Encouragement during Persecution

Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.

Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

Believers Should Stand Firm

As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.

Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.