Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Thessalonians 1:2

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

1:1-2:12 CONCERNING CHRIST’S RETURN

A source of encouragement (1:1-12)

The Thessalonian Christians continue to grow in faith, love and endurance, in spite of the constant persecution they suffer; and Paul continues to talk about them as an example that should challenge others (1:1-4; cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:3,1 Thessalonians 1:6-7). He encourages them to keep moving forward, and points out that their suffering is proof of the genuineness of their faith. Their endurance shows that they are worthy to inherit the kingdom of God. In his righteous judgment God uses sufferings to bring his people to maturity, but by the same righteous judgment he will punish those who persecute them (5-6).

Christ’s return will bring relief and rest to the persecuted believers (Paul here links himself with the Thessalonians), but it will also bring judgment to the ungodly. For the one it will bring glory, for the other eternal destruction (7-10). Paul prays that by God’s power the Thessalonians will go on producing those qualities of Christian character that are fitting in those whom God has called. Such character will bring honour to Christ now and will reach its full expression in the age to come (11-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This double greeting patterned after the usual Greek and Hebrew salutations, nevertheless goes far beyond both of them in the rich spiritual connotations of it. As Hubbard expressed it, "God's act of unmerited favor in Christ (grace) brings in its wake complete spiritual welfare (peace)." David A. Hubbard, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 806.

Lord Jesus Christ … "This is the full title." Ronald A. Ward, op. cit., p. 23. "Lord" means sovereign, ruler, authority, head and chief, fully entitled to adoration, honor and worship of all creation. "Jesus" is the name bestowed by the archangel before Christ was born; it is the historical name by which the citizens of Nazareth and Jerusalem recognized him, "the sweetest name on mortal tongue." "Christ" is the Greek form of "anointed," meaning Messiah, Son of David, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, etc.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Paul had come to Thessalonica with the gospel of Jesus Christ from Philippi where, as the result of his preaching, he had been imprisoned, beaten and really ordered out of the city. There in Thessalonica, he went into the synagogue for three Sabbath days reasoning with them out of the scriptures. And the interest became so intense that on the third day, almost the whole city had gathered together, which created a jealousy by some of the Jews that were there.

And so they began to stir up trouble against Paul. And they came to the house where Paul was staying to arrest him. And Paul had already got word of the problems, and so he had left and gone towards Berea. Trouble also developed in Berea after a few weeks. And so Paul's companions, Silas and Timothy, stayed in Berea to strengthen the brethren while Paul went to Athens. When they joined Paul in Athens, Silas and Timothy, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to encourage the brethren and find out how they were doing. And he and Silas and Luke headed on down to Corinth.

While Paul was in Corinth, and Paul was there for about two years, Timothy came with word concerning the Church in Thessalonica, which prompted Paul's first epistle, some of the problems that were there. And so Timothy was sent back to Thessalonica with the first letter. And still other questions were unresolved, or problems still existed that Timothy told Paul about when he returned again. And so Paul wrote this second letter, probably within a year from the first letter. These are the first two letters of Paul written from Corinth, in his second missionary journey back to the church that had been established in Thessalonica. And so because Silas and Timothy were with Paul in the establishing in the church, Paul joins their name with his in the greeting to the Church.

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus [or Silas and Timothy,] unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ ( 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 ).

This salutation is identical to the salutation in his first epistle, which we commented on last week.

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of every one of you toward each other abounds ( 2 Thessalonians 1:3 );

And so Paul, giving thanks unto God. He felt it was necessary to give thanks to God for two very positive traits and characteristics in this church. One, their faith was growing exceedingly. Secondly, their love for all of the brethren was just abounding. What tremendous characteristics to mark a church, a church of great faith and a church where God's love among the people was just abounding.

So that we ourselves [Paul said] glory in you in the churches of God ( 2 Thessalonians 1:4 )

So Paul is saying that we are actually, we glory in you when we go around and share in the other churches. We glory in what God has done in you; we love to share what the Lord is doing there for you.

for also the patience and the faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you endure ( 2 Thessalonians 1:4 ):

So this church was a church that was experiencing a lot of persecution. It is interesting as you study church history, persecution never hurt the church. The church always thrived in persecution. The church in China has been severely persecuted as the result of the communist takeover. And yet during this period of great tribulation, when in some of the provinces they have only one Bible for every one hundred thousand believers, yet the church has grown and expanded tremendously until there are some who estimate that there are as many as one hundred million believers within the home church in China.

We had Mama Quan with us awhile back, who was one of the leaders of the home church in China. And she was sharing with us of the millions that are coming to Jesus Christ even in the face of great persecution. You see the effect of persecution of the church is really separating the wheat from the chaff, and it causes the true believers to really make their stand and their faith grow. So in a church that was being persecuted, their faith was increasing exceedingly, and of course, it really brings you together. Persecution brings the body close together, the support of one another and the love of one another.

