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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 1:10; 2:19-20; 3:13; 4:17-18; 5:23; 2 Thes. 2:1-8; 1 Thes. 1:3; 2 Thes. 1:3; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Pet. 1:1, 3-7
Among all the Epistles written by the apostle Paul, the two to the Thessalonians are the simplest, and they are among the earliest. Why then are these two Epistles placed toward the end of his fourteen Epistles in the arrangement of the New Testament? I believe that the sovereignty of God is in this arrangement.
In the previous messages of this series we have seen a full definition of the universal man. We have clearly and thoroughly seen Christ as the Head, the church as the Body, and the way that the members of this Body should walk and live. Now after the definition of the universal man in the foregoing books of the New Testament, 1 and 2 Thessalonians show us an additional matter, the coming of the Lord. These two books are found at this juncture because the second coming of Christ is the consummation of the life of the universal man. Christ’s coming is the consummation of the Christian life, the Christian walk, and the church life.
These two books are arranged in a very meaningful order. Since both speak about the coming of the Lord, why is there the need of two books to relate this matter? Why is one Epistle not adequate? One of the best ways to study the Word is to compare two books, two chapters, two passages, two verses, or even two words. With all the matters revealed in the Scriptures, there are always two aspects, two sides. It is a principle that for anything in the universe to exist, it must have two sides. Nothing can exist with only one side. Even a thin piece of paper has two sides. For example, there are the heavens and the earth, God and man, man and woman, inside and outside, and top and bottom. In our own physical body, most of its members are in pairs. We have two ears, two eyes, two arms, two hands, two legs, and so forth. This provides balance. If we had only one leg, we could not stand for long because we would lack balance. Medical doctors tell us that our two ears are also for balance.
The two books to the Thessalonians show us the coming of the Lord in a balanced way. The first book encourages the saints by the coming of the Lord. The coming of the Lord means very much to us. It is our hope, our encouragement, our comfort, and our strength. To those early Christians also, the Lord’s second coming meant very much. However, whenever we are encouraged by a hope, it is easy to go too far. We may say that since the Lord will come tomorrow, we can forget about everything else. This is wrong, unbalanced, and to an extreme. Therefore, we need the second Epistle to tell us the other side. Hence, the second Epistle is a balance to the first one. This is the main reason that there are two Epistles concerning the Lord’s coming. If we read them carefully, we will see the balance.
No other book of the sixty-six books of the Bible is composed in the way that 1 Thessalonians is. Every chapter of this Epistle ends with the coming of the Lord. The last verse of chapter 1 says, “Await His Son from the heavens” (v. 10). This is the coming of the Lord. At the end of chapter 2, verses 19 and 20 say, “What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at His coming? Are not even you? For you are our glory and joy.” The last verse in chapter 3 says, “So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints” (v. 13). Chapter 4 ends clearly with the subject of the Lord’s coming: “Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (vv. 17-18). Finally, 5:23 says, “The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Every chapter ends with the coming of the Lord, because this is a crucial matter in this book. In chapter 1 the writer talks about the Christian walk; then he encourages the believers with the coming of the Lord. Then in chapter 2 Paul teaches us about the fostering of the believers, and he ends this section with the coming of the Lord as an encouragement. Chapter 3 is the same in principle, and in chapter 4 Paul gives comfort by speaking about the coming of the Lord Jesus to the saints who had lost some of their hope. Again in chapter 5 Paul encourages the saints by the coming of the Lord Jesus. First Thessalonians is a book of encouragement by the coming of the Lord. In his earliest Epistle Paul uses the coming of the Lord to encourage the believers to go on.
No doubt all those Christians were encouraged by Paul’s word. They may have exclaimed, “This is glorious! The Lord is coming. Everything is for this, so let us forget about everything else.” Bible teachers agree that after Paul’s first Epistle, certain others took advantage of this opportunity to say that the Lord Jesus would come back very soon, even after only a few days. It seems that such ones spoke the same thing as the apostle Paul, but in actuality they did not. Although the apostle used the Lord’s second coming as an encouragement in his first Epistle, some people misused it. Therefore, the second Epistle was written to balance them.
