For an example of the just judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you suffer.

“"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God." See how he gathers comfort for them. He had said, We give thanks to God, he had said, We glory among men: these things indeed are honorable. But that which he most seeks for, who is in suffering, is, deliverance from evils, and vengeance upon those who are evil entreating them. For when the soul is weak, it most seeks for these things, for the philosophic soul does not even seek these things. Why then does he say, "a token of the righteous Judgment of God"? Here he has glanced at the retribution on either side, both of those who do the ill, and of those who suffer it, as if he had said, that the justice of God may be shown when He crowns you indeed, but punishes them. At the same time also he comforts them, showing that from their own labors and toils they are crowned, and according to the proportion of righteousness. But he puts their part first. For although a person even vehemently desires revenge, yet he first longs for reward. For this reason he says, "That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." This then does not come to pass from the circumstance that those who injure them are more powerful than they, but because it is so that they must enter into the kingdom. "For through many tribulations," he says, "we must enter into the kingdom of God."”

“Lastly, there is the matter of Faustus' crafty insinuation, that the Old Testament misrepresents God as threatening to come with a sword which will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked. If the words were explained to the pagan, he would perhaps disagree neither with the Old Testament nor with the New; and he might see the beauty of the parable in the Gospel, which people who pretend to be Christians either misunderstand from their blindness or reject from their perversity. The vine's great farmer uses his pruning hook differently on the fruitful and in the unfruitful branches. Yet he spares neither good nor bad, pruning one and cutting off the other. No one is so just that he does not need to be tried by affliction to advance or to establish or prove his virtue. Do the Manichaeans not reckon Paul as righteous, who, while confessing humbly and honestly his past sins, still gives thanks for being justified by faith in Jesus Christ? Was Paul himself then spared of suffering by God whom fools misunderstand? He says, "I will spare neither the righteous nor the sinner." Hear the apostle himself, "Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. For this I asked the Lord three times, that he would remove it from me; and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for strength is perfected in weakness." … Paul also, besides recording his own experience, says that the afflictions and persecutions of the righteous exhibit the judgment of God.”

“This epistle is divided into the greeting, and the epistolary narration, at "we ought to give thanks," etc. Again, first the persons greeting are set down; second, the persons greeted; third, the goods wished for. Now these are the same persons as in the first. But three persons greeting are set down, so that the authority of the epistle might appear more robust. Eccles. 4:12: A threefold cord is broken with difficulty. To the church of the Thessalonians, etc. Church means a congregation: which ought to be in God, otherwise it is evil. Of the good one it is said, Ps. 49:5: Gather together his saints to him, etc. In Christ, that is, in faith in him. Rom. 5:2: through whom we have access by faith into this grace. Then he wishes them good things, and first, peace. For it is the beginning of all spiritual gifts. 1 Cor. 15:10: By the grace of God I am what I am. Again, peace, which is the end of men. Ps. 147:14: who has placed your ends as peace, etc. And this from God, etc. James 1:17: Every excellent gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, descending from the Father of lights, etc. And from the Lord Jesus, etc. 2 Pet. 1:4: through whom he has given us the greatest and precious things. We ought to give thanks, etc. This is the epistolary narration. And first he instructs them concerning the things to come in the last days; second, he admonishes them familiarly concerning certain matters, in the third chapter, at "for the rest, brothers," etc. Again, first he admonishes, as has been said, as to the rewards of the good, and the punishments of the wicked; second, as to the dangers in the time of Antichrist, chapter 2, at "but we ask you," etc. Again, first he gives thanks concerning the preparation for the future judgment; second he describes the judgment itself, at "if indeed it is just." Again, first he gives thanks for their progress; second he shows the fruit of the progress; third, the sign. He says therefore, we ought to give thanks, etc. For because in the first epistle he commended them for faith and charity and other goods in which they abounded, therefore he says, we ought always to give thanks for you, because the good that you have, I reckon as my own. 3 John 4: I have no greater grace than this, that I hear my children walk in truth. And this to God, without whom nothing good can be done. And this is fitting, because we give thanks for great goods. 2 Macc. 1:11: Having been delivered by God from great dangers, let us give magnificent thanks. Why? Because spiritual goods grow exceedingly. For they are kept perilously, unless a man makes progress in them. Now among these gifts of God, the first is faith, through which God dwells in us, and in this we make progress according to the intellect. Eph. 3:17: that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts. And thus man makes progress through knowledge, devotion, and adherence. The second is charity, through which God is in us according to effect. 1 John 4:16: God is charity, and he who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him. And therefore he says, and it abounds. Prov. 15:5: in abundant justice, there is the greatest strength, etc. 1 Thess. 4:9: But concerning brotherly charity we had no need to write to you, for you yourselves have learned from God to love one another, etc. And then the progress is set down, when he says: so that I glory in it among others, because I reckon what is yours as mine. For the good of disciples is the glory of prelates. Prov. 10:1: A wise son makes a father glad, etc. Prov. 17:6: The crown of old men is their children's children, etc. 2 Cor. 9:2: for which I glory concerning you. And then he sets down the sign of progress, namely patience, which is shown most of all in tribulations. James 1:12: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, etc. In tribulations there are two things to be kept, namely patience, lest one depart from the faith. James: patience has a perfect work. And faith in persecutions. 1 Cor. 4:12: We suffer persecution and we endure it. Hence he says, in faith, in all your persecutions and tribulations. These tribulations indeed are named from thistles, by which we are pricked inwardly through afflictions. Gen. 3:18: it shall bring forth to you thorns and thistles. Ps. 24:17: The tribulations of my heart are multiplied. And these things the saints endure on account of two things: namely, on account of the terror of the wicked. For if God does not spare the good in this world, how will he spare the wicked in the future? 1 Pet. 2: but if first from us, what is the end of those who do not believe the Gospel of God, etc. Jer. 49:12: Behold, they to whom there was no judgment, that they should drink the cup, etc. Second, to increase merit. Hence he says, that worthy, etc. For, as it is said in Matt. 11:12, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away. And Luke, last chapter: was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things, and so enter into his glory? Rom. 8:17: if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together with him. Hence he says, for which you also suffer. For the tribulation which is borne for God makes one worthy of the kingdom of God. Matt. 5:10: Blessed are they who suffer persecution, etc. 1 Pet. 4:15: let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a reviler, or a coveter of what belongs to others.”

