So we're in 2 Thessalonians chapter
1 and we'll read from verse 1 just for the continuity of the narrative. Paul and Silvanus, or Silas,
and Timotheus, Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians
in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet,
because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity
of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. 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. 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, seeing it is
a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them
that trouble you. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.
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. Wherefore also we pray always
for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling and
fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work
of faith with power. 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading from his word. We're going to spend a few minutes
just thinking about verses 5 to 10 this evening or today. The Apostle is very aware that
these Thessalonian brethren were being hard-pressed by enemies
of the Gospel. Perhaps it was Jews who opposed
them in the local synagogue or maybe it was the city authorities
or other religions, idolatrous religions that thrived in Thessalonica
at that time. Opposition to the gospel comes
in many forms. Some of it is overt, some of
it is more subtle, and here in Thessalonica it seems to have
been violent. The Lord's people have often
been harassed by those who believe they are doing God's will in
troubling and persecuting the elect. Very often it's done in
the name of God. Sovereign grace, the sovereign
grace gospel has the effect of drawing out our deepest antagonism. because it shows men to be without
any good before God, and it insists that all glory goes to God, our
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. So if these believers were preaching
the Gospel as it had been taught to them by the Apostle, then
Paul had good reason. to believe and to know that they
were being persecuted for the gospel's sake. However, what
Paul has to say here I think is very interesting. There are
three awesome things that I want to highlight in these five or
so verses before us today. And I say awesome advisedly These
three lessons from Paul are revelations from God to his people to comfort
us in trouble and persecution but they also elicit a sense
of wonder and majesty and awe that we have such a righteous
Lord God who acts with absolute justice and holiness in all his
ways. Elsewhere, the writer to the
Hebrews says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God. And here in this second epistle
to the Thessalonians, we learn just how terrifying it is to
be without grace and how blessed we are to have obtained grace. Now, I don't want to overstate
or over-dramatize this that Paul has said here, but I think there
is something very stark, something very raw, and even something
disturbing about these verses. There is, number one, the promise
of God to bring retribution on those who hurt his people. There is, secondly, the amazing
glory to be revealed to God's people when the Lord Jesus Christ
returns. And there is thirdly, the fearful
judgements that are coming on those who do not know God or
obey his gospel and who remain in their sin and rebellion against
him. And if we take these words at
face value and we think about the implications of what Paul
is saying here, I think you will agree with me that these are
awesome truths. Paul has already spoken of all
your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. The church at
Thessalonica was a persecuted church that knew what it was
to suffer for the faith of Christ and the testimony of the gospel.
However, Paul will have them know that God is aware of their
hurt. and the Lord Jesus will not let
their suffering go unnoticed or unanswered. In fact, it is
contrary to God's own nature to do so because righteousness
demands retribution. Righteousness demands retribution
against those who raise their hands towards God and who raise
their hands against God's people. Paul says in verse six, it is
a righteous thing with God, it is a righteous thing with God
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. So God
delights to bring retribution on those
that trouble his church. We spoke recently about the Lord
keeping books or records, records and books being opened and men
and women being judged from those books according to their works. And what Paul is showing the
Thessalonians here is that God's guarding and protecting hand
is over his church constantly and even as persecutions come,
They shall be curiously blessed to God's people, and secretly
and mysteriously work for our good, while at the same time
drawing down judgment on the perpetrators. Those who offend
God's little ones shall themselves suffer tribulation for their
deeds and their actions. Tribulation on the wicked comes
both in time and in eternity. Our recent studies in the book
of Isaiah highlight this. The prophet there speaks about
these burdens or these woes that come upon the nations and nations
and individuals appeared to prosper by their might, by their power,
by their resources, by their military strength, by their cruelty
and the Lord's elect often suffered with others at their hand. And
yet the filling up of wickedness lasts only so long and sooner
or later in this life or the next, retribution, what Paul
calls the recompense of tribulation, will be experienced to the confusion
and consternation of God's foes and ours. And this is part of
God's justice. Sin and evil do not go unmarked,
and God's love for his children is no less than the affection
and protection that a good father would feel for his own children.
