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Apr 10, 2016

Wait till Your Father Gets Home | Part 13

Passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12

Preacher: Tim Badal

Series:Ready

Detail:

Please take God’s Word in your hands and turn to the book of 2 Thessalonians. We’re in a series titled “Ready.” For the first part of this year we’ve been looking at the letters of 1 and 2 Thessalonians under the heading of being ready, learning what the Apostle Paul was telling a first- century church of new believers who were enduring great affliction and persecution what it means to be ready. He taught them not only about the present, but also how to be ready as they look forward to the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Second Coming of Christ Involves Two Options

As we’ve opened up this second letter, we’ve been learning that this life at times will be difficult. We’re also learning from the example of the Thessalonians that they were a church on a mission for God. They were serving and honoring God in a way that allowed the Apostle Paul and his associates to brag about the good things they were doing. We should be ready to do the same, because we are called to be ready to serve in such a way that other Christians might be able to brag about us—not for our own sake, not for our own renown, but so the Word of the Lord may be received as a life-change agent in this world and that God may be glorified. Paul has been telling the Thessalonians that amidst their circumstances, hardships and struggles, things will not always be pleasant and that they are to endure these difficulties, because there’s a day coming when Christ is going to right every wrong and wipe away every tear.

What we’re going to learn is that the day of Christ’s return will impact two groups of people in very different ways. While believers look forward to this day with great anticipation, it will be a time of great apprehension for unbelievers. So Paul reminds Christ followers to be ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, but in doing so, he reminds unbelievers to be ready as well.

The premise of our entire series has been focused on the idea that there’s a time and place that Jesus Christ will say your life here is done, whether at the moment of death or at the moment of His second coming when He returns through the clouds as the triumphant King of Kings. In that moment it will be too late to make any changes, so let me ask this vital question: are you ready to meet Christ?

Today we’re going to learn the two reactions to this truth. Let’s look to the Scriptures as our guide. Here’s what the Word of the Lord says in 2 Thessalonians 1:5‒12:

5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I was growing up, there were two types of occasions when I was concerned about my father’s arrival time from work. On one type of occasion, I would come home from school and ask, “When is Dad going to be home?” Very rarely did something good take place, and I wanted to announce something he could be proud of, something he could rejoice in, something that would maybe bring a “that-a-boy” or “great job, son!” Every son wants to hear something like that. So I asked my mom, “When is Dad going to be home? What time? Is it soon? How much longer.” I wanted to experience his presence. I eagerly anticipated his excitement when he arrived and heard my good news. I just knew it was going to be a day of blessing in my relationship with my father.

But on far more occasions than I wish to admit, my mom would not respond in a joyous and loving way. She had this guttural, loud and angry way she would say, “Wait till your father gets home!” I never realized how much bass was in her voice until those moments.  These were times when I had done something wrong, something my father had told me not to do; times when I expected some kind of judgment from him. There was discipline. There was going to be some level of anger on those days. In those moments I didn’t look for his arrival with excited anticipation but with great anxiety. I struggled with every moment knowing that it was not going to end well for me.

Just like a child anticipating the coming of his father from work, the Scriptures make it clear that there is a day coming when Jesus Christ will come back. At that moment there will be one of two responses. The first response will be great anticipation: “He’s coming! I’m ready. I’m excited about being in His presence. I’m excited about spending time with Him. I’m excited about engaging with Him in a way that I’ve never been able to before.” The Bible talks about that being the blessed hope of the believer.

But still there are others who find themselves living with great doubt, fear and trepidation. They recognize that they are not prepared for the return of Jesus Christ. They are not ready because they have not lived their lives in obedience. They’ve not lived in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ; instead they’ve lived to the beat of their own drum. They’ve lived in accordance to their own will and not God’s. They hear a passage like this and with fear and trepidation say, “Yeah, Jesus is coming, but I am not ready.”

So Paul writes this passage, not to scare people, but because he wants to bring relief and encouragement to people who are enduring great hardships.

