so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
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2 Thessalonians 1:4-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds, so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
Parallel Translations
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so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure.
This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer.
Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
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so that we oureselves reioyce of you in the congregacions of God over youre pacience and fayth in all youre persecucions and tribulacions that ye suffre
which is a token of the ryghtewes iudgement of god that ye are counted worthy of the kyngdom of god for which ye also suffre.
It is verely a rightewes thinge with God to recopence tribulacion to them that trouble you:
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So that we our selues reioyce of you in the Churches of God, because of your patience and faith in al your persecutions and tribulatios that ye suffer,
Which is a manifest token of the righteous iudgement of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdome of God, for the which ye also suffer.
For it is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you,
Cross-references (64)
- Zechariah 2:8 (v6) For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his…
- Colossians 3:25 (v6) But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
- Philippians 1:28 (v5) and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
- Hebrews 10:36 (v4) For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
- James 5:7-8 (v4) Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient…
Show all 61 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:41-43 (v6) if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.…
- Psalms 94:20-23 (v6) Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute? They gather themselves together against…
- Acts 14:22 (v5) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into…
- Hebrews 12:1-3 (v4) Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily…
- Exodus 23:22 (v6) But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your…
- Psalms 74:22-23 (v6) Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of…
- Isaiah 49:26 (v6) I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall…
- Revelation 6:10 (v6) They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:14 (vv4–5) For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from…
- Revelation 19:2 (vv5–6) for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and…
- 2 Corinthians 7:14 (v4) For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our…
- Psalms 79:10-12 (v6) Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’…
- Luke 20:35 (v5) But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (v4) remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:19 (v4) For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- Revelation 11:18 (v6) The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their…
- Revelation 15:4 (vv5–6) Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your…
- Psalms 99:4 (v5) The King’s strength also loves justice. You establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Jeremiah 9:24 (v5) But let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice,…
- Luke 21:36 (v5) Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before…
- Romans 2:5 (v5) But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the…
- Romans 5:3-5 (v4) Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and…
- Romans 8:17 (v5) and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
- 1 Corinthians 7:17 (v4) Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
- Colossians 1:12 (v5) giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,
- 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (v5) To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work…
- 2 Timothy 2:12 (v5) If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.
- Revelation 14:12 (v4) Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
- Psalms 9:7-8 (v5) But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment…
- Psalms 33:5 (v5) He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh.
- Psalms 50:6 (v5) The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.
- Psalms 72:2 (v5) He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
- Psalms 111:7 (v5) The works of his hands are truth and justice. All his precepts are sure.
- Daniel 4:37 (v5) Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk…
- Acts 13:46 (v5) Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it…
- Romans 8:25 (v4) But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.
- 2 Corinthians 9:2 (v4) for I know your readiness, of which I boast on your behalf to those of Macedonia, that Achaia has been prepared for the past year. Your…
- 2 Corinthians 9:4 (v4) lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed…
- Ephesians 4:1 (v5) I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
- 1 Thessalonians 3:2-8 (v4) and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith,…
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 (v5) Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us,…
- 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (v4) May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love, and into the perseverance of Christ.
- Hebrews 6:15 (v4) Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
- Hebrews 10:32-33 (v5) But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings; partly, being exposed to…
- James 5:11 (v4) Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the…
- 1 Peter 4:14-18 (v5) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is…
- 2 Peter 1:6 (v4) and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness;
- Revelation 3:4 (v5) Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
- Revelation 16:5-6 (v6) I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. For…
- Revelation 16:7 (v5) I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”
- Revelation 18:20 (v6) “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
- Revelation 18:24 (v6) In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
- Job 8:3 (v5) Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
- Romans 2:7 (v4) to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
- Romans 12:12 (v4) rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
- James 1:3-4 (v4) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,…
61 distinct cross-references across this passage (64 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (25 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4 So that we ourselves glory in you. He…
4 So that we ourselves glory in you. He could not have bestowed higher commendation upon them, than by saying that he sets them forward before other Churches as a pattern, for such is the meaning of those words: — We glory in you in the presence of other Churches. For Paul did not boast of the faith of the Thessalonians from a spirit of ambition, but inasmuch as his commendation of them might be an incitement to make it their endeavor to imitate them. He does not say, however, that he glories in their faith and love, but in their patience and faith. Hence it follows, that patience is the fruit and evidence of faith. These words ought, therefore, to be explained in this manner: — “We glory in the patience which springs from faith, and we bear witness that it eminently shines forth in you;” otherwise the context would not correspond. And, undoubtedly, there is nothing that sustains us in tribulations as faith does; which is sufficiently manifest from this, that we altogether sink down so soon as the promises of God leave us. Hence, the more proficiency any one makes in faith, he will be so much the more endued with patience for enduring all things with fortitude, as on the other hand, softness and impatience under adversity betoken unbelief on our part; but more especially when persecutions are to be endured for the gospel, the influence of faith in that case discovers itself.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5–6 He openeth the fountain of all true comfort, to…
He openeth the fountain of all true comfort, to wit, that in afflictions, which we suffer of the wicked for righteousness sake, we may behold as it were in a glass the testimony of that judgment to come, and the end therefore most acceptable to us, and most sharp to his enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4 So that we ourselves glory in you in…
4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
Ver. 4. For your patience and faith] Faith patienteth the heart, by putting the head into heaven beforehand, and giving a man a glimpse of future glory. Faith drinks to a suffering saint in a cup of Nepenthes, and saith, "Be of good courage, and of good carriage under the cross." Flebile principium melior fortuna sequetur. The right hand of the Lord can mend all. Faith wraps itself in the promises, lays the soul upon Christ, and maketh it of weak to become strong, Heb 11:34. Whatsoever cross cometh upon it, faith is either as a wreath between the shoulder and the burden, that it wring not, or else a remover of it from the soul to God, by virtue of that writ or warrant, Psa 55:22; "Cast thy burden," &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–6 In the former verse the apostle gave thanks for…
In the former verse the apostle gave thanks for them, in this he glories in them; he gave thanks for them to God, and glories in them before men. Wherein Silvanus and Timotheus are to be understood as joined with him herein. Glorying inclndes in it high estimation of a thing, rejoicing in it, high commendation of it, and applauding ourselves in it; and it must be some great thing, either really or in opinion, and in which some way or other we ourselves are concerned. And glorying is a good or evil according to the matter or object of it. To glory in our wisdom, strength, riches, Jer 9:23; to glory in men, 1Co 3:21, in our own works, Rom 4:2, in what we have received as if not received, 1Co 4:7, after the flesh, 2Co 11:18, or in our shame, Phi 3:19; all this glorying is evil. But to glory in God, Isa 41:16, in his holy name, 1Ch 16:10, with God’s inheritance, Psa 106:5, in the knowledge of the Lord, Jer 9:24, in the cross of Christ, Gal 6:14, in tribulation, Rom 5:3, in Christ Jesus, 1Co 1:31, in hope, Heb 3:6, and of the success of the ministry in the church’s growth, and their faith and patience, as here in the text; all this glorying is good: as elsewhere he boasted or gloried in the Corinthians’ liberality, 2Co 9:2; but his glorying in them was not to exalt himself, but to magnify the grace of God, and provoke other churches to imitate them.
