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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
is
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