Paul's Promise of Our Lord's Return, Part 2

How ironic that Satan can deceive the whole world into thinking that they can defeat the living God. That's just unbelievable to me. But it goes to show you how easily man can be deceived and how man can fall prey to Satan's devices. And so, when we look at that and understand prophecy and realize that God orchestrates everything, because you see, God does all this. Satan can only do what he gets permission from God to do. He just can't do whatever he wants to do. The book of Job teaches us that, Job chapter 1. And so he has to ask permission to do what it is he does, because God is still the king—he is a sovereign king of the universe.

And I guess if I had to say that my most favorite topic to speak on would be prophecy. And to realize that everything about what it is we do today is moving in that direction. And so it becomes a very important impetus for you and I to move us on to maturity as we realize that the king is going to come again. And so it becomes the great topic of consolation. Paul was going to console those in Thessalonica. He was going to console them by helping them understand the arrival of the king in the day of the Lord.

He would console them, first of all, in chapter 1, by praising them. And not necessarily praising them, but praising what God has done in them, because they were to evidence their faith. And they were to keep enduring in their faith. And Paul was overwhelmed by just the fact that they were committed to him. The church of Thessalonica was a deeply committed church—it was a model church. But then he would console them amidst all their adversity, because that's the theme of chapter one: consolation amidst adversity. He's going to console them by giving them the promise. The promise of the coming day of the Lord in the day of vengeance. Paul is going to give them this promise.

How can Paul promise them something? Because God promised it first. And so Paul would be able to say, "Look, I'm going to promise you this. This is how it's all going to come. God is going to bring relief to you who have been afflicted. And he's going to bring retribution on those who afflict you." And this is their consolation. This is their comfort. Because everything surrounding the coming of Christ brings comfort to the believer. Knowing that our Lord is in complete control of everything.

So, how can anybody promise that Jesus is going to come again when it's been over 2,000 years since He told us about it? What guarantee do we have that that promise is going to be fulfilled? Well, by way of introduction, let me explain to you why it is you can make the promise, why it is Paul made the promise that the day of the Lord, the day of vengeance, was going to come. It's very important to see this. First of all, because the person of God demands it. God's person demands him coming again. This is so important. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It's all the theme of their lives.

God the Father promised it way back in Genesis chapter 49, verse number 10. Remember what God would tell Jacob as Jacob would bless his sons, and he blessed Judah. And he said that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Shiloh being translated, the one to whom it belongs. So, in other words, the scepter shall never depart from Judah until the one arrives to whom it belongs. Well, that's the Messiah. And so there's going to come a Messiah who's going to rule and reign with a scepter because he is the king of the universe. So God the Father all throughout the Old Testament would make this promise about the coming of a king.

In Psalm 2, these words are spoken. It says in verse 6, "But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain." Of course, you know, if you've been to Jerusalem, you know where that holy mountain is. It's called Mount Moriah. And he says, "I will surely tell the decree of the Lord. He said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware.'" Ask of me, and I will give you the nations of the world as your inheritance. That's going to come.

Remember that great Christmas prophecy in Isaiah chapter 9? You know it well. Verse number 6, it says, "For the child will be born to us, the son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And there will be no end to the increase of his government of peace, and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this." In other words, we know that the Son was given. We know the child was born. We know he's the mighty God. We know he is wonderful. We know he's the counselor. We know he's the prince of peace. We know he's the everlasting father. In other words, the originator of eternity. We know that. But we also know that the government was not upon his shoulders at the time. We also know that there has been no peace. Although he came as the prince of peace, he came the first time to bring a sword that he might divide. But there's coming a day that he will bring peace to the world. And so the God the Father would make this promise.

I love what it says over in the book of Zachariah, the 14th chapter, verse number 1: "Behold, the day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem, on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley. So that half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south." So in that day, the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives.

Now remember, people would look at this and they'll take Acts chapter 1 and say, listen, when Jesus comes, he's going to descend to the Mount of Olives. That's not what Zachariah says or what Acts 1 says. Acts 1 just tells us he's going to come back in the same way in which he left. Zechariah 14 says that he will stand on the Mount of Olives. But he descends, according to Isaiah 63 and Isaiah 34, in Bozra, and makes his way to Jerusalem, stands there on the mount, and splits the mountain, because he will come in the same manner in which he left visibly. Bodily, in all of his glory, in all of his splendor. So, God the Father makes a promise, and it's reiterated over and over in the Old Testament. So many times, so that people will come to grips with the reality of the coming of the king.

