They called a press conference and told the reporters that while hiking in the forest, they stumbled across the body of this dead creature.

Transcription

1 Return of the King (2 Thessalonians 1:3-10) Last year in the United States a couple of men created a bit of a stir when they announced that they finally had proof of the supposed Bigfoot or sasquatch.this news excited a lot of people, including Bigfoot enthusiasts the world over, and a local university anthropologist and Bigfoot investigator. The story actually appeared in about a thousand newspapers. They called a press conference and told the reporters that while hiking in the forest, they stumbled across the body of this dead creature. It sounded incredible at first. But the men refused to show the body at the press conference. Instead they produced photos of something big and hairy in a refrigerator. And then they put the photos on a website and charged people a fee to see them. And then despite the hopes of Bigfoot fans, the DNA tests came back as very questionable. Finally the truth was revealed when the frozen body unthawed enough for people to realise it was a rubber suit. It was just a money-making scam. Thousands of people had fallen for it. Imagine being a Bigfoot fan, excited about this breakthrough, only to have it all fall down as one big lie. In todayʼs passage, we see that thereʼs going to come a time when the news of Jesus will be revealed in a big mind-blowing way. But the opposite is going to happen. There wonʼt be any need for DNA tests or press conferences or websites. There wonʼt be any debate. The whole world will know without a doubt who He is, and everyone who had thought He was a joke or a myth will be shown to be the ones who had swallowed the big lie. Weʼre near the end of our series on the storyline of the Bible. A couple of weeks ago, we had the good news of the dying and rising of Jesus. We saw that all of Godʼs promises were leading to the cross, where He dealt with humanityʼs problem of sin. Then last week, we looked at mission, how we as the followers of Jesus, need to share this good news of the forgiveness of sins and a way into to the family of God. Today, weʼre going to look a little further to where all this is heading. The Gospel doesnʼt end at the cross. Jesus may have been raised victorious to the highest place, but Heʼs coming back. Our question this morning is, what can we expect when Jesus returns? Weʼll explore three answers: (1) judgment; (2) punishment; and (3) relief. So answer number one, judgment. If you have a Bible open, please have a look at verses 3-5: We ought to always thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among Godʼs churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that Godʼs judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. See this church in Thessalonica was going through a terrible time. People were persecuted when they stood up for Jesus. They didnʼt have the religious freedom that we Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 26 Apr 09 page 1 of 5

2 have here in Australia. The Thessalonians wouldnʼt have been able to run a Holiday Kids Club without suffering for it. And so Paul begins by saying that itʼs right to thank God for how theyʼre growing as Christians in the midst of hardship. And he says in verse 5 that this is proof that theyʼll be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. The way they stand up for Jesus, no matter what happens, shows that theyʼre really His disciples and will be with Him. But note that if theyʼll be counted worthy, thereʼs some sort of judgment happening. If some are worthy of heaven, then others wonʼt be. Despite the widespread myth that all will be okay in the end, no matter how youʼve lived or what youʼve believed, God is sending His Son Jesus in judgment. Itʼs interesting how judgment is a dirty word these days. But the reality is, we make decisions and judgments all the time. And even though people hate the idea of God judging, we naturally react when justice isnʼt served. How do you feel when you hear in the news that someone guilty of a crime gets away with it, or gets a tiny sentence? People cry out, Thatʼs not fair! Or, how about when you hear stories of neglect, or child abuse, or rape? Something inside us wants to deal with that, and see justice done. This is because God is a just God and judgment is built into our universe. And the Bible says that weʼll see this in a big way, when Jesus returns. When He comes back in judgment, thereʼll be a great separation of all people into two groups. And this brings us to our second answer. When Jesus returns, some will face punishment. Please have a look beginning at verse 6: God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power This is going to be absolutely terrifying for unbelievers. Every living person who has said ʻnoʼ to Jesus will realise too late that theyʼve been wrong. Heʼll punish those those who donʼt know God and who donʼt obey His gospel. Some people like think you can separate God and the gospel. I had a family member say to me just last year, Oh, I believe in God. I just donʼt believe in all this Jesus stuff. But, the truth is, we canʼt have a relationship with God without Jesus in the picture. Remember, we were made to know God. Sin separates us from Him. And God promised for thousands of years that Heʼd do something to make a way back to Himself, to fix the sin problem. This is where the Gospel comes in. Jesus died to pay for our sins and rose victorious. To obey the Gospel is to recognise Jesus as your King. The only way to God is through accepting the good news of the Gospel as yours and following this risen King. Thatʼs why Jesus Himself says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 26 Apr 09 page 2 of 5

