The Mystery of Lawlessness

Lawlessness and the Spirit of Antichrist

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. . . regarding 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. No one is to deceive you in any way! 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. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate 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 false signs and wonders.    2 Thessalonians 2:1-9

Why do the nations rage,
     and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
     and the rulers take counsel together,
     against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
     and cast away their cords from us.”    Psalm 2:1-3

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.    Luke 21:20-24

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In stark contrast to the “mystery of godliness,” which Paul writes about to Timothy (1 Tim. 3:16) — an unequivocal reference to the incarnation of Christ — stands the enigmatic and rarely exposited “mystery of lawlessness.” The former mystery is frequently taught from Colossians, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” But the later may not be well understood.

How is it that Paul could write to the Thessalonians, observing that this mystery of lawlessness is already at work, not three decades from Any believer would expect that spirit to be at work in the world, but in the Church? Against all hope, that spirit was already in the Church in the first century.

Insofar as Jesus came to make the law replete (Matt. 6: ), then the antithesis would be a spirit of complete opposition to the law, a spirit of lawlessness and rebellion, a spirit that would replace Christ. John wrote: Sin is lawlessness. And the man of sin would equate to the man of lawlessness.

Concerning the rebellion of Mankind against the kingdom, not only does Psalm 2 attest to this, but likewise the Lord’s own parable:

“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ Luke 19:12-14

How remarkable this sounds to us who love the Lord and His coming, and are grateful for his rulership, which brings in everlasting Righteousness — though we were once children of wrath and held the same feelings. Now, by His Grace, we are able to understand and here we do not simply see the opposition of the world, but know this: the great rebellion, the great apostasy, is the rebellion of the church!!! As the temple leadership was toward its own messiah, so now is the Christian community infused with the spirit of the nations and all of the Babylonian poison of worldly religion. It is rebellion against the teaching of Christ and against His kingdom.

And that rebellion is marked by the refusal to keep the words of Christ, to keep His commandments, a hallmark of John’s exhortations, along with those of Peter and Paul. Indeed, the scroll of Revelation links keeping the commandments of the Lord with entry into the Heavenly Jerusalem by its gates. Others are closed out!

Moreover, in worldly events, we behold that spirit of rebelliousness playing out. Rebellion against the rule of law in our society, right here in the United States of America, is but a sign and a shadow of rebellion against our king.

Did He not speak to Peter and Paul where they have written that all authorities are established by God and are to be obeyed? To wit we read Romans 13:1, 2Peter 2:13-15, Titus 3:1, etc. which remind us, along with Daniel 2, that all authorities on earth are in place by God’s design. Indeed, he works all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). Rebellion against these authorities is at the same time rebellion against God. And rebellion against God is as the sin of witchcraft.

And so we consider that just as there is the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us that enables us to fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 5:2), so too there is a spirit of Antichrist that inspires rebellion and lawlessness. Jesus Christ did not abolish the Law, He made it full! Listen:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to make them replete. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.     Matthew 5:17-20

As we reflect on the state of our congregations today, where do we hear pastors and teachers guiding the faithful to observe and keep the least of all these commandments? In fact, whereas it was once common for ministers to proclaim the commandments of God and to exhort the believers to follow them, it is rarely heard today.

Regarding materialism, the commandment that you cannot serve God and mammon has been supplanted by a harmonization of the two, although such a project is impossible. Idolatry rules; and Christians today are encouraged to follow their their own way and to do what is right in their own eyes.

Where, then, is the way of peace? John reminds us in his first epistle that we are under obligation to walk as Christ walked. And truly, He did NOT walk in the pathways of mammon. There is no friendship between God and the world. (James 4:4)

To enable deeper understanding of how the prophets may have portrayed rebellion in Christendom, aka The Israel of God, as Paul called it, we have to penetrate the spiritual words in the texts cited above. For example, in Luke 21, Jerusalem is trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is complete. The spiritual Jerusalem, our Mother, is under attack by the nations, by Babylonian religion, which is a blend of personal idols and doctrinal teaching that opposes the teachings of Christ and His call to Keep His Word, so that God will love us and come and make a home within us. The self-aggrandizement and displacement of Christ that is consequent to the worldly expositions of spiritual teaching including the bible in the hands of the untaught and unstable (cf. 2 Peter 3:16) is a compendium of destructive heresies that nullify the saving Grace of Christ Jesus, and treat as unclean His redeeming blood.

