2 Thessalonnians 2:1...What if it is NOT refering to the Rapture.

[rodm]

Guys I was reading this verse, and the thought passed my mind, "read it as if this is the first time, read it without a determined idea what it means, as if you had never heard a sermon about it"...SO I DID, then these thoughts started to match to other scriptures. So I may be wrong, but can I pass on to you what I'm thinking?

OK HERE GOES, Boy I hope I can convey this correctly!!!

If somehow, there is a deception in this end time scenario, would it not need to be so close to the real, as to be hard to detect, even able to almost fool the elect?

Would this thing not be of a different seed, a false church, assuming to represent God, yet not representing Him. These may be wonderful people, loving, kind, honest, and yet involved, unintentionally in a false church. Since intellect and flesh, even so-called religious/theology/doctrine/ can all be flesh, it leaves us asking "Why allow it God"...Would it not be for contrast? It would have it's life in doctrines, and scripture, theology, rituals, ETC.

It would not be like the ecklesia who, finds its life, in Spirit, and "the word", what was spoken, gave life to those who heard it.

So this brings me to 2Thess 2:1...

What if Christ appears, like you show up at your neighbors house unexpected for dinner.

But instead of gathering the huge mass of people, (Visible Church) He gathers his elect to himself; possibly this is a small group in comparison, as seen throughout history, and the N.T...

He gathers his own out of this larger group, those who say "Lord, Lord, didn't we"....Yet He never knew them, they were not His own, they had never been drawn of The Spirit...

A real church is in the midst of a false church. Good seed VS bad seed... Who did you think this seed would be, the church vs the world? No, who would be fooled by that, and why the surprise "Master did you not plant good seed".

2Th 2:7 For the secret of lawlessness is already operating. Only when the present detainer may be coming to be out of the midst,
2Th 2:8 then will be unveiled the lawless one (whom the Lord Jesus will despatch with the spirit of His mouth and will discard by the advent of His presence),
2Th 2:9 whose presence is in accord with the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and false miracles"
2Th 2:10 and with every seduction of injustice among those who are perishing, because they do not receive the love of the truth for their salvation."
2Th 2:11 And therefore God will be sending them an operation of deception, for them to believe the falsehood,
2Th 2:12 that all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in injustice."
2Th 2:13 Now we ought to be thanking God always concerning you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, seeing that God prefers you from the beginning for salvation, in holiness of the spirit and faith in the truth,
2Th 2:14 into which He also calls us through our evangel, for the procuring of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We are the temple, this falsehood sits in the midst of the present system of so-called Christianity, which we have been practicing, and participating in for hundreds of years.

So could this pertain to the false church system, that came into being since the end of the true church we saw in Acts?

What about TV preachers, and tel-evangelists. Better yet what of those who seemed to pervert each move of God, by elevating intellect, above experiencing God. This is the corruption from the beginning. Two trees, one of life, and one of knowledge, intellect, theology vs life.

Take the Jesus movement for example, these kids, young, and sometimes foolish, had life. But then shortly thereafter people like Chuck Smith decided to introduce theology, as a teacher may introduce any subject that teaches "about" something, yet has no living experience. What happened to those kids? They became absorbed into the institution of Church, and became for the most part, involved in a lifeless system.

Would this "Antichrist" system not vanish in a day at the appearing of Christ, in the midst of his people. Their church system would become ineffective overnight. At the revealing of Christ and His true church. Anyway I would be interested in you thoughts on this.