2 Thessalonians 1:4 - Homiletics

1 . Its nature. It denotes steadfast endurance. Negatively, not stoical endurance or apathetic fatalism. Positively, a spirit of calm submission to the providence of God and resignation to his will.

2 . Its source. It has its root in faith; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit; and it is combined with hope.

3 . Means of acquiring it. Pray to God as the Giver of patience; look to Christ as the Example of patience; submit to affliction as the cause of patience; cultivate faith as the support of patience; and meditate on heaven as the goal of patience.

2 Thessalonians 1:6 , 2 Thessalonians 1:7 . — A future state of retribution.

Rewards and punishments in this world are unequally distributed. The righteous are often persecuted and afflicted, whereas the wicked are often happy and prosperous. Herod sits upon the throne, and Christ expires on the cross. But this state of things shall be rectified. Christ shall recompense to the wicked tribulation—they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord; and he shall recompense to the righteous rest—they shall be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which they suffer.

2 Thessalonians 1:7 , 2 Thessalonians 1:8 .—The manner of Christ's second coming.

1 . He shall come in person. Not merely in spirit or in power, but in a visible form; he shall be revealed from heaven; every eye shall see him.

2 . He shall come in power. He shall be accompanied by the angels of his might, who shall execute his commands, call the dead from their graves, assemble together the elect, separate between the righteous and the wicked, and consign the wicked to the abodes of woe.

3 . He shall come in glory. "In flaming fire"—in the Shechinah, the cloud of glory.

4 . He shall come in justice; punishing the ungodly and rewarding his faithful servants.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 , 2 Thessalonians 1:10 . — The coming of Christ for judgment.

1 . Its reality. The difference between his first and second coming. Then he came to save the world, now he shall come to judge the world. Then he came as Son of man, now he shall come as Son of God.

2 . Its purpose. He shall come to award punishment to his enemies; they shall be forever banished from his presence, the Source of all happiness, the Author of all holiness. He shall come for the salvation of his people—to conquer all their enemies, to rescue their bodies from the grave, to acknowledge them as his before an assembled universe, and to receive them into the abodes of eternal happiness.

2 Thessalonians 1:10 , 2 Thessalonians 1:12 . — Christ glorified in his saints.

1 . By their holy conduct they display his character. His image is impressed upon them; they mirror forth the glory of the Lord.

2 . By their active exertion in well doing they advance his glory.

3 . Their future glorification is the glory of Christ. The glory of his work, in that he saved them; the glory of his grace, in that he redeemed them; the glory of his power, in that he has rescued them from all their enemies. Throughout eternity believers will be jewels in the Saviour's crown.