Excerpts from the CNT:

In 1 and 2 Thessalonians Christ in His coming is revealed as the hope of the church. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians were written in the light of the Lord’s coming. In particular, every chapter of 1 Thessalonians ends with the coming of the Lord. This shows that the writer, Paul, lived and worked with the Lord’s coming before him, taking it as an attraction, an incentive, a goal, and a warning (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15-18; 5:23). Those who do not believe in Christ have no hope, but we the believers have a hope with numerous aspects. One aspect of our hope, which we may call the hope of the church, is the coming Christ, that is, Christ in His coming. Christ is the Husband of the church. Without Christ’s visible presence, the church is like a widow, a woman who is without her husband. Hence, our unique hope is the coming back of our Husband to the earth.

a. The Cause of Our Endurance

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul speaks of “endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The hope of Christ’s coming is the cause of our endurance. This endurance comes from the hope in the Lord’s coming, or from the hope in the coming Lord. [3630] While we live on the earth as believers and witnesses of Christ, we experience suffering, for which we need endurance. In the church life as well as in the family we all need endurance. We must be trained and educated—first to work, then to labor, and eventually to endure. In the work of shepherding others, endurance is crucial. If we would be successful in shepherding the saints, we must exercise endurance. Endurance involves suffering, not enjoyment. Shepherding always involves an amount of suffering. We all need an incentive that encourages us to endure the suffering. Hence, we should have the hope of the coming of Christ as the cause of our endurance.

Endurance is a real strength to us. If we have endurance, we can do everything. Endurance comes from the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). We have the hope that we will see Him, that one day He will come, and that one day He and we will be in glory (3:4). We have the hope of seeing Him and meeting Him. Often we cannot and would not do certain things, and we determine to not be defeated, simply because we realize that we will see the Lord. We must stand and fight the battle to the end because one day, perhaps tomorrow, we will meet Him. This is our hope. By such hope we have endurance. This endurance is the power and strength for us to suffer, labor, press on, live for Him, and sacrifice everything for Him. Strength is in endurance, and endurance is in hope.

Our hope is in the coming Christ with His glory; the endurance of this hope brings about the long life of our work of faith. Through such an endurance we can subdue all kinds of disappointments, discouragements, and impossibilities; we can also overcome all kinds of oppositions, obstacles, and frustrations (Heb. 4:16; Phil. 2:13; 4:11-13; 2 Thes. 3:5). Such an endurance consummates in gaining sinners, feeding the believers, perfecting the saints, and building up the church, the Body of Christ, for the kingdom of God and of Christ (2 Cor. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:58). We should be persons who endure in hope of the Lord’s coming.

The endurance of hope in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 corresponds to the waiting for the Son of God in verse 10. If we have the endurance of hope, we will wait for God’s Son from the heavens. [3631] With the endurance of hope, we wait for the coming back of the Son of God.

An important characteristic of our Christian life is that we are waiting for God’s Son from the heavens. As Christians, we must live a life that declares to others that our hope is not on this earth or in this age. Instead, our hope is in the coming Lord, and our future is in Him. On this earth we do not have any destiny, destination, or future. Our future, our destiny, and our destination are altogether focused on the Lord who is coming. He will be our hope, our future, and our destination. We are going to the Lord, and our destiny is to meet Him. As believers in Christ, we declare that we are waiting for the coming of the Son of God from the heavens.

b. Our Expectation—the One Who Delivers Us from the Wrath Which Is Coming

Christ in His coming is also our expectation, the One who delivers us from the wrath which is coming. In verse 10 Paul says that believers in Thessalonica “await His Son from the heavens, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath which is coming.” While unbelievers await the wrath which they will suffer, we the believers await Christ as the One who delivers us from the wrath which is coming, the wrath of the coming judgment of God (Rom. 2:5-9).

c. The Incentive of Our Work for Him—to Have Hope, Joy, a Crown, and Glory

The coming of Christ is our incentive to work for Him by fostering the believers unto maturity so that they may be our hope, joy, crown, and glory at His coming. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, Paul says to the believers in Thessalonica, “What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at His coming? Are not even you? For you are our glory and joy.” These verses indicate that since the apostles were the believers’ nursing mother and exhorting father (vv. 7, 11), the believers, as the apostles’ children, were their glory and joy. If we work faithfully for Christ, at His coming He will reward us with joy, a crown, and glory.