To use Medieval language and constructs, the infidels have invaded the Church and despoiled her with their food and drink sacrificed to demons. And this saddles us with the worst condition — not only the kings of the earth and the rulers (read: spiritual powers) take their stand against YHWH and His Mashiach, but the false leaders of the church too have opposed the establishment of Christ’s kingdom by establishing the false doctrines of the world. Revelation 17 depicts this union of the kings of the earth with the antichrist spirit, just as Psalm 2 did earlier. Just listen once again to Christ’s own teaching in Luke 19:14 – ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

This rejection of the kingdom is indeed a repudiation of Christ Jesus as the unique Son of God and ruler with all authority in Heaven and on earth given to Him (Matthew 28). Does anyone need to say that picking a fight with God is surely a fool’s errand, inspiring laughter in the Divine Council? (Psalm 2)

And as the faithful sons of Light are gathering to their Lord, who is the Spirit of Holiness, so too the sons of darkness are hearing the call of that spirit that animates them, that spirit of Antichrist which embodies the mystery of lawlessness, and is set to oppose the establishment of the true Kingdom of Light on earth. As the psalmist has written (Ps. 2), they have taken their stand against YHWH and His Maschiach!

 

 

How is Lawlessness a Mystery?

In the Greek New Testament, the word ‘mystery,’ Greek: mysterion, means ‘a thing to be revealed,’ even if it is known to someone. Christ in you is a mystery which was hidden but has now been revealed. This ‘mystery of lawlessness’ is a similar reality that is hidden but which a true steward of the mysteries of God can explicate.

It was the introduction of certain destructive heresies into the early church as prophesied by the apostle Peter and by Jude, which began to to erode the ethos of the Christian fellowship of the early church. We know from the scriptures how it entered in by men who were appointed from times past to introduce such blasphemies, but we must dig deeper to understand God’s purpose for He does indeed work all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). The deeper question is how could these men enter into the fellowship or koinonia of the church, the called-out ones.

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.   Jeremiah 31:27-28

Doesn’t that describe what we see in the lawlessness bursting out around the world in nominally Christian nations from Russia to Hungary to the United States? The beastly image is actually predominating in many places. Christ has been set aside, and His ‘Way of Peace,’ (Luke 1:79) is forgotten. Pope and priest, patriarch and metropolitan, minster and teacher, have all forsaken the commandment to put up your sword. “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.” Our Lord’s words are not accounted true. The teaching has been harmonized with the ethos of the world and the practicalities of realpolitik which requires the nations to pursue war as necessary.

And yet: their king is The Prince of Peace!

We are supposed to be the exponents and heralds of Psalm 120. “I am Peace. But when I speak they are for war.”

Or do Babylonian Christians suppose that Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, and serving as an anointed priest in the temple, filled with the Holy Spirit, was misled when he proclaimed:

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
     for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
     in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
     whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
     to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:79

But woe be unto that disciple that proclaims the word of his King and does not support the establishment church in her quest for power and dominion. You can preach peace on Sunday but in the reality of this world we must support war. Why?

War is big-time Sin, lawlessness on steroids. And all of the nations have blood on their hands. It is foolhardy to imagine dissuading the nations from their murder-suicide pact. For as Daniel wrote: “War is decreed until the end.” This age or aeon will not see peace until Messiah comes — except for the peace of Christ within which He promised to those who are His disciples.. You can take that the bank — more properly to the Heavenly Treasury.

But when Messiah appears, the wicked will be removed from His Presence, so that the kingdom can be established in Righteousness (Proverbs 25).

In short, the way of lawlessness ends in destruction as Psalm 1 proclaims. It is the disobedience to the gospel which Paul explained to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:10) which cannot endure the fiery manifestation of the Lord and His Holy Angels.

So the mystery which was at work in the first century exhibits the corrupt teaching of Babylon which pollutes the altar of Christ”s church, and corrupts the altar of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, His people. And God Himself introduces an operation of error so those who do not love the truth are drawn to the strongman, to the Antichrist, or Man of Lawlessness, because it is in their own fleshly nature. That mystery is useful in the separation of the seed of man and the seed of beast, or the wheat and the tares according to the parable.

It is then possible to set up antipathies, e.g. the mystery of godliness vs. the mystery of lawlessness; or the mystery of the Gospel (salvation) vs. the mystery of lawlessness. In the domain of persons we might observe the Man of Holiness vs. the man of Sin; Christ and the Antichrist.

