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2 Thessalonians |
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| Chapter 1 | Prayer | Devotional | Chapter 3 | Prayer | Devotional | |
| Chapter 2 | Prayer | Devotional |
Prayers
Father God, We thank You for Your church everywhere. We are especially grateful for Your grace to our brothers and sisters who are being afflicted throughout the world. We know that their pain is not the end of the story. Your Son is coming again. He will have vengeance against the enemies of His church, and will powerfully deliver those who are suffering for the glory of His Name. Grant us steadfastness, faith, and love in every difficulty. Make us worthy of the wonderful calling that we have received.
Lord of the Nations, You will surely gather all Your people to Yourself through the preaching of the gospel. Before Your Son returns, we understand that a man of lawlessness will appear and that there will be a great apostasy in the church. Many will be deceived who refuse to love the truth and are willing to worship an abomination. You have chosen us for sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth of Christ. Help us to hold fast to Your Word, and to love Your Son, who has redeemed us from a life of sin, rebellion, and lawlessness.
Holy God, deliver Your servants from wicked men as the Word moves forward with power. Establish our hearts in Your love. Make us wise in our relationships within the body of Christ. Protect us from the sinful example of many. Some are lazy and fruitless. Others disrupt whole households with dangerous talk. We ask that You would make us imitators of the most faithful Christians of our generation. As they follow Christ, help us to follow them in holiness. Forgive our sins. Grant us grace to live by the power of Your Holy Spirit, and hold us together in Your love forever.
Devotionals
The coming of Christ again is not entirely good news for everyone. In fact one of the encouragements of the Lord to His persecuted people is that the Lord will one day afflict those who have afflicted the church. The church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ was severely afflicted, almost from the moment that Paul began to preach the message of Jesus Christ in the synagogue in Thessalonica. It was within this landscape of tribulation that the faithfulness of the new Christians in this important city was shining so brightly. They faced horribly unjust judgments and attacks from those around them, yet from the Lord they received grace and peace, and they flourished.
Paul was especially thankful to God for this church for the way that they shined in the midst of cruel assaults. Their faith was growing through trial, and that true faith was expressed and made visible with deeds of love for one another. That love was increasing, and had caused the apostle to boast to other churches concerning the life of love among these believers in Thessalonica. The kinds of persecutions and afflictions that they had endured might have caused many to drift away from each other in fear, since gathering together might have seemed too dangerous. Instead they had become evidence of the abounding grace of God in a difficult life situation.
When we seem to be singled out for providential bad news, and this is how churches may feel when they have seen their property destroyed and their lives threatened, it is easy to begin to wonder whether having trial upon trial is a sign of God’s displeasure with this gathering of worshippers. This is not the right way to understand what has happened in Thessalonica. Their response to their difficulties is the evidence of something that we would be afraid to say were it not in God’s Word, that they are “worthy of the kingdom of God” for which they have been suffering.
We know that there is one sense in which we could never be considered worthy of the Lord’s kingdom. We cannot satisfy all the righteous demands of God’s Law. This is the question of our justification, or legal standing, before the Almighty. That legal standing is based entirely on the perfect works of our Redeemer. Yet as those who have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, there is a life of steadfast faith and love that is consistent with this work of God’s grace, even proving the genuineness of it. This is what Paul is referring to here, that their good works under fire are evidence of something real among them, and is behavior appropriate to those who claim to be the people of the One who died for our sins on the cross.
For these beloved children of God, affliction is not a sign of God’s displeasure, but a privilege entrusted to them. They have an opportunity to stand firm in the truth they believe at a cost. They suffer now, and those who afflict them may seem to be strong, but a day of reversal is coming soon, most supremely at the return of Christ. On that day those who have afflicted them will be repaid by God with affliction, and His suffering people will be given the fullness of relief.
When did this actually happen for the church at Thessalonica. When we go to be with the Lord at our death, we enter into His paradise, but the persecutors of the church begin to face His indignation. This will be supremely and finally displayed when Christ returns, but all of the faithful from the churches Paul wrote to have already entered into the place of heavenly blessing, and Christ has not yet returned for the final Day of Judgment.
