Introduction

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Well last week we looked at one of the more spectacular passages of Scripture … that being the famous ‘Man of Lawlessness’ passage from 2 Thessalonians 2.  And we learnt that the Man of Lawlessness … who is more commonly known to as ‘The Antichrist’ … is (i) a human, (ii) who will come in the power of Satan, (iii) to set himself up as a false god.  And he will (iv) have unparalleled ability to deceive people into following him, because (v) he will perform signs and wonders … just like Jesus did.  And what the Apostle Paul taught us last week is we need to be vigilant, so that we will not be deceived by the secret power of lawlessness.

Now the reason Paul had to remind the Thessalonians about these things … is because certain false teachers had infiltrated the church in Thessalonica and declared that ‘the Parousia’ … the return of Christ … had already happened.  And the Thessalonians were freaking out about this.  So Paul says ‘guys, guys … don’t you remember that when I was WITH you I told you that Christ WILL NOT return … until (a) the rebellion occurs, and (b) the Man of Lawlessness is revealed … v. 3.  And given neither of those things have happened … says Paul … neither has Christ’s return.

Now we might think ‘OK … bish, bash, bosh … that’s all dealt with’.  The problem is … the Thessalonians have just been living … for some time now … as though Jesus had ALREADY returned.  So Paul can’t just leave it there … because bad theology usually leads to bad practice.  So I’ll give you an example … with the prosperity gospel.  The prosperity gospel says God wants his faithful disciples to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous in THIS life.  It says we Christians can have ALL the joys of heaven now … without the sufferings of Christ.  Now given ALL the apostles suffered greatly in this life … just as Jesus warned them they would … the prosperity gospel is bad theology.  Those who have been deceived by it … have been know to tell OTHER Christians … who are REALLY suffering … that the REASON for their cancer … or the REASON their child has died … is because there’s something defective about their faith.  Bad theology often leads to bad practice.

Now here’s my question.  If you were the Apostle Paul … and you’d just corrected the Thessalonians’ theology … try saying that 3 times fast … you’d just corrected the Thessalonians theology that Jesus HASN’T yet returned … what would you tell them they should be doing?  Given we’re not in heaven yet … what would YOU say are the Top 5 things Christians should be doing while we AWAIT Jesus’ return.  Because THAT’S what the rest of this letter is about.  Now NEXT week … we’re going to zoom in on an issue particular to the Thessalonian church … which as the NIV title there suggests was ‘idleness’.  But in our passage TODAY … Paul gives the Thessalonians 3 principles that are important for living this side of Jesus’ return.  And given Jesus STILL hasn’t returned in 2025 … these 3 principles still apply to Christians today.

And these 3 principles are our 3 points for today … as your sermon outline shows.  They are (i) Always thank God … v. 13-14, (ii) Stand firm … v. 15-17 … along with chapter 3 v. 4-5, and finally (iii) Spread the message of the Lord … v. 1-3 of chapter 3.  So let’s dive in … and see how Paul wants Christians to live this side of Jesus’ return.

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Always thank God (2:13-14)

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And our passage begins with the word ‘But’.  So before we start unpacking this passage … we need to understand why he’s saying ‘But’.  And when we look back at the previous verse … we see Paul outlining that when it comes to the end times … there are only 2 options for humans.  You can either be on the side of truth … or the side of lies.  Look at v. 11-12 with me:

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NIV) 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.

Paul starts THIS passage with the word ‘But’ because the Thessalonians have chosen the right side:

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV) 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.

Paul is thanking God because the Thessalonians are on the side of truth.  But … this is the SECOND TIME Paul has said this in this letter.  Flick back 1 page … to 2 Thess 1:3:

2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV) We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters

Then flick back to 2:13

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV) But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters

And the REASON Paul is always thanking God is because he is duty bound to … as a Christian.  The Greek literally says ‘we OWE thanks’.  It’s like when we borrow money.  If you get a home loan from a bank … you are legally bound to make repayments.  In the same way … Paul says we OWE thanks to God.  Why?  Because of what he’s given us.  It’s the same reason we teach our kids to say ‘ta’ when they’re given something.  If someone does something nice for us … ‘we OWE thanks’.

But here’s the thing about thanking God.  It’s not meant to REMAIN a duty.  It’s meant to become a joy.  Giving thanks to God is one of the sweetest things the human heart can experience.  Why?  Because it shows how abundantly loved we are.  I can almost guarantee you … that Christians who are miserable are NOT giving thanks to God very much.  Now you might snap back at me and say ‘well … you don’t know what I’ve been through Brendan’ … or ‘you don’t know what my life is NOW Brendan’.  Granted … I don’t.  But that never stopped Paul.  Paul’s most joyous letter … is his letter to the Philippians … where he says:

Philippians 4:4 (NIV) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

That letter was written from jail.  So whether Paul was living in plenty … or literally in chains … he knew of the importance of giving thanks … for without it we become entitled and bitter and miserable.

