2 Thessalonians 1:1

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, 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.

Paul writes again to a suffering young church—lifting their eyes from present tribulation to the grace of God, the growth of faith, and the certainty of a righteous judgment to come.

The Historical Setting

As we journey through the book of Acts, we have been stopping to consider the letters Paul wrote, in the order they were written. Over the last couple of months we went through 1 Thessalonians, and now we come to 2 Thessalonians. But really we are still in Acts 18, where Paul is in Corinth with Silas and Timothy. It was there, while in Corinth, that Paul wrote this second letter to the church at Thessalonica.

On their second missionary journey, Paul, Silas, and Timothy had ministered to the churches of Galatia and come down to Troas, where Paul saw a vision of a man of Macedonia saying, "Come over and help us." They boarded a boat and came to Philippi, where a church was planted—but Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison, and the city leaders told them to leave.

They then went to Thessalonica, where Acts 17 tells us they reasoned in the synagogue for three Sabbaths. A church was established there in the midst of trying circumstances, for a group from the synagogue rose up against Paul and forced them to leave for Berea. The Bereans received them well, but those same enemies came and stirred up that city too. Believers escorted Paul over a hundred miles south to Athens, while Silas remained in Berea and Timothy in Thessalonica.

From Athens to Corinth

In Athens, Paul saw a city wholly given over to idolatry, even with an altar to the unknown god. He sent for Silas and Timothy to come with all speed. When they arrived, it seems he sent them back to northern Macedonia, while he went on to Corinth, about fifty-five miles away, to begin ministering there.

When we reach Acts 18, Paul is in Corinth, and Silas and Timothy join him. They share what was happening in the churches of Macedonia, and so Paul writes his first letter to encourage and strengthen the Thessalonians. They were growing in their faith, yet experiencing great tribulation. Each of the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians speaks of the coming of the Lord—a great encouragement in trial, reminding us that God has an ultimate plan. As He said through Jeremiah, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you... to give you an expected end." We in the body of Christ have an expected end. The answers are in the back of the book—and they are in the back of this Book too.

Why a Second Letter

Now about six or eight months have passed. Paul is still in Corinth, where he would stay eighteen months, around 52 A.D. He writes a second letter because, in that interval, either a teaching, a prophetic word, or even a forged letter claiming to be from Paul had confused the church again about the coming of the Lord.

This was a letter written not to an individual but to the entire body of believers. When they received it, they would have gathered together, as we are, and read it aloud to the whole church.

Notice in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 that he says you should not be "soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit"—a prophetic word—"nor by word"—a teaching—"nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." That is why, at the end of the letter in 3:17, Paul writes, "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write." He is saying, "You can be sure this letter is directly from me—not like that forgery you received."

Where the first letter focused on the return of the Lord, the second focuses on patience and continuance in the faith until He comes. Some, hearing that the Lord had supposedly already come, simply checked out—they stopped working and serving and lived off the charity of others. That is why Paul rebukes them: "If any would not work, neither should he eat." When Jesus spoke of His second coming in Matthew 24–25, the application was that the church, knowing He will return, must be about the Father's business, so that when He comes He finds us doing what He left us to do.

The Lord Jesus Christ

"Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Notice how frequently Paul uses the full title "the Lord Jesus Christ" throughout this letter. He is reminding them that Jesus is the anointed Messiah of the Old Testament prophecies—the Christos, the anointed—and because of that, He ought to be our Lord. We take our cues from Him.

Paul himself was a great example of this. Though he held the title of apostle and could have required the Thessalonians to support him, he labored day and night so he would not be a burden to them. He was, if anything, a servant of Jesus Christ—a bondservant by choice, not by constraint. We too must recognize that Jesus is not merely a man, a prophet, or a healer; He is the Creator God incarnate, who fulfilled the prophecies of His first coming and will fulfill those of His second.

The Origin and Order of Grace and Peace

In verse 2 Paul uses the very greeting he uses in every one of his thirteen New Testament epistles: "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." It never grows boring to talk about the grace and peace of the Lord.

First, notice the origin of grace and peace. It is always God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in the Greek, the construction makes clear that the Father and the Son are one source through which grace and peace come. That is remarkable—because this early in church history, less than twenty-five years after the ascension, there was already a recognition of the unity within the Godhead. It would not be codified in the creeds for another century or more, but at the very beginning the church knew that the Father and the Son are one.

