The Place of Suffering in the Purposes of God [36:46m]:
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2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 [+/-]2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
[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-- [6]since indeed God
considers it just to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, [7]and to 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. [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. [11]To this end
we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of
his calling 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. (ESV)
Paul begins his second letter to the church in Thessalonica with a very strong commendation. This church is a great church. And we looked last Sunday at the marks of a great church. Paul cites three here: a great church is growing in faith. A great church is gracious in love and is persevering in faithfulness to the Lordship of Jesus in the face of persecutions and tribulations. In fact, Paul makes it very plain here that persecutions and tribulations are present in great churches and they constitute the core of what God uses to produce and to prove great churches. We can individualize this truth and speak of great Christians so long as we understand that there are no great Christians or Christians period apart from the church. Put simply, persecution and tribulation come to us from the hand of God to produce in us what God desires and to demonstrate that we really are who we say we are as the children of God.
Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!
Tags: church, Lordship of Jesus, persecution, suffering, tribulation