But why is the mystery of lawlessness needed? Couldn’t God have simply done without it? The answer is really quite simple. In the realm of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, both mysteries must be present to experience and to know. We are privileged to know both so we can discern, and can love good and reject evil. Because of this all human beings are born consigned to disobedience, so that God can show mercy to all. (Romans 11:32)

We are shown in our pilgrimage through the world both the way of Holiness, the pathway of love, the way of peace (Luke 1:79), as well as the way of the wicked, and the rule of the Lawless.

In the next section, we will reflect upon current events at home and around the globe, insofar as they show the time of the nations is nearly complete. Particularly, we will examine the doctrine, ethos, and comportment of the Christian community, to see that the mystery of lawlessness, like leaven in a jar of flour (Matt. 13), has virtually transformed the entire lump.

Albeit in a strange way, this growing reality is good news, because it serves as a sign that the days of the gentiles are nearly fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

In such manner, the answer to the mystery of lawlessness is revealed in the fullness of time. It is required that the Lord’s “holy ones” may show the contrast between a world without God and a world founded on God. Romans 11:32 and Romans 8:19-21, which has been a conundrum to many in Christendom, and is seldom elegantly addressed.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.   Romans 8:19-21

Here we see that the ‘mystery of godliness,’ like the ‘mystery of lawlessness,’ is a matter that must be revealed. Yet, the hope declared in verse 21 still begs the question: “Why?”

And we can find the answer in the accurate knowledge — epignosis — held in unity within the faith community of the early Christians, the keepers of ‘The Way.’ For that bridge from the apostles to the post-apostolic church we find illumination in the so-called “Odes of Solomon.”

Thy way was without corruption, and thy face; thou didst bring thy world to corruption: that everything might be dissolved and then renewed,

And that the foundation for everything might be thy rock; and on it thou didst build thy kingdom; and it became the dwelling place of the saints. Hallelujah — Ode 22:11-12, (Rendel Harris translation)

Here, at last, a precise and concise resolution of the mystery of corruption, that the creation may come to understand the ground of its being, its life as a creation of the Word, the unique One of God, upon whom all things must be founded if they are to have Life and Light unto the aeon of the aeons. For what is not founded on Him, has no life in it, and cannot last. Apart from Him, one cannot do anything.

Here, at last, is that ‘mystery of lawlessness,’ that ‘wicked one,’ revealed, and his own instrumental role in preparing the field for the coming of the True Kingdom of Righteousness that shall know no end.

This is the Mystery hidden from all ages, Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27). And by abiding in the Word, the Unique Son of God, we partake of that Sonship and are renewed beyond corruption.

 

Lawlessness in Christendom

Because the rise of lawlessness is so intimately connected with the cooling off of love (cf. Matthew 24), and the man of Sin (read: lawlessness) is hard-linked with the displacement of Christ in His Church (cf. 2 Thess. 2), our greatest concern as the people of God — Heb. Ammishaddai — must be the loss of faith, hope, and love of God, These now we see replaced by self-will and self-glorification.

Violence is not an acceptable means for moving society forward, and securing certain rights and privileges which are desired by the citizens. This is particularly so for those who would claim Jesus Christ as their Savior and leader. His ethos is unequivocally and unmistakably the way of Peace. This is so well established historically in view of the self-identification of the early Christians as members of ‘The Way.’

This identification has given way long ago, as competitive pathways of licentiousness and lawlessness have increasingly displaced the spiritual focus and non-material life emphasis that once dominated the houses of the faithful. Far too much rapprochement has occurred between Church and State. Now the world, aka ‘the nations,’ has infiltrated The Way, so that a theology of prosperity, and a pluralistic god-system wherein all of the “spiritual” teachings of Babylon which supplant devotion to God with self-glorification, have ascended above that which was originally transmitted in ‘the faith once delivered.’ This faith had eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, and on the spiritual realities of faith, love, and hope, that are the sine qua non of Life in Christ.

Under domination by the nations, Christian life and community has become worldly life with the name of Jesus upon the lips. The apostle Paul once said such Christians were the name of Jesus on loan. They do not embody it as the foundation and essence of their new life.

