+I. Religion in its nature.+--It is a worthiness into which we are
called and with which we are invested.
+II. Religion in its source.+--The goodness of God. 1. _All present
religious views and feelings are the effect of Divine grace._ 2. _Man
has no rightful claim to Divine grace._ 3. _Religion has its true
source in the good pleasure of God._
+III. Religion in its principle.+--Faith. "The work of faith with
power." The producing and sustaining principle of religion.
+IV. Religion in its end.+--1. _The glory of the Redeemer._ "That the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you." 2. _The glory
of the redeemed._ "And ye in Him."
+V. Religion in its measure or rule of dispensation.+--"According to
the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."--_Zeta._
Ver. 12. _Christ glorified in His People._--The bust of Luther was
shut out from the Walhalla, or German Westminster Abbey. The people
were indignant, but said, "Why need we a bust when he lives in our
hearts?" And thus the Christian ever feels when he beholds many
around him multiplying pictures and statues of Christ, and he can
say, "I need them not, for He is ever with me; He lives perpetually
in my heart."
* * * * * * * *
+CHAPTER II.+
_CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._
Ver. 1. +Beseech . . . by the coming of our Lord.+--The English
reader who consults the similar phrase "to beseech by" in Rom. xii. 1
will be wholly astray. St. Paul begs his readers not to be thrown
into consternation or kept in a flutter of excitement over that
matter of the _Parousia,_ or "coming."
Ver. 2. +Not soon shaken.+--Like a house built on sand when the storm
breaks to fury, or like the _mobile vulgus_ in Thessalonica who were
only too willing to follow the lead of Jewish agitators (Acts
xvii. 13). +In mind.+--R.V. "from your mind." "Out of your wits"
expresses the apostle's meaning exactly. They are to behave like men
in whom reason is supreme--not like men in a panic. +Or be
troubled.+--The same word was used in reporting our Lord's counsels
on the same subject. "Be not troubled: . . . the end is not yet"
(Matt. xxiv. 6). +By epistle as from us.+--Either by
misinterpretation of something St. Paul had written, or by a forged
letter purporting to have come from him.
Ver. 3. +Let no man deceive.+--R.V. "beguile or cheat you." +A
falling away.+--Lit. "_the_ apostasy," a desertion from the army of
God; a recantation of faith in Christ. Our Master foretold that when
"iniquity shall abound the love of many shall be blown cool" (Matt.
xxiv. 12). +That man of sin.+--Another reading is "lawlessness." The
man in whom sin gathers itself up into a head--the last product of
sin. +The son of perdition+--_par excellence,_ sharing the title with
him whom Christ so named (John xvii. 12). Abaddon (Rev. ix. 11) may
claim him as his own ultimately.
Ver. 4. +Who opposeth and exalteth himself.+--The participle rendered
"who opposeth" is used twice by St. Luke in the plural as
"adversaries." So in the singular (1 Tim. v. 14). The compound word
for "exalteth himself" occurs (2 Cor. xii. 7), and is given as
"exalted-above-measure." +Above all that is called God.+--The shudder
of horror in these words reminds us how a monotheistic Jew must
regard the impious act. We can understand that a Roman emperor would
regard the God of Jew or Christian as a tutelary deity; but the acme
of profanity is reached in this act of Antichrist. +Or that is
worshipped.+--R.V. margin, "Gr. an object of worship." "The very name
_Sebastos,_ the Greek rendering of the imperial title _Augustus,_ to
which _Dieus_ was added at death (signifying 'the one to be
worshipped'), was an offence to the religious mind. . . . Later,
Cæsar or Christ was the martyr's alternative" (_Findlay_). +Showing
Himself that He is God.+--Or, as we would say, "representing Himself
to be God." Compare Herod's acceptance of the worship (Acts xii. 22).
Ver. 6. +What withholdeth.+--R.V. "that which restraineth." "A hint
was sufficient, _verbum sapientibus:_ more than a hint would have
been dangerous" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 7. +He who now letteth.+--R.V. "there is one that restraineth."
The old word for "obstruct" is found in Isa. xliii. 13: "I will work,
and who shall let (_i.e._ hinder) it?" "Where then are we to
look . . . for the check and bridle of lawlessness? Where but to law
itself? The fabric of civil law and the authority of the magistrate
formed a bulwark and breakwater against the excesses both of
autocratic tyranny and of popular violence" (_Ibid._).
