2nd THESSALONIANS - Chapter 1
2nd Thess 1:1 “Paul, and Silvanus [Silas], and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:” (KJV)
1:1 Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: (Amplified Bible)
A. Paul:
a. Paul, judged by the influence he has exerted in the world, is one of the greatest characters in all history. He is pre-eminent not only as a missionary, but as a marvelous thinker and writer. "He was a personality of vast power, force, and individuality." There are some men who seem to be born and prepared to do a large work for the world; Paul makes the impression upon those who carefully read the record of his life that he stands first in this class of men. The Work of the Apostle. -- As John the Baptist preceded Christ and prepared the way for His coming, so Paul succeeded Christ and went throughout the heathen world proclaiming that the Christ had come, and calling upon all men, Jews and Gentiles, to repent and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. So wide was his work as a missionary of the cross, and an interpreter of the Christ, that a certain class of critics have sought to make him the creator of Christianity, as we know it; a position which Paul would be the first to repudiate. He sought of himself, before he was apprehended by Christ on the way to Damascus, to drive Christianity from the face of the earth. +The Leading Thought+ in Paul's mind, after his conversion, was personal devotion to Christ; this was the mainspring of every act. He said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me": (Gal.2:20). "For me to live is Christ" (Phil.1:21). In his letters to the churches which he founded, there are found no picturesque descriptions of cities or of scenery; his one thought is to make known the Christ. He says, writing to the Corinthian church, "and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor.2:1, 2). In the evangelization of the heathen world, for which task he had been set apart by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2) and which he had accepted with all his heart, it is not only his leading, but his only thought to make known Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To miss this supreme purpose of Paul in the study of his life is to miss its whole significance (Phil.2:1-11; Col.1:12-20). (Henry T. Sell)
b. He does not call himself "an apostle,"
i. not because the Thessalonians were newly converted (Chrysostom), or from tenderness to Silvanus who was not an apostle (Estius), or because his apostolic authority was not yet recognized (Jowett), or because he had merely commenced his apostolic labors (Wordsworth); but because his apostleship had never been called in question by the Thessalonians. For the same reason he omits this title in the Epistle to the Philippians; whereas he strongly insists upon it in his Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, because among them there were many opposed to his authority. (PC)
ii. There was no need to add “Apostle” to the name of Paul, in writing to a Church with which his relations were so familiar and so cordial: it is probably omitted for the same reason in the Epistle to the Philippians and in that to Philemon. (Ellicott Comm) They only spent 3 weeks ministering 3 sabbaths in the synagogue.
B. Silvanus. The same as the Silas of the Acts. He is mentioned as a chief man among the brethren, and a prophet or inspired teacher (Act_15:22, Act_15:32). His Latin name renders it probable that he was a Hellenistic Jew, and, like Paul, he was a Roman citizen (Act_16:37). He was sent with Judas Barsabas from Jerusalem, to convey the apostolic decrees to Antioch; and he accompanied Paul instead of Barnabas on his second missionary journey (Act_15:40). He suffered imprisonment with Paul at Philippi; and was engaged with him in preaching the gospel in Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth. His ministry at Corinth is honorably mentioned by Paul in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2Co_1:9). After this there is no more mention of Silvanus in the Acts, and it is doubtful whether he was the Silvanus by whom the First Epistle of Peter was conveyed to the Churches of Asia (1Pe_5:12). Ancient tradition, erroneously supposing that Silas and Silvanus were different persons, makes Silas the Bishop of Corinth, and Silvanus the Bishop of Thessalonica. (Pulpit Comm.)
