You can stay right there where
Brother David just read in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. The title of the message is Christ
Coming to Judge. Talking about His second coming.
The Bible says that He came the first time bearing the sins of
His people Our sins imputed to him. He came the first time to
put away sin. Then he's coming back, coming
the second time without sin. No sins imputed to him. They're paid for. He's coming
back the second time. And in that context, the writer
of Hebrews said that there is a time appointed. It is appointed
unto men once to die, and after that, the judgment. So he's coming
to judge. And if you look at these verses,
let's just go over them again. Verse 1, Paul and Silvanus and
Timotheus, under the church of the Thessalonians, in God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Grace unto you. Grace is the
theme. Grace because grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And
that brings peace. Peace by the blood of His cross
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes, we're
bound to thank God always for you. Thank God for His people. We ought to always thank God
for each other. He says, brethren, brothers and
sisters in Christ, our spiritual family, this is the eternal family. He says, as it is meet, it is
appropriate, it's fitting, because that your faith groweth exceedingly. They were students of his word.
They grew in grace and in knowledge of Christ. And he says, and the
charity, that's love, the divine love of every one of you all
toward each other abounded. And that's what we're to promote.
I mentioned in the Bible study this morning that we're to be
zealous in these things. Verse four, so that we ourselves
glory in you, in the churches of God, for your patience, patience
is endurance, persevering in the faith, and faith, that is,
in the right faith, in the faith of the gospel, in all your persecutions
and tribulations that you endure. Now that last phrase there, all
your persecutions and all the troubles that you endure. Now, in these messages that I've
been preaching in this series, emphasizing that we are right
now living in the last days. That day, the days that are marked
by the first coming of Christ and will lead up to the second
coming of Christ. And what I want to talk to you
about this morning is this. In these last days, and you know,
we don't know when He's coming. We don't know the hour and the
day. We know that He is coming. We're to live our lives in expectation
of Him coming. He could come any time. We're
not to try to figure out what the day is, what the hour is,
that's unbiblical. But what I'm concerned with here
is in these last days, what should we as believers, as a true church,
as sinners saved by grace, what should we be concerned with?
What should, as the true church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of truth, as Paul says, true witnesses of Christ,
well turn over, I told you to hold your finger there, it's
2 Timothy, chapter four. And this is one of the, we could
go to several passages of scripture and we don't have time to go
to them all. But this is what, here's Paul. writing to a young
preacher named Timothy, one of Paul's students. And he says,
Timothy, I charge thee therefore before God and Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead.
The quick there refers to the saints, sinners saved by grace,
living spiritually by the power of God. And that judgment, now understand
this judgment that he's talking about is not going to determine
anything. It's going to declare everything.
In other words, God's people are going to be vindicated as
He declares them to be His people, righteous in His sight, cleansed
from all their sins, and the dead, that refers to the spiritually
dead, those who die and unbelieve. You can call them the non-elect,
the goats, whatever. The scripture, I'm just using
scriptural language here now. But Christ is going to judge
the quick and the dead and His appearing and His kingdom. That's
His second coming. So what should we be concerned
with? Look at the number one here, verse two. Preach the Word. Preach God's Word. Don't preach
man's opinions and philosophies and ideas. Preach the gospel. Preach the glorious person and
finished work of Christ. That's what I want to hear. I've
actually had people tell me that they get tired of hearing that
all the time and they leave. Well, to me there's nothing else
worth preaching. Now we go through the scriptures,
I know there's other subjects here, but if I use them to get
away from the gospel of God's grace, the righteousness of God
in Christ, I'm not preaching them awry. He says be instant
in season and out of season. That means be ready. Be ready
when the opportunity comes. Reprove, that means correct when
correction is needed. Rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. That means encourage. With all
longsuffering, be patient with one another, we have to be. I
hope you're patient with me. I hope I'm patient with you.
