Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Living in the light of the revelation

The second letter to the Thessalonians contains some significant verses in chapter one and also in chapter two. In Second Thessalonians chapter one, verse 3, Paul says this: “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity, the love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and your faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.” And this is a manifest token—an evidence of the righteous judgment of God. That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer. Now, Paul obviously has in view the manifested kingdom of God when Christ comes to reign in glory, and he’s saying that what they were experiencing now, suffering, persecution, and tribulation, would ensure that they were worthy, in a sense, of the kingdom that was yet to come. He says, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense trouble to them that trouble you.” Now, that word “tribulation” is not referring to the tribulation period, but God is going to pay back trouble to those that are troubling you because they were suffering persecution. And to you who are troubled, “rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 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.” Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power, 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. So that first chapter has to do with persecution, especially. That’s what you can write over the chapter. Paul is trying to encourage these believers in the midst of persecution. And part of the way he encourages them is by reminding them of the second coming of the Lord Jesus in glory and in power. That was what they were suffering for, ultimately, to enjoy the kingdom. Now, chapter 2—chapter 1 is about persecution. Paul will encourage them. Chapter 2 is all about God’s purpose for the Thessalonians. And he is going to educate them in this chapter because they had been deceived, and there was a misunderstanding. Now, we could spend a long time on these verses, and well, we will. So look at verse 1. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him” (that’s the rapture) “that ye be not soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” Now, really, that should read, according to Mr. Darby’s Revised Version, that “the day of the Lord has come.” So these Christians were confused, and Paul doesn’t know how they have been confused. It might have been a false spirit or the reporting of a false word. Paul has been saying this; he’s been preaching that somewhere. This is what he said. Or by a letter that pretended to be from Paul. Paul doesn’t know how the error has come, but it has deceived these believers. They now think that the day of the Lord has already come. And the day of the Lord is a long period of time; it includes the millennial reign of Christ and the kingdom. But the day of the Lord focuses on seven years of tribulation and judgment and the return of Christ to the earth. So they thought that because of their persecution, they were already in the tribulation—the tribulation had come. Paul says, “Not at all.” Verse 3: “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.” Now, he is one of the trinity of evil of the end days that will arise in the tribulation. I think that this man of sin, well, he is the first beast that you read of in Revelation chapter 13. This man of sin, I call the Antichrist. This man of sin will be revealed. He is the son of perdition. He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now, that will take place at the midpoint of the tribulation, the midpoint of the seven years. This devilish man, who is satanically inspired, will claim worship as God. And the Lord Jesus calls that the abomination of desolation. Now this is a lot of prophecy, but very interesting prophecy, and I hope that some of it is familiar to you. So that’s what Paul is speaking about. And he’s saying, “You’re not in that day. You are not in the tribulation because these things have not happened.” You may say, “Listen, I haven’t been saved for very long. All this stuff about the tribulation and the man of sin and the abomination of desolation, who do you think I am? I need to be saved for 20 or 30 years before you tell me of these things.” Big red cross, you’re wrong! What does Paul say in verse 5? “Remember not that when I was with you, I told you these things?” Do you know how long they had been saved? Weeks! Weeks. And he had been telling them about the man of sin and the abomination of desolation. So don’t you turn your nose up at me, will you? Right? You should be taught these things. And if you find them to be too difficult or too awkward, or you can’t be bothered, train your mind to listen to what I’m saying and try to understand it. Then it’s your problem, really, and you need to make a better effort to try and understand what Scripture teaches about these things; they’re basic. They’re essential. They’re for people who have just been saved. Think about that. In verse 6, now, you know, “Wish we did,” Paul. This is a little bit awkward, but I’ll tell you what I think in a moment. He says, “You know what withholds? What is restraining? What’s holding back this man of sin and all the terrible things that are going to happen?” Paul says, you know what is restraining him, holding him back that he might be revealed. He will be revealed in his time, at the right time. But at the moment, something is holding him back. Verse 7: “For the mystery of iniquity already works.” There’s an undercurrent of iniquity