2Thessalonians 3:3-18 comments: closing remarks

3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 4  And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. 5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

 

Paul emphasizes again that God is faithful, who will do what He has promised to do.

 

1Thessalonians 5:23 ¶  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

 

Paul is confident that God will establish the Thessalonians’ faith and make it sure and certain, keeping them from the wicked and unreasonable men who oppose the gospel of Christ, mentioned previously. I have spoken before about how the word “evil,” is used to refer to not only sinful iniquity, but to malice and violent intent.

 

1Thessalonians 3:13  To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

 

2Thessalonians 2: 16 ¶  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17  Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

 

Paul now prepares them for some difficult statements as he is about to give them some marching orders. He is confident that they will do the things he is about to tell them to do through their love  of God and their expectation of Christ’s return.

 

6 ¶  Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

 

It appears that some of the Thessalonian brethren are walking disorderly, a word mentioned three times in this short passage through verse eleven, the only times the word is used in the Bible. Someone in the Thessalonian church was not living in the way prescribed by Paul that Christians should live, not after the doctrines for living laid down by the apostle.

 

1Thessalonians 4:11  And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12  That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

 

 

7  For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; 8  Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 9  Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

 

Paul had previously asserted a right to live from preaching the gospel in answer to a challenge from someone in the church at Corinth.

 

1Corinthians 9:3 ¶  Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, 4  Have we not power to eat and to drink? 5  Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? 6  Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? 7  Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8  Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? 9  For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? 10  Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11  If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? 12  If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. 13  Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? 14  Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

 

But, even as he did at Corinth, so he did at Thessalonica.

 

1Thessalonians 2:9  For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

 

Paul did not exercise his right to earn a living from preaching the gospel for the purpose of setting an example for those people to whom he preached.

 

 10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 11  For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12  Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 13  But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. 14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

 

While it is certainly a good principle for a society whose government offers support to the poor, that if you refuse to work you shouldn’t receive assistance, this is not about society at large but about within the Christian community.

 

In a community that offered assistance and welfare to its poorer members this was a standard that Paul insisted upon in regard to helping. If you wanted help you had to be, at least, willing to work. There was a problem, it seems from reading, with people not trying to help themselves and others but spending their time in idle gossip and meddling in other persons’ affairs.

 

In another context Paul complained to Timothy about a similar problem.

 

1Timothy 5:3 ¶  Honour widows that are widows indeed. 4  But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. 5  Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 6  But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. 7  And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 9  Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, 10  Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. 11  But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; 12  Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. 13  And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. 14  I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15  For some are already turned aside after Satan. 16  If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

 

Unlike today’s church which casts off its widows and poor to be supported by the state the early church took care of its own. Paul admonishes everyone, though, to work and provide for themselves when possible.

 

1Thessalonians 4:11  And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12  That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

 

Were these people expecting the Lord to return immediately and just giving up on supporting themselves, making themselves a burden to the Christian community? It appears that way to me because of the tone of this second letter, warning them about events which must take place before the end of human history as we know it.

 

16 ¶  Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with  you all. 17  The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. 18  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. « The second epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens. »

 

Paul closes by confirming that this letter was from him and offers proof by comparing the salutation in this letter with others he has written. You can look at the endings of his letters or epistles such as 1Corinthians or Colossians to see what Paul means. Tradition has it that this letter was also written from Athens although that may not be part of the text given by inspiration.

 

So, these two letters to the Thessalonians, written, not as dictated by God, but given by inspiration, with the wisdom that Paul was given (2Peter 3:15), are finished. The doctrine given in these letters did not require an extensive knowledge of the Old Testament and much was directed toward how the church was supposed to live. There was also enough prophecy sprinkled in here to tickle the ears of the modern fundamentalist who loves prophecy but holds in benign contempt the instructions on attitude and behavior toward the world.

 

My favorite parts of these letters affect me every day and are part of what I have memorized for reflection and prayer. I’ll close with some of those verses.

 

1Thessalonians 5:14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 15  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

    16 ¶  Rejoice evermore. 17  Pray without ceasing. 18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19  Quench not the Spirit. 20  Despise not prophesyings. 21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.

    23 ¶  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

 

 

2Thessalonians 3:1-2 comments: free speech and spreading the gospel

1 ¶  Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:2  And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

                                  

Anyone who has ever placed a gospel tract in some location where he thought it would be picked up, only to have someone come after them with the tract in hand, cursing, and throw it at them knows what Paul means in verse one. Anyone who has ever worn a shirt with a gospel message on it or had a verse sign on their car only to have someone angrily or sarcastically confront them knows what Paul means. Any military chaplain who has ever been upbraided for praying, “in Jesus name,” knows what Paul means. Paul asks for prayer that, “the word of the Lord may have free course.”

