33. The Second Coming in 1st & 2nd Thessalonians

BIBLE STUDY - Self-Study

The books of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians (5 chapters and 3 chapters) are unusual in that the Second Coming of Jesus is mentioned in every chapter except one (2 Thess 3).

Here are the passages in each of the chapters:

Note that the 1 Thess 4 passage is the longest section in the Bible about the rapture (snatching up, catching up) of the church. More about this important topic in later posts.

1 Thess 1:9-10 : 9 For they themselves (believers in other towns) declare concerning us (Paul and his companions) what manner of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

1 Thess 2:18-20 : 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy!

1 Thess 3:11-13 : 11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

1 Thess 4:13-18 : 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thess 5:1-11 : 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

2 Thess 1:5-10 : 5 This is obvious evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give you who are afflicted relief with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, on that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

2 Thess 2:1-12 : 1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a word or by a letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ (or day of the Lord) had already come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away (apostasy, rebellion) comes first, and the man of sin (Antichrist) is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the very temple of God, showing himself that he is God.5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

These are all the passages in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians that refer and relate to the second coming of Jesus Christ, be it soon, or a long time from now. Bold highlighting is used to point out the words "come" and "coming".

Future Guided-Study posts will examine these verses one by one. But for now, you have them all in one place for your personal study and comparison.
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