And notice that Paul is telling this to the Thessalonians for
their comfort. It's double-edged. The judgment
that is coming against their foes will be matched with the
rest that is coming for them. A blow struck against the church
is a blow against Christ's own body and every such attack is
marked down and remembered by the Lord. He will not forget
and He will not forgive. The second awesome thing that
we learn from this passage is this. that the vindication of
God's people is described as rest. It's a good word. It is the blessed feeling when
the trial stops and the sharp duress of this world's opposition
ceases. and the events that will attend
this rest are, Paul says, Christ's appearing from heaven with his
mighty angels when he shall come to be glorified in his saints
and to be admired in all them that believe. So Christ is coming
to be glorified and to be admired and this will be the ushering
in of the church's rest. Now this can be interpreted as
occurring in time because there are periods of rest for the church. For example, when a particular
enemy is brought down, then there would be a period of rest during
and after that. And we've seen that in the history
of Israel, we've seen it in the history of the apostolic church,
and we've seen that that is often or sometimes the experience of
the church. But the greater fulfilment will
be as the Lord returns in final judgement. And Christ's angels
will gather together all the elect the church will be revealed
in her beauty, the Lord will appear all glorious and the evidence
of grace, redemption and salvation will be seen by all for the admiration
of Christ and the terror of the wicked. This is a wonderful insight
that the Apostle gives to these Thessalonian people. They were
to live and endure their trials with the knowledge that soon,
soon their troubles would be over. Their rest would be revealed
and enjoyed and Christ would be manifested to all the world
in vindication of their gospel testimony. Remember what the
angel said, this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Our Lord is coming back soon. It was soon when Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians, although we're going to see in chapter two that
it was not immediately and Paul tells them that there is yet
a time of suffering to be endured. But it is nevertheless soon,
and that is still true today. If it was soon then, it is sooner
now, and the Lord Jesus Christ is coming quickly with his mighty
angels. But then there's this third point
as well. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in returning
with his mighty angels, will do so in flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power. How solemn, how awesome is that
verse, is that revelation from the pen of the Apostle Paul. Here is the dual effect of Christ's
return. We long to think about Christ
coming, both for those who have come to the end of their life
and perhaps are increasingly frail and just want to be rid
of this old body and in the presence of the Lord. But at the time
of the Lord's return, destruction of his foes and the salvation
of his people will be coterminous. One event, two outcomes. How fearful for many, how glorious
for the elect of God. As blessed as this is for the
persecuted church, it shall be terrible for the wicked. Here is the destruction both
of soul and body, though it is not annihilation of either. One has written, their gnawing
worm of conscience will never die, and the fire of divine wrath
will never be quenched. The smoke of their torment will
ascend forever. Sin being committed against an
infinite and eternal being will be infinitely punished. Is this
not awesome and is this not fearful? We shudder to think of what hell
will be like and we can only thank God that grace has found
for us a way of escape through the precious blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. One glimpse of hell makes mercy
a wonderful privilege indeed. Let me just mention, as I close,
the elephant in the room, as it were. Hell is suffering and
separation. Paul calls it here the everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord. and it is what is
warned against in the Gospel. All who will not obey the Gospel
reveal and evidence their natural rebellion and sinful disobedience
against God. They have no love for the Lord.
They have no desire to be in His presence. They are condemned
already. Now we all know people we long
to see saved and saved from hell that is coming. We all know people
that we long to see brought to a knowledge of the truth. And
yet we humbly acknowledge that God is just and the Lord of this
earth will do right. So I simply say this, for I can
say no more. Pray for those that you love. Pray for mercy like Job prayed
for his children. Bring them to Christ like the
parents in the Gospels brought their children to the Lord. Intercede for them as those who
know where true power in salvation lies. We may not live in this
world to know the outcome of our prayer. but we shall go into
the presence of the Lord, relying on his grace and mercy for our
own soul and for the souls of all he is pleased to call his
own. Short of salvation, praying for
salvation is our gift to those that we love. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us. Amen.