During the early period of the church history from the book of Acts, the result of the first persecution against the church in Jerusalem is that the church was scattered throughout the whole area, but the results of the church being scattered churches opened up all over the area. Wherever they went, they started their faith in Christ and the result of the persecution was actually just an expanding, a rapid expanding, of the ministry of the church. And the church grew exceedingly under the persecution in the first century, second and third.

The church began to wane when the persecution ceased, the influence, the power of the church. As the church began to be an accepted institution within the society, and as they began to be embraced by the world and accepted, the effect was a diminishing of the power of the church, of the faith in the church, of the effectiveness of the church. And so persecution has really never hindered the work of the Lord, but oftentimes has had the opposite effect of really expanding.

So here in Thessalonica persecutions and tribulations. They were enduring them with patience, but the net effect of them in their lives was this increasing faith and the abounding love. Now these persecutions and tribulations that they were enduring was

a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God ( 2 Thessalonians 1:5 ),

In other words, Paul is gonna talk here in a little bit about a period of time that is coming in which God is going to judge the world. There is gonna be a time of tremendous tribulation that is going to come to pass upon the earth. I believe that it isn't far off. This period of great tribulation is described in detail in the Book of Revelation, beginning with chapter six, the opening of the seven seals, and then the sounding of the seven trumpets, and then the pouring out of the seven vials of God's wrath. And as God's judgment comes forth upon the earth, it's gonna be so severe that people will be prone to challenge the fairness of God, the righteousness of God. But God will indeed be righteous in his judgment. And the persecution that they were going through when God's judgment came upon the unbelievers, it would be a manifest token of God's righteousness.

It is interesting to me that during this period of great tribulation, as the vials of God's wrath are being poured upon the earth, voices come from the altar of God declaring, "Holy and righteous are thy judgments, O Lord." God is going to judge the world, a great time of tribulation, and people are going to be prone to challenge the righteousness of God because of the severity. We're studying Revelation on Thursday night, so we'll get to these things, in the details in Revelation as we move along on Thursday night. But Jesus said there is going to be a great time of tribulation such as the world has never seen before and will ever see again.

In the first four seals that are open, the ensuing judgments upon the earth will bring death to one quarter of the earth's inhabitants, which is estimated to be a little over four billion people. Can you imagine devastation coming upon the earth, wars and famines and all that will wipe out one quarter of the earth's inhabitants? We are prone to say, "God, that doesn't seem fair to destroy that many people." But the fairness of God will indeed be manifested as the character of those that are destroyed is revealed.

And then later on, in another series of judgments, one third of the earth inhabitants will be killed when the abyssos is opened, and these creatures go forth upon the earth. So a time, as Jesus said great tribulation, an earthquake that will be second to none, and God said I will shake the earth once more until everything that can be shaken shall be shaken until only that which cannot be shaken shall remain. Great tribulation; but God will be fair, God will be just. He will be righteous in it. And the attitude of the world toward the true believer was only going to be a manifest token of the righteousness of the judgment of God that he is going to bring upon the earth.

That you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which also you suffer ( 2 Thessalonians 1:5 ):

Now, when Jesus was talking to His disciples concerning the Great Tribulation that was going to come, telling them of some of the cataclysmic events that would be taking place, he said to His disciples, "Pray always that you will be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to be standing before the Son of man"( Luke 21:36 ). When these cataclysmic judgments begin to happen, when the stars begin to fall, meteorite showers striking the earth, tremendous devastation, "Pray", He said. "When these things happen, pray that you will be accounted worthy to escape all of these things and to be standing before the Son of man".

Now here Paul speaks of them as being worthy to be there in the kingdom of God, and it is for this kingdom that they are suffering.

Seeing that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them which trouble you ( 2 Thessalonians 1:6 );

But it would not be a righteous thing with God to bring the tribulation upon His children. That was the whole premise of Abraham in dealing with the Lord over the destruction of Sodom. "Shall not the Lord of the earth be fair, be just, be righteous. Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked?"( Genesis 18:23 ) That wouldn't be fair, Lord, to destroy the righteous with the wicked. And so God delivered Lot before the destruction or the tribulation or the judgment came. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ( 2 Thessalonians 1:7 ),

Rest in this fact, the Lord is coming for you with His mighty angels. He made mention of this in the first letter, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a voice of the archangel the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord" ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ). So you that are troubled over this great period of tribulation and judgment that is coming, rest with us for the Lord is going to be revealed with His mighty angels.

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God ( 2 Thessalonians 1:8 ),

Notice upon whom the vengeance is going to be taken. Not upon the children of God, not upon the church; He is going to be taking the vengeance upon those who know not God,

and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ( 2 Thessalonians 1:8 ).

They are the ones upon whom this great judgment shall fall. And I will tell you what; I surely wouldn't want to be around when God's wrath begins to be poured out. As again when we get to the details in Revelation, I am certain that you won't want to be here either. But He is talking on those that obey not the gospel.

Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power ( 2 Thessalonians 1:9 );

Eternally separated from God. I cannot think of anything more awesome than that.

