Today is our second message in the book of 2 Thessalonians. And I want to take a minute before we get into the text of 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 to explain why I’m calling this series “Kingdom Come.” If you remember, I entitled the series on 1 Thessalonians, “Kingdom Called,” and that was based upon that key verse in 1 Thessalonians 2:12: “We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” The Kingdom was an important idea to Paul because it involved the rule and the reign of King Jesus. And Paul wanted the Thessalonians to walk in a manner worthy of King Jesus. The Holy Spirit wants that for us too here in San Antonio. 

Well, Paul’s message in 2 Thessalonians is very similar to 1 Thessalonians. Paul spends a lot of time talking in this letter about the coming of Christ’s Kingdom, what that will look like, how Christ will reward those who belong to his kingdom, and how he will punish those who reject Christ as King. So, I’ve called this series “Kingdom Come” because that’s what we anticipate as followers of Christ. That’s what we long for. That’s what we prepare for… Christ’s coming, Christ’s return. Jesus, if you remember, told us to pray for this in his prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9ff).

So that’s what 2 Thessalonians is about. That’s the theme of this book—the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. What’s 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12, our passage for today, about? We looked at 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4 last week. That was all about Paul complementing the Thessalonians for their faith, and for their love for one another, and for their endurance through suffering! What’s the back side of Chapter 1 about, verses 5-12? 

Well, it’s about what happens to those who believe and those who don’t believe in Christ at his coming. Paul makes a sharp contrast between those who know Christ and believe Christ, and those who reject him. And by the way, as throughout the Scriptures, you are either in one category or the other. There’s no third option. You are wheat or chaff. You are sheep or goat. You are part of Christ’s Kingdom, or you are enemies of his Kingdom. There’s no third option. 

And one of the things that Paul says in this passage is that God is making those who are part of his Kingdom worthy of his Kingdom. Even right now, Christ is preparing you. Paul says in verse 5,

5 This [that is, the suffering of Christians] 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— 

So, here’s my question for you, Verse By Verse Fellowship: Are you considered worthy of the Kingdom of God? Are you considered Kingdom worthy? Are you being made Kingdom ready? Let’s talk about that this morning. 

Go ahead and write this down as #1 in your notes. Paul says in verse 5 that… 

Those who are Kingdom worthy… 

1) Endure judgment now through suffering (1:5)

Now before we look more closely at verse 5, let me first address an objection that you might have. This is an instinct that all of you should have. You might say, “Pastor Tony, come on, none of us are ‘worthy’ of Christ’s Kingdom! None of us deserve the free gift of salvation. We deserve death and hell! It’s only by God’s grace that we are allowed to enter into his Kingdom!” If you are thinking that right now, let me just affirm you… that is 100% correct. Paul says in Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (2:8-9). 

2 Timothy 1:9 says similarly, “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus…” So yes, we are saved by grace. But here’s what Paul is saying in 2 Thessalonians. And he says this elsewhere too. He’s saying that as part of God’s grace in our lives he is making us Kingdom-worthy. Look at 2 Timothy 1:9 again. “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling…” This is part of our salvation. He’s making us Kingdom-worthy. He’s calling us to holiness and sanctification and… here’s a great word… Christlikeness. And as part of that process, Paul says in verse 5, we have to endure suffering. 

Paul says, look with me in your Bibles at verse 5…

5 This [the suffering of Christians] 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— 

Paul said in verse 4, we looked at this last week… “we 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.” And now he’s saying, “this,”—that is your persecution and afflictions and suffering— “this” is evidence of the righteous judgment of God. 

How is that evidence of God’s righteous judgment? How is the suffering of Christians in Thessalonica evidence of God’s righteous judgment? Well, those who follow Christ will suffer like Christ suffered. That’s clear in the NT. The Apostle Peter spoke of suffering in our day as an outworking of God’s judgment (1 Pet 4:12-19). And he said, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet 4:17).  

Jesus spoke similarly about the suffering that we will endure. We will be opposed by Satan. We will be opposed by the powers-that-be in this world. Also, we will suffer the same kinds of things that every other person suffers because we share in human sinfulness. We are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. So, we will get cancer and die, or we will get heart-disease and die. Men will work by the sweat of their brow. Women will experience pain in childbirth. etc. etc. This is an outworking of God’s judgment on our world because of human rebellion. But unlike the unbelievers of this world, our suffering will eventually come to an end. Our suffering will be redeemed, just like Jesus’s suffering was redeemed. Yes, Jesus suffered greatly, but then he was raised from the dead and now he sits at the right hand of God the Father. 

