Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Thessalonians 2:16

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus — As all your grace came from God through Christ, so the power that is necessary to strengthen and confirm you unto the end must come in the same way.

Everlasting consolation — Παρακλησιν αιωνιαν· The glad tidings of the Gospel, and the comfort which ye have received through believing; a gift which God had in his original purpose, in reference to the Gentiles; a purpose which has respected all times and places, and which shall continue to the conclusion of time; for the Gospel is everlasting, and shall not be superseded by any other dispensation. It is the last and best which God has provided for man; and it is good tidings, everlasting consolation-a complete system of complete peace and happiness. The words may also refer to the happiness which the believing Thessalonians then possessed.

And good hope through grace — The hope of the Gospel was the resurrection of the body, and the final glorification of it and the soul throughout eternity. This was the good hope which the Thessalonians had; not a hope that they should be pardoned or sanctified, c. Pardon and holiness they enjoyed, therefore they were no objects of hope but the resurrection of the body and eternal glory were necessarily future; these they had in expectation; these they hoped for; and, through the grace which they had already received they had a good hope-a well-grounded expectation, of this glorious state.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

2:13-3:18 PRESENT NEEDS IN THE CHURCH

Stability amid persecution (2:13-3:5)

From considering the terrible judgment that awaits the wicked, Paul turns to look at the bright future that awaits the Thessalonian believers. God will destroy the man of lawlessness and his followers, but the same God loves the Thessalonian believers. Their salvation is certain because God chose them as his from eternity, called them to himself through the gospel, and will in due course give them a share in Christ’s glory (13-14).
In view of the security that is theirs through the gospel, the Thessalonians need not be frightened by persecution or worried about future events. If they hold firmly to the apostolic teaching given to them, they will find that God strengthens them with courage and hope (15-17).
Paul asks for prayer that his proclamation of the gospel in Corinth will bring the same fruitful results as it did in Thessalonica. He desires also that God will protect both him and the Thessalonians against the attacks of Satan (3:1-3). He is confident that they will continue to stand firm, and that they will obey the important instructions that he is about to give them (4-5).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

As so frequently in Paul's writings, there is here an eloquent inadvertent testimonial witnessing the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gloag noted that:

These verbs (comfort your hearts and establish them) are in the singular number, but their nominative is our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, thus implying the unity between these divine Persons. P. J. Gloag, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 21, 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 59.

Note: Relying so heavily in the interpretations advocated in this chapter upon ancient and traditional opinion, the writer is aware of the sense of shock that will come to some who read this; but, as Gloag, writing in Pulpit Commentary (perhaps the best and most thorough to be published in this century), expressed it:

Upon an impartial view, one cannot avoid the impression that the points of resemblance between the prophecy and Romanism are numerous, varied and striking. Our forefathers had no doubt as to the application of this prophecy, and perhaps they were nearer the truth than we in modern times who hesitate. Ibid.

This writer is reluctant to apply Paul's terrible warning to Romanism, but in conscience cannot do otherwise. The correspondence between the picture drawn and the historical apostate church is too clear and certain to be mistaken.

AN EXCURSUS ON "THE MAN OF SIN"

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10, Paul prophesied the great apostasy from the Christian religion and the ultimate revelation of "the man of sin" who would be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ. However, this prophecy of a vast and extensive defection from true Christianity does not stand alone in the New Testament, wherein definite mention of it is made in the following passages:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:15-23).

I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears (Acts 20:29-31).

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men, that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:1-5).

But know this that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away. For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith (2 Timothy 3:1-8).

For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth and shall turn aside unto fables. But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:1-3).

This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3:1-7).

And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, and having upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Revelation 17:3-6).

After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with glow. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities (Revelation 18:1-5).

For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect: behold, I have told you all things beforehand (Mark 13:22-23).

It is against the above background of other New Testament teachings on this subject that Paul's words in this passage can best be understood; and, as Dummelow said, "It will be convenient to treat this difficult passage (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10) as a whole." J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 989. Paul's words are:

Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming; even he, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Gloag classified the interpretations of this passage thus: (1) There is in reality no prediction, or prophecy, in this passage, all such things as predictive prophecy being denied by this class. (2) "The second class of interpreters are those who, recognizing a prediction, regard it as already fulfilled." P. J. Gloag, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 21, 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 56. (3) "The third class of exponents are those who regard the prophecy as being fulfilled, or as in the course of fulfillment; that is, as already partially fulfilled, but awaiting its complete accomplishment." Ibid., p. 57. (4) "The fourth class of interpreters consider the fulfillment as future, and that we are not to look to any past occurrences as answering all the requirements." Ibid., p. 60. There are whole libraries of the works of many scholars affirming each of these methods of interpretation; but, rather than trouble the reader with what would appear to be an almost endless examination of such writings, we shall devote the available space to advocating what is believed to be the true understanding of the passage, as classified under (3), above.

As will be noted below, the papal hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church exhibits a striking number of the qualities that are to mark the great historical apostasy of Christianity; and yet in fairness it must be admitted that no pope has ever fulfilled in its entirety Paul's description of the man of sin; but the historical Roman church is so certainly prophesied in the New Testament literature on this subject, that it is not amiss to look precisely there for the ultimate fulfillment of the total prophecy at some time yet future. There is also, it must be admitted, a certain sense in which the entire papal succession may be understood as meeting Paul's specifications perfectly. We pray that unbiased readers will not consider this a harsh judgment. Much of the dissent from the view that the papal hierarchy is the composite man of sin stems from the incorrect identification of the man of sin as "antichrist" (John 4:3), whose distinguishing mark of identity is his denial "that Christ is of God," a denial that, so far as is known, never pertained to any pope. Nevertheless, that man of sin who at last will be manifested as antichrist, although not having appeared upon the historical scene as yet, may yet do so in the future. The basic understanding of Paul's warning in this passage as a prophecy of the apostate medieval church is neither an uncharitable judgment nor an indulgence in fantasy.

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS

The preface to the King James Bible has this: "Your Majesty … which has given such a blow unto that Man of Sin as will not be healed," meaning the Pope.

Alexander Campbell met Roman Catholic Bishop John B. Purcell in debate in the Sycamore Street Meeting House, Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 13-21, 1837, Campbell affirming and Purcell denying proposition 3, thus:

The Roman Church is the "Babylon" of John, the "man of sin" of Paul, and the Empire of the "Youngest Horn" of Daniel's sea monster. A Debate on the Roman Catholic Religion (Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company, 1914), p. vii.

The more enlightened of the Roman pontiffs admitted some of the basic elements of this interpretation; and, in fact, historically, it was Pope Gregory I ("the Great," 550-604) who first identified the pope as Antichrist! William Hendriksen, A New Testament Commentary, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1955), p. 173. He said:

Whoever arrogates to himself the title of "universal priest" is a forerunner of antichrist. This statement is made in an epistle in which he denounced the claims of the contemporary "patriarch" of the East. Ibid., p. 174.

Martin Luther did not hesitate to identify the papacy and its entire hierarchy as "the man of sin, the antichrist, and the beast out of the sea." Ibid.

The Westminster Confession speaks very dogmatically thus:

There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be the head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin the son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God. — Article XXV. vi.

Thus the identification of the papacy and its religious apparatus with Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 was the prevailing view for more than a thousand years, a view supported by the writings and interpretations of many of the most brilliant men who ever lived on earth; and, on that account, there is no way for this writer to accept the sneers and snickers with which this interpretation is greeted by many modern commentators, as being an effective refutation of the arguments upholding it.

WHAT ARE THE ARGUMENTS?

The resemblance is striking and obvious. An apostasy is predicted, and in Romanism there is most positively a very wicked and extensive departure from the teachings of Christ. The doctrines of purgatory, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the Mass, the withholding of the cup from the laity, along with the pretensions of infallibility, successorship to the apostles, and claims of sole custodianship of the word of God — all these and countless other characteristics have effectively separated Romanism from the gospel of the New Testament.

The "man of sin" is represented as exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, being singularly fulfilled in the titles which the pope has arrogated to himself, such as "Lord God the Pope," "Lord of Lords," and also in the claim of being the "universal priest" and the assertion of his right to dispose of the kingdoms of the earth. The man of sin is said to seat himself in the temple of God, and that he setteth himself forth as God. The principal cathedral of the historical church is the seat of the papacy; and the pope is literally seated therein, always appearing upon the papal chair supported upon the shoulders of his retainers. Nor does this imply that the Basilica of St. Peter is in any sense the "true" temple of God, being, on the other hand, that which appears to many millions as such a temple. Just as the kingship of Israel was an apostasy from the theocracy and as the temple of Solomon and Herod was an apostasy from the tabernacle; just so, the temples of the historical church are an apostasy from the church which is the only true temple God ever had. The pope shows himself as God through claiming divine attributes such as infallibility and holiness, by presuming to forgive sins. "Only God can forgive sins."

The man of sin was called by the apostle Paul "the son of perdition," which is the word used of the false apostle (Judas), but nowhere else in the Bible. Does not the pope claim to be an apostle of Christ, indeed, the successor to the apostle Peter? But is he so? Is he not therefore a false apostle?

The mystery of lawlessness was already at work in Paul's day; and Paul specifically stated to the Ephesian elders that from among them would men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples unto themselves. The pope himself is merely an elder gone wrong.

