WEBVTT 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.199 From his jail cell in Birmingham, Dr. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.120 King penned a letter. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:29.920 And in it he asked, he lamented, that justice too long delayed is justice denied. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:36.159 And though I may disagree with some of Dr. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:49.359 King's theology, his mournful observation continues to echo today, ringing in our ears and resonating in our hearts. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:01:00.560 What Christian among us here this morning hasn't at one time or another looked up into the sky and asked, How long? 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:02.560 Oh Lord? 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:10.959 How long are you going to permit injustice to endure on the earth? 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:16.560 How long will unrighteousness be allowed to remain here among us? 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:25.680 How long until sin and Satan and even death itself will be finally cast into the lake of fire. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:28.879 How long? 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:34.159 Until you come and make things right. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.760 That was the question of the prophet Habakkuk. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.599 He writes, Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:58.560 Or cry to you violence and you will not save? 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.079 Why do you make me see iniquity? 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.239 And why do you idly look at wrong? 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.439 Are our days much different than his? 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:17.520 Has three thousand years of human progress wrought righteousness in its wake? 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:24.639 Has all of our scientific expansion brought about sin's eradication? 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:34.080 So it seems as if sin and debauchery creep ever more boldly into every aspect of life. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:42.000 And everywhere that righteousness is proclaimed and practiced seems hard-pressed. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:45.680 Not that we should be surprised. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:47.520 Paul warned Timothy, did he not? 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:52.800 All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:09.439 But still I open up my phone and I scroll Twitter and I see a video of Christians in Nairobi standing and singing in what was the charred remains of their church building, and I ask, how long? 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:19.199 It's a natural question in the face of injustice. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:25.199 It's a natural question in the face of persecutions, both great and small. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.120 If you've ever asked that question, you are in good company. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:36.400 But if you've ever asked that question, I want you to know something else. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:49.360 This is why eschatology is such an important part of our faith. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:57.039 It is an anchor, it is a ballast that holds us steady when storms are surging. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:04.159 To look forward to the blessed hope of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:14.000 It is the very encouragement the Apostle Paul gives to these Christians in Thessalonica, a church that was well acquainted with injustice. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:17.360 Do you remember the story of how the church in Thessalonica was founded? 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:19.680 You can read it in Acts chapter 17. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:32.399 The Apostle Paul, fresh off of his earth-shaking release from the Philippian jail, is shewed away by the magistrates and arrives in Thessalonica, a major city, kind of a blue-collar city. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.120 It's the Pittsburgh of the Roman Empire. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.439 Paul walks in and he does what he always does when he gets to a new city. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:47.600 He finds the synagogue and he goes there to share the gospel with his brothers in Judaism. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:06.639 That Jesus is the Christ, that he had to die, that he had to be raised for the forgiveness of our sins to make atonement for us. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:12.879 Can you just imagine the Apostle Paul there with the scroll of Isaiah in one hand sharing the gospel? 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.600 And Acts says, some of them were persuaded. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:28.079 And along with a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women, things are going great in Thessalonica. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:36.240 But then the Jews hear about it, and the Jewish leaders get jealous. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.720 Paul and his gospel success has to be stopped. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:46.319 So they take the honorable route, they whip up a good old-fashioned mob. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:48.240 They start a riot. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:06:04.959 They go around and they drag Jason, who is a leading member of this brand new fledgling church, and some of the other believers who, I'll remind you, have been Christians for all of three weeks at this point, and drag them through the streets before the judge. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:16.720 And the judge forces Jason to pay a bond, to pay some money, to extort this financial remuneration out of him to pay for this mob he did not start. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:23.439 And then they force the Apostle Paul once again to pack his bags and hit the road. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:27.279 And so now you have a church that's a month old. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:44.240 No deacon meetings yet, no pizza parties yet, but they have already had a riot, mob violence, unjust imprisonment, financial exploitation, and unfair forced separations. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.360 Oh, they know about injustice in Thessalonica. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.279 And it doesn't get easier for them from there. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:07:05.360 In the 18 or so months that have elapsed since Acts chapter 17, and Paul writing the passage we're going to read this morning, he's written two letters to the Thessalonians that shed a little light for us on what life was like as a Thessalonian Christian. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:18.480 And not only did they have all of the regular distress and affliction and hardship and suffering that every human being has to go through, they were also subject to very intense persecution as Christians. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:35.040 In fact, it was so severe in Thessalonica that by the time Paul writes this letter, a false teacher had showed up and was trying to confuse them in eschatology and began to tell them, hey, all of this stuff that you're suffering, this is the eschatological tribulation. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.160 The day of the Lord is here and you are in it. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:42.720 And things were so bad that they believed him. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:46.160 Yeah, they knew about persecution. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.720 They knew about affliction. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:56.000 They knew about hardship and danger and disease and distress and famine. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.439 They knew about hard times. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:04.319 They were immersed in injustice, but it hadn't broken them. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:10.480 If anything, it had just fanned the flame stronger. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:16.399 Listen to Paul's commendation of them in his prayers in verse 3 and 4. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.360 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:20.800 As is right. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:27.360 Because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:36.559 Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:49.360 And even though their faith had made them the targets of scorn and shame, they continued to trust in their God and proclaim Jesus to the world. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:09:02.159 Despite all of the difficulties and the hardships they were actually facing, they continued to grow in their love for each other and to practice their hospitality with each other and to open their homes and their hearts towards each other. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:10.080 And in the midst of all this painful persecution and surrounded by injustice, they nonetheless endured day after day. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:20.000 But you have to know that on a quiet night in Thessalonica, they would sit in their room and ask, How long, Lord? 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.960 Why is God permitting this injustice? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:30.399 Is this suffering ever going to end? 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.240 How can I endure to the end? 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:47.919 And Paul addresses those unarticulated questions in his message to them in verse five. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.480 Let's read together now. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:08.559 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. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:31.519 Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 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, inflaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:48.720 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 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. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:11:10.399 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, 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. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:31.759 Paul offers to these beleaguered Thessalonians and to us here today three encouraging reasons not to lose heart as you wait for Jesus' justice to come. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:40.720 The first reason he gives is that their perseverance is proof. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:42.559 Look at verse 5. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.759 Paul says, This is evidence. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.879 What is evidence? 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:53.519 Well, this is looking back at everything you just prayed for. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:12:10.879 Their endurance in the face of trials, their faith, which is growing abundantly despite the difficulties, their love, which is ever increasing and deepening and widening, their steadfastness, that they're clinging fast to Christ despite all of this, that is proof. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:12.399 It's evidence. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.000 It's exhibit A, B, and C in God's courtroom. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:17.840 Well, evidence of what then, Paul? 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.919 He says, evidence of the righteous judgment of God. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:23.600 Wait a minute. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.639 Isn't all of this evidence against the righteous judgment of God? 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:32.480 We're down here being faithful. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:36.159 We're down here practicing love and doing the one another's. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.399 We're down here enduring all this injustice and affliction and suffering. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:52.960 And when Paul writes to them in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, they're grieving around the graves of saints that they love, wondering if God has abandoned them and they'll miss the resurrection. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:58.799 How does any of this give testimony to God's righteous judgment? 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:11.840 Well, it's because when Paul is using that phrase, the righteous judgment of God, he's not referencing God inflicting punishments unfairly, it would seem, on the Thessalonians. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:25.120 That's what Paul means by this word, the righteous judgment of God, he's speaking about the verdict that God is going to render on that day regarding the Thessalonians when Jesus comes back. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.799 That's clear in the second half of the verse. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:43.279 All of this is evidence of the righteous verdict of God, what he will declare, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:52.480 Now notice that Paul does not deny any of the real injustices that they are enduring. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:14:00.240 He doesn't water down any of their afflictions, he doesn't sweep any of their grief under the rug. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.200 It's real suffering. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:15.759 The God who sees every sparrow that falls from the sky knows every ache of your heart. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:21.759 He has seen every sleepless night of anguish. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:28.879 He has heard every cry you've made in your affliction. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.320 And he cares. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:49.360 Don't forget for even one second that when Jesus came face to face with the grief of Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus, he wept. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:55.679 He sees it all. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.320 And he cares. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:07.840 Notice also that Paul doesn't deny that this is injustice. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.759 He doesn't deny that they are suffering for the sake of the kingdom of God. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:26.399 Now it is true that sin and sickness and disease and death and grief and affliction, that thorns and sweat, all of those things are endemic to all of humanity. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:29.200 All have sinned, all of us get the curse. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:30.480 That is true. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:36.559 But it is also true that Christians are persecuted for their righteous acts. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.279 Paul doesn't just look at them and say, yeah, things are tough, but what did you expect? 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.200 Aren't you a wretched sinner? 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:48.320 That'd be a convenient cop-out to explain it away, but that's not what he does. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:52.000 He places their affliction squarely in the persecution category. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.879 They're suffering because they're Christians. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.759 And yet their faith isn't faltering. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:59.759 Their love is actually growing. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:01.600 They're continuing to endure. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.840 And Paul says, that's the proof. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:18.320 That is the evidence that on the day that God comes and renders his righteous verdict about you, you will be found worthy of the kingdom. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:27.200 So how does all of that show evidence of worthiness of the kingdom? 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:50.080 Well, because growing faith, deepening love for God and his people, continued persecution, perseverance in the midst of persecution, all of that is just the fruit of genuinely regenerate hearts. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.399 That's where it comes from. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:17:05.519 They are the evidence that God has actually done a work in you, and he is now working in you, and that on the day that Christ Jesus comes, he will be faithful to complete the work that he began in you. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:22.319 And if all of the affliction you face and the injustice and the trials and the suffering and the grief and the persecution, if all of those things can't extinguish that, then it is evidence that it is truly and genuinely the work of God in you. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.720 Do you remember the parable Jesus gave of the sower and the soils? 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:36.720 All Paul is doing here is saying, hey, if the thorns can't choke it out and the sun can't bake it out, then this is the good soil. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.559 And God is going to get his harvest. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:46.160 So give glory to him for the grace of granting you that his gospel would take root in your heart. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:18:05.279 And so, in a funny way, what's actually happening here is in the midst of all of their trials and hardships and afflictions, Paul is redirecting their attention away from the things that are happening around them to the things that are happening within them by the grace of God. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.119 Look to see what God is doing, even here. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:15.119 Now, a couple points of quick clarification. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:21.599 First of all, Paul is not saying that enduring persecution in and of itself makes you worthy of God's kingdom. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:27.440 Nor is he saying that persevering through affliction is itself a salvific act. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:31.039 He's merely saying it is the evidence of salvation. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:44.000 The only thing that makes you or I or anyone worthy of the kingdom of God is the righteous holy blood of Jesus Christ and his righteousness counted to us in our place. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:55.599 No amount of good works, no amount of good deeds, no amount of endurance can earn your entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.119 Only through Jesus Christ may you be found worthy of the kingdom. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:09.519 But those things are, by the grace of God, actual, real, tangible evidences of the supernatural work of God in your life. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:28.240 What Paul is saying is when you look in the midst of your hardest and darkest and most distressing days and see that there is genuine faith in God and trust and hope and love in those moments, that you're the real deal. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:40.720 And that when Christ returns, he's going to count you worthy of his kingdom. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:48.960 So let us never make the mistake of confusing those things which are the assurance of our salvation with the grounds of our salvation. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.000 The Thessalonians didn't have it all together, my friends. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.519 They were a little bit of a mess. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.680 Their eschatology was pretty wonky. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.880 Paul had to write them multiple letters about it. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.000 Things are going awry in the life of the church. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:08.880 There are some of them who are lazy slacker loser villains who won't get a job and they're living in somebody's basement, mooching off their friends. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.640 They weren't perfect, but they were genuine. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.799 And that's what Paul is saying. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:31.200 So don't lose heart just because you're in the midst of trials or affliction or hardship or injustice or persecution or grief. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:40.799 Remember that it is the evidence that God has saved you by his grace and his mercy. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:52.079 And in those days, look to Christ and find confidence in the evidence that he has been, is, and will do his work in you. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.160 And then trust in his promise. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:21:06.319 And each day that you see your faith growing stronger, your love growing deeper, your faithfulness remaining, give glory to God. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:11.680 Spurgeon, whom I am going to quote multiple times today, be prepared. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.680 Was himself afflicted with distress and hardship. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:24.079 He writes, I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the rock of ages. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.279 Would that we could all learn to see our afflictions so joyfully. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:39.039 So the first reason that you should not lose heart in the midst of affliction is that your perseverance is proof of God's work in you. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:45.359 The second reason Paul gives is that you know justice is coming. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.240 Look at verse 6. