As I have already intimated in
the light of the complexion of our congregation this morning,
we will suspend our final study in the whole area of sin in the
life of the justified and our normal course of expositions
in the life of Elisha this evening. And in place of that, I would
direct your attention this morning to Paul's second letter to the
Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and chapter 1. Paul and Silvanus,
or Silas and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians,
in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Grace to you and
peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are
bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it
is meat, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the
love of each one of you towards one another abounded. so that
we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your
patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions
which ye endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment
of God, to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom
of God for which ye also suffer, if so be that it is a righteous
thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict
you. And to you that are afflicted,
rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven,
with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance
to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall suffer punishment, even
eternal destruction, from the face of the Lord and from the
glory of his might. when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed,
because our testimony unto you was believed in that day. To which end we also pray always
for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and
fulfill every desire of goodness, and every work of faith with
power. that the name of our Lord Jesus
may be glorified in you and he in him according to the grace
of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now I am confident that
anyone living or passing through this particular geographical
area of the country is very much aware of what has been called
our energy crisis. Most of us, if not all of us,
have been made the victims of wasted hours in long lines at
filling stations. We've been apprehensive as we've
heard the news of the possible effects of the independent trucker's
strike with unavailable foodstuffs and spiraling prices, etc. Well, it's in such times as these,
when the media bombards us with the reminder of these problems,
when in conversation with each other on the phone or in person,
these issues very naturally come up and we give vent to our frustrations,
our irritations, our deep-seated suspicions and lack of confidence
in the leadership we are being given in these things, It's at
such times as these when the Christian is very, very tempted,
and often more than tempted, actually succumbs to a perspective
on life that is totally unscriptural. He becomes so influenced by these
pressures that impinge upon the mundane, that impinge upon his
convenience, upon his time, upon his own plans, that he begins
imperceptibly at first, but very really, to think and to react
like men of the world. The Scripture says we are not
to be pressed into the form of this world's mold, but we are
to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And it is precisely
at such times when that pressure is more than ordinary upon us
that we need, as the people of God, to back off and put everything
in proper perspective, even that perspective which is given by
contemplating the glorious consummation of all things at the return of
our Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory. You have the little
phrase in verse 10, when he shall come, and that's to be the theme
of our studies again this morning, and God willing again this evening,
the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come. And it is my concern to underscore
by way of exposition, explanation, and application of this passage,
this great truth, not in abstraction, but for the specific pastoral
concern that in the midst of this intensification of pressure
that is upon our minds and our spirits, We may, as the people
of God, resist the molding influence of the world and its perspective,
and we may, in the midst of these very circumstances, manifest
the glory of the Christian's hope, even that hope which terminates
upon the return of Christ. Now, in the first place, consider
with me the nature of the event anticipated. the nature of the
event anticipated. When the apostle uses the language
in verse 10, when he shall come, to what is he referring? What
is the nature of that coming referred to in verse 10? Well, in this particular passage,
the apostle describes the return of the Lord in a very powerful
and suggestive phrase given to us in verse 7, the revelation
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the language, and to you
that are afflicted, rest at the revelation of the Lord Jesus. And that phrase, the revelation
of the Lord Jesus, is technical language which refers to nothing
less than his glorious, powerful coming at the consummation of
the age. And the key word, the regulating
word in that phrase, is the word translated in the 1901 edition,
the revelation of our Lord Jesus. It is a word which literally
means an unveiling or an uncovering. It's a picture that would be
familiar at least to some of us by virtue of what we've read
or seen, though perhaps we've not personally experienced it. An artist pours his soul as well
as his energy into the composition of a great work of art. Perhaps
it's a painting or a statue. and then a day is fixed in which
there will be an unveiling. That which has been the product
of his genius in the cloistered seclusion of his own workshop
will, at the appointed day of unveiling, be open to the view
of all men and women who care to look upon it. And so the day
comes when great crowds gather and all they see is an easel
or some form that is hidden beneath a shroud. Now all the expression
of this artistry All as it were, the imprints of his own artistic
taste and the energy of his own artistic soul, as well as the
energy of his hands and the skill of his entire humanity as a painter,
is there upon the canvas, but you cannot see it. It is vague.
