Laziness is not a Virtue

2 Thessalonians 3:1-18, “Laziness is not a Virtue”
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Introduction:
So everyone knows that 1&2 Thessalonians are books that deal with the subject of the endtimes. Whole prophecy conferences have been dedicated to the things Paul wrote about concerning the resurrection, rapture, imminency, God’s judgment, the great apostasy, the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, etc. But with all the focus we put on those sections of Scripture, was that all Paul needed to write to the Thessalonians? Of course not. Paul did teach them a great deal about future events, but he was also greatly concerned about their present-day walk with Christ.

So what’s included with that walk? Surely Paul is going to write on some really spiritual things like fasting and prayer, or spiritual warfare right? Wrong. He writes about our jobs – our industry – what we do to make a living & put bread on the table. “That doesn’t sound very spiritual…I didn’t think we were supposed to talk about normal stuff in church.” (1) It IS spiritual – God is the One who equips and gifts you for the work we do & whatever occupation we might have, it’s the closest mission field you’ll ever see. (2) Our work is very much a part of our walk with Christ…because our whole lives belong to Him! If you trusted & received Jesus as your Lord, you turned ALL your life over to Him. So how we go about providing for our families is very important to Him.

Before Paul gets there, he starts with both a prayer and a prayer request…

2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 (NKJV)
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
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A. Paul doesn’t only offer prayer for the church; he doesn’t hesitate to ask for it…and that’s a good thing! We are utterly dependent on the Lord, so we shouldn’t hesitate to pray for God’s will to be done in every area of our life.
B. Request #1 – that the gospel would go forth… Both in magnitude (“run swiftly”) and effectiveness (“be glorified” – be honored). Amen! Pray that gospel would go to many people around the world & that once they hear it they’d be saved. (We should be praying the same for our outreach.)
__a. Why do we pray for the gospel? Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16)! When people hear the word of God, it convicts them & cuts them to the heart (just as it should do). And we can have confidence that God’s word will have the effect that God intends: it doesn’t return void (Isa 55:11).
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2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
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A. Request #2 – that the gospel would be unhindered by the actions of others. For some, they hear the good news that their sins can be forgiven through Jesus Christ & they rejoice & repent to receive Christ as Lord. For others, they hear the word of God and continue in their rebellion – actively seeking to oppose the truth.
B. The fact is, “not all have faith” – we shouldn’t be surprised when that act that way. Sinful people sin…it’s what we do. And sinful people without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can (and do) sin in dreadful ways. We shouldn’t be surprised; but we should be watchful & prayerful.
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3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
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A. Whatever happens, God is faithful! Despite the persecution that has taken place in Thessalonica – despite the wicked men working against the gospel of Christ – despite any attack of the enemy in whatever form it may take – God is faithful! Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; [] It is part of His very character & name…
__a. Attacks & trials WILL come… But our faith is in God! We trust in Him to empower us to endure every situation. He is the one who establishes us & gives us strength – He’s the one who sets us on His firm foundation to guard us from every wave of attack from the enemy.
B. If persecution & tribulation are facts of life for Christians, what does it mean that God is faithful to guard us from the evil one? Is God incompetent or weak? Perish the thought! We need to change our understanding of what it means to be protected from the attacks of the devil. … We often think that if God was guarding us from the enemy, that we would never experience attacks at all. But we can also be protected while we’re enduring the attack from the evil one! Hence our instructions in Ephesians to take up the armor & stand. (Eph 6:13)…
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4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
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A. Need we be worried about the attacks of the enemy & wicked men? No. They sometimes tend to consume our prayer life, but we need to trust God is faithful. Instead, we turn our attention God & His work in us as we follow Christ.
B. Into what will God direct us?
__1. The love of God: That should be enough to occupy our attention for eternity. Whatever attacks are thrown at us by the enemy, we can rest easy in the truth that we are loved by God! …
__2. The patience of Christ: We normally say we need the “patience of Job” – but what we really need is the patience of Christ. Christ Jesus not only endured His trials, but He endured them with confidence and faith knowing that God was 100% in control & that God would be glorified as a result.
____i. That in itself is pretty amazing. The events surrounding the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion seem to be anything but controlled at 1st glance. Mock trials – mob rule – puppet government – physical torture… Yet what was Jesus’ response to Pilate in the midst of it? John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” [] As awful as a time it was, God had a planned purpose for how He would use the pain.
____ii. Whatever it is we’re going through – whether it’s caused by a fallen creation in natural disasters or whether it’s caused by someone’s blatant sin against us – if we are in Christ, we can have a confident faith that God is in control & WILL use the situation for His glory. (Rom 8:28)
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6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.
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A. Even the disorderly had originally received the tradition from Paul. Note “brother” – this was a Christian to whom Paul was referring.
B. “disorderly” vs. “idleness”: Greek word (???????) was often used outside the Scriptures as a military term to describe soldiers marching out of order, or not submitting to their rank. IOW, it describes an ‘active’ (not passive) action. When used to refer to work, it describes an irresponsible attitude about working – that someone is actively rebelling against their obligation to work…something that would be outside the order of not only Christian communities, but outside the order of secular communities as well.
__a. If disorderly, rebellious idleness is something that is outside the norm of the secular world, how much more should it be outside the norm of those who follow Christ? These may be the endtimes, but it’s not a time to be lazy! We’re about to meet our Lord & King – we don’t want to be found in disorderly idleness by Him… (Matt 25:26)
C. What does it mean to “withdraw” from these people? Simply to not fellowship as the church with them. Perhaps this involved communion, perhaps something else. Paul does NOT give the impression that this person should be “shunned” to the point of complete ex-communication… Simply that they would experience the consequence of not being received into full fellowship…which would also exclude them from receiving financial benevolence.
__a. Keep in mind this wasn’t Paul’s 1st step. In 1 Thess 5:14, he warned against unruly living…only when they didn’t follow through does he go to the next level of withdrawing fellowship. (We tend to go out of order…)
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7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,
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A. They don’t need to be taught this (or retaught by a false teacher) because they had already seen Paul’s example with their own eyes. And they knew Paul never got something for nothing.
B. Work. HARD work. Tentmaking was tough manual labor & Paul continued practicing it wherever he went in the Roman empire as a missionary. (Every rabbi learned a trade.)
__a. Interesting that hard work/practical labor is part of the “tradition” passed on by the disciples. We might normally assume “tradition” only to refer to so-called “spiritual disciplines”…and sure that does include some of that (communion, baptism, how to study the Scripture, etc). But Christianity was never supposed to be a “Sunday morning” religion… Christianity is an ongoing daily eternal relationship between the Savior and those He’s saved. If our Christianity never leaves Sunday morning, it’s worth examining if it’s true Christianity at all!
__b. Why should work be important to the Christian? Because that’s what our Lord & Master does…beyond His finished work at the cross, He is our mediator with the Father – He’s preparing a place for us & more. Our Father works every day drawing people to Christ (among running all Creation). The Holy Spirit works in convicting people of sin, righteousness and judgment – He sanctifies us… A servant is not greater than his master; if our God works, so must we.
____i. Note what we DON’T work for: grace. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
C. Paul never wanted to be a burden. He was called by God to go plant churches; not to be enriched by them. Not that he didn’t receive support from them – he did…even from the Thessalonians while at Corinth (2 Cor 8:1). But while the church fellowships were being established, he supported them; not the other way around (2 Cor 12:14).
