Exhortations & Entreaties to the Unprepared

Introduction: The Preacher's Dual Task of Exposition and Application

0:00 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, November 4th, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. I would encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to Paul's second letter to the Thessalonian Church, 2 Thessalonians, in chapter 1. And I shall read verses 3 through 10, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, beginning at verse 3. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another abounds, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God,

1:15 for which you also suffer. If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted. Rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, inflaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to beget you. And to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed, because our testimony unto you was believed in that day. Now let us once again seek God's face in prayer and ask God that we may know something of the power of the age to come as we open up the scriptures together. Let us pray. Our Father, we are again so thankful.

2:32 That you continually welcome us into your presence. You encourage us in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known unto you. And we come with our request that once again you would send your Holy Spirit upon us. That his ministry and all of the ways that the preacher needs that ministry may be known.

3:02 That each one who listens and all of the ways in which the Spirit ministers to gospel listeners. Oh Father, may your Spirit be sent upon us all. That together we may be conscious of the powers of the age to come being operative as we open our Bibles together. Oh Lord, hear our cry and come by the presence and ministry of the Spirit we plead.

3:32 In Jesus' name, Amen. As many of you know, it's been my privilege over the course of many years, not only to preach from this pulpit and the pulpits that were placed in various meeting places in our early days, that in addition to this ministry, God has been pleased to give me a door of ministry in speaking particularly at pastors' conferences here in our own country and in many parts of the world. And in such conferences, I've often been asked to address the subject of preaching, what it is, how it should be done, pitfalls to avoid, encouragements in the work of preaching, etc., etc. And in attempting to fulfill that stewardship, I have often had occasion to assert in those contexts that biblical preaching, will be constantly concerned to answer two fundamental questions. Question number one is the what of the biblical text.

4:47 What did God mean when God said what He said in this or that passage? And constantly have sought to impress upon men and to re-impress upon my own mind that if preaching is worthy of the name preaching, it will traffic in seeking to answer the question, what does the biblical text say? Or what do the collation of biblical texts say on a given subject? But I've been careful to emphasize to these men and continually to myself that the task of preaching is not only to be found in answering the question, what does the text say? What do the gathering, of these texts say about a given subject, but the responsibility of the preacher, having established the what of the text, is to answer a second question. So what? So what? That's

5:52 what the text says. So what? And I found it helpful in trying to keep my own mind and heart constantly wrestling with not only exposition but application to remember that that is my task. As I come before you week by week and stand in this pulpit, I have a solemn responsibility to answer the question, what does the text say? But an equally solemn responsibility to answer the question, so what? In other words, to use different terminology, the task of the preacher is to answer the question, so what? In other words, to use different terminology, the task of preaching is the task of accurate exposition and pointed, personal, conscious application. Exposition, application. To put it in the very language of the Bible,

6:46 it is to preach the Bible in terms of the functions for which God gave us the Bible. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for teaching. That's the what? For reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. More emphasis is put upon the so what in that text. All Scripture is given as the very out-breathing of God and is profitable not just for the teaching. We have pulpits filled with men. We have pulpits filled with men. We have pulpits filled with men. We have men who have the notion. All I do is accurately teach. In other words, my sole task is to answer the question, what does the text say? And forget that God has given us. God breathes

7:43 Scripture to be profitable not only for teaching, but for reproof, for correction, for child training or discipline in the life of righteousness. And so the burden that every true servant of God must feel every time he stands in a pulpit is the burden of answering the two questions. What does the text say? What does the collation or the gathering of texts say on a given subject? And having established the what to answer the question, so what?

The 'What' of Christ's Second Coming: A Review

8:22 Now for several months we've been considering together what the Bible teaches about the Second Coming. Now I've been experimenting with the books of our Lord Jesus. I have been attempting by opening up one text after another to give you the broad strokes of biblical revelation concerning the whole glorious truth that the same Jesus who was impaled upon a Roman gibbet, placed in a borrowed tomb, who vacated that tomb on the third day and was received back to the right hand of the Father 40 days later. forty days later, that that Jesus shall so come in like manner as the eleven saw him ascending up into heaven. And for these several months, for nineteen expositions to be exact, we've been wrestling with the what with respect to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I began by seeking to demonstrate that this expectation for and love for the return of Christ was an essential element in ordinary Christian experience in the apostolic age. I then sought to answer the question, why do true believers in a healthy spiritual state

9:47 long for and love the appearing of Christ? And then we've spent a number...

