2 Thess. 1:1-12 “Preparing for Eternity”

0:58High school students are preparing for college, college students preparing for jobs, engaged couples for marriage, married couples for children, and older couples for retirement. We are always preparing for something. As a Christian, what are you preparing for? Think about the reason that you came this morning. If you asked many questions, Believers, why do you worship with other Christians on Sunday? They would say something to the effect of, well, I go to worship to get filled up for the week ahead.

1:43And while that's not wrong, according to Scripture, that's not really why we gather together as Christians. We're not mainly gathering together to prepare for assignments at school or work, to prepare our hearts and minds for a difficult conversation that week, or to tackle all the projects that await us at home. That's not really why we gather together. We gather together because we're preparing for eternity. Last week we finished our study of 1 Thessalonians. Paul, Silas, and Timothy wrote that letter around 51 or 52 A.D. to the believers in a city called Thessalonica.

2:30And as many of you recall that we're here during that series, they planted a church there, but they were driven out of town after about three weeks. They hadn't been able to make it back for various reasons, and so they sent Timothy to check on them. Timothy returned with an encouraging report, but the believers there were still suffering fairly intense persecution and affliction. And they had some wrong or incomplete ideas about certain important things, especially concerning the Return of Christ.

3:02And so Paul, Silas, and Timothy wrote 1 Thessalonians, and then a short time later wrote the letter that we call 2 Thessalonians. Now, because the authors and the setting and the opening greeting are nearly exactly the same as 1 Thessalonians, I'm just going to point you to my sermon on 1 Thessalonians 1. If you want to hear that again, or if you missed that, you can go back and listen to it online. And we're just going to pick up in verse 3 this morning.

3:28But what we're going to learn today in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 is persevering faith and love prove that God is preparing us for eternity. Persevering faith and love prove that God is preparing us for eternity. So let's pick up here in verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians 1. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you and the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

4:18If you look at the Greek text, verses 3 through 10 are one fantastically long sentence with 13 commas. So, for reasons that are probably understandable to you, most translators break that really, really ridiculously long sentence up into three or four sentences to make it more readable to us modern readers. But in these two verses, Paul writes that they ought always to give thanks to God for them, noting that it is right to do so. He even goes so far as to say that they're boasting about the Thessalonians to Christians in other churches.

4:59The question is, why? Well, it's because, as he says, their faith is growing abundantly and their love for one another is increasing in spite of the persecution and afflictions that they are suffering. And that is a direct answer to the prayers that they prayed in 1 Thessalonians. Take a look at the screen at chapter 3. Paul writes, Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

5:48It is right for them to give thanks to God because God is the one who answered their prayers to increase the faith and love of the Thessalonians. Paul says, And Timothy could not take credit for that. They have not even been there. Timothy only went there on a short visit. The other two have not even been back. So, God is the reason that their faith has grown abundantly and their love for one another is increasing. So, friends, faith and love are two essential marks of the Christian faith. We cannot claim to know God if we don't have faith and if we don't have love for others, especially fellow believers in the church.

6:32Take a look at what John writes in 1 John chapter 5: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. But it's important to recognize that Paul does not just give thanks to God in this passage that we're studying today simply because the Thessalonians have faith and simply because they have love for each other. No, it's much more than that. He gives thanks to God because their faith is growing abundantly, and the love for each of you, for one another, is increasing.

7:16So, growing faith and growing love should be the goal of every Christian. The relevant question here, though, is: how would you ever know if your faith or your love? We're increasing. Think about that for a minute. How do you measure that? How do you quantify whether faith and love are increasing? Well, let's return to our text from last week in 1 Thessalonians 5 and consider how God's Word helps us discern whether we're growing in faith and love. Look on the screen at chapter 5, verses 16 through 18.

7:53Paul writes, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. How would we know if our faith is growing? Well, Paul gives us objective evidence to consider in this short section of scripture. Is your life increasingly marked by the joy of the Lord? Do you find yourself growing in eagerness to worship God, to talk about God with other Christians, to share Christ with non-believers because your joy in Him is increasing?

8:38Is your life increasingly marked by prayerfulness? Do you find yourself turning to God more quickly and more often in prayer instead of turning elsewhere to the things that we are tempted to put our hope in when life is not going well? Is your life increasingly Marked by thankfulness. Do you find yourself complaining less and less because you are learning to consider it all joy when you go through trials of various kinds? See, increasing joy, prayer, and gratitude suggests that God is at work in our hearts to increase our faith.

9:25Now take a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Paul says, and we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. How would we know if our love for others is increasing? Well, again, Paul gives us some objective evidence to consider. Are you patiently admonishing the idle? Are you having those hard conversations? Is that becoming more normal for you to challenge other Christians regarding their work at their job or in the community or in class or at home?

