Payday is Coming!

Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica was probably written shortly after his first letter - somewhere around 51-52 AD. He begins 2 Thessalonians by commending the believers for their faithfulness amid persecution and encouraging them to rest in the assurance that present suffering will be repaid with future glory, and that payday for their persecutors was coming.

He also addressed two recurring problems in this church. First, as seen in 1 Thessalonians, they were concerned that the Lord had already returned. Paul urged them not to become "shaken in mind or alarmed," fearing that "the day of the Lord" (2 Thess. 2:2) had already come. Second, he admonished them not to be idle, commanding them that, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10).

When God's people are experiencing trials, troubles, pain, affliction, and suffering that is often associated with following Christ, one question that has either passed through their lips or weighed heavily on their mind is, “How much longer?” God’s people have always desired to know "how long" until God would bring an end to such injustice, to right all wrongs, and to judge those who harm His followers. Listen to how the prophet Habakkuk asked this question: “How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence, and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?” (Hab 1:2-3)

King David had a similar question for God: “Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?” (Psalm 13:1-2).

Paul’s word to them and us is that Payday is coming! If not while living in time, certainly in eternity, man will get his due. He will be brought to justice in God's good time. No one gets off Scot-free! God has a long arm, a long reach, and a long memory.

1. Encouragement from Paul to Faithfulness in All Circumstances All the Time – 2 Thess. 1-1-4

Paul opens this letter by praising the Thessalonians for their “perseverance,” which is being demonstrated despite their suffering (2 Thess. 1:4). His goal is to encourage long-term faithfulness to Christ in all circumstances throughout all their lifetime.

A. Exhibiting a Faith that’s Real – 1:3a –

“…your faith is growing abundantly…” this phrase means to grow exceedingly healthy and fruitful, as a good tree planted in good soil. If a person’s faith in Christ fatally fails it was flawed from the first.

Paul had prayed for the believers in Thessalonica, that their faith might be perfected (1Thess. 3:10); and now he thanked God for answered prayer.

Warren Wiersbe correctly observed that, “A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. New believers must expect their faith to be tried, because this is the way God proves whether or not their decision is genuine. Faith, like a muscle, must be exercised to grow stronger. Tribulation and persecution are God’s ways to strengthen our faith.”

B. Exercising a Love that’s Growing Stronger – 1:3b,

“and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” 

Their "flourishing" faith was producing a visible, "increasing" love (1:3b). These are two of the most distinguishing characteristics of genuine conversion. They are placed alongside one another repeatedly throughout Scripture. For example, to the Ephesian church Paul writes, "This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers" (Eph 1:15-16). He echoes similar words in his letter to the Galatians: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love" (Gal 5:6).

Once more we see Paul’s prayers being answered on their behalf. This was exactly what Paul had prayed for when he asked God back in 1 Thess. 3:12 that their love "increase" for one another; and it was the same response for which he had hoped when he called them to love one another "even more" (1 Thess 4:10). The Thessalonians had fulfilled his hopes and God had answered his prayers. No wonder Paul would say, "We must always thank God for you brothers. This is right" (1:3).

C. Expressing a Hope that’s Sure – 1:4,

“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.”

Although he doesn’t use the word hope here, it is implied and included in the word “steadfastness (patience in NKJV). One cannot but notice that a recurring theme in the Thessalonian letters is that of faith, love, and hope. This theme was first introduced in 1 Thess. 1:3-4, “We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing your election, brothers loved by God.”

Then at the conclusion of 1 Thessalonians, Paul repeats this theme again: "But since we belong to the day, we must be serious and put the armor of faith and love on our chests and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation" (1 Thess 5:8). For Paul, faith, love, and hope are the 3 columns upon which the House of Grace is built.

D. Expecting a Future that’s Secure – 1:5,

“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.”

Even though we may understand that God uses hardship, suffering, and pain to accomplish His great purposes in and through believers, from our limited earthly perspective, it takes spiritual discernment to see in a situation of injustice (like the persecution of the innocent) evidence of the just judgment of God.

1:5b, “…that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering….” This was one of God’s purposes in permitting their suffering. It does not suggest that their suffering earned them the right to go to heaven, because we know that they were saved through faith in Christ alone. Suffering for the name of King Jesus is an essential part for King’s Kids in Training for Reigning and is one of the evidences that you are in the kingdom and a member of the Royal Family. As strange as this may sound to our ears, their suffering was evidence that God loved them, not a sign that He had abandoned them; that their high calling necessitated hard training. In spite of present circumstances, we can live expecting to experience a secure future. 2 Cors. 5:1, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 

2. Judgment By the Lord Will Bring Relief to Believers, But Retribution to Unbelievers – 1:6-10

The Amplified Bible translates 2 Thess 1:6-8 in this manner: “[It is a fair decision] since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with distress and affliction those who distress and afflict you, And to [recompense] you who are so distressed and afflicted [by granting you] relief and rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire, To deal out retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God, and [upon those] who ignore and refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”          

The word "relief" here is anesis, which means: "relaxation or (figuratively) relief: - eased, liberty, rest."

