uesday— Thursday Broadcasts I Thessalonians 5:1-11 CHRIST’S RETURN
by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson, Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church, West Covina, California
T here are two wrong attitudes ot mind toward our Lord’s return. One is that of feverish expectation. The other is that of cold indifference and careless neglect. Both had been mani fested at Thessalonica. Both are com mon today. The first may result in fan aticism, and in confusing the truth with fantastic creations of fancy. The second may encourage a life of worldly and sensual indulgence. To guard against both these errors Paul exhorts his read ers to be calm and to be watchful. Evidently the Thessalonians were eager to receive more definite instruc tion as to the time of Christ’s coming. Some thought it so near that daily work was no longer necessary. Some feared that if it were delayed death would rob them of their friends. Paul assures them that the time is unknown. He feels that they do not need instruc tion so much as encouragement. Thus he exhorts them to keep vigil, to watch and wait and hope. “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren” — the periods of time and the exact character of the epochs to intervene before the return of Christ - t - “Ye have no need that aught be written unto you.” Vincent, “It is the Word rendered ‘seasons’ that is difficult. This word has about it the thought of time in its
qualitative rather than its quantitative aspect. It often indicates the suitable ness of the time for the purpose in mind, and thus comes to mean some thing rather like “opportunity.” It is the kind of time we have in mind when we think of “one crowded hour of glor ious life.” Chronologically, an hour of this type is exactly the same length as another when we are bored stiff. But while the one seems tt> pass in a flash, the other stretches endlessly. Our sec ond word, then, has reference rather to the kind of events that are taking place than simply to the duration that is being measured. The combination of the two is a way of bringing before the mind both the duration of the time that must elapse before the coming of the Lord, and also the nature of the events that will char acterize the end time. Paul maintains that there is no real need for anyone to write to the Thessa lonians about the times. This is not to be taken as the language of compli mentary exaggeration. Paul did not hesitate to castigate his converts where they fell down on the job, nor to put them right when they were in error. There is abundant evidence from the two letters that he had spoken a good deal about the Parousia during his ini tial preaching. An expression such as 20
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