 

In our modern society much talk is made about offending someone with your faith. Now, I can agree that screaming Bible verses at people hurrying to work may not be the most effective witness. But in today’s world you can be sharply criticized, even threatened, just for offering to share the gospel message with a stranger.

 

Paul has joy because of the word of the Lord was glorified in the Thessalonians’ belief and faith. He prayed for success with that word in the world as it was successful with the Thessalonians. Let us pray that the word of God has an effect on others who don’t know Christ as it did with us.

 

The phrase, “unreasonable and wicked men,” can be taken a couple of ways. Some will take it as a reference to atheists and unbelievers in general who oppose the preaching of God’s word. But, I haven’t seen as much opposition to God’s word among atheists, who can ignore you most of the time, as I have seen from others who call themselves Christians.

 

In Paul’s day the Jews tried to suppress the spreading of the gospel among the Gentiles. Remember what Paul said in his first letter to the Thessalonians.

 

1Thessalonians 2:13 ¶  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. 14  For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: 15  Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

 

For unreasonable and wicked men to attempt to thwart the spreading of God’s word door to door and person to person today in America they would have to do so through the courts and the law. Christians must oppose every effort to limit or ban free speech that is not threatening or suggesting violence against persons. Local politicians, especially, must know that the right of all Americans, regardless of religion or political views, to speak freely in public places with minimal regulation is to be protected.

 

In the end, though, it is God alone who is capable of protecting Christians as they spread the gospel through peaceful means. Pray for His making the way smooth for spreading His word and be sure your elected representatives know you will not tolerate limits on reasonable, free speech that doesn’t promote physical violence.

 

Isaiah 55:10  For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

2Thessalonians 2: 15-17 comments: consolation and good hope

15  Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

 

Paul says here to stand fast. There are other places of note where to stand fast is said to be important. Paul tells the Corinthians to stand fast in the faith, letting all of their efforts be done with brotherly love.

 

1Corinthians 16:13  Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 14  Let all your things be done with charity.

 

In not getting entangled again with the Law given to Moses lest any man should fool himself by thinking that he was saved from eternal damnation by following that Law in any respect, and not Christ alone.

 

Galatians 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

 

In the Philippians’ suffering.

 

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 30  Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

 

And….

 

Philippians 4:1  Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

 

1Thessalonians 3:8  For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

 

Traditions are commandments or doctrines which tell us how we are to live.

 

Matthew 15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?...6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

 

Mark 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

 

The doctrines that Paul taught were taught by him directly to the Thessalonians and also by the letters he sent. An epistle is a letter.

 

2Corinthians 3:1  Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

 

2Corinthians 7:8  For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

 

There are a lot of reasons to stand fast in the faith in these letters to the Thessalonians.

 

16 ¶  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17  Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

 

Consolation is the bringing of comfort in the face of difficulties and grief.

 

Jeremiah 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

 

Philippians 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

 

The fellowship of Christians together is supposed to bring this consolation and comfort as they encourage each other and worship God in unity.

 

Romans 15:5 ¶  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

By His love God has given us consolation, comfort, and hope through His grace. Our speech and our good works manifest that we belong to the God who created all things. Or at least they are supposed to do that.

 

Christians are called to good works……

 

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

…and good words.

 

Colossians 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

 

By the way, hateful speech, paranoia, fear of the world, and self-righteous Phariseeism are not in any list of good works in the Bible.

 

With regard to good works, note the Bible’s definition of religion.

 

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

 

2Thessalonians 2:13-14 comments: beloved of the Lord

13 ¶  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Here is a set of verses that can appear to be a support for Calvinism. Indeed, you are chosen to become something after you’ve been saved. Paul is thanking God that He has chosen the Thessalonians to salvation.

 

But, God’s choosing of them is based on His foreknowledge, not any intention to create people who had no chance of being saved.

 

1Peter 1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

 

These verses show two things at work in the act of salvation. One is the movement of the Holy Spirit in the would-be believer’s life and the second is the belief generated from within the believer.

 

After that there is a calling by the gospel delivered by Paul and then the glory given to the believer by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

God knew you were going to be saved, to believe in Him, and to have faith given to you by Him before the foundation of this world. In this verse in Ephesians note that we are “in him,” when we are chosen.

 

Ephesians 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

 

No one comes to Christ by argument. No one comes to Christ by debate. No one comes to Christ that God didn’t foresee would come to Christ, that weren’t drawn by the Holy Spirit, and believed before they were given faith. Belief is the understanding and acknowledgement that the chair will hold your weight while faith is the ability to trust the chair enough to sit in it. You have the capacity within you to believe, but faith comes from God.