And what happens is, at the appointed hour, when due acknowledgements
have been given and the dedication has been announced, someone then
pulls away the shroud, and that great work of art, there all
the time, is now unveiled. It is uncovered. And in the uncovering,
what it really is in itself, is now manifest unto all. Now that's precisely the idea
of this word. The coming of our Lord is described
with this language, the revelation, the unveiling, the uncovering
of our Lord Jesus. Now this terminology is not unique
to the Apostle Paul. Our Lord Himself used it in Luke
chapter 17 and in verse 30. Luke chapter 17 and verse 30,
our Lord predicting His own return says, After the same manner shall it
be in the day that the Son of Man is unveiled." In the day
when the Son of Man is revealed. And Peter uses it. It's one of
Peter's favorite words to describe the coming of the Lord. In 1
Peter chapter 1 and in verse 7 he uses it. that the proof
of your faith, speaking to believers, being more precious than gold
that perishes, though it is proved by fire, may be found unto the
praise and glory and honor at the unveiling, the apocalypsis,
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He uses it again in verse
13. Wherefore, girding up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and set your hope perfectly on the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation, at the unveiling,
at the uncovering of Jesus Christ. Now, what is the fundamental
significance of that word in conjunction with the entire phrase? The nature, you see, of the coming
of Christ is bound up, in great measure, in an understanding
of that phrase, it is to be the revelation of Jesus Christ, or
the Lord Jesus. Well, simply, it points to the
fact that at His first coming, His own essential glory was,
for the most part, veiled. He who came, came in the language
of Scripture as truly God and as truly man. He took to himself
as the eternal Word a true humanity. He lost nothing. He took something
he never had before. But the Godhead was essentially
veiled in that humanity. Now there were a few outbreakings
of that glory. Peter says, we beheld his glory
in the Holy Mount. You remember when his clothes
were changed and he was transfigured in their presence? Spiritually,
John could say, we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. But for the most part,
it was suitable that there should be a veiling of all that he truly
was, because the mission of his first coming demanded a self-imposed
weakness. The Scripture says he was crucified
through weakness. He took upon him, the Scripture
says, the form of a servant. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh. Therefore, when people looked
upon him, they despised him in his claims. They said, is not
this the son of the carpenter? And aren't his brothers and sisters
with us? Why do people get all excited?
We know who he is. He's just a little boy down the
road, grown up. Some even stood a few feet away
from him, looked right into his face, and said, Say we not well
that thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon? And they did not
shrink from laying wicked hands upon him, and buffeting him,
spitting upon him, mocking him, bruising him, and actually lifting
him up upon a Roman gibbet to die. You see, in his first coming,
The purposes of that coming could only be accomplished as the Lord
Jesus, for the most part, was a veiled incarnate God. But at His second
coming, there will be no veil of what He truly is. both in
His essential deity and in His conferred Lordship as the reward
of His sufferings. For at His coming, God will pull
back the veil, the heavens, as it were, constituting the veil. And when He breaks through the
heavens, what men will see is not a veiled easel wondering
what is behind. but the undimmed splendor and
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. What they will see is what is
truly there, was there all along, but for the purposes of suffering
and death, was essentially there. But when He shall come, It will
be the revelation, the uncovering, the unveiling of the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the last sight the world
had of Him was that sight that underscored weakness. He hung
publicly upon a cross, open to the view of any who cared to
behold him outside the city walls of Jerusalem. But he rose from
the dead privately. He appeared as the resurrected
Christ only to selected witnesses according to the testimony of
the Gospels, and then in 1 Corinthians 15, Now those witnesses were
not one or two. There was at one occasion even
500 brethren to whom he appeared, but he did not go back into the
temple after his resurrection and begin to teach again. He
did not display himself publicly as he did in the period of his
weakness prior to his death. And so as far as the world is
concerned, its last sight of Christ is its estimation of Christ's
weakness. Oh, they may afford him what
they think is a little bit of honor. He was the greatest man
who ever lived. He was the greatest teacher.