The antinomian perspective which Dietrich Bonhoeffer termed “cheap grace,” arose partly due to a misunderstanding of the gospel message, and poor translation through the centuries has enshrined that error into the doctrine of Christianity.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 5:16-17

So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. vv.19-20

The lynch pin of the problem lies in the poor understanding of the word ‘fulfill’, in Greek pleroo. A more highly nuanced meaning that fits with the remainder of the text would be ‘to fill up,’ or ‘to make replete.’ Indeed, Christ made the law replete by raising it to its spiritual fullness. A deep reading of the sermon on the mount will prove this out. Christ did not relieve us of the commission to walk in His ways and to keep His word, but he made the law replete that we might walk in the Spirit and live out the spiritual contours of the law, viz. the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, which sets us free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:2)

It was men from Egypt bringing in the Eleusynian mysteries, and those from the Greek Mystery schools that set up a false dichotomy between the body and the soul, condoning all acts of the body due to its evil nature, allowing the soul to be delivered, since its nature is good. The Matthean text thus served as a proof text to support the idea that Christ had fulfilled the law, and thus there were no longer any behavioral obligations remaining to the followers of Christ. This theological pillar of lawlessness has survived to this day, and can be heard in the words of prominent pastors and church leaders who excuse the most reprobate behavior because “well, we are all sinners.”

To understand how this is an attack by spiritual armies on Jerusalem, we must return now to the eschatological vision of Jesus as Luke recorded it (21:20-24) and we have cited at the head of this paper. And to add insult to injury we must read it afresh since we have arrived at a time in history where there are next to none who can actually read the scriptures and hear the intended message. (cf. Isaiah 29:11-12)

And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

How tragic that this is the state of our pastorate today. I will explicate by example with the Lucan text concerning the armies of the nations surrounding Jerusalem — a profound and principal cause that so many who are led by the blind will not see the signs of Christ’s imminent return.

If the reader can be like Paul and learn things of the Spirit taught by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 2), comparing spiritual words with spiritual realities, then such reader can hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. But you must put on the mind of Christ to understand. That will give you ears to hear. For God is interested in spiritual things above all else. And for that we must likewise fix our minds on Jesus Christ, who is the Spirit of Life, our life, and not the material.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
     neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
     so are my ways higher than your ways
     and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Peter likewise convicts us on the question of trying to make an interpretation of the prophecy, because the Spirit of Christ, aka the Spirit of Truth, has an intended meaning for each message..

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Now that we have established the foundations of our reading of the text in Luke, we begin to see it in a new way. Jesus was standing in Jerusalem, but He was not speaking of that Jerusalem, which is in a spiritual sense called Sodom and Egypt. It is the Jerusalem of the earth, like Hagar, in slavery — this Paul laid out to the Galatians.

No, Jesus is speaking of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual reality that inhabits us within, and is also above. And those who live in her are truly the called and chosen and faithful (Revelation 17). It is this reality that is under attack. And as long as the seekers of Christ believe the blind and uneducated leadership of Christendom that is fleshly minded, they will be waiting to see military armies in the physical nation of Israel and will miss the more serious spiritual attack that is already underway, and will soon culminate in the complete possession of the church on earth by the nations, not by the spiritual leadership of the Israel of God. This Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations.

What the contemporary church is not mindful of is that all of the Babylonian tendencies toward cheap grace, ear-tickling teachings, and self-glorification, are all stumbling blocks to following the Good Shepherd (John 10). “My sheep hear my voice, they know me, and they follow.”

To fail in following is to rely on another spirit, and that is the spirit of anti-Christ. In this realization we come to the understanding that Paul made it abundantly clear to the Thessalonians that this spirit of anti-Christ is of one piece with the spirit of lawlessness. This in turn will trample Jerusalem, the holy city, i.e. the fellowship and unity of those who proclaim to live in the Spirit of Christ. The Temple of Spirit within is where the true disciples gather together. The outer courtyard, termed by Moses “the courtyard of the Gentiles,” exhibits the worldly mind-set of the nations, and thus is not part and parcel of life in Christ. This Babylonian Christendom is being trampled on every front, from the New Age to the Christian Nationalist.

Watch for our coming article on the unreality of Christian Nationalism — it is not a thing, but a delusion of the worldly aka “fleshly” mind.

The Christianity of right-wing evangelicals turns the teachings of Christ on their head. The Law of Christ, wherein the believer is called to carry his neighbor’s burden is now deemed to be a commission to rule over that neighbor and place them under a Pharisaical law of the believer’s own creation. The commandments of Christ are overthrown for the traditions of men, just as it was with the religious leaders of Jesus’ own time.

In so examining the meaning of historical events in our own time we simply cannot arrive at the depth of their significance unless we take into account all that the Lord has said regarding what we is to occur — from the divine perspective.

Psalm 2 and Luke 19 furnish the more encompassing context and backdrop against which we can evaluate visible signs of the worldwide rise of the anti-Christ spirit. 

