Lesson for October 18, 2020
The Book of II Thessalonians
Chapter 1:6-12
Verses 6-7a
“For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well.” Verses 6-7a are to be read parenthetically. Some of these believers thought they were already in the Tribulation because they were experiencing so much persecution.
The Greek word for affliction is “telipsis,” which means pressure, distress or persecution. These believers had been facing all three and thought the Tribulation had already begun. Tribulation, disaster and/or catastrophe exist in every generation. The Angelic Conflict means that every generation will face some sort of tribulation, disaster or catastrophe. But the tribulation they were facing did not mean the Tribulation had begun because they were still on earth and the Rapture had not yet occurred.
These Thessalonians were all mixed up. They had been taught clearly the rapture of the Church, the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation and how the two should never to be mixed up. After Paul left Thessalonica, misapplication of doctrine was either being taught erroneously or they had forgotten the doctrine they had been taught. So, now they had the Church going through the Tribulation, which is false doctrine.
Just means being fair or equitable. It is only just for God to repay those who afflict you means God will discipline those reversionistic believers and unbelievers who had been troubling them with false doctrine. Romans 12:19 says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. No one gets away with afflicting God’s royal family. The vengeance God sends comes in His perfect timing, sometimes sooner or sometimes later. The severity of that vengeance is God’s decision alone. Every human being will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be evaluated. Believers will stand before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ and unbelievers will stand before Him at the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Thessalonians were receiving pressure from unbelievers and believers alike. There were some believers who were in reversionism and were antagonistic to accurate Bible doctrine. There were unbelievers who were also antagonistic to accurate Bible doctrine. They had also received a forged letter attributed to Paul teaching this false doctrine. And since the Thessalonians had been taught accurate Bible doctrine regarding end-times events, they should have been able to recognize the false message, realize that it was not from Paul and reject it as false teaching and reject those who taught it. The fact that they were still alive on earth should have told them that they were not in the Tribulation.
Tribulation or affliction is a part of life for all believers in all ages and these believers should have remembered that from Paul’s teaching. The key to relief from persecution is the proper application of the Bible doctrine in your soul. The Greek word for reliefis “anesis,” which means rest or tranquility of soul. Therefore, it means to have a relaxed mental attitude in the midst of suffering for blessing. Tranquility of soul means you have developed a relaxed mental attitude through knowledge and application of accurate Bible doctrine. Mental attitude sins such as jealous, bitter, vindictive, guilt, worry, anxiety, etc. do not characterize a relaxed mental attitude. Paul, Silas and Timothy had this tranquility of soul because of the doctrine in their souls.
Verses 7b -10
Verse 7b is a new sentence, “When the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”
These verses introduce the subject of eschatology and deal primarily with the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the beginning of the Millennium. The primary purpose was to explain to these Thessalonians the fact that the Tribulation was still future and would be a time of much more intense tribulation than they were experiencing. If the Tribulation had already begun, these believers had been left behind at the Rapture, which they should have known from Paul’s teaching was impossible.
It is interesting that Paul begins with the event the Second Coming of Christ, which takes place at the end of the Tribulation and works his way back to the beginning of the Tribulation. This should have been of great comfort to those had been persecuted and afflicted knowing that they were not in the Tribulation and realizing that God would punish those who had been afflicting them as He will do to those who oppose Him and His saints during the Tribulation.
Revelation 19:11-16 describes the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the Tribulation. There is no question that Jesus Christ will come to execute judgment upon the remaining satanic forces, which include unbelievers. The description is of a Person on a white horse which is clearly a description of Jesus Christ – faithful, true, righteous judge, eyes of fire, crowns on His head, the name written that no man could understand, clothed in a robe dyed by dipping it in blood and His name is called the Word of God.
Jesus will come with His armies of believers and angels clothed in fine, clean, white linens and they will also be riding white horses. Ready for war, Jesus Christ need only speak the word and nations will be destroyed. He will come to execute the wrath of God through fierce battle. And, He will destroy His enemies with a rod of iron and tread them down in battle. He is the Kings of kings and the Lord of lords and no one can stand against Him.
Unbelievers at the Second Coming of Christ are removed from the earth and placed in a compartment of Hades called Torments (baptism of fire) for 1000 years until the Great White Throne Judgment. Fire normally speaks of judgment in the Scriptures. When Christ returns, he will bring judgment and justice with Him. For those unbelievers who have rejected Him as Savior, the judgment will be destruction at the battle of Armageddon where unbelievers and Satan’s forces of fallen angels and unbelievers do battle with Jesus Christ’s forces of elect angels and believers. (Revelation 16:13-16)
The baptism of fire is the down payment on the Lake of Fire for the unbelievers of the Tribulation — eternal destruction. The unbeliever will suffer not only in the burning sense, but he will suffer in his soul in a way that is indescribable. It means something that would destroy but can’t destroy. Once you are destroyed you no longer suffer unless you say eternal destruction, then it means the ultimate in agony and suffering, and yet do not ever escape it. There is no loss of consciousness for eternity. That is divine justice on the unbeliever for rejecting His Son Jesus Christ.