In verses 19 and 20 Paul indicates that those who work [3632] with the Lord in fostering the believers to walk worthily of God will receive a reward. This reward will be the believers whom we have fostered becoming our crown, glory, and joy. What a glory it would be to any Christian worker for the ones whom he has fostered to be matured at the Lord’s coming back! What a crown and joy this would be to him! But on the contrary, what a shame it would be if none of the believers had grown and matured.

The result of our work with young saints should be their maturing. If they mature properly, they will be in the kingdom participating in God’s glory. This maturity will then become our crown, joy, and boast before the Lord Jesus at His coming. Those who have been edified, supplied, shepherded, and led by us will be our crown, joy, and boast before the Lord. Suppose, however, that we work continually with new believers but to no avail. If this is the situation, at the Lord’s coming back there will be no result of our work. What a shame that would be! When the Lord Jesus comes, the result of our work will be manifested. We need to learn how to work with the young ones and the new ones so that they may be fostered to grow unto maturity and so that there may be a positive result of our work before the Lord at His coming. This result will then be our crown and glory as the reward of our work today.

d. The Cause of Our Blamelessness in Holiness before Our God and Father

The coming Christ is also the cause of our blamelessness in holiness before our God and Father. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” The phrase blameless in holiness means that no fault is found in our holiness. The subject of 1 Thessalonians is a holy life for the church life—serving the living God, conducting ourselves in a holy manner, and waiting for the Lord’s coming. The subject of 2 Thessalonians is encouragement and correction concerning the holy life for the church life. Striking points in these Epistles are holiness and sanctification.

The establishing of the believers’ hearts blameless issues [3633] from faith and love. This spontaneously produces the hope of the coming back of our dear Lord, in whom we believe and whom we love. Inwardly, our heart must be established in holiness; outwardly, our body must be preserved in sanctification (1 Thes. 4:4; 5:23). This is so that we may have a holy life, and this holy life is for the church life.

The establishing of our heart is the result of the perfecting of our faith and of the increase and abounding of our love (3:6, 10, 12). For our hearts to be established blameless in holiness involves dispositional sanctification, not merely positional separation or sinless perfection. This indicates that the Lord is doing a work of building in us. This building work is to establish our heart. Our heart needs to be built up, to be established blameless.

Second Thessalonians 2:13 says, “We ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This verse speaks of salvation in sanctification, and 1 Thessalonians 3:13, of being blameless in holiness. To be in holiness is different from being in sanctification. Of course, holiness and sanctification both refer to an element that is holy. However, holiness refers to the element itself, and sanctification refers to the process of being made holy, the process of being sanctified. A process is going on to make us holy; this process is sanctification. Therefore, to be in holiness is to be in the element, and to be in sanctification is to be in the process of being made holy.

God’s salvation is in sanctification. This means that God’s salvation involves a continuing process through which we are being made holy. As this process is taking place, we enjoy God’s saving power. Holiness is the element of God’s holy nature. It is in this element that we are to be blameless. For our heart to be established blameless in holiness, it needs the element of holiness added to it. We need to be blameless in the element of holiness, and we also need to undergo the process of sanctification so that we may enjoy God’s salvation daily and even hourly.

Our heart is blamable, worthy of blame, because it is [3634] changeable; an unchanging heart is a blameless heart (Psa. 57:7; 108:1; 112:7). God is the unchanging One, but according to our natural birth our heart is changeable, both in our relationship with others and with the Lord (cf. 2 Tim. 4:10; Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23). There is no one who, according to his natural, human life, is steadfast in his heart; because our heart changes so easily, it is not at all trustworthy (Jer. 17:9-10; 13:23). In God’s salvation the renewing of the heart is once for all, but in our experience our heart is renewed continually, because it is changeable (Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 4:16). Because our heart is changeable, it needs to be renewed continually by the sanctifying Spirit so that our heart can be established and built up in the state of being holy, separated unto God, occupied by God, possessed by God, and saturated with God (Titus 3:5; Rom. 6:19, 22). If our heart is set, built up, and established upon a solid foundation, it will then become blameless. An unchanging heart is a blameless heart.

We need to realize and admit that our heart is changeable. Therefore, we need to receive mercy and grace from the Lord that we may give Him the permission to establish our heart. He is waiting for our permission before He works within us to do the establishing. When our heart has been established, it will become blameless.

When we were away from the Lord, our heart also was turned away from Him. Instead of being occupied by the Lord, our heart was occupied by many other things. Furthermore, our heart certainly was not saturated with the Lord. However, we can praise the Lord that through His mercy and grace, we are now on the way to being separated fully unto the Lord, to being occupied wholly by Him, and to being saturated thoroughly with Him. When this process has been completed, our heart will be in the state of being holy, in the state of holiness.

