Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 2 Th 1:3 and following. Indeed, the persecutions of which the Thessalonians were victims had increased their faith, made their love abound, manifested their patience. What were they missing, then, and why did the apostle deem it necessary to address this second epistle to them? Hope this time is not named, nor is the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 1:2-7). Paul places before them the truths that will revive these feelings in their hearts. The triumph of the persecutors and their own sufferings are only for a time. “The God of rewards certainly gives back what is due” (Jer 51:53-56). And this reward of the faithful as well as the wicked, will take place on the day of the Lord. It is linked to its glorious manifestation. The same punishment: “eternal destruction” will reach pagans who remain voluntarily ignorant of God and Christians by pure profession, disobedient to the gospel. While the saints, “all who have believed,” will be seen in the company of the Lord, associated with His admirable glory (Mt 13:36-43). But the good pleasure of God and the prayer of the apostle is that from now on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified in each of those who belong to Him.
The Apostle concludes with these words: “Our testimony to you has been believed. That is why we also always pray for you, that our God will deem you worthy of the call, and that he may perform all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith in power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, thesewords: “you in Him” mean that we are glorified in Him before God. This glorification is perfect, for God sees us in the person of His Beloved, as it is said, “Those whom He has justified, He has also glorified” (Rom 8:30). By grace, we are glorified in Him now and we cannot be glorified any more.
But, on the other hand, God wants “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified in us,” that is, our conduct glorifies Him in His absence. He is in heaven, but He wants to be represented by us, in this world, in a way that honors Him; our march must glorify the precious name we bear. To what extent do we do that? Contemplating what Christ is before God, I see Him in the perfection of His glory; when I think of what I am before God in Christ, I still find myself in the same glorious perfection; but if I think of how Christ is glorified in me before the world, it is for me a perpetual subject of humiliation, for I respond in a miserable way to what God expects of His own. In order for such a thing to be realized in the Thessalonians and for the name of Christ to be glorified in them, it was not enough for them to be attached to the Lord Jesus, it was necessary that the apostle be “always in prayer for them” so that God would judge them “worthy of the call”, of this call of which the first Epistle tells us: “God calls us to His own Kingdom and Glory.” But this is precisely the subject that fills our first chapter. Whether it is an honor to be conferred in a monarchy, the sovereign listens to the people who recommend the candidate or intercede on his behalf. This was how the apostle always prayed for the Thessalonians; but, in the end, everything depended on the mighty grace of God and not on the merits of the individual.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The judgment scheduled for the day of Christ’s coming:
- The Pre-Eminence of Spiritual Love
1 Cor 13:13 Now, then, these three things remain: faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these things is charity. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, benignity, faithfulness, meekness, temperance; Eph 5:2 and walk in charity, following the example of Christ, who loved us, and who gave himself up to God for us as an offering and a sacrifice of good smell. 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed in God’s love for us. God is love; and he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God dwells in him.
- Rewards of the faithful, rest after earthly labor
Isaiah 57:2 He will enter into peace, He will rest on His layer, the One who has followed the right path. 2 Thess 1:7 and to give you who are afflicted rest with us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power, Hb 4:9 So there is a Sabbath rest reserved for God’s people. Rev 14:13 And I heard from heaven a voice that said: Write: Blessed now are the dead who die in the Lord! Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow them.
- God’s Revenge
Ps 94:1 God of vengeance, Jehovah! God of vengeance, seems! Ez 25:17 I will take great revenge upon them, chastising them with fury. And they will know that I am the Lord, when I will exercise my vengeance on them. 2 Thess 1:8 in the midst of a flame of fire, to punish those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Hb 10:30 For we know the one who said: Vengeance to me, retribution to me! and again: The Lord will judge his people.
- Receptiveness
Mt 13:23 He who has received the seed in the good earth is the one who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, and one grain gives one hundred, another sixty, another thirty. Luke 10:38-39 As Jesus was on his way with his disciples, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha received him in her house.39 She had a sister, named Mary, who, having sat at the feet of the Lord, listened to his word. Acts 17:11 These Jews had nobler feelings than those of Thessalonica; they received the word with great eagerness, and they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what they were told was correct. 1 Thess 2:13 That is why we continually give thanks to God that by receiving the word of God, which we have made you hear, you have received it, not as the word of men, but, as it really is, as the word of God, which works in you who believe.
From all the above, we note that for the Thessalonians to be judged worthy of the Kingdom and glory, God had to “fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness” towards them – this is grace; “and the work of faith” in them. – it is the power. Thus Christ can be glorified here on earth, waiting for Him to be glorified in His saints at His Apparition. It will always be in humiliation that His Name will be glorified in His saints here on earth. The flesh has no part in it; it all depends on the work of grace in our hearts. All in all, grace alone can judge us worthy of the Kingdom and glory, by virtue of what God does in us and for us. He deems us worthy to enter His Kingdom only after he has done this work that has glory as its result. May God give us consciences exercised to walk in a way worthy of our calling. We have the pattern of our walk in our Savior Himself. It could be said of Him, much more truly than of us: He did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and did not stand in the way of sinners (Ps1. 1). Not a single one of the lusts that attract us had a hold on him; his whole life was a life of holiness, self-denial, humility, sacrifice, trust, dependence. This is how He wants to be glorified in us, until the moment we will be glorified with Him. This beautiful chapter concerns us with Christ. Let us reread him constantly, in order to be filled with the desire to please him, to serve him faithfully until his appearance! Our prayers accompany you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterhole to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the coming of the antichrist and the day of the Lord.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.