Miscellaneous

Paul’s Prophetic Discourses

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Religious studies

Lesson: 4-18

Genre: Lecture

Track: 200

Dictation Name: RR129R32

Location/Venue:

Year: 1960’s-1970’s

…First from 1st Thessalonians 4:13 to 5:11

“13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

5 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

And now the second chapter of 2nd Thessalonians:

2 Thessalonians 2

“2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 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.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

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.

13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”

Saint Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, faced a position which was not unlike our modern one, in that the people of that church were divided into two camps; those who doubted the resurrection, and those given to extravagant beliefs concerning it. So that, the Thessalonian congregation was divided as it were between unbelief and foolish belief.

Paul writes, he says, so that they might avoid the pagan sorrow, even as others which have no hope. To believe that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God and to believe that he died and rose again, Saint Paul declares, means also to believe in our own resurrection from the dead. Christ is not only very God of very God, but He is also very man of very man. The representative man, and we are all members of his new humanity, and therefore we share in his life and in his resurrection. Therefore Saint Paul declares: Those who die before his return, those of your number in Thessalonica who are already dead, will not live a lesser life as some of the Thessalonians believe.

For the pagans you see, the only kind of life after death that was possible was a life as a ghost. And so these Thessalonians who were still half pagan believed that those who had already died were going to have a kind of pale existence if any. They were just going to be a kind of a ghost. That only those who were alive when Christ came were going to have anything, if they were believers, in the resurrection of the dead; that is, those members who believed. For them, the soul was a kind of pale and thin substance that had a very difficult and tenuous life, and their term among the Greeks and the Romans for the spirits of the departed were the shades. And those of you who studied Latin for example and read Latin literature, recall how they speak of those who are gone as the shades. In other words, even as a shadow has a very feeble kind of existence at best, it’s the shade of a man, it is not the man himself. So the spirit in the other world was just the shade of a man, and had a very tenuous existence at best.

Now Saint Paul assures the Thessalonians that no such meaningless life is in store for the dead. That those who have already died are now with Lord, as souls, and that their life is a glorious one. And that they shall arise in their resurrection bodies at the end of the world, so that all, both those who are alive at his coming at the end of the world, and those who have passed on, will together have a glorious life in the resurrection body, with Christ eternally.

Then Paul continues in the 5th Chapter of 1st Thessalonians, to warn the believers to be prepared at all times. And he declares that no man can speak of the times and of the seasons. Men will have no warning of His coming. They will be rejoicing saying peace and safety, when sudden destruction shall overwhelm them, even as a thief comes unexpectedly, so shall the Lord come unexpectedly, and find unbelievers unprepared.

In the face of this Saint Paul issues a warning to Christians; he urges them to avoid sleep and to be watchful. And the terms sleep here means to live as if there will never be a judgement day; so it has reference to a spiritual slumber, to be dead spiritually to the issues of life. It has reference to a spiritual and moral laxity or sleep. They are therefore to be watchful, that is to live, in terms of Gods law, conscientiously and carefully. They are to be sober, that is, filled with a spiritual and moral earnestness, which means not to be excited, neither to be lethargic. So that, the Christian position is to be one of sobriety in this sense. Those that feel the Christian must be as it were hopped up continually in a state of excitement, certainly are not paying attention to what Paul says here, to be sober, moral and spiritual earnestness. This is what the Greek term conveys.

The sober person is the one who is earnestly, deeply, with integrity. Saint Paul declares that the day of the Lord is entirely in God’s hands both with regard to the coming and the knowledge thereof, and there is no escaping or preventing it; that even as a woman with child cannot at the time of travail prevent its coming, so men are helpless to prevent the coming of the great day of the Lord.

Now, both this passage, 1st Thessalonians 5, and Romans 13:11-14 give us another image. History is presented as a great world night, but with the coming of Christ, it can now be said that the night is now far spent. The night of history is virtually over, and the day is now at hand. The great world night is being scattered by the coming of Christ, and the fullness of that day, the glorious total light of it will come with his coming again, in other words, high noon is his coming. So that we must recognize that in terms of Scripture, in terms of all the Old Testament prophecies, we are children of the light and we walk in the light. Christ has come, the power of sin and death has been broken, and we are to walk in terms of this fact, not in terms of the evil around us. For us the night has ended, but for the unbelievers, the day of the Lord is total darkness, and not light.