 

Jesus lays out an important point about this here.

 

John 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

Paul speaks about belief and faith.

 

Romans 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

 

Galatians 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

 

God gives you the means by which to please Him.

 

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

These two events, the belief and the giving of faith, happen at once in our timeframe.

 

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 

Paul has been thankful because he has been blessed by being a part of the salvation of people who are now beloved of the Lord.

 

Romans 1:7  To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Christ has made us a part of that beloved assembly.

 

Ephesians 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

 

Jesus is called beloved of God.

 

Matthew 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 

The apostle, John, who some commentators say was probably a teenager during Christ’s ministry, was particularly loved by Christ as John wrote, and, as a result, is a considered to be the church in typology.

 

John 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 

John 20:2  Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

 

John 21:7  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

 

John 21:20  Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

 

Which is why, when John is forcibly removed to heaven in chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation, commentators view it as a type of the church being translated or raptured. This is also because the church is no more mentioned in that book afterwards as being on earth.

 

2Thessalonian 2:1-12 comments: the Antichrist to come

 

1 ¶  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

 

Paul here is speaking generally of the events of the end of history,  that the Thessalonians should not worry. He now begins to correct a misconception that some of the Thessalonians apparently had, that this event was being predicted as an immediate occurrence. We find out in the next chapter of this letter that some people must have stopped working and, like many European Christians just before the end of the first thousand years after Christ, were just waiting for the end without being productive.

 

Paul here exhorts the Thessalonians not to be upset by someone or some thing trying to stir them up to quit living as they should. Jesus also warned His Jewish disciples.

 

Matthew 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25  Behold, I have told you before. 26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

3 ¶  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

 

Speaking of Christ’s return, the day referred to in 1Thessalonians 5:2, Paul says that several things will happen first. The beginning is a “falling away.” What does it mean to “fall away”?

By comparing verse to verse and phrase to phrase assuming the Holy Spirit is the source of the wisdom the Bible writers had we see a form of that phrase one other place in the Bible.

 

Jeremiah 37:13  And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans. 14  Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

 

To fall away means to go over to the enemy, to be a traitor. There are only two sides in this struggle, the children of God and the children of wrath. Many will turn away from Christ and stop following Him. See the 666 in the following verse from John.
                                                                                                                      

John 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

The great majority of Christians have already turned their back on Christ. Most church organizations believe that they determine what Christian doctrine is based on changing social mores. They will ignore even the clearest statements in the Bible to conform their church to prevailing cultural standards to make their church more acceptable to the world at large, what they call more relevant.

 

Christian scholars changed the way they viewed the Bible two centuries ago, regarding it not as a work of the Holy Spirit through the understanding and wisdom given to the men who wrote but as just another ancient text, no more specially prepared or inspired by God than a work of Plato, to be judged by the same standards.

 

Christian translators, for over a century, have been using humanistic and secular approaches to translating, not trying to show word for word what the document says but inserting their own opinions and prejudices with attempting to state what they thought the original document in their hands meant by what it said rather than literally what it said. Verses that were used by Christians for nearly two thousand years were deleted, as were words. Doctrines and meanings were changed to suit humanistic scholarship and changing cultural standards.

 

Christians engage with the world in the same way the world engages with itself, enjoying vulgar entertainments, violent sports, and glorying in wars of conquest. It’s all justified as, “making the world a better place,” or ,”making the world safe for democracy,” or some other nonsense.

 

In America, left wing and right wing Christians both whine incessantly about their rights, which is why we can call this the Laodicean, or the people’s rights, Age of the church. The left glories in “rights” like abortion and no restrictions on sexual behavior and the right wing demands the right to wear their AR-15 across their back when they go to McDonald’s or to deny someone a place to live or to work based on a lifestyle that’s legal but the right wing doesn’t approve of. Both approve of oppressive government as long as it’s their preferred party’s oppressive government.

 

But, few are talking about God’s rights over the Christian.

 

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 

1Corinthians 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

 

1Corinthians 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

 

2Peter 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

 

Historians of religion write about the piety and spiritual nature of previous generations. Even if that piety was superficial and accompanied by moral failure like racial slavery there was a general respect for religious belief and faith. There is no such general attitude today. Even among the so-called Christians there is an almost an embarrassment about Christ and the Bible. To believe what the Bible actually says, to whom it says it, and why it was said is no longer fashionable. Darwin is more of a spokesman for modern Christians than Paul, Freud is more of an authority than Moses, and Marx is more of a prophet than Daniel.

