{THE PRISON LETTERS}
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{EPHESUS, COLOSSAE, PHILIPPI}
- Who is the Beginning - {PDF Copy} - (To the Colossians, Paul emphasized the exalted position of Jesus that he attained following his death and resurrection)
- Until the Day of Christ - {PDF Copy} - (Paul exhorts the church to pursue perfection, a process that will culminate in the resurrection on the Day of Christ)
- The Suffering Servant - {PDF Copy} - (Disciples are summoned to adopt the same mind that Jesus had when he poured out his life unto death for the sake of others)
- One People in Christ - {PDF Copy} - (By his death, Jesus formed one covenant community - “one new Man” - based on faith in him, not ethnicity)
- Warfare in the Spirit - {PDF Copy} - (Disciples wage spiritual warfare through right conduct, acts of love, and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ)
- The Mind of Christ - {PDF Copy} - (Christ’s submission to an unjust death is the paradigm for the kind of love and service that disciples are summoned to emulate)
- God's One Household - {PDF Copy} - (The promises, types, and shadows of the Hebrew Bible are fulfilled in the Son of God and Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth)
{THESSALONICA}
- To the Assembly - {PDF Copy} - (The Thessalonians received the faith in tribulation, remaining faithful while anticipating the arrival of Jesus from heaven)
- Rescuing us from Wrath - {PDF Copy} - (Already, Jesus is “rescuing” his people from the coming “wrath” that will befall the unrighteous when he arrives)
- Crown of Glory - {PDF Copy} - (If the Thessalonians continue to emulate the apostolic example, they will receive the crown of glory at the arrival of Jesus)
- Tribulation vs Wrath - {PDF Copy} - (Disciples escape God’s wrath, but they endure tribulation. And according to Paul, the church has been appointed to tribulation – 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4)
- Blameless on that Day - {PDF Copy} - (Paul prays for the Thessalonians to be found holy and blameless on the day when Jesus arrives in glory – 1 Thessalonians 3:13)
- Meeting Jesus - {PDF Copy} - (Paul reassures the Thessalonians regarding the participation of dead saints in the arrival of Jesus from heaven)
- Sorrow Not - {PDF Copy} - (Foundational to the hope of the church is the bodily resurrection of believers when Jesus arrives from heaven)
- Times and Seasons - {PDF Copy} - (Paul did not detail “times and seasons” since the Thessalonians knew well that the Lord will come “like a thief in the night”)
- Sons of Light - {PDF Copy} - (The Day of the Lord will mean salvation to the “sons of light” who remain ever vigilant and prepared for it)
- Sanctified Wholly - {PDF Copy} - (Considering the future arrival of Jesus, Paul summons believers to become sanctified completely by that day)
- Redemption or Abandonment? - {PDF Copy} - (At the heart of salvation is the future resurrection at Christ’s return and the arrival of the new heavens and new earth)
- His Parousia - {PDF Copy} - (The arrival of Jesus will mean the resurrection of the dead, the commencement of the New Creation, and the final judgment)
- Just Judgment of God - {PDF Copy} - (The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)
- Disinformation about the Parousia - {PDF Copy} - (Disinformation about the day of the Lord caused alarm in the congregation at Thessalonica)
- The Day of the Lord - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people on the “Day of the Lord,” and in the New Testament, this event becomes the “Day of Christ”)
- Missing Events - {PDF Copy} - (Two events must occur before the day of the Lord - The apostasy and the unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness)
- The Apostasy - {PDF Copy} - (Paul warns of the coming apostasy and links it to the coming man of lawlessness, the Son of Destruction)
- The Son of Destruction - {PDF Copy} - (Many Christians will apostatize when the Lawless One, the Son of Destruction, seats himself in the sanctuary)
- Seated in the Sanctuary - {PDF Copy} - (The Lawlessness One will be unveiled when he seats himself in the sanctuary of God - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
- The Sanctuary of God - {PDF Copy} - (In his letters, the Apostle Paul applies Temple language to the church of Jesus Christ, the Sanctuary of God)
- Until Revealed - {PDF Copy} - (The mystery of lawlessness is at work preparing the way for the unveiling of the Lawlessness One – 2 Thessalonians 2:5-7)
- Mystery of Lawlessness - {PDF Copy} - (The mystery of lawlessness is preparing the way for the appearance of the lawless one)
- Lying Signs and Wonders - {PDF Copy} - (The final deceiver will use “lying signs and wonders” to deceive and cause many saints to depart from the faith)
- The Lawless One Paralyzed - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus will destroy the works of the Lawless One and paralyze him at his glorious arrival on the Day of the Lord)
- Stand Fast! - {PDF Copy} - (Believers prepare for the Apostasy and the coming Man of Lawlessness by standing firm in the apostolic tradition)
- Paul, Times and Seasons - {PDF Copy} - (Paul does not provide a detailed outline of the signs and seasons that will precede the End. Instead, he exhorts disciples to live righteously now)
- Mercy and Enemies - {PDF Copy} - (When disciples react to hostility with hostility, whether by government, society, or individuals, Satan triumphs)