C. Timotheus. The well-known disciple of Paul. He was a native of Lystra, having a Greek father and a Jewish mother (Act_16:1). He joined Paul and Silas on their second missionary journey at Lystra, and was with them in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. He was with Paul on his third missionary journey, and was sent by him on a mission to Macedonia and Corinth (Act_19:22; 1Co_16:10), and accompanied him into Asia on his last journey to Jerusalem (Act_20:4). He was also with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment, when he wrote the Epistles to the Philippians and Colossians (Php_1:1; Col_1:1). Afterwards he resided at Ephesus (1Ti_1:3); from which he was recalled to Rome by Paul shortly before his martyrdom (2Ti_4:21). The last mention of Timothy is in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you" (Heb_13:23). According to ecclesiastical tradition, he became Bishop of Ephesus, and there suffered martyrdom. Silvanus and Timotheus are associated with Paul in his address to the Thessalonians, not to give weight and authority to his Epistle, but because they assisted him in the planting of the Church at Thessalonica, and were now with him at Corinth, when he was writing this Epistle. Silvanus is placed first, because he was the older and had been longer with the apostle, and, as is evident from the Acts, was at this time the more important of the two (Act_16:19; Act_17:4). By being included in the address, they are represented as joint authors of the Epistle with Paul, although they were only so in name. It is possible that Paul employed one of them as his amanuensis in writing the Epistle. Unto the Church. The word "Church" denotes a select assembly; here, Christians selected from the world. It does not denote in the New Testament, as with us, a building, but the congregation. In Paul’s later Epistles, those addressed are called, not the Church, but saints. Of the Thessalonians. In other Epistles the address is to the city, as Rome, Philippi, Colosse; here it is to the inhabitants. The Church of the Thessalonians was chiefly composed of converted Gentiles, with a small number of converted Jews (see Introduction). Which is; to be omitted, as not being in the original. In God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The characteristic peculiarity of the Church: they are in God and Christ, that is, in fellowship with them, united to them. "In God the Father" characterizes them as not being heathens; "in the Lord Jesus Christ" characterizes them as not being Jews. Grace be unto you, and peace. The usual apostolic benediction. "Grace" is the Greek and" peace" is the Jewish form of salutation. The Greeks commenced their epistles with wishing grace for those to whom they wrote; and the usual form of salutation among the Jews was Shalom or "peace;" the apostle combines them, thus intimating that both Greeks and Jews are one in Christ Jesus. In the Pastoral Epistles and in the Second Epistle of John the form is "Grace, mercy, and peace" (2Jn_1:3.), and in the Epistle of Jude it is "Mercy, peace, and love" (Jud_1:2). From God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. These words are wanting in some important manuscripts, and are omitted in the R.V. The preponderance, however, of external authority is in their favor. (PC)
Paul’s openings of the letters in Thess. 1 – 2 are very similar.
1 Thess. 1:1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2nd Thess 1:1 “Paul, and Silvanus [Silas], and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:” (KJV)
2nd Thess 1:2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:2 Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A. The same three individuals are the same in both letters letting us know that they had continued their work together.
B. The salutation is almost word for word except in 1 Thess., the statement after the names of the workers includes God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ twice and in 2nd Thess. it is spread over two verses.
C. Here in the second verse Paul repeats himself from the first verse in 2nd Thess.: “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:” This means what is being said is absolutely important.
D. The one living and true God, in whom they have believed, whose children they are become, and whom they acknowledge and worship as their God and Father, thereby distinguishing themselves from the idolatrous heathen; and in the Lord Jesus Christ — Whom they also believe in, adore, and serve, as the Son of the Father, and their Redeemer and Savior, thereby distinguishing themselves from Jews. The expression also implies that they had union and communion with God and Christ. (Joseph Benson Comm)
E. Which is in God the Father; not as the Son of God is in the Father, to be one substance and essence with him; nor as the human nature is in the Divine nature of Christ, to be one person with the Father; but it imports either their forsaking false gods and joining themselves to the worship of the true God, as in 1Th 1:9, ye turned from idols to serve the living and true God; called therefore in a distinction from them: (Matthew Poole’s Comm.)
F. God the Father: or else their worshipping God according to the revelation made of him in the gospel, where he is called Father. But in a sense differing from what Plato or Homer, and other heathens, understood when they called the chief God, Father; either with respect to their inferior deities, of whom they styled him Father, or the works of creation proceeding from him as his offspring. And their being in him may yet imply more than this; which is their being joined to God in covenant, as their God and Father; and so believing in him, established upon him as their foundation, and as their center resting in him. It may also further imply their union and communion with God through the Spirit, whereby the saints are said to abide in God, and to dwell in him, and he in them, 1Jo 2:27,28, yea, to be in him who is the true God, 1Jo 5:20. (Matthew Poole’s Comm.)