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9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
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A. Paul had the right…: Any time Paul writes about on the subject, he’s always sensitive to the idea that Christian workers have a right to be supported by the church. Like any apostle, he had the right to a wife & family (1 Cor 9:5); he simply didn’t exercise that right.
B. …He just had a different priority. Wanted to teach them the importance of working. Imagine the example being set: Most ‘spiritual’ people aren’t known for doing work… They’re ‘gurus.’ They sit on a mountaintop while other people work for & serve them. They ride in the best cars b/c they’ve been ‘blessed’ with a special ‘anointing.’ But Paul comes along & says “Baloney!” Here’s a guy that’s so anointed that he’s had several personal visions of the Lord (including a visit to heaven) – he’s participated in countless healings…even with people using his sweatrags to heal the sick – he’s been known to raise the dead – he’s even been the mouthpiece of God Himself for the writing of much of the New Testament… But Paul is not some high & mighty guru… He’s a regular joe who works night & day like anyone else to make a living.
__a. And there’s the example. The more the church grows in the Lord, the more they’re going to be set apart by Him (made holy). BUT that doesn’t give them license to be spiritual snobs among their neighbors. They’re not to act ‘holier-than-thou’… They’re simply supposed to be holy, but still be among the world as witnesses (salt & light…).
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10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
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A. There’s nothing inherently wrong with someone if they’re poor. Paul makes no such inference or indictment against poor people (as opposed to the teaching of some). If someone can’t work for whatever reason even though they are willing to, Scripture overwhelmingly exhorts us to come alongside one another and help each other in times of need… But something IS wrong if they’re willingly lazy & expect others to support them simply because they’re ‘Christian.’ Better for that person to go hungry so they learn the value of work. Proverbs 19:15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger. []
__a. Note that Paul keeps the idea of “work” broad here. Some folks get the idea that, “Unless I can find a job doing ____, then I can’t work.” That’s not a cause for ongoing support from the church…according to the Scripture, someone has to at least be willing to work.
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11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
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A. Apparently, some had fallen into this trap. Started poking their nose into everyone else’s business instead of taking care of their own.
__a. Be careful of the tendency to be busybodies! Christians are especially susceptible to it…only we call them “prayer requests.” …
__b. Those of us in the premill/pretrib camp also have a susceptibility to this. Because we know that the Lord really could come back at any time for His church, there’s a tendency that we might not do any preparation for the future. (Job, kids’ college, etc) We need to live like Christ will call us home today, but prepare like He might not do it for years to come.
B. The Greek actually uses a bit of word-play here. Literally “doing nothing but doing around”. Busy-ness in business keeps us from being busy-bodies. There’s enough going on in our own walk with Christ to keep us plenty occupied – which is basically what Jesus told Peter… John 21:21-22 (21) Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” (22) Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” []
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12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
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A. Here’s the solution to the dilemma: everyone work quietly! Eat your own bread; not someone else’s because you didn’t bother to bake it…i.e., buy your own food.
B. How important is this? Enough to be commanded AND exhorted on Jesus’ authority.
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13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
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A. Contextually, Paul’s addressing those who may have been taken advantage of by idle brethren. Even though there may be those who ‘abuse the system’, the rest of the church wasn’t to get discouraged from helping people in need.
__a. It can be tiring to keep helping people in need, because there will always be people in need! (Hurricane season is a perfect example! Just as Gustav ended, Hanna hit the east coast & Ike came up through us…all have vital areas that need to be addressed.) But helping those in need is a good thing!
B. Broader than the immediate context… Don’t grow weary in doing good in ALL things. Whatever we do for the Lord (which should be everything), keep it up…
__a. (Guzik) “The older King James Version has this, be not weary in well doing. There is plenty of well-wishing in the world, well-resolving, well-suggesting, and well-criticizing are also found in plenty. Many people are good at well-talking, but there is not enough of simple well doing.”
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14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
How to deal with a Christian who’s fallen into laziness:
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A. Note him: Recognize the sin for what it is & address it appropriately. It’s easy (and tempting) to ignore sin – but it’s like leaven/yeast…it’ll always grow.
B. Don’t fellowship with him: Inviting a person over to dinner who’s deliberately trying to mooch off the church isn’t helping anyone. This was especially appropriate advice for the early churches that regularly had ‘agape feasts.’
C. Help him understand the sin: Shame isn’t always a bad thing. When someone’s conscience convicts them of sin – that’s good! But with that in mind, we need to be careful that the church isn’t the one shaming him. Paul specifically warns the church not to treat the person as an enemy – because they’re not! They simply need loving correction.
D. DO pray for & work towards restoration. The church may be admonishing him, but it’s done in brotherly love. Galatians 6:1-2 (1) Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (2) Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. []
__a. Whatever New Testament discipline we’re dealing with, the goal is always the same: repentance & restoration.
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- Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
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A. “Lord of peace”: There’s a reason why we can experience the peace that passes understanding in Christ…because He’s the Lord of peace who gives peace. He IS our peace (Eph 2:14) – the only way we can have peace with God through forgiveness of sin!
B. No limit to the peace He offers. He is Lord over all, so He can give you peace in every situation…which is everything!
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17 The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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A. Did Paul always close with a personal signature? Not every epistle indicates it; this may have been done with every correspondence to Thessalonica due to potential forgeries.
B. Grace. Extremely common for Paul to end his epistles in this way, but very appropriate! He always began with grace & peace, and it only makes sense to end with grace. Why? Everything in between is due to grace!
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Conclusion:
I don’t agree with Martin Luther’s view of the end-times, but he did have a proper attitude concerning it. He supposedly said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today.” That’s not to say he would ignore the situation – but simply that he would live life every day as God had called him to live. We have a glorious promise from Christ Jesus that He will be returning for His church! We will see all Christians throughout history raised from the dead or participate in the Rapture – we will be ushered into heaven with Christ in worship & praise – and we will return with Him when He comes back to defeat the Devil, Antichrist, and judge the world. All of this could be begun at any given moment – what a glorious promise to expect!

But until that takes place, there’s a harvest we’ve been called to participate in & our families to provide for. So plant your apple tree – do your work diligently – be about doing what is right & good – all for the glory of Christ Jesus. Take the opportunity every day provides to glorify God in ordinary ways through His extraordinary grace.

If you’re not a Christian, you’ve also been given an extraordinary opportunity today: you can be saved! The Bible declares that now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2)…don’t waste the opportunity God is giving you; grab hold of it!

Chosen, Called, Comforted

After the fireworks of the apostasy, antichrist, and endtimes, it’d be easy to gloss over the remaining few verses at the end of Ch 2…but in doing so, we’d miss a seminary’s worth of theology. As exciting as it can be to talk about the endtimes, we need to be careful not to miss the most important aspect about any of it: the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Keep in mind that it is by His grace that we are saved – it’s by His grace we will be raptured or resurrected – it’s by His grace that we will spend eternity with Him – and by His grace that we’ll return with Him when He comes back in glory. When we get the focus off of the work of the Lord Jesus in endtimes, we’ve made a grave mistake – and that’s exactly what Paul avoids doing.

