Our Lord's Great Prophecy, Part 37

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2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

2 Thessalonians 2:9–12, 1981 Study, continued.

Verse 10 continued, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (AV)

In the Fourth Volume (of the Studies in the Scriptures series, entitled, “The Battle of Armageddon”), page 581, the Pastor said,

Great delusions are just before us ... [and] some of these ... may come closest upon those possessing the largest degree of the light of present truth.” Thus the consecrated will be liable to these deceptions as well as the world. Matt 24:24 implies that all of the consecrated not of the Little Flock will in some manner be at least temporarily deceived.

Combining several Scriptures, we can conclude that the Great Company will be deceived, slumber in measure, and lose out on the oil for a time, but afterwards they will be restored, rescued, and saved so as by fire (1 Cor. 3:15). As the Apostle Peter stated, “The righteous [will] scarcely be saved” (1 Pet. 4:18).

If the whole world lies in the wicked one—and has been all along, ever since the Flood when Satan became the god of this world—then 2 Thess 2 is talking about an added deception aimed specifically at the consecrated. Put another way, Satan knows that a battle lies ahead between him and Christ, and that only one can win it.

In due time Satan will come to realize that his is the losing battle, but that time is future, for now Satan’s cause seems to be the winning one. And before this realization comes, he will get still more power than he currently has. Eventually Jesus will take a more active role as regards the dispossession of Satan. When Satan realizes the criticalness of the hour, he will want to destroy with him as many as possible. In addition, he will try to destroy all of God’s plans, to frustrate them as much as possible. He will direct his attack at the consecrated wherever they may be, at the godly element who sincerely love God and want to serve Him—whether in or out of the nominal system, Babylon.

The progression of Satan’s attack will be (1) the feet members, (2) the rest of the consecrated (the Great Company class), and (3) the nation of Israel—against whatever pertains to God. The world is already blinded, deceived, and absorbed in anything other than the gospel: sports, sex, science, money, fame, etc. Therefore, Satan will concentrate his deception and attack on anyone God is dealing with, on those who have some measure of understanding and truth.

Rev 12:17 reveals that at the time of the French Revolution, Satan began to lay plans which would culminate at the very end of the age. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Specifically, Satan is determined to destroy theremnant” (the feet members) of the woman’sseed” (the true Church). Then the attack will focus on the Great Company both in and out of Babylon. When they have been disposed of and are off the scene, Satan will turn his attention to Israel through Gog and Magog.

The lying signs and wonders, the delusions and deceptions, will be slanted specifically against the truly consecrated. The plurality of the deceptions shows that they will be along several lines and methods and that Satan will try anything to discourage, undercut, and deceive those who love God. To get at those in Present-Truth circles (those acquainted with the Harvest Message) will require a more refined deception— something that those not in the proper heart condition will be unprepared for. Such will be unaware of the nature of his attack.

Since the delusion will be alie,” it means that the deluded ones will consider the lie to be truth. The Book of Jude suggests this delusion will be along the lines of the flesh, along the lines of compassion and love. Hence it is a possibility that a false conception of love will be the real deluding power of the future. The reasoning will be based on the fact that “God is love” and the Bible expounds the principles of love. An example of such false reasoning even now is the belief of some brethren that Judas did not go into Second Death.

Continued with next post.

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