For believers, the second coming of Jesus Christ will be a time that we look to with great hope and anticipation because that is the day when Christ will right all the wrongs, when all our struggles, sorrows, pains, issues, dysfunctions and ­­brokenness of this world will be taken care of because the Perfect One, the Radiant One, the Brilliant One, the Glorious One, the Awesome One will come and right it all, once and for all.

Because of this hope, we can have great joy and recognize that in this world we will have troubles, but take heart. Jesus Christ has overcome the world. And one day, once and for all, He will restore the world to the perfect state it was in the Garden of Eden where man and woman experienced the almighty and glorious presence of God as they walked and talked with their Maker. And one day Jesus Christ will reconcile, renew and restore all things back to Himself. This is the day we call the second coming of Jesus Christ.

What do we need to know about that day? Before we get into our outline, let me give you a couple of characteristics about that day. First of all, there are a couple things Paul gives us that we need to know about the second coming.

1.  It is a specific day.

Notice verse ten tells us, “…when he comes on that day...” That day. Not any ordinary day. Not at some point we haven’t figured out yet. God says on “that day” He’s coming. The phrase “that day” in the original Greek language in which this letter was written gives the picture of a very specific day.

In our kitchen at home, we have the “Badal Calendar.” As the custodian of that calendar, Amanda writes down things that are going to happen for each family member. Every day has myriads of events, as I’m sure your calendar does as well.   There are some days that are so special and so important that everything else gets set aside.   Right? Amanda circles and stars these days. They are can’t-miss days. They are days when every other activity—work, church, school, whatever—is not as important. We are not going to miss each of these special days.

When Paul says “on that day” we can just picture that God has a calendar in heaven and He has circled and starred it. He has emphasized that one specific day as when He is going to come. Now I want you to know that He didn’t circle that day two minutes ago. He didn’t circle that day when wrote about it to the Thessalonians. That day wasn’t set up the day Christ died on the cross. That day wasn’t set up on the first Christmas day in Bethlehem. That day wasn’t set up when He placed David on the throne in Israel. That day wasn’t set during the time of the judges. It wasn’t set in the time when the people were entering the Promised Land. It wasn’t set when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. It wasn’t set when God made a covenant with Abraham. It wasn’t even set in the Garden of Eden.

That day was set before the foundations of the earth. God said, “I know the end from the beginning,” and there’s a day when Christ is going to return as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It’s a specific day.

2.  It involves a special Person.

Verse ten says, “…when He comes...” Who’s the “He”? When Tim comes? When Pastor Keith comes? No. Notice the text tells us Who is going to be revealed. It tells us that “when he comes on that day to be glorified…”  Who is He speaking with? Who is going to be marveled? ”…to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed…”  Who is He revealed with? Notice verse seven: “…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels...”

Who’s coming? The Lord Jesus Christ. He’s fulfilling His promise that He made to His disciples over and over again. “I’m going away but I’m coming back.” The last words that Jesus shares with his disciple John during the vision that John recorded in the Book of Revelation is the phrase, “Yes, I am coming back soon.” Revelation 22:20 is the next to the last verse in your Bible. Jesus has promised and we know Jesus is utterly faithful to fulfill His promises.

Now what do we need to know about this specific day when Christ is going to return? We need to learn that day will be so special and so different than any other day in history.

Jesus Christ in his second coming will not come back like He did as a baby in Bethlehem. Nor will He come back as a young man, the Son of a carpenter, in a place called Nazareth. Nor will He come back as One Who is confined to time and space, to hunger and rest. He won’t have those issues of humanity. He has a resurrected body. He will not come as a suffering Servant. He will not come as a crucified Savior. On that day every man, woman and child will see with their own two eyes and hear with their own two ears that Jesus Christ is the risen Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and on that day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The Bible says He’s going to come with His mighty angels (1:7). The idea here is a picture so awesome and so grand that Tim Badal does not have words in his finite vocabulary to speak of the utter greatness that is going to take place.