3 When Jesus returns, those who arenʼt coming to the Father through Him, will never come to the Father. Their fate is horrible. As it says here, theyʼll face everlasting destruction, and be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power. Lots of people find this very hard to swallow. And they try to soften it in many ways. Oh, the God of the Old Testament was the one of wrath, but the God of the New is a God of love. Wasnʼt Jesus the one who talked about loving your enemies? Those who argue this way obviously havenʼt read the Bible, because it says that God is a God of love all the way through. Weʼve just spent months looking at the love, mercy, and eternal faithfulness of God, and all His goodness and promises and rescuing right from the beginning. And when it comes to the New Testament, you know who spoke the most about eternal punishment? Jesus. At no point does Jesus ever say, Itʼs going to be okay for everyone. What He does say is, I love you to the point of dying for you. Accepting me as your risen victorious King, coming to me for salvation, is the only way to God. Those who donʼt choose Jesus will get what they ask for. Theyʼll be shut out of His presence forever. The phrase majesty of his power literally means great wonderfulness. Can you imagine spending eternity thinking about the lost opportunity of being in glory with Jesus, in the presence of great wonderfulness? Itʼll be like realising you tore up the invitation to the party to end all parties, but instead of a momentary regret, youʼll have an agonising forever to remember that you rejected God. In his book, A Fresh Start, John Chapman quotes a description of what hell might be like. Let me read some of it to you. He had never felt such aloneness before. Where is my wife? he choked. Only that awful echo: Not here, your wife is not here. He tried to piece it all together, but the darkness was too thick. Once in a while he thought he could see a blurred figure or hear an anguished moan. He remembered the pain - those last moments of terror - but it was nothing compared to the feelings that were creeping into his awareness now. Again he cried: Where is my wife? Your wife is not here. Where are my children? Your children are not here. He started to grope about in the darkness, but all was blindness. My God! he howled again. Let me feel the presence of one single human being! My God - he hadnʼt said those words in such a long time. My God - and now they seemed so hollow. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 26 Apr 09 page 3 of 5

4 Terror was welling up in him. He felt like a small child being threatened by deep darkness. No candles anywhere. No love anywhere Then the greatest fear of all came to his mind... He was terrified to ask but knew he would have to... His whole body trembled as he pursed his lips and wailed into the nebulous night - Where... oh, where is God! As the deepest of all darkness closed in on his soul for all eternity, he heard that hideous echo whispering the most horrifying of judgments - God is not here! I donʼt know about you, but the thought of this kind of eternity terrifies me. As a church, we need to do our part in praying and going forward together with the Gospel so that people can be spared this. People need to hear about Jesus, so they can know and enjoy Him forever. Weʼve just had our Holiday Kids Club. Please pray that the seeds of the Gospel that weʼve sown in these young lives, and all the contacts weʼve made, will bear fruit. And letʼs keep looking for opportunities to be a mission-minded church. Thankfully though, the great news is that thereʼs a third answer. When Jesus returns, Christians can expect relief. We have something amazing to look forward to. Weʼll spend just a little time on this now, but weʼll look at it in more depth next week. Have a look at verses 6 and 7 again: God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. Have you ever, in the midst of pain, cried to out God, Why? Have you ever been ridiculed for being a Christian? Have you ever looked at the hurts in your own life and wondered what God is doing about it? Or what about when you see people just living however they want and having a comfortable life, yet you as a Christian sacrifice and do the right thing and things keep going wrong? Have you ever wondered, whereʼs the fairness in this? What about the Christians in the world today who are persecuted and even killed for their faith? What about the hundreds who died in Orissa, India, just last year? The reality is, God sees all. Those who seemed to get away with it now, will one day face God and He will deal with them. And those who suffered in this life will know that justice has been served. Nobody is getting away with anything. One day those who follow Jesus will be with Him in glory, and every tear will be wiped away, and we wonʼt look back. Weʼll even say it was all worth it. Because weʼll have relief. Relief from the pain of this world. An end to these physical bodies that get sick and grow old and die. No more struggling with sin. No more harsh words and strained relationships. Relief from turning on the news and shaking our heads in disbelief. No more Satan roaming around trying to devour us. Relief from the dark thoughts and memories that we wish werenʼt part of us. Relief from everything ungodly. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 26 Apr 09 page 4 of 5

5 Because weʼll be with Jesus in glory. Think back to our first Bible reading, John 14:1-3. Rejoice in the hope thatʼs in these words from Jesus: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Fatherʼs house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. See, while the return of Jesus will be in a sense scary and mind-blowing, us Christians will marvel. Our Lord is coming to take us home. Please read with me verse 10: on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. When He comes in all His glory, weʼre going to share in that. Weʼre going to be so in Him and with Him that His glory will be seen in us. We will radiate Jesus. As one preacher has said about this verse, weʼll be like lightglobes. Weʼll be the filament inside, and Christ will illuminate us. We will shine Jesus. We will be transformed. And so no wonder all believers will marvel. Itʼll be nothing like weʼve seen before. The world as we know it will end. Jesus will come in judgment. And His followers will be bowing and confessing that Heʼs Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Next week weʼll finish our series by looking at the great news of our eternal home, the new creation. Letʼs pray. If you would like to speak with Bern about this sermon, please feel free to contact him on (02) , or bernm@iinet.net.au. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 26 Apr 09 page 5 of 5