 

The “falling away” is already upon us and has been for some time.

 

The man of sin, also called son of perdition, has not been revealed yet, however. The only other time the phrase, “son of perdition,” is mentioned is a reference to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

 

John 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

 

When Judas died he was said to, “go to his own place.” See 1Samuel 5:11; 2Samuel 19:39; and Job 2:11 to see the meaning of, “his own place.”

 

Acts 1:25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

 

We link the, “son of perdition,” called here, “the man of sin,” to the Beast of Revelation as they seem to be the same character, popularly called “The Antichrist.” Revelation, chapter 13 is the great chapter on this Beast and on his false prophet and the miracles, signs, and wonders they seem to perform to fool the world are noted in the book of the Revelation.

 

Rather than claiming too much knowledge and understanding over incomplete references to events that we are to know only in a general sense let us go on to the verses at hand. This man of sin, literally, will sit in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and declare that he himself is the God who must be worshipped. There is a great deal to be said here regarding interpretation of prophecy in both the Old and the New Testament, about ritual cannibalism, a future Jewish holocaust, and a one-world government but I’ll leave that up to lectures on the possible prophetic meaning of those passages.

 

What is said here in its most simplest form is that Paul has told them about a future person, perhaps a world leader from reading Revelation and Daniel, who will declare himself to be God, perhaps not like the Roman emperor who declared that he was a god in the flesh but that this man of sin will claim to be the very God himself. He will do this from the temple at Jerusalem which will have to be rebuilt for this to happen.

 

We all know from organizations like the Temple Mount Faithful (templemountfaithful.org) that many Jews long for that temple to be rebuilt where they can perform what they believe is their true worship of God.

 

5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

 

Apparently, Paul had talked at length about these things he is mentioning here only briefly.

 

6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The Thessalonians had been told and Paul reminded them about what was preventing these events from taking place. The word, “withholdeth,” is important to keep in mind as we look at these verses.

 

“Withholdeth,” clearly means to keep something back, to hold it back.

 

Job 12:15  Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

 

Proverbs 11:24  There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 26  He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.

 

Something is in the way, holding back the manifestation of the Beast, the Antichrist, the man who sets himself up in the temple of God as God. Who or what could this be?

 

“The Mystery of Iniquity,” Paul says, was already at work in his time. Many kings and emperors laid claim to being gods on earth. This is one important reason to understand the phrase, “only begotten Son,” in reference to Jesus Christ. In the form of man, Jesus Christ was the only time that God walked in human flesh which, for some reason, modern scholars feel led to remove this reference from the Bible and replace it with, “only Son.” Yet, this desire of the most highest of men to declare themselves God on earth went on long after the Roman Empire morphed into the Roman Catholic Church with its Pope replacing the emperor, its Cardinals the Senate, and its priests the bottom level magistrates. Who would have been known as another God on earth or the vicarious Son of God?

 

For someone to make such declarations is not simply a matter for ancient times. We’ve had Sun Yung Moon and a number of other notables call themselves the awaited Messiah and Mohammed regarded himself as the Comforter sent from God, the final prophet. So, this is not a new thing, this claiming deity for one’s self.

 

So, what is holding back the final manifestation of this false god-man to sit in the temple at Jerusalem and declare himself to be God? Keep in mind that the Papacy in the 1920’s signed the Lateran Treaty which withdrew itself from any resistance to Mussolini. The same thing was done for Hitler by the Reich Concordat made possible by Papal Nuncio, Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.

 

Is this something that withholdeth the Holy Spirit of God like the Southern Baptists would say or is it something evil holding back a greater evil until the time is right? Let’s dig further. To “let” means to permit or allow in almost every reference in the Bible. However, there are some times where it means to hinder or delay, which is one archaic meaning we no longer use.

 

Romans 1:13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) ...

 

It is clear that this “letteth,” refers to someone, a “he,” who is holding something back until he “be taken out of the way.” What does the phrase, “taken out of the way,” mean?

 

The only other time in the Bible it is used is here;

 

Job 24:22  He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23  Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24  They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

 

It appears that to be taken out of the way means to be killed. In the context it appears that someone is holding back the time when that Wicked shall be revealed. When this individual is killed, it is then that the Beast of Revelation, who the “Wicked” seems to be representing, will be revealed. There is more information about him in the book of the Revelation. The Wicked is that one who sets himself up in the temple as God.

 

You can’t say that the Spirit of God leaves the earth so that the Antichrist will be revealed for;

 

Psalm 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

But, whichever you believe it is look at this passage from the verses…

 

“…whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

 

In the past God has removed His hand from mankind to allow them to think on and believe things that were untrue because of their own insistence on such belief.