Now we have seen several great arrivals in our world. I’m not old enough to have seen some of these myself, but I’ve seen video clips of the arrivals of great artists and bands. Who can forget when the Beatles landed in New York City and the great crowds of screaming and cheering young people, especially women? Or the arrival of Elvis Presley on his first major, live TV performance? They said it took about three minutes to quiet the crowd of young, adoring fans before he could even play his music. Wow! What an experience.

We’ve seen tickertape parades for generals and our troops after vanquishing foes and we sit back, marveling, and say, “What an amazing thing.” We have seen presidential inaugural celebrations that have brought grown men to tears. We look forward to next October when the 2016 Cubs will bring us a World Series victory.

Let me tell you something, none of these ever will compare to what is going to happen on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed. There’s nothing to compare it to. What a day. What a moment. I would venture to say this will even be greater than the moment when God created the universe. There is not a moment in time that has been or will be grander and more spectacular than the day we see Jesus Christ coming through the clouds. It’s a specific day. It involves a special Person. And…

3.  It is a day of stark contrasts.

Did you watch the championship game of the NCAA tournament with great excitement last Monday? What a game! They say it was the game of the ages and that it will be played over and over and over again as one of the greatest basketball games ever. Someday it will even be played on ESPN 45, someday in the future when there will be that many ESPN channels. If you didn’t see it, what a spectacular game!

My boys had a pool with me and I had North Carolina winning the championship. I was filled with great expectation and joy when number 5, with 6.8 seconds on the clock, put up one of the oddest looking three-point shots ever and he sank it. I erupted off of my couch—there’s not a lot that gets me off of the couch quickly. I was filled with joy. My team was going to win. I would get to pick what restaurant the Badal family goes to next. I was filled with great joy.

Then in less than six seconds, everything changed. Kris Jenkins puts up a shot and he sinks it. It was spectacular. He sank that shot with point six seconds left. By the time it was at the bottom of the nylon net the clock was all zeroes. And what happened in that moment? Villanova celebrated like victors should. Right? They weren’t supposed to win but they did and they celebrated like victors should with great adulation, great excitement, great relief and pride in their hearts. “We did it! We are the victors.”

But in any game there’s always a loser. It’s a day of stark contrasts. Time magazine published a photo from the North Carolina locker room of a player who didn’t move from one position for 25 minutes. Brokenhearted. Full of regrets. Angry. Confused. Disappointed. Feeling like all that hard work was for naught.

But that’s just a basketball game. I get that it was important to those young guys; it was important to me and my sons. This shows us the realm of emotions we have for a silly game. Those guys have now moved on and are filled with joy. They’re enjoying the good life as winners…or are still brokenhearted in North Carolina. But that’s nothing compared to Christ’s return. A championship game pales in comparison.

On the day of Jesus Christ’s return there will be two responses: A day of celebration for the victors and a day of great calamity for those who don’t know Jesus.

On that day, we who follow Jesus Christ—who have been submissive to the call of God in our lives, who have bowed the knee to Jesus and asked for His salvation—will experience three things in that moment that I don’t want you to miss:

  • We will experience the fullness of our salvation, which will be glorious.
  • We will be reunited with believers of all places and all times. I’ve catered a lot of pretty awesome events in my day, but nothing will compare to the reunion and celebration that will take place.
  • We will become like Christ in that single moment because we will be given our resurrected bodies.

That is why Titus 2:13 calls this “our blessed hope.” This is why we live according to the calling of God. It doesn’t make us better in this world. It doesn’t make our lives easier in this world. The reason we are followers of Jesus Christ is that we believe in the promise that Jesus Christ is coming back, and we better be ready.

But that’s not true for all. Paul spells out very clearly two responses. Let’s deal with the first one. It’s an ugly one.

The Second Coming of Christ is a fateful moment for those who rebel against God.

This is a heartbreaking passage for me to preach. I want to make it clear that I do not do a touchdown dance over this. I do not do a celebration. I stop with utter terror and somberness in my heart as I preach the contents of what this point unveils. I don’t want to preach this, but I recognize it’s true. I desire to be faithful to the teaching of all Scripture, so I must be willing to teach all of it, even the hard stuff. The heartbreaking passages like this, from a human standpoint, can make even a pastor question the goodness of God’s plan. It’s hard to read words that speak of miserable judgments and suffering for millions of people who will experience such horrors on that day.