When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all of them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day ( 2 Thessalonians 1:10 ).

So the Lord is coming as far as the sinner is concerned to take vengeance, to bring judgment. As far as the saint is concerned, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe. And so He is coming to receive the glory and the honor and the power and the authority and the dominion that is rightfully His. Again Revelation five, "Thou art worthy to receive glory and honor, dominion, authority, thrones," the worthiness of Jesus to receive the glory, glorified in His saints, admired in all of them that believe because of our testimony among you.

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling ( 2 Thessalonians 1:11 ),

Now Jesus said, "Pray always that you'll be accounted worthy to escape these things". Paul said, "I am praying always that you will be accounted worthy of this calling".

and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power ( 2 Thessalonians 1:11 ):

So these are the things that Paul was praying for them. First of all, that they would be accounted worthy, that the Lord will account them worthy of being in this heavenly company, that he might fulfill all of the good pleasure of goodness in them and His work of faith with power.

That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ ( 2 Thessalonians 1:12 ).

And so the whole glory that shall be revealed in the church, through the church and in Christ at His coming. "

Contending for the Faith

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace unto you: Paul knows there is no peace and certainly no grace apart from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is God’s unmerited favor, God’s unearned gift; that gift is the Lord Jesus Christ by whom salvation is offered. Paul knows, as most of us will never know, what it means to be delivered from religious bondage into the liberty of grace. Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and he lived after the straightest sect of the Pharisees. He was in bondage to religion; and what he did against the Church, he did in ignorance (Acts 26:2-11). He persecuted the church; but he did so "in all good conscience," believing the church to be the enemy of God. The fact that Paul sinned against the church in ignorance did not change the fact that he was still a sinner. Ignorance was no excuse and repentance was in order for him. Since Paul has learned the error of his way and has obeyed the gospel in baptism (Acts 22:16), he is exceedingly happy because He has found the grace of God and through that grace, peace. He now prays that God’s grace and peace will be abundant in the hearts of the believers in Thessalonica, especially during the days of intensive testing by the enemy.

and peace: The word "peace" (ireenee) is defined by Thayer as "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is" (182-2-1515).

Though it may very well be that the words "grace" and "peace" reflect a Christian’s greeting in their Greek forms, it is not enough to say "greetings to you." The fact that grace and peace are to come "from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" indicates Paul has something more in mind than the mere Christian greeting. A point of consideration is that the "peace" of this passage is not so much the peace of reconciliation with God as the normal blessings that come to a person who is a child of God.

from God our Father: See comments on "God our Father" in verse 1.

and the Lord Jesus Christ: See comments on "the Lord Jesus Christ" in verse 1.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

I. SALUTATION 1:1-2

The Apostle Paul opened this epistle by identifying himself and his companions to the recipients. He also wished God’s grace and peace for them to introduce himself and to express his continuing good will toward his children in the faith.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 are almost identical to 1 Thessalonians 1:1. One change is that Paul called God "our" Father here rather than "the" Father.

The benediction (2 Thessalonians 1:2) is fuller than the one in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Paul mentioned both grace (God’s unmerited favor and divine enablement) and peace (the cessation of hostility and the fullness of divine blessing) again, but he identified their source here. Both blessings come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He again asserted the deity of Christ, and he balanced the fatherhood of God with Christ’s lordship over the church and the believer.

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 1

LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS ( 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10 )

1:1-10 Paul and Silas and Timothy send this letter to the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is all the wisdom of the wise leader in this opening passage. It seems that the Thessalonians had sent a message to Paul full of self-doubtings. They had been timorously afraid that their faith was not going to stand the test and that--in the expressive modern phrase--they were not going to make the grade. Paul's answer was not to push them further into the slough of despond by pessimistically agreeing with them but to pick out their virtues and achievements in such a way that these despondent, frightened Christians might square their shoulders and say, "Well, if Paul thinks that of us we'll make a fight of it yet."

"Blessed are those," said Mark Rutherford, "who heal us of our self-despisings," and Paul did just that for the Thessalonian Church. He knew that often judicious praise can do what indiscriminate criticism cannot do and that wise praise never makes a man rest upon his laurels but fills him with the desire to do still better.

There are three things which Paul picked out as being the marks of a vital Church.

(i) A faith which is strong. It is the mark of the advancing Christian that he grows surer of Jesus Christ every day. The faith which may begin as an hypothesis ends as a certainty. James Agate once said, "My mind is not like a bed which has to be made and remade. There are some things of which I am absolutely sure." The Christian comes to that stage when to the thrill of Christian experience he adds the discipline of Christian thought.

(ii) A love which is increasing. A growing Church is one which grows greater in service. A man may begin serving his fellowmen as a duty which his Christian faith lays upon him; he will end by doing it because in it he finds his greatest joy. The life of service opens up the great discovery that unselfishness and happiness go hand in hand.

