It's only right that we should tell the whole story

2 Thessalonians 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Thanksgiving for Faith and Perseverance

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ² Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; ⁴ therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. ⁵ This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering⁶    . For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, ⁸ dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is a loving, compassionate, merciful and gracious God. It is only by His grace, because He loved us and sent His Son, that we are saved, redeemed from sin. It is His love, His compassion and His faithfulness to us that draws us to Him and causes us to be obedient and faithful to Him. In today’s text it says, Paul praises the faith of the church, even among the afflictions that they face:   We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.     The Christian life does not exempt us from difficulties, but rather we are to walk faithfully through them knowing that with Christ, we will overcome whatever we face. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, thatin Me you may have peace.In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer,I have overcome the world.”  Our message to the world and our example to them should be the love and compassion; the mercy and grace and also the overcoming power and presence of Christ in our lives.

It is important that we tell people the whole truth. Romans 2:4 says:  Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?   People need to know and understand that God’s kindness, His love, His compassion; mercy and grace should lead us to a decision to change, to repent, to be faithful to Him and to walk in faithfulness and righteousness.    For those who refuse the gracious gift of reconciliation to God, there is a different outcome. Today’s text says:    After all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day.    There is a consequence for those who do not respond to God’s kindness. It is not only Paul who warns of the consequences of rejecting God’s mercy and grace; of not being faithful and obedient to Him.  In Matthew 13:36-43 it says:   “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares arethe sons of the wicked one.The enemy who sowed them is the devil,the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.The Son of Man will send out His angels,and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,and will cast them into the furnace of fire.There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”    In Matthew 25:41-46  Jesus says:   “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”      I am not suggesting that we attempt to scare people into making a decision to be obedient to God. But, we do them a disservice if we fail to tell them of the consequences of not responding to God’s love, His mercy, His grace and kindness. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells another parable saying:  “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”     May it never be said by any that we have met:  Why didn’t you tell me the whole story? Why did you only speak of love and grace and not tell me of the consequences of my foolishness in rejecting God’s kindness?

It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. It is by His grace that we are redeemed and reconciled to Him. But for those who reject His compassion and mercy, we owe it to them to tell them the whole story. Romans 11:22 says:  Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.   To be subject to the severity of God is not what God chooses for anyone. Rather, it is the consequence of their choice. Don’t we owe it to them to give them all of the information so that they can choose wisely?   

To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.   Amen.