2 Thessalonians 1

 

"Paul here picks up again the main them of his previous letter to his beloved Thessalonian friends-that of the Second coming of the Son of Man. In pointed language he reveals that there can be no return of the Lord Jesus until after the era of apostasy when the Man of Sin shall have control over all the earth. To this great gospel concept he then adds his views on the gospel of work and some other practical Christian virtues. (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 2:59)

 

"There is no people upon the face of the earth who can exercise the patience, and bear the evils of the world, as we have done. It is marvelous that the people, thousands and thousands of them, can stand difficulty and trials and suffering in so much patience. We turn not and revile not our enemies. It is because the Spirit of God has increased within our midst as a people. And those who have persecuted us have done so because of their ignorance. If they could see as God does, they never would think of persecuting us as they do. Had the Jews known Jesus when he was in their midst and known what he was willing to suffer from them they never would have done what they did. Neither would our enemies do as they have and are still doing if they knew what we are willing to suffer for them. But they do it because Satan has power over them." (Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. [Burbank, Calif., and Woodland Hills, Ut.: B.H.S. Publishing, 1987-1992], vol. 1, April 5, 1888)

 

"God has promised to 'recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man' (D&C 1:10). 'I will visit upon you the evil of your doings' (Jeremiah 23:2), he promised; 'and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations' (Ezekiel 7:3). 'It is a righteous thing with God,' Paul wrote, 'to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you' (2 Thessalonians 1:6). Kings and kingdoms, the great and the small, all are subject to the law of recompense by a just God who either in this life or the world to come balances all accounts...Those who have the blood of prophets and Saints upon their hands will receive their just reward." (Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987-1992], 2: 268.)

 

"In flaming fire! What kind of fire? Flaming fire is flaming fire. It is actual, literal fire, fire that burns trees, melts ore, and consumes corruption. It is the same kind of fire that burned in the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into its blazing flames...And so shall it be at the Second Coming when the same literal fire burns over all the earth. The wicked shall be consumed and the righteous shall be as though they walked in the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar.

 

"Graphic accounts of the fire and burning that will attend the Second Coming are found in the ancient word. 'Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence,' acclaims the Psalmist; 'a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.' (Ps. 50:3.) And also: 'The Lord reigneth. . . . A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.' (Ps. 97:1-5.)

 

"None of the prophets excel Isaiah in literary craftsmanship and in the use of grand imagery to teach and testify about the God of Israel and his laws. 'The Lord cometh,' Isaiah says, 'burning with his anger, and . . . his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. . . . And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering [i.e., with a blast], and tempest, and hailstones.' And 'the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,' shall kindle the fires that destroy false worship. (Isa. 30:27-33.) 'For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.' (Isa. 66:15-16.)

"...When the Lord comes in his glory, in flaming fire, that fire will both cleanse the vineyard and burn the earth. In that day, so intense shall be the heat and so universal the burning, the very elements of which this earth is composed shall melt. The mountains, high and glorious and made of solid rock, shall melt like wax. They shall become molten and flow down into the valleys below. The very earth itself, as now constituted, shall be dissolved. All things shall burn with fervent heat. And out of it all shall come new heavens and a new earth whereon dwelleth righteousness. It is of these things-and they, above all else, show the literal nature of the burning fires that shall attend that dreadful day." (The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 525-526.)

 

"[The Bible] foretells that he will come to the earth a second time, though in a different manner. The first time he came as a man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3), but the second time he will come as the mighty God (Isa. 9:6). He came the first time as the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). He will come the second time as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14). He came the first time to atone for our sins; he will come the second time to judge those sinners who have not repented." (Conference Report, April 1966, First Day-Morning Meeting 20.)

 

"Christ...will come to cleanse the earth of its sins. This has more than ordinary interest for us, inasmuch as the sins mentioned will be our own sins. Someone once painted a famous picture entitled 'Christ Before Pilate.' It represents Jesus being judged and condemned by the people of the world he came to save. But someday another picture may be painted entitled 'Pilate Before Christ.' This will involve his second coming, when, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, he will return to judge the world and take 'vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' (2 Thes. 1:5.)" (Conference Report, October 1968, Afternoon Meeting 137.)