The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #1053

"Has Christ Returned or Can He Return at Any Time?"

2 Thes. 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;

The subject we're addressed here is the return of Jesus Christ and when it is we gather back to Him!
That is certainly easy enough for anyone to understand.

But the really hard part of this verse for people to come to grips with is the
"Let no man deceive you by any means" part!

Perhaps your minister or pastor is a really nice man with a lovely family
and you know him to be sincere and conscientious
and one who would not purposely lead you astray.

And that may all be true
but will you consider that perhaps he has blindly followed after the traditional teachings of the church,
which have the appearance of being good, just as you have followed after him?

Think about it!

The point Paul is making is "PLEASE,
DO NOT let anyone tell you in any way, shape, or form that the day of Christ is at hand,
i.e. that Jesus Christ can return at any moment!"

They are "in the dark", void of accurate Biblical knowledge,
and they will be caught off guard, caught sleeping, when the true Messiah returns.
You see, whether a man is pope, bishop, elder, preacher, teacher, pastor,
minister, deacon, usher, author, televangelist, or the paperboy,
we have been instructed to check out what that man says in the Word of God.

Remember Paul said to "Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good (1 Thes. 5:21).

" Well, Paul was not, neither did he believe he was,
nor did he attempt to, exempt himself from the "proving and the testing".

It is written in Acts 17 that those rascally Bereans checked him and Silas out real good, every day!

Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea:
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

[11] These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,
and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Imagine that! They had the NERVE to check out what the apostle Paul himself taught them.
The question one should then ask is,
"Is there anyone greater than the apostle Paul today that we should exempt from accountability to the Word of God?"
Forget whether they are nice guys or good folks or popular among the people or followed by millions.

Do your homework and believe the scriptures!

If a teacher does not encourage you to study on your own (2 Tim. 2;15)
or if that teacher is offended that you document whether his words fully align with the scriptures,
then find another teacher.

No true servant of God will ever ask you to believe him or her apart from documentation in the Word of God.

[12] Therefore many of them believed;
also of honourable women which were Greeks,
and of men, not a few.
They SAW for themselves that it was so
in the Word of God and for that reason many of them
"believed"... not because Paul or Silas said so... but the Word of God said so.

So Paul has now specifically told us in verse 3
that TWO THINGS must happen BEFORE we gather back to Jesus Christ.

(I would say that if those two things have not happened yet
then you are NOT going to be plucked out of your seat, are you?)

What are those two things?
There must first come a falling away
and the "man of sin", who is the "son of perdition", must be revealed.

Who is this "man of sin", this "son of perdition"?

The word Greek word for "perdition" is a derivative of "apollumi"
which means to fully destroy, i.e. die, perish:

apollumi, ap-ol'-loo-mee, Greek 622; from Greek 575 (apo) and the base of Greek 3639 (olethros); to destroy fully (reflexive to perish, or lose), literal or figurative :- destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.
The active participle of "apollumi" is "Appollyon" which is Satan's name in Rev. 9:11.

You see, there has only ever been one son
who has been sentenced to "perish" in the lake of fire
and that one son is the man of sin himself,
Satan, the Devil, the Great Red Dragon, the soon coming spurious messiah.

Judgment for everyone else,
unless you are part of the First Resurrection,
has been scheduled for the time following the Millennium
known as the Great White Throne Judgment.



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