Ver. 8. +And then shall that Wicked be revealed.+--R.V. "and then
shall be revealed the lawless one." Outward restraint being
withdrawn, there is no inward principle to keep him back: he is
"lawless." +And shall destroy.+--R.V. "bring to nought." It is the
same word as that which describes the effect of the revelation of the
Gospel on "death" in 2 Tim. i. 10--to render absolutely powerless.
+With the brightness of His coming.+--R.V. "by the manifestation of
His coming." Lit. "by the epiphany of His presence."
Ver. 9. +Even Him, whose coming, etc.+--These words look back to the
beginning of ver. 8. "The two comings--the _parousia_ of the Lord
Jesus and that of the Man of Lawlessness--are set in contrast. The
second forms the dark background to the glory of the first"
(_Ibid._). +Power and signs and lying wonders.+--Simulating the
supernatural evidences of the Gospel as the magicians of Egypt those
of Moses.
Ver. 10. +Deceivableness of unrighteousness.+--R.V. "deceit." The
deceit which is characteristic of unrighteousness, or marks its
methods. +They received not the love of the truth.+--The _sine qua
non_ for an answer to Pilate's question (John xviii. 38) is this love
of the truth.
Ver. 11. +God shall send them strong delusion.+--R.V. "God sendeth
them a working of error." "It is a just, but mournful result, that
rejecters of Christ's miracles become believers in Satan's, and that
atheism should be avenged by superstition. So it has been and will
be" (_Ibid._). One is reminded of the old saying that "the gods first
drive mad those whom they mean to destroy."
Ver. 12. +Believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.+--Here again we have the mental rejection of truth
consequent on a liking for that which truth condemns. If "the heart
makes the theologian," the want of it makes the infidel.
Ver. 13. +We are bound to give thanks.+--The same form of expression
as in ch. i. 3, save that here "we" is expressed separately and
emphatically.
Ver. 15. +Stand fast.+--Ready for any shock which may come
unexpectedly through the insidious methods of Antichrist. +Hold the
traditions.+--As of the apostle said, keep a _strong_ hand on them.
Tradition is that which is handed over from one to another. Compare
1 Cor. xi. 23. "I received of the Lord . . . I delivered unto
you . . . He was betrayed." Here the words "delivered" and "betrayed"
represent a doing, of which the word for "tradition" is the act
completed. Paul handed over that which his Lord charged him to
transmit; Judas handed over Christ to the Jews.
Ver. 16. +Everlasting consolation and good hope.+--Consolation, or
comfort, is ministered by the Paraclete (John xiv. 16; Acts ix. 31),
who abides for ever with those who are Christ's.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-12.
_Antichrist Portrayed._
Various interpretations of this remarkable paragraph have been
attempted. Some modern German critics would divest it of any
prophetic significance and treat it as a representation of the
writer's own personal feelings and forebodings. Others would restrict
its application to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and to
persons, principles, and events that preceded that catastrophe. The
commonly received Protestant interpretation is to identify the Man of
Sin and his doings with the Papacy; and there are certainly many
points of that interpretation that accord very remarkably with the
prophecy. But there are serious objections to all these views. We
believe the revelation of the Antichrist here depicted is yet future,
though the elements of his power are now in preparation. From the
whole passage we gather the following suggestions:--
+I. That Antichrist will be embodied in some living personality.+--He
is called "that man of sin, the son of perdition": "that
Wicked"--_the lawless one_ (vers. 3-8). The fathers of the early
Church, for at least three centuries after the apostolic age, while
differing on some minor details, seemed unanimous in understanding by
the Man of Sin, not a system of deceit and wickedness, or a
succession of individuals at the head of such a system, but some one
man, the living personal Antichrist, the incarnation of Satanic craft
and energy, who should put forth his power to weaken and destroy the
Church.
1. _He will arrogantly assume Divine prerogatives._--"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" (ver. 4). In these words we note Antichrist's
intrusion into the special dwelling-place of God, his usurping
session there, and his blasphemous and ostentatious assumption of
Divinity. The wildest excesses of pride and audacity cannot exceed
this.