And here’s why this is practical. You might say, “Why do Christians get cancer? That’s not fair. We belong to Christ so we should escape that!” No, we will experience the judgment of the world that came about through our sin. And some of that involves painful death. Christ never promised us escape from that in this present world! 

You might say, “why do Christians in other parts of the world suffer martyrdom? Why are they persecuted? Why are Christians in our day in our country sometimes labelled bigots or closeminded or homophobic? Why doesn’t Christ save us from that? Why doesn’t he bring an asteroid down from the sky and obliterate anyone who insults a Christian, one of Christ’s own?” Well because Christ suffered persecution and affliction in this world, and we will too. That’s part of how Jesus is getting us Kingdom-ready and making us Kingdom-worthy!  

And by the way, there’s not always a one-to-one correlation between sin and consequences in this world. My brother-in-law and I were talking about this in Croatia once. Sometimes Christians sin and they are punished for their actions. This is part of God’s chastening. And if you as a Christian drink and drive or do something stupid that brings about something horrific in your life, then that’s simply cause and effect. You brought that upon yourself. But there are also times when Christians experience general judgment, because they are part of a fallen world. Why do some Christians get ALS and others don’t? Is that because they did something to deserve it? No. Not particularly. We all deserve it! We brought this on ourselves as human beings when we defied God in the Garden of Eden. And this is part of God’s plan to prepare us for eternity. 

And let me just give a little perspective on this. Yes, Christians will suffer in this world now! But would you rather suffer now, in this life, or for eternity? Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (4:17-18). D. Michael Martin, in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians writes, “Senseless, purposeless suffering is intolerable.” That’s true. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, our suffering is never purposeless, and therefore it is not intolerable. 

I know this is deep and heavy stuff right here. But we’ve got to reckon with this. This is important. And I wouldn’t be a faithful preacher of God’s Word if I hid these things from you. 

Go ahead and write this down as #2 in your notes. Here’s some really, really good news. Those who are Kingdom worthy… are going to… 

1) Endure judgment now through suffering (1:5)

But here’s the good news, they…

2) Escape judgment at Christ’s second coming (1:6-8) 

Look, I’ll be straight with you. I don’t want to suffer affliction. I don’t want to fight off Satan’s attacks in my life. I don’t want to be unliked in this present world. I like being liked. I want people to like me. I don’t want to die of cancer or heart disease. I don’t want to deal with dementia or Alzheimer’s. I don’t want to experience the pain of aging. But I’d rather deal with that now, than be on the wrong side of Christ at his second coming. 

Paul says in verse 6, 

6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 

Remember now, the Thessalonians were being persecuted. And maybe they had even asked Paul, “Why doesn’t Jesus defend us? Why doesn’t he afflict those who afflict us? Doesn’t he love us?” 

Similarly, we might say in our day, “Why doesn’t God just take out Satan right now? Why does he let him keep doing what he’s doing? Why doesn’t God just bring an asteroid from the sky and wipe out Kim Jung-Un or Muslim extremists? Why doesn’t he shut down all the Planned Parenthood clinics? Where is he? Isn’t God just?” Well, Paul says here, “soon enough, Christ will do just that. He will repay those who afflicted and persecuted Christians.” Nobody gets away with evil.

There’s an old saying that goes like this. Tell me if you’ve heard this before. “This world is the only heaven that unbelievers will ever know, and this world is the only hell that believers will ever experience.” Y’all heard that before? That’s true. And this passage is contrasting the temporary suffering of believers with the eternal suffering, the vengeance of the Lord Jesus, for unbelievers. 

And verse 7, “God will…

7 … grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 

8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 

Notice the two categories there at the end of verse 8. Everyone see that? There are 1) those who do not know God and there are 2) those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  In other words, those who haven’t heard, and those who have heard. Both stand guilty before God, and God will inflict vengeance on both. “What about those who haven’t heard, Pastor Tony?” Well according to this and Romans 1, they stand condemned before a righteous God. That’s because none of us deserve salvation. We all deserve God’s wrath, and it’s only a matter of God’s free offer of grace that some of us escape God’s vengeance. 

And let me clarify something for you. As Warren Wiersbe says, “The word vengeance must not be confused with revenge. The purpose of vengeance is to satisfy God’s holy law; the purpose of revenge is to pacify a personal grudge. God does not hold a grudge against lost sinners. Quite the contrary, He sent His Son to die for them, and He pleads with them to return to Him. But if sinners prefer to ‘know not God, and … obey not the Gospel’ (2 Thes. 1:8), there is nothing left for God to do but judge them.” 

