When God Balances the Books

His prayer includes two specific requests: First, he prayed that God would consider them "worthy of His calling" (1:11a). This is not the first time that we heard Paul pray in this way (1:5; 1 Thess 2:12). As we have discovered, God uses every circumstance, even our sufferings and afflictions, to prepare us for future glory. Our faithfulness in affliction and steadfast hope in trials reveals the genuineness of our faith. So we demonstrate our worthiness of His calling by passionately pursuing God regardless of our circumstances. We do not prove ourselves worthy of His calling in order to be saved, but are proved worthy because we are saved. Stated another way, through the progressive sanctification of God's Spirit, He transforms those who belong to Him into the likeness of Christ and thus reveals their worthiness to bear God's name and enjoy God's kingdom (see comments at 1 Thess 5:23b).

Paul's second request is that by His "power" God would "fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith" (1:11b). The word fulfill means "accomplish or bring to its proper end." Paul is asking God to complete the work that He began in them at their conversion (see Phil 1:6). This prayer is for their ongoing sanctification.

207This is no perfunctory prayer. The depth of his requests for the Thessalonian Christians should challenge us to pray in like manner for others. His prayer went well beyond the superficial "Bless my church" requests that are all too common among God's people. He knew that the stakes were high for these young Christians. So instead of asking God to remove them from their danger, He asked God to keep them faithful in their suffering, grounded in their faith, and steadfast in their work. Through his prayer, Paul not only provides us with a pattern for how to pray for the churches, but he also reveals the kind of prayer that is consistent with God's will. When we make God's passion our passion, we can be confident that He will hear us when we pray. King David knew this when he wrote, "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act" (Ps 37:4-5). Jesus stated it this way: "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you" (John 15:7).

What then is God's ultimate goal for His church until Jesus returns? Paul says it is "so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1:12). What a marvelous thought! Jesus Christ is glorified by the faithful work that His people do for Him; and the church is glorified by the faithful work that Jesus Christ does by His grace in them. Gordon Fee perfectly sums up the main point of Paul's prayer:

2 THESSALONAINS 1:6, 8-9

The story is told of a time when the Viceroy of Naples was visiting Spain. While visiting a harbor, he noticed a group of convicts aboard a large galley ship. As punishment for their crimes, these men were required to pull the oars of the ship. Curious as to what crimes these convicts 208committed, the Viceroy went aboard and asked each of them to tell him his story. One man begrudgingly said that a corrupt judge was bribed to convict him. Another said that his enemies framed him by paying people to bear false witness against him. Still another said that he was falsely accused by a case of mistaken identity. One after another, the convicts explained why they were innocent and deserved to be set free. Arriving at the last man on board and expecting to hear the same story, the Viceroy was shocked to hear the man exclaim, "I'm here because I deserve to be. I am a thief and a criminal. I committed a crime and I deserve my just punishment." Upon hearing this, the Viceroy shouted to the captain, "How have you allowed this one wicked criminal to be in the presence of all of these innocent men? Release him immediately, lest he corrupt the others!"

Human beings have such a difficult time admitting guilt. From our earliest years as a child to our later years in adulthood, we have an innate tendency to claim our innocence even when we know that we are guilty. No matter how guilty we may be, we will always be able to find an appropriate excuse to legitimize why we did what we did. Over and against this reluctance to be honest about our sin is the reality of a coming day of judgment when God will call the world to ultimate accountability. While the redeemed people of God will receive relief and rest on that judgment day, the fate of the ungodly will be much different. Paul details the fate of the ungodly by pointing to three aspects of God's judgment with language that is direct and vivid: it is just, it is fearful, and it is final.

Both the hope of life with Christ in heaven and the horror of separation from Him in hell are wrapped up in the justice of God. Paul writes, "It is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to reward with rest you who are afflicted" (1:6; emphasis added). God's justice demands that He will always do what is fitting and right. Thus God is completely consistent when He promises to reward the righteous with rest and the unrighteous with judgment. A. W. Tozer explains,

So then, given the fact that all human beings are sinful, how can a just God reward one person and judge another? Understanding His purpose in sending Jesus Christ is the key to answering this question.

