Posts that reference the book of 2 Thessalonians

2 Thess

Truth from Thessalonians: Doing Good

As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 (NLT)

You know the New Testament was written in Greek not English. Many times there is not 1 Greek word which gets translated to 1 English word in a verse. For instance, in this very verse, “dear brothers and sisters” is one word, adelphoi.

Then there’s the “of” … or “in” depending on your translation.
It’s not there in Greek

So
Brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. (CSB)
As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. (ESV)
But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. (NASB)
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (KJV)
And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. (NIV)

Don’t give up.
Don’t get discouraged or burned out.
Hang in there.

And what about “doing good”?
It seems pretty obvious that it means good works, right?
Yes, but it also carries an idea of virtue.

Do good works-
Be kind, generous, helpful, loving.
Do what is right-
Be morally pure, holy even.

So here’s a paraphrase:

Don’t let the bad things going on around you
Or the bad people doing what they do
Keep you from doing what you’ve been called to do.

Keep doing good in spite of it all.

Truth from Thessalonians: Pray for Us

By Paula Wiseman

Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

The Apostle Paul had prayer requests.
Think on it for a moment.
Do we ever hesitate to ask for prayer when we need it?
Maybe we think we “should” be able to handle things…
Maybe we don’t want to “bother” people…

Not Paul.

And he asked for prayer for the thing he was best at
The thing he was known for
Evangelizing.

Notice what he requests.

That the word would spread rapidly.
That the word would be glorified.
That they would be rescued from perverse and evil men who would oppose them.

That’s actually a very good prayer for today.
Pray that the gospel would spread rapidly.
Our world is in desperate need.
Pray that the word of God would be glorified.
What a seismic shift that would be.
Pray that believers would be delivered from opposition.
Imagine if we all prayed that for each other.

Finally, brethren, pray for us.

Truth from Thessalonians: Not Shaken

By Paula Wiseman

We ask you, brothers, 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. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

“Shaken” is the word used for an earthquake.
The Thessalonians not only thought they had missed the Rapture
But were left to face intense persecution.
They were confused, disheartened and disillusioned.

When we look at the world around us,
We, too, can fall into that same confusion.
Especially if we listen to voices
That instill fear and anxiety.

If you keep reading the chapter,
You find that Paul reassures his readers.
He calmly, methodically walks them through the truth.
And that’s what stops the shaking.

The antidote for the fear and anxiety
Is to go back to the truth.
God loves us. He is in control.
His plan is on track.

His promises are sure.
His word is unchanging.
Our salvation is secure.
His love never wavers.

No shaking.
No earthquakes.
Just a solid Rock.

Truth from Thessalonians: Persecution

By Paula Wiseman

And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 (NLT)

Persecution is not for nothing.
Paul had endured it himself.
So it is not hollow encouragement
To those in Thessalonica.

They had endured so far. (v. 4)
Never discount what you have gone through
In service to God.

Be assured God will repay. (v. 6)
He sees, He knows and He is keeping records.
In justice, God will set everything right.

God will provide rest to those persecuted. (v. 7)
It is that final rest in eternity.
In His presence, in His kingdom.

But for now
God will redeem the persecution,
Making us more like Christ

Don’t minimize.
Don’t despair.
Contextualize.

A Benediction: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

By Paula Wiseman

Paul includes a beautiful benediction in 2 Thessalonians.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Stop and think about the words.

Jesus our Savior and God our Father. Each loved us. (Loved us. We could stop and consider that for a very long time.)

His everlasting (won’t run out or get used up) consolation (comfort, removal of our sense of grief or loss)

And good hope (one that will be realized)

By grace (just because He wanted to, not because He was required to)

May He who has already given all this…

May He comfort your hearts (when we’re worried or distressed)

And establish you (make us unshakeable)

In every good word and work (So our belief in His truth is unwavering and our commitment to serving Him is unbounded)

AMEN!

Is there someone you can pray this benediction for?

Given

By Paula Wiseman

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. John 3:27

If you took geometry in school, you may recall working through proofs. At the beginning, before you begin to line out a strategy for attacking the problem, you have a set of pre-conditions, a set of givens. These are your starting points. The things you know for certain. Then you work step-by-step from those givens, incorporating other things you know for certain, the theorems and so forth, until you arrive at the solution, the proof. (Hopefully I didn’t stir up any bad memories.)

While I’m very thankful that life is NOT a geometry proof, it is essential to understand that as believers, we operate with a set of givens. They are so much better than a list of theorems and postulates. These are things God has given us. No matter what we come up against, these need to be our starting points. These are things we know for certain.

1. We have eternal life.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:11

We have so much more than what we see around us.

2. We have the Holy Spirit.
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Acts 5:32

We are never alone. God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit lives not just with us, but in us. He sees and He knows exactly what we’re going through.

3. We have an understanding of Christ.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20

Maybe not full understanding, but we know enough to grasp that Jesus loved us and wanted us with Him forever, and He was willing to go to the most extreme lengths for us.

4. We have everlasting consolation and good hope.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace. 2 Thessalonians 2:16

Consolation is comfort. And it’s everlasting. I like to think of it not just lasting forever with respect to time, but never running out. Not only that, but good hope, a confidence that there is more to come and it is better.

5. We have a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

We are not helpless, but we are able to accurately assess our situations in light of who we are in Christ and then respond, not out of fear but out of love for others, like the love Christ has shown us.

6. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness.
As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 2 Peter 1:3

We have all the resources we need to live the life God has called us to.

7. We have great and precious promises.
By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4

Not just the promise of eternal life, but promises that He’ll never leave us, and that He hears us.

Whatever it is, wherever you are, start with these givens. They’ll lead you from your questions and doubts to what you know and finally to the One who knows all.