DON'T WORRY. IT GETS WORSE (12 OF 13)
by Drew Hunter
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
This content is part of a series.
Don't Worry. It Gets Worse (12 of 13)
Series: Until He Comes
Drew Hunter
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
I want to begin by drawing attention to an assumption of this text.
And it's one we've seen throughout these letters. It is the importance of knowing for living. It's the assumption that theology is practical.
The Apostle Paul planted this church.
But persecution quickly ran him out of town. The Thessalonian Christians believe the gospel. They heard Paul teach. But they also have some theological gaps.
One of their gaps has to do with what to expect in the future. They don't have settled convictions about what to expect with Jesus' return. They were nervous about the second coming of Jesus. They were uncertain about how things would unfold.
Many of us can relate. We may not know where things are heading as a culture. We don't know what to expect in the future. We don't know what to expect about the time right before Jesus returns. Plenty of people speculate. They write books. They write novels. And these speculations end up leading to more confusion and worry.
And Paul sees that these theological gaps are leading to practical issues.
And so he addresses their practical problems with theology.
I was just meeting with some of the men in my small group this week. We're discussing how good doctrine and theology is practical. We're reading a book by Sinclair Ferguson called, The Christian Life. Our text assumes something that he wrote: ''the conviction that Christian doctrine matters for Christian living is one of the most important growth points for the Christian life. Most of us, by nature, are not students but more 'practical' types, 'doers' rather than 'thinkers.' Yet both Scripture and the history of the Church indicate to us that it is, generally speaking, 'thinkers' who make the best 'doers'... However paradoxical it seems to our natural minds, it is one of the facts of spiritual reality that practical Christian living is based on ...
Series: Until He Comes
Drew Hunter
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
I want to begin by drawing attention to an assumption of this text.
And it's one we've seen throughout these letters. It is the importance of knowing for living. It's the assumption that theology is practical.
The Apostle Paul planted this church.
But persecution quickly ran him out of town. The Thessalonian Christians believe the gospel. They heard Paul teach. But they also have some theological gaps.
One of their gaps has to do with what to expect in the future. They don't have settled convictions about what to expect with Jesus' return. They were nervous about the second coming of Jesus. They were uncertain about how things would unfold.
Many of us can relate. We may not know where things are heading as a culture. We don't know what to expect in the future. We don't know what to expect about the time right before Jesus returns. Plenty of people speculate. They write books. They write novels. And these speculations end up leading to more confusion and worry.
And Paul sees that these theological gaps are leading to practical issues.
And so he addresses their practical problems with theology.
I was just meeting with some of the men in my small group this week. We're discussing how good doctrine and theology is practical. We're reading a book by Sinclair Ferguson called, The Christian Life. Our text assumes something that he wrote: ''the conviction that Christian doctrine matters for Christian living is one of the most important growth points for the Christian life. Most of us, by nature, are not students but more 'practical' types, 'doers' rather than 'thinkers.' Yet both Scripture and the history of the Church indicate to us that it is, generally speaking, 'thinkers' who make the best 'doers'... However paradoxical it seems to our natural minds, it is one of the facts of spiritual reality that practical Christian living is based on ...
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