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July 11, 2010 |
| Worthy of Suffering | ||
Paul's second letter to the church in Thessalonica shows us the church has changed from the church we can see in the first letter. In 1st Thessalonians we saw a church with a dynamic outreach now we will see a church turned inward. This change may have been the result of persecution. Probably without a break, the Thessalonian church had been persecuted from the time Paul and Silas started it. In fact that persecution may have increased over time.
Jews had spread all over the world of Paul's time and had seen only a little persecution. God had not given them the Great Commission as he did for Christians. So Jews had been able to fit into Roman and Greek societies to a degree. But that was not true for Christians whose disciple-building activities inevitably resulted in pointing out the sins of Greeks and Romans and converting them away from their religions. But it wasn't only Greeks and Romans that persecuted Christians; it was also Jews. As the Christian churches grew so did the persecution.
In his two letters to the Thessalonians Paul discusses the suffering they are undergoing and encourages them in many ways.
3We 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.
Paul's letters often start this way. "If Paul could find a reason to thank God for a local church, he always did. He even brought himself to thank God for the carnal Corinthian church"1
Most translations use words like debt or indebted in place of the word "ought" that is used above in the NIV. Words like debt or indebted do a better job of conveying Paul's meaning that he has been given something and is obligated to thank the giver. "Paul owes God a debt of thanks for the Thessalonians. He views thanks as a duty because he prayed that the Thessalonians might "increase and abound in love." God heard his prayers so he owes God his thanks."2 Didn't feel deserved the gift
Paul says that their faith is growing. This points out that "the faith of some Christians grows much faster than the faith of others. There are two aspects to our faith: saving faith and dynamic or forceful faith. Each Christian has saving faith but not every Christian radiates forceful faith. The amount of faith differs with each believer. Every Christian has the same quality of saving faith but not the same quantity of dynamic faith."3
4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
How good must the Thessalonians have felt when they heard this? Paul is using them as an example to other churches. Their steadfastness despite their situation is a source of encouragement to others. Do we have people whose faith and perseverance are examples to us?
5All 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.
It may seem odd for Paul to say that the persecution the Thessalonians are suffering shows that God is just. "At first appearance, the suffering of the Thessalonians seemed unjust yet their dynamic faith demonstrated very clearly that God is righteous in His dealings with them.
"God is righteous in His judgments. He willjustly deal with the injustices against the Thessalonians in His future judgment although He might refrain from judgment for the present.
"In righteousness, God designed affliction to come our way. He judges us worthy for this. He metes out a certain measure of suffering designed especially for us. He is too wise to do wrong or to make a mistake in this. He knows our tolerances. He never allows suffering to come without rhyme or reason.
"God has the good sense to know the tolerances of suffering we can endure. He knows when to prosper us and when to send adversity. He mixes both blessing and hardship in proper proportions. God's central interest is what happens to our soul in suffering. When our interest is the suffering itself, we miss the point that God tests [the capacity] of our souls. God tests […] our souls in suffering. If we have not grown sufficiently, then He introduces more pain into our lives so that we can [grab on to] His promises."4
To amplify this idea Acts 5:41 says "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."
6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.
Not only is God just in sending trials our way but he is just in repaying those who try us. Israel Ezekiel
7 […] This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
In the last part of 1st Thessalonians Paul talks about the 1st part of the Second Coming - the event now called the Rapture - where dead believers are resurrected and living believers are translated to new bodies. Here he is speaking of the 2nd part of the Second Coming, destruction of God's enemies and setting up God's kingdom on earth.
Note the differences in the descriptions of the two parts. In the first Jesus appears with a shout and a single angel. Here he appears with many angels with blazing fire. In the first he appears as the groom returning for his bride. In the second he appears as Avenger.
8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on 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.
