Volume II    Issue #6    JUNE 1-15, 2003

The Falling Away

Tragedy comes in many forms, but as of late it has swept the Church in a deception of, well, Biblical proportions.  I'm not talking about widespread heresy as in a denial of the deity of Jesus Christ.  That has already come into the Church over the last few decades in spades.  No friends, I am writing to you about a more subtle attack on the saints.  This attack hits right at the core of our faith in the hope that we all share.  I am talking about the return of Jesus Christ for his bride!  The closer we get to the Day of Christ, the more the opposition turns up the heat.  Our adversary the Devil would like nothing more than to steal the joy of the saints in their waiting for the Lord.  As of late, he does appear to be winning some small skirmishes these days.

Now there has been a debate for some time on the timing of the Lord's return.  In my opinion Scripture does not stutter as far as this issue is concerned.  First off, Jesus promised to come for the Church (John 14;2), and secondly, he promised to keep the Church out of the day of judgment (Luke 21:36, Revelation 3:10).  It doesn't get clearer than that, however there are those who seem to muddy the waters and wrangle of words.  Funny how the Bible warns against even this simple issue (I Timothy 6:3, II Peter 3:16).  Be that as it may, there are still those who continue to hammer the faithful watchers.  I mean seriously folks.  It seems like every time I turn around somebody is leveling some new attack on salvation, baptism, the existence of Hell, you name it.  However the real tragedy is the fact that many are being won over to these views.  It has happened on my message board lately, and in the church media as well.

I was recently asked to take a crack at explaining a well known passage in the Bible that seems to stumble many who like to wrangle on the the subject.  I thought it would be helpful, especially in keeping up with the ministry of this website, to revisit this passage and make firm our foundation once again.  I do hope this finds anyone who is struggling with the issue.  Let's take a look at II Thessalonians 2....

"1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come..."

Paul makes it very clear from the onset that he is about to give a lesson "concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ".  This is not some doctrinal thesis regarding the Second Coming, but rather a letter to correct error. This was the case throughout the epistles anyway.  Correcting error!

With this in mind, what was the error? Why did Paul need to write the letter to begin with?  Because the church at Thessalonica had been given some false doctrine concerning the return of Christ.  Does this sound familiar?  This means, as we will also see later, that the true doctrine had already been taught at some time previous.  Please keep that in mind.  Paul tells them that they should not be troubled by any sort of letter or word purported to be from him that the Tribulation had started.  It is clear from his delivery that this in fact had occurred.

"3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God..."

Now this is the verse that tweaks everyone out.  Context friends, context.  Paul says to not let any one deceive them by any means; i.e., by letter, word, prophecy conference, top ten Christian Best-Seller, TBN regular guest status, etc.  You get my point.  Paul is simply saying to them that they have been fooled into giving up their crowns of faithfulness in waiting on Jesus.  He is not really warning them to not be deceived, he is implying that they already have been!  The issue does not appear to have anything to do with the pre-trib rapture per se, as much as it is addressing the the signs of the Great tribulation.  It is later (verses 5-7) that he talks about the rapture, in my view.

Paul simply tells them that they are not in the Tribulation, and that they had not missed the rapture. He says that the Day of the Lord will be marked by the great apostasy, or falling away, and the revealing of the Man of Sin.  We know from careful study of God's Word that these two events mark the half-way point of the Great Tribulation.  This is not in question.  Paul, in an almost sarcastic manner, is pointing out to the Thessalonians that they are not seeing these two events unfolding, so how could they think the Tribulation had begun?  Again, it goes back to his opening comments about being shaken by a false report, and being deceived by some means.  Next Paul reminds them of his laboring in already teaching them the correct order of events.

In other words, in modern language, what Paul is really saying is, "Hey guys.  Don't believe what the false teachers are saying.  Did you see the Apostasy?  Did you see the Abomination of Desolation? No.  You did not.  Don't be fooled by false doctrine Church.  The Tribulation has not begun or you would have seen these two events happen."

Think about it logically for a moment...