One day He will return, together with the inhabitants of heaven. Then His vengeance will be most fully displayed in the sight of all. Those who do not know God, and who do not obey the good news of our Lord Jesus will suffer something that words cannot adequately convey, a destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might consistent with a continuing existence that is called in an another place, everlasting destruction, and in still another place, the second death. Yet those who have called on the name of the Lord with a sincere heart shall be saved. His coming will be very bad news for those who face His wrath, but the best possible news of resurrection glory in the presence of the Lord Jesus for those who have believed the apostolic testimony.
A crucial part of that apostolic testimony is the cross of Christ. It is in God’s revelation of final judgment that we can have a deeper appreciation of the Lord’s death. All that the enemies of the church will one day face testifies to us of our Lord’s suffering for us many centuries ago. We deserved the second death, this everlasting destruction, because of our sin against God. Christ has taken this for us on the cross. Something of the horror of what He faced was, in a sense, obscured from the view of those who saw Him suffer that day. The Day is coming when the extent of that loss will be more visible, but not upon Him, for His suffering was finished long ago, but upon the troublers of His people. May we walk in the grace of God now, and pray for one another, that the Lord would grant us strength to fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith to the glory of the Triune God.
Positive realism is the appropriate state of mind for the Christian, since we live in the certain hope of future blessings that have been secured for us by Christ. The truth of the coming of the Lord is so good for us, and it should be such a regular and happy meditation for us, that we are more than permitted, we are even commanded to borrow joy from the inexhaustible supplies of eternal blessedness that are reserved for us already in the heavens in Christ. Yet instead of having this positive realism, there were some within the church in Thessalonica that were alarmed and troubled when they thought about the future, and this because they had some wrong understandings about the present and the future that were troubling them.
Some thought that the Day of the Lord had already come, and that they had missed it. As our Lord Himself makes clear in the gospels, the culminating events of the present age could not possibly be missed by anyone. Many will not be ready for the coming of Jesus Christ, but no one will miss His coming. In any case, there are certain things that must take place before Christ returns in glory. In the gospels we read that the message of Christ must be preached throughout the earth, but here we learn of some other important facts.
Paul speaks of a rebellion that comes first, and of a singular figure, a man of lawlessness, a son of destruction, who will set himself up as a god to be worshipped. Where will he do this? Paul says that he will take his seat in the temple of God. This expression admits of more than one interpretation. There is a temple of God in the heavenlies, there was once an Old Testament temple of God in Jerusalem, and there is a living New Testament temple of God in the people that comprise the church of Jesus Christ. Since this event of which Paul writes is something that takes place just before the end of this age, the third interpretation is the best one for our understanding of this prophecy. In the midst of a great turning away from the truth of Christ in the world-wide church, there will come a singular figure, who sets himself up as the great leader of the church, demanding and receiving worship, and proclaiming himself to be God.
Up until that final apostasy, this lawless one is being restrained, and the message of the truth of our Lord is being proclaimed throughout the earth. But the time will come for this leading figure of evil rebellion to be more fully revealed. Even from the time when Paul was writing this letter, he could plainly state that the mystery of lawlessness was already at work. In fact heresy, hypocrisy, and immorality have been seen within the church, the temple of God on earth, from the earliest decades after the resurrection, and throughout the later centuries that have taken place, even until today. At times it has appeared that such error would entirely overwhelm the Lord’s beloved, but some measure of recovery came, as it always may, thereby showing definitively that the great day of apostasy written of here, that day of overwhelming and fatal falling away from Christ right within his church, has not yet happened.
When the lawless one does come in that final apostasy, it is Christ Himself who will defeat Him in the glory of His return. Until then, when a beleaguered saint dies, it is Jesus who rescues him from an enemy that was too strong for him. Even now, there is a sense of that final great victory whenever the weakest child of God is snatched up from the hands of some deadly defeat and brought into the courtyards of life and love by the Savior.
But on that great day that is coming, the lawless one will be utterly and final defeated by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Himself, the very breath of His mouth, and the Word that once said to a legion of demons, “Go!” Do not be deceived by false signs and wonders, no matter how impressive they may seem. Love the truth of the Word, and do not join in the chorus of the perishing who are distracted by spectacular illusions that turn out to be only wicked deceptions. Will those who refuse the plain statements of our ancient and apostolic faith actually be given a delusion in that final time by the decree of God? When God wraps up this present fading order, it is His to do with everyone as He pleases. He can send a powerful delusion to the disobedient that brings such an apostasy as this, giving a platform to some impressive lawless one. Then Christ will come in judgment, and He will renew all things for those He has rescued from death.
