Gary Gleans

As for you, brothers,   do not grow weary in doing good.    If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and   have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.    Do not regard him as an enemy, but   warn him as a brother.   Sin can be a subtle enemy in the life of a believer, or it can be an overt rebellion.  We must constantly be on the alert to make sure our hearts are not being drawn away from the love of the Lord.  We must also be faithful to call other believers into a life of obedience.  We are members of the same body and should be faithful to hold one another to the high standard of Scripture.   PERSERVERE IN OBEDIENCE: Working with people is not an easy thing, especially those who are not walking in obedience.  Most people do not like to confront others who are being idle or disobedient.  Typically, these confrontations do not go as we hope. ...

Now we command you, brothers,   in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,   that you keep away from any   brother   who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.    For you yourselves know   how you ought to imitate us, because   we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but   with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.    It was   not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves   an example to imitate.    For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:   If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.    For we hear that some among you   walk in idleness, not busy at work, but   busybodies.  Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own ...

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that   the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,   and   that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For   not all have faith.  But   the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and   guard you against   the evil one.  And   we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.  May the Lord   direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.   There is much to be learned from the prayer requests and the prayers recorded in Scripture.  Since they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they give us a vision into the desires of God for our lives and a model for our prayers.  Paul starts this section requesting prayer from the church and finishes it by praying for the church.  Clearly those things overlap and demonstrate that the things we need p...

But   we ought always to give thanks to God for you,   brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you   as the firstfruits to be saved,   through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.    To this he called you through   our gospel,   so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.    So then, brothers,   stand firm and hold to   the traditions that you were taught by us, either   by our spoken word or by   our letter.    Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father,   who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good   hope through grace,   comfort your hearts and   establish them in every good work and word. In light of the second coming of Christ, there are certain things that should be true about us.  All Christians do not agree on when the rapture of the church will occur in relation to the Tribulation and reign of Antichrist....

And then   the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus   will kill with   the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by   the appearance of his coming.    The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan   with all power and false signs and wonders,   and with all wicked deception for   those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.    Therefore   God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe   what is false,   in order that all may be condemned   who did not believe the truth but   had pleasure in unrighteousness.   Paul continues his teaching about the end times by teaching more about the “lawless one”, or Antichrist.  He has established that the day of the Lord, which I believe to be the seven-year Tribulation, will come after the Antichrist has been revealed.  Even though the “mystery” or philosophy of Antichrist...

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?    And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.    For   the mystery of lawlessness   is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he i...

To this end we   always pray for you, that our God may   make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every   work of faith by his power,   so that the name of our Lord Jesus   may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.   Paul’s prayers are instructive.  They reveal God’s will and purposes for our lives.  Paul prays according to the will of God because these prayers are inspired by the Holy Spirit.  This provides us with a unique insight as to what God wants to do in our lives as believers as well as His motives for wanting to accomplish these things.   WHAT GOD DOES: God is at work in our lives to accomplish His will in and through us.  Paul’s prayer reveals three aspects of God’s will in our lives: worthiness, goodness, and faithfulness.  We need to understand that none of us could ever be worthy of God’s calling....

This is   evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be   considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it   just   to repay with affliction those who afflict you,   and to grant   relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when   the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven   with his mighty angels   in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those   who do not know God and on those who   do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.    They will suffer the punishment of   eternal destruction,   away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,   when he comes on   that day   to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our   testimony to you   was believed.   We often wonder why the wicked seem to prosper while the godly seem to suffer.  There may...

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:     Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.     We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.     Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. The Lord is at work in the lives of His children.  It is important that we understand this and respond correctly to His work in and through our lives.  The reality is that the way He works is often very different from how we might expect or even prefer that He work.  Many times, He conforms us to the image of Christ through suffering and persecution.  Failure to understand and appreciate this can leave us dis...