Also, note that not only God the Father, but God the Son. In Luke chapter 9, the Lord said these words. He says, in verse number 28, or 26 of Luke 9, "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." In other words, he's going to come again. Jesus makes that promise. He makes it in John 14: "I will come again." All throughout the Olivet discourse, he talks about him coming again. Also, God, the Holy Spirit, makes the exact same promise because you're holding your hand the Word of God, which is inspired by the Spirit of God. So everything in here, inspired by his spirit, is all about the coming of the Messiah and the end of time. And everything is moving toward that climatic event.

So, because God's person demands it, you can make a promise. Jesus is coming again. And we know that God never lies, right? He cannot lie because he is a perfect, holy, righteous judge of the earth. So not only does the person of God demand it, but also the purposes of God determine it.

The purposes of God determine it. So if you want to give somebody a promise, it's based on God's person and God's purposes. His person demands it. His purposes determine it. God has a purpose. He has a purpose for the church. He has a purpose for Israel, and he has a purpose for the nations of the world. So important.

You have your sheet in front of you, and so I can explain this to you very easily because God said that He was going to build His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. God has a plan for his church. 2 Corinthians 11:2, he talks about the church being a chaste virgin, a bride. The church is called the bride of Christ. And God has a purpose for the bride. And that's why the rapture of the church is so important. The translation of the church up into glory, right? Before the seven-year tribulation begins, we are translated up into glory. Why? Revelation 3:10, because he will keep you out of that hour, that particular hour of tribulation that will come upon the whole world—he is going to protect his people, his bride. That hour of tribulation that's going to come upon the whole world is going to come upon the whole world. Defined as Revelation 3:10, those who dwell upon the earth. That phrase is used over ten times in the book of Revelation. And every time it's used, it refers only to unbelievers. So God is going to take the church home because the church is a bride. And he's going to present the bride to his Father in heaven and to all the holy ones in heaven, and then they will return with him when he comes again. And when he comes again, he'll present the bride to the world. But God has a purpose for his church.

That's why in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to 18, Paul gives that long exhortation concerning the translation of the church into glory. And that's how you comfort one another. What is the comfort of those of us who have lost loved ones? That we will be reunited with them in the air. That the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. What a great thing that's going to be. And so there's this promise that's been given to us, and it's based on not just the person of God, but the purposes of God. And the purposes of God will determine everything about that promise. And so we need to understand that God has a purpose for the church. But God also has a purpose for Israel. That's very important. God is not done with the nation of Israel.

Over in the book of Romans. In the book of Romans, we understand in the 11th chapter these words by the Apostle Paul. He says in verse 25, "I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, or I don't want you to be, brethren, ignorant of this mystery. Don't be ignorant about the second coming, and don't be ignorant about the salvation of Israel," he says, "so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Judah. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." In other words, all Israel is going to be saved. Now, you read that, you think, okay, does that mean every Jew is going to be saved? The answer is no. Not every Jew is going to be saved. Because you have to go back to the book of Zachariah, Zachariah chapter 13, to understand who the all is in Romans 11:29. And Zachariah tells you, it says in verse number 8 of chapter 13, "It will come about in the land, declares the Lord, that two parts in it will be cut off and perish. but the third will be left in it and I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver as you find, and test them as gold is tested They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, They are my people, and they will say, The Lord is my God."

In other words, Zachariah tells us that what God's going to do is going to purge the nation. That's why the tribulation period. Those seven years is defined or described as the time of Jacob's trouble. The tribulation is not designed for the church, it's designed for Israel. Everything about the tribulation is for God to purge out two-thirds of Israel who will perish because they will not believe. But there's going to be a third part that they will believe and those who believe will go into that kingdom that millennial kingdom And be a part of the promise that God made to Abraham and God made to David because he will fulfill Abrahamic and Davidic promise, literally. On earth, exactly as he said. And so you have this purpose for Israel.