Note: the identity of any single human being as “the anti-Christ” is far less important than the visible signs of that spirit in the words and actions of those who claim Christ as their lord and savior.

It is the error of Judas, and in like manner these “followers” of Christ make the same equivocation. They conspire to overthrow governments and force peoples of all tribes and tongues and nations to submit to their own twisted view of what the kingdom would look like. 

We viewed the parable from Luke 19, and this is intricately related to the first verses of Psalm 2. We repeat that citation here.

Why do the nations rage,
     and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
     and the rulers take counsel together,
against YHWH and against his Messiah, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
      and cast away their cords from us.” Psalm 2:1-3

It is as the Lord Messiah Himself said, recorded in Matthew 11:12 — “The Kingdom of God is suffering violence; violent men take it by force.” And in the church, this is the extreme deeds of the Nicolaitans which the Lord hates. They want to rule, rather than to serve.

And Revelation 17 shows that Christ and His Elect will conquer all the kings of the earth (10 kings = the complete number). It is the beast with 10 horns.

In so far as God has established all the kingdoms of the earth — an unpopular position articulated by the prophet Daniel, and confirmed by Paul in Romans 13 — rebellion against the governing authorities is a shadow which shows beasts turning to the Beast and rebelling against the commands of Christ. God is ruler over all the kingdoms of the earth. This is yet another instance of the mystery of lawlessness at work in the church rebelling against the established authorities.

Isn’t it ironic, that the historical church, in attempting to establish law in the nations of the earth, is exhibiting the extreme of lawlessness?

In conclusion, the rebellion of evangelical streams of the church against the temporal administration of the United States government and its peaceful transition of power between administrations, is but a shadowy reflection of the rebellion against the heavenly kingdom and their very own proclaimed king. By killing their neighbors and the peace officers sworn to protect the servants of the people, the self-proclaimed Christians and their denominational leaders demonstrate they reject their king.

And thus we observe evidence that the time of the nations is coming to its fullness, as its rebellious influence has invaded and consolidated a stranglehold on Christ’s own church. In this is revealed the mystery of lawlessness and the fulfillment of the purpose and end of the tree of knowledge in this aeon of creation. And Paul proves his wisdom in writing that “all are consigned to disobedience, that God might have mercy on all.” (Romans 11:32)

It is a mystery, because it needs revealing to the mind of Man, and because it is an operation of spirit, albeit a spirit of opposition and rebellion, operating according to the power of the Adversary himself.

This mystery is received for those who have not received a love of the Truth, which literally means the love for Jesus Christ, since He IS the Truth. The choice is clear: it is either love and obedience in all humility, or it is rebellion and lawlessness and the spirit of anti-Christ. There is no in between. As Moses proclaimed it to all Israel, choose this day life or death.

In final analysis we hear that we must return to love!  For it is a result of the increase in lawlessness that the love of the greater number has grown cold. (Matthew 24:12) And didn’t the Lord remind us of this in His message to the angel of the congregation at Ephesus?

Amen, it is the revolt against our heavenly Father, (cf. Isa. 1:2, Psalm 2) and the lawlessness (aka repudiation of love) that has ensued, we are able to behold the visible fruits of the tree of knowledge and the evil they contain. When we supplant the Love of God and of our neighbor with the narcissistic love and self-glorification which the mind of the Adversary epitomizes, and the hatred of God and neighbor that is a direct consequence, then we are compelled to examine the mystery of lawlessness and the fruit of the tree of knowledge that is pleasant to look at, but “lights the  way to dusty death.” Here, William Shakespeare characterizes life as Macbeth sees it, in our view a life devoid of God and Christ.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Ultimately, this is the very purpose of this mystery of lawlessness, that it might teach us a way that does not light the way to dusty death, but that is a path to righteousness and a way to eternal life; one which is full of significance, and founded on the Rock, the Word, the Lord of All the Earth.

Now that we have delved into the depths of the way of wickedness, the mystery of lawlessness — the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as it were — it remains our task to explore the way of righteousness and peace, which we shall do in another installment.

But before we can tread “the road less traveled by,” as Robert Frost might call it, let us peer through the present roiling sea of humanity and the nascent consummation of the kingdom of darkness, into the near future to examine the contours of the ultimate expression of this mystery of lawlessness. This is emerging as a single world kingdom that has consolidated its counterfeit countenance of Christ with the enthronement of antichrist. This image of the beast is currently supplanting the image of Christ in nations and congregations today, and portends a persecution of the truly Christed ones by the Pharisaical/Nicolaitan leadership of the historical “Church.”