I want you to turn to the first
chapter of Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I want you to turn to the first
chapter and hold it there just for a few minutes. Get your Bible
and lay it on your lap and hold it just for a few minutes. 1
Thessalonians chapter 1. Let me say some things, and then
we'll look at our five different texts. The Apostle
Paul was writing so much about the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and he wrote more, I imagine, to this church than any other
church. This epistle, the first to the
Thessalonians and the second epistle to them is filled with
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is what I want
to say about that this afternoon. Now this is my understanding.
It is my understanding that the Bible teaches a general resurrection. That there is going to be one
resurrection of the just and of the unjust. The Apostle Paul
made this statement. He said, I have hope towards
God. which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. And it's my understanding that
the Bible teaches that there will be a general judgment, one
judgment of the whole history of this world. The Apostle Paul
also said that God has appointed a day in which He will judge
the world in righteousness. Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. Our Lord refers to that day many
times. And He refers to that hour when
He made this statement, the hour is coming in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth. That's the resurrection. And
they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."
There is the resurrection and there is the judgment. Paul often
referred to this day as the coming of the Lord Jesus. And what would
happen when He came? And he says it like this, We
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and by our gathering together unto Him. When He comes, The
saints will be gathered. The Lord Jesus says it like this
in Matthew chapter 25. He said, When the Son of Man
shall come in His glory. We looked this morning about
His first coming, didn't we? And that was in His humiliation.
He comes first time to suffer and to die. When He comes again,
it will be in His glory. In His glory. and all the holy
angels will be with him, and then shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations,
all nations of humanity that has ever lived shall be gathered
before him. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And
then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. And he shall say to them on his
left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. prepared for the devil and his
angels. So as spectacular as it may seem,
especially to this lost world, there will be a resurrection
and there will be a general judgment of this world. Every man and
woman and boy and girl will be assigned their eternal home in
that day. The Lord often referred to this
resurrection and this judgment as that day. that day many will
say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your
name and in your name cast out devil and again he said and take
heed to yourself lest at any time your heart be overcharged
with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and
so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come
on all of them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
And then He said this about that day, but of that day and that
hour knoweth no man, not the angels of heaven, but my Father
only." The Lord spake of the resurrection and the coming judgment. He spake of that day like this,
that it would come upon this world unexpectedly. This day would come unexpectedly. Listen to this, but know this,
that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up. Therefore be you always ready,
for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh."
It's going to come unexpectedly. It's going to come unaware. And
the Apostle Paul takes up that same message and executes the
same coming of our Lord when he said this, But of the times
and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you,
for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You
are all the children of light and children of the day. You
are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night. And they that be drunken are
drunken in the night. Let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an
helmet the hope of salvation." It's coming as a thief in the
night. And when Jude spake of that day,
he said it like this, And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting
change under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. a great day. And what a day that
will be. And when Peter spake of it, he
called it the day of judgment. Listen to this, the Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. And again Peter
said, the heavens and the earth which are now, By the same word
are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men. And when John spake of this day,
he also called it the day of judgment. Listen to how he said,
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in the world. And then Peter, he takes up the
same attitude towards this day as the Lord and Paul did, and
he speaks of this day as being a surprise to this world, a thief
that comes in the night. And listen to how Peter says
it. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up, looking far and hastening unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless,
we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new
earth. And the Apostle Paul again says
it like this when thinking of this resurrection and the day
of the Lord and Christ's coming. He said, The Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. And Daniel says it like
this, A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him. The judgment was set, and the
books were opened. Paul says he is coming in flaming
fire. Daniel said a fire issues out
from before him, and it seems to me that Peter is saying it
is God Himself. This triune God who is this consuming,
flashing fire that will melt the elements. It's not some big
bang, seemingly to me, that is produced by some hydrogen or
some other element in the air. What is it that will burn the
elements with intense fire? It could very well be His own
presence because God is a consuming fire. What are these elements? before the living God. It's a
stubble, is it not? The day of the Lord. And in the
book of Revelations, John begins this day by saying it like this,
Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him,
and they also which pierced Him, and all the kindreds of the earth
shall mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. And in different
places in the book of Revelation, the Lord makes this statement,
Behold, I come quickly. And James echoes that in his
writings when he said, The Lord standeth before the door. And he said, Be patient, brethren,
establish your heart, for the coming of the Lord draweth near. It's near. You say it's been
2,000 years almost since that was written. It's nearer now
than it was then, is it not? And what is 2,000 years compared
to eternity? It's near. The coming of our
Lord, that great day of judgment is near. Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast that which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. And he said it again, Behold,
I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings and prophecy of this book. And he says it again, Behold,
I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give to every man
according to his word. And this is the way he closes
the Bible. With all the things that He could
have said, listen to the way the Holy Spirit closes the Holy
Book and seals it up. He which testifieth these things
saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. So there we have the resurrection
of the dead, of the just and the unjust, We have the coming
of the Lord Jesus, the elements melting with firm and heat, and
then every man assigned his long home. All of this, brothers and
sisters, in one tremendous hour, in one day. I make no distinction
in the day of the resurrection that Jesus Christ spake of, I
make no distinction in the day of resurrection and the judgment
that he spoke of as opposed to the one that Paul spoke of and
all the other writers spoke of. Christ is coming at the last
day. I will raise Him up at the last
day and that is the only resurrection and that is the only judgment. That is a solemn hour. That is
a most solemn day and most solemn events. And to say there's more
than one of those judgments or more than one of those resurrections
would be to me to lessen the solemnity of that day. What a solemn time and what a
solemn day. But there's just one. There's
just one. I don't believe, brothers and
sisters, and if you do, that's fine. I don't believe in a secret
rapture. I don't believe in a secret coming
of the Lord Jesus. When He comes, He is coming in
His glory with all the angels and with the sound of a great
noise and fire that will melt this earth and there will be
a new heaven and a new earth and all men will stand before
the Son of God and give account of themselves and their eternal
destinies will be revealed and fixed in their own eyes. And
that is one tremendous and solemn hour because it is only one of
them. Only one of them. I had a friend
of mine who told me years ago, I was talking to him about this,
and he said, I believe that there's many resurrections. I believe
there will be many times of judgment. I don't believe that at all,
brothers and sisters. I don't believe it. This is solemn. It
takes away from the solemnity of that hour and of that day. And yet, well, how did the Apostle
Paul say it? I have hope. I have hope. Oh, what a solemn hour. But he
says, I have hope. And how did he say it in another
place? Look in for that blessed hope. And the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And Peter said,
look in and hasten unto the coming of the day of God. For we look
for our new heavens and a new earth. wherein dwelleth righteousness. And John said, Even so, come
Lord Jesus, because when Christ comes, what did he say? We shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure. When you and I consider this
day, when we consider this hour, such a solemn hour, such a solemn
event, wouldn't your heart break if you had to consider that without
hope? Oh, my goodness. There won't
be anything taken back in that day. That settles everything. And to face that day and that
hour in eternity without any hope, without a good hope through
grace, is enough to make our hearts break. Now quickly, just
quickly, look in five places. Every chapter ends with a comment
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I just want to simply read
these places to you and comment on them, just for a second. Look
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and look in verse 9 and 10. Look
what he says. For they themselves, the people
around you, the people in Achaia, They show unto us what manner
of entering in we had unto you. Paul said, we don't have to say
anything. We don't have to say, look what our gospel did for
them. You tell them yourself. How you turn to God from idols
to serve the living and true God, and look at this, and to
wait for His Son from heaven. whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." Isn't
that the gospel in a nutshell? Isn't this the hope that the
Apostle Paul was talking about? Why do we have hope? What is
the foundation of our hope? Christ died for us and Christ
rose again. And one of the things I love
about this passage here, Paul said there in verse 5 that the
gospel came to you. It came to you in power, not
just in word, but in power. And it saved you. And as soon
as it saved you, it gave you a good hope. He had just left
this church and he wrote back unto these young converts. And
he says, the Lord by His Gospel saved you and as soon as He saved
you, then you got a right to wait and look for the appearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's one of the things we love
about the Gospel. It's not that the Lord saves
us and ten years down the road after we've grown so much and
been sanctified to a certain degree, then we can have hope.
But as soon as He saves us, the instant we believe in Him, we
have just as right as anybody to look for His coming, to hope
and to wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell
you what, there's not another gospel like that, is there? I
love that old feat where the Lord saved Him on the cross.
I mean, he couldn't do a thing, could he? He couldn't do a thing
but hang there and suffer and die. And yet the Lord said, this
day shall thou be with me in paradise. We may live 50 years
or 75 years and serve the Lord and be faithful to Him. God give
us grace to do it. But we won't be any more prepared
and any more ready to meet Him than when He first saved us.
