Coro Baptist Church

Last study we considered the glory of Christ's Incarnation and Ministry which led to the Cross, which is central in John's Gospel. This study focuses on His Resurrection, Ascension and Session. We hope to see each of these as indispensable, powerful, and gloriously effective in fulfilling everything He planned since before time. Such includes the glorious defeat of death and the one with the power of death, and the glorious pouring out of the Spirit of Father and Son indwelling His global Church. Our eternal Word continues to speak gloriously through His Church. This same Son of Man in Heaven majestically reigns as King and sympathetically intercedes for us as our eternal High Priest. From heaven He continues to display the moral glory of God throughout the whole world to bring many sons to glory

We have come to the end of 2 Thessalonians. Throughout the letter, the church has been taught, corrected, encouraged and instructed in everything Paul believes they need for the Christian life. Yet, despite all this preparation, what lies ahead remains unknown. So Paul closes with a prayer that the Lord would give them a gift that would sustain them all the days of their lives. What is that gift? It is the gift of peace and the presence of the Lord. As we look to the future, with all its trials and blessings, what will hold us steady? What will keep us faithful to what we have been taught and have come to believe through seasons of anxiety, fear, guilt, loneliness, grief and suffering? It is the peace we have received from the Lord of Peace, Jesus Christ, and the abiding presence of God with us that will keep us. The peace that comes from Him, is found in Him and leads us to Him will guard our hearts and minds in every season, enabling us to stand firm until the day we see Him face to face.

In John's Gospel we see the glory of Christ in events and references that point to and lead to the Cross ... the focus and greatest manifestation of glory in His ministry. Whilst the crosses we put on and in our church buildings are symbols of cruel punishment and suffering, they paradoxically remind us of the time that God's greatest glory to Mankind is revealed and effected. How can that be so? We may fathom in-part the glories of incarnation, transfiguration, resurrection, ascension and subsequent Christ's rule and high priestly role. In this session we hope to catch glimpses of the unfathomably great glory of the Godhead that glows brightly from the Cross.

Anyone who has been involved with schooling over the past few decades will have heard the 'No hat, no play' rule designed to protect the children from sunburn and skin cancer. In our passage this week Paul gives a similar command in order to protect the church from an ongoing issue of idleness: If anyone is not willing to work, let them not eat. More than sheer laziness, idleness can quickly develop into more sinister problems and Paul gives some strong and clear instruction on how the church is to address the matter. As we consider these things in our own homes and church family please pray that God might "fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power" among us.

When we understand the magnitude of creation, how is it that God could care for us, let alone crown mankind with glory and honour? Or, is it only Jesus Christ who is crowned, for example in Hebrews 2? Or is it both, and what then would this mean? Psalm 8 also tells us that our Lord's enemies are defeated out of the mouths of babes and infants, and rules gloriously out of seemingly weak Man. Whilst we can't fathom this, it informs how we should expect to behold the glory of Jesus Christ's incarnation, miracles and the Cross, as well as His ascension and heavenly reign and rule. It also has great implications for how we live gloriously in His kingdom.

"…not all have faith… but the Lord is faithful." In the truth of this statement we discover our total dependence upon God. And, at the same time we find we can be absolutely confident in him. This confidence does not lead us to complacency, but to whole-hearted trust and prayer. Prayer, which is not in any way a sign of weakness but an act of faith in the One who is forever faithful. In the hearing of this word, may he 'direct our hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ,' so that we might have the same confidence as Paul in the Lord who is faithful.

What do we mean or understand when we sing songs or speak about God's glory? There are times that we are captivated and changed by things or people with success, fame, honour, courage or beauty - things or people that we may take to be glorious. God is glorious and jealous that we see and are captivated by His glory alone, and that we live gloriously in our glorious and glorified Jesus Christ. Such a beholding of His glory is the ongoing goal of these five studies, even if dimly as in a glass, and by faith. In study one we commence by observing some reasons why this is so important and a few Old Testament examples where God makes His glory known.

In last Sunday's passage we heard Paul calm the shaken minds of the Thessalonians concerning the Day of the Lord. They had heard, falsely, that Jesus had already come and gone, and they had missed him. Paul reminded them of his teaching concerning the future, of the events that have yet to take place before Jesus comes again– a rebellion, the rise of the lawless man empowered by Satan, and the ultimate victory of Christ, achieved with the breath of his mouth. Believing Paul's teaching, the Thessalonians would have no reason to fear missing Christ's return and would find hope in His ultimate victory. But… all this talk of the future, of the time between now and eternity, of false signs and wonders, of being given over to deception and condemnation, well, it raises some questions. How in the world is a believer to stand firm through all of that? What chance do we have of holding fast to the gospel when the whole world is convinced otherwise? This week, Paul gives us all we need to know and do to have stability in our Christian walk during our days upon this earth, come what may!

We come this week to what has been described as "the most obscure and difficult in the whole of the Pauline writings" (Leon Morris 1984). However, despite the many gaps and guesses in the thinking around this passage in 2 Thessalonians 2, it is in fact meant to be a word of great encouragement and hope to the church in Thessalonica, and therefore, to us. As daunting as the prospect of the revealing of 'the man of lawlessness' may be, he is brought to nothing by the appearing of Christ. Paul writes this passage, not to shake the church up but to settle it down; not to spook them into a panic but to comfort and stir their hearts in patient faith, steadfast hope and enduring love.

What would you look for in your own life to find evidence of God's righteous judgment? Or to give you confidence that you might be considered worthy of his kingdom? Does the thought of God's righteous judgment evoke fear in you, or give you relief? Take a moment to consider how these questions. And then read the opening chapter of 2 Thessalonians before Sunday (Yes, I do really mean it! – open up your bible and read Chapter 1 before Sunday), and consider how Paul would answer those questions. And then pray for our church family, as Paul does, 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."