1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4So 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:

5Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

11Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

COMMENTARY by Dr. Dave Burnette

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Paul

Date Penned: (51-52 AD)

Overview: Looking to the Second Coming of Christ (c 1-3)

Theme: The Bright Hope of Christ's Return (c 1-2)

Message: Be Encouraged in Times of Persecution (v 1-12)

2 Thessalonians 1 Commentary

(1:1-2) Greetings from Paul - Paul wrote this letter from Corinth less than a year after he wrote 1 Thessalonians. He and his companions, Timothy and Silas, had visited Thessalonica on Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-10). They established the church there, but Paul had to leave suddenly because of persecution. This prompted him to write his first letter (1 Thessalonians), which contains words of comfort and encouragement. Paul then heard how the Thessalonians had responded to this letter. The good news was that they were continuing to grow in their faith. But the bad news was that false teachings about Christ’s return were spreading, leading many to quit their jobs and wait for the end of the world. So Paul wrote to the Thessalonians again. While the purpose of Paul’s first letter was to comfort the Thessalonians with the assurance of Christ’s second coming, the purpose of this second letter was to correct false teaching about the Second Coming.

(1:3-12) Encouragement During Persecution - A few months earlier, Timothy had returned to check on the Thessalonian believers and had returned to Paul with the good news of their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:5-6). Paul had written 1 Thessalonians to express his great joy as well as to answer some questions. But some time had passed, and Paul had heard about some other problems in Thessalonica—the church was still facing persecution. False teachers were giving wrong information about the Second Coming, and some of the believers had stopped working in order to wait for Christ’s return.

LIFE APPLICATION by Dr. Dave Burnette

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we start the book of 2nd Thessalonians with Chapter 1 and in our text we see Paul reminding us to be encouraged in the faith as we live in a faithless time. In making application we see that if you stand for Jesus-Christ you will suffer some type of opposition or persecution. How about you? Are you ready for the resistance of the Enemy? Let us learn from our text today and the reminder of Paul that we will have obstacles and persecution that will stand in your way but be encouraged that Christ is coming soon so this momentary light affliction will pass as His Power and His Glory will ultimately reign. Praise the Lord :)