Let no man deceive you by any means
By any of the above means; by pretending to a revelation from the
Spirit; or to have had it from the mouth of anyone of the
apostles; or to have a letter as from them, declaring the day of
Christ to be instant; or by any other means whatever; do not be
imposed upon by them for the following reasons, for there were
things to be done before the coming of Christ, which were not
then done, and which required time: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first;
either in a political sense, of the nations from the Roman
empire, which was divided into the eastern and western empire;
for which, way was made by translating the seat of empire from
Rome to Byzantium, or Constantinople; the former of these empires
was seized by Mahomet, and still possessed by the Turks; and the
latter was overrun by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals, and torn to
pieces; Italy particularly was ravaged by them, and Rome itself
was sacked and taken: or rather in a religious sense, of the
falling of men from the faith of the Gospel, from the purity of
Gospel doctrines, discipline, worship, and ordinances; and this
not of some Jews who professed faith in Christ, and departed from
it, or of some Christians who went off to the Gnostics; but is to
be understood of a more general defection in the times of the
Papacy; when not only the eastern churches were perverted and
corrupted by Mahomet, and drawn off to his religion, but the
western churches were most sadly depraved by the man of sin, by
bringing in errors of all sorts in doctrine, making innovations
in every ordinance, and appointing new ones, and introducing both
Judaism and Paganism into the churches; which general defection
continued until the times of the reformation, and is what the
apostle has respect to in ( 1
Timothy 4:1-3 ) where he manifestly points out some of the
Popish tenets, as forbidding marriage to priests, and ordering
abstinence from meats on certain days, and at certain times of
the year: this was one thing that was to precede the coming of
Christ, another follows, which should take place at the same
time;
and that man of sin be revealed;
who was now hid, though secretly working; by whom is meant not
only any particular person or individual; not the devil, for
though he is the wicked one, a damned spirit, an opposer, an
adversary of God and Christ, and his people, and who has affected
deity, and sought to be worshipped, and even by Christ himself;
yet the man of sin is here distinguished from Satan, ( 2 Timothy
2:9 ) nor is any particular emperor of Rome intended, as
Caius Caligula, or Nero, for though these were monsters of
iniquity, and set up themselves as gods, yet they sat not in the
temple of God; nor is Simon Magus designed, who was a very wicked
man, a sorcerer, and who gave out himself to be some great one,
and was called the great power of God, before big profession of
faith in Christ; and afterwards affirmed that he was God, the
Father in Samaria, the Son in Judea, and the Spirit in the rest
of the nations of the world; and, because of his signs and lying
wonders, had a statue erected by the Roman emperor with this
inscription, "to Simon the holy god"; but then this wicked man
was now already revealed: nor is this to be understood of a
certain Jew, that is to be begotten by the devil on a virgin of
the tribe of Dan, and who is to reign three years and a half, and
then to be destroyed by Christ, which is a fable of the Papists;
but a succession of men is here meant, as a king is used
sometimes for an order and succession of kings, ( Deuteronomy
17:18 ) and an high priest for that whole order, from Aaron's
time to the dissolution of it, ( Hebrews 9:7 ) so here
it intends the whole hierarchy of Rome, monks, friars, priests,
bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and especially popes, who may
well be called "the man of sin", because notoriously sinful; not
only sinners, but sin itself, a sink of sin, monsters of
iniquity, spiritual wickednesses in high places: it is not easy
to reckon up their impieties, their adulteries, incest, sodomy,
rapine, murder, avarice, simony, perjury, lying, necromancy,
familiarity with the devil, idolatry, witchcraft, and what not?
and not only have they been guilty of the most notorious crimes
themselves, but have been the patrons and encouragers of others
in sin; by dispensing with the laws of God and man, by making
sins to be venial, by granting indulgences and pardon for the
worst of crimes, by licensing brothel houses, and countenancing
all manner of wickedness; and therefore it is no wonder to hear
of the following epithet,
the son of perdition;
since these are not only the Apollyon, the king of the bottomless
pit, the destroyer, the cause of the perdition of thousands of
souls, for the souls of men are their wares; but because they are
by the righteous judgment of God appointed and consigned to
everlasting destruction; the devil, the beast, and the false
prophet, will have their portion together in the lake that burns
with fire, ( Revelation
20:10 ) the same character as here is given of Judas, the
betrayer of Christ, ( John 17:12 ) .