In writing his second epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul was addressing a particular concern from the believers there in Thessalonica that they were somehow already IN the Day of the Lord, and had missed the Rapture (Greek-harpazo, Latin-rapio, English-catching up) that Paul had taught them in his first epistle. In his original teaching, Paul listed out the chronological order of events that would transpire when the Lord returned to catch up His bride (the Church) back to Himself in 1 Thessalonians 4-5.
So follow the logic here:
- The mystery of lawlessness is already at work in our present age, but is being restrained by a Being who is both omnipresent and capable of keeping the forces of Satan at bay. (see Job 1:9-12)
- The Restrainer, who is the Holy Spirit, was given for the formation of the Church beginning at Pentecost (yet clearly existed before Pentecost) who indwells and seals the believer's in whom He holds as a 'guarantee' until the day of redemption. (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30, 1 Cor. 1:21-22)
- That day of redemption is the Rapture of the Church, which happens before the Antichrist can be revealed. It is in fact the Church's removal, which happens in a twinkling of an eye that allows for the explosion of lawlessness to happen all around the world suddenly.
- Power-Prior to the Rapture, Satan's power will continue to significantly increase and become visible in the last days, because God is allowing it to. (2 Thess. 2:11-12, Revelation 13:11-15)
- Signs-We see and recognize the signs of the times, i.e....those key markers that point towards the visible evidence of us being in the last days, but the world does not see or recognize them. (See 1 Thess. 5:1-9)
- Lying Wonders- the world is becoming increasingly desensitized to violence, sex, the extraterrestrial and supernatural by popular culture, movies, books, and the internet. The normalcy bias is purposefully and satanically put in high gear these days to prepare the world for what is coming...lying wonders which will cause the world to follow after it.
These things would PRECEED the arrival of the Antichrist. The signs the world sees may be some spectacular encounter with "aliens" from "outer space", or maybe some dynamic break-through in Artificial Intelligence which revolutionizes the way we live, or maybe both happen simultaneously. Either way, it will transform and reinforce people's perceptions to the point that they will completely believe the satanic deception, and will deceive those who don't want to know the truth (the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ).