The Removal of the Restrainer

Introduction: Three Reasons the Thessalonians Were Not in the Day of the Lord

The last time — which was two weeks ago — Paul gave us two reasons why the Thessalonians could not be in the Day of the Lord. Remember, they said they thought they were in the Day of the Lord, and he gave them two reasons why they were not.

You’ll remember that the Day of the Lord is a period of time that starts with judgment — seven years of judgment. You see the Rapture and the Tribulation, that line there. The Tribulation doesn’t start at the Rapture necessarily, but it will start. And when it starts, there will be seven years of Tribulation, and there will be a thousand years of the millennial reign of Christ. And that is the Day of the Lord.

A. “Do You Not Remember?” — 2:5

Let me say one more thing — verse 5. Now, the reason I included verse 5 here is because Paul told the Thessalonians, “You should remember this.” I’m going to do the same thing. I’m reading it as what Paul said, but I’m saying it to you: “Do you not remember that when I was with you two weeks ago, I told you these things?” I think it’s really interesting to me that Paul said he expected them to remember what he taught them. And why not?

B. Reason One: There Must Be a Falling Away — The Great Apostasy

And so these people had not — Paul says, “You’re not in the Day of the Lord, because there must come a falling away first.” That’s the great apostasy. We talked about that. I didn’t say to you, though, last week, that there was one line of thinking that this departure — which is what it is — could be the Rapture of the church. I lean toward it, but I have some reasons not to believe it, and so I didn’t present that. But there is that. But the departure — we’re going to see today that there’s a departure of the church that is going to be before that as well. But he’s talking about the falling away from the faith.

And this is not just a few people denying the Lord, not just a few people going away from the truth of the gospel. It is a whole, full-scale going away. And that part is a little hard to see: how can that be? If the church is going to be raptured, and this is going to happen before the church is raptured, then how come there will be a falling away before the Rapture?

And I think maybe it could be that the church will be raptured, and there will be a falling away from the faith — the church itself. And there will be a church — not the body of Christ, but there will be a semblance of church there. Perhaps people who see the Rapture — the church leaving; they won’t see them leaving, but see that they are gone. That may be the group that gets together, but they soon are dissipated. They leave the truth of the gospel, and that’s the falling away. I don’t see it as the church — the raptured church — having fallen away. I don’t see that at all. So there’s been a falling away, he said.

C. Reason Two: The Man of Sin Must Be Revealed

Then he also said that the man of sin — lawlessness — must be revealed. This man, revealed as this man — he will make a covenant with Israel for a seven-year period. Now, that’s the key. The thing that starts the Day of the Lord will be the man of sin, the lawless one, making a covenant with Israel for a seven-year period. And you see that in Daniel, Daniel chapter 9, verse 27. Read verses 24 through 27 to get the context. You really ought to read that to see what he’s doing there.

Anyway, that’s the man of sin — the world ruler, the Antichrist, whatever we want to call him. He gets a lot of names. He is going to make a covenant of peace with Israel for one seven-year period. And the people who are biblically aware at that time — and there will be some — will recognize that this is the Antichrist. And that is the event that begins — starts — the prophecy clock for Israel ticking again.

D. Reason Three: The Restrainer Must Be Removed

But then there’s a third thing that has to happen before the man of sin — before the Tribulation begins. So we start now in verse 6.

I. The Present Conflict — 2:6–7

So he comes now to the present conflict, verses 6 and 7. And the title of the message is “The Removal of the Restrainer.” There has to be a removal of the restrainer.

A. The Revelation of the Restrainer — 2:6

1. A “What” — The Restrainer as a Force

Now, the revelation of the restrainer. And I’m going to take this restrainer to be the Holy Spirit — the Holy Spirit indwelling the church. That is the restrainer. And as I go along, I’ll give you reasons why I believe that.

