This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine... 2 Thessalonians 3:17 These words did not come from Paul, they came to him: “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Peter says, “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by human will, but people spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). When you read the Bible, you are reading the Word of God. Picture Paul walking around the roo...
Oct 31, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 31
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Why doesn’t the apostle end the letter right here? Because we need to ask for peace, but we also need to know how to receive it. The folks in Thessalonica were facing great difficulties and an uncertain future. They had many fears, and they needed to know how to face them. The worst thing you can do with your fears is to try and hide them. Fear is like a coiled spring—the...
Oct 30, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 30
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Question: How is it possible to have peace “at all times in every way”? Answer: Because Jesus Christ is “the Lord of peace.” Yes, but what does that mean? Christ has peace. That is why He was able to say to His disciples, “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). Jesus Christ has peace in Himself and that is why He is able to give it to you. Christ makes peace. This is why He came into the world. He cam...
Oct 29, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 29
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace… in every way. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 You might find it helpful to think of God’s peace as resting on three pillars—getting right with God, showing gentleness to others, and having peace with yourself. Peace with “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Christ died for your sins and rose for your justification, and faith makes what Jesus accomplished yours. That’s how you can have peace wi...
Oct 28, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 28
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times... 2 Thessalonians 3:16 “At all times” means in all circumstances, and in every season of life. You arrive at secondary school —your body is coming to life and you wonder Who likes me? May God give you His peace. You begin your school exams —you feel pressure, maybe for the first time. And you wonder Who am I? Does anybody care? May God give you His peace. You head off into further education — and you wonder Do I have anything to offer? M...
Oct 27, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 27
Do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 One year at Wimbledon, tennis legend Jimmy Connors was playing Mikael Pernfors. Connors lost the first two sets 6 games to 1. And he was losing in the third set 4 games to 1. Connors was nursing a leg injury, yet incredibly, he came back to win the match. Afterwards, an interviewer said to him, “You’re 34 years old, and you’re carrying a leg injury. You are 2 sets down and behind 4 games to 1, and you’ve already won all this stuff. Don’t you ...
Oct 26, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 26
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:3 You’re climbing the ladder at work, in marriage, or at church, with all the stimulus of getting to the top, but now you’ve hit a ceiling. And you’re tempted to respond in one of these ways: You give You throw up your hands in frustration, “I’m done… I’m done with this marriage. I’m done with this job. I’m done with this church. I’m done with Christianity.” You abando...
Oct 25, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 25
Do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 Here are people who are doing what is right. They are on the right track. The problem is that they are getting tired. There are circumstances that can cause us to grow weary in doing good. When doing good brings trouble. You reach out to someone and they cause you trouble in It feels like a slap in the face. You know how discouraging this can be. When doing good brings little thanks. You extend yourself for your children, your company, or you...
Oct 24, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 24
You yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because… we worked night and day. 2 Thessalonians 3:7- 8 The apostle Paul worked incredibly hard. He was a brilliant scholar, but he also had a trade that he earned money from while he was serving the church. Sometimes there was money to support him, and sometimes there was not. When there was no money, Paul made and sold tents, and then he gave himself to ministry. He was bi-vocational, which is why he said that he “worked night and day” (3:8). P...
Oct 23, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 23
For you yourselves know… with toil and labour we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8 People often look at pastors and missionaries, like the apostle Paul, and say, “God has given them a special work to do.” That’s true, but God has also given you a special work to do. Whatever you do, your work is a gift and a calling from God. At the beginning of the Bible, God introduces Himself as a worker. What kind of work is He doing? He is creating. And...
Oct 22, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 22
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 If you knew that Jesus Christ would return in seven days, would you go to work this week? It’s a fascinating question because it gets to the root of what we really think about our daily work. A secular view of work says that it is simply a means of getting money. How much money do I need to make before I’m done with work and off to the beach or the golf course? Work is a means to an end, and that end is money. If this is you...