Paul makes it clear to the Thessalonians in the first century, and to us today, that there’s a day when Jesus Christ will return and a great number of unbelievers will experience a time of unspeakable pain and sorrow. Who are these people? Notice the passage says this will happen to those “…who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (verse 8). It seems Paul might be talking about two groups of people who will be in trouble on that day, but it is clearly one group of people with two problems. Paul says, “This one group of people are known for two things. They do not know God and they do not obey the truth of the gospel.” Let’s learn more about these people.

First of all, those who do not know God. Who are they? They are every person who has never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. Jesus, praying to His Father in John 17, said that knowing God is the key. He put it this way: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” You see, the difference between our response of being joyful or sorrowful is bound up in this idea: Do you know Christ? Do you really know Him? Now how can they not know Him?

The Book of Romans tells us that creation shows us the visible qualities of an invisible God. So any person, any man, woman or child can look to creation and learn things about God that are invisible to us. How can we know that God is powerful? Creation shows us that. We’re pretty technologically advanced as a group of people and our farthest reaching telescope can tell us there’s a whole lot more of space than what we can see. So every time we get a newer telescope that shows us more and more of this immense galaxy, all we do is look farther into space and say we haven’t even scratched the surface of the created universe.

Then consider microscopes. They don’t do what telescopes do. They don’t reach out to the galaxies. They allow us to peer into the things that are so small that we can’t see them with a human eye. They show us things that are going on unbeknownst to us. We see on a very organic and molecular level what’s taking place. And what do we learn? The same thing we learn from the galaxies. We learn that there’s a whole lot going on that we never had any idea of. We’re doing genome testing that is breaking down the very essence of us as created beings, and we’re learning that we are far more advanced than we would have ever thought 15 or 20 years ago. All of this points to the existence of God.

But the world says it takes too much trust—blind trust at that—to believe in a God Who created a universe like this. So this is what the world does: they take the all-powerful God out of creation, telling us He is not involved at all. They then say that out of nothing came something. And that something banged into something else. Let me rephrase this to be sure you get it: Nothing became something that ran into something else and they banged real hard together and after billions of years, those particles that banged together are sitting in these pews right now. Got it?

So listen, kids, in your science class when they say the theory of evolution works, here’s your question. How does something come out of nothing? Explain that. That makes no sense. It takes more faith to believe evolution than it does to believe there’s an all-powerful God Who created you in your mother’s womb and placed you on this huge rock, next to a flaming star close enough to give you heat, far enough that it doesn’t burn you up. That gives you just enough gravity to hold you on this earth so you don’t spin off into space. That gives you just enough water, just enough air. That designs plants to use your carbon dioxide, then give off just enough oxygen to sustain you.   Yes, God has masterfully designed this perfect little ecosystem where human beings, plants and animal life are going to dwell together.

I’m no scientist, but I can assure you that there is a God in the universe. Your job and my job is to know Him. Romans 1:21‒23 says that “[A]lthough they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

So who is part of this destructive behavior? Every human being who has said, “Yeah, there’s a God, but I am he. I’m going to do what I want. I’m going to do what makes me feel good instead of worshiping the God of the universe.”

Notice this group of people rebels against the gospel as well. They squelch the gospel and those who proclaim the gospel. They hinder and suppress the work of the gospel in people’s lives. They make the lives of Christians difficult and harm God’s messengers. God says those who not only don’t know the gospel but rebel against it will find themselves facing greater judgment—greater guilt, a hotter hell, a more severe punishment—because not only have they turned away from the truth and suppressed the truth, they have also seen fit to use their time on this earth to make sure no one else believes in it either. God says on that day they will experience greater vengeance from the Lord.