With all power and signs and lying wonders … has never been fulfilled as continually and extensively by anything on earth except the signs, wonders, and miracles of Catholicism. The wonders done by sacred images moving, speaking and bleeding, the prodigies effected by sacred relics, supernatural visitations of the Virgin, the miraculous cures at countless shrines, etc., etc. — all of these and many more fulfill the prophecy perfectly.

When one goes beyond the confinements of the passage under consideration, the evidence is multiplied and compounded. For example:

"Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats." What other religious system ever imposed anything as unscriptural and unreasonable as "fish on Friday" and "no marriages in Lent"?

Having a golden cup in her hand … The greatest golden cup known throughout history is the chalice, which is not in the hands of the people but in those of the hierarchical system.

Full of the unclean things of her fornication … In fornication, that which belongs to the bride is taken from her and given to another who is not the bridegroom. The cup of holy communion which belongs to the bride of Christ has been taken away from her and given to another who is not the head.

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all (Daniel 11:37). What institution, or system, or authority ever rejected the "desire of women," to the extent of making celibacy the nearly invariable rule for all who would participate in it? The obvious answer is known to all men.

He shall wear out the saints of the Most High … (Daniel 7:25). Roman Catholicism has been the most vigorous persecutor of Christians since the days of the pagan empire. As Durant put it, "The Inquisition almost fatally disgraced the church." Will and Ariel Durant, Lessons from History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968), p. 45. The so-called "Holy Crusades," the religious wars, intrigues and subversions by which the man of sin built and maintained his empire have splashed with blood the pages of the last thousand years of history. There are no less than two religious wars in progress at the moment this is written.

OBJECTIONS TO THE ARGUMENTS

1.    It is affirmed that "the man of sin" is an individual, not a succession of individuals or any such thing as a system. Many respected commentators stress this; but, in the book of Daniel, a single figure of "the kingdom of iron" was made to represent all the kings of the Roman Empire, during which time the "everlasting kingdom" would be established. No less an authority than Lightfoot stated that "In all figurative passages it is arbitrary to assume that a person is meant when we find a personification." P. J. Gloag, op. cit., p. 59. He went on to declare that "The man of sin here need not be an individual man; it may be a body of men, or a power, or a spiritual influence." Ibid. Alexander Campbell took the same position with regard to this, and there can certainly be no intellectual objections to this view of it.

2.    It is declared that, in spite of many resemblances, the idea of the papacy does not and never did fulfill the prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Bishop Purcell, in the debate with Campbell, made this his principal reply, refuting the notion that the pope is antichrist. Alford, for example, viewed the behavior of the popes as a "most abject adoration and submission to God." Ibid. As regards the profession of popes, this is true; but have their lives honored such professions? Gloag, on the other hand, pointed out the conviction that "The arrogance of the pope, his assertion that he is the vicar of Christ, and his claim of infallibility are a distinct fulfillment of this prediction." Ibid. Furthermore, the difficulty of meeting this objection is completely solved when the "antichrist" of John is understood as the final and terminal embodiment of the "man of sin." This was the way Campbell understood it; and Bishop Purcell's argument begged the question by not taking this into account. Campbell did not affirm that popery was "the antichrist," but that it was the man of sin and Babylon. Viewing "the man of sin" as an institution and system and the "antichrist" as its final fruition clears the matter up completely.

3.    But it is precisely here that many interpreters have gone astray. Supposing that 2 Thessalonians 2:8 prophesies the summary and final end of the man of sin as soon as he appears, the commentators declare that, as the papacy has flourished for centuries and has not yet been destroyed, no reference to the papacy is included in the prophesy. However, the Scriptures do not assert that the Second Advent of Christ will follow immediately upon the arrival of the man of sin. The conditions that led to the development of the man of sin were already working in Paul's day. The interval between the arrival of the man of sin and the Second Advent is nowhere mentioned in the New Testament. Gloag's comment on this is:

It may be that there is a development of the Antichrist, and that his final destruction by the coming of the Lord will not occur until his full development. The spiritual power of the papacy may be unfolding itself; the mystery of lawlessness may still be working, as was lately seen in the introduction of the two new dogmas into the Romish Church, these being the immaculate conception of the Virgin, and the personal infallibility of the popes (both of which doctrines have been introduced during the current century). Ibid.

From all of the above considerations, this writer refuses to be ashamed of the historical interpretation of Paul's "man of sin" as a warning against the papacy and the errors that may yet be unfolded from it. This opinion is certainly not in keeping with the liberal spirit of the current age, during which it has become popular to denounce interpretations advocated by the wisest minds of a thousand years; but when we reflect upon the abominable persecutions of the Inquisition and remember that the principal architect of that diabolical apparatus is still revered as a saint in the Roman church, and when the monstrous wickedness of the popes and priests prior to the Reformation is considered; and when are recalled the atrocities committed in the name of religion, the general corruption of the whole system; and when it is taken into account that only the restraining influences of Protestantism prevent a repetition of such things, we may suddenly see that there is every reason to suspect that the ancient interpretations were founded upon the truth and are therefore neither unjust nor uncharitable.

THE CHARACTER OF THE ANTICHRIST

The view here is that antichrist in his fullness has not yet appeared; although, as the apostle John said, "there are many antichrists." If, as so many believe, there is to be a final and terminal antichrist who will be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ, it is obvious that he has not yet appeared upon the earth. Such men as Stalin, Hitler, Mohammed, Napoleon and many others who have been thought to be the objects of this prophecy, none of them were ever in "the temple of God," in the sense of being enthroned in it. The one certainty regarding the antichrist is that he shall appear as the head, the usurper and the unscrupulous dictator over the apostate church itself.

What will antichrist be like? The usual opinions are that he shall be an individual of gigantic mental power, unbelievable audacity and the most extreme wickedness. During the apostasy of Israel, Antiochus Epiphanes was such a person; later, after the final rejection of Christ by the hierarchy of Israel, the total profanation of the Jewish temple by a band of ruthless brigands led to the final overthrow of Judaism. It may well be that in both those events one may behold typical foreshadowings of the final corruption and rebellion of historical Christianity, events which this writer believes to be future. The bold and devilish deeds of some of the lesser "antichrists" who have appeared in our own times are precursors of what may come later on a vaster scale than ever.

This excursus will be closed by the following quotation from Gloag:

The revolt against all rule and authority, the spread of Nihilism, the increase of infidelity and agnosticism, the unblushing proclamation of atheism and the support given to it in the scientific and political world, the deification of materialism, are all the precursors of Antichrist. It may only require a dissolution of order and a corruption of morals greater and more universal than that which occurred in the French Revolution, to usher in the coming of the (final) Man of Sin, who, amid the confusion, will seize the scepter of dominion. We may figure him as an individual, a man of more commanding abilities and far greater wickedness than the first Napoleon; one who will subdue the world, and in the height of his impiety and ambition proclaim his atheism, and that man himself is God! Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself - This expression is equivalent to this: “I pray our Lord Jesus, and our Father, to comfort you.” It is really a prayer offered to the Saviour - a recognition of Christ as the source of consolation as well as the Father, and a union of his name with that of the Father in invoking important blessings. It is such language as could be used only by one who regarded the Lord Jesus as divine.

And God even our Father - Greek: “And God, and (και kai) our Father;” though not incorrectly rendered “even our Father.” If it should be contended that the use of the word “and” - “our Lord Jesus Christ, and God,” proves that the Lord Jesus is a different being from God - the use of the same word “and” would prove that the “Father” is a different being from God. But the truth is, the apostle meant to speak of the Father and the Son as the common Source of the blessing for which he prayed.

Which hath loved us - Referring particularly to the Father. The love which is referred to is that manifested in redemption, or which is shown us through Christ; see John 3:16; 1 John 4:9.

And hath given us everlasting consolation. - Not temporary comfort, but that which will endure forever. The joys of religion are not like other joys. They soon fade away - they always terminate at death - they cease when trouble comes, when sickness invades the frame, when wealth or friends depart, when disappointment lowers, when the senses by age refuse to minister as they once did to our pleasures. The comforts of religion depend upon no such contingencies. They live through all these changes - attend us in sickness, poverty, bereavement, losses, and age; they are with us in death, and they are perpetual and unchanging beyond the grave.

And good hope through grace - see the Romans 5:2, Romans 5:5 notes; Hebrews 6:19 note.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

16Now the Lord himself. When he ascribes to Christ a work altogether Divine, and represents him, in common with the Father, as the Author of the choicest blessings, as we have in this a clear proof of the divinity of Christ, so we are admonished, that we cannot obtain anything from God unless we seek it in Christ himself: and when he asks that God may give him those things which he had enjoined, he shews clearly enough how little influence exhortations have, unless God inwardly move and affect our hearts. Unquestionably there will be but an empty sound striking upon the ear, if doctrine does not receive efficacy from the Spirit.