In the churches of God; where the excellency of grace is known, and the commendation of it will be received and imitated; and not amongst carnal men, who scoff at true goodness. And it was the apostle himself, and Silvanus and Timotheus, that thus gloried in them. It adds to persons’ commendation, when it is by men of great knowledge, wisdom, and goodness. And it was by such as well knew them, and understood their state; and being instruments in their conversion, were more concerned to glory in them than any other apostles or ministers. And their glorying in them, as it respects what he said of them in the former verse, so what he further adds in this, which is their
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patience and faith in all their persecutions and tribulations. Persecutions are properly sufferings for righteousness’ sake: tribulations, any kind of suffering, as some distinguish. And it seems they had many of both, when he saith all, & c. And yet they endured them, that is, not only suffered them because they could not cast them off, but in the sense of the apostle James, Jam 5:11; Behold, we count them happy which endure; which is a suffering out of choice, and not mere necessity, as Moses did, Heb 11:25, when sufferings stand in competition with sin, or the dishonour of the Christian profession. Sufferings in themselves are not desirable, and the apostle did not glory in their sufferings, but in their faith and patience. As he before joined faith and love together, so here faith and patience; and as love springs from faith, so doth Christian patience, whereby it is distinguished from patience as a mere moral virtue found among the heathen, either that of the Stoics, Peripatetics, or Platonists. Faith and patience are well styled the two suffering graces, and therefore here mentioned by the apostle when he mentions their sufferings. Faith as it depends upon God, and sees love under afflictions, believes his promises, looks at the recompence of reward, &c., so it supports under suffering. And patience, as it keeps down passion, and quiets the soul under its burden, makes it to sit lighter, and gives advantage to the exercise of that grace and reason, whereby a Christian is strengthened under his sufferings. Now hereupon the apostle glories in them, as men are apt to do in the heroic acts of great conquerors; or the captain of an army, in the valiant performances of his soldiers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv5–6 As if he had said, " Which tribulations and…
As if he had said, " Which tribulations and persecutions, or which patience under your present persecutons, is a sign and token, yea, and evidence and manifestation, that God, the righteous judge, will reward you with a part and share in that kingdom for which you suffer, being in his account worthy of it: not with a worthiness of merit, but with a worthiness of meetness, they being made meet and fit for heaven hereafter by their patience and constancy under sufferings and persecutions here."
Learn hence, That as none can enjoy the kingdom of heaven by meriting heaven, but by being made meet for heaven; so patience under sufferings and reproaches, under persecutions and sharp trials, is a special qualification to make us meet for the enjoyment of that glorious kingdom: That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v5 Having mentioned their persecutions and tribulations, which they endured…
Having mentioned their persecutions and tribulations, which they endured principally for the cause of Christ, the apostle proceeds to offer several things for their comfort under them; as,
I. He tells them of the present happiness and advantage of their sufferings, Th2 1:5. Their faith being thus tried, and patience exercised, they were improved by their sufferings, insomuch that they were counted worthy of the kingdom of God. Their sufferings were a manifest token of this, that they were worthy or meet to be accounted Christians indeed, seeing they could suffer for Christianity. And the truth is, Religion, if it is worth any thing, is worth every thing; and those either have no religion at all, or none that is worth having, or know not how to value it, that cannot find in their hearts to suffer for it. Besides, from their patient suffering, it appeared that, according to the righteous judgment of God, they should be counted worthy of the heavenly glory: not by worthiness of condignity, but of congruity only; not that they could merit heaven, but they were made meet for heaven. We cannot by all our sufferings, any more than by our services, merit heaven as a debt; but by our patience under our sufferings we are qualified for the joy that is promised to patient sufferers in the cause of God.
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II. He tells them next of the future recompence that shall be given to persecutor and persecuted.
1. In this future recompence there will be, (1.) A punishment inflicted on persecutors: God will recompense tribulation to those that trouble you, Th2 1:6. And there is nothing that more infallibly marks a man for eternal ruin than a spirit of persecution, and enmity to the name and people of God: as the faith, patience, and constancy of the saints are to them an earnest of everlasting rest and joy, so the pride, malice, and wickedness of their persecutors are to them an earnest of everlasting misery; for every man carries about with him, and carries out of the world with him, either his heaven or his hell. God will render a recompence, and will trouble those that trouble his people. This he has done sometimes in this world, witness the dreadful end of many persecutors; but especially this he will do in the other world, where the portion of the wicked must be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. (2.) A reward for those that are persecuted: God will recompense their trouble with rest, Th2 1:7. There is a rest that remains for the people of God, a rest from sin and sorrow. Though many may be the troubles of the righteous now, yet God will deliver them out of them all. The future rest will abundantly recompense all their present troubles. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. There is enough in heaven to countervail all that we may lose or suffer for the name of Christ in this world. The apostle says, To you who are troubled rest with us. In heaven, ministers and people shall rest together, and rejoice together, who suffer together here; and the meanest Christian shall rest with the greatest apostle: nay, what is far more, if we suffer for Christ, we shall also reign with him, Ti2 2:12.
2. Concerning this future recompence we are further to observe,
(1.) The certainty of it, proved by the righteousness and justice of God: It is a righteous thing with God (Th2 1:6) to render to every man according to his works. The thoughts of this should be terrible to wicked men and persecutors, and the great support of the righteous and such as are persecuted; for, seeing there is a righteous God, there will be a righteous recompence. God's suffering people will lose nothing by their sufferings, and their enemies will gain nothing by their advantages against them.
(2.) The time when this righteous recompence shall be made: When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, Th2 1:7. That will be the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God; for then will God judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed, even Jesus Christ the righteous Judge. The righteousness of God does not so visibly appear to all men in the procedure of his providence as it will in the process of the great judgment-day. The scripture has made known to us the judgment to come, and we are bound to receive the revelation here given concerning Christ. As,
[1.] That the Lord Jesus will in that day appear from heaven. Now the heavens retain him, they conceal him; but then he will be revealed and made manifest. He will come in all the pomp and power of the upper world, whence we look for the Saviour.
[2.] He will be revealed with his mighty angels (Th2 1:7), or the angels of his power: these will attend upon him, to grace the solemnity of that great day of his appearance; they will be the ministers of his justice and mercy in that day; they will summon the criminals to his tribunal, and gather in the elect, and be employed in executing his sentence.
[3.] He will come in flaming fire, Th2 1:8. A fire goeth before him, which shall consume his enemies. The earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. This will be a trying fire, to try every man's work, - a refining fire, to purify the saints, who shall share in the purity, and partake of the felicity, of the new heaven and the new earth, - a consuming fire to the wicked. His light will be piercing, and his power consuming, to all those who in that day shall be found as chaff.
[4.] The effects of this appearance will be terrible to some and joyful to others.
First, They will be terrible to some; for he will then take vengeance on the wicked. 1. On those that sinned against the principles of natural religion, and rebelled against the light of nature, that knew not God (Th2 1:8), though the invisible things of him are manifested in the things that are seen. 2. On those that rebel against the light of revelation, that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. This is the great crime of multitudes - the gospel is revealed to them, and they will not believe it; or, if they pretend to believe it, they will not obey it. Note, Believing the truths of the gospel is in order to our obeying the precepts of the gospel: there must be the obedience of faith. To such persons as are here mentioned the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ will be terrible, because of their doom, which is mentioned, Th2 1:9. Here observe, (1.) They will then be punished. Though sinners may be long reprieved, yet they will be punished at last. Their misery will be a proper punishment for their crimes, and only what they have deserved. They did sin's work, and must receive sin's wages. (2.) Their punishment will be no less than destruction, not of their being, but of their bliss; not that of the body alone, but both as to body and soul. (3.) This destruction will be everlasting. They shall be always dying, and yet never die. Their misery will run parallel with the line of eternity. The chains of darkness are everlasting chains, and the fire is everlasting fire. It must needs be so, since the punishment is inflicted by an eternal God, fastening upon an immortal soul, set out of the reach of divine mercy and grace. (4.) This destruction shall come from the presence of the Lord, that is, immediately from God himself. Here God punishes sinners by creatures, by instruments; but then he will take the work into his own hands. It will be destruction from the Almighty, more terrible than the consuming fire which consumed Nadab and Abihu, which came from before the Lord. (5.) It shall come from the glory of his power, or from his glorious power. Not only the justice of God, but this almighty power, will be glorified in the destruction of sinners; and who knows the power of his anger? He is able to cast into hell.