God does not set His justice aside when He redeems sinners. If God sacrificed His justice to pardon a sinner, then He would no longer be God. But through the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross, God provided a way to show mercy without doing away with His justice. Though all human beings stand guilty before God's perfect holiness, by His mercy He graciously offers them forgiveness and redemption through the death of Jesus Christ. Concerning this, Paul writes,

The most significant issue then for all human beings revolves around the question, What will you do with Jesus? A. W. Tozer explains further,

Hence, those who accept God's offer of salvation through Christ receive the reward of God's justice—salvation and the promise of eternal rest 210(1:7a); those who reject God's offer also receive the reward of God's justice—judgment and the promise of eternal punishment (1:8).

The language that Paul uses to describe God's judgment is vivid: "affliction," "vengeance," and "destruction." None of these words carry even the slightest nuance of hope concerning the eternal destiny of those outside of Jesus Christ. The words also appear to indicate an increasing intensity in judgment:

God is going to settle His accounts. While it appears that injustice and unrighteousness prevail, God is going to have the last word when He "repays" those who do not know Him and those "who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (1:6, 8). His judgment will be rendered justly and not vindictively. We desire revenge for injustices done to us, but God desires justice for injustices done to Him. Hence, God's vengeance does not flow from His desire to exact revenge; His vengeance flows from His desire for justice. In fact, as Morris notes, the Greek word translated "vengeance" contains a root word that means "right," and that root, translated "righteous," is found in verses 5 and 6 (Morris, First and Second, 203). This means that even in His vengeance, God is doing what is right. Ezekiel notes that God takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezek 33:11). He is so unlike you and me. God is not on some egotistical "power trip" to put all of His enemies in their place. He takes no delight in that. God does delight when His Name is glorified, His Word is vindicated, and His Son is exalted (Matt 6:9; John 14:21; Phil 2:9-11). While He may not delight in the death of the wicked, He will hold those accountable who do not honor Him, His Word, or His Son.

Before we conclude with this final thought, let me help you to get a picture in your mind that will enable you to grasp the seriousness of what Paul is saying in verse 9. Think back to a time when you were watching your favorite football team attempt to mount a last-minute drive to win 211the game. You cheer them on as your star quarterback manages the clock perfectly while methodically moving your team down the field for a last second come-from-behind victory. Needing a touchdown to win, your quarterback throws a screen pass to your lightning-quick running back. You cheer excitedly as he zigzags among the defenders and heads for the end zone, but just before he can cross the goal line he gets tackled. You glance over at the clock and notice that time has expired. Your first thought is to quickly scan the field in search of a yellow penalty flag in hopes that your team may get one more play. But hope suddenly gives way to reality when you realize that the game is over and your team just lost. If you have watched enough football games, then you know exactly what I am talking about. It is a sick feeling to know that your team was that close to victory but will not be afforded the luxury of running another play. The game is over.

Now I want you to think about something much more serious. In verse 9 Paul vividly reveals the ultimate fate of every person who does not know God and does not respond in obedience to the gospel of Jesus. Listen to the finality of these words: "These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength" (1:9). When Jesus comes again, He will pronounce final and ultimate judgment on those who do not know God. Unlike football, there will never be another game or another season with a chance to make up for the shortfall. It's game over—forever! This is "eternal destruction" away from God's presence forever (Rev 20:11-13). John Phillips describes the horror of this final judgment:

Jesus repeatedly taught about a place of eternal ruin and destruction called hell. He described it as a place of "eternal fire" (Matt 25:41), "eternal punishment" (Matt 25:46), eternal "darkness" (Matt 22:13), eternal pain (Matt 8:12), and eternal separation (Luke 16:19-31). However, of all the biblical descriptions portraying the horrors of hell, perhaps none is more striking than the one Paul gives at the end of 212verse 9 where he speaks of eternal separation "from the Lord's presence," and "from His glorious strength."