Now when you hear this you think of a dear friend or family member and say, “Come on, Tim, they’re pretty great people. They do wonderful things. Maybe they don’t know God because God hasn’t revealed Himself as clearly as He should have. Maybe they’ve rebelled against God because that’s all they know. Maybe they came from a bad upbringing.” So we elevate man in his goodness and we devalue God in His righteousness. When you do that you will never come to a good spot.

God’s judgment against rebels is fair.

You come to this spot and ask, “Is it fair for a good and merciful God to judge? How can this be right? How can this be good? How can He do such things to humanity?”

So when the fairness question comes up a couple things happen. Number one, they will abandon such passages and promote the idea that God’s love actually keeps God from exacting such justice and judgment. “He’s a loving God. He can’t do that.” And the second response is a more popular response: they don’t change their beliefs per se but they skip passages altogether that talk about God’s judgment because it angers people. It hurts people’s feelings. It puts people in their place and can’t be good. There’s got to be another answer to this. God can’t mean this.

Well, I don’t know how else to interpret this passage. It’s very clear-cut and straightforward. And it seems as if God knows our struggles. Notice what He says in verse five, “This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God.” Righteous judgment, an important phrase there. Notice verse six, “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you.” God says it’s right. God says it’s fair. Now how can that be? Why would God do such terrible things to people He created? The answer is because they live in a continual state of rebellion.

God has given so much to humanity. God has blessed us as a people, believers and nonbelievers alike. God has blessed us with the capacity to live, breathe and move, as well as experience emotions like joy and happiness and love. He’s given us companionship and relationships with others. He’s given us all that we need and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-24) —not just to the believers, but the Bible says that He gives both rain and sun to everyone. Sometimes we look with great yearning at the blessings God has given unbelievers around us. They have turned their backs on God and go about life as if He does not exist. And if they think He does exist they tell Him through their actions that they want nothing to do with Him, that His presence in their lives is a burden and something that they would rather not have.

God’s judgment against rebels is fearful.

So what does God do? Hell is exactly what the unbeliever has wanted his entire life—an existence that is devoid of the presence of God. So what does God do in His love? He gives that person what he wanted during his earthly life. “You want to have your existence apart from Me,” God says to the sinner. “Then I will give it to you in a place called hell where you will not experience Me; where you will not experience My goodness.” That is a fearful response.

As if this isn’t enough for our faint hearts, Paul continues by explaining that they will endure great struggles. It is heartbreaking to preach a passage like this. I have friends and employees—people who are near and dear in my life—who are only expecting this type of return from Christ, and it breaks my heart.

Paul says two things about the fear that should run in the hearts and minds of unbelievers. First of all, he speaks of the ruin. Paul says in verse nine, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction...” The idea of destruction is not that it is the end of one’s existence. It is not annihilation, but that word destruction speaks of the end of all second chances, when it will be too late. Let me put it this way: as long as there’s time on the clock, there’s time for a second chance.

When you watch a basketball game, at some point before the game is over the victors have shown their supremacy. There are too many points to be overcome by the other team and they find it’s too late in the game to win. At that moment when the last shot is made, the announcer will say, “You can put the nail in the coffin. That’s it. It’s over.”

The second coming of Jesus Christ is the nail in the coffin. It will be too late. At the second coming of Christ there will be no more miraculous comebacks, no marvelous changes. It’s game over. Paul says when the game’s over it will mean judgment day. Notice the text says “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Paul says they will be rejected. Paul says hell is the total and utter rejection from the presence of God. C. S. Lewis called it the great divorce, the horrific isolation from all that is good and wholesome in this world. They are rejected once and for all by the God Who created them and made them for a purpose.

God’s judgment against rebels is final.

I’m sorry rock-and-roll fans, hell is not one big party. Your friends may be there, but you’ll be so isolated that you will never see them, hear of them or experience anything with them. And much more serious than that, you will not experience the presence of Almighty God in your life. You think life’s bad now? At least you have the presence of God around you now. Jesus describes hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28). It’s a place of utter desolation and despair. And it will be that way forever. It’s final.

