2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
1Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12We pray this 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.
St. Paul mentions Silas and Timothy in his opening remarks...Paul worked with both men...He travels with Silas and is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles written by St. Luke...Paul sets out with Silas strengthening the churches in Syria and Cilicia...Silas and Paul go on to Derbe and then on to Lystra and meet up with Timothy...Timothy and his mother, a Jewess and a believer, live in Lystra...Timothy's father is a Greek (Acts 15:39-40, 16:1)...
St. Paul offers grace and peace to the Thessalonians from God the Father, and the LORD Jesus Christ...He offers them truth and thanks God for the growing faith and growing love of the Thessalonians...The Thessalonians were facing persecutions and trials...In the early Christian Churches and early Christian believers were persecuted by zealous nonbelievers...In fact, Paul, who was a Pharisee, persecuted the early church before his conversion...Paul boasts about the church's persecution and tribulations...
God is just..He gives His grace to those are suffering righteously...God will give relief to the righteous...He will pay back trouble to those who cause trouble...God will punish those who do not know Him and the gospel of our LORD Jesus...They will be punished everlastingly and be shut out from the presence of the LORD...On the day of His second coming believers will marvel at His glory, as He embraces His holy people...Because we know He is coming again, we should constantly be in prayer...By praying this, we know that the name of our LORD Jesus may be glorified in us and us in Him, according to the grace of God and the LORD Jesus Christ...
St. Paul's introduction is a good lesson...Our lives will have times of trials...There will be problems in our lives...At times we may be persecuted...Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil things because of Me (Matthew 5:11)...This persecution reinforces our belief in Him...This specific suffering does not come from man or earth, but comes from our belief in Jesus...He is the reason for this type suffering and tribulation...This is a different type of pain that we suffer...This is not a normal ache, pain, or grief from this world...
We will suffer hardships and persecutions in this life...But our faith and love can still grow during these times...During times of tribulations, we need to be constant in our prayers...God, who is full of grace, will reward those who believe in the truth and seek Him in their lives...