“God’s Judgment Is Right”Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 ThessaloniansLanse Evangelical Free ChurchAugust 10, 2025 :: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10  
Here’s a statement of truth to encourage your soul today: “God’s judgment is right.”
Those words are found in verse 5, and the Apostle Paul and his friends Silas and Timothy want to encourage the hearts of their Thessalonian friends with that assertion–“God’s judgment is right.”
What God decides is right and righteous. He always does what is right! He is never fooled by appearances, and He never makes the wrong decisions about anything or anyone.  God’s judgment is right. Isn’t that encouraging?! 
It’s even more encouraging when you think about how it doesn’t always feel that way. In fact, it often does not feel that way, because our world is not like it should be.
That we feel! We all have a longing for justice. For everything to be the way that it should be. Everything broken fixed. Every terrible thing made right again. Every wrong undone.
Is that what we see in the world? Justice, justice everywhere? Answer: Not yet.
But that does not mean that God is doing it wrong. God’s judgment is right. And it will be right. And will be right forever. Eternally! And that’s eternal encouragement for those who long for justice.
Like the church of the Thessalonians. Let’s get into the letter to see how Paul is trying to encourage them. Starting in verse 1.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
“Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Classic opening for one of Paul’s letters. Same three authors. Same team that helped plant the church. Same baby church in Thessalonica. 
And in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t forget that location that he points out. That church isn’t just in Thessalonica, just like our church is not just in Lanse. That church is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s where we are! A genuine church is located in the Father and in the Son (and we know from the rest of the Bible IN the Holy Spirit).
And then he wishes upon them grace and peace from that same God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace.
And they are going to need it. Because things are not going very smoothly for this church! They are under attack. But that’s not where Paul starts. He starts by giving thanks for how the church is thriving where it really counts. Look at verse 3.
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.”
Isn’t that great?! Paul not only says that he gives thanks to God for these precious brothers and sisters in Christ, but that he ought to! That it would only be right. 
There’s something good cooking at Thessalonica, and everybody who has eyes can see it!
“Your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing!”
This church is growing where it really counts: faith and love. Remember in 1 Thessalonians, there were 3 key words that kept showing up: faith, love, and hope. Right? Paul gave thanks for their faith, love, and hope. Well, here are two of the three once again. And we know that hope shows up in chapter 2, because it’s in our memory verse, 2:16-17.
They had faith and love in 1 Thessalonians, but he wanted them to grow in it more and more. Do you remember that from earlier this summer? In chapter 3 of the first letter, Paul prays, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you” (1 Thess. 3:12). So that makes verse 3 here an answer to Paul’s own prayer! 
Paul says, “I have to give thanks because you guys are believing more and more and loving each other more and more.” I’m so proud of you! Well done, you. Praise God! Praise God!
And I see the same thing happening here at Lanse Free Church. We’ve been praying ever since we started to grow in numbers that we would grow in faith and in love for each other. 
And I’m seeing it happening. One of the most encouraging things that the Kentucky Team said was that we got to know each other better and got knit together. And I see that happening in other groups in our church family right now. It’s one of the great things about the Fall Retreat to be able to spend unhurried time together and love one another more. It happened at Family Bible Week, too. And I expect the same thing out there this afternoon at our new pavilion.  
It’s great to grow in attendance, but what really counts is to grow in faith and love for one another.
Paul could see it! Paul was so encouraged. And he just had to give thanks for it.
And one of reasons that this was so encouraging was because they were trusting God more and more and loving each other more and more when they were being persecuted more and more. Look at verse 4.
“Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
This church was getting kicked in the teeth. They were in trouble with the authorities. They were in trouble with their neighbors. Some were probably losing their jobs. Some may have been taking beatings. Some may have been losing their lives. All because they were following King Jesus.
“Persecutions and trials.” Following Jesus is not always easy. Sometimes, it’s really painful. But the Thessalonians were not giving up. They were continuing to love each other and to trust God. Paul says they had, “...perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials [they were] enduring.” 
They were not giving up. They were not giving in. And it made Paul so proud! Do you see what he said in verse 4? “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith!” Paul just loved to brag on these Christians. He was so proud of them. He gloried in God’s work in them.
He was telling the Corinthians, “Have you heard about the Thessalonians? I just love those folks. They are getting kicked in the teeth over there for Jesus, but they keep trusting Him. And they keep loving each other.”
He was telling the Philippians, “Have you heard about the Thessalonians?  When one of them loses their job because of persecution, the others feed him until he find the next job. When somebody gets thrown in jail, the church shows up to visit them. They love each other.”
He was telling the Galatians, “I am so proud of the Thessalonians. They don’t give up. They don’t give in. I am so encouraged by their faith and love.”
That must have been so encouraging for the Thessalonians to read.
"Paul is proud of us. He’s bragging on us to the other churches."
And you know what I’m going to say, right?
I’m proud of you. And I brag on you to other pastors. Just in the last year to send a team to Malawi across the ocean to support our brothers and sisters in Christ in the warm heart of Africa. And then to send a gift at our last church family meeting to help them buy a property to build a ministry center and school on. And here to build a pavilion for–not just us to use but–for the community to use at our community playground. Twenty five years later, we’re still giving it to the community.