But be patient and involve yourself in doctrine. That's teaching. That's the truth. And he says,
now look at verse 3. Now, this is part of this last
day's issue. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. Aren't we living in that day? Think about it. We're here to present the truth
of the gospel of how God saves sinners by His grace, through
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God manifest in the flesh. That glorious person that we
worship, follow, trust, We're to shine, the Bible says in Philippians,
we're to shine as lights in this dark world. We're to do nothing
to hinder our witness of the gospel. You know, we can get
in the way sometimes. We're to become able witnesses
and good stewards of the grace of God. We're to grow in grace
and in knowledge of Christ and edify one another. We're to encourage
one another as we suffer together opposition and persecution over
the gospel because we're living in a day when those who even
call themselves Christian will not endure sound doctrine. Think about that. And he says,
but after their own lust, their own evil desires, they shall
heap to themselves teachers A lot of false teachers now, having
itching ears, you know what an itching ear is? Has to be scratched. And you got preachers who'll
scratch that itching ear, they'll tell people what they want to
hear and not tell them what they need to hear. And they shall
turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto
fables. But he tells Timothy, and he's
telling us, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians
1. The Apostle Paul is writing these
believers in the church at Thessalonica, to encourage them in the faith
of the gospel, in the assurance of God's grace in Christ, to
endure persecutions, troubles that come over the gospel. Now, persecutions and tribulations,
trouble, they are inevitable. I mean, it just comes with the
territory. You don't have to go looking
for it. You don't have to stir it up. I never preach the gospel
just to make people angry. I preach it hoping that they
believe it. But it just comes with the territory.
I think about these passages, you know, when Christ stood on
the mount and spoke the sermon on the mount. And he said this
in verse 6 of Matthew chapter 5. Let me just read it to you.
He says, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. Do you hunger and thirst after
righteousness? Well, how are we going to be
filled? By preaching Christ. He is my righteousness. I don't
have any of my own. Do you? No, He is my righteousness. The old writers used to call
it an alien righteousness. Because it's not in us, it's
not of us, it's of Christ. And it's imputed to me, God has
imputed it to me. I love that. I stand before Him
washed in the blood of Christ. Clothed in His righteousness,
and that fills me. That fills my hunger. When I was in false religion,
believing that salvation was conditioned on me, and judging
righteousness on that sliding scale of how much am I doing,
you know, that kind of thing, I never got filled. And the times
that I thought I was filled, I found out probably just very
soon after that I'm really not filled at all. I've got to go
back and start again. But in Christ, and I love these three
words, it, is, Finished. Don't you love that? But now, in our pursuit of Christ,
he also says, verse 10 of Matthew 5, blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness sake. Now sometimes we can get
persecuted just because of our bad behavior. You unbreak the law, you're gonna
be persecuted by the authorities. Which is really not persecution
is, it's just an act of justice. But he's talking about for preaching
the gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed. Persecuted
for that. He says if you're persecuted
for righteousness sake, you're part of the kingdom of God. Theirs
is the kingdom of God. He says in verse 11 of Matthew
5. Blessed are you when men shall
revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake. And then he says in verse 12,
rejoice. I don't know about you. I don't like it when people revile
me and persecute me and say all manner of evil against me falsely.
I just don't like it. And I have in my mind that I
want to do something about it. Well, here's what you ought to
do about it. Rejoice. He says, Rejoice and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Those who preach a
false gospel, and especially the health and wealth people,
you've heard that, you know, they have their reward right
here on earth. And it usually comes in the form
of the applause of men. Everybody loves, you know, I
was telling about that preacher who preached in Yankee Stadium,
I think over the last week. And two-thirds of that stadium
was full. And he told every one of them, he told them how to
feel good about yourself. And that's what people want to
hear, and they all applauded. And Amy asked me, she said, would
you be nervous preaching before a crowd like that? I said, not
if they all were believers, but if they were all unbelievers,
I'd be nervous, because I'm pretty sure at the end of the message,
they'd be pretty angry at me. I don't want that many people
coming after me at one time. But he says, your reward's in
heaven. We're to expect no reward here
on earth from unbelieving people. And he says, for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you. And one thing that we need to
be sure of is that when we're persecuted, and as I said, it
comes with the territory, especially in these last days, that we are
persecuted for righteousness sake, for the gospel. I used to think that verse meant
that you would be persecuted for trying to be a moral person.
That's not what it's talking about. Those who were moral in
the eyes of men, religious and sincere, persecuted our Lord. And that's us by nature. He went to the cross to establish
the only righteousness, the only goodness by which sinners can
be justified. And religious, moral people,
in the eyes of men, persecuted Him. We meant it for evil. God meant it for good. Doesn't
that give you comfort? But I think about this, this
is John chapter 3 and verse 20. He says, for everyone that doeth
evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved, discovered. Now the deeds there he's talking
about is men and women's religious efforts, moral efforts to be
good. and the gospel which declares
the righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ as the
only ground upon which God will save, justify, bless, and receive
and accept sinners, that gospel exposes the deeds of unbelievers
to be evil. Could you imagine getting up
before a crowd like that and telling them, what you're doing
here is evil. Well, they'd want to kill you.
