1. The Gospels
Acts of the Apostles
Paul’s Letters
Other Letters
Revelation
A New Testament (NT) Journey
Lesson 15: II Thessalonians – Confident Hope
2. Romans – Life Transformation Journey
1 Corinthians - Heaven’s Gold
2 Corinthians – Jars of Clay
Galatians – No longer I
Ephesians - Pushing Limits
Philippians - The Mind of Christ
Colossians – Complete Maturity in Christ
1 Thessalonians – Cascading Hope
2 Thessalonians – Confident Hope
1 Timothy - Fighting Fit
2 Timothy – Fearless Faithfulness
Titus – Double Grip
Philemon – The Avatar
3. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our
Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us
eternal encouragement and good hope,
comfort and strengthen your hearts in every
good work and word. 2 Thess 2:16,17
5. Background
Signs of End Times
The Wicked are Tricked
You Reject God Deludes
You Obey God Delivers
More Grace more Glory
Busy buddies or Busy
Bodies
Discussion – Confident
Hope
6. Paul wrote this letter to:
Counter a false letter by false messengers
that the second coming had already occurred.
Highlight indicators of the second coming.
Encourage and exhort them.
Ch 2:1,2
7. Christ’s coming will be accompanied with:
Those alive in Christ gathered to him
Antichrist opposes and exalts himself over
everything called God or worshiped
Sets himself up in God’s temple
Proclaims to be God.
Ch.2:2-4
8. Antichrist will:
Be overthrown with Christ’s breath
Be destroyed by the splendor of His coming
Function in the same way Satan works
Use signs and wonders that serve the lie
Use all deceptive ways of wickedness.
Ch.2:8-10
9. In addition to Satan’s
lie there is God’s
delusion
They refused to love
the truth and so be
saved.11 For this
reason God sends
them a powerful
delusion so that they
will believe the lie. Ch
2
10. The power of the
antichrist
7 For the secret power
of lawlessness is
already at work; but
the one who now
holds it back will
continue to do so till
he is taken out of the
way. Ch 2
11. Satan worship outside
churches or enemies
within demonstrate
Self exaltation
Diversion
Meaningless trivia
Deception
Wickedness
12. Result of denying God’s truth is receiving a
deceptive delusion from God (Ch 2:10-12).
Path to
condemnation
Reject
God’s
truth
Believe
Satan’s
lie
Receive
God’s
delusion
13. Why is God allowing
deception in the
midst of His elect?
What are the various
delusions that even
we, as believers can
get carried away
with?
14. 11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for
you, that our God may make you worthy of
his calling, and that by his power he may
bring to fruition your every desire for
goodness and your every deed prompted by
faith. 12 We pray this 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. Ch 1
15. Result of following God’s truth by faith is being
chosen, empowered to be productive and given
grace to glorify Christ (ch 1:11,12)
Path to
Glorification
Obey
by faith
God
chooses
to be
worthy
God
empowers
to be
productive
God gives
grace to
glorify Christ
16. Our glorification is only
“according to His grace”
ch 1:12.
This means different
people get different
levels of grace.
How can we get more
grace to attain more
glory? Ch 3:13
17. Grace criteria:
Stand firm
Hold fast to the teachings
Never tire of doing good
(Ch 3:13)
Sin
Grace
18. Busybodies may crowd us
out
Reach out as God’s
ambassadors
11 We hear that some among you are idle
and disruptive. They are not busy; they
are busybodies. Ch 3
19. Paul expresses confident
hope in their:
Eternal future (ch 2)
Current and continued
obedience. (ch 3)
4 We have confidence
in the Lord that you
are doing and will
continue to do the
things we command. Ch
3
20. Signs of End Times
The Wicked are
Tricked
You Reject God
Deludes
You Obey God Delivers
More Grace more Glory
Busy buddies or Busy
Bodies
21. Who are the “wicked” Paul refers to? (2:12)
What “busybodies” have you faced
disrupting your work? What does Paul advice
(3:12,13)? How do you handle them?
What are your current challenges in
leveraging more of God’s grace? What steps
do you need to take to overcome them?
Editor's Notes
The Epistles of the Bible are all found in the New Testament. They include 21 of the New Testament’s 27 books, extending from Romans to Jude. Thirteen of these Epistles were written by the apostle Paul: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Within this group of Pauline Epistles is a subgroup labeled the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) so-called because they were written during Paul’s two-year house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30–31). The Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) were written to church leaders and include many teachings regarding practices within the early church.Following these writings are eight General Epistles (sometimes called Catholic Epistles, since they were written to a “universal” audience) that include Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude. The author of Hebrews is unknown (though many have historically attributed it to Paul or one of Paul’s associates). James was one of the earliest New Testament writings and was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7). The apostle Peter wrote 1 and 2 Peter. The apostle John (the same author of the Gospel of John and Revelation) wrote 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. The short Epistle of Jude was written by Jude, another half-brother of Jesus (Jude 1:1).All of the known authors of the Epistles are either an apostle (Paul, Peter, John) or a family member of Jesus (James, Jude). Each of these individuals had a unique calling from the Lord Jesus that included writing letters to others. These letters, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are preserved as part of the New Testament’s writings today.Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-an-epistle.html#ixzz3eBIfeAM6
Paul wrote this letter in the wake of a false letter sent by false messengers with a false message that the second coming had already occurred.
Paul highlights clear aspects and indicators of the second coming of Christ.
He also continues to encourage and exhort them in the midst of their afflictions and confusions.
This passage refers to the Antichrist and the great tribulation. While many prototypes have come and the spirit of rebellion is at work, the real AntiChrist will emerge demonstrating all the signs above and just before Christ’s second coming. 1 thessalonians talks about the dead rising first and then we who are alive being caught up with him…2 Thess talks about Christ’s coming along with rapture (being gathered to him) – indicating they happen together or are fairly close to each other
This passage refers to the Antichrist and the great tribulation. While many prototypes have come and the spirit of rebellion is at work, the real AntiChrist will emerge demonstrating all the signs above and just before Christ’s second coming. 1 thessalonians talks about the dead rising first and then we who are alive being caught up with him…2 Thess talks about Christ’s coming along with rapture (being gathered to him) – indicating they happen together or are fairly close to each other
(i.e. Satan’s instrument) is demonstrated even today.
Remember “wicked” are the unsaved. They may be your best buddies, may be better behaved than Christians, may be smart, responsible, polite, …but they are “wicked” in God’s sight till they accept Christ. While open Satan worship is on the increase, the secret power of lawlessness is running in our Churches today
People exalting themselves
Diverting others from God to themselves/ meaningless trivia
Deceiving through signs and wonders
Inducing wickedness
Money, power, status, sex
Romans 6-8…Grace is freedom from sin, not license to sin
15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. Ch 2
13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” Ch 3:13
Competition and busybodies may crowd us out in the world or even church
But there are always ways we can reach out as God’s ambassadors to a hurting world. That is our reason for existence
As Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to have confident hope in their eternal future, he expresses confident hope in their current and continued obedience.
There are three types of people similar to Corinthians – the wicked, the busybodies and the busy buddies. Latter 2 are believers