I & II Thessalonians

Everyone. No matter your condition, we will all face judgment when our Lord returns. To those faithful, it will be a recognition of faithfulness. To those who don't know our Lord or have become unfaithful, it will be a day of judgement and punishment.

Answers will vary but look for statements that support that when, not if, our Lord returns there will not be an opportunity to get ready. Since we don't know when that will be, we must always be ready for His return.

• Watch Yourself (vs. 4-10) – We are not in darkness as children of God. The light we have is our knowledge of the Lord and the anticipation of His return. Because of that, we remain ready. Being ready requires faithful living.
• Build up the church (vs. 11) – Part of our mission is to help our brethren in the Body of Christ to also remain faithful. We do that by encouraging and building up each other. This is similar to the teachings from Hebrews 10:25 regarding the habit of regular assembly.
• Respect Your Leaders (vs. 12-13a) – Those that lead us (elders, teachers, preachers) should receive our respect. Part of the reason is that leaders will be held to a higher standard of judgment (James 3:1).
• Be at peace with one another (vs. 13b-15) – Through living in peace with one another we demonstrate our love as Christ loved. Recall that in the Beatitudes, Jesus stated, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9). We can deal with our disagreements and differing views without it causing rifts within the Body of Christ. We look out for one another admonishing as Jesus would have us (Matthew 18:15-17), encouraging the faint of heart, helping the weak overcome temptations (remember, we're all tempted in some way), expressing patience and returning good for evil.
• Rejoice always (vs. 16) – We must maintain joy even in the face of sorrow. The first century Christians endured unimaginable horror and persecution yet continued faithfully.
• Pray always (vs. 17-18) – Praying is our lifeline to the Father. This lifeline is always open and will always be answered. God promises to answer the prayers of His children.
• Study God's word (vs. 19-21) – We must study, listen and apply what we learn from God's word. In doing so we discover God's will and draw closer to Him.
• Be pure (vs. 22) – Purity is another one of the Beatitudes given by Jesus as He began the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:8 He stated, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." To be impure is to engage deliberately in evil activities and attitudes. Paul instructs us to abstain from every form of evil, no matter the form it takes.

Our Lord and Paul teach us very clearly that we must remain prepared. Our efforts begin when we are sanctified by our Lord through our repentance and obedience in baptism. From there we must live according to the teachings of Jesus. Among those teachings are that He will return and we must be ready. We don't know when it will be, so we live a life of readiness. We know that the reward for our readiness will be beyond our ability to imagine.