Second, notice the order. Grace always comes before peace. This is not because it sounds better; it is because you cannot have peace with God or the peace of God until you have received His gracious gift through Jesus Christ. You must receive the gift of Jesus dying for your sins before you can have peace with God.

Why Some Believers Lack Peace

Yet not every believer experiences the peace of God. In John 16:33 Jesus said, "In me ye might have peace"—not "ye will have peace." Many of us have known times when we did not feel God's peace, and we wonder why.

Philippians 4 answers this. "Be careful for nothing"—be anxious for nothing—we might call that an apostolic command. For the record, I see no raised hands of those perfectly fulfilling it. But in the same breath Paul tells us how: "but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 26:3 says God "wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee," and the very next verse adds the application: "Trust ye in the LORD for ever." In my own life, anxiety comes when my focus is on the "what ifs"—what might happen tomorrow, next week, two years from now. But Paul says in Philippians 4:8 to think on whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, and Colossians says, "Set your mind on things above." As we change our focus to the Lord, the peace of God guards our hearts and minds.

Jesus said the same in the Sermon on the Mount: take no anxious thought for your life—what you will eat, drink, or wear. The Gentiles seek after those things, but "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Our world is consumed with trying to find peace, yet it is found only in the Prince of Peace.

Indebted to Give Thanks

"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." The phrase "bound to thank God" uses financial language: Paul is in debt to God to give thanks.

Have you considered your prayer life in those terms? We thank God for our meals, for good weather, or for passing an accident on the freeway unharmed—but we are indebted to give thanks for the great things: that He has saved us and for the work Jesus did on our behalf. In the Old Testament, Israel was often indicted for ingratitude. May it never be said of us that we are unthankful. In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul told this same church to give thanks in everything.

Faith, Love, and Patience in Persecution

Look at the parallel between the opening of both letters. In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul gives thanks for their "work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope." Here in 2 Thessalonians 1, he again thanks God for their faith, their love, and their endurance.

First, they were growing in faith, even in the midst of hard persecution. I have found in my own life that I grow most when my faith is tested. We don't like to admit it, but it is true. If you have ever hiked the high Sierra above the tree line, you find little growth there because of the lack of water and oxygen. We love mountaintop experiences—retreats, conferences, the exhilarating views—but the growth is in the valley. It is in the day-to-day trials that we grow. Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation"; anyone who tells you Christians don't suffer hard times is a false teacher. The Greek word Paul uses for "growing" means to increase beyond measure.

Second, they were abounding in love. Ask twenty people this week to define love and you will get twenty different answers, many of them strange. People say, "I love my dog," "I love tacos," "I love my wife"—hopefully not in that order. The New Testament uses three Greek words: eros, romantic love; phileo, brotherly love; and agape, self-sacrificial love, best defined in 1 Corinthians 13, which the King James calls "charity." This is the love displayed at the cross. It gives of itself, expecting nothing in return, and does not depend on the attitude of the one receiving it.

Even in Thessalonica there were busybodies taking advantage of the saints' love. Paul did not tell the church to stop loving them; he told those abusing it to stop. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus' love was not dependent on our receptiveness, and neither should ours be. God is the supreme Giver—the Father gave His Son, the Son gave His life, the Spirit gives gifts and strength—and He desires that we abound in love, giving not only finances but time, talent, and treasure.

Patience Grows Out of Hope

Third, Paul praises God for their "patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations." Patience and endurance grow out of hope. What motivates patience? Imagine you are in your third year of university, halfway to your degree, when the administration tells you, "We've stopped offering degrees—but we'd love for you to stay, finish, and leave with only the knowledge and some student loan debt." How many of you would stay? The end justifies the means. Without a prize at the end, there is no reason to endure.

This was true even of our Lord. Hebrews 12 says, "for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross." The joy of the salvation that would come through the cross stirred Him to endure it. Likewise, the New Testament constantly lifts our focus to the prize. In Romans 8, Paul says we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, "if so be that we suffer with him," and then, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." When our focus is on being with the Lord, we can endure anything. Faith, hope, and love are the marks of Christian maturity, and the church at Thessalonica was growing in all three.

Suffering as Evidence of God's Righteous Judgment

Paul seems amazed by their growth—perhaps because he had spent so little time with them, perhaps because other cities had struggled, perhaps because he feared they could not weather the tribulation. But he says their endurance "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."

Unbelievers often see suffering as proof that there is no God: "If there really were a God, He wouldn't allow this." But Paul says the opposite. The tribulation you endure is proof that God will one day bring a righteous judgment—that it is a righteous thing for Him to "recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." When we redirect our attention to God, we remember that His wrath is coming, and that puts our present suffering in perspective: it is the worst it will ever be for us, because we are not appointed to wrath.

