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Christ Community Chapel is a church in Hudson, OH, that invites people to reimagine life because of Jesus. Learn more about us at ccchapel.com.
second
Thessalonians 1:
1-2 Paul Sylvanas and Timothy to the
Church of the Thessalonians in God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace
to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ we ought always to
give thanks to God for you Brothers as
is right because your faith is growing
abundantly and the love of every one of
you for one another is increasing
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 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
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 they will suffer the
punishment of Eternal destruction away
from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory of 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 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 Jes Jesus
Christ well hello and welcome to the
weekend gathering at Christ Community
Chapel my name is Zach I'm one of the
pastors here and I'm so glad you're here
with us this weekend as we continue our
fall sermon series looking at first and
second Thessalonians we are beginning
now this week second Thessalonians and I
guess that's a good place to start
because you know there's not a second of
every book in the the New Testament
there's not a second Ephesians or a
second Colossians or second Philippians
but there is a second Thessalonians
meaning Paul didn't just write one
letter to this church he wrote two and
that begs the question why write a
second letter what what's the reason for
that why did he feel that was necessary
and the answer we're going to find over
the next couple of weeks is that he has
two reasons for writing 2 Thessalonians
that the the first is that he has to
clarify some things that he says in
first Thessalonians there are some
things that he said in first
Thessalonians that have caused some
people to freak out a little bit and
he's got to come back with second
Thessalonians and explain a little more
and and we'll get to some of those
passages in the weeks to come but the
second reason he writes the follow-up
letter to the Thessalonian church is to
encourage them remember that this is a
church that is suffering because of
their faith this is a church that's
undergoing persecution it's a church who
is in constant need of Paul telling them
keep going don't give up hang in there
it will be worth it he's encouraging
them and so what I want you to keep in
mind is that Paul's goal in this passage
is to encourage the church that God
calls good and what we're going to look
for is whatever he's holding out to them
for encouragement should translate to
encourage us as well so if you have a
Bible would you open it to 2
Thessalonians uh you can take out your
your phone or a device a tablet of some
sort be happy to have you do that if
you're watching online you can open the
web browser uh 2 Thessalonians chapter 1
if you're new here and you didn't bring
a Bible and you'd like to use a Bible uh
I'd love to offer you one of the Pew
Bibles in front of you or in the back of
the room in East Hall and if you grab
one of those I can tell you that today's
reading is on page
930 I'm glad that you're here thanks for
coming but by the way the verses will
also be on the screen behind me as we go
through uh I'm going to use three points
as an outline to guide our time together
three things that I think we need to
lean into to understand the
encouragement that's here for us in 2
Thessalonians chapter 1 and those three
points are very simple and alliterated
for those of you that enjoy that like me
those three points are this I want to
talk about truth timing and trajectory
truth timing and trajectory all right
let's start with the first one truth
this passage is about an
uncomfortable topic by the way last time
I preached my topic was
death and this week my topic is judgment
and and don't feel sorry for me though I
I was going to get mad at somebody this
week and then I remembered that I'm the
one that planned this false preaching
calendar so I have only to blame myself
for giving myself these topics the topic
here is Judgment the truth that Paul is
wanting to convey is about God's
judgment and the reason I use the
heading truth is because this is a topic
we don't like to talk about in
2024 this is a topic that churches like
to avoid that Christians like to pretend
isn't in there it's one of those
doctrines that you kind of put your
hands over your ears and over your eyes
and just kind of say no no no no no no
so that it doesn't somehow get in there
we don't like to think about or talk
about or hear sermons about or if I'm
honest preach sermons about judgment but
I want you to see it is
inescapably in the Bible there it is
it's in the Bible by the way let me say
this before I read it I've spent most of
my educational career studying
worldviews and philosophies and other
religions and how they compare and
contrast that's kind of what I nerd out
on and in all my studying the one
worldview that stands out to me as the
most
ridiculous the one philosophy that I
just think is completely backwards and
ignorant the one religion that makes
absolute sense if I'm honest I absolute
nonsense if I'm honest is what I'll call
Nom
Christianity it's a Christianity that
that that takes some of the Bible
seriously and and in other parts of the
Bible not so
seriously it's the it's the kind of
Christianity that says I like the parts
about Grace and forgiveness and mercy
but not the parts about judgment friends
if you were to take out all the sections
of the Bible about judgment I want you
to know you wouldn't have much Bible
left
you'd lose parts of
Genesis the whole first half of
Exodus you'd lose Joshua for sure judges
definitely all the Minor Prophets would
