God is Not Blind

Well, thank you very much, Johan, and everyone else who's been involved in the service.

Please do have that Bible passage open in front of you, as we'll be diving in and out of it throughout this evening.

In August 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and the persecution of Christians absolutely rocketed.

Afghanistan is now the number one country in the world where Christians are persecuted, according to the charity Open Doors.

There were reports early on of Taliban soldiers going door to door, killing Christians and hurting anyone who helped hide them.

Similar stories come out of Iran.

One story I read this week was a couple who had become Christians from a Muslim background,

and they began to attend their underground church network.

But one night, their door was kicked in.

They were arrested, blindfolded, beaten, interrogated, and imprisoned.

Only months later to be released to flee Iran, never to return for fear of their lives.

The persecution in these places is a constant threat.

And those are just the stories we know about.

There are countless, or there will be countless of stories across the world of Christians being persecuted and mistreated for their faith in Jesus.

But it isn't always systematic and physical, is it?

We'll probably all know stories of Christians being rejected for certain jobs and professions in this country for their faith.

Scientists mocked.

Politicians scorned.

Teachers looked at with intrigue to see whether their teaching is right and what conversations they're having with their students.

Or Christians being denied access to venues for a conference because of the message that they will proclaim about Jesus.

Christians being silenced or fired from their jobs for their views that run contrary to the world.

Christians in the West, generally speaking, aren't persecuted physically, but we are certainly not welcomed with open arms.

Whilst our physical well-being might not be in danger, there are plenty of other ways that the world uses to make a stand against Christians and our faith.

With so much going on against Christians, it can be easy to think that God is blind to the persecution and oppression of his people.

But we'll see the truth this evening.

The truth I want us to fix our eyes on is to remember, as we turn to 2 Thessalonians, that God is not blind.

There is not a second of suffering that his people endure for his name that he doesn't see and that doesn't grieve him.

Remember the context of this letter that we looked at last week.

This church in Thessalonica were being persecuted physically.

So how does Paul encourage and build up these Christians who are in a daily battle?

Well, in our passage for tonight, he gives them a signpost.

A signpost of the future that awaits them and awaits those who persecute them.

These Christians were being attacked, attacked from outside and from within.

False teachers inside spreading lies about the return of Jesus.

And so this is a hurting church.

Maybe they thought that God was blind to their suffering.

And so Paul steps in and encourages them by giving them certainty of the future.

The future that awaits the wicked.

Those who are persecuting this church.

Those who reject Jesus.

And the future of Christians.

The future that we await as Jesus returns and the struggles in this life are over.

And my hope is that as we study these two truths together from our passage,

that we'll be encouraged and to stand firm in our faith.

And in the midst of suffering for the name of Jesus,

that we'll be comforted with the knowledge that whatever we face in this life,

God sees it all and he will bring justice.

And if you're here and you're not a Christian this evening,

I hope you see just how important the decision is whether you follow Jesus

or whether you reject him.

So please keep that passage in 2 Thessalonians open in front of you

because we're going to jump about in these verses.

Looking first at the future of the wicked and then the future of the faithful.

So the first thing we see in this passage is the future of the wicked.

In verses 6 and in verses 8 and 9.

The future of the wicked.

Now the world is full of stories of people

who've gotten away with atrocities against others.

You see it on a global level.

Wars being fought out of selfishness of one man or of one nation.

History is full of powerful figures

who were responsible for killing thousands upon thousands of people

and they thought they were untouchable.

It's easy for people to think that they might be above the rules

because they have power,

that they won't suffer any consequences for their actions.

And so they oppress.

They persecute.

They hurt those who don't quite fit with their agenda

or with their goals.

That's the context of the Thessalonian church, isn't it?

These Christians were coming under attack,

suffering at the hands of wicked people.

These Christians were living counter-cultural lives.

They were different.

The people in this church had changed.

They'd started living for Jesus.

And so the community around this church began to hate them.

And they probably thought that they were going to get away with it

because after all,

the church is the minority in this situation.

But look at what Paul says in verse 6.

Read that with me.

God is just.

He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.

Paul is encouraging these suffering Christians by saying,

don't worry, God is not blind.

He has seen all of your afflictions,

all of your pain,

all of your suffering for his name,

and he will bring justice.

Now the judgment that's predicted here in these verses

is God's ultimate judgment on that final day.

When all of humanity will stand before him.

God is not blind

to the goings-on of this world

and how people treat Christians

and how they respond to God.

And in these verses about God's judgment,

we see three things about God's judgment

that give us a holistic picture

of the future of the wicked

as they will suffer under God's judgment.

The first is that God is just.

Verse 6 says,

God is just.

He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.

Now God being just isn't a simple characteristic.

of how he acts.

God is the very definition of justice.

It means that he is perfectly righteous

and good in how he responds to his creation.

As human beings, we love justice

and we hate it when injustice rules.

We get angry when we see people

getting away with things they've done wrong.

Committing evil deeds

and yet walking away scot-free.

When we look at atrocities

committed against people,

we rightly cry out for injustice.

