MONDAY 11th
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
NIV (v1a) – ‘Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him . . .’
ESV (v1a) – ‘Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him . . .’
In his first letter to this Church Paul mentioned the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ several times, so they as a Church would have been waiting (as we do) with anticipation for that day. It would seem by the tone of what Paul is saying here in this second letter that there were those who were proclaiming that it had already happened, somehow, they had missed it. Paul was writing to reassure them that this was not so, they needed to ignore that which was being spoken or written as supposedly being from Paul himself. It was a false statement.
We live in a time when there has been so much speculation concerning the coming of the Lord, there have been those who have dared to predict the day or even proclaim that it has already happened, but Scripture is very clear that the moment of the return of Christ is only known by God himself. (Matthew 24:36 ‘But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.’) We are not here to predict dates but rather instead to be sure we are ready, for it could come at any moment, it will be just like a thief that comes in the night, and sadly when he comes many will be caught out unaware. (Matthew 24:42-44 ‘Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’)
May we be sure that we are ready, waiting with great anticipation for the arrival of our Saviour who is going to fetch us to be in his eternal presence.