What he afterwards adds,who hath loved you, and hath given consolation, etc., relates to confidence in asking; for he would have the Thessalonians feel persuaded that God will do what he prays for. And from what does he prove this? Because he once shewed that they were dear to him, while he has already conferred upon them distinguished favors, and in this manner has bound himself to them for the time to come. This is what he means by everlasting consolation. The term hope, also, has the same object in view — that they may confidently expect a never-failing continuance of gifts. But what does he ask? That God may sustain their hearts by his consolation; for this is his office, to keep them from giving way through anxiety or distrust; and farther, that he may give them perseverance, both in a pious and holy course of life, and in sound doctrine; for I am of opinion, that it is rather of this than of common discourse that he speaks, so that this agrees with what goes before.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, [in virtue of this, because of this] and are gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is already present ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 )

Now there were some there who said this persecution that we are going through is the Great Tribulation; this is the day of God's vengeance. It is already here. And they even produced letters, supposedly written by Paul, saying yes, these fellows are right; this is the day of vengeance. This is the Great Tribulation. And so Paul is writing to correct this. Don't believe any supposed letters from me.

At the end of this epistle Paul makes the note that, "I have signed this in my own hand which I do with all of my epistles". These false epistles that they had been receiving weren't signed by Paul's own hand, and so he makes reference to the fact that he personally signs those epistles that he writes. It is a mark of Paul's. Though he dictated and someone else wrote them, he would sign his name to the end that they might have the authority and know that it was indeed from Paul.

So don't be troubled in your spirits, by someone's word, or by a letter that was supposedly from us, in believing that the day of the Lord is already present, or is now present.

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 ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3 );

So two things must precede the day of the Lord's vengeance and wrath that is coming upon the earth. Number one, a great apostasy. Now this word "apostasy" has been argued by some as meaning departure. And there are some that try to relate it to the rapture of the church, referring to the departure. There are problems with that. And rather than trying to take a position on that, we only mention it as definitely a possibility. However, we do know that Jesus in speaking of His coming again said, "When the Son of man shall come again, will he find faith on the earth?" ( Luke 18:8 ) He questioned. And then again He said, "And because the iniquity of the earth will abound, the love of many will wax cold" ( Matthew 24:12 ). So Jesus seemed to indicate an apostasy.

I personally believe that that apostasy is upon us. As I look at the general condition of the church of Jesus Christ, there is great apostasy. When I see these churches ordaining avowed homosexuals, we -- I see the homosexual church, the Metropolitan church and all. When I read the statements of some of these ministers who join the fight against anything that is good and decent, there is a tremendous apostasy.

Churches such as ours are the exception, not the rule. There is a great apostasy today, but then there is the second thing that must happen before the Great Tribulation, and that is that the man of sin, the son of perdition must be revealed. This man of sin, son of perdition is commonly called the anti-christ.

This title son of perdition is an interesting title because it is really son of Satan. And even as Jesus was God incarnate, in flesh, so the anti-christ will be Satan incarnate. Satan will take on a body or take over a body, probably more literally. And even as demons are able to possess bodies, so Satan himself will take residence in a body. And thus he is titled the son of perdition.

Now there is one other person we know where Satan took over his body and that was Judas Iscariot. The Bible says, "And Satan entered into him." And it is interesting that Jesus called Judas Iscariot the son of perdition, now again Satan taking over a body. And in Revelation thirteen, he tells us that he gives to Satan, gives to this anti-christ, all of his power, all of his authority, all of his throne. Now he gives the world over to him, because the world belongs to Satan.

You remember Jesus came to redeem the world to God. And Satan took Jesus up to a high mountain and he said "Look at all of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. I am going to give them to you, if you will just bow down and worship me. For they are mine". Satan was bragging. And he said I can give them to whomever I will. Jesus did not dispute that, but Jesus refused it. He came to redeem the world, but not by bowing down to Satan, but by paying the price of redemption upon the cross.

But Satan is going to give to this man of sin, the son of perdition, his throne, his authority, his power. And he is going to rule over the world. And the first three and a half years of his reign are going to be very prosperous times upon the earth. They are going to be singing, "Happy days are here again." This man is a miracle worker. This man has brought marvelous solutions to troubling world situations. This man has brought an end to the economic difficulties and the economic malaise that the world is in. This man has brought an end to all of these horrible wars, and he has brought peace and prosperity and everyone has jobs and things are going great. And the world is going to hail this man as its savior.

One of his exploits will be to bring a peaceful solution to the problem of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Now many devote orthodox Jews desire fervently to rebuild the temple. Many other Jews really don't care. But those Orthodox Jews are really determined to rebuild the temple. A major problem exists, mainly that the Temple Mount is under Moslem control. And there almost, in the middle of the Temple Mount, stands the Dome of the Rock, a sacred site to the Moslems, for they felt that it was from this rock that Mohammed ascended into heaven after his overnight ride from Adena.

Recently there were Jews who were apprehended as they were trying to slip onto the Temple Mount site with explosives to blow up the Dome of the Rock. And there are many who are crying for a return to Israel of the Temple Mount. This has the leaders in Israel deeply concerned, for they have enough problems already and don't wish to compound them with religious problems. And they know if any overt action is taken against the Moslem control of the Temple Mount, that it will precipitate a holy war by the Moslems against the Jews. And though the Jews have been able to hold their own in their battles against Egypt and Jordan and Syria in the past, they don't want to deal with the fanaticism of the religious Moslems coming with religious fanaticism to destroy the nation of Israel. They just don't want to face that. That is a problem they believe they can live very well without. And so the official government view is to let things be. Don't create any waves. But there is that fanatic element that are determined to create waves. So, it remains a very sensitive issue.

But this man of sin, the son of perdition, when Satan turns over to him the control of the world, one of things that he is going to have is a tremendous solution for the problem, for he is going to offer a covenant to Israel. And he will say, now look, there is plenty of room here on the north side of the Temple Mount. And you can rebuild your temple here on the north side of the Temple Mount. All we have to do is put a wall right across the center of the Temple Mount leaving the Dome of the Rock, and Aloxi Mosque on the south side. And you can have this whole ten to fifteen acres out here on the north side and you can build your temple here.

The Moslems will be satisfied because they have retained the title to their holy sites. The Jews also will be satisfied because now they have a place to build their temple on the Temple Mount. And I do believe that it is going to be shown and proven soon that Solomon's Temple actually is north of the Dome of the Rock, some three hundred and twenty-two feet, so that they will be very satisfied because they will be able to rebuild their temple right over the site of Solomon's temple.

Now there is a couple of interesting scriptures that sort of verify this whole theory. When Ezekiel was taken by the spirit through time and saw the temple that is to be rebuilt, that has not been built yet, Ezekiel gave him the measurements. The Lord gave him a ruler and says now measure this temple and the wall and the courts and so forth. And so as he was measuring the temple, he said, "and I measured the wall that was around the temple four hundred and fifty meters" and he said, "This wall was to separate the holy place from the profane place". And interesting enough, the Dome of the Rock has profanity written in Arabic around the top -- profanities against Jesus Christ. "God is not begotten, neither does He beget", a definite profanity against Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

There is another scripture in Revelation eleven, which is quite interesting, because John also was taken by the spirit unto the day of the Lord where he to saw the new temple which was to be rebuilt. And like Ezekiel was told to measure it. He was given a rod and said now measure the temple and the courts, but then he was instructed. "Don't measure the outer court because it has been given to the heathen". And the Dome of the Rock would stand in the outer court of the rebuilt temple.

So the anti-christ when he arises is going to make a covenant with the nation of Israel. And the covenant, no doubt, will include their privilege to rebuild their temple by building this wall and satisfying both parties and everybody in the world is going to say, "Isn't that brilliant. The man is a mastermind. Who could have thought of that solution". And they are going to worship that man as the savior.

But after three and a half years, he is going to come to that temple that is going to be rebuilt, and Paul tells us about it in just a moment here, verse four:

Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ),

That is this man of sin, the son of perdition. He opposes himself. He exalts himself above all that is called God.

or that is worshiped ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 );

Now you remember in Isaiah fourteen, as he speaks of the fall of Satan, "O Lucifer, son of the morning, how art though fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning, for though didst seek [really] to exalt your position. You said, I will exalt myself above the angels of heaven. I will sit in the congregation in the sides of the north. I will be like the most high. And yet God said you will be brought down to hell".

But here is the anti-christ doing the same thing, exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God will sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. In other words, after three and a half years, after the temple has been rebuilt, he will return to Jerusalem, he will sit in the Holy of Holies of the rebuilt temple and declare, "I am God," and will demand to be worshiped as God.

This is called in the book of Daniel, "the abomination of desolation", Or the final abomination which will bring the desolation of the earth as God, at this point, will pour out his judgment and wrath. The cup of his indignation at this point will overflow. This is the final straw. This will perpetrate the judgment of God coming upon the earth in this three and a half-year period known in the Bible as the Great Tribulation.

So Paul said don't think that this is the tribulation, that the tribulation is now present. Don't be troubled in your spirit. Yes, it is tough. Yes, you are really going through a lot of persecution and all. But, the Great Tribulation cannot come, the day of God's judgment cannot come until first of all there be this spiritual apostasy and the man of sin, the son of perdition is revealed. And then he tells us a little bit about what this son of perdition is going to do. And so the Great Tribulation cannot happen until these things take place.

Paul said,

Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [Now I have already instructed you in these things.] And now you know what witholdeth that he might be revealed in his time ( 2 Thessalonians 2:5-6 ).

In other words, there is a force that is holding him back, holding back the power of darkness from taking over the world completely.

For the mystery of iniquity is already at work: only he who is now hindering will hinder, until he be taken out of the way ( 2 Thessalonians 2:7 ).