And now we have the Lanse Free Fridge where we can share food with our community. And it’s getting used by and for the community. 
I’m so proud of you. Proud of you for loving our brothers and sisters in Haiti by sending enough money from Family Bible Week to pay the tuition for 9 students at the VOHM school! And then to send the 11 of us to Kentucky to help the folks in the hollers down there after their flood.
We are not being persecuted right now, but I still boast in your perseverance and faith and love. Well done, you. Praise God!
Paul was encouraged, and he was encouraging them. And that was important and necessary because it was hard. They were suffering. This wasn’t a walk in the park. It wasn’t fun.
But they were clearly genuine Christians who loved Jesus and trusted Jesus. And God was going to reward them. Because God’s judgment is right. Look at verse 5.
“All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.”
That’s a strange sentence. It takes spiritual understanding to “get” that sentence. “All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right.”
What’s the “all this?” Is it all this persecution? I think there’s something to that. When we see genuine Christians being genuinely persecuted for their faith, it is evidence that God’s judgment is right because Jesus said that this was going to happen. He said that His followers will be persecuted. He said that in this world we will have “trouble” (see John 16:33). Greek word, “thlipsis.”
However, that trouble is not right. Should we be persecuted for following King Jesus? I don’t think so.
My guess is that the “all this” in verse 5 is all of this perseverance, not all this persecution. All this love for one another even when they’ve been getting pounded by the authorities and hounded by their neighbors. All this faith and more faith, even though they are being troubled. “All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.”
Now, be careful here. Paul is not saying that they have earned the kingdom by being good little boys and girls. We know that’s not how it works. Our salvation is by grace and grace alone. Our eternal encouragement is because God loved us and, by His grace, sent His Son to die for us (see 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 and John 3:16). That’s the only way that we will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God.
But the only ones who will are those who have believed in the Son of God. And continued to believe in the Son of God even when the beatings come. It’s only real Christians with a real faith who enter the kingdom of God and are counted worthy of it. Worthy to inherit the kingdom of kingdoms!
I’ve only got two points this morning to summarize this passage, and here’s point number one: God’s judgment is right.
#1. GOD’S TRUE PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM.
God will not fail to give the kingdom to His true people. He will not be tricked into thinking that someone is His who is not. And He will not miss anyone who truly is. God’s judgment is always right. 
God will see His true people’s faith and love grow even in the face of persecution and suffering and know that they are real. And He will allow even more suffering in some of their lives.
And they will rejoice, not in their suffering, but in that they were counted worthy of bearing His name.
That happened in the book of Acts, chapter 5. The Christians there were being persecuted, and they were even whipped, flogged. I can’t really wrap my mind around how much that would hurt and how unjust it would feel. But the Bible says that they went home rejoicing that they were counted worthy of suffering for the Name of Jesus (5:29).
Do you think that God’s going to mess up and not give those Christians the kingdom? No way. God’s judgment is right, and as a result they will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which they were suffering.
I don’t want to suffer for the kingdom of God, but I want to be willing to  because I want to be worthy of it. Because it is worth it.
How encouraging that must have been for them to read those words, “You will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God!” God’s true people will receive His eternal kingdom (see Daniel 7:14&27). 
But that’s not all. God’s judgment is right:
#2. GOD’S TRUE ENEMIES WILL RECEIVE THEIR ETERNAL DESTRUCTION.
Look at verse 6. 
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.”
“God is just.” His judgments are right, and they are never wrong. Sometimes (often), it seems like they are wrong. Because people seem to get away with all kinds of things. Especially those who persecute Christians just for following King Jesus.
But Paul says, “They are not getting away with anything.” Nobody “gets away,” with anything. Those people who were hounding and pounding the Christians at Thessalonica? They were going to get hounded and pounded back.
“God is just: He will pay back trouble [thlipsis] to those who trouble you [thlipsis] and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.”
Nobody “gets away” with anything. When Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble,” He could have gone on to say, “And those who give you that trouble are going to get it on the rebound.”
There will be justice. Justice will be done, and it will be seen to be done.
And not only will they get the trouble coming to them, but you will get the relief from the trouble that you were longing for all along. You will have rest. 
That must have been so encouraging for the Thessalonians to hear. 
This trouble will not go on forever. And, in fact, it will fixed. 
Everything is going to be fixed.
Do you believe that?
Everything is going to be fixed. God’s judgment is right. And Paul says it’s not just going to be fixed for the Thessalonians, it’s going to be fixed for all of us, himself included.
When? How long, O Lord? When is this justice going to come? Verse 7.
“This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”
It’s going to happen at the Return of Christ!
Right now, He’s hidden in heaven, but one day soon, He’s going to be “revealed” [apokalupsis, same word as the name of the last book of the Bible]. Revelation.
Jesus Christ is going to return, not as a little baby in the manger, but the Lord of Justice, the Son of Man.
