I had to use that once. Let's pray and then we're going to read first, maybe the first five verses or so of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and then we'll get started and we'll begin, okay? Our God in heaven we come today praising you. We come thanking you Lord that You have made a way that You have given us a time and a place to come today that we can sit down and listen to Your Word, hear Your Word, that it would be written on our hearts with Your own finger. Lord, we are thankful as we begin this study and this part of Your Word that, Lord, that we would be mindful that it is Your Word. it is holy and it has been set apart and that we would come to know that your word is truth and that statement alone says that there are no mistakes and there are no errors and that if there would be a mistake or an error it may be in our own interpretation and our own understanding and maybe even in our own hearts and we pray that you would watch over us and guide us through this time and help me to speak in a way that would edify your people and that just to be able to learn and to grow nearer. We have much to be thankful for this day, and I'm thankful for those that are here and those that may be joining otherwise, and whatever reasons, Lord, that we pray you be with them. What a blessing it is that you are with us. In Christ's precious name, amen. Okay, I'm gonna read the first, I wanted to go back and read all of the first chapter, I don't, for the second time, we're probably not gonna do that. But we may, there's gonna be some of it in there anyway. So let's read chapter two, the first five verses, and then we're gonna get into the commentary and see what we have today. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if it was from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first. And the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God, Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And we know, as we have studied in the past and talked about when this was written, Paul writing it to that church and he only being with them a few short weeks, really, but loving them and the faith that they had had gone out, remember, in Achaia and Macedonia and all the area, and their faith had been Renowned and he was praising him and thanking them for that and the persecution that they had been under While that was while it was going on and continuing here as remember Timothy coming back with the news. I think Jeff kind of touched on some of this when he started the first chapter there and coming back with the news and then Paul writing again just to take up some of the things that may have not gotten said before, right? So as we're looking at this, we know and we understand as we studied the end times and Christ's return and the gathering together, those are things we're gonna be talking about looking at in what we're doing going forward. I'm going to give a little bit of a disclaimer here. Guys, I'm not rushing through this. Right now, just the first three verses, there's about 12 to 13, 12 pages or so. And I don't, there's no way that we're going to get to talk about all of that in this short amount of time. And some of these things are so important that I, as your elder and my co-elder Todd, we firmly believe that we need to get these doctrines right because of the importance of our knowledge and our understanding and especially because of so much false teaching. And guess what? It's still going on. It was going on then, and it's going on today. So how important is it that we have the perspective and the knowledge and the understanding to be able to see that in our lives as we go? Because it's foundational. That word keeps coming up in my mind as I've studied this. And there's one particular part that's so foundational that it's just been such an eye-opener for me when we get there. And I hope it will be for you as we get there. when we get there. So, let's get started talking about what we're gonna be looking at today. This first three verses in this commentary is 12 pages, okay? And it's talking about here, when we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, what is that? Y'all wanna help me? the coming of the Lord, the second coming, his return. And we had studied in 1 Thessalonians, and as we go through this, I'm gonna be reading quite a bit, but I think it's good for us to consider these events, and that we must consider them in conjunction with sound biblical teaching and understanding. I wrote that at the top of the page. I think I've kind of somewhat said that already. And also it talks about this being together with the book of Revelation and all of that discourse from Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and then along with these letters in Thessalonians that it's the most detailed New Testament teaching about the events preceding Christ's return. And as we began the study there, as we begin in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, that the commentary is prompting us to recap some of the things that we had studied leading up to this. And we were talking about recapping, well what are those things? I think there's four that are mentioned. Let's talk about them just to get them in our hats, okay? The first one, the apostle mentioned Christ's return, It says, because of believers who had died. Remember in 1 Thessalonians, if we look over a few pages in chapter 4, we can see in 16 and 17 about Christ's return with the shout, the voice of the archangel, or the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. And then it says, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up. to meet the Lord in the air, so we shall always be with the Lord. That's the joining together at that time. Now, is that something that we will not know when it happens? We are going to know. Brother Jeff expounded that for us. It will be obvious. There's no hidden agenda and there's no secret to Christ's coming. We