Second Coming: Nature of the Anticipated Event

Introduction: Suspending Normal Studies for a Timely Message

0:02 As I have already intimated in the light of the complexion of our congregation this morning, we will suspend our final study in the whole area of sin in the life of the justified and our normal course of expositions in the life of Elisha this evening. And in place of that, I would direct your attention this morning to Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and chapter 1.

0:43 Paul and Silvanus, or Silas and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you towards one another abounded, 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 ye endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye 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 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,

2:09 and from the glory of his might, when he shall come 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, to which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and every work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified, glorified in you, and he in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Danger of Worldly Perspective Amidst Crisis

2:50 Now I am confident that anyone living or passing through this particular geographical area of the country is very much aware of what has been called our energy crisis. Most of us, if not all of us, have been made the victims of wasted hours in long lines at Philistines, bowling stations. We've been apprehensive as we've heard the news of the possible effects of the independent truckers' strike, truckers' strike with unavailable foodstuffs and spiraling prices, et cetera. Well, it's in such times as these when the media bombards us with the reminder of these problems, when in conversation with each other on the phone or in person, these issues, very naturally come up and we give vent to our frustrations, our irritations, our deep-seated suspicions and lack of confidence in the leadership we are being given in these things. It's at such times as these when the Christian is very, very tempted, and often more than tempted, actually succumbs to a perspective on life that is totally unscriptural. He becomes so...

4:11 He becomes so influenced by these pressures that impinge upon the mundane, that impinge upon his convenience, upon his time, upon his own plans, that he begins imperceptibly at first, but very really, to think and to react like men of the world.

4:34 The Scripture says we are not to be pressed into the form of this world's mold, but we are to be transformed, transformed by the renewing of our minds. And it is precisely at such times, when that pressure is more than ordinary upon us, that we need as the people of God to back off and put everything in proper perspective, even that perspective which is given by contemplating the glorious consummation of all things at the return of our lives. And that is the theme of our Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory. You have the little phrase in verse 10, when he shall come. And that's to be the theme of our studies again this morning, and God willing again this evening, the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come. And it is my concern to underscore by way of exposition, explanation and application, of this passage, this great truth, not in abstraction, but for the specific pastoral concern that in the midst of this intensification of pressure that is upon our minds and our spirits,

The Nature of the Anticipated Event: The Revelation of Jesus Christ

6:00 we may as the people of God resist the molding influence of the world and its perspective, and we may in the midst of these very circumstances, manifest the glory of the Christian's hope, even that hope which terminates upon the return of Christ. Now in the first place, consider with me the nature of the event anticipated. The nature of the event anticipated. When the apostle uses the language in verse 10, when he shall come, to what is he referring?

6:43 What is the nature of that coming referred to in verse 10? Well, in this particular passage, the apostle describes the return of the Lord in a very powerful and suggestive phrase given to us in verse 7, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the language. And to you that are afflicted, rest, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.

7:19 And that phrase, the revelation of the Lord Jesus, is technical language which refers to nothing less than his glorious, powerful coming at the consummation of the age. And the key word, the regulating word in that phrase, is the word translated in the 19th, 1901 edition, the revelation of our Lord Jesus. It is a word which literally means an unveiling or an uncovering. It's a picture that would be familiar at least to some of us by virtue of what we've read or seen, though perhaps we've not personally experienced it. An artist pours his soul as well as his energy into the composition of a great work of art. Perhaps it's a painting or a statue. And then a day is fixed in which there will be an unveiling.

8:21 That which has been the product of his genius in the cloistered seclusion of his own workshop will, at the appointed day of unveiling, be open to the view of all men and women who care to look upon it. And so the day comes when great crowds gather and all they see is an easel or some form that is hidden beneath a shroud. Now all the expression of his artistry, all as it were the imprints of his own artistic taste and the energy of his own artistic soul as well as the energy of his hands and the skill of his entire humanity as a painter is there upon the canvas, but you cannot see it. It is veiled. And what happens is at the appointed hour when due acknowledgements have been given and the dedication has been announced, someone then pulls away the shroud and that great work of art there all the time is now unveiled. It is uncovered.

9:31 And in the uncovering what it really is in itself is now manifest unto all. Now that's precisely the idea of this work. The coming of our Lord is described with this language the revelation, the unveiling, the uncovering of our Lord Jesus. Now this terminology is not unique to the Apostle Paul.