Secondly, It will be a joyful day to some, even to the saints, unto those that believe and obey the gospel. And then the apostle's testimony concerning this day will be confirmed and believed (Th2 1:10); in that bright and blessed day, 1. Christ Jesus will be glorified and admired by his saints. They will behold his glory, and admire it with pleasure; they will glorify his grace, and admire the wonders of his power and goodness towards them, and sing hallelujahs to him in that day of his triumph, for their complete victory and happiness. 2. Christ will be glorified and admired in them. His grace and power will then be manifested and magnified, when it shall appear what he has purchased for, and wrought in, and bestowed upon, all those who believe in him. As his wrath and power will be made known in and by the destruction of his enemies, so his grace and power will be magnified in the salvation of his saints. Note, Christ's dealings with those who believe will be what the world one day shall wonder at. Now, they are a wonder to many; but how will they be wondered at in this great and glorious day; or, rather, how will Christ, whose name is Wonderful, be admired, when the mystery of God shall be finished! Christ will not be so much admired in the glorious esteem of angels that he will bring from heaven with him as in the many saints, the many sons, that he will bring to glory.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–6 So that we ourselves glory in you,.... Or "of…
So that we ourselves glory in you,.... Or "of you"; for though they were the subject concerning which, yet not the object in which they gloried; the apostle elsewhere advises not to glory in men, but only in the Lord; nor was this his practice contrary to his advice, for he did not boast of these persons with respect to their carnal things; he did not glory in their flesh, nor in their riches, nor wisdom, nor strength, nor any external gift; he gloried indeed of their graces, and of the exercise and increase of them; but of these not as of themselves, or as owing to him, and his fellow ministers, but as instances of the grace of God, and for which he gives thanks to him: and besides, he did not glory of these in the presence of God, in whose presence none should glory, but
in the churches of God; the other churches in Macedonia and Achaia, as Philippi, Berea, Corinth, &c. he gave thanks to God for them, and gloried of them before men, or among the saints, to the glory of the grace of God in them, and in order to stir up other churches to an emulation and imitation of them. And the particulars he gloried of them for were as follow,
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for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: many and sore were the reproaches, the afflictions, and persecutions that befell them for the sake of Christ, and their profession of him, and his Gospel; and which is more or less the case of everyone that will live godly in Christ Jesus: and these they endured, they bore and stood up under, they were not shocked, and staggered, and moved from the hope of the Gospel by them; which shows that the truth of grace was in them; for where there is not the root of the matter, when tribulation and affliction arise because of the profession of the word, such are offended, stumbled, and quickly gone; but these saints endured their afflictions, and with great patience, without murmuring and repining, and with great constancy, firmness, and resolution of mind. They stood fast in the grace and doctrine of faith, and in the profession of both, which they held without wavering, and none of the things they met with could move them from it. The apostle had mentioned their faith before, and he takes notice of it again, because their patience, constancy, and perseverance in sufferings, arose from it; for the trying of faith works patience, Jam 1:3. The Ethiopic version leaves out the word "faith", but very wrongly.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Which ye endure - "That ye may be accounted…
Which ye endure - "That ye may be accounted worthy of the kingdom."
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. We ourselves glory in you in the…
Verse 4. We ourselves glory in you in the Churches of God] We hold you up as an example of what the grace of God, can produce when communicated to honest and faithful hearts.
For your patience and faith] From Ac 17:5; Ac 17:13, and from 1Th 2:14, we learn, that the people of Thessalonica had suffered much persecution, both from the Jews and their own countrymen; but being thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and feeling it to be the power of God unto salvation, no persecution could turn them aside from it. And having suffered for the truth, it was precious to them. Persecution never essentially injured the genuine Church of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v6 2Th 1:6-8. Seeing it is a righteous thing —…
2Th 1:6-8. Seeing it is a righteous thing — However men may judge of it; with God — To whom belongeth vengeance, (Rom 12:19,) and who will avenge his elect that cry unto him day and night; to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you — To remove the pressure from you to them. And it is remarkable that about this time, at the passover, the Jews raising a tumult, a great number, some say thirty thousand of them, were slain. St. Paul seems to allude to this beginning of sorrows, 1Th 2:16, which did not end but with their destruction. And to you that are troubled — That suffer persecution; rest with us — If not in the present world, where we do not ourselves expect it, yet at last, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. By the word ανεσις, here rendered rest, or, as it more properly means, relaxation, the apostle does not mean deliverance from persecution. The believing Jews, with whom St. Paul here ranks himself, had no relaxation in that sense any more than the believing Gentiles. But he meant deliverance from the troubles of this life at death, and the enjoyment of eternal rest, the rest of God, partly entered into then, and more especially after the coming of Christ here spoken of. With his mighty angels — Who shall be the ministers of his power in the execution of this great and awful judgment. In flaming fire — To which the aerial heavens and the earth are reserved, (2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10,) and by which they shall be destroyed; taking vengeance — Or inflicting punishment, as διδοντος εκδικησιν also signifies; see 1Pe 2:14, where the same word is translated punishment. Does God, as some say, barely permit this punishment to come upon his enemies? or, as the Lord once rained brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, (Gen 19:24,) does a fiery stream go forth from him? Who know not God — By an experimental and practical knowledge; who know him not so as, 1st, To be humbled before him, Job 40:4-5; Job 42:5-6; Job 2 d, To trust in him, (Psa 9:10,) namely, for pardon, holiness, and eternal life, being first truly penitent; 3d, To love him with a love shed abroad in their hearts, Joh 4:7; 4th, To keep his commandments, 1Jn 2:3-4; 1 John , , 5 th, To be transformed into his image, 2Co 3:18. In which passages the fruits of the saving knowledge of God are designedly specified, and two of them at least, namely, love and obedience to God, declared to be absolutely essential to the true knowledge of him. Reader, examine thyself! Does thy knowledge of the one living and true God produce these fruits? Surely it cannot, unless he that commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into thy heart, to give thee the knowledge of his glory in and by Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:6; unless the Son of God hath given thee an understanding to know him, 1Jn 5:20. And who obey not the gospel — Who do not receive its truths and promises with a lively faith, productive of love and obedience, Christ being the author of eternal salvation only to those that love and obey him, 1Co 16:22; Heb 5:9. Believing the gospel is often termed by St. Paul the obedience of faith, both because God hath commanded men to believe it, and because it contains not only doctrines to be credited, threatenings to be revered, and promises to be trusted, but also a variety of precepts necessary to be obeyed. Probably in the former clause, who know not God, the apostle had chiefly the unbelieving Gentiles in view, and in this latter the unbelieving Jews.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4–6 So that we ourselves glory in you in the…
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God - That is, we mention your example to other churches, and glory in it, as an evidence of what the gospel is suited to do; see the notes on 1Th 2:19-20; compare the notes on 2Co 9:2.
For your patience - Your patient endurance of trials.
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And faith - Fidelity, or constancy. You have shown unwavering confidence in God in your afflictions.
