The One who is holding back the power of lawlessness is the Holy Spirit of God in the saints. God will give Antichrist tremendous authority and power as well as great wisdom in the days to come, as we will be seeing presently, and many saints will lose their testimony because of the abundance of sin and lawlessness or because of the fear of persecution.

When the testimony of the saints has been overcome, then the power that holds back the secret power of lawlessness will be taken out of the way.

The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed." (Daniel 12:7)

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (II Thessalonians 2:8)

The purpose of the coming of the Lord is to drive the spirit of lawlessness from the earth and to establish justice and lawfulness. It is not to remove the Church to Heaven. At the coming of Jesus with His saints, the Man of Lawlessness will be overthrown and cast into the Lake of Fire along with the False Prophet, the spirit of religious seduction.

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (II Thessalonians 2:9-12)

The important thing to notice is that the issue concerns the love for truth. Those who refuse to love the truth will be sent a powerful delusion by the Lord. They have delighted in wickedness, in lawlessness. They will cooperate with Antichrist. Their reward for doing so will be to be tormented in the Presence of the Lamb and His angels.

Those who believe we can disobey God's commandments and still be acceptable to God will be increasingly deluded until they are a member of one of the Laodicean churches that is subsidized by Antichrist.

Today the Lord Jesus is warning us to repent and begin to live in a righteous manner. If we do not we will continue to be deluded until finally we are facing the angry Lamb of God.

We are blowing the trumpet in Zion. We are warning God's people. It is not only the unsaved who stand in peril, it is the Christian believers!

To be continued.