All right, so the revelation of the restrainer, in verse 6: “And now you know what is restraining.” Now, it’s a what. What is restraining? It’s a neuter. Well, that doesn’t sound like the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s a person. Well, we’ll see in a minute. But the restrainer is restraining now, until — “that he may be revealed in his own time” — that he, that is the Antichrist, will be revealed in his own time. So something is holding back the evil, so that when the time comes, the Antichrist, the man of sin, will be allowed to do his thing. But not until.

The “and” that begins this verse connects that with the previous verse. So he’s still talking about the same thing: you can’t be in the Day of the Lord yet, because this has to happen. Now, this we’re talking about now is, the restrainer has to be removed. So the restrainer is a force. The restrainer is a thing. You know what restrains until he’s taken out of the way.

2. Only God Has the Power to Hold Back Satan

So Paul may have told them, I think — while he was teaching, he may have told them, “This is who the restrainer is” — but he doesn’t mention it here. So it’s a force. But we know that the restrainer has to have the power to hold back evil. And the one behind the evil is Satan. So whoever this is has to be powerful enough to hold back the forces of Satan. Now, who in the world would that be? Can only be God. So I think that’s where we’re headed with that. The restrainer has to have the power to hold back the evil from the church until the proper time. He’ll do that.

Matthew 16 — remember when Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”? How come? If it’s just the church — it’s just the people, it’s us — how are we going to hold back the gates of hell from prevailing against the church? Well, Pentecost, remember? When Pentecost came, the Holy Spirit came and indwelt them, and has indwelt everyone who believes since that point. Every one of us who knows the Lord Jesus as Savior is indwelt by this Holy Spirit. And our presence here, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is the thing that’s holding back this evil until the time when that is removed, as we’ll see.

3. A “He” — The Restrainer as a Person

So, grammatically, the word Spirit — pneuma, in Greek — is a neuter word. So it would have to be referred to grammatically as a what, a thing. That’s the first thing. So “you know what is restraining” is talking about power, a force. And we’ll see that force is the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit is also referred to, ungrammatically, as a He. You’ll see that in John 14 to 16. If you look through, even in your English, you’ll see it — that the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a He. And I look at it grammatically and I say, “Wait a minute. The word Spirit is neuter. And here’s the personal pronoun, masculine, referring to Him.” That’s not grammatically right, but it is a reference to Him. So, ungrammatically, He is referred to as a person, because He is a person. So that’s the revelation of the restrainer. We have to know who He is. I take it He is the Holy Spirit.

B. The Demonic Activity — 2:7a

1. The Mystery of Lawlessness

Now, the demonic activity, verse 7a: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” Now, remember the word mystery in the New Testament? It’s a new truth, previously unknown, but now given in this age. The church is one of those. The church is a mystery. We see that in Romans 16:25 and Ephesians 5:32. The church is a mystery. And here, the lawlessness during the church age is a mystery. And the whole lawlessness empowered by Satan in the Tribulation is also a mystery.

2. Even Michael Said, “The Lord Rebuke You”

Now, note: the restrainer will have to be able to hold back the power of Satan exercised in the Antichrist. Only God can do that. Even Michael — remember Michael the archangel? Jude records in verse 9 the disputing over the body of Moses. You know, we don’t know where Moses was buried. I’ve been up to Mount Nebo, the last place we know he was, and I’ve looked over to Jericho — and there’s Jericho. You can see it from Mount Nebo. And that’s where he got his last look at the Promised Land. And his body is not there. There’s no tomb.

Why? Well, because Michael was arguing with Satan about what to do with the body of Moses. And Jude records that Michael didn’t say, “I’ll fight you.” He said, “The Lord rebuke you.” Because Satan is the mightiest angel. Michael is just an angel. And Satan — Lucifer — was the mightiest of the angels. So only God can restrain him. So there’s demonic activity, and his activity comes from Satan, and the lawlessness will have to be stopped not by any human thing, or even an angelic thing, but by God Himself.

C. The Divine Adversary — 2:7b

All right, then there’s the divine adversary, 7b: “only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” The one restraining — I take it that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit in the church. The church — as long as the church is here, it will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said the Holy Spirit “dwells with you and will be in you” — forever [John 14:16–17]. You cannot be dis-indwelt. So if the Holy Spirit is taken out, then the church is taken out with Him. It has to be.

