Speak Out, Stand Up (By Shane Prewitt)

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
 
The Bible tells us that before the return of the Lord, the world will experience a chilling event. In those days, “the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
 
This Anti-Christ figure will be empowered by Satan himself and will oppose God and bring untold terror in this world. The days of that tribulation period will be unprecedented in regards to the evil that will run rampant in this world. Not only will this evil world figure be revealed, but his revelation will be marked by a critical removal. God will take away the restrainer from this world.
 
Who is the restrainer? It is none other than the Holy Spirit. One of the critical roles of Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin and righteousness (John 16:8). When He is taken away, there will be no limits to the unleashing of evil in this world.
 
This is one of the reasons why I believe the rapture of the church will take place before that Tribulation period. I don’t see how it is possible for the Holy Spirit to be taken out of this world if we as believers, indwelt with His presence, is still here. But that is not the point of this little article. So what is?
 
We see demonstrations of anger and evil around us in many various ways in today’s world. If this is what the world is capable of with the restraining power of the Holy Spirit presence, I shudder to think about what will happen when He is not here.
 
But today, the restrainer is present and He is present in the life of every true believer in Christ. That means we have great responsibility today when it comes to the unrest around us. We need to be people of peace, people of healing and people of restraint. We can’t do that by stomping our feet and retaliating against those who do evil.
 
We should speak out against evil.
  
We should stand up for the oppressed.
  
We should “walk justly, love mercy and walk humbly before our God.” (Micah 5:8)
 
And we should recognize that the time is fading away where God can use us through the power of the Holy Spirit to help restrain evil. There is coming a day when the restrainer will be absent.
 
We should make the most of the opportunities He gives us while He is here.