II Thessalonians 1:8 – 10a – “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”

How often do we think that a family member, a neighbor or a co-worker who do not know God or do not obey the gospel will be punished when Christ returns? God alone will do the punishing to all unbelievers. (Deuteronomy 32:35 – “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”)

Their punishment will be eternal and they will be separated from God forever. When Christ returns there will be only two groups: those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. Christians will enter into God’s kingdom and non-Christians will face everlasting destruction and will be absence God’s power. Revelation chapter 20 states they will be thrown into the “Lake of Fire”. They will be given no second chance, no appeal and no hope. This will be the final judgment shut out from the presence of the Lord.

II Thessalonians 2:1 – 3 – “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”

Not everyone agrees but this is how I interpret the above. Our “being gathered to him”: when the Lord Jesus Christ returns we will meet Him in the clouds and many called it the “rapture” of believers. Before Christ returns the “man of lawlessness” is revealed and many call him the Antichrist.

Matthew 24:10 – 14 – “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The Books of Daniel and Revelation tell us the Antichrist will be a dynamic leader. He will be defiant and deceitful. He will be so convincing that many will turn away from the faith and will betray each other. We are told that he will be admired and loved by the world. He will be demanding and those not worshipping him or taking the “mark of the beast” will die from starvation or beheaded. He will display all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and every sort of evil that deceives those who will perish. They will perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved.

II Thessalonians 2:6 – 8 – “And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 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.”

The work of the Antichrist, the secret power of the lawlessness one is already at work and He will not be revealed until God chooses. What we believe is holding it back is governmental law and order, the church or the Holy Spirit. We have yet to see the real terror that will be released onto the world. We believe that when the rapture occurs the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn at the same time Christ returns. The Holy Spirit will no longer be in the hearts of those left behind.

I now ask the question. What if we do not spread the gospel to those close to us? Are we willing to see them live under the Antichrist and be cast into the “Lake of Fire”? What about foreign missions? The Jews were told by God to spread His Word to the Gentiles and they refused. He then chose the church. What if we, the church, also refuse? What is our personal responsibility?