9:53 a number of weeks seeking to grasp the basic teaching of Scripture on some of those aspects of our Lord's return that are clearly revealed, but nonetheless are manifold and are so revealed in Scripture that we cannot fit them all into a nice, neat, tidy, sequential list. But the Scriptures are clear that when Jesus returns,

10:22 He will do something with His own... do something with those who are not His own...

10:27 do something with the devil and his angels... and do something marvelous with the created order.

10:34 So that has been the nuts and bolts of my answer to the question, what does the Bible mean when it speaks of the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ? What does the Bible mean when it speaks of His appearing? What does the Bible mean when it tells us that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangels and the trump of God? Now it's time to spend several messages on a focused effort to answer the next question, So what?

Transition to 'So What': The Impact of Christ's Return on All Life

11:15 Now that does not mean that these previous 19 expositions have been without application. That would have been reprehensible, inexcusable. There have been specific, pointed, and I trust at times, earnest and passionate applications and exhortations. But now we move into the realm of pure exhortation, of pure entreaty, concentrating now not so much on the question what, but so what, in the light of what the scriptures tell us, will happen at the return of Christ.

11:54 What impact ought that to have upon us? And I'm bold enough to assert, and I hope in subsequent weeks to demonstrate, that when we pick up the scriptures, particularly the New Testament, we will come to the conclusion that there is no aspect of the Christian life that is not to be directly impacted by our understanding of and our present beliefs, deep in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we pick up our bibles, we see that there is no duty, there is no privilege, there is no relationship, there is no set of circumstances concerning which some light does not fall upon it from the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, the bulk of that material assumes, assumes, that those to whom the biblical writers are communicating are the true children of God, that they are converted men and women, boys and girls, that they are individuals within the churches who have been born of the Spirit of God. They are people who have been united to Christ. They trust Christ.

13:14 They love Christ. They obey Christ. And hence, they are keenly anticipating the coming of Christ and the culmination of their relationship to Christ. However, sitting here this morning and occasionally in the situation addressed in the New Testament, there are passages which speak of the second coming with reference to those who are not converted, with respect to those who are not, in Christ, with respect to those who do not trust Christ, love Christ, and obey Christ, and long to be with Christ.

13:57 And the issue that I want to address this morning in the first sermon of the So What of our series on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is to address those of you who are not in Christ, who do not trust Christ, who do not love Christ, who do not obey Christ, and who are not keenly anticipating the return of Christ. You are, in biblical language, unprepared for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And we're going to be taking up that thing which is the foundational preparation for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself, toward the end, toward the end of His own discourse on this matter of the destruction of Jerusalem and of His second coming and the end of the age, said in Matthew 24, 44, Be therefore ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes. We are to be in readiness. Some of you sit here this morning in unreadiness.

How God Describes the Unprepared for Christ's Return

15:13 You are unprepared for the return of Christ. And I have but two simple headings under which I've organized what I want to say by way of exposition and application. First of all, how God describes those who are unprepared for the return of Christ. And secondly, what Christ will do with you at His return if you remain in your present condition.

15:43 First of all, then, how God describes those who are unprepared for the return of Christ. We turn to the passage read in your hearing.

15:56 As Paul is giving a word of encouragement and comfort to these Thessalonian Christians who were brought to faith, as we heard last Lord's Day evening, in the crucible of suffering, and the suffering has intensified at the hands of their fellow men, Paul writing to this church in the midst of its suffering, seeking to encourage and comfort them, writes, verse 7, And to you that are afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power in flaming fire. And he could have gone right on to verse 10, When He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all that believed in that day. And that would have been a wonderful unit of thought. It would have made sense grammatically. It would have made sense in the experience of the people of God to be reminded, yes, we're being afflicted now.