10:15Are you patiently encouraging the faint-hearted? Is it becoming more normal for you to notice other Christians who are discouraged and downcast and to consider what you can do practically? To build them up and help them? Are you patiently helping the weak? Is it becoming more normal for you to bear the burdens of those who are struggling with sin of various kinds? You see, increasing love for the idle, the faint-hearted, and the weak suggests that God is at work in our lives to grow and increase our love for others. So, friends, our faith in God and love should be growing constantly because God Himself is at work in us.

11:07And His Word gives us these objective measures that we can go back to and look at how we lived a month ago, or six months ago, or several years ago, and consider: are these things increasing in my life? Or am I staying stagnant or even backpedaling in some areas? God's Word helps us to see that. Because remember, the challenge this morning for every one of us is not to settle for merely having faith in God or having love for other Christians, but to grow and to increase in both of those ways, to grow in faith and love.

11:49So, Paul gives thanks to God because the Thessalonians' faith was growing and their love for one another was increasing in spite of the persecution and affliction that they were enduring. So let's pick up now in verse 5. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. The Apostle Peter wrote that some things in Paul's letters were hard to understand. And friends, this verse is one of those things.

12:35Let me remind you that the key to interpreting all texts, especially the texts that we find in the Bible, is context. You don't need knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, although that is helpful. What you need to rightly understand and apply the scriptures to your own life is context. And so, what is the context of this passage? The Thessalonians are experiencing persecution and affliction because of their faith, and yet, thanks to God, their faith is growing and their love for one another is increasing. That is the context.

13:16So, when Paul writes here in verse 5, this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, the word this is referring to the fact that their faith and love. Are increasing despite the fact that they are going through severe persecution and affliction. Look how Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse: All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom.

13:51You know, the message sometimes in certain circles gets kind of poo-pooed by people because they say it's not a real translation. Eugene Peterson had multiple PhDs in ancient Semitic languages. He can do this, he can do it in whatever translation you want. He wrote the message to help us understand the more difficult parts of the Bible in modern American English. And so, I would just encourage you: if you don't have access to a copy of the message, it's a great thing to have alongside whatever translation that you use because it can be helpful as an interpretive guide. And I think he hits the nail on the head here. This is exactly what Paul seems to be saying: all this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. That's what all this suffering and persecution is for.

14:42You see, friends, when we're born, we are born with sinful hearts that do not worship or obey God. And in that sinful, rebellious state, we are unfit for God's kingdom. That is why, after Adam and Eve sinned, They were banished from the garden of Eden so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever in that fallen state. That would have been a disaster. And so God banished them from the garden. When we believe the gospel, the good news of Jesus' sinless life and death and resurrection on our behalf to reconcile us to God, we are justified. That means that we are declared to be righteous by faith. At that moment, we are not made righteous. It is not as though from the moment that we believe, we are actually righteous, able to live without sin. No, at that moment, we are merely declared to be righteous. It is a declaration from God that he looks at us because of our faith as though we were as righteous as Christ. That's what happens to us. But, friends, as we saw in 1 Thessalonians, God's will for us is our sanctification. It is our holiness. It's not merely that we be declared righteous, it's that we actually be made into and become holy people. That is his will. Look at Colossians 1 on the screen.

16:22Paul says, and you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, listen to this, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. So for the rest of our lives, God is at work transforming us into holy people who may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God. Now, how does God do that? Scripture testifies over and over that one of God's primary means of making us into holy people is affliction and persecution.

17:11That's a tough pill to swallow. It's so hard that there are many preachers and some Christians who actually believe that the Bible doesn't teach that. And if you know someone who's struggling with that idea that the gospel promises us a healthy and wealthy life, free from struggle and sin, we've got a free book out there called Does the Gospel Promise Health and Prosperity? You should pick this up and read it or give it to a friend.

17:40Because the reality is, faith in the gospel does not promise us health or prosperity. Some of the most faithful men and women in Scripture were not healthy or prosperous. But brothers and sisters, enduring suffering is really hard to do, even if that is God's will for our lives. It brings all sorts of things. Of questions up. Like, if God loves us and He's all-powerful and He could make it stop, why does He allow us to suffer?

18:12Questions like, What's going to happen to those who persecute Christians? To those who afflict us and cause our suffering? Will there be justice in the end? Questions like, How long is this going to go on? How long do we have to endure? All of those are legitimate questions, and God will answer them for us through the Apostle Paul in this section. So let's pick up again here in verse 5. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed.