(iii) A constancy which endures. The word Paul uses is a magnificent word. It is hupomone ( G5281) which is usually translated endurance but does not mean the ability passively to bear anything that may descend upon us. It has been described as "a masculine constancy under trial" and describes the spirit which not only endures the circumstances in which it finds itself but masters them. It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement.

Paul's uplifting message ends with the most uplifting vision of all. It ends with what we might call the reciprocal glory. When Christ comes he will be glorified in his saints and admired in those who have believed Here we have the breath-taking truth that our glory is Christ and Christ's glory is ourselves. The glory of Christ is in those who through him have learned to endure and to conquer, and so to shine like lights in a dark place. A teacher's glory lies in the scholars he produces; a parent's in the children he rears not only for living but for life; a master's in his disciples; and to us is given the tremendous privilege and responsibility that Christ's glory can lie in us. We may bring discredit or we may bring glory to the Master whose we are and whom we seek to serve. Can any privileged responsibility be greater than that?

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

2 Thessalonians 1:2

Grace -- Peace -- Paul’s common greeting.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Grace be unto you, and peace,....

:-.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:   2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.   3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;   4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

      Here we have,

      I. The introduction (2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2), in the same words as in the former epistle, from which we may observe that as this apostle did not count it grievous to him to write the same things (Philippians 3:1) in his epistles that he had delivered in preaching, so he willingly wrote the same things to one church that he did to another. The occurrence of the same words in this epistle as in the former shows us that ministers ought not so much to regard the variety of expression and elegance of style as the truth and usefulness of the doctrines they preach. And great care should be taken lest, from an affectation of novelty in method and phrases, we advance new notions or doctrines, contrary to the principles of natural or revealed religion, upon which this church of the Thessalonians was built, as all true churches are; namely, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

      II. The apostle's expression of the high esteem he had for them. He not only had a great affection for them (as he had expressed in his former epistle, and now again in his pious wish of grace and peace for them), but he also expresses his great esteem for them, concerning which observe,

      1. How his esteem of them is expressed. (1.) He glorified God on their behalf: We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet,2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3. He chose rather to speak of what was praiseworthy in them in a way of thanksgiving to God than by commendation of them; and, as what he mentions was matter of his rejoicing, he accounted it matter of thanksgiving, and it was meet or fit it should be so, for we are bound, and it is our duty, to be thankful to God for all the good that is found in us or others: and it not only is an act of kindness to our fellow-christians, but our duty, to thank God on their behalf. (2.) He also glories in them before the churches of God,2 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4. The apostle never flattered his friends, but he took pleasure in commending them, and speaking well of them, to the glory of God and for the excitement and encouragement of others. Paul did not glory in his own gifts, nor in his labour among them, but he gloried in the grace of God which was bestowed upon them, and so his glorying was good, because all the commendation he gave to them, and the pleasure he took himself, centered in the praise and glory of God.

      2. For what he esteemed them and thanked God; namely, the increase of their faith, and love, and patience. In his former epistle (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:3) he gave thanks for their faith, love, and patience; here he gives thanks for the increase of all those graces, that they were not only true Christians, but growing Christians. Note, Where there is the truth of grace there will be increase of it. The path of the just is as the shining light, which shines more and more unto the perfect day. And where there is the increase of grace God must have all the glory of it. We are as much indebted to him for the improvement of grace, and the progress of that good work, as we are for the first work of grace and the very beginning of it. We may be tempted to think that though when we were bad we could not make ourselves good, yet when we are good we can easily make ourselves better; but we have as much dependence on the grace of God for increasing the grace we have as for planting grace when we had it not. The matter of the apostle's thanksgiving and glorying on behalf of the Thessalonians was, (1.) That their faith grew exceedingly, 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3. They were more confirmed in the truth of gospel-revelations, confided in gospel-promises, and had lively expectations of another world. The growth of their faith appeared by the works of faith; and, where faith grows, all other graces grow proportionably. (2.) Their charity abounded (2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3), their love to God and man. Note, Where faith grows love will abound, for faith works by love; and not only the charity of some few of them, but of every one to each other, did abound. There were no such divisions among them as in some other churches. (3.) Their patience as well as faith increased in all their persecutions and tribulations. And patience has then its perfect work when it extends itself to all trials. There were many persecutions which the Thessalonians endured for the sake of righteousness, as well as other troubles which they met with in this calamitous life; yet they endured all these, by faith seeing him that is invisible, and looking to the recompence of reward; and endured them with patience, not with an insensibility under them, but with patience arising from Christian principles, which kept them quiet and submissive, and afforded them inward strength and support.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

The second epistle takes up another difficulty. It was written in view of another abuse of the truth of the Lord's coming a danger that threatened the saints. As the first epistle was intended to guard the saints from an error about the dead, the second epistle was more particularly meant to correct them about the living. They were distressed at finding that some of their brethren died before the Lord came. So filled were they with the constant expectation of Christ from heaven, that it never occurred to them that a single Christian might depart from the world before His return, How they must have realized, in their habitual waiting, the nearness of that blessed hope! They now learnt that they need not sorrow on such a score; for the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we, the living at His coming, shall be caught up with them to join the Lord together. But the second epistle grew out of another and more serious error. We have seen that they were greatly alarmed and agitated. The apostle was really uneasy about them lest the tempter should tempt them, and his labour come to nought lest, moved by their sore affliction, they should fall into fear about the awful day of the Lord, which the enemy knows well how to use.

