Let us turn to the scripture
that we've just read, the second chapter, in the second epistle
of Paul to the church at Thessalonica and turning to the verses 3,
4, And five, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3, 4 and 5 he
writes, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall
not come, except their comer falling away first, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 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, showing himself
that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was
yet with you, I told you these things." In the context, he's dealing
with the expectation of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
that second coming of the Savior. There at the end of verse 2, He says that they're not to be
troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from
us as at the day of Christ is at hand the day of Christ being
that day when he is to return in power and glory and he has
spoken of that previously in chapter 1 verse 7 He addresses
those who are trouble-dressed with us, he says, 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, who shall
be punished with everlasting destruction 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 believe because our testimony
among you was believed in that day. The day of the Lord's return
then is something that he made them very much aware of and evidently
from what we're told here in verse 5 of chapter 2 he had He
told them. He'd spoken of these various
things. But what they have to remember
is that before that day comes, there will first be the revealing
of the man of sin, the son of perdition, and the wicked one. There at the end of verse 3,
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, again in
verse 8, then shall that wicked be revealed. The Lord will not
come until after that particular revelation. Now, I'm sure you're
aware that it is a controversial chapter and the subject matter
of it is controversial itself. There is here an historical and
a prophetic interpretation that we have to take account of, but
there is also here, I believe, a spiritual and an experimental
meaning to these words. Well, I want principally tonight
to deal with the former, the prophetic aspect. We might go
on next week to say something more with regards to the more
experimental aspect of the portion. But dealing now with the historical
and the prophetic. And what is he speaking of? What
must happen before the Lord returns? Well, there must be a falling
away. This is the expression that we
have in verse 3. Let no man deceive you by any
means, that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first." A falling away. Now, interestingly, the particular
word that we have here, rendered, falling away, is the word, the
Greek word from which we derive quite directly our English word
apostasy. It's the word apostasia, and
you will see immediately that that word has come over directly
into our English language. The very etymology of that word,
apostasy, is derived from this particular word that's used here
in the New Testament. And so, what I want to say tonight
concerns this spiritual apostasy that Paul is preaching of. And what we have here concerning
the man of sin, the son of perdition, the wicked one, is also identified
with what we read in John's first epistle. There in the first epistle
of John, in chapter 2 at verse 18, he writes, Little children,
it is the last time. And as ye have heard, that Antichrist
shall come. Even now are there many Antichrists,
whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from
us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.
They were certain apostates, even in the days of the apostles.
But there was going to be a great day of apostasy before the actual
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the day would not come,
the day of the Lord's return, until after the revelation. of
this great apostate. There was a certain thing that
was restraining that already. And we see it in the words that
he uses. In verse 7, he says, The mystery
of iniquity does already work, only he who now letteth will
let until he be taken out of the way. And the word to let
here means to hold something back. to be a restraint, there
was something holding back the revelation of this great apostasy,
this man of sin. Again in verse 6, he says, now you know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time, as we have the word
letteth, something that was restraining and holding matters back in verse
7 there we have this word also withhold us you know what withholdeth
what is preventing this manifestation and Paul Paul had told them he
had told them as he says in verse 5 remember you're not that when
I was yet with you I told you these things he had spoken of
these things, but he's very reluctant now to write, to put the matter
in writing as he addresses his particular epistle to them. Now, when it came to the preaching
of the gospel, we know that there was no restraint at all on the
apostle. He would speak quite plainly
and clearly with regards to the gospel. And we see that. In the first letter to the Thessalonians,
in chapter 2, verse 3, our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness,
nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust
with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God
which hath our hearts, for neither at any time is it a flattering
word, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness God is witness."
He spoke plainly, clearly with regards to the great message
of the gospel. But when it comes to this matter
of the Lord's return and what it is that is restraining,
holding back that return, he is reluctant. to write too much. He must write guardedly. Why is that? Well, the restraint,
that that was holding back the manifestation of the man of sin,
and the son of perdition, and the wicked one, and the Antichrist,
that that was holding things back, strangely, was all the
might and power of Imperial Rome. But that was going to be moved
out of the way at some stage. And Paul was very reluctant to
speak of Rome ever falling. We know that when he was ministering
there at Thessalonica, the Jews had stirred up a great deal of
trouble with regards to Paul's ministry and the ministry of
those who were with him. They accused these men of turning
the world upside down. there in Acts chapter 17 at verse
5 following, we read of them making that accusation to the
authorities. These men, they are revolutionaries. So, Paul is told these people
something in private, but he's not wanting to put matters into
writing because it concerns the eventual taking away of the restraint,
taking away the removal of imperial Rome. So there was a restraint.