Now in 2 Thessalonians we have in the second chapter what some have termed the most difficult single passage of all scripture, and the differences here are very, very great in interpretation. It is really impossible here to say that there is a Catholic interpretation, or a Lutheran, or a Calvinist, or an Anglican interpretation of this passage, because not even of the scholars of the various churches are agreed as to the interpretation of this passage, and the differences of opinion in these churches are very, very great. This has to do with certain things that will transpire before the end of the world.

Now from the beginning, men have had a great deal of curiosity, both about the life to come and about the future in this world. And even at that time there was this abnormal, unhealthy curiosity. Abnormal and unhealthy in that some people are more concerned with what they call prophecy, but it is not a true description of the prophecies of scripture, than they are about their family responsibilities here and now. And in the second verse of this chapter, Paul speaks of the forged letters that purportedly came from him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, or by letter, as from us. People were writing as though they were Saint Paul to give their fantastic interpretation of what should come, and what should transpire before Christ came. And so Saint Paul gives us a brief statement of these things: “Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, except their come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, that son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself, that he is God.”

So that we have here a very important statement about someone who is to come before Christ comes again, and he is called that man of sin, the son of perdition. Now the son of perdition is the title our Lord gave to Judas himself. So that this gives us an indication, does it not, of something of the nature of the man of sin; for if the man of sin is given the same title that Judas is given, he is obviously someone who is from the highest religious sources, from within the church, from a position of leadership, even as Judas was.

Now of course immediately we have a great many who will say this is anti-Christ. So we must stop for a moment to analyze that term anti-Christ. It is one of the most misused terms of the Bible. It appears in two passages in the scripture only, a total of three times. The first passage in which it appears twice is in the first epistle of John, the 2nd chapter, the 18th and 22nd verses, and then the other passage is in the 2nd epistle of John, the 7th verse. And we are told in both passages that there are anti Christ’s, plural, and that they are already here. They are already their in Saint Johns day. And who are anti Christ’s? “Whosoever denieth the Father and the Son, he is an anti Christ.” Now this is the only usage of the term. We cannot Biblically read into a verse more than the verse says. There is no usage of anti Christ as some single person in the future. Anyone, in Saint Johns day or in our day who denies the Father and the son is an anti Christ. That is the only Biblical usage of the word. So to speak of THE anti Christ is not Biblical, and to say that this term and the man of sin are the one and the same, there is no evidence for it. So we must say first: anti Christ is everyone and anyone who denies the Father and the Son, and we are surrounded by anti Christ’s. The world has been full of them through the centuries.

So that we have as a separate figure entirely the man of sin, who even as Judas came from the circle of the twelve, was an officer, the treasurer, so the man of sin comes from the church and makes himself a leader of the church, who makes himself to be as God. Now what is the interpretation of this?

First of all, obviously it says that there is going to be a great falling away. A vast segment of the church will be ready for this man. second, how shall we interpret the man of sin? Now as we go to this there are several interpretations. The first which many are familiar with, is, and this they are not familiar with, the old Catholic interpretation. From about the year 1000, a number of Catholic scholars, including some Catholic Bishops, began to say that the man of sin would be some fearful pope who would arise in the future. As a matter of fact, Saint Malachy, I believe an Irish monk, centuries ago, in a long and involved prophecy declared that there would be so many popes, it’s been a long time since I looked at Malachy’s prophecy, but I believe according to his reckoning we are just about at the end of the line of the popes before the man of sin comes, according to his statement.

Now this is one interpretation. As I stated, this was the one that began within the Catholic church, about the year 1000. This was picked up by many of the Reformers about the time of the Reformation, and used. And of course they used it against the Catholics, and it created a bit of embarrassment on the part of the Catholic scholars, because here were some of the Lutherans and Calvinists quoting their own Bishops and scholars against them concerning the papacy. The Westminster Confession referred to this, but it was subsequently revised and this interpretation dropped.