16:59 But a moment is coming when Jesus will break through the sky. And in that moment, Paul says what will happen. He will be glorified in His saints. Right now we're despised.

17:14 We're treated as scum. We're regarded as irritable. We're a nuisance to society. But in that day, Christ Himself will be glorified, not by us, but in us.

17:26 He's going to be, as it were, the theater of manifesting the glory, the outshining of the perfections of His grace and power. We're His workmanship. And in His second coming, as we have seen, He's going to complete that workmanship. And when He's done, we will be the instrument by which abundant, unspeakable glory, will be fulfilled.

17:49 Glory will be displayed to the whole moral universe. And furthermore, He says, not only in that day will you as believers be such that Christ will be glorified in you, but He will be marveled at by you. We're going to be breathless. Other created intelligences will be breathless when they see what Christ does in us.

18:14 We'll be breathless when we see Him. And that would have been a complete, well-rounded, encouraging word of comfort to the saints. But the apostle includes in the midst of that a description of those who are unprepared for the return of Christ and what Christ will do with them in their state of unpreparedness when He comes. Now notice, first of all then, I've given you the setting.

18:43 Now look specifically at verse 8. How does God describe those who are unprepared for the return of Christ? He describes them in these words. To you that are afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

19:17 Jesus Christ. God describes every one of you sitting here who is not in Christ, who is not converted, who knows nothing of the reality of new birth, union with Christ, saving faith in Christ, Spirit-wrought love for Christ, Spirit-empowered obedience to Christ. Those are all words to you. They are not reflective of who and what you are.

19:47 They are not descriptive of you. How does God describe you? And how does God describe all those who will be unprepared for the return of Christ? Well, He describes them with these words.

20:02 They do not know God and they do not obey the gospel. Look again at the text. Rendering vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel. Now is Paul speaking of two different broad categories of people?

20:25 Some commentators and the structure of the grammar would permit this understanding. It's not serious error, certainly not heresy. They would say Paul is thinking of two broad groups of those unprepared for the return of Christ. The first is those that do not know God and he's referring to pagans who have never known special revelation.

20:49 They have not heard the gospel. The kind of people Paul is describing in Romans 1, 18 and following through the end of chapter 1 of Romans. Those who have God's mind and revelation as it is expressed in general revelation. The heavens declaring the glory of God, the created order a constant witness to His everlasting power and God-ness, His divinity, they are without excuse.

21:19 Some say here Paul is saying unprepared at the coming of Christ will be all of the host of Bible ignorant pagans who having put down what they could know of God have refused to have God in their knowledge. They are therefore described as those who do not know God. Others say, well, Paul is not giving two broad stroke differing categories. Those who obey not the gospel, obviously will be those like everyone sitting here who's not in Christ, who has heard the gospel.

21:52 Dozens, hundreds, some of you perhaps thousands of times. Those are the two categories. Others say no. What Paul is doing is saying Christ at His coming will render vengeance upon those who do not know God even to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

22:14 That this is one category. Just giving a more specific delineation and description of that category. They do not know God. That is they do not know Him in a saving way.

22:28 And even though they have been instructed as to how they can know God in and through Jesus Christ for He said no one comes to the Father but by Me. And this is eternal life that they may know Thee, the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent that what Paul is doing is describing one category of individual with a more specific description of them. They do not know God.

22:55 They have no acquaintance with God in the context of faith and love. And by the indwelling of the Spirit and attestation of their sonship there is no ability to say My Father, My God, My Lord. They do not know God. They do not know God in a saving way.

23:15 And they remain in that state because the one way by which they can know God they refuse to obey. That is the Gospel. And so the Apostle is describing the unprepared for the return of Christ as those who do not know God as He can be savingly known. And they do not obey the Gospel.

