01 - Greetings, Growth, And Judgements 2011

Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians had been sent on its way. He had encouraged the young Thessalonian church, enlightened them, and exhorted them to keep belief and behavior in balance.

Paul had also addressed the reality of the Rapture of the church. In his letter, he had referred to “we which are alive and remain” (1 Thes.4:17). Apparently, some had taken this phrase to mean that Christ would return in Paul’s lifetime.

Some in the church ran with this misunderstanding and were filled with a fanatical expectation. They gave up jobs, responsibilities, and duties in order to wait for the great event. Yet others were filled with fearful apprehension.

So Paul had to write a second letter. This has certainly worked out for our good because he tells us some fascinating details about end-times events that are mentioned nowhere else in the Bible.

Besides providing a vivid description of the Antichrist, he tells us that the Day of the Lord will not come until after two events take place—an apostasy in the church and an apocalypse (an unveiling to the world). The Devil’s messiah must come and be revealed in all his glitter and glamour to a bemused, Christ-rejecting world.

2 Thessalonians was probably written toward the end of Paul’s stay in Corinth or sometime near the end of A.D. 53. Paul begins by naming three men:

2 Thes. 1:1 “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:”

Paul, Silas, and Timothy: the evangelist, the teacher, and the pastor. They were God’s Big Three for invading the European continent for Christ and changing the course of history.

Paul was the commander in chief. He took the lead, made the decisions, set the pace, engaged the foe, and did the preaching.

Silas was second in command. He had likely been an eyewitness of Christ’s ministry. He shared in both Paul’s blessings and his beatings. He never sought the limelight, never broke rank, never tried to hurry the pace, never dragged his heels, and was never out of step. He was an expert in the Greek language.

In the heated synagogue debates that so often happened, Silas would be right there, answering questions, adding his testimony, pointing to key Scriptures, and supporting Paul all the way.

Timothy was Paul’s aide-de-camp, ever at the Apostle’s beck and call, ever ready and willing. He was half Gentile and half Jew, and Paul trusted him implicitly. He would run here, there, and everywhere at a nod or a word from Paul. No task was too small or too great for Timothy. He would do it promptly and cheerfully.

Paul continues:

1:2-3 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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,”

The word “bound” here means “to be under obligation.” It is used of a man who is in debt and who has to pay what he owes. We owe it to God and to you, says Paul, to remember you with thanksgiving. Paul was not one to blow into town, preach the gospel, win souls, and blow back out again never to look back.

And what did he thank God for? First, he thanked God for their growth unstunted. “We are bound to thank God always…because your faith grows exceedingly” (1:3b). Growth is evidence of life. Nobody expects a pebble to grow. Vigorous growth is evidence of vigorous life.

What struck Paul was the growth of their faith. Growing faith is a direct result of occupation with the Word of God, answers to prayer, and of increasing personal knowledge of Jesus.

Then, he thanked God for their grace unstinted. “…and the love of every one of you all toward each other abounds” (1:3c). The Thessalonians were growing amazingly well in the grace of love. Love is what Christianity is all about, and it was abounding among them!

Growth unstunted, grace unstinted, and finally, Paul thanked God for glory unsurpassed. “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure” (1:4).

Paul was in awe over the young church’s ability to withstand persecution with joy. The word “persecutions” points to the malicious hostility of others. The word “tribulations” underlines the agony of body and anguish of mind endured by those being persecuted.

Their persecution was first instigated by the Jews, who hired bullies and mercenaries to do their dirty work for them (Acts 17:5). The Christians were hauled into court and accused of high treason. They were falsely accused and harassed continually, as was Paul from town to town. And persecution has been the common lot of the church throughout its history.

Ten terrible, official outbursts of state-sanctioned persecution lasting some three hundred years awaited the church, climaxing in the fearful tribulations under the Emperor Diocletian.

Since then, every age has had its martyrs. In two thousand years of Christian history, about 70 million faithful have given their lives for the faith, and of these, 45.5 million -- fully 65% -- were in the last century, according to a new book entitled, "The New Persecuted."

According to the author, the two currents that fuel the persecution of Christians today are Communism and Muslim fundamentalism.