If the correct doctrine was Post-Trib, then why were they troubled?  In other words, if the signs that the Church were to be looking for were 1) the Great Apostasy, and, 2) the revelation of the Antichrist, then should not the Thessalonians have been excited that they only had but a short time left before the great and glorious appearing of the Lord?  Paul's letter would have been drastically different, don't you think?  He would not have told them not to be troubled or shaken in mind, but rather he would have been trying to quell their excitement.  Paul would have opened the passage more along the lines of "Whoa, whoa, whoa guys.  I know you are ready to be with the Lord, but....this is not the Day of the Lord guys."

Many prophecy watchers today are freaking out about the so-called "Road Map to Peace" and the formation of the European Union for crying out loud, but the Lord's coming may still be a long time off for all we know.  The Thessalonians were only looking at Nero coming to power and persecuting the Church.  If they had been looking down the barrel at a man indwelt by Satan standing in the Holy of Holies declaring himself as God, they would have been jumping up and down shouting to the Lord and hastening his coming!  No my friends.  Paul is correcting them because he had clearly instructed them in the Pre-trib coming of the Lord and they had quickly forgotten the order of events when this false teaching had come to them coupled with persecution.  They were freaking out because they thought Paul was wrong and that the Tribulation had come before the Rapture!

I fear that this is happening today in the Church, and sadly, it will probably get worse as the return of the Lord draws nearer.  I do hope that this writing reaches some of those who have been beguiled ever so subtlety into forsaking the Promise of our Lord's return.  Never forget that it was the subtle beguiling of the Serpent that got us all into the predicament we are in today anyway.  Lessons learned friends, lessons learned.

Next Paul tackles the Pre-trib doctrinal aspect of the revealing of the Man of Sin...

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

When did Paul discuss these things with them?  We do not know for certain.  It was during one of his trips to the region, and during the establishment of the church at Thessalonica.  We do find a hint of this in I Thessalonians 4, but the original teaching was before that.  Paul must have already taught them who the Restrainer is, because, unfortunately, he does not go into great detail here.  I like that actually.  It gives us a reason to just trust God at His Word, found throughout the thread of Scripture, about His coming for His bride before the Day of Wrath.  Part of the problem with this passage is that people get hung up on the middle of verse 3 and never go beyond that.  Many cling to "It says the the Falling away first and then the Antichrist, and then the end!"  But that is not really what the passage says now does it?  As with most doctrinal error in the Church today, the full counsel of God is often overlooked in place of someone's pre-conditioned view.  We must endeavor to remain vigilant in this area.

Paul reminds them that he had already taught them that the restrainer would continue to do so until He was taken out of the way.  The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit who now restrains sin from coming in all its darkness upon the earth.  The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church.  When He "is taken out of the way" we will be in big trouble unless we go where He is.  Isn't that what Jesus said anyway in John 14:1-4?

1 "Let not your heart be troubled; (Gee, isn't that what Paul is saying too?) you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
4 And where I go you know, and the way you know."

Put it this way.  Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth, right?  What does salt do?  Salt preserves.  In ancient times, before refrigeration, salt was used to keep meat from rotting right away.  All flesh is rotting and decaying both physically and spiritually.  As long as the Church is here, the salt we bring staves off the full decay that death brings to those around us.  This applies first and foremost to those who are being saved, but just as salt may sting an open wound, the lost need us also so that they may be reminded of their sinful, dying state as well.  I like how Paul put it in II Corinthians 2:14-16

14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.

It is very important to understand both the role of the Holy Spirit within the Church today, and the role of the Church in these Last Days.  We will be taking our leave soon and the salt will no longer be rubbed on those who have rejected Christ.  They will be free to indulge in all manner of sin and debauchery after we are gone, but just like any dead thing, without a preserver, they will eventually rot away.

Friends, don't give up on the Promise.  I have been struggling a lot lately with the nearness of Christ's return too.  I have been constantly buffeted by Satan from all sides, but I can't give in.  Neither can you.  Jesus will come again and take us home to be with him.  Do not get snagged on a few words here and there.  Read the Whole Counsel of God and keep the entire context in view.  I would encourage you to read through the passages in the Bible that have been presented here.  I hope and pray that you will be blessed and I look forward to seeing you all in the air when our Lord shouts and blows that trumpet.