“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?“
Do you not remember that when I was still with you
Paul taught prophecy to brand new Christians just one year prior to his writing Second Thessalonians. He taught them about The Day of the Lord. Paul did not regard prophetic teaching as controversial, irrelevant, or unimportant for new believers. He made sure that he taught it to new believers so that they would be oriented properly to the future. Their spiritual welfare depended on it.
I told you these things?
The word “told” is in a tense that indicates that he frequently told the Thessalonians about these elements of prophecy while he was with them a year ago. This is a very different value than in evangelicalism today. We minimize and render prophecy into a void of truth that we cannot understand. Paul put great emphasis on it.
Principle:
New Christians should learn prophecy as well as mature Christians.
Application:
Prophetic truth has an important place to play in the maturation of the believer. It will make us aware of Satan’s strategies in the world and our lives in particular. All of us need reminders of prophetic truth.
