LIVING IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S RETURN

2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

4 Therefore we ourselves 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.

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.

A vision of Christ’s future return shapes how we live now.

The persecution of believers is evidence of belonging. (1:4-5)

• Christianity isn’t an escape from suffering. It’s an invitation to suffering.

The return of Jesus brings final judgment and salvation. (1:6-10)

• The Bible doesn’t portray an unbelieving world in a uniform way.

• The Bible doesn’t portray God’s response to an unbelieving world in a uniform way.

• In the Gospels, we see God in flesh, opposing the proud and giving grace to the humble.

• Before we denounce evil too quickly, we must realize that, in our fallen condition, we’re on the inside of the

problem of evil, not the outside.

The mission of the Church necessitates divine empowerment. (1:11-12)

• He doesn’t just call us to walk in a manner

worthy of the call, he is making us worthy of the call!

The reward that awaits us is worth it all. (2:13-14)

• We can’t live in the light of the Day, if we never contemplate the Day.

Thanks Matt!!