who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way.“?
Down through history we have seen very powerful, evil, vile, wicked men, empowered by the evil of Satan, lead worldwide opposition to God, and God’s truth, and God’s people. Hitler, Paul Pot, Idi Amin, Stalin, Kim Jong-Un and his father Kim Jong, Mao Tse Tung and so many, many more. But none has been as evil or violent as the AntiChrist will be. Only one power will be capable of holding back this tyrant of evil who is empowered by Satan himself, and I believe that One is Jesus, God the Son, who in fact created Satan and all angels, and controls Satan to this day. (Col. 1:15-20)
I invite you to consider that as the risen Jesus ascended back to heaven in all His power, Jesus sent the all-powerful Holy Spirit of God to reside here on earth empowering all the Jesus redeemed followers of God. Remember the Pentecost miracle?
Therefore, the Holy Spirit, in my humble opinion, is the power of God restraining Satan and preventing the power of Satan’s kingdom of evil from destroying our world and every human being. But there will come a day when Almighty God instructs the Holy Spirit to NOT restrain evil, as the AntiChrist is revealed and unleashes all his world wide destructive evil. Perhaps this is simultaneous with the return of the Lord Jesus as He raptures up all Christians from all time, who have the Holy Spirit living with us, as we’ve seen in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is how I understand Paul’s words: “And now you know what is holding him [the man of lawlessness] back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the One who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed…” (2 Thess. 2:6-8)
I think we need to pause right here my friends. This is very, very powerful stuff and I want to urge us all to pray, asking the Holy Spirit to show us God’s truth, helping us understand what Paul was writing and how it applies to 2023, when we are surrounded by things like “virtual reality” and “artificial intelligence”! And here’s a comforting song that celebrates God’s sovereign power restraining evil!
Today’s Scriptures are 2 Thess. 2:3-8; Rev. 13:11-18.
Choose below to read or listen.
2 Thess. 2:3-8
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Rev. 13-11-18
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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