A second interpretation, one which again is very, very old, that the man of sin represents a movement, which culminates at some time, a humanistic movement within the church which enthrones man, and makes man to be God, so it culminates in the worship of man. And of course many at the time of the French Revolution pointed to this passage when the Goddess Reason was worshipped, and the Goddess Reason, the woman who was picked to be worshipped as the Goddess Reason was a prostitute of Paris. And the churches were closed throughout France, unless of course the priests agreed to become total compromisers, and go along with the French Revolution. And this cult was established. And so they said, it is something of this sort, it is the enthronement of man. Well, we can very definitely agree that this is certainly a characteristic of the man of sin, because the scripture here very definitely establishes the fact that it involves the worship of man as God. Whether it is a person or a movement, we will at this time say nothing more then pass on.

Now as we continue this passage, Saint Paul declares that this humanistic movement, this attempt to make man his own God is something deep in the church, and the mystery of iniquity is already at work. And we might say it has been at work since the fall, since Cain, since the Tower of Babel, which was of course simply an attempt to enthrone the same principle was it not. And it is at work, but it is being hindered for the time being. In the providence of God this is not being allowed to come to fruition.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” Now let here, is used in the old fashioned sense of prohibit, prevent, so there is something preventing this from coming to full fruition now. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,” Now here the word lying in the Greek modifies, instead of just wonders, powers and signs and wonders. So that, the powers, the sign and the wonders are all lying powers, lying signs, lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong illusion, and they shall believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. Now this is a very vivid picture, is it not. Something is at work to create in effect that which the tower of Babel represents.

Now in Revelation we are told that Humanism is creating or seeking to create a one world order without God, and the term given to this is Babylon the great, and that there shall be a double movement in this Babylon the great. There is the false prophet, false religion, an attempt to create a one world religion and a one world order. So that, there are these two aspects of Babylon the great, of this dream. And this dream collapses, and there is a glorious Christian order throughout the world.

Now how shall we read this passage? And how does it jive with Revelation? Now again we have a fundamental difference of interpretation, because there are those who identify not only Anti Christ with the man of sin, but they identify this anti Christ with the man of sin, with this wicked one. Is this valid? Are all three on figure? Well we have already seen that the Anti Christ and the Man of Sin are two different ones, Anti Christ is anyone who denies the father and the son. The Man of Sin is a religious figure who comes out of the heart of the church, and apparently is the culmination of this dream of a one world religion, and heads it up.

Now as we analyze the Mystery of Iniquity, this term, we find that it can be translated from the Greek also as “The hidden principle of lawlessness”. And that wicked, in capital letters in verse 8, as: “The Lawless One.” And we are told that his coming is after the working of Satan. Now the essence of Satan’s temptation was to Adam and to Eve: ‘Ye shall be as Gods, knowing, That is, determining, good and evil for yourself, every man his own law.’

And so we have here the principle of lawlessness again coming to a focus. So that, the mystery of Iniquity or the hidden principle of lawlessness is at work, and then shall that wicked be revealed, or that lawless one. And what is it that hinders this from happening? Well, when we go back we find that the earliest interpretation of “A power that hinders” Was the Roman Empire. This strikes us immediately as a strange interpretation, because why should the early church who was so greatly persecuted by Rome call the power that hinders, the Mystery of Iniquity, or the hidden principle of lawlessness, from coming to a world wide power, be wrong? Saint Paul, you recal declared in Romans 13, and he was speaking when Nero was on the throne, that rulers, civil magistrates, civil government is ordained by God to be a terror to evil doers, that its whole function is to forbid crime, and even though it persecuted Christians, still it was against murder, it was against theft, it was against those things that are destructive of civil order, so it was still the minister of God in that respect, in that it was bringing about law and order to a degree, even though it was persecuting the saints. And the power that hinders therefore they felt was, civil government.

At this point the interpretation by and large, there have been variations through the centuries, has come closer in agreement than in any other point with respect to this passage. There has been a little more agreement, but civil governments have been the hindering force, to the hidden principle of lawlessness.

