Followed 1 Thessalonians by only a few months. Persecutions had begun. Pliny, the Elder: “It was in Thessalonica that the first Gentiles were killed in the Roman Empire. The local Roman governor in that part of the country said that every Christian had to bow before a statue of Augustus Caesar. He had been deified and statues of Caesar were erected everywhere. Christians who didn’t obey the edict were perse- cuted.”
It was in Thessalonica that they dreamed up the procedure of offering a cask of wine on the altar to Venus or Caesar, and then publicly taking it out to the marketplace, sprinkling all the vegetables, meat, and other goods, announcing that it had all been dedicated to the god. Anyone who bought or ate any of it thereby worshipped a false god. Christians who stopped buying in the marketplace as a witness immediately became marked. The first crucifixions, the first burnings, and the first great persecutions of Christians began then. Prompted by the circulation of a spurious letter, apparently an intentional forgery,teachings were that they were already in the Day of Lord.
v1. Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Opening is practically identical to 1st Thessalonians, Silas and Timothy still there.
“Unto”: Epistles are written to the church, not from the church. Nothing authoritative comes from the church. It doesn’t teach; it is to be taught.
2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace always comes first…the greatest need of the human heart.
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;
Bound”: The word for paying a debt. He owes it to them to thank God for them.
Agape: “Charity”: Latin, caritas; once meant love dispensed to others; benevolent goodwill motivated by Christian love. (Present usage: a dole or handout) Their faith continued to grow in faith. An answer to Paul’s prayers in 1 Thess 3:12; 4:1, 10.
[Hope is not mentioned: an unwarranted interpretation of the Christian hope was creating confusion in their minds…]
Practical problem: How should we deal with Christians who are doing well in their discipleship?
- .“Well Done”? Borders on flattery, promotes pride and robs God of His glory.
- Privately in prayers and say nothing? Permits discouragement…
- (Paul’s) He thanks God for them, and tells them he is doing so. Affirms without flattery; encourages without puffing up.
Are we growing in faith each day? Do you trust the Lord in ALL things? Or do the urgent things preempt the important?
Tribulation works patience; patience experience; and experience hope (Rom 5:3-4).
4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
“Patience” = “Remaining under” the load. The storm measures the sailor, not the calm sea. [Paul had his own trials in Corinth, from which this letter was written.]
5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
We are not left on this earth in order to be popular. We are here to cause a ferment, an uproar, hatred, and strife (Mt 10:34).
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
The principle of just requital lies at the basis of our belief in a moral universe. Not good but evil creates a moral problem for us. Present injustices require a future retribution.
A world in which justice was not done at last would not be God’s world at all. Vengeance is mine; I will repay (Rom 12:19). Retribution is pictured as overtaking men in the world to come; but there are passages which indicate that it may also operate here and now (Rom 1:24, 26, 26).
All that live godly in Christ will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12). If you suffer with Him, you shall also reign with Him (2 Tim 2:12). He that serves the Lord for reward has simply exchanged one form of selfishness for another.
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
Day of the Lord: vv 7 – 10 in contrast to 1 Thess 4, 5: For His saints; now with them. Mt 25: Judgment of the Gentiles; Ezek 20: Judgment of theJews.
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
- Cf. Isa 66:15,16. Also Ex 3:2; Rev 1:13f. Vengeance: no vindictiveness, but simply the administration of unwavering justice. Another example of how the early church ascribed the functions to the Lord that the OT reserved for YHWH.
Makes God guilty of not keeping His unconditional covenants to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Jews.
- Promise of the Land: Gen 12:7; 13:15-16; 17:7-8.
- Promise of the land, a kingdom, and a greater Son of David (Messiah) as King: Ps 89:27-37.
- Promise of restoration to the land of Israel from worldwide disper- sion and the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom: Jer 31:31:37; Ezek 36,3738, 39 etc.
- Promises that a remnant of the Israelites will be saved: Rom 11:25- 29; Zech 13:8,9; Isa 10:20-22.
Amillennialism began with Augustine (A.D. 345-430) upon the allegorizations of Origen. Foundation for anti-Semitism (Jer 31:35-37).Reviving again.
Post-Tribulationists: Robert Gundry, George Ladd, Walter Martin, Pat Robertson, Jim McKeever.
Mid-Tribulationists: Norman B. Harrison, J. Sidlow Baxter.
Pre-Tribulationists: J. Dwight Pentecost, John F. Walvoord, Charles C. Ryrie, Feinberg, Fruchtenbaum, Charles Dyer, Grant Jeffrey, Chuck Smith, Tim Lahaye.
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Very little in Scripture about heaven; even less about Hell. (Jesus said more than anyone else.) These verses say it all.
No annihilation; it’s just not in Scripture.
Eternal destruction = Separation from the Lord, the final disaster, forever.
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Glorified “in”, not “among” them, as in a theater or stadium; not “by” them, as if they will be spectators, the audience who watch and worship; not “through” or “by means of” them, as if they will be mirrors which reflect his image and glory. But rather as a filament, which itself glows with light and heat when energy passes through it (after John Stott, p.149).
A theater isn’t changed by the play which is performed in it. A mirror is not affected by the images it reflects. We shall be changed. (Trans- figuration an example.)
11 Wherefore also we 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:
We constantly pray for you.” It is prayer which links the future with the present. Although the future of God’s people is secure, but we should not presume upon it. Live a life worthy of the destiny that God has in store. Paul is mindful that they still had to live out their faith in the hard world of men who oppose themselves to the things of God.
“Work of faith”: Faith is always busy.
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Name”: Summed up the whole character of a person. [New name: Rev 2:17…secret?]
Are we living our lives as a means of bring glory to the Savior? Are we really manifesting Christ as His trophies of grace, that we belong to Him and that He belongs to us?
