2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Choose Your Friends Wisely.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister. – 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 NLT

Not every fellow believer in Christ is someone you necessarily want to associate with. Some are more serious about their faith than others. Some refuse make the pursuit of Christ-likeness a high priority in their lives. There are those who, while professing faith in Christ, live much more like the world. In the city of Thessalonica, living among the believers there, were a group of individuals who were living undisciplined lives. They refused to work. They were mooching off of others and ignoring the clear command given by Paul when he was with them: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10b NLT). Rather than pull their weight, they were becoming a burden and a nuisance to others in the fellowship. Even Paul used himself as an example of someone who modeled a life of diligence when he was with them. Rather than allow them to take care of his daily needs, he worked. He did his part.

We don’t know why these people weren’t working. Paul doesn’t tell us. Perhaps they were lazy. Or it could have been that they saw no reason to work, because they believed the Lord would be returning any day. They could have also spent more of their time pursuing “spiritual” things. But as the old saying goes, we can sometimes be too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. Cloistering ourselves away in our room studying Scripture may sound pious and a worthy ambition to pursue, but in the body of Christ, each must do his or her part. That’s why Paul was very clear when he wrote, “We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living” (2 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT). He told those who were doing their part and working hard to keep up the good work – to not grow weary of doing the right thing. Sometimes in the Christian life, it is the little things that end up making a big difference. A Christian employee who is lazy and unreliable ends up giving the cause of Christ a bad reputation. Those who earn for themselves a reputation for being undependable and lacking in diligence, do not leave a good impression about Christians among the unsaved. So how are we to react to these kinds of people? Paul pulls no punches. He simply says, “Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 NLT). Stay away from them. Don’t associate with them. Don’t validate their behavior by spending time with them. Instead, warn them. Do as Paul did and point out their fault – in love. Don’t overreact and treat them like they’re unsaved or an enemy of the faith. But make sure they understand that you see their behavior and disapprove. They will be better off in the long run and the body of Christ will be stronger as a result.

Father, sometimes it is way too easy for us to tolerate the lack of discipline among ourselves. We compromise our convictions and give in far too easily to a spirit of laziness and apathy. Help us to take our faith seriously, both individually and corporately. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Two Simple Truths.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NET

The people to whom Paul was writing were still relatively young in their faith. Christianity itself was virtually unknown and misunderstood, viewed by many as some kind of  kind of strange religious sect. These new believers were living in a part of the world where tolerance for other religions was not the norm. They were under constant persecution and pressure. Their knowledge of God was minimal at best. Their understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures was negligible. They were struggling with how to make sense of their new-found faith in Christ. They were a minority living in a very hostile environment, with very few who could effectively teach and lead them. Which is why Paul was writing to them in the first place, because he knew exactly what they were going through. But in this section of his letter, Paul calls them to prayer. He encourages them to lift up Silas, Timothy and himself as they continued to spread the Gospel around the world. He asked them pray for their safety, because they were surrounded by “wicked and evil people” who opposed the message they were preaching. Paul reminds them that God is faithful. He encourages them to remember that God will strengthen and guard them from the enemy. But they needed to know that the enemy and the war he waged were both real. There lives were not going to be easy and their pursuit of spiritual maturity was not going to be unopposed.

But Paul gave them two simple things on which they needed to focus their hearts. In the midst of the spiritual warfare in which they found themselves, they needed to concentrate their hearts on these two unchanging realities: The love of God and the endurance of Christ. Paul knew that when difficulties came, the natural response would be to doubt the love of God. When facing trials, it is easy to conclude that God must be angry with us or that He has fallen out of love with us. In other words, we allow our circumstances to determine our view of God. But Paul says, that we need to direct our hearts toward the love of God. He loves us. He never stops loving us. His love is unchanging and unwavering. Paul would later write the believers in Rome, “And I am convinced that nothing can every separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NLT). Our greatest weapon against the attacks of the enemy and the difficulties and trials of this world is the love of God. Nothing can change God’s love for us. That should give us hope and strength, regardless of what we might have to face in this life.