For our heart to be established blameless in holiness includes much more than simply for our heart to turn to the Lord and to be pure toward the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16; Matt. 5:8). This is to have our turned and pure heart separated unto the Lord, occupied by the Lord, and saturated with the Lord. Such a heart not only has turned to the Lord, but it also has a [3635] pure motive. It is separated unto Him, fully occupied by Him, and thoroughly saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will no longer be movable or changeable. Furthermore, when our heart is in such a condition, it will become blameless.

To be blameless is not the same as to be perfect. When something is perfect, it is without blemish or defect. This goes beyond blamelessness. In other words, to be without blame is not as good as to be without blemish. In 1 Thessalonians 3:13 Paul does not require perfection. Rather, he requires only that our heart be blameless. The way for our heart to be blameless is for it to be established by the Lord. If our heart is established by Him, we will be those whose hearts have been separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him, and saturated with Him. Then our heart will be set, established, and built up in holiness. Here, in this state of holiness, the state of being made holy, our heart will become blameless.

We all need to look to the Lord to have mercy on us. We need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. I want to have my mind renewed. I want to have my emotion filled with Your love. I want to have a will that is truly one with Your will.” If we have such a heart, then the heart will be established blameless in holiness, blameless in the state of being made holy.

e. Our Comfort concerning the Dead in Him

The hope of Christ’s coming is our comfort concerning the dead in Him. According to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the hope of Christ’s coming comforts us concerning the dead in Christ, in order that we would not sorrow or lose heart but instead believe that all the dead ones will be raised up to meet the Lord with us in the air on the day of His coming.

In verses 13 through 18, Paul gives an elementary word concerning the Lord’s coming as a comfort and encouragement in the death of the believers. What Paul describes in this passage is the general hope of all believers. This is the hope of a holy life for the church life. Because of man’s fall there is no hope for the fallen human race. The only expectation that unbelievers have is death. Death is their destination. Day by day they are living with a view toward their death, and they are on the way to death. Thus, death is their future. In Ephesians 2:12 Paul describes the hopeless situation of unbelievers: “You were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Unbelievers have no hope because they do not have God. Because they are apart from Christ and their living is without God, they do not have any hope. The [3638] only thing that awaits them is death. For this reason, unbelievers do not like to think about their future. Actually, they do not have a positive future. In their future looms the darkness of death.

To the believers, however, Paul presents in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 a basic concept of the hope of our Christian life. He wants to impress us with the fact that the Christian life, which is a holy life for the church life, has a hope. Therefore, this life is absolutely different from the hopeless life of fallen mankind. The hope of the Christian life is the Lord’s coming back, and this hope includes resurrection.

In verse 13 Paul says, “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, that you would not grieve even as also the rest who have no hope.” The words those who are sleeping refer to the dead (v. 16; John 11:11-14; 1 Cor. 11:30). The death of believers is considered by both the Lord and the apostle as sleep. Perhaps by the time Paul wrote this Epistle, some of the believers in Thessalonica had died. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Paul to write about this matter.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:14 Paul continues, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God will bring with Him.” To believe in the hope described here includes believing in the Lord’s resurrection. Anyone who does not believe in Christ’s resurrection will not believe in this hope. But if we believe in this hope, this indicates that we have already believed in Christ’s resurrection.

Verses 15 and 16 say, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left remaining unto the coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep; because the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” We need to pay careful attention to the word rise in verse 16. If the dead are already in heaven, what need is there for them to rise? If they are truly in heaven, they do not need to rise. Furthermore, they do not need to be raptured or to be caught up to the Lord. Their only need [3639] would be to descend from heaven with the Lord Jesus. The fact that verse 16 says that the dead in Christ will rise indicates that they must be in some place other than heaven.

In verse 15 the Greek word translated “coming” is parousia, or “presence.” In verse 16 the Greek words rendered “shout of command” implies a signal for assembling. The trumpet of God is the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52), a trumpet for assembling God’s redeemed people (cf. Num. 10:2).

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Paul goes on to say, “Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord.” According to this verse, both the dead and the living believers will be caught up to the Lord. First the dead will be raised, and then the living believers will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

In Revelation 12 the man-child, that is, the overcomers, is caught up, raptured, to the throne of God in the third heaven before the great tribulation, the last three and a half years of the present age (vv. 5-6, 14). In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 the majority of the believers, including those who are resurrected from the dead and those who are living at that time, are raptured to the air at the end of the great tribulation, at the time of the Lord’s coming (parousia).

