There is a Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is also an unholy trinity: Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. You can read more about the unholy trinity in Revelation chapters 12 and 13. Today, I want to bring you a study on the coming world dictator, the Antichrist. I believe this is an appropriate time to bring this study because with the way the world is going, we must be getting close to the Rapture, Great Tribulation and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we study "Lying Wonders."
Section 1: Satan's Power to Create Lying Wonders
I want you to know about the power of Satan in bringing forth the Antichrist. II Thessalonians 2:9-10 state: "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 love of the truth, that they might be saved." (Emphasis supplied)
The Greek word translated "power" is dynamis and it means power, ability, miracles, or a supernatural ruler with administrative power. The word "signs" is the Greek word semeion and it means sign, signal or a distinguishing mark. The word "wonder" is the word teras which means a wonder or miracle that establishes something or points to something. The power, signs, and wonders will be the evidence to the world that the person who is performing them is like "God" or is "God." The world will be deceived because they have been conditioned by Satan and many churches to look for signs and wonders.
The following is a free translation of the verses quoted above:
"(The man o sin) is coming as a result of and in harmony with the effectual operation of Satan and furnished with credentials of every kind of extraordinary power and ability to accomplish marvelous power and wonderful things for man, by which he will attention to the sign of the Messiah that he is sent from God, by which he deceives the perishing world by a vain hope that they can live in sin and enjoy the pleasures of sin without falling under the judgment of God: and he is able to do this because they would not have the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
In the book of Exodus, God used signs and wonders as a SIGN TO PHARAOH. God does not deal with His children today in signs; these are for the UNBELIEVER. God speaks to His children by revelation through His Word. I am not looking for a sign to determine His will. There are many so-called Christians and professing believers that use God's Word like a spiritual medium uses her crystal ball. Letting the Bible fall to a page and believe God is directing them to look at that page or verse. The way God uses the Bible is to have us study the Word and His Spirit can impress your renewed spirit to a place of revelation regarding a particular passage.
Section 2: What is a Lying Wonder
The word "Wonder" in the New Testament means something so strange and extraordinary that it catches the attention and holds it. Notice the word "all" in verse 9. The word "all" modifies power, signs, and wonders to mean ALL POWER OR MIRACLES, ALL SIGNS, ALL WONDERS. It refers to every manner in which such phenomenon manifests itself, in other words, "MIRACLES AND SIGNS AND WONDERS covers the whole field of human relations, whether scientific, social, economic, political, music, and art, or religion, and embraces every sort of activity in each one. The "lying wonders" will be lying miracles, lying signs and lying wonders will be presented as credentials to deceive the world and convince them that the Antichrist is God's representative first, and then as God himself.
Some translations use the phrase "wonders of falsehood." This is a conscious and intentional falsehood, a lie told to deliberately deceive someone. The lying signs and wonders are presented as credentials to deceive the world and present the Antichrist as God's representative. Verses 10-12 read as follows:
"And with ALL DECEIVABLENESS OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a (the) lie (Antichrist): that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Again, we have ALL or EVERY KIND OF DECEIT of unrighteousness that the "spirit of antichrist" paves the way with as well as the Antichrist himself brings with him when he comes upon the scene. So, we have a combination of the spirit of antichrist and the Antichrist himself leading the world into a system of falsehood that will almost be impossible to resist. If an individual has a LOVE OF THE TRUTH, he can detect the difference between truth and error, but if you reject the love of the truth, then you cannot tell whether you are embracing truth or error. Too many today have left the Bible as a closed canon and wondered off into thinking they have new revelations from God. This will be one way that Antichrist will deceive many. The Bible is God's final revelation to us. He speaks to us through His Word, not dreams and visions.
"All power and signs and wonders of falsehood" will convince the world that the FALSE MESSIAH and the FALSE PROPHET are from God. Revelations 13 contains statements about the two beasts. They will come as angels of light, but they are wolves in sheep's clothing. In the Old Testament, the Messiah was God's Anointed, the Servant of Jehovah, the King of Israel, the High Priest of the Sanctuary. The Prophet was a type of Christ in His prophetic office as a Messenger from God to man. The true prophets had a message of judgment and warning against sin, and they set forth God's only way of grace---"Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17) That will be missing from the messages of the Antichrist and False Prophet. They will seek to be worshipped and will present themselves as God and God's representatives.