So He — the restrainer — is called a person. The Holy Spirit is a person. So again, He’s a force, but He’s also a person. So the restrainer is both a force and a person to be reckoned with. Whoever He is, He will be taken out of the way to allow the Antichrist to use his power during the Tribulation period. The Holy Spirit will be taken out. The church will be taken out with Him — is my premise. All right, now, that’s the demonic activity.

II. The Prophetic Climax — 2:8–12

Now, the prophetic climax. Three questions he answers here about the coming of the man of sin. They are when, and who, and why.

A. When — 2:8

1. The “Whom” Clause Describes Him

The first one is when — verse 8. He says, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” Now, the clause that begins with “whom” — that is going to tell you who this person is. He’s not saying that he’ll be revealed and he’ll be consumed and he’ll be destroyed all at the same time. No. He’s saying, this one is going to be revealed; he’s the one that the Lord is going to do this to. So the Lord is going to consume him and destroy him later on, at the end of the Tribulation period, at His coming — at Jesus’ coming.

2. Cast Alive into the Lake of Fire — Revelation 19:20

Now, when does He do that? Well, Revelation 19. Revelation 19, verse 20, tells us that this beast — this is another name for the Antichrist — “the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two” — the beast and the false prophet — “were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” At the end of the Tribulation, when Jesus returns, He’ll do that to them.

3. A Thousand Years Later — Revelation 20:10

Now, little note: a thousand years later, at the end of the Millennium, when Satan is cast into the lake of fire, here’s how it reads — Revelation 20, verse 10: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.” Oh my — they’re still there. They’re still there. The beast and the false prophet are there. And Satan is being cast into that lake of fire, and they — all three of them — “will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Forever.

So what I’m trying to show is that God is in control of this whole thing. And God’s adversary — God is the adversary, the divine adversary, Jesus Christ — is going to handle all three of them: the beast and the false prophet at the end of the Tribulation, and then Satan at the end of the Millennium. Remember, during the Millennium, Satan is bound. But then he’s released at the end, and then all hell breaks loose, and Jesus puts all that down and puts Satan into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are.

All right, so verse 8, then, summarizes the career of the Antichrist in three brief lines. He’s going to come up, he’s going to rebel, he’s going to be thrown into the lake of fire. That’s him — all done in one verse. So that’s the when.

B. Who — 2:9–10a

1. Antichrist’s Master — 2:9a

Now the who. Who is the Antichrist? Who is his master? He talks about him here in verse 9. He says, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan.” So this Antichrist who comes is empowered by Satan — according to the working of Satan. We see here that the power of the Antichrist is from Satan himself. There’s an unholy trinity in the book of Revelation: Satan, and the beast, and the false prophet. That’s the unholy trinity. So the Antichrist, then, has as his master Satan.

2. Antichrist’s Miracles — 2:9b–10a

He also — the Antichrist’s miracles, 9b and 10a. He’s going to come “with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish.” See, the reason for the power and signs and wonders is to imitate Jesus. How did Jesus come? They knew He was Messiah. I don’t think it was deity, but His messiahship was known by His works, by His miracles. And so, if that’s how Jesus is known, one who is going to call himself the Messiah is going to have to do the same thing. So he is doing the power, he’s doing the miracles, and he gets the power for the miracles from Satan.

And I think that the miracle workers today are feeding this possibility. The miracle workers today — and they get the attention, you know. Their premise is: wherever these miracles are done, that’s where God is. It’s from God. All miracles are from God. And they get people calling on the phone: “They did this and this and this.” “Oh, wonderful. Look what God did.” Well, it seems to me that they’re showing everybody, “Wherever there are miracles, God’s doing it.” Well, suppose the Antichrist does miracles — which he will do, the false prophet for him. People are going to be saying, “Oh, that must be God. God does miracles.” I think they’re playing right into his hands. So — the Antichrist’s power of miracles, and then they will convince those who are perishing that that’s God and they are of God.

