I have always struggled with teaching, what’s more commenting, about the subject of the End Times. I’m not necessarily referring to what some people describe as the end of the world. There are plenty of ideas floating around the internet and various spiritual groups about that, many not worth listening to. I’m talking about the events and times related to the conditions prior to the second coming of the Lord and everything that entails. In order to provide a practical applicable understanding of what the Bible seems to focus on as “absolutes” concerning the times before His return I’ve assembled a list of conditions, commands and instructions related to what believers need to be aware of. I will hopefully clarify that list in time to come, but for now I want to explain how truth will come to a crucial crossroads before the Lord’s return.
2 Thess 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. KJV
In a letter to the Hellenic people of the church of Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul described how that before the events of the Second Coming, along with the emergence of the spirit and person of the anti-christ, truth would have suffered great damage at the hands of humankind. Throughout the entirety of the Bible, truth has always been the focus of unreasonable disrespect, misuse, altercation and attack. Prior to the key events of the End, truth will be replaced with lies, fiction, human knowledge and mankind’s interpretation of what it determines to be truth. (Refer to the list of the 3 Categories of Truth in the 3rd posting of this blog.) The people to whom Paul addressed this letter were largely influenced by an extended history of philosophical development by the men who founded the schools of philosophy under Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, to name a few. Truth, in this environment, was therefore left to private interpretation and relativism. Paul’s letter forced them to challenge their manner of thinking as well as the conflict between what they had previously understood to be truth and the truth of God’s Word, character, Person, works, Law, and Jesus as the Truth! Most significantly and pertinent to our consideration, is the condition that will absolutely face believers before Jesus returns. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 reveals that the people will not receive the love of the truth so that they could be saved from the Wicked One and his vices. I believe that one of the primary conditions of the End times will not be an absence of truth, in fact, quite the contrary. The actual condition will be a deficit of an aggressive reception and love for the truth that is available. People will choose to refuse to love, defend and embrace the truth, in favor of lawlessness and personal interpretation. This state will, because of a gradual removal of all of the godly boundaries for truth, eventually construct a platform of boundary-less free-for-all ideologies, primed to launch the person of the anti Christ. Essentially this means that deception and confusion will run rampant. It will affect both saved and unsaved. People will be left open and vulnerable since all parameters for right and wrong will have been replaced by vague concepts and philosophies hostile to who God is, what His word has to say and what Jesus came to accomplish for us. By choosing to love the truth the believer will in essence be saying, I renounce the spirit of anti-christ and it’s work through the mystery of lawlessness.
The mystery of lawlessness has been at work among us for centuries, cycling back and forth, twisting the boundaries of truth, and generally operating in the shadows, according to how much space humankind gives it. Sometimes this demonic agenda loses ground when Christians pray, preach and love. But the enemy who perpetuates this mystery knows how to wait for the right moment to creep in again and increases its pace as the human environment unsuspectingly receives it. The time table for this mystery, as in anything spiritual in nature, can be accelerated or delayed according to whether God’s people cooperate with Heaven or not. Nonetheless, the closer it winds into the bull’s-eye of the End times target, the more rapidly it moves and the more difficult it is to impede. Christians need to be made aware of the operation and sequential plan of this mystery and realize the battle for truth that has moved into the camps of the Lord. Exposing it’s manner of infiltration in the belief system and interpretations of God’s nature, Jesus, the Word, the Spirit and His Law is no easy task and requires the most diligent of spiritual prospectors. Hopefully in the posts to come we can look at how lawlessness is working against the believer! But lets get back to what it means to receive a love of the truth!
Prov 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Historically, truth has suffered some horrible abuses that have all been instrumental to the build up of what Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians. Without doubt, truth is expensive! It will cost you something and until you’re willing to face that you will not obtain it! (Pro. 23:23) I believe the reason human beings resent paying that price is because they enjoy unrighteousness. The fallen nature of unsaved humankind prefers living outside of God’s parameters. (2 Thess. 2:12) Regrettably, believers who should know better, choose to disobey the truth and instead obey the dictates of unrighteousness, indignation and wrath! (Rom.2:8) Furthermore, practically speaking, the opposite of lawlessness is legalism, and it is also wrapped up in a wrong interpretation of truth. In view of that, Paul warned the Galatian believers, who were legalistically trying to fulfill all of the Jewish laws, because they ignored the truth as manifested through Jesus in order to be righteous, having been duped by religion. (Rom. 2:20) Righteousness is never gained by the doing of the Law. Even the Jews were not able to fulfill them all. So what Paul said to them was obvious. What's more, there always seems to be two ditches for everything, and for some reason, people like to settle themselves in one of those ruts. Consequently, truth is often manipulated to accommodate carnality (Rom 1:25) and human reasoning. Paul called these Galations idiots and fools for believing such. The truth has also been lied against (James 3:14), twisted (James 5:19; 2 Tim. 2:18), disobeyed (Gal. 5:7; 3:1; 2:14; Rom. 2:8) and resisted (2 Tim 3:8). Fables, fiction, mythology, and human philosophies are preferred over truth and regrettably, all of these pursuits are often cloaked in Christianese vocabulary so to make things seem acceptable (Titus 1:14, 2 Tim 4:4) Without the stabilizing factors of Jesus, God’s character, the person of the Holy and accurate translations of God’s word, truth is replaced by knowledge that in the end is no truth at all, leaving behind a vacuous emptiness accomplishing nothing (2 Tim.3:7). We must avoid these things and discover what a love for the truth involves!
Jer 5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
Jer 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 5:1 reveals that truth must be sought after. Regrettably this prophetic statement reveals that seekers of truth may be rare! There is something to be said for those who seek truth! They understand that it will not come easily. Moreover, seekers of truth do not seek for accumulated knowledge. They desire a closer more accurate and intimate walk with God so they can affect the spheres of humanity with spiritual and practical finesse. Consequently, seekers are not weaklings. They nurture within their bosom a strength that edges toward valiance! Once they've discovered a treasure of truth they don’t bury it, being mindful of the audience and the manner as to when the time is right to display it. They determine how to protect, defend and fight for it within the appropriate God-ordained boundaries of mercy, love, hope, faith and grace. Furthermore, for truth to be truth, there must be an accompanying intimacy with God. Heartfelt intimacy inspires a warrior’s heart to rise up and defend what God has given. God spoke Jeremiah 9:3 of this with prophetic clarity. The intimate knowledge and relationship with God will inevitably produce valiant strength determined to fight for truth! But without a balance of the definitions of what and who truth is, that warfare defends merely the philosophies and human reasoning. God is searching for seekers of His truth, who once they've discovered it will be capable of great valiance for what they have come to know and love. Would that heart of a warrior possibly be in you? I hope so.
