Albert N. Martin

Now there will always be those who, when they think about the second coming, become obsessed with attempting to predict the date; but according to the plain words of Christ this is a misuse of the Scriptures. Modern-day date-setters tell us that the reason they write their books and preach their sermons is to sound an alarm to awaken the church to action in the light of the imminent return of Christ, but Jesus Himself said that the reason the time of His return must remain concealed is so that the church will never fall asleep to begin with. Listen to His words as they are found in the gospel of Mark chapter thirteen and verse thirty-three, “Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.” Again in Luke twelve and verse forty He says, “The Son of Man comes at an hour when you do not think, therefore be ready.”

In dealing with this subject, we are focusing our attention on Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians and chapter one. In our last message, we concentrated on what this passage teaches about the nature of the second coming. We saw that it is to be, in the words of Paul, “The revelation of the Lord Jesus.” This phrase “the revelation of the Lord Jesus” literally means the unveiling of the Lord Jesus. Paul goes on to emphasize that this unveiling will be from heaven with the angels of His power and in flaming fire.

Today we will move on to the second major division of our study. Having seen something of the nature of the Lord’s return, we will now look at the consequences of His return. Paul describes those consequences in terms of the effects it will have on two classes of people. Those two classes are the people of God and the unconverted.

Before we begin to consider the great blessings that will come to the people of God when Christ returns, we need to make a brief digression and ask: who are the people of God? You can be certain whether or not the blessings of the second coming belong to you, because in the passage we are now studying Paul gives a detailed description of the people of God. Before you assume that you will be among the blessed at the return of Christ, consider your life in the light of Paul’s teaching.

Now, before we begin our message, please follow as I read 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. “Paul, and Silas, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ; grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is right, for your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all towards one another abounds. 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 you endure; which is a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

“If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you; and to you that are afflicted, rest with us, that the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire rendering vengeance to them who know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his might; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all of them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness, and every work of faith with power. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In this passage in which the Apostle describes the consequences of the unveiling of the Lord Jesus for the people of God, he is very careful to give us a rather comprehensive description of who the people of God are, so that none will have any grounds to question whether or not these blessed consequences are coming to him.

Now notice, in the first place, that the identity of the people of God in this passage is given to us in verse 1. “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” When the Apostle describes the church of the Thessalonians, he describes them as a congregation, a called-out assembly who are in vital, spiritual union with God the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As the Apostle writes his letter and thinks of the peculiar nature of the church of the Thessalonians, he thinks of them primarily and supremely as a company of sinners who have been brought into nothing less than vital union with the living God and with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So, he describes the people of God in this very forceful language, “Those who are in.” That is, in vital, spiritual union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, the great blessings that will come to the people of God at this event are blessings that come to the true people of God, and those people are only such as have been brought into vital, spiritual union with God the Father and vital, spiritual union with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing so tragic as to see people who’ve made a decision, who’ve gone through the motions of becoming Christians, who cling yet to a basic pattern of selfishness in self-indulgence, but who go to church a sufficient number of times, where there is a sufficient measure of truth to pacify their consciences and to see them with a semblance of rejoicing in the return of the Lord. Generally it’s in terms of, “Well, when things get too hot, the Lord will come and just whisk us all away and take us out of this mess.”

My friend, these great, anticipated blessings of the return of the Lord, the unveiling of Christ, are blessings that will come not to every Tom and Dick and Harry and Susie and Helen and Patricia, who have merely named the name of Christ. They will come only to those who are in vital, living, spiritual union with God the Father and with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Secondly, their specific identity is given to us in verse 3, “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is necessary, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you towards one another aboundeth. So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith.” Do you see the true identity of the people of God? They are not only in vital, spiritual union with the Father and with His Son, but they manifest the fundamental graces which are the inevitable fruit of that union. Whenever there is vital, spiritual union with God the Father and with His Son, that union is never a barren union. It is always productive of growing, dynamic, expressions of the graces herein mentioned.

Bible References: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12; Mark 13:33; Luke 12:40

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