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:58.640 Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.400 When the Lord Jesus Is revealed from heaven. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:12.559 Paul reminds us that when Jesus returns, he has promised to repay to everyone exactly what they are due. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:18.240 This is justice, true justice, perfect justice. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.640 God is just because God is holy. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.960 He is transcendently distinct from anything that ever could have been corrupted. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.480 He is ethically perfect in all of his ways. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:35.599 He is intensely pure in his very essence. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:42.880 We do not say that God is holy because he perfectly conforms to an objective standard of morality. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:49.519 No, anything that is truly moral is such because it conforms to his perfect holiness. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.000 He is the objective standard. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:23:01.039 Therefore, his every act is always righteous, and his every judgment will be justice. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.880 He could not but do justice. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:10.640 He is the holy and sovereign Lord, the righteous judge from whose court there is no higher appeal. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:14.559 And he promises that he is going to judge. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:21.759 Solomon in his dedication to the temple is praying to God, predicated upon the idea that God is a righteous judge. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:34.559 He asks, then hear from your heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:46.559 These two aspects of God's justice we refer to as his retributive justice and his remunerative justice. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:52.079 He is a God who will judge the guilty. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.920 And he is a God who will reward the righteous. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:00.400 And we see both of those promises here in our passage. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:11.680 To those who reject the gospel and reject God and persecute the righteous, he has promised punishment. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:21.680 And to those who trust in God and believe the gospel and endure to the end, he promises rest. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:35.200 But make no mistake, everyone will have to face the justice of Jesus Christ. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.960 And he will repay everyone righteously. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:43.759 Wrath for rebellion or rest for the redeemed. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.799 And let's not beat around the bush here. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:53.279 This message is genuinely terrifying for unbelievers. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:58.720 Verse six says that he will repay affliction for affliction. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:02.000 Jesus loves the church. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:06.960 His bride, whom he bought with his blood. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:10.640 Listen, you can say whatever you want about me. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:13.200 Doesn't bother me. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:15.279 Got thick skin. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:18.880 That's what the Marine Corps gave me, bad ears and thick skin. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:21.839 Just let it roll off. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:31.839 But if you abuse my wife, if you attack my wife, then the gloves will come off. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:33.920 Because I love her. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.640 And she is precious to me. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:40.880 And I will not let it go unnoticed. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:47.039 Christian, you are precious to him. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:53.440 He bought you. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:26:06.640 You are more deeply cherished by the God whose love is always holy and always perfect and always infinite than you will ever understand. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:10.559 He loves you. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:25.920 And he will not allow even one ounce of affliction that you endure on his name's sake to go unanswered. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:39.680 He has promised that one day he will dry every one of your tears, but not before he promises in Psalm 56, 8, to keep them in his bottle and write them in his book. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:51.200 And that means that those who have spoken words of rage to his children because of their faith will hear from the lips of Jesus words of wrath. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:27:07.359 That means everyone who has abused or abandoned or attacked his saints will be cast into utter darkness away from his presence forever, Paul says in verse nine. 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:18.400 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, unending torment. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:29.039 It should sober us to remember that the person in Scripture who spoke most often of hell was Jesus himself. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:37.920 And his words, these red letter words in your Bible, reveal a terrifying reality. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.759 He says in Matthew 5 that it is the hell of fire. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:49.519 He says in Mark 9, it is the unquenchable fire, no respite, no relief. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:57.839 The worst affliction and pain and torment you've ever felt eventually came to an end, but not so this punishment. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:16.480 Maybe the clearest and most full depiction of it comes from John and his revelation, where he writes that they will be tormented with fire and sulfur, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:29.039 Reflecting on the reality of hell, the Puritan Thomas Watson writes, the wicked in hell shall be always dying but never dead. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:33.519 The smoke of the furnace ascends forever and ever. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:38.960 Oh, who can endure to be ever upon the rack? 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:43.039 The word ever breaks the heart. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:47.440 Eternal destruction. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:54.799 Paul says this punishment means they will be cast away from his presence. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:00.799 They will be separated from God by an unbridgeable chasm for all eternity. 00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:04.319 That they will be away from the glory of his might. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:13.200 They will be removed from the fountain of all that is good and pure and beautiful and holy and righteous. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:22.319 All that brings joy and light and peace will be forever and eternally distant from them. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:26.079 And his presence to them will only be wrath. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:39.039 Words fail to capture the horror of what awaits those who reject God and reject his gospel. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:42.880 But there is one word which is appropriate. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:45.519 Justice. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:53.039 And herein lies the incredible promise of the gospel. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:00.880 That Jesus Christ came to rescue you from his own wrath. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:11.039 This place of eternal torment, of wrath, of justice is where each and every one of us rightly belongs. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.400 Each of us was born a child of wrath. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:17.599 Each of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:26.720 And if God is holy and just, his righteous judgment for each and every one of us must be guilty. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.720 For him to say anything else would cause the God of all truth to become a liar. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:42.799 Were he simply to ignore our sin, it would cause the God who is thrice holy to embrace in his essence corruption. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.400 No, we are guilty. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:51.359 All of us, each and every one of us, guilty. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:54.319 We deserve wrath. 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.240 We deserve justice. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:20.720 But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:35.680 How could God set aside his justice to make alive sinners? 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.039 The answer is he doesn't. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:47.920 Not one drop of God's righteous wrath against your sin will be held back. 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:56.720 No, every last measure of it is poured out on Jesus Christ at Calvary. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:13.039 The righteous God, the Holy One of Israel, comes to be the sinless, spotless Lamb who in your place receives all of the just condemnation that you deserve, and so God's justice is satisfied. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:18.480 How can eternal destruction be satisfied? 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:22.480 Because the Alpha and Omega came and drank it down. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:28.960 How can wrath and torment and punishment be satisfied? 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:32.480 It's through his wounds that we've been healed. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.160 So when we sing Jesus paid it all, this is the all. 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:49.839 Spurgeon remarked on the necessity to understand hell in order to grasp the magnitude of the gospel. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:57.119 When men talk of a little of hell, it is because they think they have only a little sin. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.680 And believe in a little savior. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.440 It's all little together. 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:06.799 But when you get a great sense of sin, you want a great savior. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:16.720 And fell that, if you do not have him, you will fall into a great destruction and suffer a great punishment. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.000 At the hands of a great God. 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:31.359 Every bit of God's justice against your sin is going to be satisfied. 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:42.319 Either on Christ at the cross or on you in hell. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:53.759 And no one knows the day or the hour of God's justice. 00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:59.519 But today, right now, is the day of mercy. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:04.079 Right now. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.839 Confess your sins. 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:12.639 Acknowledge that you deserve justice. 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:17.039 Ask for his forgiveness. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.320 Plead for his mercy. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:29.679 Trust in Jesus as your Savior and as your God, and you will be saved now. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:37.280 In this moment, God's justice against you will be satisfied forever. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:58.079 And dear Saint, you who have understood the magnitude and the reality of hell, how could you not warn others? 00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:03.840 Spurgeon again. 00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:10.239 If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. 00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:15.840 And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:27.039 If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled with the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:52.480 Verse seven says that he will grant relief. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:36:06.800 The Greek word there is anesis, it means, and I'm quoting from the commentaries here, relaxation, loosening, easing, freedom, refreshment, restoration, and rest. 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:17.920 Jesus is just, and in his justice, he will bring you rest, beleaguered saint. 00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:22.159 He is one day going to set you free from all of your afflictions. 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:24.880 He will refresh your wearied soul. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:27.679 He will restore your joy forever. 00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:33.679 Just as eternal is his wrath, even more so is his reward. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:37.440 Do you long for rest? 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:38.880 I do. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.880 Do you long to be free from the burden of sin? 00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:43.760 I do. 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:58.480 To have sadness and shame and guilt, to have grief and destruction lifted away and never to return to you again, and in their place receive joy and gladness and delight and glory, I do. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:03.760 And rest is coming. 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:07.119 Because Jesus is coming. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:17.519 Verse 7: the same Jesus who ascended off the Mount of Olives is coming back in the same way that you saw him go up. 00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.599 He is returning bodily. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:34.639 He is going to rip open the veil of heaven, and on the clouds he will ride down, flanked by angels, ringed in fire, touching down on the Mount of Olives, and he will stroll into his city to enact justice. 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:37.280 He's coming. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:39.360 Can you picture it? 00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:49.519 And on that day, the day of his revelation, verse 10, says, He will be glorified in his saints. 00:37:50.159 --> 00:38:02.000 As we marvel at him, captivated by his glory and his justice and his mercy, we will sing and praise and shout and bless his name because he is worthy. 00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:11.519 Why is he worthy to bring justice and judgment? 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:18.480 Because he is the lion of the tribe of Judah and he will let out a righteous roar. 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:22.239 And why is he worthy? 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:24.559 To rescue sinners? 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:33.199 Because he is the sinless lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth to purchase them and make them his own. 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:36.159 He is worthy. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:38.239 And he is bringing justice. 00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:41.360 So don't lose heart waiting for that day. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:43.760 Don't be overcome by affliction. 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:46.800 Don't let injustice pretend like it gets the last word. 00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:48.400 It doesn't. 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:52.480 Persecutors will be punished and afflictions will be ended. 00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:54.079 Hardships will be halted. 00:38:54.239 --> 00:39:00.159 Pain and suffering and sickness and disease and even death itself will be defeated. 00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:04.400 So don't lose heart because justice is coming. 00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:13.519 Finally, Paul gives a third reason not to lose heart. 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:18.079 That hope does not disappoint. 00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:22.960 And we see this hope held out in Paul's pastoral prayer for these saints in verses 11 and 12. 00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:40.000 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, 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. 00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:45.840 How do they know they're going to endure to the end? 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:49.360 Paul prays a prayer of hope. 00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:54.639 He prays very specifically for three things that God would make them worthy, fruitful, and faithful. 00:39:54.880 --> 00:40:01.760 He prays that God would make you worthy of his calling. 00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:10.320 Here he's speaking that God would bring their lives into correspondence with the holiness of the calling they've received. 00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:18.079 That's what the root idea behind the word worthy is there, that it would correspond to it, it would balance it, it would be in alignment with it. 00:40:18.239 --> 00:40:22.400 And the calling you've received is a holy calling, Paul says to Timothy. 00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:26.639 So Paul prays that God will make your life just as holy. 00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:41.760 That by his grace, that by his power, your life will come into conformity, into step with the holiness of the salvation you've already received, that you would shake off your sin, that you would resist temptation, that you would live a holy life to God. 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:49.360 He prays that God would fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. 00:40:49.519 --> 00:41:08.800 Here you see Paul praying that God would help them by the power of the Holy Spirit, that every desire of their heart to serve the kingdom would come to fruition, that their gifts and their abilities and their opportunities would be leveraged to serve God, to minister to one another, that they would bear fruit. 00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:16.960 And thirdly, you see in Paul that the Paul pray that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him. 00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:30.880 Paul is simply praying that God would magnify his glory such that his character, his holiness would shine forth in them and that others would see it and glorify God. 00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.159 Now, how could Paul pray all of these things? 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:41.119 How does he know that God would answer that prayer for the Thessalonians? 00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:49.679 Because Paul knows that he who began the good work in you will be faithful to bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus. 00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:52.960 If you are his, you will always be his. 00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:57.039 And he will keep you his until he comes back for you. 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:06.000 But that doesn't mean that there won't be days when you ask, How long, O Lord? 00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:10.639 If you've ever asked that question, you're in good company. 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:23.679 John records, When the fifth seal was opened, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:37.519 And they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:44.000 It's no sign of weakness to ask how long. 00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:05.360 Until the number of their fellow servants and the brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:12.079 So don't lose heart while you wait for the Lord. 00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:21.280 Find confidence in his work in you, find strength in his promise, find encouragement in his hope. 00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:28.079 Remember that justice is coming. 00:43:28.400 --> 00:43:29.360 Let's pray. 00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:34.719 Almighty God, we do thank you. 00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:38.000 And we do love you. 00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:41.360 And we do ask how long. 00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:50.079 We look for the day that you will come and make all things right. 00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:55.599 And we ask until that day comes that you would keep us faithful. 00:43:56.320 --> 00:43:58.639 In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. 00:43:58.960 --> 00:43:59.599 Amen. 00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:03.840 And now for a parting word for Pastor Jesse Johnson. 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.280 Thanks for joining us. 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:06.800 If you're in the Washington, D.C. 00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:09.519 area, I would love to see you at Emmanuel Bible Church. 00:44:09.679 --> 00:44:14.719 For more information on our church or our current service times, go to IBC.church. 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:18.000 For more information about the Master Seminary and their Washington, D.C. 00:44:18.159 --> 00:44:20.800 location, go to TMS.edu. 00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:29.039 I hope this resource has been a blessing to you and it helps you seek the Lord daily, serve others around you, and share the gospel with boldness.