Scriptural Usage of 'Revelation' and the Veiling of Christ's First Coming

10:02 Our Lord himself used it in Luke chapter 17 and in verse 30. Luke chapter 17 and verse 30. Our Lord predicting, his own return says after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is unveiled. In the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

10:36 And Peter uses it. It's one of Peter's favorite words to describe the coming of the Lord in 1 Peter chapter 1 and in verse 7 he uses it. That the proof of your faith speaking to believers being more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire may be found under the praise and glory and honor at the unveiling, the apocalypsis, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He uses it again in verse 13.

11:11 Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be given to you. And that is to be brought unto you at the revelation at the unveiling at the uncovering of Jesus Christ. Now what is the fundamental significance of that word in conjunction with the entire phrase? The nature you see of the coming of Christ is bound up in great measure in an understanding of that phrase that it is a word in that phrase it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word it is a word to be the revelation of Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus. Well, simply, it points to the fact that at his first coming, his own essential glory was for the most part veiled. He who came, came in the language of scripture as truly God and as truly man. He took to himself as the eternal word, a true humanity. He lost nothing. He took something he never had

12:28 before. But the Godhead was essentially veiled in that humanity. Now, there were a few out breakings of that glory. Peter says, we beheld his glory in the holy mount. You remember when his clothes were transferred, his clothes. Clothes were changed and he was transfigured in their presence. Spiritually, John could say, we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. But for the most part, it was suitable that there should be a veiling of all that he truly was because the mission of his first coming demanded a self-imposed weakness.

13:21 The scripture says he was crucified through weakness. He took upon him, the scripture says, the form of a servant. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Therefore, when people looked upon him, they despised him in his claims. They said, is not this the son of the carpenter? Aren't his brothers and sisters with us? Why? People get all excited. We know who he is. He's just a little boy down the road, grown up. Some even stood a few feet away from him, looked right into his face and said, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon? And they did not shrink from laying wicked hands upon him and buffeting him, spitting upon him, mocking him, bruising him, and then actually lifting him up upon a Roman gibbet to die.

14:24 You see, in his first coming, he was a man of great strength. He was a man of great power. In his second coming, the purposes of that coming could only be accomplished as the Lord Jesus, for the most part, was a veil, incarnate God. But at his second coming, there will be no veil of what he truly is, both in his essential deity and in his conferred lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Unveiling of Christ's Undimmed Splendor at His Second Coming

14:58 Lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ. For at his coming, God will pull back the veil, the heavens as it were, constituting the veil. And when he breaks through the heavens, what men will see is not a veiled easel wondering what is behind it, but the undimmed splendor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. What they will see is what is truly there.

15:30 Lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lordship as the reward of the Lord Jesus Christ.

15:31 There all along, but for the purposes of suffering and death, was essentially veiled. But when he shall come, it will be the revelation, the uncovering, the unveiling of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

15:55 You see, the last sight the world had of him was that sight that underscored weakness. He hung publicly. Upon a cross, open to the view of any who cared to behold him outside the city walls of Jerusalem. But he rose from the dead privately. He appeared as the resurrected Christ only to selected witnesses, according to the testimony of the Gospels, and then in 1 Corinthians 15. Now those witnesses were not one or two. There was at one occasion even 500 brethren to whom he appeared. But he did not go back into the Temple after his resurrection and begin to teach again. He did not display himself publicly as he did, in the period of his weakness

16:54 prior to his death. And so as far as the world is concerned, its last sight of Christ is its estimation of Christ. Weakness. Oh, they may afford him what they think is a little bit of honor.

17:09 He was the greatest man who ever lived in the world. But he was the greatest man who could ever live on earth, as we have seen. And so he was. And so he was. And so he was.

17:10 ever lived. He was the greatest teacher. They may throw the sop of a little grudging acknowledgement of some virtue in him or in his teaching, but what they see essentially is just a man. A man who could not shake off the terrible pressure of prejudice and blind antipathy to himself in his teaching and was ultimately put upon a cross because of his enemies.