19:30Because our testimony to you was believed. In this section, Paul helps the Thessalonians and every afflicted Christian in history to answer the questions that we all ask when we suffer. Stated simply, Paul teaches that when Jesus returns, unbelievers will be eternally destroyed and believers will be eternally glorified. So let's begin with what Paul teaches about Jesus' return, which we find in verses 7 and 8. Paul teaches that his return is certain and that it will be unmistakable. He writes this, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire.

20:21So first, Jesus' return is certain. Paul makes that very clear. He says, when the Lord Jesus is revealed. And Jesus himself said that he was definitely coming back. Look what he said in Matthew 24. Jesus said, therefore, you must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Second, Jesus' return will be unmistakable. Paul said that he's going to be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. And this is what Jesus said. In that same passage in Matthew 24, take a look.

21:04Then, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, Look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

21:45You see, friends, Jesus promised that he would return, and both he and the apostle Paul assure us that no one is going to miss it. My friends, are you living in light of the fact that Jesus' return is certain, that it will be unmistakable, and that it may be today? Are you ready for Jesus' return? Are those people in your life ready for Jesus' return? It is certain, and it will be unmistakable. Now, let's look at what happens to unbelievers when Jesus returns. Paul refers to them in verse 17. Verse 6 as those who afflict you, and then in verse 8 as those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These unbelievers are persecuting Christians. They don't acknowledge God and they don't believe the gospel. So what's going to happen to them? First, Paul says, Jesus will repay them with affliction. In verse 6, he says, God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you.

23:03This is the biblical concept of an eye for an eye, but measured out by God perfectly in eternity. Those who afflict will become the afflicted. I want to remind you of what we talked about last week in 1 Thessalonians 5. Take a look at this verse again. Paul instructed us, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. You see, we bless those who persecute us, repaying evil with good, because we know that God Himself will justly repay those who afflict us.

23:45Second, look at verse 8. He says that Jesus is going to inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. He uses that word vengeance, and that reminds me of Romans chapter 12, Paul's instruction there. He says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. How many stories have been told of someone who was deeply wronged by someone else, and they dream for the rest of their life of taking revenge?

24:33But then that moment comes where they're able to carry out revenge against that person who wronged them, and either right before or right after, they realize the truth that revenge is an empty promise because doing wrong to someone else doesn't take away what they did to you. I don't know if we have any true grit fans out there, but that's one of the best stories, one of the best movies to illustrate that concept: that revenge doesn't satisfy because it doesn't right the wrong that was done to you.

25:12Take a look at verse 9. Paul says, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. Jesus taught that when he returned in glory, he He would sit on his glorious throne and judge every person who has ever lived, separating the righteous sheep who loved him and served him from the unrighteous goats who did not. And Jesus says this at the end of that passage in Matthew 25: And these, that is the goats, will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

26:00For unbelievers, this is a truly terrifying prospect. What Jesus calls eternal punishment, and what Paul calls the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. I can still remember some of my fraternity brothers laughing together and saying how they hoped that they would go to hell so they wouldn't be bored in heaven and could continue to party with each other. Friends, nothing could be further from the Bible's description than that.

26:45From these passages, we have a sobering picture of what happens to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel. They're going to be removed from the presence of the Lord to a place where they will suffer the punishment. Of eternal destruction. And this Greek word destruction does not mean or imply annihilation. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever teach or suggest that people cease to exist when they die. Every single person spends eternity in either heaven or hell. That is what Scripture teaches. We have a picture of that in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

27:34Rather, the word destruction means a state of utter ruin. Forever and ever, those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel are punished and ruined, far from the blessing presence of God that every single person on this earth enjoys in some measure. Because as Jesus says, he sends his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Believers and unbelievers can enjoy the blessings of meaningful work, of marriage, of friendship, of children, of knowing and being known. But friends, all of those common grace blessings are removed for those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel.

28:23And so for Christians, these truths remind us that there is no need to repay or to Seek vengeance against those who do evil to us in this world, because God is going to meet out perfect justice in eternity. Further, these truths should move us to compassionate evangelism, warning our unbelieving friends of the awful future that awaits those who do not repent and believe in Jesus. And these truths should humble us. Because apart from the grace of God, every one of us deserves to spend eternity in hell, suffering the punishment of eternal destruction of those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel. Apart from his grace, that is every single one of us. He did not save any of us because we deserved it. He saved us because he is merciful and gracious.

29:29For non-Christians, anyone who is here today who does not yet believe the gospel of Jesus, you might hear me say these things and say, that's just hellfire and brimstone preaching, Pastor Allen, and I'm not into that. Well, I can assure you that I'm not into it either. But I did not write the Bible. My job this morning is not to tell you what you want to hear. And send you on your way. My job this morning is to tell you what Jesus said and what his apostles said about the awful reality that awaits all who do not repent and believe in Jesus, as well as about the wonderful, glorious future that awaits all who do repent and believe in Jesus. That is my task today.