Everybody who has read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the lesser prophets knows what they tell us of the horrors for men when the day of Jehovah comes upon the earth, that it will be. a day of dismay and darkness, when all earthly things are utterly confused, and the people of God seem about to be swallowed up by their enemies. False doctrine ever sets one truth against another; and it was not wanting among the Thessalonians at this time. For some sought to persuade them that the day of the Lord was even then arrived. They probably argued that their troubles were part of the circumstances of that day. Certainly they sought to shake them by pretending that the day of the Lord was actually there. There was such fearful persecution and trouble among them, that this might be plausibly enough mixed up as supporting the idea that the day of the Lord was begun. For this false rumour seems to imply that they must have given some sort of figurative colour to "that day" (as it was certainly so used in Old Testament prophecy). At any rate, they must have supposed that "the day of the Lord" did not necessarily require the presence of the Lord Himself. In other words, they might think, is many Christians since have imagined, that a dreadful time of trouble must befall the world before the Lord comes to receive His own to himself above.

This second epistle was written to disabuse the minds of the Thessalonian saints; and indeed it directly tends to set all Christians free from any anxiety of the kind, though, of course, there may be persecution again, as there was then, and repeatedly afterwards, especially from Pagan and from Papal Rome. But this is wholly different from the dread which the enemy sought to infuse among the Thessalonians. The apostle accordingly sets himself to this task. First of all he comforts them.

"Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you." It may be noticed that he leaves out "the patience of hope." How comes this? It was exactly the hope that was no longer bright in their hearts. So far the enemy had succeeded. They had been comforted, but they had lost somewhat of the light and joy of the hope. They were moved more or less by their tribulation; not perhaps so much by the outward pressure as by the insinuation of Satan through false teaching, which is a far more dangerous thing for the child of God. It is plain that the apostle merely mentions their faith growing, and their love He no longer praises nor names their patience of hope, but rather prays for them in2 Thessalonians 3:1-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 in such a way as to show there was a lack in this respect. That is, he takes up two of the qualities mentioned in the first epistle, and not the third. This, which was bound up with the whole structure of the first epistle, is left out of the second. There was too good reason for it. For the time they had let it slip, as I have just explained. It is true that the apostle tells them, "we glory in you in the churches of God for your patience, and faith" (he does not speak of their "patience of hope") "in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure." They were holding on, and not giving up Christ but their souls had not the former spring through Christ their hope. We shall have the evidence of this more fully soon.

There was "a manifest token," says he, "of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." So far it was well. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Observe the reason why he brings in "that day." It was a false doctrine about the day, which draws out an explanation of its nature and its relation to the coming of the Lord. When that day comes, it will not fall with its troubles on the children of God. In truth the Lord will then execute judgment on their enemies I do not mean on the dead till the close, but on the quick or living. It will be no more in some figurative and preparatory sense of exceeding affliction, or of natural overthrow; but its description here is the Lord Jesus revealed from heaven in flaming fire. There will be no doubt about its nature or effects. Every eye shall see Him.

That is, even2 Thessalonians 1:1-12; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 plainly prepares us for the complete discomfiture of the illusory and alarming dreams which these false teachers had been foisting in under false colours among the Thessalonian saints. But he pursues the matter farther. He will take vengeance on two classes on those that know not God, and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These seem the Gentiles and the Jews respectively; but why do not we find here some allusion to the third class His relation to the church of God? Because those who compose the church are no longer here.

Thus it is shown that the Lord will deal with all on earth, not merged in one, but discriminated; for He executes judgment, and hence does not confound those who differ in a common class. There is thus a definite distinction drawn; but this so much the more precisely leaves out the Christian. Its force is more understood the more it is weighed. The apostle does not declare all at once, but prepares the way with much circumspection. When he says "them that know not God," he means the idolatrous Gentiles. Then he adds with another article, "and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (not, as we have it in English here, "and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus;" as if all were one and the same class). There are two classes, and therefore accuracy would seem to call on us to make the sense more definite "and on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." At all events, whatever mode of rendering may be preferred, I have no hesitation in saying that such is the sense of the Greek, and nothing else. They are the Gentiles, who knew not God, (or, as Bengel has it, "qui in ethnica ignorantia de Deo versantur,") and the Jews, who might know God after a sort and to a certain point beyond Gentiles, but who did not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ("Judaeis maxime, quibus evangelium de Christo praedicatum fuerat.") For unbelief is always convicted by the test that God employs; and the day of the Lord will deal with every form. The Gentiles that know not God will be punished, and the Jews that abuse the forms of Old Testament revelation to disobey the gospel will not escape, still less nominal and apostate Christendom.

