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2 Thessalonians 2 — Commentary 4

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Benson Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 . We beseech you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ — As you look for Christ’s second coming, and expect comfort from it; or rather concerning his coming, as the preposition ???? is understood to signify in other places of Scripture, and in other authors. For he does not beseech by the coming of Christ, but his coming is the subject of which he is treating; and it is in relation to this subject that he desires them not to be disturbed. And by — Concerning; our gathering together to him — Namely, in the clouds. The phrases, the coming of Christ, and the day of Christ, may be understood either figuratively of his coming in judgment upon the Jews, or literally of his coming in glory to judge the world; the latter is the proper signification in this place, as the context will evince beyond contradiction. St. Paul himself had planted the church in Thessalonica, and it consisted principally of converts from among the Gentile idolaters, who had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 1 Thessalonians 1:9 . What occasion was there, therefore, to admonish them particularly of the destruction of Jerusalem? or why should they be under any agitations or terrors of mind upon that account? What connection had Macedonia with Judea, or Thessalonica with Jerusalem? What share were the Christian converts to have in the calamities of the rebellious and unbelieving Jews, and why should they not rather have been comforted than troubled at the punishment of their inveterate enemies? Besides, how could the apostle deny that the destruction of the Jews was at hand, when it really was at hand, as he himself says, ( 1 Thessalonians 2:16 ,) and the wrath of God was already beginning to come upon them? He knew, and doubtless they knew, (our Lord having declared it,) that the destruction of Jerusalem would come to pass in that generation. The phrase, therefore, must necessarily be taken in a more general acceptation, of his coming to judge the world, as it is constantly used in the former epistle. That ye be not soon shaken in mind — ??? ??? ???? , from the mind, or judgment, you have formerly held: or from the true meaning of my former letter, as Chandler interprets the clause. Or be troubled — Perplexed, or put into confusion. The original word, ????????? , signifies to be agitated with the surprise and trouble which is occasioned by any unexpected rumour or bad news, Matthew 24:6 . Neither by spirit — By pretence of some revelation from the Spirit of God; nor by words — Some declaration pretended to have been uttered by me; nor by letter — Some counterfeit writing, or some passage in the former epistle; as from us — As written by me, or by my appointment; as that the day of Christ — That is, the coming of Christ to judge mankind; is at hand — It was a point of great importance for the Thessalonians not to be mistaken concerning the time of Christ’s second coming; for if they had inferred from the apostle’s doctrine that it was at hand, and it had not taken place according to their expectation, they would probably have been staggered in their faith, and finding part of their creed to be false, they might have been brought hastily to conclude that the whole was so. 2 Thessalonians 2:2 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 at hand. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come , except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 . Let no man deceive you by any means — By any of these ways fore-mentioned, or any other; for that day shall not come, unless a falling away, ? ????????? , the apostacy, come first — The article here is emphatical, denoting both that this was to be a great apostacy, the apostacy, by way of eminence, (the general, grand departure of the whole visible church into idolatrous worship,) and that the Thessalonians had been already apprized of its coming. Although the Greek word here used often signifies the rebellion of subjects against the supreme power of the country where they live, or the revolt of soldiers against their general, or the hostile separation of one part of a nation from another; yet in Scripture it commonly signifies a departure, either in whole or in part, from a religious faith or obedience formerly professed, Acts 21:21 ; Hebrews 3:12 . Here it denotes the defection of the disciples of Christ from the true faith and worship of God, enjoined in the gospel. Accordingly, the apostle, foretelling this very defection, ( 1 Timothy 4:1 ,) says, ???????????? ????? , some shall apostatize from the faith. See the note on that verse. And that man of sin — The head of this apostacy, given up to all sin himself, ( Revelation 13:5-6 ,) and a ringleader of others unto sin, 2 Thessalonians 2:12 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:14 . If this idea be derived from any ancient prophet, it must be from Daniel, who hath described the like arrogant and tyrannical power, Daniel 7:25 ; He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws. See also Daniel 11:26 . Any man may be satisfied that St. Paul alluded to this description by Daniel, because he hath not only borrowed the ideas, but hath even adopted some of the phrases and expressions. The man of sin may signify either a single man, or a succession of men; the latter being meant in Daniel, it is probable that the same is intended here also. Indeed, a single man appears hardly sufficient for the work here assigned; and it is agreeable to the phraseology of Scripture to speak of a body, or a number of men, under the character of one. Thus a king ( Daniel 7:8 .; Revelation 17.) is often used for a succession of kings, and the high-priest, ( Hebrews 9:7 ; Hebrews 9:25 ,) for the series and order of high-priests. A single beast, (Daniel 7, 8.; Revelation 13.) often represents a whole empire or kingdom, in all its changes and revolutions. The woman clothed with the sun, ( Revelation 12:1 ,) is designed as an emblem of the true church, as the woman arrayed in purple and scarlet, ( Revelation 17:4 ,) is the portrait of a corrupt communion. This man of sin is said to be revealed when he enters on the stage, and acts as he is described. The son of perdition — One who brings destruction upon others, both spiritual and temporal, ( Revelation 17:2 ; Revelation 17:6 ,) and is devoted to destruction himself, 2 Thessalonians 2:8 . Thus the Papacy has caused the death of numberless multitudes both of opposers and followers, has destroyed innumerable souls, and will itself go to destruction. The son of perdition is also the denomination of the traitor Judas, ( John 17:12 ,) which implies that the man of sin should, like Judas, be a false prophet, should betray Christ, and be devoted to destruction. Who opposeth — Or shall oppose, (the prophets speaking of things future as present,) and exalt himself above all — Greek, ??? ????? , above every one, that is called God — This is manifestly copied from Daniel; He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, and speak marvellous things against the God of gods. Or that is worshipped — ??????? , alluding to the title of the Roman emperors, ???????? , august, or venerable. He shall oppose and exalt himself, not only above inferior magistrates, who are sometimes called gods in holy writ, but even above the greatest emperors, and shall arrogate to himself divine honours; so that he, as God — Assuming the authority of Christ; sitteth in the temple of God — Exercises supreme and sovereign power over the visible church, as head thereof, even over all that profess Christianity. By the temple of God, the apostle could not well mean the temple of Jerusalem, because he knew very well that would be totally destroyed within a few years. It is an observation of the learned Bochart, that after the death of Christ the temple at Jerusalem is never called by the apostles the temple of God; and that when they mention the house or temple of God, they mean the Christian Church in general, or every particular believer; which indeed is very evident from many passages in their epistles: see 1 Timothy 3:15 ; 1 Corinthians 6:19 ; 2 Corinthians 6:16 ; Ephesians 2:19-22 ; 1 Peter 2:5 . Besides, in the Revelation by St. John, which was written some years after the destruction of Jerusalem, there is mention made of men’s becoming pillars in the temple of God, ( Revelation 3:12 ,) which is a further proof that the sitting of the man of sin in the temple of God, by no means implies that he was to appear in the temple of Jerusalem. In short, the meaning of the verse is, that the wicked teachers, of whom the apostle speaks, would first oppose Christ by corrupting the doctrine of the gospel concerning him, and after that they would make void the government of God and of Christ in the Christian Church, and the government of the civil magistrate in the state, by arrogating to themselves the whole spiritual authority which belongs to Christ, and all the temporal authority belonging to princes and magistrates; showing himself that he is God — Exercising all the prerogatives of God, accepting such titles, and doing such things, as, if they indeed belonged to him, would show him to be God: an exact description certainly of the Papal power. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 2 Thessalonians 2:5-6 . Remember ye not, &c. — These things were not asserted now merely to serve the present occasion: the apostle had spoken, yea, and borne a faithful testimony concerning them while he was at Thessalonica. Indeed, the rise and progress of this apostacy, with the various heresies connected with it, and the evils which were about to be occasioned by it, were matters of such offence and scandal, that unless the disciples had been forewarned concerning them, their happening might have led the weak to fancy that God had cast away all care of his church. The apostle, knowing this, made the prediction of these events the subject even of his first sermons to the Thessalonians, after they had embraced the gospel; and doubtless he followed the same course in all other places where he preached with any degree of success. See 1 Timothy 4:6 . Beza observes that this prophecy was often repeated and earnestly inculcated in the first age, but is overlooked and neglected in modern times. And now ye know — By what I told you when I was with you; what with-holdeth — Restraineth the man of sin from exercising his impious tyranny. It seems the apostle, when at Thessalonica, besides speaking of the apostacy and of the man of sin, had told them what it was that hindered his appearance. But as he has not thought fit to commit that discovery to writing, we cannot determine with absolute certainty what it was; but if we may rely upon the concurrent testimonies of the Christian fathers, it was the Roman empire. Indeed, the caution which the apostle observes with respect to speaking of it, renders it highly probable that it was somewhat relating to the higher powers. He mentioned it in discourse, but would not commit it to writing. As he afterward exhorts the Thessalonians to hold the traditions which had been taught them, whether by word or his epistle, it is likely this was one of the traditions which he thought it proper to teach them. The apostle’s manner of speaking here, ( that he might be revealed in his time, or in his own season, as ?? ?? ?????? ????? properly signifies,) seems to imply that there were reasons for permitting the corruptions of Christianity to proceed to a certain length. “Now what could these reasons be, unless to show mankind the danger of admitting any thing in religion but what is of divine appointment? For one error productive of superstition admitted, naturally leads to others, till at length religion is utterly deformed. Perhaps also these evils were permitted, that in the natural course of human affairs, Christianity being first corrupted and then purged, the truth might be so clearly established, as to be in no danger of any corruption in time to come.” — Macknight. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let , until he be taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 . For the mystery of iniquity — There is a mystery of iniquity as well as of godliness, the one in direct opposition to the other. The expression, a mystery, in the Scripture sense of it, is something secret or undiscovered. See note on Ephesians 1:9 . The mystery of iniquity, therefore, is a scheme of error, not openly discovered, whose influence is to encourage iniquity. Doth already work — ?????????? , worketh inwardly, in men’s minds, or in the church, and perhaps also secretly. The seeds of corruption were sown, but they were not yet grown up to any maturity: the leaven was fermenting in some parts, but it was far from having yet infected the whole mass. To speak without a figure, the apostle means that the false doctrines and bad practices, which he foresaw in after times would be carried to a great height by the power which he denominates the man of sin, were already operating in the false teachers, who then infested the church. Accordingly, in his speech to the elders of the church at Ephesus, not long after this epistle was written, he told them, ( Acts 20:29 ,) that grievous wolves would enter in among them, not sparing the flock; and that of themselves men would arise speaking perverse things, &c. And before he wrote his epistle to the Colossians, false teachers had actually arisen in Phrygia, who earnestly recommended the worship of angels, ( Colossians 2:18 ,) abstinence from certain meats, and various bodily mortifications, ( Colossians 2:21-22 ,) according to the traditions and doctrines of men. For the apostle wrote that epistle expressly for the purpose of condemning these idolatries and superstitious practices. To these things may be added an excess of reverence for pastors, and setting them up as heads of factions, 1 Corinthians 1:19 ; 1 Corinthians 3:22 ; the ambition of pastors themselves, and contending for rule and precedence, 3 John 1:9 ; errors in point of doctrine already promulgated, as justification by the merit of works, Galatians 2:16 ; external performances put in the room of faith and love; the having recourse to other mediators besides Christ Jesus, and various human inventions added to the written word. Only he who now letteth — That is, restraineth, will restrain, &c. Chandler thinks this verse should be translated thus: The mystery of iniquity already worketh, only until he who restrains it be taken out of the way; that is, it works in a concealed manner only until then. The restraining here spoken of refers to the mystery of iniquity, as the restraining, mentioned 2 Thessalonians 2:6 , refers to the man of sin. These were connected together, and were restrained by something which the apostle had mentioned to the Thessalonians, in his sermons and conversations, but which he did not choose to express in writing. This, as was observed on 2 Thessalonians 2:6 , was generally understood by the fathers to be the Roman emperors and empire, as it is plain from Tertullian, who says, ( Apol., p. 31,) “We Christians are under a particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for the continued state of the empire; because we know that dreadful power which hangs over the whole world, is retarded by the continuance of the time appointed for the Roman empire.” “To this conjecture,” says Macknight, “the fathers may have been led by tradition, or they may have formed it upon Daniel’s prophecies. But, in whatever way they obtained the notion, it seems to have been the truth. For the power of the emperors and of the magistrates under them, first in the heathen state of the empire, and afterward when the empire became Christian, was that which restrained the man of sin, or corrupt clergy, from exalting themselves above all that is called God, or an object of worship civil and religious.” The reader must observe, the Roman empire, united under one powerful head, was extremely jealous of every other authority and power, and therefore was watchful to prevent the establishment of every such spiritual tyranny and usurpation as that by which Satan was attempting to make his grand effort against Christianity. It must be observed, however, that though the Roman empire, for several ages, restrained the progress of the mystery of iniquity, and the increase of the power of the corrupt clergy, by keeping the church under persecution, and curbing all authority but its own, and thereby retarded the establishment of the ecclesiastical tyranny here spoken of; yet, as Mr. Scott remarks, “the conversion of the Roman emperors to Christianity, in the beginning of the fourth century, tended greatly to prepare things for this apostacy, by giving scope to the ambition and avarice of the ecclesiastics, and by multiplying exceedingly merely nominal Christians; but it was not till the subversion of the western empire by the northern nations, and the division of it into ten kingdoms, that way was made for the full establishment of the Papal usurpation at Rome, the capital city of the empire.