2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 Sermon Notes

Everyone trusts someone.

We all have various authorities that speak to our lives at different levels…but everyone has a final authority.

When you are convinced something is true or not true…and your supposed trusted authority disagrees then you will find out who your actual authority is.

There are three choices for a final authority…self, others, God.

Paul wrote this second letter to the church at Thessalonica just weeks after sending his first one.

It is shorter but similar in tone and topic…similar but not exactly the same. 

It’s like a second round of anti-biotics for a stubborn infection…the first round, his first letter was effective, but a second round, a second letter was needed to ensure full health.

It’s not that the church was really sick…but there was a virus making it’s rounds…so maybe it was more like 1 Thess was a vaccine and 2 Thess was a booster.

He begins this letter with encouragement and thanksgiving for their faithful endurance in the face of persecution and trials and for their reputation of love for one another.

Persecution is attack from people, trials covers the general difficulties that  they were facing. 

So Paul continues to highlight the twin themes of the signs of spiritual growth…love for God (revealed in faithfulness during difficulty) and love for one another.

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

Paul writes that their response to persecution and trials gives evidence that the gospel is alive and at work in their lives.

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

Then he goes on to a topic that can be encouraging for the suffering…especially at the hands of evil people.

The justice of God.

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

God is just: those who sow trouble, will reap trouble.

He will give relief to you who are troubled as well…this relief will come, however, in the future.

This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed (apocalypse)…uncovering, disclosure.

He will punish (bring justice to)

Those who do not believe and receive the gospel

They will experience (if they continue to not believe the gospel) everlasting destruction= the loss of what makes life meaningful.

They will be shut out from the presence of the Lord=final separation of the sinner from God.

And from…

Majesty of his power=similar to the former statement, but emphasizing his glory.

The what here, is certain,…there will be a final day of judgment…evil will be finally defeated.

The when is left, uncertain…we are to live in state of readiness.

Again, the purpose is practical holiness…that Jesus would be glorified in how they live their lives…and encouragement.

That they would live lives of faithful endurance.

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. ¹² We pray this 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.

Let’s go back to verses 8,9….first a phrase from verse 6 “God is just”

I read a book last week recommended to me by a friend, “The Things They Cannot Say”

-Stories soldiers won’t tell you about what they’ve seen, done, or failed to do in war.”

It highlights the stories of soldiers the author had befriended.

For most of them, speaking to this author was the first time they had told their stories…stories of what they had experienced in war…and afterward.

By experienced…I mean internally, not just externally.

One consistent theme, was that they went into war young, brave, somewhat naive, idealistic…not fully formed in terms of understanding life and death and lasting consequences.

They were all changed in their views of the enemy, of meaning, of life and death by their experiences.

It’s a sobering book.

I memorized these verses, 8,9 when I was around 20…that is over 40 years ago.

I was a little bit sobered by them then…but now, it is difficult to contemplate them at all…difficult to think about them.

In fact, I have dreaded this morning, the day when we would reach this passage.

I’m an older man…than when I first read these verses.

I have known a lot of people who believe a lot of different things…I’ve seen a lot…in these 40 some years.

I’ve experienced less than some, more than others…but this verse is staggering to me now.

⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

I see people when I read that…I see friends…present and past.

I believe it, like I believe all of God’s word. 

So let’s think about it together.

My first thought.

1. We must believe all that God tells us not just what we think we can get our minds around…or what we find “believable”

*Thomas Jefferson had a redacted Bible that eliminated everything that he found unbelievable (miraculous).

The gospel was for him, merely a morality tale…but why believe in any kind of morality that has no basis for final authority?

Why trust the NT you cut and pasted…over any other human ideas?

*Atheist writer Sam Harris argues that no human has free will.

-Our actions are entirely determined by past experiences and current neurological states.

We are not free and we are not responsible

 The difference between what we call a saint and what we call a sinner is completely beyond either’s ability to choose.