The second thing we need to focus our hearts on is the endurance of Christ. As we go through difficulties in this life, we must constantly remind ourselves of all that He went through during His life on earth. The writer of the letter of Hebrews puts it this way: “and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfect our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT). He goes on to write, “Think of the hostility he endured from sinful people, then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin” (Hebrews 12:3 NLT). When we face difficulties and trials, we need to focus our hearts on the endurance of Jesus. We need to remind ourselves of what He went through in order that we might have eternal life. Our suffering, as great as it may seem to be, is nothing when compared to that which Christ endured on our behalf. And His suffering was motivated by love for us. He endured it all out of love for you and me. So we need to focus our hearts and minds on two things: The love of God and the endurance of Christ. We need to remind ourselves and each other constantly of these two realities. We are loved. And we have the capacity to endure just as Christ did. We have His Spirit within us. Jesus knew that everything He went through had come through the loving hand of His heavenly Father. So He endured it willingly and gladly. We two need to understand that nothing reaches us that has not first passed through the all-powerful hands of our loving Father. He has a reason for it and a purpose behind it. He knows what He is doing. He loves us and has our best interests in mind. Jesus could endure because He knew He was loved. We can and should do the same.

Father, You love me, and I should never measure that love based on my circumstances. I need to continue to learn to accept Your love as what it is – unchanging, unwavering, and constant. Nothing can change it. And it is recognition of that love that should give me the ability to endure anything and everything that comes my way, because I know You love me and would never allow anything to happen to me that was not in Your divine will and for my eternal good. Help me to remember these two incredible realities. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Spiritual Maturity.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter. – 2 Thessalonians 2:15 NLT

Have you ever wondered why Paul took the time to write so many letters? What was he trying to accomplish? What was his purpose? He wrote 13 letters in all. Some of them were personal letters written to individuals, like Timothy and Titus. But most were written to the early churches in places like Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica and Rome. But virtually all these letters were intended to be shared. They were circulated around the regions in which these churches existed, and shared with other fledgling congregations. And Paul’s purpose was simple. He wanted to encourage and sometimes admonish these new believers in their walk with Christ. He wanted to provide them with sound teaching, refute false doctrine, encourage them to remain faithful and do whatever he could do to make sure these young believers matured in their faith. Paul was not just content to see people come to salvation, he wanted them to experience sanctification – ongoing spiritual maturity and growth in Christ-likeness.

Paul was grateful to God that the Thessalonians to whom he was writing were among the first to experience salvation. This was a work of God “through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13b NET). Their salvation had taken place as a result of the Gospel message proclaimed by Paul and Silas on their first visit to Thessalonica. And as a result of their having accepted God’s call, they were assured of getting to share in Christ’s glory. For Paul, there was salvation and, ultimately, our glorification – the future time in which we will be fully transformed into the likeness of Christ when we go to be with Him. But in the meantime, there is our sanctification. That was the basic gist of all of Paul’s letters. He wanted to see these new believers grow up in their salvation. Peter had a similar desire and expressed it in his letter. “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 NLT).

Paul wanted to see all believers grow in their faith, and he knew that it was essential that they be taught sound doctrine and truth based on the Word of God. If left to themselves, they would be easily deceived. Without sound teaching, they would have remained immature and unspiritual – saved, but unsanctified. Paul expressed this concern to the believers living in Corinth. “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to fee you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready to anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT). Pretty harsh words, but they reflect Paul’s passion for and belief in the non-negotiable nature of spiritual growth and maturity. For Paul, it was non-optional. So he wrote these letters with the full expectation that those who read them would take the truth written in them and grow. He told them to “stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15 NLT). They were to hang on to the words of Paul. They were to apply them to their lives. Those things he had taught them in person and expressed through his letters were essential to their growth from gullible spiritual infants to maturing believers. But Paul also knew that it was ultimately up to God to bring about their sanctification, just as He had their salvation. So he prayed, “may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NLT). Ultimately, it is God who brings about our spiritual new birth and our spiritual growth. But He does it through sound teaching and the indwelling presence of His Spirit, who uses the truth to convict, encourage, and direct our lives to reflect the nature of Christ Himself.