23:40 And I am inclined to believe the second interpretation is the right one because Paul has in mind particularly those who were afflicting these Thessalonian believers. And Paul and his associates had preached in that setting and the very ones persecuting them are the ones who heard the Gospel from Paul's lips but said we want nothing to do with it and we want nothing to do with the messenger. And Paul had to leave town because of the open blatant shameless opposition and persecution and even physical harm that was to be afflicted upon the Apostle. And that's God's description of some of you sitting here. You don't know God. And the evidence of that is you won't obey the Gospel. And you remain in a willful state of ignorance of God in a saving way.

24:39 Now let's seek to open that up for a few moments. You do not savingly know God. In the one way He can be savingly know. And that's in the embrace of the revelation of His character of His grace and His mercy in Jesus Christ.

The Nature of the Gospel and the Imperatives of Repentance and Faith

24:57 And that revelation of His character as infinitely just pure holy loving merciful the full spectrum of His glorious attributes as it were all of them come with laser-like heat and concentration in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. No man had seen God at any time the only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father. He has revealed literally He has exegeted Him. And when I want to know the God who is I see Him revealed in the person and work of Christ and particularly what is announced of that person and His work in the Gospel.

25:39 For you see the Gospel as you've been told many times is first of all and fundamentally a declaration of what God has done in Jesus Christ to provide just pardon and righteous forgiveness for hell deserving sinners. The Gospel is an announcement in the language of Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We then are ambassadors for Christ on behalf of Christ as though God were entreating by us we beseech you on the behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. Why?

26:18 Because Him who knew no sin God made to be sin in our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Gospel preaching is trafficking in the glorious indicatives of what God has done in Christ that sinners might know Him might be right with Him might be welcomed into the fellowship and communion of the God who is of pure eyes and to look upon iniquity the God whose justice burns against sin the God who spared not the angels that rebelled and left their station. In the Gospel we have the privilege of announcing to rebels under the wrath of God God has done something that you might know Him that you might be brought into His favor God has done something that you might know how to love Him and have a disposition to obey Him and it's all been done in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The God-man died for our sins according to the Scripture. He was buried the third day was raised again from the dead according to the Scriptures and God announces to us this marvelous news that this Christ all that He is is ours if we will but have Him. That's it.

27:44 That's the Gospel. The Gospel is not saying you must be born again. Now the Bible says except a man be born again he'll never see he'll never enter the kingdom and we must preach that but that's not the Gospel. The Gospel is later on in John 3 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that's the Gospel.

28:14 The Gospel is not you need to be converted now the Bible teaches you need to be converted but the Gospel is not saying you must be born again you must be converted the Gospel is essentially a declaration of the grand indicatives of what God has done in Jesus Christ that He might yet be just and righteous and at the same time forgive and pardon and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and bless and welcome into the relationship of sons and daughters of beauty hell deserving sinners like you and me Paul puts it this way God who justifies the ungodly Romans chapter 4 and verse 5 now the Gospel is this grand indicative a declaration of what God has done and it's that Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation however the Gospel not only comes with its grand indicatives it comes with its personal magisterial regal God-like imperatives in other words when the Gospel comes to us announcing what God has done and telling us on the basis of what God has done in Christ righteous pardon and just forgiveness have been provided for the vilest of sinners that Gospel also comes with these regal gracious

29:43 gifts precious yes but regal divine imperatives God not only tells you what He has done in the interest of your salvation He tells us what we must do in the light of what He has done and those imperatives are we must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and the problem with some of you sitting here today is that you do not doubt the grand indicatives of the Gospel I doubt there is anyone here there may be some struggling with fundamental doubts about the truth of all this stuff that mom and dad and the pastors and the church traffics in but I doubt we have such if so you are in a very small minority and so you do not doubt the grand indicatives but when you hear the call Sunday by Sunday Monday through Friday and Saturday and you hear that you should repent and believe you do not regard those things as divine imperatives well that is you know if you are interested in it but my friend listen you need to understand that once the Gospel comes and lays out its glorious indicatives displays before you God's way of receiving sinners into His favor that same God commands you in the Gospel

