447. Tuesday after Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity.
Grant, O Lord, that we
may be of thy saints,
and may stand firm
in every trial. Amen.
2 Thessalonians 2, 1-10. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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 the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
❦
We are to be always prepared for the second coming of the Lord; yet we must wait patiently for his own good time. As he has hid from us the hour of our death, so likewise the hour of his coming. Many things, however, are still to take place; but they are such as may be brought about so soon, that his coming may in a moment be at hand. “The gospel of the kingdom” was to “be preached in all the world”; but who shall say that this has not already been done? Even in the days of the apostles it was proclaimed at least in the far East and in the West; and in our times it has been preached to the people of the frozen North and to those in the islands of the South. The “falling away must come”; but it has begun ages ago. The powers of the deep are hard at work; the earth is being undermined on all sides, and the collapse may come at any time. Furthermore, according to Revelation 13, a beast shall rise up out of the sea; and another beast shall come up out of the earth, and cause the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast. This is interpreted to mean, that there shall come forth out of the people a world-power; and it shall be quickened and strengthened by an idolatrous spirit and worship; for no rule can exist without some sort of religion. When these things have come to pass, says scripture; when this beast out of the sea of humanity has exercised its strength to “make war with the saints, and to overcome them”; when demoniacal powers perform wonders, and all the world follows the beast, and worships it, as though it were the truth itself; when there shall be sore trouble for the faithful, and the life of “the woman,” the church of God, shall be as a life in the wilderness in the midst of the peoples; when, at last, this world-power formed of a partnership between earth and hell is in the hands of a single ruler, and we thus again have a world-power like that of old, fashioned especially after the Roman empire, as depicted in Revelation 17, making war on God’s people; — then, and not till then, shall the Lord come and consume the antichrist.* Blessed is everyone who has not received the mark of the beast! His name is written in the Lamb’s book of life; and in his forehead the name of the Lamb that was slain, and the name of the Father, shall shine forth in eternal glory! — “Brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle! Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work!” To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.†
Awake, our souls, away our fears;
Let every trembling thought be gone.
Awake, and run the heavenly race,
And put a cheerful courage on.
True, ’tis a strait and thorny road,
And mortal spirits tire and faint;
But they forget the mighty God,
Who feeds the strength of every saint.
[suggested tune: Wareham, TLH 608; listen here]
* But this “wicked one,” this “antichrist,” who causes the great “falling away” and makes war on God’s church, has, according to the Confession of our Lutheran Church, already come in Papacy!
† Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.