Though the darkness, fire, anguish, and pain will make hell unbearable, the total absence of God's presence is what makes hell what it really is—hell. Paul's emphasis in this text has nothing to do with what you might find in hell and everything to do with what is absent in hell—the presence and glory of God. To have a conscious, definite awareness of God's presence and yet to be completely cut off from Him will be to suffer the worst kind of hell imaginable.

Of course, to know that such a place exists is bad enough, but to realize that untold millions will spend eternity there ought to cause you to shudder. In fact, according to the latest available statistics, nearly 150,000 people die worldwide every day. That equates to more than 4.5 million people a month. Where will these people spend eternity? The uncertainty of how we might answer that question should call us to immediate action. If heaven and hell are real and a personal relationship with Jesus is the only way that anyone can enjoy the eternal rest and reward of heaven and miss the eternal pain and isolation of hell, then nothing that we do could be more important than to tell others about Him. According to Luke, God "has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed" (Acts 17:31). As long as we have breath there is still time on the clock to make each day count, but we know that His coming is imminent. So, until we die and stand before Him, or He comes to gather His church, we must continue to "proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone" that Jesus Christ is the only way (Col 1:28).

This text has serious implications for how we live today and how we view eternity. Let's briefly consider three implications for each.

What you see is not always what you get. The fact that injustice appears to have an upper hand in the world does not tell the whole story. We have the tendency to view our world through the lens of our personal experiences instead of through the lens of God's redemptive plan. From the perspective of the Thessalonian Christians, their future did not look very hopeful. Their life was a never-ending story of persecution, 213affliction, and pain (1:4-5). However, when they began to view things from God's perspective, their picture changed dramatically. God can be seen moving "His" history and subsequently their history forward at His pace and according to His plan (1:6-10). While knowing God's ultimate plan for the future may not make our problems go away, it does provide us with a firm foundation on which to stand in uncertain times. Perhaps we will even be able to proclaim with David,

God is more than capable to right our wrongs. The more time that we spend in the presence of people, the more chances there are that someone will hurt us. These hurts may come as persecution from an antagonistic world, or they may be the result of an inconsiderate friend. The question for us is not, What will we do if we get hurt? But, How will we respond when we get hurt? The good news is that we do not have to play God. He is more than capable to defend us. If we are looking for a blueprint for how to handle our hurts, then look no further than Jesus. Peter tells us how He approached His hurts:

Ask this question: If Jesus will be glorified in His saints at His coming, then why not start glorifying Him now? Of course, this was exactly the point of Paul's prayer in 1:11-12. Considering the glorious future that God has planned for His people, we should be looking for every conceivable opportunity to make His name great among the nations. Perhaps a good place to begin is by reevaluating the what, the why, and the how of church. Admittedly, this will not an easy task, but if believers exist for the purpose of glorifying Jesus by fulfilling "every desire for goodness 214and the work of faith," then they must reach beyond just doing church—they must be busy being the church.

Let's also consider three implications of this passage for how we view eternity.

Heaven will bring us rest from our labor but not from our activity. Heaven not only promises to be a place of rest but it also promises to be a place of activity. Far from floating around on white clouds and strumming harps, God's people are going to enjoy ceaseless activity in His glorious presence. King David was looking forward to this when he prayed,

Jesus is Lord. The one admonition that continues to surface throughout the Thessalonian letters is that we should live today like Jesus is coming tomorrow. While the rest of the world may ask, "Where is the promise of His coming?" we live with expectation in the light of that promise. Until that day we know that the Lord is exalted and seated in heaven at the Father's right hand (Eph 1:20-21; Heb 1:3). He's not twiddling His thumbs to pass the time until the Father gives Him the final command; instead, He is now interceding for us (Heb 7:25), guiding His church (Eph 1:22-23), and preparing a place for His people (John 14:2-3).

Eternity is forever. Paul reveals that those who do not love God or obey the gospel of Jesus will face "eternal destruction" (1:9). The word eternal suggests an endless duration. In other words, there will be no end to their torment. There will be no time put back on the clock. There will be no second chances. The Bible warns, "It is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment" (Heb 9:27). The only opportunity 215for any person to respond to God's offer of salvation and forgiveness in Jesus Christ is in this present life. Our eternal destiny depends on it.