God is at work in the trials and even the persecutions of His people. The endurance of faith (perseverance) in us is an evidence of our salvation, the on-going work of sanctification, and of God’s promise of future glorification in Heaven.

I. Contempt (2 Thess 1:5). The Thessalonians were pressed by persecution and the ordinary trials of life. Today, believers are likewise tried, and we’re assured that God will repay us with glory in eternity. This was the pattern for Jesus, whose suffering led to glory; the cross comes before the crown.
The unsaved, however, will experience something far different. Yes, they suffer like everyone under the curse of sin, but their motto is “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” (Eccl 8:15; 9:7; Is 22:33; Lk 12:19; 1 Cor 15:32). According to Jesus, the unsaved in Noah’s day were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage (Mt 24:38). They were having the times of their lives, their best lives now. Their prosperity is often troubling to us (Ps 73; Jer 12:1).
Life went on for these sinners without interest or concern for God’s judgment. In Noah’s day, the unregenerate were warned of God’s impending judgment by Noah, a preacher of righteousness, for over 100 years.

II. Compense (2 Thess 1:6). God’s judgment of sinners and sin is a righteous thing. God is righteous or just, and can act only in righteousness; there is no unrighteousness with Him (Ps 11:7; Rom 3:21-26; 9:14; 1 Pet 3:18). He does no wrong. His ways sometimes feel wrong to us, but His unchanging nature makes wrongdoing impossible. The real wrong is our thinking of Him and how we view the outworking of His will.
The righteous God will repay the sinner for all his sins. The word repay means to give back in full what is deserved. This is the concept of justice, getting what one deserves. A righteous God can do nothing less than punish that which is in rebellion against Him. Those who trouble God’s people are due trouble back, and Jesus will fully repay at His second coming. His repayment is a manifestation of Hiss righteousness. The God who does right repays rightly!
Every son of Adam deserves God’s justice, but by grace, those who believe upon Jesus receive the Father’s mercy; perishing is replaced by eternal life (John 3:16). Sometimes God metes out a degree of justice in this world, but always in eternity.

III. Comfort (2 Thess 1:7). Jesus will distribute justice when He’s revealed at His Second Coming (Rom 12:17-19; Rev 22:12). His revealing (apokalupsis) refers to an unveiling, a revelation, to uncover something that was hidden or secret.
His first coming was anticipated by faithful believers. His identity as the Son of God was veiled, in human flesh as the Son of Man (Jn 1:14-18). His identity was revealed to those whom the Father revealed Him (Mt 16:13-17).
Knowing that God is just and will repay the wicked provides believers with rest (anesis), a relief from tension, the relaxing of pressure. Our rest from trouble today is knowing God is just and will repay the wicked at His second coming; our rest will ultimately come in Heaven, when every trial and trouble is over.
His return isn’t a secret to believers; however, it will be a surprising shock to unbelievers who mock, ridicule, and discount His return (2 Pet 3:4-7). If the unsaved believed Jesus was coming, they’d turn to Him for the forgiveness of sin and receive the righteous of Jesus. They would believe everything the Bible says is true of Him.