But then the power that hinders is taken out of the way. What takes its place? That wicked one, the lawless one, the hidden principle of lawlessness. What does this mean? Apparently, the lawless one represents either a person or a movement that creates a new kind of social order, a world order that is based on the basic principle of lawlessness, so that instead of civil government being now a terror to evil doers, it becomes a means of permitting evil to triumph, because the hidden principle of lawlessness is enthroned. So that, we can conclude, that the lawless one represents something different from the man of sin. The man of sin obviously represents something in the church, the lawless one something in the state, and of course we are seeing increasingly lawlessness enthroned, in the state. So that those who are law abiding now are facing far more problems progressively than the lawless ones.

Remember after all, of the several thousand who were arrested at Watts only 7 served time. They got off more readily for all their fire bombing, those were the serious offenders who were arrested, than you have for getting a traffic ticket. Now I submit that there is a world of difference between them and you. Doesn’t this indicate that the hidden principle of lawlessness is beginning to triumph in civil government here and around the world?

Now, the question. Are individuals or movements referred to here, in the Man of Sin and in the Lawless One. Because I would agree with the distinction that says these are two different persons or movements. Here the only honest answer would be to say I do not know; because certainly both interpretations are ones that have been made by great and godly men, and certainly with respect for lawlessness, we have both an impersonal and a personal reference here, because in the 7th verse it is “The hidden principle of lawlessness” And then, “That wicked or the lawless one shall be revealed” whose coming is after the working of Stan, so it is both a movement, and yet in a sense a person. It would be very easy to say that it is either, but frankly I am unable to say that is only a person or a movement, it could be both. But the clear cut fact here is this, and I think that this is sufficient for us to know: That we are told even as Revelation teaches, that the principle of humanism is increasingly working in all the churches, in all the religions, and taking over the established institutions, and that this will culminate in the open, avowed worship of man, and to all practical intent this is virtually being done now; sin is being defined in terms of crimes against humanity, not against God, and the very obscene and wicked men like Michael Luther King, which was his real name, are being exalted as though they were saviors, when churchmen are doing this; certainly the principle of the Man of Sin is very powerful within the church.

And when today the lawless find the courts more to their benefit than the Godly do, the hidden principle of lawlessness is very close to triumph, is it not. But we have this assurance: That they shall be destroyed. That the Lord shall consume them with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

Now again, the differences in the interpretation of this verse are very, very deep and profound. There are two ways in which this is interpreted, one that by a single act, His coming, Christ destroys both these powers, the religious and the civil. The other interpretation is that there are two stages in the destruction; one with the spirit of His mouth, and then that refers consume with the spirit of His mouth, that is eat up, consume, and then destroy totally with the brightness of His coming.

So that, the verse has reference, the interpretation is, to the word of God, that God through His word shall work the destruction of these things, that the proclamation of the word, those who stand by the word, who are called by the word shall triumph, shall over throw these things in that they shall create a new order, and then there shall be a total destruction of these principles, religious and civil at the end of the world. Both interpretations are held by very able, very godly men. I lean to the second, but it is in two stages, that there shall be an overthrow of these things, and then the total destruction of them, the total eradication of them at the end of the world, at His coming.

This as I stated earlier, is justly regarded as one of the most, if not the most difficult passages of scripture. But one thing is very clear. Saint Paul declares that his purpose in writing these things is that they stand fast and hold to the traditions they have been taught, whether by word or by epistle. It is to strengthen them, and his prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which have loved us and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, “Comfort your hearts, stablish you in every good word and work.” So the purpose of this word is not that we have all the details of the future down pat, but that we stand first in the certainty that as believers we have a glorious destiny after death; we go immediately to be with the Lord. And that at the end of the world we have the glory of the resurrection body, that in time as we face these two powers, as they seek to enthrone humanism in religion and lawlessness in civil government, we have the certainty that all this is within the providence of God, and the destruction of it is assured. Therefore, we are to be established upon this faith, and upon the certainty of victory. This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we give thanks unto thee for this the glory of Thy word, we thank thee that we have the blessed assurance that because thou art for us, who can be against us? That in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Establish us therefore our Father by Thy word and by Thy spirit, and grant us Thy peace. In Jesus name, amen.