2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 says,...
Today's verses are 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, which reads,
v.1,2 - Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Paul is writing again to the Thessalonians about the coming of the Lord, His second coming. This is the fifth time he has mentioned it between the two letters to them. He is warning them to "not be quickly shaken" or "disturbed" about this issue. There might be other information, even information that looks like it is coming from Paul, contrary to what he has taught from the Scriptures and from the Lord through the Apostles.
How real this warning is. It seems that we live in a day of technology that has such weight that if someone broadcasts something that is even contrary to the Bible, it carries some weight of truth and believability. We have plenty of examples in our time of teachers on the radio or television or the internet who have broadcasted the coming of Jesus and many have bought on to this information in a big way. "What does the Bible say?" needs to be the Christian's first response to new information and the Bible needs to have more weight than any other document. They may use the Bible to support their theories but usually there will something that goes against a fundamental truth of the Bible. An example would be that no one know that day or the hour that Jesus will return but then you will hear of someone using the Bible to make their point and then claim a date. Again, the Word of God needs to be high and lifted up even above the internet.
v.3,4 - Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Paul is reminding them of the teaching of Scripture and the Apostles. Before the day of the Lord comes will be an official turning from God led by what many call and the Bible also, the antichrist. This will be a real person who fulfills in Scripture what is said of him. The point here for Paul is that this event that is given in Scripture has not happened and he is reminding the Christians in Thessalonica of it. The Bible trumps the other messages they have been getting from other sources.
We do learn a lot about the antichrist here but the point is to refer to Scripture when we are talking about the end times. Other books are great and movies bring things to light and popularity but the Bible has to be what gives something creditability and also what takes something down. I have been thankful for godly individuals who have taken us to the Bible when we have had a avalanche of movies about the Bible that contradict what the Bible says. We can so easily get caught up in what we "see" over what has been "written" by God.
v.5 - Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
Paul throws out this question to jar them back to the truth. I think that this is also a mandate that we need to talk more from the Bible about the coming of the Lord and the end of times in our churches. We need to give clear teaching of what the Bible says so that our members can stand on the Bible when the Bible is being twisted or assaulted. Tomorrow, we will see Paul go into more detail about these events that he is probably repeating from the time he was with them before.
I am not an expert in this area but I have tried to keep my reading of the Bible as simple as I can to the context of the passage at hand. I tend to look at the warnings and the signs as reminders to the church of our mission on earth to share the gospel even more as these events are coming. For me, it is not about the events, plural, that are coming but about "the event," singular, of being with Jesus and seeing others the church has touched with the gospel by sharing it with them.
"Lord, we can get off mission so easily in our day. Thank You that You have given us sufficient information about what is to come that we can confidently continue on with the gospel message and not get caught up in some new development that is thrown at the world. Help us to keep going back to the Word as our final authority in life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1,2 - Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Paul is writing again to the Thessalonians about the coming of the Lord, His second coming. This is the fifth time he has mentioned it between the two letters to them. He is warning them to "not be quickly shaken" or "disturbed" about this issue. There might be other information, even information that looks like it is coming from Paul, contrary to what he has taught from the Scriptures and from the Lord through the Apostles.
How real this warning is. It seems that we live in a day of technology that has such weight that if someone broadcasts something that is even contrary to the Bible, it carries some weight of truth and believability. We have plenty of examples in our time of teachers on the radio or television or the internet who have broadcasted the coming of Jesus and many have bought on to this information in a big way. "What does the Bible say?" needs to be the Christian's first response to new information and the Bible needs to have more weight than any other document. They may use the Bible to support their theories but usually there will something that goes against a fundamental truth of the Bible. An example would be that no one know that day or the hour that Jesus will return but then you will hear of someone using the Bible to make their point and then claim a date. Again, the Word of God needs to be high and lifted up even above the internet.
v.3,4 - Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Paul is reminding them of the teaching of Scripture and the Apostles. Before the day of the Lord comes will be an official turning from God led by what many call and the Bible also, the antichrist. This will be a real person who fulfills in Scripture what is said of him. The point here for Paul is that this event that is given in Scripture has not happened and he is reminding the Christians in Thessalonica of it. The Bible trumps the other messages they have been getting from other sources.
We do learn a lot about the antichrist here but the point is to refer to Scripture when we are talking about the end times. Other books are great and movies bring things to light and popularity but the Bible has to be what gives something creditability and also what takes something down. I have been thankful for godly individuals who have taken us to the Bible when we have had a avalanche of movies about the Bible that contradict what the Bible says. We can so easily get caught up in what we "see" over what has been "written" by God.
v.5 - Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
Paul throws out this question to jar them back to the truth. I think that this is also a mandate that we need to talk more from the Bible about the coming of the Lord and the end of times in our churches. We need to give clear teaching of what the Bible says so that our members can stand on the Bible when the Bible is being twisted or assaulted. Tomorrow, we will see Paul go into more detail about these events that he is probably repeating from the time he was with them before.
I am not an expert in this area but I have tried to keep my reading of the Bible as simple as I can to the context of the passage at hand. I tend to look at the warnings and the signs as reminders to the church of our mission on earth to share the gospel even more as these events are coming. For me, it is not about the events, plural, that are coming but about "the event," singular, of being with Jesus and seeing others the church has touched with the gospel by sharing it with them.
"Lord, we can get off mission so easily in our day. Thank You that You have given us sufficient information about what is to come that we can confidently continue on with the gospel message and not get caught up in some new development that is thrown at the world. Help us to keep going back to the Word as our final authority in life. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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