Let me just ask you an important question right now, church. In fact, this is the most important question that anyone could ever ask you. I’m not exaggerating. Here’s the question: “Do you know God?” Not like, do you have a general knowledge about him? … do you know him personally? Has your relationship with him been reconciled due to your faith in Christ? Like Paul says here, have you obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus? 

Here’s another way to ask that question: When Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels attacking and destroying his enemies, are you going to be on the right side of that conflict? Are you going to be on the side of Jesus Christ and his angels? Or are you going to be on the side of the flaming fire and vengeance because you do not know God or obey the gospel? 

You might ask, what’s the gospel? What does obedience to the gospel of our Lord Jesus look like? Well, it means putting your faith in Jesus Christ and believing on his death as payment for your sin and his resurrection as victory over death. It means confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead, so that you might be saved (Rom 10:9). That’s the gospel. That’s the good news.

And I know how all this sounds. People might say, “I don’t like a God of judgment. I don’t like thinking about Jesus as someone who inflicts vengeance on people. I like a nice, sterile, unintimidating Jesus. You know, like Baby Jesus in a manger. That’s the Jesus I like!” Well, I hate to break it to you, that’s not the Jesus that’s revealed in Scripture… not at his second coming. Yes, Jesus is kind and compassionate and graciously offers us salvation, which we don’t deserve. In fact, he died for us. But if we don’t receive that grace… if we reject him… then we will feel the full weight of his vengeance. 

And by the way, let me say this. I know that a God of judgment is very unpopular in our day. But let me tell you, the only thing more terrifying than having a God of judgment, is not having a God of judgment. Do you know what I mean? What if there wasn’t a God to punish evildoers? What if people get away with horrible crimes and horrible sins, and they get away with it for eternity with total impunity? That’s terrifying! The idea that there’s no God and that there’s no judgment for human deeds… that’s frightening! It means people get away with evil, and nothing in this life means anything!

Go ahead and write this down as #3 in your notes. 

Those who are Kingdom worthy… 

2) Escape judgment at Christ’s second coming (1:6-8)

But also they…

3) Experience glory at Christ’s second coming (1:9-10)

Paul says, look at verse 9,

9 They will suffer 

That’s the “they” from verse 8, those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, 

Notice that punishment is eternal. It’s not annihilationism. There’s no purgatory either. According to the book of Revelation, the Lake of Fire will be the eternal abode of Satan and his demon hoard and all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior.

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

C.S. Lewis said once, “The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded.” He says, “I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” In other words, they have received what they have willfully chosen. To reject Jesus is to reject eternity with him. And eternity without Jesus is nothing less than eternal torment and misery.

Now, I don’t like talking about hell. I’d much rather talk about heaven and our eternity with Christ. That gets me fired up. But I hope you realize that you can’t talk about one without the other. You can’t embrace one truth and reject the other. They are two sides of the same coin. And that’s why Paul packages them together in this chapter. And Paul talks about this because he loves people, and he wants them to hear the truth. He loves them enough to not withhold these things from them. J.C. Ryle said once: “If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil.” 

The church father, John Chrysostom, called the fear of Hell “wholesome medicine.” He said, “If we always think of hell, we shall not soon fall into it. For this reason God has threatened punishment… the remembrance of it is able to work great good, for this reason He has put into our souls the terror of it, as a wholesome medicine. But do you fear the offensiveness of such words? Have you then, if you are silent, extinguished hell? Or if you speak of it, have you kindled it? … Let it be continually spoken of, that you may never fall into it.” 

If I could, let me just share something personal with you this morning. As most of you know, I got saved during a chapel service at my Christian school when I was a kid. And one of the reasons that I gave my life to Christ so many years ago was that I had a fear of hell. And I want you to know, it’s not wrong to have a fear of hell. It’s not wrong to instill a fear of hell in people. The pastor that preached the gospel to me so many years ago was not wrong to preach the truth about hell and to warn me accordingly. If hell truly exists, and the Bible says that it does, and if hell is the eternal destiny of those who reject Christ, which 2 Thessalonians says that it is, then the wrong thing to do would be to ignore it, or to minimize its existence, or deny it because it’s not culturally palatable in our day. 

Look, if I was the devil, the first thing that I would do is try to convince people that hell doesn’t exist. In my mind, that would be the most effective way to lead people away from Christ. And you know what? I’m afraid that Satan has been able to accomplish that in our day. And unfortunately, even among professing Christians, he’s been able to accomplish that.    