G. And in the Lord Jesus Christ; these two are put together, because there is no access to God the Father, no true worship of him, no union or communion with him, and so no being in him, but through Jesus Christ. And by both they might see the blessed state they were now brought to by the gospel; being before strangers to God the Father and Jesus Christ, but now in them. And though being in God the Father is first mentioned, yet in the order of nature we are first in Christ, and through him in God the Father. And the apostle the rather asserts this of them, because the gospel came to them not in word only, but in power. And hereby he gives them the character of a true church of Christ, what it is, at least what it ought to be; for to be in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, imports more than literal knowledge, dogmatical faith, or outward profession. (Matthew Poole’s Comm.)
H. Grace be unto you, and peace; this the apostle calls his salutation with his own hand, which is my token, saith he, in every epistle, so I write, 2Th 3:17. Read 1Co 1:3 2Co 1:2, &c. And under the Old Testament the Jew's usual salutation was: Peace be to you; under the New it is: Grace and peace. Peace comprehends all blessings; and grace or favor, the spring out of which they flow. The grace of God is now said to have appeared and to shine forth, Tit 2:2, and the church of God to be blest with all spiritual blessings, Eph 1:3; so that now the apostle Paul salutes the churches with grace and peace; and the apostle Peter adds: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, 2Pe 1:2. Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied, Jud 1:2. Or if we take grace for grace inherent in us, as sometimes it is taken; and peace for the inward tranquility of mind, heart, and conscience; the text may bear it. Yet the former rather meant to you, to you that are in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ: not to infidels out of the church; grace to you, and peace.
(Matthew Poole’s Comm.)
2nd Thess. 1:3 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;
1:3 We ought always and indeed are morally obligated [as those in debt] to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith is growing ever greater, and the [unselfish] love of each one of you toward one another is continually increasing.
A. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren.—The thanksgiving is regarded as a positive debt incurred, which it would be a dishonesty not to pay. (Ellicott Comm.)
B. Because.—This assigns the reason for saying that it was “meet,” and does not merely follow after “thank God:” in which case, the words “as it is meet” would have been rather weak, as containing no more than is involved in “we are bound.” The best paraphrase would be: “We feel the obligation to give thanks for you; and, in point of fact, it is but meet that we should, because,” &c. (Ellicott Comm.)
C. Groweth exceedingly.—An enthusiastic word in the original: “is out-growing all bounds.” It is a metaphor from vegetable or animal growth. This was one of the very points about which St. Paul was anxious the last time that he had written: then there were deficiencies in their faith (1Thessalonians 3:10). (Ellicott Comm.)
D. A faith which is strong. It is the mark of the advancing Christians 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 a stage when to the thrill of Christian experience he adds the discipline of Christian thought. (William Barclay)
a. If Satan can put us into difficult circumstances, he may be able to weaken our faith. (Warren W. Wiersbe)
b. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. (W. W. W.)
c. One of the best weapons for fighting Satan is praise. In spite of Job’s pain, he was able to say “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” (W. W. W.)
E. Charity.—Here, too, St. Paul remembers what he had said to them in the last Epistle, in which he had devoted a whole section to the love of the brethren “toward each other.” “Of every one of you all” is a very noticeable expression, as showing the individual solicitude of the Apostles for their converts. Just as the apostolic instructions were given to each Christian privately (1Thessalonians 2:11), so news has been brought how each several Christian is progressing. The differences which had called forth such passages as 1Thessalonians 3:12; 1Thessalonians 4:6-10; 1Thessalonians 5:12-14, had apparently all ceased, and mutual love was multiplying. (Ellicott Comm.)
F. 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. (William Barclay)
2nd Thess. 1:4 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:
1:4 Therefore, we speak of you with pride among the churches of God for your steadfastness [your unflinching endurance, and patience] and your firm faith in the midst of all the persecution and [crushing] distress which you endure.
A. So that we ourselves. "We"—Paul and Silas and Timothy, the founders of the Church of Thessalonica. "We ourselves," not merely we of our own accord (Hofmann), but we as well as our informants, who brought us this intelligence of the increase of your faith and love. (Pulpit Comm.)
B. Glory in you in the Churches of God; that is, in those Churches with which we come in contact; namely, the Church at Corinth and the Churches in Achaia. It would appear from this that several Churches had been founded in Achaia, as, for example, the Church of Cenchrea (Rom_16:1). (Pulpit Comm.)