Until that day, or until the day when we depart this world for our heavenly home, let us live as those who know these things, and who have this kind and good gift of positive realism. We have been justified by Jesus. He made us alive. We are growing in grace and knowledge. Faith is working itself out in love. We are pressing forward toward the world that lies ahead. We believe in the truth, and we are alive to the glory of Jesus Christ. As we consider the wonder of the present heavens and the certain fulfillment of all the promises of God, God Himself comforts our hearts even in the worst imaginable distresses, and we are established by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in every good work and word.
Paul's understanding of Christ and the life to come is very impressive. One might assume that a man like him would not be begging a church of new believers for their prayers, but that is not the case. He understands that the prayers of others can make a tremendous difference in the progress of the word of the Lord. This is all so shocking. God is obviously in charge of everything. Scripture and reason insist on His almighty power and authority. And yet, in His wisdom He has determined that the progress of the communication of the most important message that men can speak or write about would have something to do with weak and ignorant people talking to the Lord about it all and asking Him for success for those He sends forth.
Not only does Paul ask this new church to pray for speed in the spreading of the message of Christ. They are also to ask the Lord that this Word would be honored among men. We do not ask God these things because He is not in charge, but because He is in charge, and He has determined that we are to be engaged not only in the speaking of His truth to others, but also in desiring that this truth will be well-received.
This does not mean that there will not be those who hate the message, and that it will not be opposed by evil men. But we do ask the Lord that we be delivered from evil. Paul understands that not all have faith. Some have heard the message of Christ and the cross and they have chosen to reject it, and even to attack it. Many others refuse to hear it at all, deciding that they hate it before they have been exposed to the content of the good news in any serious way. But though many people have no faith, this cannot change the faithfulness of the Lord, who helps His servants as they face the opposition, not only of men, but of the evil one himself who opposes God and the people who are called by the Lord's Name.
If we have confidence that the church will survive through tribulation and that individual Christians will find courage in the face of persecution, our confidence is not in good men, but in the Lord who died for us and who rules over all. He is the One who hears us when we pray, and He will glorify His Name. If any church shows perseverance in the apostolic message and method, all the credit belongs to God, who directs our hearts in the way of love and steadfastness.
This understanding of the sovereignty of God, and the importance of prayer does not mean a passive approach to living. Some within the church in Thessalonica had a problem with idleness, and the Apostle Paul corrected them on this matter, both in person and in writing. More than that, Paul and His team had set an example of hard work for the church through the way that they conducted themselves in their presence. Though they may have had a right to the support of others, they paid for their bread. This gave the church an important example of Christian living worthy of emulation.
When people are unwilling to work hard, they will end up looking for entertainment somewhere else, rather that through engagement in honest labor. They may end up inserting themselves in the lives of others in ways that are not helpful, but destructive. God has provided a natural corrective to ward off unproductive laziness: hunger. If we do not work, we will not eat. If the church continually gives money to those who should be working, but apparently will not do so, they are not helping the situation, but preventing hunger from doing its important work of battling indolence.
For those who were working hard in the church, they needed to continue in this quiet and good way, and not grow weary in doing good. This doing good includes minding their own affairs, doing an honest day's work for an honest wage, and seeking to bring comfort with a kind heart to those who are destitute. Those who refused this instruction concerning the way of work and merciful care for the weak might need to be warned of the dangers of their present way of living. If they persisted in this destructive behavior, they might even need to be excluded from the list of those who were known to be faithful church members, since those who try to make their living off of the church and are unwilling to work hard, if they truly could be more diligent, are actually stealing the Lord's money.
Christ our King quietly worked the work that only He could accomplish. His life required that excellent combination of labor and generous giving that was necessary for our salvation. His works of righteousness for our sake were very difficult and exhausting, He not only accomplished all that was necessary, but then, according to the terms of the covenant of grace, all the fruits of His efforts were given lavishly to us. This is how the great Lord of peace has extended His perfect rest to us. He worked for our salvation, and gave Himself freely that our hope in Him would be sure and full. This is how the grace of God has come to us. Jesus did not steal it; He earned it, and then He freely gave it to us as His perfect gift. This was a gift that many in Thessalonica had received, and so many, though new in the faith, were using that gift well by living a life of loving labor in the face of persecution and trouble, empowered as they were by the security of a hope that Jesus had worked so diligently to give to them.