The reason why no notice is taken of Christians as then on earth we shall see assigned a little lower down: I merely now remark that he could not put himself in either of those two classes. It is evident that on whomsoever that day is to fall it has no bearing on such. If therefore the Christians were troubled now, it was in no way the same character of trouble as that which shall be in the day of the Lord. The teaching of those who had spread this impression was utterly false; and if they claimed the highest sanction for it, they were worse than mistaken they were the guilty tools of Satan. But as to both the classes we have seen described by the apostle, they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction," both "from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believed:" for this is the full force of it.

In the new age people will be blessed abundantly, but the blessing of the millennium does not exactly take the shape of belief. They shall behold the glory of the Lord. Such is their form as assigned by scripture. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge not with the faith, but with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. It will be in countless cases the fruit of true divine teaching; but knowledge describes it better than faith; and we may easily understand the difference. They will behold the glory, they will look upon the Lord, no longer hidden but displayed. The blessed spoken of in our chapter are clearly those that have already believed. So indeed the apostle states: "Wherefore we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of the calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Next (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17) he comes to the special error in question. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . . that ye be not soon shaken in mind nor troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is present." It is well known that "of the Lord" (not of Christ) is unquestionably required by the best manuscripts, and other ancient witnesses.

Ἐνέστηκε does not mean "at hand," but actually come. I do not enter into any long proof of this just now, having already done so elsewhere. Suffice it to say, that the word occurs in half a dozen places in the New Testament, and nowhere can bear any sense but the one alleged. Nor does it ever convey any such meaning as "at hand" in any correct Greek author. It has been so thought; but it is a mistake. It always means present, in contrast with future ever so imminent. So in two instances of the New Testament it stands over against future things; as when it is expressly said (in Romans 8:1-39 and 1 Corinthians 3:1-23), "things present and things to come." The latter might be "at hand," but not the former. The things to come are in pointed opposition to those actually arrived. Again, we have (Galatians 1:4) "this present evil world." This is now only. The age to come is not evil but good. It is in contrast with the present. And so as to "for the time then present," (Hebrews 9:1-28) and "for the present necessity." (1 Corinthians 7:1-40) It is not a question of the future, but solely of the present; a necessity now, and at no other time. In short, it is the regular word for "present." If a Greek meant to say "present" in contrast with the future, there was no more emphatic word to use. What, then, can be conceived more calculated to destroy the right understanding of this epistle than the common mistranslation? Such is the true sense of the word, I am bold to say.

But clearly this gives an immense help to the understanding of the passage. The apostle appeals to the saints. It is not a question of teaching in this verse, but the apostle beseeches them by a certain powerful motive, which was still in their souls. He does not mean, "We beseech you concerning," as some conceive, but as our English version says, "by." It is a legitimate meaning of the preposition with words of entreaty. He uses the hope of being gathered to Christ at His coming as a motive why they should not listen to those misleading the saints. Now mark the character of this false teaching. It was not the excitement of hope, but of terror produced on the spirit. It caused them to shake, hindering them from a settled, holy, hearty waiting for Christ. The error occupied them with the terrors of some intervening trouble. The pretence was that all the afflictions they had been enduring were parts or signs of the well-known day of trouble, the day of the Lord. Not at all, says the apostle: the trouble of that day will befall the enemies, not the friends, of the Lord. As they knew that every believer loved His name, the notion propagated was wholly astray. It was morally false, as ignoring in the first place His unfailing and perfect love for them.

Therefore he could say, "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as by us, as that the day of the Lord is present." Do you not know that Christ is coming for you, and that the first aim and effect of His coming will be your gathering together to meet Him in the air? Why, therefore, be uneasy at such a rumour about His day, with all its awful associations? You have been taught that from God; why be disturbed by this effort of the enemy, who falsely pretends to the Spirit and word, and an alleged letter of mine? That day will fall on the world. Indeed, the apostle had implied in the opening of this epistle, as well as in the latter part of his first, that the day of the Lord does not concern the saints, who were sons of light and of day. They would come accordingly with that day, instead of its overtaking them as a thief by night, because so it comes on whom it may. It comes from the Lord in His execution of judgment on a guilty world; and the very fact of their being sons of light ought to have proved that it cannot surprise such, because they belonged to the region whence it comes.

With striking pithiness he briefly points to the ways of deceit and darkness which accompanied the notion, and betrayed its real source. Truth refuses an admixture of falsehood; and the pretence that any had a spiritual intimation to themselves, or a word for others, that the day of the Lord was really come, was manifestly of the serpent, not of God. Such and so rapid are the steps of evil, one wrong leading to another. But the allegation that they had the apostle's own authority for the delusion gave him a direct opportunity to contradict the error. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for lit shall not come] unless there shall come the apostasy first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." These are two different things. The apostle affirms that the day cannot be before both. Christendom will have abandoned the faith, and the man of sin must be revealed. What a prospect! Do the children of God believe it? We know the world has wholly opposite expectations. Those who allow themselves with so little seriousness to bear the excellent name of the Lord will openly fall away from the confession of the gospel; and then a suited leader into the gulf of perdition will soon appear for the apostates.

