Today we launch into the second letter from Paul to
the Thessalonians. Scholars believe that it was written probably just a few weeks
or months after the first. It seems that not much has changed in the situation.
The church is facing many of the same issues, so the themes of this letter line
up quite closely with those of the first. So why did Paul write this letter? Did
he really need to? Have you ever faced that question? Does staying in touch
with people ever feel routine or even a bit of burden? You know you owe someone
a letter or email, but you’re not sure if you have anything new to add to what
you said the last time you wrote. But keeping in touch is important, isn’t it?
People need to know you care. And we have already noted Paul’s special concern
for these new believers in Thessalonica. We can assume that Silas and/or
Timothy have delivered the first letter and returned. Paul is still thinking of
the Thessalonians, and he wants them to know that. And we will see that he certainly
does have some new insights to share and areas to exhort in this short letter
of just three chapters. Once again he wants to correct some misunderstanding
concerning the return of the Lord Jesus and what will happen around that time.
In Chapter 2 Paul writes about the “man of lawlessness” who must revealed and
exalt himself before the “day of the Lord” comes.
Let’s start here at the beginning, 2 Thessalonians
1:
Paul, Silas
and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought
always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly
so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have
for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we
boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and
trials you are enduring.—II Thessalonians 1:1-4
The first couple of verses here are nearly
identical to the start of the first letter. Paul begins almost all of his
letters with greetings of grace and peace. Here he adds “from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ,” reinforcing the source of these wonderful
blessings. Grace and peace. The human heart longs for peace, doesn’t it? Not
just quiet or stillness or the superficial absence of conflict, but the shalom that has its source in the Prince
of Peace. Shalom refers to a state of blessedness and fulfillment, health and
harmony. Shalom allows each of us to reach our full potential, to flourish and
function as God created us to, in right relationship with each other and with
God. Think of the Garden of Eden when you think of shalom: Adam and Eve living
in harmony with each other and with God. But how that was spoiled by sin! We
see so many things in the world and in our own hearts that keep us from shalom.
And that is where grace comes in. Grace and peace
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s grace, His undeserved
favor, is the only thing that allows us to experience even a glimpse of shalom
in our lives. As humans we have developed the idea that we can achieve peace
through war. And the argument can be made that sometimes wars are necessary to
fend off evil. But if you were to ask the people of Afghanistan, for example,
how much peace has been obtained through the last 17 years of war there, they
would probably say, not much. Peace comes from grace, and grace comes from God.
Grace allows people to forgive instead of fight. We love because God first
loved us. It is not humanly possible to love this way. It is only by the power
of Holy Spirit.
So, grace and peace to the Thessalonians, even in
the midst of persecutions and trials. This is truly a gift from God that Paul
is asking for – for them. Paul is next reminding himself to thank God for these
brothers and sisters who are growing in their faith and in their love for each
other. Their faith was in God, not necessarily in what He would do for them but
in who He is, the one who is faithful and true. It was this faith and its
transforming work in their hearts that allowed them to truly love each other in
an unselfish way. The church was made up of many different kinds of people,
Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, male and female, who would not naturally have
cared for each other or even have gotten along together very well. Christians
loving each other despite differences and disagreements is a huge witness to
the world. In fact, this kind of love ought to be the hallmark of the church.
You may recall in Chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians that Paul prayed that the Lord
would make their love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone
else. Love within the body and love to those outside the church as well. This
prayer was being answered.
Therefore Paul was able to hold up this church as
an example for others to follow, noting in particular their perseverance and
faith. They were facing various trials as well as opposition from those in
their city who saw their faith in Jesus as a threat. But they were hanging on
to what they knew was true, committing their very lives into God’s hands. This
is the reality for so many in our world today. They face the loss of everything
temporal because of their faith in Jesus. But somehow they persevere and
entrust themselves to their loving God.
All this is
evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is
just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and
give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his
powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do
not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be
glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who
have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.—II
Thessalonians 1:5-10
Paul here is trying to encourage the Thessalonian
believers, who must be feeling the injustice of what they are going through. It
doesn’t make sense that bad things happen to good people. This is an issue that
has throughout history has caused people to question the existence of God or at
least to give up on their belief that He is loving and in control. Paul wants
to remind these young Christians that God is indeed righteous and just and will
one day judge the wicked, everyone who has not accepted His gift of grace and
forgiveness. On that day, the tables will be turned. The troubler will be
troubled, and those suffering will be relieved. The early church lived in the
expectation of Jesus’ imminent return with His powerful angels, wielding
blazing fire to put an end to sin.