According to the Bible, in Hades, there are two sections: a section of comfort and a section of torment. The dead believers are in the comfortable section of Hades (Luke 16:22, 25-26), Paradise (23:43). Dead unbelievers are in the section of torment. The section of torment and suffering is different from the lake of fire. The unpleasant part of Hades may be compared to a jail in contrast to a prison. A jail is a place where criminals are held temporarily. But after a criminal has been tried and judged, he is taken from jail and put into prison. The sinners now in the section of torment in Hades are awaiting the final judgment, which will take place at the white throne of God (Rev. 20:11). After that, the sinners will be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal prison.

The dead saints are in Paradise, and when the Lord Jesus comes, they will rise up. However, they will not rise up to [3640] heaven; rather, they will rise up, and then the living saints will be caught up together with them in the clouds. This is the reason 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, according to verse 17, those who are living will be caught up at the same time with the dead believers to meet the Lord in the air.

According to the Word of God, when the Lord Jesus descends from heaven, the dead saints will rise up. Their spirit and soul will rise out of Paradise, their body will rise up from the tomb, and their spirit and soul with their body will make them perfect. They will then join the believers who are living, and together we will all be caught up to the Lord.

As Christians, we should live a holy life for the church life. This life has a hope, the hope that the Lord whom we are serving today will come back. At His coming back, the saints who have died will rise up from Paradise and the tomb to be caught up with those who are alive and remain.

f. The Cause of Our Watchfulness

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Paul indicates that the coming Christ is the cause of our watchfulness. We have a wonderful hope, a hope that the Lord Jesus will come back and that we will be raptured to Him. Along with this hope, we need to be watchful and sober. We should not be asleep, and we should not be drunk or in some kind of stupor.

In verses 1 through 3 Paul indicates that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. Verse 1 says, “Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you.” Times and seasons here refer to the times and the seasons with regard to the Lord’s coming. This is confirmed by the expression the day of the Lord in verse 2.

In verse 2 Paul goes on to say, “For you yourselves know perfectly well that like a thief in the night, so the day of the Lord comes.” The coming of the Lord in chapter 4 is mainly for comfort and encouragement. The day of the Lord in chapter 5 is mainly for warning (vv. 3-6), since it is mentioned in the Word mostly in relation to the Lord’s judgment (1 Cor. 1:8; 3:13; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; 2 Tim. 4:8). [3641]

The fact that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night indicates that its coming is kept secret and that it will come suddenly. It is not known beforehand by anyone (Matt. 24:42-43; Rev. 3:3; 16:15). This thought is strengthened by what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:3: “When they say, Peace and security, then sudden destruction comes upon them, just as birth pangs to a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape.” The coming destruction in this verse is related to the salvation mentioned in verses 8 and 9. Salvation in these verses is salvation from the coming destruction through the Lord’s coming back, not salvation from eternal perdition through the Lord’s death. Fallen man will perish for eternity—that is, eternal perdition. We who have believed in the Lord Jesus will be saved from eternal perdition. We have already obtained salvation in this respect. We have been saved from eternal perdition, and we will never perish.

Furthermore, in the light of Romans 8:21-25, we will also be saved from the slavery of corruption of the old creation. All created things today are subject to the slavery of corruption. The entire old creation is enslaved to corruption. Everything, including our physical body, is decaying. To grow old is to decay. We all are in the process of decaying (2 Cor. 4:16). The slavery of corruption in the old creation is controlling us, and we are subject to it. But when the Lord Jesus comes and we are raptured, we will be saved from the slavery of corruption of the old creation. Therefore, the Lord’s coming and our rapture will save us from two things: destruction and the slavery of corruption. This is the salvation mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9, with the primary emphasis being the salvation from the coming destruction.

What is this coming destruction? This destruction is related to the battle that is raging between God and Satan. Near the time of the Lord’s coming, destruction will take place suddenly. That destruction will come primarily from God, but a portion of it will be caused by Satan. God will judge this rebellious world, and Satan will fight back. The result of the intense battle raging between God and Satan will be sudden destruction. It will be when people say, “Peace and security,” that this destruction will come suddenly. [3642]

We need to be saved from this sudden destruction. The way to be saved from it is to be watchful and sober. As God is fighting, we must take sides with Him and fight for His interests. Since He is fighting, we should be fighting also.

Actually, to fight is to be watchful. Only those who are fighting are truly watchful. The more we are fighting, the more watchful we will be. As long as we are fighting, we need not try to be watchful, for we will be watchful automatically. The Christian life, a holy life for the church life, is a life of fighting. We are on the battlefield, and we need to be alert, watchful, and vigilant.