Second Thessalonians 2:1-2 says, “Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you be not quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit nor by word nor by a letter as if by us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” This suggests that after Paul’s first letter, others who seemed to agree with the apostle wrote to say something extreme about the Lord’s second coming. The news concerning this must have come to the apostle, who then wrote the second Epistle to adjust, correct, and balance the believers.
Verses 3 through 8 continue, “Let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I said these things to you? And now you know that which restrains, so that he might be revealed in his own time. For it is the mystery of lawlessness that is now operating, but only until the one now restraining goes out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming).”
If we read this word carefully, we can realize that it is a correction, a judgment, and a balance for the extreme teaching. The believers had been encouraged by Paul’s word concerning the coming of the Lord, but they were pushed too far. No doubt, the Lord Jesus will come back, but there is still the need to be balanced. Throughout the centuries Christians have made many mistakes concerning the Lord’s coming simply because they neglected to be balanced. On the one hand, we must believe and admit that the Lord Jesus is coming quickly, but on the other hand, we need to realize that prior to the Lord’s coming a number of events must happen. Unless these things transpire first, it is impossible for the Lord to come back. This is the balance.
Our hope as Christians is the second coming of the Lord Jesus, but some people believe in the Lord’s coming in an unbalanced way. According to the history of the church, people have said many foolish things concerning the Lord’s second coming, because they neglected the second aspect, the aspect that certain things must first be fulfilled. However, there are also many believers who overstress the second aspect when they study the different signs related to the end times. The second coming of Christ is a big subject, and to study it requires much time. I studied the different schools concerning the second coming and the rapture. I studied the Brethren teachings and those of G. H. Pember and D. M. Panton. The Brethren especially spent a great amount of time studying the signs. I was with the Brethren for seven years and studied the signs with them. I heard more than one hundred messages concerning the seventy weeks in Daniel 9. They always spoke of the seven weeks, the sixty-two weeks, and the last week divided into two halves of three and a half years, or forty-two months, or one thousand two hundred sixty days. Even until today I can remember all those details. Because of these teachings, however, many have become lazy. They can sleep well and rise late, being sure that the Lord Jesus cannot come back yet, because all the signs have not been fulfilled.
In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians there are three words that are very important — faith, love, and hope. Verse 3 of chapter 1 says, “Remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” Faith relates mainly to the past, although we still need faith at the present time. The Christian life is initiated by faith; faith is the starting point of the Christian life. Following this, love is the present process of the Christian life, and hope is for the future. A proper Christian life is a life of faith as the start, love in the process, and hope for the future. These three are all related. If we are short of any one of these three, our Christian life has a problem.
Anything solid must have three dimensions. If something has three dimensions, it is established, solid, and stable. When the ancient Jews constructed a building, for example, they laid the foundation stone, built the structure upon it, and placed a topstone, a crowning stone, to complete and cover it. Faith, love, and hope are the three dimensions of the Christian walk. Faith is the foundation, love is the structure, and hope is the topstone. A solid Christian life must be a life of love, but love is founded on faith and has hope as its covering. In all our work and living we must have love, which issues out of and is produced by faith (1 Tim. 1:5, 14; 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:13; Gal. 5:6).
We must keep these three items in mind — faith, love, and hope — when we read 1 and 2 Thessalonians. These eight chapters are a development of the three dimensions of the Christian walk. It is not necessary to expound every verse in these books; if we remember that these two books deal with these three dimensions, we will understand all eight chapters.
We pursue the Lord day by day because He has given us faith. However, this faith causes us trouble. If the Lord had not given us faith, we could go along in a fallen way and still be at peace, but since the day we received faith, we have been troubled by it. It is this living faith, this saving faith, that not only turns us back to the Lord but also encourages us to go on. There is something within us that always stirs us up and encourages us to be active. We may say that this is the Lord Jesus, but we should also say that it is this wonderful faith within us.
Second Peter 1:1 says, “Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been allotted faith equally precious as ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This verse says that we obtain faith in the righteousness of God, but Romans and Galatians tell us that we obtain righteousness through faith (Rom. 4:5, 13; 9:30; 10:6; Gal. 3:5-6). Does faith come first or righteousness? The answer is that faith is a seed sown into us that grows. Second Peter 1:3-7 continues, “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness...through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature...And for this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue; and in virtue, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, endurance; and in endurance, godliness; and in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love.” To faith are added more and more virtues until eventually love is added in two aspects — love for the brothers and love for all people. This sequence begins with faith and ends with love. This is the proper growth in the Christian life.
