The Man of Lawlessness
2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (ESV)
2 Thes 2:11-12 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Lord, use me today to share Your truth with many people so that those You have chosen will see life. I understand that It’s Your work to save people and many will not believe but are deluded. Please open doors for me to share today and amaze me with who You will regenerate!
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
What a great verse! In this verse there is a reminder of what Christ did for us. There also is a reminder of what He’s going to do. And then in the second verse it says that He will encourage us and strengthen us to do good things! So, every good thing we do is from and for Christ. That’s the way it should be. When we do good works it shouldn’t be for the purpose of making ourselves look good, but to glorify God. Jesus saved us and gave us hope, and He also will encourage us and strengthen us!
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter
We need to be alarmed and prepared for whenever Christ returns! Evangelizing is what I need to be doing more of, and this chapter, plus what Pastor Bobby mentioned this weekend is definitely a motivation for me to share the gospel to many and to not focus of worldy things I want more than meeting God.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
What a powerful God we have that he is in control of everything and everything is to accomplish his will! Even when the antichrist comes God will use that moment for his will. with this verse it says God send them a powerful delusion. God is the one who is going to allow the people to be decieved by the antichrist so that Gods perfect plan can be worked out through everything! Wow! How comforting to Christians that no matter what happens it is all part of Gods plan which is the best possible thing for us!!
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.
Gods word is a powerful thing by reading it God can (and will) encourage our hearts and put us on fire for the Lord! Imagine what it would be like if everyone at our church read the word daily and was on fire for the Lord imagine the impact we would have on everything around us!!
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.
I thought this was pretty interesting to see. Foreshadowing of the anti-Christ – it’ll be a dark day for the world, but not for us to see prophecy unfolding! Personally I can’t wait for this day – Maranatha!
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Unsettled and Alarmed is not the response we should have to the Day of the Lord being here, true or not. We should, like Bobby said, be awaiting His arrival and be looking forward to it. We should have a MARANATHA mindset.
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.
Speaking of the Day of the Lord. It may not have been there then, but judging by the description given, it looks like it’s coming soon. Slowly, it seems like people are turning from God, to serve themselves, to lawlessness. So, let us not be like the wicked servant, let us be prepared and be welcoming Christ’s return. MARANATHA!
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
I am SO thankful for my salvation. How awesome to know that we will be spending eternity with God! This passage reminded me of one of my favorite verses, Ephesians 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” We are under God’s protection and He has our entire lives planned out. We just have to seek him first in everything that we do and live in obedience.
8And 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.
Wow, I love reading about Jesus Christ when he returns because it reminds me how strong and mighty he is. Christ was fully God and fully man and when he returns he will come with all the powers of heaven. and to me that is amazing. With the breath of his mouth and the splendor of his coming he will destroy the lawless one. I cant imagine but how amazing to think about. I know that I need to be always looking into the big picture of things to come, and set my hope on the end and not allow my life and circumstances to influence my thoughts on Christ. Always remembering that there will be a day when this world will be destroyed and justice will be served. And when Christ returns he will rule and reign! And so I respond with MARANTHA!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Praise God He predestined us to be some of the elect few that will be saved! And we should always thank God for the work He is doing in other people’s lives. He saved us from a death we were facing, and brought us into His glorious light!
9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
Verses like this and verse 4 have been talking about the anti-Christ, the lawless one. Like verse 4 says, he going to try and fail to be more exalted above God. The Lord is going to overthrow him as it says in verse 8. But this anti-Christ is going to decieve people saying he is God by performing all of these miracles and wonders. There are going to be people who worship him, there is even people today that do that. I know a kid at my school that wears satanic shirts and I remember seeing a car last august that had all of these stickers praising the anti-Christ it was sad to see.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
Paul is encouraging yet again, I’m praying this verse that the people at True North will stand firm and to hold on and apply those sermons that Pastor Bobby preached from God’s word. I also pray that we would encouraging each other and building each other up as Paul is here!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
How great is that? God sent us down to be saved. Knowing you have been pick to be save and learn about the Lord each day. WOW!! What a blessing.
14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is sad is that some of us are not making the effert to do this. There are a lot of people that need to be save and we are watching them go down. So i hope and pray that we find some way to get the word of the Lord out. Be PROUD to be a christain. God bless you guys at true north
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
We need to make sure that we stand firm to the teachings we have in the Bible. There is no compromise. What God says goes. We cannot be swayed by the arguments of people. The Bible should be our foundation and we should not be moved.
14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This verse totally applies to how we feel after Revival! Some who weren’t saved before the trip become Christians at Revival and are PUMPED UP to share the gospel with their friends afterwards! But, this is a verse that we need to apply everyday of our lives– not just after a summer trip with True North. If we are Christians, then it’s our duty to go out and spread the gospel to others!