will all know. So, that's the first thing. It says that he has told them not to grieve as others do who have no hope. That's verse 13. Since all believers will be rejoined with Christ forever when he returns. The second point taught that Christ will return like what? A thief in the night. Do y'all remember that? Those who do not know and do not understand God's word will be caught unaware. You, brothers, are not. Unaware, right? That's from the teachings that we have in 1 Thessalonians. So as we're talking about these things that we know that the second coming will be unexpected by the world, but anticipated by his people. That's what we have here. And then third, Paul began his second letter, which is where we just started now, his second letter. by encouraging persecuted believers to trust Christ, to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and grant relief to you. When he comes again, and that is 2 Thessalonians 1, 6 and 7, and Paul is insisting here that, and how can we not agree, that when that takes place, it will be ringing of good news for God's people. fates that we talked about. Those who will be joined with Christ, either coming back with him when he returns, or in a blink of an eye, changed and joined together with him, and the fate of the others is the mailing of me. That's the statement that's made there in the commentary. So, praise the Lord that he has given us his word, and his word is true, and we should be abiding in it. So I've made a note as we move on to the, no, let me hold off on that. The fourth, Paul's fourth and final teaching of Christ's return came in response to a false report that the Lord somehow had already come. The resurrection even had already taken place. We know that that is absolutely false From the rest of the teaching remember when we look at these things we talk about these things We're going to look at all these things in context together throughout all of scripture We can't take one and pull it out and say okay. This is going to be our Our doctrine our belief we have to look at everything and it will line up truth affirms truth scripture interprets scripture So as we go forward here, we see that concerning the coming of our Lord Christ, that we ask you brothers, it says not to be quickly shaken or shaken in mind or alarmed, which is what we just read. And either by spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. So to me, as I looked at this, and I even pondered the end of the letter, this false teaching that we've been talking about so much throughout, well, throughout all of history and today, and it will continue, and it'll probably gonna be worse and worse as time goes on. So how important is it that we have good sound biblical teaching? It's very important. And I kind of saw a confirmation of this part here. It says shaking a minor arm either by spirit. When I thought about that, I was like, okay, there will be signs and wonders even from the increasing activity of Satan in the end. And we can't be fooled by those things. And also, not only that, the spirit of the spoken word, which is preached and taught, false teaching. And then it says there are letters seeming to be from us. And I thought about the end of chapter 3 even. And it brought to my mind how Paul had chose to end the letter in verse 17. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. And this is a distinguishing mark in every letter. This is the way I write. a letter that may not have been from him. So where was that coming from? The teaching. Well, we can see from just this brief, already this discussion, it was outside, but was some inside? Yes. So, it says the word has spread, perhaps by misinterpretation of Paul's first letter, or a message falsely ascribed to him, and he indicates that he does not know exactly how, the word had spread, saying that Christ had already returned. The apostle therefore wrote to assure his readers that they had not missed out on Christ's coming and consummation of their salvation. Now, when we study and we teach these doctrines, I kind of don't think that that would be a position of ours that we should readily have, that we've missed out. And there's a lot of reasons why. And there are obvious reasons. Well, number one, we're still here. And we're still together. And there's other reasons we'll be talking about as we go on. It says, from this statement, we learn that Thessalonians suffered not only from outward persecution, but also teaching from inside, false teaching from inside. And that these doctrines disturb God's people. Yes, they do. So, how much responsibility do we have to make sure that we are coming to good understanding of biblical teachings? It's so important. I'm gonna run out of time for this, I don't want to tell you right now. When Todd and I started ministry together, we had really only one goal and one thing that we agreed on, and that was that we would do our very best to preach and teach God's word rightly. That's our job, that's what we've been given to do. And today, I think our church is reaping many benefits and blessings from those things. And where did that come from? Right, okay. So these outside and inside influences there that we're talking about, and then needing to be corrected rightly, biblical teaching rightly, in order to bring believers peace. in their knowledge and understanding of Christ and his second coming and your salvation. Paul's concern on this occasion points out a problem common to end times teaching, namely that many are shaken in mind and alarmed. And I don't want y'all to be shaken in mind or alarmed. We shouldn't be when we've been taught rightly. We'll see that. Says this effect happens when end times schemes, end times schemes make Christians fear that they might somehow miss out when Jesus returns. Brothers and sisters, you, as a believer in Christ Jesus, will not miss out when he returns. You will not, you cannot. It is impossible. It