17:41 We are to pity him. We are to admire him. We may render him some such attitudes, but that's all, my friend. There will be none of that at the unveiling. You see, his second coming will be the public, the open, the manifest display of all that he is as the Lord Jesus. Now, to underscore this fact, the apostle, he uses three parallel prepositional phrases, that is, phrases that begin with a preposition, in, on, to, those little words that speak of relationship or direction, and notice how carefully he brings together these three prepositional phrases to underscore the nature

The Origin of His Coming: From Heaven

18:34 of that event that he calls the revelation of the Lord Jesus. The first one is this. It will be, from heaven, at the revelation of our Lord Jesus, from heaven. In other words, we are pointed to heaven as the origin or the source of that unveiling. And, of course, the parallel passages which expound the significance of this phrase are Acts chapter 1, verses 9 to 11. If you remember the incident, some of these selected witnesses are gathered on a mountain in Galilee with our Lord Jesus and after he has commanded them to go back to Jerusalem and to wait there until the promised spirit is given, not as the reward of their carrying but as the reward of his sufferings, is the gift of the spirit given in grace, verse 9.

19:45 as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven. Do you see the constant emphasis upon heaven here?

20:20 They are gazing up into the heavens. He is taken up from them into heaven. Then the two men say, Why stand ye gazing up into the heavens? The one taken into the heavens shall come from the heavens.

20:32 The Apostle Paul picks up that emphasis, and we read in Philippians chapter 1 in verse 21, Our citizenship or our commonwealth is where? In heaven. From whence we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Or in the language of 1 Thessalonians 1.10, He turned to God from your idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even the Lord Jesus who delivereth us from the wrath to come. Now you see, men love to mock. And to sneer, this fundamental aspect of Christian faith. They say, Now wait a minute.

21:21 You mean to tell me that all you're offering us toward the end of the 20th century, in the midst of all of the problems of the energy crisis and the salt agreements, and whether or not this is national compromise or a wise expedient amidst all of these turmoils and tumultuous things. You mean all you're offering? Is pie in the sky and from the sky, by and by?

21:52 I mean to say, my friend, that the great hope of the Christian is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in anything he may do in grace or in power, here upon the earth in the present state of affairs. But our great hope is that hope that is bound up in the little phrase, the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. From heaven.

22:21 From heaven. That is our great hope. This same Jesus, who was taken up into heaven, shall come from the heavens in glory and in power. And as I suggested earlier, there's a sense in which as long as the heavens are not split with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the outshining of the God of the glory of a returning Christ, Christian, every time you look up to the skies, think of them biblically, they are availed, hiding my Lord.

23:00 But he's there. In all the splendor and glory of his exalted, glorified, God-man existence, he's there. Just as much as the painting is there, the product of the genius in the labor and the toil of the artist, even though the painting is there, the product of the genius in the labor and the toil of the artist, even though the veil is over it, the painting is there. The removing of the veil adds nothing.

23:24 It simply exposes it to view. And oh, when we look at the heavens, not only look at them as displaying the glory of God in the firmament showing his handiwork, but begin to think, Christian, when you're sitting in one of those gas lines and you're tempted to let your spirit get all agitated and disturbed and distraught, stick your head out the window and look up. Don't look down the length of the line. Look up and say it's a veil.

23:57 And oh, this is part of the creation groaning and travailing in pain until now, and there never will be a perfect balance of man's use of God's world and the world in its response to man's use because it's a cursed world. And so you look up and say the veil is there, but behind the veil is my Lord Jesus in all the glory. The glory and splendor of his exalted person and the hour is coming when he shall come and it will be the apocalypsis, the unveiling, it will be the wonderful disclosure of all that he is from heaven. But then the second prepositional phrase, notice, is this. He will come with the angels of his power. See it in verse 7. The revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, that's the origin, with the angels of his power.

The Attendants of His Coming: With the Angels of His Power

25:00 Those are the attendants of his unveiling. Now the key words in this little phrase are his power. It's not a phrase saying he will come with his powerful angels, but he will come with the angels of his power. In other words, this is a coming.

25:22 This is a coming characterized by mighty power, and the witnesses of that power is the retinue of the angels of heaven who will come with him. They will be his servants to accomplish his will in that day. Now where did Paul get that notion? He just didn't pick it up.