Father, You want me to grow. While I might be content with salvation alone, Your desire is that I grow up. You saved me so that I might become increasingly more like Your Son. Your obsession is my holiness. You want me to go from spiritual infancy to adulthood. You have given me Your Word and placed Your Spirit within me. You have surrounded me with other believers. There is no place for complacency in my spiritual life. Keep me growing Father. Never let me become satisfied or complacent when it comes to my spiritual growth. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

The Man of Lawlessness.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed – the one who brings destruction. – 2 Thessalonians 2:3 NLT

Sometimes we can be fooled into thinking that simpler is better. Especially when it comes to teaching new believers the doctrines of the faith. As a result, we can end up dumbing down our theology to the point that it is virtually useless. Yes, the Gospel message is beautiful in its simplicity, but it is essential that we take new believers from the threshold of their faith and help them “grow up in their salvation,” to use a phrase of Paul’s. In fact, Paul had a passion for teaching new believers deeper truths in order to deepen and strengthen their faith. But he wasn’t the only one. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, who many believe was Paul himself, wrote, “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God” (Hebrews 6:1 NLT).

Here in his letter to the Thessalonians believers, who were still relative babies in Christ, Paul is not afraid to deal with the difficult and deeper truths. His audience has had questions regarding the coming of Christ. They have received some erroneous teaching that has left them confused. So Paul takes the time to give them the kind of teaching they will need to not only survive in this world, but to better understand the overall plan of their God. Otherwise, they would continue to misinterpret the events taking place around them. The absence of good theology can lead to all kinds of confusion and faulty views of God. The people to whom Paul was writing were thoroughly confused about the second coming of Christ. They had been led to believe that it was going to happen any day. They had begun their faith with the belief that Jesus had died, but had rose again and was some day going to come again. And in the simplicity of their faith, they just assumed that was going to happen immediately. Essentially, their view of the end times or future events concerning Christ’s return were totally skewed. So Paul taught them the truth. And his letter was not the first time he had talked about these things. He wrote, “Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you?” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 NLT). When Paul had been with them, he had taken the time to teach these people what some of us would consider to be pretty deep doctrine. But to Paul, it was simply the truth of God. It was all part of God’s redemptive plan, just as much as the birth and death of Christ was. For us to understand God, we must understand His plan for mankind. Knowing that God had sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins must be understood alongside the fact that God is some day going to send His Son back to earth. The first time He came as a baby in a manger. The second time He will come as a conquering King. But it was important that the people understand that there were some key events that had to take place before Christ returned. One of those was the coming of the “man of lawlessness” – a reference to the Antichrist. Paul refers to “a great rebellion against God” that must take place. This whole passage is a reference to the Great Tribulation – a seven year period of time that will take place after Christ removes all the believers from the earth – an event Paul referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). One of the things that will happen as a result of the removal of the Church is that the Holy Spirit, who indwells all believers, will be removed as well. Paul refers to that fact in verse 7: “For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it backs steps out of the way.” The Holy Spirit, who acts as a restraining force against evil in the world, will be removed, leaving a spiritual vacuum and the perfect environment in which the Antichrist might thrive. The presence of the Holy Spirit and the influence of the Church are all that holds back evil. When they are both removed, chaos will reign. This is what sets up the Great Tribulation.