that’s already working. It was working in Paul’s day, and it’s working in our day. “Only he who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way.” And then that wicked shall be revealed, this man of sin, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. Again, this is not the rapture; this is the revelation. When Christ comes at the end of the tribulation, he’s going to consume this individual with the spirit of his mouth. He will destroy him with the majesty, the brightness of his coming. This person whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Interesting stuff. Now, here is Paul’s practical exhortation in light of all that. It’s not just prophecy. He says in verse 15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught.” He’s talking about the word of God. Hold fast the word of God. What you’ve been taught, whether by word of mouth or by our epistle, hold it fast. Now, finally, chapter 3—and we won’t have time to get to chapter 3, but you ought to notice one or two things here. If chapter 1 is all about persecution and Paul is encouraging the saints in their persecution, chapter 2 is all about God’s purpose and prophecy, and they’ve been deceived, so Paul is educating them about God’s purpose. Then chapter 3 has a problem—a big problem in Thessalonica. He’s been hinting at it in the first letter, and now he’s going to meet it head-on because the problem hasn’t been solved. Paul is going to exhort them. So not encourage them or educate them, but he’s going to exhort them about this problem. You say, what was the problem? Look at verse 6: “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly.” Now, that word means to live your life out of step with others. So he’s almost viewing the Christians or the assembly as those who are marching in rank. And there are certain brethren who just aren’t marching in time and in step with the rest of them. He says they are walking disorderly and not after the tradition which was received of us. “Now, Paul, give us a bit more detail; we want the juicy story. Why are these individuals not walking in step with the other believers?” Well, he tells you. So, verse 11: “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly.” Now, here’s what the problem was: working, not at all. So here were individuals that had chosen not to work. They could have worked; work was available to them. But they were choosing not to be employed and not to earn money. Now, it wasn’t individuals who would love to work and couldn’t work—individuals that had been made redundant or anything like that. These are individuals that could have been working and earning money and putting bread on their table, but they chose not to. They were, verse 11 says, busy bodies; literally, they were poking their noses into other people’s business. And because Christians, because they couldn’t afford to put bread on their own table, they were coming round to your house at barbecue time, and they were saying, “Oh, is it dinner time? I was just coming round to see how you are. Well, since you ask, and since the sausages are on the sizzle, I don’t mind if I do.” And they were literally poking their noses into other people’s business. They were sponging off all the other Christians and the good nature of the other Christians. They were choosing not to work. Now, it’s good work if you can get it, right? Just sponge off everyone else and enjoy yourself as the day goes by and poke your nose into other people’s business—a great life if you can get it. Well, Paul says, “No, no.” He says, “They are busy bodies.” And here’s his commandment in verse 12: “Them that are such, if you’re doing this, we command you and we exhort you by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness you work. And as a result, you will be able to eat your own bread.” Shall I paraphrase for you? “Get a job!” That’s what Paul says, right? “Get a job! Stop causing a fuss in society. Stop making a fuss about being quiet. Get on with your life. Don’t cause a disturbance in society. Work quietly, put bread on your table,” and all that in the light of the soon return of the Lord Jesus in glory to the earth. Right, we’ll leave it there. I’m not going to say anything about chapter 3 because I’ve said enough, and we won’t have time to get there, but God will bless his word to us. So remember what I said yesterday, and we’re going to have to move at a rate of knots because I understand that at one o’clock the dinner bell sounds, and saints can’t hold themselves together, right? So I’ve got 30 minutes to squeeze all this in. Remember what I was saying yesterday. 1 Thessalonians emphasizes the rapture—the first aspect of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And Paul says, “Here is the truth of the rapture.” At the end of every single chapter in 1 Thessalonians—five of them—he’s speaking about the rapture and the coming of Christ. And he says, “Now this is how you should live; it affects your life. This truth about the soon return of Christ affects the way you live.” It’s living in the light of the rapture. That’s 1 Thessalonians. When you come to 2 Thessalonians, the emphasis is on the revelation—the second aspect of the second coming of Christ. So not the fact that imminently he’s coming to the air, but the fact that after the tribulation, he’s coming to the earth with his saints. He’s going to reign on the earth and over the earth. And that truth, too—the glory and the majesty of the return of Christ—should have an impact on the way that we live. We do not just look. Read through your New Testament