In verse 4 Paul reminds us that we are not in darkness that the day should overtake us as a thief, and in verse 5 he points out that we are sons of light and sons of the day and thus are not of the night nor of darkness. Then in verse 6 he exhorts us to watch and be sober: “So then let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober.” To sleep here is to be unwatchful. To watch is versus to sleep, and to be sober is versus to be drunk (v. 7). In view of the hope of the Lord’s coming, we need to consider ourselves and ask whether we are watchful or sleeping, whether we are sober or drunk.

In verse 7 Paul says, “For those who sleep, sleep during the night, and those who get drunk are drunk during the night.” Here to be drunk is to be in a stupor. To be watchful and to be sober are related to safeguarding the three basic structures of the holy life for the church life: faith, love, and hope. Verse 8 indicates this: “Since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet, the hope of salvation.” The breastplate and the helmet here point to spiritual warfare. The breastplate, which covers and protects our heart and spirit according to God’s righteousness (Eph. 6:14), is of faith and love; the helmet, which covers and protects our mentality, our mind, is the hope of salvation (v. 17). Faith, love, and hope are the three basic constructing elements of the genuine Christian life, as depicted in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Faith is related to our will, a part of our heart (Rom. 10:9), and to our conscience, a part of our spirit (1 Tim. 1:19); love is related to our emotion, another part of our heart (Matt. 22:37); and hope is related to our understanding, the function [3643] of our mind. All these need to be protected so that a genuine Christian life can be maintained. Such a life is watchful and sober (1 Thes. 5:6-7). At the beginning of the Epistle, the apostle praised the believers’ work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope (1:3). Here, at the conclusion of the Epistle, he exhorted them to keep these spiritual virtues covered and protected by fighting for them.

The hope spoken of in 5:8 is the hope of our Lord’s coming back, which will be our salvation from both the coming destruction and from the slavery of corruption of the old creation (Rom. 8:21-25). According to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, we need armor to safeguard our faith, love, and hope. If we would protect these aspects of the basic structure of a holy life for the church life, we need to be watchful and sober. Therefore, being watchful and sober should be part of our living as we hope in the Lord’s coming back. We need a life of watchfulness and soberness in order to wait for the Lord’s coming. In other words, as we exercise our hope in the Lord’s coming back, we need a watchful life and a sober life.

Watchfulness here is related to a battle, a fight. Some versions use the word vigilant, a word related to warfare. Soldiers in a battle need to be watchful, vigilant. The fact that watchfulness is related to fighting is confirmed by Paul’s mention of the breastplate and helmet in verse 8. A breastplate and helmet are not ordinary items of dress. They are, of course, part of the armor used by soldiers in fighting. Paul’s concept of being watchful and sober, therefore, is related to fighting, to warfare. In these verses Paul is speaking in reference to battle.

It is important for us to see that watchfulness refers to a proper spirit in fighting a battle. To be watchful is to continue fighting. In these verses to be watchful is to remember that we are in a battle, that we are fighting and are surrounded by enemies. This is the reason that we need a helmet and also a breastplate.

To be sober is to be clear about everything related to the battle. It is to be clear about where the enemy is, what the enemy is doing, and how the enemy is attacking. It is also to be clear about how to protect ourselves and how to fight back. [3644] Those who are sober are fully clear about their situation. We need to be watchful and sober. This means that we need to keep on fighting. We also need to safeguard the structure of our Christian life by wearing the armor. Then when the Lord Jesus comes, we will be saved from the sudden destruction.

In verses 9 and 10 Paul says, “God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with Him.” Since God did not appoint us to wrath, we should watch, be sober, and fight to cooperate with God that we may gain His salvation through the Lord Jesus. We are waiting for salvation from destruction and from the slavery of corruption. Then we will enjoy the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.

In verse 10 Paul speaks of living together with the Lord. The Lord died for us not only that we may be saved from eternal perdition but also that we may live together with Him, through His resurrection, a life that can save us from the coming destruction. We may live together with Him whether we watch or sleep, that is, whether we live or die. On the one hand, the Lord is away from us, and we are awaiting His coming back; on the other hand, He is with us (Matt. 28:20), and we can live together with Him (Rom. 6:8).

g. The Cause of Our Complete Sanctification in Our Spirit, Soul, and Body

The coming of Christ is the cause of the complete sanctification in our spirit, soul, and body. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Man is of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit as our inmost part is the inner organ, possessing God-consciousness, that we may contact God (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9). The soul is our self (cf. Matt. 16:26; Luke 9:25), a medium between our spirit and our body, possessing self-consciousness, that we may have our personality. The body as our external part is the outer organ, possessing world-consciousness, that we may contact the material world. The body contains the soul, and the soul is the vessel that contains the spirit. In the spirit, God as the Spirit dwells; in the soul, our self dwells; and in the body, the physical senses dwell. God sanctifies us, first, by taking possession of our spirit through regeneration (John 3:5-6); second, by spreading Himself as the life-giving Spirit from our spirit into our soul to saturate and transform our soul (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18); and last, by enlivening our mortal body through [3646] our soul (Rom. 8:11, 13) and transfiguring our body by His life power (Phil. 3:21).