But then there is, in time, to be a revelation. When that that
was restraining things is gone, then this apostasy, this great
apostasy would become very very evident. What does he say? "...there shall come a falling
away first, and that man of sin shall be revealed, the son of
perdition." Verse 8, "...then shall that wicked one be revealed."
And what is it that replaces all the glories of Imperial Rome. Well, the reformers were so clear
on this, the Puritans were clear on this, the reference here is
to Papal Rome. The emergence of Papal Rome,
which would come into its own once Imperial Rome has been taken
out of the way, and that of course is simply a fact. of history. This is prophecy, and prophecy
that has been fulfilled. Remarking on this chapter, Huntington
says, these descriptions can be applied to no other monster
than that political and ecclesiastical head which is the Church of Rome. and I mean that's that's the
view we might say of William Huntington not surprisingly but
one thinks also of Christopher Wordsworth who was very much
an establishment figure here in England one time he was headmaster
of Harrow School he became Bishop of Lincoln and Christopher Wordsworth
he was the nephew of the poet William Wordsworth he wrote a
book, I think it's probably still in print, is the papacy predicted
by St. Paul, and it's the bishop's exegesis
and exposition of these verses, and I think what that man says
is really unanswerable, the way in which he opens up this whole
passage of scripture. Well, what I want to do tonight,
as I said, is to take up this subject then of the spiritual
apostasy that must be revealed, has been revealed, before ever
the Lord Jesus Christ is to return in power and great glory. And
first of all to say something with regards to apostate Christianity,
and then secondly to consider what I call anti-Christianity,
the Christianity of Antichrist. First of all, apostate Christianity. As I say, this is the real meaning
of this word in the middle of verse 3, falling away, except
there come a falling away, an apostasy first, a departure. a departure from the truth. Now, remember how Paul speaks
of this elsewhere when he writes to Timothy, there in the first
epistle to Timothy in chapter 4. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know not the truth." Who is it that forbids
marriage? Who is it that commands to abstain
from meats? The language here is so descriptive
of so much of the activity of the Church of Rome. And here, see how he speaks of what this is. He speaks of
the man of sin in verse 3. The man of sin, that's corrupt,
that's apostate Christianity. He speaks not only of the man
of sin, he speaks also of the son of perdition. These are the
terms that he is using. Now, the son of perdition, surely,
when we think of the one who betrays the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we think of Judas Iscariot, isn't he the son of perdition? And the Lord himself uses that
expression descriptive of Judas. In his great prayer, his high
priestly prayer, John 17, 12, He is praying for his disciples,
while I was with them in the world, he says, I kept them in
my name, those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them
is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. He was an apostate, was Judas
Iscariot, and this man of sin is also an apostate. And how does How does the son
of perdition deny the Lord Jesus Christ? Christ says to Judas,
Betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? With such open,
violent opposition there's an appearance here of affection.
You see, the mark you see of the man of sin, the son of perdition.
This is part of that mystery of iniquity. And we read of that
here. In the seventh verse, a mystery
of iniquity. That's already work. Only he
who now let us will let until he be taken out of the way. Which is a mystery of iniquity
that one can appear to be affectionate towards the Lord Jesus Christ
and yet be the terrible betrayer of the Lord Jesus. We know how
the devil is one who counterfeits all the works of God. Doesn't
Paul speak of Satan transforming himself into an angel of light?
There is the mystery of godliness. Again, there in 1 Timothy chapter
3, at the end of that chapter, remember how the apostle speaks
of real religion. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit scene of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed only in the world, received up into glory. Previously, at verse 9, he speaks
of holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Oh,
there is the mystery of the faith, the mystery of godliness, the
mystery of real religion. No surprise then, if Satan, mimicking
the works of God, also has his mystery. And here is the mystery,
you see, the mystery of iniquity. What a mystery is the Roman Catholic
Church. It appears to be a church of
Jesus Christ. It takes the name of Christ upon
its lips. It says it does honor and glory
to His name. And yet, what is it? It is the
arch enemy and persecutor of the saints of God. This is how
it's spoken of. in Revelation chapter 17. And again, Bishop Wordsworth, Bishop of
Lincoln as he was, expounds the 17th of John in terms also of
the Roman Catholic Church being revealed in Scripture. What do
we read here concerning that church? Revelation 17.5, upon
her forehead was the name written, Mystery. Babylon the Great, the
mother of harlots and 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. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration." Imperial Rome martyred many of those early
Christians. How many more of God's children
were martyred at the time of the Protestant Reformation. Oh, it is that great apostate
Christianity that is being spoken of here, this terrible falling
away, this departure from the truth. But as it is apostate,
so it is also anti-Christianity. As I said, what's being described
here by Paul is the same that John is speaking of there in
that first general epistle and chapter 2. Now, again, remember this is prophetic,
it's historic. If we go back into the Old Testament,
or the period between the Testaments, that period of probably 300 odd
years from the close of the prophetic ministry of Malachi till the
ministry of John the Baptist who is the last of the prophets,
the greatest of the prophets who comes to prepare the way