epistles. There is much more said about the manifestation of Christ than the rapture. The fact that Christ is coming back to the earth in glory with us, and he shall reign, should have a tremendous impact upon our lives. Any rewards that are obtained at the judgment seat of Christ will be manifested in that kingdom. So don’t just be fixated with the rapture; think about the wonder of the fact that Christ is coming back to the earth—his glorious reign upon the earth. And that is the focus of 2 Thessalonians. So chapter 1 is all about the persecution that these saints were experiencing on earth. And he says, in light of the coming kingdom of Christ, he says, “I want you to be encouraged in the midst of your suffering.” Now let me just summarize it for you. Look at verse 4; he says, “You are suffering.” This is the end of verse 4: “in all your persecutions and your tribulations.” And he says, “You are enduring those persecutions and those tribulations.” In fact, at the beginning of verse 4, “We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, because you are patient and you are full of faith in the midst of these persecutions.” So Paul says, “Wherever I go”—and at this point Paul was in Corinth—”whichever church I visit—I must tell you about the saints down in Thessalonica. They are really suffering for their faith, but they are suffering so patiently.” And “they are suffering, keeping their faith and confidence in God in the midst of that persecution. They’re enduring it all.” Says Paul, “I love those saints down in Thessalonica.” And whichever assembly he went to, he would say, “You know, those saints in Thessalonica—just how marvelous they are. They were really suffering for the fact that they put their faith in Christ.” You’ll have to go back to the book of Acts. You’ll have to see that when Paul first visited Thessalonica and preached the gospel, souls were saved; a whole rabble—a riot was stirred up in Thessalonica against Paul and what he had been preaching. They hounded Paul out of the city. He was taken away very quickly lest he would lose his life. But obviously, that persecution against Paul and those associated with him was affecting the Christians—they’d only just been saved. They were really suffering for the name of Christ. But Paul says, “I want to encourage you. You’re suffering well. You are enduring in the midst of all this persecution.” I want to tell you something strange. Now this should be relevant; it could be relevant; it will be relevant to us, to those of you who are in the hall this afternoon. We may not be suffering persecution because we’re Christians, although there might be a little bit of that, even with our employers and even in our local society. But there will be some of you who are experiencing, at this moment, real difficulties and suffering in life. It may not necessarily be because of the name of Christ, but God has allowed you to go through a difficult time. Do you know what Paul says to these believers? He says, “But don’t criticize him for this.” He says, “God is righteous.” Meaning, God has allowed you to experience this. And he may not take you out from that experience for some time, but he certainly will strengthen you in the midst of that experience. I want to show you this. Look at verse number five. He says, “the righteous judgment of God.” Look at verse number six: “It is a righteous thing with God to pay back trouble to them that are troubling you.” And he says, “the Lord Jesus is going to come from heaven.” This is the manifestation. And verse eight: “He is going to take vengeance on them that know not God.” And in the middle of that word “vengeance” in the Greek is the word for righteousness. When God brings judgment and punishment upon individuals, it does not mean that he’s lost his temper. It does not mean that he’s out of control. When God takes vengeance, he does it righteously. He perfectly measures out the judgment that is required for those individuals. That’s what vengeance means—not too much, not too little; the right amount. But you see all the way through the verses: “You’re suffering. It’s tough for you. But God is righteous.” What is Paul trying to say? Well, he’s saying this: Christ is coming in glory, and first of all, he is going to measure out judgment upon those who are troubling you—those individuals that are causing you all this pain. He says, “God is going to measure out pain upon them.” Don’t think that they will not pay for the fact that they are persecuting you. God will see that every wrong is put right. Vengeance belongs to the Lord; it does not belong to you. We are living in a day of grace. If you feel offended, or if you feel that somebody has done something against you, you leave vengeance with the Lord. This is a day of grace; that’s why the Lord Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.” It’s not what the psalmist said. The psalmist said, “Bring down heaps of coals of fire upon their head.” Not in a day of grace. Do you remember Stephen? As he was being stoned, he said, “Lord, lay not this to their charge.” This is not a day of vengeance; the day of vengeance is coming. And friend, if you’ve been wronged, you leave that wrong with the Lord. He will see to it that it’s put right; you make sure you forgive and you exercise a forgiving spirit. So says Paul, “I want to encourage you; those who are wronging you, God will see to it at the manifestation. God will see to it that they get their comeuppance.” Something else, and this is a real challenge to him. He says, “As far as you’re concerned, God has allowed