Have you read something or heard something that really alarmed you? Does everything going on around you these days make you unsettled? Probably you have been alarmed and unsettled. It is that way now, and it was the case for the Christians in first century Thessalonica. Paul is writing them in the midst of some very unsettling circumstances and calling them to stand firm and hold fast. He is writing us too, because this message is timeless, and we also need to stand firm and hold fast in our own unsettling times.
There was all kinds of alarming news circulating in Thessalonica. These new Christians were hearing and reading misinformation about the second coming of Christ. But Paul is giving them something solid they can hear and read that will counter all the misinformation. He gives them this letter to help them stand firm in Christ.
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
The news and letters that were causing the alarm for the church at Thessalonica was that they missed Jesus coming again. Someone came in and told them that Jesus already returned and they missed out. They also told them that this was a teaching coming from Paul. This was not the case. This is one of the best churches in the New Testament, but they were recently started, all new believers and they were fragile.
Have you ever had a bird nest in your yard where you can watch to see if the eggs hatch and then watch the young birds grow and fly from the nest. That recently happened for us and we were always checking to see if the eggs were hatched and then if the birds would live to fly away. They did. But soon more eggs were in the nest. These eggs hatched but this time the vulnerable birds were killed by predator birds. That is the worry when they are that vulnerable. At Thessalonica the new church was vulnerable and the predators were causing alarm. Paul is trying to protect them.
Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:5-12)
When Paul was with them, he told them some things that would happen so they would know, if these had not happened, the Lord had not yet come. The man of lawlessness would first set himself up as God in the temple. Not only that but he needs to explain to these believers who were so knew in the faith that the second coming of Christ is so cataclysmic that there would be no way anyone could miss it. It will all be part of the splendor of the second coming of Christ.
This will be a dramatic event for all believers, but a day of judgement for the unbelievers. The man of lawlessness will himself be overthrown by Jesus. Just the breath of Jesus will destroy the man of lawlessness. Those who are not saved by faith in Jesus Christ will be destroyed. They have believed the lie of Satan. In contrast there is no condemnation for all who have believed in Jesus Christ.
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)
There are times Paul can be harsh with the churches he writes. This is especially true with his stern first letter to Corinth. But here in this letter Paul is not being harsh. He is harsh with disobedience and gentle with theological confusion. This is the church that he is always thanking God for. This is the church that had a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. This is a church that shares in the glory of Jesus Christ.
They have been through persecution from the beginning. Just to look back to what happened we refer back to Acts 17:1-9. There was an incredible turning to the Lord in three Sabbaths (just three weeks). This astounding response to the gospel created jealousy. They rounded up bad characters from the marketplace and had them rush into Jason’s house searching for Paul and Silas and brought him out before the angry mob. Jason and the others have been persecuted from the beginning. Paul and Silas and Timothy moved to the next place, Berea where the troublemakers went there too stirring up the people against them.
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
Now we have come in verse 15 to the purpose statement of Chapter 2. That purpose is standing firm and hold fast to the teachings. The teachings they are to hold fast to are the teachings he gave to them by word of mouth when he was with them and the teachings of his letters.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
This is not the end of the letter, but just the end of the chapter. He gives them a wonderful blessing at the end of the chapter. The God would encourage their hearts. This is a time they do not need rebuke, but they need encouragement. The Thessalonians need their hearts encouraged and their faith strengthened by God.
This is more than a letter only to the Thessalonians. This is a letter to all of us who have believed in Christ. We all need our hearts encouraged and to be strengthened in every good work.