So not only is sin not real, neither is love, or courage.

All you see around you, are automations…not persons.

So, if you are moved by an act of love, kindness, sacrifice…it’s illusion…not real.  Just chemical response.

Moved to sadness by an act of terror and hatred…also illusion.

But as has been widely stated by those who have effectively, refuted Harris’s view.

If we are the product of mindless, unguided natural processes, then why would we trust the validity of what any of those processes produce.

Like, Harris’s own conclusions…about us being the product of unguided natural processes.

It is self-refuting.

If he believes we are not free…that we are caught in the current of predetermined biology…why does he write and teach and try to convince people to believe and value and take action based on his assumptions?

A now deceased comrade of Harris, Chris Hitchens once made this amazingly circular and nonsensical statement “Our believe is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith.”

What does that even mean?…of course it is a belief…and your principles are held by faith…like everyone else.

In addition to their circular reasoning…these atheist believers do not believe in “evil” as a real thing.

Essentially, whatever is…is right.

How can they decide what evil is for someone else?…they can only have their own preferences…and leave others to theirs.

So, if a civilization decides that it is not evil to exterminate an entire race…who is anyone to say they should not?

On what basis does anyone decide something is wrong for someone else?

If there is no ultimate moral standard, and no ultimate giver of morality…who is anyone to say anyone else is wrong or bad…or good?

How do we decide?  A vote?…what if the majority votes for murder of infants…is that now right? 

A select few?…that has been the case in history, it is now in many places…also a disaster.

Everyone decide for themselves?…also tried, but only lasts until groups band together and take over the direction of the herd…always a disaster at every level.

If God does not exist, our faith is delusional.

If God does exist, then atheism is a delusion.

The question always and forever is…what is real, what is true…and then the follow on…will I submit to reality and believe what is true?

Now, to the question of “hell”…not cartoon versions, but the biblical reality depicted as eternal separation from God.

No one has to like it, no one should “like” it.

But we must, like everything revealed in Scripture…believe it.

Some say…”I don’t have to believe it…I can choose not to…I choose to believe in a God of love.”

Ok, but that God of love, is revealed in Scripture…why is it true about him being love and not true about him being just?

You are not believing Scripture…like Jefferson you are believing yourself.

And will you only believe things about God that you can get your mind around? 

God is, Scripture says…is love and justice…fully both.

Regarding hell, CS Lewis wrote, in “The Problem of Pain”…maybe still the best theodicy…or defense of the reality, goodness, and power of God in the face of suffering …ever written.

“There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and especially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason…

He goes on… “I am not going to try to prove the doctrine tolerable.  Let us make no mistake; it is not tolerable. But I think the doctrine can be shown to be moral, by a critique of the objections ordinarily made, or felt, against it.” 

I will not go into his critique of those objections…you can read them yourself if you like.

I also like his book, “The Great Divorce”…a fantasy that gives great insight into this topic.

Or you can read Rebecca Mclaughlin’s single chapter “How could a loving God send people to Hell” from her book “Confronting Christianity.”

Much more has been written on this topic by smart, and good people…but let me circle back to our point.

“Will we believe what God has clearly said, or will we trust ourselves or someone else?”

After all, something is true and everything else is not.

It matters not what we want to be true…it matters what actually is.

Several times in my life, I have had news that I did not want to be true…reality was unacceptable to me.

I was faced with the choice…”Will I adapt my mind, heart and actions to that “truth” or…will I live as a fool and try to cause reality to adapt (bend) to my own desires.

I say “live as a fool”…because reality will always refuse to adapt to my desires and emotions…it is foolish to think otherwise.

I had a friend, who tried to use faith and positive thinking and denial to deal with his cancer…then he finally, decided to align his choices with reality…but it was too late and he died…but he didn’t need to, he could have been saved had he responded to reality sooner.

This does not leave me feeling hopeless or cynical…because I know that God is the author of reality…he is good, as evidenced in “God became flesh dwelt among us…and was crucified for us.”

