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2 Thessalonians 1:5, This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 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.
The Bible-believing world was shocked back in December when Kirk Cameron went public with his doubts about eternal suffering in hell. He said he believes in hell, just not eternal punishment of lost people. His view is known as annihilationism. We could spend a lot of time in the Scriptures demonstrating hell as eternal suffering. Verse 9 in our study today clearly teaches the penalty of eternal destruction. The word destruction doesn’t mean end of existence; it means ruin, eternal ruin, the loss of anything good. Jesus clearly taught in Matthew 25 that eternal punishment will come to unbelievers.
Matthew 25:41,46, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; [46] These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Robert Murray M’Cheyne met with his friend Andrew Bonar one Monday. He learned that his friend had preached on hell the day before. M’Cheyne asked him, “Did you preach it with tears?” That’s how I feel this morning about this message. The reality of an eternity in hell, as this passage teaches, is a terrifying and serious matter. Even more terrifying is the fact that there are no second chances. I am keenly aware of the sobering and gripping nature of this teaching.
So let’s go to our text. Paul is actually bringing the truth of eternal destruction as an encouragement to these believers who have been persevering against all the persecution and opposition they’ve been facing. Of course, this has been the plight of God’s people down through the ages. Do those who persecute Christians get away with it? In fact, do the millions of people who have perpetrated violence against other people get away with it? And Paul’s answer is that all evil will be justly punished and God’s people will endure and be brought into God’s kingdom.
GOD NEVER PROMISED HIS PEOPLE AN EASY LIFE (v. 4)
God has promised His people many things: eternal life, forgiveness of sins, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. But He never promised an easy life. We saw this in verse 4. These Thessalonian believers had endured all kinds of persecutions and afflictions. Christ told us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” What did the first-century believers experience? The following are traditional descriptions of the deaths of the Apostles. They stoned Stephen, beheaded James, murdered Matthew with a sword in Ethiopia, drug Mark through the streets of Alexandria until he died, hung Luke on an olive tree in Greece, threw James the Less from the corner of a temple and then crushed his skull with a club, hung Philip on a cross upside down, beat Bartholomew with sticks and crucified him and then hung him, scourged Andrew then tied him to a cross where he preached for two days before he died, shot Jude to death with arrows, ran a spear through Thomas, crucified Peter upside down, stoned and beheaded Matthias, and exiled John, the only apostle to die a natural death. Of course, they beheaded Paul outside Rome for the crime of being a Christian. Even Timothy was beaten, dragged through the streets of Ephesus, and stoned to death by an angry pagan mob.
This was the beginning of this great heavenly enterprise called the church. In Acts they went on their way rejoicing, counting it joy that they were considered worthy to suffer for Christ. Peter said, “Don’t think it strange when you suffer for Christ” (1 Peter 4:12-16). Jesus said the gates of hell would not overpower the church. Church history is full of the horrors of persecution. The church has truly sailed through bloody seas. John Phillips said, “The roll call of the martyrs at the judgment seat of Christ will be long.” God hasn’t promised an easy life, but He has promised a reward.
GOD PROMISED A REWARD FOR ENDURING PERSECUTION AND SUFFERING (v. 5)
2 Thessalonians 1:5, This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
Suffering for Christ doesn’t merit salvation. Martyrdom doesn’t make you a saint. God made you a saint the moment you trusted in Christ. But God does count us worthy as we stand up for Christ under opposition. Second Timothy 2:12 says, “If we endure, we will reign with Him.” God gives you His strength to face opposition. The fact that you hang in there and don’t quit when the going gets tough is that plain indication of God’s righteous judgment. He honors those who honor Him. God gives you strength to endure, strength to persevere under the attacks of this world.
And God uses persecution to grow His church. Tertullian, a second century theologian from Carthage in North Africa, said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Revelation 12:11 says, “They [believers] overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” Paul gave us these powerful truths in Romans 8:31, 35, 37.
