2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
The stage is set for the drama of the ages, and the curtain is about to be pulled back on the end times. It is a drama, but this is not fiction. A great drama will unfold as we approach the Second Coming of our Lord.
You Need Not Be Disturbed
There are three categories of people in today’s world: those who are afraid, those who don’t know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles. You need to be in that third group. You don’t have to go around with headline hysteria.
“And to you who are troubled, rest with us.” 2 Thess. 1:7
Paul is writing about the return of our Lord to early Christians going through extreme hardship. They were troubled. Many today are deeply troubled. Many Christians worldwide are suffering unspeakable persecution.
7 And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;10 When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
These words are packed with incredible truth. What is the hope of this world? Not politics, government, science, or education. Our only hope for this world is the second coming of Jesus Christ when He shall be revealed from Heaven.
The Who of His Coming
The Lord Jesus is coming. What a day that will be when Jesus is revealed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today His lordship is covered, veiled and ignored. He came the first time as a lowly Nazarene walking by the shores of Galilee in sandaled feet. When He comes again, He’s coming as King of Kings. According to this passage, He’s coming to be glorified and admired in His saints. The One who was despised, ridiculed, spit upon, crowned with thorns, nailed to that hellish tree, crucified and buried, is coming again.
Now, that will cause stark terror for His enemies. But what glory, what joy that will be for the children of God. All of God’s saints through the ages, when they think about the second coming of Jesus, have said, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
The When of His Coming
“…when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven…”
Notice the Bible does not say “if” but “when.” When is He coming? “Of that day and hour, no man knows…” (Matthew 24:36). But He is coming on time.
The Bible says He came the first time “in the fullness of time.” He was not one second ahead or one second late. And when He comes again, He will come on time.
Malachi compares the second coming of Jesus to a sunrise. “Unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” (4:2)
There is something sure about the sunrise: you can’t hurry it up and you can’t stop it. That’s the way with the second coming of Jesus. He is going to pull back the shades of night, pin them with a star, open the door of the morning, and flood the world with the light of His glorious second coming. “Some golden daybreak, Jesus will come.”
The Wonder of His Coming
“…when He shall come to be glorified in His saints” (v. 10).
In the Greek language, the word glorified here has the idea of wonder and awe.
We are going to wonder at His transforming love.
When we see all of us and all of the saints of the ages in a moment made like the Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to wonder. Think about it! Some who have been stubborn and God-haters were conquered by His sovereign love. We’re going to see some who were ignorant and blind, who then had their eyes opened to the glorious Gospel of our Lord. We’re going to see some who were demonized by sex and drugs and liquor, who then were made pure. We’re going to see all of the saints of God rise in glorified bodies like His glorified body. And we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. What does that mean?
Is Jesus now Prophet, Priest and King? We will be prophets, priests, and kings. Is He perfect? We will be perfect. Not one vestige of sin will be left in us. How we will be filled with wonder when we see the Lord Jesus Christ! I can hardly wait for the day when I am made in the likeness of my blessed Lord.
We are going to wonder at His saving grace.
Look again in verse 10. “When He shall come to be glorified in His saints [that will be us. Every believer is a “saint.”], and to be admired in all them that believe.”
What enables us to be caught up in the rapture like this, to be transformed like this?
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit;” Titus 3:5
Not by any good that we have done, but because we have believed on Him. The Bible says it clearly, plainly, sweetly, sublimely: “Believe, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” His transforming love, His saving grace, will cause us to admire the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are going to wonder at His keeping power.
“...in all them that believe.” (v. 10)
Think about that. All. Not one will be lost. Not a little child will be lost. Not a mighty man will be lost. When the Lord Jesus Christ saves us, friend, He keeps us. It is the glory of our Shepherd that not one of His sheep is lost. Jesus said, “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand” (John 10:29).
What a time this will be when the Lord Jesus comes again. You say, “Well, Pastor, everything is getting so dark.” Yes! It is getting gloriously dark. “To those who are troubled, rest with us.” The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven.
Friend, if you love the Lord Jesus, you can hardly wait. If you are troubled today, if you are disturbed—you need not be. Be one who knows your Bible. What a day that will be when He shall come with trumpet sound, and together we’ll be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
