Paul ends his second letter to the Thessalonians with a very short benediction. He opens it by calling God “the Lord of peace”. Today, we get peace from many things, such as going overseas and being away from work and responsibilities. Yes, there is peace in that, but this passage speaks of peace in a different way and brings into question: What is true peace?  

Beginning with Matt 2:1-12, we see that the arrival of Christ demands a response. We will read of different responses in this passage. There are those who actively searched for Christ (i.e. wise men) and a passive one (i.e. Herod). When we talk about the arrival of Jesus, both then and now, it demands a response. This is the mindset that we should have as we read 2 Thess 3.

1 and 2 Thessalonians is a book for our times, for it shakes us up from the drudgery of work and from the stupor of social media, and wakes us to our cosmic reality. After the previous chapters that contained thanksgiving, exhortations, and warning that we enter today’s text. Paul is finally ready to get incredibly practical. After labouring to help the Thessalonian church understand the urgency of living in the end times, Paul dives straight into the most practical course of action in the face of our eschatological reality.

In this Christmas season, we wait on God’s good promises that Jesus is coming again, just as the people in the OT longed for a Messiah, we are to stand firm on God’s word today as we wait for Jesus’ second coming.

In light of the lawlessness and false teaching that is already at work (2 Th 2:7), how can we live our Christian lives faithfully? What hope is there for us not to be deceived or deluded by the false signs and wonders of Satan? How can we stand firm in our faith as we wait for Jesus’ second coming.

These 12 verses are heavily disputed but tonight, we are going to observe the passage in the most commonly agreed sense. We are going to let the text point us to mainstream interpretation. Our goal tonight is to see the pastoral and applicatory value of the text.

In Christian circles, we are often more interested in the juicy, contentious bits, and overlook the common aspects of truth that most Christians agree on. Why is this important for us to know? We are incredibly susceptible to false teachings if we don’t know the basic fundamentals.

How can Christians make sense of persecution and what hope we have, in the midst of it? We must understand that suffering is a part of the Christian life, lest we be surprised or blindsided by times of trial and tribulation that may come.  And this passage prepares us for that, while pointing us to the hope that we have, amidst such suffering.

When was the last time we got into a fierce debate about the centre of the Christian life? A discussion about doctrine? When was the last time you got into a serious debate about how Christians live? How many of you said that you were offended by was the lack of thankfulness in the lives of Christians? Issues of thanksgiving and gratefulness are not high on our priority list. This is the problem in our lives that Paul is trying to address. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a healthy normative priority.