Refusing Truth

Then, as now, many were quite interested in the ‘What next?’ questions of experience. Many of us have a tendency to be ‘next-’ or ‘tomorrow-’ oriented. There is a difference though between living prepared and living preoccupied. Paul says they have been told the generalities of what is coming, including the warn of those who would try to deceive them away from the priorities of the LORD.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ¹

Too often we get caught up in the details and miss the perspective of what we think is being said or might be happening. Paul warns that there will come those who appear to have answers and power but they are deceivers and what appears is false. Oh, it is amazing, has the appearance of power and authority, but it is not of the LORD. To be forewarned is to have opportunity to be prepared without becoming preoccupied. 
There is coming a time when appearances will turn understanding of Truth upside down, when False will seem True, when Lawlessness will be pronounced as Liberty. In the Era of the Holy Spirit, we have His witness as to what agrees with the LORD but there will come a time when this world is so given over to sin and deception that the Spirit will no longer have the restraining influence He now exerts. The satanic will be so popular and mankind will be so desperate to have all they want that mankind will deliberately resist the LORD.

‘They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory… People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. ²

Can you imagine being so deceived, so dedicated to what is false, that you refuse to recognize the judgment of God and refuse to repent? And then comes the End, when Jesus steps back into the world physically and exert His Authority over ALL!

And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. ³

There comes a time of revealing of what is True, Just, Right—what is of the Kingdom of God:

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. ⁴

The word ‘dichotomy’ means two totally different, exclusive elements. There are those who believe that Satan is only misunderstood, that he intends well, that he can benefit those who serve him but the LORD will demonstrate the Truth that the satanic is delusional, false and cannot benefit—that only the LORD is Creator and Supreme and Righteous. But, there are those who are allowed to believe, to live, to entrust their lives, to whatever and whomever they choose.
And God has granted them the right to have the consequence.