be gone whole sections of the gospels
there goes Matthew
25 Mark 13 you'd lose Paul's sermon in
Acts 17 you definitely lose the entire
Book of Revelation you get my
point so either we believe the Bible and
believe it is God's revelation to us and
it is the way he communicates to us and
with us and guides us or we don't and
either one of those viewpoints makes
sense to me logically the one that
doesn't is the picking and choosing
because the same Bible that says
everything I want to hold on to is the
same one that says this beginning in
verse 5 this is what Paul says 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 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 to us when the
Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with
his mighty Angels INF flaming fire
inflicting Vengeance on those who do not
know God and on those who do not obey
the gospel of Our Lord Jesus they will
suffer the punishment of Eternal
destruction away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his might
I mean there it is it's inescapable it's
unavoidable there it is literally in
black and white and I want you to see
that this passage isn't just talking
about God's judgment it's telling us
three things about God's judgment that I
just want to hit quickly those three
things are this that God's judgment is
certain do you see in this passage
there's no if then there's no
conditional statement there's no if we
don't figure it out if we don't get our
act in order I I if we would just do
this it wouldn't happen no no no he he
speaks with certainty there's a day
fixed in human
history where it will be the
end and Jesus Will judge all peoples who
have lived in all times and all places
God's judgment is certain the second
thing I want you to see that he says is
that God's judgment is
awful now the Bible uses a lot of
metaphorical language when it talks
about judgment it'll use words like like
fire and smoke and sulfur and then if
I'm honest even Bible scholars will say
it is tough to tell when it's being
literal and when it's being figurative
but even if the words fire and sulfur
and smoke are figurative they don't
figure something
positive but the most damning thing
about hell is what he says here in 2
Thessalonians 1 that it is a place from
which God will turn his
back but the
finality of Hell the finality of those
who face God's judgment and receive
negative results is that they will be
separated from God and that is the most
terrible thing you could ever
imagine it is certain it is awful and
then finally it is
eternal there have been some throughout
the history of the church who have
sought to kind of neutralize this
Doctrine to minimize it to make it a
little more palatable and what they'll
say is that well what happens on the day
of judgment is is that God will separate
those that belong to him and and those
who do not and those who do not will
just simply cease to exist but that is
not the picture here in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 the language here of Eternal
destruction implies that as God turns
away from people in whatever sense he
means they begin to disintegrate they
begin to come undone but the process of
becoming undone is forever
and this is the
Bible this is the book on which we pin
all of our hopes of knowing that God
loves us that God will forgive us that
God will include us that God has a
kingdom that there's a place for us it's
the same book that tells us God's
judgment is certain it is awful and it
is
eternal we cannot be a church that
covers our ears or eyes in the face of
truth no matter how difficult it is to
preach or to
hear now it would be fair at this point
for you to say no hold on a second Zach
you started this sermon by saying Paul
writes 2 Thessalonians to encourage them
and I'm not finding a lot of
encouragement in this and that's fair
that's a fair fair point and actually
the tension there between hold on a
second why does he write to encourage
enage them and to write about judgment
is the key to understanding this passage
and actually if you would you can just
look if you have a Bible open at the
first couple of verses you'll see I'm
not going to read them for time's sake
but he's effusive in his encouragement
he is very happy he's writing about
judgment he's in a good
mood he wants to say good things to them
and the first good thing he has to say
to them is that God's judgment is
certain it is awful and it is eternal so
that that that begs the question that
might be true but what in the world is
going on second point with Paul's
timing why is he bringing up judgment in
when he's trying to encourage them and
here's what I want you to understand and
what I've been praying all week you
might get for the very first time when
you understand what the Bible teaches
about God's judgment correctly you will
understand it is meant to be a doctrine
that encourages
you it really is it is meant to
encourage you and I know you might say
well why how what do you mean how in the
world could it encourage me and I have
three answers to that and they are that
in judgment what Paul is saying that on
the day of judgment God is saying three
very powerful things to you on the day
of judgment here they are he's saying I
see you I see them and welcome in I want
you to hear this God on the day of
judgment is saying three things I see
you I see them and welcome in let's just
start with I see you on the day of
judgment there is an accounting whereby
God
acknowledges all that we have done in
obedience to him look at what Paul says
in in uh second uh 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 he says this in verse six
since indeed God considers it just to
repay with Affliction those who to
afflict you listen and to Grant relief
to you who are afflicted as well as to
us Paul says there's something about the