Remember what we read in that vision of Daniel chapter 7 (9-14)? When Daniel was having a terrible vision of a terrifying, frightening powerful beast with iron teeth and a little horn that made great boasts. 
It seemed like all was lost for God’s people, and then all of sudden Daniel looked and saw the Ancient of Days? Remember what His throne was like? Flaming with fire. And it’s wheels were on fire. And river of fire was flowing coming out from before him. And remember how He was surrounded by angels? Ten thousand times ten thousand. And the books of justice were opened.
And then the one like a son of man came coming with the clouds of heaven. And He approached the Ancient of Days.
“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (see Daniel 7:9-14).
Verse 7. “This [justice] will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels." The King of Kingdoms is going to come, and He’s going to bring righteousness, holy justice, with Him. Verse 8.
“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power...”
Those are some of the scariest words in the whole Bible. Those who should know God but refuse to know Him will be punished. Those who hear the good news about Jesus but rejected the good news about Jesus will be punished. And it will be right. God’s judgment is right.
Nobody will be judged for the wrong thing or to the wrong degree.
We see miscarriages of justice every single day. We participate in them, too, when we have to make judgments, and we get it wrong. But God’s judgment is always right.
God has revealed Himself in nature, but humans suppress that truth in unrighteousness. And those who do will be punished. God has revealed Himself most fully in Jesus and His death and resurrection, and that good news requires a response. That’s why we can say we need to “obey the gospel.” The gospel calls for a response. And those who disobey the gospel by rejecting the good news about Jesus will be punished. And they will be punished eternally.
God’s true enemies will receive their eternal punishment.
That’s the opposite of eternal encouragement, isn’t it? It’s scary. It’s horrible. And it’s right. God’s judgment is right.
Hell is real, friends. And worst part of it is not the unquenchable fire, it’s not the gnashing of teeth, it’s not the darkness, it’s (v.9) being “shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power...”
It’s being separated from the goodness of God for all eternity. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that when the Lord returns, we will be caught up together with him in the clouds, and “And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
And that’s what makes heaven heaven. “Forever with the Lord!”
And that’s also what makes hell hell. Forever without the Lord.
It’s almost unthinkable. But it’s true. And it’s right. 
And it’s encouraging. Because we know that everything that is wrong will be made right. We know that everything that is broken will be fixed. We know that every punishment that is due will be meted out. Perfectly. Absolutely. Entirely. Beautifully.
Paul was telling this to the Thessalonians to encourage and comfort them.
Their tormenters will be tormented, appropriately. Their persecutors will feel the heat. “God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled.” You can count on it!
Not yet. Not quite yet. We have to wait. The Thessalonians had to wait. We have to wait. We’re learning a lot about waiting this year as a church, aren’t we? We have to wait for perfect justice to come.
We can work towards justice now. We can advocate for it. We can try to practice it. We can “act justly” as far as we can determine (Micah 6:8).
But we have to wait for God’s perfect justice to come when Jesus Christ is revealed. But what a day that will be! Look at how Paul describes it in verse 10.
 [They will be punished with everlasting destruction...] “on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”
What a day that will be! Jesus will be gloried in us. Because we will be transformed to be like Him! And He will be marveled at by us! We will worship and adore Him and praise Him for His justice.
Right now, I struggle with understand His justice. I struggle with the idea of Hell. But one day I won’t. One day, I’ll see the perfect justice of it when I see King Jesus judging justly. I’ll just marvel. And I’ll be eternally encouraged that God’s judgment is right.
And so will you, if you know Him and obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (v.8). 
And that’s true even if you’ve been persecuting the church! Think about that. The Apostle Paul was once a verse 6 trouble-maker. He persecuted the church of God. He was breathing out murderous threats against followers of Jesus. Hounding them and pounding them.
What did he deserve? He deserved payback. But Paul repented of His sins and put His faith and trust in Jesus and what He did at the Cross and the Empty Tomb. And he was forgiven and brought into the Kingdom of God. Paul didn’t “get away” with anything. He was forgiven by Jesus who paid for His sins in His body on the Tree.
If you ever wonder if God’s judgment is wrong, then just look at Jesus on the Cross. Because every sin will be righteously judged. Either at the Cross or in Hell. Jesus was going through our Hell for us. To give us His heaven.
If you have never turned from your sins and put your trust in Jesus, I urge you to right now. Because you are headed towards Hell.  You are barreling towards judgment. Eternal punishment, shut out from the presence of the Lord and the majesy of his power. But you don’t have to be shut out. You are invited to come in.
The Thessalonians believed the gospel. V.10 “This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” We are all invited to believe and be included today. And that’s what we want to tell people this Saturday. It’s the Good News Cruise. 
The good news that God’s judgment is right.

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Messages in this Series:
1 Thessalonians
01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
05. "Encourage Each Other With These Words" - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
06. “We Belong to the Day” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
07. "To Each Other and To Everyone Else" - 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
08. "This Is God's Will For You" - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28

2 Thessalonians
09. "In Every Good Deed and Word" - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Bonus Historical Message:
"Forever: Hell" - 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12, October 30, 2005