They may throw the sop of a little grudging acknowledgment of some
virtue in him or in his teaching. But what they see essentially
is just a man. a man who could not shake off
the terrible pressure of prejudice and blind antipathy to himself
and his teaching, and was ultimately put upon a cross because of his
enemies. We are to pity him, we are to
admire him, we may render him some such attitudes, but that's
all. My friend, there will be none
of that at the unveiling. You see, his second coming will
be the public, the open, the manifest display of all that
he is as the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, to underscore this fact,
the apostle uses three parallel prepositional phrases, that is,
phrases that begin with a preposition, in, on, to, those little words
that speak of relationship or direction, and notice how carefully
he brings together these three prepositional phrases to underscore
the nature of that event that he calls the revelation of the
Lord Jesus. The first one is this, it will
be from heaven. at the revelation of our Lord
Jesus from heaven. In other words, we are pointed
to heaven as the origin, or the source, of that unveiling. And of course, the parallel passages
which expound the significance of this phrase are Acts chapter
1, Verses 9 to 11, you remember the incident? Some of these selected
witnesses are gathered on a mountain in Galilee with our Lord Jesus.
And after he has commanded them to go back to Jerusalem and to
wait there until the promised spirit is given, not as the reward
of their carrying or agonizing, but as the reward of his sufferings.
It is the gift of the spirit given in grace. Verse 9, And
when he had said these things as they were looking, he was
taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while
they were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went, behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus who was
received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner
as ye beheld him going into heaven. Do you see the constant emphasis
upon heaven here? They are gazing up into the heavens. He is taken up from them into
heaven. Then the two men say, why stand
ye gazing up into the heavens? The one taken into the heavens
shall come from the heavens. The Apostle Paul picks up that
emphasis and we read in Philippians chapter 1 in verse 21, Our citizenship
or our commonwealth is where? In heaven. From whence we wait? for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, or in the language of 1 Thessalonians 1.10, He turned
to God from your idols to serve the living and the true God and
to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even the Lord Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come. Now
you see Men love to mock and to sneer this fundamental aspect
of Christian faith. They say, now wait a minute.
You mean to tell me that all you're offering us toward the
end of the 20th century In the midst of all of the problems
of the energy crisis and the SALT agreements, and whether
or not this is national compromise or a wise expedient, amidst all
of these turmoils and tumultuous things, you mean all you're offering
is pie in the sky and from the sky, by and by? I mean to say, my friend, that
the great hope of the Christian is the revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ, not in anything he may do in grace or in power
here upon the earth in the present state of affairs, but our great
hope is that hope that is bound up in the little phrase, the
revelation of the Lord Jesus from from heaven. That is our great hope. This
same Jesus who was taken up into heaven shall come from the heavens
in glory and in power. And as I suggested earlier, there's
a sense in which as long as the heavens are not split with the
voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the outshining
of the glory of a returning Christ. Christian, every time you look
up to the skies, think of them biblically. They are a veil hiding
my Lord, but He's there. In all the splendor and glory
of His exalted, glorified, God-man existence, He's there. Just as
much as the painting is there, the product of the genius and
the labor and the toil of the artist, even though the veil
is over it, the painting is there. The removing of the veil adds
nothing. It simply exposes it to view. And oh, when we look at the heavens,
not only look at them as displaying the glory of God in the firmament
showing His handiwork, but begin to think, Christian, when you're
sitting in one of those gas lines and you're tempted to let your
spirit get all agitated and disturbed and distraught, stick your head
out the window and look up. Don't look down the length of
the line. Look up and say it's a veil. Though this is part of
the creation groaning and travailing in pain until now, and there
never will be a perfect balance of man's use of God's world and
the world in its response to man's use because it's a cursed
world, And so you look up and say, the veil is there, but behind
the veil is my Lord Jesus in all the glory and splendor of
His exalted person, and the hour is coming when He shall come,
and it will be the apocalypsis, the unveiling, it will be the
wonderful disclosure of all that He is from heaven. But then the
second prepositional phrase, notice, is this. He will come
with the angels of His power. See it in verse 7. The revelation
of the Lord Jesus from heaven, that's the origin, with the angels
of His power, those are the attendants of His unveiling. Now the key
words in this little phrase are, His power. It's not a phrase
saying He will come with His powerful angels, but he will
come with the angels of his power. In other words, this is a coming
characterized by mighty power, and the witnesses of that power
is the retinue of the angels of heaven who will come with
him. They will be his servants to
accomplish his will in that day. Now, where did Paul get that
notion? He just didn't pick it up. It's a concept that our Lord
reiterated in his own teaching regarding his return. Notice
Matthew 25 in verse 41. Letting scripture be its own
interpreter, our Lord in this passage, speaking of his coming,
says, Matthew 25, 31, But when the Son of Man shall come in
His glory, see the concept of the unveiling, though the word
is not there, He came the first time in weakness. He shall come
the second time in glory. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, now notice, and all the angels with Him. He will not come unattended.