25:45 It's a concept that our Lord reiterated in his own teaching regarding his return. Notice Matthew 25 in verse 1. Verse 41, letting scripture be its own interpreter, our Lord in this passage speaking of his coming says, Matthew 25, 31, but when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, see the concept of the unveiling, though the word is not there, he came the first time in weakness, he shall come the second time in glory. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, now notice.

26:24 And all the angels with him. He will not come unattended. He will be no bridegroom to stand alone at his marriage altar. Here was the retinue of all the hosts of angels.

26:41 Now, will they be there simply as witnesses?

26:44 The month of July is wedding month again. I'll have to take part in three of them during the month of July. There's one Saturday when I'll be wedding-less during the month of July. And on...

26:55 Often I've wondered, what function do all these attendants have, apart from moral support and being good friends? They really, they really, apart from the bridesmaid or maid of honor holding the bouquet, which I could just as well hold while they exchange the rings, she performs no real function in the actual wedding ceremony. When the bride comes with her attendants, and the same thing, the whole idea that the groom's going to be so weak-kneed, he needs the best man to prop him up, I've never seen that really happen. Now, I'm not saying we should throw over that tradition, but you see, the attendants of the bride and groom really perform no necessary function.

27:34 Now, is that what we have here, just a symbolic function? At the apocalypses, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus, what is this with his angels? Are they there simply as witnesses, something as it were to adorn him with greater glory? No, the text says, with the angels.

27:55 His power. In other words, the angels are there to be the instrument of exercising his power and his unveiling. And what power is that? Well, turn to Matthew 13 for the answer.

28:14 Matthew 13 and verse 36.

28:18 Here our Lord begins to interpret to the disciples the parable of the wheat and the tares. And he tells them in his interpretation, The wheat stands for this, the tares stand for that, the reapers are the angels. Verse 39, the reapers are the angels. Verse 40, as therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the consummation of the age, the Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling in them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.

29:01 There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. You see, they are the angels of his power. He has the power to determine men's destinies.

29:15 He has the power to execute the sentence of damnation. But he delegates that power to the angels, and when they come with him, they are not there for show. And they are not there. They are not there for moral support to the unveiled Christ.

29:30 He needs none. In weakness, he said to three sinners, Peter, James, and John, would you not watch with me one hour? I need the support of your sympathy in prayer with me. This is my hour of weakness.

29:51 But when he comes again, he needs no support. All that self-imposed weakness is behind him. The angels are there as the demonstration and the administrators of his power. Power to gather the wicked and cast them into the lake of fire.

30:10 That's the negative exercise of the power. But according to Matthew 24, 30, and 31, they will exercise a positive and glorious role as well. Matthew 24, 30, and 31. And then shall appear the sign of the sun.

30:31 The sun of man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. They shall see the sun of man coming on the clouds of heaven. Notice now, with power and great glory.

30:45 See the two concepts now? Angels of his power. The unveiling of the Lord Jesus. And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.

30:56 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The trump shall sound. 1 Corinthians 15. The trump shall sound.

31:05 And they, the angels, shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other. The living elect. The dead elect. Angels will be the instruments of his power to gather together his own and to gather up the wicked as tares and to cast them into fire.

31:27 You see, the picture is not that of our modern weddings. Where the attendants of the bride and the bridegroom really perform no necessary or utilitarian function. But it's the picture of a conquering general who comes into a territory which some usurper has taken over. And he comes to liberate his own subjects and to judge all his enemies.

31:56 And how does he exercise his power? By means of his armies. Who go forth at his bidding. That's the picture.

32:06 At the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be an unveiling from heaven. That's the origin. With the angels of his power.

The Context of His Coming: In Flaming Fire

32:18 They are the attendants. And now notice the third prepositional phrase. In flaming fire. Now here you have a little problem of translation.

32:30 Some would suggest. That the phrase in flaming fire ought to be attached to what follows. That is, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God. But the weight of evidence in terms of the structure of the original language is in favor of seeing these three prepositional phrases as parallels describing the nature of this glorious event.

33:02 He will come from heaven, that's the origin, with the angels of his power, the attendants, and now the context, in flaming fire, literally in a fire of flame. Now pray tell, what does that mean? Well here we must be careful in just assuming similarity of language means identity of significance. Fire is often in scripture the symbol of the manifest presence of God.

