Like many families, we let our children sleep in on Saturday. Every once and a while one of them will sleep in really late. He or she will come stumbling out of bed and groggily ask, “What time is it?” I’ll respond, “Oh, it’s 10 o’clock . . . Sunday morning. You slept straight through Saturday!” (To which they roll their eyes and shake their heads because their dad is such a dork.)
Maybe you’ve experienced something like that. “Did I miss it? Did it happen and I wasn’t aware of it? Did I sleep right through that important event I’ve been waiting for?”
The Thessalonians were concerned that Jesus had returned and gathered the saints to Himself; that He had returned and taken them to Heaven. Paul reassured them, they hadn’t missed a thing. In fact, he speaks of the “rebellion” that must take place and says that the “man of lawlessness” must be revealed. The word for rebellion here is the root for our English word, “Apostasy,” that is, the abandonment of the Faith and true doctrine. When people of the Church no longer care what God says, or what He teaches us in the Word, it is a sign to us that we are indeed in the Last Days! As for the “man of lawlessness”: through false teachings, erosion of the authority of God’s Word, and the twisting of God’s teachings he will lead people away from God. The ultimate embodiment of this individual has not come yet, but we have seen such satanic trickery in the past, and continue to combat it now! (This is actually an old trick of the Devil’s. Remember what the serpent said to Eve! “Did God really say . . . ?” He is constantly attacking and planting seeds of doubt regarding the truth and authority of God’s Word.)
Interestingly, I suspect that we have the opposite problem of these Thessalonians. We’re not concerned that we’ve missed Jesus’ Second Coming, but we’re concerned that He’s not coming at all . . . or we’re not concerned one way or the other, and we don’t even think about Jesus coming back. This is its own form of lawlessness, since our Lord Jesus commands us to keep watch!
Paul encouraged the Thessalonians and reminds us, “God chose you.” In doing so we are urged to put our focus where it belongs – on Christ. God chose us. We are saved. We are sanctified, that is, made holy, by the Holy Spirit and belief (faith) in the truth. (And perhaps that should be a capital “T” Truth since Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”!) This has everything to do with the gospel – the Good News of God’s love that we’ve experienced in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Live in that Good News. Remember who and Whose you are! Certainly watch for the Last Day to come, and work hard in the meantime to share your hope with others. Pay attention to what is being taught to you about God, His nature, His plan, what He has done, and how He has saved us! Cling to the truth (and the Truth) that God reveals in His Word. And in the end, don’t worry about missing Jesus’ coming. You won’t. He won’t let that happen.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” Amen.
Maybe you’ve experienced something like that. “Did I miss it? Did it happen and I wasn’t aware of it? Did I sleep right through that important event I’ve been waiting for?”
The Thessalonians were concerned that Jesus had returned and gathered the saints to Himself; that He had returned and taken them to Heaven. Paul reassured them, they hadn’t missed a thing. In fact, he speaks of the “rebellion” that must take place and says that the “man of lawlessness” must be revealed. The word for rebellion here is the root for our English word, “Apostasy,” that is, the abandonment of the Faith and true doctrine. When people of the Church no longer care what God says, or what He teaches us in the Word, it is a sign to us that we are indeed in the Last Days! As for the “man of lawlessness”: through false teachings, erosion of the authority of God’s Word, and the twisting of God’s teachings he will lead people away from God. The ultimate embodiment of this individual has not come yet, but we have seen such satanic trickery in the past, and continue to combat it now! (This is actually an old trick of the Devil’s. Remember what the serpent said to Eve! “Did God really say . . . ?” He is constantly attacking and planting seeds of doubt regarding the truth and authority of God’s Word.)
Interestingly, I suspect that we have the opposite problem of these Thessalonians. We’re not concerned that we’ve missed Jesus’ Second Coming, but we’re concerned that He’s not coming at all . . . or we’re not concerned one way or the other, and we don’t even think about Jesus coming back. This is its own form of lawlessness, since our Lord Jesus commands us to keep watch!
Paul encouraged the Thessalonians and reminds us, “God chose you.” In doing so we are urged to put our focus where it belongs – on Christ. God chose us. We are saved. We are sanctified, that is, made holy, by the Holy Spirit and belief (faith) in the truth. (And perhaps that should be a capital “T” Truth since Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”!) This has everything to do with the gospel – the Good News of God’s love that we’ve experienced in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Live in that Good News. Remember who and Whose you are! Certainly watch for the Last Day to come, and work hard in the meantime to share your hope with others. Pay attention to what is being taught to you about God, His nature, His plan, what He has done, and how He has saved us! Cling to the truth (and the Truth) that God reveals in His Word. And in the end, don’t worry about missing Jesus’ coming. You won’t. He won’t let that happen.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” Amen.
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