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
It’s all about finishing the race and being ready for Christ’s return! Staying strong and firm in our salvation and not falling into sin away from Christ. How do we do this? Coming to church and listening to Pastor Bobby preach STRAIGHT from God’s Word! Reading our Bibles, praying, evangelizing and commenting on SOTD! And this should not only be an encouragment for us to continue standing firm, but also to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same!
This book of 2 Thess fits so well with talking about a Maranatha mindset. This chapter makes it clear how central truth and teaching need to be in that way of thinking.
Truth is what the lawless ones refuse to love, and teaching is what the church is commanded to hold to.
So applicable to us. Do we love reading our Bibles? Do we hold fast to the things we hear preached at church over the weekends and even think about them through the week? Do we meditate of Christ’s word everyday?
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
God chose us to be saved from the beginning. This is so unfathomable to think about, that we were chosen, by the God of this universe… to be saved! Praise the Lord! Through our faith in Jesus Christ, and the sanctification process, we become more Christ-like and we are able to Glorify our perfect and Holy creator. God is sooo good for blessing us daily, He gives us life and breath, He has blessed us with living in an awesome community and that is something to definitely be thankful for.
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
This verse is clearly saying that God chose us, from the beginning, to be saved. This is a controversial topic in Christianity today, but I am so thankful that I was one of those whom God chose. We are sooo blessed
1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers,
2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
3Don’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.
4He 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.
This is the end times. The final days of the earth. I think it is pretty easy to loose touch with what we are truly striving for. What we are truly looking forward to. Heaven. The new Earth. That is what we are looking forward to, what we work for.
14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold! another verse explaining our purpose in life! This is also a great explination on why we are saved. It is good enough to be saved, but if we don’t know why, then it is pretty much a waste. Also, yet another verse on evangilism, and how important it is that we do it, because this verse clearly says that is why we are on this Earth, is to share God’s glory.
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
When the Antichrist comes he will be empowered by Satan to perform miracles; the same type of miracles that Christ and the Apostles used to establish the church. The people who are perishing had prior knowledge of the truth but refused salvation and therefore believe a lie. We need to be careful, there are many people that have heard the gospel but never committed their lives to Christ. This verse serves as a stern warning for those that know the truth but refuse it.
13.) But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
I totally agree with Dillon, this is definitely something to be praising God for, and every day too!!!
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
The end times seem to be coming closer and closer and we should keep on guard and on watch because the rapture can come anytime. While we do let’s continue to evangelize adn stand firm and strong with these teachings.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Praise the Lord!!! These verse are full of God’s qualities and characteristics that we can worship & thank & praise him for. His grace alone gives us encouragement and hope. I know some people who look up to others/authority figures as their hope but we shouldn’t put our hope in man but only in God because He never disappoints and He is our only hope who encourages and loves us unconditionally.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
I agree with Meisha Meisha on this verse!! We gotta make sure that we are constantly meditating on God’s word and obeying it, standing firm in the faith that we profess! It also reminded me of what life would be like if we did not stand firm, and that is not pretty! Meditate, obey, and pray! :D
11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Nice comment Brennan.
God is just in sending this powerful delusion. These people knew the truth but refused salvation. Now, they will believe the lies of the lawless one and suffer God’s judgment because of their wickedness.
We encounter people all the time who call themselves Christians but their lives show no evidence of salvation. This verse should be a wake-up call for those people.
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
this is a good verse because thoughs who do not believe do not want to be apart of God.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
We as Christians need to stand strong in the Lord and keep the teachings we are given. We can not let anything take hold of us or get in our way. We need to carry out the teachings the Lord gave us. The only way we can do this is by continually reading the Word of God.
10. . . . They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
People don’t like to be told that they are wrong. It goes against our nature, and so when we as Christians tell people of their need to repent, their first reaction is hard-hearted anger and stubbornness. And even we ourselves, when a brother or sister in Christ points out an area of sin in our life, can tend to take offense at it rather than responding rightly. if we choose to ignore our sin and to continue living in it, then we will face judgement; but when we are willing to examine ourselves and repent of sin in our lives, we will reap the rewards and blessings that come from living a life that is close to Christ.
Mmm… some good verses in this chapter!
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.
First, I just want to say how amazing that is! “Whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.” We all know that soon one day an antichrist proclaiming he is God will come to rule, as said here, but Jesus will come and overthrow him with ‘the breath of his mouth’. That just shows how awesome and powerful Jesus is where he will overthrow him without even breaking a sweat.
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
As Paul is writing about here, is that we were all saved through God’s grace and not by works (Ephesians 3:8-9). As preached by Ben last weekend, we we aren’t saved by works that we do, but through the grace of God. We never deserved anything from him, but he still sent down his son and gave him so that our sins were paid for (John 3:16 basically). I just can’t wait to hear what Ben has to say/add to this topic of grace!