30:29So I beg you, if you have not yet repented and believed in Jesus, do not walk out of here today trying to soften these words to mean something that they do not mean. Do not walk out of here today trying to justify your life in the way that you've been living. But instead, I urge you, every Christian here urges you to turn from your sin and to receive the free gift of grace that is available to you through the person and work of Jesus in his life, his death, and his resurrection on your behalf. Do not leave this morning until you have made right with God through repentance and faith. There is no hope for any of us apart from Christ.

31:17The last question that Paul seeks to answer is: what happens to Christians when Jesus returns? Well, the first thing he says is that every believer will experience relief from suffering. Take a look again at verse 7. He says that God will grant relief to you who are afflicted. And listen to this, as well as to us. Paul, Silas, and Timothy want to remind the Thessalonians that they aren't living high on the hog, as it were, while they are going through all kinds of affliction and suffering, but that they are suffering at least as bad, if not worse, for preaching the gospel as those Christians in Thessalonica. This is all of them together suffering for the gospel.

32:05But that is all going to come to an end when Jesus returns. Take a look at Revelation 21. It says, Jesus will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Second, Jesus will be glorified in every believer. If you take a look at verse 10, you can see that on the day that Jesus returns, he will be glorified in his saints. Do you see that important preposition? He will be glorified in his saints. Not only is Jesus' glory going to be revealed when he comes back, but his glory is going to be revealed in us. It's going to radiate out of and through every Christian. In Colossians 1:27, Paul calls this the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The riches of the glory of this mystery. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Friends, one day every believer is going to radiate the glory of God.

33:19And then, third, we learn that every believer will marvel at Jesus who kept every promise he ever made. If you think back to when your parents made you a promise and then they kept it, and how you looked at them for keeping their word, or if you have children or work with children and you've made them a promise and you can see their face light up when you keep your word, that is what it's going to be like when Jesus returns. We are going to marvel at him because everything that he said came true. Look at Revelation 22.

34:03They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no lamp of light or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Church, this is the wonderful future, not only for us, but for all who have believed in Jesus Christ. We will finally have permanent, perfect relief from all suffering. Jesus will be glorified in us, and we will marvel at him. Let me ask you, are you looking forward to Jesus' return?

34:43Do you think about it often? Do you pray that he would come? Do you anticipate it? I struggle to do those things, and my guess is that at least some of you struggle to do those things as well. But it is hard to live for eternity if we don't spend time each day, each week, thinking about it, praying for it, eagerly anticipating it. Let's finish in verses 11 and 12, which is Paul's prayer. To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.

35:38He prays here that God would make them worthy of his calling. Again, not that they would merely be justified, declared righteous through faith, but that they would actually be made righteous through God's sanctifying power. And along with that, he prays that they would live in a manner worthy of his calling. Because you see, every person who Comes to Christ by faith is received. You do not have to clean your life up first, and that's good news because you can't clean your life up first.

36:11God receives everyone just as they are, but friends, He does not intend to leave us that way. He intends to sanctify us and to make us into holy people. And so He calls us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that we've received. He knows that we need God's power to do that, so Paul prays that He would fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power. Why? Verse 12: 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.

36:56Brothers and sisters, we want to be considered worthy of God's calling and kingdom. But that means that we have to make spiritual progress. We have to go from being those who are merely declared righteous to those who actually are being made righteous and holy and blameless. We have to make spiritual progress. So it is natural for every one of us to wonder: why does God allow suffering and persecution? In our lives, to wonder what's going to happen if we're ever going to get relief from it, if there's ever going to be justice.

37:41But, friends, as we were reminded today, God allows suffering of all kinds to burn away all that is unrighteous within us and to make us into holy, blameless people for the day of Christ's return. You see, we are not here today merely preparing for the week ahead, we are here today preparing for eternity to encourage one another to persevere in faith and love in a fallen world. Because as we saw today, persevering faith and love prove that God is preparing us for eternity.

38:27Let's pray. Father, we admit that if we were given the choice, nearly All of us would say that we want an easy life, a life that was comfortable, a life that was free from difficulty and trial, a life certainly that was free from mocking and scorn and persecution of all kinds. That is what we would choose for ourselves. But in your infinite wisdom, you saw fit to use persecution and affliction, along with many other things, as instruments in your hands to make us fit for your kingdom, worthy of your calling.

39:51And so, Lord, we pray that you would help us to accept those things as from your hands. Like we talked about last week, we can't give thanks for all of our circumstances, but by your grace and with your help, we can learn to give thanks in all circumstances. Would you grant us persevering faith and love? Because we see that that proves that you're getting us ready, you're preparing us for your kingdom. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

40:32Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.