We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 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.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-12
The wrath of God is not a popular subject. In fact, I find that in the church in the United States, we are rather embarrassed about the whole idea. I think that perspective may change if current trends continue in which the church is further marginalized and may find itself under actual persecution of the kind the New Testament believers found themselves. Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their “steadfastness and faith in all [their] persecutions and in the afflictions that [they were] enduring.”
Justice is a popular topic these days with the Black Lives Matter protests. I don’t intend to chase that rabbit, but God speaks of justice on his terms. “…since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you.” Divine payback, if you will.
The second coming of Christ will be a two-edged sword. For some, it will be the beginning of the punishment of eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. For others, it will be a time when Jesus will be glorified in his saints and a time for all who believe to marvel at Jesus and the salvation which he brings. The marvel will be both the glory of our being with Jesus forever and the glory of his justice as he dispenses just payment to those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
I have been re-reading The Triumph of the Lamb, a commentary on Revelation by Dr. Dennis Johnson. That has had me thinking about the justice of the destruction of the Beast and the Dragon, etc., and how Revelation is a word of comfort to the church. It is only profoundly appreciated by a persecuted church or believers who have a close connection to persecuted brethren. Westerners usually read Revelation as a scary book of fear. Jesus sent it as a word of comfort to an afflicted church. The comfort is the final dispensing of justice for those who have trusted Christ and endured persecution; all their enemies are set aside while Jesus ushers in the new heavens and new earth in which our enemies will not have a place. They will be done, gone, incarcerated forever in eternal darkness—their just reward.
The symbolism in Revelation indicates, I believe, human governments who have opposed the Lord and his kingdom (which includes all of them). Human governments have, at various times, been somewhat friendly to the church as long as their power was not threatened and, at other times, have tried to wipe her out. When Jesus arrives the second time, human governments will all be done with. Revelation makes this clear. The kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdom of the Lord and his Christ. There will be a day of reckoning. The only safe place to be found is in Christ. Jesus will be glorified in the saints who have believed him.
Paul describes his prayer beginning with “to this end.” Of what end is he speaking? The end that Jesus will be glorified in his saints who have believed while bringing justice to those who have opposed the Lord and his gospel.
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 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.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
The content of Paul’s prayer, which we can adopt for our own prayer agenda, is:
- That our God may make you worthy of his calling
- and may fulfill every resolve for good
- and every work of faith by his power
- SO THAT the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you
How do I adopt this prayer as my own when I pray for others? We petition the Father to make our fellow believers worthy of his calling. First, Jesus has made us worthy through His death, burial, and resurrection and choosing us as his own. That cannot be added to. However, there is the matter of our living up to what Jesus has declared to be true of us. Elsewhere Paul speaks of our growing up in Christ so we can show the fullness of Christ in us. There is the position of being worthy in Christ, and then there is the practical outworking of that worth in our daily lives.
Resolve is not a word often used among Christians. Paul uses it. He isn’t referring to New Years Resolutions but a resolve for good. Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians is that God will fulfill every resolve for good that the Thessalonians have resolved to do. These folks lived in a persecuted Christian community. Remember when Paul ministered there, he had to leave town because of the danger that he was in. The folks receiving this letter lived in the city Paul had to flee from. And yet, they had resolved to do good. When we pray for our fellow believers, it is appropriate that we, too, pray that the Lord may fulfill every resolve for good that they have.
Paul also asks God to fulfill every work of faith by his power. The resolve for good and work of faith may be referring to the same good works because any work that is done that is pleasing to God will be a work of faith. Hebrews tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Good resolve without faith is not pleasing to God. And, works that we pursue in obedience to the Holy Spirit cannot be accomplished by human effort. They must be pursued by faith, so Paul refers to them as works of faith, or I might restate it as works done by faith.
This is another way of saying that Christians should have goals (resolve) in their pursuit of the kingdom of God, and those goals should be big enough that they require God’s power to be accomplished. I have adopted what is for me a new saying, “Start small, dream big.” I want to see God do amazing things in expanding his kingdom. I am just one little old guy. What can I do? Not much for sure. But God can do a lot. So, I start small and dream big.
I’ll be candid. I’m getting to be an old fellow. I don’t have the energy or strength I had as a younger man. Some men my age just figure it’s time to lay back in the lounger and take it easy. I guess I’m just not wired that way. Because I want to see big things accomplished for the kingdom of God and I am not able to make them happen, I have to trust God to do supernaturally what I definitely cannot do in my strength.
I have been going through a study with my son, and in this study, there are three lifelines drawn. One is a chronological straight line with age markers from 0 to 80 years. (I was shocked to realize how close I am to the 80-end of the line.) The second is a bell-curve with the same age range and the tip of the bell at age 40. (I am way past that prime and near the end of the downhill side of the curve.) The third line is an upward tilting line. It goes up a little and flattens out, then goes up a little more and flattens out again and continues that pattern to the end at age 80. (Of course, it isn’t expected that everyone is dead by 80, but the illustration had to pick some endpoint.) This third line is referred to as the impact line.
The point of the exercise is that one need not be the victim of the chronological or biological lines. One can have an ever-increasing impact in life until Jesus takes them home. One just has to rely on things other than their human strength to have an impact. I have lots of experience. I have a lifetime of knowledge. And probably the most important thing is that I have learned that if I am to have an impact, it will be through what I give away to others to build their lives and their kingdom influence. This is my resolve and a work of faith that can only be accomplished by God’s power. The goal of it all? “So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified.”
We in the West may be facing more substantial persecution. God will be our ultimate deliverer. I say ultimate because we are not promised deliverance from death because we serve the Lord. Some of us in the West may become martyrs, just like so many of our brothers and sisters are now in other lands. There is God’s promise of justice. Some under the altar cry now, “How long?” while they await this justice.
Meanwhile, we are to pray for one another that God will fulfill our resolve and work of faith with power so that the Lord Jesus will be glorified both now and forever. Be a pray-er.
