The Christian Church believes that at the close of the age, prior to the coming of the Lord, that Satan and his principalities will mount a full frontal assault on the Church of Jesus Christ, and will make his final bid to bring them into perdition. We have always known that these deceptions will be aimed NOT AT THE WORLD, CULTS, OR FALSE RELIGIONS, but at the true Church of Jesus Christ. We also know from the scriptures, in the warnings of the Apostle Paul, that these assaults will be on the doctrines of the Church, and on the beliefs of Christians. In the Articles on this site entitled, "The Blessings of God", "The Gospel of Convenience", "Patriotism in Light of The Scriptures", "Generation Judas" and "Self Induced Blindness" we have outlined a number of the deceptions we believe that Satan has maneuvered into Church Doctrine, and we would encourage you to read those writings as you find time and opportunity. You will find the appropriate scripture references to the warnings that Jesus, Paul, and the Disciples gave to believers, warning us of these deceptions in those Articles. We beseech you in the name of Jesus, in these final hours of history, to find opportunity to read these very important documents!
However, in this Article, I want to draw your attention to one specific passage of scripture regarding the end times, and the deceptions that we are warned to be prepared for, and that scripture is the whole of the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians...
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 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. 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; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now lets will let, until he be taken out of the way. 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: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 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. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In the first 12 verses of this passage of scripture, we find a very solemn warning by Paul to the Church. We will discuss the last 5 verses of the passage later in the Article. What Paul is basically saying is that the return of the Lord shall not come until a few things happen first. These things are as follows...
The Man of Sin, (the son of Perdition, called Antichrist by the Church) will be revealed, or will "show up on the scene". (verses 1-9)
He will, with deceit and lies, deceive the Church, using unrighteousness that he fosters in them. (you may say, "what makes you say the Church? He says here "In them that Perish") Of course its the Church Paul is talking about here, what need has the Devil to deceive the lost? They are already deceived! (verse 10)
God, in his anger with their willing participation in this unrighteousness, even their "taking pleasure" in this unrighteousness, will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie! (again, why would God send strong delusion to the already diluted, and lost? This passage is speaking about THE CHURCH!)
So we have the scenario that Paul has drawn out, of what Satan will do and what his plans will be for the last days, and what he will be trying to accomplish in the Body of Christ. He will offer some powerful deceptions, or replacements for the truth to the Church of Jesus Christ, many will accept these offerings, and even take pleasure in them, (receive their joy from them, cherish them, and will call them truth), and God will be so angry with these, that he will HIMSELF send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie!
This is a very sobering reality, given that most believers think that once they are saved, they are always saved, and that no deception can take them, or make them lose their place in the kingdom... Another deception. We have tirelessly pointed out on this site, the reasons why we believe the verses in the Bible pertaining to the last days are taking place, and each time, we have given a detailed discussion as to how we see these things carrying themselves out on the world stage. This Article will be no exception to this rule. What Rule? The rule that we love our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and will work reverently until the coming of the Lord, to reason with them on areas that we believe Satan would have them walking the broad road to destruction, and we will never give up this purpose! So Let's talk about the two belief systems I mentioned earlier, and why I believe they are so dangerous, and how they relate to the scripture in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2...
Please see the rest of this important Article here...
Frank Reilly is one of the Writers for the 11th Hour web site.