The coming of the of the lawless one is by the activity of
Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception
for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be
saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe
what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
Not all miracles are from God. Paul explicitly advises the
Thessalonian church to watch out for the coming of the “lawless one” before
Christ’s Second Coming who is “the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts
himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his
seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (1 Thes. 2:3b-5). He
writes that this “mystery of lawlessness is already at work” (1 Thes. 2:7) in
the present and here Paul shares his sentiments with Apostle John who writes, “Children,
it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now
many antichrists have come. Therefore we know it is the last hour” (1 John
2:18).
If those apostles, writing about 2,000 years ago, could say
they were in the last hour, how much more us? In this very last hour that we
are living in, the antichrists come in spiritual power, performing great
miracles. I am sure you have heard of them and some them perform the “latest”
miracles that you don’t even find in the Bible. But the problem is that these
miracles are false signs. Instead of them pointing their followers to Jesus and
the worship of God, they point them to other things like the “man/woman of God”
who seeks to be worshiped, is steeped in the greediness of this world as he/she
covets the very same things this world craves for, and will ultimately spell
the destruction of his/her followers by God on Judgment Day. The issue is not
whether the miracles happen or not because those walking in the spirit of the
power of the antichrist can perform great miracles. Rather, the issue is who the
miracles are pointing to. Obviously, the antichrists ensure that the miracles
don’t point to Jesus but to themselves so that people are impressed by their
miraculous power and so worship the antichrists with their obedience and their
monetary offerings. Of course, they do mention Jesus and seem to magnify His
name but the motive and manner in which they do what they do is not consistent
with Jesus.
This is where those that are “perishing” are being deceived
as they follow the antichrists. They don’t know that what they think is of God
because of the powerful miracles they are seeing is actually Satanic. This,
Paul writes, is because “the perishing … have refused to love the truth and so
be saved”. In other words, the truth that God has revealed of Himself in His
word, they have not loved. It is the Truth of the Bible by which all claims to
truth about God, even prophecies, must be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29). It is
Truth that sets free or saves (John 10:10).
Unfortunately, “the perishing” have not loved the Bible, are
not able to see the deception of the antichrists, and so prove that they are
not saved. Worse still, “God sends them a strong delusion that they may believe
what is false”. And their running after the deception of false prophets and
their decadent lifestyles is what God is going to use as evidence against them on
the Day of Judgment.
It’s not about just about miracles; it’s about the truth as
God has revealed to us in His word. Miracles – inasmuch as they are also a
manifestation of the kingdom of God (Matt 12:28) and God’s people have been
granted His power to perform them in advancing His kingdom (Acts 1:8) – are meant to be signs that point to the
salvation that is to be found in God’s kingdom through faith in Christ Jesus. Any
miracles done to elevate the profile of a “man/woman of God” are false signs
that lead to deception as they lead people to something other than Christ. When
we are people of the word, we will inoculate ourselves against false prophets
and their deception.
May we be people of the word that search the Scriptures to
see if what a prophet or any “man/woman of God” is claiming is consistent with
God’s truth like the Berean Christians (Acts 17:11)! May we love God’s word so
that, as His sheep, we can hear His voice (John 10:1-5)! May we systematically
read through the Bible so that we can hear God’s voice speaking to us
personally as the Holy Spirit illuminates His truths to us! You don’t have to
be deceived with “the perishing” when God’s truth, the Bible, is readily
available.
