A PROMISE
‘He shall come to he glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe … in that day.’
2 Thessalonians 1:10
In our text the brilliant lights of this promise, ‘He shall come to be glorified in His saints,’ are shown on a very dark background. St. Paul had proclaimed the simple gospel of the grace of God to these Thessalonians. That gospel had been received by many of them, but in much affliction. The offence of the Cross was theirs. The Apostle draws aside the curtain and reveals the events which are veiled to mortal eyes—the coming of the Lord and the light of eternity thrown on the things of time.
I. It was of saints and believers he spoke.—Once dark idolaters they were now light in the Lord. What had made thewondrous change? The acceptance of the message of the gospel. Such a glorious gospel!
II. Christ shall be glorified in His saints.—Why, the skilled workman is admired in his works of skill which he has wrought. The artist is admired in his picture on which he has lavished time and thought. The sculptor is admired in that marvellously chiselled statue which seems almost to breathe. The author in his book, transfused with his deepest thoughts and feelings. Surely God’s people shall show forth His praise? We shall be presented ‘faultless.’ Shall not the Master see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied?
III. It is not the saints who will be admired, but the Saviour. The praise shall all be His. In the perfected Bride there will be a perfect reflection of Christ.
This leads us on to the Apostle’s prayer ( 2 Thessalonians 1:11).
Bishop E. H. Bickersteth.
Illustration
‘There is a distinction between “glorified in the saints” and “admired in them that believe.” We must trace the difference. “Saints” are either those in whom the great work of sanctification is going on in this world, or those in whom it is perfected in the world to come. In this passage it is the perfectly holy. Now, holiness, as regards man, is the final end. All else—election, redemption, grace—is only a means to the one end—that we may be holy. Therefore we are always taught to think of everything else as a first principle, and to go on to holiness. And the reason is this: Holiness is the image of God; to see His own image is the will and purpose of God. That there might be an image of God was the first creation, that there might be an image of God is the second creation. The thick clay will have become the beautiful vessel—the rude ore will be the pure, fine gold. Out of the unlikeliest materials the hands of the Almighty will have made His masterpiece—the pearl from the shell, the diamond from the charcoal—and the whole world will marvel at that transformation; and God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost will be “glorified in His saints.” ’