So the powers and the forces of darkness are working in the world, but there is a hindering force that is keeping them from taking over complete control. The question; what is the hindering force? People say the Holy Spirit. That is probably correct. So where is the Holy Spirit dwelling? In the church. Now if you say the Holy Spirit is to be withdrawn from the world and the church remain, then God help us all. We are in horrible trouble. I can hardly make it with the power of the Holy Spirit and the help of the Holy Spirit. If He were withdrawn, I would be totally destitute, bereft.

I believe that the restraining power that is keeping back evil from taking over the world today is the Light that is still here, the church of Jesus Christ. That is the thing that is keeping darkness from just totally engulfing the world. "Ye are the light of the world". But when Jesus takes His church out of this earth, then there will be no longer any restraining power or force and the anti-christ will at that point take over. "But he cannot as long as he which is hindering continues to hinder until it is taken out of the way". So I really believe that the Lord is taking the church out of the way, is the next major event that must take place before the final sequences of events can happen.

In the book of Revelation, chapter one, verse nineteen, the book is divided into three sections. "Write the things which you have seen, the things which are and things which will be after these things." And so John recorded in chapter one the things that he saw: the vision of Jesus Christ walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, holding the seven stars in His right hand.

In chapters two and three, the second section of the book of Revelation, John wrote the messages to the seven churches as they were dictated to him by Jesus Christ, covering the seven periods of church history. In chapter four, it begins with the Greek word, "meta tauta", after these things. After what things? Logically after the things of chapters two and three, which are the church things. "I saw a door open in heaven: and the first voice was as of a trumpet saying unto me; Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be after these things" ( Revelation 4:1 ). After the church things.

And so John is representative of the church, as he is caught up by the spirit into heaven, at the trump of God. Now the trumpets were sounded in those days among the troops to give messages, even as was done in our army and all for so many years, the bugle call. And each bugle call had its separate message that is declared; one said go to sleep, another said come and eat, another said charge, another said mail call, and still another said, get up. But each one was a distinct bugle sound that conveyed a message. When the trump of God sounds it is going to convey a message. The message is come on up, "Come up hither. The trump of God, come up hither."

And so from chapter four, John is now viewing the things that are happening on the earth from the heavenly viewpoint. He looks down as the seals are open in heaven. He looks down and sees the corresponding judgments upon the earth. But before this scroll is open, he first of all introduces the scroll in Chapter five, with writing both inside and outside, sealed with seven seals. And he hears the angel proclaiming with a strong voice, "Who is worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals" ( Revelation 5:9 ). The scroll being the title deed to the earth, which Jesus died to redeem back to God.

But no one is found worthy in heaven and earth to open the scroll or loose the seals. So John begins to sob, until the elder says, "Don't weep John, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed and he is going to take the scroll and loose the seals" ( Revelation 5:5 ). And John turned and saw Jesus as a lamb that has been slaughtered. And He stepped forth and he took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who was sitting upon the throne. And immediately the twenty-four elders came forth with little golden bowls that were filled with incense, odors, which are the prayers of the saints.

How many times have you prayed "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven"? It is about to happen. The prayers are about to be answered. And they offer these prayers before the throne of God and then they sang a new song saying, "Thou are worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals. For you were slain and you have redeemed us by your blood out of every nation and tribe and tongue and people and you have made us unto our God kings and priests, and we are going to reign with you upon the earth"( Revelation 5:9-10 ). Who can sing that song? The church of Jesus Christ. Where is the church? Standing before the Son of Man in glory.

The tribulation hasn't begun yet and it won't begin until He opens the seals of the scroll, which he proceeds to do in chapter six. And the first seal that is broken brings forth the entrance of the anti-christ upon the earth coming forth conquering and to conquer riding his white horse; the coming of the anti-christ. And then it is followed by the wars, the ensuing wars, the red horse. And then the black horse of famine, and the pale horse of death. So the sequence remains the same. The anti-christ first of all being revealed and then the great day of God's wrath and vengeance coming forth upon the earth.

You have the same sequence in Revelation. For the anti-christ comes forth and then there follows the wars, the famines, the plagues. Six seals of cataclysmic events of the heavens are casting forth the meteorite showers, like a fig tree casts it untimely figs in the wind, and all of this great cataclysmic judgment that begins to fall upon those upon the earth.

So Paul said, don't be fretting in your spirit, or thinking, hey this is the day of God's judgment, the day of the Lord has come. It is now present. He said no, there are things that have to happen before that can happen, namely the great apostasy and the unveiling of this man of sin, which cannot take place until that which hinders is taken out of the way, is removed. That which hinders shall hinder until it is removed, taken out of the way.

And then shall that Wicked one be [unveiled] revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ):

So this man of sin who will have his day, and have his time will be destroyed when Jesus returns with His church to establish God's kingdom upon the earth. And when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute His judgment upon the earth."

And the first thing the Lord does as He returns to the earth is gather together the survivors for judgment to determine which ones of those that survived will be allowed to go into the kingdom age. And then He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, chapter twenty-five. And to those on his right side he will say, "Come, ye blessed of the Lord, enter the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the earth: for I was hungry, and you fed me: thirsty, and you gave me to drink: naked, and you clothed me: sick, and in prison and you visited me". ( Matthew 25:32-36 ) But to those on his left he will say, "Depart form me you cursed into the everlasting fire that was prepared for Satan and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not feed me: thirsty, and you did not give me to drink: naked, and you did not cloth me. Lord when did we see you like this? In as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me".

If you give a cup of water to a prophet in the name of the Lord, you receive a prophet's reward. And so the anti-christ, when Jesus comes with His church will be destroyed

with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming [the anti-christ who will be coming] after the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9 ),

There is a dangerous curiosity in man to be attracted and drawn after signs and wonders, but the fact that something is done that is scientifically or physically unexplainable, it does not necessarily follow that God's power is behind the miracle. When the anti-christ comes, he will be working miracles. He will come with signs and powers and wonders. People will wonder at the things that are being accomplished, wondering how can he do that, supernatural manifestations. And so be careful of following after miraculous phenomena just for miraculous phenomena sake. You really could be deceived if you develop a credibility in anything unexplainable, well it must be of God, because look at the miracle. I can't explain it.

Paul warns Timothy that Satan is able to transform himself into an angel of light in order to deceive, and such will be the case with the anti-christ for the first three and a half years. He will come

With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10 );

In other words, who is to be deceived? Those who are going to perish.

Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might all be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 ).

Now Paul tells us in Romans one that it was when man did not want to retain God in his mind, God gave him over to a mind that was empty of God. Because they didn't want the truth of God, then God allowed them to believe a lie. Here the same thing is declared. They don't want to believe the truth, so what does God do. He says, oh, you don't want to believe the truth, then go ahead and believe a lie, and He allows them to be deceived into believing a lie.

Now as a child of God, God won't let you believe a lie. God's spirit will warn you. I'm thrilled when some of these new babes in Christ come to me and they say, "Chuck I was watching someone on TV today and it just didn't seem right to me." All right. He won't let them believe the deception and the lies that these guys are coming off with. And I think oh, great, but you know there are some people that seem to fall for every gimmick that comes down the road. They have a penchant towards false doctrine. They have a desire almost to just gobble up anything that comes along, any new weird tangent or doctrine that comes by. Oh, there they go traipsing after it. They just seem to have a total lack of discernment. That is hurtful. As a pastor that is probably one of the most hurtful things to see your little sheep following after a lie, after a deceiver, after a fraud. But one of the most rewarding things for a pastor is for someone to come up and say, "I was just watching this fellow and it just -- something is wrong there Chuck. I can't tell you what. Something is wrong." Yes.

Paul said,

We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God from the beginning has chosen you to salvation ( 2 Thessalonians 2:13 )

Hey, this is interesting. From the beginning God has chosen you, He said, for salvation. Here again this interesting doctrine that Paul taught in his book to the Ephesians is taught here again where he said, "You were chosen in Him from the foundations of the world." Isn't it exciting that of all the people God chose you to be His child? That is so thrilling to me.

Last night for a little while Kay and I were watching a documentary on channel 28. I think it was of some of the Indian tribes down in the Amazon area of Brazil, and some of their practices, the various rituals that they have for the various gods that they worship. And we were quite fascinated from a cultural, sociological kind of a standpoint of watching these people in the various religious rituals that they went through. Naked all of them. Superstitious. And Kay said, "For the grace of God we could have been born in that tribe." I thought oh, my. I guess you're right, Oh thank you, Lord.

For God chose you from the beginning,

Unto this sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth ( 2 Thessalonians 2:14 ):

The word "sanctification" is to be set apart. God has chosen you to be set apart from the world. To be set apart is an instrument through which the spirit of God might work. From the beginning God chose you; that thrills me. And because He chose you, then He called you by our gospel by our declaring to you the good news actually, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate, and those that He predestinated, He also called. And those He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified.

Paul follows the same progression of thought in the eighth chapter of Romans. First of all chosen in Him, and because you were chosen, God called you. A spirit of God reached out and touched your heart, made it open to the things of God, made it receptive to the things of God. How thrilling that God should choose us. And then having made this receptive, then called us so we could hear the call and respond, that we might be the children of God set apart by the spirit. "Here you are my children".