for Christ. Now in that period we have historically
of course the rise of the of the Grecian Empire, the great
empire of Greece, which was followed by the Roman Empire. Now, after
the death of Alexander the Great, that empire that he had established
was divided into two parts. by his generals. There was the
kingdom of the Ptolemies which was centered upon Egypt and the
kingdom of the Seleucids which was centered upon Syria. One of the kings of the Seleucids
was a man called Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes and That
name, Epiphanes, literally means God Manifest. And Antiochus Epiphanes is said
to be a type of the Antichrist. And Daniel makes reference to
Antiochus Epiphanes in his book in chapter 11, of Daniel, there at verse 31
we read, And I shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute
the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice,
and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And this
is just what Antiochus Epiphanes, that Seleucid king, actually
did. In the days of the Maccabees,
he sought to destroy the Jews. and he defiled the temple of
the Lord and he burnt swine flesh upon the brazen altar there at
the temple in Jerusalem. And this is the pollution you
see. They shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and shall take away
the daily sacrifice and they shall place the abomination that
maketh desolate. And then, speaking still of this
King, verse 36, The King shall do according to his will, and
he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and
shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and
shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that that
is determined shall be done," says Daniel. See what it says
concerning this Antiochus Epiphany's God manifest? He exalts himself,
he magnifies himself, above every God he speaks marvelous things
against the God of gods. And this man, they say, is really
a type of the man of sin. and the Antichrist. What do we
read here at verse 4? "...who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped so
that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God." Surely the Apostle Paul was well aware of the content
of Daniel's book. And what is he speaking of here? He's speaking of the pride of
a man. Remember what John says in that
second chapter, where he speaks of Antichrist, who is to come,
but he says, even now there are many Antichrists. There were
already Antichrists. Little Antichrists, we might
say. And he speaks of one of those little Antichrists. He
speaks in his third epistle of a man called Diotrephes. There, in the third epistle of
John, verse 9, he says, I wrote unto the church but theotrophies,
who loveth to have the preeminence among them receiveth us not.
Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth,
prating against us with malicious words, and not content therewith,
neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbideth them
that would, and casteth them out of the church." He was a
proud man, he wanted the preeminence, he was a persecuting man. You
see, Antichrist was already there. the spirit of Antichrist was
there to be seen in this man and it's so different to the
spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ remember Philippians 2 let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus you being in
the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God
but made himself of no reputation took upon him the form of a servant
was made in the likeness of men being found in fashion as a man
he became obedient unto death even the death of the cross,
or the mind of Christ, the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
very opposite of the spirit of Antichrist. But what does this
word Antichrist really mean? Well, anti, again, it's really
a Greek word, and literally it means instead of. in the place
of. The Antichrist is the one who
puts himself in the place of God. That's what Antiochus Epiphanes
was doing as Daniel says there in that
11th chapter. And what do we read here? We
read of a man showing himself that he is God at the end of
verse 4. Now Just think for a while of the
names that are given to the Bishop of Rome, to the Pope. The devout Roman Catholic will
speak of the Holy Father. That's the name that the devout
Romanist will often use when he makes reference to the Pope. He is the Holy Father. He'll
call the priest in his church, Father, but the Bishop of Rome
is the Holy Father. Now we know what the Lord Himself
says, Matthew 23, 9, "...Call no man your Father which is upon
earth, for one is your Father which is in heaven." But interestingly, also the Lord
Jesus In Scripture, He is the only one who ever uses that name
of Holy Father. And the Lord uses that name in
His prayer. We've already referred to John
17, and there at verse 11, He addresses His Father and He says,
Holy Father, keep them whom thou hast given me through thine own
name. He calls Him Holy Father. That is God the Father. That's the title that the Son
of God uses when he is speaking to his Father. He is the Holy
Father, that's the first person of the Godhead. Now again, when
he comes to the Bishop of Rome, he is also referred to sometimes
as the Supreme Pontiff. Pontifex Maximus in the Latin. And I suppose it comes over from
Imperial Rome because the Caesar was Pontifex Maximus and he's
taking the place of the Emperor. There was Emperor worship of
course in Rome. And here is the Bishop of Rome
and they speak of him as the Supreme Pontiff. That means the
Supreme Priest. The Supreme Priest. Every parish priest in the Church of
Rome, of course, is looked to as one who stands between the
laity and God. Principally, it is the Pope who
occupies that chief place between God and the laity. He is the
supreme priest. But isn't that what Scripture
says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews time and again,
Paul speaks of Christ, the high priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus, a great high priest, that he's passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. Here is a title that belongs
to the Son of God, the second person in the Godhead. And of course, when we see Him
revealed here in Holy Scripture, in the fullness of the time,
He comes as that One who is to mediate between God and man.