I am perfectly persuaded that some of the most important parts of Satan's means of bringing about the apostasy are now actively at work. God has been graciously filling many hearts with joy and comfort of the truth. He has given not a few to believe these words, the moral signs of which are becoming daily more and more manifest. The apostasy again must come, and, in contrast with the man of righteousness, the man of sin be revealed, even the final Judas, "the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above every one called God, or an object of veneration; so that he sitteth down in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." How sharply in contrast with the Lord Jesus, who, though really God, in love became man, in order to accomplish the glorious counsels of God and man's salvation by grace! This one is the son of perdition to the ruin of those who trust him. Although he be but a man, and the man of sin, he takes the place of being the true God here on earth, and this too, not in the world, but in the temple of God of that time. Thus he not merely takes the place of God here below, but actually as such enters His temple. I do not doubt that the temple will then be in Jerusalem; so that as Christendom began at Jerusalem, the holy city will be its last scene of sinful pride and of divine judgment, though not its only place of judgment. Jerusalem! Rome! they are two names of most solemn import as to the subject to which I am briefly alluding. "Remember ye not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." It is no absolute restraint, but provision only; for he must be revealed in his own season.

The reference to previous teaching left the matter in comparative obscurity, and has given rise to a great deal of discussion. I think the true answer neither difficult nor uncertain. It is evident that what withholds or restrains must be a power superior to man or Satan, and of a nature totally opposite to the man of sin. As this is the embodiment, or rather head, of evil, so that which restrains his revelation would naturally be the power of good which suppresses as long as God pleases the full manifestation of the lawless one. There seems to be a good reason why the matter is put in this general, if not vague, manner. What withholds is presented as a principle or power in an abstract way, and not as a person only. It might, I suppose, assume a different shape at different times.

Thus we find ourselves within narrow limits in order to fix the restraint and the. restrainer. The Thessalonians, who were but young in truth, already knew what restrains, "that he might be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of iniquity" [or "lawlessness," which is the true force of the word] "doth already work: only there is one who restraineth now until he be taken away; and then shall the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy with the appearing of his coming" or presence. Evidently, then, we find here a power that hinders the manifestation of the lawless one a power which is also a person. Where do we find one that effectually checks the plans of Satan, a person no less than a power? We need not consider long, but answer, without hesitation, the Spirit of God.

Undeniably He is both a power and a person; and save in Him it will be far from easy, if possible, to find an answer that combines these two distinct intimations, as well as both the character and the extent of the power involved. It can hardly be said to be the Spirit of God dwelling in the church, except in the most general way. We must recollect that the Holy Spirit not only dwells there, but also acts providentially in the government of the world. I am far from meaning that, when the church is gone, He will restrain the powers of the world much longer. There are men of the world who have no confidence in its stability; though it exercises no salutary fear over their souls, and they cling to it all the same. I am sure that no Christian man should trust it for a moment. They are not called to promise fair things to that which cast out and slew the Lord of glory. They know that its doom is coming quickly, but not till they have formally rejected the truth, and accepted the man of sin. But no matter what the wicked will of man and the wiles of Satan may be, they will not be able absolutely to extinguish divinely-controlled government among men as soon as they desire. There is One that still restrains, who could always indeed, but who will cease only when, according to God, the time for the final outburst arrives. It does not, I think, terminate at once, even when the Lord shall have come and taken up His saints, both those that sleep and all those alive and waiting for Him. I say "all," for, you must remember, it is invariably assumed in scripture that every saint waits for Christ. The notion that a person may be a saint, and not looking for His coming, does not enter into the mind of the Holy Spirit. One may fall, of course, into a wrong state from bad teaching or careless ways; but if Christ is my life and righteousness, I shall surely love Him; and if so, I must want to see and be with Him in the condition of glory, where alone such life and righteousness, and the love that gave them, have their just display and results. Hence it is always assumed that every Christian is, in the knowledge of His love, waiting for Christ to come and receive us to Himself, that we may be with Him in the Father's house before He executes judgment on the world. Till then the Spirit of God acts as a cheek on the designs of Satan; and even after the church is gone (as I think) He will restrain for a short space.

From the Apocalypse we learn that for a little while God carries out certain agencies of blessing. Not only does He not immediately cease to deal with souls, but we do not at once see either the apostasy or the man of sin. This is a consideration that bears on the question; for undoubtedly it is not the will of man that either sheds blessing on souls or restrains the proudest effort of Satan. After the church is taken up, then the Spirit of God works; and this doubly. He will bring souls into the knowledge of the testimony that God will then raise up to meet the existing circumstances, for His own glory as well as in His pitiful mercy to man. But, besides, He will even then restrain the powers that be from falling instantaneously into the devices of the devil. At a certain given moment, which the Revelation clearly defines, Satan will be cast down from heaven, and will then bring forward his long-meditated plan. The empire that has disappeared from among men for so long, that the wise men of the world think its resurrection impossible the Roman empire will come forward clothed with a diabolical energy. This is the moment when the Spirit ceases to restrain.