C. For your patience and faith; not to be weakened as a Hebraism for "your patient faith," or "for the patience of your faith;" nor is faith to be taken in the sense of faithfulness or fidelity (Lunemann); but, as in the previous verse, it denotes "faith in Christ." Patience is steadfast endurance, which, in order to be of any value in the sight of God, must be combined with faith; stoical endurance is not here nor anywhere else inculcated in Scripture.
D. In all your persecutions and tribulations—afflictions—that ye endure; or, are enduring; the persecution which arose when Paul was at Thessalonica being continued. The patience and faith of the Thessalonians shone the more brilliantly amid persecution and affliction, even as the stars shine brightest in the dark night. To be a true Christian in the time of peace is a great matter; but to be a true Christian in the season of persecution is a greater; faith is then tested in the furnace.
a. God never wastes suffering. Trials work for us, not against us. If we trust God and yield to Him, then trials will produce patience and maturity in our lives. If we rebel and fight our circumstances, the we will remain immature and impatient. God permits trials that He might build character into our lives. He can grow a mushroom overnight, but it takes many years—and many storms—to build a mighty oak. You do not become patient and persevering by reading a book or listen to a lecture. (W. W.)
b. An easy life can lead to a shallow faith. The great men and women of Hebrews Chapter 11 all suffered in one way or another, or faced tremendous obstacles, so their faith could grow. (W. W. W.)
2nd Thess. 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
1:5 This is a positive proof of the righteous judgment of God [a sign of His fair verdict], so that you will be considered worthy of His kingdom, for which indeed you are suffering.
A. 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. (Chuck Smith)
B. 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. (C. S.)
C. 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. (C. S.)
D. 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. (C. S.)
E. 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. (C. S.)
No matter how difficult their present circumstances may have been, the Thessalonian believers had a secure and glorious future. In fact, their sufferings were evidence, “a manifest token,” that God was righteous, working out His great for them. We are prone to think that suffering proves God does not care, when just the opposite is true. Furthermore, the way we act in times of trial proves to other that God was at work. (W. W. W.)
As Christians, we must live for eternity and not just for the present. In fact, living “with eternity’s values are in view” is what makes our Christians life meaningful today. We walk by faith, not by sight. (W. W. W.)
2nd Thess. 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
1:6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with distress those who distress you,
A. One day Jesus Christ will turn the tables and the wicked will suffer while the believers are rewarded. (W. W. W.)
a. Eccl. 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
b. Col. 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
B. seeing it is a righteous thing—This justifies the assertion above of there being a "righteous judgment" (2Th 1:5), namely, "seeing that it is (literally, 'if at least,' 'if at all events it is') a righteous thing with (that is, in the estimation of) God" (which, as we all feel, it certainly is). Our own innate feeling of what is just, in this confirms what is revealed. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Comm.)
C. recompense—requite in kind, namely, tribulation to them that trouble you (affliction to those that afflict you); and to you who are troubled, rest from trouble. (JFB)
2nd Thess. 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
1:7 and to give relief to you who are so distressed and to us as well when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire,
A. And to you who are troubled - That is, “it will be a righteous thing for God to give to you who are persecuted rest in the last day.” As it will be right and proper to punish the wicked, so it will he right to reward the good. It will not, however, be in precisely the same sense. (Albert Barnes)
B. Rest with us.
a. Why “with us”? It shows sympathy in their present trials, for it implies that the writers themselves had earned or were earning (see Acts 18:12) that rest by the like trials. The word “rest” (or relaxation) is the opposite of the “strain” at which the persecution kept them. Such “rest” is not to be expected in its fulness till the judgment day. (Ellicott)
b. The future happiness of believers is often represented under the image of rest. It is rest like that of the weary laborer after his day of toil; rest, like that of the soldier after the hardships of a long and perilous march; rest, like the calm repose of one who has been racked with pain; see the notes on Heb_4:9. The word “rest” here (a?´?es?? anesis) means a letting loose, a remission, a relaxation; and hence composure, quiet; 2Co_2:12; 2Co_7:5. (AB)
C. From heaven.—St. Paul seems to delight in calling attention to the quarter from which “the Lord Jesus” (the human name, to show His sympathy with trouble) will appear. (See 1Thessalonians 1:10, 1Th_4:16.) (Ellicott)
a. 1 Thess. 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
b. 1 Thess. 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
D. With his mighty angels.—Literally, with the angels of His power—i.e., the angels to whom His power is entrusted and by whom it is administered. The angels do not attend merely for pomp, but to execute God’s purposes. (See Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:49; Matthew 24:31.) (Ellicott)
Jude 1:14 “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
2nd Thess. 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1:8 dealing out [full and complete] vengeance to those who do not [seek to] know God and to those who ignore and refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus [by choosing not to respond to Him].