God not only has made us holy in position by the redeeming blood of Christ to separate us unto Himself in His judicial redemption; He also is sanctifying us in disposition by His own holy nature to saturate us with Himself in His organic salvation (Heb. 13:12; 10:29; Rom. 6:19, 22; Eph. 5:26). God’s dispositional sanctification of our spirit, soul, and body is to “sonize” us divinely, making us sons of God that we may become the same as God is in His life and in His nature but not in His Godhead so that we can be God’s expression (1:4-5; Heb. 2:10-11). By sanctifying us, God transforms us in the essence of our spirit, soul, and body, making us wholly like Him in nature.

God not only sanctifies us wholly but also preserves our spirit, soul, and body complete. Wholly is quantitative; complete is qualitative. Quantitatively, God sanctifies us wholly; qualitatively, God preserves us complete, that is, He keeps our spirit, soul, and body perfect. The word wholly means “entirely, thoroughly, to the consummation.” God sanctifies us wholly so that no part of our being—our spirit, soul, or body—will be left common or profane.

Through the fall our body was ruined, our soul was contaminated, and our spirit was deadened. In God’s full salvation our entire being is saved and made complete and perfect. God is preserving our spirit from any deadening element (9:14), our soul from remaining natural and old (Matt. 16:24-26), and our body from the ruin of sin (1 Thes. 4:4; Rom. 6:6). God’s preservation and His thorough sanctification sustain us to live a holy life unto maturity that we may meet the Lord in His parousia, His coming.

Although God preserves us, we need to take the responsibility, the initiative, to cooperate with His operation, to be preserved by keeping our spirit, soul, and body in the saturating of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes. 5:12-24). In the second part of verse 23 Paul says, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame.” In the first part of the verse concerning God’s sanctifying us, it is God who takes the initiative. But in the second part of the verse concerning our [3647] spirit, soul, and body being preserved, we are the ones who should take the initiative. The command be preserved may be regarded as an active-passive verb. This means that we take the initiative to be preserved, although God is the One who preserves our spirit, soul, and body. Therefore, we should pray, “Lord, I long to have my spirit, soul, and body preserved. However, I cannot do this work. I take the initiative, Lord, to ask You to do this.”

In verse 23 Paul refers to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here Paul indicates that in order to be ready, prepared, and qualified for the coming back of the Lord Jesus, we must be sanctified wholly and preserved complete and without blame in our spirit, soul, and body.

In order to cooperate with God to preserve our spirit in sanctification, we must keep our spirit in a living condition by exercising our spirit. In order to preserve our spirit, we must keep our spirit living by exercising it to have fellowship with God. If we fail to exercise our spirit in this way, we will leave it in a deadened situation. To preserve our spirit is first of all to exercise our spirit, to keep it living and to pull it out of death. To rejoice, pray, and give thanks are to exercise our spirit (vv. 16-18). Moreover, we need to cooperate with the sanctifying God to be separated from a spirit-deadening situation (Num. 6:6-8; 2 Cor. 5:4). We must worship God, serve God, and fellowship with God in and with our spirit. Whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we do toward God must be in our spirit (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9; Phil. 2:1). In order to preserve our spirit, we should keep it from all defilement and contamination (2 Cor. 7:1) and exercise ourselves to have a conscience without offense toward God and men (Acts 24:16; Rom. 9:1; cf. 8:16).

In order to cooperate with God to preserve our soul in sanctification, we must take care of the three parts of our soul—our mind, emotion, and will. In order for our soul to be sanctified, our mind must be renewed to be the mind of Christ (12:2), our emotion must be touched and saturated with the love of Christ (Eph. 3:17, 19), our will must be subdued by and infused with the resurrected Christ (Phil. 2:13; [3648] cf. S.S. 4:4a; 7:4a), and we must love the Lord with our whole being (Mark 12:30).

