Paul moves us forward in his second letter to speak of the Anti-Christ and the return of Christ. But he does so with a background noise of false rumours. Though we need to understand what these false rumours are it may encourage someone reading these next 2 verses that Paul and his team had to handle allegations that were simply not true.
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.” (2 Thessalonians 2 v 1-2)
It would appear some false teachers had got hold of something that Paul had said or had written and twisted it completely. For example, Paul had said in 1 Thessalonians 5 v 8 that the believers belonged to ‘the day’ and so this must mean the day of the Lord has already come because we belong to it. If the day of the Lord has come and the persecuted are still here on earth then they must have missed His coming!
How did they hear of this rumour? Paul says it could have been a misquoted prophecy of Paul’s; or a preached message of Paul; a letter that Paul supposedly had written. We don’t know anything more about those 3 examples but Paul cites them as the possible means of which has unsettled and alarmed the believers.
- There are times when you will experience an attack on what you have believed you heard from God. The NASB states, “that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us”. The word is pneuma which the NIV translates as prophecy but as you can see it simply means ‘spirit’ and so it could mean any kind of gift. The main point is that you can face an allegation that you have said something from God which you did not say.
- There are times when you will experience an attack on what may have originally been a message of encouragement that you were bringing. To see people you love now being unsettled, alarmed and disturbed because some have twisted your message can be hurtful for you because it is the opposite of your intention.
- There are times when you will experience an attack on being misquoted from something you have written. People can easily misread into what you wrote. You may wonder how on earth they can interpret what you wrote in that way but they can and they do. As you read what you wrote it stuns you to think how it can be read that way but it has been.
What do you do?
Go again. Repeat. Write another letter as Paul has done.
Bring it to the surface. Expose the false allegation. If it is a lie call it what it is. You may not be able to stop people speaking badly of you but you can do what you can do.
Paul used it to speak the truth of the coming of Christ and we will see that next. However, Paul wanted them to know what he hasn’t said and what he doesn’t believe.
“It is a lie. Don’t believe it. Don’t accept it. That’s not what I said.”
There are times when you just have to move on. But equally there are times to say ‘NO THIS IS A LIE’.
Missions Paul 