I jerked my head up off the desk so fast I thought I may have snapped my neck in two. I whirled around in my chair. I saw no one there. Thankfully, my neck was not damaged either.
I recognized the phrase "he who restrains" as from the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8a: "And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed..." (NKVJ)
There is a restraining force in the earth today; a person or power that holds back the full force of darkness. As bad as things may seem at times, there exists something that does not allow Satan to accomplish all his will in the realm of men.
Whatever this thing or person is, we should be very thankful that it is here. Life would be unbelievably harsh without it. The bad news is that the world is going to be without it right before the end times. The restraining or hindering force will be gone and Satan will be able to do whatever he wants.
What is this restraining force? There are many theories and opinions because the Bible does not identify it. Some have said it is the Holy Spirit Who will be taken out of the earth. Historically, some have said this refers to the Roman Emperor. But I would like to suggest that the hindering force that will one day be taken out the way is the Spirit of Elijah.
In the Old Testament there was the promise of the coming of Elijah. Jesus said that John the Baptist was "Elijah"; that is, he came in the spirit of Elijah. John's message was the "baptism of repentance" (Luke 3:3). What is repentance? It is the divinely granted ability to turn from the way of destruction to the way of life. We do not realize just how important this gift is. Without it there is no forgiveness; no salvation; no life! Jesus said, "...unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3,5).
Before Christ is revealed, the prophet Elijah is sent to proclaim the message of repentance. "Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Mal 4:5). John the Baptist was a fulfillment of this prophecy. He was sent to point to Christ by awakening the people to the fact that God needed to do a work in them before they could even receive the good news of the gospel. As the man John was sent in the spirit of Elijah just before Jesus was revealed to Israel, so the same spirit will be poured out on the earth just before the second revelation of Jesus Christ.
For a short period of time we could see waves upon waves of people coming into the Kingdom of God because God is granting a special outpouring of the divinely given ability to turn away from sin and toward the things of God; in other words, repentance. People who we thought would never embrace the gospel will suddenly have a change of heart and literally be turned into another person!
Then suddenly, all this will be abruptly aborted. Men will not be able to renew their hearts toward God. The revival will cease. The mass conversions will no longer occur because Elijah will be taken out of the way! "And then the lawless one will be revealed..." (2 Thess 2:8). When repentance is no longer granted unto the sons of men, then it's really all over. There will be no point in God dealing with mankind any longer. At this point (and not before) the wrath of God is poured out upon a generation that will not turn their hearts toward the things of God. Even the judgments of God will not cause mankind to change. "But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent... And they did not repent..." (Rev 9:20,21).
What a great gift repentance is! Unless God moves in mercy man will not turn from the way of destruction. If God lets man go on his way to death, He is just. But if He should call us just once and give us only a moment to turn from the path of condemnation, He is to be eternally praised! Do not neglect the gift of God.
You cannot turn to Him at just any moment you choose; only when He calls. He is calling now.
Copyright © 1996 David Stewart -- Reprinted by permission.