2 Thessalonians 1:1–12 – … to Serve the Living & True God
Epiphany of the Lord – January 10, 2021 (am)
 

Paul gives more time to the second [coming] of Jesus in his letters to the Thessalonians than in any of his letters to other churches, and even more in 2Th. than in 1Th. This has always been a fascinating topic to the church. And that is surely no less true in our day, especially given things we’re seeing around us that reverberate with end times significance. I’ve had more conversations on this topic this past week than I even had in this past year. And I’ve had more conversations in this past year than perhaps in any ten-year span in my ministry life! The second [coming] of Christ is on our minds these days, freshly. And it’s always something that raises our pulse when we think about it, especially when we think it could be near. Well, my friends, it is near. In our recent study of James, we heard that the coming of the Lord is at hand (Jam.5:8). In fact, the Judge is standing at the door (Jam.5:9). And some want to say: Yeah, we’ve heard that. It’s just a biblical figure of speech. But, my friends, I believe we say that only to our own peril.

The fact is, we don’t know when Jesus will return. He Himself said, Mat.24:36 … concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. But what we do know we learned just recently from 1Th.4:13-5:11. (1) We know the day of the Lord is [coming] (4:13-18). (2) We don’t know when (5:1-3). So, (3) be ready! (5:4-11) Stay awake (Mar.13:35-37). Live in a way that says: Perhaps today! When Jesus was teaching on this subject, He said regarding timing: Mat.24:34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. I take this to mean, at very least, that all the signs which needed to happen before His return took place in that first generation following His ascension back to the Father. The rest are just accumulating, intensifying birth pains until the end (Mat.24:8). So, His nearness isn’t just biblical metaphor, it’s genuine reassurance to His friends and sober warning to His enemies!

And the good news is, 2Th. tells us just how we ought to live in light of what’s called the imminent return of Christ. The bad news is that we don’t really get into that until next week! But what we see today provides the motivation for living today, and every day, in light of Jesus’ return. Today we read Paul’s opening greeting and [thanksgiving] to God for this church. But even so, in 2Th. these things are tied into the second [coming] of Christ. And Paul expresses them in a way that we, too, can be moved to [thanksgiving]. Let’s look this in two successive parts.

Paul’s Thanksgiving for These Resilient Thessalonians

As Paul opens this letter, we see that these Thessalonians are continuing to endure persecutions and afflictions (4). But that should come as no surprise to us, or even to them, because Paul had already written to them in his first letter, saying, you yourselves know that we are destined for afflictions (1Th.3:3). This is standard fare in the Christian life. Peter wrote to his people: 1Pe.4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Rejoice as you [suffer with] Christ because that proves you are in Christ, and it reassures you that you’ll likewise rejoice when He returns!

And that’s just what Paul is saying here. This is the same reason why he says: 3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers [and sisters]… because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. This is how their [endurance] is showing itself: even though they’re suffering under the opposition of their community to the faith they’ve embraced, [their] faith is growing abundantly, and [their] love… for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God, Paul writes, for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. A remarkable work of God is going on in these Thessalonians. But this remarkable response from them to their afflictions and suffering is just the beginning of the story!

This [endurance] in persecutions for which Paul is [giving] thanks to God and [boasting to] the churches about these Thessalonians gives evidence of something far grander taking place. 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God. It’s evidence that the judgment of God is [right] and good. It is a sign that God is dealing, judging, deciding, governing justly, rightly (Piper). The [church’s] suffering—their enduring in it, growing in faith and love through it (3), being steadfast in all of it (4)—this is evidence that God is doing all things well. And Paul tells us just how this is so in his next three statements. God is proven righteous in His judgment because you are suffering… (5)

5 … that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God…, that you may be fit for it—not so much deserving of it as worthy of it. The work of Christ in you is having its transforming effect to the extent that your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing such that you are worthy of the kingdom of God! It’s [increasingly] reflective of it, in step with it! And Paul tells us this will ultimately show itself (11) when we [glorify] Jesus and [marvel] at Him on the day of His return, when we’re prepared to stand confident and unashamed before him at his coming (1Jo.2:28 tniv). This is the first way our [endurance in suffering] (4) is evidence of the righteous judgment of God (5). It makes us worthy of His kingdom.

6 … God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you. Vengeance belongs to the Lord and [He] will repay (Rom.12:19; Deu.32:35). He will balance the scales. He will right all wrongs. Those who afflict His children will be repaid with affliction. They won’t get away with it! This means their cruel acts will prepare His children for His return and at the same time they will be heaping up judgment on their own heads! This is the second way our [endurance in suffering] (4) is evidence of the righteous judgment of God (5). Our [persecutors] will be held accountable for what they’ve done, for all they’ve done.

