April 27 Daily Discovery
April 27 Daily Discovery - Read 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2
This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).
Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.
[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.
[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.
[5] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
[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.
[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.
[15] Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
[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.
The Day of Christ WAS at Hand
The day of Christ being referred to here was His second coming in His glorious return and the establishment of His kingdom. It was at hand during the days of the apostles. All of the new testament scriptures were completed by 70 AD, before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The destruction of the temple was one of the events associated with the day of Christ, which is in our past.
I do not personally believe that our current calendar is correct, but if you do, something that was at hand over 2, 000 years ago is not at hand right now, it would be in our past. Neither you nor I are members of that local church that existed then. This letter was written to them, it was not written to us, a future generation far removed.
What was true for them is no longer true for us. In their day the day of christ was at hand, it is no longer at hand for us. We are not waiting with anxiety and excitement for it's coming, we are celebrating the fact that it has already come.
Believing the day of Christ is at hand now is a deception.
Chosen from the Beginning
The election of believers in the Scriptures is a common theme, especially with the apostle Paul. I do not believe that election eliminates volition. We make choices and God makes choices. The election of God and the volition of men, I believe are like the two rails of a train track, the rails are parallel and equally necessary. Our salvation is connected to both and they are equally true. I do not fully comprehend this, but I don't have to understand it in order to believe it.
The Scriptures teach both the sovereignty of God and the free will of men. I believe both and I don't make any attempt to try to reconcile them.
Eph. 1:1-6
[1] Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
[2] Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
[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:
[5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
[6] To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Stand Fast in the Apostolic Teachings
The apostles were the hand-picked representatives of Jesus Christ for His church and His kingdom. The church is built upon their foundation. We do not have the same advantage that the Thessalonians had because the apostles are all gone. They had more than just writings, they had their physical presence. T hey were also recipients of their teachings from them in person.
Acts 2:41-43
[41] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
[42] And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
[43] And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Eph. 2:20-22
[20] And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
[21] In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
[22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Jesus did give the church more than just the apostles, he also gave prophets ( ordained assistance by the laying on of the apostle's hands), evangelists, and pastors-teachers. These were all given by Jesus Christ to us in His church so that we may come to maturity in Christ and that His church would continue to grow and He would be magnified through us. The foundational offices of apostles and prophets are no more in the church but we still have evangelists and pastors-teachers.
The New Testament writings that we have were written by four of the apostles and eight New Testament prophets, yielding us a total of 12 New Testament authors, which is a biblically confirming number.
Eph. 4:10-13
[10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Our Everlasting Consolation
Jesus gave His peace to the apostles before He went to the cross. This was a very sad and confusing time for the apostles as Jesus had told them that He was going to be leaving. But He told them they were not going to be orphaned. He would not leave them without a Comforter. He would be sending them a Comforter. We know that this was His promise to send His Holy Spirit, this baptism of the Holy Spirit that John the baptist prophesied Christ would perform was accomplished and we have the record of it in Acts chapter 2.
Believers in this present age have the peace of Jesus Christ and the comfort of His Holy Spirit. Many believers that have been wrongly taught that the second coming of Christ is yet future are awaiting something that is in the past. So many are looking for what they call a rapture, which is a secret, instantaneous disappearance of living believers from the earth to be with Jesus. Many acquaint this with what the apostle called the blessed hope.
Tit. 2:11-13
[11] For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
[12] Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
[13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
These believers in Jesus that are yet looking for that event can often be devastated, by having to grip with that event if it did indeed happen as they expected it to, is far in our past now and they therefore will not be experiencing it. They think then that they no longer have hope, which is ridiculous. Every believer's hope is in Christ now, and it has always been in Christ. The event called the rapture as an expectation in the future is not our hope. Christ Himself is our hope, not some event. We still have the resurrection to come and we have Jesus' final return to the earth when He comes with the New Jerusalem. Our hearts are filled with hope because Christ fills our hearts in every season, even this little season that we are in now.
As Jesus approached the end of His earthly ministry as the Christ, his friend Lazarus was sick and He knew that he was going to die. Of course, the Messiah could have prevented this but He allowed it to happen in order for God to be glorified and for Him to have another opportunity to prove who He was. He knew He was going to bring Lazarus back from death. Mary and Martha both told Jesus that if He had been there with him, their brother would not have died. Jesus told them, "Your brother will rise again." They said, "Yeah, we know in the last day at the resurrection, he will rise again. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." Our hope is in Christ.
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