Join us on Add Bible as we dive into 2 Thessalonians, a letter written by Paul to correct misunderstandings and encourage a steadfast faith among believers. Featuring insights from over three decades of personal Bible study, this episode highlights the themes of perseverance and the imminent return of Christ. Dr. Donald Sweeting from Colorado Christian University lends his voice to the reading, providing an engaging exploration of this impactful New Testament book.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 04 :
Today we begin 2 Thessalonians. I’ll look at my English Standard Version Study Bible book introduction as we look at 2 Thessalonians. As in 1 Thessalonians, Paul is the writer of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians was probably written shortly after 1 Thessalonians, from Corinth in about 50 to 51 AD, because Paul had received a report that the situation in Thessalonica had taken a surprising turn. The church had accepted the strange claim that the day of the Lord had already come. As a result, they were shaken and frightened. They were also suffering persecution, which may have contributed to their confusion about the end times. Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians to reassure those terrified by the thought that the day of the Lord had come that it certainly had not. He also addressed some of the lingering issues of his first letter. persecution, and some still refusing to work. The overriding theme of 2 Thessalonians is the second coming of Jesus, much like the first letter. 2 Thessalonians is the only book in the Bible written to correct a misunderstanding of a previous book, and that was 1 Thessalonians. Paul also gives a graphic and frightening view of Jesus’ return and a very clear statement about what makes hell so horrific. Heaven is real. But so is hell. Our guest reader for Second Thessalonians is Dr. Donald Sweeting, president of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado. Colorado Christian University is the premier interdenominational Christian college in Colorado and the eight-state Rocky Mountain region. It offers over 100 degree programs and is ranked one of the top universities nationwide. It serves over 8,000 students, a large number of adult, graduate, and undergraduate students. Prior to becoming the president at CCU, Dr. Sweeting was president of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Before that, he was the senior pastor at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village, Colorado, where I lived for 25 years. There, he was one of the first pastors to let me come and share the Ezra Project message when we started. I am forever grateful to Dr. Sweeting for taking a risk on me. When I learned he was back in Colorado, I immediately went to see him at CCU. We had a splendid visit. I updated him on the Ezra Project and shared about AdBible. Dr. Sweeting has always been very supportive of our mission to connect God’s people to God’s Word. So today, He contributes as a guest reader, and I am once again very grateful. He will read in this book, Chapter 3 of 2 Thessalonians. So let’s begin this book by listening to Faith Comes By Hearing’s reading of the 12 verses of 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 1.
SPEAKER 02 :
2 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 03 :
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God, for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you. and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
SPEAKER 03 :
To this end, we always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 04 :
To help us through 2 Thessalonians, this short little book, I’ve selected three journals. I’ve chosen to do something a little different this time, and that’s select three journals from three years in a row. So these journals are 1992, 1993, and 1994. I actually read 2 Thessalonians each of those three years in a row, so I thought, well, let’s take a look and see if there’s a difference in reading this book three years in a row. So let’s start with my journal entry from 1992 on 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I wrote the Thessalonian example. Big faith, according to verse 3. Growing love for each other, again, according to verse 3. Perseverance and persecution, verse 4. Worthy of the kingdom of God, verse 5. And then I wrote, for me, count me worthy, fulfill goodness, work in faith and power. The next year, 1993, as I was looking at my journal, I discovered something very interesting. Let me share it with you. On the weekend that I was reading 2 Thessalonians, I was in Fair Play, Colorado at a men’s retreat. And by looking at some of the notes I’d written in my journal, I believe this was the first message of the Ezra Project ever. I was asked by a friend of mine to speak at a men’s retreat. I told him no, I don’t speak at men’s retreats. But he persisted and I ended up having to speak at this men’s retreat. So I remember in the preparation ahead of time, I wondered what the world I would share with a bunch of men. I got some advice about sharing about being husbands and sharing about being fathers. But the real advice was share something that is really, really important to me. So because the Word of God was really, really important to me, I developed the first Ezra Project message for this retreat in 1993. This was before the Ezra Project even existed. Remember, it started in 2002. Looking back on some notes leading up to that weekend, I had one note that said, For sword ministries, my own ministry of the word of God. So it wasn’t even called Ezra. It had no name. It was sword because the word of God was sharper than any two-edged sword. Another note I wrote leading up to the retreat was, For each man attending the men’s retreat, for their needs and expectations, for an anointing on me as I share with them for God’s will at the retreat. And then on Saturday, I made this note about Friday night. 