Are You A Lover of the Truth?

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.  Here is this week’s question:  Dear Dave and Tom, Could you give me a run down on II Thessalonians 2:9-12.  My question in particular is: do these verses only apply to those who are alive at the time of the Antichrist?  In other words, those who are on the earth after the rapture of the church, or do they have some application for us today?

Tom:

That’s a good question, Dave.  There certainly seems to be directly, or the application, seems to be directly for those who are alive when the Antichrist is revealed after the Rapture.

Dave:

Yeah, it is definitely talking about the Antichrist, there is no doubt about that and those who have been left behind at the Rapture and who have received not the love of the truth that they might be saved, in other words, they rejected the gospel, for this cause God will give them a strong delusion they should believe the lie.  Now, this is a unique time in history when a man arises who will unite the world, he will rule the world, he will be worshipped by the world, he will have incredible power, all the power of Satan to do lying signs and wonders.  So, this is a specific deception that is coming and it doesn’t apply to anyone else except in a general way.  I mean, you could say that, well for example, Genesis 6.  God says, “My Spirit will not always strive with man.”  And it came to the point where God said, “I’m going to wipe them off this earth with a flood.”  So, anyone in their life who just keeps saying no to God, continues to reject the gospel, hardens themselves against the gospel, against Christ, I would say they are in danger of being in a similar position, not under the Antichrist not to the same degree, but I think the principle would apply.

Tom:

Now Dave, what about today?  There certainly are lying signs and wonders.  For example, this particular event that’s addressed here when the Antichrist is on the face of the earth and really ruling.  These signs and wonders are not going to happen overnight.  It seems to me there has to be some kind of preparation for man’s heart to receive these kinds of things.  So, those who are on the face of the earth prior to the Rapture, there may be some things that certainly affect them now before this takes place.

Dave:

Well, you have an example of that in Matthew 24.Verses 4, 5, 11, 24, and so forth, where God says, “Many false prophets and false Christs will arise and will show great signs and wonders, they will deceive many.”  I think we have them in the world today, definitely, at least some of them, on radio, television.  Lying signs and wonders they talk about miracles, they emphasize a signs and wonders movement and yet they are not doing signs and wonders.  But tragically, we have people who are following after them because they want to see signs and wonders and the gospel is not preached in many instances.  There are some who, on occasion, would preach the gospel but that’s not the emphasis.  The emphasis is upon getting wealthy, send in your seed faith offering, give to our ministry and you will be blessed by God, come on up and we will blow on you, or touch you, and you will fall over, you will get a spiritual experience, or you will laugh, be stuck to the floor, and you have to laugh, or you will be crawling around and growling like a lion.  This sort of thing has been going on in many charismatic churches associated with the so-called revival at Brownsville Assembly of God, in Pensacola or the what was the Airport Vineyard in Toronto and a number of churches like this around the world.  And, the people, they don’t want truth, they want some experience, they want miracles and I think there is a parallel here.

Tom:

So, would God send delusions, strong delusion if we say, I want it this way?

Dave:

Well Tom, I’ve had people object to say, it’s not fair God gives them a delusion so they believe a lie.  No, he is actually helping them to believe the lie they want to believe and they have refused the truth, so there is no point in God giving them more truth, and more truth, and more truth.  They are just rejecting it that would only add to their punishment, their judgment, so he gives them a delusion, or really, I think he helps them, just removes his truth, he removes his restraining hand so that they can believe the lie they want to believe.

Tom:

This would be like God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, very much what he wanted to do.

Dave:

Exactly.  You can’t blame God for what Pharaoh did, because it tells us Pharaoh hardened his heart before God hardened it.  God was simply giving Pharaoh the courage and the intestinal fortitude to keep saying, no, I won’t let the people go, even when he was frightened, he was scared to death and he would have but for the wrong reasons.  So, God helped him continue to resist until God had executed his judgment upon all the gods of Egypt.  It’s a very solemn thought, Tom.

Tom:

So, there are applications for us today, although the event won’t take place until after the church is out of here, literally.

Dave:

Right.