rembrandt van rijn, c.1657 2 thessalonians · rembrandt van rijn, c.1657 2 thessalonians reading...

Union Lake Baptist Church

Adult Sunday School

Rembrandt van Rijn, c.1657

2 Thessalonians Reading Schedule & Discussion Questions

1st Semester (8 Weeks)

ULBC Sunday School

ULBC Sunday School

Week 1: (Monday, September 11th to Saturday, September 16th)

A. Homework: Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

B. Questions:

1. What do we know about Timothy? See Acts 16:1; 1 Timothy 1:2;

2 Timothy 1:5-6; Philippians 2:19-22

2. What do we know about Silvanus (aka Silas)? 2 Corinthians 1:19

3. Paul lists Silvanus and Timothy as members of his team. Why

might he list them in the opening of his letter to the

Thessalonian church? Consider 1 Thessalonians 1:1 & 2:7b-12

4. List some things we know about the Thessalonians from 1

Thessalonians 1: 5-10?

ULBC Sunday School

Week 1 (Continued)

5. For what reasons are Paul, Silvanus and Timothy thankful to

God for the Thessalonians?

6. What is it about the Thessalonians that they proudly report to

other churches?

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 2 (Monday, September 18th – Saturday, September 23rd)


B. Questions:

1. Go back and read v4.

a. What was the situation in Thessalonica?

b. In light of your answer, why do you suppose Paul opens

this text with God’s judgment being right? In other

words, what need did the Thessalonians have to read v5?

2. How will God exercise His justice (v6)? Contemplate your

answer. How does this coming reality impact you?

3. What is the shocking manner in which this judgment will take

place? Can you think of any other passages of Scripture that

speak about this time?

ULBC Sunday School

Week 2 (Continued)

4. From our text, how would you answer someone who asked you,

“How can I avoid being one of the people who are destroyed

when Jesus returns?”

5. What will be the response of believers at the return of Jesus?

6. Notice that Paul twice refers to the Thessalonian believers

being “worthy.”

a. Worthy of what? Compare vv5 & 11.

b. What is the evidence (or fruit) in the Thessalonians lives

that demonstrate they will be counted worthy?

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 3 (Monday, September 25th – Saturday, September 30th)


B. Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Paul mentioned unbelievers bringing persecution

and suffering to the Thessalonians. In this text, Paul is

concerned with them troubling the church in another way.

What is it?

2. How would it be “unsettling” or “alarming” if a believer had

been told that Jesus had already returned and they somehow

missed it?

3. How could the Thessalonians know for sure that Jesus had not

yet returned? Limit you answer to what you see in this 2:1-5.

ULBC Sunday School

Week 3 (Continued)

4. When the “man of lawlessness” comes and boasts of being

worthy of worship, should the church fear that He could thwart

God’s plan (i.e., prevent God’s coming judgment)? Again limit

your answer by what you see in our text.

5. A common problem in the apostolic age was that false teachers

came to churches once the apostles and their teams left.

Discuss the care seen in Paul’s words here. What similarities do

you see in this text when compared with Colossians 2:1-5 &

Philippians 1:27-28a.

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 4 (Monday, October 2nd – Saturday, October 7th)


B. Questions

1. The preceding verses (vv3-4) speak of “the man of lawlessness”

being revealed before Jesus will return. According to v6, why

has the man of lawlessness not yet been revealed?

2. Verses 6 & 7 both refer to the restraining (holding back) of the

man of lawlessness. What is the key difference between how

these two verses describe it?

3. How is it possible that the man of lawlessness is not yet

revealed, while his evil influence is already present? What

might that evil influence look like (consider the whole passage)?

ULBC Sunday School

Week 4 (Continued)

4. This text describes the coming of the man of lawlessness and

the great harm he will cause. Why do you suppose v8

interrupts this description with Jesus’ defeat of him?

5. From the text, explain why those who are perishing will be

condemned.

6. Extra Credit: Who/what is restraining the man of lawlessness?

This has frustrated many interpreters. Different answers have

been put forward. Commentator John Stott summarized 3

possibilities1: (1) the power of the Holy Spirit and the church,

(2) Paul and the preaching of the gospel and (3) Rome and the

power of the state. Pick one of these (or suggest your own)

and provide a couple arguments based on the text for your

choice.