After writing of the revealing of Antichrist among the world during the Tribulation time, Paul turns his attention to the work of Jesus Christ in the church – from eternity past to the present day. Lest we get the idea that God has been taken by surprise by sin & evil – the Scripture shows us that it’s quite the opposite. God has always had a plan for dealing with it, and He’s successfully carrying it out right now.

In transition, Paul had just gotten done writing of the just condemnation of unbelievers who did not respond to the word of truth – who willfully rejected the grace of Jesus Christ through the gospel. But he doesn’t leave it there…he contrasts it with the marvelous things God has done for the church of Jesus Christ because of His incredible grace.
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2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (NKJV)
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
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A. Thanking God always: Paul’s been doing that a lot with the Thessalonians (3 times in 1 Thess; 3 times in 2 Thess). Obviously not referring to legalistic prayer, but simply saying the church has been on his mind a lot & every time he thinks about them, he prays for them. (Great model for us! When you think about someone, pray for them…I know they’d appreciate it!)
¬¬__a. What is the basis for which Paul is praying for them? That’s the bulk of vs 13-14…and there’s a lot there!
B. Beloved by God! Over & over again we’re reminded that God loves the church & our salvation is utterly dependent on the love demonstrated through the grace of Jesus Christ. And for what the apostle teaches about the election of God, the context of the love of God is absolutely crucial. Often when the debate of predestination/free-will pops up, proponents of either side go into extreme camps misrepresenting the other. The extreme predestination side claims that free-will folks believe that they’re saved by something other than grace because Man’s will has to “help” God out. The extreme free-will side claims that predestination turns God into an uncaring despot looking to forcibly take over the minds of His people. Both extremes (and the arguments they present) are absolutely unbiblical!
¬¬__a. We are saved by grace alone (Eph 2:8-9), because we put our believing faith alone (Rom 10:9) in the Son of God alone (John 14:6) – and this is all grounded in the love of God! (John 3:16). [] The debate between free-will & predestination has been engaged for at least 500 years…the minimum we could do for either side is to keep it grounded in the love of God!
C. God chose you for salvation: You don’t have to be a Calvinist to be thankful that God chose you in His love for salvation – Paul did it & he lived 1500 years before Calvin was born! Scripture repeatedly talks about what’s referred to as “election” – that there are people throughout the history of the world that God has personally chosen to save for eternal life in order that He might be glorified. Scripture also repeatedly talks about the need for mankind to respond to that offer of salvation by consciously turning away from sin & trusting Christ alone as Savior & Lord. Is the Bible contradictory? No – our finite minds can only comprehend a small portion of our infinite God. I’ve no doubt that we’ll understand when we see Him face-to-face (though I don’t know if we’ll care so much about it then ).
__a. Don’t let the debate distract you from the depth here. God chose you. Not because you were worthy (you weren’t) – not because you could give Him something He didn’t have (you didn’t) – He chose you when you were your most ‘unchoosable’ in your sin. (Ever not chosen for a team?) Despite everything & all the arguments against you, God looked at you and loved you so much that He chose you for His own…
D. When? “From the beginning…” With this short statement, we really begin to see the breadth of God’s love for us & get a glimpse of His eternal mind & will. How far back is “the beginning”? Some would place it at the Garden of Eden, but that would make the promise of the gospel an unplanned response to the sin of Adam & Eve – and God was absolutely ready with a response & a prophecy in Gen 3:15. Instead, we have to go back even farther – Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [] And lest we get confused that God chose us at the moment of Creation – Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, [] IOW, there is no record of the time that God chose you for salvation, because time hadn’t existed yet. BEFORE the world was even founded, from time immemorial when only God & God alone existed, THAT’s when God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit picked you out of a line-up of coming humanity to shower His love upon you in salvation.
E. How? “Through sanctification…” Scripture uses the word “sanctification” to refer to two different processes. (1) To be physically, spiritually, and eternally set apart by God as holy. (2) To be progressively changed by the Holy Spirit, conformed to the image of Christ in our day-to-day actions. (One naturally leads into the other…) Contextually, the 1st definition seems to be what Paul’s referring to here. God loved you, and God decided to choose you – how did He go about choosing you? By setting you apart for Himself and His glory.
F. By what means? 2 things…
__a. “The Spirit”: Sometimes we can get the impression that the Holy Spirit has a lot to do with empowering our daily walk with Christ, but little to do with our initial salvation. Not true! The Holy Spirit convicts us in our unregenerate state of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), it is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again (John 3:5), and by the Holy Spirit we’re set apart for God. It’s impossible to separate out the Holy Spirit from salvation at all! His work is crucial!
__b. “Belief in the truth”: Faith comes by hearing & hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17) – in order to respond to the offer of salvation, we must believe the truth of God’s word. We are set apart for God and His glory through the continual work of the Scripture in our lives (John 17:17).
____i. Note that Paul doesn’t write that we must comprehend the facts of the truth; we must believe the truth. Many people can recite the gospel story & the facts regarding Jesus life, crucifixion, and resurrection…they can even tell you that Jesus died for the sins of the world. But without faith – without the belief that it is absolutely 100% true, it’s meaningless. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. [] Do you believe?
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14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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A. What’s the method God uses to call us? The gospel! The good news of God concerning Jesus Christ. That God became a man in Jesus of Nazareth, lived a perfect life fulfilling the law, died the death WE deserved, and rose to life on the 3rd day offering forgiveness & eternal life to all who call upon Him. (That’s not so difficult to share, is it? ) It’s good news – it’s great news! And because you heard someone proclaiming that news – or because you read that news proclaimed in a gospel tract or New Testament, you were saved. How does God choose to call those He’s chosen? Through the simple proclamation of the gospel.
__a. We get the false idea sometimes that “success” in evangelism is gauged in conversion numbers. And because most of us aren’t gifted to perform mass evangelistic crusade meetings, we’re get intimidated thinking we’re not equipped. Or because we’ve only rarely seen someone (if ever) come to Christ when we shared our faith, that we must not be gifted. Not true! The Lord Jesus commissioned the entire church to the task of sharing the gospel (Matt 28:19); it’s HIS job to call those who are lost! God the Father is the one who draws people to Jesus (John 6:44). OUR job is simply to be a witness (Acts 1:8). We share the gospel; God calls people through it.
B. What is a result of being called? Sharing in the glory of Christ Jesus! Not that we take glory that rightfully belongs to Him, but that we take part in His glory simply by being in His presence for all eternity. We are co-heirs with Christ, and thus we share in the riches of the glory of His inheritance (Eph 1:18). (Wiersbe) “What began in eternity past reaches its climax in eternity future: we share in the glory of God. What begins with grace always leads to glory.”
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15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
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A. Because God saved you through Christ Jesus – because He chose you by name – because He loves you – because He’s sanctifying you – because of all these things… Stand fast! There is an eternity future we are looking forward to & there is much tribulation until we get there. Let us be firmly grounded in Christ in the meantime.
B. “Hold the tradition”: Some would take this to mean that the church should value tradition on the same level of Scripture…the Eastern Orthodox & Roman Catholics do exactly that. Thus tradition adds onto tradition, and Scripture becomes interpreted in light of the tradition. That’s the opposite of what Paul’s saying here. Tradition should be evaluated in the light of Scripture; not the other way around. The Scripture is our final rule of doctrine & practice…and we place ourselves on shaky ground when it isn’t.
__a. “How can you say that with such certainty?” Simple. Was the church to hold to ANY tradition they decided to set up? No – they were to hold to certain traditions…only those given to them by the apostles through their spoken or written word. Keep in mind that the New Testament was still being written at the time, so their spoken words were crucial to the foundation of these new church bodies. Peter, Paul, and John may not be here to personally address us any longer, but their written words are! What God has chosen to preserve for us through the centuries is sufficient – it makes us complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:17).
__b. It’s hard to underscore the importance of this! There are those who would try to add on to Scripture…even in Protestant circles. Some want to mix in ancient mystic traditions; others believe that prophetic uttering is more valuable than the written word; others try to blend in new-age or pagan religions. How do we know what’s right & wrong? The ONLY objective way (and God-given way) of judging these things is by holding it up next to the Bible. It behooves us to be Bereans!
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16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
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A. Verse 17 actually gives us Paul’s prayer request & benediction…but there’s too much theology in verse 16 to pass up.
B. He is the “Lord Jesus Christ”: Too often we pass by His name without considering His title & position. He has authority & He has anointing. He is both Sovereign and Savior. He is at the same time King of Kings and the Suffering Servant. He is the LORD & He is the Messiah whose very name means “Yahweh saves.”
__a. He is not just THE Lord, Jesus is OUR Lord. We don’t worship and serve an idea – we worship and serve the Person of Jesus. If you’ve trusted in Him for salvation, you have turned over your life to Him as Master. He is your Lord & King…too often we forget…
C. He personally ministers to His church: The Lord Jesus doesn’t dispatch an angel to love and console the church for Him. He doesn’t delegate it to one of the cherubim. The Almighty Everlasting Alpha and Omega personally takes part in your life & my life as He prays for us, loves us, gives us hope, and much more.
__a. What is man that You are mindful of him? (Ps 8:4) And yet He is!
D. He is equal with God the Father: No matter how many skeptics and cults want to claim that the Bible doesn’t proclaim Jesus AS God, there’s absolutely no way of escaping it. The Greek grammar is clear that Jesus is placed on the same level as God, and thus is God. Even the Jews at the time recognized that this was Jesus’ claim. John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. []
__a. Because Jesus expressly makes the claim, that leaves us only 3 options. (CS Lewis) “He would either be a lunatic – on the level of the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” He is a liar, or a lunatic, or Lord. The historical fact of the resurrection makes it evident that He is Lord! He is God Almighty – and He is the one who saves us & whom we worship!
E. He has loved us: I love the fact that Paul ‘bookends’ this section of Scripture with the declaration that we are beloved of God! Understand these are mere words with God. He doesn’t lavish us with empty “sweet nothings” when it comes to love – He demonstrated it in drastic action! Romans 5:7-8 (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [] How do you know Jesus loves you? Because when you hated Him, He died for you. How GREAT is His love for us!
F. He has already given us everlasting consolation: Note the past tense in vs. 16. We obviously pray for comfort & consolation (nothing wrong with that), but on top of what we pray for, the Lord Jesus has already given us much. “consolation” = “paraclesis” (root lit “call near” “come alongside”). In our salvation, Jesus has already come alongside us & consoled us from the results of sin – we’ve been reconciled to God through Christ, and He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us…thus His consolation is everlasting.
G. He has already given us hope: And it’s a good hope! We look forward to a glorious future with Jesus. Contrast this with the 1st part of Ch 2 – it’d be easy for the church to be frightened about the coming Antichrist or present trials, but there’s no reason to. We’ve been given the good hope of the resurrection & rapture. Jesus will call us to Himself to spend eternity with Him.
H. It is all by His grace! It’s no wonder when Paul suffered his thorn in the flesh that God responded “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor 12:9). With this demonstration of grace that we’ve already received from the Lord, what are the trials in this present world? It’s a blip compared to eternity! The grace we’ve already seen poured out on us through Christ is absolutely beyond comprehension…but understand – it’s NOTHING compared to the amount of grace we’ll experience for all of eternity! We’ve only seen a glimpse of it!
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- What does Paul actually pray that Christ Jesus would do?
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
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A. “comfort your hearts”: The Lord Jesus has already provided everlasting consolation through the gift of eternal life – but that can sometimes be hard to grab hold of during temporary crisis. Whatever it is that the church was going through, Paul prays that they would experience the comfort of Christ right now.
__a. Whatever trials you’re walking through, as a Christian be assured that Christ Jesus is walking right alongside you! May your heart be assured of His comfort & sustained by His presence.
B. Establish your word & work: In whatever we do or say, Paul prayed that the church would be strengthened by the Lord Jesus. Until that Day when Christ takes us home, there is much to do (as we’ll see in Ch 3) – so whether we’re proclaiming the gospel, edifying one another, or demonstrating the love of Christ, may it be established by Jesus Himself. (Which is the only way it’s going to last anyhow!)
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Conclusion:
So how do we respond to these truths? There seems to be a ton of doctrine, but is there any application? Is there any way to put this into practice? YES! Break it down:

