And the Lord God direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5
There is a very good reason why many Christians these days are starting to doubt the truth of the Rapture: they are reading from Bibles other than the King James Version. Our text today is one example of where modern-language versions change the text to remove its reference to the coming of the Lord for His saints. This verse is a prayer by Paul as he speaks of his desire that the members of the Thessalonian Assembly be taken up with the love of God and with patiently waiting for their Lord’s return. Except that the other versions change the meaning of the second part of the prayer. For example, the NIV renders this verse thusly: ‘May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance’. And the ESV puts it like this: ‘May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ’. Even the NKJV falls into the trap provided by the devious teachers who corrupted the texts on which those Bibles are based. While it is true that Christ set for us a great example of perseverance or steadfastness, that is not what Paul is praying for concerning the Thessalonian saints. There is a major difference between exercising Christ’s patience and waiting for Christ to come and receive us.
The first thing for which Paul prayed was for the hearts of the Christians to be directed into the love of God. This was critical to their testimony for their Lord. Before these folks were saved, it was the love of God that provided the salvation that they needed, and it was the love of God that brought the Gospel to them. It was the love of God that not only saved them but also that transformed their lives into vibrant testimonies to that great love. As God had loved them, so they were to love each other and to love the souls of those who were not yet saved. In addition to displaying the righteousness into which they had been brought, they were now being called to display God’s love. It was not to be just an outward appearance either, but a genuine display of hearts that were filled with the love of God.
The second critical element of their testimonies was the patient waiting for Christ. You and I can relate to those days that the Thessalonians experienced when they desperately cried for the Lord’s return, when trials and sorrows were a heavy burden and the world seemed a cruel and foreign place. But we are not to spend our time pining for the Lord’s return, much as we desire it. The Lord Jesus assured us that He will return for us, and He will. But while we wait for the fulfillment of that promise, there are things to do, there is business to transact for our Lord. There is the work on our transformation into the image of Christ. There is the study of the Scriptures. There is the furtherance of the Gospel. There is the devotion to the needs of the Lord’s people. There is the faithfulness to God’s Assembly. And that is just the start. Our Lord would have us working and watching while we wait for Him.
May God fill our hearts today with His love and with patient waiting for our Lord’s return. – Jim MacIntosh