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be 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 . And then — When every prince and power that restrains is taken away; that wicked — ? ?????? , that lawless one, who boasts himself to be above all laws, and the infallible judge, dispensing with, and interpreting the laws of God, according to his pleasure. Nothing can be more plain than that this wicked or lawless one, and the man of sin, must be one and the same person: shall be revealed — This revelation must mean that he would then no longer work secretly, but would openly show himself, possessing the character, and performing the actions ascribed to the man of sin. Whom the Lord shall consume — The apostle does not mean that he should be consumed immediately after he was revealed; but, to comfort the Thessalonians, he no sooner mentions his revelation, than he foretels also his destruction, even before he describes his other qualifications; which qualifications should have been described first in order of time, but the apostle hastens to what was first and warmest in his thoughts and wishes. The word ???????? , here rendered to consume, Chandler observes, is used to denote a lingering, gradual consumption; being applied to the waste of time, to the dissipation of an estate, and the slow death of being eaten up of worms. He supposes it has the same meaning here, importing that the man of sin is to be gradually destroyed by the spirit — Or breath rather, as it seems ?????? should have been here translated; of Christ’s mouth — By which expression the preaching of true doctrine, and its efficacy in destroying the man of sin, are predicted. For the mouth being the instrument by which speech is formed of breath, or air from the lungs, the breath of his mouth is a proper figurative expression to denote the speaking or preaching of true doctrine. Accordingly, the preaching of the gospel is termed, ( Revelation 19:15 ,) a sharp sword proceeding out of the mouth of Christ; and ( Hosea 6:5 ) God says, I have hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the word of my mouth. See also Isaiah 11:4 . Or, the expression may include both the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit accompanying it; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming — By clear, convincing reasons and arguments contained in the doctrine of those that shall speak or write by the Spirit of Christ, or by God’s manifest judgments against him in the pouring out of the several vials, Revelation 16. The original expression, ????????? ??? ????????? ????? , is, literally, the bright shining of his coming, and means that, as darkness is dispelled by the rising of the sun, so the mystery of iniquity shall be destroyed by the lustre with which Christ will cause the true doctrine of the gospel to shine. “If,” says Dr. Benson, “St. John and St. Paul have prophesied of the same corruptions, it should seem that the head of the apostacy will be destroyed by some signal judgment, after its influence or dominion hath, in a gradual manner, been destroyed by the force of truth.” According to Daniel, ( Daniel 7:27 ,) after the little horn is consumed and destroyed, the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; a prediction which undoubtedly signifies the general conversion of both Gentiles and Jews to the Christian faith, and the universal reign of righteousness and peace through all the earth. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him , whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 . Him whose coming — The apostle, in his eagerness to foretel the destruction of the man of sin, having broken in upon his subject, now returns to it again, and describes the other qualifications by which this wicked one should advance and establish himself in the world. He should rise, the apostle signifies, to credit and authority by the most diabolical methods; should pretend to supernatural powers, and boast of revelations, visions, and miracles, false in themselves, and applied to promote false doctrines. The expression, whose coming, here signifies the first appearance of this lawless one in an open manner. The mystery of iniquity wrought covertly in the apostles’ days; and the man of sin was not to show himself openly, till that which restrained was taken out of the way. His coming, therefore, or his beginning to reveal himself, was to happen after the empire became Christian, and to take place in the manner described in the following clause. After the working of Satan — Whose first setting up, and further increasing of his power, is by Satan’s influence; or with such a kind of working as Satan is wont to use wherewith to seduce persons; with all power — Pretended power from God; and signs — Fictitious or false signs, namely, not such as are fit to prove the truth of the doctrines which they are brought to confirm, but are mere impostures and forgeries; and lying wonders — Such illusions and deceptions as were effected by the power of Satan, to confirm the doctrines and dominion of Antichrist, and were calculated to cause wonder in the beholders. Macknight reads this clause, with all power, and signs, and miracles of falsehood, judging the structure of the sentence requires that ??????? , of falsehood, be joined not only with wonders, or miracles, but with power and signs. And in explication of the terms he observes, that they are either signs, miracles, and exertions of power, performed in appearance only; mere impositions upon the senses of mankind; or they are real signs and miracles performed for the establishment of error; and consequently they are the works of evil spirits. Of this sort the miracles performed by Pharaoh’s magicians may have been; also some of the miracles related by heathen historians. For the apostle intimates that by some kind of miracle, or strong working, which had the appearance of miracles in the eyes of the vulgar, Satan established idolatry in the heathen world. Nay, our Lord himself foretels that false Christs and false prophets would show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they would deceive the very elect. Wherefore, seeing the coming of the man of sin was to be after the working of Satan, with all power, &c., it is not improbable that some of the miracles, by which the corruptions of Christianity were introduced, may have been real miracles performed by evil spirits, called here miracles of falsehood, because they were done for the establishment of error: see Revelation 13:13-14 , where the same events seem to be foretold. This description of the wicked or lawless one, plainly evinces that Mohammed cannot be the man of sin, as some pretend. For, instead of working miracles, he utterly disclaimed all pretensions of that sort. In like manner, and for the same reason, the man of sin cannot be the factious leaders of the Jews in their revolt from the Romans, as Le Clerc and Whitby have affirmed; nor any of the heathen Roman emperors, as others have imagined. Besides, although these emperors exalted themselves above all other kings and princes, and opposed Christ very much, they did not apostatize from the Christian faith, nor sit in the temple of God. With all deceivableness of unrighteousness — Or every unrighteous deceit, (the phrase being a Hebraism.) The apostle means those feigned visions and revelations, and other pious frauds, by which the corrupt clergy gained credit to their impious doctrines and practices. In them that perish — Who are in the highway to eternal destruction; because they received not the love of the truth — The cause this why God suffered them to fall into such destructive errors. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 . For this cause God shall send them — That is, shall judicially permit to come upon them; strong delusion — The strong working of error in their hearts. From this we learn that, as a punishment of their sins, God suffers wicked men to fall into greater sins; and as the sin of the persons described in this passage consisted in their not loving the truth, what could be more just or proper than to punish them, by suffering them to fall into the belief of the greatest errors and lies? Thus the heathen, mentioned Romans 1:24 , were punished by God’s giving them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts; that they should believe a lie — Or, as the words ??? ?? ????????? ?????? ?? ?????? may be translated, so that they will believe a lie. The lie here intended by the Spirit of God, Macknight thinks, “is the monstrous lie of transubstantiation, or of the conversion of the bread and wine in the Lord’s supper into the real identical body and blood of Christ, through the will of the priest accompanying his pronouncing the words of institution; notwithstanding there is no change whatever produced in the accidents or sensible qualities of these substances. This impudent fiction is not only a palpable contradiction to the senses and reason of mankind, but a most pernicious falsehood, being the chief foundation of that fictitious power of pardoning sin, and of saving or damning men according to their own pleasure, which the Romish ecclesiastics have blasphemously arrogated to themselves, and by which they make men utterly negligent of holiness, and of all the ordinary duties of life.” That they all might be damned — ??? ??????? , might be judged, or condemned; that is, the consequence of which will be, that, having filled up the measure of their iniquity, they will at length fall into just condemnation; who believed not the truth — Received not the gospel in faith, love, and obedience; but had pleasure in unrighteousness — In corrupt passions and vicious practices. The original expression, ???????????? signifies