A. Because Jesus loves you, Jesus chose you. … So worship Him in glorious adoration!
B. Because Jesus chose you, Jesus called you. … So stand fast in the gospel with which you were called & hold to the truth revealed in the Scripture!
C. Because Jesus loves you and called you, Jesus comforts you. … Whether you’re enduring spiritual attacks, or you’re in the middle of good works, know & understand Jesus is the One coming alongside you & establishing you.

How do you know if you’ve been called & chosen? If you respond to His offer of salvation. He’s already demonstrated His love through the cross. He’s already demonstrated His truth through the resurrection. Every single one of us is in need of a Savior – we’ve all sinned & fall short of the glory of God (no doubt!)… Left in our sin, we are condemned & must face justice for all eternity. But in Christ, everything changes. In Christ we are forgiven. In Christ, we experience grace rather than justice. But you MUST respond. God is calling through His gospel; will you respond by believing the truth?

Apostasy & Antichrist

As sociologists look at our current time period, they often label it the “Information Age.” People have a greater access to information & news than ever before at any period of history – and communication is included in this too. We can literally talk to someone on the other side of the globe in a matter of seconds – which was unthinkable 100 years ago. Can you imagine what Paul would have been able to accomplish today? Obviously he didn’t have this same luxury & it would take weeks for letters to travel from city to city – making it difficult to answer questions & allowing a lot of time to go by for further confusion to set in.

This seems to have been the problem at Thessalonica. In his 1st epistle, Paul attempted to comfort the church by assuring them that their friends and family who had died weren’t going to miss anything regarding Jesus. There was still a resurrection and rapture that everyone in Christ was going to take part in & it was going to be glorious! Yet because there was much persecution in the area, the Thessalonians had started to look ahead & get confused thinking that they had missed it & that they were now in the middle of the Great Tribulation. In Ch 1, Paul addressed the fact that Tribulation and Judgment IS indeed coming, and God is righteous to do it. In Ch 2, he assures them that it hasn’t come yet & gives them some very specific proofs showing why.

