The Falling Away & the Restrainer

Beginning with the historical background of Paul's founding the church at Thessalonica, this message dispels a pervasive error of our day whereby most Christians, among both pretrib dispensationalists and historicists, completely misread 2 Thes. 2:1-12 thinking the "restrainer" of the passage is holding back the revelation of Antichrist. However, Paul makes it quite clear in v. 1-3 that is not his point. The POINT of the entire passage from ch. 1 v. 7 through ch. 2 v. 12 is that the Day of Christ is not “at hand” – it is not an imminent event – it must be preceded by the coming of Antichrist – thus it is the coming or revelation of Antichrist that is hindering the coming or revelation of Christ. That’s the very clear point in v. 1-3, and it is ALSO the point in v. 6-8:
2 Thes. 2:3,6-8
3 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…
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he [Jesus] might be revealed in his time. [how do they know? Because he JUST TOLD THEM in v. 3. What withholdeth? The falling away & the man of sin]
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work…[1 Jn. 2.18, even now many antichrists have come…”] …only HE who now letteth [that man of sin] will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then [at that time] 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…[i.e., he will be revealed for the fraud that he is when he is "taken out of the way" by the brightness of Christ's coming.]