A. In flaming fire
a. This is a circumstance which is not noticed in the account of his appearing in the parallel place in 1Th_4:16. The object of the apostle here seems to be to represent him as coming amidst vivid flashes of lightning. He is commonly described as coming in clouds, and to that common description there is here added the image of incessant lightnings, as if the whole heavens were illuminated with a continued blaze. (AB)
b. In thunder and lightning, taking vengeance - inflicting just punishment on them that know not God. - the heathen who do not worship the true God, and will not acknowledge him, but worship idols; and on them that obey not the Gospel - the Jews, particularly who have rejected the Gospel, and persecuted Christ and his messengers; and all nominal Christians who, though they believe the Gospel as a revelation from God, yet do not obey it as a rule of life. (Adam Clarke)
B. On them that know not God.
a. On all who are strangers to him; that is, who are living in pagan darkness, or who, having heard of him, have no practical acquaintance with him. (AB)
b. The heathen who do not worship the true God, and will not acknowledge him, but worship idols; and on them that obey not the Gospel - the Jews, particularly who have rejected the Gospel, and persecuted Christ and his messengers; and all nominal Christians who, though they believe the Gospel as a revelation from God, yet do not obey it as a rule of life. (Adam Clarke)
2nd Thess. 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
1:9 These people will pay the penalty and endure the punishment of everlasting destruction, banished from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
A. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction — Not the annihilation, but the perversion and utter ruin of all their powers of body and mind, so that those powers become instruments of torment and sources of misery to them in all possible ways. As there can be no end of their sins, (the same enmity against God continuing,) so neither of their punishment: sin and its punishment running parallel through eternity itself. They must of necessity therefore be cut off from all good, and all possibility of it. (Joseph Benson)
B. From the presence of the Lord — Wherein chiefly consists the salvation and felicity of the righteous. What unspeakable punishment is implied even in falling short of this, supposing that nothing more were implied in the punishment here spoken of! But this phrase, (JB)
C. Destruction from the presence, or face, of the Lord, as Bishop Hopkins justly observes, expresses not only that they shall be expelled from that joy and glory which reigns in the presence of God and of Christ, but that his presence shall appear active in the infliction of their punishment, so that they shall find his wrath issuing forth like lightning to appall and torment their spirits, while his power glorifies itself in their ruin and misery. (JB)
2nd Thess. 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
1:10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day [that is, glorified through the changed lives of those who have accepted Him as Savior and have been set apart for His purpose], and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed and trusted [and confirmed in your lives].