You see, we have to remember that God's not done with Israel. God has just set them aside for a time being. Ever since the birth of the church. And he's birthed this body. Now, there are Jews who are saved today, and they become a part of the church. That they become a part of the body of Christ. They become a part of the bride of Christ. They're what we call Messianic Jews. They believe. That Jesus, yes, is and was their Messiah. And they embrace Him as their Messiah, and they give their life to Him. And they become a part of the church in the church age. And they will be translated up into glory. But there's so many. Millions of Jews that do not believe. And God, because He set them aside. Give them a partial hardening. That's the mystery. And the mystery entails the church age that was not seen in the Old Testament. Nothing here about the church age was ever seen in the Old Testament. That's why it's called a mystery. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

All they saw was the arrival of the Messiah, Him coming in all of His glory and all of His splendor. And him overthrowing Rome and setting up his kingdom, and Israel being one big happy family. But they did not understand all the prophecies that centered around the death of the Messiah. That they could not accept. That they rejected. That this Messiah, who they understood would be divine. Could somehow die. That's what Zachariah 12:10 is all about. Zachariah 12:10 talks about the death of the Messiah. And very clearly given to Israel. So they would be without excuse. So that when he returns, every eye will see him. And those who look upon him, Israel, they will mourn. They will mourn for him as an only son because they will finally realize that they crucified their Messiah. They were wrong. But they will embrace him because they believe in him. And so God has a plan for Israel.

I think I've told you a story, and if I have, just raise your hand and I'll just stop. I won't say anything else about it. But one of the first guides I had in Israel was a man by the name of Mark Sugarman. Who, who, after I was on the Temple Mount, or I was going to be on the Mount of Olives preaching, given the Typography of the land and showing the Kidron Valley, the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the judgment that will take place. And talking about how two-thirds will perish and one-third will be brought through and refined. He came to me afterwards and said, "I just want to be a part of that one-third." And I told Mark, "You can be a Mark. But to be a part of the one-third, you've got to embrace the Messiah. And the Messiah is Jesus Christ our Lord. If you don't embrace Christ, there's a good chance you won't be a part of the one-third because you see, the problem with you, Mark, is that you have heard every sermon that I've preached in Israel. And I preached somewhere between 35 and 42 sermons every time I go. And he would always stay and listen to every sermon I preached. And I said, so because you listened to every sermon and you heard everything I said, and most of what I said was out of the Old Testament to show you that everything about the Old Testament proved who the Messiah was going to be, and you reject him.

There's a good chance you won't embrace him. But today is the day of salvation." And he smiled at me and said, "Well, not yet," he would say. "Yet." And yet, he never gave his life to the Lord. But God has a plan for Israel. God's purpose will determine it. A plan for the church, a plan for Israel, a plan for the nations. You know, God has a plan for the unbelieving nations. Remember the book of Joel? Joel chapter 3. Joel chapter 3, verse number 9. "Proclaim among the nations, prepare a war, rouse the mighty men, let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am a mighty man. Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations And gather yourselves there. Bring down, O Lord, your mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge. All the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. And the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for his people, and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through it. No more."

In other words, there is this great valley in Jerusalem. It's called the Valley of Decision. It's called the Kidron Valley, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It's all the same valley in one location. And when we've gone to Israel, we are always driving over it. Through it and looking at it, so people are always understanding where the valley of Jehoshaphat is because it's going to be the place of decision. It's going to be that great place where God renders his decision against all those nations of the world who decided not to embrace him as their king. And because the nations of the world don't embrace him as king, he will make the final decision on their lives. And that's where Matthew 25 comes in. The great sheep-goat judgment is the judgment of the nations. And that will take place in Joel 3, in the Valley of Decision, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, when the Lord comes back, splits the Mount of Olives. And what he's going to do when He arrives is He's going to have this great decision, this great verdict, and those who are the goats will go off into everlasting punishment. But those who are the sheep will enter into the kingdom of our God and will worship and honor him for the next thousand years on this planet. As he sets up his kingdom and rules and reigns. So God has a purpose. It's so good because, you know, God doesn't ever miss anything. It's all in great detail, all mapped out.