1 Stott, John R. W., The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians @ 169-170

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 5 (Monday, October 9th – Saturday, October 14th)


B. Questions

1. How was it determined that the Thessalonians would be saved?

See vv13 & 14.

2. How were the Thessalonians saved? Verse 13 provides two

concepts that Paul couples together as the means of their

salvation. What are they? How do you think these concepts are

related to one another?

3. What was the purpose of their salvation? In light of your

answer, is it possible that the Thessalonian believers could have

missed Jesus’ return? Why or why not?

ULBC Sunday School

Week 5 (Continued)

4. Paul mentions the teaching that he “passed on” to the church

when he was there (v15). With what other teaching is this

contrasted with (Hint: read earlier in the chapter)? Why does

Paul make this contrast?

5. In the end, what will encourage the Thessalonians to trust

Paul’s words and not believe false teaching?

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 6 (Monday, October 16th – Saturday, October 21st)


B. Questions

1. What is the major shift in focus in vv1-2?

a. What specific prayer requests does Paul list?

b. What does this tell you about what Paul thinks about

himself (and his team)?

c. What does this tell you about what Paul thinks about the

Thessalonians?

2. Why do you think Paul adds the phrase “just as it was with you”

at the end of v1? (Hint: Look back at the end of 1 Thessalonians

Chapter 1 to help you answer)

ULBC Sunday School

Week 6 (Continued)

3. Verses 1 & 2 are Paul’s request for prayer from the

Thessalonians. Verse 3 shifts back to the Thessalonians and

what the Lord will do for them. Why do you think Paul makes

that shift? (Hint: To help you, think about the context: i.e., what

concerns have Paul been addressing in the earlier chapters?)

4. In v4 Paul expresses confidence in the Thessalonians’ gospel

work (i.e., good works). Take a few minutes and identify other

places in the letter that their works are mentioned and list them

below:

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 7 (Monday, October 23rd – Saturday, October 28th)


B. Questions

1. How important is it that the Thessalonians “keep away” from

those who are idle? Use the text to support your answer. (Hint:

How does the tone of 3:1 differ from that of 2:2:16-17)

2. How are lazy people similar to (1) persecutions and trials (1:3b)

and (2) the false report that the Thessalonians had missed the

return of the Lord (2:1-2)? In other words, what is the negative

impact on believers that each of these people/things might

bring? (Hint: what other concept does Paul couple with such

people being “idle” – see vv6, 11. Compare that with 2:2)

ULBC Sunday School

Week 7 (Continued)

3. What was Paul’s (and his companions’) example?

a. How many different ways did he say example?

b. What was the purpose of their example?

c. What did he mean by “we…have the right to such help”?

4. Notice the idle people are believers (vv6, 15). What is Paul’s

apparent hope for them?

a. Other than avoiding them, how are the Thessalonians to

interact with them? Use the text to support your answer.

b. Believers are to be busy about gospel work in light of the

Lord’s return. How does v10 illustrate this point?

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

ULBC Sunday School

Week 8 (Monday, October 30th – Saturday, November 4th)


B. Questions

1. In light of what you have learned, what kind of “peace” (v16)

does Paul wish the Thessalonians? Explain the source of that

peace.

2. What is the significance of the Lord being with the

Thessalonians?

a. In answering this, compare the Thessalonians’ trials with

the Lord being with Joseph in Genesis 39 and the Lord

promising to be with Jacob in Genesis 46:3-4.

b. How might Paul have encouraged the Thessalonians using

Jesus’ promises in Matthew 28:18-20 and John 16:32-33?

ULBC Sunday School

Week 8 (Continued)

3. Why does Paul talk about the authenticity of this letter in v17

(i.e., that it was genuinely from Paul)? What was mentioned

earlier in the book which would cause him to make this

statement?

4. Paul’s teachings and writings are not only identifiable by his

manner of writing (cf. Galatians 6:11). His letters are known by

the prominent discussion of “grace” within them. What is

grace? How does Paul see grace as indispensable to the

perseverance of the Thessalonians’ faith? Think back to the end

of Chapter 1 in answering this.

ULBC Sunday School

Notes:

rembrandt van rijn, c.1657 2 thessalonians · rembrandt van rijn, c.1657 2 thessalonians reading...

Documents