Now the Spirit By calling the Christian Church, in the end of the preceding chapter, the pillar and support of the truth, the apostle taught, that one of the important purposes for which that great spiritual building was reared, was to preserve the knowledge and practice of true religion in the world. Nevertheless, knowing that in after times great corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, would at length take place in the church itself, and that the general reception of these corruptions by professed Christians would be urged as a proof of their being the truths and precepts of God, on pretence that the church is the pillar, &c., of the truth, the apostle, to strip these corruptions of any credit which they might derive from their being received by the multitude, and maintained by persons of the greatest note in the church, judged it necessary in this chapter to foretel the introduction of these corruptions, under the appellation of an apostacy from the faith, and to stigmatize the authors thereof as hypocrites and deceivers. And to give his prediction the greater authority, he informed Timothy that it was revealed to him in a peculiar and express manner. The Spirit, says he, speaketh expressly As concerning a thing of great moment, and soon to be fulfilled. Some have thought the meaning of the apostle to be, that the Holy Spirit had revealed what follows by Daniel, and some of the other prophets; but, says Macknight, “the things here mentioned are not in Daniel, nor anywhere else in Scripture, not even in the prophecy which the apostle himself formerly delivered concerning the man of sin. I therefore think these words were, for the greater solemnity and certainty, pronounced by the Spirit in the apostle's hearing, after he had finished the preceding passage.” But the apostle might mean, that the Holy Spirit had revealed this, not only to him, but also to other contemporary prophets.
That in the latter, or after times As the phrase εν υστεροις καιροις may be translated, because it denotes future times, without marking whether they are near or remote. Or if, as Mede thinks, Daniel's four monarchies are referred to, as it was under the Roman that the God of heaven set up the kingdom of his Son, the latter, or after times here intended, may be the last part of the duration of the Roman empire. Some shall depart Or rather, shall apostatize, from the faith The apostle had predicted the same thing before, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where see the notes. There the character of the teachers who were to introduce the apostacy is described; but in this epistle the erroneous opinions and corrupt practices which constituted the apostacy are foretold. And as the apostle hath introduced this prophecy immediately after his account of the mystery of godliness, is it not probable that his design in so doing was to give the faithful an opportunity of comparing this mystery of iniquity with the mystery of godliness, that they might be more sensible of the pernicious nature of it? It may be proper to observe, that it is not every error or heresy that is an apostacy from the faith. It is a revolt in the principal and essential articles, as when we worship God by an image or representation, or when we worship other beings besides God, and pray unto other mediators besides the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It is the very essence of Christian worship, to worship the one true God through the one true Christ; and to worship any other God or any other Mediator, is apostacy and rebellion against God and Christ. It is, as St. Paul says, (Colossians 2:19,) not holding the head, but depending upon other heads; it is, as St. Peter expresses it, denying the Lord that bought us, and serving other lords; and the denial of such an essential part may as properly be called apostacy, as if we were to renounce the whole Christian faith and worship. It is renouncing them in effect, and not regarding God as God, or Christ as Christ. Such is the nature of apostacy from the faith, and it is implied that this apostacy should be general, and infect great numbers. For though it be said only some shall apostatize, yet by some in this place many are understood, which is the case also in many other passages of the Scriptures, as Bishop Newton has fully proved. Giving heed to seducing spirits Who inspire false teachers; or to men that persuade others to believe them by the pretence of some inspiration or revelation of the Holy Spirit, and thereby cause people to err from the true faith of the gospel. The apostle means those gross frauds by which the corrupt teachers, in the dark ages, would enforce their erroneous doctrines and superstitious practices on the ignorant multitudes, under the notion of revelations from God, or from angels, or departed saints. In the same sense St. John is to be understood, when he says, (1 John 4:1,) Believe not every spirit, every pretender to inspiration, but try the spirits whether they be of God. And to doctrines of devils Or rather, doctrines concerning demons. The word διαμονια, translated demons, was used by the Greeks to denote a kind of beings of a middle nature between God and man. They gave the same name also to the souls of some departed men, who they thought were exalted to the state and honour of demons for their virtue. The former sort they called superior demons, and supposed them to have the nature and office which we ascribe to angels. The latter they termed inferior demons. These were of the same character with the Romish saints. And both sorts were worshipped as mediators. When therefore the Spirit of God foretold, that in after times many would give heed to deceiving spirits, and to doctrines concerning demons, he foretold that, on the authority of feigned revelations, many in the church would receive the doctrine concerning the worship of angels and saints, and the praying souls out of purgatory; and called it the doctrine of demons, because it was in reality the same with the ancient heathenish worship of demons, as mediators between the gods and men. Thus the sin for which many are represented as being punished, (Revelation 9:20,) is said to be their worshipping, τα δαιμονια, demons, that is, angels and saints; not devils, as our translators have rendered the word, for in no period of the church have devils been worshipped by Christians.