2 Thessalonians 2:9 - Cops and Robbers

2 Thessalonians 2:9 "This man of sin will come as Satan's tool, full of satanic power, and will trick everyone with strange demonstrations, and will do great miracles." (TLB)

When I was a child there were a number of games I used to play.........one of them was cops and robbers. Back then it was still politically correct to play with toy guns...........and the world was pretty much black and white back then. Good guys were good guys and bad guys were bad guys.

It became difficult at times to get any of the guys who played this imaginary game to choose the side of the robbers. No one wanted that stigma attached to them, it seemed, and, besides, the robbers never won, and no one wanted to be on the losing side.

We couldn't all be cops, though, so that meant we had to offer various incentives to the group in order to get them to be robbers. There were a number of different enticements, but one I remember was that the bad guys got the better weapons. They still didn't win, but when they went down they went down in style..........packing some of the better hardware (guns).

When I read tonight's scripture I saw how our game back then in a sense mirrored some of the activities of the enemy around the end of time.

No one wants to be on the losing side so the enemy has to be really creative to get people to sign on to his cause. He knows, and we know that the battle has already been decided...........the good guys are going to win...........so he has to come up with some real enticements to woo recruits to sign with him.

The life he offers promises many things to many people. And it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the new and exotic, but it's all an elaborate ruse to get as many as he can to join him before the time given to him is up.

And he's going to save the last big enticement until just before the end..........he'll send among us, as Paul says above, a "man of sin...full of satanic power" to perform some amazing tricks to draw those willing to believe in him to eternal doom.

Daniel paints a pretty grim picture of the day of the Lord's second coming for those who don't believe in Him, but there is hope for those who do believe in the Lord. "And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand." (Daniel 12:9-11 (NASB))

For me the way to understand is to sit at the Master's knee............listen to Him with my heart.........so I will know when I'm hearing Him and when I'm hearing something which sounds like Him.

Love in Jesus,

Jim

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"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." (1 Corinthians 12:18 NASB)

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

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This devotional was originally posted on CCI-Devo - Daily Group Devotionals on January 17, 2004 in post #453. It was written by Jim Ross, a former United Pentecostal Church member, who attends Christian Challenge International, the sponsor of the devotional group. The devotional is the copyright of Jim Ross and is reprinted on this site by permission.

Page added April 14, 2006

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