Here is what the Thessalonians had to say about Paul and his associates when they came to town:

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too.   Acts 17:6 (HCSB)

They were wrong, of course.

“Wrong? How so?”

They had it backwards; or, might I say, upside down?

“What are you talking about?”

Simply this: these preachers were not turning the world upside down; they were turning it right side up!

“Oh.”

Ever since Adam, things have been upside down because of man’s sin. When the Gospel is preached, and people believe, for the first time they begin to live as they were intended by God to live. Of course, not perfectly so.

“No one is perfect; as Jesus was. Will believers ever become perfect?”

Yes.

“When?”

When He returns to earth and transforms us into the perfect creatures he intends us to become.

“When is that?”

It is the next thing on God’s given agenda.

“Date?”

No one knows the date. We are to be ready for it to come whenever it does.

“Do all of these wars and rumors of wars indicate that it is near?”

No—just the opposite.

“Really? There’s talk like that.”

I know, but it is not biblical.

“Please explain.”

Can I let Paul do so?

“Sure.”

OK. Here’s what he says:

About the times and seasons[1] . . . when they say ‘peace and security,’ then sudden destruction comes on them (I Thess. 5:1, 3 HCSB).

“Oh!”