How to Comfort a Seasoned Saint

If you’ve ever found yourself ministering to an ailing brother or sister in Christ, the Apostle Paul gives us some direction in his ministry to the Thessalonians. Paul introduced those dear saints to the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture during his initial visit to Thessalonica (II Thes. 2:5). After that, he reviewed this precious truth in detail in his first epistle to them (I Thes. 4:13-5:11). So by the time Paul wrote his second letter to these saints, you’d think they would have been resting confidently in the “comfort” of this cherished truth (4:18; 5:11).

But when Paul’s second epistle exhorted them to “be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled” (II Thes. 2:2), we know that these brethren were shaken and troubled or else Paul would not have had to exhort them not to be. This means that even though these seasoned saints knew full well that they had been delivered from the coming wrath of the Tribulation (I Thes. 1:10), the persecutions they were enduring (I Thes. 1:6; 2:2,14; 3:3,4; II Thes. 1:4,7) were naturally causing their faith in the pre-tribulation Rapture to flag.

So how could Paul comfort them? What could he possibly share with them about God’s Word that they didn’t already know? How instructive it is for us that he didn’t even try! Instead, he simply reviewed the doctrine (II Thes. 2:1-4) and called upon them to remember all that he had taught them (II Thes. 2:5).

You see, beloved, when it comes to comforting seasoned saints, God doesn’t expect us to come up with anything new. He expects us to do what Paul did, and simply review what a veteran believer already knows to be true from the timeless Word of the Eternal God. May we always be found faithful in this regard. source

Sign up for our daily email study!

An Old-Fashioned Doctrine

Mouths That Must Be Shut