II Thessalonians - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 1225

II. '1`HESSALONIAN S.

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IO II regarding your obedience and fidelity in all the pcrsccutions and amictions that you are a¤duri¤g—a.s a. proof of tha right decision of God in having considered you worthy of His Divine Kingdom, for the sake of which you sufier. Kigbizmu Mzirihuiicu. Hence it is right with God to repay

your aniictors with amiction; and to you, the aHiicted—·rest, with us, at the manifestation of the Lord jesus from heaven, with messengers of His power: iu fiery Home giving judgment to those not perceiving God, and to those not attending to the glad tidings of our Lord jesus, whose sentence shall be eternal banishment from the presence of the Lord, and from His mighty rectification, when He comes to be exalted by His saints, and admired by ali believers, and He will confirm our testimony to you in that day. To this end we always pray for you,

so that our God may consider you worthy of the calling, and may power~ fully equip with every noble accom- plishment and faithful work; so that the Name of our Lord jesus may be exalted in you, and you in Him, by the gift of our God, and Lord jesus Christ. Ely: Qalulzss ®:tz. But we implore you, brethren, re-

garding the appearance of our Lord jesus Christ, and of our gathering together to Him, not to be easily shaken nor terrified from your pur- pose, neither by spirit, by word, nor by any letter presented as from us, as though the day of the Lord were near. Let no one cheat you by any such means, For the apostasy must come first, and the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, must first be re- vealed ; the one who withstands, and is self·exalted over and above all that is called Divine, or worshipped; so that he seats himself inthe sanctuary of God, proclaiming that he himself is God. Do you not remember that whilst we were with you we told you this? And you also know the present restraint to his development until his proper time. For the mystery of that lawlessness already operates; only the Restrainer intervenes for a time : until he is removed; and then the outlaw will become manifest, whom the Lord

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will destroy by the spirit of His mouth, and extinguish by the mani- festation of His presence. This out- law‘s arrival will be accompanied by the energy of Satan with all powers, and signs, and terrors of falsehood; and with all the deceit of injustice among the perishing, who accepted not the love of the truth, so that they themselves might be saved. And, be· cause of this,G0d will send to them an energy of error, for themselves to make the Falsehood credible; so that in every way those who do not trust to the trutl , but on the contrary, ap- prove falsehood, may be condemned. warts of Glgzzr. But we find it our duty to give

thanks to God always for you, dear brethren, loved bythe Lord; because God brought you a lirstfruit into salva· tion, by purity of spirit and confidence in the truth, into which He called you, through our good message, to acquire rectihcation from our Lord jesus IO I! I2 christ. Therefore, brethren, stand 15 and secure the charge which you have been taught, either by our speech or letter. And our Lord jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us an eternal con· sclation and pure hope as a gift, encourage and console your hearts, and establish you in every beneficent work and word. ®¤nchthi1tg Gxlyertaiimt. In conclusion, brethren, pray for us,

so that the teaching of the Lord may run and be honoured, as it did towards you; and that we may be rescued from bad and wicked men: for the faith is not with all. But the Lord is faithful, Who will strengthen you, and guard you from the wicked. And we are confident in the Lord concerning you, that what we have commanded, you both do and will do; and may the Lord guide your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. But we advise you, brethren, in the

Name of the Lord jesus Chrishavoid every brotherconducting himself idly, and not according to the direction which he received from us. For your- selves know how to imitate us rightly : because we were not idle among you, nor did we eat unpurchased bread sup~ plied by any one; but, on the contrary, we worked night and day with labour I22_§ 16