There's no problem here with the Lord. So, because God's person demands it, God's purposes will determine it. God will fulfill his purposes for his people Israel. God will fulfill his purposes for his church. We are the bride of Christ. And God fulfills his purposes for the nation because they rejected Christ. So we can make a promise. Jesus is coming back. I don't doubt that for one moment. In fact, I am so secure. In this promise, it is the one promise, the only promise in Scripture that gives me the most ultimate comfort. Because I know how it's all going to end, and I know that Jesus is coming back because He's prepared a place for me in glory, and I will go back and be with Him. And then a third reason that you can bank on a promise of the Messiah, and that's this, that God's priorities will deliver it. God's person demands it. God's purposes determine it. And God's priorities will deliver it. You know, God has certain priorities. And the first one is this: it's called the vindication of his son. He's going to vindicate the Son. The last time the world saw Christ in person, they saw him hanging on a tree. They saw him beaten beyond recognition. They saw him hang and die on a tree between two thieves. That's the last picture the world has seen of the Messiah. When he rose from the dead, he only appeared to believers. And you know why he only appeared to believers, right? Because the believers were the only ones who doubted his resurrection. The unbelievers really truly believed that he'd raise from the dead. That's why they sent guards to guard the stone. The grave, because he said he was going to rise again, and so they sent guards to guard the grave. And that's why, when he did rise from the dead, They made up a story, a lie. But he appeared only to believers after his resurrection because they were the doubters. And so after he standed into glory, remember, the last glimpse the world ever received of Messiah. Was a dead Messiah. So the Lord has to vindicate his son. How is he going to do that? He's going to vindicate him in such a unique way.

And the Lord said this to Caiaphas. And this was one of those wonderful statements that our Lord said in Matthew 26. He was before Caiaphas. Now, if've to Israel with me, you've been to the house of Caiaphas. And there's some speculation whether or not that's really the house or not. But when you look at it in conjunction with where the Mount of Olives is, and where Jerusalem is, the city of Jerusalem, and where the Temple Mount is. You can begin to understand the typography in the land and realize that the house of Caiaphas probably truly is that exact place. And so he was taken to the house of Caiaphas. He went to Annas first, and then he went to Caiaphas. And it says, These words, verse 62 of Matthew 26. The high priest stood up and said to him, "Do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you?" But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ the Son of God." Right now, I demand that you tell me whether or not you're the Messiah. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God? And listen to the answer Jesus gives. He says, "you have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man. The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven." And it says then. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He is blasphemed. What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They answered, "he deserves death."

The answer Jesus gave comes right from the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. When Daniel had this vision of one coming in clouds of great glory. One like a son of man. And so the Lord to Caiaphas would say, "Am I the Christ? Am I the Messiah? Am I the Son of God? Well, if you understand Caiaphas, the book of Daniel, and you should. If you understand the book of Daniel in the seventh chapter, you realize that what Daniel saw was the Messiah descending from glory. He's a son of man. Christ was the one who gave himself that term, son of man, used so many times in the gospels, and always taking people back to the book of Daniel. The prophecy about the coming of the Messiah, one like a son of man. When I come back, I'm going to come back on clouds of glory. And everybody's going to see." That's why Revelation 1:7 and Matthew chapter 24 and 25 is just so magnificent because when the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the sky. Everybody's going to see him. How is the whole world going to see him? Because remember, the glory of the Lord is not just about how bright he is. Not just about how beautiful he is. It's all about how big he is. Remember, the word glory is a word used in the Old Testament that means heavy. Right, when somebody was really heavy with gold, that was their glory. When they were heavy with food, that was their glory. In other words, they were weighed down by something magnificent. Well, the Lord is weighed down with beauty. He's weighed down with brightness, so much so that he's absolutely huge when it comes to his glory. So because half the world's going to be dead and burned and blown up anyway, right? The other half We'll be able to see him when he arrives because he will fill up the entire sky. We can't even begin to imagine the scene. I mean, we watch in the sky and we see the sun and we see certain things happening. He is actually going to fill up the sky with his glory. Because remember, everything will be pitch black when the Messiah arrives. All the lights will be off. And if you read through the book of Revelation, you realize that everything is completely dark. And then all of a sudden, he bursts on the scene in all of his splendor and glory, and every eye will see him. And then they're going to know they were wrong. He's going to vindicate his son. He came in all of his humiliation the first time. Remember that? And we told you last week that when people looked at him, they didn't know that was Son of God. They didn't know that was deity. How would they know that Jesus was deity? Just by looking at him, they would not know. He looked like everybody else who was a Jew, right? Because his glory was encased in his flesh. He took on the form of a man, became a servant. And so no one would know that this was the Son of God just by looking at him, but he had all the messianic credentials. He had a voice that when he spoke, never a man spoke like this man instead of Matthew chapter 7.