14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
almost every time in the Bible when we see the word “called” in the New Testament it is referring to how God calls us to salvation. today it is popular to reject the doctrine of election and the doctrine of God’s grace, and say that we choose God. However it is clear throughout Scripture that God calls us, and it is a response to God’s call. we cannot respond to the gospel if God is not doing a work in us. we are totally dead in our sin, and without God’s call we cannot be saved
Maybe it is just me but on of the things that I walk away from this chapter is that it seems that at the end of every book or paragraph Paul always ends with an encouraging thing to say to everyone. I think that is something that we should all pay attention to because it is always good to encourage people. So of the toughfest looking people always need encouragement. Also I like how Paul is resucuring the trust and faith of the readers by giving then some back when some one tells them that Jesus as already come back.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter
This is a great example of the kind of encouragement we could be providing to other chirstians. It is so helpful when we recieve it, but often we stop there, we should make it our goal to encourage as many people as possible. That is truly living in the spirit of Chirist, afterall we are his hands and feet, What we do should represent him.
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
This absolutely just spoke to me and slightly made me tear up. Paul is absolutely right. I need to thank God all the time for chosing me as one of his and that I decided to receive the gospel and claim the gift he so graciously gave me! How God loves us!!! It’s amazing :D
Praise God for picking us and giving us a heart ready to accept him!! This is why we are to tell others about him! It’s like giving them a piece of the cake… they NEED it!!
MARANATHA!!!!!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Mmmm! Hallelujah God has saved us!! How amazing is it that the perfect and holy God would choose us, filthy sinners, to spend eternity with Him!!! Its SUPER AMAZING thats what it is!! Now what else can we do but offer our lives completely to Him!!
8And 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.
We can expect this to happen and soon. The antichrist will try to take us down and make us turn from Christ and what we believe but we need to stay firm in our faith and not lose hope in Christ. In the end if we stay to our faith we will go rejoice in Heaven for eternity with our Savior. We can’t bail out of this race when were going strong right now so when this day comes lets stay true to what we believe and know that Christ will rule.
It’s really encouraging to read these comments all day long as you leave them!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
This verse reminds me of a conversation some of us had this weekend about predestination. God chose us before the foundations of the world. It is only because he chose us that we are saved! The way we see it in our lives is that we respond to the truth.
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
On the other hand, we can tell the people who reject God by the same test…how they respond to the truth? Here it says they will refuse to love it.
This is why it is so important for go public with our faith and tell people the truth about Jesus…because God will use it to draw people to himself!
The Thesselonians were known for their faithfullness throughout the land, and now they are on the receiving end of spiritual attack! Someone is trying to deceive them with lies and Paul is pointing them back to the word of God!
“5 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”
We should alway be reading God’s word so that we can recognize false doctrine when we see it. God’s word also gives us strength and encouragement to stand firm when we are tested, or are under attack by “the unlawful one”.
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
And finaly, knowing God’s word helps us to be encouraged and strengthened by God himself Because He is a loving God that offers us UNFATHOMABLE GRACE and ETERNAL HOPE!!
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!
5Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
This is such a great reminder to keep the handouts and notes that we get in church. It is such a waste to hear a sermon once and then forget it throughout the course of the week. God has chosen what we hear at curch to encourage, rebuke, and teach us, we should take full advantage of the wisdom and intsruction we get because we know (if it is Biblicaly sound) that it is from God!
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
This is a reminder of what God has done and what He will give us. Encourage ourselves to share the gospel. And pray to God for strength in everything you do
MARANATHA !!!
8And 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.
Christ is soo powerful! I didn’t even catch it until the second time i read this thing, but it says here that the “lawless one” will be destroyed be the breath of Jesus’ mouth! Holy cow!
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Its sad to hear that non believers will perish because they refuse to love the truth. But whats more sad is that some of these people might not have heard the truth or never had anyone to explain it to them. This should get us all pumped to go and talk to someone who might need to hear these words. Even if you think they are a christian, its still worth talking to them because who knows? God might use you to tell them the great news.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word
What an amazing concept! Yes, it is great to have have encouragement from friends and other christians, but really, our encouragement comes from God and the hope we have with him.
10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved
Satan is the ultamate deciver and he is wrecking people’s lives left and right. These people do not love God and they have hatred towards good. They are mis-guided! As Christians we need to be the ones to tell them what really is in store for them. These people have been tricked into thinking that they can live their life without God and be alright. In reality, they are destined to spend all eternity in hell, separated from God. We need to try to help the people who have refused to listen to reason. Some might be responsive, and they can change. With our help, the Holy Spirit can preform a change with these people if we try to preach the Gospel to them.
So much stuff to talk and pray about. In a nutshell don’t be decieved by things with fancy wrapping paper or by people’s false promises.
