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Lawlessness and Disorder

One of the signs we are told will mark the last days is a 'secret power of lawlessness' (2 Thessalonians 2: 7).

Now there are powers of lawlessness that are not at all secret. Anti-social behaviour, gun crime and terrorism are some very visible examples. They are visible because they create not only lawlessness, but disorder.

But there are other powers of lawlessness that are less visible, and very ordered. For example, Iraq before the fall of Saddam Hussein was far more orderly than it has been since - but in terms of godliness and spirituality, it was equally lawless.

Saddam was a law unto himself, recognising no higher moral or legal authority, using fear and violence to control his subjects so that he could do as he pleased.

And that is the heart of lawlessness - to place my heart and will at the centre of everything, and seek to control my universe in my own way, with no reference to God, his will or his purpose.

May God open our eyes and expose that secret power wherever it is at work - and deliver us from falling into its trap.

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