The Church That Thought They Had Missed the Lord’s Return sermon is about the church of Thessalonica that remained faithful even after thinking they missed the Lord’s return.

Key verses
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

I ask you to turn with me to 2 Thessalonians, we’re going to be looking at chapter one but to set the stage, I want you to look at chapter two, verses one and two. We’ll read that and pray and then we’ll come back and look at chapter one. Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, says:

2 Thessalonians 2:1: “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,”

2 Thessalonians 2:2: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”

I want you to note that phrase, “nor by letter as from us.” We’re going to take a look tonight at the church that thought they had missed the Lord’s return.

Words of Comfort

I want to take you back just a moment to 1 Thessalonians in a passage we quote here so often, chapter 4, beginning at verse 13, Paul writing:

1 Thessalonians 4:13: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren” literally means without knowledge, “concerning them which are asleep” is a euphemism for death.

1 Thessalonians 4:14: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.”

“Prevent” means precede.

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:18: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Now, go back to 2 Thessalonians. That first letter Paul had written to the church of Thessalonica and the passage we just read, he gave for instruction because they were concerned about loved ones in the church who had passed away and would they see them again and how. Paul gave them that passage of comfort, talking about how the Lord Jesus is going to return and how He is going to resurrect the dead, and how He would call the living to meet them in the air. Those who had gone ahead, spirit and body, reunited in a resurrection body. And then return to Heaven with the Lord. It says, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

If you read the last part of 1 Corinthians 15, you’ll find he is talking about the same subject, addressing a different church, a different group of people but the same subject in the last few verses of 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus himself said, “I will come again” in John 14:3. That is a promise, “I will come again.” He talks in chapters 14, 15, and 16; He talks about His return. And then in other passages, such as in Matthew 24 and 25. Throughout the New Testament, you find the Lord’s return.

It is also mentioned, and that may surprise some of you, in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament passages, the one referred to most often is Daniel seven and nine. But you’ll find other places in the Old Testament where the second coming of the Lord is mentioned, usually after the first coming of the Messiah.

But 2 Thessalonians obviously follows 1 Thessalonians. It is, again, a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church of Thessalonica. Sylvanus and Timothy were with Paul in this first case. But the subject matter of the second letter is different than the first letter.

Another Letter

Scofield and other commentators agree that between the writing of the first letter to the church of the Thessalonians and the second letter, another letter had been sent. Why don’t we have that letter? Because it wasn’t inspired. It wasn’t from the Word of God. This other letter that had been sent, it appears, probably had Paul’s name forged upon it. It was telling the church that, in essence, the Lord had already come. He called His saints, and they, in Thessalonica, had missed it, and they were now in the Tribulation period. And they believed it. Why? It was a letter from Paul.

It made this statement, and they believed it. Where do we get that? We started with chapter two, verses one and two. Notice again:

2 Thessalonians 2:2: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”

Not a letter from us but a “letter as from us” is at hand. So, Paul is writing to comfort them and instruct them that no, you didn’t miss it. You aren’t in the day of Tribulation. The church was suffering persecution, and that added fuel that they were in the Tribulation.

I’ve had people ask me, many people over the last couple of years, ever since this global pandemic started, “Are we in the Tribulation time?” I had somebody ask me that question this week. Someone came to me and asked if we are in the Tribulation period. I can assure you, no, we are not. Like the person I told this week, it’s going to be much worse than anything we are seeing right now. Far worse. So, we are not there.

We need to learn from this that trouble has always been part of the experience of God’s people. We need to learn that when trouble comes, it’s not always for the reasons we might think. By that, I mean that when trouble comes in your life, it isn’t always that God is mad at you. It isn’t always that He is punishing you for something; that is not always the case. Well, I say not always, is that always the case? Yes, sometimes problems come upon us as a chastening from the Lord. I am not going to delve deeply into that tonight, but if you want to know more about it, you might want to jot these references down:

1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Hebrews 12:4-11

That is where it tells us that sometimes God brings trouble into our life because of sin in our life. “How do I know? How do I know if I’m having a problem, if it’s a chastening of the Lord or if it’s something else?” That’s really not that hard to figure out. If the problem you’re having is connected to some sin in your life, that’s most likely God trying to get your attention. That’s God trying to get you to figure out why you are where you are and why things are happening as they are. And if you think just a little bit, you won’t have trouble figuring out because God’s not playing some guessing game with you. He’s trying to get you to realize.

Coming to Realization

“Well, I don’t know, preacher. I’d like to know an example of that scripture.” Consider the book of Joshua, chapter seven. The people of Israel under Joshua’s leadership under God’s direction had gone in and did things God’s way as He told them to. They attacked the city of Jericho. As you know, the walls collapsed, and they went in and conquered the city. Now, that was God who made the walls collapse. The Lord was with them and gave them that victory.