Millions of Christians around the world are enduring what has been dubbed a “Christian Winter” in the midst of the “Arab Spring,” a movement of political unrest that has given way to Muslim domination — and rising hostility against Christians — in numerous Middle Eastern and African nations, including Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya.

Secular regimes that once ruled many of those nations are being replaced with Islamic states that have instituted a form of sharia law, or Muslim legislation, which is enforced on all citizens regardless of their religious affiliation.

For thousands of minority Christians, it is a worrisome trend that has resulted in increased discrimination, imprisonment, physical violence, and death.

The roll call of the martyrs at the judgment seat of Christ will be long. The nobility of heaven will be the martyrs, the aristocracy of heaven.

Next, Paul deals with the time when God settles accounts, when He deals out judgment, first with His church and then, fearfully, with the world. Behind both judgments is the unimpeachable righteousness of God.

First, God is righteous when it comes to judging saints: Paul writes,

1:5 “…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;”

Paul knew that the persecutions being endured by the Thessalonians were passing. Let them “take heart!” he says. The crowning day is coming. Meanwhile, God will use even the bitter persecutions to develop their character (Ro. 8:28).

God is also righteous when it comes to the matter of judging sinners:

1:6 “…since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,”

This passage anticipates the Great White Throne judgment. In this sobering and terrifying place of judgment, all sin ever committed shall come under the scrutiny of the eye of God. Things that men have thought were unseen, unknown, and unrequited shall be proven otherwise.

Every murder, rape, arson, act of fraud, child abuse, and drug abuse, along with petty lusts, hatreds, spites, and lies that are part of the everyday life of millions of people shall be brought into the light.

By far, the majority of wrongs are never righted in this life. Yet our inborn sense that this universe is a moral universe where wrongs must be righted and good rewarded demands a Day of Judgment.

Sin’s consequences may to a point be avoided in this life, but not in the next one. The Alexanders, the Caesars, the Genghis Khans, the Napoleons, the Hitlers, and the Stalins who have plunged the world into war and immeasurable miseries will all stand before the Judgment Bar of God…guaranteed.

Five major judgments are named for us in Scripture:

There is the judgment of sin. Where the believer is concerned, this judgment has already passed. Our sins were judged at Calvary. Hence, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Ro.8:1).

There is the judgment of saints: God judges His people in two ways. First, He judges them as sons in this life: “Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son that He receives” (Heb.12:6).

We all stumble and sin in many ways, says James (3:2). When we grieve the Holy Spirit in this way, God chastens us. But there is a difference between “sin” and “sins.”

“Sin” has to do with what we are. We are born sinners under Adam’s legacy. “Sins” have to do with what we do. God has already declared that we are righteous under the blood of Christ (2 Cor.5:21).

But He now expects us to cooperate with His indwelling Holy Spirit, to deal with the “sins” in our lives. His chastisement helps us do that, and is part of the process and proof that we are indeed His children (Heb.12:7-11).

There is the judgment of states: God is sovereign over the universe. Although His movements are rarely recognized by the world, He rules over the kingdoms of men. Nebuchadnezzar learned that, “the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives to whoever He will” (Dan.4:25).

The nations of the world will be judged during the time of the Great Tribulation, when virtually all of them will have been united in their universal persecution of the Jewish people.

Matt. 25:31-33 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.”

There is the judgment of sinners: The unbeliever, according to Scripture, walks through life under the brooding shadow of the wrath of God. “The wrath of God,” said Jesus, “abides on him” (John 3:36).

Often, God’s hand is not discerned in this process. It is a fact, though, that sinners often pay for their misdeeds in ways that we cannot see. Yet the judgment of God fast approaches when even men’s idle words will be brought to account (Matt.12:36).

Finally, there is the judgment of Satan: One of the great mysteries of the universe is why God has permitted fallen Lucifer so much power, time, and scope to work his horrific ills on this planet.

Nevertheless, his doom is certain. Satan will be incarcerated in the Abyss at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ (Rev.20:1). After this, he will be cast into the lake of fire forever (Rev.20:7-10).