This terrible period of time is called the "Tribulation" or the
"Time of Jacob's Trouble!" See Jeremiah 30:7 ---
"Alas! for that day is great, so
that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
All this leads me to our verse for today.
At the beginning of the Tribulation someone
comes on the world seen who is often called the "Anti-Christ."
(Anti, a Greek preposition can mean "against." But also it
can mean "in the stead of!")
Our Thessalonians verse calls this man "that
wicked" or "that wicked" (one). Just as Jesus was the
fullness of godliness ... so will this man be the fullness of
ungodliness!
Earlier in the Epistle Paul calls this enemy
of Jesus "that man of sin!" Also he is named "the son of
perdition!" (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
The adjective "wicked" translates the Greek
word "anomos." It means ("a") without the ("nomos") law.
A man of no law. A lawless one.
Look around in this old world today!
There are more and more flagrant violations of the law!
Courts ignore precedent. Congress pretends that the
separation of the branches of government no longer exists.
Former Presidents have ignored rules of morality. Mayors oppose
and break the very laws they were sworn to uphold. Terrorists
destroy innocent lives and influence national election results!
Even jury "nullification" is becoming more common! Indeed, we
are beginning to enter lawless days! (And I've not even
mentioned religious and spiritual lawlessness! This anti-christ
will go into the Jewish Temple and declare himself God ...
demanding worship from the whole world! 2 Thessalonians
2:4 says so.)
The word "wicked" here is translated
"transgressors" in Mark 15:28, its first occurrence in
Scripture. (And Luke 22:37) 1 Timothy 1:9 translates
it "lawless" and 2 Peter 2:8 renders it "unlawful."
The "Anti-Christ" will be wickedness
personified.
The verb "revealed" is "apokalupto" which
means unveiled! ("Krupto" means to conceal or to hide and
"apo" means away from! To take away from something that
which hides or conceals it!) This is our English word for
"revelation" or the "apocalypse!"
And yet ... the most ungodly man ever to live
can't even appear on the world scene until GOD says it's time!
And that can't happen until the Church is gone! Our verse
opens with the words "and then!" (Something must
precede the revealing of this Wicked one!)
I am so glad today that I know the real
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ!
I'm not looking for anti-christ ... I'm
waiting for the real Christ to come and snatch us away!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
MARCH 31, 2004
(WEDNESDAY)
Some day world attention will
be focused on a man the Bible calls "anti-christ."
In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul
describes him well. Let me show you both the beginning and
ending of his reign (in one short verse)!
"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."
Second Thessalonians 2:8
The
beginning of this ungodly man's work is seen in the opening
words of our verse. "Wicked" means lawless one!
The verb
"revealed" is in the passive voice. (It is our very word
"apocalypse" and means unveiling.) There is a power greater that
the devil at work here too. This verb is in the passive
voice. GOD decides when it's time for this evil to be
unleashed!
But today I'm interested in the
ending of the anti-christ's career! (It only lasts 7 years
officially.)
Two verbs are used here to tell us what God's going to do with
this wicked beast. "Consume" and "destroy!" The first (comsume)
translates "analisko" ("ana" means up! "haireomai" means
to take up for oneself!) God will take away the antichrist
... but the verb came to mean "to destroy violently!" It's
an active voice verb ... so God will do the work!
"Destroy" is the word "katargeo" (kata = down and argeo = to be
idle, to delay). It usually carries the meaning: to render
inoperative! To make useless! Hence, to destroy as
far as effectiveness is concerned!
But notice the "tools" our God uses!
"The spirit of His mouth" is likely an allusion to Isaiah 11:4
--- "But with righteousness shall he judge
the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and
he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall
he slay the wicked."
When God speaks ... things happen!
Remember Jesus in the Garden when He was about to be arrested!
John 18:6 --- "As soon then as he had said
unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the
ground." That's 600+ men falling over backward
under the power of Jesus' words and breath!
Power in God's Word? Hebrews 11:3 ---
"Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God." God spoke
and planets appeared! And dispensations were ordained!
"Brightness" translates "epiphaneia," our word epiphany!
It means a bright flash of light! (Flashbulb like!)
He is coming in all His Glory! (Brighter than the noonday
sun!) Paul saw it on the road to Damascus that day.
It blinded him 3 days! Stephen saw it as he died.
Moses saw it and had to wear a veil over his glowing face!
Peter, James and John got a foretaste of it on the Mount of
Transfiguration too. We shall see it some day!
