The reward for those who endure

II Thessalonians 2

Introduction: When Harry Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to an American warrior, he is said to have commented, “I’d rather have one of these than be President.” What Truman was acknowledging was that there was (for him) more honor, more glory in a medal recognizing uncommon valor than there was in fulfilling the role of the chief executive office of the United States. The reward for exceptional courage under fire is a degree of glory.
General Thomas Jackson earned his nickname, “Stonewall” at Bull Run, the first battle of the Civil War. As he rode up and down his Confederate lines encouraging his men to hold their positions, fellow general Barnard Bee said, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.” Before the era of the Civil War, Jackson taught at the Virginia Military Institute as a veteran of the Mexican War. While teaching natural philosophy and artillery, he once scolded a student for what he thought was a wrong answer. But lying in bed that night, Jackson realized that the student was right. He arose, dressed, and walked through a cold rain to the student’s dorm and apologized for the scolding earlier in the day. As a deeply religious man, it was important to the general that wrongs be righted if possible. There was glory and honor in that kind of behavior. A legacy of honorable character carries its own reward of a dimension of glory.
Joe Rosenthal’s picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi electrified the nation. The war in the Pacific had been hard fought, and Americans were looking for inspiration and hope on that front. Government officials decided to call the men back to the States to participate in a war bond drive to raise money for the war effort. By the time that decision was made, only three of the men were still alive on the island, for the battle still raged. Marines Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon and Navy Corpsman Robert Bradley made tours all over the United States, participating in parades, banquets, and county fairs, giving speeches and promoting war bonds. They were always greeted with great respect, admiration, honor, and glory. Inspirational acts of a timely nature in the history of a nation merit the reward of a measure of glory.
I share these three brief cameos with you this morning because they illustrate a dimension of life that is the central theme of the text we come to today in our continuing study of 2 Thessalonians. What Harry Truman wished for himself, what Stonewall Jackson lived, and what the Iwo Jima veterans received was a degree of, a dimension of, a measure of glory. And amazingly, nestled here in Paul’s letter to his friends at Thessalonica, is an astounding revelation regarding glory! But this glory far outshines those illustrations I’ve shared this morning, for it is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like comparing a lighted match to the brilliance of a lighthouse is the difference between these glories. And amazingly, this glory that belongs to Jesus is something we can gain! Imagine that, if you can!
As we ask God to speak to us today through His Word, I wonder what kinds of things we want to be recognized for. For in part, that is what glory is, recognition, commendation, and praise for deeds well done. Can’t every mom identify with the mother of James and John who asked Jesus if her two sons could sit on the right hand and left hand of the Lord in His kingdom? Her desire was for her sons to be recognized for their sterling qualities as disciples.
I am typically off on Wednesdays, and while working on the front porch of our house this past Wednesday, I was stopped in my work by a passing thunderstorm. (I seldom mind being stopped in any work—especially when it involves a paint brush!) I marveled at the awesome power of God that is so evident in long waves of rolling thunder. When a bolt of lightning struck nearby, the resounding crash of thunder was almost painful. I said out loud, “God, You are really something, there is no One like You.” Glory, in part you see, is also affirmation of greatness.
Whatever our dreams are, whatever our ambitions are, whatever our hopes and plans for life are, God has something magnificent in mind for those He loves. God has a plan to share with us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through many varied and assorted avenues! What incredible affirmation and recognition God has in store for us in the Lord Jesus Christ! Interested? Would you like to know what to do, what to be, in order that the God who makes the heavens roar with thunder might share the glory of the Lord Jesus with us? Anyone interested in being affirmed and recognized and counted significant by the God of creation?
Paul wanted his Thessalonian friends to know the three things that were key in receiving this kind of commendation and praise from the God of heaven. God wants us to know them, too.
Our text today is 2 Thess 2:13-17 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”
This text pivots around verse 14. Perhaps you noticed that as we read. “It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So what is this glory, is it worth our efforts, and if it is, what must we give attention to in gaining it?