both to take pleasure in a thing, and to approve of it. “From this we learn that it is not the simple ignorance of truth which exposes men to damnation. In many cases this may be no fault in the ignorant. But it is men’s refusing to believe, through their taking pleasure in unrighteousness, which will prove fatal to them; for a disposition of that sort renders the wicked altogether incurable.” Such is the interpretation which Bishop Newton, in his admirable work on the Prophecies, Dr. Macknight, and many other approved commentators, have given of this famous prophecy; an interpretation which applies with great ease to all the facts and circumstances mentioned in it, and is perfectly consistent in all its parts, which no other interpretation invented by learned men can be shown to be. The passage is evidently a prediction, as the above-mentioned divines have fully proved, of the corruptions of Christianity, “which began to be introduced into the church in the apostle’s days, and wrought secretly all the time the heathen magistrates persecuted the Christians, but which showed themselves more openly after the empire received the faith of Christ, A.D. 312, and by a gradual progress ended in the monstrous errors and usurpations of the bishops of Rome, when the restraining power of the emperors was taken out of the way, by the incursions of the barbarous nations, and the breaking of the empire into the ten kingdoms prefigured by the ten horns of Daniel’s fourth beast.” To be convinced of this, the reader need only compare the rise and progress of the Papal tyranny with the descriptions of the man of sin, and of the mystery of iniquity here given, and with the prophecies of Daniel. In the bishops of Rome all the characters and actions ascribed by Daniel to the little horn, and by Paul to the lawless one, are clearly united. “For, according to the strong working of Satan, with all power and signs, and miracles of falsehood, they have opposed Christ, and exalted themselves above all that is called God, or an object of worship; and have long sat in the temple of God as God, showing themselves that they are God; that is, they exercise the power and prerogatives of God. And seeing, in the acquisition and exercise of their spiritual tyranny, they have trampled upon all laws, human and divine, and have encouraged their votaries in the most enormous acts of wickedness, the Spirit of God hath, with the greatest propriety, given them the appellations of the man of sin, the son of perdition, and the lawless one. Further, as it is said that the man of sin was to be revealed in his season, there can be little doubt that the dark ages, in which all learning was overturned by the irruption of the northern barbarians, were the season allotted to the man of sin for revealing himself. Accordingly we know that in these ages the corruptions of Christianity, and the usurpations of the clergy, were carried to the greatest height. In short, the annals of the world cannot produce persons and events, to which the things written in this passage can be applied with so much fitness, as to the bishops of Rome. Why then should we be in any doubt concerning the interpretation and application of this famous prophecy?” — Macknight. 2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 . But, &c. — Here he proceeds to comfort them against the terrors of the preceding prophecy; we are bound to give thanks always for you — As if he had said, I do not mean that ye believers at Thessalonica will be concerned either in this revolt against God, or in the punishment thereof; brethren, beloved of the Lord — Brethren in Christ through your believing in him, and therefore peculiarly beloved of God; because God hath from the beginning — Of your hearing and obeying the gospel; chosen you to salvation — Hath pardoned, accepted, and made you his chosen people and dear children, as he hath all who, hearkening to the call of his word, truly turn to him in repentance, faith, and new obedience; through sanctification of the Spirit — Through that renovation of mind and heart, and reformation of life, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s influences; and belief of the truth — By the instrumentality of which the Spirit works that important change in mankind. Whereunto — To which belief of the truth, and sanctification of the Spiri

Expositors

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, Chapter 19 THE MAN OF SIN 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 (R.V.) IN the first chapter of this Epistle Paul depicted the righteous judgment of God which accompanies the advent of Christ. Its terrors and its glories blazed before his eyes as he prayed for those who were to read his letter. "With this in view," he says, "we also pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of the calling." The emphatic word in the sentence is "you." Among all believers in whom Christ was to be glorified, as they in Him, the Thessalonians were at this moment nearest to the Apostle’s heart. Like others, they had been called to a place in the heavenly kingdom.; and he is eager that they should prove worthy of it. They will be worthy only if God powerfully carries to perfection in them their delight in goodness, and the activities of their faith. That is the substance of his prayer. "The Lord enable you always to have unreserved pleasure in what is good, and to show the proof of faith in all you do. So you shall be worthy of the Christian calling, and the name of the Lord shall be glorified in you, and you in Him, in that day." The second chapter seems, in our English Bibles, to open with an adjuration: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him." If that were right, we might suppose Paul’s meaning to be: As you long for this great day, and anticipate its appearing as your dearest hope, let me conjure you not to entertain mischievous fancies about it; or, as you dread the day, and shrink from the terrible judgment which it brings, let me adjure you to think of it as you ought to think, and not discredit it by unspiritual excitement, bringing reproach on the Church in the eyes of the world. But this interpretation, though apt enough, is hardly justified by the use of the New Testament, and the Revised Version is nearer the truth when it gives the rendering "touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is of it the Apostle wishes to speak; and what he has to say is, that the true doctrine of it contains nothing which ought to produce unsettlement or vague alarms. In the First Epistle, especially in chapter 5, he has enlarged on the moral attitude which is proper to those who cherish the Christian hope: they are to watch and be sober; they are to put off the works of darkness, and put on, as children of the day, the armour of light; they are to be ready and expectant always. Here he adds the negative counsel that they are not to be quickly shaken from their mind, as a ship is driven from her moorings by a storm, nor yet upset or troubled, whether by spirit or by word or letter purporting to be from him. These last expressions need a word of explanation. By "spirit" the Apostle no doubt means a Christian man speaking in the church under a spiritual impulse. Such speakers in Thessalonica would often take the Second Advent as their theme; but their utterances were open to criticism. It was of such utterances that the Apostle had said in his earlier letter, "Despise not prophesyings; but prove all that is said, and hold fast that which is good." The spirit in which a Christian spoke was not necessarily the spirit of God; even if it were, it was not necessarily unmixed with his own ideas, desires, or hopes. Hence discernment of spirits was a valued and needful gift, and it seems to have been wanted at Thessalonica. Besides misleading utterances of this kind in public worship, there were circulated words ascribed to Paul, and if not a forged letter, at all events a letter purporting to contain his opinion, none of which had his authority. These words and this letter had for their substance the idea that the day of the Lord was now present-or, as one might say in Scotch, just here. It was this which produced the unspiritual excitement at Thessalonica, and which the Apostle wished to contradict. A great mystery has been made out of the paragraph which follows, but without much reason. It certainly stands alone in St. Paul’s writings, an Apocalypse on a small scale, reminding us in many respects of the great Apocalypse of John, but not necessarily to be judged by it, or brought into any kind of harmony with it. Its obscurity, so far as it is obscure, is due in part to the previous familiarity of the Thessalonians with the subject, which allowed the Apostle to take much for granted; and in part, no doubt, to the danger of being explicit in a matter which had political significance. But it is not really so obscure as it has been made out to be by some; and the reputation for humility which so many