2 Thess 2:1Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; 2to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; 3let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. 5Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. 8And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming; 9even he , whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: 12that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Why is it that the world traveling like a greased sled on a path to hell under Barack Hussein Obama was not allowed to continue full speed ahead? The Restrainer. Why is it that we have this pause under Trump? The Restrainer. Who or what is this Restrainer? There are only two choices: The Holy Spirit and the Church. That's it. This writer does not believe there is enough evidence in the Word to be dogmatic about which one it is because it can be argued effectively either way. What is interesting is some of the encouragement the Lord has given this writer over our participation in this restraining activity.
This gets interesting and encouraging at the same time. What part does the Church play in this restraint we read about in 2 Thess 2? What has the Lord God said about His Church?
Matt 5:13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are salt and light. What does salt do? It prevents rot and decay, it preserves. What does light do? It drives out darkness.
Salt is restraining rot and decay and light is restraining darkness. What other restraining power has the Lord given His Church?
Matt 16:19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
While we are here on earth, we are binding and loosing. Binding what? The forces of darkness. What is another word for binding? Restraining.......
As long as the Church is on this earth, it will be restraining rot, decay and darkness. It will be binding forces of evil and loosing the good. Either that our the Lord God who cannot lie, told a lie. So can we go so far as to call the Church "the" Restrainer. Maybe, but what we can say with absolute certainty is we are playing a major role in this restraint.
In addition to our roles as salt and light, we should be praying that every evil scheme plotted against us will be exposed and undone. We should be praying that every liar and thief in the media, in governments and everywhere else will be exposed and undone:
Eph 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
and brings the wicked to ruin.
Our Father's will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven....Every time we pray that one, guess what? Its an act of restraint. The wicked cannot run around wild and free in their longed for anti-Christ playground while the Church is on earth praying in our Father's will be done here...
As long as we are here, businesses that lie for a living (like CNN) should be punished. Every business that promotes anti-Christ values (like Target and Starbucks) should be punished. In short, the wicked should be brought to ruin. That is our Father's will (see Prov 21:12 again) and it will be done here on earth just as it is in heaven. We as Christians are praying that will into earth each and every day that we say that perfect prayer taught to us by our Lord:
Matt 6:9“This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
but deliver us from the evil one.b ’
And while we are praying this ^^ perfect prayer, guess what else we are praying for? Escape from the tribulation:
but deliver us from the evil one.b
What does peirazó mean?
an experiment, a trial, temptation
What's that? A Trial? Sound familiar....
Rev 3:10Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
Yea, and its built right into the Lord's prayer. Glory to God. Much to the dismay of the escape deniers, the Lord does have different plans for the righteous and the wicked. Over and over again the Lord differentiates and divides what happens to the two groups:
Prov 13:9The light of the righteous shines brightly,
but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.
The Lord greatly encouraged me with this message of our participation in the restraint. I do not want to see businesses and governments that flaunt their wickedness in the Lord's face to prosper. No, I would rather see them snuffed out (Prov 13:9The light of the righteous shines brightly,
but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.)
I pray that the people within these anti-Christ organizations will turn to a saving faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, but I pray at the same time that the organizations they use as a platform to promote wickedness will be destroyed. Look at what has been happening to CNN's ratings. Look at what has happened to Target's stock price since they promoted transvestite men sharing a bathroom with little girls.
2 Cor 10:3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
There is a reason the seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of wickedness that engulfed the world under Barack Hussein was stopped (for a season). He who restrains is continuing to do so...Glory to God.
grace and peace
