II Thessalonians 1
First reactions.
1. Very similar to I Thess 1 – not written a long time later
2. How many personal pronouns are there? 27 we, us, our, you. What does this say to you? I am reminded of Matthew 10:29-31, Matthew 6.
a. I’m going to be honest here—I struggle with believing God cares about little details of my life. Because I take great pride, too much, in being a person who takes care of things, I figure I can handle it. That is the wrong attitude, one because it’s pride, two because it’s denying the Scripture, and three because it’s not letting me enjoy God’s attention to detail in my life. I figure God takes care of the big stuff, I’ll take care of the little stuff, but the little stuff keeps getting bigger and bigger until I’m running the show. Example—I don’t pray for help in daily tasks that may seem insignificant but are really very major. And because I don’t pray about the little things, I don’t pray about the big things either. I had a roommate in college who was having a bad hair day and said, “I’m trying to learn what God is teaching me through this.” I wanted to say “He’s teaching you not to be so vain.” But God was teaching me not to be so snarky, which I haven’t learned yet, and to see that this young woman needed assurance about her anxieties and self-concept. Today she still suffers greatly from it, has never been able to work, didn’t have children, etc. My point is that even in that encounter, a little daily thing, God mattered—not about her hair, but about her heart, and about mine and my reactions to people and their problems. Discussion.
3. Stark contrast between the saints and those who aren’t.
When you read this chapter, do you feel it is basically uplifting and positive or do you get the sense that something harsh is going to be said? Let’s look at I Corinthians 1:1-9. Paul is kind, and there are the similarities of format that are found in all letters from the ancient world, but there’s not this sense of “I am so proud of you that I’m telling everybody about your testimony for the Lord in this persecution.”
Let’s look now at each verse.
1-2. Identical to first two verses of I Thess. . Wouldn’t it be nice if we could take the time to start every email with “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”? If we did, how would it change us, and the people around us? Would it make us slow down? More aware of our place in the universe? Instead of “hey” or no greeting at all, which is what most emails are? How do you end them? A friend of mine signs “grace and peace;” I like his emails so much.
v. 3. When we did I Thess. 1, I challenged you to send a letter or note to someone thanking them for their influence on your life. We read Brenda’s to Martha, and I wrote one to Dr. Steve Euler, among others. I Thess. makes it very clear that Paul saw something special in these people; he asked them to pray for him at the end. Here Paul is thanking God for them NOT for their influence on him but their spiritual growth and testimony in the big picture.
What three things does he specifically thank God for that he sees in them or hears about them?
1. Their faith is growing
2. Their love is abounding
3. They have patience and endurance in persecution
Furthermore, he brags on them. Can you imagine knowing that Paul the apostle brags on you? Do you ever brag on people and it gets back to them? Has it happened to you? Isn’t that the greatest encouragement?
We already know that persecution is their biggest problem—not internal sin or schisms like the Corinthians, not legalistic teaching like the Galatians—but pressure from the outside. Sometimes when a Christian community faces external persecution, it means they don’t have the luxury of deep theological study. When I taught at Tennessee Temple in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, we had a contingent of students who came from Romania, which had just ridded itself of its longstanding dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu. They had faced so much opposition and had great faith, but they had not had the opportunity to learn the nuances of doctrine. I think this is where the Thessalonians are at this point.
Verse 5 takes a different turn. “The tribulations you endure are plain evidence that God is righteous and his judgment is righteous.” Now, I start to lose Paul here. If these people are overcoming persecution, what does that have to do with God’s righteousness? Righteousness is one of God’s primary attributes, and we tend to think of it as “holiness” or “sinlessness,” but it is also about justice and judgment. In other words, God is just, and the connection is that those who persecute them will receive God’s judgment, and their persecution in this world is proof that there are wicked people who oppose God and who deserve judgment.
Verses 6 and 7 extend this theme and promise rest to those who are troubled. “Rest” is a rich word in the Bible, and a misunderstood one, and it points us to one of the themes of this book.
No Christian lives an earth-centered existence. No matter how much we get bogged down in the dailiness of life, we aren’t really living here and now. Eternal life has already started for us. We will die and step over into another stage of life, or Jesus will return and that will happen, but in God’s eyes we are already in his kingdom. Our lives are defined by eternity with God. This is the biblical truth that I struggle to understand and live with more than any other. How does my daily life reflect eternity and how does God’s eternal kingdom affect my daily go-to-work, pay-the-bills, keep-my-health-up, take-care-of-my-mom-and-family, fulfill-my-calling life? This is not it. It will be over, sooner than I would like, and I’ll be with God forever.
