” careful reading of 2 Thes. 2:3-8 shows the order in which he said these things would take place. He said the apostasy would happen first (verse 3), then the rapture of the Church when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way (verse 7), and finally the revealing of the anti-Christ followed by the 2nd Coming (verse 8). (If you don’t read this passage carefully, you could become confused by Paul’s mention of the anti-Christ in verses 3-4. But verse 8 clearly places the official unveiling of the anti-Christ after the removal of the Holy Spirit.)”
The taking of the “Restrainer” out of the way is not necessairly the rapture of the Church or else I think Paul would have used plainer language(ie “when the present saints, not having given way to the great apostacy are caught up, then the son of perdition arises”). Another words there is a specific force or entity that keeps the AC system in check and it has been in place for awhile. Revelation speaks of the multitudes of Saints killed because of the machinations of the Antichrist sytem(Beast, false prophet false image). My reading of this same passage suggests to me that things start really popping after the AC arises, then at some point a rapture occurs in the midst of everything(Gods great harvest of souls followed by God’s great harvest of wrath as juxtaposed in Revelation).
Still, the “Restrainer” may yet be the “church” and its spirit filled members as you describe who act as this restraining force. I read the Thessalonian passages plainly but I’m still struck with several possible explanations based on other passages I have read in the Bible. The Bible in other places mentions a ‘catching up”, at some point of buried resurrected believers first then those believers who are living “and remain”. We will “not all sleep but we will all be changed, in a moment in a twinking of an eye...at the last trumpet”. Could the “last trumpet” refer to the “last trumpet” sounding in Revelation? I don’t know. Some have suggested the church leaves when the “two witnesses” who had been dead for 3 days suddenly are resurrected and we all go to heaven together.
Still, the Bible does admonish us to study prophecy, specifically the “words in this book(Revelation) and do them”. We don’t know the hour of HIS coming but we certainly can know the “season” or times of HIS coming.
From The Popular Encylopedia of Bible Prophecy:
CLUES FROM THE GREEK
A closer look at the 2 Thesasalonians 2 passage will help answer the question of the identity of the one who restrains. In 2:6 the Greek text is best translated, "and the thing now holding (him) down (or restraining him) you know, so that he (is) to be revealed in his own time". Verse 7 says, "For the mystery of this lawlessness is already working only until the one now holding (him) down (or restraining him) shall get out of the way". The Greek word katecho is a compound word formed from kata (down) and echo (to have, or to hold). From this comes the thought "to hold down or to restrain". Katchecho can have the meaning "to hold back from action, to keep under control, to deprive of physical liberty, as by shackling, or arresting a criminal". The restrainer then is preventing the Antichrist from breaking out until his appointed time, which would be during or just before the beginning of the Tribulation.
In verse 6, to katcheon is a neuter present participle, being translated "the thing now holding (him) down (or restraining him)", though in verse 7 the masculine present participle is used, ho katchoen, and should be translated "the one now holding (him) down (or restraining him). This grammatical difference would certainly exclude the church because church is a feminine word in Greek. Some think the neuter gender in verse 6 refers to the Roman Empire, and the masculine in verse 7 has to do with the Roman emperor. But this view is not plausible. The word "spirit" (pneuma) is in the neuter gender, but when referring to the Holy Spirit, the New Testament uses the masculine pronoun. John 14:26 calls the Spirit whom the Father will send in the name of Jesus the paraclete (the one called alongside, the counselor). Paraclete is a masculine noun, but Spirit is a neuter noun. "The purposeful change in grammar emphasizes the personality of the Holy Spirit. There would be no reason to change from the neuter to the masculine unless the Spirit was understood to be a person." (Enns, p. 149)
THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES
The point of the 2 Thessalonians 1 passage seems clear. The man of sin, the Antichrist, cannot come forth until this restraining power gets out of the way. By divine providence, and by all the evidence of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit characteristically restrains and strives against sin (Genesis 6:3). The Spirit presently abides in the world in a special way in this age through the Church.
One objection to naming the Holy Spirit as the restrainer has to do with the phrase at the end of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 - "until he is taken out of the way". Many argue that taking away or removing the Spirit of God seems to be an awkward interpretation. But is this what the passage is saying? The Greek word translated "taken" is genetai and is an aorist middle subjunctive from ginomai , a deponent verb. Such verbs appear in the middle or passive form but are still translated as active, meaning the subject (which, in this case, is the restrainer) is doing the action. "The deponent verb does not denote removal by an outside force but rather a voluntary act on the part of the restrainer" (Hiebert, p. 207). "To be taken out of the way" should better read "to get out of the way" (Lenski, p. 421). The Holy Spirit is going to move out of the way. He is not going to be taken out of the way.
While it is probably correct to say the restrainer moves aside at the time of the Rapture of the Church so that "in his time (the Antichrist) may be revealed" (2 Thessalonians 1:6), the Holy Spirit will still continue the work on earth of bringing people to salvation. While the Church is here, He is active as the power working within the lives of believers.
Revelation speaks of the multitudes of Saints killed because of the machinations of the Antichrist sytem(Beast, false prophet false image). My reading of this same passage suggests to me that things start really popping after the AC arises, then at some point a rapture occurs in the midst of everything(Gods great harvest of souls followed by God’s great harvest of wrath as juxtaposed in Revelation).
There will be people left on earth after the Rapture, because they were not saved, who are saved during the Tribulation. These are the "saints" who will be killed by the Antichrist because they refuse to take his mark. These are not Church-age Christians who are removed from the scene prior to the Tribulation.
The Scripture is clear that the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation, when Jesus removes His Bride (those people, both dead and alive, from the entirety of the Age of Grace, who have accepted Christ as Savior) from the scene before He sends judgment. But it also clear that multitudes will come to salvation in Christ during the Tribulation. and those are the people whom the Antichrist will kill.
And yes, we can certainly know the season of His coming. And that season has officially arrived.