Now you might be thinking ‘Look … I WANT to feel joy.  But I don’t know what to thank God FOR’.  Well do what Paul does here … and thank God for salvation.  He mentions 4 things.  Number 1:

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV) … because God chose you

Paul is thankful for predestination.  John Stott puts it this way in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians.  He says when we ‘trace our salvation back BEYOND our decision or commitment’ … we find ‘the gracious initiative of God’.  What he means is … no one turns to Christ without God’s help.  Now we might well ask ‘why doesn’t God help EVERYONE’?  The Bible’s answer to that is … ‘not telling’.  We’re not told.  What we ARE told … is the God of the Bible is infinitely good and righteous God.  So whatever the answer is … we can be certain it’s a good answer.  But the FIRST thing we can thank God for each day … is that he chose us before the creation of the world.

Second … we owe thanks for the ‘sanctifying work of the Spirit’.  It is the Holy Spirit who softens our heart towards Christ.  Third:

2 Thessalonians 2:14 (NIV) He called you to this through our gospel

Not only did God choose us … then soften our hearts … he also CALLED us … through hearing the gospel.  Then forth:

2 Thessalonians 2:14 (NIV) … that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this glory will reach its climax in heaven of course.  But in John chapter 17:22 … Jesus says:

John 17:22 (NIV) I have GIVEN them … [past tense] … the glory that you gave me

So how is it that Christians are already glorified … already as magnificent as Christ?  Well when Daddy Warbucks tells Annie he’s going to adopt her … he sings the song ‘Something was missing’.  Now how do you think that made that little orphan feel … knowing Daddy Warbucks WANTS her in his life?  It’s the same with Christians.  The creator of the universe wants you and me in his life SO MUCH … that he was willing to sacrifice his only beloved Son … in order to adopt US into his family.  And for THAT … we owe thanks.

So one of the most important things we’re to do as Christians … while we await Jesus’ return … is to give thanks to God.  We start by thanking him for salvation … then go on from there.  So can I challenge you this week … to make thanking God a DAILY part of your life … and see if that duty doesn’t turn one of the sweetest joys your heat experiences each and every day.

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Stand firm (2:15-17, 3:4-5)

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The SECOND thing Paul says Christians are to do this side of heaven is in v. 15:

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NIV) 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.

Now the opposite of standing firm is to be blown around.  It reminds me of those poor news reporters who are sent out to report on extreme weather … from the middle of the extreme weather.  They get blown around.  Well Paul says he doesn’t want Christians being ‘blown around’ by FALSE teaching … but to stand firm the teaching HE passed on.  And I’m going to be honest with you … Christians today are in even MORE danger of being blown around … because we have false teaching streamed RIGHT into our homes now.  I heard a professing Christian on Piers Morgan this week … declare with authority that the Bible is not against abortion.  False!  And that bad theology encourages women to kill their babies.  So ‘stand firm’!

The question is … how?  How do we stand firm?  Well Step 1 is to ‘hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you’.  Now in the first century … those teachings came either by word of mouth … or by letter … v. 15.  Today we have the closed cannon of Scripture.  So when Paul tells US to hold fast … he means hold fast to the Bible.  And to do THIS … we first need to (i) READ it, and (ii) MEDITATE on it.  Psalm 1 says ‘blessed is the one who MEDITATES on God’s law’.  So don’t just READ it … ruminate over that word … ponder that verse … chew over that chapter … or contemplate over that theme … until it explodes in our soul.  So Step 1 is meditate on the teachings passed on to us.

Step 2 … is to pray for God’s help.  In v. 16 Paul breaks out into a benedictory prayer … ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father …

2 Thessalonians 2:17 (NIV) encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

The way we stand firm is through Bible meditation AND prayer.  And let me tell you why … using Jordan Peterson as an example.  Personally … I think Jordan Peterson is one of the best thinkers on the planet.  He has great things to say to both men and women.  And Jordan Peterson spends a lot of time in Bible meditation.  He’s just released a book this past year on the Bible.  And I’m not going to read it.  The reason being … almost every time Jordan Peterson talks about the Bible … he gets it wrong.  Why?  Because according to his own words … he’s not a Christian.  And so he doesn’t have the Spirit guiding him to understand the Scriptures.

Friends … to stand firm we need Bible meditation AND prayer.  If we have meditation without prayer … it leads to legalism … as we attempt to follow the rules in our own strength.  And that will lead to either pride … if we think we’re doing well … or despair … when we fail.  Yet if we have prayer without meditation … we will descend into a type of humanistic spirituality … where we FEEL connected to the divine … but have no idea of what He actually wants.  Standing firm requires both Bible meditation AND prayer.  So low and behold … one of the things Paul wants Christians doing while we await Jesus’ return … is to read your Bible and pray.  That’s application point number 2 for today.  So can I challenge you to make prayer and Bible meditation a regular part of your week.

