There are two groups of people in this text. There are the persecuted children of God who will be rewarded with eternal peace and rest in the glorious presence of God. Then, there are the people who oppose God’s people and reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ; this group will be eternally judged. I want to be on the right side of this equation.
In the world, there will be tribulation, and the enemy will try to use it to divide us. But thank God, Jesus has overcome the world (Jn 16:33). If we lock hands and hearts in faith, we can stand stronger together than we can standing alone. Through their love for one another, the church in Thessalonica was able to overcome, and their faith continued to grow. We are always better together.
Paul ends with a prayer, a charge, and a benediction, all wrapped into one profound ending to an eternal message. Paul wrote this letter through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so this isn’t just Paul’s personal ending; this is the Word of God for all generations, including those of us who read it today. What this ending provides is an outline for the Christian life till Christ returns.
Having completed the task for which the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write the epistle, the Holy Spirit also inspired Paul with the ending salutation. There are three important points in these three verses: First, we will see that the word “saint” refers to every believer in Christ Jesus. Second, we see that if there could be committed believers serving in the household of Nero, then there is no excuse for not being committed Christians in whatever place or time we are living. And third, we are reminded that God’s grace through Christ Jesus is sufficient to ensure that we gain and maintain our victory.
We might think it is demeaning to refer to oneself as a slave or a servant, but in the first century, the slave of a high-ranking official often had more influence and authority than the average free Roman citizen. A servant sent in the name of his master came with conferred authority; therefore, to rebuff the servant was to rebuff the one who sent him. As the servants of Jesus Christ, we have been sent in His name, and there is power in the name of Jesus.
Have you ever been in a church fight? Church fights are the ugliest because we rightfully expect more from believers than we do from the world. I remember reading about a church fight in the Atlanta area a few years ago where the deacons changed the locks on the church doors and the pastor couldn’t get in on Sunday morning. Of course, the secular media love it when church people fight. It gives them the opportunity to mock Christianity and claim all Christians are hypocrites.
