Now, both of these passages, the one in Jeremiah and the one in I Thessalonians, portray a hypocritical people who claim to be spiritually healthy. They think that they are stable. Maybe in our modern vernacular, we would say they say about themselves, "we're good." They do not see themselves as bad people. They think they are pretty good people. They think they are fairly moral people. They think they get along with everybody. They are not trying to fight. But the sudden destruction that comes on them reveals they have been corrupt and rebellious all along.
I know you have probably heard me say this before in a sermon or two, but the Roman poet Juvenal wrote, "nemo malus felix." That is great, is it not? Did not take Latin, huh? In English, that means "peace visits not the guilty mind." Another way to translate it is, "no bad man is happy." Or, "no rest for the wicked." Or maybe we can just say, wickedness precludes happiness. God says it very simply in Isaiah 48:22 and also Isaiah 57:21, "There is no peace for the wicked." Both of them say basically the same thing. Wicked people, people who have sin in them, will not have any kind of happiness or peace, will not have any contentment, will not have that tranquility. And it is likely more likely than not that they are going to break out into conflict with others.