He will be no bridegroom to stand alone at his marriage altar. Here was the retinue of all the
hosts of angels. Now, will they be there simply
as witnesses? The month of July is wedding month again. I'll
have to take part in three of them during the month of July.
There's one Saturday when I'll be wedding less during the month
of July, and often I've wondered What function do all these attendants
have, apart from moral support and being good friends? They
really, they really, apart from the bridesmaid or maid of honor
holding the bouquet, which I could just as well hold while they
exchange the rings, she performs no real function in the actual
wedding ceremony. When the bride comes with her
attendants, and the same thing, the whole idea that the groom's
going to be so weak-kneed, he needs the best man to prop him
up, I've never seen that really happen. Now I'm not saying we
should throw over that tradition, but you see the attendance of
the bride and groom really perform no necessary function. Now is
that what we have here? Just a symbolic function? At
the apocalypses? At the revelation of the Lord
Jesus? What is this? With his angels? Are they there simply as witnesses? Something, as it were, to adorn
him with greater glory? No, the text says with the angels
of His power. In other words, the angels are
there to be the instrument of exercising His power at His unveiling. And what power is that? Well,
turn to Matthew 13 for the answer. Matthew 13 and verse 36. Here our Lord begins to interpret
to the disciples the parable of the wheat and the tares. And
he tells them in his interpretation, the wheat stands for this, the
tares stand for that, the reapers are the angels. Verse 39, the
reapers are the angels. Verse 40, as therefore the tares
are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the consummation
of the age The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they
shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling
in them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace
of fire. There shall be the weeping and
the gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the Son in the kingdom of their Father. You see, they
are the angels of His power. He has the power to determine
men's destinies. He has the power to execute the
sentence of damnation. But He delegates that power to
the angels, and when they come with Him, they are not there
for show. They are not there for moral support to the unveiled
Christ. He needs none. In weakness, He
said to three sinners, Peter, James, and John, would you not
watch with me one hour? I need the support of your sympathy
in prayer with me. This is my hour of weakness."
But when he comes again, he needs no support. All that self-imposed
weakness is behind him. The angels are there as the demonstration
and the administrators of his power. Power to gather the wicked
and cast them into the lake of fire. That's the negative exercise
of the power. But according to Matthew 24,
30 and 31, they will exercise a positive and glorious role
as well. Matthew 24, 30 and 31. And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn. They shall see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven, notice now, with power and great
glory. See the two concepts now? Angels
of His power, the unveiling of the Lord Jesus. And He shall
send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. The trump shall sound, 1 Corinthians
15, the trump shall sound, and they, the angels, shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven
to the other, the living elect, the dead elect. Angels will be
the instruments of his power to gather together his own, and
to gather up the wicked as tares, and to cast them into fire. You see, the picture is not that.