Faith as the foundation within us causes us to live a certain kind of life. On the one hand, faith as a seed sown into us is a foundation to strengthen us, and on the other hand, this living and dynamic faith constantly troubles us. If there were no faith within us, not one of us would remain in the church life. We would run to the beach, to the movies, or go dancing. However, if we go to the beach or to the movies, we do not have the peace within. Something within rises up to ask, “Is this eternal? Is this divine?” We may want to find a better job, but the faith within us may not agree. If we pursue a Ph.D. or seek to be a bank manager, something within may ask, “Is this for the Lord Jesus? Is this eternal and divine? Is this precious in the eyes of God?” This troubling element is the faith within us. Faith within us always troubles us and keeps us from the worldly things.
As a result, love follows this living faith. We may tell the Lord with tears, “Lord, I love You. I forsake myself. I give up all the glory of this age. For Your sake I would stop seeking the worldly things. I just love You. I want to spend my time and energy and be spent to gain souls for You. I desire to serve You, to work for You, and to live for You because I love You.” This is the labor of love. What bubbles up, rises up, and is produced by living faith is a sweet love. Although many times we are suffering or persecuted and have many problems, we sense a sweetness toward the Lord. Sometimes with tears we may say, “Lord, I praise You, and I really love You,” and the more we tell the Lord that we love Him, the more our tears come. This is love as a product of faith. Love carries us on to work for the Lord, to live for the Lord, to go along with the Lord, and even to sacrifice our life as martyrs for the Lord. This love comes from faith.
Moreover, this love has a crown, a topstone, which is hope. Whenever we say that we love the Lord, spontaneously and unconsciously within us there is a hope to see Him. Whenever we say, “Lord, I am living for You because I love You,” spontaneously hope rises up within us. We have the hope of seeing Him and meeting Him. Very often we cannot and would not do certain things, and we determine to not be defeated, simply because we realize that we will see the Lord. We must stand and fight the battle to the end because one day, perhaps tomorrow, we will meet Him. This is our hope.
The entire Christian life and walk is built with these three dimensions — faith as the foundation, love as the structure, and hope as the topstone. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians are a development, definition, and explanation of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope, and we can understand all eight chapters in this light.
First and 2 Thessalonians particularly stress the last dimension — hope — more than the other two. Whatever we are and whatever we do must be in the light of the coming of the Lord. As the members of the Body, the church, we must live in the light of the Lord’s coming. As the church, the corporate Body, we must exist in the light of the Lord’s coming. If one is an apostle, he must be an apostle in the light of the Lord’s coming. If one is a minister of the word, he must minister in the light of the Lord’s coming. This is the third dimension of the Christian walk. This is the reason that the second coming of the Lord is mentioned at the end of every chapter of 1 Thessalonians. The apostle Paul composed all the matters of the Christian life in the light of the Lord’s coming.
However, we should not be an unturned cake, burned on one side but raw on the other (Hosea 7:8). We need to be balanced. To be sure, the coming of the Lord is an encouragement to us, but we should not take this encouragement improperly, believing that since the Lord is coming soon we can do things irresponsibly. This is wrong. We must still do things in a proper way. On the one hand, we realize that the Lord is coming, and we are encouraged by this. On the other hand, we must realize that the Lord may not come right away. He may delay His coming, so there is still time left for us to do His work faithfully and properly. We should be faithful, honest, and diligent to do our duty, being encouraged by His coming.
At all times we must be encouraged by the Lord’s coming. We need to be reminded that one day we will see Him. Regardless of how much we suffer for Him and lose for Him, His coming is a comfort to us. However, we must not receive this comfort in the way of neglecting our duty, our ministry. We must not think that since the Lord is coming for us, we can waste our days in a loose and light way. We are encouraged by the Lord’s coming, but we realize that the Lord still gives us the time to do things in a proper way. We must be balanced in these two aspects of the Lord’s coming.
