In 2Thessalonians, the apostle Paul addresses some of the questions preceding the events of the second coming of Jesus, the other events that must occur before Jesus' return; the one holding the man of lawlessness is taking out of the way (the rapture of the Church), the rise of the man of lawlessness (the antichrist), his display of miraculous powers, signs and wonders, and finally his eventual fall. Paul's goal was to encourage the believers to hold fast to their faith and not be distracted by whether the event preceding Jesus' second coming have begun or not. "With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter." 2Thess 2:15. Speaking of this period, Christ said; "for.false messiah and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones." Matthew 24:24. Jesus was actually specifically referring to the man of lawlessness, the antichrist. Our approach to all of these must be to continue walking in faith towards God living lives worthy of his call. I pray that the Lord will give each one of us the power to live for him and to accomplish every good thing our faith prompts us to do (2Thess 1:11).

"For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armour of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation." 1Thess 5:5-8. I wish I could say this morning that everyone reading this will not be caught unaware by the day of the Lord's coming. The more likely outcome is that some will. If we follow Jesus' measurement and mark, it is likely 50% will. My charge this morning is that we are children of the light, we must consciously walk in and live in the light. We must stay alert and clearheaded. Remembering to consciously put on our armour everyday; the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, sandals of preaching the gospel, shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. This is not the time to play around with your salvation, the day of the Lord's coming will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night. I pray we will all make it in Jesus name. Let pray Paul's final prayer here for ourselves; "now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again." 1Thess 5:23. Be prepared!

"We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever." 1Thess 4:15-17. Soon and very soon the first trumpet will sound and the rapture will occur, those who are worthy will go to be with the Lord. Seven years after that remarkable event, the scenario described in the verses above will take place; second coming of Jesus. Both events will be unmistakable, for the rapture, many believers will be caught unaware like the five foolish virgins, will you? For Jesus' second coming, it will be a day of terror, joy and judgement. For the believers who will witness it, what joy to have finally made it. For the rest of the world sadly, it will be a day of judgment. I pray that you will not be found wanting in Jesus name.

In the face of strong and sever opposition, Paul, Silas and Timothy continued to preach the gospel. In Thessalonica, you will find the account of this period in the book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 17, a riot ensued to the point they had to leave for Berea. And even there, the persecution continued. They had a choice, they could compromise a bit or add some flattery or trickery into their preaching to assuage the Jews that were persecuting them but the insisted. Paul said; "For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you assurance..." 1Thess 1:5. "So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News." The lesson here is; what would you do in the face of opposition and persecution, preach Jesus or compromise?

"And say to Archippus, "Be sure to carry out the ministry the LORD gave you."" Colossians 4:17. Paul did not mention why Archippus needed to be encouraged to fulfill his ministry and calling. However, we know from this verse and from Paul's letter to his friend Philemon that Archippus was a fellow minister and soldier of God. My guess, he had become discouraged and was no longer excited at doing the work of God. At worst, he had slipped or made a mistake, just like John Mark whom Paul praised in this chapter had once done, and had withdrawn from serving. Paul says to encourage him. The lesson here is two-fold; to the person who needs encouraging and to those of us who need to do the encouraging. We can become discouraged and that's fine, for whatever reason. But we can't afford to be down too long or to completely give up on our callings. Never forget, just as Paul alludes to here, it was God who gave you this calling, not all those criticising and trying to pull you down. It is to him you would ultimately have to give account. To those of us who need to do the encouraging, Paul had warned us in Galatians 6:1 to do it in gentleness and humility remembering that we are only standing by God's grace ourselves. Be sure to fulfil the ministry the LORD gave you.

How should a Christian live and behave towards others? While we do not live every single moment trying to follow some set of rules like they did in the old testament, we live each moment with the understanding that our lives are now hidden in Christ. With this understanding intact, Paul says; "since you have been raised to a new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of the earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3. This world is not our home, we are simply passing through. We are ambassadors of the kingdom of God. Understanding that just totally shapes the way we live. Christ puts it this way; "wherever your treasure is, there the desire of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:21.