In all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure - See the notes on 1Th 2:14; 1Th 4:13. It would seem from this that the persecutions and trials to which the apostle referred in his First Epistle were still continued.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5–6 For an example of the just judgment of God.…
For an example of the just judgment of God. That is, that the persecutions and troubles you suffer in this world shew the justice of God in punishing men for their sins, even in this life, so that by these temporal pains you may be found worthy of a crown of eternal glory in the kingdom of God. (Witham) --- The afflictions, which are here frequently the portion of the just, are sensible proofs of the rigour with which the Almighty will, at the day of final retribution, pour out his indignation on the wicked. For, if he is unwilling to let the just be free from all temporal punishment, (though he discharges their debt of the eternal) and if he continually exposes them to the derision, calumnies, and persecutions of the wicked, what have not the wicked to apprehend when he shall stretch forth his hand in vengeance? Or, as others explain it, God permits the good to be persecuted here, that one day he may treat the wicked according to the rigour of his justice. He permits them here to fill up the measure of their iniquities, that on the last day he may reward the long suffering of the one, and punish the infidelity of the other. In both the one and the other, the finger of God’s justice will clearly manifest itself. If the hopes of the good reached no farther than this life, they would be the most wretched of beings; for here, in general, they are more exposed than any to the injuries of the wicked. Nothing proves more clearly the necessity of a general judgment, than this his conduct to his most chosen servants. For it is impossible that, just as he is, he should permit patience and faith to go unrewarded, or wickedness and injustice unpunished. The Son of God has promised us heaven only on condition that we bear wrongs patiently. (Calmet) --- Here again the apostle teaches the advantages of sufferings which the Thessalonians joyfully underwent, to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, Greek: Kataxiothenai umas; and ver. 11, ibid. Greek: axiose. The apostle teaches here, that nothing defiled shall ever enter into the kingdom of heaven; and gives us to understand at the same time, that he will one day punish with extreme rigour the cruelty and impiety of persecutors. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–6 glory in you--make our boast of you, literally, "in…
glory in you--make our boast of you, literally, "in your case." "Ourselves" implies that not merely did they hear others speaking of the Thessalonians' faith, but they, the missionaries themselves, boasted of it. Compare Th1 1:8, wherein the apostle said, their faith was so well known in various places, that he and his fellow missionaries had no need to speak of it; but here he says, so abounding is their love, combined with faith and patience, that he and his fellow missionaries themselves, make it a matter of glorying in the various churches elsewhere (he was now at Corinth in Achaia, and boasted there of the faith of the Macedonian churches, Co2 10:15-17; Co2 8:1, at the same time giving the glory to the Lord), not only looking forward to glorying thereat at Christ's coming (Th1 2:19), but doing so even now.
patience--in Th1 1:3, "patience of hope." Here hope is tacitly implied as the ground of their patience; Th2 1:5, Th2 1:7 state the object of their hope, namely, the kingdom for which they suffer.
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tribulations--literally, "pressures." The Jews were the instigators of the populace and of the magistrates against Christians (Act 17:6, Act 17:8).
which ye endure--Greek, "are (now) enduring."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–6 5. Which—Refers to their firm faith in the face…
5. Which—Refers to their firm faith in the face of persecutions. It was a divine token, a premonition of the righteous judgment of God to be executed at the advent.
That—To the end, or with the result that, so far as you are concerned, ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of glory.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. so that we ourselves glory in you in…
4. so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God] The triumph of the Gospel at Thessalonica had given peculiar gratification of the Apostle (1Th_1:8; 1Th_3:7-9; 1Th_2:20, “You are our glory and joy”). For the advantageous position of this Church and its great activity caused its testimony for Christ to spread throughout the neighbouring provinces. He is thinking now, however, of more distant Churches—those of Judæa, for example (which he calls “churches of God” in 1Th_2:14), and of Syria, with whom Silas and himself would be in correspondence. To them he had sent this cheering news, expressing his joy over the faith and devotion of the new converts in language of exultation. Similarly in 2Co_9:2 he speaks of “boasting to the Macedonians” of the liberality of Corinth. He delighted to praise one Church before another.
But why does he write “we ourselves,” laying stress on the fact that he and his companions were thus boasting? Because, surely, they were slow to boast of anything that redounded to their own credit (see Gal_6:14; 2Co_12:1-6, “It is not expedient for me, doubtless, to glory”), as the Thessalonians well knew (1Th_2:6-7); and yet they could not refrain from “boasting” over them. This unwonted and irrepressible glorying before men shows how deep and fervent was St Paul’s thanksgiving to God.
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for your patience and faith] On “patience” see note to 1Th_1:3. There we find endurance of hope, here endurance and faith are linked together. For it was the persistence of the Thessalonians’ faith, the way in which it endured the severest strain, that was so wonderful and made the Apostle point them out with pride to the older Churches.
in all your persecutions and the afflictions which you are enduring: so the last clause of the verse literally reads. “Persecutions” formed the chief element in their sufferings (1Th_2:14; Act_17:5-9); but they had to endure afflictions of many kinds. Comp. Heb_10:32-33, “Ye endured a great conflict of sufferings,—being made a gazing-stock by reproaches and afflictions, … and partakers with those so used.”
Afflictions: same word as in 1Th_1:6; 1Th_3:3-4; 1Th_3:7 (see notes on the last two vv.).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 (4) So that we ourselves.—Why was it less likely…
(4) So that we ourselves.—Why was it less likely that St. Paul and his companions should thus glory in them than other friends did, or perhaps than the Thessalonians themselves? Possibly, because it seemed almost like self-praise to praise their own converts; but much more probably, because the writers had before felt and expressed misgivings on the point: this suits the thought of 2Th_1:3 better.
Glory in you in the churches of God.—Not only in thanksgiving to God (though, perhaps, outbursts of praise in the public services of “the churches” may be included), but also in talking to other men, at Corinth and elsewhere: so, in return, St. Paul “boasted” to the Thessalonians about the Corinthians (2Co_9:2).
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Your patience and faith.—It was well proved that St. Paul had no more cause for misgiving, and that the tempter’s tempting by persecution had not made the apostolic labours to be in vain. (See 1Th_3:5.) “Patience,” in the New Testament, does not mean a meek submissiveness, but a heroic endurance. The “faith” here becomes almost equivalent to “hope,” except that it introduces the ground of such hope: viz., confidence in the living God; it also includes the notion of faithfulness.
Persecutions and tribulations.—The difference-between the two words is, that while “tribulation” is quite general, and implies no personal enmities, “persecution” means that a certain set of persons were organising active measures for the annoyance of the Church. Such persecution they were still “enduring” when the Letter was written.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–6 So that we ourselves. "We Paul and Silas and…
So that we ourselves. "We Paul and Silas and Timothy, the founders of the Church of Thessalonica. "We ourselves," not merely we of our own accord (Hofmann), but we as well as our informants, who brought us this intelligence of the increase of your faith and love. Glory in you in the Churches of God; that is, in those Churches with which we come in contact; namely, the Church at Corinth and the Churches in Achaia. It would appear from this that several Churches had been founded in Achaia, as, for example, the Church of Cenchrea. (Rom_16:1) For your patience and faith; not to be weakened as a Hebraism for "your patient faith," or "for the patience of your faith;" nor is faith to be taken in the sense of faithfulness or fidelity (Lunemann); but, as in the previous verse, it denotes "faith in Christ." Patience is steadfast endurance, which, in order to be of any value in the sight of God, must be combined with faith; stoical endurance is not here nor anywhere else inculcated in Scripture. In all your persecutions and tribulations afflictionsthat ye endure; or, are enduring; the persecution which arose when Paul was at Thessalonica being continued. The patience and faith of the Thessalonians shone the more brilliantly amid persecution and affliction, even as the stars shine brightest in the dark night. To be a true Christian in the time of peace is a great matter; but to be a true Christian in the season of persecution is a greater; faith is then tested in the furnace.
Ver. 4.
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Christian patience.
1. Its nature. It denotes steadfast endurance. Negatively, not stoical endurance or apathetic fatalism. Positively, a spirit of calm submission to the providence of God and resignation to his will.
2. Its source. It has its root in faith; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit; and it is combined with hope.
3. Means of acquiring it. Pray to God as the Giver of patience; look to Christ as the Example of patience; submit to affliction as the cause of patience; cultivate faith as the support of patience; and meditate on heaven as the goal of patience.
The apostle"s interest in the Thessalonian Church as manifested by his praises of it to other Churches.
He had formerly listened to their praises from the lips of other Churches; he could now sound their praises at Corinth and elsewhere, ascribing all the while due praise to God.
I THE GROUND OF HIS PRAISES. "For your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.