This little section of Scripture is the cause of MUCH debate within the church & as we’ve noted before, many God-fearing Christians hold very different viewpoints on the timing & theology outlined here. Personally, I think this section of Scripture presents some of the strongest arguments for the pre-trib/pre-mill camp & that’s the viewpoint I’m going to take on it.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (NKJV)
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.

A. Obviously questions had arisen in Thessalonica from Paul’s 1st letter & apparently false teachers had pounced on this & caused a lot of confusion to develop. In writing here, Paul’s attempting to solve the matter once & for all.
B. Jesus IS coming! All true Christians of every stripe agree on this – where we disagree on is the actual event Paul’s referring to here. Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus is coming FOR His church, and it also makes clear that the Lord Jesus will be coming back to judge WITH His church. With the understanding that these are two distinct events (see 1 Thess 5), which one is it? Gk parousia = “a being near/advent”…often refers to Jesus 2nd coming, but not exlusively – the NT has a much broader use of the word. A hint is found in the grammar of the sentence. Note there’s only one “the” in vs. 1 – Paul links Jesus’ “coming” and our “gathering” as being one event.
__a. We WILL be gathered together with Him. Amen! This is a direct reference to the rapture & a glorious thought! One day we’re going to be snatched up in a moment & gathered together with our Lord & King. Could be today…
C. Why is this important? The theology behind the rapture, 2nd coming, etc., should bring us comfort (1 Thess 4); not stress! The Thessalonians had been shaken up…they thought they had missed out on everything Paul had taught them & they were now set to endure the Great Tribulation (which no one is going to want to go through!).
__a. Even today with all the debate, it’s common for Christians to get stressed out about end-time issues. Many people look at the world headlines, see things lining up with prophecy & get scared at the things to come. Others just get wound up trying to win a debate & they forget how they’re supposed to conduct themselves as disciples of Christ Jesus.
__b. How NOT to be stressed about the end-times: look for the Lord Jesus. That’s it. Keep it simple. There’s no reason for the church to be worried about Antichrist & start naming names – we won’t be around when he’s revealed anyway. As we saw in 1 Thess, the ONE prophetic event Christians are looking for on the calendar is the res/rapture. Until that day, just be who Christ Jesus has called you to be & do what He’s called you to do & leave the rest to Him.
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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,

A. Let no one tell you that eschatology is all guesswork – there is some VERY specific information here! We can be assured that “the Day” won’t come until some very specific things happen…which Paul outlines here.
B. Which “Day” – the rapture/resurrection or 2nd coming? This is one of the reasons Scripture seems to make such a strong argument that the 2 events are very distinct from each other. 1 Thess made it very clear that the res/rapture could happen at any moment…(as a thief in the night – 1 Th 5:2) However, with this Day, we have to wait for some specific timing…thus Paul CANNOT be referring to the same event! Instead of the res/rapture, Paul seems to be referring to the 2nd Coming of Christ…and that won’t happen until people see the “man of sin.”
C. Who is the “man of sin…the son of perdition”? Though in the NT, he’s only called “Antichrist” by John, that’s exactly who Paul is referring to. He is everything Christ Jesus is not. God is Yahweh (Jehovah) Tsidkenu = “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6). But Antichrist is the “man of sin/lawlessness.” Referred to as the “beast” in Revelation. Historically, many Christians have seen Antichrist as a movement, or many people & Scripture does speak of many antichrists (1 John 2:18) – but it also speaks of a specific individual…and plainly that’s what Paul is referring to here.
__a. Do we need to be afraid of Antichrist? Not if you’re born again…you won’t be here. But even that aside, his end is already determined. He’s the “son of perdition” – his destiny is one of destruction & eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
D. What else has to happen first? The great apostasy. “falling away” = apostasia (apostasy). NT repeatedly refers to a time in the end days (specifically revealed to Paul by the Holy Spirit – 1 Tim 4:1) where those who claim to be Christian will fall into deception and fall away from the core truths of the Bible and end up in sheer rebellion against God. It’s not hard to look around & get the idea that we’re in the beginning throws of this! (Pew Survey 2007 – 57% of Evangelical Protestants & 83% of Mainline denominations believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” JOHN 14:6!)
__a. Some theologians note that “apostasia” could also be translated “abandonment or departure” & believe this is a reference to the rapture. The problem is that the word is almost universally used to refer to “departure” as a bad thing (military rebellion)…it’s a stretch to make it apply to something magnificent like the Rapture. It’s a weak argument at best – and there are many more specific passages that teach the pre-trib rapture without trying to ‘make’ this one apply.
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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.

A. We learn some very important aspects about Antichrist’s character:
__a. Antichrist opposes God: Scripture indicates that he’s going to come in subtly and offer peace (some think he’ll negotiate peace between Israel & the Muslims in Jerusalem by re-building the temple on the mount across from the Dome of the Rock). However he comes in, he’ll be well received by the world…but 1st impressions can be misleading. He is adamantly opposed to God because Antichrist is of the devil, the adversary.
__b. Antichrist exalts himself above God: As with the proclamation against the King of Babylon in Isa 14 (whom many think refer to Satan), Antichrist will exalt himself above God in order to receive the worship God alone deserves.
____i. It can sound rather ridiculous to our ears that people would actually worship a world leader – but it’s not all that far-fetched. People have done it throughout history & continue to do so today. Our culture isn’t as “advanced” as we like to think sometimes.
__c. Antichrist exalts himself above anything that is worshiped: Beyond exalting himself above the True God, Antichrist will set himself up as the only thing that can be worshiped – Rev 13:8 proclaims that anyone who’s name is not written in the Book of Life WILL worship him.
B. We also learn something very important about what Antichrist will do. Going to sit AS God in the temple OF God in an attempt to show Himself to BE God… IOW, however he comes upon the world scene, there will be a point in time that he physically walks into the newly rebuilt Jewish Temple & proclaims to the entire world point-blank that he is God. This will be the final straw before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. Prophesied by Jesus…Matthew 24:15-16 (15) “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), (16) “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [] … Since Jesus referred to Daniel, what does Daniel have to say about it? A lot, actually. References in Dan 8:11, 9:27, 12:11 – also in Ch 11. Daniel 11:31, 36 (31) And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. … (36) “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. [] Sound familiar? …
__a. Has this ever come true? No doubt, there HAVE been desecrations of the temple. Antiochus Epiphanes (167BC)…tried to force the Jews to worship Zeus & sacrificed a pig on the temple altar. To faithful Jews, this was the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy & the Book of Maccabees explicitly calls it the “abomination of desolation”. BUT – this was close to 200 years prior to Jesus’ prophecy…and He was referring to a yet future event.
____i. Next possibility would be Caligula’s order to build a statue of himself in the Jewish Temple in 40AD. Never completed…thus the prophecy remains unfulfilled.
__b. ‘What about the preterist viewpoint of the post-Christian Jews performing the abomination of desolation through sacrifices after Jesus’ resurrection?’ Claiming that unnecessary Jewish sacrifices taking place in the temple is an abomination makes good symbolism, but it simply doesn’t match the description given by Daniel. Where is the individual claiming to be God? Why would he refer to daily sacrifices being taken away if those sacrifices were the one that were abominations? Obviously, the destruction of Jerusalem & the temple in 70AD (as horrific as it was) is NOT the event Jesus, Daniel, and Paul are referring to. It is thus still yet to come.
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5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

A. Simply astounding that in only a few weeks time, Paul thought this was so important that he taught it to the fledgling church at Thessalonica! Some churches never touch eschatology at all & yet he’s teaching it to folks who should still be in a “new believers” class! Tells us a few things:
__a. Paul thought it was imminent. Not quite in the same sense as the rapture was (considering there were prophetic events scheduled to take place) – but close enough in the future that people needed to be educated on what was going on.
__b. Paul thought it was important. Eschatology is (no doubt) filled with secondary doctrines. A person’s salvation does not hang on whether or not someone is pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or Amill (or whatever label you find best). As long as someone has turned to Jesus Christ as the Risen Son of God for salvation, that’s the essence of essential doctrine. HOWEVER – simply because it’s not essential doesn’t mean it’s not important. What we believe about the end days have a dramatic effect on how we live in the current days…
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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.