Paul wants the Thessalonians to know about all of this – even though they will not live to experience it. He wants them to know how things are going to end, because it speaks volumes about their God. He tells them that this man of lawlessness will come, but that he will also ultimately destroyed by Christ Himself. The Antichrist will be under the power and control of Satan, performing miracles and signs and exhibiting Christ-like powers. He will deceive and manipulate, with a plan to destroy those who are living at that time. And they will believe his lies and enjoy evil rather than the truth, leading to their destruction. And Paul wants the Thessalonians to know all this. He wants them informed and educated regarding these future events. Why? Because it is all part of God’s overall redemptive plan for mankind. It is as important as the virgin birth of Christ and His resurrection from the dead. Jesus’ second coming is as important as His first. With His return, the plan of God would be incomplete. Satan must be defeated. Christ must come as the conquering King, fulfilling all the Old Testament Scriptures that predicted it. He must set up His Kingdom on earth, ruling from Jerusalem, fulfilling God’s promise to David that a descendant of his would sit on a throne, ruling from the city of Jerusalem forever. Every story has an ending. And if we don’t understand it, we will always be confused about what we see taking place around us. God’s redemptive story has an ending and it is essential that every believer understand not only what God has done, but what He is going to do.

Father, You have a plan and You are working it to perfection, but for so many of us don’t have a clue what You are doing Some of us don’t even seem to care. We don’t think it’s important. And it leaves us with an incomplete understanding of what it is You are doing and an unclear view of who You really are. May we never be afraid to teach the deeper, more difficult truths of Your Word. Help us to understand that the end is just as important as the beginning. Help us to teach the entirety of Scripture, revealing Your complete plan so that we might know and understand You better. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

2 Thessalonians 1

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

God’s Call.

2 Thessalonians 1

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. – 2 Thessalonians 1:11 NLT

A few months had passed since Paul had sent his first letter to the Thessalonians. Evidently, he had received word back that caused him to write them again, addressing additional concerns and confusion caused by his first letter. It seems that there was a problem with the Thessalonian believers having become so engrossed with the coming of Christ, that they had lost their focus. Some were saying that, due to the increase in persecution they were experiencing, the second coming of Jesus was just around the corner. This entire letter was written by Paul to clear up confusion and to encourage them how to balance their longing for the return of Christ with their need to live faithful, diligent lives in the meantime.

Paul starts out his letter with words of encouragement. He commends them for their flourishing faith and endurance in the face of growing persecution. It was not easy for these new believers to live out their new-found faith in Christ in the midst of a hostile, pagan culture. But he reminds them that God is just and right. He is fully aware of what they are going through and has a purpose behind it and a just outcome in store for them. Rather than view their trials as unjust and unfair, Paul encourages them to see them as part of God’s righteous judgment. He uses them to separate believers from unbelievers. Trials and tribulations have a way of exposing the weaknesses and flaws in our faith, so that God, through His grace, can purify and refine us. They reveal our false idols and expose the self-righteous props on which we have built our lives. Paul wrote, “God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering” (2 Thessalonians 1:5 NLT). Rather than see God’s justice and judgment as relegated to some future event tied to Christ’s second coming, Paul wanted them to understand that God was at work at that moment, refining, separating, and preparing a people for Himself. And at the right time, God was going to deal justly with those who were doing the persecuting. But for the Thessalonians, the focus needed to be on living for Christ in the here and now, not waiting idly for Christ to come in the by and by. Yes, there is a time when Christ will return and “provide rest for you who are being persecuted” (2 Thessalonians 1:7 NLT). At that time He will come “bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8 NLT). There is a time coming when God will separate the faithful from the unfaithful, the saved from the lost. But the greatest separator will be the way each has lived his or her life on this earth. The evidence of God’s work and transformative power in their lives will be what sets them apart. So Paul’s prayer is that God will enable them to live lives worthy of their calling. He asked God to give them the power they would need to live the life of faith in the midst of persecution. It is only God’s grace that makes it all possible. So when Christ does eventually return and the saved are separated from the lost, God will receive glory and honor because the faith of the believers will be clear proof that they are His children, transformed by His grace and according to His power.

Father, sometimes this world does not make sense. There are days when the troubles and trials seem too great and appear to be purposeless and unfair. But You are just, righteous and always right. You know what You are doing. You have a plan in all that is going on around me and in me. You are refining and purifying me. You are exposing my weaknesses and removing my dependence on all those things I falsely rely on instead of You. You are making me worthy of Your Kingdom. Help me to see that truth every day of my life and view the difficulties of this life as instruments in Your hands to transform me and prepare me for eternal life. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org