THE GOSPEL MESSENGER—APRIL 1889

Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that mail of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing that he is God.— 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.

In these two epistles to the church of God, the apostle breathes forth the true spirit of vital Christianity in a most affectionate and tender manner. And it is worthy of remark in the outset of our comment on a few points in the above text, that notwithstanding the true principle of Christianity is the most innocent, meek, lovely, mild, forgiving and cross-hearing of all other systems ever proclaimed or practiced in the world, yet the corruption and adulteration of it is the most abominably horrid, and blasphemously wicked, of any other sins with which this earth has been cursed.

From this view of the subject, it may be readily perceived why Christ and all the inspired men of God so frequently warned and strengthened the church of God, and put her and all true worshipers upon their guard against the enticing snares and bewitching influences that would be set by men professing godliness to draw Christians away from the truth of God’s word unto the fabulous tales of human invention.

The church at Thessalonica had endured much to try their faith when the apostle wrote them. He well knew, as every experienced Christian and gospel minister now knows, that the tendency of these trials, afflictions and persecutions upon the infant church, and its young and inexperienced members, might be to shake their faith in the reality of the Christian profession, or in some degree move them from their firm and steadfast adherence to the faith and order of the gospel. He therefore writes, that when he could no longer forbear (being moved by the spirit of the Lord), he sent Timothy, a young and faithful minister, to strengthen and comfort them concerning their faith, that no man among them should be the least alarmed or moved by these afflictions, which are but a part of the earthly inheritance of all who live godly in Christ Jesus. He beseeches the church in the most solemn manner, by the coming of our Lord Jesus, and by the gathering of all his saints unto him in doctrine, order, love and fellowship, that they be not soon shaken in mind, neither by the spirit that men might manifest, nor by letter. “Let no man deceive you by any means.”

This nineteenth century is a wonderful day of religions means and measures for propagating religion— saving sinners and converting the world. There is evidently a “falling away” from the faith once professed. The Apostle John speaks of some such characters under the name of “Anti-Christ.” He shows that they had dissembled when they professed the faith of the gospel, and that they had crept into the visible church unawares when they took upon them the outward garb of pious and orderly members. But they could not long remain there, because they were anti-christian, or in other words, opposed to Christ and his doctrine. “They went out,” (says the apostle) “from us, because they were not of us.”—l John.
It should be’ encouraging to humble and sincere Christians to know that everything that is predicted in the Scriptures, good or bad, is punctually fulfilled in its time. That terrible monster of wickedness called in the text “The man of sin, the son of perdition,” will certainly make his appearance and be revealed. But before he is fully developed in perfect manhood, there will come on the church a falling away from the faith as well as from her numerical strength. “The spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”—l Tim. iv. 1. Could any condition of corruption in worship be worse than this? But let us not fail to notice here that the character who sits in the temple of God, (as mentioned in the text) and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, is said to be “that man of sin, the son of perdition.”

Now, we do not understand this man of sin, to refer to any particular individual man in his individual capacity, but to a certain, erroneous and false system of salvation and religious worship, as held and contended for by all the anti-christian creeds and sects that are now, ever have been, or ever will be in the world. It does not matter how much anti-christian sects differ in their so-called church policy or government, they all agree in their opposition to the truth of salvation by grace; and they are all agreed in exalting themselves in the matter of salvation “above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” This combined power and influence in its full development is the full grown “Man of sin, and son of perdition.” “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred, three score and six.”—Rev. xiii. 18.

We are aware that there have been many conjectures and various speculative views presented as to what this number, 666, can and does mean; and while we do not claim any superior light upon it above others, it has been our view for many years that this number is designed to identify the unity in principle of all the anti-christian sects of anti-christ, who are arrayed against the truth, and whose doctrines, practice, plans and systems of salvation exalt themselves “above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” This is “the man of sin, and the son of perdition,” no matter whether he is manifested in the Pope of Rome, or in the Protestant Beast that riseth up out of the earthly ways, means and institutions that have been invented and sprung “newly up” in this nineteenth century. He is the “Man of sin”—the whole embodiment of deception and error in religious worship. And in exact fulfillment of prophecy, we see that “he doth great and lying wonders, even to make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men, and deceive them that dwell upon the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.”—Rev. xiii.

Brother Reddick requests our views especially upon this 4th verse of the text, in reference to the “Man of sin sitting in the temple of God as God,” or as though he were truly God. But we can say but very little about it now. It is an inexhaustible theme. But when we see and hear, as we have for the last few years, of those disgraceful meetings of the Sam Jones sort—of the Salvation Army, and pretended faith cures, in performing miracles in the sight of men—and then see how the men, women and children, of all ranks and stations in life, run after them; and see, also, with what avidity they drink down the deceptive doctrines, can we not behold in all this the fulfillment of the prophesy that, “They that dwell upon the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.”—Rev. xvii. 8. “These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”—Rev. xvii. 13. They have one mind as one man, and they give all their power of wealth, learning and combined influence unto this soulless beast of human means and instrumentalities of their own creating. “He exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.” What a monster of iniquity!—M.