We’ve already given some definitions to the concept of glory. The principal word in the Old Testament for glory carries the idea of being heavy, important, or awesome. In the New Testament, glory carries the added element of what someone thinks, or what something seems. When the Lord Jesus asked in the Garden of Gethsemane “Whom do you seek?”, the soldiers and priests said, “Jesus, the Nazarene.” When Jesus replied, “I am He,” the text tells us that they all drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:6) What happened? When Jesus used the name of God, “I AM”, a burst of glory bowled everyone over.
When the shepherds heard the angels’ announcement of the birth of the Lord Jesus, they were dazzled with unbelievable splendor; the glory of the Lord shone around them.
So, when something or someone is awesome, and it or he is perceived to be awesome, that thing or that person has glory. Of course, the Lord Jesus has great glory. We know from the Scriptures that a day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord of all, interestingly, to the glory of God the Father.
The disciples with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration saw the glory of Jesus, according to Luke 9. “Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. (In Mark’s Gospel, His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.) And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.”
Now if gaining the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ means to us that we have shining faces and gleaming white clothes, maybe that’s not much of a goal to share in. It is so much more than that! Think Biblically with me for a moment. In Exodus 34, Moses’ face shone whenever he spoke to God. He had a glorious appearance when he came away from his encounters with God. Sharing in Christ’s glory suggests a radiance in appearance. We have all known and experienced the difference between a radiant face and a downcast one. And those faces are reflections of conditions in the heart. God intends that we gain a share in the glory of the Lord Jesus, that we have hearts at peace and hearts confidently trusting Him.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 3:17-18 about being transformed from glory to glory. He had in mind the gaining of Christ’s glory, a step-by-step process of being changed into the image of Christ. The things that frustrate us, the things that dominate us, the things that control us gradually lose their strength over us. We become more and more people of virtue and character and good reputation. We evidence more and more our relationship to the Lord by getting up in the cold of night to go and make an apology to someone we offended, or took advantage of, or cheated in some way. We become less and less individuals known for our lies and more and more people willing to pay the price to tell the truth.
There are many more issues related to the glory of Christ that we could discuss if we had the time, more than how a heart is transparent through a face and more than a process of transformation, but for now, I hope we all can see that obtaining a part in the glory of the Lord Jesus is indeed a worthwhile goal and objective. Only those who are content with their present slavery, only those who don’t care about the development of their character, only those who like their anxiety, their worries, and their sleepless nights, only these will have no interest in the following steps outlined by Paul.
The first step to gaining a share in the glory of Christ is being saved. We talked last week about what it means to be saved, how being saved is a good, solid Biblical concept, and now we see it again here in our text. Paul gives thanks to God in verse 13 “because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”
Do you see how salvation happens? God chooses and we trust. The Holy Spirit begins the wooing activity of God. He begins to draw us apart; that’s what that big word, sanctification, means. The Holy Spirit of God tugs and nudges and convicts and challenges us toward something better than we’ve known so far. Then we reach a point where we decide to trust in that truth of the Gospel that has grown clearer and clearer. Paul says in verse 14, “It was for this He called you through our gospel…” The Gospel is that body of truth that we put our faith in. Faith is just another word for trust.
We come to understand our situation in sin before a holy God; we come to understand that God Himself made provision for our sin problem by allowing His Son to be crucified on the cross to pay our sin’s penalty; we come to understand that we need to accept that payment so we don’t have to pay ourselves by spending eternity in a place of punishment and torment.
In order to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must begin by being saved. Some of here today are considering taking this first step. Our life just isn’t what we see others experiencing; we can’t seem to step away from our bad habits and character flaws; the attractions and allures of the world just don't provide long term satisfaction. That tugging by the Holy Spirit just won’t go away. Today would be a good day to say, “I’m ready to trust You, God.” “I’d like to get on the road to glory.”
The second step is endurance. Paul says in verse 15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” ‘Stand firm’ and ‘hold fast’ amount to endurance. ‘Hold fast’ conveys the picture of gripping something tightly with the hand. We remember that these new believers were suffering; they were under the pressures of afflictions and persecutions. Some were wavering under the false notions that the day of the Lord had come and gone without them. They were the ‘shaken’ and the ‘disturbed’ of verse 2. They had been shocked and that shock had turned into a state of jumpiness, worry, and constant fretting. Paul exhorts them to hold tightly to the truths, the traditions, they had been taught.