Accordingly the Western empire will use all its might, and Satan will help it, to establish a politico-religious power in Jerusalem, who will be the head of the Jews, and at the same time the religious chief of the West. Such is the issue of idolatrous Christ-rejecting Judaism and of apostate Christendom. The man of sin will sit and be worshipped as God, in His temple at Jerusalem. This will enable the Roman empire still to carry on its political game of opposition to the Eastern powers. The West, I say, will support and be supported by the Antichrist, and consequently must share in the awful destruction that the Lord will Himself execute when He appears. Angels will do their part, and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone; for they will be caught red-handed in their opposition to the Lamb, little knowing that He is Lord of lords and King of kings. As for the civil and religious leaders, the beast and the false prophet, they will be consigned to everlasting destruction, without even the form of trial. Nothing less awaits these last and seemingly greatest leaders of the world's false glory. But, remember, the flower of the West (of these lands that boast of religion, and civilization, and progress) shall perish in this destruction of the revived imperial power and its Jewish ally.

I dare not prophesy smooth things to our own country and race. I believe that all these kingdoms of the West, now so confident in their resources and power, will fall helplessly into the hands of Satan at last. At Jerusalem the man of sin, as at Rome, the civil head of empire, with his confederate but subject kings, will be the two beasts of Revelation 13:1-18. It is not the time to enter into further details now; but I may state ray conviction, that the man of sin, whom 2 Thess. shows enthroned in God's temple, will be the accepted Messiah of the deceived Jews in Jerusalem, as the first beast is the imperial head at Rome; for the civil power will then be separate from the religious, and we all know how ardently men desire this now. But its accomplishment will have results far different from what most look for.

I confess I am struck by the solemn fact, that one cannot speak of these subjects, even at short intervals of time, without perceiving new features which, in principle, bring us more and more up to the brink of the precipice. I do then, from every point of view, warn all those who are looking for bright hopes on the earth, and promising improvement to men. It is serious to observe that the lawless one here described and reserved for such a destiny is related very nearly to the mystery of lawlessness which was then at work, as the apostle let us know, and which has gone on increasing, and is immensely increased now. It is true that the lawless one will not be revealed until the restraint of the Spirit of God over the world is removed. This appears to me to be the unforced deduction from the apostle's statement, compared with the light thrown on the subject by other Scriptures, which, by common consent, treat of the same time and point. It is the Spirit of God ceasing to restrain in the world as well as in the church, since He will for a brief space both act on souls and restrain Satan in the world, after the church has been caught up to heaven.

This I consider a comprehensive and correct view of what, is revealed. It is put generally here both as "he who withholds" and as "that which withholds." The particular from of withholding power might differ according to varying circumstances. The Christians of old used to think the Roman empire withheld them. Nor was their idea far from the mark; because the empire was assuredly among the powers ordained of God, as I do not doubt emperors, kings, presidents, etc., are still. But the hour hastens when the powers that be will cease to derive their authority from God; when the West above all will openly renounce the true God, and the beast will rise up from the abyss. Our chapter adds a true picture of the extent to which the man of sin will be allowed to go in diabolical imitation of what God wrought by Christ when here below. It is the hour of retribution, when the proud apostates who refused the truth accept and perish in the lie of the enemy. How blessed the lot of the saints which the apostle contrasts with this! (Verses 13-17.)

The next chapter (2 Thessalonians 3:1-18) closes the epistle with divers desires, and a prayer for them that the Lord would direct their hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. The key-note is thus maintained from first to last. As Christ waits to come, so should we, that we may meet Him then. But the apostle would not have this hope nor the Lord Himself dishonoured by the reproach of disorderly ways. And thus he nowhere more enjoins the duty of honourable industry, appealing to his own example, than in the epistles which most insist on Christ's coming as the proximate and constant hope of the Christian. If any would pervert such a truth, or any other, to idleness and disorder, he was to be marked as unworthy of Christian companionship, not of course counted an enemy (like the wicked or heretics), but admonished as a brother. Idleness is fruitful of disorder and the foe of peace, which the apostle desired for them from the Lord of peace Himself always and in every way.

May we seriously heed the truth, and its immediate application to our consciences and ways! May God give us quiet energy without restlessness or excitement, but so much the more calmly, because of the realized nearness of the Lord's return, and the solemn consequences for all mankind! Oh for an earnest, burning zeal; for self-denying love; for hearts devoted to Christ, which might warn men of their impending destruction, that, if they have not been won by His love, they may at least tremble at the hopeless inextricable ruin in which their unbelief will soon leave them for ever.