Wednesday After the Eighth Sunday After Trinity, 8/08/01

2 Thessalonians 2:4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. --NIV In the name of the One Who will destroy the lawless one, amen.

False prophets are a dime a dozen. They are very plentiful, and they are especially dangerous because they pass themselves off as Christians. That is especially the case of the king of the false prophets, the man of lawlessness. He set himself up in the temple of God and places himself over everything that is called God.

But though he is powerful and will remain until Christ comes, Christ will remove him in the end. Even the fact that God, through the Apostle Paul, tells us about the man of lawlessness is encoraging to us. It reminds us that Jesus is in control, and even though the greatest of the false prophets is in the visible church, he cannot harm the true church because Jesus protects as He promised, "The gates of hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18). Amen.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have promised to protect Your church so that the gates of Hades will not be able to destroy it. Keep us in Your Church so that we stand firm to the end, amen.

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