1. Afflictions, whether in the form of sharp persecution or of more general trouble, are the lot of God"s faithful children. They are "appointed thereunto". (1Th_2:3)
2. It is the glory of a Christian to bear such afflictions with patience andfaith. The Thessalonians had not been "moved by these afflictions". (1Th_3:3)
(1) Their patience was the result of their faith. "The trial of your faith worketh patience". (Jam_1:3) Their trials did not uproot their faith. They had "the patience of hope." The faith and the patience are always closely allied. "I know thy faith and thy patience". (Rev_2:19)
(2) It is for the glory of God and for the good of believers that" patience should have its perfect work" (Jam_1:4; 1Pe_2:20)
(3) It is necessary to the inheritance of the promises. (Heb_6:12 Heb_10:36)
II IT IS NOT UNLAWFUL, BUT EXPEDIENT, THAT A MINISTER SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PEOPLE. Not in their social rank, or riches, or numbers, but in the graces of the Spirit manifested in their life. The apostle elsewhere advises us not to glory in men, but in the Lord. But in this case the glory is given to God, not to man.
III IT PROMOTES THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF CHURCHES TO HEAR OF THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL IN OTHER CHURCHES. The example of faith, love, and patience at Thessalonica would stimulate the saints in all Greece. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv4–6 So that we ourselves glory in you in the…
2Th_1:4
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith
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The apostolic commendation
I.
The manner.
1. The person commending--We ourselves. In 1Th_1:8 he speaks of their faith as praised by others: here he justifies common fame by His own testimony.
(1) It is easy to deceive the credulous multitude, but to deserve esteem of those who are best able to judge is a comfort.
(2) Where grace is eminent it may be praised without suspicion of flattery.
(3) We should keep up the value of our testimony that it may be of weight to those who receive it.
2. The act of praising. Glorying imports exaltation or rejoicing of mind and the outward expression: The one comes from the apprehension of some excellency, the other from a desire that others may know how we are affected with it. This glorying became apostolic gravity for--
(1) It was for the honour of God who had wrought these graces, and not himself.
(2) For the encouragement of the Thessalonians. We ought to give a testimony to those who deserve it, not to curry favour with them, but to incite them to perseverance in the way of God.
(3) For the example of others and the edification of the Church.
(4) For his own comfort (1Th_2:20).
3. The persons before whom. Not in common meetings, but where. Gods people were met for worship and spiritual benefit. Churches of God are so called because:--
(1) God instituted and founded them (Act_20:28).
(2) There God is worshipped and acknowledged (Psa_22:3):
(3) There He manifests His power and presence (Eph_2:22).
II. The matter.
1. The graces wherein they excelled faith and patience before it was faith and love. These two are often joined (Heb_6:12; Php_1:29). Faith precedes suffering, for the sufferer must first be a believer; but when God calls to it both must go together (Heb_10:35-36).
2. The grievousness of those temptations wherewith these graces were exercised.
(1) They were many--All.
(2) They took effect: persecution worked tribulation (Rom_8:35).
(3) But the Thessalonians continued, firm, endured. (T. Manton , D. D.)
The purpose of trouble
Tribulations and persecutions often befall Gods dearest and choicest servants (2Ti_3:12; Act_14:22). It is--
I. That we may be conformed to our Lord and pledge Him in His bitter cup (Col_1:24). The sufferings of Christ personal are complete and meritorious; they need not to be filled up; but the sufferings of Christ mystical (1Co_12:12) are not complete until every member of His body have their own allotted portion and share. Christians should be animated to suffer patiently by the fact that the Captain of our Salvation was made perfect through suffering (Heb_2:10). Those who will partake with Christ in His kingdom must share with Him in sorrows. Paul counted all things but dross that he might know the fellowship of Christs sufferings (Php_3:10).
II. For our trial (1Pe_1:7). A man may be deceived at other times, and think that faith strong which a trial discovers to be weak: as Peter (Mat_26:35). A man may doubt, and think his faith weak, which a trial discovers to be strong (Heb_10:32; Heb_11:34).
III. That the excellency of our spiritual state may appear. What can be more excellent than that which affords joy under the saddest temporal condition (Joh_16:33; 2Co_1:5). This will sweeten the bitter waters, like the wood in Marsh. A drop of this honey will make our bitterest cup agreeable.
IV. Because we need them (1Pe_1:6).
1. To modify our pride.
2. To keep us close to God.
3. To tame our flesh. Great prosperity perverts the best.
Conclusion:
1. With what thoughts we should take up the stricter profession of Christianity, viz., with expectations of the Cross, Many think they may be good Christians, yet all their days live a life of ease. This is just as if we should enlist as a soldier and never expect battle, or as if a mariner should go to sea and always expect a calm.
2. What fools they are that take up religion expecting honour, ease, and plenty. You may do so for a time, but the trials will come. The summer friends of the gospel, or those painted butterflies that flutter about in the sunshine of prosperity, must expect that a winter will come. (T. Manton , D. D.)
Faith and patience
I. What is patience? A contented endurance of painful evils. It is a moral virtue when by the argument of human prudence we harden ourselves to bear the evils that befall us. The spiritual grace is the fruit of the Spirit, and we bear these evils from Divine principles to Divine ends. The latter as it is wrought in us by God (Rom_15:5) so it fetcheth its strength from Gods Word (Rom_15:4). Now scriptural arguments are fetched either from the will of God who appoints us to this conflict (1Th_3:3), or from the glory of God, which is promoted thereby (Php_1:20), or else our final happiness (Jam_1:12) or from the example of Christ (1Pe_2:21). This grace of patience may be considered--
1. Barely as tried. Some give up at the first assault (Mat_13:21). Others hold up against the first brunt, but begin to be tired and wax weary in their minds (Heb_12:3).
2. As tried with many and long afflictions (Heb_10:32; Col_1:4). Many cannot bear any evil; they have no faith. Some hold out in slighter temptations for a while; they have weak faith. But the constant and unconquered patience is the fruit of strong faith.
II. What of faith is manifested by it?
1. Assent, for we must believe the truth with a Divine faith before we can suffer for it. How can we endure afflictions for supernatural things, which merely depend on revelation, unless we are firmly persuaded of their truth? (Act_14:22).
2. Consent, or fidelity to Christ in our covenanted duty (Mat_16:24). In great afflictions we are tried whether we love anything above Christ (Mat_10:37). The resolution of this consent is the thing tried, i.e., whether we are prepared to endure anything for Christs sake (Act_21:13). It is easier to discourse of patience than to practice it, as it is easier to build a castle in time of peace than to defend it in time of war.
3. Confidence, or relying upon Gods promises, which are our support. There are two sorts of promises.
(1) That God will enable you to bear them (2Ti_1:12; 2Ti_4:18; 1Co_10:13).
(2) That He will graciously reward them (Rom_8:18; 2Co_4:17).
III. The reasons.
1. Faith is the grace that is most struck at in our tribulations (Jam_1:3); therefore if a man know the strength of it in time of tribulation, then ordinarily he has a clearer proof of the truth and strength of that grace than at other times.
2. It is the grace that is of most use to us at such times (1Pe_5:9; Eph_6:16). Three benefits we have by it--
(1) It keeps us so that we do not for these things question the love of God (Isa_49:14; Psa_77:9; Heb_12:5).
(2) So that we take no sinful course for our escape (Psa_125:3; Psa_125:5). It should not shake our constancy and persuade us to do as the wicked (Isa_28:16; Heb_11:35).
(3) So that we may not faint and grow weary of duties, even of life itself, as Jonah (4:8; see Psa_27:13; Psa_42:5).
3. In such times faith is manifested. The true and sensible discovery of faith is patience under manifold tribulations.
(1) Because then we have nothing to stick unto but the comforts and supports of faith.
(2) Its proper, genuine effect is then produced to the view of both conscience and the world. What courage our belief in Gods promises has produced in us sensibly appears by enduring the greatest extremities rather than forsake the way of the Lord. (T. Manton , D. D.)
