Christ in 2 Thessalonians -- He Is Coming to Judge!

Last week, in our study of 1 Thessalonians, we learned that Jesus will one day gather all His believers from the earth, raising us to meet Him in the clouds, along with those believers who have died before us.  We call that event The Rapture.  Today, in our study of 2 Thessalonians which Paul wrote just a short time afterwards, we will learn about an event that will happen after The Rapture of the church.

Paul begins his letter by, once again, encouraging the church at Thessalonica, letting them know that he had heard of their great love for each other and the strength of their faith during persecution and hardship.  He assured them that God was aware of what they were going through, that they were being strengthened by their hardships, and that God would deal justly with those who were persecuting them.  We can take assurance, in the same way, that God sees what is happening to Christians today, that our faith is being strengthened by what we see happening all over the world, and that God will deal justly with those who are persecuting, torturing, and murdering those who call on the name of Jesus:

And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you (2 Thess. 1:5-6)

How will God punish them?  We can be assured that His punishment will be swift, severe, and eternal:

They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power (2 Thess. 1:9).

The Christians of Paul’s day were just like us today.  All through history, Christians have been persecuted, marginalized, ridiculed, and killed (more so at some times than at other times), and all through history, Christians have asked the same question, “How long, Lord, will you allow this to happen to your people?”  I must admit, I have asked that question many times in the last several months.  His answer is here, in 2 Thessalonians 1:7a, “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven.”  And just as we were reminded in our study last week, no one knows the hour or the day when Jesus will appear.  What we do know, however, is that God is in control.  He tells us in the second chapter of this book what must happen first.  Before Jesus comes to rule the earth, there will be a great rebellion, led by “the man of lawlessness,” or the Antichrist:

For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction (2 Thess. 2:3).

The last several months we have seen a great rebellion against God in the Middle East, as well as in Boston, Paris, and Copenhagen.  But this is only a foretaste of the rebellion and persecution that is to come, birth pangs, if you will.  Remember, the church in Thessalonica was under the impression that the persecution they were experiencing was what was going to usher in the reign of Christ.

So if the Antichrist must lead his rebellion before Jesus comes to stop him, when will he come on the world scene?  Is he already here?  Is the violence we are seeing in the news today evidence of his work?  I don’t think so.  God tells us in his word that something is holding him back from his evil scheme:

Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us (2 Thess. 2:2).

Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed (2 Thess. 2:5-8a).

So if something is holding him back, what is that?  Jesus said, in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”  Think again about our study last week about the Rapture.  Once the church is taken out of the world, reunited with Jesus in the clouds, then the powers of hell will be free to reign on earth.  What a dreadful time!  That time period is called The Tribulation, and that will be the time of lawlessness, led by the man of lawlessness.

What will happen during that time of lawlessness?  God tells us very clearly what will happen:

He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God (2 Thess. 2:4).

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth (2 Thess. 2:9-12).

The time of lawlessness will come to an end just as abruptly as it began.  Jesus will return with his angel armies, in power and in glory.  He will come to judge and condemn to death the evil one and all his followers:

He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1:7b-8).

But the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming (2 Thess. 2:8b).

Paul ends his letter by repeating some of the things he wrote in his first letter.  He told the faithful members of the church to disassociate themselves from those who refused to work to support their families, those who were depending on handouts from others.  Even though they were to live in anticipation of Christ’s return, they were not to neglect their daily responsibilities to provide for themselves and their families.  We need to take the same advice.  We need to live in anticipation, but in such a way that would be respected by those who do not know Jesus.  Knowing what we know about what is to come, we need to do all we can to warn those who do not know.  We also need to remember that no one knows the time that all this will unfold on the pages of unwritten history.  Only God knows.  Read these words of respected pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. Warren Wiersbe:

The purpose of Bible prophecy is not for us to make a calendar, but to build character. Paul emphasized this fact in both of his Thessalonian letters, and our Lord warned us not to set dates for His coming (Matthew 24:36, 42). Date-setters are usually upsetters, and that is exactly what happened in the Thessalonican assembly.

My prayer for you and for me this week is that we will not be upsetters, but rather, bearers of the Good News and peace makers, adapted from 2 Thess. 1:11-12a, 3:1, 16 --

I keep on praying, asking our God to enable (us) to live a life worthy of his call. May he give (us) the power to accomplish all the good things (our) faith prompts (us) to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way (we) live, and (we) will be honored along with him . . . I Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to (us). . . Now may the Lord of peace himself give (us) his peace at all times and in every situation.

All Scripture references are from the New Living Translation.

Christ in 1 Thessalonians -- He Is Coming Again!

As I read again the short book of 1 Thessalonians, I was struck by how many times Paul referred to the fact that Jesus is will one day return to gather His church to Himself – he mentions it in every chapter of this book.  We call this “The Rapture.”  We can trust that this was a fact that was important to Paul and to the members of the church in Thessalonica:

And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead (1 Thessalonians 1:10a).

After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you (1 Thessalonians 2:19)!