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 the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
If it ain’t in the Bible it ain’t from God.
8And 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.
I’m struck by the power of Christ as I read through this verse. The wicked one (Antichrist) described in this verse as lawless, sets himself up against the commands of the Lord. He is completely against God’s Word. However, when the Lord Jesus returns, he will overthrow Him with his very breath. God’s glory (or splendor) will destroy the Antichrist! That’s awesome! I’m so thankful that I serve this powerful God. I am comforted knowing that He is in control and has the power to destroy by His very breath!
10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
what a strong verse! Scary to think that people you love my perish because of there rejection to the truth.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
What a great verse!
You guys rock…so encouraging to see how many of you are having your tea!
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
It is so important that we are in the Word daily so that we can know the TRUTH…we live in a world that teaches anything but that and as the end draws near we need to make sure that we are standing firm in what is true, God’s Word. We need to be grounded and rooted in it!!
NEW BLOG CHECK IT :)
I am so thankful to have internet access tonight after moving this weekend. I have missed posting the past few days…
3Don’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.
While this verse tells the disturbing truth that an anti-Christ will come and pass himself off as God, I was encouraged by the last part. This man of lawlessness is “doomed to destruction.” I am so thankful that the end result of the last days is God reigning supreme and Satan and his anti-Christ being doomed to eternal damnation. No matter how rough things get on earth, no matter how anti-God our society becomes, God will win in the end and every knee will bow and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. I am thankful tonight that I am a child of the King and that one day I will get to share in the joy of His victory over evil!
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Is God’s love not amazing? I mean truly, from the beginning (actually before time itself) God, in his abundant grace, decided to plan out the distribution of his loving grace for his glorification!
And is He not worthy? From the beginning he chose us for Him, when we had no attraction that He should desire. And yet we are called sons and daughters of the only God! I love it!
A quick shout out THANK YOU to the Blakey’s and all the True Northers who helped us move this weekend. You guys were a big help!
Ahhh, it is nice to be back online.
7For 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.
The “secret power of lawlessness” stood out to me in this verse. It got me thinking, how much do I underestimate the evil one and his work? We see only the surface of things. If we could see as clear as God we could see just how corrupt this world is. It is even worse than we think! In fact, if it wasn’t for God and his Spirit teaching us, much of the evil I now can recognize, would be unrecognizable. That is probably why the closer I get to God, I realize how much of an unworthy sinner I am. The closer I get to Him the less I want to live for the things of this world and the more I want to live for Him.
Through reading the last couple chapters and books i have seen something really cool. These people are always ecouraging and thanking God for eachother! This is such an awsome feeling! God has blessed us so much with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and we shouldnt take this for grantite. We need to make sure to thank God for our fellow believers and make a point to encourage them daily so that they will grow in their faith!!!!
3Don’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.
4He 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.
While reading this chapter I started to think about how cool it is that we can see something repeated throughout scripture. These verse reminded me of when Jesus talks about his second comming in Matthew 24. This should give us confidence in the validity of the Bible seeing how things are repeated and how there are commen themes throughout scipture.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
this verse is showing us how much god has in store, he is giving us eternal encouragement. Everything we do like evangalizing reading our bibles should be encouraging us to want to be in heaven even more with our savior!!!!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Thats so awesome how God chose me to be saved and to live with him forever in heaven! Amen! I think of the awesomeness of how we are predestined to be with Christ forever and ever! Wow this is so deep because its a prevledge to personally be chosen by God. This alone would give anybody the exitment and desire to go out and reach others for Christ.
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
WHAT AN AWESOME VERSE!!! its so amazing to know that God chose to love us and save us from sin!! I love you Jesus!!!
I think it’s UBER scary how God blinds some so that they don’t see the truth…and yet it’s amazing how He is able to reveal Himself to others like He has already with us, His disciples. And the Antichrist can come anyday! Now, I don’t expect Obama to randomly claim that he is the son of God, buuuuuuut one will rise and thats why we must be prepared! Are we willing to say that we will make any sacrifice for the Lord, including our own lives? Are people ready here on this Earth, or have they not even heard the gospel yet? That’s my goal: To let everyone know what the gospel is, and that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven! aaaaaaaamen! :D
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
The Thessalonians here are being encouraged to stand firm in God’s word and stray back to the life they once lived. Thats why accountability partners are so important because they keep encouraging you when you need help and confront you when you are doing something wrong.
Zach I have been noticing the same thing! It is so cool that they are always encouraging and building one another up along with thanking God for them, which means praying for them! Thats what we need to be doing as the body of Christ!
15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
We need to stand firm in the word of God and be in His word daily!! His word will encourage us and convict us and help us grow!!! We must be in the word and encouraging one another to also!!
13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
AMEN!!
This what i thank the Lord for everyday!