That's what He does for us. Oh, you turn to God from idols
to wait for His Son from heaven. And look here in chapter 2. He
says something else about the Lord's coming. Look in verse
19. I love this. What is our joy? What is our
hope? What is our joy, our ultimate
joy? What is our crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? Oh, we have a lot of
joy here, don't we? Sometimes we're reading the passage
of Scripture and the Lord gives us light on it and our hearts
are flooded with joy. Or the Lord saves someone and
we rejoice. We have joy in the Lord. Rejoice
evermore. But I tell you the ultimate joy
is to be in heaven with the Lord's people. to see them there. You know what this indicates
to me? That we're going to know one another in heaven. Paul said,
What am I going to rejoice about? Because you're there! I'm going
to see you there, and I'm going to know you there. I think we'll
know one another there, brothers and sisters. I just do. I think
the Lord said they'll sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I can't believe we'd go sit
down with them and say, Who are you fellows? We'll know Him,
won't we? Oh, can't you imagine seeing
the old thief there? There he stands and oh, to talk
with him and how he felt upon the cross and how he felt when
the Lord said, this day you'll be with Me. And when the Lord
sent His angel, we'll meet Him. We'll meet Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary's. Saul of Tarshish, whose name
is Paul. Charles Spurgeon and John Bunyan. All the things we can sit and
discuss. I just believe we'll know each
other. I believe we'll know. I know that there'll be no relationships
there like they are here. There'll be no husband and wife.
There'll be none of that. Or fathers and mothers. But we'll
know one another there in heaven. And oh, how we'll rejoice. I
will rejoice. Oh, just to say, oh, you made
it. The Lord brought you through the valleys and up the hills.
You made it. We're here with Him and we're safe and sound
forever. Oh, the joy! It's indescribable,
brothers and sisters. Wouldn't it be indescribable?
Oh, it will be indescribable. And there will be no pardon there,
will there? In the presence of the Lord forever. Look in the
third chapter and look in verse 12. in verse 13. He mentions this in every chapter
of the coming of the Lord. And he says here in verse 12, And the Lord make you increase
and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men even
as we do toward you. To the end He may establish your
hearts unblameable in holiness before God. Now you think of
that just a minute. that He may establish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." When He
comes, He is going to present you faultless. How in the world
could that be? How could that possibly be? You
know in yourselves. We often complain about our hearts,
don't we? How is it possible that God can
establish a person unblameable and whole in it? I tell you,
Wayne touched on it just a little bit this morning. God hath made
Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we who knew
no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's something you can't feel.
That's something you can't see. That's something you'll just
have to believe. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us righteousness. With His spotless garments on,
I'm as near to God as His own Son. God is such a God, He can't
look upon any sin. So He puts us in Christ. And
He gives us the righteousness of His Son. And when He sees
us, He sees that righteousness. I love over in Ezekiel chapter
16, He was talking about that little baby that He washed. And
He said, You were perfect. through my comeliness which I
put upon you." And the old prophet talked about, I'm just going
to rejoice, he said, because He hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. He hath covered me with His robe
of righteousness. Someone wrote a song, and I'm
not for sure who it was. This is the way it goes. I love
these old songs because you can't articulate these things.
I'm not able to articulate these things. But you find these men
who sit down and wrote these songs and you say, that's just
how I feel. I wish I could say it that way.
And listen how this fellow said, Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress. Missed flaming worlds. Missed
flaming worlds. That's what we're talking about,
ain't it? The Lord's coming with a flame. Intense heat to burn
the world. Missed flaming worlds. In these
arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head. with joy amidst flaming worlds,
if I am arrayed in His blood and righteousness. And we sang
this old song, when He shall come with trumpet sound, O may
I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone. I never get tardier in that way.