I suppose all of us have heard of Kevlar. It is the material that is 5 times stronger than steel (ounce for ounce) and lighter than fiberglass. It is used for bullet-proof vests that police officers wear, and it has saved the lives of more than 2000 officers since its discovery. More than half of the ships in the U.S. Navy have Kevlar mooring lines because they are light enough for a sailor to lift and yet strong enough to hold a ship in its place at the dock. People who regularly use a chain saw can buy chaps made from Kevlar to protect their legs.
Kevlar was the discovery of a chemist by the name of Stephanie Kwolek. When she came up with a cloudy chemical solution that she thought would be the foundation for the next generation of polymer fibers, her colleagues told her that cloudy solutions could not possibly generate polymer fibers. All chemists know that cloudiness in a solution usually indicates the presence of solid particles. Solid particles only clog up the holes in the spinneret which the solution has to go through in order to be made into fibers.
But Kwolek had a personality with a steely resolve as strong as Kevlar. She knew she had done her work right. She filtered her solution through the finest of filters and it was still cloudy. There just could not be particles in it. It was finally discovered that she had invented the world’s first synthetic liquid crystals. The cloudiness in the solution was due to light diffraction off of the crystals. When the solution was put through the spinneret, the crystals formed fibers that were strong, stiff, and when woven together became Kevlar.
Stephanie Kwolek knew what Paul meant when he said to stand firm and hold fast. Her endurance brought her sweet glory.
These Thessalonian believers were in need of endurance. And some of us are too. No one, friends, has ever obtained a place on the victor’s stand of glory without endurance. It just doesn’t happen. Job is a towering example of glory that is produced by endurance. Joseph is a shining model of the glory that perseverance produces. Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down in glory at the right hand of the throne of God.
God wanted these new believers to stand firm and hold fast to the things they had been taught. And the same applies to us. We are to tightly grip the truth of the Gospel. We are to believe everyday that all things work together for good to those who love God. We are to never doubt that God is good. We are to be convinced every hour that all afflictions are producing an eternal weight of glory for those of us who know God. We are to regularly draw upon the truth that the Holy Spirit is our indwelling comforter and guide. We are to daily, expectantly look for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to always be alert to our enemy who, as a roaring lion, seeks to devour us.
It is these kinds of things we have been taught; these are our traditions that we want to grasp tightly and stand tall upon.
There’s a third step to glory; that is an engaged heart. Paul prays for his friends in verses 16 and 17 that “ … our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father…(will) comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” Gaining the glory of the Lord Jesus is finally a matter of engaging our hearts in good work and good words. In the strength that God provides by His grace, we are to be saying good things and be doing good deeds.
Now as we’ve said before, in a context of suffering and pain, it is not easy to be others’ oriented. It is far easier to be crabby than it is to be comforting. It is a much bigger temptation to withdraw in pain than it is to be engaged in doing something for someone else. We understand this reality. Paul did, too. That’s why verse 16 and 17a precede the expectation of good work and good words. Let’s read them again: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts……..in every good work and word.”
It is God Who makes it possible for us to function in goodness when we find it impossible to do so. There is great glory to be gained when, at the outer boundaries of our strength, we tap into His resources and engage our hearts in good deeds and good words.
(Conclusion) So, friends, what do we say at the end of a text like this? We say, God is so great! He has a plan to share the glory of His dear Son with us! He has a plan to affirm us, to bring us recognition, to give us a reputation of virtue and character. He plans to bring us honor and esteem and glory! He has made a plan to bring us purpose and significance and meaning. He makes it possible for us to be saved! He provides the resources for us to engage our hearts and to keep on engaging them with endurance and perseverance!
And in the end, we get to stand before all the universe in the light and glory, in the acclaim and honor that by rights ought to be exclusively the domain of the Lord Jesus. Stand firm, friends; be engaged. One day, it will be worth it all. The reward for endurance, salvation’s glory, is reachable, it’s expected, and it is worth it. Don’t give up!

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