A. God’s Judgment is Forthcoming – 1:6a,

“[It is a fair decision] since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with distress and affliction those who distress and afflict you…”

When will God repay in kind those who are persecuting the saints at Thessalonica? When was payday coming? 

From our text in 2 Thess 2, we see that Paul is encouraging them in the long haul by noting that, despite their current, ongoing suffering from persecution (v. 5), one day in the future God will: (1) not only repay those who persecute them (v. 6) but (2) grant ultimate, glorious relief to these faithful believers who are suffering in history (v. 7a). But then he notes when this relief will be granted: “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven” (v. 7b). That is, “at the revelation or coming – not the Last or Second coming of the Lord Jesus, but of His appearing in judgment upon those who were intent upon destroying the Christian faith before it got started and spread like wild fire.

That Paul had his present recipients of his letter in view is plain to see. Second Thessalonians 2 begins with the use of audience specific references: “Grace to you … give thanks to God for you … your faith … each other … one another.” It continues: As a result, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you (2 Thess. 1:4-6).

Paul has no other audience in mind except the Thessalonians. Should we believe that Paul switches from his present audience to the distant future for vindication where God will only deal “out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (v. 8)? Paul was referring to people in his day using language like what Jesus said in Matthew 16:27-28 (also Jude 1:14-16), verses that apply to the events surrounding AD 70.

“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:27-28).

How would the Thessalonians have been vindicated in their day if a long-term (several thousand years) postponement was proposed by Paul? That retribution came in events leading up to and including the destruction of the temple in AD 70. We know this is true because of what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16: “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.”

We learn from the book of Acts that the Judaizers were persecuting Christians in Thessalonica (17:1-11). Their day of judgment would come when the temple and all its attendant rituals passed away. Judgment would come quickly. “And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unrighteous judge said; now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long for them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-9).”

The earliest persecutors of Christians were the Jewish religious leaders. In time, when the prophecy Jesus said would take place in their generation, that persecution would be eliminated. This means that 2 Thessalonians 1:7 is the same coming used elsewhere in Scripture that describes Jesus’ coming in judgment and vindication for that Apostolic generation.

God’s judgment on apostate Judaism brought an end to the old world/age. This is the central focus of the Matthew 24, known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus declared “the desolation of the house”, i.e., apostate Israel, would bring salvation to the “world” (oikoumenē: Matt. 24:14). The old world of Judaism, represented by the earthly temple, is taken apart stone by stone (24:2). James Jordan writes, “each time God brought judgment on His people during the Old Covenant, there was a sense in which an old heavens and earth was replaced with a new one: New rulers were set up, a new symbolic world model was built (Tabernacle, Temple), and so forth.” The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant with new leaders, a new priesthood, new sacraments, a new sacrifice, a new tabernacle (John 1:14), and a new temple (John 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:21). In essence, a new heaven and earth.

The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars, coupled with the shaking of the heavens (Matt. 24:29), are more descriptive ways of saying that “heaven and earth will pass away” (24:35). In other contexts, when stars fall, they fall to the earth, a sure sign of temporal judgment (Isa. 14:12; Dan. 8:10; Rev. 6:13; 9:1; 12:4). So then, the “passing away of heaven and earth” is the passing away of the old covenant world of Judaism led and upheld by those who “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8).

B. God’s Judgment is Fitting – 1:6,

“…God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you …”

This clause serves as the thesis sentence for all that follows. For the Thessalonian believers who are being persecuted by their fellow townspeople at the instigation of Jewish bands that tended to follow Paul wherever he went, God’s justice will take a twofold form: “affliction” for those who are “afflicting” you, and “rest” for you who are being “afflicted.” In God’s time, Paul adds at the end, when you do experience rest, it will be “along with us,” meaning Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

Although it is true that not all persecutors of the people of God are recipients of God’s retribution in this life, however many do feel the fire of judgment during their earthly sojourn.

One biblical example is that of King Herod. We read in Acts 12:1-2, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword…” Acts 12:21-24, “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied.” 