What is the solution for dealing with and checkmating the sinful nature; rules, self denial, severe bodily discipline, etc? As interesting as those methods may be and they sound promising, mankind has found out after thousands of years experimenting that they do not work. Will power has never been able to curb the sinful, neither does good intentions and rules. Paul presents the solution, Christ sovereignty and our total dependent and trust in him. Paul shares the following with us in chapter two; "for in Christ lives all the fullness of God in human body." Colossians 2:9. Simply put, Christ was and is 100% God. Jesus wasn't joking when he said; "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!" John 8:58. Next; "when you came to Christ, you were "circumcised, " but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision - the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead" Colossians 2:11-12. That is simply amazing, where do I start from? When we become born again, our sinful nature, the old man, is cut-off, we were circumcised and the flesh is separated from us. But that is not the only thing, this salvation experience is depicted during our baptism to show our death, burial and resurrection to new life in Christ. Our old self died in Christ, a new person emerges. The new me has been separated from the sinful nature and so does not live in sin. Halleluyah! That is the solution Christ gives us for handling the flesh, we "have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world." Colossians 2:20. Thank you Jesus.

There is a single theme that rings throughout the book of Colossians, it is the sovereignty and supremacy of Christ. As we read this book in the next four days, I pray you will know Christ better and better everyday. And that will help you understand God better and better. Let's see a few thoughts together on the sovereignty Paul shares in chapter one. Why is this important? Well, as someone once shared with me, "as the head, so goes the body", Christ is the head, we are his body, we can only fully understand God and his plans and purposes for us by looking to and understanding our head, Christ. Paul says; "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him." Colossians 1:15-16. These two verses alone are enough to write all the books to fill a library. Let's just point out a few. "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God" - Wow! Until Christ, no one had seen God before. No one could see God and live. No one even truly understood God. It was all vagueness and shadows when it came to the subject of God. It is like trying to know what someone is like by looking at their shadow, impossible! Christ is the answer! In Christ, we can know what God is like. Jesus actually told Philip and the other disciples; "have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" John 14:9. We also see in that verse 15 that; "he (Christ) is supreme over all creation", whether on earth or in heaven, seen and unseen, powers, thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities, demonic or angelic, Christ is supreme over them all. So now you understand what happens when we invoke and pray in the name of Jesus! Now you understand why demons have no choice than to bow when we call on the name of Jesus. It also says in that same verse; "everything was created through him and for him." That means without Christ everything loses their relevance. He is the one who holds everything in place. No you understand who that songs says; "at the centre of it all, it's you that I see, it's you that I see." Let's take one more; "for God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross." That has to be the sweetest news mankind ever heard; we have been reconciled to God, we are no longer enemies or runaway children, just because of the cross, Halleluyah!

Paul's final words of encouragement to the Philippians are worth simply quoting out and commenting on. He encouraged them to; "always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice." Philippians 4:4. Joy is contagious. Joy is also a choice, it is not the product of anything that has happened physically outside us. Joy comes from the inside, from the one who is in us. Joy shapes your attitude. Joy increases our strength and help us know tomorrow will be alright. Halleluyah! Be full of Joy today. Another advise; "don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6. This advise is so profound. I realise that the last thing we want to do when things are not working is to pray and then thank God, for what is not working? We would rather try; worry, anxiety, and complaining about the situation than to pray. When we pray, we are able to talk to our Father about the happenings in and around us. We are then enable to receive his own perspective to the issue. Whenever I practise this scripture, I find I just tend to see the good or positive in the situation. So instead of worrying, pray about everything. Let's take one more; "and now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippuans 4:8. This one is huge. You will have heard the saying that; "you are the product of your most dominant thoughts." Paul is telling us here that you have a choice what you think. You also have the responsibility to what you choose to think about. Use this simple stress test in this verse to purge yourself of the negative thoughts that are constantly pulling you in the wrong direction.

Back in my school days, I was an all-round athlete representing my house both in the short and mid-distance races; 100m, 200m, 400m, 4×100m and 4x400m. There were many races where some athletes made it to the end, even in first place but were then disqualified. It mainly happened to those who didn't stay in lane. In one race, the team who made it to the end first had dropped their baton but continued running thinking the fact they touched hands at the exchange was good enough, they were disqualified. Do you know that we are all in a race and that like any other race, we must run the correct way so as to obtain the prize? In this spiritual race, we can choose to either run using human effort and everything that naturally enables or qualifies us, or we can rely solely in our faith walk with Christ Jesus. Paul says; "for we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort." Philippians 3:3. Human effort is unreliable. My charge to you this morning is, run your race in a way that you will obtain the prize when you finish. "No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Philippians 3:13-14.