A. Apparently it was obvious to the Thessalonians due to Paul’s teachings – but not necessarily to us. Who is this “restrainer”? Like nearly everything else in this chapter, there’s a lot of debate about it. Some think it’s a reference to a specific unnamed person, others think it’s the general legal system. Note the “He” in vs. 7 – Paul does have a personality in mind, but he also uses an impersonal “what” in vs. 6. Seems likely Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit (He) in the life of the church (what). As long as the church is in the world, the mystery of lawlessness is restrained. But when “He is taken out of the way” i.e., the church as the temple of the Holy Spirit is gathered together with the Lord Jesus Christ, the dam will be removed & the flood of sin unleashed.
B. Note the “mystery of lawlessness” is already active. There will be a time during the Great Tribulation when it has virtually free reign, but it’s present even today. (Nelson’s) “Anyone who opposes Christ and His church and seeks to deceive others into worshipping false gods is against Christ, and in that case is an antichrist.” 1 John 2:22-23 (22) Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. (23) Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. []
__a. Imagine what would be taking place if sin wasn’t restrained! We think it’s bad now…
__b. All this underscores the fact that Christians are salt & light in the world! The church isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination – but we have been entrusted with the life-saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ! During this time while sin is restrained, we are to go into the world & proclaim this gospel through word and through deed – it’s part of our ministry of reconciliation!
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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.

A. There’s the key bit of timing. Once the Restrainer is removed, then Antichrist will be revealed. Again – this cannot be talking about the res/rapture because that event is repeatedly referred to as imminent. This has a very specific schedule to follow…
B. As bad as Antichrist is going to be, the end of the book is already written. We know his outcome. The Lord Jesus will consume & destroy him. What will it look like? Hollywood might be disappointed. There will be a grand battle ground set up with massive armies, but there won’t be any long drawn-out sword fight between the Lord & the beast – no nail-biting struggle between good & evil. The Lord Jesus Christ simply shows up…and that’s enough! Understand there’s absolutely no contest between Christ and Antichrist. God is infinitely more powerful than anything else! Revelation describes Christ as having a sword come out of His mouth (Rev 19:15) & along with Paul’s description of His breath, it implies that He simply speaks a word. [Swindoll, “Enough!”]
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9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

A. Will Antichrist be obvious? Perhaps…perhaps not. Many will truly be deceived, for what will seem to be good reasons: miracles! The wonders will be “lying wonders” to be sure, but it certainly seems that there will be supernatural signs accompanying Him. Not unknown in history…Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing (Ex 7).
__a. This is yet another reason to be wary of movements that are completely focused on sign & wonders. Praise God for healings & miracles – God is just as powerful today as He was at Creation & He can heal anyone at anytime if He so chooses. But movements that look for the miracles & not the Master invariably get themselves into trouble. Keep in mind that even supernatural miracles are not a sign that someone is born-again. Matthew 7:22-23 (22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ []
____i. Also gives us a good reason to examine ourselves! Our salvation is not dependent upon our experiences; it’s dependent upon our relationship with Christ Jesus…
B. During this time, why will people perish? The same reason they’ve always perished, “because they did not receive the love of the truth”… IOW, they rejected the gospel. God offers salvation to the whole world! He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez 33:11) & sent His Son into the world not to condemn it, but to save it through Him (John 3:17). But by not receiving His love and grace, they reject His love and grace.
__a. “What if you just have a hard time believing? Is that really rejection?” Yes…without a doubt. God made the resurrection of Jesus so obvious, that one has to be willfully blind to the evidence to ignore the historical fact. He’s placed His law upon our hearts to help us understand that we’ve sinned & need a Savior. He’s given us Creation to show that there is a Creator & Judge we will one day face. What MORE can we ask God to do?! To not believe the gospel is to reject the gospel.
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11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

A. ‘Wait a minute! GOD sends the delusion?!’ Yes. Antichrist may usher in a time of lawlessness on the earth, but God is the one Who allows Antichrist to exist at all. Just like Satan was limited by God in his attacks on Job, so is Antichrist limited by the will of God.
B. Keep in mind God desires everyone to come to repentance; but obviously not all do. To those who refuse to repent, God will allow their heart to be hardened (like Pharaoh) & they will continue to believe the lie that they are already inclined to.
__a. ‘So does anyone get saved after the Rapture?’ Probably – Scripture seems to indicate that they do…at the very least there seems to be a Jewish remnant that gets saved because they finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah. But there will be far more that reject Christ not only before the Rapture, but continue that rejection afterward due to their hardness of heart.
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12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

A. There’s the crux of it…people who perish don’t receive the love of the truth, but it’s more than that. Not only do they not believe, but they have “pleasure in unrighteousness.” Not a single human on the planet could honestly claim that they are victims of God’s judgment due to passive sins that they had little control over. Our sin is ACTIVE! Outside of Christ, we take pleasure in sin & unrighteousness…we do wrong things, we know it’s wrong, and we enjoy it! … And ultimately, that leaves us condemned before God Almighty.
__a. BUT. Not if you’re in Christ. Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. [] In Christ, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness, we are forgiven, we are new creations, and we have eternal life with Him.

Conclusion:
So some very specific information about the endtimes. Someone could make a lot of money writing a novel about this (oh yeah, they did). But here’s the kicker…THIS book isn’t fiction. This is fact that has been predetermined by God Almighty to take place. There really will be an Antichrist – there really will be an end-time deception – and there really will be judgment. That is an unavoidable truth no matter how badly people want to debate it or deny it.

Since it’s true, what do we do about it?
1. As Christian, be comforted. Don’t be shaken – there’s no reason to be. These things WILL take place, but we won’t be here when they do. We will be gathered together with our Lord & King worshiping Him in glory.
2. But at the same time, don’t be complacent. Because these things are true and will take place after the Spirit-born church is removed, it behooves us to be on our knees for the lost to be saved, and to put our faith into action. And because we don’t know when we will be removed, it underscores the importance of taking advantage of every day to share the gospel!
3. For non-Christians, don’t be blind. As sure as the sun rises every day, you can be assured that what the Bible says about this is true. But God doesn’t want you to endure that time. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die in your place for His own glory. He wants you to be saved. But you must respond to Him & receive the love of the truth.