31:12 to believe on His Son to repent Acts 17 30 in the light of the coming day of judgment Paul says God commands all men everywhere to repent boys and girls young and old air Istanbul Turkey Karachi in Pakistan Kabul in Afghanistan in Montville on the corner of Change Bridge in Horse Neck Road and the Horse Neck Road God commands you to repent tells you you have no right to go on running your own life being your own little King God set up on your own little puppet throne in your own narrow heart all God says right to that throne it's mine by right of creation and in Jesus Christ I demand it be given back to me in repentance the God who made us all with the fallen angels who brings us the warm precious lovely indicative of the gospel points us to an incarnate deity in the manger a gracious compassionate self-giving God man in the life history

32:41 of Jesus points us to an instrument of cruel torture and death across set before us a shout of triumph when he raises him from the dead and he says this is my son hear him look to him believe upon him repent and believe in the gospel Mark 1 and verse 16 the Apostle Paul could say to the Ephesian elders Acts 20 21 this is what I taught you this is what I preach to the Lord Jesus Christ and as surely as God commands us to repent he tells us you have no right to run your own life by your own standards to your own ends in companionship with whomever you choose Almighty God says I made you for myself I created you that you would reflect my likeness that you would do my will you have sat on the throne you belong there and God calls to get off the throne repentance is exchanging governors of the soul and all that goes with it the things you do with your hands your eyes

34:10 your feet your desires your cogitations in the middle of the night those are reflective of who is on the throne the good man out of good treasure of the heart brings forth good things fruit and in the gospel God no like not only comes telling you what he has done in Christ for the likes of you but he comes commanding you to repent to stack on and then he commands you to believe first John 3 22 this is his commandment that you believe in the name of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ stands before you in the gospel and Almighty God says you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you must lay hold of him in the death grip of saving faith in the desperate realization if he does not save me I've had it but he is abundantly able to save me he bids me come with no tongue in cheek he bids me in his own word come unto me me and I will give you rest. He that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. And these

35:31 things that God commands in the gospel imperatives, repentance and faith, they are not the acts of a moment. A-C-T-S, a hard word to say. Not A-X-E. They are not the acts of a moment.

35:44 They are an acquisitions of an attitude and a disposition that will be part and parcel of you and in whatyou are until you go to the place where faith is turned to sight. And there's no more need for repentance. But now some of you sit here today, and this is a description of you. You do not know God, and the reason is you still disobey the gospel.

Christ's Vengeance on the Unprepared

36:11 You have not obeyed the gospel. The gospel is not only a declaration to everybody who knows God. It sees God. It sees God, it sees the people, that's it. You have not obeyed the gospel. The gospel in and unit has not only the way and in which you talk but you be specific. The most popular Ctrl of God is the way and in which youichtig in to wanting people. Something very different is the way. I don't want you to listen to that word, meaning of what we're to believe about what God has done. It comes with imperatives commanding repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul says when Jesus comes and what He will do for His own is in the midst of the crucible of their suffering and affliction great consolation. He's going to be glorified in His saints.

36:46 I'm going to marvel at Him when I see Him face to face. That same Jesus in that same setting. The scripture says Jesus will recompense affliction rendering vengeance to them who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel. Now that ought to cause some of you young people to tremble because you pride yourself that you haven't sold out to the world you don't have a secret life veiled from mom and dad you're not cussing with your buddies in the locker room and being Mr. Sweet, Mr. Spiritual no, you're not an open hypocrite you don't question the truth of the Bible you're not bucking against the reasonable standards of your family life but neither have you believed and obeyed the gospel.

37:47 You've not done that. You've not obeyed God's command to believe to repent you do not obey the gospel. That's why you do not know God. That's why though you outwardly conform and you don't outwardly buck you know better it ain't worth it.

38:07 You've got a godly well-structured home where you know it just ain't worth it to buck the system.