is from God's own mind, his own heart, and his own decree. From eternity, you cannot miss out. Okay? I'm probably gonna say that again. So, as we continue to look at that, that Christians somehow fear that they might miss out on Jesus' return, having failed in some way to rightly anticipate the end. I would like our focus not to be so much on rightly anticipating the end, but rightly living now, today. We'll see some of that as we continue as well. So, a lot of this is so good. As we continue, one way to avoid being wrongly disturbed about Christ's return, Paul is here emphasizing, is to know the Bible's teaching about the events associated with the second coming. Which is why we're doing what we're doing. And that we don't have to worry about that. And that, I've made a note here that The way that we need to be included now, the way that we are being included now is day by day. The way you live, your Christian living, your Christian thinking, and all of those things are being done day by day, right? And that is what we need to be doing. Remember the teaching in 1 Thessalonians when we were all said and done, where did we end up? How to be prepared for the Lord's return was what? Remember the example of the ten virgins? Five, their lamps went out and five brought extra oil. What was the word we used? Prepare. Stay prepared. That was the way that we ended up the study in first Thessalonians. Remember, the way to be prepared for Christ's second coming is to stay prepared. And we do that day by day in Christ, day by day. And to me, as we talk about these things, it says that there's an imminence and a nearness of Christ's coming. And I do believe that this imminent sense here is to help us stay prepared. That sense of Christ's near return or imminent return should help us to stay prepared. And we can see that through many verses in the New Testament. So we saw that taught from 1 Thessalonians. And I think that this interpretation here would support the teaching of how that we need to be prepared. So as we continue the next section here, it goes into, that was the recap. This is the next section is the nearness of his coming. And it talks about, it says to begin, we should note the statements in the New Testament that indicate the nearness or eminence of Christ's return. In the Gospels, Jesus spoke in a way that some scholars mistakenly have believed committed him to return during the lifetime of his original letters. Lost teaching. Okay, so what verses are we talking about this verse when I read it last Sunday when I got home and I started looking at this it was like Wow, I've never I never thought about that verse in that way and I This is the verse truly I say to you there are some standing here and will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. Y'all remember that verse? And when I've looked at that verse in the past, I didn't ponder it rightly. And it's some indications there of the doctrines of Christ's second coming, obviously. And it also would be verses that are easily misinterpreted. So how do we interpret this rightly? Well, according to our commentary here, and I agree, that if careful reflection is done, that we will conclude that Jesus was referring to the events that began his spiritual kingdom, rather than those that will consummate it. So, what does that mean? That's a lot of words here. I'm talking kind of fast. We probably need to slow down. Let me tell you, I want to ponder this verse in front of you out loud. I want you to listen, and I want you to ponder it with me. Let's look at this verse again. What did I just say? That the commentary says that this was referring to the events that began his spiritual kingdom. What are you talking about, pastor? Well, listen here. When I went back and I read this verse again, and I started pondering it, what does it say? speaking, I say to you, there are some standing here, that was right then, within this hearing, standing here who will not taste death. Does that say they will never taste death? Does it? Does it? I will propose to you today that this verse, if you look at it rightly, really says the opposite. It says, here who will not taste death until So there is a tasting of death. Until what? Until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. So when you think about that and you look at it and you think about it rightly, that is a material thing. Because we're talking about two different things now. We're talking about a spiritual thing and really a material thing. And Christ's second coming, if you think it's only gonna be spiritual, well, you've got some bad thinking. What does the scripture say about when Christ will come? Everyone will know. There will be no doubt. The trumpet will sound. Some will be unaware, but believers will not be caught off guard. It will be obvious. It will be a physical, material return. And there's a lot of scriptures that support that. He will come in the way that he left. Where will he come? And things like that. So when we look at this verse again, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death. But then there's that word, until. So he's saying that you're gonna taste death. But he's also saying that they will see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. What is that? What is this kingdom of God with power? The things that I thought about, guess what? It's the same things that are said here in the commentary when I pondered it. It says the dramatic events of Christ's resurrection. Not only that, his ascension into heaven. And not only that, that ascension into heaven and the outpouring of the spirit at Pentecost. And not only that, it revealed the kingdom of God and its awesome power. just as Jesus had promised. Now, when we look at the verse again, with the context that we just described, can you see that? Can you see that when Christ said, I'll say to you, there are some standing here that will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God, after