It seems there had been some kind of spirit utterance in the infant church at Thessalonica. Someone had spoken with a lying “tongue.” Apparently, there also had been a “voice of prophecy,” but it had not been the Holy Spirit’s voice. Like the infant church’s gift of “tongues,” its gift of prophecy also could be imitated by a lying spirit. The Thessalonians were far too ready to take such manifestations as of God without testing the spirits to make sure that the communication had come from God. In those days, before the completion of the New Testament canon of Scripture, tongues and prophecy were still valid gifts. If caution was necessary in those days, how much more skeptical we should be in these days when these foundational gifts have been withdrawn (1 Cor. 13:8; 1 John 4:1–3). That was not all. There also had been a forged letter purporting to have come from Paul. Thus the deception was threefold (a lying tongue, a false prophecy, and a forged letter), and a threefold cord is not easily broken. The Bereans would not have been so gullible. We read that they were “more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Paul took advantage of this deception in the Thessalonian church to unveil a larger deception—Satan’s most secret plans for the end times. We have, first, the unveiling of Satan’s man: “Let no man deceive you by any means,” says Paul (2 Thess. 2:3), using a double negative to reinforce the warning. He tells us that before the Man of Sin can be revealed, there has to be “a falling away first,” and overwhelming apostasy. Satan’s man is called “the man of sin” and also “the son of perdition.” We generally recognize this prodigy of wickedness as the Antichrist. He is called “the beast” in the Apocalypse. He is “the little horn” of Daniel 7, the final Gentile world ruler. He is supported by an apostate Jew, called “the false prophet” (Rev. 19:20). The Antichrist will be killed but will come back to life again (17:8). In his early career, he is called the beast “out of the sea” (13:1) but, in his later career, he is the beast out of the Abyss (17:8–14). Paul tells the Thessalonians that the Holy Spirit, working through the church, is at work in the world today, holding back the rising tides of wickedness. In the end, however, the godless forces working in society will produce the Man of Sin, once the Holy Spirit removes the restraint. The rapture of the church will make it possible for Satan to bring in his man. “Then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed,” Paul says (2 Thess. 2:8). Immediately after the rapture, there will not only be a sudden acceleration in every kind of wickedness; but chaos will descend upon the world (Rev. 6). The Devil will then produce his man. He will revive the old Roman Empire, sweep away all opposition, and take control of the whole world. “Who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4), the hesitant nations will say, as they sign up as members of the new global empire. Once global power is in his hands, the Antichrist will force people to receive his mark and worship his image. He will then launch a global persecution of the Jews and all who hold the Judeo-Christian ethic. In the end, God’s judgments will weaken the Antichrist. The nations of the East will rebel and mobilize against him and will march westward, setting the stage for Armageddon and the return of Christ to reign. Paul warns the Thessalonians against unbelief. Unbelievers left behind at the rapture of the church, people who have heard the gospel and rejected it, will believe the Devil’s lies. Indeed, God Himself will withdraw Himself from all those who choose the lie over His Son, who is the Truth (John 14:6). It is always that way. People who disbelieve or ignore the truth lay themselves open to believe a lie. It is always so. Let the unbeliever beware.