38:13 I've told people when they've asked what do you do when your kids say no to you I said they never dared say it in my home I never said it in my home the word no to mother or father never came out of our lips you did not dare that was worse than a string of four-letter words and God have mercy on any of you parents that let that word be said with impunity and God help you if you've got to warn three times before they stop you're not one of those you say yes to mom yes to dad type of words but you've not you've not obeyed the gospel you did not this morning in preparing to come to this place say oh my God oh God I love you I know you and I thank you that you sent your son to die for me Lord God help me today in Sunday school teach me what I need to know about you Lord bless the pastors as they preach help me as I worship how long does it take to pray that? 45 seconds never entered your head and you'll go out of this service and you'll see your friends and you'll talk about everything and anything except Christ and God and the Bible and your own walk before Him I plead with you take seriously what this passage says when we say What will Christ do with his return? we've opened up the passages so what? here's the first so what

39:41 this is what God will do to those who do not know him nor obey the gospel he describes them as unprepared for the return of Christ Christ now secondly and more briefly what will Christ do with you at his return if you remain in this present condition sitting here this morning I trust I persuaded your judgment as much as your sinful heart has tried to shift and deflect the arrows sitting there you say oh God pastors describe me that's me I've not obeyed the gospel what will Christ do with you at his return if you remain in that present condition you never become an open rebel you never throw over the yoke of the decency standards of your home you never become a cynical agnostic or an atheist no you just go on not obeying the gospel what will happen to you look at the text frightening words first we note this returning Christ will execute vengeance upon you look at the text verse 8 Christ will come from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire rendering vengeance rendering vengeance

41:09 vengeance in this context is the just and equitable punishment for the sins which you refuse to deal with by repentance and faith the vengeance will be meted upon you yes for this and that specific sins but for that greatest of all sins of not obeying the gospel in which case every sin would have been washed in the blood of Christ pardoned on the basis of the righteousness of Christ credited to your account in the act of your believing he will execute vengeance upon you you see this is the Christ of the Bible in one I was going to say breath I should say in one or two quill loads of ink Paul could write you that are afflicted rest with us your loving gracious Savior who bears with you in your present affliction and trial he's coming again and when he comes you will enter into a state of blissful uninterrupted and eternal rest in the context in which Christ will be glorified in you as he fully conforms you to his image and you will admire him you see that holds out before

42:36 us all of the sweet the winsome contours of the Christ of the Bible and I hope we preach him in all of the winsome contours of who he is according to the scripture but that's not all that Christ is here in this one passage the gracious Savior who is committed to glorify himself in his saints at his coming and is committed according to this passage not only to glorify his saints but let them be amazed and breathless with wonder as they see him in all of his glory that he's the Christ who will render vengeance not another Christ the same Christ he'll render vengeance not just upon mass murderers not just to deal with the Hitlers and the Stalins and the Osama Bin Ladens but to deal with those precious young men and women that I embrace every Lord's day place a kiss on the cheek I love them I believe they love me Christ will be vengeful with them yes if you go on in your present condition of not knowing God

44:03 and not obeying the gospel my Bible says let's strike any fear in your heart does it cause you to stop wait a minute I've been rocking along here going with the flow I ain't bucking dad I ain't bucking mom I'm not causing my friends but you're not believing the gospel and Christ will come in all the full manifestation of those gentle loving gracious contours of who he is but he'll come in all the frightening contours of divine vengeance and it's the one Christ and that's the Christ with whom you will have to do what will Christ do with you at his return if you remain in your present condition he will execute vengeance upon you what will be the nature of that vengeance look at verse 9 who shall suffer punishment even eternal destruction from God from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might what will be the nature of his vengeance it will be punishment in the form of eternal

The Nature of Eternal Destruction: Banishment from God

45:31 destruction as I read the words my own mind and heart says do you really believe them if you believe them could you stand and do anything other than convulse with tears of brokenness that's sitting in front of you today are those whose experience will exegete these words in a way that I could never exegete it's frightening some of you will write your own commentary on what these words mean eternal destruction shall suffer punishment even eternal destruction what is the nature of the vengeance it will be the punishment in the form of eternal destruction it will be eternal destruction that consists in being banished from the presence of God it will not consist in sending you back to nothingness annihilation no look at the text who shall suffer punishment even eternal destruction from away from the face of the Lord and from the glory of the Lord the outshining