I am a closet Presbyterian, so my confidence that I’ll be with Christ is all about him, not about anything I do. I’m not going to run Jesus off; I’m not going to sin in a way that affects my going to heaven. I don’t worry at all about eternal security, and feel sorry for those who do. What I struggle with is what eternity means to me when I get up in the morning and go through the ritual of preparing my external appearance to be around people (a ritual that takes far too long no matter how short I make it or how early I get up); when I eat breakfast and read Scripture; when I get in the car to drive to Dalton State College and face students and love them for Christ’s sake but fear it’s not showing at all; when I come home and change roles; when I go see my aging mother; when I prepare these lessons; when I try to write; when I make sure the bill collectors don’t come after us and the mortgage is paid; when I . . . What does all that have to do with God’s eternal kingdom? Does anyone have the answer to that one?
Paul is not going to answer that question here. He just tells them, “God is just; God will repay.” No one likes the doctrine of hell. But would God be righteous without eternal punishment for those who reject him, oppose godliness, kill innocents?
Notice that verses 1-8 is a long sentence. He follows it up with an emphatic, short one in verse 9. Verse 10 abruptly gets us off the subject of judgment—“when he comes, in that Day, to be glorified in his saints. . . “ Not by his saints, but in his saints. He’s already glorified. Glory is weight, worth. He already has that. We’ll get it, we’ll reflect it. “And to be admired among all those who believe . . . “ and here, the mystery comes, “because our testimony among you was believed.” Wait—what happens on earth affects what happens in heaven? How can that be? Is that my answer to the question of two paragraphs back? Yes. If God’s kingdom is eternal, and we’re already living in it, what happens here affects eternity and what happens in eternity affects the here and now. We can’t dismiss the dailiness of life. It matters. It all matters.
How? In the words of Barack Obama, that’s above my pay grade. I just have to take it and run with it.
Therefore, since he is coming (when, not if), Paul says, “we pray for you.” What does he pray?
1. That God would count you worthy of his calling
2. That you would fulfill his purposes and pleasure in you with power
3. That God’s glory would be seen in you.
At salvation a seed is placed in us. Our spiritual DNA is changed. But the seed has to grow. We can stunt the growth or nourish it, but the seed is there.
The chapter ends with “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace provides the bookends of this chapter (and the whole book). Is grace your bookends? Bookends hold books up. Is that’s what holding you up, or are you cramming the books in so tight there is no room for grace to support us?
1. Very similar to I Thess 1 – not written a long time later
2. How many personal pronouns are there? 27 we, us, our, you. What does this say to you? I am reminded of Matthew 10:29-31, Matthew 6.
a. I’m going to be honest here—I struggle with believing God cares about little details of my life. Because I take great pride, too much, in being a person who takes care of things, I figure I can handle it. That is the wrong attitude, one because it’s pride, two because it’s denying the Scripture, and three because it’s not letting me enjoy God’s attention to detail in my life. I figure God takes care of the big stuff, I’ll take care of the little stuff, but the little stuff keeps getting bigger and bigger until I’m running the show. Example—I don’t pray for help in daily tasks that may seem insignificant but are really very major. And because I don’t pray about the little things, I don’t pray about the big things either. I had a roommate in college who was having a bad hair day and said, “I’m trying to learn what God is teaching me through this.” I wanted to say “He’s teaching you not to be so vain.” But God was teaching me not to be so snarky, which I haven’t learned yet, and to see that this young woman needed assurance about her anxieties and self-concept. Today she still suffers greatly from it, has never been able to work, didn’t have children, etc. My point is that even in that encounter, a little daily thing, God mattered—not about her hair, but about her heart, and about mine and my reactions to people and their problems. Discussion.
3. Stark contrast between the saints and those who aren’t.
When you read this chapter, do you feel it is basically uplifting and positive or do you get the sense that something harsh is going to be said? Let’s look at I Corinthians 1:1-9. Paul is kind, and there are the similarities of format that are found in all letters from the ancient world, but there’s not this sense of “I am so proud of you that I’m telling everybody about your testimony for the Lord in this persecution.”
Let’s look now at each verse.
1-2. Identical to first two verses of I Thess. . Wouldn’t it be nice if we could take the time to start every email with “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”? If we did, how would it change us, and the people around us? Would it make us slow down? More aware of our place in the universe? Instead of “hey” or no greeting at all, which is what most emails are? How do you end them? A friend of mine signs “grace and peace;” I like his emails so much.
v. 3. When we did I Thess. 1, I challenged you to send a letter or note to someone thanking them for their influence on your life. We read Brenda’s to Martha, and I wrote one to Dr. Steve Euler, among others. I Thess. makes it very clear that Paul saw something special in these people; he asked them to pray for him at the end. Here Paul is thanking God for them NOT for their influence on him but their spiritual growth and testimony in the big picture.