The Justice of God

Some struggle with this because they apply their own fallen sense of justice to God. We love justice—I can prove it. When someone flies past you at ninety miles an hour and cuts you off, your first thought is, "I wish there were a cop here." We love justice for others and mercy for ourselves. That sense of justice comes from God, but it is fallen, so we say, "It just doesn't seem right that God would judge and condemn men to hell."

In Genesis 18, Abraham wrestled with this. God told him He would go down to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham, knowing his nephew Lot lived there, interceded: "Suppose there be fifty righteous?" God said He would spare the city. Abraham pressed on—forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, down to ten—and at the heart of it he asked, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The answer is an absolute yes. If there is a God who judges all humanity by His standard, He must be righteous and just when He does it.

Isaiah tells us God does not judge "after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." We in the United States have one of the best judicial systems in the world, yet even with twelve jurors and a jury of peers, justice still fails—innocent people are condemned, guilty people are released—because we judge only by sight and hearing. That is the best humans can do. But God knows the heart. Jeremiah 17 says the heart is desperately wicked, "who can know it?"—and then, "I the LORD search the heart." On that day, no one being judged will say, "This is unjust." We will all say, "Amen, this is right."

Rest for the Troubled, Wrath for the Wicked

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." When God returns, He will bring wrath upon ungodliness but rest to His people. Some call even that unfair, but consider: God placed His wrath upon His own Son at the cross so that we could find salvation. If by grace through faith we receive that gift, we are not judged. On that day we will not gloat, "They're getting what they deserve." We will stand in humility, saying, "That should be me, but I have received grace."

This recognition of God's righteous wrath should stir us to evangelism. Verse 8 says He comes "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

His judgment falls on two groups. First, those who know not God. First Thessalonians 4 says they walk in the lusts of the flesh; the Athenians of Acts 17 worshiped an unknown god; Romans 1 says the wicked "did not like to retain God in their knowledge"; Galatians 4 says they resort to idolatry; and Ephesians 2 says they have no hope. Second, those who do not obey the gospel—who know who God is yet refuse to yield to Him and receive His grace.

Everlasting Destruction and Eternal Separation

Verse 9 names two parts of this punishment: everlasting destruction and eternal separation—"punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Just as there is everlasting life for those who receive salvation, there is everlasting destruction for those who reject it. The blessings of heaven are eternal, and so is the penalty of hell.

The unbeliever who dies does not simply cease to exist, though some console themselves with that idea. In Luke 16, Jesus tells of two men who died: one carried to paradise, the other to a place of torment in a flame. Scripture calls that place Hades—a place of torment, but also a holding cell awaiting the ultimate judgment.

In Revelation 20, after the millennial reign of Christ, the unbelieving dead stand before God. The devil is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, "and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Then John sees a great white throne: "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works... And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." That lake was not created for man—Matthew 25 says it was prepared for the devil and his angels—but those who reject God will share its torment forever.

Three times in Matthew, Jesus warns of "outer darkness," and Matthew 25:46 contrasts the two destinies: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." As Moses said in Deuteronomy, "I have set before you... life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life." That is the gospel: there are not millions of ways to God; there are two paths, both ending before God—one leading to righteousness and eternal life, the other to everlasting destruction.

Grace Against the Backdrop of Wrath

"Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling... 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." After speaking of the wrath and judgment of God, I am so thankful Paul brings us back to grace. When we speak of God's judgment, we must always remember His grace.

God is not willing that any should perish. He does not desire that anyone go to hell; He desires that all come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth, and He has made a way of salvation. Some object that it is a narrow way—but what does that matter? It is a way. The grace of God is only seen as truly gracious against the backdrop of the wrath of God. May we truly know what grace is, and may we, as Peter said, "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for Your word, and I pray that by Your Spirit You would plant these things deep in our hearts. Stir me and my brothers and sisters here, that as we go from here we would be ready and willing to speak boldly this truth: there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death, and there is a way that You have set that leads to eternal life. Jesus, I thank You that You told Your disciples, and speak to us, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Thank You for that promise. Help us to remember it when we face trials, tribulation, difficulty, and suffering—reminded of the end, the marriage supper of the Lamb. We look forward to that day, and so we say, "Come, Lord Jesus, quickly." But until You do, teach us to be faithful in the work You have set before us. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.