You know I don't appreciate it so much, until I talk to people who seem to have absolutely zilch, as far as spiritual comprehension or understanding or even interest. They are not interested. What a shame. What a tragedy. Their voice is totally closed to the gospel, or their ear is totally closed to the gospel. No interest, no concern. How was it that I'm so interested? How is it that I'm so concerned? Because God chose me and God called me, and so I rejoice in that I've been chosen.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast ( 2 Thessalonians 2:15 ),

You're going to go through persecution. You're having tribulation but stand fast,

And hold the traditions which you have a point of, whether by our words or our epistles ( 2 Thessalonians 2:15 ).

Those things that I have talked to, those truths that I have taught you, hold on to them.

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work ( 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ).

So Paul's little benedictory-type of prayer for them at this point that God would comfort them and establish them in the word and in the work. "

Contending for the Faith

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father: Paul mentions several times in this letter the need for praying to God on behalf of the Thessalonians. In these two verses, we read again of his praying. The Thessalonians obviously have become very much concerned because of the false teaching they received; therefore, Paul prays God will comfort their hearts (verse 17). This prayer alone should comfort them because Paul opens the prayer by making reference to two of the three in the Godhead, the Messiah who is our Lord Jesus Christ, and God, our Father. The third person in the Godhead, although not mentioned in this passage has a very important part in our prayers according to Romans 8:26, which teaches the Spirit makes intercessions for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.

which hath loved us: Thayer comments on the phrase "hath loved us" (agopao) by saying "of the benevolence which God, in providing salvation for men, has exhibited by sending his Son to them and giving him up to death" (3-2-25). The phrase "hath loved us" here is the same word as the word "beloved" in verse 13.

What could possibly give more comfort than the knowledge that our Creator and His Son, the Messiah, love us? The term "love" (agapao) is defined as "to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of" (Thayer 3-2-25). John’s words best describe this love. The love God has for us is more than can be imagined. The closest we can get to it is found in John words: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Paul says:

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors though him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).

and hath given us everlasting consolation: The word "everlasting" (aionios) means "without end, never to cease, everlasting" (Thayer 20-2-166). The same word "everlasting" is used in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, meaning "everlasting destruction," and in 2:16 "everlasting consolation." It is not hard to know which way we would have it with us. The word "consolation" (parakleesia) means "consolation, comfort, solace" (Thayer 483-1-3874).

and good hope through grace: The word "good" from the Greek word agathos means "pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy" (Thayer 2-2-18). The word "hope" (elpis) means "much more frequently in the classics, and always in the New Testament in a good sense: ’expectation of good, hope;’ and in the Christian sense, ’joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation:’" (Thayer 205-2-1680). The word "grace" (karis) generally means "good-will, loving-kindness, favor: in a broad sense...kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved" (Thayer 2-2-18).

In continuing this prayer, Paul prays that the Thessalonians, through grace, would have good hope, that is, that they would be "joyful and confident (in expecting) eternal salvation" (Thayer 205-2-1680). Since receiving the false or misunderstood teachings about the return of Christ, it seems they had doubts of their eternal home. With such doubts, they could not live in comfort. This good hope was made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

IV. THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER 2:13-17

Paul proceeded to give thanks for his readers’ salvation and to pray for their steadfastness to help them appreciate their secure position in holding fast to apostolic teaching. These verses form a transition between the didactic and hortatory sections of the epistle.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

B. Prayer for strength 2:16-17

As part of a bridge between his instructions (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) and exhortations (2 Thessalonians 3:1-15), Paul added this prayer for the Thessalonians. He petitioned God for their encouragement and strength (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:3).

"Addressing his prayer to the first two persons of the Trinity, Paul names the Son before the Father (contra 1 Thessalonians 3:11), probably in line with the Son’s worthiness of equal honor with the Father and his special prominence in the chapter’s emphasis on future salvation and glory." [Note: Thomas, "2 Thessalonians," p. 330.]

God’s grace is the basis for eternal encouragement in the face of temporary distress. Our hope is beneficial because it motivates us to live in the light of our victorious Savior’s return.

"The phrase ’good hope’ was used by non-Christian writers to refer to life after death." [Note: Martin, p. 259.]

The Thessalonians needed comforting encouragement in view of their recent anxiety that false teaching had produced. They also needed God’s grace to enable them to stand firm and do everything as unto the Lord (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:7-13). Too, they needed it as they continued proclaiming the gospel.

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 2

THE LAWLESS ONE ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 )

2:1-12 Brothers, in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and in regard to our being gathered to him, we ask you not to be readily shaken in your mind and not to get into a state of nervous excitement because of any statement purporting to come from us either in the Spirit or by word of mouth or by a letter and alleging that the Day of the Lord is here. Let no one deceive you in any way. The Day of the Lord will not come unless there comes first The Rebellion against God, and unless there be revealed The Man of Sin, The Son of Perdition, the one who opposes himself to and exalts himself against everyone who is called God or made an object of worship so that he attempts to take his seat in the very temple of God and proclaims that he himself is God. Don't you remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? As for the present, you know the power which restrains him so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the secret of lawlessness is even now in operation. But The Man of Sin will appear only when the one who restrains him is removed from the scene. And then The Lawless One will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will render him ineffective by his appearance and his coming. The coming of The Lawless One is for those who are doomed. He will come according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and wonders which issue from falsehood, and with all wicked deceit. They are doomed because they did not receive the love of truth that they might be saved. For this cause God sends them a deceiving energy in order that they might believe in a lie so that all who have not believed but have consented to that principle of unrighteousness may be judged.

This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult passages in the whole New Testament; and it is so because it is using terms and thinking in pictures which were perfectly familiar to those to whom Paul was speaking but which are utterly strange to us.

The general picture is this. Paul was telling the Thessalonians that they must give up their nervous, hysterical waiting for the Second Coming. He denied that he had ever said that the Day of the Lord had come. That was a misinterpretation of his words which must not be attributed to him; and he told them that before the Day of the Lord could come much had still to happen.

First there would come an age of rebellion against God; into this world there had already come a secret evil power which was working in the world and on men to bring this time of rebellion. Somewhere there was being kept one who was as much the incarnation of evil as Jesus was the incarnation of God. He was The Man of Sin, The Son of Perdition, The Lawless One. In time the power which was restraining him would be removed from the scene; and then this devil incarnate would come. When he came, he would gather his own people to him just as Jesus Christ had gathered his. Those who had refused to accept Christ were waiting to accept him. Then would come a last battle in which Christ would utterly destroy The Lawless One; Christ's people would be gathered to him and the wicked men who had accepted The Lawless One as their master would be destroyed.

We have to remember one thing. Almost all the Eastern faiths believed in a power of evil as they believed in a power of good; and believed, too, in a kind of battle between God and this power of evil. For instance, the Babylonians had a story that Tiamat, the dragon, had rebelled against Marduk, the creator, and had in the final battle been destroyed. Paul was dealing in a set of ideas which were common property. The Jews, too, had that idea. They called the Satanic power Belial or, more correctly, Beliar. When the Jews wished to describe a man as utterly bad they called him a son of Beliar ( Deuteronomy 13:13; 1 Kings 21:10; 1 Kings 21:13; 2 Samuel 22:5). In 2 Corinthians 6:15 Paul uses this term as the opposite of God. This evil incarnate was the antithesis of God. The Christians took this over, later than Paul, under the title Antichrist ( 1 John 2:18; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:3). Obviously such a power cannot go on existing for ever in the universe; and there was widespread belief in a final battle in which God would triumph and this force of anti-God would be finally destroyed. That is the picture with which Paul is working.

What was the restraining force which was still keeping The Lawless One under control? No one can answer that question with certainty. Most likely Paul meant the Roman Empire. Time and again he himself was to be saved from the fury of the mob by the justice of the Roman magistrate. Rome was the restraining power which kept the world from insane anarchy. But the day would come when that power would be removed--and then would be chaos.

So then Paul pictures a growing rebellion against God, the emergence of one who was the devil incarnate as Christ had been God incarnate, a final struggle and the ultimate triumph of God.

When this incarnate evil came into the world there would be some who would accept him as master, those who had refused Christ; and they along with their evil master would find final defeat and terrible judgment.

However remote these pictures may be from us they nevertheless have certain permanent truth in them.

(i) There is a force of evil in the world. Even if he could not logically prove that there was a devil many a man would say, "I know there is because I have met him." We hide our heads in the sand if we deny that there is an evil power at work amongst men.

(ii) God is in control. Things may seem to be crashing to chaos but in some strange way even the chaos is in God's control.

(iii) The ultimate triumph of God is sure. In the end nothing can stand against him. The Lawless One may have his day but there comes a time when God says, "Thus far and no farther." And so the great question is, "On what side are you? In the struggle at the heart of the universe are you for God--or Satan?"

GOD'S DEMAND AND OUR EFFORT ( 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 )

2:13-17 We ought always to give thanks for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the consecration of the Holy Spirit and by faith in the truth. For this he called you by the good news which we brought that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand fast and hold on to the traditions which you were taught either by word of mouth or through our letter.

In this passage there is a kind of synopsis of the Christian life.

(i) It begins with God's call. We could never even begin to seek God unless he had already found us. The whole initiative is with him; the ground and the moving cause of the whole matter is his seeking love.

(ii) It develops in our effort. The Christian is not called to dream, but to fight; not to stand still, but to climb. He is called not only to the greatest privilege but also to the greatest task in the world.

