And we ask you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together before Him, do not be quickly shaken from the mind nor be troubled, whether through spirit, or through word, or through an epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord had arrived (2 Thessalonians 2:1–2).
In the early Church, and even today, some say Christ has already returned, while others say those who remained missed His coming. Some even go so far as to claim we are in the Millennial Kingdom. However, the reality is no Christian will be left behind, and until the day comes when the Church is taken off the earth, the Man of lawlessness will not be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Unlike the antichrist, which is upon the earth now (1 John 2:18), the Man of Lawlessness cannot be brought to power until the Dispensation of Grace has ended. Since the Church is not appointed to any quality of wrath, but to obtain salvation, none of its members will reside upon the earth during the Tribulation Period (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Romans 5:9). The Man of Lawlessness, also known as the first beast of Revelation, will set himself up in the Temple of God, while claiming that he is a god (2 Thessalonians 2:5).
Today, the Holy Spirit is restraining Satan’s attempts to manifest his chosen man through whom he will set up a kingdom to rule over the entire world. When the Church is called to meet Christ in the air, the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee for the grace believer’s full redemption, will permit Satan to execute his plan (2 Thessalonians 2:6–7).
The Christian’s happy hope is the appearing of our great God even Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). Let us not permit our minds to be shaken by those who falsely claim the rapture has already come. When Christ appears, the trumpet of God will call all of the Church saints, both the living and the dead, to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). We cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ, and mature love casts out our fear of judgment (Romans 8:39; 1 John 4:18).
