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. 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; 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. Remember ye not, that, when I
was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that
he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 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:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (KJV)
Our focus is on verse 7 and on the phrase only He who now letteth will let, until He
be taken out of the way. From the fall of man and through human history God has
worked hard to restrain the sinful fallen nature in man. By mercy, by grace, by hard
labor, by chastisements, and by judgments, by rulers, by religion, and by laws. The
Holy Spirit has been the medium of Divine restrain, so I believe He is the He of this
phrase. Noah entered the arch with his family and all living creatures and then
judgment of the flood began. In this present, for two thousand years the Holy Spirit
has been building the body of Christ, the Church, and will soon lift of to the clouds
with the Bride to present her to Christ. The dominant restraining force of the Holy
Spirit with and through the church will be diminished and the Antichrist will emerge
on the world scene.