day of judgment that is meant to be a
relief and elsewhere the Bible will tell
us that relief comes in the form of God
acknowledging all the things that you
and I have done in obedience and in
trust to him and the reason why that's
so important is because so often those
things go seeming ly
unnoticed think about how many times you
have done something under the conviction
that it is what God has wanted you to do
and you have not gotten anything good as
a
result think about all the times you
have not done something that everyone
else was doing or that you wanted to do
or that made sense to you because God
told you no and you still are waiting to
see some kind of positive result about
that think about all the stands you have
taken in little ways and in big ways
where you woke up the next day feeling
just the same and how many times have
you wondered God are you seeing me are
you paying attention to me do you see
what I'm doing when can I hope for some
kind of acknowledgement and the Bible
says that acknowledgement comes on the
day of
judgment Jesus says it this way in
Matthew 25 he says on the day of
judgment he will separate people into
two categories the sheep and the goats
and to the Sheep he will say you visited
me when I was sick you took care of me
when I was in need you visited me when I
was in jail he'll go through this long
list you clothed me when I was naked you
fed me when I was hungry and they will
say Lord when did we do these things and
he will say when you did it to the least
of these you did it unto me do you know
what he's saying he's saying I saw
you I saw you when you went on those h
hospital visits when you went on those
jail visits when you were feeding when
you cut back on the family budget so
that you could be generous to your
neighbor I know you didn't think I was
paying attention but I was Brothers and
Sisters in Christ hear me on the day of
judgment God will be saying to you I am
here to reward you I see you not a
single thing you do for him will be
wasted not a single stand you take will
go
unnoticed the second thing though that
he's saying about the day of judgment is
not just that he sees you but that he
sees them do you remember he's writing
to a church that is suffering he's
writing to a church that's being
persecuted which is why in verse 6 he
says since indeed God considers it just
to repay with Affliction those who
afflict you now listen I want to get
really serious here for a second second
I've told you this story before but I'm
going to tell it to you again I was once
sitting down with a young lady sharing
the Gospel of Jesus with her and I could
tell I mean I I could just tell she
believed everything that the Bible was
saying about
Jesus she believed he was the son of God
she believed he died for her she
believed he rose from the dead she
believed that through him she could have
eternal life but she was unwilling to
call herself a Christian she was
unwilling to surrender and so I finally
asked her hey what is holding you
back and she looked at me and she said
listen I know if I become a
Christian Jesus will want me to forgive
my abusive
father she said I grew up in an abusive
home I was abused my entire
childhood and I know if I give my life
to Jesus he'll want me to forgive him
and then she said this and if I forgive
him he gets away with everything
maybe that's your
story friends do you know what the day
of judgment is telling
you no one gets
away with
anything there's a reckoning
coming there's a reckoning coming when
you read about Jesus coming back with
angels and and fire and
Vengeance it's because every victim
every person who's been hurt every
victim of abuse every victim of betrayal
every victim of crime every victim who's
ever been was made in the image of God
and as one man said a long time ago
Justice delayed is not Justice denied
the day of judgment is a reckoning for
those who have hurt you it isn't just
God saying I see you it's God saying I
see them
and the third thing the day of judgment
offers us is God saying welcome in verse
10 is one of the most beautiful verses
In this passage it says this 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 the day of judgment is a
day where those who have believed in
Jesus Will Marvel at him here's the
metaphor that comes to mind for me I had
a kid this week who was trying out for a
sports team at their school and as a
parent that's always you know we felt
pretty good because this kid played that
sport last year at the same school and
you know they're not the best on the
team they're not the worst on the team
and you know being in the middle is
where W Rocks live so we're comfortable
with
that so we felt pretty good first day I
picked this kid up from tryouts you know
it's just first day of tryouts I say how
did it go and they're telling me it was
pretty good and we're I was asking them
how many kids were better than you how
many kids were worse than you you know
where do you think you stacked we were
we were feeling good we were positive we
were optimistic we were feeling good but
the next day I picked that kid up was
the day where you knew where you found
out and this kid got in the car and my
wife had already said have them call me
if they made the team but if they didn't
make the team don't have them call
me not because she didn't want to talk
to him but because you would to let him
breathe a little bit so this kid gets in
the car and I'm like
so and they said oh I made the team I
said that's awesome tell me about it
they said' oh the coach pulled everyone
aside the coach looked at me and said
hey you made the
team we were already feeling good about
it we were already pretty optimistic but
there's something different when the
coach says to
you you're
in friends do you know if you're born
again in Jesus that's what's going to
happen for you on the day of Jud
judement you know you're forgiven right
