Part 1: The Less Truth There Is, The More Apostasy Is Present
2 Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, There has been debate for centuries over who the restrainer is in 2 Thessalonians 2. It seemed to me that the chapter in itself had a self-contained a message of "what" (v. 5) and "who" (v. 6) these restrainers were. This short series is the result of that second look. THE THESSALONIANS WERE TOLD TO STAND FAST IN THE TRUTH 2 Thessalonians speaks of the church holding fast to the truth. In verse 15, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to 15 . . . . stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. The teaching he is speaking about here is all that he spoke of in the first 14 verses of this chapter. He says hold fast to them, don't let go, guard them with your life so your not deceived. He implies that those who do not hold fast to the truth will hold fast to the lie or deception and fall into apostasy. Jeremiah describes the deceitful apostate: Jer 8:5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. And Timothy said that the way to hold fast to that which they had received was by the Holy Ghost. This is a most crucial point in understanding the "what" of verse 6: holding fast to the TRUTH they had by the power of the Holy Ghost: 2 Tim 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself exhorted the churches of Thyatira and Sardis, Rev 2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. The reason Paul wrote to the Thessalonians is because they were being shaken from that which he had delivered to them in a previous visit: 2 Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, Paul knew that if they did not hold fast to the truth they had, they could not make it to the end. They would be deceived into the apostasy and give the mystery of iniquity more power to bring into power the man of sin:
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Strong's defines "stand fast" as meaning: STAND FAST 4739. steko, stay'-ko; from the perf. tense of G2476; to be stationary, i.e. (fig.) to persevere:--stand (fast). Standing fast was to stand in the truth of what the disciples taught them, truth that would be challenged in the "evil day":
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. That meant that there were spiritual dangers ahead: 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; It is likely that this church thought the day of the Lord was at hand because of the current persecutions described in Chapter 1 of this letter. But, he says that is impossible because there was no apostasy as yet nor was Antichrist on the scene. Paul is here dealing with two things: 1. Stand fast in truth of what they had been told 2. Don't fall for any other message because that is a deceitful message, and it is those kinds of messages that would lead them from the truth into apostasy. The less the Church stands fast in the truth by the Holy Ghost, the more the mystery of iniquity can work, which leads to a more powerful apostasy and would conclude in the coming of the man of sin. We must realize that a time will come when the force raised by the mystery of iniquity will be so strong that truth will be trampled in the streets, Antichrist ushered in and the saints overcome:
Dan 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered. This leads me to what I believe to be the proper insight on the restrainer in verse 6, namely: THE CHURCH standing fast IN THE TRUTH given to them in God's word, strengthened by THE HOLY SPIRIT who is the Spirit of Truth. The "what", then, in verse 6 is not the Church alone or the truth alone or the Holy Spirit alone, but
1. The Holy Spirit maintaining TRUTH in the Church Paul says, "NOW YOU KNOW the day of the Lord cannot be present!" Paul is saying, "Here it is in a nutshell, and 'now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.'" The Church maintained in truth by the Holy Spirit. We will look at the reasons for this in the Parts 2 and 3.
Part 1: The Less Truth There Is, The More Apostasy Is Present |