and to give relief to you that are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
Christ’s return will bring relief and rest to the persecuted believers (Paul here links himself with the Thessalonians), but it will also bring judgment to the ungodly. For the one it will bring glory, for the other eternal destruction (7-10). Paul prays that by God’s power the Thessalonians will go on producing those qualities of Christian character that are fitting in those whom God has called. Such character will bring honour to Christ now and will reach its full expression in the age to come (11-12).