The mystery of godliness is God manifest in the flesh, that One
who can put His hand upon us each. one God, one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And yet, this is another
title that is given to the Bishop of Rome. He's the Holy Father,
he's the Supreme Pontiff, and sometimes they speak of him as
the Vicar of Christ. He is the Vicar of Christ. Now,
what does the word Vicar mean? It means in the place of. Sometimes
with regards to the atoning work of Christ we say it was a vicarious
sacrifice. It's a sacrifice in the place
of others. That's the basic meaning of the
word vicar. Now, who is the Vicar of Christ? Who is in the place of Christ?
Well, you know the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us
himself, does he not? In John 14, verse 16, I will
pray the Father, And He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him, but ye know Him. For He dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless,
I will come to you, says the Lord." And he is speaking here
of God, the Holy Spirit. It is the third person in the
Godhead. who now in this day of grace,
this gospel day, is the Vicar of Christ. He has not left us
as orphans. He must go away. If I go not
away, the Spirit shall not come. But if I go, I will send Him,
says the Lord. He has come as Christ's Vicar.
You see then what we're being told here in verse 4 concerning
this man of sin, and this son of perdition, this wicked one,
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
all that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God, he puts himself in
the place of all the persons in the Godhead. He puts himself
in the place of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. And As a God, he has his spurious
satanic miracles and superstitions. Verse 9, even him whose coming
is after the workings of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders. Here then we have apostate Christianity,
here we have anti-Christianity. These are the things that that
the apostle is writing of in this particular chapter. Now, I'm aware, I'm very much
aware that it is easy in a sense to find faults with the papacy. It's easy to throw stones at
others. But remember I said that whilst
there is that historic and prophetic meaning of what we're reading
here, there is also a spiritual and an experimental application. John Newton. John Newton's letters,
what letters they are, full of goods, sounds, godly common sense. Read the letters, the good letters
of John Newton, you'll find much profit there. In those letters
we find such a sentence as this. John Newton says that he had
read of many bad Popes But the worst Pope of all was Pope Self. The worst Pope of all is Pope
Self. You know there is a sense in
which there is an Antichrist in all of us. It's in us by nature,
it's in our fallen nature. We read here of a solemn falling
away. except there come a falling away
an apostasy and did we not sing it just now in the hymn in our
opening praise that lovely hymn of Robert Robinson what does he say in the last
verse oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be let
that grace Lord like a fetter bind my wandering heart to the
You have a wandering heart, a heart given to apostasy. I
have a wandering heart, prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it, prone
to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and
seal it, seal it from thy courts above. Do we not live to prove
that, to feel that? We are prone to wonder. so often. It's in us, it's in our fallen
nature. And we have that solemn passage. And why are such passages like
this? I think of Hebrews 6 verse 4, which speaks of apostasy. Searching words, it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, says the apostle, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift. and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers
of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Aren't
these left there because we need the warning? We're prone. We're
prone to backsliding, we're prone to apostasy, we're prone to fall
away. And we need to be kept. Now are we kept? We're kept by
the power of God, only by the power of God. Constantly we need
that grace of God, daily. We're debtors to that sovereign
grace of God. But then also, what of pride? Oh, look at the pride of the
man of sin. He opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that
he is God, seated in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. Isn't that true of us? We like our own way. We find it hard to bow to the
sovereignty of God, if we're honest. It's there, of course,
in the fall of our first parents, When the serpent, the instrument
of Satan, comes to leave, ye shall be as gods. Or we want
to be little gods. We want to be in control. And
it's hard sometimes. We're brought to our very wits'
end. We feel that we have no wisdom at all. How the Lord has
to humble us. We're so proud. His pride, the
cursed pride, that spirit by God have all do what we will.
It haunts us still and keeps us from the Lord, says Joseph
Hart. That hymn on pride, read it through, it's a long hymn,
287, but there's some real truth there. Against its influence,
pray, it mingles with the prayer. Against it, preach, it prompts
the speech, be silent. Still it's the edge, pride. It's easy, I say, for us to throw
stones at another. We need to be clear, of course,
with regards to the teaching of Scripture. We need to divide
the truth and sell it not. We need to contend earnestly
for the faith once delivered to the saints. It's right and
proper that we should understand what is being said here concerning
apostasy and apostasy which is the Church of Rome. Oh, but God
calls us also to turn from His Word and to look to ourselves
and to examine ourselves, and to prove ourselves, and to know
ourselves, that Jesus Christ is in us. He's in us, except
we be reprobate. Well, the Lord be pleased to
bless this word to us. Amen.