2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

MYSTERY MET BY FAITH

‘The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ … that ye be not soon shaken in mind.’

2 Thessalonians 2:1

The Apostle is here evidently addressing men who had conceived a wrong opinion as to the nearness of the Day of Judgment. He beseeches them by the very event, and by the solemn interest which all Christian men have in it, that they would give up this mistaken notion however they might have become familiar with it. He goes on to explain that previous to the tremendous transaction a certain other appalling event must take place, to be followed by the discovery of Antichrist.

I. How does it come to pass, if the Apostles were indeed aware that the Day of Judgment was still distant, that they so frequently use language which seems to imply its very near approach indeed? We must remember that their language is the established language of the prophets from the beginning. Ever since the Fall, the Second Advent of Christ was ever the one great event for which the whole human race was ever looking; and all, as many as God hath ever sent to be watchmen to the House of Israel, He hath instructed to herald His approach in the same unvarying formula, ‘The Lord is at hand.’

II. There is generally something mysterious and unexpected in the notes of time which are found in the utterances of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. They create rather than remove difficulties.

III. And yet the simplest, humblest faith is ever the wisest and the best. The Lord must be at hand, because the Lord Himself hath said it. He at the end of the days—he will find himself in the right, who has believed in the nearness of the Second Advent; who has accepted the message in the letter of it; who has lived and died in the constant apprehension, ‘Behold, the Judge standeth before the door.’

—Dean Burgon.