“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. 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.”

“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,.... That is, according as some think, that God should glorify those that are persecuted, and punish their persecutors: this sense indeed may seem to agree with what follows; but the apostle is speaking not of something future, but of something present; not of what God will do hereafter, but of the present sufferings of the saints. According to others the sense is, that God's suffering affliction and persecution to befall his own people, as a chastisement of them, that they may not be condemned with the world, is an evidence of his strict justice, that he will not suffer sin in any to go unobserved by him; and is a manifest token how severely and righteously he will punish the wicked hereafter, see Pe1 4:17. But rather the meaning of the words is this, that whereas good men are afflicted and persecuted in this life, they have now their evil things, and bad men prosper and flourish, and have their good things, so that justice does not seem to take place; which seeming inequality in Providence has been sometimes the hardening of wicked men, and the staggering of the righteous, which should not be; this is now a manifest token, and a clear case, that there will be a righteous judgment, in which things will be set aright, and justice will take place; for God is neither unrighteous nor careless, or negligent; and this is observed to support the saints under their sufferings, and to animate them to bear them patiently: that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer; either of the Gospel, which is sometimes so called, and for which they suffered, and so judged themselves worthy of it; as those that put it away from them, and care not to suffer the least reproach for it, show themselves to be unworthy of it, and of eternal life also: or of a Gospel church state, and a name, and a place in it, for which the people of God likewise suffer; and those who shun reproach and sufferings for it are not worthy to have a place, or their names there: or rather of the heavenly glory; for the hope of which saints suffer much here, whereby their graces are tried, and so they are counted worthy, not by way of merit of it, but meetness for it; many tribulations are the way, or at least lie in the way to this kingdom. In the school of afflictions the saints are trained up for it; and though these are not worthy to be compared with their future happiness, yet they work for them an eternal weight of glory; by the means of these the graces of the Spirit of God are exercised and increased, their hearts are weaned from the world; and coming up out of great tribulations, they wash their garments, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, and are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light.”

“A manifest token of the righteousness judgement of God - The persecutions and tribulations which you endure, are a manifest proof that God has judged righteously in calling you Gentiles into his Church; and these sufferings are also a proof that ye are called in; for they who enter into the kingdom of God go through great tribulation; your going through that tribulation is a proof that ye are entering in, and God sees it right and just that ye should be permitted to suffer before ye enjoy that endless felicity. The words, however, may be understood in another sense, and will form this maxim: "The sufferings of the just, and the triumphs of the wicked, in this life, are a sure proof that there will be a future judgment, in which the wicked shall be punished and the righteous rewarded. "This maxim is not only true in itself, but it is most likely that this is the apostle's meaning. That ye may be counted worthy - Your patient endurance of these sufferings is a proof that ye are rendered meet for that glory on account of which ye suffer and, in a true Gospel sense of the word, worthy of that glory; for he who is a child of God, and a partaker of the Divine nature, is worthy of God's kingdom, not because he has done any thing to merit it, but because he bears the image of God; and the image is that which gives the title.”

“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, Kataxiothenai umas ; and ver. 11, ibid. 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)”

“Which--Your enduring these tribulations is a "token of the righteous judgment of God," manifested in your being enabled to endure them, and in your adversaries thereby filling up the measure of their guilt. The judgment is even now begun, but its consummation will be at the Lord's coming. David (Psa 73:1-14) and Jeremiah (Jer 12:1-4) were perplexed at the wicked prospering and the godly suffering. But Paul, by the light of the New Testament, makes this fact a matter of consolation. It is a proof (so the Greek) of the future judgment, which will set to rights the anomalies of the present state, by rewarding the now suffering saint, and by punishing the persecutor. And even now "the Judge of all the earth does right" (Gen 18:25); for the godly are in themselves sinful and need chastisement to amend them. What they suffer unjustly at the hands of cruel men they suffer justly at the hands of God; and they have their evil things here that they may escape condemnation with the world and have their good things hereafter (Luk 16:25; Co1 11:32) [EDMUNDS]. that ye may be counted worthy--expressing the purpose of God's "righteous judgment" as regards you. for which--Greek, "in behalf of which ye are also suffering" (compare Act 5:41; Act 9:16; Phi 1:29). "Worthy" implies that, though men are justified by faith, they shall be judged "according to their works" (Rev 20:12; compare Th1 2:12; Pe1 1:6-7; Rev 20:4). The "also" implies the connection between the suffering for the kingdom and being counted worthy of it. Compare Rom 8:17-18.”