ࡱ> &(%@ Qjbjb ddQ l22222 > 2VVVVVVVVvxxxxxx, ~VVVVVVVVV"VVv$VvvvJ 22xRvvvAAvNotes on II Thessalonians 1 This second epistle to the Thessalonians was written not long after the first to comfort these young believers in their affliction, and to assure them that they were not in the Great Tribulation, even though they were suffering intense persecution. It was also written to remind them that the righteous God knew their plight and would one day repay their enemies and give them rest. In this epistle Paul speaks of the eternal doom of those who reject Christ, the rise and fall of the Anti-Christ and the Rapture of the church. Verses 4-5 To us the fact of suffering seems to deny, rather than to prove, that God is working out his righteous purpose. The N.T. does not look on suffering quite the same way as do most modern people. To us it is itself an evil, something to be avoided at all cost. Now while the N.T. doesnt gloss over this aspect of suffering it does not lose sight either of the fact that in the good providence of God suffering is often the means of working out Gods eternal purpose. It develops in the sufferer qualities of character. It teaches valuable lessons. Suffering is not thought of as something that may be avoided by the Christian. For him it is inevitable. He is ordained to it. He must live out his life and develop his Christian character in a world which is dominated by non-Christian ideas. His faith is not some fragile thing, to be kept in a kind of spiritual cotton wool, insulated from all shocks. It is robust. It is to be manifested in the fires of trouble, and in the furnace of affliction. And not only is it to be manifested there, but, in part at any rate, it is to be fashioned in such places. The very troubles and afflictions that the world heaps on the believer become, under God, the means of making him what he ought to be. Suffering, when we come to regard it in this light, is not to be thought of as evidence that God has forsaken us, but as evidence that God is with us. Such suffering is a vivid token of the presence of God. We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22 For you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Phil 1:29 Verses 7-9 The word rendered vengeance has no associations with vindictiveness. The word has the idea of a firm administration of unwavering justice. It is the inflicting of full justice on the criminal nothing more, nothing less. The immense seriousness of this thought should not be minimized. Those who oppose the things of God here and now are not engaged in some minor error which can easily be put right in the hereafter. They are engaging in that defiance of the will of God which has eternal consequences. Life here and now has a high and serious dignity. In particular, the facing up to the gospel invitation is a choice fraught with the most solemn and lasting consequences. *,-7 O[Q6CJCJCJ56CJ ,- %&Q ,- %&Q / =!"#$% i4@4NormalCJOJPJQJmH 4`4 Heading 1$@&5CJ<A@<Default Paragraph Font*B`* Body TextCJQ   zQ Q Q Q S 8:' $ S ::::::Brian Broderson^Macintosh HD:Users:brianbrodersen:Documents:Microsoft User Data:AutoRecovery save of Document1Brian BrodersonSMacintosh HD:Users:brianbrodersen:Documents:SERMONS:Notes on II Thessalonians 1.doc@N}WWQ @GTimes New Roman5Symbol3 Arial3Times qh+),,w!>0Notes on II Thessalonians 1Brian Broderson Oh+'0  0 < H T`hpx'Notes on II Thessalonians 1oteoteoteNormalnBrian Broderson1iaMicrosoft Word 10.1@ş@bh@hT@v j ՜.+,0 hp  'CalvaryChapelCostaMesas Notes on II Thessalonians 1 Title  !"#$'Root Entry F')1Table WordDocumentSummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjXObjectPool'' FMicrosoft Word DocumentNB6WWord.Document.8