So, from that standpoint, he was way beyond anything they could imagine. But just by looking at him, remember John chapter 1, verse number 10. That no one recognized him as God. But he was. When he comes back again, no question. Completely vindicated. This one that hung on the tree, who came to die for your sins, this is. The Son of God. This is a priority of the Lord God of Israel. He's going to vindicate his Son. Not only the vindication of his son, but you also need to realize that another priority of the Lord is the destruction of Satan. There's going to be a destruction of Satan. Now we know that when he came, the first time, he came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3, verse number 8. All the way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, that this child that's going to come, this seed that's going to be born, is going to crush the serpent's head, right? He's going to render Satan inoperative. And so when he came, he crushed the serpent's head on Calvary's cross. That's why Hebrews 2, 14 and 15 talks about the fact that for those of us who believe, the fear of death has been completely removed. Why? Because that which ensnared us, that's why Paul could say, "Oh, death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" Answer: No victory in the grave. No sting in the death. Why? Ah, because Jesus rose from the dead. Because He lives, we live. In other words, even though we die physically, we live forever with Him spiritually. In eternity, until our bodies are once again raised in the likeness of his resurrection, and we obtain this glorified body. And we have a body, one like the Son of Man, when he was glorified, and thus we shall ever be with the Lord. What a great thing that is! So, you begin to understand how the Lord has this great priority, but there's going to be this destruction of Satan. He has to be destroyed.

And so if you go back to the book of Revelation, the 20th chapter, you realize that in verse number 1, it says, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old." Who is the devil and Satan abound him for a thousand years? He's bound. Satan is bound for a thousand years. And if you go through here five different times, see one, two, three, four, five, six times. Six times the seven verses, it says a thousand years to emphasize the fact that there's going to be this period of time in which Satan will be bound. Satan is not bound now. How do we know that? Well, we know, according to Scripture, that the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one, 1 John 5. We know he's called the God of this age in 2 Corinthians 4. And three times, three times in John's Gospel, he is called the prince of this world. Satan is not bound. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, right? But he is not bound. But one day he will be bound. And if you think about this, why is he bound? Think about this. God has a plan, and that plan, this thousand-year kingdom. In which our Lord rules and reigns on the earth, okay? Satan is bound. In other words, man's going to sin. In the millennial kingdom, right? You and I will be there in our glorified bodies. We will not sin, we will rule and reign with our Lord in that kingdom. But that there will be people born in that kingdom, for Jews and Gentiles alike will go into the kingdom because they are the sheep. They will not have glorified bodies, but they are believers. And they will have children. And those children, like your children and mine, are born with what? A sin nature. Some of them will believe, others will not believe. Very important. And you know what? During that time, there will be no influence. By Satan, none to prove that man, even with a perfect king. In a great and beautiful environment, is going to choose rebellion. And sin against God. And so after those thousand years are complete, the book of Revelation tells us, Revelation 20, verse 7. "When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore." In other words, After a thousand years, and people are born in that kingdom, there are so many unbelievers. In spite of the king of kings ruling from Jerusalem with an iron rod, because he's kept everybody in obedience. And some of them feign obedience to him, but they still have to obey him. But Satan will be released. You know, gather those rebellious ones. And they'll be like sand on the seashore. And what happens? It says "And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven. And devoured them." Just that simple. Just one little phrase. Satan is unleashed. Set free from his chains. He gathers all the nations, all the people, as if there was sand on the seashore, so many of them. And the Lord just says, boom. It's over. Nothing like the Battle of Bozra or the Battle of Armageddon, however you want to call it, and the end of the Great Tribulation, the Great War of God. This is at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. This is at this part right here. At the end of the thousand years. And what God does is He just destroys everything. And then He we go into the eternal state, and there we're able to worship forever the King of Kings. Everything is obliterated. Everything is destroyed. So much so. So much so. That the only thing left is the great white throne judgment. That's it. Everything else is gone. Because he destroys the entire universe and everything in it. Because there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. That's where the world is going. That's the great climactic event. That's where everything is moving toward. And so God has a priority: the vindication of his son. The destruction of Satan, and one more: the expectation of the saints. The expectation of the saints.