it's come with powers? And that we can see that those things that took place in his death, his resurrection, his exaltation to the right Where was he? Again, remind me. Right there in all authority. Heaven and earth. crops themselves. So when we think about the... I've got to slow down. The teachings that we're going to be looking at, the false teachings that we're going to be looking at, we need to know and understand that this could be interpreted wrong and that we could end up with a wrong eschatology in the end if we're not looking at this. And if we just take the one position there and stay with that, that we would end up with something that does not job with the rest of the scriptures, which is wrong, false teaching. So the things that we're talking about in this very one little verse, we have to get it right, we have to get our understanding of it right, and we have to know that Christ is not saying that those people right then would not taste death, that he would come, the resurrection would take place, and we would all be joined together right then. Is that what that verse says? Are y'all with me now? Before we move on, I need everybody Okay, so are we good Yes, ma'am just so you know, I'm in that camp I'm gonna be honest with y'all some of these things that we're talking about. I have left open in my mind and I hope that you don't understand that there are some things that God has not revealed to us and immediately at every point in time, but we couldn't handle it. Our minds would explode. He enlightens us as we go. And some of these verses that we're talking about, I have never studied out completely, and we need to leave our hearts and our minds open for what? That God would wash us with the water of His Word and our minds would be renewed so that we could rightly know and understand. And this is one of those. That verse, sister, is one of those that I'm like, well, I'll understand it when God's ready for me to understand it. and then when we look at other scriptures that align with that, then we can see what? We now see the truth. We also now see, did you use the word grace already? I could have swore I heard that. In the means of grace, which we are benefiting even at this very minute. Okay, we are not going to get finished with what I wanted to do today. Let's move on. Everybody good? Okay, the dramatic events of Christ's resurrection, his ascension into heaven, the outpouring of the spirit of Pentecost revealed the kingdom of God and his awesome power just as Jesus had promised. There's also other passages that call believers to anticipate Christ's return as something to happen soon. There's that sense again. There's that sense of nearness, his coming being near, that sense of eminence there that he comes. And it's for us to study. What's the census for? Because that's what the Bible teaches. And then when He comes, it won't matter. You don't have to worry about it. Because those who believe will come with Him if you've already died. And if you haven't already died, you'll be changed in the blink of an eye. We'll all be joined together with Christ. He's not going to leave out one. Not one. I made some more notes. Christ's second coming will be a physical experience. We will know. Not only that, as I ponder this and I think about it, we know that Christ has not already come. False teachings. How do we know that? Because every knee will bow. Every knee will bow. The Word says every knee. Has every knee bowed? Do you see every knee bowed? No. Has it come already? False teaching. Hasn't happened yet. Brothers and sisters, I want you to think about this. We will see him with our own eyes. Not only that, we will see his nail scarred hands and feet. Not only that, I've written that we will see the scars from the crown of thorns that was mashed on his head. They mashed that crown of thorns on his head and he bled and he died. Thank you Lord Jesus. The crown of thorns. His conquering of sin. Our sin. That's what that crown was. Think of the garden. Adam and Eve were kicked out. What was the first thing? By the sweat of your brow. Thorns and thistles. They took those thorns and they fashioned it into a crown and they mashed it on his head. That is the sin. That is his conquering sin for us. You see it? It's a fantastic picture of our atonement. He's the one that did that. He atoned for our sin. It's his justification. It's his righteousness. It's not ours. I have to go. Listen. Jesus said to the church of Philadelphia, I'm coming soon. Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown. Later, he added, and behold, I'm coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy in his book. This is Revelation. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me. Chapter 22, verses 7 and 12. Similarly, in the next to the last verse in the Bible, John writes this. Does anybody know what he wrote? He says, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Come soon. That's our heart. Please, Lord. When He comes, it doesn't matter. I'm telling you, if you're in Christ, it doesn't matter. You're either gonna be dead or you're gonna be alive. But you better be in Christ. Remember the two faiths? I gotta go. Since we're told by our Lord to expect Him soon, we can understand why Christians are anxious to be certain about their salvation, and that's a good thing. You need to be certain about your salvation. We have assurances in scripture. And it says about their salvation when Christ returns, Paul describes Christ coming at this time of our being gathered together with him. That's 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1. The gathering together with him when he returns. Remember, we said it over and over. The dead in Christ will rise first. The resurrection. And those who are alive will be joined together with him in the blink of an eye there. We taught it. Y'all remember? Okay. Listen to this. I struggled with