The main problem of the last days is and will continue to be that of lawlessness. Antichrist is the man of lawlessness.

We are so immersed in our contemporary life that the tapestry of history is not always visible to us. It is hard to realize that for most of his history man has been under severe laws.

The Star Chamber, the Algerian hook, drawing and quartering, lining the road with crucified criminals, keelhauling, starving children hung for stealing a loaf of bread—these horrors no longer exist in the Western democracies.

But in America while the penalties are getting lighter the crimes are increasing in horror. It is not unusual to read in the paper of a raped, murdered child, or someone who has been carved into pieces and the parts strewn around, or a victim in a car wreck who is raped and robbed while lying helplessly in the wreckage before the police get there. Some of our larger cities are in anarchy such that people, including children, are shot for no reason at all.

The punishment increasingly is diminished while the crime increasingly is rampant. Perhaps there is a relationship here.

Satan is behind the minimizing of punishment. He is hoping somehow to escape the Lake of Fire. I think Satan's plan is to so arm people against the idea of severe punishment that they will force God to reconsider the idea of an eternal lake of fire. But Satan is deceived in this. Once the Father speaks there is no power that can change the Word.

There are two realms of lawlessness today. One is in the Western democracies. The other is in the Christian churches.

Secular lawlessness in the Western democracies is produced by the notion that man can govern himself. Man is not able to govern himself. He must have strong governmental controls and quick, severe penalties for wrongdoing—wrongdoing as described by the Bible standards of morality. (What other reliable, unchanging standards are there?)

I am not speaking here of returning to the Law of Moses but to the concepts of justice and righteousness found in the conscience of all people until they are corrupted by an outside philosophy, such as that of relative morality. The laws of the Bible coincide with the laws of the unpolluted human conscience because both came from the same God. The natives in the bush have stronger, more effective social laws concerning morality than is true of Americans. We don't know where we are morally!

When someone willfully harms another person he or she should be punished appropriately and then prepared for another chance at citizenship, perhaps under supervision. A second offense should bring quick, severe punishment and more prolonged incarceration as well as preparation for eventual release. Society must be protected from criminals.

It is obvious that some types of criminals must be removed from society permanently.

Cruel and unusual crimes deserve cruel and unusual punishment. When cruel and unusual crimes are not responded to by cruel and unusual punishment a kind of psychological "stuffing" takes place in society that will cause some kind of eruption sooner or later. People want and need justice if they are to have any kind of psychological-social health.

Man is not able to govern himself. To permit him to do so leads directly to lawlessness. Stern, powerful government, such as in a monarchy, is necessary if society is to be rescued from anarchy. We Christians have this kind of government in the Kingdom of God if we will come under it!

The other realm of lawlessness is the Christian churches. It is taught commonly that we have been freed from the Law of Moses so we can do pretty much as we please without severe punishment. The truth is, we have been freed from the Law of Moses so we can be married to Christ—an infinitely more demanding government.

Because Christian people have been taught they can sin without severe, lasting punishment they do not grow in righteousness.

Now we have a lawless secular society (Antichrist) and a lawless Christian society (the False Prophet). One will assist the other in the last days and the result will be utter chaos.

God's response to the chaos will be the great tribulation.

God is a God of law and will not tolerate lawlessness for any length of time.

His patience should be leading us to repentance.