you know you believe you feel good about
it you know God loves you you know God
has a place for you but on the day of
judgment is the moment where he will
look at you and
say welcome
in this is what I'm really trying to say
listen we have to acknowledge that the
reason why the doctrine of judgment sits
so poorly with us not the only reason
but the major reason is because most of
us have lived privileged lives where
judgment doesn't seem
necessary because the truth is when
you've been
hurt you know that if God loves you at
all there has to be a reckoning you know
when doing the right thing costs you
that if God loves you at all there has
to be an
accounting the day of judgment is a
doctrine of encouragement because God is
saying to us I see you I see them and
welcome
in but that leads me to my third point
which is to say that the point of this
passage is not just to give us truth and
not just to give us truth in a way that
encourages us but is to remind us that
the trajectory of all of our Lives is to
this
day everyone here whether we realize it
or not is moving towards this day
everyone here is moving towards judgment
that is certain and awful and eternal
everyone here is moving this
way which means that what Paul also has
in mind is not just the people he can
encourage with the good news of judgment
but those he's worried will not hear
good news on the day of judgment those
who are not finding them M themselves in
Jesus that's why he says this to the
Thessalonians at the very end in verse
11 and 12 he says 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 he's
saying we're praying for you that God's
glory would shine through you why
because Paul had given his entire life
to this idea that the day of judgment is
coming for everyone which means the day
of Escape is
now so I'm praying that you will
continue to fight that you will continue
to follow Jesus that you'll continue to
live out your faith so that those around
you might one day have the same
encouragement you have of the day of
judgment he has in mind here that one of
the reasons the Bible talks so much
about judgment is because the entire
Bible is what God has done to help you
escape
judgment in fact you could put it this
way that in the Bible there are two
great days of
judgment one is the day we've spent most
of our time this weekend talking about
the day when we die and we stand before
God the final day of judgment we give an
account for our Our Lives we answer for
our sins for our
victims but the other day of
judgment was the day that Jesus Christ
the son of God went to the
cross on our
behalf the other day of judgment was the
day that God made him to borrow from
Paul in another book made him who knew
no sin to become sin in order that we
might become the righteousness of God
when Jes Jesus the perfect sinless man
went to the cross and came up under the
Judgment of God when Jesus became
separated from the father so that he
would cry out on the cross my God my God
why have you forsaken me when Jesus
underwent the thing that makes hell hell
because he became your sin and mine in
order that he might die in our place in
order that when he rose from the dead he
might say to us there are two days of
judgment choose with which one you
want the one where you speak for
you or the one where I speak for
you so if you're here and you're a
Christian listen what the Bible is
saying to you here in this passage is to
find encouragement in the day of
judgment but also to be sobered up by
the idea that the day of judgment one
day waits for every friend every family
member every colleague that your prayer
would be God do in and through me in the
things I say and the things I do and the
things I don't do in the transformation
of my life do something that gets their
attention do something that helps them
to see the day of judgment when Jesus
was on the cross before they see the day
of judgment where they answer to
you but friends if you're
here and you do not have a relationship
with Jesus I want you to see that In
this passage the dividing line on the
day of judgment is not who's good and
who's bad who came to church and who
didn't not any of that this is the
dividing line according to 2
Thessalonians it says this in verse 7
and to Grant relief to you who are
afflicted as well as to us when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven with his
mighty angels and flaming fire
inflicting Vengeance on those who do not
know God and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus the
dividing line of human history
is what you do with
Jesus Oh for a generation of Christians
who believe that more than thinking that
the dividing line of human history is
who votes Republican and who votes
Democrat the dividing line of human
history is what you do with Jesus the
day of judgment is certain for us all
won't you today decide that your day of
judgment is when Jesus died for your
sins receive his forgiveness and his
mercy and his
grace and be included in his kingdom so
that one day you don't fear the end but
you see it as the day where God himself
because of Jesus will say I see you I
see them and welcome in let me pray for
us father
God thank you for the doctrine of
judgment thank you for telling us the
truth thank you for warning
us a Bible that didn't speak of judgment
wouldn't be because judgment isn't
coming it would be because you didn't
love us enough to tell
us God help us as Christians to pick up
this truth that we have put down to be
reminded that our hope that you see our
our our obedience that you see what
we're doing is in the day of judgment
Our Hope of Justice for those who have
heard us is in the day of judgment that
all that is waiting for us is to hear
welcome
it but oh God for those who are here
apart from
Jesus that they might today turn to him
before they stand before you in his name
we pray amen