God has made it a priority that those who love Him and serve Him have this great expectation. And he wants that expectation to be a priority in every one of our lives. And that's why Paul goes in and deals with verses 6 to 10 in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. That was all introduction to those verses this evening. And so what you need to see in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 is this.

Paul makes a promise, and that promise is based on God's purposes, God's plans. God's priorities and God's person. God has a plan for his people. God, it's all based on who He is. And so that's the promise. So Paul, I'm going to make you a promise. Here's the promise. Let me give you comfort. You're being afflicted. So, what's he say verse number six?

"For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. And to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." This is the promise. And this is their comfort amidst all their adversity. God is going to give you relief.

So, note this: the righteousness of God will assure this promise. That's why he says it is only right, it is only just that God do this.

This is what a righteous God does. You know, so many times I think that we remember, we talked to you last week, Psalm 9, that God is known by the judgment he executes. We think God is known because he's loving. Well, he is. We think God is known because he's full of grace, and he is. But everything about God that makes God God, not like you and me, is absolutely righteous and absolutely just. And so God is best known by the judgment he executes.

That's why Calvary is such a perfect portrait of God. Because he would crush his son. He would pour out his wrath upon his son. So his son would pay a price for your sin and mine that we could not pay. If you don't embrace that, you have to pay for your own sins. For the wages of sin is death, right? So you got to pay. Someone's got to pay, right? Someone has to pay for your sins, either you or you embrace the Messiah who did. But somebody's got to pay because the wages of sin is death.

But it's only right, it's only just for God to do this. And isn't it interesting that in the book of Revelation, a book that begins and ends with grace. It begins and ends with grace. It ends with an offer of grace to all those who hear, to all those who read this book, to all those who hear this book. But throughout the entire book, it's all about God's righteous retribution upon man.

I like what it says over in Revelation chapter 6. Listen to this. Revelation chapter 6. The fifth seal is broken. And it says, "When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained." And this is talking about people who died during the tribulation. How do they die? Revelation 20. Their heads are cut off. They're beheaded. All you can do is read Revelation 20, tells us how they die. But these souls have been martyred during the tribulation. And they're in glory, they're under the altar.

And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true!" They're crying out to God who is holy and he's true. In other words, everything about what he does is absolutely true. Everything about what he does is absolutely holy. There is no unholiness in him. There's no sin in him. There is no unrighteousness in him. Everything about what God does is perfectly true and holy. So what does he say? He says these words "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

And there was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who had been killed, or who were to be killed, even as they had been, would be completed also. Just rest. More have to die. More like you are going to die. But this is all holy and this is all true. This is God's righteousness.

And then if you go over to Revelation 11, Revelation 11, verse number 18. Or verse number 15, it says, "When the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." Now, if you know the book of Revelation, when you come to the Revelation 11, you're at the end, but yet you still got to go to the end of the book of Revelation. And so he goes back and he reiterates how the Antichrist rises to power. And how the false prophet rises to power and that one world government. He goes back and reviews all that. But when he comes to Revelation 11:18, you're at the end.

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." And the 24 elders who are the church who stood on the thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give you thanks, O Lord God the Almighty. Who are and who were." No longer is it who was and is and is to come. He just was and is because he has come. The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord. "You have taken your great power and have begun to reign. And the nations were enraged, and your wrath came. And the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward your bondservants, the prophets. And the saints, and those who fear your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." Lord, you've begun to reign, and now you're going to destroy those who destroy the earth.