have sought, by adopting St. Augustine’s confession that he had no idea what the Apostle meant, is too cheap to be coveted. We must suppose that St. Paul wrote to be understood, and was understood by those to whom he wrote; and if we follow him word by word, a sense will appear which is not really questionable except on extraneous grounds. What, then, does he say about the delaying of the Advent? He says it will not come till the falling away, or apostasy, has come first. The Authorised Version says "a" falling away, but that is wrong. The falling away was something familiar to the Apostle and his readers; he was not introducing them to any new thought. But a falling away of whom? or from what? Some have suggested, of the members of the Christian Church from Christ, but it is quite plain from the whole passage, and especially from 2 Thessalonians 2:12 f., that the Apostle is contemplating a series of events in which the Church has no part but as a spectator. But the "apostasy" is clearly a religious defection; though the word itself does not necessarily imply as much, the description of the falling away does; and if it be not of Christians, it must be of the Jews; the Apostle could not conceive of the heathen "who know not God" as falling away from Him. This apostasy reaches its height, finds its representative and hero, in the man of sin, or, as some MSS. have it, the man of lawlessness. When the Apostle says the man of sin, he means the man, -not a principle, nor a system, nor a series of persons, but an individual human person who is identified with sin, an incarnation of evil as Christ was of good, an Antichrist. The man of sin is also the son of perdition; this name expressing his fate-he is doomed to perish-as the other his nature. This person’s portrait is then drawn by the Apostle. He is the adversary par excellence , he who sets himself in opposition, a human Satan, the enemy of Christ. The other features in the likeness are mainly borrowed from the description of the tyrant king Antiochus Epiphanes in the Book of Daniel: they may have gained fresh meaning to the Apostle from the recent revival of them in the insane Emperor Caligula. The man of sin is filled with demoniac pride; he lifts himself on high against the true God, and all gods, and all that men adore; he seats himself in the temple of God; he would like to be taken by all men for God. There has been much discussion over the temple of God in this passage. It is no doubt true that the Apostle sometimes uses the expression figuratively, of a church and its members-"The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are"-but it is surely inconceivable that a man should take his seat in that temple; when these words were fresh, no one could have put that meaning on them. The temple of God is, therefore, the temple at Jerusalem; it was standing when Paul wrote; and he expected it to stand till all this was fulfilled. When the Jews had crowned their guilt by falling away from God; in other words, when they had finally and as a whole decided against the gospel, and God’s purpose to save them by it; when the falling away had been crowned by the revelation of the man of sin, and the profanation of the temple by his impious pride, then, and not till then, would come the end. "Do you not remember," says the Apostle, "that when I was with you I used to tell you this?" When Paul wrote this Epistle, the Jews were the great enemies of the gospel; it was they, who persecuted him from city to city, and roused against him everywhere the malice of the heathen; hostility to God was incarnated, if anywhere, in them. They alone, because of their spiritual privileges, were capable of the deepest spiritual sin. Already in the First Epistle he has denounced them as the murderers of the Lord Jesus and of their own prophets, a race that please not God and are contrary to all men, sinners on whom the threatened wrath has come without reserve. In the passage before us the course is outlined of that wickedness against which the wrath was revealed. The people of God, as they called themselves, fall definitely away from God; the monster of lawlessness who rises from among them can only be pictured in the words in which prophets portrayed the impiety and presumption of a heathen king; he thrusts God aside, and claims to be God himself. There is only one objection to this interpretation of the Apostle’s words, namely, that they have never been fulfilled. Some will think that objection final; and some will think it futile: I agree with the last. It proves too much; for it lies equally against every other interpretation of the words, however ingenious, as well as against the simple and natural one just given. It lies, in some degree, against almost every prophecy in the Bible. No matter what the apostasy, and the man of sin, are taken to be, nothing has ever appeared in history which answers exactly to Paul’s description. The truth is that inspiration did not enable the apostles to write history before it happened; and though this forecast of the Apostle’s has a spiritual truth in it, resting as it does on a right perception of the law of moral development, the precise anticipation which it embodies was not destined to be realised. Further, it must have changed its place in Paul’s own mind within the next ten years; for, as Dr. Farrar has observed, he barely alludes again to the Messianic surroundings (or antecedents) of a second, personal advent. "He dwells more and more on the mystic oneness with Christ, less and less on His personal return. He speaks repeatedly of the indwelling presence of Christ, and the believer’s incorporation with Him, and hardly at all of that visible meeting in the air which at this epoch was most prominent in his thoughts." But, it may be said, if this anticipation was not to be fulfilled, is it not altogether deceptive? is it not utterly misleading that a prophecy should stand in Holy Scripture which history was to falsify? I think the right answer to that question is that there is hardly any prophecy in Holy Scripture which has not been in a similar way falsified, while nevertheless in its spiritual import true. The details of this prophecy of St. Paul were not verified as he anticipated, yet the soul of it was. The Advent was not just then; it was delayed till a certain moral process should be accomplished; and this was what the Apostle wished the Thessalonians to understand. He did not know when it would he; but he could see so far into the law of God’s working as to know that it would not come till the fulness of time; and he could understand that, where a final judgment was concerned, the fulness of time would not arrive till evil had had every opportunity, either to turn and repent, or to develop itself in the most utterly evil forms, and lie ripe for vengeance. This is the ethical law which underlies the Apostle’s prophecy; it is a law confirmed by the teaching of Jesus Himself, and illustrated by the whole course of history. The question is sometimes discussed whether the world gets better or worse as it grows older, and optimists and pessimists take opposite sides upon it. Both, this law informs us, are wrong. It does not get better only, nor worse only, but both. Its progress is not simply a progress in good, evil being gradually driven from the field; nor is it simply a progress in evil, before which good continually disappears: it is a progress in which good and evil alike come to maturity, bearing their ripest fruit, showing all that they can do, proving their strength to the utmost against each. other; the progress is not in good in itself, nor in evil in itself, but in the antagonism of the one to the other. This is the same truth which we are taught by our Lord in the parable of the wheat and the tares: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares," etc. In the time of harvest: not till all is ripe for judgment, not till the wheat and the tares alike have shown all that is in them, will the judgment come. This is what St. Paul understood, and what the Thessalonians did not understand; and if his ignorance of the scale of the world, and the scale of God’s purposes, made him apply this law to the riddle of history hastily, with a result which the event has not justified, that is nothing to the prejudice of the law itself, which was true when he applied it with his imperfect knowledge, and is true for application still. One other remark is suggested by the description of the character in which sin culminates, viz. , that as evil approaches its height it assumes ever more spiritual forms. There are some sins which betray man on the lower side of his nature, through the perversion of the appetites which he has in common with the brutes: the dominance of these is in some sense natural; they are not radically and essentially evil. The man who is the victim of lust or drunkenness may lose his soul by his sin, but he is its victim; there is not in his guilt that malignant hatred of good