47:00 of his might it is one of the frightening dimensions of the Bible's teaching on hell this element of banishment from God the apex of the believers joy when he thinks of what the Bible teaches about heaven it's all wrapped up in one little phrase in Revelation 22 4 and they shall see his face and I'm confident I could ask every true believer in this place whatever questions you have about heaven if I ask you this does this satisfy you that all that your heart could ever yearn for will be realized they shall see his face you say that's all that matters everything else is secondary perks I'll see the face of my God and of the Lamb they shall see his face we shall be like him for the glory of God for we shall see him as he is and as the direct sight of God in undiminished glory is the apex of the believers hope and joy banishment from the God who is all light and love into the company of the devil and his angels is the lowest pit of hell

48:29 and Paul says to these afflicted believers and Paul says to these afflicted believers rest with us a time is coming when those who hate your Christ and because they hate him they hate you when those who are indifferent to the gospel turn on you because you love the gospel the returning Christ will deal with them he will execute vengeance upon them and the nature of that vengeance will be banishment from his presence depart from me those are the words that are hard to hear that are hard to hear that are hard to hear those are the haunting words in Matthew 25 he shall say to them on the left hand depart from me depart from me source of all light and love and all that is noble and beautiful and all that has been restored in the grace and power of Christ to those of us who once were marred twisted image bearers of God depart from me or in the language of Luke 13 there should be weeping and weeping and wailing when you shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom and yourselves cast forth without without the picture is a banquet hall in an old oriental setting

49:55 where there are no electric lights and no street lights and inside the banquet hall there were candles and torches and light abundant and laughter and feasting to be bound hand in foot and cast out and then darkness vulnerability no companionship that's one of the graphic pictures of hell another is given to us by Jude when he says wandering stars to whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever God says I'll make a special black hole and put you in it God have mercy on you but that's what the word of God says no man that loves God and loves his fellow man would ever have invented the doctrine of hell as it comes to us in the Bible and it's only the grace of God that helps some of us to preach it honestly I believe I can say I'd give fingers on my left hand and I'm left handed if by so doing I could with a good conscience say the biblical doctrine of hell is not so clear it's not so certain there's a little wedge of it and it's not so certain if and maybe no my friend hear the word of God you that are afflicted rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus

51:24 from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire rendering vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall suffer punishment even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might

Duty and Safety: Obeying the Gospel and Learning from Noah and Lot

51:49 well having opened up my trust to the point that I've carried your conscience from the scriptures how God describes those who are unprepared for the return of Christ they do not know him they do not obey the gospel having seen what Christ will do with you if you remain in that present condition I close with this final word what is your duty and your only safety in the life of Christ in the light of these realities what is your duty and your only place of safety it's to obey the gracious word of Jesus Matthew 24 44 be ye therefore ready for in such an hour as you do not think the son of man comes it's interesting the writer does not use a simple future but the son of man is coming he's in the process of coming remember we saw the coming of the Lord draws nigh now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed Paul says in Romans the coming of the Lord draws near the Lord is at hand he is now even at the doors bloody the first step in readiness is to run to Christ himself

53:15 run to the living God in repentance and faith seek the Lord while he may be there call upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and to our God for he will abundantly pardon that's the positive thing and as I've been re-reading these passages on the second coming it hit me with such force yesterday there's a negative example don't be like the dwellers in Noah's day and the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah in Luke chapter 17 Jesus brings the Lord to him he brings two warnings to his hearers in the context of teaching about his second coming he says as in the days of Noah look at the passage with me if you will Luke chapter 17 as in the days of Noah and then he describes what they were doing verse 26 of Luke 17 in the days of Noah even so shall it be in the days of the son of man they ate nothing sinful in eating they drank as long as you drink the right thing and not too much of what you shouldn't they married and were given in marriage for normal ordinary run-of-the-mill human activities but what was the problem they went on business as usual until

