October 11th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

The End Is Not Nigh!

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Opening Prayer

Surprising God, be present with me today in ways I cannot imagine, in love and power and in compassion and kindness.

Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

[1] 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. [5] 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. [13] 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. [15] 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. [16] 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.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Meditate

“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:27, 28).

Think Further

Belief in a final judgment would mean that any announcement that such an event was about to take place would be greeted with excitement. Paul’s remarks in 1 Thessalonians 2:16 would have also made them expect God’s imminent wrath on unbelieving Jews. But what if there was an announcement that the event had already taken place and you have missed out? Some people were telling the Thessalonians that Jesus had already come again. 

Paul deals with this by reminding them of the things that Jesus had said about his coming, as recorded for us in the Synoptic Gospels (e.g. Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) and also in Paul’s teaching. Jesus warned people, as well, about false messiahs and mistaken signs of his coming. Both Jesus and Paul use the image of what happened in Jerusalem in 167 BC under Antiochus Epiphanes IV (Dan. 7,8,11) as a paradigm of what will happen in the future. Whether we think Paul is referring to the fall of Jerusalem or the end of the world, the message is clear: the end is not yet. There are other events to take place first and the Lord Jesus is in control, both of the timing and the final destruction of all that is evil. 

We should not be so distracted by these future events that we forget that we are to share in the glory of Christ. Our task is not to try to calculate when Jesus will come, but to stand firm in the faith that we have received and concentrate on the Spirit’s sanctifying work in us so that we share in the glory of Jesus.

Apply

Consider Paul’s prayer in vs.16-17. How can the Lord encourage and strengthen you, in the midst of difficulty?

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians is my prayer. I praise You for Your love and grace. Encourage and strengthen me so I may glorify Your name.

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