Section 3: Warnings Against Lying Wonders
The Lord Jesus Christ warned us in Matthew 24 that there would be FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS. The Apostle Peter warned against false teachers just as the prophets of old warned against the smooth tongues of the false prophets in their day. Read 2 Peter 2: 1-3) If you read chapter 2 of 2 Peter and the book of Jude, you will see the characteristics of these unsaved religionists. There will be preachers, teachers, "apostles", even those that say they are Christ. They will be covetous liars, make merchandise (profit) of the flock, bringing in false doctrine privately, denying the Lord that bought them. They will walk after the flesh including all type of uncleanness. The carnal mind which is death will be their mindset. These false teachers will preach a little sermonette, enjoy the prestige of being a minister but will never mention THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, BLOOD REDEMPTION, OR HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION. Even though the church is still present, and the time of the Antichrist is not yet, the spirit of antichrist is, and you see it operating with all the false teachers today that have turned the gospel into a self-help, improvement program, where Jesus is your buddy, and He wants to play games with you and go for long walks with you. Under their teaching, the church and the world live the same way, satisfying the lusts of the eye and flesh. We are in the last days. Restraint is being gradually removed until it will be all gone. Thank God the church will be removed before the time of the Antichrist.
we need to face the truth that most churches have a religion without Christ. The religious world system is a DELUSION OF SATAN if Christ, virgin-born, crucified, buried, risen, and ascended in His resurrected body, is not A LIVING REALITY in the midst of that church. You can have a nice physical sensation because of the music and light shows. You may think it is the Lord's presence, but it is probably Satan giving you that good feeling or something like that, but that's all you have if you have never FACED REALITY of the following:
1. SIN of man,
2. LORDSHIP of Christ, and
3. JUDGMENT of God (John 16: 7-11).
You will never be saved until you come face to face with your lost condition and your hell-bound destiny. The Holy Spirit will break your will and bring you to the feet of the Sovereign LORD. That is truth; that is reality. If you do not receive this LOVE OF THE TRUTH (and it is a gift and you can ask God for it), then you will gladly lay hold of Satan's delusion, that you can have your own way and not be punished in hell for it. This No-Hell doctrine is one of Satan's delusions. FALSEHOOD is an empty dream, a vain hope, a sinking foundation, a God without justice, a Saviour without life.
When the FALSE CHRIST comes on the scene and if you are one of those who don't see themselves as lost hell-bound sinners, if you believe in your will being supreme, when he makes promises of liberty, freedom, economic blessings, you will be the one to accept him as God when he is the Antichrist.
Satan's ways with man are deception and fraud, guile and flattery, whether it is the spirit of Antichrist, who is already shaping the world getting ready for the Antichrist man himself or if you are reading this after the Rapture it will be the Antichrist on the scene. Satan uses deceit to lure you. He will take the businessperson and have him focus on the greatness he can achieve or the money he can make. It may be your lust for money, power, or pride. He will make you think God is leading you. He will keep your attention on your assets and profits. Even if you are not in business, Satan will use the same methods to get you hopelessly entangled in the affairs of the world.
Satan is getting the whole world in a bankrupt condition today, not only financially, but also morally, socially, economically, and when mankind is at his wits' end, he will come in with his flattering tongue, with angel of light role as the fulfillment of all the hopes of all peoples and tongues and nations. The Antichrist will come as the HOPE OF THE WORLD. However, he is a fraud, and his promises of a better world without Christ are only alluring deceits of unrighteousness that sell you sinner, into his clutches and the death trap that seals your soul for hell and the Lake of Fire.
I want to close with some indicators of a church, minister or group that is operating under the spirit of Antichrist:
1. Does the pastor ever testify how God saved him?
2. Does the pastor ever ask you about your testimony?
3. Does the ministry ever warn its followers about hell fire?
4. Is true repentance preached, or are you just called upon to reform? Meetings like "Celebrate Recovery" are a good sign that the ministry is concerned with you living a better life now as opposed to your eternal destiny.
5. Do you hear messages on the Sovereignty of God, blood redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit conviction, the depravity of man, and the second coming of Christ?
6. Is the focus on you not the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the desire to deify man and humanize God.
7. Is there a focus on spiritual gifts, prophecy, signs and wonders and miracles?
8. Does the ministry ask you to make a decision for Christ, a profession of faith, or ask Jesus to come into your heart? If so, these are signs of a false conversion that will not stand the difficult times.
Reading friend, don't be fooled and misled by Satan. Lying wonders are here now and after the rapture, it will be worse. You don't have to be here. Acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner. Take the blame. It has been said that there is no repentance without taking the blame and I agree. See yourself as lost and hell bound. Come to the foot of the cross and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to save you and He will cast no one away. This is not about a decision or profession of faith. This is about a change of ownership. Your will and way are broken, and you have a new Master, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ!
Next week: Truth Versus Error.
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