The Ember Saturday in Advent
Posted on December 20, 2025 by under
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (NKJV)
2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Devotion
There have always been problems with enthusiasts and false teachers who wish to mislead the faithful about the return of Christ. Here the Thessalonians were being confused by certain people who had told them that Christ had already come and they missed it. The Apostle warns them not to be deceived by spirit, or word, or letter.
All Christians can know the truth by the writings and testimony of the Apostles themselves in the Bible. But there is never an end to those who claim direct inspiration by the Holy Spirit for their own misinterpretations or their new ‘revelations’. Some Anabaptists predicted the second advent of Christ would be in 1533. William Miller predicted Jesus’ return on three different dates in 1844. Ellen G. White falsely predicted Christ’s return more than half a century ago. There have been any number of people over the last fifty years who have predicted one date or another.
We do not predict dates. We patiently wait on the Lord’s time for His second advent. We do not seek out ecstatic experiences. We do not seek to see God on our terms. We hear God and we listen to no other voice than the one we hear in Scripture. Our Advent season is about repentance, patience, and trust in Christ’s grace.
Collect: O God, Who seest that we are afflicted because of our iniquity, mercifully grant that we may be comforted by Thy visitation; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday in Advent
Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our hearts, by Thy gracious visitation; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