C. Why — 2:10b

Well, why, then? Why are they perishing? “Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” They have traded the simplicity of the cross of Christ for the show that the Antichrist puts on. And it is a show. And they fall for all that fakery that he’s doing. Plus the wind. And so — the who, and the why. Now, that’s the prophetic climax.

III. The Practical Conclusion — 2:11–12

A. Delusion — 2:11

1. It Will Be Sent — 2:11a

Now, the practical conclusion. Verse 11 says there will be a delusion coming. It will be sent. The delusion will be sent: “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion.” These people took the first step away from God’s revelation when they continued in the state of rejection, missing the Rapture because of their unbelief. And now they find themselves confronted with, and accepting of, the doctrine of the Antichrist.

2. It Will Be Strong — 2:11b

Strong delusion is coming to them. It will be strong. The delusion is so strong that they accept the lie — “that they should believe the lie.” Now, the lie is not just a lie, but the lie. The lie is that the Antichrist is Messiah — the Antichrist is God. And they perish for that. So that’s the delusion.

B. Damnation — 2:12

1. Declared — 2:12a

Now the damnation, verse 12. It’s declared in verse 12a: “that they all may be condemned.” The reason for their condemnation is their unbelief. All who reject Christ are doomed. The wrath of God abides on them — John 3:36.

2. Deserved — 2:12b

It’s also declared, and it’s also deserved, because they “did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” See, all rejection of Christ’s offer of eternal life — all rejection — deserves eternal punishment. So it’s Jesus who metes out that punishment. It’s interesting: you reject Him, and then one day you stand before Him, and He says, “Depart from Me.” That’s it. So all judgment is placed in His hands — John 5:27. So He will be the one who does the judging.

C. A Question: Can Those Left Behind Still Believe?

Will all people who, as unbelievers, wind up in the Tribulation be unable to believe at that time? I’ve heard people say this: that if a person hears the gospel and doesn’t believe it, after the church is gone, he will not be able to believe. Well, let me suggest a couple of things.

1. Multitudes Will Be Saved in the Tribulation

First, we know for certain that multitudes will be saved in the Tribulation period. First off, the 144,000 — they’ll be saved, apparently, right away at the beginning of the Tribulation period. They are God’s evangelists, and they’ll do the job. They will get the job done. The gospel will go through all the world in that seven years. The church hasn’t done it in 2,000. They will do it in just that seven years. And a great multitude are going to be saved — Revelation 7:4 and 9. Multitudes.

2. Multitudes Will Follow the Antichrist

Multitudes will rebel against Christ and follow the Antichrist. So multitudes will be saved even in the Tribulation period, but multitudes will follow the Antichrist as well. And you just read the book of Revelation — read chapters 13 through 16, especially — and you’ll see that this happens. So there will be many who will receive the mark of the beast.

3. The Mark of the Beast — No Turning Back

Well, I think it’s pretty clear that once a person receives the mark of the beast, that’s it. There’s no more chance for him. I think that’s true — no turning back from that decision. And it may well be that the strong delusion comes upon him then, and he believes that. They believe the lie of the devil — not for a decision made prior to the Rapture, I think. That’s just a thought.

Conclusion

Now, conclusion. The removal of the restrainer — what we said was a tough topic. Who’s the restrainer? Well, remember, He has to be powerful enough to hold back Satan. The Holy Spirit would be that — the Holy Spirit abiding in the church, the church which cannot be dis-indwelt. So if the Holy Spirit is removed, the church is removed as well. If the Spirit is taken out, the church is taken out as well.

I don’t know how — it was of divine arrangement, I guess, that Ray and I are doing the same thing at the same time. But I think the reason for that is that if I confuse you, Ray is going to straighten you out next Sunday. Don’t miss next Sunday, because Ray has it all done. And if he says anything about what I say, you let me know.

We pray that the Lord will help all of us to see through these things — to see that the Lord is in control. And He wins. I looked at the last page: He wins. And we’re winning with Him.

Lord —