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Ol’ Barney. He’s really done it this time.

On an episode of *The Andy Griffith Show*, Barney sees Helen and Andy share a kiss at a jewelry store.

Barney realizes that must mean the two are getting married! He’s the worst at keeping secrets, so he starts sharing the news with a few people. But soon, the whole town is in on it. Barney wants to throw them a big surprise engagement party, and Aunt Bea goes all out by turning Andy’s bedroom into a bridal suite.

When the couple arrives at the house and learns the news that they’re getting married, they have to set the record straight.

They weren’t looking at engagement rings. They aren’t getting married. Barney had it all wrong.

Paul had something he wanted to set straight, too.

**2 Thessalonians 2:1–2**

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 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.”

Paul was writing for a second time to the believers at Thessalonica. His first letter was written to encourage and strengthen the believers and give them assurance of Christ’s return. But false teaching was causing confusion among them, convincing some that the day of the Lord had already come.

This confusion affected the way some Christians were living their lives. They were expecting relief from suffering, but it had not yet come. Others had quit serving and working because they thought the Lord’s return was imminent, so why keep doing those things?

Paul knew he had to set the record straight.

This letter was written, in part, to clear up the confusion surrounding the Second Coming of Christ. He reassured them that Christ was coming again, while explaining that there were events that would occur before His return.

All the while, Paul focused on a person’s need to be ready for Christ’s return, not merely on trying to figure out the events themselves.

Today, as we await the Lord’s return, we also need to ask ourselves if we are ready.

There are lots of rumors and false teachings that make their way around about who Jesus is, what salvation requires, and what it means to be ready for His return.

Let’s set the record straight.

**Jesus is the only way to salvation and the only way to the Father.
— John 14:6

**Salvation is available to all who believe in Jesus.
— John 3:16

**Those who trust in Jesus are called to be His disciples and are commanded to share the gospel and make disciples.
— Matthew 28:18–19

**Jesus is coming again. Those who have trusted in Him will be gathered together with Him, while those who reject Christ will face eternal separation from Him.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Romans 2:6–8

So, what are you trusting in?

What others think and say?

Or what God says in His Word?

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