What you're doing here is paving the broad way that leads to destruction. And that's what we're facing
in the last days. He goes on in verse 21, he says,
But he that doeth truth, Or he says in verse 20, verse 20 rather,
for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, but he that
doeth truth. Now what is it to do truth? That's
to believe the gospel by the power of God. Christ told his
disciples in John 15, he said, marvel not if the world hate
you. It hates me. And you're not better
than your master. We're followers of Christ. So these persecutions. Well,
Paul back here in 2 Thessalonians 1, he says here in verse four,
he says, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches
of God for your patience, that's endurance, your faith, amidst
these persecutions. Now, this glorying that Paul
speaks of is not in the sense of boasting or having confidence
of salvation in and by men and women. Our glory, you know, when we
talk about what we glory in, what we boast in, our glory is
in Christ. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1,
and he's quoting Jeremiah. He said, let he that glorieth
glory in the Lord. We boast in the Lord. I'm here
to brag about Christ. I'm here to talk about His goodness,
His blood, His righteousness. He said in Galatians 6.14, He
said, God forbid that I should glory or boast except in the
cross. And that cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that's His glorious person and His finished work. Philippians
3, we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice or glory in Christ Jesus and have no, no confidence in
the flesh. So Paul's boasting here when
he says this to the church at Thessalonica is not in themselves
as they are, but it's in the power and grace of God. And he
says, listen, for your patience and faith and all your persecutions,
where did that patience and faith come from? Came from God. It's a gift of God. They're all
gifts of God's grace. Endurance in the faith is the
same as perseverance in the faith. And the Bible's clear that we
will, as sinners saved by grace, we will persevere in the faith,
even amidst persecutions. But the only, the power of that
perseverance is the preservation, the preserving grace of God.
He won't let us go. And whatever we have to face in this persecution, whatever
we have to go through, if we belong to Him, He'll bring us
through it. I know if I had to face death, I wouldn't get through
it on my own. You wouldn't either. But by the
power of God, for endurance, He'd keep us, He'd take us through,
because He won't let us go. Look at verse 5, he says in 2
Thessalonians 1, he says, now this perseverance, this endurance
by the power of God is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of
God. I love that. God has counted
us righteous in Christ and our perseverance in the faith by
his power is a manifest, that is an out there, it's revealed. It's made to appear as a token
of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted,
listen to this, worthy of the kingdom of God for which you
also suffer. Worthy? Am I worthy? Well, if I'm in Christ, I am. Because our worthiness is Christ. His righteousness alone. You
remember over in Revelation chapter 5 that the saints in heaven,
they have a song that they sing? And the name of that song is,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. We're worthy because the righteous
judgment of God. Now think about that. We're worthy
because God has already judged us for our sins in Christ on
that cross. Based on His death on the cross. When Christ comes back and we're
brought into glory with Him, We're not gonna be set up there
and judge for our sins and see if our good works outweigh our
sin, no. God's not gonna put a screen
up there and go over our lives and make us turn red. No, we've
already been judged. At the judgment, he's just going
to declare, these are my sheep. These are my children. These are my righteous ones. We're worthy because God has
justified us in Christ and can lay no charge of sin to our persons. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
is risen again. Seated at the right hand of the
Father, ever living to make intercession for us. Do you think when He
comes back and brings us before the judgment seat of Christ,
you think He's gonna stop being our intercessor? Stop being our
mediator? No. No. For God made Him sin. Christ who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's our worthiness.
God has imputed my sins to Christ. Christ bore the wrath of God
on the cross for me, and he's imputed his righteousness to
me. How do I know that? What's the manifest token of
that? My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. You know what that sweet frame
means? The sweet frames are things that
men and women trust and hope in and plead as their salvation. But if you're in Christ, you
dare not trust the sweetest frame, the best looking one, the most
sincere one. But you wholly lean on Jesus'
name. On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand. Do you believe that? Is that
your hope? That's a manifest token of God's
righteous judgment. Turn over to Philippians chapter
one. I want to show you this. Talking
about this manifest token. You see the manifest token is
Not what I'm doing for God in order to make myself right. Now
we ought to be obedient people, there's no question about that.