which is here ascribed to the man of sin. The crowning wickedness is this demoniac pride: the temper of one who lifts himself on high above God, owning no superior, nay, claiming for himself the highest place of all. This is rather spiritual than sensual: it may be quite free from the gross vices of the flesh, though the connection between pride and sensuality is closer than is sometimes imagined; but it is more conscious, deliberate, malignant, and damnable than any brutality could be. When we look at the world in any given age-our own or another-and make inquiry into its moral condition, this is a consideration which we are apt to lose sight of, but which is entitled to the utmost weight. The collector of moral statistics examines the records of criminal courts; he investigates the standard of honesty in commerce; he balances the evidences of peace, truth, purity, against those of violence, fraud, and immorality, and works out a rough conclusion. But that material morality leaves out of sight what is most significant of all-the spiritual forms of good and of evil in which the opposing forces show their inmost nature, and in which the world ripens for God’s judgment. The man of sin is not described as a sensualist or a murderer; he is an apostate, a rebel against God, a usurper who claims not the palace but the temple for his own. This God-dethroning pride is the utmost length to which sin can go. The judgment will not come till it has fully developed; can any one see tokens of its presence? In asking such a question we pass from the interpretation of the Apostle’s words to their application. Much of the difficulty and bewilderment that have gathered about this passage are due to the confusion of these two quite different things. The interpretation gives us the meaning of the very words the Apostle used. We have seen what that is, and that in its precise detail it was not destined to be fulfilled. But when we have passed behind the surface meaning, and laid hold on the law which the Apostle was applying this passage, then we can apply it ourselves. We can use it to read the signs of the times in our own or in any other age. We may see developments of evil, resembling in their main features the man of sin here depicted, in one quarter or another, and in one person or another; and if we do, we are bound to see in them tokens that a judgment of God is at hand; but we must not imagine that in so applying the passage we are finding out what St. Paul meant. That lies far, far behind us; and our application of his words can only claim our own authority, not the authority of Holy Scripture. Of the multitude of applications which have been made of this passage since the Apostle wrote it, one only has had historical importance enough to be of interest to us-I mean that which is found in several Protestant confessions, including the Westminster Confession of Faith, and which declares the Pope of Rome, in the words of this last, to be "that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God." As an interpretation, of course, that is impossible; the man of sin is one man, and not a series, like the Popes; the temple of God in which a man sits is a temple made with hands, and not the Church; but when we ask whether or not it is a fair application of the Apostle’s words, the question is altered. Dr. Farrar, whom no one will suspect of sympathy with the Papacy, is indignant that such an uncharitable idea should ever have crossed the mind of man. Many in the churches which hold by the Westminster Confession would agree with him. Of course it is a matter on which everyone is entitled to judge for himself, and, whether right or wrong, ought not to be in a confession; but for my own part I have little scruple in the matter. There have been Popes who could have sat for Paul’s picture of the man of sin better than any characters known to history-proud, apostate, atheist priests, sitting in the seat of Christ, blasphemously claiming His authority, and exercising His functions. And individuals apart-for there have been saintly and heroic Popes as well, true servants of the servants of God-the hierarchical system of the Papacy, with the monarchical priest at its head, incarnates and fosters that very spiritual pride of which the man of sin is the final embodiment; it is a seedbed and nursery of precisely such characters as are here described. There is not in the world, nor has ever been, a system in which there is less that recalls Christ, and more that anticipates Antichrist, than the Papal system. And one may say so while acknowledging the debt that all Christians owe to the Romish Church, and while hoping that it may somehow in God’s grace repent and reform. It would ill become us, however, to close the study of so serious a subject with the censure of others. The mere discovery that we have here to do with a law of moral development, and with a supreme and final type of evil, should put us rather upon self-scrutiny. The character of our Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme and final type of good: it shows us the end to which the Christian life conducts those who follow it. The character of the man of sin shows the end of those who obey not His gospel. They become, in their resistance to Him, more and more identified with sin; their antagonism to God settles into antipathy, presumption, defiance; they become gods to themselves, and their doom is sealed. This picture is set here for our warning. We cannot of ourselves see the end of evil from the beginning; we cannot tell what selfishness and wilfulness come to, when they have had their perfect work; but God sees, and it is written in this place to startle us, and fright us from sin. "Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of. you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called Today; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." 2 Thessalonians 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Chapter 20 THE RESTRAINT AND ITS REMOVAL 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12 (R.V.) CHRIST cannot come, the Apostle has told us, until the falling away has first come, and the man of sin been revealed. In the verses before us, we are told that the man of sin himself cannot come, in the full sense of the word, he cannot be revealed in his true character of the counter-Christ, till a restraining force, known to the Thessalonians, but only obscurely alluded to by the Apostle, is taken out of the way. The Last Advent is thus at two removes from the present. First, there must be the removal of the power which holds the man of sin in check; then the culmination of evil in that great adversary of God; and not till then the return of the Lord in glory as Saviour and Judge. We might think that this put the Advent to such a distance as practically to disconnect it from the present, and make it a matter of little interest to the Christian. But, as we have seen already, what is significant in this whole passage is the spiritual law which governs the future of the world, the law that good and evil must ripen together, and in conflict with each other; and it is involved in that law that the final state of the world, which brings on the Advent, is latent, in all its principles and spiritual features, in the present. That day is indissolubly connected with this. The life that we now live has all the importance, and ought to have all the intensity, which comes from its bearing the future in its bosom. Through the eyes of this New Testament prophet we can see the end from the beginning; and the day on which we happen to read his words is as critical, in its own nature, as the great day of the Lord. The end, the Apostle tells us, is at some distance, but it is preparing. "The mystery of lawlessness doth already work." The forces which are hostile to God, and which, are to break out in the great apostasy, and the insane presumption of the man of sin, are even now in operation, but secretly. They are not visible to the careless, or to the infatuated, or to the spiritually blind; but the Apostle can discern them. Taught by the Spirit to read the signs of the times, he sees in the world around him symptoms of forces, secret, unorganised, to some extent inscrutable, yet unmistakable in their character. They are the beginnings of the apostasy, the first workings, fettered as yet and baffled, of the power which is to set itself in the place of God. He sees also, and has already told the Thessalonians, of another power of an opposite character. "Ye know," he says, "that which restraineth only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way." This restraining power is spoken of both in the neuter and the masculine, both as a principle or institution, and as a person; and there is no reason to doubt that those fathers of the Church are right who identified it with the Empire of Rome and its sovereign head. The apostasy was to take place among the Jews; and the Apostle saw that Rome and its Emperor