Oct 21, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 21
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 If whenever you think about God, your first instinct is to picture Him with a frown on His face, you need this prayer. Richard Sibbes said, “Present God to yourself as He is presented in the Gospels. The devil will put other colours upon God. He presents Him as a tyrant, as a judge, and as a revenger. Remember, the devil does this because he hates God.” John Owen, in his book, Communion with God, says, “So long as the Father...
Oct 20, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 20
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 The person who prays this prayer is looking for something more than he or she already has: “Lord, direct my heart into your love.” He knows that there is more to God’s love than he has experienced. She is not content to remain at a distance from God. We live in a “been there, done that” culture, and the great danger is that we develop a “been there, done that” form of Christianity: I know G...
Oct 19, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 19
May the Lord direct your hearts. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 It is possible to endure persecution and not feel the love of Christ, or to worship for years in a church and not feel the love of Christ. You do not want this to be your story. People who aren’t Christians endure great pain and carry great sorrows, too. They do it by “gritting their teeth,” or in Britain, “with a stiff upper lip.” But Paul is saying to these believers, “I want something better for you. I want your soul to be filled with the l...
Oct 18, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 18
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 2 THESSALONIANS 3:5 The Isthmus of Suez in Egypt is a stretch of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and marks where the vast continents of Africa and Asia meet. It is also where the Suez Canal was built, to connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. It is a place where worlds connect. This passage brings together two worlds—the love of God and the steadfastness (or patience) of Christ. Pa...
Oct 17, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 17
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 2 THESSALONIANS 3:5 This letter was written to Christians who were experiencing the draining effect of the difficulties of life. You may be thinking, “That’s me! I’m constantly drained by difficulties in my home, tensions at work, endless visits to the doctor, ongoing pain, difficulties in my marriage, a wayward son or daughter.” And so you find yourself saying, “I need love and I need patience!” Notice someth...
Oct 16, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 16
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Paul moves from teaching to praying. Since all this is true of you—God loves you, chose you, saved you, sanctified you, called you through the gospel, brought you to faith, and destined you to share in Christ’s glory—come before Him with confidence and receive what you need from Him...
Oct 15, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 15
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 If the message of Christianity was—Satan is raging, the world is getting worse, godless people are deceived, the antichrist is coming, and in the end it is up to us to stand firm—then we would all feel completely hopeless. Maybe that is how you feel today. When you look at what you are up against, you feel completely helpless. You are surrounded by darkness and the battle is intense. You feel overwhelmed. If that’s how you feel toda...
Oct 14, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 14
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first-fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 THESSALONIANS 2:13-14 The whole magnificent range of God’s redeeming purpose is here in these two verses. How does it all fit together? The Bible’s overarching word salvation is like a treasu...
Oct 13, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 13
So that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 What is the ultimate outcome of God’s redeeming purpose? What is the great aim and the ultimate goal of the Christian life? It is the glory of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? 1. You will see Christ’s glory. This will happen on the day Jesus Christ is revealed. None of us has ever seen Christ. We believe in Him, but we’re walking by faith. It will not always be so. One day we will see Him, and on that day faith wil...
Oct 12, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 12
What gospel is the apostle Paul talking about? There’s a marvellous summary of it in his first letter: “To wait for [God’s] Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thes. 1:10). Let’s consider this summary phrase by phrase. 1. The gospel is about a person. The message is about a person who is unlike any other person who has ever lived—Jesus is God’s Son from heaven. Paul has come to know Him and he wants to introduce Him to others. The gospe...
Oct 11, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 11
You Are Sanctified Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 10, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 10
You Are Saved Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 09, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 9
You Were Chosen Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 08, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 8
You Are Loved Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 07, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 7
Do You Need a Miracle of Grace? Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 06, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 6
What You Can Do When the World Is Getting Darker Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 05, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 5
This Is Always Accomplished by a Miracle of Grace Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 03, 2023•3 min•Season 10Ep. 4
What Jesus Says about Our Human Nature Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 02, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 3
The Word of God Never Leaves You the Same Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk
Oct 01, 2023•2 min•Season 10Ep. 2
