He said
"concerning
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our being gathered together to him,
.. 3 Let no one
lead you astray in any way, because it will not
come unless the apostasy comes first
and the man of lawlessness gets revealed,
the son of destruction. He
stands in opposition 6
And now you know what is acting as a
restraint, so that he will be revealed in
his own due time. True,
the mystery of this lawlessness is already
at work, but only until the one who is
right now acting as a restraint is out of
the way. 8 Then,
indeed, the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by
the spirit of his mouth and bring to
nothing by the manifestation of his
presence. 9 But
the lawless one’s presence is by the
operation of Satan with every powerful
work and lying signs and wonders 10 and
every unrighteous deception for those who
are perishing, as a retribution because
they did not accept the love of the truth
in order that they might be saved.
11 That
is why God lets a deluding influence
mislead them so that they may come to
believe the lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-11).
THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS, THE ANTICHRIST, APOSTASY
2 Thessalonians 2:3
TRUTH DIES WITH APOSTLES
Note the scriptures do not record the manor of all the Apostles deaths, these traditional accounts cannot always be relied on as accurate.
Appendix.1
Revised 2023
Main Index
This work is completely independent of any existing religions denomination, church, organisation or group, a voice from a wilderness.
TRUTH DIES WITH APOSTLES
Millions of members of the various denominations of Christendom believe their churches are a continuation of God's work on earth started by Jesus and the Apostles. They claim this work is representing God with his approval; in reality this could not be further from the truth.
By the end of the first century, the conveyors of true theocratic knowledge were all dead. The first 'presence' period of Jesus Christ had come to its end, the spirit assisted period of revealing knowledge was over. Man made theories and doctrines were now systematically removing any remaining influence left by these first century disciples, true spiritual knowledge was dying from the earth, with them. However, a safe deposit of knowledge had been created and recorded in the Greek scriptures of the Bible.
The possibility for humans to obtain true theocratic knowledge after the year 70 AD without the power of the spirit would no longer be possible. Or not until this same 'helping spirit' was again reactivated. Bible chronology indicates this reactivation does not take place until some 2,000 years later, when the Gentile times end and God's allotted time of non-intervention with the nations comes to its end. Many claim the Christian religion started by the Apostles has continued on and is still doing so. According to the Apostles themselves, this is certainly not what they expected to happen after they died. These Apostles wrote under spirit direction on how the situation would develop.
SPIRIT COMMUNICATOR
Jesus promised his apostles in the year 33 to maintain a direct link with them until the Jewish age came to its end. He said: "Look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the (Jewish) age" (Matthew 28:20 W&H). Even though Jesus returned to the spirit realm, he maintained a direct link with each of these individuals, by means of a powerful spirit connection.
The Jewish age or system ended in destruction at the hands of the Romans, as Jesus predicted it would at Luke chapter 21 verses 5-6, & 20. Historical records confirm this occurred in the year 70 when Roman armies under Titus destroyed the temple and the capital city of Jerusalem, removing Jewish inhabitants from the land of Israel.
Jesus' special contact with his apostles lasted until the final one died. The Apostles understood they were working within a limited time frame. This is why Paul in the year 56 speaking on how his contemporary Christian brothers should conduct themselves, said they should bear in mind "the appointed time has grown short" (1 Corinthians 7:29). By the year 56 the time left to them was greatly reduced, so on this account they should mind their affairs.
This bonding through spirit power not only strengthened them but educated them on matters they were previously unable to grasp. When connected to this power source, relevant Kingdom matters became clear. To obtain this power, they required a spirit 'receiver'. The Apostles first gained this exclusive piece of equipment at Pentecost 33. The scriptures inform us that it was represented by a flame of fire that sat on each one, (Acts 2:1-4). It worked with their minds, giving some the ability instantaneously to speak new languages. It elevated them mentally, enabling them to receive knowledge and understanding on important Kingdom issues and developments they previously had been unable to grasp (John 16:12-15). It bound them together into one composite functioning body with Christ.
LIMITED PERIOD
This spirit helper was provided to selected individuals over a limited time. When they died, this power died with them. Information in connection with the Kingdom came with warnings about a situation that would develop following their deaths, which would bring an end to their spirit power during this generation period. The apostle Paul warned that a full-blown apostasy (dictionary definition "abandoning or renunciation of a religious belief or principle") would soon take over. He emphasised that the very warnings he was giving them were acting as a restraint, holding back the main apostasy until they died off and the generation period along with the Jewish age ended. Although Paul stated it was partly in evidence then, he confirmed it would not be fully in the open until the restraining influence of the Apostles with the spirit working through them were out of the way in death.