33:38 You remember when God would appear to Moses, he appeared how? In a flame of fire in a bush. When God comes down upon Mount Sinai according to Exodus 19, he appears in a flaming fire and with tempest and with thunder and with lightning. His presence was manifested there.

34:02 In Genesis 15, when he appears to Abraham to renew the covenant, he comes and passes between the sacrifice in a flame of fire and in smoke. You see again and again in scripture, the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God, and it could be that that is the apostle's thought here. That the context of his coming is a symbol of the presence of God.

34:31 And it could be that that is the apostle's thought here. That the context of his coming is a symbol of the presence of God. That the context of his coming is nothing less than the visible manifestation of deity. Therefore, bringing together the concept of God appearing in the burning bush upon Mount Sinai, there to Abraham with the people of God, and certainly no error would be taught if we took that position.

34:51 However, since he who comes is God, and the very concept of unveiling means that he comes in his glory as God. The meaning must lie in a second major use of the figure of fire in the Old Testament. Fire is often the symbol of God's holiness manifested in judgment. Turn please to Isaiah 29 for a graphic demonstration of this fact.

35:25 Fire is not only the symbol of God's manifested presence with his people, but also the symbol of his holiness. The symbol of God's holiness manifested in judgment. Isaiah 29, verses 5 and 6, Here God is pronouncing judgment through the prophet, but the multitude of thy foes shall be like the small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away, yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly. She shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder and with fire.

36:05 She shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire. Here God is pronouncing judgment, and he says that judgment will come under the figure of a devouring fire that consumes everything in its path, so that when God moves forth to judgment, nothing can stand in its way. Isaiah 29, verses 5 and 6, Here God is pronouncing judgment through the prophet, but the multitude of the fallen were to perish. Keep these measures in mind, and we shall have a multitude of our own people. Turn to Isaiah 66, for a parallel passage. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word! Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for my name's sake, have said, LET THE Lord be glorified that we may see your joy. Here's the taunting of the people of God. A voice of

37:15 tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense or vengeance to his people. I'm sorry, I've read verses 5 and 6, but you see the setting now of the judgment that God will bring upon his people, his people's enemies. Now verse 15, For behold, the Lord will come, how? In or with fire, and his chariot shall he like the whirlwind to render his anger with fierceness and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord execute judgment, and by his sword upon all flesh and the slain. Of the Lord shall be many. So bound up with this prophecy of judgment is the concept again of the outgoing, consuming fire of the Lord. Ah, but someone says, Pastor, that's Old Testament.

38:15 God now wears a different face in Jesus Christ. Is that so? What could be the greatest corrective than to describe his unveiling with this third prepositional phrase? It will not only be an unveiling, but it will be an unveiling of the Lord. It will not only be an unveiling, but it will be an unveiling of the Lord. It will not only be an unveiling of the Lord, but it will be an unveiling from heaven with the angels of his power, but in flaming fire, in other words, a context of divine holiness, burning and consuming everything in its path that is contrary to itself, even as a forest fire consumes everything in its path and leaves nothing but the charred bones of the wildlife and a few little charred toothpicks, sticking up to heaven, manifesting the frightening power of the consuming fire.

39:10 For in the book of Hebrews we read in chapter 12 and verse 29, our God is a consuming fire. And that truth will be revealed when the Lord Jesus comes again, that this Lord Jesus is not only the exalted Lord who came to his throne by way, of a virgin's womb, a cross and an open tomb, from that throne has extended mercy to sinners, but he is also the one in whom the wrath and anger of God against all that is in opposition to him, it is through him that the wrath of God will be dispensed, as well as through him that the mercy of God is dispensed upon sinners. He will come in full. Blaming fire, this revelation will be the manifestation of the burning holiness of the Godhead exercised in judgment. Now again, people mock at this concept.

Addressing Mockery and the Certainty of Judgment

40:19 They say, you mean to tell me, as an intelligent person who seems to have his head at least half screwed on right, do you actually believe that there is a coming day of judgment? I mean, let's be reasonable. We can't even remember the deeds of a full week. How can one being that you call God remember all the deeds and thoughts and words of all the men of all the ages in every circumstance from their conception until their grave?

40:51 They say because he is God and his mind is infinite and it is no more difficult for God to remember one thought of one man at one point in his life than to remember one thought of one man at one point in his life. We will not past that point in time to remember the thoughts of billions of men for thousands of years.

