We begin Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians today and in our passage he reassures his readers that God is just. He is going to judge every wicked thing. Why should this knowledge make us rejoice? Take a quick scan of the news headlines or turn your TV to one of the cable news networks for a few minutes and you'll see why. If we ever harbored any doubts that we are living in the last days, the news will swiftly change our minds when we learn of the things humans do to their fellow man and to the creatures of this earth. God isn't letting anyone get away with anything, although it might seem to us that judgment is a long time coming. But God has appointed a day in which He will judge all wickedness, and as His people we should rejoice in that knowledge.
The believers at Thessalonica are enduring persecutions, trials, and suffering. They are wondering when it will end---if it will end. They are wondering why God's judgment hasn't already fallen on their enemies and they want to know what will be the final fate of evil people. Paul's words in the first chapter of this letter answer their questions.
He begins by reminding the Thessalonians that although the enemies of the gospel are not thankful for them, he and his friends are. In fact, he and his friends admire the faith of the Thessalonians so much that they are using them as an example when they speak to other churches. "Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring." (2 Thessalonians 1:1-4)
Who was persecuting the Christians of Thessalonica? The Bible doesn't really tell us. I tried to do some research on the subject and I found that there is little to no historical information about it. Scholars have speculated on the source of the persecution, but no one knows for sure. When the church first began in Jerusalem, it was persecuted by the same religious leaders who had handed Jesus over to Pilate. In other cities where the apostles taught the gospel, they were opposed by some of the people from the synagogues, meaning they were opposed by a group made up of Jews and of Gentile converts to Judaism. (Please keep in mind that most of the Jews who did not convert to Christianity did not persecute the Christians in any way. They lived peacefully side by side with Christians and, although they didn't share their beliefs, they didn't stir up trouble against them.) But late in the reign of Emperor Nero, during whose reign Paul ended up a prisoner in Rome and during whose reign he was beheaded, the enemies the Christians most had to fear were Gentiles. It became as dangerous for Christians to be living in the territories of the Roman Empire as it would later be for Jews to be living in Nazi Germany. Nero was the Adolf Hitler of his day, hating the church with the same type of insane, satanic hatred that Hitler harbored for the Jews.
But the Thessalonians are standing firm in the face of all opposition, and Paul commends them for it. "All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering." (2 Thessalonians 1:5) He says, "See, God knew what He was doing when He called you! He knew what brave soldiers of Christ you would be. He knew He could count on you to stand firm in faith even while the world around you is going mad."
They need not fear that God doesn't see their troubles or that He will not judge those who trouble them. "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)
Fire is often used metaphorically in the Scriptures. For the believer, the trials of this world are sometimes compared to the refining fire a goldsmith uses. Putting precious metals through the fire causes the impurities to rise to the top where they can be skimmed off, causing the finished product to be far more beautiful and valuable than it would have been otherwise. For the unbeliever, fire is related to judgment---to the burning up of the wicked person's evil works. In that case, the fire means the loss of the useless and wicked pursuits of that person's life. This is the type of fire Paul is talking about in our passage today. Does this mean that hell is a place where unbelievers will be tormented by fire? Or is the fire a metaphor for the burning shame and regret they will feel for all eternity? I don't know the answer to that. Although I was raised with the doctrine that the fires of hell are literal, and although Jesus speaks of flames in His parable of the rich man in Luke 16, the Bible doesn't really describe hell to us. But whatever hell is, it's not a place where any human soul was ever intended to go, for God created us to have fellowship with Him. Refusing to have fellowship with Him condemns a person to be "shut out from the presence of the Lord", as Paul says in verse 9. It means that person's true destiny was never fulfilled and that his soul will reside forever in a place separated from the beauty and glory and light of God. God did everything possible to prevent this from happening to anyone, up to and including giving His own Son in exchange for us, and if we "ignore so great a salvation" there is no other means of escape for us from wrath. (Hebrews 2:3)
"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) In contrast to the terrifying fate that awaits the wicked who don't repent, Paul paints a beautiful picture of the life of the believer. God will strengthen the believers of Thessalonica. He will help them to grow in their faith and in their relationship with Him. He will enable them to be fruitful in good works, no matter how violently their enemies oppose them. They are going to live lives that glorify the Lord Jesus---the One who gave His life for them. What higher praise could Paul give the church of Thessalonica, or any church for that matter, than to say that they bring glory to Christ? What better thing could be said of any of us?
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