But this application point comes with a twist.  It’s not Bible meditation and prayer for the sake of Bible meditation and prayer.  The SPECIFIC thing we’re looking for … is for the Spirit to change and direct our heart.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NIV) May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

What we’re praying for … is that the Spirit will show us the beauty of God … through the Bible.  We’re not JUST to ‘see him more clearly’.  That’s the path to legalism.  We must also ‘love him more dearly’ … before we even THINK about ‘following him more nearly’.  Let me explain.

Hudson Taylor was the founder of the China Inland Mission … now called OMF.  Early on in his time there … he found his ministry so discouraging that he confessed to his wife that he wished he could die.  Yet he received a letter from a fellow missionary … a man by the name of John McCarthy … that included this line … that Hudson Taylor committed to memory:

“How do I get my faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One.”

Now BEFORE he received that letter … Hudson Taylor would get up every day at 5am to read the Bible and pray.  And he wished he could die.  Why?  Because he was trying to strengthen his faith … he was trying to stand firm in his faith … by striving after it.  Yet that one line from McCarthy transformed Hudson Taylor’s life.  And it DID so … Taylor said … by giving him an air of peace that was necessary for him to get through his work each day.  Now Taylor STILL got up at 5am every day for Bible meditation and prayer.  But he did so no longer as a way of learning the rules … but as a way of finding the beauty of the faithful one.

So if our SECOND piece of application today is read your Bible and pray.  Our THIRD piece of application is do so … in order to direct our hearts … 3:5 … into God’s love.  I mean that’s our Vision Statement … isn’t it?  To DELIGHT in God as our ultimate treasure.

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Spread the message of the Lord (3:1-3)

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Well truth be told … our FULL Vision Statement is ‘to bring glory to God … by calling ALL to delight in Him as their ultimate treasure’.  And this brings us to the third main thing Paul wants from Christians in this passage.  Read with me:

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (NIV) As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.

Friends … though we are (i) always to thank God … for what he has given us … and (ii) to stand firm … by DELIGHTING in WHO God is … we’re not to keep those wonderful things to ourselves.  The world needs to hear the message of the Lord.  And can I say … there has never been a better time in my lifetime to spread the message of the Lord than right now.  Western culture is more open to the gospel of Jesus Christ today … than it has been seen since the height of the Billy Graham years … back in the 60s:

• I mentioned the ‘quiet revival’ a few weeks ago … currently going on in England.  In 2018 only 4% of Gen Z males were attending church.  It’s now 21%.

• There are reports coming out of the US … that more young people are going to church following Charlie Kirk’s death.

• And social commentators and journalists are more open about talking about the Jesus than I’ve seen in my lifetime.

Now I have no data to say the same things are happening here in Australia.  But our young people are suffering the same crisis of purpose and identity that the rest of the West is … not to mention mental health issues.  And so if there was ever a time … when spreading the message of the Lord was being handed to us on a silver platter … surely it is now.  So what do we do?  Well let me give us application 4 and 5 for today.

Firstly … we need to pray.  Pray (i) that the message of the Lord will spread … far and wide, and pray (ii) that it may be ‘honoured’.  Now in the Greek … the word ‘honour’ there is the same word from v. 14 for ‘glory’.  So we must pray that people will see the glory of the gospel … just as the Thessalonians did.  So here’s my THIRD challenge for today.  Pray for the spread of the gospel.  My FIRST prayer every day is that God’s name would be glorified.  ‘Hallowed by your name’.  My SECOND prayer is ‘Thy kingdom come’.  ‘Please call more people into your kingdom Lord’.  Will you join me in that prayer?

Then … our fifth and final application point is … SPREAD the word!  SHOW people the glory of the gospel.  Now … there are likely some people here today who are terrified by this.  There are likely some people here today who are thinking to themselves ‘I couldn’t POSSIBLY talk to people about God’.  But if you’ve BEEN here for the last few months … you’ve already been doing it.  A few months ago we changed our Reflection time from just THINKING about the sermon … to also TALKING about the sermon.  And as we continue to share ‘1 Thing’ about the sermon each week … we will get better and better at talking to people about God.

Yet if you STILL don’t know what to talk about … you talk about God’s love.  3 times Paul mentions God’s love in this short passage.  In v. 13, v. 16 … and 3:5.  But there’s another twist.  And that twist is … God’s love INCLUDES Hell and judgment.  You see many Christians attempt to preach the gospel without mentioning (a) repentance, or (b) forgiveness.  The problem is … we cannot properly understand God’s love unless we know (a) WHAT he’s saved us from, and (b) how much that salvation cost him.  So WHEN we’re spreading the message of God’s love … we must tell people (a)  they’re being saved FROM Hell, and (B) they’re saved THROUGH Jesus’ death.

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Conclusion

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And that’s the Christian life 101.  (i) Always thank God … until it becomes the sweetest part of your day.  (ii) Stand firm in the Bible’s teaching … praying that God direct our hearts to His love.  Then (iii) SPREAD the message of the Lord … through prayer and calling others to come and enjoy God’s love with us.  So

2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 (NIV) May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God the Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word […] AND direct your hearts into God’s love