2 Thessalonians 2:1

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, NOW - `But:' marking the transition from his prayers for them to entreaties to them. WE BESEECH YOU - affectionate entreaty to win them to the right view, rather than stern reproof. BY, [ huper (G5228)] - 'with respect to:' as [ huper (G5228)] 'of,' 2 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 2:13 - literally, in behalf the true view Christ's coming, which has been misinterpreted. OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM - the final ga...

1_Now I beseech you, by the coming_. It may indeed be read, as I have noted on the margin, _concerning the coming_, but it suits better to view it as an earnest entreaty, taken from the subject in hand, just as in 1 Corinthians 15:31, when discoursing as to the hope of a resurrection, he makes use of an oath by that _glory _which is to be hoped for by believers. And this has much more efficacy when he adjures believers by the coming of Christ, not to imagine rashly that his day is at hand, for he at the same time admonishes us not to think of it but with reverence and sobriety. For it is customary to adjure by those things which are regarded by us with reverence. The meaning therefore is, “As you set a high value on the coming of Christ, when he will gather us to himself, and will truly perfect that unity of the body which we cherish as yet only in part through means of fa

1-4 If errors arise among Christians, we should set them right; and good men will be careful to suppress errors which rise from mistaking their words and actions. We have a cunning adversary, who watches to do mischief, and will promote errors, even by the words of Scripture. Whatever uncertainty we are in, or whatever mistakes may arise about the time of Christ's coming, that coming itself is certain. This has been the faith and hope of all Christians, in all ages of the church; it was the faith and hope of the Old Testament saints. All believers shall be gathered together to Christ, to be with him, and to be happy in his presence for ever. We should firmly believe the second coming of Christ; but there was danger lest the Thessalonians, being mistaken as to the time, should question the truth or certainty of the thing itself. False doctrines are like the winds that toss the water to a...

CHAPTER II. _He exhorts the Thessalonians to stand fast in the faith, and_ _not to be alarmed at the rumours they heard concerning the_ _sudden coming of Christ_, 1, 2. _Because, previously to this coming, there would be a great_ _apostasy from the true faith, and a manifestation of a son of_ _perdition, of whose unparalleled presumption he gives an awful_ _description; as well as of his pernicious success among men,_ _and the means which he would use to deceive and pervert the_ _world; and particularly those who do not receive the love of_...

NOW WE BESEECH YOU, BRETHREN, BY THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - The phrase “by the coming,” is not here, as our translators seem to have supposed, a form of solemn adjuration. It is not common, if it ever occurs, in the Scriptures, to make a solemn adjuration in view of an event, and the connection here demands that we give to the phrase a different sense. It means, respecting his coming; and the idea of Paul is: “In regard to that great event of which I spoke to you in my former epistle - the coming of the Saviour - I beseech you not to be troubled, as if it were soon to happen. As his views had been misunderstood or misrepresented, he now proposes to show them that there was nothing in the true doctrine which should create alarm, as if he were about to appear. AND BY OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM - There is manifest allusion here to what is said in the First Epistle...

EXPOSITION CONTENTS.—The apostle now proceeds to the principal object which he had in view in writing this Epistle. The Thessalonians had adopted erroneous notions concerning the advent; they supposed that the day of the Lord was imminent, and, in consequence of this belief, they were thrown into a state of excitement and alarm. The apostle reminds them of his former instructions on this subject; how he bad told them that before the coming of the day of the Lord there should be a great apostasy, and the man of sin, whose nature and characteristics he had described to them, should be revealed; but that at present there was a restraining influence which prevented his appearance. When that restraining influence was removed, the man of sin would be revealed, accompanied with powers and signs and wonders of falsehood, and would succeed in deceiving those who were destitute of the love of the...

NOW WE BESEECH YOU, BRETHREN,.... The apostle having finished his first design in this epistle, which was to encourage the saints to patience under sufferings, proceeds to another view he had in writing it, and that is, to set the doctrine of Christ's coming, as to the time of it, in its proper light; and this is occasioned by what he had said concerning it in the former epistle, which was either misunderstood or misrepresented; and as he addresses the saints with a very affectionate appellation as his "brethren", so by way of entreaty "beseeching", and yet in a very solemn manner: BY THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS: which is to be understood not of the coming of Christ in the flesh, to procure the salvation of his people; nor of his coming in his kingdom and power to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their rejection of him as the Messiah; but of his coming to judge the quick and de...

2 Thessalonians 2:1. _Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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._ In the Church of Christ, the teaching has always been that Christ is coming quickly, and that teaching must never be withdrawn, for he is coming quickly, as he said to John in the Revelation. At the same time, this teaching has given an opportunity to certain presumptuous people to prophesy that at such and such a time Christ will come. They know nothing about it, and their prophecies are not worth the breath they spend in uttering them, and we have today what the apostle wrote to the Thessalonians:...

II. WHAT PRECEDES THE MANIFESTATION OF THE LORD CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The gathering of the saints preceding that day (2 Thessalonians 2:1)_ 2. The apostasy and the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3) 3. The revelation of the man of sin and his fate (2 Thessalonians 2:5) 4. His deceptions and the fate of Christendom (2 Thessalonians 2:9) As this section of the Epistle is one of the most important of the New Testament, we give it first of all in a corrected translation. “Now we beg you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathe

THE MISCONCEPTION OF THE PAROUSIA. This section forms the heart of the epistle. The previous chapter is merely an introduction, and the following chapter merely a conclusion, to this paragraph. The Thessalonians seem to have misinterpreted Paul's teaching about the Parousia, with disastrous effect. The belief that Christ was immediately to reappear thoroughly disorganised their lives. In this paragraph Paul tries to remove the misconception, and definitely affirms that the Parousia cannot take place till certain conditions have been fulfilled. First of all must come the apostasy and the revelation of the Man of Sin. At present, however, there is a restraining power at work which makes this revelation impossible. When the restraining power is removed, the lawless one will appear, and will be followed by Christ, who will slay him with the breath of His mouth. The meaning of this section ha...