So, I came to Christ, at least in part, because I feared hell. I had that “wholesome medicine” that John Chrysostom speaks about. I had a fear of spending my eternity separated from God. But that’s not all I had. I also had a deep desire to know God and to be reconciled to God, and to live with God for eternity. 

And thankfully that is an essential part of the gospel too. In fact, those two things, like I said, are inseparably paired together. Because Paul says in verse 9,

9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.    

They will suffer punishment, according to verse 9. But we, verse 10… we will experience glory. Christ Jesus will be glorified in his saints. He will be marveled at among all those who have believed. 

Do you believe? Do you believe, Verse By Verse? Have you trusted Christ as your savior? If so, you will experience this glory at Christ’s coming. The Book of Revelation (19:11-20) speaks of what this will look like. This is the conclusion to Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan 9:24:27; cf. Matt 24:30-31), what we call the Great Tribulation, the seven-year period between the rapture and Christ’s triumphant coming when he sets up his millennial kingdom. 

The Apostle John says, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses” (Rev 19:11-14).

Now I wouldn’t take a bullet for this, but I actually think that we will be part of these armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen. I think we will be with Christ when he comes to pour out judgment. I can’t think of a better vantage point to marvel at Christ than as part of these armies. 

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords…. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur” (Rev 19:15-20). 

After that event, according to Revelation 20, Christ will set up his 1000-year reign which we refer to as the Millennial Kingdom. And then after that 1000-year reign, the old world will pass away, and a new heaven and new earth will be created. We will enter into the New Jerusalem for eternity and Christ will live among us and we will worship him and serve him forever (Rev 21-22). All of this awaits those who believe the gospel. All of this awaits those who, to use Paul’s language in 2 Thessalonians, believe the testimony concerning Christ.

And to that, you might say, “Ok Tony, that awaits us at Christ’s return. So, what do I do in the meantime? What does God want me to do right now as we wait for his return?” Well, here’s what Paul prays for us in verses 11-12. He prays that we would… 

4) Exhibit Christ’s grace and glory in [our] lives (1:11-12)

Those who are Kingdom worthy… 

1) Endure judgment now through suffering (1:5)

2) Escape judgment at Christ’s second coming (1:6-8)

3) Experience glory at Christ’s second coming (1:9-10)

4) Exhibit Christ’s grace and glory in their lives (1:11-12)

Here’s how Paul closes this passage. Actually, he closes with a reference to prayer. Verse 11 says…

11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling 

There’s that language again—God is making us worthy of his calling. We are Kingdom-called. We are being made Kingdom-worthy.

and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

So, here’s Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians while they await Christ’s return. He prays that God would make them worthy of his calling. He prays that Jesus may be glorified in their lives. Do you pray like that? “God, help me to be worthy of your calling! Help me to glorify Jesus Christ in my life. Help me to endure suffering! Help me represent Jesus well. Help me to wait patiently for his return.” Do you pray like that? We should.

Let me talk practically for just a second about glorifying Christ with our lives. How do we glorify the name of our Lord Jesus? Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians is that “the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you.” How might the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in us? Remember The Westminster Shorter Catechism? “Question: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” 

So how do we glorify him? Or let me ask it this way, because this is the verbiage of Paul’s prayer in verse 12. How might the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in our lives? I’ll give you three things and then we’re done. 

1)   We worship Jesus. We sing praises to him. We adore him. We magnify his name. It’s not for nothing that we gather once a week in this room to worship God just like Christians have done for 2,000 years. We do this because it’s right to do this. We do this to worship Christ, and it is right to worship Christ.  

2)   We testify about Jesus. We tell people about how he saved our souls. We don’t minimize the reality of hell because that’s part of the gospel and part of God’s grace. Jesus saved us from hell. We don’t talk with greater enthusiasm about sports or about the weather or about politics than we do Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with talking about sports and politics. But our talk about Jesus should be more passionate and more engaging and more—can I use this word?—scintillating than our talk about any other subject. And as part of that testimony, we pray. We pray like John Newton prayed…

Lord, open sinners’ eyes,

Their awful state to see;

And make them ere the storm arise,

To thee for safety flee. 

3)   We live lives like Jesus. We call this Christlikeness. We imitate Christ. I know, I know… Christ was sinless. Christ was the perfect embodiment of godly character and godly virtues… of course, because Christ is God. So, we’ll never perfectly imitate him. But we struggle to approximate him. We put to death the deeds of the flesh. We pursue holiness like a dog pursues a bone. And we endure suffering with grace and with patience, knowing that if we share in his suffering, we will also share in his glory (Rom 8:17). 

And soon enough, hopefully very soon, Jesus will return. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. Pray with me.