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He allows this one to appear, laying bare that one's evil, and convicting the wickedness of the Jews. And he brings about very quickly, to this one complete destruction, but to the Jews a remedy. "For he will send Elijah the Tishbite, both to expose his deceit, and to announce his saving presence." However, the adversary of the truth will imitate the Lord's coming in every way, and having chosen a human vessel worthy of his own energy, he will thus make use of men, using false wonders. And the divine Apostle taught this plainly through what he wrote to the Thessalonians. He says thus: "Now we beseech you, 83.529 brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand." And through these things he has shown that some deceived them, saying that the Apostle had said that the coming of the Lord was near. Therefore, he forbade deception not only through words and through letters, but also through what is regarded as prophetic prediction. For he said this: "Neither by spirit." Then he adds: "Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." He calls the coming of the Antichrist itself the apostasy. For many, being deceived by the wonders that will occur, will fall away from the truth and will embrace the lie. And he called him the man of sin, and the son of perdition, both showing his visible nature and revealing the manifold energy of sin. And he showed also his tyranny, and his pride, and his arrogance, calling him the one who opposes and exalts himself, and showing how he will not only name himself superior to the falsely named gods, but also will sit in the divine temple as God. And he calls the churches the divine temple. Then, reminding them of what he had often taught: "Do you not remember," he says, "that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time." He would have already appeared, he says, if divine grace had not hindered him and allotted his coming to its proper time. "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work." And through these things he alludes to the heresies which sprang up at that time. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. The divine decree, he says, restrains him from appearing. For it is necessary, according to the divine prophecy, that the Gospel be preached to all nations, and then that one be seen. "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming." He clearly showed that as soon as the Lord appears, he will make the accursed one vanish, and will deliver him to eternal punishments, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and 83.532 with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. For he will not ensnare all to destruction, but those who possess a credulous and easily deceived mind. And he taught that he will also receive the energy of Satan the devil. For just as the only-begotten Son of God distributed the gifts of the all-holy Spirit to the holy prophets, and to the holy apostles, and indeed also to the other saints, but having become human, he gave not some partial grace to the nature he had assumed, but the whole fullness of the Godhead, according to the Apostle, was pleased to dwell in him; so the devil, to the other men, as many as he has persuaded to be workers

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τοῦτον συγχωρεῖ φανῆναι, τὴν ἐκείνου πονηρίαν γυμνῶν, καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων μοχθηρίαν ἐλέγχων. Ἐπιφέρει δὲ ὅτι τάχιστα, τούτῳ μὲν παν ωλεθρίαν, Ἰουδαίοις δὲ θεραπείαν. "Ἀποστελεῖ γὰρ τὸν Θεσβίτην Ἡλίαν, καὶ ἐξαπάτην διελέγχοντα τὴν ἐκείνου, καὶ τὴν σωτήριον αὐτοῦ προμηνύοντα παρ ουσίαν." Ὁ μέντοι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντίπαλος τὴν ∆εσποτικὴν ὡς ἐπίπαν μιμήσεται παρουσίαν, καὶ σκεῦος ἀνθρώπειον ἐκλεξάμενος τῆς οἰκείας ἄξιον ἐνεργείας, οὕτω παραχρήσεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ταῖς ψευδέσι κεχρημένος τερατουργίαις. Καὶ τοῦτο διαῤ ῥήδην ἐδίδαξεν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος δι' ὧν Θεσσαλο νικεῦσιν ἐπέστειλε. Λέγει δὲ οὕτως· "Ἐρωτῶμεν 83.529 δὲ ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἀδελφοὶ, ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπισυναγωγῆς ἐπ' αὐτὸν, εἰς τὸ μὴ ταχέως σαλευθῆναι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νοὸς, μηδὲ θροεῖσθαι, μήτε διὰ πνεύ ματος, μήτε διὰ λόγων, μήτε δι' ἐπιστολῆς ὡς δι' ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου." ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων δεδήλωκεν, ὥς τινες αὐτοὺς ἐξηπάτη σαν, εἰρηκότες τὸν Ἀπόστολον φάναι πελάσαι τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν παρουσίαν. Ὅθεν οὐ μόνον τὴν διὰ ῥημάτων καὶ διὰ γραμμάτων ἀπηγόρευσεν ἀπάτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῆς νομιζομένης προφητικῆς προῤῥή σεως. Τοῦτο γὰρ εἶπε· "Μήτε διὰ πνεύματος." Εἶτα ἐπάγει· "Μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον, ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον, καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρ τίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπερ αιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν, ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς θεὸν καθί σαι, ἀποδεικνύοντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἔστι θεός." Ἀποστα σίαν αὐτὴν τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου καλεῖ τὴν παρουσίαν. Πολλοὶ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐσομένων τεράτων ἐξαπατώ μενοι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποστήσονται, καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ἀσπάσονται. Ἄνθρωπον δὲ αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίας, καὶ υἱὸν ἀπωλείας ἐκάλεσε, καὶ τὴν ὁρωμένην φύσιν ἐπιδεικνὺς, καὶ τὴν παντοδαπὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπο καλύπτων ἐνέργειαν. Ἐδήλωσε δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν τυραννίδα, καὶ τὸν τύφον, καὶ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν, ἀν τικείμενον καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενον καλέσας, καὶ δείξας, ὡς οὐ μόνον τῶν ψευδωνύμων θεῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑπέρτερον ὀνομάσει, ἀλλὰ κἀν τῷ θείῳ νεῷ ὡς Θεὸς προσ εδρεύσει. Θεῖον δὲ νεὼν τὰς ἐκκλησίας καλεῖ. Εἶτα αὐτοὺς ἀναμιμνήσκων ἃ πολλάκις ἐδίδαξεν· "Οὐ μνημονεύετε, φησὶ, ὅτι ἔτι ὢν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἔλεγον ὑμῖν; Καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀπο καλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ καιρῷ." Ἤδη ἂν ὤφθη, φησὶν, εἴπερ αὐτὸν μὴ ἡ θεία διεκώλυσε χάρις, καὶ τῷ ἁρμοδίῳ τὴν ἐκείνου παρουσίαν ἀπ εκλήρου καιρῷ. "Τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖ ται τῆς ἀνομίας." ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων αἰνίττεται τὰς τηνι καῦτα φυείσας αἱρέσεις. Μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι, ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται. Ὁ θεῖος αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ὅρος ἐπ έχει φανῆναι. ∆εῖ γὰρ, κατὰ τὴν θείαν πρόῤῥησιν, εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη κηρυχθῆναι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, εἶθ' οὕτως ἐκεῖνον ὀφθῆναι. "Καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύ ματι τοῦ στόματος αὑτοῦ, καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφα νείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὑτοῦ." Σαφῶς ἔδειξεν, ὡς εὐθὺς ὁ ∆εσπότης ἐπιφανεὶς, φροῦδον ἀποφανεῖ τὸν ἀλάστορα, καὶ τοῖς αἰωνίοις παραδώσει κολαστηρίοις, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατ' ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει, καὶ σημείοις, καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους, καὶ 83.532 ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις. Οὐ γὰρ πάντας ἀγρεύσει πρὸς ὄλεθρον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς εὐρί πιστον καὶ εὐεξαπάτητον κεκτημένους τὴν γνώμην. Ἐδίδαξε δὲ, ὡς καὶ Σατᾶν τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν ἐνέργειαν δέξεται. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς, τοῖς μὲν ἁγίοις προφήταις, καὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις, καὶ μέντοι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἁγίοις, δι ένειμε τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος τὰ χαρίσματα, ἐναν θρωπήσας δὲ οὐ μερικήν τινα τῇ ληφθείσῃ φύσει δέδωκε χάριν, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, ηὐδόκησεν ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικῆσαι· οὕτως ὁ διάβολος, τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις, ὅσοις ἔπεισεν ἐργάτας