The Apostles Creed #7

Hunter Strength

Beacon Baptist Church

The Apostles Creed • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

Second Coming

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2 Thessalonians 1:3–12 NKJV

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. 11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever had someone mistreat you before? Maybe your sister tripped you or your brother hit you when you were a kid and you wanted to get even. Or maybe someone has been gossiping about you. Maybe someone dented your car in the Food Lion parking lot. Whatever it may be, when we are mistreated, our natural response is to want justice, to get even, to make things right.

Well, in the ancient world, there was something called “Lex Talionis” which means “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It is also commonly called “Hammurabi’s Code” or “Retributive Justice.” And is usually how we feel things should be handled in the world around us, especially when we are effected ourselves. However, the problem is that we can’t be trusted when we’re mad can we? When we’re done wrong, we often left our passion control us and we go further than is necessary and can act unjustly.

Today, as we consider the topic of the return of Christ from the Apostles’ Creed, we will find ourselves studying Paul’s second letter to the Church of Thessalonica and apparently, we find that they have been suffering for the cause of Christ. However, in their society, they were accustomed a system built off of threats and promises and in a world that was and is against God, these believers would be deeply struggling with the idea of being mistreated without any promise of justice to look to.

Well, as Paul writes to them, He delivers a promise and that promise is that one day Christ will return and He will make all things right. Those people might escape the judgment of the government, or the school, or of society, but they will not escape the judgment of God Himself.

God is Conscious of Our Sufferings. (6)

In verses 3-6 we find that these guys are suffering. But it isn’t because they dress funny or anything like that. They are suffering for the cause of Christ and Paul says that these guys are so faithful in their suffering that he goes around bragging to the other churches about how faithful they are. And so, in the midst of their hardship, he reminds them in verse 6 that God Himself is going to repay those who mistreated you.

What we find here is that God is conscious of our sufferings. Guys, the people who think you’re weird for not using the language that they use, for not sleeping with your girlfriends or boyfriends, the people who make fun of you for not sinning against God or for being a “goody two-shoes” are not people to impress or to envy for their popularity. Why? Because God is aware of you and your faithfulness to serve Him in the midst of the hardship that you are facing.

Paul is pulling from Isaiah 66:6 which says,

Isaiah 66:6 NKJV

6 The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, Who fully repays His enemies!

Is that you today? Do you feel misunderstood or like an outcast? To people pick on you for your convictions? Be reminded today that the Lord sees you and He remembers all that you face for His sake. But this isn’t all. He isn’t just looking at you, He is assuring you that He will make things right. In verse 7, we find that:

God is Coming with Rest for Us. (7)

Paul draws a distinct line here. One day, God is going to repay those who mistreated you with tribulation, but He will bring you rest. When is He going to do that? Paul says it’s “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels...”

What Paul is doing here is drawing from Isaiah 66:15-16 which says,

Isaiah 66:15–16 NKJV

15 For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many.

Now, it’s interesting to note that Paul is taking an OT verse attributed to God and is applying it to Jesus Christ. If you are ever evangelizing groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, this would be something good for you to bring out to them. Paul is attributing deity to Christ here and is saying that Jesus will come bearing the authority of God, because He is God. And Jesus, when He comes, will come to deliver rest, shalom, peace, to us. There will be no more hardship, no more being an outcast, no more suffering in this world. Notice how gloriously Jesus is portrayed in 2 Thess. 1:7

2 Thessalonians 1:7 NKJV

7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

He is coming and He will be absolutely mind blowing to behold. And it won’t be a terrifying day for us, but will be so amazing because He will bring true and eternal rest to us. How is this going to happen? Well, it will happen because:

God is Coming in Wrath for Our Enemies. (8-9)

2 Thessalonians 1:7–9 NKJV

7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

When we see Jesus portrayed in flaming fire, Paul is, as I said a minute ago, pulling from Isaiah 66. And He is using this language to describe how terrifying Jesus will be when He comes in judgment upon those who have been oppressing these Thessalonian believers. But it isn’t just going to be judgment upon their enemies, but upon everyone. Notice, Paul gives two groups in verse 8, “Those who do not know God.” Which could be a reference to the Gentiles. And “Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Which could be a reference to the Jews who refused to accept the good news. Regardless, Paul is stating that when Jesus comes back, He isn’t carrying a cross, but a sword and those who rejected His gospel have committed a capital crime against Him and they will be judged.

But how will He judge them? 2 Thess. 1:9

2 Thessalonians 1:9 NKJV

9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

So how will they be punished? They will be punished by being cast into Hell away from the presence of the presence of this glorious Lord Jesus. And right here is a good place to add that, guys, what you do with His gospel is the most important thing in the world. You will either receive it, or reject it. There is no fence sitting when it comes to the gospel. You either believe it or not and here we find that for those who reject it, they are enemies of God who He will cast away from His grace for all eternity.

Do you believe? Well, for us who do, Paul continues to inform us that:

God is Coming to Receive Glory in Us. (10)

2 Thessalonians 1:10 NKJV

10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

Now, I want you to notice how verse 9 told us that the enemies will be cast away. But in verse 10, Paul tells us that Jesus will be among us. This is once again a reference to the OT. And is found in Psalm 89:7

Psalm 89:7 NKJV

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.

This will be a day where all enemy voices will be quieted and the only thing standing to speak is the millions of our voices crying out to the glory of our Lord. And we will admire Him in all of His beauty and glory. Why? Because we believe the testimony of the Apostles. This is another way of saying, “You will see Jesus, glorify Jesus, and rest with Jesus because you heard and believed the Gospel that we preached to you.” And was this just a good decision that you made? Well, in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul tells us how it came about. 2 Thess. 2:13-14

2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 NKJV

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Heidelberg Catechism says,

Q: “What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?” A. “In all my sorrow and persecution, I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven, the very same person who before has submitted himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me. He will cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but he will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joy and glory. “

Well, in verse 11-12 Paul says,

2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 NKJV

11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is here that He takes this future promise and applies it to their daily lives and the way He does that is by telling them that He is praying that God would count them worthy of this calling. What is this calling? It is the calling that they received in believing the gospel and the calling that they will one day see and be with Jesus. And so, with that being the case, Paul prays that God would make them worthy for that day by “fulfilling all the good pleasure of His goodness.” In short, what Paul is praying is that God, with the same gracious goodness He showed in saving us, would continue working in us. Why? verse 12 tells us, “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him...”

Calvin said, “When we are instructed that the gracious purpose of God is the cause of our salvation, and that that has its foundation in the goodness of that same God, are we not worse than mad, if we venture to ascribe anything, however small, to our own merits?” To put it plainly, Calvin is saying that the whole of our lives of Christians is of God. Any good thing, no matter how small. Any God glorifying thing is all of His power and should be attributed as to His grace in us alone.

He continues and says, “In the mean time, if we are not worse than stupid, we must aim with all our might at the advancement of the glory of Christ.”

So, in closing, let’s consider three things:

What have you done with the gospel of Jesus Christ?

God wants you to understand that He is the source of relief and supreme joy for you.