2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

(2 Thessalonians 2:9–12, 1981 Study continued)

Verses 11 and 12 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The deluded ones will have “pleasure in unrighteousness” (lawlessness), that is, in truth not taught by God. Volume 5 (entitled, “The At-One-Ment”), page 198, says,

“The spirit of error assumes to be wiser than the Word of God, and suggests to human reason that it should judge God according to its own standards, rather than correct its own standards by the Word of divine revelation.” For example, some read about God, His love, and His character but interpret them upon the premises they think are correct, whereas we should desire to know what God’s Word really is teaching.

If a fallen angel or even Satan should materialize and pose as the returned Lord, it would be an obvious lie to those of Present Truth and hence would not deceive a large portion of the Great Company class, let alone the elect. Therefore, we know the coming deception has to be along multiple lines.

The worldly church on the other hand will be easily deceived by this deception as it has long since been the belief of the professing church that our Lord is to visibly appear, and that every eye will see him.

In regard to deceiving the consecrated, if fallen angels materialize as individuals, they could pose as teachers in the true Church. They would have powers of elocution and flowery oratory so as to deceive the consecrated. We do not know the backgrounds of all those who come into the truth. And it is true that we should have a certain guilelessness and lack of suspicion in our character, yet we still need to have a watchful attitude.

While to a certain extent we may accept a brother based on the recommendations of others, when he teaches the Word of God, we must be careful—regardless of background. We must analyze what we hear to see whether it is truth or not. With proper analysis we would be able to discern that a message was wrong—even if presented by a materialized fallen angel. Such a thing could happen within the Truth movement itself, causing a great deception. Imagine the powers of such a fallen angel: rhetoric, predictions, “education,” great ability to quote Scriptures (to suit his evil purposes), etc. The only safeguard we have is the truth itself—not appearance or manner of speech or seeming outward zeal. The message is what counts. What a strong deception this would be for the consecrated—and a determining factor as to whether they would get life even as part of the Great Company! We must beware of deceptive reasoning!

The initial period of a deception determines whether one is or is not deceived. After the deception becomes obvious, it is too late to pass the test. Suppose one chooses the wrong course and finds out later. Those who would be of the Great Company class will retrace their path as soon as their eyes are opened. However, it will be a very crucial period, for the temptation will be to save face and to go along with the deception until it leads to excesses.

The Apostle Jude mentions the class who are saved through extremity (the Great Company class) and those who are not saved (the Second Death class). The initial period of the deception will be very important for determining whether or not one will be of the Little Flock. Then, as the deception begins to run its course, the Great Company will realize their mistake and take a proper stand, the result being their retrieval. The Second Death class will not take a proper stand and will, instead, go into even grosser excesses. Suppose one is partially deceived for a while and then all of a sudden sees the drastic effect of the deceiving doctrine. Such individuals will be shocked into a realization of what has happened.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins teaches the principle of Prov 23:23 that we are to buy the truth and sell it not. When the foolish virgins go into the marketplace to those who sell, they will learn from the sellers and return with the oil. The foolish virgins will be repentant, renew their consecrations, get more fullness of the Holy Spirit, and wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). They will knock on the door after going through the experience of acquiring the oil, (but of course it will be too late for membership in the bride of Christ, the Church will have been completed leaving them standing outside and relegated to the Great Company class). The Book of Jude, 2 Peter 2, the type of Judas, and the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins all tie together regarding the end of the age.

Having now taken a look at the warnings of 2 Thessalonians we will in our next post consider the warning found in the book of Deuteronomy.