And the noun "coming" is "parousia." It actually means
"presence!" (para = beside plus eimi = I am!)
Remember Paul's words ... "And so shall we
ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Brothers and Sisters, we are on the winning side!
Praise the Name of the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
APRIL 1, 2004
(THURSDAY)
We live in an age of deceit. And it's not going to get
much better!
In fact let me show you what the
Bible says is ahead for this old world.
"Even him, whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders."
(2 Thessalonians 2:9)
Paul here is
speaking of one we often call the "anti-christ."
He will become
a world leader after the Church is taken away (at an event many
of us still call the "Rapture").
The "coming"
of this man of sin here depicts a Greek word "parousia," which
actually means "presence." This is exactly the word that
is often used of the Lord Jesus in His Second Coming! (It
means "to be beside" in Greek. In other words to be
present with someone!)
I believe the
devil is a great mimic! He copies everything God does!
Our Father God in Heaven has sent His Christ to earth to conquer
sin. The devil has send his christ to earth to promote
sin! The parallels (and opposites) between the Darling of
God and the darling of the devil are astounding!
"After," a
preposition, (in Greek "kata") when used as here with an
accusative case object means "according to, just as,
corresponding to, or with reference to someone or something."
"Working" is a noun that gives us our word
"energy." (Greek = energeia) It often means
"supernatural power!" Literally it's "work" (ergon)
yet stored within ("en") someone! The devil is a worker.
In every other place Paul uses this word ... he applies it to
God alone! This tells us that the devil can work miracles
too.
And the word "Satan" translates in Greek "Satanas,"
which means "an adversary." ("An accuser" says one source.)
The capital "S" on Satan in the King James Bible indicates the
fact that he's a real personality (a "fallen" angel) , not just
some idea!
"With" translates the preposition "en."
This old wicked one is "in" (or "into") all the things that
follow.
What things?
Paul answers that question by giving us 3
words to describe this future political leader ("anti-christ").
"Power is "dunamis" in Greek and means
"force." (From a verb meaning "to be able.") It usually
has the idea of "inherent power." That's power that is
stored within someone and ready for use at any time. (It's
potential power.)
"Signs" is one of John's favorite words.
He uses it often for the miracles of Jesus! "Semeion"
means a miraculous indicator by which some truth or person is
either known or seen. (A mark or a signal)
"Lying" in the term lying wonders translates
a word you will know: "pseudos." It means false.
(This is not saying that the miracles the devil's man perform
here are fake. It's saying that these miracles will
mislead people. Cause them to believe some kind of lie.)
And "wonders" is the word "teras," which
means some type of an omen (using the world's vocabulary) ... a
portend of a coming event.
Again, these are the nouns used for
describing "miracles" elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember what I'm telling you today.
The world in days future will fall under the power of this
wicked man. He will deceive multitudes. And he will
do it by the power of satan.
I personally believe that by then the Church
will be gone! Snatched away at the Coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ!
Nonetheless what horror the world yet faces
in years (or will it begin in months?) ahead!
All this information on April 1st!
(April Fools Day!) But none of this is a joking matter.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
April 2, 2004
(Friday)
Today I want to study what the
great Apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:10.
"And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved."
He is here speaking of the yet
future period of time we call the "Tribulation."
The verse is telling us that
the "anti-christ" will know how to take advantage of the
"deceivableness of unrighteousness" in the lost people of that
day.
That term is very interesting.
Did you know that
unrighteousness has its own built-in deception powers?
"Deceivableness" translates a
Greek word, "apate," which means delusion. It is from "apatao,"
a verb that means to cheat or to deceive.
(Like poison that's been mixed
with sugar and spices to taste better!)
In Hebrews 3:13 Paul uses
nearly the same term as here. "But
exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
2 Peter 2:13 uses our word
also. He's talking about "apostates" who are:
"sporting themselves with their own
deceivings while they feast with you."
Paul talks about
"deceitful lusts" in Ephesians 4:22
and Jesus mentions the "deceitfulness of
riches" in Matthew 13:22 and Mark 4:19.
Take this verse and ponder it.
"Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
(Matthew 5:8)
If one reverently reverses this statement ... you can easily see
that Jesus is also teaching that sin (the opposite of being pure
in heart) then blinds (the opposite of seeing) one from seeing
God! That's part of the very deceitfulness of sin!
And "unrighteousness"
translates "adikia," all that which is not "just" in God's view!