Revelation 16:13-16 describes the reason for the gathering of the nations in the land of Israel – the battle of Armageddon. Armageddon is a Hebrew word meaning mount of slaughter. This is the final battle of the Tribulation. Demons come from everywhere – the mouth of the dragon (Satan), the mouth of the beast (Anti-Christ) and the mouth of the false prophet (religious leader). Verse 14 tells us who these demons are – they are the ones who work miracles designed to deceive people and they go forth into the world to indwell those who will do battle against the Lord. Believers who are alive on earth at this time of the Tribulation are told to be watchful and be ready for the Second Coming of Christ.
Revelation 16:17-21 describes the final days of the Tribulation where natural disasters will occur in much greater intensity than ever before in the history of man. Jerusalem will be split into three parts, Babylon the seat of religion is destroyed, islands are destroyed, mountains tumble, and 120-pound hailstones fall upon men. Through all of this, the unbelievers will continue to blaspheme God. Regardless of how God chooses to reveal Himself and bring these unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ, they will continue to reject Him and His plan of salvation.
It is to the advantage of anyone who lives in the Tribulation to believe in Christ. The most advantage comes immediately as freedom from the baptism of fire. The believers who are alive at the Second Coming become the nucleus for the millennial civilization on earth. They enter the Millennium in their physical bodies, in contrast to Church Age believers who enter the Millennium in resurrection bodies.
Believers are going to be with the Lord forever, but unbelievers are excluded from being with the Lord; and from the glory of his power. The word glory of His power refers to the essence of God and His supernatural power, which only believers will experience when they return with Jesus Christ at the Second Coming.
When He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. This verse brings us to the Millennium. When the Millennium comes, we are going to be with Christ. We will have been with Him at the Battle of Armageddon and we will with Him as the Millennium begins. To be glorified means Jesus Christ is going to rule the world as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ legitimately receives this glory because He alone if worthy of glory.
His saints refer to Church Age believers only, which will be the bride of Christ. In other words, when Jesus Christ is crowned as King of kings and Lord of lords with the permanent glory of rulership, His bride believers will be there with Him. In His saintsmeans by His saints. Marveled at means to be admired, to be revered and to be adored. All who have believed includes both Church Age believers and believers who have survived the Tribulation. The Father’s ultimate purpose is the coronation of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords as the ruler on earth for 1000 years.
For our testimony to you was believed refers to Paul and his team of believers witnessing to the people of Thessalonica and the fact that they believed in Jesus Christ as Savior. Because of this one-time decision of faith alone in Christ alone, these believers in Thessalonica would be part of the believers who reign with Jesus Christ during the Millennium.
Verses 11-12
“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now we come to the subject of prayer. Paul is doing the praying with the members of his team. To this end means for this purpose. The purpose for which they are praying is a desire to see these Thessalonian believers be counted worthy of being chosen for God’s service by producing divine good by the power of God the Holy Spirit. Doing this would glorify the name of Jesus Christ in their lives and they would be glorified because of their union with Him.
A believer who is advancing in the Christian life and reaches spiritual maturity will bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus Christ is glorified in the life of a believer who advances through all the stages of spiritual growth and arrives at spiritual adulthood, spiritual maturity and beyond. Any glory a believer possesses is directly related to the fact that they are in union with Jesus Christ and it is actually His glory that is being reflected in that believer’s life.
All this is done according to the norm or standard of the grace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, “charis” in Greek, is often defined as God’s unmerited favor or undeserved mercy, which are correct but simplified definitions. God’s grace is much, much more than simply unmerited favor or undeserved mercy. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of Jesus Christ’s saving work on the Cross. The grace of God is the expression of His character, His integrity, His love, His longsuffering, His justice, His righteousness and His perfection. The maximum expression of His grace is the Cross.
God’s grace begins at birth when God breathes the breath of life into each human being. His grace continues as God the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment in an effort to lead us to Christ. As long as a person is breathing, God’s grace is at work and there continues to be hope. In every dispensation, God’s grace has been operational and will continue to be operational throughout all eternity. If a person desires to have a relationship with God, it must be on the basis of grace. (Isaiah 30:18-19; John 16:7-11) In order for grace to be effective in the life of a believer he must become grace oriented. Being oriented to God’s grace means to be familiar with what God’s Word teaches about it, to understand it and to know how it applies to one’s life. Failure on the part of a believer to orient to God’s grace results in loss of blessings and a miserable life on earth and a loss of rewards in eternity (shame at the Judgment Seat of Christ). (John 3:36; Titus 2:11-14)
God’s grace teaches us how to live the Christian Way of Life. And, God in His grace has made available to us the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the execution of God’s plan does not depend on human effort. This is why Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. By having your eyes on what you or someone else is doing means you will never be grace oriented. We are commanded to keep our eyes on Jesus and if our eyes are focused on Him, they can’t be focused on others. (Matthew 11:28-30; John 16:12-15; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2)