this suffering. God has allowed this persecution for a higher cause.” Look at verse 5: “This is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.” So Paul, what are you saying? God never wastes suffering in the life of his people. God has allowed you to come into that suffering because he is fitting you for future responsibility in a great kingdom that is yet to come. I hope that’s an encouragement to you. You say, “Life at the moment is not easy for me.” Well, remember you have a great high priest who will see to it that he will hold your hand through every difficulty. And remember that what you are experiencing is training; God is using it so that you will be fitted someday to reign alongside Christ. Isn’t it wonderful? God is so wise that he can use our suffering and our pain for greater good—greater good in a day to come. So, we’re going to rest, by the way, when that kingdom comes to a certain extent. Ultimately, we will rest. Hallelujah! We’re suffering now, but there’s going to be rest in that day. And we’re going to be perfectly fitted for that coming kingdom. So says Paul, “I want you to wait patiently in the light of the fact that Christ is coming and will establish a kingdom; you’re going to reign with him. Wait patiently under the weight of the tribulation and the suffering you’re experiencing.” Right, chapter 2—chapter 2 is not about encouragement in persecution. Chapter 2 is about God’s purpose for these Thessalonians, and they’ve got it slightly confused. So what Paul’s going to do now is not encourage them so much; he is going to educate them about God’s purpose for them. Now, look at verse two: “You are shaken in your minds; you are troubled.” He says you think that—and remember the translation now—it’s not the day of Christ is at hand. There are various prophetic days in Scripture: the day of man, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, the day of God. They all refer to extended periods of time; they’re not 24 hours at all; they’re extended periods of time. What’s in view here is the day of the Lord that starts at some point after the rapture. It takes in the tribulation—seven years on earth. It takes in the manifestation of Christ when he comes at the end of the tribulation. It takes in the whole kingdom—thousand years. So the day of the Lord is when God is intervening in affairs on the earth, and he’s dealing with the nation of Israel on the earth. The day of Christ has to do with things in heaven and the church. The day of the Lord deals with things on earth—the nation of Israel. The translation here should be this: “You are shaken in your minds. You’re troubled. You’re worried because you think that the day of the Lord has already come.” It hasn’t! Now, you could understand how they could be confused. They knew that the day of the Lord was a period that began with awful judgment, tribulation. And they were suffering; they were being persecuted. So you could see how they might think that that awful trouble in the day of the Lord was the trouble that they were experiencing. And to make it worse, something had deceived them. Paul doesn’t know what it was, but he does say, “Whether it’s by spirit or by word or by letter.” So you get the idea—somebody had come to the assembly at Thessalonica and said, “Listen, listen—somebody told me,” you know how it goes, right? “Somebody told me that Paul was preaching down in Corinth and said we’re in the day of the Lord! Exclamation mark! Look out! Go and tell everyone.” And this person turned up at Thessalonica and said, “Listen, we need to have a church gathering; apparently, somebody said that Paul had said that we’re in the tribulation!” They were deceived! It might have been a letter: “Dear Thessalonian saints, the tribulation started! Signed, Paul.” They thought they were in the day of the Lord. So they were deceived and confused. And Paul says, “It’s not the case; it’s not the case.” They had been shaken from their moorings—that’s what verse 2 means. “Why are you so soon shaken in mind and troubled?” It’s a word that’s used of a ship that’s tied up to its moorings in the harbor, but now those moorings have been let loose; the ship has been untied. The ship is starting to drift out of the harbor into the storm, and he’s saying, “That’s what’s happened to you. You’ve heard this apparently from me, and so quickly you’ve been shaken away from your security.” And do you think it’s true? He says, “Don’t you remember what I taught you?” Anyway, he says, “Listen, you cannot be in the day of the Lord.” You say, “Does this really matter to me?” Yes! Thank you! There is a lot of teaching today; it’s called reformed teaching. There are a lot of Christians today who believe that the church will go through the tribulation—that’s what they believe. If you haven’t met them yet or spoken to them, you soon will. You might find that next Lord’s Day, somebody turns up at the door who holds this very truth. I wonder if you could prove from Scripture that that is not the case. I think you need to listen to this. Here’s what Paul says: “You cannot be in the day of the Lord, and you cannot be in the day of the Lord for these three reasons.” Now, I’ll give you these three reasons; I’ll tell you the practical exhortation, and then we’ll be done for dinner. Three reasons why you cannot be in the tribulation. Paul, what is the first reason? Verse 1: “We beseech you, brethren, by the rapture.” Hallelujah! Isn’t it simple? He says, “We beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”—this is not two separate statements, by the way; they’re