Romans 8:31, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
“If God be for us, who can be against us.” This is exactly what Paul is saying to these persecuted believers in Thessalonica. God is sovereign over all suffering, all sorrow, all pain, all persecution, all abuse and mistreatment against His people. It is impossible that any Christian’s suffering be without purpose. God may call us to suffer, even die, as so many have. but He never ends it there. Christianity doesn’t end with the cross. Jesus isn’t hanging on a cross. Go to the empty tomb. That’s God’s answer for you and me in this dying, sinful, often painful world. That tomb is empty. Christ rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the throne on high, waiting for the nod from the Father to descend for His people. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
GOD HAS PROMISED ABSOLUTE JUSTICE FOR THIS WORLD (vs 6-9)
In spite of all the wrong in this world, we know this is a moral universe and the time will come when every wicked deed will be brought to the divine court. Verse 6 tells us that God’s going repay those who caused His people all the pain.
(6) For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
Divine Justice
God is a God of perfect justice. And the wickedness, injustice, oppressions, and deceptions of men demand a day of judgment. No one escapes God’s justice, either at the cross for believers, or at the Great White Throne for unbelievers. Here Paul is zeroing in on unbelievers. Today we see a travesty of justice. People get away with worse than murder, temporarily. I could list the mass murderers in history like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the Turks who slaughtered millions of Armenians at the turn of the century, not to mention other untold crimes against humanity. One author noted, “By far the majority of wrongs are never righted in this world.” We love to hear our Attorney General declare, “We will find you and we will bring you to justice!” When will justice be served? God assures the whole world, a day of final justice is coming. God will repay. There’s no escape.
The Unveiling
In verse 7 Paul describes a terrifying invasion from outer space.
(7) and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
The Lord Jesus is hidden now to the world, but a great unveiling is coming. The word revealed is “apocalypse,” which means “unveiling.” Can you imagine that day when God pulls the curtain back and reveals His Son to the whole earth? He is coming back in power with a sword to slaughter His enemies.
Revelation 19:15-16, From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. [16] And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
This is not the Jesus the world thinks He is. He is not a limp-wristed loser. He came the first time as a baby in a manger, going around doing good and healing people, putting up with all kinds of mistreatment and slander. He was despised and rejected. They spit at Him, mocked Him, whipped Him, pushed a crown of thorns on His head, and they crucified Him. They declared, “We’ll not have this man to rule over us.”
Shortly after Carolyn and I were saved we attended the Word of Life Bible Institute in northern New York. Professor Paul Brownback helped us grasp a full understanding of Jesus Christ. He said when Christ came the first time, He turned the other cheek. But when He comes the second time, He will come in judgment and crush His enemies. In Revelation 16:14 all the kings of the world will gather with the Antichrist to make war against the Lamb and He will overcome them because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The world-spirit hates Jesus Christ. In Psalm 2:1-3 the kings of the earth take their stand against Him and say, “Let us tear their bands away from us.” The world says, “If we could only get rid of God and Christianity, how free we’d be.” But the unveiling of Jesus Christ will come. How does He come?
Overwhelming Force and Fire
Paul tells us in verse 7 He’s coming with overwhelming force, with His powerful angels, and in flaming fire! There couldn’t be a more powerful and fearful portrayal of the fierce vengeance of the Lord Jesus coming to judge His enemies. What a severe warning this is to this world. This is the great unveiling. Christ is coming in flaming fire. This is how God appears in His blazing majesty. John’s vision of Jesus In Revelation 1:14 says His eyes were like a flame of fire. Christ is coming in burning judgment. Calvin writes, “Christ will avenge with strictest severity the wrongs which the wicked inflicted on” the church. He is coming in absolute, undiminished justice, in the blaze of flaming fire. Isaiah predicted this is how He would come.
Isaiah 66:15, For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many.