of our modern weddings, where the attendants of the bride and
the bridegroom really perform no necessary or utilitarian function,
but it is the picture of a conquering general. who comes into a territory
which some usurper has taken over, and he comes to liberate
his own subjects and to judge all his enemies. And how does
he exercise his power? By means of his armies who go
forth at his bidding. That's the picture. At the unveiling
of the Lord Jesus Christ, It will be an unveiling from heaven. That's the origin. With the angels
of his power, they are the attendants. And now notice the third prepositional
phrase, in flaming fire. Now here you have a little problem
of translation. Some would suggest that the phrase
in flaming fire ought to be attached to what follows. That is, in
flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. But the weight of evidence in
terms of the structure of the original language is in favor
of seeing these three prepositional phrases as parallels describing
the nature of this glorious event. He will come from heaven, that's
the origin, with the angels of his power, the attendants, and
now the context, in flaming fire, literally in a fire of flame. Now, pray tell, what does that
mean? Well, here we must be careful in just assuming similarity of
language means identity of significance. Fire is often in scripture the
symbol of the manifest presence of God. You remember when God
would appear to Moses, he appeared how? In a flame of fire in a
bush. When God comes down upon Mount
Sinai, according to Exodus 19, He appears in a flaming fire
and with tempest and with thunder and with lightning. His presence
was manifested there. In Genesis 15, when He appears
to Abraham to renew the covenant, He comes and passes between the
sacrifice in a flame of fire and in smoke. You see again and
again in scripture, the pillar of fire by night and the cloud
by day. Fire is a symbol of the presence
of God. And it could be that that is
the Apostle's thought here, that the context of His coming is
nothing less than the visible manifestation of Deity, therefore
bringing together the concept of God appearing in the burning
bush upon Mount Sinai, there to Abraham with the people of
God. And certainly no error would
be taught if we took that position. However, since He who comes is
God, And the very concept of unveiling means that he comes
in his glory as God. The meaning must lie in a second
major use of the figure of fire in the Old Testament. Fire is
often the symbol of God's holiness manifested in judgment. Turn
please to Isaiah 29 for a graphic demonstration of this fact. Fire
is not only the symbol of God's manifested presence with His
people, but also the symbol of His holiness manifested in judgment. Isaiah chapter 29, verses 5 and
6. Here God is pronouncing judgment
through the prophet, but the multitude of thy foes shall be
like the small dust. and the multitude of the terrible
ones as chaff that passeth away, yea, it shall be in an instant
suddenly. She shall be visited of the Lord
of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with
whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire. Here God is pronouncing judgment,
and He says that judgment will come under the figure of a devouring
fire that consumes everything in its path, so that when God
moves forth to judgment, nothing can stand before Him. Turn to
Isaiah 66 for a parallel passage. Isaiah 66, verses 5 and 6. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hate you,
that cast you out for my name's sake, have said, Let the Lord
be glorified, that we may see your joy. But it is they that
shall be put to shame. In other words, they mocked them.
They said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy. Here's
the taunting of the people of God. a voice of tumult from the
city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth
recompense or vengeance to his people. I'm sorry, I've read
verses 5 and 6, but you see the setting now of the judgment that
God will bring upon his people, his people's enemies. Now verse
15, for behold, the Lord will come, how? in or with fire, and
his chariot shall he, like the whirlwind, to render his anger
with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire
will the Lord execute judgment, and by his sword upon all flesh,
and the slain of the Lord shall be many." So bound up with this
prophecy of judgment is the concept again of the outgoing, consuming
fire of the Lord. Ah, but someone says, Pastor,
that's Old Testament. God now wears a different face
in Jesus Christ. Is that so? What could be the
greatest corrective than to describe His unveiling with this third
prepositional phrase? It will not only be an unveiling
from heaven, with the angels of His power, but in flaming
fire, in other words, a context of divine holiness, burning and
consuming everything in its path that is contrary to itself, even
as a forest fire consumes everything in its path and leaves nothing
but the charred bones of the wildlife and a few little charred
toothpicks sticking up to heaven. manifesting the frightening power
of the consuming fire. For in the book of Hebrews we
read in chapter 12 and verse 29, our God is a consuming fire. And that truth will be revealed
when the Lord Jesus comes again. that this Lord Jesus is not only
the exalted Lord who came to His throne by way of a virgin's
womb, a cross and an open tomb. From that throne has extended
mercy to sinners, but He is also the one in whom the wrath and
anger of God against all that is in opposition to Him, it is
through Him that the wrath of God will be dispensed as well
as through him that the mercy of God is dispensed upon sinners. He will come in flaming fire. This revelation will be the manifestation
of the burning holiness of the Godhead exercised in judgment. Now again, people mock at this
concept. They say, you mean to tell me
As an intelligent person who seems to have his head at least
half screwed on right, do you actually believe that there is
a coming day of judgment? I mean, let's be reasonable.