were the grand restraint upon the violence of that stubborn race. The Jews had been his worst enemies, ever since he had embraced the cause of the Nazarene Messiah Jesus; and all that time the Romans had been his best friends. If injustice had been done him in their name, as at Philippi, atonement had been made; and, on the whole, he had owed to them his protection against Jewish persecution. He felt sure that his own experience was typical; the final development of hatred to God and all that was on God’s side could not but be restrained so long as the power of Rome stood firm. That power was a sufficient check upon anarchic violence. While it held its ground, the powers of evil could not organise themselves and work openly; they constituted a mystery of iniquity, working, as it were, underground. But when this great restraint was removed, all that had been labouring so long in secret would come suddenly to view, in its full dimensions; the lawless one would stand revealed. But, it may be asked, could Paul imagine that the Roman power, as represented by the Emperor, was likely to be removed within any measurable time? Was it not the very type and symbol of all that was stable and perpetual in man’s life? In one way, it was; and as at least a temporary check on the final eruption of wickedness, it is here recognised to have a degree of stability; but it was certainly not eternal. Paul may have seen plainly enough in such careers as those of Caligula and Claudius the impending collapse of the Julian dynasty; and the very obscurity and reserve with which he expresses himself amount to a distinct proof that he has something in his mind which it was not safe to describe more plainly. Dr. Farrar has pointed to the remarkable correspondence between this passage, interpreted of the Roman Empire, and a paragraph in Josephus, in which that historian explains the visions of Daniel to his pagan readers. Josephus shows that the image with the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the ankles and feet of iron, represents a succession of four empires. He names the Babylonian as the first, and indicates plainly that the Medo-Persian and the Greek are the second and third; but when he comes to the fourth, which is destroyed by the stone cut out without hands, he does not venture, as all his countrymen did, to identify it with the Roman. That would have been disloyal in a courtier, and dangerous as well; so he remarks, when he comes to the point, that he thinks it proper to say nothing about the stone and the kingdom it destroys, his duty as a historian being to record what is past and gone, and not what is yet to come. In a precisely similar way does St. Paul here hint at an event which it would have been perilous to name. But what he means is: When the Roman power has been removed, the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord will come to destroy him. What was said of the man of sin in the last chapter has again its application here. The Roman Empire did not fall within any such period as Paul anticipated; nor, when it did, was there any such crisis as he describes. The man of sin was not revealed, and the Lord did not come. But these are the human elements in the prophecy; and its interest and meaning for us lie in the description which an inspired writer gives of the final forms of wickedness, and their connection with principles which were at work around him, and are at work among us. He does not, indeed, come to these at once. He passes over them, and anticipates the final victory, when the Lord shall destroy the man of sin with the breath of His mouth, and bring him to nought by the appearance of His coming; he would not have Christian men face the terrible picture of the last workings of evil until they have braced and comforted their hearts with the prospect of a crowning victory. There is a great battle to be fought; there are great perils to be encountered; there is a prospect with something in it appalling to the bravest heart; but there is light beyond. It needs but the breath of the Lord Jesus; it needs but the first ray of His glorious appearing to brighten the sky, and all the power of evil is at an end. Only after he has fixed the mind on this does St. Paul describe the supreme efforts of the enemy. His coming, he says-and he uses the word applied to Christ’s advent, as though to teach us that the event in question is as significant for evil as the other for good-his coming is according to the working of Satan. When Christ was in the world, His presence with men was according to the working of God; the works that the Father gave Him to do, the same He did, and nothing else. His life was the life of God entering into our ordinary human life, and drawing into its own mighty and eternal current all who gave themselves up to Him. It was the supreme form of goodness, absolutely tender and faithful; using all the power of the Highest in pure unselfishness and truth. When sin has reached its height, we shall see a character in whom all this is reversed. Its presence with men will be according to the working of Satan; not an ineffective thing, but very potent; carrying in its train vast effects and consequences; so vast and so influential, in spite of its utter badness, that it is no exaggeration to describe its "coming" ( ???????? ), its "appearing" ( ????????? ) and its "revelation" ( ?????????? ), by the very same words which are applied to Christ Himself. If there is one word which can characterise this whole phenomenon, both in its principle and in its consummation, it is falsehood. The devil is a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies; and where things go on according to the working of Satan, there is sure to he a vast development of falsehood and delusion. This is a prospect which very few fear. Most of us are confident enough of the soundness of our minds, of the solidity of our principles, of the justice of our consciences. It is very difficult for us to understand that we can be mistaken, quite as confident about falsehood as about truth, unsuspecting victims of pure delusion. We can see that some men are in this wretched plight, but that very fact seems to give us immunity. Yet the falsehoods of the last days, St. Paul tells us, will be marvellously imposing and successful. Men will be dazzled by them, and unable to resist. Satan will support his representative by power and signs and wonders of every description, agreeing in nothing but in the characteristic quality of falsehood. They will be lying miracles. Yet those who are of the truth will not be left without a safeguard against them, a safeguard found in this, that the manifold deceit of every kind which the devil and his agents employ, is deceit of unrighteousness. It furthers unrighteousness; it has evil as its end. By this it is betrayed to the good; its moral quality enables them to penetrate the lie, and to make their escape from it. However plausible it may seem on other grounds, its true character comes out under the touchstone of conscience, and it stands finally condemned. This is a point for consideration in our own time. There is a great deal of falsehood in circulation-partly superstitious, partly quasi-scientific-which is not judged with the decision and severity that would be becoming in wise and good men. Some of it is more or less latent, working as a mystery of iniquity; influencing men’s souls and consciences rather than their thoughts; disinclining them to prayer, suggesting difficulties about believing in God, giving the material nature the primacy over the spiritual, ignoring immortality and the judgment to come. The man knows very little, who does not know that there is a plausible case to be stated for atheism, for materialism, for fatalism, for the rejection of all belief in the life beyond the grave, and its connection with our present life; but however powerful and plausible the argument may be, he has been very careless of his spiritual nature, who does not see that it is a deceit of unrighteousness. I do not say that only a bad man could accept it; but certainly all that is bad in any man, and nothing that is good, will incline him to accept it. Everything in our nature that is unspiritual, slothful, earthly, at variance with God; everything that wishes to be let alone, to forget what is high, to make the actual and not the ideal its portion; everything that recalls responsibilities of which such a system would discharge us forever, is on the side of its doctrines. But is not that itself a conclusive argument against the system? Are not all these most suspicious allies? Are they not, beyond dispute, our very worst enemies? And can it be possible that a way of thinking is true, which gives them undisputed authority over us? Do not believe it. Do not let any plausibility of argument impose upon you; but when the moral issue of a theory is plainly immoral, when by its working it is betrayed to be the leaven of the Sadducees, reject it as a diabolical deceit. Trust your conscience, that is, your whole nature, with its instinct for what is good, rather than any dialectic; it contains far more of what you are; and it is the whole man, and not the most unstable and self-confident of his faculties, that must judge. If there is nothing against a spiritual truth but the difficulty of conceiving how it can be, do not let that mental incapacity weigh against the evidence of its fruits. The Apostle points to this line of thought, and to this safeguard of the good, when he says that those who come under the power of this vast working of falsehood are those who are perishing, because they received not the lo