Notice verse 7 says God will give relief to His people. The word relief speaks of releasing tension, like releasing the tension of a bowstring. It’s the word anacin, also the name of a medicine for pain relief. Christians through the centuries have been stretched, pressured, afflicted, and abused, but relief is coming. Soon God will crush Satan under our feet and Christ will come with overwhelming force and flaming fire.
DIVINE RETRIBUTION (v. 8)
2 Thessalonians 1:8, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Retribution is punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong committed. Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” from Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 32:35, ‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.’
God’s vengeance will come on all evil. No one escapes. No one buys their way out. No one talks their way out. No earthly prestige or power will deliver the guilty. Who is the target of this holy retribution? Paul identifies two categories.
First, those who don’t know God. That is, they don’t know Him personally as their God. Romans 1 assures us that everyone knows God. Look at your hands, your eyeballs, your brains. Who designed these works of wonder? “It is God who has made us, not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3). Every man is without excuse. But when they knew God, they didn’t honor Him as God or give thanks. The secular evolutionists know: “If we deny evolution then we have to admit there is a powerful Creator and we can’t have that.” Scripture says we were created by God, for God, to become more God-like. We exist to know and love and worship God. We aren’t here just to eat, drink, sleep, work, find a little pleasure, reproduce, pile up some cash, and die. God created us and the very fact that we don’t naturally seek after God proves our own spiritual deadness, blindness, depravity, enmity toward God, and desperate need of a Savior.
Second, those who reject the gospel of Christ. If Paul means two different groups in verse 8, this second one is even more accountable. They heard the gospel and they refused to submit to it. They refused to bow the knee of their heart in repentance. They may have heard it hundreds of time. The more exposure to the gospel of Christ, the more accountable.
ETERNAL DESTRUCTON (v. 9)
2 Thessalonians 1:9, These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
This will be unending destruction or ruin. Jason Lisle, a Christian astrophysicist, wrote, “The idea of an eternity in hell is so offensive to many people that they refuse to believe it. Instead they choose to believe in either universalism or annihilationism.”
The reality is that people who don’t know the true and living God and haven’t submitted to the good news of Christ who came to deliver us from the wrath to come will indeed be banished from the presence and glory of Christ forever. Banished from the sweet, gracious, loving fellowship of Christ’s presence. For people in hell there isn’t a molecule of mercy. Jesus described it not only as eternal, but also a place of outer darkness where there will be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12). It’s often been said that Jesus speaks of hell more than heaven. It will never end and there are no second chances.
R. C. Sproul in Essential Truths of the Christian Faith wrote, “Perhaps the most frightening aspect of hell is its eternality. People can endure the greatest agony if they know it will ultimately stop. In hell there is no such hope. The Bible clearly teaches that the punishment is eternal.” It is everlasting punishment. Puritan Thomas Watson said that word “ever” breaks the heart! After a thousand years in hell, after a million years, after a trillion years in hell, the lost sinner will be no closer to the end than he was at the beginning – there is no end. The doom is terrible beyond all thought, but there is an escape while we’re still in this world. There is mercy now.
Thank God for His mercy to sinners. Paul himself was a persecutor of God’s people and called himself the chief of sinners, but God by His pure and sovereign grace had mercy on him and called him to salvation. Christ was willing to endure the penalty for sin on our behalf when He came that first time and died on that cross in the place of hell-deserving sinners. And now He offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who will repent and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). The right response to the reality of hell is to acknowledge God’s righteousness and mercy and submit your soul to the Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Next week we’ll see how Christ, when He returns, will be glorified and marveled at by all who have believed.
2 Thessalonians 1:10, 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.
Today the door of salvation stands open to all who will come to Jesus Christ before it’s too late. Once you die there is no second chance. Now is the time to bow before Jesus and accept His gift of salvation from your sin. This could be the beginning of eternal joy and pleasure in His presence. Will you be there to be glorified with Him and marvel at Him? Those who have come to Jesus will reign with Him for a thousand years, stand with Him at the Great White Throne Judgment, and then serve Him forever and ever.