I am able to adapt my will and even my emotions to reality as God has designed it…because I trust him…or I am learning to do so.

For all us, it takes time to deal with news or truth that we don’t like or want…but if the source of the news is credible…we must adapt our lives to it…and not try to live in some kind of unreality.

If you decide you will not trust God…then where will you go to find a place to put your trust…and to build your life on?

The options are very limited: God, self, others.

Or maybe you think you will just not trust the Bible, but you will trust God.

But if you try to separate “trust from God, and trust in his book the Bible”…you will end up in the land of cultural and personal subjectivity…tossed around by trends and emotions…no better off.

Jesus, affirmed the Bible as God’s word…if you have no objective standard of truth…then you are back to the question…where will you go to find a place to put your trust?

Will you trust what culture current says is real?  About sexuality, human thriving, success, eternal destiny?

Will you trust what current sciences says is real? 

Not trusting what science says about the things it has actual authority in…science has some authority in the realm of its limited ability.

But when science gets out of its lane…when it tries to speak to human meaning and eternal destiny…then you are really living by faith, but certainly not well-founded faith…when you trust others, even if they call themselves scientists.

Don’t misunderstand me…I’m saying nothing about the virus or vaccine debate here…and I regularly thank God for scientists…and for their contribution to the good of humanity…the good of my family.

I am talking about the realm of knowledge beyond the scope of human discovery…namely human meaning and human eternal destiny…who will you trust?

Maybe you will just trust your own heart.

Be very careful…contrary to song and movies…many people have ruined themselves by following their hearts.

Woody Allen said, in defense of his affair with his own stepdaughter “The heart wants what the heart wants”

Yes, Woody, it does…and God has said, “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jer.)

*So, I’ll not get neck deep in the doctrine of hell…that is not the point of this passage…but I will just leave you with this.

Where will you go as the foundation for what you believe is true and real?

Next thought…

2. How does the belief, described in this passage, going shape our values (hearts) in a Christ-like way?

What is the context of the letter?  Who was he writing to? What were the issues he was addressing?

In real estate the three most important factors are said to be “location, location, location”

In interpreting Scripture is it “context, context, context.”

He was writing to Christians who were suffering, specifically being unjustly persecuted.

He tells them that God will pay back trouble for those who trouble them…and will provide relief for them as well.

Now what do we know he is NOT telling them?

He is not telling them to become vindictive, revenge minded.

“Yeah, God…will put you in hell someday…so go ahead, do your worst.”

In context he is telling them that God is just…that injustice does not win in the end.

Evil does not have the final say in the world.

This is not a verse warning non-Christians about hell…although I’m sure it has done that many times in history.

In the original context it was providing balance for Christians struggling to live in a world that was confusing for them.

The Gospel has changed everything for them….the King has come and conquered death and the grave…and yet, evil people continue to have power and do bad things…to God’s people.

What is the deal? What is actually real?

The deal is…this is not how it will always be.

The kingdom has come…and is yet to come in full scope and power.

So, of course we know from the whole of the NT and even just Paul’s writings…that this is not about revenge…but about confidence in God’s love and his justice…God’s grace and his power.

*Jesus drew the parallel between eternal life and eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46).

If one state of “being” is a blessed existence then the other is a cursed one.

The heart shaping value for believers here:  My greatest good, now and forever is to know God and be able to come freely into his presence.

The gospel has made that possible me.

Even when, especially when…it looks like evil is winning…I begin to wonder is this real?  I must believe what God has done and said.

Hell is separation from the presence of God and the majesty of his power…and eternal life (which is not just a long period of existence…but a different kind existence) is living in the full presence and majesty of God.

This is not God being mean and arbritary, this is cause and effect.

If a person does not receive the gift of the gospel, that is the only way to God…then that person will continue “post mortem” in a state of seperation from God.

The state of seperation from God exists for all who have not believed the gospel…this state of seperation continues for those who do not believe all the way to death.