The power of patience
Among the regular and consistent worshippers at the Bohemian Church in Berlin during the ministry of Pastor Janike was a colonel at the War Office. His brother officers mocked at his piety, and used every opportunity of turning religion into ridicule. Being unable by these means to provoke the good man to indiscretions, they determined to provoke him by a more definite act of rudeness and scorn. Accordingly one of his colleagues in the office sketched a caricature of the colonel kneeling in church and receiving the holy communion. It was plain, from the entire character of the work, that a deadly hatred against the holiness of the Lord had inspired the pen that drew it. The sketch was secretly placed on the desk of the colonel, and the perpetrators of the miserable jest watched his arrival, and counted on an outburst of wrath. However, when the good man came and saw the sketch, he gravely shook his head, folded the paper, put it in his pocket, and then went on with his work, conversing with his colleagues in the usual friendly manner. A few days after the man who had drawn the shameful sketch knocked at the colonels door. The patience of the Christian was more than his conscience could bear. He came now, and with deep emotion, to apologise for his impertinence. The colonel gave him his hand, and assured him he had forgiven him everything. Not very long after this man knelt by the colonels side to receive the Lords supper, testifying with tears of gratitude that he had found Christ. From henceforth he became one of the warmest friends of the pious and long-suffering Christian. (Sunday at Home.)
Patient endurance
I shall never forget as long as I live that day where, in the glow of the eventide, as the sun was sinking and as the mists were creeping over the land, I walked with one of our native brethren by the riverside, and saw a light in the dim distance, when he said to me, Yonder is the only Christian in all that great town. Ten years ago he received Christ into his heart; his father and mother turned him out; his friends forsook him; his neighbours persecuted him; and all these years he stood his ground, scarcely getting food to eat. During all these ten years he maintained his Christian character unspotted in the midst of the heathen around him, and the native brother said to me, Now his business is reviving, because people say he sells the best things and always means what he says. I entered his humble bamboo hut and sat down on the ground by his side, and as I discoursed about his loneliness and his sadness the tears sprang into his eyes, and he said, No, I am never lonely; for as Christ was with the Hebrew children, and as He was with Daniel in the lions den, so all these years He has been with me. (A. H. Baynes.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v5 Chapter 18
Chapter 18
SUFFERING AND GLORY
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2Th_1:5-12 (R.V.)
IN the preceding verses of this chapter, as in the opening of the First Epistle, the Apostle has spoken of the afflictions of the Thessalonians, and of the Christian graces which they have developed under them. To suffer for Christs sake, he says, and at the same time to abound in faith and love and spiritual joy, is to have the mark of Gods election on us. It is an experience so truly and characteristically Christian that the Apostle cannot think of it without gratitude and pride. He gives thanks to God on every remembrance of his converts. He boasts of their progress in all the churches of Achaia.
In the verses before us, another inference is drawn from the afflictions of the Thessalonians, and their gospel patience under them. The whole situation is a proof, or manifest token, of the righteous judgment of God. It has this in view, that the Thessalonians may be deemed worthy of the (heavenly) kingdom of God, on behalf of which they suffer. Here, we see, the Apostle sanctions with his authority the argument from the injustices of this life to the coming of another life in which they will be rectified. God is just, he says; and therefore this state of affairs, in which bad men oppress the innocent, cannot last forever. It calls aloud for judgment; it proclaims its approach; it is a prognostic, a manifest token of it. The suffering which is here in view cannot be an end in itself. Even the graces which come to perfection in maintaining themselves against it, do not explain the whole meaning of affliction; it would remain a blot upon Gods justice if it were not counterbalanced by the joys of His kingdom. "Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute yon, and say all manner of evil against yon falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven." This is the gracious side of the judgment. The suffering which is borne with joy and brave patience for Christs sake proves how dear Christ is to the sufferer; and this love, tried with fire, is requited in due time with an answer in love that makes him forget it all.
This is one of the doctrines of Scripture that untroubled times find it easy to dispense with. There is even an affectation of superiority to what is called the moral vulgarity of being good for the sake of something beyond goodness. It is idle to enter on any abstract discussion of such a question. We are called by the gospel to a new life under certain definite conditions, one of them being the condition of suffering for its sake. The more thoroughly that condition is accepted the less disposition will there be to criticise the future blessedness which is its counterpoise and compensation. It is not the confessors and martyrs of the Christian faith-the men who die daily, like Paul, and share in the tribulations and patience of Jesus Christ, like John-who become weary of the glory which is to be revealed. And it is such only who are in a position to judge of the value of this hope. If it is dear to them, an inspiration and an encouragement, as it certainly is, it is surely worse than vain for those who are living an easier and a lower life to criticise it on abstract grounds. If we have no need of it, if we can dispense with any sight or grasp of a joy beyond the grave, let us take care that it is not owing to the absence from our life of that present suffering for Christs sake, without which we cannot be His. "The connection," Bishop Ellicott says, "between holy suffering and future blessedness is mystically close and indissoluble"; we must through great tribulation enter into the kingdom of God; and all experience proves that, when such tribulation comes and is accepted, the recompense of reward here spoken of, and the Scriptures which give prominence to it, rise to the highest credit in the mind of the Church. It is not a token of our enlightenment and moral superiority, if we undervalue them; it is an indication that we are not drinking of the Lords cup, or being baptised with His baptism.
But the reward is only one side of the righteous judgment foretold by the suffering of the innocent. It includes punishment as well. "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you." We see here the very simplest conception of Gods justice. It is a law of retribution, of vindication; it is the reaction, in this particular case, of mans sin against himself. The reaction is inevitable: if it does not come here, it comes in another world; if not now, in another life. The hope of the sinner is always that in some way or other this reaction may never take place, or that, when it does take place, it may be evaded; but that hope is doomed to perish. "If it were done when tis done," he says as he contemplates his sin in prospect; but it never is so done; it is exactly half done when he is finished with it; and the other half is taken in hand by God. Punishment is the other half of sin; as inseparable from it as heat from fire, as the inside of a vessel from the outside. "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you." "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
One of the favourite pastimes of some modern historians is the whitewashing of persecutors. A dispassionate interest in the facts shows, we are told, in many cases, that the persecutors were not so black as they have been painted, and that the martyrs and confessors were no better than they should have been. Where fault is found at all, it is laid rather at the door of systems than of individuals; judgment is passed on institutions and on centuries that persons and their actions may go free. Practically that comes to writing history, which is the story of mans moral life, without recognising the place of conscience; it may sometimes have the look of intelligence, but at bottom it is immoral and false. Men must answer for their actions. It is no excuse for murdering the saints that the murderers think they are doing God service; it is an aggravation of their guilt. Every man knows that it is wicked to afflict the good; if he does not, it is because he has quite corrupted his conscience, and therefore has the greater sin. Moral blindness may include and explain every sin, but it justifies none; it is itself the sin of sins. "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to those who afflict." If they cannot put themselves by sympathy into the place of others-which is the principle of all right conduct-God will put them in that place, and open their eyes. His righteous judgment is a day of grace to the innocent sufferers; He rewards their trouble with rest; but to the persecutor it is a day of vengeance; he eats the fruit of his doings.