(iii) This effort is helped continually by two things. (a) It is helped by the teaching, guidance and example of godly men. God speaks to us through those to whom he has already spoken. "A saint," as someone has said, "is a person who makes it easier for others to believe in God." And there are some who help us, not by anything they say or write, but simply by being what they are, men whom to meet is to meet God. (b) It is helped by God himself We are never left to fight and toil alone. He who gives us the task also gives us the strength to do it; more, he actually does it with us. We are not thrown into the battle to meet it with the puny resources we can bring to it. At the back of us and beside us there is God. When Paul was up against it in Corinth, he had a vision by night in which the Lord said to him, "Do not be afraid...for I am with You" ( Acts 18:9-10). They that are for us are always more than they that are against us.

(iv) This call and this effort are designed to produce two things. (a) They are designed to produce consecration on earth. Literally in Greek a thing which is consecrated is set apart for God. They are meant to set us apart in such a way that God can use us for his service. The result is that a man's life no longer belongs to him to do with it as he likes; it belongs to God for him to use as he likes. (b) They are designed to produce salvation in heaven. The Christian life does not end with time; its goal is eternity. The Christian can regard his present affliction as a light thing in comparison with the glory that shall be. As Christina Rosetti wrote:

"'Does the road wind uphill all the way?'

'Yes, to the very end.'

'Will the day's journey take the whole tong day?'

'From morn to night, my friend.'

'But is there for the night a resting-place?'

'A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.'

'May not the darkness hide it from my face?'

'You cannot miss that inn.'

'Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?'

'Those who have gone before.'

'Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?'

'They will not keep you waiting at that door.'

'Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?'

'Of labour you shall find the sum.'

'Will there be beds for me and all who seek?'

'Yes, beds for all who come.'"

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

2 Thessalonians 2:16

Now [may] our -- The expression in v. 16 is equivalent to prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ -- and God our Father -- Both the Father and Son are mentioned, but they are as one.

Loved us -- Simply out of His love and grace is salvation possible.

Given us -- Given freely, we have earned it, nor do we deserve it!

Everlasting Consolation -- Eternal salvation.

Good hope through grace -- Our hope for everlasting consolation is only possible through God’s grace (undeserved kindness) to us. He has shown us his grace in sending a Savior, and calling us to him through the gospel.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,.... The apostle having exhorted the saints to perseverance, closes this second part of his epistle, relating to the coming of Christ, with a prayer for the saints, that they might be comforted and established. The objects addressed are Christ and the Father. And in each of their characters are reasons contained, encouraging to believe the petitions will be regarded; for it is "our Lord Jesus Christ himself" who is prayed unto; who is our Lord, not by creation only, in which sense he is Lord of all, but by redemption, and through a marriage relation; and he is our Jesus, our Saviour, and Redeemer; and our Christ, the anointed prophet, priest, and King; even he himself, who stands in these relations and offices; and what may not be expected from him?

and God, even our Father; not by creation, but by adoption; and as it is in his power, he has a heart to give, and will give good things unto his children: and inasmuch as Christ is equally addressed as the object of prayer as the Father, and is indeed here set before him, or first mentioned, it may be concluded that there is an entire equality between them, and that Christ is truly and properly God; otherwise religious worship, of which prayer is a considerable branch, would not be given him, nor would he be set upon an equal foot with the other, and much less before him. The Arabic version reads, "our Lord Jesus Christ, our Father"; and the Ethiopic version also, "our Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father"; as if the whole of this, or all these epithets and characters, belong to Christ, and he was the only person addressed; but the common reading is best: which hath loved us; this refers both to the Father and to Christ. The Father had loved them with an everlasting and unchangeable love, as appeared by his choosing them unto salvation by Christ, securing them in his hands, and making an everlasting covenant with him, on their account; by sending his Son to be the Saviour of them; by regenerating, quickening, and calling them by his grace, adopting them into his family, pardoning all their sins, justifying their persons, and giving them both a meetness for, and a right unto eternal glory. And Christ, he had loved them with the same love; and which he showed by undertaking their cause in the council of peace; by espousing their persons in the covenant of grace; by assuming their nature in the fulness of time; by dying in their room and stead; and by his continued intercession and mediation for them, and by many other instances. And since they had such a share in the affection both of the Father and the Son, it need not to have been doubted but that what was prayed for would be granted: to which is added,

and hath given us everlasting consolation: all true solid consolation is from God and Christ: God is called the God of all comfort; and if there be any real consolation, it is in, by, and from Christ; and it is the gift of God, an instance of his grace and favour, and not a point of merit; the least degree of consolation is not deserved, and ought not to be reckoned small: and it is everlasting; it does not indeed always continue, as to the sensible enjoyment of it, in this life, being often interrupted by indwelling sin, the hidings of God's and the temptations of Satan, yet the ground and foundation of it is everlasting; such as the everlasting love of God, the everlasting covenant of grace, the everlasting righteousness of Christ, and everlasting salvation by him, and he himself, who is the consolation of Israel, as well as the blessed Spirit, the Comforter, who ever abides as the earnest and pledge of future happiness. And the present spiritual joy of the saints is what no man can take away from them, and what will eventually issue in everlasting consolation, without any interruption in the world to come, when sorrow and sighing shall flee away, and all tears be wiped from their eyes:

and good hope through grace. The Syriac version reads, "in his grace"; and the Ethiopic version, "a good hope; and his grace", hope, as well as faith, is the gift of God, a free grace gift of his: and it may be called a good one, because God is the author of it; and it is built on a good foundation, the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; and is of good things to come, and therefore called the blessed hope; and is what is sure and certain, and will never deceive, nor make ashamed; and since consolation is given here, and hope of happiness hereafter, it may be concluded the following requests will be regarded.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,   17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

      In these words we have the apostle's earnest prayer for them, in which observe,

      I. To whom he prays: Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father. We may and should direct our prayers, not only to God the Father, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also to our Lord Jesus Christ himself; and should pray in his name unto God, not only as his Father but as our Father in and through him.

      II. From what he takes encouragement in his prayer--from the consideration of what God had already done for him and them: Who hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,2 Thessalonians 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:16. Here observe, 1. The love of God is the spring and fountain of all the good we have or hope for; our election, vocation, justification, and salvation, are all owing to the love of God in Christ Jesus. 2. From this fountain in particular all our consolation flows. And the consolation of the saints is an everlasting consolation. The comforts of the saints are not dying things; they shall not die with them. The spiritual consolations God gives none shall deprive them of; and God will not take them away: because he love them with an everlasting love, therefore they shall have everlasting consolation. 3. Their consolation is founded on the hope of eternal life. They rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and are not only patient, but joyful, in tribulations; and there is good reason for these strong consolations, because the saints have good hope: their hope is grounded on the love of God, the promise of God, and the experience they have had of the power, the goodness, and the faithfulness of God, and it is good hope through grace; the free grace and mercy of God are what they hope for, and what their hopes are founded on, and not on any worth or merit of their own.

      III. What it is that he asks of God for them--that he would comfort their hearts, and establish them in every good word and work,2 Thessalonians 2:17; 2 Thessalonians 2:17. God had given them consolations, and he prayed that they might have more abundant consolation. There was good hope, through grace, that they would be preserved, and he prayed that they might be established: it is observable how comfort and establishment are here joined together. Note therefore, 1. Comfort is a means of establishment; for the more pleasure we take in the word, and work, and ways of God, the more likely we shall be to persevere therein. And, 2. Our establishment in the ways of God is a likely means in order to comfort; whereas, if we are wavering in faith, and of a doubtful mind, or if we are halting and faltering in our duty, no wonder if we are strangers to the pleasures and joys of religion. What is it that lies at the bottom of all our uneasiness, but our unsteadiness in religion? We must be established in every good word and work, in the word of truth and the work of righteousness: Christ must be honoured by our good works and good words; and those who are sincere will endeavour to do both, and in so doing they may hope for comfort and establishment, till at length their holiness and happiness be completed.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

The second epistle takes up another difficulty. It was written in view of another abuse of the truth of the Lord's coming a danger that threatened the saints. As the first epistle was intended to guard the saints from an error about the dead, the second epistle was more particularly meant to correct them about the living. They were distressed at finding that some of their brethren died before the Lord came. So filled were they with the constant expectation of Christ from heaven, that it never occurred to them that a single Christian might depart from the world before His return, How they must have realized, in their habitual waiting, the nearness of that blessed hope! They now learnt that they need not sorrow on such a score; for the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we, the living at His coming, shall be caught up with them to join the Lord together. But the second epistle grew out of another and more serious error. We have seen that they were greatly alarmed and agitated. The apostle was really uneasy about them lest the tempter should tempt them, and his labour come to nought lest, moved by their sore affliction, they should fall into fear about the awful day of the Lord, which the enemy knows well how to use.