The next area they were supposed to conquer was Ai. I heard a fellow on the radio yesterday pronounce it “I.” It’s spelled A-I, so I suppose either one could be correct. I sure wouldn’t argue with that fellow about it. But they went there, a much smaller city, not nearly as much fortification. So, Joshua takes just a small force, he doesn’t send the whole army out there. He takes a small force out and attacks the city of Ai. And the men of the city of Ai come out the front gate, and they fight back, and they kill 34, I think that’s the right number, 30-some of the soldiers of Israel and the rest of them go running for their lives back to camp.

Joshua goes to the Lord, and he says, “What’s happened? You gave us such great victory, and now you gave us such humiliating defeat.” And the Lord says to him, “There’s sin in your camp. It needs to be dealt with.” And Joshua did deal with it.

They had gone back to the second battle of Ai, which by the way, if you are interested in this kind of thing, there’s a great story of military strategy – won’t go into all that, but you can read it for yourself. But once the sin was taken care of, then victory came again. Joshua didn’t know about the sin, but the Lord said to seek it out, and he would find it.

I’m telling you that as a great example of how the Lord sometimes uses chastening or trouble to get us to recognize that we are in sin, and we need to recognize and need to repent. We need to turn away from it.

But then there are words that Jesus gives us:

Luke 13:1: “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.”

They wanted to know if that was God punishing those people.

Luke 13:2: “And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?”

Luke 13:3: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Luke 13:4: “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?”

Luke 13:5: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

He’s saying those are not cases of chastening. People die, and they are going to die by different means. But that was not a case of chastening. The story of the battle of Ai was a case of chastening. There are other reasons God brings trouble into our lives. We’re going to see some of that.

Gaining Notoriety by Pen Name

So, this first chapter contains an introduction, a greeting, a teaching about the Lord’s return about judgment to establish His kingdom as Messiah and then closes with a prayer for the Thessalonians. Let’s take a look at it.

2 Thessalonians 1:1: “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:”

2 Thessalonians 1:2: “Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, that’s the introduction, and in that introduction, he mentions the Lord Jesus Christ, he mentions God the Father, and he mentions grace and peace. He’s trying to comfort these folks. They really believed that the Lord had come. Somehow, they were left behind there in the Tribulation, and they were having trouble, as we already said, and they thought they were lost. They didn’t know why; they were confused. They didn’t know what to do or what to think. Where do they go from here?

We were looking for the Lord’s coming. He came and we didn’t get to go. Why not? Now, I’ve heard a few people, it’s not in my experience, the predominate theological position with anyone, maybe if it is, I have never heard that. But I’ve known a few people that said, “I believe in a partial rapture.” I talked with one guy face to face who brought that up who said, “Certain people are going to come when the Lord comes, and the rest of the believers will be left behind.” I don’t find that in scripture, I really don’t. But that maybe something along the long the line that was written in this letter that was forged to the people of Thessalonica that led them to believe that they were left behind.

Let me share something else with you. When the New Testament was being assembled, the writings of the New Testament being assembled, they came across many different documents, largely epistles, a couple versions of the Gospel, but largely epistles that appear to have apostles’ names on them. And so, they looked at those, but they didn’t line up with the other scripture. They did contain errors, obvious errors and they contradicted things that were in the scriptures. They rejected those as being non-inspired writing.

Every once in a while, some of those things will surface and you’ll read about it in the Gospel of Thomas, for example, and other things like that. People get all excited about that and the Bible is not complete. No, they knew about that when the New Testament was assembled and they rejected those books as not being inspired because as I said, they contain errors and contradictions, and they were not authenticated.

So, why would somebody write a book or a letter and put somebody else’s name on it? Can I help you with something? People still do that today. Let’s suppose I want to write a book. I did, I wrote three books. Did you ever read them? Don’t feel bad, nobody else read them either. But the fact of the matter is, suppose I want to write a book and I wanted it out and be sold. I mentioned a writer this morning, Samuel Clemens, but his pen name is Mark Twain.

Now, if I put my pen name on that book, chances of people reading that are small. I’m not saying nobody would read it, and I exaggerated before when I said nobody read those other books. I read them, so somebody did. But here’s the point I’m trying to make. I was sharing this with Dr. Bill and Mrs. Rice one time, we were talking about books. He’s written several books. I said, “Yes, I wrote three books.” He said, “I haven’t heard about them.” I said, “No, sales started out slow and then tapered off after that.”

But the point I’m trying to make is if I write a book, I want people to read it. I might put Mark Twain’s name. Now, think about that. Mark Twain, he died a long time ago. He certainly did. Well, a new book with his name on it. Could you imagine? The historians, the academics, and community circle. Here’s a new manuscript by Mark Twain, never seen it before. We didn’t know it existed. Do you think that will sell? Yes, sure, people buy that. That’s the kind of thing people were doing in the New Testament period. They were taking the names of the apostles and putting them on their writings, hoping to become prominent.