God’s Glorious Judgment

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12, “God’s Glorious Judgment”
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Introduction/Background:
If 1 Thessalonians was written to assure the church that Jesus would be returning for the church, 2 Thessalonians was written to assure them that it hadn’t happened yet. After all, the church was already experiencing a lot of persecution & tribulation – how could they know if this was the coming Great Tribulation that Jesus warned about in Matt 24 (and elsewhere)? And if this event was still to be in the future, but yet Jesus could return for His church at any time, what were they to be doing in the meanwhile?

These were the issues Paul addresses in 2 Thess. Probably written less than 12 months after 1 Thess, Paul was likely still in Corinth when the 1st epistle made it to Thessalonica & the messenger came back with news and questions from the church that had come out of the 1st epistle. Today, a 10 minute phone call or quick email would have sufficed – but in a day when communication was literally hand-carried from person to person, it took a little longer to resolve issues. Thus 2 Thess was born.

The early church is virtually unanimous in affirming Paul’s authorship of 2 Thess – written somewhere between 51-52AD, making it probably the 2nd or 3rd earliest epistle we have from Paul…and thus one of the earliest to start circulating among the church. So it’s no surprise that this little epistle is so foundational to much doctrine about the Great Tribulation time, which comes into play in Ch 2. As with 1 Thess, there are many points of view, and a lot of room for godly people to disagree…but there will be time to get into that more next week & following.

Question: Is God’s judgment fair? Or more to the point…is the fact that God exerts His judgment upon sinful people (which includes everyone) fair? After all, if we (as the church) are waiting for Jesus’ return to deliver us from the wrath to come, what does that say about those who will endure it? Is it a righteous thing for them to go through? … Absolutely – which is what Paul addresses in Ch 1.

2 Thessalonians 1 (NKJV)
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A. Almost the same opening as what was written in 1 Thess…only here, it was divided up into 2 verses instead of left as one. (Verse & chapter breaks not inspired…) Paul is the author, though he uses the 3rd person almost uniformly throughout (Ch 2:5 as the exception)…Silas & Timothy probably served as his secretary and had accompanied him into the area…
B. Note the repetition of the identification of God & the Son:
__a. God our Father: This is the only difference between the intro in 1 Thess (“God the Father”) – and an important distinction to make in light of the persecution that was ongoing in Thessalonica. The trials they were going through were not a sign that God was no longer with them; Paul’s going to teach them the opposite! Here, he affirms their salvation in Christ & their adoption in God even in the midst of their trials & tribulation.
__b. The Lord Jesus Christ: Going to see this repeated a lot in 2 Thess, especially in Ch 1. This isn’t repeating Jesus’ full name; these are repeated declarations of His Deity & Office.
____i. He is the Lord – fully God of true God, and grace/peace come from Jesus as assuredly it does the Father.
____ii. He is the Christ – the Anointed Chosen One of God, who is coming back to reign in power & glory. Since 2 Thess focuses so much on His 2nd Coming, it only makes sense that Paul presents Him not only as Savior, but as King.
C. Grace & peace: the twin sisters of Paul…virtually every epistle starts in this way, combining the Greek & Hebrew greetings of the day in a profoundly Christian gospel. When we experience the grace OF God, we then have peace WITH God…

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,

A. Still thanking God for His work within the church – they had become an evangelistic powerhouse for the region (1 Thess 1)… Specifically thanked God for:
__a. Their growing faith: Why was it growing? Most likely because of the persecution they were facing! (Acts 17) Diamonds are formed out of 3 things: coal, heat, pressure…faith isn’t much different. Not much causes someone to fall to their knees as quickly as trials. During those times, we’ve GOT to have faith simply to make it through the day!
__b. Their abounding love: Their faith was persecuted, but it wasn’t silent. The church lived out their faith in practical ways with each other as shown through their abounding agape love.
B. With this kind of maturity coming about so soon in this young church, Paul couldn’t help but give thanks! He felt “bound” (obligated) to do so.
__a. Take the time to underscore this: Paul gave thanks for what God was doing through the persecuted church – which was primarily taking place because of their persecution. We often pray for the persecuted church, but I wonder if we sometimes pray with this in mind? Obviously we pray for safety – but we should also pray that they would flourish & give thanks for how God strengthens & matures them during those times…

5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;

A. Interesting description of the persecution: it’s the “manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God”. IOW, “I know you might think that persecution is a sign that God has abandoned you, but it’s the opposite: God has deemed you worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. It’s His righteous judgment.” Not that anyone would wish persecution or trials upon themselves – but Jesus told us it would be a foregone conclusion that we would experience them (John 15:20). Paul went on to tell Timothy that all who desire to live godly would suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12). If we suffer for Christ, then it is good evidence that we are in Christ.
__i. Not the ONLY evidence. False religions are persecuted in other parts of the world too. Salvation comes not through persecution, but through repentance & faith in the Lord Jesus! Persecution is simply the world’s response to that faith.
B. Persecution in the present also is manifest evidence that judgment is coming in the future. See vs. 6…

6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,

A. There’s a thought we don’t ponder about much…[] But vengeance DOES belong to the Lord! (Rom 12:19) It’s a righteous thing for Him to do, because He’s the only one who can do it in righteousness… If we were to attempt to take revenge on someone, it would be hypocrisy: one sinful person punishing another sinful person for sin. God’s vengeance is just & perfect. He alone is truly righteous thus He alone can dispense vengeance on those who deserve it.
__a. Keep in mind, WE deserve it! But Jesus took it in our place.
B. Specifically, God will repay those who persecute Christians with tribulation. Greek = “anti-pay”…a negative compensation from the Lord. He will requite them with exactly what is due. Pharaoh had killed all the male Hebrew children, and in Divine retribution, God took all the 1st born of Egypt on Passover…
__a. We may think that sounds rather harsh to our ears, but keep in mind the most persecution we normally see in the US is mocking & harsh words. However, to Christians in Iran, Indonesia, North Korea & far too many other countries around the world – harsh physical persecution is a daily reality. It is a just thing for God to repay those with tribulation. Revelation actually shows the martyrs asking God when this time will come (Rev 6:9-11)… God is just! God will repay.

7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

A. Two sides to that coin. Not only will God pour out wrath on persecutors, He will also provide rest to the persecuted. One day the persecution and trials will cease, as believers forever enjoy the presence of the Lord Jesus.
__a. With respect to Oliver Wendell Holmes (and Johnny Cash), I disagree with the thought that we can “be so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good.” Sometimes, being heavenly minded is the only thing that gets us through our earthly troubles. Knowing that our lifespan (however long) is a blip compared with the everlasting nature of eternity is an incredibly comforting thought for the Christian! Whatever we endure here during our few decades of life is nothing compared to the eons and eons we’ll spend in the rest of our Savior.
B. When does this take place? When Christ is revealed (Gk: apocalypse)… The church will have been called home to be with Christ (note: “with us”), and comes with Christ (1 Thess 3:13) at His 2nd coming in power & judgment.