Everybody who has read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the lesser prophets knows what they tell us of the horrors for men when the day of Jehovah comes upon the earth, that it will be. a day of dismay and darkness, when all earthly things are utterly confused, and the people of God seem about to be swallowed up by their enemies. False doctrine ever sets one truth against another; and it was not wanting among the Thessalonians at this time. For some sought to persuade them that the day of the Lord was even then arrived. They probably argued that their troubles were part of the circumstances of that day. Certainly they sought to shake them by pretending that the day of the Lord was actually there. There was such fearful persecution and trouble among them, that this might be plausibly enough mixed up as supporting the idea that the day of the Lord was begun. For this false rumour seems to imply that they must have given some sort of figurative colour to "that day" (as it was certainly so used in Old Testament prophecy). At any rate, they must have supposed that "the day of the Lord" did not necessarily require the presence of the Lord Himself. In other words, they might think, is many Christians since have imagined, that a dreadful time of trouble must befall the world before the Lord comes to receive His own to himself above.

This second epistle was written to disabuse the minds of the Thessalonian saints; and indeed it directly tends to set all Christians free from any anxiety of the kind, though, of course, there may be persecution again, as there was then, and repeatedly afterwards, especially from Pagan and from Papal Rome. But this is wholly different from the dread which the enemy sought to infuse among the Thessalonians. The apostle accordingly sets himself to this task. First of all he comforts them.

"Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you." It may be noticed that he leaves out "the patience of hope." How comes this? It was exactly the hope that was no longer bright in their hearts. So far the enemy had succeeded. They had been comforted, but they had lost somewhat of the light and joy of the hope. They were moved more or less by their tribulation; not perhaps so much by the outward pressure as by the insinuation of Satan through false teaching, which is a far more dangerous thing for the child of God. It is plain that the apostle merely mentions their faith growing, and their love He no longer praises nor names their patience of hope, but rather prays for them in2 Thessalonians 3:1-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 in such a way as to show there was a lack in this respect. That is, he takes up two of the qualities mentioned in the first epistle, and not the third. This, which was bound up with the whole structure of the first epistle, is left out of the second. There was too good reason for it. For the time they had let it slip, as I have just explained. It is true that the apostle tells them, "we glory in you in the churches of God for your patience, and faith" (he does not speak of their "patience of hope") "in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure." They were holding on, and not giving up Christ but their souls had not the former spring through Christ their hope. We shall have the evidence of this more fully soon.

There was "a manifest token," says he, "of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." So far it was well. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Observe the reason why he brings in "that day." It was a false doctrine about the day, which draws out an explanation of its nature and its relation to the coming of the Lord. When that day comes, it will not fall with its troubles on the children of God. In truth the Lord will then execute judgment on their enemies I do not mean on the dead till the close, but on the quick or living. It will be no more in some figurative and preparatory sense of exceeding affliction, or of natural overthrow; but its description here is the Lord Jesus revealed from heaven in flaming fire. There will be no doubt about its nature or effects. Every eye shall see Him.

That is, even2 Thessalonians 1:1-12; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 plainly prepares us for the complete discomfiture of the illusory and alarming dreams which these false teachers had been foisting in under false colours among the Thessalonian saints. But he pursues the matter farther. He will take vengeance on two classes on those that know not God, and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These seem the Gentiles and the Jews respectively; but why do not we find here some allusion to the third class His relation to the church of God? Because those who compose the church are no longer here.

Thus it is shown that the Lord will deal with all on earth, not merged in one, but discriminated; for He executes judgment, and hence does not confound those who differ in a common class. There is thus a definite distinction drawn; but this so much the more precisely leaves out the Christian. Its force is more understood the more it is weighed. The apostle does not declare all at once, but prepares the way with much circumspection. When he says "them that know not God," he means the idolatrous Gentiles. Then he adds with another article, "and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (not, as we have it in English here, "and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus;" as if all were one and the same class). There are two classes, and therefore accuracy would seem to call on us to make the sense more definite "and on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." At all events, whatever mode of rendering may be preferred, I have no hesitation in saying that such is the sense of the Greek, and nothing else. They are the Gentiles, who knew not God, (or, as Bengel has it, "qui in ethnica ignorantia de Deo versantur,") and the Jews, who might know God after a sort and to a certain point beyond Gentiles, but who did not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ("Judaeis maxime, quibus evangelium de Christo praedicatum fuerat.") For unbelief is always convicted by the test that God employs; and the day of the Lord will deal with every form. The Gentiles that know not God will be punished, and the Jews that abuse the forms of Old Testament revelation to disobey the gospel will not escape, still less nominal and apostate Christendom.

The reason why no notice is taken of Christians as then on earth we shall see assigned a little lower down: I merely now remark that he could not put himself in either of those two classes. It is evident that on whomsoever that day is to fall it has no bearing on such. If therefore the Christians were troubled now, it was in no way the same character of trouble as that which shall be in the day of the Lord. The teaching of those who had spread this impression was utterly false; and if they claimed the highest sanction for it, they were worse than mistaken they were the guilty tools of Satan. But as to both the classes we have seen described by the apostle, they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction," both "from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believed:" for this is the full force of it.

In the new age people will be blessed abundantly, but the blessing of the millennium does not exactly take the shape of belief. They shall behold the glory of the Lord. Such is their form as assigned by scripture. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge not with the faith, but with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. It will be in countless cases the fruit of true divine teaching; but knowledge describes it better than faith; and we may easily understand the difference. They will behold the glory, they will look upon the Lord, no longer hidden but displayed. The blessed spoken of in our chapter are clearly those that have already believed. So indeed the apostle states: "Wherefore we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of the calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Next (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17) he comes to the special error in question. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . . that ye be not soon shaken in mind nor troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is present." It is well known that "of the Lord" (not of Christ) is unquestionably required by the best manuscripts, and other ancient witnesses.

Ἐνέστηκε does not mean "at hand," but actually come. I do not enter into any long proof of this just now, having already done so elsewhere. Suffice it to say, that the word occurs in half a dozen places in the New Testament, and nowhere can bear any sense but the one alleged. Nor does it ever convey any such meaning as "at hand" in any correct Greek author. It has been so thought; but it is a mistake. It always means present, in contrast with future ever so imminent. So in two instances of the New Testament it stands over against future things; as when it is expressly said (in Romans 8:1-39 and 1 Corinthians 3:1-23), "things present and things to come." The latter might be "at hand," but not the former. The things to come are in pointed opposition to those actually arrived. Again, we have (Galatians 1:4) "this present evil world." This is now only. The age to come is not evil but good. It is in contrast with the present. And so as to "for the time then present," (Hebrews 9:1-28) and "for the present necessity." (1 Corinthians 7:1-40) It is not a question of the future, but solely of the present; a necessity now, and at no other time. In short, it is the regular word for "present." If a Greek meant to say "present" in contrast with the future, there was no more emphatic word to use. What, then, can be conceived more calculated to destroy the right understanding of this epistle than the common mistranslation? Such is the true sense of the word, I am bold to say.

But clearly this gives an immense help to the understanding of the passage. The apostle appeals to the saints. It is not a question of teaching in this verse, but the apostle beseeches them by a certain powerful motive, which was still in their souls. He does not mean, "We beseech you concerning," as some conceive, but as our English version says, "by." It is a legitimate meaning of the preposition with words of entreaty. He uses the hope of being gathered to Christ at His coming as a motive why they should not listen to those misleading the saints. Now mark the character of this false teaching. It was not the excitement of hope, but of terror produced on the spirit. It caused them to shake, hindering them from a settled, holy, hearty waiting for Christ. The error occupied them with the terrors of some intervening trouble. The pretence was that all the afflictions they had been enduring were parts or signs of the well-known day of trouble, the day of the Lord. Not at all, says the apostle: the trouble of that day will befall the enemies, not the friends, of the Lord. As they knew that every believer loved His name, the notion propagated was wholly astray. It was morally false, as ignoring in the first place His unfailing and perfect love for them.

Therefore he could say, "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as by us, as that the day of the Lord is present." Do you not know that Christ is coming for you, and that the first aim and effect of His coming will be your gathering together to meet Him in the air? Why, therefore, be uneasy at such a rumour about His day, with all its awful associations? You have been taught that from God; why be disturbed by this effort of the enemy, who falsely pretends to the Spirit and word, and an alleged letter of mine? That day will fall on the world. Indeed, the apostle had implied in the opening of this epistle, as well as in the latter part of his first, that the day of the Lord does not concern the saints, who were sons of light and of day. They would come accordingly with that day, instead of its overtaking them as a thief by night, because so it comes on whom it may. It comes from the Lord in His execution of judgment on a guilty world; and the very fact of their being sons of light ought to have proved that it cannot surprise such, because they belonged to the region whence it comes.

With striking pithiness he briefly points to the ways of deceit and darkness which accompanied the notion, and betrayed its real source. Truth refuses an admixture of falsehood; and the pretence that any had a spiritual intimation to themselves, or a word for others, that the day of the Lord was really come, was manifestly of the serpent, not of God. Such and so rapid are the steps of evil, one wrong leading to another. But the allegation that they had the apostle's own authority for the delusion gave him a direct opportunity to contradict the error. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for lit shall not come] unless there shall come the apostasy first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." These are two different things. The apostle affirms that the day cannot be before both. Christendom will have abandoned the faith, and the man of sin must be revealed. What a prospect! Do the children of God believe it? We know the world has wholly opposite expectations. Those who allow themselves with so little seriousness to bear the excellent name of the Lord will openly fall away from the confession of the gospel; and then a suited leader into the gulf of perdition will soon appear for the apostates.

