ARE YOU QUICKLY SHAKEN FROM YOUR REASON?

₦Sermon 48


              ARE YOU QUICKLY SHAKEN FROM YOUR REASONS?

 “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by Spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that day of Christ is at hand”— 2 Thessalonians 2:2

                      Texts: 2 Thess. 2:2-15, 2 Peter 3:6.

Brethren, we praise God today for his protection and guidance. Our message today will focus on how believers should avoid being quickly shaken from their faith in Christ Jesus.

Let us consider our text from the second book of Thessalonians as was written by Paul. This second epistle from apostle Paul was probably written to the Thessalonians when Paul the apostle of Christ was at Corinth (Acts 18:11) to correct some costly errors which the Thessalonian believers might have in mind from the first epistle, (1 Thessalonians) concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ which they erroneously upheld or believed that it was at hand — 1 Thess. 5:1-6.

Although, some old prophets really prophesized that the day of the Lord is at hand — Joel 1:15, Zephaniah 1:7. It seems to be the running motif of Paul’s message to the Thessalonians in his first letter to them. Then the Thessalonians misconstrued the first message as if the coming of Jesus Christ was at hand. He afterward wrote the second epistle to the Thessalonian believers to address the signs and issues that would occur before the coming of Jesus Christ and urged them to prepare themselves and avoid being quickly shaken from their faith.

As Christians we should always be sure that before the coming of Jesus Christ, there should be —

Falling away (apostasy) from the true faith: So many people will fall away from what they believe. They may be fooled by false teachers who are claiming to be miracle makers or doers. Such false teachers get their power of miracles from demons to deceive many souls. Nevertheless, some fallible believers would fall away from their faith, because of the love and pleasures of the world. Demas deserted his spiritual father for the things of this life — 2 Timothy 4:10.

Some people are like Demas, who when they face problems in serving God, will withdraw from what they believe. They feel that the gain in serving God is to be rich in the world and when their expectations and aspirations are traumatized, they run away and their faith in God becomes so taciturn and cold.

Demas of this modern generation are those who see their ministers suffering from all sorts of problems and run away from them.  We believers should always support and help our ministers to solve their problems. Apostle Paul who was put in prison as a result of his faith in God was deserted by his member in the same faith. He wrote to the community of believers in Rome asking them: Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? — Romans 8:35. Despite what answers Paul provided in verse 28 of the same chapter of Romans 8, that nothing could separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor worries about tomorrow, Demas still   deserted him in the prison.

The desertion of Paul during his first imprisonment in Rome by Demas is very significant to be noted and to avoid. For Demas to desert Paul in prison, it means that he has fallen away from what he believes. Perhaps, he realized the difficulties a man may face in serving God. The love of worldliness and pleasures must have mastered him and it became an uneasy task to him to break the bound and seek for the spiritual systems of God. He became afraid of being killed by the Romans and Jews and then seek a safer place to preserve his life at that moment of terror and anarchy in any event, when conditions became unfavorable, Demas failed to use his marvelous opportunity to strengthen his brother Paul, (see, Aid to Bible Understanding).

Also, Peter one of the Disciples of Christ was desperate to maintain his faith. Upon what Christ says that he would desert and deny him, Peter thought it was a joking matter. The questions is why did Peter quickly shaken from his reasons in following Christ? The answer is so conspicuously noted down. I think because of fear of being killed by the Jews, Peter denied of being a follower of Christ. Also, though he really vowed to follow Christ to the end but Christ did not want him to die with him at the same time so that the world will not glory in Peter that he helps in delivering the world with him, Christ. Brethren, we should not allow things like fear, death, persecution, troubles or sickness to easily use us to deny the truth. We should always be courageous and strong in our faith in Jesus.

Inspite of problems Paul faced, during his earthly ministry, he was by his grace able to maintain his faith. Though, Peter on his own part repented and afterward maintained his faith before his martyrdom during the reign of King Nero about A.D 65.

So brethren, let us continue in hoping for the second coming of Jesus and more importantly anyone who dies has met his Christ’s second coming because there is no repentance in grave. Let us be courageous and God will really be with us even at the time of our trials.
                       
—————Meditation Point—————
        “I am fading away like a shadow late in the day; I am shaken off like a locust”—Psalm 109:23. LORD, help my unbelief!