The last living apostle John, toward the end of his life around 98 AD, confirmed what Paul had already said about this Antichrist, and that by then this Antichrist was taking over fast. The restraints had all but died off, proof they had reached the end of the first Kingdom recruiting period "it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from which fact we know that it is the last hour" 1 John 2:18. The term 'apostasy' has the original Greek meaning of separating, deserting or abandoning. The antichrist apostasy would abandon true knowledge in favour of its own perverted man made teachings. In this way, the apostasy directly opposed what Christ had taught and revealed; it became an Antichrist organisation.
THE OPPOSING APOSTASY TAKES OVER
With the restraint of the Apostles removed through death, the antichrist apostasy completely took over. This apostasy development would be allowed to last for a set period of time, Paul said: "There will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Under direction of the spirit, the Apostles were able to prophesy this Antichrist take over after they died, they understood that for a set period of time, this apostasy organisation would rule all powerful, believing and teaching the original Genesis 3:4 lie "they come to believe the lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11). According to 2 Thessalonians 2:8, this apostasy period would not come to an end until Christ exposes it at the 'manifestation of his second presence'. The apostles warned of the many false teachings and doctrines the corporate apostasy would bring in and establish through their own appointed 'ear tickling' teachers.
IDENTIFICATION MARKS OF THE
APOSTASY.
* Bring in destructive contradicting teachings, 2 Pet 2:1." will be false teachers among you.
These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects"
* Exploit their followers with deceptions, 2 Pet 2:3 "they will exploit you with counterfeit words"
* Follow teachings of demons, hypocrites speaking lies, 1 Tim 4:1,2 "the inspired spirit says
... in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading
spiritual teachings of demons" "by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies".
* Forbid some of their members to marry, 1 Tim 4:3. "forbidding to marry".
* Make decrees not to eat certain foods, 1 Tim 4:3."commanding to abstain from foods"
* Would turn from the truth to false stories, 2 Tim 4:4. "they will turn their ears away
from the truth... turned aside to false stories."
* Deny that Christ was the only begotten son of God, 1 John 4:1-9. "God sent forth his only
begotten Son into the world, (as flesh ) ....every inspired expression that does not confess
(this about) Jesus does not originate with God.. this is the anti-Christ's expressions which you
heard was coming and is now already in the world".
APOSTLES RESTRAINTS END; APOSTASY SETS IN
As soon as the final apostle died, this is precisely what happened! Once the resistance of the spirit empowered apostles was no longer there, the truth-abandoning apostasy rapidly spread and gained ground. The second century saw much confusion, contradiction and conflict. Opposing apostate religious Christian divisions were vying for dominance.
These religions evolved doctrines and ideas that were mixed with the Apostles' teachings. Whenever conflicting differences in doctrines arose, gradually the weight of the many pagan concepts won out. With no power assisted apostles left to resist this progressive mixing and polluting of doctrines, the real strength of true Christian knowledge was diluted out.
Ideologies incorporating multiple God deities, particularly triad deities central to Greek and Roman religions were brought in. Greek philosophers, such as Plato, held beliefs in multiple gods and man's relationship with them. These concepts had derived from more ancient civilisations, such as Egypt. From these hand-me down ideas, the Greeks and thereby the Romans cultivated their ancient religious beliefs including the immortality of the human soul, an underworld of purgatory tormenting with fire and triad family deities. All of these eventually became incorporated into pseudo Christian/Pagan religions.
Through mixing in these polluting pagan ideas, the pure truth was more or less completely dissolved out. One of the more serious foretold apostasy doctrines to appear was one that contradicted Christ's position as the only begotten Son of God (1 John 4:3,5,6,9). By tracing the history of the apostasy and the evidence on how this denial doctrine on the origin of Jesus Christ developed, it can be seen how the spirit taught truths of the Apostles, were indeed erased.
With the restraints removed, a melting pot of religious ideologies and doctrines developed. Various conflicting thoughts and pagan concepts from the Roman, Greek, Hebrew and Christian religions were stirred into a simmering broth. As time passed, the friction and confusion often brought the pot to the boil, resulting in many heated clashes. Under various leaders, groups of dissenters gathered and followed their own particular teachings. By the year 325, some 225 years after the last Apostle died, this whole divisive situation was causing great concern to the pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine. He was experiencing troubles within his empire and the unrest and conflict this caused between these pseudo Christian and Pagan groups was not helping. To try and settle things down, he set up a council in the city of Nicaea to sort the mess out and agree to a unified state religion that he could back and all could live with. What emerged was as far removed from the teachings of the Apostles as it was possible to get.
For information on how and when "the lawless one, the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence" see KINGDOM OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHRISTIANS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS.