he takes his seat in the temple of God

2 Thessalonians 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷ 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. ⁸ Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

¹³ But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

In today’s text Paul says:  Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.   While we have not seen what Paul is speaking about in the natural; physical realm, surely we can see that it is happening to an increasing degree in the spiritual realm.   In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 it says:  Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.  Spiritually we are God’s temple; He should be seated on the throne of our hearts and minds. Yet throughout our culture and society, and even in much of the church we see the lawlessness of man exalted and taking the place of God in the hearts and minds of people. Even in the church, we see people who have created and embrace doctrines which are opposed to God’s word. All forms of immorality are accepted and embraced. Unborn babies are slaughtered by the millions in the false names of freedom, choice and health care. The spiritual apostasy of our current culture is manifested in the depravity we see in the physical realm.

In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   Yet that is the very thing that much of our culture is doing, and even worse it is what they are indoctrinating our children into believing. When we view things from the perspective of logic and truth it is impossible to understand how people could be so decieved as to believe the things that many believe. Look what the text says: You know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 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. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,  and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.  For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,  in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.   The Holy Spirit is the restraining influence that keeps lawlessness at bay. Speaking of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8 Jesus says:  He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  As the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way; removed from His rightful place on the throne of the hearts and minds of people; as the Holy Spirit is replaced with the lawlessness of man, the perception of people is changed. They no longer see logic and truth, but rather they are decieved. Because people choose not to believe what is truth; because they instead determine to take pleasure in wickedness they fall into a deluding influence of their choosing. It is not God who judges them, but rather they choose judgment by their own choice. In John 3:16-21 Jesus says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   A person cannot truly believe in Jesus; that He died to redeem the world from sin and also love the darkness and the lawlessness of the world.  In John 8:12 Jesus says: "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."  He says: Everyone who does evil hates the Light.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,  comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.  Amen.  Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, may my heart and mind be strengthened as I continue to place You on the throne of my life. Yielded to You, may I do the good works You desire.   Amen.