What three things does he specifically thank God for that he sees in them or hears about them?
1. Their faith is growing
2. Their love is abounding
3. They have patience and endurance in persecution
Furthermore, he brags on them. Can you imagine knowing that Paul the apostle brags on you? Do you ever brag on people and it gets back to them? Has it happened to you? Isn’t that the greatest encouragement?
We already know that persecution is their biggest problem—not internal sin or schisms like the Corinthians, not legalistic teaching like the Galatians—but pressure from the outside. Sometimes when a Christian community faces external persecution, it means they don’t have the luxury of deep theological study. When I taught at Tennessee Temple in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, we had a contingent of students who came from Romania, which had just ridded itself of its longstanding dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu. They had faced so much opposition and had great faith, but they had not had the opportunity to learn the nuances of doctrine. I think this is where the Thessalonians are at this point.
Verse 5 takes a different turn. “The tribulations you endure are plain evidence that God is righteous and his judgment is righteous.” Now, I start to lose Paul here. If these people are overcoming persecution, what does that have to do with God’s righteousness? Righteousness is one of God’s primary attributes, and we tend to think of it as “holiness” or “sinlessness,” but it is also about justice and judgment. In other words, God is just, and the connection is that those who persecute them will receive God’s judgment, and their persecution in this world is proof that there are wicked people who oppose God and who deserve judgment.
Verses 6 and 7 extend this theme and promise rest to those who are troubled. “Rest” is a rich word in the Bible, and a misunderstood one, and it points us to one of the themes of this book.
No Christian lives an earth-centered existence. No matter how much we get bogged down in the dailiness of life, we aren’t really living here and now. Eternal life has already started for us. We will die and step over into another stage of life, or Jesus will return and that will happen, but in God’s eyes we are already in his kingdom. Our lives are defined by eternity with God. This is the biblical truth that I struggle to understand and live with more than any other. How does my daily life reflect eternity and how does God’s eternal kingdom affect my daily go-to-work, pay-the-bills, keep-my-health-up, take-care-of-my-mom-and-family, fulfill-my-calling life? This is not it. It will be over, sooner than I would like, and I’ll be with God forever.
I am a closet Presbyterian, so my confidence that I’ll be with Christ is all about him, not about anything I do. I’m not going to run Jesus off; I’m not going to sin in a way that affects my going to heaven. I don’t worry at all about eternal security, and feel sorry for those who do. What I struggle with is what eternity means to me when I get up in the morning and go through the ritual of preparing my external appearance to be around people (a ritual that takes far too long no matter how short I make it or how early I get up); when I eat breakfast and read Scripture; when I get in the car to drive to Dalton State College and face students and love them for Christ’s sake but fear it’s not showing at all; when I come home and change roles; when I go see my aging mother; when I prepare these lessons; when I try to write; when I make sure the bill collectors don’t come after us and the mortgage is paid; when I . . . What does all that have to do with God’s eternal kingdom? Does anyone have the answer to that one?
Paul is not going to answer that question here. He just tells them, “God is just; God will repay.” No one likes the doctrine of hell. But would God be righteous without eternal punishment for those who reject him, oppose godliness, kill innocents?
Notice that verses 1-8 is a long sentence. He follows it up with an emphatic, short one in verse 9. Verse 10 abruptly gets us off the subject of judgment—“when he comes, in that Day, to be glorified in his saints. . . “ Not by his saints, but in his saints. He’s already glorified. Glory is weight, worth. He already has that. We’ll get it, we’ll reflect it. “And to be admired among all those who believe . . . “ and here, the mystery comes, “because our testimony among you was believed.” Wait—what happens on earth affects what happens in heaven? How can that be? Is that my answer to the question of two paragraphs back? Yes. If God’s kingdom is eternal, and we’re already living in it, what happens here affects eternity and what happens in eternity affects the here and now. We can’t dismiss the dailiness of life. It matters. It all matters.
How? In the words of Barack Obama, that’s above my pay grade. I just have to take it and run with it.
Therefore, since he is coming (when, not if), Paul says, “we pray for you.” What does he pray?
1. That God would count you worthy of his calling
2. That you would fulfill his purposes and pleasure in you with power
3. That God’s glory would be seen in you.
At salvation a seed is placed in us. Our spiritual DNA is changed. But the seed has to grow. We can stunt the growth or nourish it, but the seed is there.
The chapter ends with “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace provides the bookends of this chapter (and the whole book). Is grace your bookends? Bookends hold books up. Is that’s what holding you up, or are you cramming the books in so tight there is no room for grace to support us?
Comments