We know that God’s judgment is always righteous, but how does He display His righteous judgment plainly for the world to see concerning a people whom He chooses and qualifies as worthy of His now-and-soon-coming kingdom?
2 Thessalonians 1:3-5
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
What is this “plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God”?
In other words, what displays evidently the righteous judgment of God when the world sees God’s people being justified and considered worthy of the kingdom of God?
The righteous judgment of God is plainly displayed when the faith and faithfulness of the elect towards their holy God is greatly enlarged, and their love towards one another is growing ever greater in spite of the persecutions, afflictions, and sufferings that they have to persevere.
In other words, the righteous judgment of God is evidently displayed to the whole world when the two greatest commandments of God – the foremost being “THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH”; and the second being “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF” – are greatly enlarged and ever growing in the lives of believers despite all the persecutions, afflictions, and sufferings that the world could throw at them to derail them from their faith and faithfulness towards God and His commandments.
This substance of enlarging faith and growing faithfulness towards God was plainly displayed in the life of Paul the apostle, wasn’t it? (c.f. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13)
Indeed, just as Paul said that “God has exhibited us… as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9), God has made us a public spectacle to plainly exhibit His righteous judgment towards those who are faithful to Him and His commandments despite suffering persecutions and afflictions as a result.
Hebrews 11:33-38
who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
In general, by faith, the church will conquer kingdoms, perform acts of righteousness, obtain promises, shut the mouths of lions, quench the power of fire, escape the edge of the sword, from weakness are made strong, become mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, and receive back their dead by resurrection. Yet, there will be those who, by faith, will suffer greatly or be killed even as the man and women of faith of old had been.
Revelation 6:9-11
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
Can you imagine the righteous judgment of God towards those who display the same kind of faith under great tribulations as the men and women of faith of old who had also suffered great tribulations in their times? For these men and women of faith, God will surely judge and avenge their blood on those who dwell on the earth.
Most assuredly, for these men and women whom the world deem as not worthy, God will consider them worthy of His kingdom that is far greater than the kingdoms of this world.
This triumph of true faith and faithfulness is the reason why God will bring the church through the fire of the Great Tribulation in such a way that He can show His righteous judgment plainly to the world concerning His people whom He will qualify as worthy of the kingdom of God. It is in this triumph over the enemies of their soul despite persecutions and afflictions that God can, and will, execute His supernatural enablement, extraordinary deliverance, extravagant blessings, and retributive justice in all righteousness and justness.
2 Thessalonians 1:6-12
For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at how God boasted in Job when He told Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” (Job 2:3-4). Despite the afflictions and sufferings, Job triumphed in his faith and faithfulness towards God, and this triumph of Job’s perseverance justified His supernatural enablement, extraordinary deliverance, and extravagant blessings upon Job in all righteousness and justness. In fact, God even meted out judgment in wrath against the friends of Job because they accused Job falsely by speaking what were not right, thus exacerbated Job’s sufferings.
God will deal with His people and boast in their triumph in like manner in the last days, and mete out retributive judgment in all righteousness and justness against Satan and his cohorts of antichrists for persecuting and afflicting His people.
So, while the gates of hell cannot overcome the church that Jesus is building, and we have the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure us, God will still allow some sufferings in the midst of persecutions and afflictions to come upon His people, like Paul’s “thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), so as to produce an evidential triumph of the perseverance of faith amongst His people that will justify His righteous judgment on the day of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For Paul, despite the “messenger of Satan” being the thorn in his flesh and all the afflictions he experienced in his missional journeys (c.f. 2 Corinthians 1:8-10), he prevailed and triumphed by the perseverance of his faith through sufferings and the enabling grace of God. As such, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed wherever he preached and built the church. This was the same pattern for those who were scattered from the church in Jerusalem because of persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen (c.f. Acts 11:19-23).
Can God raise up a company of “Paul” today?
Similar to the life and stature of Paul, in the prevailing church of the last days, many will conquer kingdoms, and many will become mighty in war to put foreign armies to flight, while, at the same time, many will be ill-treated or tortured, choosing death rather than denial of their faith, and many will be put to death with the sword. Yet their common hallmark is the suffering of their flesh in the midst of tribulations, the prevailing position of their church-company as a whole over the gates of hell, and the triumph of the perseverance of their faith and faithfulness that God will count as worthy of His kingdom in His righteous judgment on the day of the Lord.
Indeed, through the triumph of our faith and faithfulness, “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). This is the triumph of faith and faithfulness which God will publicly boast to the world; this is the triumph of faith and faithfulness which God will exhibit as evidence to declare His judgment and retribution against the enemies of our soul as righteous and just; and this is the triumph of faith and faithfulness by which God will consider us worthy of His kingdom.
Therefore, it is not about the judgment of the wrath of God upon the world, but the righteous judgment of God for His people; it is not about the consuming fire that burns to chaff, but the Refiner’s fire that purifies to holiness; and it is not about the Great Tribulation, but the great perseverance that will produce in us an eternal weight of glory that will qualify us as worthy of the kingdom of God; for “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
Revelation 7:13-17
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Are we prepared and ready to be counted worthy among the ranks of “those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises” according to God’s righteous judgment?
Hebrews 6:10-12
For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
We must show diligence in work and love towards His name and in ministry to the saints, which is essentially showing diligence in faith and faithfulness towards God and His two greatest commandments, in order to realise (or cause to happen toward) the full assurance of the hope of our promise in Christ until the end. In order words, without the triumph of our perseverance of faith and faithfulness, we will not realise this hope of eternal life until the end, and be counted worthy of the kingdom of God on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, by faith and faithfulness towards God and His commandments, let us build the prevailing church that God has designed and Jesus is building, while persevering through the “light affliction” of the tribulations of these last days, knowing that we will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God in accordance to the righteous judgment of God on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Surely, His righteous and just judgment will never fail His faithful people of faith in the nations!
Post-Script
Every local church must also arise and prepare its people and processes for this triumph of the perseverance of faith and faithfulness as a resilient body-community, both in the spiritual and natural, in accordance to all that God has revealed concerning the events of the last days in which we are already living; for shepherds are responsible for the wellbeing of their sheep in the pen, especially those who may suffer greatly during the Great Tribulation.
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