connected in Greek—”We beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him.” So listen, you cannot be in the tribulation because Christ doesn’t come yet. You can’t be in the tribulation because we haven’t been gathered to Christ. It’s impossible. You would say the same thing. If somebody said to you, “Oh, the tribulation’s already started,” you would say, “No, it hasn’t because the rapture hasn’t happened yet. I’m still here!” That’s what you’d say. You’d say, “I haven’t been taken up to heaven yet, so the tribulation can’t be started because you’re well taught.” But it’s exactly what Paul says. He says, “I beseech you by the coming and by our gathering together unto him: don’t be soon shaken in your mind.” So here’s reason number one why you can’t be in the day of the Lord, the tribulation, because the rapture hasn’t happened yet. And he wrote this letter a few months after 1 Thessalonians. And in 1 Thessalonians 4, that we were thinking about yesterday evening, Paul says, “Remember, you’re going to be caught up into a meeting with the Lord in the air. You’re going to be gathered to him; you haven’t been gathered yet.” So you can’t be in the tribulation. That’s simple, isn’t it? So reason number one: the rapture. Reason number two: he goes on to explain this in verse 3. He says, “Let no one deceive you. That day cannot come; he says, the day of the Lord is characterized by these things. He says the day of the Lord cannot come except there be a falling away first.” That’s not the rapture; he’s spoken about that in verse 1. That is a rebellion. This is essential: a falling away first. That word in Greek is the word for apostasy—in Greek, the word is apostasia, apostasy. Paul says when the day of the Lord comes, it will be characterized by a rebellion against God, by a falling away from divine truth. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24, in that day of the Lord, iniquity will abound. You say, “But it’s pretty bad today, isn’t it?” You say, “In the world in which we live today, iniquity is everywhere.” You say, “There is a great rebellion against God and against his word today.” You say, “The last 10 or 20 years have got even worse.” People today are denying male and female, made he them. See, I can’t. How far has humanity fallen away and departed from divine truth? You say, “It sounds like a rebellion today.” Well, there is, but it will be nothing compared to the departure from divine truth that there will be in that day. In fact, Paul already says, look at verse 7, he says, “This mystery of iniquity already works.” This idea of iniquity—an undercurrent of iniquity running through the world, says Paul, it’s already happening today— and that was 2,000 years ago. How much more today? But when the day of the Lord comes, he says there will be a great rebellion—a great falling away from divine truth. You say, “How much worse can it get?” I’ll tell you: in that day, every religion will be destroyed. In that day, there will be one single religion. In that day of awful apostasy, there will be one object of worship. You say, “Who or what will that be?” It will be the worship of the devil through the worship of the man of sin. That’s apostasy. The whole world will be taken up with devil worship. You say, “That’s pretty serious.” Look at verse 4. It says, “the man,”—this is the end of 3—”the man of sin will be revealed.” He is a man who personifies sin. He’s the complete opposite to Christ, by the way, who’s the incarnation of purity and holiness. This man, he’s a real man, is the incarnation of sin; he’s devilishly supplied and energized. He “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he as God will sit in the temple of God in Jerusalem.” So, it’s going to have to be rebuilt. What will happen to the Dome of the Rock? I don’t know. But that temple—the Jewish temple in the tribulation—will have to be rebuilt. And in that temple, which has always represented the worship of God, Jehovah, in that temple a man will sit as if he is God, indwelt by the devil, and the whole world will bow their knees to a man as God, when in fact he’s devilish at his very core. The world is going to worship the devil. That’s a serious rebellion. That is serious apostasy. Paul says that’s what the day of the Lord is like. You can’t be in it yet. There’s an undercurrent of this, but the full revelation of it has not yet come. So you’ve got his reasons, haven’t you? This is why you’re not in the day of the Lord—number one: the rapture hasn’t happened yet. Number two: this great rebellion against God, though there’s an undercurrent of it, it hasn’t yet come to its full bloom; this man of sin hasn’t been revealed. Number three: why hasn’t the man of sin come yet? Why hasn’t he arrived yet? Surely the devil would like nothing more than for the whole world to bow down and worship him. Why hasn’t this man of sin been revealed? Well, I’ll tell you why: because there is a restraint upon him. God has put a restraining hand on the man of sin being revealed and the work of the devil. Look at verse 6. Paul says, “You know what is holding him back.” He’s going to be revealed at the right time—all in the purpose of God. He will be revealed, this man of sin. But at the moment, something is holding him back. In verse 7, the something of verse 6 becomes a someone. So in verse 6, “You know what is holding him back.” In verse 7, “Only he who is holding him back will hold him back until he be taken out of the way.” I have a question for you: the Thessalonians knew what this was. I wonder if you know what this is? Paul says there