Second Thessalonians 2:1 says, “Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” Coming is a key word. This is not the ordinary word for coming in Greek. It is the Greek word parousia, meaning “presence.” From Matthew through Revelation, this word is often used in the passages that relate to the Lord’s coming. If we do not know the proper meaning and usage of this word, we can never understand the Lord’s coming in an accurate way. All the verses in the Bible relating to the Lord’s second coming are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and without this key word we would not know how to put the pieces together.
When we speak of the Lord’s coming, our human thought is that He will come back suddenly at a definite hour. However, the Lord’s parousia, His presence, is not something that comes all of a sudden. By the study of the entire New Testament, we know that the Lord’s parousia will last for a certain period of time. It will not be only a day or a month; it will probably last for a period of a few years. Certain passages of the Scriptures indicate that His parousia will be before the great tribulation, others indicate that it will be during the tribulation, and other verses show us that it will be at the end of the tribulation. If we put all these puzzle pieces together, we can see the full picture. The parousia of the Lord will not come suddenly and then vanish. It will last for a certain period of time.
In Matthew 24:36 the Lord said clearly that no one knows the time of His parousia except the Father. According to this word, the day of the Lord’s parousia is a secret that no one knows, a secret kept in the mind of God the Father until a certain time that we do not know. Second Thessalonians 2:3-4, however, tells us that the day of the Lord comes after the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, is revealed and does certain things. According to this word, the day of the Lord’s coming can be determined. On the one hand, the Scriptures indicate that we can determine the time of the day of the Lord, and on the other hand, the Lord Himself tells us that no one knows the day. Seemingly this is a contradiction, but in actuality it is not. Whereas no one can know the time of the beginning of the Lord’s parousia, the end of His parousia can be determined by signs. No one knows when the Lord’s parousia will begin, but by signs in the future, the signs to come, we can calculate when the Lord’s parousia will end.
This should cause us to be watchful. We should not say that since we have not yet seen the signs, the Lord’s coming will not be soon. This is only one aspect. We must take care of the other aspect. The Lord’s parousia can begin at any time without signs; therefore, we must be watchful. His parousia will be like a thief in the night who comes without giving notice. When a thief comes, he does not make a telephone call to say when he will come. A thief comes mainly when people are not ready. No one can determine when the Lord’s parousia will begin. Therefore, we must be warned to be watchful. We cannot be sloppy or loose. We have to be watchful because at any time the Lord’s parousia may begin.
The main emphasis of the two books to the Thessalonians is that the Christian walk and living is one of three dimensions — faith, love, and hope. Faith is the beginning as the foundation, the source; love is the process as the structure, the main part; and hope is the end, the consummation. We must always begin by faith. Then we must walk, live, work, and do things for the Lord in love with the hope that one day we will meet Him. We will see Him, and He will see us. What a wonderful and glorious day that will be! Yet we have to be warned. What will happen if we are not faithful to Him? This is a warning to us.
There is no need to explain and define all eight chapters of these two books. If we keep all the above main points in mind when we read them, we will receive the proper light. We will be warned and reminded, and we will learn to be watchful, to go on with the Lord based upon faith, in the process of love, and with the hope of His coming. We should not care how much we suffer or lose for Him, because we know that we will see Him. Every kind of trouble, persecution, and suffering will become a glory in His presence.
The purpose of these two books is to show us that we need to walk, work, and live in the light of the Lord’s coming. His coming must always be before us. We dare not be defeated or love the world, the fleshy things, and the things of this age, because one day we have to meet Him. We also do not care about our suffering or loss, because one day He will reward us in His presence. We must be the faithful ministers, faithful servants, faithful believers, and faithful members of His Body because one day we will stand before Him in His glory. This is the proper interpretation of these two books.
We should not use these two books to argue with people about doctrine. Rather, may the Lord be merciful that we would have the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope. Endurance is a real strength to us. If we have endurance, we can do everything. Endurance comes from the hope of glory. We have the hope that we will see Him, that one day He will come, and that one day He and we will be in glory. By this we have endurance. This endurance is the power and strength for us to suffer, labor, press on, live for Him, and sacrifice everything for Him. Strength is in endurance, and endurance is in hope.