I am perfectly persuaded that some of the most important parts of Satan's means of bringing about the apostasy are now actively at work. God has been graciously filling many hearts with joy and comfort of the truth. He has given not a few to believe these words, the moral signs of which are becoming daily more and more manifest. The apostasy again must come, and, in contrast with the man of righteousness, the man of sin be revealed, even the final Judas, "the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above every one called God, or an object of veneration; so that he sitteth down in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." How sharply in contrast with the Lord Jesus, who, though really God, in love became man, in order to accomplish the glorious counsels of God and man's salvation by grace! This one is the son of perdition to the ruin of those who trust him. Although he be but a man, and the man of sin, he takes the place of being the true God here on earth, and this too, not in the world, but in the temple of God of that time. Thus he not merely takes the place of God here below, but actually as such enters His temple. I do not doubt that the temple will then be in Jerusalem; so that as Christendom began at Jerusalem, the holy city will be its last scene of sinful pride and of divine judgment, though not its only place of judgment. Jerusalem! Rome! they are two names of most solemn import as to the subject to which I am briefly alluding. "Remember ye not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." It is no absolute restraint, but provision only; for he must be revealed in his own season.

The reference to previous teaching left the matter in comparative obscurity, and has given rise to a great deal of discussion. I think the true answer neither difficult nor uncertain. It is evident that what withholds or restrains must be a power superior to man or Satan, and of a nature totally opposite to the man of sin. As this is the embodiment, or rather head, of evil, so that which restrains his revelation would naturally be the power of good which suppresses as long as God pleases the full manifestation of the lawless one. There seems to be a good reason why the matter is put in this general, if not vague, manner. What withholds is presented as a principle or power in an abstract way, and not as a person only. It might, I suppose, assume a different shape at different times.

Thus we find ourselves within narrow limits in order to fix the restraint and the. restrainer. The Thessalonians, who were but young in truth, already knew what restrains, "that he might be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of iniquity" [or "lawlessness," which is the true force of the word] "doth already work: only there is one who restraineth now until he be taken away; and then shall the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy with the appearing of his coming" or presence. Evidently, then, we find here a power that hinders the manifestation of the lawless one a power which is also a person. Where do we find one that effectually checks the plans of Satan, a person no less than a power? We need not consider long, but answer, without hesitation, the Spirit of God.

Undeniably He is both a power and a person; and save in Him it will be far from easy, if possible, to find an answer that combines these two distinct intimations, as well as both the character and the extent of the power involved. It can hardly be said to be the Spirit of God dwelling in the church, except in the most general way. We must recollect that the Holy Spirit not only dwells there, but also acts providentially in the government of the world. I am far from meaning that, when the church is gone, He will restrain the powers of the world much longer. There are men of the world who have no confidence in its stability; though it exercises no salutary fear over their souls, and they cling to it all the same. I am sure that no Christian man should trust it for a moment. They are not called to promise fair things to that which cast out and slew the Lord of glory. They know that its doom is coming quickly, but not till they have formally rejected the truth, and accepted the man of sin. But no matter what the wicked will of man and the wiles of Satan may be, they will not be able absolutely to extinguish divinely-controlled government among men as soon as they desire. There is One that still restrains, who could always indeed, but who will cease only when, according to God, the time for the final outburst arrives. It does not, I think, terminate at once, even when the Lord shall have come and taken up His saints, both those that sleep and all those alive and waiting for Him. I say "all," for, you must remember, it is invariably assumed in scripture that every saint waits for Christ. The notion that a person may be a saint, and not looking for His coming, does not enter into the mind of the Holy Spirit. One may fall, of course, into a wrong state from bad teaching or careless ways; but if Christ is my life and righteousness, I shall surely love Him; and if so, I must want to see and be with Him in the condition of glory, where alone such life and righteousness, and the love that gave them, have their just display and results. Hence it is always assumed that every Christian is, in the knowledge of His love, waiting for Christ to come and receive us to Himself, that we may be with Him in the Father's house before He executes judgment on the world. Till then the Spirit of God acts as a cheek on the designs of Satan; and even after the church is gone (as I think) He will restrain for a short space.

From the Apocalypse we learn that for a little while God carries out certain agencies of blessing. Not only does He not immediately cease to deal with souls, but we do not at once see either the apostasy or the man of sin. This is a consideration that bears on the question; for undoubtedly it is not the will of man that either sheds blessing on souls or restrains the proudest effort of Satan. After the church is taken up, then the Spirit of God works; and this doubly. He will bring souls into the knowledge of the testimony that God will then raise up to meet the existing circumstances, for His own glory as well as in His pitiful mercy to man. But, besides, He will even then restrain the powers that be from falling instantaneously into the devices of the devil. At a certain given moment, which the Revelation clearly defines, Satan will be cast down from heaven, and will then bring forward his long-meditated plan. The empire that has disappeared from among men for so long, that the wise men of the world think its resurrection impossible the Roman empire will come forward clothed with a diabolical energy. This is the moment when the Spirit ceases to restrain.

Accordingly the Western empire will use all its might, and Satan will help it, to establish a politico-religious power in Jerusalem, who will be the head of the Jews, and at the same time the religious chief of the West. Such is the issue of idolatrous Christ-rejecting Judaism and of apostate Christendom. The man of sin will sit and be worshipped as God, in His temple at Jerusalem. This will enable the Roman empire still to carry on its political game of opposition to the Eastern powers. The West, I say, will support and be supported by the Antichrist, and consequently must share in the awful destruction that the Lord will Himself execute when He appears. Angels will do their part, and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone; for they will be caught red-handed in their opposition to the Lamb, little knowing that He is Lord of lords and King of kings. As for the civil and religious leaders, the beast and the false prophet, they will be consigned to everlasting destruction, without even the form of trial. Nothing less awaits these last and seemingly greatest leaders of the world's false glory. But, remember, the flower of the West (of these lands that boast of religion, and civilization, and progress) shall perish in this destruction of the revived imperial power and its Jewish ally.

I dare not prophesy smooth things to our own country and race. I believe that all these kingdoms of the West, now so confident in their resources and power, will fall helplessly into the hands of Satan at last. At Jerusalem the man of sin, as at Rome, the civil head of empire, with his confederate but subject kings, will be the two beasts of Revelation 13:1-18. It is not the time to enter into further details now; but I may state ray conviction, that the man of sin, whom 2 Thess. shows enthroned in God's temple, will be the accepted Messiah of the deceived Jews in Jerusalem, as the first beast is the imperial head at Rome; for the civil power will then be separate from the religious, and we all know how ardently men desire this now. But its accomplishment will have results far different from what most look for.

I confess I am struck by the solemn fact, that one cannot speak of these subjects, even at short intervals of time, without perceiving new features which, in principle, bring us more and more up to the brink of the precipice. I do then, from every point of view, warn all those who are looking for bright hopes on the earth, and promising improvement to men. It is serious to observe that the lawless one here described and reserved for such a destiny is related very nearly to the mystery of lawlessness which was then at work, as the apostle let us know, and which has gone on increasing, and is immensely increased now. It is true that the lawless one will not be revealed until the restraint of the Spirit of God over the world is removed. This appears to me to be the unforced deduction from the apostle's statement, compared with the light thrown on the subject by other Scriptures, which, by common consent, treat of the same time and point. It is the Spirit of God ceasing to restrain in the world as well as in the church, since He will for a brief space both act on souls and restrain Satan in the world, after the church has been caught up to heaven.

This I consider a comprehensive and correct view of what, is revealed. It is put generally here both as "he who withholds" and as "that which withholds." The particular from of withholding power might differ according to varying circumstances. The Christians of old used to think the Roman empire withheld them. Nor was their idea far from the mark; because the empire was assuredly among the powers ordained of God, as I do not doubt emperors, kings, presidents, etc., are still. But the hour hastens when the powers that be will cease to derive their authority from God; when the West above all will openly renounce the true God, and the beast will rise up from the abyss. Our chapter adds a true picture of the extent to which the man of sin will be allowed to go in diabolical imitation of what God wrought by Christ when here below. It is the hour of retribution, when the proud apostates who refused the truth accept and perish in the lie of the enemy. How blessed the lot of the saints which the apostle contrasts with this! (Verses 13-17.)

The next chapter (2 Thessalonians 3:1-18) closes the epistle with divers desires, and a prayer for them that the Lord would direct their hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. The key-note is thus maintained from first to last. As Christ waits to come, so should we, that we may meet Him then. But the apostle would not have this hope nor the Lord Himself dishonoured by the reproach of disorderly ways. And thus he nowhere more enjoins the duty of honourable industry, appealing to his own example, than in the epistles which most insist on Christ's coming as the proximate and constant hope of the Christian. If any would pervert such a truth, or any other, to idleness and disorder, he was to be marked as unworthy of Christian companionship, not of course counted an enemy (like the wicked or heretics), but admonished as a brother. Idleness is fruitful of disorder and the foe of peace, which the apostle desired for them from the Lord of peace Himself always and in every way.

May we seriously heed the truth, and its immediate application to our consciences and ways! May God give us quiet energy without restlessness or excitement, but so much the more calmly, because of the realized nearness of the Lord's return, and the solemn consequences for all mankind! Oh for an earnest, burning zeal; for self-denying love; for hearts devoted to Christ, which might warn men of their impending destruction, that, if they have not been won by His love, they may at least tremble at the hopeless inextricable ruin in which their unbelief will soon leave them for ever.