The Aramaic NT translation renders the verses a little differently
8Whenever he executes vengeance in blazing fire on those who do not know God and on those who have not recognized the good news of Our Lord [Jesus] The Messiah,
9For they will be paid in judgment: eternal destruction from the face of Our Lord and from the glory of his power,
Here we see that blazing fire is used to execute vengeance (revenge). "Paul describes the eternal judgment on those without Christ as a judgment of 'in fire of flame.'"5
We also see that vengeance falls "on those who have not recognized the good news" which is a little better than the NIV which refers to those who "do not obey the [good news]". A person can obey instructions or a command, but how does a person obey good news?
The use of the words "eternal destruction" and "everlasting destruction" describe important concepts that are often misunderstood. One school of thought is that the unbelievers go out of existence forever - meaning annihilation. But the majority agree that "Linguistic arguments [for this idea] are erroneous. [One respected analyst] states that [the various forms of the words 'destroy' or 'destruction'] represent 50 different Hebrew words and 12 different Greek words. None of them have the […] meaning of 'annihilation' or 'to cause something to pass into nonexistence.' Rather, they have a wide range of meaning. The uses of these words in the Old Testament range from men being 'sold into slavery' (Num. 21:29), to donkeys being 'lost' (1 Sam. 9:3, 20), or even to denote a vessel which is 'broken' (Ps. 31:12). In no case in the Old Testament are these words speaking of the soul's annihilation into nonexistence."6
So, what is meant by eternal destruction? "Note the parallel between 'everlasting punishment' and 'eternal life.' If heaven is to possess eternal life, then hell is everlasting punishment. Everlasting punishment lasts as long as eternal life. If we shorten hell, we shorten heaven.
And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:46)
'Everlasting destruction' ultimately means that those without Christ will lose everything that gives worth to our existence."7 And what is that? Paul describes it as "the presence of the Lord and […] the majesty of his power". Many people interpret "eternal destruction" as "eternal separation from God" but the word "separation" may not convey the significance. This kind of separation is like being thirsty forever to the point of almost dying and wanting nothing but water, but knowing you will never get any.
11With 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. 12We 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.
"Paul now begins a prayer that the Thessalonians would develop certain qualities consistent with their calling. Paul prays for four things for the Thessalonians. First, he prays about their walk in relationship to their calling. The Christian's walk should suit his salvation. The Christian is headed for heaven. The best is yet ahead but his present life should reflect his future life.
"Paul's second petition was that God would enable the Thessalonians to fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness. [This] includes the idea of giving or generosity. This is a quality of a person filled with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law".
"The third thing Paul prays is that the Thessalonians will work their faith with power. Faith carries power. Do we do the pleasure of God's will by faith with power? We cannot live a life of faith without God's power. We will never reach the potential of our faith without that power.
"We come to the fourth and final petition that Paul prays for the Thessalonians, [that they] glorify Christ with their lives, [and] the Lord Jesus Christ will give them glory. When the world recognizes the manifest glory of Christ as the God-man at the Second Coming, we will receive glory in association with Him. There is a glory in becoming a Christian and walking the Christian life"8
"Polycarp is the author of some of the earliest post-apostolic Christian writings. He apparently was acquainted with the apostle John. […] His life came to an end during one of the extensive persecutions of Christianity by the Roman government in the middle of the second century. The Roman Proconsul told Polycarp he could save his life merely by renouncing Jesus. Polycarp's famous words were, 'For 86 years I have served him and he has not wronged me. How can I renounce the king who has saved me?' He was burned at the stake in Smyrna, where he had led the church for years."9
Why does God allow suffering to come to us?
What is one reason that God will allow suffering to come to us?
What positive results can come from persecutions or trials?
1 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/09/2-thessalonians-13/
2 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/09/2-thessalonians-13/
3 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/11/2-thessalonians-13c/
4 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/17/2-thessalonians-15/
5 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/21/2-thessalonians-18/
6 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/22/2-thessalonians-19/
7 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/22/2-thessalonians-19/
8 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/09/29/2-thessalonians-111/
9 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Christian Commitment in Today's World, Unit 1, Lesson 6