this. What a tragedy it would be to live for Christ and even suffer for His gospel, but somehow to miss out on Christ's return and not to be gathered in Jesus' glory. Y'all want me to read that statement again? Let me read it again. What a tragedy. it would be to live for Christ and even suffer for his gospel, but somehow to miss out on Christ's return and not be gathered into his glory. It can't happen. It cannot happen. It won't happen. Don't worry about it. It's not gonna happen. You cannot be separated from the love of Christ, from the love of God. You cannot. So when he comes back, We will not be separated. The primary answer to this concern is the inseparable link between faith in Christ now. Faith in Christ now! What does now mean to you? Now means today. Today is the day of salvation. If there be one here who does not know Christ as Savior, brother, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of the Lord. Rejoice and be glad in it. Today is the day of salvation. Praise God through Christ Jesus and what he has done. The inseparable link between faith in Christ now and our future gathering to him on the day of the Lord. And Jesus made it clear that to believe on him in this life is to gain eternal life in the next. Does anyone doubt that? Believe in Jesus now? What are we to do now? We have the means of grace. We have the word preach. We have the right teaching. We have all the things that create and guide us into holy living. That's what we've taught for Ephesians, Galatians, all of those teachings that we have that prompted us into godliness and holiness. It all lines up then. It makes sense. Listen to this. Jesus made it clear that to believe on Him in this life is to gain eternal life in the next. And here, all that the Father gives me will come to me. All the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out, not one. Not one will be lost. I will never cast out, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. That's the teaching. It's God's Word. It's not only God's Word. It's God's truth. And guess what? Yes, it points us forward, but you know what else it does? You want to be there then that day? Then do this today. Now be joined together with Christ. Now live your life for Him. Don't wait. We're not guaranteed one day. Not one day. I'm not going to get to the next section. This is my common sense farm boy mind. but it's biblical. You wanna hear it? It's more likely and more probable that we will die before Christ's return. More likely, more probable. You wanna be ready? How do you get ready for your own death? The same way we talked about getting ready for Christ's return and say, come on, you live in Christ now. You don't have to worry about that then. You don't have to be anxious about it. Because when Christ comes, he will bring you with him. And if you're not with him then, then you will be joined together with him in the blink of an eye. We will all be together. That's the verse. We're not gonna get out of verse one. We're not. So, if that's the case, we're more likely to die first and be alive when Christ returns. Preparing to die is what I wrote here, is by living in Christ now. found today. We're here together today. We're being found, joined, united together through Christ's Word and His Holy Spirit, effectively for the salvation of sinners. Not only that, we benefit by the great means that He has left for us in these last days, the last days being from the time that He was exalted until He comes back. All of those days are the last days. So some of the teaching that we see in the last days, they get off on it because they single in or focus in on one thing. And we're going to see that as we continue our study. But it's going to get a lot more detailed, and I need a lot more time than we have today to talk about it. Because I think it would be terrible for us to rush through it and not get it. I'm not going to do that. Is it time? Okay, guess what? There's a whole other section here we didn't get done today. The next section, I'm just gonna give you a little taste, okay? It says anxiety over Christ's soon coming. Everything that I've just told you today, I hope it doesn't leave you with anxiety over Christ's coming, because it's meant to do just the opposite. because we don't have to worry about it. If we're living in Christ today, whether we're dead or whether we're alive when he comes, we will be together with him forever, or in eternity, according to the scripture. And all the different verses and everything, it all adds up when you put it all together. So, there's three common errors, and we're not gonna get into them today. We'll have to fly through that next week, if we're gonna get I'm going to stop right there, and I want you to remember as we as we dismiss today and hear these words from Christ himself. All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. This is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him should have eternal life. Gracious God in heaven, your word is true. Lord, we thank you for what you have given us in your word. I pray that you will continue to strengthen us and encourage us in your truth. Lord, that we reap such benefit from knowing and understanding your word and that we obviously, Lord, want to know rightly and that we would be able to teach and preach and divide the word rightly for your sheep, for your people, the people that you have brought and will bring to yourself all of those that are yours, and none will be cast out. Lord, we thank you. Be with us today as we go into our service and prepare our hearts even now for the word preached. Lord, in the means that we have, these wonderful means that you have left us in these last days, that we can partake together, not forsake the gathering of the body. Come together, worship, sing, pray, read your word, and hear Christ preached. Partake of the table, the glory that is yours before time began, we today benefit. Thank you.