And guess what? How would you become prominent? Do they market books the same way they do now? No, they did not. But you could get some notoriety for it? How would you do it? You put somebody else’s name on it, you wouldn’t want to come along and say, you know, “No, Paul didn’t really write that, I did.” No. What you did is, “Yes, oh my goodness, yes. Paul wrote this, I was there, let me teach you what he was saying there.” You could get quite a following that way. That’s the kind of thing that was being done.

Unity in Troubling Times

Somebody wrote a letter to Thessalonica and again says, “You missed it guys, you’re left behind.” Paul is trying to offer comfort to them, grace and peace. Then he praised them:

2 Thessalonians 1:3: “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;”

They were growing in faith even though they’ve been left behind. They were growing in faith; they were getting stronger in their belief. They thought they had misunderstood the teaching before. They thought maybe there was a partial rapture or calling forth of the people, but they prayed, and they supported each other. Because they were being persecuted, they were supporting each other. If found that people who are under great persecution tend to unite and help each other more.

Some of you are not old enough to remember this and that’s fine, you were born when you were supposed to. I’m not trying to say that you should not have been born when you were and be born another time. Some of you are old enough to remember.

I mentioned Ryan Price earlier. He and I went to the church office when he was still with us. A former member of our church called on the phone and she said, “Do you have the television on?” That’s an interesting question because we almost never have the television on here. You see one now, well yeah, but we didn’t have these here. She said to get it out and we had one that we kept in the closet and turned it on. A plane, a small plane, she said just hit the World Trade Center. But it wasn’t a small plane was it and it wasn’t just one. And most of you know what happened after that.

Do you remember for a brief period after that, it was brief, it didn’t last long, but for a brief period after that, our country came together? We’ve been attacked, we came together, there was a new wave of patriotism, and there was a great unity of people helping each other and wanting to help each other and wanting to unite, wanting to protect each other. People began to go to church who hadn’t been.

They had a gathering in Washington, D.C. at the National Cathedral. How many of you even knew we had a National Cathedral? Most Americans don’t. I see like three or four hands. Most Americans don’t, there is a National Cathedral. Really? Yes, really. It’s there. Do they preach the Gospel there? Occasionally, but it’s not always a part of it, but that’s beside the point. But they had this big prayer service there and the President of the United States was speaking at the National Cathedral, and the country came together supporting each other. Why? Because we were in trouble.

And by the way, it didn’t last long. Why didn’t it last long? Well, I’m going to tell you why it didn’t last much longer. It’s not too hard to understand. There were some people who saw this unity happening and they weren’t in charge. They said, “We can’t have this. We can’t have everybody getting together and we are not in charge to lead it.” So, they worked hard to really blow it all apart and they succeeded rather well. If you want more detailed information about that, come and see me after the service.

But the fact that I’m trying to get across to you is that this is where the church of Thessalonica was. They were united, they were praying together, they were helping each other because they thought they had been left behind.

2 Thessalonians 1:4: “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:”

Because they were having great trouble. They were being persecuted and they thought that this has got to be it. This has got to be the Great Tribulation. But Paul, again, offers comfort.

2 Thessalonians 1:5: “Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:”

“Manifest” means made visible. What’s visible? Their patience and faith, all their persecutions and tribulations they endure was made visible. Did you know in the New Testament times, that Christians, believers counted it a blessing, they counted it a wonderful thing if they suffer for Jesus? I tell you what, we don’t feel that way about it. We don’t want to be persecuted. I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t want to be persecuted. I don’t want to have to go through that, but people do, and it happens all the time. And so, they were concerned that they were being persecuted, but Paul comforts them, and he said, “You are counted worthy.”

Let the Lord Handle It

And the Lord promised a blessing to those who are persecuted. So, he’s saying:

2 Thessalonians 1:6: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;”

God is going to pay them back. Whosoever is giving you trouble, those who are persecuting you, you let the Lord handle it, He will. He’ll take care of them. By the way, let me help you with that. Somebody’s giving you trouble? Somebody’s giving you a hard time, especially if they are doing it because you’re a Christian? But you let the Lord handle that. You don’t have to go after revenge, you don’t have to try to get them back. You let the Lord handle that. He’ll do a far better job than you would.

2 Thessalonians 1:7: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,”

He’s going to take care of it. He’s going to take care of those who are persecuting you. You rest with us; you rest in the Lord. Let Him take care of it. How is He going to do it? Let’s read verse seven again:

2 Thessalonians 1:7: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,”

2 Thessalonians 1:8: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:”

2 Thessalonians 1:9: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

2 Thessalonians 1:10: “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”

What’s he saying? He’s saying the Lord is going to come and when He comes, He’s going to bring judgment. It has not happened yet, and he’s not here describing the Rapture. He is describing the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation period, that would be found in Revelation 19:11-19 particularly.