2. _His advent will be accompanied with remarkable displays of
Satanic power._--"Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders" (ver. 9). Antichrist as the
masterpiece of Satan will be endowed with extraordinary qualities.
The devil will tax his prodigious abilities to the utmost in making
this great adversary of the Church as potent for mischief as
possible. We know how readily the man of science can impose upon the
ignorant with his experiments. And how easy it is for Satan, with his
vast knowledge and resources, to delude thousands with his
simulations of the miraculous! The advent of Antichrist is to be a
fiendish caricature and audacious mockery of the glorious coming of
the Son of God!
+II. That Antichrist will work deplorable mischief in human
souls.+--1. _He seeks by secret methods to promote apostasy from the
Church of God._ "A falling away first" (ver. 3). "The mystery of
iniquity doth already work" (ver. 7). Here we detect the germs and
preparation of the antichristian curse that is to work such havoc.
The primitive Church of apostolic times was not such a model of
perfection as we sometimes imagine. The leaven of iniquity, of
_lawlessness,_ the essence of all sin, was already working. Observe
the sorrowing references of the apostles to the many evils of the
different Churches: Tit. i. 11; 1 Tim. vi. 5; 2 Cor. xi. 26; Philem.
9; 2 Tim. i. 15; 1 John ii. 18-20; 2 John 7; 3 John 9. _Passim._ The
most disastrous apostasies have been the result of long, secret
endeavours.
2. _He begets a dislike to saving truth._--"With all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be save" (ver. 10). The truth was
revealed, its saving benefits were offered; they had but to accept
the truth and they were safe. But they rejected the truth; they loved
it not. Their treatment of the Gospel rendered them more easy victims
to the deceptions of Antichrist; fascinated by his unrighteous
glamour, they recede from the truth and cherish a bitter hostility
towards it.
3. _His victims are abandoned to self-delusion and
condemnation._--"And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be
damned"--might be _judged_ according to their individual character
and works--"who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness" (vers. 11, 12). See here the fearful consequences of
a hatred to and rejection of the truth! The soul takes delight in
sinning--has "pleasure in unrighteousness." It is, then, not only
abandoned to its iniquity, but its delusions are intensified so as to
embrace the most palpable falsehoods as truth. It shall then be
judged on its own merits, so that God shall be justified in His
speaking and clear in His judging. Terrible indeed is the fate of the
victims who fall under the spell of Antichrist.
+III. That the coming of Antichrist is for a time restrained.+--"And
now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his
time. . . . Only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out
of the way" (vers. 6, 7). There is an external power with an
individual at its head which holds back the power of Antichrist until
the proper season comes. What that power is is not revealed; but God
can use any power for this purpose, until the Divinely appointed time
shall come for the revelation and overthrow of Antichrist.
+IV. That Antichrist shall be summarily destroyed.+--"Whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of His mouth"--as insects wither on the
mere approach of fire--"and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming" (ver. 8)--with the _appearing_ of His coming, as it were the
first gleaming dawn of His advent. For a time Antichrist shall reign
in pomp and splendour and delude many to their ruin; but at the
coming of the true Lord of the Church the great impostor shall be
dethroned and utterly abolished. "It is enough," says Chrysostom,
"that He be present, and all these things perish. He will stay the
deception simply by appearing."
+V. That the followers of Christ need not be afraid of losing any
benefits to be conferred by His second coming.+--"Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or
be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from
us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (vers. 1, 2)--_on hand, has
already come._ When Paul wrote the first epistle, the Thessalonians
"were sorrowing by the graves of their departed friends, and the
grief of nature was enhanced by the apprehension that their beloved
ones might suffer loss at the coming of the Lord. But now, should
they hear that He had come and had not called for them, a yet deeper,
more agitating motion must seize them, lest they themselves had
forfeited their share in the glory of the kingdom." These words would
allay their fears. Christ has yet to come, and before that coming
Antichrist is to arise and reign. Wait patiently, labour diligently,
and be not harassed with too great an eagerness to know future
events. All the blessings of Christ's second coming shall be shared
by you and by all who are to be gathered together unto Him.
+Lessons.+--1. _There are trying times ahead._ 2. _The only safety
for the soul is to hold fast the truth._ 3. _At the darkest moment of
the Church's trial the glory of God will appear._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._