By one man's obedience shall many be made righteous. John Bunyan used to say that
it's a marvelous thing. He, a poor old sinner in this
world, had a perfect righteousness of another man who was in heaven. And he said, my righteousness
cannot change because it's not of myself. And His cannot change
because He's already accomplished it and worked it out. Isn't that
wonderful? He will present you faultless
before the presence of His glory. And He does it by giving us.
the righteousness of His Son. And I'll tell you another way
He does it. Listen to Ephesians 1 forward. According as He hath
chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. Here's another way. And something
can be said of this. Love is the fulfilling of the
law. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. If you love me, keep my commandments. If we love him, his commandments
aren't grievous to us, are they? There's something about the love
of God in a man's heart that will purify that man. I was talking with a man this
week, and he talks a lot about holiness. He talks about holiness. But you let a little kid cross
him. And he loses his temper and lashes out. That's not love,
is it? That's not the love of God shed
abroad in the heart. The love of God is kind. It's
long-suffering. It beareth all things. It endureth
all things. It purifies a man's heart. There's
no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. We may have boldness in the day
of judgment. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might
sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the Word. Your heart. Oh, establish your
heart in holiness before Him. Look in chapter 4. Here he goes
into it in more detail. He talks in chapter 4. Chapter
3 and verse 13, he talks about the heart. But what about the
body? What about, Paul calls these
bodies vile, doesn't he? These weak, mortal bodies. Well,
here he talks about and tells us how the Lord's going to fix
that. Flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of heaven. It has
to be changed, doesn't it? And look here how he says it
in chapter 4 and look in verse 13. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him." You know the dead are in two different
places. Did you ever notice that in the Scriptures? The dead are
in two different places. The saved are in heaven. When
they die, they go to heaven. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is for that. But His body is in the
earth. So we're split up, aren't we?
Part of us is in heaven, part of us is still on earth. And
when the Lord comes on that great and dreadful day to gather all
nations, He's bringing the saints with Him. the souls, the spirits
of just men made perfect. He's bringing them with Him.
Them will God bring with Him. Verse 16. For the Lord Himself,
verse 15, for we say unto you by the word of the Lord that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of our Lord shall
not go ahead, prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ
shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together, though that word together is,
caught up together. He shall gather us together with
Him in the clouds. to meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort
one another with these words." When you and I think of what
a solemn day that is, a day never been before and that day will
never be repeated. The world is going to be on fire,
it's going to be purged and changed, a new heaven and a new earth.
Think about what will happen to the wicked, and yet it will
be well with the righteous. Whatever takes place on that
day, it will be well with the righteous. Because the Lord Jesus
by His power is going to change their bodies. Those who are in
the grave will be raised incorruptible. And those who are alive and remain
will be changed from mortals immortality and they'll be just
like Him. They'll look just like Him and
they'll be with Him forever. Now brothers and sisters, that's
a hope that you only find in the gospel. You won't find that
in the Islam religion. You won't find that in the cult
or the occult. That's only the gospel. You won't
find that among the Mormon religion with their Book of Mormon or
the Jehovah Witness who denies the death of Jesus Christ. You
only find this in the true gospel, this hope, this hope. And lastly, look in chapter 5.
Look in chapter 5. And look in verse 23. You read both of these epistles.
The first five chapters, then the three chapters, the second
Thessalonians. This is what he talks about.
And look in verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he adds this. Faithful is
he that calleth you who also will Do it. The Amplified says,
Faithful is He who is calling you. He is calling you. He has called us. He called us
by the Gospel, didn't He? But you know, He didn't quit
calling us, did He? He's still calling us. Aren't you glad He's
still calling you? What would happen if He quit
calling you? You'd quit coming, wouldn't you? But He's faithful. He's faithful. So He keeps calling
us, and He keeps drawing us, and we keep coming. Sometimes
He draws us so graciously, and the other times He's rough with
us. He's going to make sure we keep coming. And then He adds this, He'll
also do it. He'll do it. What does He mean?
Well, He says, listen brothers and sisters, you've read what
the Lord Jesus said about it. He's coming from heaven. And
the dead are going to hear His voice. He's going to call them.
He's going to call the wicked and they're going to come sneaking
out of their graves and come up to judgment. Their countenance
is going to be pale and they're going to be trembling, waiting
for Him to assign them their long home. But He's going to
call you. He's going to call you out of
the graves. And He's going to deal with you differently than
He dealt with the wicked. He's going to change your vile
body and fashion it like unto His. He's going to call you. And you ain't going to come forth
until He calls you. But when He calls you, you'll come forth.
You'll come forth. And He's faithful. And He's faithful. The Lord Jesus came the first
time to accomplish our redemption. And bless God he did it, didn't
he? And he's coming the next time to consummate that redemption. He's going to finish the work
that he started. Bless his name.