Just for a point of comparison, this week I will celebrate my 40th birthday. I know you probably have work off because of it. Just this morning my son Joshua said, “Dad, it’s your birthday week. Are you excited?” You’re going to be 40.” I said, “I know.” He said, “That’s old.” I said, “Yeah, I know.” He said, “That’s so long ago, do you even remember being a kid?” I said, “Barely. Dementia is setting in, but yes, I can remember being a kid.” You know what? Forty is a long time. But listen, it’s nothing compared to eternity.

So here is the option on the table for you. In your 30, 50, 70, 90, 100-year experience on this earth—whatever God gives you—will you bow your knee to Jesus? We don’t know how long God’s going to give us. I had a brother die at the age of 16. I had a grandfather who died in his mid-90s. We don’t know what we’ll be given. And we have a decision to make while there’s breath in our lungs. Will you bow the knee to Jesus in this relatively short time that God gives you on this earth? Will you submit to Him and live your life in accordance to His will and Word for a short season here in order to experience an eternity of salvation, joy and blessing with Him in heaven?

Or will you rebel against Him in the little time you have, and because of that, experience torment, judgment, sorrow, pain, great despair and isolation from the presence of God and all that is good and right and holy so you can live it up for a handful of weekends on this earth?

That’s what’s on the table. God says, “Give me your life now and you’ll be blessed in the life to come.” The devil says, “Give me your life now. Live it up. Then I’ll own you for eternity in hell.” It’s final.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 10:28: “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” There will be a time and place where unbelievers will be tormented in body and soul.

Matthew 25:46 states: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 14:9‒11 tells us, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of His anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night…”

Mark 9:43, “It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell to the unquenchable fire.”

Mark 9:47, “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

The writer of Hebrews puts it this way in Hebrews 10:31: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Let me just stop here and ask, do you know Jesus? You have just heard God’s Words say there’s a day coming when either you will find rest, relief, joy and contentment because you bowed the knee to Jesus—or you will not. This does not happen because you attend Village Bible Church or you sit under some teaching or your wife’s a believer or your kids are believers or your parents are believers or because you give to the church. None of that will do. What Jesus says is, “Will you obey the gospel? Will you bow the knee in submission to Me, do as I’ve said and live your life in accordance to My will and My Word?” Will you do that? Or will you continue to live for yourself and on that final day on earth learn that it’s too late.

If you don’t know what that day means for you, then it’s probably bad news. If you don’t have an assurance of what that day will bring, then you’re probably not a follower of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is telling you in your heart right now, “Bow the knee to Jesus.” If you’re not following Christ, then for all eternity you will experience the greatest torment and turmoil and struggle that you will ever know. Get right with God today. It can happen where you’re sitting by saying, “Lord, I give You my life. Lord, I repent of my sins. I’m tired of living this life on my own. I will live it for You.”

If you’re in a place of making that decision, we want to know it. We want to help you in this process. We want to share more Scripture with you so you can know without a shadow of a doubt that when Christ comes in the clouds or you meet Him on your deathbed, in that moment you will be filled with great contentment, joy and peace because you will see the One Who saved you from your sins.

The Second Coming of Christ involves a hopeful future for those who have been redeemed by God.

There’s a hopeful future for those who have been redeemed by God, and Paul says that Christ’s return will be a day of great celebration for Christians. It’s beyond our comprehension!

I don’t know how we can celebrate with such great joy knowing there are people hurting in such amazing ways, but then I go back to the NCAA championship. I’d like to think the Villanova team had great concern for the brokenhearted North Carolina team. Michael Jordan even cried at the end of the game.  It was heartbreaking. But the celebration was so great that any feeling of consolation for others paled in comparison. In the same way, when Christ returns we will be celebrating in such a great way that thoughts of loved ones, broken things here, and rebellion will be a distant memory because we will see Jesus in that moment. And in that moment Jesus tells us three things will take place.

This hope involves relief from our enemies.