19 men are here. Lord, you were easy on me for this humble beginning. Last night went well. I spoke for about 40 minutes on seek, seeking God through his word. shared my testimony in my journals, had discussion and had a time of prayer afterwards, brought 10 journals, gave away seven, have three left. Today is find. And then I wrote my prayer for the 19 men here, that God’s will be done in each life here, that these men would become daily Bible readers, that their needs will be met here at this retreat. So yes, this was the first time precursor message to the Ezra Project starting almost 10 years later. This retreat was 1993. The Ezra Project started in 2002. On that day, I read 2 Thessalonians, the whole book in one day, all three chapters. So I’ll summarize the whole book here in this journal entry. I wrote, “…stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, because there will be deluding influence, so that they may believe what is fake.” Work so we won’t be a burden to others and live a disciplined life. Do not grow weary of doing good. The next year, 1994, I read the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians on one day and I wrote, give thanks because your faith is greatly enlarged. You love one another, persevere in the midst of persecutions. Then I wrote, there will be a righteous judgment. God will repay those who afflict us. He will deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel. The penalty will be eternal destruction. So let’s take a look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, and we’ll notice in the very first verse, like in 1 Thessalonians, Paul takes a team approach to writing this letter, saying Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, all of whom had visited Thessalonica and all preached there. And Paul begins with a compliment in verse 3. He says, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as it is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Could that be said about your Christianity? Is your faith growing abundantly and your love for everyone increasing? Those should be evidences of our Christianity, shouldn’t they? Just like they were for the church at Thessalonica. He goes on to compliment them for their steadfastness and their faith in spite of the persecutions and afflictions they are enduring. Again, can that be said of your Christianity? Though you may have faced persecutions, you may have faced afflictions, were you steadfast? Did you endure? In verse 5, Paul tells them they are considered worthy of the kingdom of God because they’ve persevered through suffering and persecution. And he addresses that persecution that we were talking about in the introduction of this book. He says in verse 6 that God will repay those who are persecuting them with a mighty hand, inflaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction. Paul concludes chapter 1 with this powerful encouragement, So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Does your Christian life glorify the Lord? Let’s close with a couple of applications from this short chapter. One, grow in your faith. Two, increase in love for people. Three, stand steadfast in persecution and affliction. And number four, may your Christian life give glory to God in all that we do and say. Father, it’s good to see that Paul sees in the Thessalonican church growth, maturity. He sees them growing in their faith, growing in their love, standing firm against persecution and affliction, and glorifying you in their lives. May we as Christians never be stagnant, but always growing in the same way. Holy Spirit, grow us up in you. May those around us, one, know that we’re Christians, two, see our faith growing, three, see our love increasing, four, see us stand firm against persecution and affliction, and finally, glorify you in all we do. Help us, Holy Spirit, do these things in Jesus’ name. amen thanks for listening to add bible today we make very few financial appeals after our daily programs yet from time to time it is necessary to do so today is one of those days so please don’t shut me off the ezra project started in 2002 with one mission to connect god’s people to god’s word back then and still today i believe the number one need in the christian church is to come back to god’s word I’m not a preacher. I don’t have a pulpit to encourage Christians to engage in their Bibles or a church to support this radio program. But with your help, we can continue to proclaim God’s Word on radio to you and thousands of others. Ours is a unique approach. We don’t preach the Word or even teach the Word. We share the powerful impact of God’s Word in a normal life of over 50 years of daily Bible reading. I started at 15 years old. And I’ve virtually read my Bible every day since. In Add Bible, I share my personal Bible reading journals starting in 1983 and continue even to this day. I share from my heart how the Bible has intersected my life and how it can intersect yours. We need preaching about the Bible, but more so, we need personal engagement in the Bible. The Bible is still applicable to 21st century life. That’s our mission at the Ezra Project. If you agree Christians should be applying God’s Word to our daily lives, I invite you to visit our website at ezraproject.net and donate today. You can do it online or by mail. Our mailing address is right there. We can share all 66 books of the Bible on radio if you partner with us and allow us to do so. Thank you for considering a financial donation today.