It is a legal (court room) term. It is anything that does
not please God and meet His standards! And we had better
remember ... God is the Judge!
The present participle
"perish" is a word that strongly implies death and destruction.
This crowd is dying and on their way to hell. (And they
are happy about it too.)
What brought all this on them?
It is because of something
they refused. Something they did not "receive."
To "receive" means "to accept
something that's offered and to do so in an eager and deliberate
manner!" If you will remember, that's exactly how you
received Jesus when He saved you! Eagerly and
deliberately! (Of course that's after the Holy Spirit had
convicted you of sin!)
Watch this next phrase:
"love of the truth!"
Zechariah 8:19 exhorts us:
"Therefore love the truth and peace."
Many today not only do not
love the truth ... they seem to hate it. (Probably not
even knowing what they're hating!)
The verse implies that a
certain amount of love of the truth is necessary to be saved! I
never thought I would live to see the day where folks mocked
being saved and escaping hell and going to heaven and loving
Jesus ... but that day is now here!
(By the way, if you want to
"personify" truth, you can! JESUS is Truth! John
14:6 says so.) Then ... I KNOW you have to love the Truth
in order to be saved. It's part of "believing" on the Lord
Jesus Christ, Who died that we might be redeemed.
The clause "that they might be saved"
is built around an aorist infinitive that's in the
passive voice. They (back at the time of their salvation
opportunity ... when they could have loved the truth) ...
would have been able to receive God's great offer of saving
grace.
Most of you will probably not agree with me ... but I believe
man can sin and sin and sin and reject repeatedly the grace of
God ... until he finally in his rebellion and hard-heartedness
sins away his day of opportunity. God said in Genesis 6:3
--- "And the LORD said, My spirit shall
not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Jesus stood before lost King Herod ... who was asking for some
miracle ... and would not even speak to him! I believe
Herod had crossed God's deadline when he killed John the Baptist
in such a despicable manner. "And
when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous
to see him of a long season, because he had heard many
things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by
him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he (Jesus)
answered him nothing." (Luke 23:8-9)
According to the rules of grammar ... our sentence here is
telling us that this crowd's time to come to Jesus in saving
faith is over! Remember 2 Corinthians 6:2 ---
"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time
accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is
the day of salvation."
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
April 3, 2004
(Saturday)
Our verse today is startling!
It is one of the most unusual
verses in all of Scripture!
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie."
2 Thessalonians 2:11
The verse is set in a context
that is discussing the terrible coming time known in Scripture
(among other titles) as the "tribulation."
Those who are alive then
(having received not the love of the truth unto salvation) will
yield to one of the "side effects" of their wicked sins ---
strong delusion!
It looks to me like Scripture
plainly teaches that "sin" has its own "built-in" deceptiveness
(as part of its very constitution).
"For this cause" (a
prepositional phrase) in Greek is: kai dia touto."
It literally says "and by
means of this."
Of what?
Of their utter and repeated
rejection of Jesus!
Because they rejected the love
of the truth (refused to believe on Jesus) back during the days
when they had the opportunity... (I believe that means the days
before the rapture occurred) ... they will be allowed to believe
a "lie."
Again, to this preacher it
looks like millions in America and even more world-wide are
already beginning to believe "lie" after "lie" after "lie!"
Notice Who sends this crowd of
reprobates "strong delusion."
God Himself does!
"Shall send," the main verb of
the verse, means "to appoint, to commission or to send!"
(It's a future active verb.) Another lexicon: to
dispatch, to bestow, to transmit. In Greek the word is
spelled "pempo."
The noun "delusion" translates
"plane," a word meaning lostness! (A wandering about,
straying into error or deceit!) This term give us an
English word --- "planet." When first discovered, planets
were thought to be just floating about aimlessly in the black
darkness of the night! Another teacher says: roving
as a tramp! An imposter! A misleader!
And the delusion is qualified
by an adjective, "strong." In Greek it's "energeia," our
word energetic. Ergon means "to work, to toil." This
is a powerful working (like a cancer) delusion. My
computer program says the word is only used in Scripture of
superhuman power (either of the devil or of God)!
"That" translates a little
preposition "eis," which means "into."
The strong delusion leads them
into the lie of satan!
It is a chain: Reject
Jesus ... hardened heart ... love of sin ... strong deception
... believe the lie! (Every man will believe in something!
Either the Lord ... or the lie!)
