Take a serious look at these verses from the Bible: Are you prepared and ready?

2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, (8) and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming. HCSB

We know from this Scripture and others that the Antichrist will be revealed at some time in the future, but I think it is important that we understand the sense of lawlessness that accompanies the Antichrist. Why? So we will be better prepared to be in this world, but not of this world.

You can notice some of the signs of Antichrist today. They have always existed in some measure or another, but we will see an increase in these signs as the Day of the Lord approaches.

First let me clarify where I believe we are in this present time and age and what I am writing about this subject is the belief of the majority of conservative evangelical scholars. So here it is in a brief overview.

Since Jesus died on the cross, we have been in an age of grace called The Church Age where salvation was opened up to everyone to receive. That happened in Matthew when Jesus came to His own people and they rejected Him. Then Jesus turned to the rest of the world and opened it up for all to receive His salvation.

Now, don’t get lost. We are following a time line from the cross to when Jesus comes back again, called the age of the church or grace. The next event on the calendar is that Jesus is coming for His church, that is, those who have received Him as Lord and Savior.

The period of extreme lawlessness (Antichrist) is after we are taken up ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) That is the first phase of the Second Coming which has been termed “rapture” (from the Latin word) or “caught up.”

Following that, on the earth will begin The Tribulation Period. It actually lasts for just 7 years, but there may be some time before it begins after the rapture, we don’t know. Some believe it will begin immediately, which it could, but we are not totally clear on that.

However, that is when the Antichrist will appear on the earth and that is what I want to talk about. The reason being, that we will see these signs of lawlessness increase throughout the years while we are still on the earth and WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THEM.

One day, in the future, lawlessness will begin to thoroughly permeate our society, but it is beginning to show its ugly head RIGHT NOW! When the Holy Spirit steps aside and the Antichrist begins his ascent, we will see changes in morality, science, and what is approved by society. God’s word is constant, but morality in nations tends to degrade as time progresses and that is the formula that Antichrist will use. Most will think we are just evolving in our morality and more tolerant of people’s ways, but we will be deviating from God’s morality.

When the Antichrist is finally revealed, people will begin to see his extreme hatefulness of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But before that happens, lawlessness will be fast approaching every day and every year and mankind will sink down into the depths of depravity as they willfully persist in accepting any kind of behavior.

The Antichrist, when he finally appears will bring peace and harmony to all people. He will solve the world’s problems of racism, hatred, economic depravity, homelessness, equality, wages and though these might be considered good things, the Antichrist purpose will be to make all the world fall in love with him through deceptive acts of kindness. Even people who claim that they believe in God will be swayed by his ways and will depart from the truth of the Bible.

He will remove all those restrictive barriers to immorality and open the gates for people to live as they please and to participate in sinfulness without the condemnation of Scripture because any religion that participates in teaching Biblical morality will be accused of a hate crime and it will be against the law. Everyone’s opinion will be accepted as long as it benefits the Antichrists agenda of hate for Jesus Christ.

Now, do not worry, because if you have believed on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and committed your heart to Him, then you will not be here for the worst of it. Also, at the end of the Tribulation and Antichrists reign of immorality, Jesus will come and destroy him with the brightness of His glory.

However, understand this: We are beginning to see more and more of this shocking plunge into lawlessness at this very hour. In the world, 2016 we saw the worst year, so far, for the persecution of those who name the Name of Christ. Be aware of what is happening. It will continue to get worse. Do not try to justify immorality that is condemned in God’s word just to avoid conflict with your friends or at work. 

God expects you to be salt and light. Salt helps purify and light brings exposure. The devil does not like that and he will try to drag you down through insults concerning your faith and will tempt you to just give up and join the lawlessness associated with the coming Antichrist.

Stay strong and be faithful to the One Who is faithful to you. Jesus Christ is more powerful than the enemy and He lives inside you. Continue in prayer and God’s Word and may God give you the strength to be who He called you to be!

Dr Ken Lewis