It is characteristic of this Epistle, and of the preoccupation of the Apostles mind when he wrote it, that he here expands his notice of the time when this judgment is to take place into a vivid statement of its circumstances and issues. The judgment is executed at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with the angels of His power, in flaming fire. "At this moment," he would say, "Christ is unseen, and therefore by wicked men ignored, and sometimes by good men forgotten; but the day is coming when every eye shall see Him." The Apostle Peter, who had seen Christ in the flesh, as Paul had never done, and who probably felt His invisibility as few could feel it, is fond of this word "revelation" as a name for His reappearing. He speaks of faith which is to be found unto praise and honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. "Be sober," he says, "and hope to the end for the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." And in another passage, much in keeping with this of St. Pauls, he says. "Inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of His glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy." It is one of the great words of the New Testament; and its greatness is heightened in this place by the accompanying description. The Lord is revealed, attended by the angels of His power, in flaming fire. These accessories of the Advent are borrowed from the Old Testament; the Apostle clothes the Lord Jesus at His appearing in all the glory of the God of Israel. When Christ is thus revealed, it is in the character of a Judge: He renders vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two classes of guilty men are quite plainly distinguished by these words; and as plainly, though the English alone would not enable us to lay stress upon it, those two classes are the heathen and the Jews. Ignorance of God is the characteristic of paganism; when Paul wishes to describe the Gentiles from the religious point of view, he speaks of them. as the Gentiles which know not God. Now, with us, ignorance is usually regarded as an excuse for sin; it is an extenuating circumstance, which calls for compassion rather than condemnation; and we are almost astonished in reading the Bible to find it used as a summary of the whole guilt and offence of the heathen world. But we must remember what it is that men are said not to know. It is not theology; it is not the history of the Jews, or the special revelations it contains; it is not any body of doctrines; it is God. And God, who is the fountain of life, the only source of goodness, does not hide Himself from men. He has His witnesses everywhere. There is something in all men which is on His side, and which, if it be regarded, will bring their souls to Him. Those who know not God are those who have stifled this inner witness, and separated themselves in doing so from all that is good. Ignorance of God means ignorance of goodness; for all goodness is from Him. It is not a lack of acquaintance with any system of ideas about God that is here exposed to the condemnation of Christ; but the practical lack of acquaintance with love, purity, truth. If men are familiar with the opposites of all these; if they have been selfish, vile, bad, false; if they have said to God, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways; we are content to have no acquaintance with Thee"-is it not inevitable that, when Christ is revealed as Judge of all, they should be excluded from His kingdom? What could they do in it? Where could they be less in place?
The difficulty which some have felt about the ignorance of the Gentiles can hardly be raised about the disobedience of the Jews. The element of wilfulness, of deliberate antagonism to the good, to which we give such prominence in our idea of sin, is conspicuous here. The will of God for their salvation had been fully made known to this stubborn race; but they disobeyed, and persisted in their disobedience. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck"-so ran their own proverb-"shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Such was the sentence to be executed on them in the day of Christ.
When it is said that ignorance of God and disobedience to the gospel are here presented as the characteristics respectively of Gentile and Jew, it is not said that the passage is without significance for us. There may be some of us who are sinking day by day into an ever deeper ignorance of God. Those who live a worldly and selfish life, whose interests and hopes are bounded by this material order, who never pray, who do nothing, give nothing, suffer nothing for others, they, whatever their knowledge of the Bible or the catechism may be, do not know God, and fall under this pagan condemnation. And what of disobedience to the gospel? Notice the word which is here used by the Apostle; it implies a conception of the gospel which we are apt, in magnifying the grace of God, to overlook. We speak of receiving the gospel, believing it, welcoming it, and so forth; it is equally needful to remember that it claims our obedience. God not only beseeches us to be reconciled, He commands us to repent. He makes a display of His redeeming love in the gospel-a love which contains pardon, renewal, and immortality; and He calls on all men for a life in correspondence with that love. Salvation is not only a gift, but a vocation; we enter into it as we obey the voice of Jesus, "Follow Me"; and if we disobey, and choose our own way, and live a life in which there is nothing that answers to the manifestation of God as our Saviour, what can the end be? Can it be anything else than the judgment of which St. Paul here speaks? If we say, every day of our life, as the law of the gospel rings in our ears: "No, we will not have this Man to reign over us," can we expect anything else than that He will render vengeance? "Do we provoke the Lord to anger? Are we stronger than He?" The ninth verse describes the terrible vengeance of the great day. "Such men," says the Apostle, "shall pay the penalty, everlasting destruction, away from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might." These are awful words, and it is no wonder that attempts have been made to empty them of the meaning which they bear upon their face. But it would be false to sinful men, as well as to the Apostle, and to the whole of New Testament teaching, to say that any art or device could in the least degree lessen their terrors. It has been boldly asserted, indeed, that the word rendered everlasting does not mean everlasting, but age long; and that what is in view here is "an age long destruction from the presence and glory of Christ, i.e., the being shut out from all sight of and participation in the triumphs of Christ during that age" ["the age perhaps which immediately succeeds this present life"]. And this assertion is crowned by another, that those thus excluded nevertheless "abide in His presence and share His glory in the ages beyond." Anything more gratuitous, anything less in keeping with the whole tone of the passage, anything more daring in its arbitrary additions to the text, it would be impossible even to imagine. If the gospel, as conceived in the New Testament, has any character at all, it has the character of finality. It is Gods last word to men. And the consequences of accepting or rejecting it are final; it opens no prospect beyond the life on the one hand, and the death on the other, which are the results of obedience and disobedience. Obey, and you enter into a light in which there is no darkness at all: disobey, and you pass eventually into a darkness in which there is no light at all. What God says to us in all Scripture, from beginning to end, is not, Sooner or later? but, Life or death? These are the alternatives before us; they are absolutely separate; they do not run into one another at any time, the most remote. It is necessary to speak the more earnestly of this matter, because there is a disposition, on the plea that it is impossible for us to divide men into two classes, to blur or even to obliterate the distinction between Christian and non-Christian. Many things prompt us to make the difference merely one of quantity-a more or less of conformity to some ideal standard-in which case, of course, a little more, or a little less, is of no great account. But that only means that we never take the distinction between being right with God, and being wrong with God, as seriously as God takes it; with Him it is simply infinite. The difference between those who obey, and those who do not obey, the gospel, is not the difference of a little better and a little worse; it is the difference of life and death. If there is any truth in Scripture at all, this is true-that those who stubbornly refuse to submit to the gospel, and to love and obey Jesus Christ, incur at the Last Advent an infinite and irreparable loss. They pass into a night on which no morning dawns.
This final ruin is here described as separation from the face of the Lord and the glory of His might. In both the Old Testament and the New, the vision of God is the consummation of blessedness. Thus we read in one psalm, "Before Thy face is fulness of joy"; in another, "As for me, I shall behold Thy face in uprightness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." In one of the Gospels, our Saviour says that in heaven the angels of the little ones do always behold the face of their Father who is in heaven; and in the Book of Revelation it is the crown of joy that His servants shall serve Him and shall see His face. From all this joy and blessedness they condemn themselves to exclusion who know not God, and disobey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Far from the face of the Lord and the glory of His power, their portion is in the outer darkness.
But in vivid contrast with this-for the Apostle does not close with this terrible prospect-is the lot of those who have chosen the good part here. Christ is revealed taking vengeance on the wicked, as has just been described; but He comes also to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believed-including those Christians at Thessalonica. This is the Lords and the Christians interest in the great day. The glory that shines from Him is mirrored in and reflected from them. If there is a glory of the Christian even while he wears the body of his humiliation, it will be swallowed up in a glory more excellent when his change comes. Yet that glory will not be his own: it Will be the glory of Christ which has transfigured him; men and angels, as they look at the saints, will admire not them, but Him who has made them anew in the likeness of Himself. All this is to take place "on that day"-the great and terrible day of the Lord. The voice of the Apostle rests with emphasis upon it; let it fill our minds and hearts. It is a day of revelation, above all things: the day on which Christ comes, and declares which life is eternally of worth, and which forever worthless; the day on which some are glorified, and some pass finally from our view. Do not let the difficulties and mysteries of this subject, the problems we cannot solve, the decisions we could not give, blind our eyes to what Scripture makes so plain: we are not the judges, but the judged, in this whole scene; and the judgment is of infinite consequence for us. It is not a question of less or more, of sooner or later, of better or worse; what is at stake in our attitude to the gospel is life or death, heaven or hell, the outer darkness or the glory of Christ.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. So that we glory. On account of these…
4. So that we glory. On account of these things he spoke their praises in the churches, those of Achaia, where he then was. It is always a stimulus to report to the churches the good work elsewhere, Churches of God. A designation given by the apostles to the churches oftener than any other, though also spoken of as churches of Christ. Your patience. There was a patient endurance of trial for Christ.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v5 2Th_1:5. Which is a manifest token—“An indication.” The steadfast…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
2Th_1:5. Which is a manifest token—“An indication.” The steadfast and resolute continuance in the profession and adornment of the Christian faith, in face of opposition, might suggest to persecutors, as to Gamaliel, the possibility of the divine origin of the faith, to oppose which was to fight against God.