To "believe" (an aorist
infinitive active) means to trust in it. To base one's
very life upon it! It's the same word ("pisteuo") used for
trusting in Jesus!
Then the expression "a lie."
It's no doubt a term for the anti-christ himself (or the very
devil).
Jesus said in
John 8:44 --- "Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
The noun "lie"
is "psuedos." It means that which is false. What is
deceitful.
Then let me
mention the little "article." (In English an "article"
consists of these 3 words: a, an, the.)
The word "a"
in our text as in "a lie" is spelled in Greek "ho." The
article being supplied in the Textus Receptus (which the King
James translators used) tells us that a specific lie is in mind
here. It is truly THE lie! Let me spell it this way:
THE LIE!
Again, THE LIE
is satan! THE LIE is the anti-christ! THE LIE is the
garbage folks will be accepting during the seven years of
tribulation to overtake this earth after the rapture of the
church!
By the way,
are you saved?
If God is
speaking to you this day ... take some wise counsel ... listen
to Him and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!
Some day it
will be too late!
Then you won't
even care!
See what I
mean.
This IS a
startling verse!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
APRIL 4, 2004
(SUNDAY)
This is the last of a short
series of "Home Page" studies on the Anti-Christ from 2
Thessalonians 2:8-12.
"That they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness." 2nd Thessalonians 2:12
Verses like
this one have given folks trouble for years. Some even
accuse God of injustice and hatred. The attitude our Lord
has given me is that of Psalm 19:9 ---
"The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever:
the judgments of the
LORD are true and righteous altogether." GOD'S
JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS! He does no wrong! (This
fact is repeated in Psalm 119:60 and Revelation 16:7 and 19:2.)
The opening
word, a pronoun, "that" ("ina" in Greek but pronounced "hina")
means "in order that." It introduces here what's called "a
purpose clause."
The little adjective "all"
translates "pas" in Greek, meaning the whole number, the
totality of the thing. Here God has just declared every
unbeliever on earth doomed to hell forever!
Don't be alarmed! This
has happened before (several times). During the flood of
Noah, every person on earth perished except Noah and his
family (eight people)! At the judgment of Sodom and
Gomorrah the whole metroplex (all its inhabitants) perished
except Lot and part of his family. And our verse has just
proved that it will happen (at least once) again!
"Might be damned" is a
rendering of the verb "krino." In form here it's a
subjunctive aorist in the passive voice. Krino means "to
judge." (To pronounce an opinion concerning right and
wrong!) It's root word means "to decide or to distinguish.
It can be used in a good (to judge favorable) or a bad (to
condemn) sense. One must read its implication from the
context in which it is placed. Here it undoubtedly means
condemnation unto death (and hell).
During the tribulation this
crowd will face severe judgment! Not counting the
world-wide upheaval that's headed their way, they will be
defeated (killed) at Armageddon (by the Lord Himself)!
"Consumed by the Spirit of His mouth
and by the brightness of His coming!" (2 Thessalonians
2:8) Then they will face the Lord at the great White
Throne judgment where the books will be opened and their ungodly
deeds judged, whereupon they shall be cast into the lake of fire
forever. (Revelation 20:11-15)
Two reasons are given for
their being "damned."
They "believed not the truth."
Believed is a verb ("pisteuo") that means to trust. Here it is
an aorist active participle. Their unbelief (distrust)
occurred at a time in the past and may even now be over!
(But it's too late to do anything about it apparently!) If
you are lost and the Spirit of God is convicting you ... believe
today!
Let me add ... that if someone
today is reading these lines ... and is an unbeliever in Jesus
... you are according to Jesus judged already! John 3:18 says so:
"He that believeth on Him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God." Or even John 3:36 ---
"He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not
see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
These are sobering verses!
The "truth" here is just
another name for the Gospel. (The death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus!) In fact Jesus is the Truth
according to John 14:6.
The other reason for their
judgment: they "had pleasure in unrighteousness." To
"have pleasure" ("eudokeo" in Greek) means to think well of
something. (To approve it or even to delight in it!)
This verbal (a participle) is an aorist also. Their fun is
over! (Punctiliar action in the past ... now completed!)
"Unrighteousness" means ("a" + "dikia") is a court or legal term
... meaning unjust. (Unjustness in God's eyes!) I guess
their sexual preferences won't matter any more then. Nor
will their godless lifestyles be appealing any longer.
I am so thankful today that
Jesus is coming again.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