But there is still the question of how the present
situation is evidence that God’s judgment is right, as it says here in verse 5.
I wonder if it could be that God’s judgment has already begun. He knows the
outcome of what is in each person’s heart. He has seen the faith in the hearts
of these Thessalonians and counted them not just worthy of His kingdom but also
to suffer for Him. Acts 5 records Peter and the other apostles rebuked by the Sanhedrin
for proclaiming the resurrection. They were on the point of being executed but
escaped with a flogging and an order to not speak in the name of Jesus. It says
that the apostles went out from there, “rejoicing that they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” God entrusts persecution to some of
his children, those who will stand up for Him despite opposition and ridicule –
or worse. Being counted worthy of suffering – this is the type of righteous
judgment spoken of here in verse 5. Are you worthy of suffering for Jesus? The
worth is not in ourselves, it is in the faith and perseverance that we receive
as a gift from God, just as the Thessalonians did. Suffering and withstanding
persecution is evidence that we have been chosen by Him.
And there will be a final judgment, when the Lord
Jesus will punish those who do not know God – in the sense of recognizing Him
as God – and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, it says here in
verse 8. The phrase “obey the gospel” caught my eye, because we usually think
of the gospel as a message of grace, which it is, a reminder that there is
nothing that we can do to atone for our sins or to obtain God’s favor.
Salvation is a free gift – all we have to do is receive it. But there is an element
of obedience in the gospel as well. Not only do we have to obey the command to
believe – believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – but we have
a responsibility to love God and to love our neighbor. Grace does not mean that
we can do whatever we want, without consequences. In obedience we submit to God
and his will for us.
Unrepentant sinners will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord. Some theologians
interpret this “everlasting destruction” as the annihilation of the wicked,
that they will be consumed by Revelation 20’s lake of fire and no longer exist.
Others, who believe in the eternal torment of hell, say that this everlasting
destruction is more like “complete ruin.” You may recall from 1 Thessalonians 5
the reference to sudden destruction that comes with the day of the Lord. The
doctrine of annihilation versus eternal torment has been debated for centuries,
with scriptural arguments on both sides. I don’t have the time to go into them
here. Obviously it is not a clear-cut issue, and I am content to leave it with
God. He knows. One thing that is clear, however, is that unbelievers will be
separated from the Lord forever. They will not be able to live in His glorious
presence. We who have believed will join the Thessalonians in marveling at the
glory of Jesus as He comes again and takes us to be with Himself forever. Paul
wanted to encourage them and us with this hope.
With this in
mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of
his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every
desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.—II Thessalonians
1:11-12
We are
worthy because of grace, and we are being made worthy by grace. This is the
work of God and Paul’s constant prayer for the Thessalonians. God calls us and
makes us worthy of that calling, equipping us with what we need to fulfill it.
All believers need to live with a sense of God’s calling. You may recognize
this as one of my favorite themes! God doesn’t save us just so we can live
happy lives. He has a purpose for each us that we need to discern, by His Holy
Spirit, and devote our lives to. He knows each of you and has created you for a
particular role in His plan to save the world. Finding that place in the will
of God and being open to however He wants to use us there will bring the
greatest fulfillment that you can imagine. Is your job just something you do
every day or is it your calling? If you are a student, do you have a sense that
God wants you to study what you are working on? There should be no separation
of sacred and secular if we practice the presence of God in all of it. We
shouldn’t do something just because it is “the thing to do.” We need to keep
reevaluating our lives and activities in light of God’s calling. Keep asking
why you do the things you do.
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. That’s
what it says in Ephesians 2:10. God has prepared good works for you to do, and
He has created you in a certain way so that you are able to do them. That is
how we become worthy of His calling. It is by his power. He is able to bring to
fruition every desire of ours for goodness and every deed prompted by faith.
This is a wonderful, reassuring promise!