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2Th_1:6. Seeing it is a righteous thing.—“There is no unrighteousness in Him.” However stern the retribution, none who suffers will ever be able to impugn the justice. To recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.—The R.V. comes nearer to the original, “affliction to them that afflict you.” This lex talionis is a sword that is dangerous to any hand but His who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.”
2Th_1:7. And to you who are troubled rest with us.—The idea suggested by the words is that of poor, hunted fugitives with nerves tensely strung and a wild look of fear in the eyes. As the guardians of the infant Jesus were assured of safety by the death of him who sought the child’s life, so the strain of fear shall be relaxed in the case of the persecuted Thessalonians.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Th_1:5-7
The Recompense of Suffering for the Truth.
It is not an uncommon spectacle to see vice prosperous and triumphant, while virtue is ignored and oppressed. To a superficial observer it would seem that all the great prizes of the world—wealth, power, social status, gaiety, display, pleasure—were thrown indiscriminately and with lavish abundance into the lap of the wicked, and that the God-fearing few are left in obscurity to struggle with hardships, penury, and affliction. Nor is it always an easy matter to reconcile the sufferings of the good with the goodness and justice of God. But all things come round to the patient man. We must look to the future for the faithful redress of present grievances. In this chapter the apostle ministers consolation to the suffering Thessalonians by assuring them of a coming day in which they would be abundantly recompensed for all they had to endure, and in which the righteousness of God would be publicly vindicated. Observe:—
I. That the maintenance of the truth often entails considerable suffering.—“The kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer” (2Th_1:5). They who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. The world is violently opposed to the Church, and that opposition is full of malignant hatred and cruelty. Socrates once said something like this—that if goodness were to become incarnate in one man, so that that man would be perfectly good, the world would put him to death. What Socrates said was realised in Christ. “If they have persecuted Me,” said Christ to His followers, “they will also persecute you.” It is not the least among the trials of the good that they are obliged to come in contact with evil in so many forms, and that they are so savagely assailed and oppressed with it. Athanasius regarded the suffering of persecution to be a special note of a Christian man, observing: “It is the part of Christians to be persecuted; but to persecute the Christians is the very office of Pilate and Caiaphas.”
II. That suffering for the truth has a morally educating influence.—“That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God” (2Th_1:5). The believer has no worthiness in himself, nor can he acquire any by the merit of his own works. This worthiness is but another word for meetness—that meetness of state and character, as sinners justified and sanctified, without which no man shall enter the kingdom. Only to such has the kingdom been promised. And the sufferings they endure on behalf of the kingdom, so far from impairing their title, serve rather to confirm and illustrate it. Every Christian grace is tested, developed, and trained by suffering. “The least reproach augments our glory. Every tear is not only noted and kept in the bottle, but made as varnish to add to our brightness and glorious splendour. No drop of our blood but wins us a river of glory; effusion of it the whole ocean of beatitude.” When Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was cast to the lions, he exclaimed: “I am God’s wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may be found His pure bread.”
III. That suffering for the truth will be divinely recompensed.—“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God” (2Th_1:5)—i.e. their sufferings and the constancy with which they endured them proved God’s justice. A strange assertion! The people of God have often been staggered by the fact that the wicked persecute and prosper, and the poor saints are plagued and oppressed (Psa_73:1-14; Jer_12:1-4). But from this very fact the apostle derives consolation. It is a proof to him of a future state in which all this apparent inconsistency will be set right, in which the saint and the persecutor will each receive his own proper recompense.
1. Suffering will be divinely recompensed in the deliverance of the sufferer.—“And to you who are troubled rest with us” (2Th_1:7). The word “rest” really means the slackening of strings that had been pulled tight. To the persecuted and afflicted Thessalonians the happiness of heaven is held out under the image of rest and relief after suffering. It is, as it were, the relaxing of tension after having been stretched on the rack. The keenest suffering for the truth is limited in its duration; and the righteousness of God is pledged to sustain and deliver His afflicted ones. The sweet rest of heaven will be all the more enjoyable because shared with those who have passed through a similar conflict.
2. Suffering will be divinely recompensed in the punishment of the persecutor.—“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (2Th_1:6). The punishment of the persecutor is as just as the relief of the oppressed; and God has both the intention and the power of accomplishing what He thinks just. The law of retaliation will be rigidly enforced. The very measure the persecutors have dealt they are to receive back again; and the retaliation will be all the more terrible because of its unanswerable justice. Truth must triumph over all its enemies. Its watchword is “no surrender.” The apostate Julian spent his strength in trying to destroy the true Church; but when he fell on the battle-field, as the blood was gushing from his breast and his eyes were closing in death, he hissed between his setting teeth, “Galilean, Thou hast conquered!” And the Galilean must and will conquer, and all His enemies shall receive their just measure of punishment.
Lessons.—
1. The sufferings of the good afford an opportunity for the display of divine justice.
2. Suffering is no evidence of the divine displeasure.
3. The glory of the future will infinitely outweigh the sufferings of the present life.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Th_1:6-7. Rest in Heaven for the Troubled.
I. Our Lord’s coming is called a revealing of Him.—Here He is revealed in the outer world and in the gospel. There He will be revealed in glory, without disguise or veil.
II. Look at the troublers and their portion.—“It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.” Sorrow of the acutest kind without comfort or alleviation.
III. Look at the portion of the troubled.—“Rest.” A heaven of quietness and repose, and yet of ceaseless and tireless activity in praising God.
VI. The righteousness of the divine conduct.—“It is a righteous thing with God.” The Lord’s second coming is not on an errand of mercy; His main business is to dispense justice.—C. Bradley.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv5–6 5. We see here that it is a great…
ARGUMENT 2
THE BLESSING OF PERSECUTION
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5. We see here that it is a great blessing and an exalted honor to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, so that we are permitted to suffer persecution for Christ’s sake. Hence, it says that persecution is “a manifestation of the righteous judgment of God.” Christ (Mat 5:10) catalogues persecution among the beatitudes. Have you considered that the probable reason why you are not persecuted is, because you are not worthy of the kingdom of God? The Lord give us light to examine our hearts, and consider our lives!
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv4–6 so that we ourselves glory in you in the…
so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure [The faith and love of the Thessalonians were such that, spontaneously, of their own accord, Paul and his companions delighted to tell of it to the churches at Corinth, Cenchreæ and in other parts of Achaia. Though the persecutions which arose while Paul was in Thessalonica were still continuing, yet they neither exhausted the patience of the Christians so as to drive them to forsake God, nor their faith so as to lead them to mistrust God. We should observe that the churches are commonly called, by Paul, as here, churches of God, though sometimes churches of Christ];
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
As Paul continues, he talks about God being just.
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It is righteous for God
"God is right" or "God is just"
for God to return affliction to those who afflict you, and relief to you
Here "to return" is a metaphor that means to cause someone to experience the same thing they did to someone else. AT: "for God to afflict those who afflict you, and to relieve you" (See: Metaphor)
relief to you
You can make it explicit that God is the one who provides relief. AT: "for God to provide relief to you" (See: Ellipsis)
the angels of his power
"his powerful angels"
In flaming fire he will take vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who
"He will punish with blazing fire those who do not know God and those who" or "Then with blazing fire he will punish those who do not know God and those who"
translationWords
righteous
God
afflicted
lord
Jesus
heaven
fire
good news
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4–5 1:4 Paul’s boasting to other churches about the Thessalonians’…
1:4 Paul’s boasting to other churches about the Thessalonians’ endurance and faithfulness would stimulate the church’s resolve to endure and remain faithful in the face of great hostility (1 Thes 2:14; 3:3-4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.