The Influence of Error

Introduction

The believers in Thessalonica were fixated upon the Lord’s return and their fixation led to their being led away into an error that Paul now feels it necessary to correct.

Paul now implores them to give heed to his further instruction on the matter of Christ’s return and the events that are to take place during the last days.

There is always a danger in becoming so intent on discovering the details of the events of the last days that we listen to many voices and ultimately find ourselves in error.

We must be careful that we give our attention primarily to the Word of God and that we do not go beyond its reach in discovering the details of the last days events. We must remember that “the purpose of Bible prophecy is not for us to make a calendar, but to build our character.” W. Wiersbe

It seems that by some means there were a number of believers in the church at Thessalonica who had become convinced that the rapture had already taken place and that they were now living in the “day of the Lord” during the period of “the Great Tribulation”. (Vs. 2b)

Paul had previously written to the church concerning the rapture and is here reminding them what they had already been taught by him.

Paul urged the believers in Thessalonica not to be:

Shaken in Mind

The word shaken here means to be unsettled or distressed mentally. Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian believers to remain steadfast in their faith and not to doubt what they have been taught.

The lies that had taken hold among them had caused them to doubt the truth of Paul’s previous teaching with regard to the second coming of Christ. They had somehow become convinced that they had missed the rapture of the church and that they must now live through the tribulation period (“day of Christ”)

The Thessalonian church had already been dealing with persecution and opposition which likely contributed to their ready acceptance of the idea that they were in the midst of the tribulation period.

You and I may also experience things that seem contrary to what God has promised and we may also find ourselves questioning the truth of God’s Word.

Paul encouraged the believers at Thessalonica not to allow their present circumstances and the lies that were being circulated to cause them to question their faith.

II Peter 3:3-4- even in the days of Peter and Paul there were those that questioned the reality of Christ’s return.

As events unfold in our world we may search for answers and there will be many who claim understanding and knowledge of the situation but we must always come back to the Word of God and make sure that what we hear does not contradict the truth of the scriptures.

There are many whose faith has been shaken in times of crisis and hardship who have turned away from the truth. II Timothy 3:1-9- what the last days will be like.

We may endure times of tribulation but we will not be on the earth when the wrath of God is poured out during the tribulation period.

“Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light”

We must not allow ourselves to be drawn away from the truth of the Word of God because present circumstances look bleak.

Paul also urged them not to be:

Troubled

Paul is here encouraging them not to become emotionally disturbed or alarmed. Apparently they had become emotionally distressed and Paul is reminding them that they need not be fearful or alarmed because what he had instructed them before remained unchanged.

They were troubled by what they had heard from those professing to supply new revelation and it seems that there may have even been a letter forged to support this new ideology as though it were from Paul’s hand.

We must be careful not to allow our emotions to cause us to be fearful and alarmed by the circumstances around us.

Imagine the emotions that the Thessalonian believers must have been experiencing, as they believed that they were facing the time of terrible tribulation that they had heard about.

It is easy to look at the circumstances around us and to become troubled by what we see developing, but we must remember that God is yet in control and that He will keep the promises that He has made to you and I.

Matthew 24:6/Mark 13:7- be ye not troubled the end is not yet- John 14:6- the words of Christ- let not your heart be troubled.

There will be times of great turmoil and there will be those who make false claims about Christ and His coming but we need not be troubled by these things.

Instead we should continue to take comfort in the promises of the Word of God and rest in the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

We must not let troubling circumstances in our world cause us to become discouraged or disheartened but rather let them motivate us to do more for Christ while we have the opportunity.

If we look at the latter part of the letter we find Paul encouraging the believers to continue to remain steadfast in their faith and in their service to the Lord. II Thessalonians 3:13

Paul finally urged the Thessalonian believers not to be:

Deceived

There are so many who make such a wide variety of claims about what we are seeing in the world today that it can be easy for us to be deceived into believing a lie.

There are those who take a look at current events and attempt to make forced connections with biblical prophecy and there are many professing Christians who fall for these lies.

The reality is that it is a difficult and unfruitful task to connect specific events in our world to specific prophecies in scripture. We can certainly look at our world and see that things are developing that would lead us to believe that we are nearing Christ’s return but when we state with certainty that “this or that event” is the fulfilment of “this or that prophecy” we often make a leap that is not reasonable.

This is exactly the problem that happened with the Thessalonian believers. They took the tribulation that they were currently experiencing and connected it to the tribulation that they had heard about from the apostle Paul.

We must be careful to draw our information from the Word of God and not form some man (or woman) who claims to have divine revelation from God.

If something is not definitively stated in the scriptures we must be careful drawing conclusions about it. We cannot speculate about current or historical events. There are details of the end times that are given to us in great detail in scripture, while others remain somewhat of a mystery and we must not draw conclusions beyond what the scriptures say or allow others to deceive us into drawing these conclusions.

It is good to be informed regarding end times prophecy but it is dangerous to become fixated on the details of the events of the last days to the point of losing sight of the responsibility we have to serve God in the present!

Conclusion-

Paul wanted to comfort and instruct the believers at Thessalonica, and it was his desire to assure them of the truth that they had previously received and to ease their fears regarding Christ’s return.

He wanted them to know what to expect in the future and he wanted them to be informed concerning the last days while also continuing to remains steadfast in their faith and in their service to the Lord in the present.

May I encourage you tonight not to be shaken, troubled, or deceived by the events that are unfolding around us. Instead of questioning our faith or becoming fearful let us seek to redeem the time that God has given us and be busy in service to the Lord so that we may accomplish what we can while we can.

Jesus Christ is returning and it may well be soon but we cannot possibly know definitively the timing of His return so all that we can do is live today as though Jesus were coming tomorrow so that we do not have regrets about things that we left undone.