8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A. Is this overly harsh? That God would take fiery vengeance on people who don’t know Him? Is that really their fault? YES. It may not be politically correct to say so, but it’s the truth. God reveals His goodness, grace, holiness, and more all through creation. Romans 1:20-21 (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (21) because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [] God has given a witness to every single human in all history – and if creation weren’t enough, He’s written His law on our hearts & conscience (Rom 2:15). God repeatedly calls people to repentance & people repeatedly refuse – thus God is justified to take vengeance on those who don’t know Him.
B. God MUST take vengeance on those outside His grace & forgiveness, because those people are left in their sin – and all sin has to be punished if God is truly righteous & holy. If an earthly judge winked at murderers & shrugged off rapists, people would be outraged at his lack of justice – how much more just is Almighty God? (Wiersbe) “It is a righteous thing for God to judge sin and condemn sinners. A holy God cannot leave sin unjudged. People who say, “I cannot believe that a loving God would judge sinners and send people to hell” understand neither the holiness of God nor the awfulness of sin.” … God is infinitely holy & thus sin is infinitely awful – it’s a never-ending offense because God’s righteousness is never-ending. [When is 100% pure water no longer pure? It has to be purified…]
__a. This is what Paul was leading to with the Athenians – in times past, God overlooked this in His grace; but now He’s provided Christ Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection…there is no more excuse! (Acts 17:30-31)
__b. People who ignore the cross “do not obey the gospel.” To “obey” means “to hearken” – used of a porter’s duty to answer the door when knocked. To understand the gospel & ignore it is to ignore the knocking of Christ at the door…not merely a simple “I didn’t hear it” – but a willful denial of our duty to respond.
C. Many see a distinction between unbelieving Gentiles & unbelieving Jews here. (Those not knowing God = Gentiles; those not obeying = Jews) The problem with this thought is that Paul hasn’t even hinted at any distinction between Jews/Gentiles at this point – and despite the fact that he could (of course) bring up the subject at any time, it seems out of context & forced upon the text. I suggest that these are 2 descriptions of the same person: any & all unbelievers – regardless of background. Those who do not obey the gospel by definition do not know God because the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. People can profess to know God, but deny Him by their works (Tit 1:16) – the only way is through faith in Christ.
__a. Bottom line: we know the Father because we have obeyed the gospel…

9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

A. How is God’s vengeance described? By being “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord”… In essence, describing Hell…
__a. Hell is “everlasting”: Jesus repeatedly described it as a place where the fire is never quenched & the worm never dies. It goes on & on & on – and just when we think it surely cannot go on any longer, it does. As long as Heaven endures, so does Hell.
__b. Hell is “destruction”: Some from this would argue for annihilation, but that would ignore the thought behind “everlasting.” Hell is a place where people are eternally destroyed…a process that never fully ends due to their infinite offense against an infinite God. Every human being in all history will be resurrected at some point (res. of just & unjust = John 5:29, Acts 24:15, Rev 20:13) & Scripture makes no distinction between the bodies of just & unjust people. Each body is raised for eternity, and each body will experience eternity…though in drastically different states. For the unbeliever, it will be a state of everlasting ruin.
__c. Hell is away from God: Imagine always knowing of the previous offer of the grace of God only to be denied the receiving of it for all eternity. That’s what will be ringing in the mind of those who reject the gospel. Forever away from the presence of God – always knowing what “could have” been.
__d. Hell is not a place anyone wants to be! This is not a place of parties – this is a place of torment… [] It’s no wonder that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez 33:11) – no wonder God desires for all to repent (2 Pet 3:9).
B. When does it take place? It begins on “that Day” – Jesus’ 2nd Coming as the victorious King, when Christ comes with His church. Scholars debate on the actual timing of Judgment Day, but the thought is clear. When Jesus returns in power & glory, those who have rejected Him have seen the beginning of their eternal destruction.
C. Massive contrast between Heaven & Hell. Hell is away from God, but in Heaven, the saints (us) glorify & admire God. For all of eternity we will join in the song of the angels, no longer hindered by our own sin, and sing everlasting praises to God giving Him the glory He so wonderfully deserves. Forever in His presence, we will “admire” Him – same word could be translated “be amazed – be in wonder – be astonished – marvel.” For all of eternity, praising God will never be boring… We will continually be amazed at His greatness, holiness, and love!
D. Why do we go to heaven? Because we believed the gospel! Not that they merely understood the facts about the gospel, but that they believed with faith – the Gk actually comes from the same root as “faith.” [] The Thessalonians believed the testimony of Paul, Silas, and Timothy & now they’re included in the saints who will glorify & admire Christ Jesus for all eternity. …
__a. People are waiting for us to share the same testimony! Romans 10:14-15 (14) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (15) And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” [] God in His infinite wisdom has chosen to use the church to share the glorious gospel of Christ! Whether at our job or at Burger King, what a marvelous privilege we have…

11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,

A. Worthy of which calling? Their persecution. Paul’s praying that God would give them strength to endure their tribulations…which reveals our worth that He’s given us…
B. Who fulfills the good pleasure of His goodness? The church or God? God! He’s the one who empowers us for any good work & uses us to glorify Himself. Likewise any work we do in faith, He empowers us to accomplish. Anything we do for God is done through the power of God all for the glory of God!

12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A. The result? That right now, in the middle of their persecution, the name of Jesus may be glorified through the church… That any glory the church experiences would be in Christ…
__a. All of us (including myself) do things that would bring shame on the name of Christ – thus what a marvelous prayer this is for the church! That because of Christ living through us – empowering us – changing us, that we would live in such a way that His name would be glorified through us…
B. All because of, and in proportion to, the grace of God. Now THAT’s a lot of glory to Christ! BTW – did you notice that the phrase “the Lord Jesus Christ” is repeated 5 times? Our standing in God is because of the Lord Jesus Christ – the grace we receive is given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ – the gospel we follow is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – the glory we experience is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ… It’s all His & for Him because He is Lord & Savior & King!

Conclusion:
We so often get the justice of God turned upside down. We look around & see our own suffering while wicked people prosper & ask, “Why is God blessing them & not me?” The answer? Just wait. God is absolutely just & absolutely righteous – and simply because we may not see justice in the here & now, doesn’t mean we won’t see it in eternity. We can be assured of that fact!

But for us – if we’re suffering, we can take hold of the encouragement Paul was giving to the Thessalonian church:
1. God has matured us through the trials we’ve already experienced
2. God will give us rest for all eternity with Him in glory
3. God is working in us right now, that Christ would be glorified

Be encouraged! The Lord Jesus Christ has showered you with His grace – He’s been given all authority in Heaven & on earth – and He’s coming back. Whatever you’re going through, keep your eyes on Him & His work…

What about if you’re not a Christian? Keep in mind, Christianity isn’t something we’re born into because we’re American. We have to be born into it – but it requires a 2nd birth, one of our spirit. If you haven’t been born again of the Spirit of God (by knowingly placing your hope & trust in Christ Jesus), then you’re like those in vs 8 who do not know God & have not obeyed the gospel. Because of that & because of your sin (all the stuff we do every day that we know is wrong), you are in a place of rebellion against God, and He has promised to judge all those in rebellion to Him.

Here’s the good news: God loves you so much that He has already poured out that judgment upon Jesus Christ at the cross. Jesus died because of your sin (and mine) & rose again to offer new life to all who believe & place their faith & trust in Him. But you must respond to Him.