Paul talked in verse five about being counted worthy of persecution. Matthew 5:10, 12, Jesus said:

Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:12: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

That’s why Paul said they were counted worthy. There’s a reward for that. The Lord takes care of us.

Romans 12:19: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

It is written, we told you recently, anytime you read those words, “it is written,” it’s written in the New Testament, it’s written in the Old Testament. So, where is it written in the Old Testament, vengeance is mine saith the Lord? In Deuteronomy 32:35.

So, those who are troubled, the Lord’s coming. He’s coming in flame and fire. He’s taking vengeance on those who know not God and not because they hadn’t heard and then couldn’t believe, but because they believed not the Gospel of Christ, they rejected Him. He will punish them with everlasting destruction. Not going to turn there now, but later you can read Revelation 14:10-11 and you’ll see what he means by everlasting destruction.

2 Thessalonians 1:10: “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”

“Admired” meaning worshipped, held up. In the hymn book there are several indices in the back. There is a list of hymns by the metric number counts that happens to be that the musicians can play and understand that. I never use that. There is alphabetical index I use, I use that one often, either by the title of the hymns or by the first line of the hymn. For example, the first song we sang tonight, “And Can It Be.” You don’t know where it is, go to the back and you’ll find that alphabetical list. Then there is a list by subject, I use that quite a bit. The list by subject, in that list and among those subjects can be adoration, adoring the Lord, being worshipped, worship of God. You can find other helpful subjects, if you find a hymn book grouped by subjects.

So, Paul is saying here, that we would admire the Lord. And that means we would adore the Lord. We’re going to love Him when we see Him because Paul said, “You believed our testimony.” You heard the Gospel from us, you believe, and you are safe.

Glorify the Name of the Lord

Finally, verses 11 and 12 and then we are going to pray.

2 Thessalonians 1:11: “Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:”

We’ll pray for you. Pray that you are worthy of the calling that the Lord is giving to you. We’re going to pray that He’ll fulfill all His good pleasure with you. What He wants for you, what He desires for you. We’re going to pray for the work of faith in your soul that you continue to grow in your faith and get closer to the Lord and be strengthened by your faith. Why?

2 Thessalonians 1:12: “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you,” meaning all of it would be glorified in you so more people will know about it. So, people would look at that church that thought had missed the coming of the Lord but are still carrying on. They would look at them and say, “Look at those people, they really believe this. They are not giving up, they’re not quitting. They think they’ve missed it but they’re going on, getting to know the Lord better, praying more, working more, supporting each other, carrying on the work that God has called them to do. “And ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Why? So that the name of the Lord Jesus would be glorified.

Now, chapter two, and we already read the first two verses of chapter two, he gives them evidence that they have not missed the return of the Lord. He had to write this letter to correct that error because here’s a church that genuinely thought the Lord had come and they missed it. Somehow, they were left behind.

I want you to think, we’re not going to discuss it right now and we might talk about later, we can. But how do you think our church would react if we thought that was true? We thought the Lord had already come and we missed it. We were left behind and we were going through the Tribulation period. How do you think we would react? Don’t answer that right now, just think about it. How would you react as an individual? Because how you react as an individual is how we would act together. Isn’t it? Sure.

Think about that. Would you give up? Would you say no use going on? Or would you do what the people of Thessalonica did? Would you continue to serve the Lord? Would you continue to be encouraged? Would you continue to grow and trusting that the Lord had it all in control? And even if we were wrong about all that the Lord still has it in control. That’s what Paul was saying to that church, and they did continue. God willing, we’ll continue next Sunday night with chapter two, and you’ll see how Paul shows them that they hadn’t missed the return of the Lord.

~~~~~~~

Let’s pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we can come to you on this Father’s Day and call you Heavenly Father. Now Lord, bless us, help us to be faithful like the Thessalonian church was faithful. Help us Lord to carry on and to grow to get closer to you and to support each other and to be faithful in our service for you. Be witnesses and testimonies to others as that church was. Forgive us our faults and our failures for they are many. Forgive us our sins. Help us Lord just to be stronger and to glorify the name of Jesus Christ in this lost world that needs the Savior so desperately.

Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. There be no strangers here tonight. We’re going to sing a hymn of invitation. God’s spoken to your heart, and you need to respond, this would be a great time to come. Father, bless now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

---

Watch the prerecorded live version of the entire service and sermon, The Church That Thought They Had Missed the Lord’s Return, on Facebook.

The Church That Thought They Had Missed the Lord’s Return — Related Sermons

You may also want to listen to or view these sermons:

I Believe, But Sometimes I Have Doubts

Three Guys, Three Outlooks