is something, and there is someone. Now they must be very powerful because this is holding back, restraining the full onslaught of iniquity and the power of the devil displayed in this man of sin. But something and someone is just holding him back. You say, “What is it?” Well, I believe it’s a divine person that is holding back the full flow of sin and iniquity in this world. I believe that the someone who is doing the restraining is the Holy Spirit. And that person, says Paul, is going to be taken out of the way. And when he is taken out of the way, then this stream of iniquity will burst onto the earth. So here’s what I think: I think that the someone who restrains is the Holy Spirit. I think that the something that is restraining is the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the church—because Christians are salt and light. And when Christians are removed and the Spirit of God is removed, there will be a flood tide of evil that bursts upon this world. The question is, when’s the Spirit being removed? Now just grasp this because it will help you understand these verses. You understand, don’t you, that the Holy Spirit is a divine person? He’s everywhere. Go back to the Old Testament; the Spirit of God came upon individuals at different times to empower them for service. In Acts chapter 2, something unique happened. Not only did the Lord Jesus go back to heaven, but the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. Acts 2. And the Holy Spirit took up his residence on earth. The Spirit of God had been coming and going. He had been moving upon individuals before that. But in this day and age, something unique has happened: the Spirit of God has taken up his residence on earth. He’s here; he’s been here for 2,000 years, indwelling believers and corporately indwelling the church. But there’s a day coming when the residence of the Spirit is going to be removed. He will be removed. You say, “When will the residence of the Spirit be removed?” Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? When the church is removed. When’s the church going to be removed? At the rapture. And then the residence of the Spirit—with and in the church, his residence will be removed too. That’s not to say he won’t be here in the tribulation. He will be, and folks will be saved in the tribulation—millions! He will be operating, but his residence will not be here because the church has been removed. You see what Paul’s saying? You can’t be in the tribulation. Come on, the rapture hasn’t happened yet. The rebellion hasn’t happened yet. And there is a restraint upon that rebellion. But when he that restrains is removed with the church, then the flood tide of evil will come. It will come! So that’s a whole lot of prophecy. You say, “I don’t mind prophecy; it’s a bit better than doctrine, isn’t it? It’s not quite as dry; it’s quite exciting what’s going to happen in the future.” Prophecy is alright, but it has a practical impact on us. I’ll leave you with this: chapter 1—persecution; encouraging them in persecution. Paul says, “Wait patiently; God is using that suffering for greater good.” Chapter 2—God’s purpose, all about prophecy. “I’m educating you because you’ve been deceived.” The practical outworking of that truth is this: not wait patiently, but hold tightly. Hold tightly to what? Well, you’ve been soon shaken in your minds. You’ve been deceived; you thought you were in the tribulation. And I taught you these things. So what does Paul exhort them to do? He exhorts them to hold tight to the word of God. If they had held tight to Paul’s teaching, they wouldn’t have been so upset and worried and confused. So look at the verse. I know the dinner bell is sounding, but just relax. Verse 15: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions.” These are not man-made traditions; we’re not talking about the Pharisees here and all the traditions they had built up around the word of God. We are talking about truth that Paul had taught them—truth that Paul had written to them. He says, “Stand fast; hold tightly; be glued to Bible truth, and maintain it with all that you are.” If they had just stuck firmly to the first epistle, they wouldn’t have been so confused and so worried and so deceived. So I say this to you after seven—by the way, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it; thanks very much! Some of you have no idea who I was, and you had no input inviting me here whatsoever, but I appreciate the fact that I’ve been here and it’s been lovely to spend time with you good folks—it really has! One thing I would say after seven days is this: in light of the world in which we’re living and in the light of the fact that Christ is coming very soon—not just for us, but to reign—until that moment comes, and the fact that iniquity is spreading through this earth, could I just exhort you to hold tightly and hold firmly to the truth of the word of God? You can’t just depend on ministry meetings like this. You will need to read this book for yourself. Reading is not studying; you will have to spend a bit of time with the Word of God. You will have to develop convictions about what this book teaches—convictions about the local assembly, convictions about the soon coming of Christ. When you hold a truth, it’s a belief; when the truth holds you, it’s conviction. Read this book, study this book, develop convictions, and stick to them like glue. And God will bless you until he comes. We’ll leave it there. God will bless his word to us. Let’s just pray.

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