May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

As a matter of fact, I think that the Christians of Paul’s day were so sure of Christ’s return, that they expected that it was eminent, that it would surely happen within their own lifetimes.  It was good then, and it is good, even today, for Christians to wait expectantly and excitedly for Christ’s return.  But we need to remember that only God knows when that day will be.  Do not trust anyone who tries to predict the date, even the year that Jesus will return.

“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time (Matthew 24:23-25).”

“And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven (Matthew 24:31).”

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows (Matthew 24:36).”

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

However, apparently the Thessalonians were so sure that Christ’s return was eminent that they quit working and were becoming a burden on society.  This reminds me of people today who quit their jobs to carry a placard on the street-corner that reads, “The End is Near,” as they beg for donations.  At least some had also fallen into a sinful life-style, perhaps thinking since time was short, they would just live it up, disregarding all that Paul had previously taught them.  The fourth and fifth chapters of Paul’s letter included practical instructions about how to live while we wait for Christ’s return:

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you (1 Thessalonians 4:1a).

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10).

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

So encourage each other with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance (1 Thessalonians 5:12).

Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

And finally, Paul warns that we need to study prophecy, but that we must always allow the Holy Spirit to direct us.  Many times, throughout the scriptures, we are warned that false prophets will come, trying to deceive and divert us from the truth.  So we need to test what we hear by the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit, holding on to what is good, and staying away from what is evil:

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).

We live in a very exciting time.  Every day we live, we are one day closer to Jesus’ return.  So we, like the Thessalonians, should live in anxious anticipation of that day, being lights in a dark world, working until He calls us home.  My prayer for you and for me this week is based on Paul’s prayer for the church in Thessalonica that we can read in 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 –

Dear Heavenly Father,
Make (our) hearts strong, blameless, and holy as (we) stand before (You), God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.

All scripture references are from the New Living Translation.

Christ in Colossians -- All We Need

Paul wrote his letter to the church in Colossae from his prison cell in Rome, probably in 60 or 61 A.D.  Colossae was a city in Phrygia in the Roman province of Asia Minor, what is now Turkey.  It was about 13 miles from the city of Laodicea, so it is not surprising that Paul asked the churches in those two cities to share his correspondence with each other (see Colossians 4:16).  The leader of the church in Colossae, Epaphras, had come to visit Paul in prison.  He brought with him good news and bad news.  The good news was that the church was growing and that its members were continuing in their faith and in their love for others:

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News . . . You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you (Colossians 1:4-5,7-8).

But the bad news was that there were seeds of heresy being planted in the church – seeds that were contrary to the gospel.  False teachers were spreading the idea that grace through faith in Christ is not enough.  These false teachers were slick, seemingly well-educated, but were controlled, not by Christ, but by human thinking and the powers of the world, i.e. the devil himself:

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments (Colossians 2:4).

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ (Colossians 2:8).

So, what exactly were these false teachers claiming?  Well, it was not so different from what false teachers claim today.  They were saying that, in addition to grace, believers need to abstain from certain foods, follow certain rituals, observe certain feast days or festivals, worship angels, and deny self.  They claimed to have a higher knowledge than is available to the ordinary person:

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body (Colossians 2:16-19a).

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

• Do you know of people who teach that certain foods or drinks are prohibited by God?

They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:3-5).

• Do you know teachers who say that salvation is gained through reciting a certain prayer, or taking communion, or baptism?  These rites are all good, but they are to be an outward expression, a picture of what Jesus has done in our hearts and a picture of all we look forward to in Heaven.  The rites in and of themselves are just empty activities:

When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again (Matthew 6:7).

And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved (Romans 11:6).

• Do you know teachers who say that we must worship on a prescribed day of the week, or that any particular season of the year is to be set aside as holy?  Jesus didn’t teach that.  Yes, it is important to worship together regularly, and God did command us to “remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.”  But we should not worship the day, rather we should worship Him every day:

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:23-24)

• Do you know people who fast publicly or who are proud of what they are “giving up” in order to observe a special season?  Read what Jesus had to say about fasting:

And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18).

• Have you heard of some who teach that angels or priests or saints must intercede to God on our behalf?  God’s word tells us that we can come directly to Him in prayer, boldly and confidently because of our faith in Jesus:

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence (Ephesians 3:12).

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results (James 5:16b).

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15).

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16).

The over-arching theme of the book of Colossians is that Jesus is all-sufficient.  I actually don’t much like the word “sufficient” because it carries a connotation that implies that something is just enough, just okay, just enough to do the job.  But Christ is so much more than that.  Yes, He is sufficient for our salvation.  There is nothing more that can be added to make us more righteous than what He has already done.  But He is more than sufficient.  He is abundant.  He causes my “cup” to overflow:

You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy (John 6:24).

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20-21).

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:3-8).

My prayer this week for you and for me is adapted from Colossians 1:11-14.  I hope you will join me in this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,
(I) pray that (we) will be strengthened with all (Your) glorious power so (we) will have all the endurance and patience (we) need. May (we) be filled with joy, always thanking (You). (You have) enabled (us) to share in the inheritance that belongs to (Your) people, who live in the light. For (You have) rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of (Your) dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

All scripture references are from the New Living Translation.