The Thessalonian Epistles
The Misleading Letter
2 Thessalonians 2:1,2
Lesson XX
Written: July 6, 2005
Over
the years, because of what we believe and teach, we have received many letters
opposing our position. As we write, on our
desk is an open letter to anyone who teaches “the Jews are ISRAEL.” It did not disturb us but certainly has
disturbed some.
2 Thessalonians 1:7
(7) And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
Zephaniah 1:15
(15) That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and
distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
2 Thessalonians 2:5
(5) Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I
told you these things?
Someone
had written a letter to the infant Church at Thessalonica and it had troubled
them. It claimed to be inspired and also
claimed that the letter was from Paul.
This
misleading letter was teaching that the saints were already experiencing the
day of the Lord, and that was the reason for their troubles (chapter 1:7). Perhaps they were saying: are you not
experiencing what the prophet describes to be the day of the Lord, “a day of
wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day
of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness (Zephaniah 1:15)? So this letter upset the saints because it
contradicted what Paul had taught them.
For in 2 Thessalonians 2:5 he asks: “Remember ye not, that, when I was
with you I told you these things?”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
(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.
So
these verses were written to comfort the saints and correct the false teaching
of this misleading letter.
Paul
begins the chapter with these words:
“Now we beseech you brethren…” We
have illustrated this word ‘beseech’ before from personal experience. When we were married in 1943, and very much
in love, my dear wife never commanded me to wash dishes. She would say: “Lorne, would you like to help me wash the
dishes.” Of course love demanded that we
do dishes! Her approach was so gracious
that the word ‘beseech’ becomes a gracious word to my heart. To command is one thing, to beseech is
another. It is an earnest request without
a command.
Paul
makes the request on the basis of two wonderful facts. “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him,
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled….”
Isaiah 40:15, 17
(15) Behold, the nations [are] as a drop of a bucket, and
are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as
a very little thing.
(17) All nations before him [are] as nothing; and they
are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Problems
that seemed to have been like mountains, have really become mole-hills when we
thought about them in the light of Christ’s return.
The
Lord is going to come again! He’s
Coming! Yes, He’s Coming!
When
He does many of today’s problems will become as nothing.
If
already, “the Nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small
dust of the balance: (Isaiah 40:15), and if “all Nations before Him as nothing (Isaiah
40:17), will not our problems be less than nothing when He comes?
Titus 2:13
(13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
So
our heart’s cry is: Dear Lord, help us to live in the light of your coming,
especially when we are in trouble. And
better still, to continue to live looking for that blessed hope (Titus 2:13) when
we shall be gathered unto Him by Rapture.
Think
of the words, “gathered unto him.” The
great man of God, J. Gresham Machen, when visited by Pastor Samuel Allen in a
hospital, told the pastor he had a vision of Heaven. He said: “Sam, it was glorious, it was
glorious.” That was on New Year’s
Eve. On New Year’s Day, 1937, at around
7:30 p.m., J. Gresham Machen went to be with the Lord.
We
had a like experience. In 1966 my wife
and I visited an aged lady in a care home.
We visited her because we had heard that she had been very sick. When we mentioned her sickness, she
said: “Yes, I was very sick but I saw
the other side.” She said no more about
it, like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:4, what she saw was unlawful to utter, but
she spoke in such a calm, matter of fact way that we could not doubt or
question her testimony. But we do not
lean on visions and dreams, our reason for believing in Heaven is not because
of anyone’s experience, but because we are taught about Heaven in Scripture.
2 Corinthians 12:4
(4) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Remember
the Bible was written primarily for and to believers. Christianity is a matter of belief. If we dare to believe what is written we know
that glorious days are ahead for us. We
quote C.S. Lewis: “If you read history,
you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were
those who thought most of the world to come.
Aim at Heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.”
Philippians 3:20-21
(20) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
(21) Who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 Thessalonians 4:15
(15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep.
An
aged Puritan preacher said: “While many
are preaching to the times, let me speak of eternity.” We must remember that the Church is made up
of Heavenly people. A people destined
for Heaven. A body of people who belong
to Heaven. A company of people whose
citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20-21). On this earth we are strangers, foreigners,
pilgrims, sent as ambassadors from Heaven.
This world is not our home, and don’t let any preacher tell you
otherwise. Details of our home-call were
given to Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians by the glorified Lord
from heaven for 1 Thessalonians
2 Timothy 2:19
(19) Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
John 10:27
(27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me:
Matthew 23:37
(37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
[her] wings, and ye would not!
In
this opening verse of chapter two Paul writes about ‘our gathering together
unto Him,’ that is, unto Christ. There
are at least two great facts in that statement.
The Lord will gather his own.
“The Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). We really don’t know, but He does. John
Isaiah 33:17
(17) Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they
shall behold the land that is very far off.
Blind
Fanny Crosby wrote: “And I shall see Him
face to face…” About twenty years ago we
were personally over-whelmed by the fact stated in Isaiah 33:17, “Thine eyes
shall see the King in His beauty.” We
had often joined in singing, “Oh I want to see Him, look upon His face” but at
that moment as we read Isaiah our hearts seemed to say do you realize the
reality of that day?
The
Thessalonians at the time of writing this epistle were being shaken in mind and
troubled by false teaching. And today
there are many troubled saints because of false teaching by some who are also
false teachers, as Peter foretold in 2 Peter 2:1.
2 Peter 2:1
(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.
In
the book “Power Religion” a former Dallas Theological theologian is quoted as
having said: “In order to fulfill God’s
highest purpose for our lives we must be able to hear his voice both in the
written word and in the word freshly spoken from Heaven…. Ultimately, the doctrine of the sufficiency of
Scripture is demonic.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
(16) All scripture[is] given by inspiration of God, and
[is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
(17) That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works.
Isaiah 8:20
(20) To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.
We
read in 2 Timothy 2:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them.”
Anything
not Scriptural is not spiritual.
Many
saints have a tendency to be swayed by teaching that adds to or takes from the
Scriptures. The word “freshly spoken
from heaven” so called, often leaves saints troubled and confused. If you rightly learn the truth, you will not
easily be led astray by error.
Thy
Word is truth.