*What about those who have never heard?

There are a ton of follow on questions…the answer to all of them is…God is good, God is love, God is just.

Will I trust him?

But back to the point of application…

My greatest good now and forever is to know and love God.

What are the implications for that right now?

Phil. 1:20-23 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…

When trouble comes and I am tempted to feel ripped off, I am tempted to become angry at God…or confused by him…will I remember what my greatest good is?

Will I remember…to live is Christ, to die is gain?

Paul told these Christians that their troubles confirmed God’s “judgment” of them…meaning, their response to trouble…confirmed God’s work of salvation in them…the change, the power was real.

And God was using trouble to deepen and refine their faith…to reveal their faith.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. LET perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James  

Maturity is the path to know and love him better…which is our greatest good.

So, whatever God uses to accomplish maturity…we can learn to count it pure joy.

I know, that is stretch…but it is what we are to stretch towards.

Let’s look at another one…

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1

Since our greatest good in time and eternity is relationship and ready access to the presence of God.

Since God uses all things…especially trouble…to deepen this relationship…

Then, I can learn to take what he gives me…whether living in plenty or want…from his hand as a good thing.

This does not come easy…but a contentment borne of faith like this is possible.

Many normal believers of ages past and of our time…have grown this kind of faith…you and I can as well.

But we must:

1. Believe God…put our confidence in what he has said, even when we cannot fully get our minds around him. 

2. Let what we know to be true shape our hearts, what we find to be most valuable.

-This will show up in our thoughts, words and actions.

3. So let’s look at how this passage can shape our actions…behavior

Beliefs…shape values…shape behavior.

I said that this was not written to non-believers…but to a church.

But the application, of course, is there for everyone.

For the believer…since knowing and loving God…will always lead to making God’s love known to others.

We are to motivated to make the gospel known to others…not from guilt or duty…but from love.

Love for God, love others.

We want people who are living now in a state of separation from God…to come to know him and love him.

This facility, this building is to facilitate life together (growing in love for God and each other) and to facilitate, as a base of operations…our ministry to the world around us. (locally and globally)

*One question that I read many years ago, posed to Christians by a non-Christian.

“If you really believed that humans are in danger of going to an eternal hell, separated by God then how can you do anything except tell people about this Jesus and their danger?”

*As a young believer, I struggled with that question quite a bit…so let’s ask Paul.

Paul, you write in this letter that “God will punish those who do not know God with eternal separation…so what are we to do with that information?”

Paul’s answer is partially found in his first letter, “Well, you are to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, to work with your hand, so that your daily life will win the respect of outsiders.”

Some in that church thought the way to live in a state of readiness was to basically “drop out of normal life.”

Paul challenged them to do the opposite. 

The way to live in a state of readiness is to live a life of faithfulness…this is true whether you are talking about end times readiness or missional readiness.

“So, I shouldn’t sell everything and move overseas?”

“Well, you should if you should…but not if you shouldn’t.”

“Should I call all my friends and family and tell them of the dangers of hell?”

“Well you should if you should…but if you shouldn’t then please don’t…what will help?  What does faithfulness look like?”

Paul’s answer to the one who said if you believe in a literally hell, then how can you do anything except tell others about it would be… “Because our calling is faithfulness and faithfulness includes evangelism, and worship, and recreation, and playing with kids, and building community, and working jobs.”

We should not live with panic, or guilt, or anxiety…we should live with joyful, expectant, faithfulness…do what God has for you to do with all your heart.

For those who have not yet committed their lives to Christ or who are unsure as to where they stand with God…the application of this passage is a challenge to believe the gospel.

If you do not trust God or take God at his word…you are trusting someone, or self implicitly.

Your faith is somewhere, it is in someone.

There is both threat and opportunity in this passage for you.

The Threat: eternal separation from the one from all of life and all that is good comes.

The opportunity: living the best possible life…now and into eternity.