Paul assures the Thessalonians that God will even the score. He’s going to repay those who afflict us with affliction, granting relief to those who have been afflicted. It’s encouraging to know that every mockery, every joke, every time we have been told we are idiotic for believing such things will be over. God will not forget the terrible deeds that are done to believers. Paul tells the Thessalonians God hasn’t forgotten all this conflict, all this affliction, all this struggle.

If you visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., as you enter the exhibit hall you will hear the screams and anguish of the people as they entered the concentration camps and torture chambers. Why would you hear these gut-wrenching cries of men, women and children? Because the people who designed the museum don’t want you to forget the heinous acts that were done. They want you to hear the anguish and sorrow and pain. In a similar way, God is telling us in this passage is that He hears the cries of the righteous.

On Good Friday we heard that a Catholic priest who was giving his life to the mission of God was crucified by ISIS terrorists. The ISIS propaganda said he cried like a “sissy girl” as he was nailed to a cross. Let me tell you something. They may have thought they won the war but when Jesus Christ returns they will pay a dear price for what they did to a righteous and humble man.

Vengeance is not ours, Romans 12:19 says. It’s the Lord’s. He will repay and relieve the anguish of His people. That word “relief” is the Greek word anacin. Remember a pain reliever called Anacin?   The second coming of Jesus Christ is the once-and-for-all pain killer for all Christians. It spells relief.

This hope involves rest from our sorrows.

Verse ten says that on that day Christ will be made complete with us and in us. That means we receive that which we were made for and come to the finish line. We will receive perfect and resurrected bodies; we will experience total bliss with God and one another. Forever we will live with no more sorrow, no more pain, no more hunger, no more struggles, no more misery. The old order of things will be gone and we will be the full recipients of the grace of the loving God of the universe.

This hope involves reward for our faith.

On that day we will be glorified, which means we will be vindicated. I know some of you experience great sorrow and pain when you go to family gatherings and start talking about Jesus, only to be mocked by your family. “What are you believing? Are you kidding me? You’re in to old wives’ tales and all that weirdo stuff?” Or you share the gospel of Jesus Christ at work and they mock you and curse at you. “Get this garbage out of here. Man, you’re loony, you Bible banger.” Don’t be discouraged by those names and the looks that you get, because on that day Christ will be magnified in us. We will stand with our heads held high because it will not be us who will be deemed as foolish, as crazies, as weirdos, as the fool-hearted or the simpleminded. But on that day the world will see that we were right.

Now what should that compel us to do? It should change the way we go to work tomorrow. It should change the way we go to school tomorrow. It should change the way we interact with our neighbors. It should change the way we interact with strangers. It should change the way we interact with those we love. It should change the way we interact with those we hate. It should change the way we interact with those who are nice to us, as well as those who bring great harm to us. Why? Because there’s a day coming when the wrath and indignation of the most powerful God of the universe will come down on men and women who do not know Him or obey His Word. The only antidote to that problem is the gospel being unleashed into the lives of sinners so that they can be transformed into the newness of Christ.

So go to work remembering there’s a day on God’s calendar when He will return. Let me encourage you to live your life so that when He comes He will find faith in you because you are living for the Savior. The Bible says in that moment, if believers have done what we’re called to, we can stand with our heads held high knowing we did what we were supposed to do. But many of us will hang our heads down in despair because we will have loved ones who never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ come from our lips and they will say, “But you knew and you never told me. You never shared it with me.” Be sure to share the gospel with your friends and family before He returns.

At the coming of Jesus Christ, don’t be among those who say in horror, “He’s the One. That’s what Tim was talking about and I didn’t listen. I pushed Him away and rebelled against that message. I fought tooth and nail against that message; I mocked and ridiculed.”

The day is coming. Are you ready? Are you sharing it with others? My hope and prayer is that you would be challenged by this text from God Himself and be prepared.

 

Village Bible Church  |  847 North State Route 47, Sugar Grove, IL 60554  |  (630) 466-7198  |  www.villagebible.org/sugar-grove

All Scriptures quoted directly from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.     

Note: This transcription has been provided by Sermon Transcribers (www.sermontranscribers.net).