We can't even remember the deeds of a full week. How can one being
that you call God remember all the deeds and thoughts and words
of all the men of all the ages in every circumstance from their
conception until their grave? We say because He is God, and
His mind is infinite, and it is no more difficult for God
to remember one thought of one man at one point in His life
than to remember the thoughts of billions of men for thousands
of years. So when the Lord Jesus returns,
the unveiling will be in the context of the holiness of God,
manifested in judgment against all sin and all sinners. That's why when he comes it will
be with fire, that he will purge the very cosmos of all of the
effects of sin. 2 Peter chapter 3. This new heavens
and new earth in which dwells righteousness must await the
fire that will purge it of all the effects of sin that came
upon it as a result of man's sin. And thank God that fire
with which he comes to consume his adversaries will also be
the fire of his presence by which the last remains of sin in every
living saint will be forever consumed and put away when all
that marked our bodies in their sinful state will be consumed
and put away after he comes in the unveiling in fire sin and
sinners will be banished to hell, and a new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwells righteousness will fill the vision of the people
of God, of angels, of seraphim and cherubim." More of that must
await for our study this evening when we move to the secondary
of this text, having considered together the nature of the event
anticipated. We're going to examine together
the consequences of this event described, and it's described
in terms of a twofold consequence to the people of God and then
to those who are not the people of God. But our time has gone
from us, and let me seek to pull it all together in a final word
of exhortation. My friend, as you sit here this
morning, Do you have any felt consciousness that this is where
all of history is going? When you hold your watch to your
ear, you children, I don't know if you're like when I was a kid,
I used to love to hold my dad's watch and hear it tick. Every
tick of the clock, every sweep of the second hand, every movement,
from our 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 brings us that much closer to the time
when God will pull back the veil. Paul could say now is our salvation
nearer than when we first believed. And in the midst of whatever
pressures come upon us, even to the point that these Thessalonians
were bearing open persecution and hostility and affliction
for the sake of the gospel, there was religious, there was economic,
there was personal pressure, the apostle gives them a big
fat dose of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And he says,
oh people of God, Fill your soul with the wonder of the unveiling
of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. I ask you as you sit
here this morning, child of God, do you live with this perspective
as a burning, present, conscious reality in the midst of life
where you really live it? Can you stick your head out in
that gas line and look up and find joy In the midst of the
irritations, in the midst of physical suffering and pain,
and emotional trauma and disappointment and heartache, and all of the
things that mark existence here and now, The apostle does not
hold out to these suffering saints that their hope is some future
glorious manifestation of the power of Christ that will put
down evil and exalt the church and the people of God so that
they rule the world? Prior to that coming? No, no. He holds out as their hope nothing,
nothing that rises out of earth or even the church on earth.
He says, Your hopes come when the veil of the heavens is rent,
when He shall come from heaven. How? Not in weakness, but in
power, with the angels of His power. And He'll come in the
context of flaming fire, the representation of the burning
holiness of the Godhead to consume everything that opposes Him.
My friend, has the reality of that event burned its way into
your heart as a Christian? Do you live in the light of that
hour? And oh, my friend, if you're
not in Christ, do you have a dread of that coming? You ought to.
His power will be manifest when he says to a specific angel,
to come to you and to bind you hand and foot and to cast you
into outer darkness. My friend, when are you going
to take that seriously? Will it take the binding and
the casting itself to awaken you to an earnest concern for
your soul? Oh, may God grant that the proclamation
of the certainty of that event will be used of God to stir you
up to seek the Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him
while He is yet near. For He is still behind that veil,
and as long as He's behind that veil, there is a door open in
heaven. The veil is still drawn, but
there's a door open, and it's the door of mercy. Christ Himself
is that door. and oh that you may seek to be
reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we didn't
get very far this morning. We simply contemplated from the
scriptures the nature of that glorious event. God willing,
tonight we'll consider together the results of that event in
the light of this passage of the Word of God. Let us pray. Oh, our Father, our hearts do
rejoice this morning. Many of us, as it were, stand
upon our tiptoes and look and long and yearn for your hand
to pull back the veil. We confess that we do not know
the day nor the hour, but we thank you. You have appointed
a day. You have appointed an hour. and that as surely as we
bow in your presence in this moment, He shall come. Oh, how we thank you for the
certainty of that hope. Grant that we who are your children
may live and suffer and weep and pray and rejoice in the light
of that hope, and that those who are not in Christ, who are
yet in their sins, who have never fled for refuge, to him who alone
can forgive and cleanse. O God, use the proclamation of
this great event to stir them up, to seek you while you may
be found, and to call upon you while you're near. Seal then
the word to our hearts. Make it to be the subject of
our meditation throughout the day. Hear our prayer. Receive
our thanks for your presence with us. We ask through him who
loved us and who shall indeed come to take us to be with him. Amen.