What does it mean to bring to fruition? It
certainly implies a good result, doesn’t it? A desire for goodness starts like
a seed that we do what we can to nurture but that God needs to bring to the
point of bearing fruit. In the same way, we step out in faith to do something
for God, entrusting the result to Him. Both the prompting and the fulfillment
are by His grace. Do you have a desire for goodness? Not a desire for obtaining
good things in a material sense, but for you yourself to be good?
Do you know that earlier this year Google changed
its corporate motto? It used to be “Don’t be Evil.” It’s been replaced with “Do
the Right Thing.” Most internet pundits seem to see this as a good change, to
focus on the good instead of the bad. But I think its code of conduct now
sounds just like the usual corporate mumbo-jumbo. I thought the original was
much more powerful. It admits the possibility of being evil, an issue most
corporations would like to just sweep under the rug. Even if Google was not
entirely successful in following its motto, at least it had that as its goal.
Being good is a tough goal in a world with no fixed
standards. Some people equate being good with being successful. And what is the
definition of success? Does Clemson have a “good” football team? Well, they
seem to be winning so far this season. But Dabo would be one of the first to
admit that that is not what really makes them good. Playing football well may have little to do with what you are
like on the inside. Goodness has to come from God, because he is the source of
all goodness. Whatever humans come up with on their own is just a façade.
Once again, our ultimate purpose is to glorify God.
For the name of Jesus to be glorified in us means that as we do good and walk
by faith that people will be able to identify us with him. His name, his honor,
his reputation are lifted up, and people will want to have a relationship with
him, too. “He in us and us in him” emphasizes the unity that we can have with
Christ as we abide in him as the True Vine. The Message puts this verse well:
If your life
honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of
this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself
freely.—II Thessalonians 1:12
If we honor God, he will honor us. This is the
honor-shame perspective on what it means to glorify God. And here grace is
defined as God giving Himself freely to us. What an amazing gift!
As I was thinking about today’s passage in 2
Thessalonians, a familiar psalm came to mind. Psalm 37 starts out
Do not fret
because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for
like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die
away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in
the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and
he will give you the desires of your heart.—Psalm 37:1-4
The message of hope is the same. God will take care
of evil people in his time and way. If we trust in the Lord we will be able to
do good. He will fulfill our desire for good. Dwelling in the land and enjoying
safe pasture may come as a literal blessing from God, or it may be that we need
to dwell in Him in a figurative sense and receive our sustenance from Him,
despite our worldly comforts and supports being taken away. Take delight in the
Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Everyone wants God to
give them their heart’s desires. Some miss the prerequisite of delighting in Him
first. If seeking Him is our main goal, then our desires will be His desires, and
He will be only too glad to fulfill them. Our desire will be for goodness, and
by His grace God will bring that to fruition, along with every deed prompted by
our faith in Him.
This will be my last Sunday with you until early
December. I leave Tuesday for South Asia. It will take 23 flights over 6 weeks
to get to 10 locations. I will value your prayers as I visit our workers in
these countries and attend a number of important meetings. Since I will be away
for a while I would like to alert you now to the fact that November 4th
will be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We have
talked about the type of persecution that the Thessalonians were enduring. This
kind of opposition and violence against believers is still going on in various
places around the world, and it is important for us to remember these brothers
and sisters in our prayers, standing with them in this spiritual battle. “For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”—Ephesians 6:12
The Voice of the Martyrs has been putting out some
materials to help people know how to pray. I thought I would show their video
that illustrates the precarious position of Christians in Pakistan.
Did you pick up on what he said right at the end?
They are praying for us. This is something that has really touched my heart as
I have prayed with these people under such persecution. They take seriously
their responsibility to pray for us – that we would be strong in our faith,
regardless of what we are facing. So let’s spend some time in prayer for
Pakistan, remembering especially a Christian woman named Asia Bibi who has been
on death row since 2010 for blasphemy. She was convicted on the basis of
hearsay evidence, the lawyer who defended her was assassinated, and her final
appeal has been heard by the Pakistan Supreme Court, which is expected to rule
any day on her case. She would actually be the first person to be executed
under Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law. There are so many others like her in
various countries who face death for being Christians. I just read yesterday
about a Nigerian Christian girl named Leah that is being held by Boko Haram.
She could be executed any day now for not renouncing her faith in Jesus. She is
just 15 years old. Let’s pray for Asia and Leah and others like them.
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