But our striving to do better is not the manifest token of
God's righteous judgment, His grace towards us. It's our trust
in Him as our only hope. Look at Philippians chapter 1
verse 27. Only let your conversation, your walk, how we conduct ourselves,
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. I don't want to be
a hindrance in the kingdom of God. I don't want what I do and
my bad behavior to get in the way of promoting this gospel. that whether I come and see you
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand
fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith
of the gospel. And that's how it ought to be
in the church. We ought to be together, striving together in
the faith of the gospel. Verse 28 is where I want to go
to. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, your enemies,
which is to them an evident token of perdition. To those who come against us
and persecute us, say all manner of evil against us, that's a
manifest token of their damnation. Now, whenever that happens, we're
to pray for them. There may be some of God's elect
among that crowd. Do you remember who held the
coats of those who stoned our brother Stephen? His name was
Paul. Now to him it wasn't a manifest
token of damnation. But those who continue in that
and die in unbelief, that was a manifest token of their perdition. And he says, but to you of salvation,
it's a manifest token of salvation. And that of God. And look at
verse 29. He says, for unto you it is given,
it's given, On the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on
Him, we know faith is the gift of God, but also to suffer for
His sake. That's a gift from God. Having
the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. It's amazing, isn't it? Look
at verse six back in 2 Thessalonians 1. Seeing it as a righteous thing
with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. It's
a right and just thing for God to bring judgment and wrath upon
those who persecute God's people. Now let me say this. Whenever we talk about the wrath
of God, We need to understand one thing
that's clear. And that is this. In ourselves,
by nature, as we are naturally born, fallen in Adam, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins, that's why we had to be born
again. But in ourselves, by nature, and based upon our works, We
all deserve and have earned the wrath of God. Now think about that. If God ever gave me what I deserve
and what I've earned, it'd be His wrath, and justly so. There's
none good, no, not one. There's none righteous, no, not
one. Ephesians 2 and verse 3 says
this, that by nature, as we're naturally born, even the elect
of God, the redeemed of the Lord, by nature, as we're naturally
born, we're no different than the children of wrath, those
whom God appointed under wrath. And the verse that I always quote,
Psalm 130 and verse 3, Lord, if thou, Lord, should it mark iniquities, who
would stand? Not me. If God were to impute
my sins to me, I wouldn't stand. And that's why it's so, it's
a blessing. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justify. When David
described the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputes
righteousness without works. That's us. We don't have anything in ourselves
to boast. It's all of God's grace. And
look at verse seven. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels. We don't have to be scared or
fear the Lord's coming. We anticipate it. We look forward
to it because we can rest in peace because we rest in Christ. Christ is our Sabbath rest. He finished all the work. So
be at peace. Christ is coming to judge, but
we've already been judged. All our sins in Him. All our
righteousness in Him. Be at peace. and have confidence. Oh, to be found in him not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ. So when Christ comes again, whenever
he comes, he will come in flaming fire as an agent of justice to
vindicate his people, his children, and to take vengeance upon the
wicked. Now verse nine is one of the best definitions in the
word of God, of the wrath of God. Look at it. Who shall be
punished. These are talking about those
who, verse eight and nine, those who are found in unbelief to
whom God imputes sin. He's coming in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power. Now I'm going to come back to
this. I didn't get finished. Time's running out. But what
I'm going to show you is this. The people of God have never
been under the wrath of God. Now let me make this clear so
you don't misunderstand. We deserve the wrath of God.
We've earned it. We've never been under the wrath
of God. A fella told me a couple weeks ago, he said he defines
the wrath of God as God being angry. And the scriptures say
God is angry with the wicked. Well, God's not emotional. That's
human language, you know, just like talking about God's arm,
that's His power. We've never been under the wrath
of God. We're vessels of mercy appointed before the world began. And Christ went under the wrath
of God for us. So we've never been under that
wrath. Again, we deserve it. We've earned it. But by God's
grace, he sent his son to take that wrath upon himself. And
I'll talk more about that when I come. I won't be here next
week. And Jim Casey's going to preach. I'm going up to get my
wife and bring her back. But when we come back, I'll deal
with that a little bit more. OK.