1, 2 Thessalonians

1. 1, 2 Thessalonians Living Between The Times Bethany Covenant Church 2018

2. Download PowerPoint From Last Week Church website: www.bethanycov.church/thessalonians, or : www.bethanycov.church/resources Free PowerPoint viewer at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13, or search for “powerpoint view download.”

3. WINTER SESSION • JAN 7 INTRODUCTION • JAN 14 1 THESS. 1 The Chosen & Coming Wrath • JAN 21 1 THESS. 2 Family Matters • JAN 28 1 THESS. 3 How the Church Was Established • FEB 4 1 THESS. 4 Ready Or Not, Here I Come! • FEB 11 1 THESS. 5 Walk In Light & Obedience • FEB 18 2 THESS. 1 Encouragement in Suffering • FEB 25 2 THESS. 2 God’s Timetable • MAR 4 2 THESS. 3 The Truth, And Nothing But

4. Each chapter of 1 Thessalonians ends with a reference to the second coming of Christ. • 1 Thessalonians 1:10 • 1 Thessalonians 2:16-19 • 1 Thessalonians 3:13 • 1 Thessalonians 4:17 • 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Eschatology is the study of the teachings in the Bible concerning the end times or of the period of time dealing with the return of Christ and the events that follow.

5. “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (Revelation 12:1–4, NIV) “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13, NIV) Paul gives us no scenery of end times Compare Paul and John

6. Later changed to October 21, 2011

7. 16 best selling books • Movies • Children book series • Video games • Audio books • Albums • Published 1995 to 2007 • Total sales for the series have surpassed 65 million copies. Seven titles in the adult series have reached #1 on the bestseller lists for the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.

9. 1 Thessalonians 1 • How the church was born • An elect group (1:1–5) • An exemplary group (1:6–7) • An enthusiastic group (1:8) • An expectant group (1:9–10) The Chosen & The Coming Wrath

10. Fill In The Blanks on These Quotes love love (or charity) hear see • And now these three remain: faith, hope and ________. But the greatest of these is _______. • Don’t believe anything you ____ and only half of what you___. • But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the ______, but only the _________. • In this world you will have ____________________. But take heart! I have overcome the world. • You can ______ your friends but you cannot ______ your family. • Who warned you to flee from the coming ______? • Text without ______ is pretext. Son Father trouble/trials/tribulation choose choose wrath context

11. “Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1a, NIV) Notice that this letter is written to the church, not any particular person in the church • Team approach: • Paul is the Apostle, abnormally born • Silas is the Prophet (Acts 15:32) • Timothy is the Pastor & “beloved child”

12. “Grace and peace to you. We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:1b–3) Both letters to the Thessalonians begin and end with the same expression of prayer for peace. “Work” and “Labor” point to a problem Paul is addressing later. “A brief definition of true Christianity“ John Calvin (1509-1564)

13. Claim 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5a Evidence An Elect Group Paul saw evidence of things that his words alone could not create; it was the work & power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 16: Paul prohibited from going east to Asia, the he had vision of man from Macedonia asking him to come. Closer Look

14. “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, . . .” (1 Thessalonians 1:4a) • “Chosen” • Doctrine of Election • Predestination • Calvinism • Reformed Church T.U.L.I.P

15. T: Man is sinful, none are righteous, & all are slaves to sin U: God elects man for salvation, regardless of condition. T.U.L.I.P Total DepravityUnconditional ElectionLimited AtonementIrresistible GracePerseverance of the Saints L: Jesus died for the ones given him by God, the elect only. I: The elect cannot resist the call to grace, others can resist P: The elect cannot loose salvation. Once save always saved What is the opposite of Calvinism?

16. A: God’selection is based on His foreknowledge of who chose Him D: Depraved man is still able to respond to God’s grace & call S: Man has free will to choose or reject salvation from Christ I: Christ died for everyone so all can be save, if they chose Arminianism Diminished depravity Abrogated electionImpersonal atonement Sedentary graceYieldable justification Y: God’s sheep can be lost and man can fall into apostasy D.A.I.S.Y

19. God has chosen you . . . Predestination Free Will “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17, NIV) “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20, NIV) “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3–4, NIV) • “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29, NIV) • “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8:33, NIV) • “he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—” (Ephesians 1:5, NIV)

20. “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, . . .” (1 Thessalonians 1:4, NIV) Who is Paul’s audience: The church or individuals? “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. . . . ” (Ephesians 1:4, NIV) • Chosen For What? • Heaven or Holiness • Salvation or Example Another Look at “Chosen” Jesus is God’s elect man and all are potentially elect in Him (Karl Barth)

21. “You know how we lived among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5b, NIV) Paul is setting up his later instruction on the problem of false prophets. He will contrast how he lived with the Thessalonians with what he hears about how the false prophets live.

22. Model Church • Welcoming the message • Spreading the message • Living the message “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6–7, NIV) An Exemplary Group • Gospel Message • In verse 5 power of the Holy Spirit given to those who preached • In verse 6 joy is given by the Holy Spirit to those who receive

23. “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,” (1 Thessalonians 1:8, NIV) A church that needs no further introduction! An Enthusiastic Group

24. “for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10, NIV) Wait, we have questions! • What does “wrath” mean? • Coming when? • How do we get rescued? • If Jesus is in heaven how does that work, exactly? • “Us,” who is us? They turned or repented from the idol worshiping culture around them An Expectant Group End

25. Wrath, New Testament Style • Romans 2:5: “storing up wrath for yourselves on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” • Romans 2:8: “there will be wrath and fury.” • Ephesians 2:3: “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” • Ephesians 5:6: “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” • John 3:36: “but the wrath of God remains on him.” • Revelation 14:10: “he also drinks the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger,”

26. Wrath, Old Testament Style • “See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.” (Jeremiah 30:23, NIV) • “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.” (Nahum 1:2, NIV)

27. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Matthew 3:7, NIV) “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:8, NIV) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2, NIV) “The ax is already at the root of the trees,”

28. Glossary • Eschatology: Theology of the last days (end times) • Parousia (presence): Second coming of Christ • Rapture: The taking of Christians out of the world. (Left Behind book series) • Great Tribulation: Jesus in Matthew 24:27 said there will be great tribulation, also stated in Revelation 7:14. Believed to last 7 years based on Daniel 12. • Pre-tribulation: Belief the rapture will come before the Great Tribulation • Post-tribulation: Belief the rapture comes after the Great Tribulation • Mid-Tribulation: Belief the rapture comes in the middle of the Great Tribulation

29. Preterism: Belief the Great Tribulation was in 70 AD when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans, as predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24:34 “this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place.” • Millennium: 1000 years described in Revelation 20. • Premillennialism: Belief the Jesus will return before the millennium • Postmillennialism: Belief that Jesus will return after the millennium. • Amillennialism: Belief that the 1000 reign is only symbolic. • Dispensationalism: Theological division of Biblical history into dispensations or eras.

30. Great Tribulation: Jesus in Matthew 24:27 said there will be great tribulation, also stated in Revelation 7:14. Believed to last 7 years based on Daniel 12. • Pre-tribulation: Belief the rapture will come before the Great Tribulation • Post-tribulation: Belief the rapture comes after the Great Tribulation • Mid-Tribulation: Belief the rapture comes in the middle of the Great Tribulation What position does Paul seem to take when he says “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”?

31. Next Week: 1 Thessalonians 2 January 21, 2018