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.
Vers. 1–6. A Warning against Imposition.
I. The danger.—1. Their faith was imperilled. 2. Daily duties were interfered with.
II. Signs of the coming end.—1. By a great apostasy. 2. The appearance of Antichrist as the man of sin and son of perdition. 3. The proud pretensions of Antichrist. (1) Opposing Christ. (2) Substituting error for truth. (3) Overweening self-exaltation.