41:13 And so when the Lord Jesus returns, the unveiling will be in the context of the holiness of God manifested in judgment against all sin and all sinners. That is why when he comes, it will be with fire, that he perards the very cosmos of all of the effects of sin itself. sin. 2 Peter chapter 3. This new heavens and new earth in which dwells righteousness must await the fire that will purge it of all the effects of sin that came upon it as a result of man's sin. And thank God that fire with which he comes to consume his adversaries will also be the fire of his presence by which the last remains of sin in every living saint will be forever consumed and put away when all that marked our bodies in their sinful state will be consumed and put away after he comes in the unveiling in fire sinners will be banished to hell and the new heavens and

Exhortation: Living in Light of Christ's Return

42:30 the new earth wherein dwells righteousness will fill the vision of the people of God of angels of seraphim and cherubim. More of that must await for our study this evening when we move to the second area of this text having considered together the nature of the event anticipated we're going to examine together the consequences of this event described and it's described in terms of a two-fold consequence to the people of God and then to those who are not the people of God but are. My time has gone from us and let me seek to pull it all together in a final word of exhortation my friend as you sit here this morning do you have any felt consciousness that this is where all of history is going when you hold your watch to your ear new children I don't know if you're like when I was a kid I used to love to hold my dad's watch and hear every tick of the clock every sweep of the second hand.

43:40 Every movement from our one to two to three to four brings us that much closer to the time when God will pull back the veil Paul could say now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed and in the midst of whatever person pressures come upon us even to the point that these Thessalonians were bearing open persecution and hostility and affliction for the sake of the gospel. There was religious there was economic there was personal pressure the apostle gives them a big fat dose of the second coming of the Lord Jesus and he says oh people of God your soul with the wonder of the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ from I ask you as you sit here this morning child of God do you live with this perspective as a burning presence conscious reality.

44:43 In the midst of life where you really live it can you stick your head out in that gas line and look up and find joy in the midst of the irritations in the midst of physical suffering and pain and emotional trauma and disappointment and heartache and all of the things that mark existence here and now the apostle does not hold out to these suffering saints that their hope is something else. The future glorious manifestation of the power of Christ that will put down evil and exalt the church and the people of God so that they rule the world prior to that coming no no he holds out is their hope nothing nothing that rises out of earth or even the church on earth he says your hopes come when the veil of the heavens is rent when he shall come from heaven.

45:50 Not in weakness but in power with the angels of his power and he'll come in the context of flaming fire the representation of the burning holiness of the God to consume everything that opposes my friend has the reality of that event burned its way into your heart as a Christian do you live in the light of that hour and oh my friend if you're not in Christ do you live in the light of that hour. Do you have a dread of that coming you want to his power will be manifest when he says to a specific angel to come to you and to bind you and in foot and to cast you into outer darkness my friend when are you going to take that seriously will it take the binding and the casting itself to awaken you to an earnest concern for your soul oh my God. Right.

47:02 Reclamation of the certainty of that event will be used of God to stir you up to seek the Lord while he may be found to call upon him while he is yet near or he is still behind that veil and as long as he's behind that veil there is a door open in heaven the veil is still drawn but there's a door open and it's the door of mercy Christ himself is that door and all that you may see. To be reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ well we didn't get very far this morning we simply contemplated from the scriptures the nature of that glorious event God willing tonight we'll consider together the results of that event in the light of this passage of the word of God let us pray oh our father our hearts do rejoice this morning. Many of us as it were.

48:12 Stand upon our tiptoes and look and long and yearn for your hand to pull back the veil we confess that we do not know the day nor the hour but we thank you you have appointed a day you have appointed an hour and that is surely as we bow in your presence in this moment he shall come oh how we thank you for the certainty of that hope. Grant that we who are your children may live and suffer and weep and pray and rejoice in the light of that hope and that those who are not in Christ who are yet in their sins who have never fled for refuge to him who alone can forgive and cleanse oh God use the proclamation of this great event. To stir them up.

49:18 To seek you while you may be found and to call upon you while you're near seal then the word to our hearts make it to be the subject of our meditation throughout the day hear our prayer receive our thanks for your presence with us we ask through him who loved us and who shall indeed come to take us to be with him amen.