Thread by @ThomasCoutouzis

#Exetweet thread

1/ "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

2/ The context is apostasy. Paul is referring to a great apostasy that will make way for the Antichrist leading up to verses 11-12.

As you look at verse 6 we see that God is the one restraining Satan and this great apostasy from taking place until the time He appoints.

3/ This should show you God's sovereignty. That he restrains Satan and his Antichrist. If it were not for His restraining grace man would be handed over to their depravity and wipe everyone out of existence. If Satan were not restrained he would wreak havoc...

4/...on the world that will be unmatched in human history since the Fall.

We don't seem to realize as Christians how good we have it in a world ruined by sin. If He removed His restraining hand the foundations of the universe would collapse.

5/ In verses 8-10 Paul begins to address this man of lawlessness and showing how the Antichrist will be supernaturally powered using signs and wonders. Bethel Church and the followers of the New Apostolic Reformation will finally get the god they had always longed for.

6/ This Antichrist/lawless man will be so convincing that unbelievers will be so enamored by him that they will worship him. However, the only the unbeliever will be deceived, not the believer.

Before I get into the main text I would be remiss if I didn't mention that sin...

7/...never comes on all at once. Like the Casting Crowns song, "It's a slow fade". A person that commits adultery just doesn't commit adultery overnight. It starts with a lustful gaze, then continues to gain steam with lustful thoughts & fantasies. These sinful desires grow...

8/...and get deeper and darker until eventually the sin of adultery is carried out physically w/ another person. It is the same with the day of evil in that our world is getting darker. Abortion/murder is celebrated, forsaking God's standard for marriage & sex is applauded,...

9/...Love of self is championed over love of others, seeking revenge is exalted as virtue, 2+2=5, feelings have become the standard for truth, anger courses through the veins of most people, injustice is lauded as justice, love of money and possessions trumps sacrifice,...

10/...serial narcissism has exploded with social media, etc...I can keep going, but will stop here.

With all this in mind, the unbeliever will be swept away when this man of lawlessness comes because he will be a man after their own heart.

11/ Paul says, "For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false."

Paul is saying that God is turning them over to their sin. This is a judgment. Romans 1:21-32 backs this up.

12/ In fact, Romans 1:24 would back this up, "Therefore God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them."

In context, Paul is speaking about sexual sin, more specifically homosexuality. God gave them over to

13/...everything that their hearts desired. So too will God give these people over to the Antichrist who will be a man after their own heart.

"deluding influence" is πλάνης ἐνέργειαν (planes energeian). "Plane" means "to wander/to stray about". Jude actually uses "planetes"...

14/ in Jude 13 when he calls apostates "wandering stars". Planetes translated as "wandering". What is interesting is that Jude calls apostates wandering stars and wild waves of the sea because they are not in control. They are unstable roaming from here to there.

15/ They are not grounded in truth, so they have no anchor. They go where ever their sin nature takes them because they are subject to it. This is why people will tear down statues in rage, claiming to be against racism, yet ripping down statues of Frederick Douglas and Lioncoln

16/ This is why the CHAZ/CHOP came into existence with rapes, murders, luting, & destruction of property. These people have been turned over to their sin as a judgment. They are inclined to go where ever their sin nature takes them without question, caring nothing of consequence.

17/ This is why in the Woke movement they think 2+2=5, or that crosswalks are racist, or that Aunt Jemima is offensive. They have been given over to a deluded mind by God as a judgment. That is frightening. In the context, this is a judgment that seals their fate.

18/ In other words, there is no coming back. They have fully rejected God and have been given over to their sin. In the context of the Antichrist they will follow him to the end and take his mark willingly as all unbelievers will.

19/ I almost forgot an important point. ἐνέργεια (influence) gives us our English word for "energy". It combines "en" (in) and "ergon" (to work). Properly, "to work in" and denotes active/powerful in action. Add "plane" and you can render it "Powerfully wandering" or

20/ "Straying actively" with the implication that these people are empowered by error. They actively seek after it because it is their hearts desire and it is what fuels them.

Check out any Steven Furtick sermon. Do you hear all the "uh-huh's" and "Yes's" and "I claim that".

21/ They are being fueled by error and they love it because it speaks to their crooked hearts. It is what keeps them going. The Antichrist's lies will fuel the hearts of the unbeliever. They will view him as the bread of life. Christ is the actual bread of life.

22/ The Devil is a counterfeit and many times mimics God. Man does not eat by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God's word is the believers spiritual food. It strengthens us. Likewise, the Antichrist will energize his people with error.

23/ Being given over to this delusion makes them ripe to believe what is false. As such as we go into v12 we see that it is a judgment. They are gone. They have fully rejected the truth and will hear nothing of it.

Why? Because they love their wickedness.

We are seeing the...

24/...the beginnings of this delusion today. Read 2 Timothy 3 and compare what you see.

2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance...

25/...to their own desires." They want to be fed lies.

These false teachers energize them and they will always go back to them to be fed.

Trying to reason with those under judgment is impossible so know when to stop throwing your pearls before swine.