Furthermore, we need to make a thorough confession to the Lord. We should stay with the Lord for a period of time, asking Him to bring us fully into the light. In the shining of His light which exposes us, we should confess our defects, failures, defeats, mistakes, wrongdoings, and sins (1 John 1:5-9). We need to confess everything that is sinful in our thoughts and in our way of thinking. We need to confess the germs of rebellion in our will. We need to confess that we express our joy and sorrow in a natural and even fleshy way and that we often hate what we should love and love what we should hate.

In order to cooperate with God to preserve our body in sanctification, we must present our body to Him so that we may live a holy life for the church life, practicing the Body life in order to carry out God’s perfect will (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Thes. 4:4; 5:18). In order to have our body preserved, we should no longer live by our old man (Rom. 6:6). If we do not live by our old man, our body will be a slave to righteousness instead of a slave to sin (vv. 13, 19). Positively, we preserve our body by presenting it to God a living sacrifice (12:1). Then our body will even become a member of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15) so that we may live Christ, express Christ, and magnify Christ (Phil. 1:20). Furthermore, our body will be the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit for God’s dwelling (1 Cor. 6:19). God dwells in our body to move and to express Himself, to glorify Himself. In this way our spirit, soul, and body will be preserved in the Triune God. This is a holy life, and this is to be saved in the sanctification of the Spirit.

h. The Incentive of Our Suffering for Him

Christ in His coming is the incentive of our suffering for Him. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7 Paul says, “To you who are being afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power, in flaming fire.” The Greek word translated “rest” also means “relief, ease, repose, liberty.” In this age the believers suffer persecutions and troubles for the Lord. At the Lord’s coming back they will [3649] be relieved of their sufferings and enter into the Lord’s rest and enjoy its liberty.

In verse 7 Paul speaks of the revelation of the Lord Jesus. Although the Lord is here today, He is veiled; His coming back will be the time of His unveiling. The universe is immeasurably vast in its dimensions, yet with the Lord there is no such thing as distance. He is everywhere. One day, at His coming, He will be unveiled, and everyone will see Him. At the unveiling of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power, we will rest. The time has not yet come for us to rest. Our rest will be at the Lord’s coming, at His unveiling.

In verse 10 Paul speaks of Christ coming to be glorified in His saints: “When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed (because our testimony to you was believed) in that day.” The Lord is the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8); He was glorified in His resurrection and ascension (John 17:1; Luke 24:26; Heb. 2:9). Now He is in us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) to bring us into glory (Heb. 2:10). At His coming back, on the one hand, He will come from the heavens with glory (Rev. 10:1; Matt. 25:31), and on the other hand, He will be glorified in His saints; that is, His glory will be manifested from within His members, causing their body of humiliation to be transfigured into His glory, conforming it to the body of His glory (Phil. 3:21). Thus, the unbelievers will marvel at Him, admire Him, and wonder at Him in us, His believers.

i. The Day of His Coming (Parousia—Presence)

We are awaiting the day of His coming, His parousia, which is His personal presence. This day will come only after the apostasy (2 Thes. 2:3a) and the revelation of the man of lawlessness and sin—Antichrist (vv. 3b-4, 8-10)—who will be manifested during the last seven years of this age (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:21; cf. v. 15).

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Paul says, “Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” In this verse two matters are covered: the Lord’s parousia (presence) and our gathering together (rapture) to Him. The Lord’s parousia will begin [3650] with the rapture of the overcomers to the throne of God in heaven (Rev. 12:5-6); at the end of the great tribulation, which will occur in the last three and a half years of this age, the second half of the last week in Daniel 9:27 (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 11:2), His parousia will come to the air (10:1) and last for a time; and it will end with its manifestation, the manifestation of His coming (2 Thes. 2:8; Matt. 24:30). During the time in which the Lord’s parousia remains in the air, the majority of the believers will be raptured to meet the Lord there (1 Thes. 4:17).

Second Thessalonians 2:2 says, “That you be not quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit nor by word nor by a letter as if by us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” According to the context, the expression the day of the Lord in this verse refers to the day of the Lord’s parousia (coming), in which the rapture of the majority of the believers will occur.

In verse 3 Paul says, “Let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition.” The Greek word translated “deceive” may also be rendered “beguile,” which means “not only making a false impression but actually leading astray” (Vincent).

In verse 3 the pronoun it refers to the day of the Lord’s coming. This day will not come unless the apostasy comes first. This apostasy will be a falling away from the straight way of God’s economy as revealed in the Scriptures. There is a strong prophecy in the Bible that before the Lord’s coming back, there will be a great apostasy among His people, a falling away from the path of God’s economy. Even today there is a tendency among some Christians to leave the straight way of the New Testament.

