G od ' s W ord reveals to us some wonderfully helpful prophetic passages not the least of which are found in Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians. In chapter two, verses 6 and 7, we see that the man of sin cannot be revealed nor will the Lord Jesus Christ return visibly to the earth to establish His millennial reign until certain things take place. The reason is the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. Those verses do con stitute a puzzle to many students of the Bible. In verses 3 and 4, the Apostle states that the man of sin will be revealed in time. Now he pro ceeds to disclose why the man of sin has been withheld up to this point. The word “let” there means "to hin der.” When our King James Version was issued in 1611, the word “let” meant to prevent; now it means to permit (Isa. 43:13; Rom. 1:13). The anti-Christ cannot be revealed until this Restrainer has been removed. There have been questions as to who or what this is. A popular conception is that the Roman Empire is the re strainer. Others have said it is the Jewish state. Some have gone so far as to say that Satan is that restrain ing influence. The true Bible con cept is that the influence holding back the revelation of the man of sin is none other than the Holy Spirit. There are admittedly some difficul ties in identifying the Restrainer. For example, verse 6 has the words “what withholdeth.” This is a neuter participle with a neuter article, while in verse 7, the words “he who now letteth” is a masculine participle with a masculine article. The neuter seems to suggest a mere influence, while the masculine suggests a personality. Actually, there is no serious prob lem here. The words may indicate
both the influence of a Person and the Person himself. Whoever or what ever restrains was known to the Thessalonians. Paul said; “now ye know what withholdeth” (v. 6). The man of sin receives his power from Satan (2:9). The Restrainer holds back the full manifestation of Satan’s power. Thus, the power of the Restrainer is greater than Sa tan’s power. Who is powerful enough to hold back the devil? Certainly not a nation or a group of nations. Six thousand years of human history have proved that no man-made sys tem can hold in check the forces of evil. The answer is that God only has such power over wickedness. In Gene sis 6:3 we read, “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Before the flood the third Person of the Holy Trinity restrained evil in the world. In this primary interpretation we have a reference to Noah's time! In its dispensational and prophetic ap plication, however, it can mean any time: our time or the end time. To day the Holy Spirit empowers the Church corporately, and her members individually, protecting against the opposition of Satan and his program. There is no doubt that at times God uses governments, armies, angels, or ganizations. The ultimate force be hind all restraint upon Satan and wickedness is the person and power of the Holy Spirit. The day will sure ly come, however, when Christ shall appear to take out His Church. The Holy Spirit will no longer restrain. The revelation of the man of sin is given to us in 2:8-12. Notice how this man of sin is revealed. He is called the son of perdition, that wicked or lawless one. He will head up the movement of apostasy in its final stages. The anti-Christ shall be 7
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