7 [God considers it just] to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us…. All persecutions will come to an end. They will not be forever. We will [rest] (Strong) from our suffering and that will be a [glorious] day—Rom.8:18 … the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 2Co.4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So, this is the third way our [endurance in suffering] (4) is evidence of the righteous judgment of God (5). Our afflictions will end. Relief will come!

And all of this takes place 7 … when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. It takes place on the same day when He will finally 8 … [inflict] vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, far from the light of His presence and forever in the darkness of His distance and disapproval (cf. Piper). This is the fate of the unbelieving 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed….

So, this is the reason why; it’s for this purpose—11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. We always pray for you so that you’ll keep on enduring in your suffering, in all your persecutions and afflictions (4), and continue growing abundantly in your faith and your love for one another (3) 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you [be glorified] in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. We want you to be ready on the day of the Lord’s return, worthy of his calling (11). And we ought always to give thanks to God when we can see so clearly that He’s answering our prayers. He’s enabling your [endurance] in suffering so that you’ll be worthy on that day!

Why This Generates Thanksgiving in Us As Well

Hopefully you can hear this already. Through most of this message I’ve been speaking as though this text is written directly to us. And really, it is. Every generation of the church [suffers] persecutions and afflictions. And every one of them needs to hear this reassurance from Paul, this reminder of how our suffering relates to our [calling] and our preparation for the Lord’s return—how it’s rightly used by him to transform us fallen sinners into people who will [glorify] Jesus and [marvel] at Him when he comes!

That’s the work God is doing in us! He was doing it in the Thessalonians and He’s still doing it today! He’s [making us] worthy of his calling—by his power He’s [fulfilling] every resolve for good and every work of faith that rises up in our hearts (11) to transform us from self-centered, self-gratifying pagans, who [marvel] at the pitiful rewards of this broken world, into saints whose very lives [bring glory] to God and whose hearts so long to see Him that we [marvel] at his [coming]! We celebrate like bride on her wedding day when she’s still utterly amazed that this man has declared his love for her.

This is why this passage generates [thanksgiving] in us as well. It reassures us that not only is our suffering not wasted. It actually gives us evidence of the righteous judgment of God that works in our favor for all eternity! It reassures us that every expression of hardship, pain, injustice, corruption, fraud, disease that this world can churn up will be meticulously handled, addressed, set right by an uncompromisingly righteous God. And in the meantime, we do best when we give ourselves to our work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th.1:3) just like these Thessalonians were doing. We do best when we turn away from the frustrations and fallenness of this world and receive the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (12), seeking Him to work in us through it to make [us] worthy of his calling (11).

Conclusion

The tighter these Thessalonians were squeezed by the ungodliness and opposition of the world they lived in, the more faith, love, and hope oozed/flowed/flooded out of them! [Their] faith [was] growing abundantly, and the love of every one of [them] for one another was increasing (3). What has flowed out of us this past year, this past month, this past week when we were squeezed by the ungodliness of this world?  What has flowed out of you? Would the apostle Paul be [thanking] God for it?

What should we do about that? Let’s pray.

Prayer of Intercession

Heavenly Father, we come to You today as a needy people in a world of needy people, a redeemed church that is still battling with the flesh in a world of fallen sinners bent on their own self-interest.

We need You in our day, Lord God. We need You to strengthen our faith that it may grow abundantly. Every one of us need You to enable our love for one another such that it is increasing day by day.

We need You to remind us that You have destined us for afflictions in this life, and that we shouldn’t receive them as though something strange were happening to us, but as a reminder that the changes happening in us by the work of Your Spirit through Your Word are entirely at odds with the world around us such that we can expect to feel their opposition. We can expect them not to understand our lifestyle and our motivational structure. And we can expect not to appreciate or admire theirs.

This is why we need You to help us love them in Your name, Lord God. There’s nothing in this world that is naturally lovable to us once we’re in Christ. And then there’s nothing in us that is naturally lovable to the world at that point either.

We will feel that tension. And because our flesh is still alive in us, it will feel almost impossible for us not to get drawn into this world’s way of thinking and evaluating. It will feel almost impossible for us not to go up and down with the news of the day and get drawn into the endless disputes that arise about it.

It will feel almost impossible to us to remember that the only One Whose opinion of us matters is the One gave His life for us to free us from sin, and the guilt of our sin, and has promised that He will make us worthy of His kingdom, that He will repay all those whose fallenness has wounded us in our journey through this life, and that He will grant us relief, eternal relief, in the joy of His unshielded presence as surely as He had freed us from our sin.

O, Father, do this work in us, I pray. Make us a people whose works of faith and labors of love display a steadfastness of hope that is worthy of our Lord and Savior on that day You have appointed for His return. Cause us to marvel at Him on that day. Make it so for Your glory and according to your limitless, matchless grace. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

Next Sunday: Concerning the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12