And then over to Revelation 15. Revelation 15. It says this: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished." I saw a sign. The sign was large. The sign was lethal. But the sign was the last sign. It was full of God's wrath. And it says, "and I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image, and the number of his name standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the lamb." Listen, the song of Moses and the song of the lamb are the same song. The song of Moses, Exodus chapter 15, when they crossed through the Red Sea. Remember that? This is the song of the Lamb. The song of the Lamb, Song of Moses, same song, because it has the same theme. The theme is redemption. The theme is the glory of God's almighty power. It's what the redeemed sing. And it says, "Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations, who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." In other words, everything that happens in Revelation is a righteous act. Every judgment in Revelation, a righteous act. There is nothing unrighteous about the unsaved receiving what they deserve. And that is death. For the wages of sin is death. That is so important to understand this.

Think back with me for a moment. Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. You probably know the story very well. It says, "Now on the same occasion, verse number 1, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?" Do you think that somehow there is a sinner out there that's worse than you? Do you think that you as a sinner are a better sinner, or let's say, a gooder sinner than somebody else who sins worse than you do? Do you think these Galileans were worse because Pilate would take their sacrifices when they went in to worship the Lord? And mix them with the blood of the sacrifices and chop them up? Were they worse sinners than you? He says, "I tell you. No. They weren't worse than you guys. Just because they received this terrible, dreadful fate, they weren't worse. He says this: but unless you repent. You will all likewise perish. You're all going to die."

And then he says this, because I'm sure that as he said that, they were just taken back by shock that our Lord did not sympathize with the families of those who had lost their lives because he didn't do that, did he? So he wants to bring it to perspective. So he, "Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the Tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who lived in Jerusalem?" There was this tower in Siloam, and there were 18 people that were either in the tower or around the tower. And there was this great tragedy. It fell over, and they died. Do you think that they were worse culprits than anybody else? Our Lord says, "I tell you no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

If you were an unbeliever and you heard that and someone read it to you, you think, wow, our Lord just seems so non-caring, so not compassionate. Because he's not reaching out to families who are suffering loss. He's just saying, you what? If you don't repent, you're going to die. But see, that's the problem with us, not with God. Because we only have in mind earthly sorrow. He has in mind eternal sorrow. See the difference? We can only think of the sorrow here and now. He's thinking of the sorrow for eternity. That unless you repent, you will die in your sins. And so the most loving, the most gracious, the most kind act you will ever do is to tell someone about the coming judgment of God upon their lives. We don't think of it that way. But that's how the Lord dealt with things.

That's why the book of Revelation is so clear. God, you are true. You are righteous. You are holy. Your righteous acts have been revealed. Man has received what he has deserved because every one of us deserves the same fate. But God. He intervenes. He grants grace. He grants repentance. He grants mercy. He grants faith that we might embrace him as our Lord. That's the greatest about our God. And because he is so into eternity, because he's the eternal God, right? The eternal God is all about eternity. But natural man, you and me, are all about things on this planet, on this earth. So when someone dies, we have earthly sorrow. When we see a tragedy, we have earthly sorrow. But the Lord says, you need to have eternal sorrow. You need to be longing for people. Who are going to die and they'll perish forever because they did not repent.

That's why the message of judgment, the message of God's wrath, the message of God's righteous acts are the most precious messages ever. We want to shy away from preaching on hell. Damnation. We want to shy away from preaching on judgment and telling people about the wrath of God. For we're afraid that we're going to turn them off or scare them away. No, it's the most loving, gracious thing you can ever do because you want to give them an eternal perspective that they might see that if you die without Christ. You will spend eternity in hell, separated from the living God, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Forever. And that should motivate every one of us to share Christ with those that do not know Him.

Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. It's one more reminder, Lord, that everything about the world is moving in a direction that truly is your direction. You're in charge. We can sit back and listen to what's going on in the news here in our country and around the world and think, wow, how bad things are and how bad things are going to get. But still, it's true, Lord, that nothing's happening without you directing it. Allowing it or causing it to happen. You're the king. You're ruling. You have a plan. You have a purpose. It will all be fulfilled exactly. Exactly as you've designed it. Lord, may you motivate us to share the message of your grace to those facing eternal damnation. They might see. They're in grave danger, grave danger, of living without Christ forever in a place called hell. And that they need to repent and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. This we pray in your name. Amen.