Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica could so easily have been addressed to us. There was an overwhelming anxiety within their church as they looked around them. After all, maybe it was the end times. There certainly were false doctrines, false teachers, and tribulations. They had taken the teaching of all this fully to heart. Some had quit their jobs and relied on everyone else to provide for them. After all if the world ends tomorrow, why work? Here as in his previous letter, Paul once more presents the case for how to remain free of Anxiety Even during the End times by Loving Truth. Perhaps another way of saying, keep our eyes focused on Jesus and keep on laboring until He calls us home. Until the trumpet sounds, we are to be the light shining into an ever-darkening world.
It is more than just believing, seeking, and knowing truth. Although that is part of it. But it is remembering in a world of constant word bombardment, Jesus is the truth. Therefore, if we truly love Jesus, then we love truth. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern truth, if only we ask Him with a sincere heart. As the world heads forward in such turmoil and distress, we must hold fast to the fact that God is on His throne and will accomplish all that He has planned.
Isaiah 46: 9-11 (AMP)
Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;
For I am God, and there is no one else;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10
Declaring the end and the result from the beginning,
And from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose,’
11 ……
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, be assured I will do it.
Remain Free of Anxiety
2 Thessalonians 2 (ESV) Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,[a] 2 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
Do not get shook up either by the spirit of fear surrounding us or by a spoken word. Words are thrown at us every of war, pestilence, famine, disasters, gas prices and shortages. All of these are distractions to keep us from being focused on Jesus and our mission here. Together we will be gathered with Him! The rapture must come before the Day of the Lord.
Do Not be Deceived
2 Thessalonians 2 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness[b] is revealed, the son of destruction,[c] 4 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.
The Day of the Lord cannot come until after the Anti-Christ is revealed and he desecrates the temple. Furthermore, we will not be here for that. Oh yes we can see the signs of wars, pestilence, famine, financial destruction, the moving toward a new world order, deceit, lies, a drawing away from God. We see all this spinning faster and faster; but, all that which will occur during the 7 years of tribulation will be even worse. But we won’t be here. In fact that is how such evil will grow.
Free of Anxiety During the End Times
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
Who is he who restrains the evil at present? The Holy Spirit. Who indwells us? The Holy Spirit. So, what happens when we are raptured? The restrainer leaves with us. Oh, of certain God is still in control; but the restrainer is gone and then the “lawless one comes to power.” If we think things are evil now, imagine what it will be when we the body of Christ are gone.
Those who refused To Love the Truth
8 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
They sealed their own fate. Look at that closely, they refused to love the truth. Who is the truth? Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. There are no excuses.
Remaining in Their Delusion
11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
It is just as written in Romans 1:
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God
gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
So How are we to Remain free of Anxiety during the end times?
- Love the Truth, which means to Love Jesus Christ above all else
- Study the word, so that you know what is coming and can see each day that He is closer. All the evil and disasters that we see are only proof of that truth.
- Pray
- As the end is nearing, we must be more diligently at work for the kingdom. All this other stuff is trivial when it comes to eternity.
- Keep looking up, our salvation draws nigh.
- Do not get sidelined by the distractors. (Politics, money, governments, wars, news, etc)
- Trust God. He has always completed all that He planned throughout history and He is not going to this time either.
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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DISCLOSURES
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2021
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Credits
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Amplified Bible (AMP)
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