William Plummer, a great preacher from the 19^th century, records that “of thirty Roman Emperors, governors of provinces and others in high office, who distinguished themselves by their zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Christians, one became speedily deranged after some atrocious cruelty, one was slain by his own son, one became blind, the eyes of one started out of his head, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in miserable captivity, one fell dead in a manner that will not bear recital, one died of so loathsome a disease  that several of his physicians were put to death because they could not abide the stench that filled the room, two committed suicide, a third attempted it but had to call for help to finish the work, five were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, several of them having an untold complication of diseases, and eight were killed in battle or after being taken prisoner.”

Payday someday!

C. God’s Judgment is Fearful – 1:6, 8-9

The flaming fire referenced by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 is taken from the Old Testament. We read in Isaiah 66:15-16, “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. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many.”

Why was this fiery judgment called for? The Jewish religious leaders brought this judgment down on themselves when they were given the choice by Pilate to release Jesus. “Let Him be crucified! … Let Him be crucified! … His blood be on us, and on our children!” (Matt. 27:22–25). As the capstone of their self-malediction was their acknowledgment that Caesar was their king (John 19:15).

The Old Covenant or old system or old world was made obsolete and collapsing, because Jesus was replacing the shadows it pictured with the substance it promised – the Messiah. The problem was that the apostate Jews of the 1^st Century so sinfully and disgustingly loved their old ritualistic, dead, religious system, that they were willing to persecute and kill in order to preserve it. The Temple had to be destroyed so that it would not continue to denigrate the person and work of the Messiah.

The Jewish religious leaders persecuted the Church for 40 years. They continued to build the Temple until it was finally completed in AD 64-65. They offered animal sacrifices by the thousands; they maintained a high priest and the priestly order and observed the religious festivals – all in rebellion against God and in denial of the finished work of Jesus the Messiah. In AD 70 King Jesus destroyed Judaism, the Temple and the nation of Israel because He had brought in something better. He was the fulfilment of all its shadows and types. He destroyed it because the Jews clung to it while killing the Christ. He destroyed it because they mercilessly persecuted His Bride – the Church. And because they were declaring a false Gospel that would lead many to hell. Out of love God put them away, so there would be no rival Gospel to compete with His Gospel!

Jesus foretold the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple, with God's wrath poured out upon them (Matthew 23:36, 23:38). He predicted that not one stone would be left upon another (Matthew 24:2) and that Roman armies would turn the city into a smoldering pile of rubble (Luke 21:20). This horrific event would happen within a single generation (Matthew 24:34), fulfilling the prophecies with tens of thousands killed, and the city left in ruins.

D. God’s Judgment is Final – 1:9,

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

We saw in First Thessalonians 5 what was about to happen to that first century generation of believers and the Jews who were persecuting them. Look back and scan the chapter five, giving attention to audience contrasts: “they” and “you.” Also notice the parallel between 1 Thess. 5:3 and Matthew 24:8 (birth pangs), an obvious reference to that Apostolic generation (Matt. 24:34). Also, “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ … But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day” (1 Thess. 5:3-5). Who are the “you”? They were the Thessalonians who were warned about Jesus’ promised coming judgment that would change the covenant structure of the Bible – the end of the old and the initiation of the new. The “they” were the “scoffers” who were asking, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Pet. 3:4) 

The destruction of Jerusalem took place in A.D. 70, less than 20 years after Paul penned these words. This permanently stopped the persecution by Jews. The bloody siege of Jerusalem, led by the Roman general Titus, resulted in the destruction of the Temple, the total subjugation of the nation of Israel, and claimed perhaps a million lives, with an estimated 97,000 taken as prisoners of war and sold on the international slave market.

But there is a wider reference that would apply to people of every nationality and of every generation, and that is the Last return of Christ and the final Day of Judgement. Those who live as if there was no God, no judgement, no eternity, no heaven, and no hell, will discover too late that there is a PAYDAY SOMEDAY!

In this short verse (1:9) Paul compacted an eternity of horror! He explained the duration and extent of what is elsewhere in Scripture called "hell." First, it is forever; thus it is not a reversible experience. Second, destruction means ruin and does not involve annihilation, but a new state of conscious being which is significantly worse than the first (cf. Rev_20:14-15). John Stott describes it thus: 'The horror of this end will not be so much the pain which may accompany it as the tragedy which is inherent in it, namely that human beings made by God, like God, and for God, should spend eternity without God.'

The story is told of a godless American farmer who wrote to his local newspaper, “I have been conducting an experiment in one of my fields. I have plowed it on Sundays, sowed the seed on Sundays, watered and weeded it on Sundays, and gathered the harvest on Sundays, and I want to tell you that this October I have the finest crop of Indian corn in the whole neighborhood!

The editor published the letter but added this footnote: “God does not settle all his accounts in October!”

Payday Someday!