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We believe that the restrainer referred to in this verse is the Holy Spirit working through the Church. Paul states that once "he who now restrains . . . is taken out of the 1 4d toanows 4 rs ee 2 | , 4 a4 way ... the law-less one will be revealed." We know that the Holy Spirit will not be taken out of the world, because during the Tribulation (the last three and one-half years of Daniel's 70th week) he will be working in the lives of Christians who are converted after the Rapture. The point is that the Holy Spirit—working through the Church—is restraining the forces of darkness, and he may be restraining far more than we can imagine! The removal of this restraining force (the Church empowered by Holy Spirit) will allow Satan free reign once the troublemakers are removed. We can't help but point out that Satan has not spent any time trying to explain away the view that the Church will be taken out after the arrival of the Antichrist and the As we examine the Biblical text, we discover that the primary goals and purposes of the Coming World Leader are to set himself up as the leader of a global confederacy of nations,*> to cause people to fall away from the Biblical world-view and to usurp the worship*° and adoration due to Jesus Christ, to exalt himself above all that is called God,**’ and to bring the world to battle against Jesus Christ and his followers in the Battle of Armageddon.*** To accomplish these goals he must bridge the gaps created by nationalism, religion, science, and philosophy. At the same, he must discredit, ostensibly, the Christian world- view of a personal Creator and saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Coming World Leader must also somehow convince the world that Jesus Christ is the enemy when Christ a 1 1s Throughout the centuries many have attempted to unify the world into a cohesive, global confederacy. However, these attempts at world empires have fallen short. Although it's an oversimplification, one of the primary reasons for this failure is that previous dictators attempted to win the world over by military force. Obviously, this method has proved incapable of accomplishing world unification. Though it may result in considerable territorial gains, rather than unifying disparate groups, subversion by military means only serves to deepen the divisions and resentment between those with ethnic and religious differences. For the Coming World Leader to rise to prominence and unify the world will require him to exploit, at a minimum, the following four stratagems. 169 lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:5-8). completion of the Tribulation! THE "MISSION" OF THE COMING WORLD LEADER returns in the clouds! WHEN THE WORLD WILL BE AS ONE First, it is well-known that out of the ruins of catastrophe and anarchy there arises a