Illustrator

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 The coming of Christ C. Hodge, D. D. I. THE NATURE OF IT. Christ came. He comes. He is to come. 1. He came in the flesh. The long line of predictions from Adam to Malachi were accomplished at last, after long delay and anxious expectation. 2. He comes continually. (1) In the extraordinary manifestation of His presence and power, whether for judgment or mercy. (2) In the special manifestation of Him self to His people. 3. He is to come. (1) Personally and visibly. (2) With power and great glory. (3) The dead shall rise, the just and the unjust. (4) The judgment will then be held. (5) The world destroyed. (6) The kingdom of God consummated.The consequences to His people will be — (a) Their redemption, i.e. , their final deliverance from the power of death. (b) Their complete conformity to the likeness of Christ. (c) Their perfect enjoyment of that kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. II. THE TIME. 1. It is unrevealed. 2. It is to be unexpected. 3. It will not be until the conversion of the Jews and the calling in of the Gentries.Did the apostles expect Christ in their day? (1) They regarded His coming as they regarded the coming of death. (2) It was revealed to them that there should be a falling away first.We must distinguish between their personal expectations and their teaching. The latter alone is infallible. III. POINTS OF ANALOGY BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND COMINGS. 1. Both predicted. 2. Anxiously and long expected. 3. The subjects of much speculation as to time and mode. 4. Disappointing in the one and the other. IV. THE STATE OF MIND WHICH THE DOCTRINE SHOULD INDUCE. 1. A firm belief in the revealed fact that He is to come. This faith should not be shaken by long delay. How long Abraham waited and died without the sight. 2. Earnest desire. The hopes of the ancient people were concentrated on the coming of the Messiah. This led them to bear patiently what they had to suffer. To set their hopes on the future and not on the present. The same effect should be produced on us. 3. Watchfulness and anxiety, lest that day should overtake us as a thief in the night. We should have our lamps trimmed and our lights burning. It would be a dreadful thing for Christ to come and find us immersed in the world. 4. Prayer and waiting. 5. Solicitous efforts to prepare others for His coming, and to prepare the way of the Lord. He will not come to the individual nor to the Church till His way is prepared. This includes — (1) Taking out of the way obstructions to His coming. (2) The accomplishment of the ingathering of His people. ( C. Hodge, D. D. )

Matthew Henry

2:1-4 If errors arise among Christians, we should set them right; and good men will be careful to suppress errors which rise from mistaking their words and actions. We have a cunning adversary, who watches to do mischief, and will promote errors, even by the words of Scripture. Whatever uncertainty we are in, or whatever mistakes may arise about the time of Christ's coming, that coming itself is certain. This has been the faith and hope of all Christians, in all ages of the church; it was the faith and hope of the Old Testament saints. All believers shall be gathered together to Christ, to be with him, and to be happy in his presence for ever. We should firmly believe the second coming of Christ; but there was danger lest the Thessalonians, being mistaken as to the time, should question the truth or certainty of the thing itself. False doctrines are like the winds that toss the water to and fro; and they unsettle the minds of men, which are as unstable as water. It is enough for us to know that our Lord will come, and will gather all his saints unto him. A reason why they should not expect the coming of Christ, as at hand, is given. There would be a general falling away first, such as would occasion the rise of antichrist, that man of sin. There have been great disputes who or what is intended by this man of sin and son of perdition. The man of sin not only practises wickedness, but also promotes and commands sin and wickedness in others; and is the son of perdition, because he is devoted to certain destruction, and is the instrument to destroy many others, both in soul and body. As God was in the temple of old, and worshipped there, and is in and with his church now; so the antichrist here mentioned, is a usurper of God's authority in the Christian church, who claims Divine honours. 2:5-12 Something hindered or withheld the man of sin. It is supposed to be the power of the Roman empire, which the apostle did not mention more plainly at that time. Corruption of doctrine and worship came in by degrees, and the usurping of power was gradual; thus the mystery of iniquity prevailed. Superstition and idolatry were advanced by pretended devotion, and bigotry and persecution were promoted by pretended zeal for God and his glory. This mystery of iniquity was even then begun; while the apostles were yet living, persons pretended zeal for Christ, but really opposed him. The fall or ruin of the antichristian state is declared. The pure word of God, with the Spirit of God, will discover this mystery of iniquity, and in due time it shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. Signs and wonders, visions and miracles, are pretended; but they are false signs to support false doctrines; and lying wonders, or only pretended miracles, to cheat the people; and the diabolical deceits with which the antichristian state has been supported, are notorious. The persons are described, who are his willing subjects. Their sin is this; They did not love the truth, and therefore did not believe it; and they were pleased with false notions. God leaves them to themselves, then sin will follow of course, and spiritual judgments here, and eternal punishments hereafter. These prophecies have, in a great measure, come to pass, and confirm the truth of the Scriptures. This passage exactly agrees with the system of popery, as it prevails in the Romish church, and under the Romish popes. But though the son of perdition has been revealed, though he has opposed and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; and has spoken and acted as if he were a god upon earth, and has proclaimed his insolent pride, and supported his delusions, by lying miracles and all kinds of frauds; still the Lord has not yet fully destroyed him with the brightness of his coming; that and other prophecies remain to be fulfilled before the end shall come. 2:13-15 When we hear of the apostacy of many, it is a great comfort and joy, that there is a remnant according to the election of grace, which does and shall persevere; especially we should rejoice, if we have reason to hope that we are of that number. The preservation of the saints, is because God loved them with an everlasting love, from the beginning of the world. The end and the means must not be separated. Faith and holiness must be joined together as well as holiness and happiness. The outward call of God is by the gospel; and this is rendered effectual by the inward working of the Spirit. The belief of the truth brings the sinner to rely on Christ, and so to love and obey him; it is sealed by the Holy Spirit upon his heart. We have no certain proof of any thing having been delivered by the apostles, more than what we find contained in the Holy Scriptures. Let us then stand fast in the doctrines taught by the apostles, and reject all additions, and vain traditions. 2:16,17 We may and should direct our prayers, not only to God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, but also to our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And we should pray in his name unto God, not only as his Father, but as our Father in and through him. The love of God in Christ Jesus, is the spring and fountain of all the good we have or hope for. There is good reason for strong consolations, because the saints have 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 any worth or merit of their own. The more pleasure we take in the word, and works, and ways of God, the more likely we shall be to persevere therein. But, if we are wavering in faith, and of a doubtful mind, halting and faltering in our duty, no wonder that we are strangers to the joys of religion.