2 Thessalonians 2:1-5

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, 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. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

Many people are preoccupied with the identity of the Antichrist or the exact date of Jesus’ return. We’re not the first generation to ask questions. We’re not the first to have our world shaken so that we are alarmed about the condition of the world.

In the passage above you’ll notice that evidently the church at Thessalonica had received word that Christ had already returned. Today, we would read about it on the internet or watch a report on cable tv or social media, right?

What was Paul’s response? In verse three he tells them to not be deceived and then in verse five he asks, ” Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”

In Thessalonica there were those who claimed to speak by the “spirit of the Lord” while others made a “rational case” with a spoken word twisting the truth Paul had spoken just slightly, and others who may have produced a document they claimed to be an authentic letter from one of the apostles.

Are things really that different today? Many people feel they need to make a final word or a new word to add to what has already been written. What makes us susceptible to such a message?

For many of us our lack of knowledge and understanding is self-imposed. Look back at some of Paul’s final warnings in his first letter of Thessalonians;

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good”(1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).

When we have questions, let’s go to the source and reject any “truth” that fails to pass the test.