You Can Feel Safe - II Thessalonians 1:1-12

The two Thessalonian letters were among the first letters that Paul wrote to the churches and many think they were his first. There is good evidence that they were separated by only a matter of a few weeks. You should remember that there were two primary issues addressed in his first letter, and for some reason he felt that there was a need to write about these same issues again. The issues were matters regarding the second coming of Jesus and concerns about the Greek converts who had stopped working because they were expecting the immediate appearance of Christ.

Paul and his workers spent three weeks organizing this new church and converting the core workers who were primarily Jews, and Greek. The same Jewish leaders that had refused to accept Christ as the Messiah forced him to leave the new church, and the country, and he escaped to Corinth where he remained for some time. While there, he learned that there were problems in Thessalonica that had arisen over their misunderstanding of the teachings on the second coming of the Lord. He wrote the first letter to help them grow in faith and to affirm the reality of Christ’s return.

A short time later Paul learned that some had misunderstood his teaching regarding the second coming. He had said that Christ could come any minute and some took him literally and stopped working. The Jewish leadership that had opposed Paul was now increasing the persecution of the members of the new church, and the persecuted ones interpreted this as proof that “the day of the Lord” was at hand. Paul heard of this misunderstanding and within a few weeks he wrote the second letter…that we will be studying the next few Sundays.

The greeting in verse 1 was much like the one he wrote in his first letter. However there was one word that changed that made a major difference. In the first letter he said the greeting was from God THE Father. In this letter the term became God OUR Father. This change was intended to personalize their common kinship in having the same Father…God. In the first letter he only said grace and peace to you. In this letter he emphasized the divine
source of this desire for them to have grace and peace was from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage gives us a great example as to why I wish that I could read Greek. Verses 1 through 10 are all in one long sentence in Greek. The English translation breaks it down into ten verses, and I am sure this makes it much easier for us to understand. I only wish that I could check the accuracy of the interpretation.

We are prone to give Paul all the credit for writing this letter, but in verse 1 the indication is that it is from Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians. Thessalonica was the capital and the largest city of the Roman province of Macedonia. The most important Roman highway went through Thessalonica and then all the way to the Orient. The city had the most thriving seaport in the empire at that time. The highway and seaport made this one of the wealthiest and most flourishing trade centers in all of the empire. It was known as a free city, with self rule, and was exempted from most of the restrictions placed by Roman rule on other cities. This freedom invited many foreigners who migrated to Thessalonica. They brought with them their pagan gods and divisive influences that challenged the Christian faith—this added to the strong Jewish resistance.

Verse 3 gives us an example of how Paul was always complementary of those that were trying to serve God. He began most of his letters to all churches by stating his appreciation for them, always encouraging them to keep the faith. All sincere pastors must be careful to balance their sermons in a way that they will encourage those believers that are trying and deserving; and admonish those members that are slothful as well as those who are not dedicated to the up building of the church.

V-4. Do you as an individual, or does your church ever face trials, problems, persecution, failures, even death in your family or the church body? How do you react? How does your church react? Is there a solution always available that never fails? The answer to the last question is YES and Paul gives you the solution in this verse. The answer is always faith and perseverance. Any time we are faced with crushing trials and problems, we must have faith to believe that God is using our demise for our own good and for His glory. We must believe that God is just and fair and that he will give us the patience to endure; we must continue to trust and believe that He has not forgotten us and that in his time he will relieve our suffering. Our enemies will not escape His judgment. We must accept his timing.

Paul was persecuted [Acts 17: 5-9] and those that followed his teachings and become Christians were being persecuted by both Jews and gentiles. In his first letter to them he said that Christ’s return would bring them their relief and judgment to those that persecuted them. He did not say when this would be. They mistakenly thought that it was to happen in their time. In this second letter he tells them that it may be awhile and that while they wait for Christ’s return, they must have the faith and perseverance to hold out and hold on to God.

V-5. Christians will experience troubles because they are trying to be God’s followers in a perverse world that does not agree. [There are some who think their problems are either caused by sin [maybe in their own life] or because of their like of faith.] That is no what Paul says. He tells us here in this letter that persecutions, trials and troubles may be a part of God’s plan for his children. Have you ever punished one of your children? Why did you do it? Was it for their good? Sure it was. God has a way of spanking his disobedient children, surely it is not that he desires to punish but it is for our good.

If we have faith to believe, then our problems can cause us to look forward and upward to Him instead of looking inward and trying to fix things on our own. Problems build strong character [Romans 5:3-4], and they can provide us with opportunities to comfort others who are struggling [2Corin. 1: 3-5]. Your troubles may be an indication that you are taking a stand for Christ.

Vs. 5-12. Paul says that we should be relieved in knowing that our sufferings are giving us strength and getting us ready for judgment day. We can also gain relief from our pain by realizing the fact that on judgment day everyone will stand before God; and at that time all wrongs will be made right—judgment will be pronounced and there will be no more evil, pain or suffering. The everlasting destruction mentioned here is referring to the lake of fire that is recorded in Revelation 20: 14. This is the place of everlasting destruction and also eternal separation from God. None of those who reach this place of destruction will ever have another opportunity to be saved. We are to strive to be like Christ [Romans 8: 29], to be sanctified is a lifelong process that will end the day we meet Christ face to face [1 John 3:2]. We must want to do what is right to be worthy. We are not perfect but trying.