 

Psalm 81:11  But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

12  So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

 

Isaiah 29:9 ¶  Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

 

John 9:39 ¶  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

 

And therein lies a lesson for American Christians. Willful disobedience leads to spiritual blindness. If you substitute paranoia and right-wing or left-wing bigotry and fear for the fruit of the Spirit given in Galatians, chapter five, then you can expect to have the Bible shut to your mind and you will wind up as a poster child for why an unbeliever shouldn’t believe the gospel.

 

Paul has laid out God’s precepts for we Christians in the letters he wrote to the Gentile churches. If you get more of a thrill by going back to the Law and imagining how you can elect someone to office who can make us all tenth century BC Hebrews then the Bible will mess you up but good.

 

In the same regard, if rather than being a Pharisee who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips spiritually you are a Sadducee who is constantly worried that the government doesn’t have enough control over our private lives and decisions then God will let your mind take off in the direction you want it to go.

 

Romans 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

    2:1 ¶  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same…

 

If you will not submit to God’s words in His Book even if they go against your country, your political party, your family’s opinion, your church, or your personal views then God is perfectly justified in giving you over to the rancid mindset you’ve chosen. Whether you believe that America is the Promised Land, the new Israel, and is not capable of error or sin with the Constitution being inspired by God and the flag a sacred symbol or whether you believe that all personal choices are equal and neutral and the rest of us should relieve you of the consequences of those choices with our tax dollar and celebrate those choices you make with our acceptance makes no difference. You will live under a delusion because you have chosen it whether it be evolution from molecules to man or, “my country right or wrong,” which could read, “my country, godless or not.”

 

The truth, the only thing that can save a man or woman, is Jesus Christ. This truth is what they are rejecting.

 

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 

 

2Thessalonians 1:11-12 comments: that His name may be glorified

11 ¶  Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

12  That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Paul’s declaration that he prays always for the Thessalonians is in keeping with his sentiments elsewhere. Examples include;

 

Romans 1:9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

 

Ephesians 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

 

Among those we should be praying regularly for are those people who we have prayed for salvation with and those believers whom we help disciple in Bible study. In fact, along with our church, our pastor, our family, our nation, and the world around us we should be praying for those over whom we have had some influence for the gospel.

 

The Thessalonians, like Paul himself, had been called to persecution and tribulation (see verses 4-10 and comments).

 

1Thessalonians 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

 

One of the undercurrents of the letters to the Thessalonians and, indeed, of all of Paul’s letters is that Christians will suffer for Christ. In this letter to the Thessalonians it is said to be part of God’s judgment on those doing the persecuting as their actions will justify their punishment. Paul is praying that the Thessalonians will be counted worthy by God for this calling.

 

It was that goodness of God that led us to repent of our natural state of being a sinner and of our sins.

 

Romans 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

 

God’s goodness toward us does not always make us feel good. Christians experience some things for their own spiritual growth such as persecution or a physical ailment that forces you to reflect on your relationship with God or brings you to your knees or your face in prayer, even the death of a loved one.

 

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

 

God’s goodness leads us to minister to others who are suffering what we have suffered.

 

2Corinthians 1:3 ¶  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

 

It is only our own selfishness and carnal focus on this life coupled with our ungrateful heart that prevents us from seeing what God is doing in our lives and with our lives when it is not pleasant.

 

God is the author of our faith. True faith is not generated from within us. As Ephesians 2:8,9 shows that it came from God. Jesus told the Jews what the work of God was.

 

John 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

This work of faith with power allows the Christian to overcome the world.

 

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

There are some powerful promises made with that idea of overcoming by holding on to your faith until the end.

 

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

 

Revelation 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

 

Revelation 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

 

Revelation 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

 

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

 

Revelation 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

 

Revelation 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

Revelation 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 

The work of faith with power will keep the Christian proclaiming who Christ is no matter what he or she endures as a result. It keeps a Sudanese Christian from renouncing Christ in the face of his Muslim torturers as it kept a Thessalonian Christian from renouncing Christ in the face of his or her suffering. It can keep an American Bible believer standing firm in the face of the false and political Christianity that surrounds him. No matter how infuriated you are at the behavior of the enemies of Christ or how enraged you are at the public behavior and proclamations of the so-called Christian in America this work of faith with power keeps you from turning your back on the one who bought you with His own blood.

 

The purpose of this is so that the name of Christ is glorified in us and we in Him. This is all made possible by God’s grace toward us.