Verse 3 also indicates that the day of the Lord will not come before the man of lawlessness is revealed. This man of lawlessness is Antichrist, as prophesied in Daniel 7:20-21, 24-26; 8:9-12, 23-25; 9:27; 11:36-37; Revelation 13:1-8, 12-18; and 19:19-20. He will be the man of lawlessness, casting down the truth to the ground, changing laws, destroying and corrupting many to an extraordinary degree, blaspheming [3651] God, and deceiving men. Hence, the Lord will utterly destroy him, and he will become the son of perdition.

Second Thessalonians 2:3 indicates strongly that the Lord’s coming back will not precede the tribulation. Before the Lord’s coming there will first be the apostasy and also the revealing of the man of lawlessness. This means that prior to the Lord’s coming, one matter—the apostasy—and one person—Antichrist—must appear first.

Paul told the Thessalonians that since the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness must come before the day of the Lord’s coming, they should not be shaken by anything or anyone that would claim that the day of the Lord has already come. The apostasy must take place, and Antichrist must be revealed. Antichrist will be fully revealed during the great tribulation.

In verse 4 Paul gives a further description of Antichrist: “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God.” This fulfills the prophecy concerning Antichrist in Daniel 11:36-37; it will take place in the midst of the last week, as prophesied in Daniel 9:27.

The temple of God mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 is “the holy place” in Matthew 24:15. Second Thessalonians 2:4 indicates that the temple of God will be rebuilt before the Lord comes back. The temple was destroyed more than nineteen centuries ago, but this verse says that Antichrist will seat himself in the temple of God. Therefore, the temple must be rebuilt. The nation of Israel has been formed again, and the city of Jerusalem has been returned to Israel. However, the temple has not yet been rebuilt. Some Jews are deeply stirred concerning the rebuilding of the temple. One day this temple will be rebuilt, and, according to the prophecy of Daniel, Antichrist will seat himself in it.

In verse 6 Paul goes on to say, “Now you know that which restrains, so that he might be revealed in his own time.” This verse indicates that some power hinders the revelation of the man of lawlessness, Antichrist.

In verse 7 Paul continues, “It is the mystery of lawlessness [3652] that is now operating, but only until the one now restraining goes out of the way.” The lawlessness that will characterize Antichrist is already operating in this age mysteriously. It is the mystery of lawlessness working today among the nations and in human society. Even now there is a tendency for lawlessness to be prevailing. Antichrist will be the totality of lawlessness.

According to God’s sovereignty, there is one who restrains now until he goes out of the way. This probably means that the restraining factor will eventually be taken out of the way. Although the mystery of lawlessness is already operating, this lawlessness is at the present time restrained, restricted. But one day this restrainer will be taken away. We need to realize from the prophecy of the Bible that one day the restraining factor will be removed, and then Antichrist will be unrestricted.

Verse 8 says, “Then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming).” This will be fulfilled in Revelation 19:19-20. This verse indicates that the Lord’s coming (parousia) is hidden before it is manifested openly. This indicates also that the Lord’s coming involves a period of time. It will remain in secret, and then it will be manifested to the public.

Speaking of Antichrist in verse 9, Paul says, “The coming of whom is according to Satan’s operation in all power and signs and wonders of a lie.” This verse reveals that the coming of Antichrist is according to the operation of Satan. The reason Antichrist will be so lawless is that he will be under Satan’s operation. Due to the motivation of Satan, he will become extremely powerful. The operation of Satan is with power and signs and wonders of a lie. The entire operation of Satan to deceive people (v. 10) is in its totality a lie, just as he is a liar and the father of liars (John 8:44).

In summary, Paul speaks of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him. Paul also tells the believers not to be quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit, by word, or by letter as if by the apostles that the day of the Lord is present. He also charges them not [3653] to allow anyone to deceive them. Then Paul goes on to say that the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, is revealed in his own time. At present, although the mystery of lawlessness is already working, there is a restraining factor, but one day this factor will be removed. Then the lawless one will be revealed. However, the Lord Jesus will slay him by the breath of His mouth and bring him to nothing by the manifestation of His coming. The coming of the lawless one will be according to the operation of Satan, in all power, signs, and wonders of a lie and in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Because of this, God will send them an operation of error that they might believe the lie. After the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness, there will be the appearing of the Lord’s parousia. The revelation of Antichrist will be completed during the last seven years of this age. This revelation of Antichrist must be first, and then there will be the appearing of the Lord’s parousia.