A. When; defining the period when this judgment of the wicked will occur. (Pulpit Comm.)
B. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints — For his wonderful glory shall shine forth in them, and he will manifest the greatness of his power in rendering them glorious; (JB)
C. and to be admired in all them that believe — With respect to the efforts of his almighty power and love for their complete salvation. Or, they shall be filled with wonder at what is done by Christ for and upon them, so far exceeding their most sanguine expectation. (JB)
D. Because our testimony, &c. — As if he had said, I reckon you of this number because of the credit which you gave to our preaching. (JB)
E. In that day.—Added at the end to make the readers look once more (as it were) upon the wonderful sight on which the writer’s prophetic eyes were raptly fixed. (Ellicott)
2nd Thess. 1:11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
1:11 With this in view, we constantly pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of your calling [to faith] and with [His] power fulfill every desire for goodness, and complete [your] every work of faith,
A. We pray –
a. that our God would count you worthy - It is our earnest prayer that God would make you worthy, a???s??, afford those continual supplies of grace by his Holy Spirit, without which you cannot adorn your holy vocation; you are called into the Christian Church, and, to be proper members of this Church, you must be members of the mystical body of Christ; and this implies that you should be holy, as he who has called you is holy. (Adam Clarke)
b. We not only give you these assurances regarding this great future event, but in our prayers it is present to our thoughts, showing us more distinctly what you need to make you partakers of its glory. (Popular NT)
c. Not only observe the above things to your comfort, to support you under sufferings, but we add our prayers, and not only now, but always, that you may be among them in whom Christ will be glorified and admired; in order to which we most sincerely pray,
B. That our God would count you worthy of this calling. This is the matter of his prayer, but blended, as Ellicott remarks, with the purpose of making it. The calling to which Paul refers is that destiny of the saints which he has just been describing. ‘Calling’ is here used, as it so commonly is in our familiar use of the word, for that to which a person is called, precisely as ‘hope’ is used not only of the sentiment within us, but also of the object which excites it. Of course no man is, strictly speaking, worthy of such a destiny. Had it been a mare matter of justice, such a prayer as this of Paul’s would have been inappropriate if not impertinent. But while it is by God’s grace any one is counted worthy, there is a corresponding conduct looked for and required in those who are visited by this grace. There is a ‘walking worthy of this vocation.’ Our Lord warns us (Luk_21:36) that watching and praying are needed if we are to be counted worthy; and we know that by a law of His kingdom, increased grace is given only to those who have rightly used what has already been bestowed. All this work, however, in and by the Christian is, as Paul here reminds us, ‘according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Popular NT)
C. Fulfil all the good pleasure of goodness and the work of faith. As the second member of this double petition certainly refers to the faith of the Thessalonians, it is probable that the first member of it likewise refers to the goodness of the Thessalonians. And this is confirmed by the circumstance that the word here translated ‘goodness’ is never used of the goodness of God, but always of that of men. The word rendered ‘good pleasure’ is that which Paul uses when he says, ‘My heart’s desire for Israel is, that they may be saved,’ and is commonly used for desire, especially (though not always) when the desire is a benevolent one. The prayer of Paul therefore is, that God would powerfully bring to complete and satisfactory result every desire or purpose which their goodness of heart engendered, or more probably would so increase their goodness as to make these desires themselves perfect, irrespective of their results, and would enable them to maintain and perfect that activity and endurance to which faith had prompted them. His mind still dwells on the two grand graces which the Thessalonians had displayed, their ‘work of faith and labor of love’ (1Th_1:3), and for these two graces he now begs completion. (Popular NT)
D. And the work of faith with power; faith is not only an operative grace; see Gill on 1Th_1:3 and is attended with good works; but it is a work itself, not of man's, for he cannot produce it in himself, nor exercise it of himself; but it is the work of God, of his operation which he works in his people; it has not only God for its object, and therefore the Arabic version reads, "the work of faith on him"; but it has God for its author: and this now, though it had grown exceedingly in these believers, was not as yet fulfilled or perfect; something was still lacking in it; wherefore the apostle prays that he who was the author would be the finisher of it: and this will be done "with power"; not of man's, for this work is neither begun, nor carried on, nor will it be finished by the might and power of men; but the same hands which laid the foundation of it, raise it up, carry it on, and give the finishing stroke to it; it is done by the power of God, and so the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "by his own power": which is greatly displayed in the production of faith at first; for a poor sensible sinner, in a view of all his sins, and the just deserts of them, to venture his soul on Christ alone for salvation; for a man to go out of himself and renounce his own righteousness, and trust to the righteousness of Christ for his justification before God, and acceptance with him, is owing to the exceeding greatness of God's power to them that believe; and the same power is seen in enabling faith to do the things it does; see Heb_11:1 and in encouraging, supporting, and maintaining it under the most difficult circumstances, as in the case of Abraham; and to make it stand fast under the severest persecutions, and at the hour of death, and in the view of an awful eternity, when it receives its full completion. (John Gill)
2nd Thess. 1:12 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.
1:12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you [by what you do], and you in Him, according to the [precious] grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - That is, that the Lord Jesus himself may be honored among you; the name often denoting the person. The idea is that the apostle wished that the Lord Jesus might be honored among them by the fair application and development of the principles of his religion. (Albert Barnes)
B. And ye in him - That you may be regarded and treated as his friends when he shall come to judge the world. (AB)
C. According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ - That is, that you may experience all the honor which his grace is fitted to impart. (AB)