54:43 until until the day Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all we often have pictures that people mocked people mocked Noah people mocked Noah and teheed and tottered and poked fun at him they may have it says he was a preacher of righteousness but the Bible doesn't say that the Bible says while Noah built an ark and himself ate and gave his own sons in marriage and drank after the flood he drank too much of the fruit of the vine but Noah was doing all these things what was the difference here was the difference Noah found grace in the eyes of God in the eyes of the Lord Noah was right with his God the others were so occupied with ordinary non sinful human activities Genesis 6 highlights their violence and the imagination of the thoughts of their heart were only evil continually Jesus doesn't highlight their wickedness he highlights their indifference as in the days of Noah indifference damned many and it will damn many of you I fear I say Lord at times I go back after a Lord's day God could I have preached more earnestly more passionately could I have made it any more clear

56:11 that I'm not the preacher's thing this is reality dear young people children Jesus said this is a warning to you don't follow in the pattern of the unconverted in the days of Noah verse 28 likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot now we got six things they ate they drank they bought they sold they planted they gave it not one of them sinful the Lord does not say they fornicated men with men and women with women and men with beasts that's what they did but Jesus doesn't highlight their gross patterns of immorality he highlights their indifferent preoccupation with the innocence and the ordinary likewise came to pass in the days of Lot they ate they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded they brushed their teeth they went to bed got up in the morning showered and dressed and shaved and packed their backpacks with their books went off to school they studied they prayed they slept the cycle of life goes on for some of you week after week and past a month and there is no there is no place

57:39 that could if it could speak rise up and say Pastor Martin that's not all that young man that young woman is I bear witness that I saw them on their knees with their Bible crying for mercy I saw them moving their lips as they whispered prayers of their hearts as they drifted off to sleep but to God the witnesses are there but some of you know there are no such witnesses why? because like those in the days of Lot you're absorbed in the innocent ordinary and not concerned enough and the point Jesus makes is that in that day when the flood came no time now to sort out priorities the day that God rained fire and brimstone upon the cities of the plains it was too late it was too late to give serious thought to eternal issues dear people your duty this day when God has given you another Lord's Day Sabbath is to say this will not be an ordinary Sunday for me talk to my buddies and my girlfriends fill my belly take a nap play some games come back to church go home go to sleep no this day will mark the day when I stop

59:07 by the grace of God by the grace of God by the grace of God my willful unbelief and my willful impenitence and I sought God and his salvation in earnest will that be you?

59:23 will that be you? you're all alone in this my friend mom and dad can't pull you into the kingdom preachers can't shove you in if we could I'd have all the more reason to pump a little more iron and make sure there's not a one of you that could resist me when I got behind you to shove you in but I can't shove you in mom and dad can't pull you in you've got to look to Christ and say son of David have mercy on me and he delights to show mercy may I say it I believe it's biblical to say it you want to make God and his son shouting happy today and don't show him your report card with your straight A's don't show him your neat room your major bed everything's in order you be a returning sinner and in those days those three parables of the lost son the lost sheep and the lost coin people say there's joy among the angels now in each case it's the person who lost the commodity who having found it said I rejoice and called friends to rejoice with him the one who is the greatest rejoicer is the living God and his dear son may I urge you make Christ happy today make the God who made you happy by this day

60:52 obey me obey the gospel and for those of you who by grace can with me say yes we have obeyed the gospel we do by the grace of God live in obedience to the gospel dear people what a responsibility we have to open our silent lips and seek by every legitimate means to bear witness with our lips to that witness that I trust impacts all who know us by our lives and by our lives but we will remain an unanswerable enigma with respect to how we live until we exegete how and why we live the way we do by an open mouth telling people it's the gospel that's made us what we are let's pray our father we're so thankful that you've heard our cry that we would know your presence in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the word and in one sense father you know I'm fearful to bring the service to a close knowing that if the past patterns obtain and are expressed today there will be men and women boys and girls leaving this place

62:21 who are not ready to meet the Lord Jesus father would you not be merciful to them this day would you not by your own sovereign irresistible voice of power call them unto yourself seal your word and may that great day when our Lord Jesus returns oh that there will be some who will look back on this day as the day of days when they left the ranks of those who do not know you and who do not obey the gospel Lord hear our prayer glorify yourself in answering the cry of our hearts we ask in Jesus name Amen