We rightly cry out for justice, sorry.

When we think about God being just,

we need to remember that God

is the very standard of what justice is.

Because when we cry out for justice,

it's normally out of a sense

that we've been wronged

and we want revenge.

We were hurt.

And so,

with impatience,

we cry out for justice

and we want it right now.

We don't want it in six months

or a year

or ten years.

We want it now.

Our justice can be a bit like that

of a child

who justifies

punching their brother

because they did it to me first.

But God is not like us.

His punishment

punishment

and judgment

on those who stand against him

isn't revenge.

He doesn't stand in heaven

rubbing his hands

eagerly with joy

waiting for the day

that he can finally get back

at evil people.

But God's judgment

comes out of his desire

for justice.

God has made it clear

how his creation

should and can

live in harmony

with him.

And out of love

throughout history

God has called us

a rebellious humanity

to turn from our sin

and be made right

with him.

But we reject God.

That is our natural

inclination.

The Bible says

in Romans 3.23

that all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

Elsewhere in Romans

it says

no one is righteous.

No, not one.

God being just

means that something

needed to happen.

There needed

to be judgment.

But God being

perfectly just

made a way

for people to be saved

by putting the judgment

on his son.

So all those

who put their trust

in Jesus

are free

from that judgment.

Because of our sin

all of humanity

is under the sentence

of death

in rebellion

against God

and deserving

of his judgment.

But for the Christian

there is freedom

because Jesus

has paid the price.

Jesus stood

in our place

and we'll come

to celebrate that

later on

in our service

together

but for now

I want us to see

that for God

to be just

all rebellion

and rejection

of him

must be punished.

without justice

sin would run

unchecked

and evil

would reign

but God

being perfectly

just

and perfectly

loving

sets the standard

of what true

justice is.

God's judgment

is just.

And the second

thing

about the future

of the wicked

and God's judgment

is that it's

frightening.

Look at some

of the words

that Paul uses

to describe

God's judgment.

I'll read the words

from the ESV

which is more

of an accurate

translation here.

Verse 6

says that

God will repay

the affliction

with affliction

those who

afflict you.

Verse 8

says that

God will

be revealed

that Jesus

will be revealed

on that final

day in flaming

fire

inflicting

vengeance

on those

who do not

know God.

and verse 9

says that

they will

suffer the

punishment

of eternal

destruction.

Now put

yourself in

the place

of these

Christians

as they

look out

to their

city

and see

people

waiting

to attack

them.

It may

seem

that injustice

has won

but Paul

says that

God will

have the

last word

on that

final day

when he

brings

judgment

on those

who are

afflicting

these

Christians

and those

who do

not know

Jesus.

the words

affliction

vengeance

and destruction

as the

ESV

puts them

they're

frightening

but Paul

doesn't use

them to

scare people

into becoming

Christians.

Paul is

using these

words to

warn those

in the

church

this is a

letter to

a local

church

he's

warning those

in the

church

those

attacking

the church

from inside

that this

is their

future

if they

do not

repent

from their

sin

and follow

Jesus.

Paul is

trying to

encourage

these

hurting

Christians

to remember

that God

is not

blind to

their

suffering

he will

act against

those who

are harming

them

but these

words should

also urge

this church

to go and

tell people

about Jesus

because we

don't want

anyone to

suffer under

the judgment

of God.

God's judgment

is frightening

and the

last thing

about the

future of

the wicked

and God's

judgment

is that it

is final

read verses

8 to 9

with me

he will

punish those

who do

not know

God and

who do

not obey

the gospel

of our

Lord Jesus

they will

be punished

with everlasting

destruction

and shut out

from the

presence of

the Lord

and from

the glory

of his

might

now Paul

is a

straight

talker

as he

explains

the ultimate

future of

every single

person who

does not

respond in

obedience to

the gospel

of Jesus

for those

who reject

Jesus on

that final

day he

will come

as judge

not as

savior

the question

will be

on that

day how

did you

respond to

Jesus in

this life

if you

responded with

faith and

obedience you

will have a

glorious future

that we will

look at in a

second

but if you

reject Jesus

in this life

and do not

respond in

obedience and

follow him

destruction and

judgment awaits

there will be no

second chances

no do-overs

and so there is

no time to

waste

if you want a

Christian if you

do not know

Jesus if you

are not living

for him then

this future of

judgment is what

awaits you at

the end

an eternal

destruction shut

out from the

presence of

God the place

we often call

hell a place

of eternal

conscious

suffering

now approximately

178,000 people

die a day

and for many of

them this is the

future that awaits

please consider the

claims of Jesus

tonight and do

not waste another

day on the road

that leads to

hell but put your

trust in Jesus

the Bible describes

those who reject

Jesus as wicked

because we are

all born in sin

and rebellion

against God we

could never do

enough to be

good enough to

be right with God

on our own

we can only be

right with God

through Jesus

and our creator

knows what is

best he wants

people to be

right with him

put your trust in

Jesus and live

for him and

this future that

awaits the wicked

should challenge us

as Christians to

take the gospel to

this world that is

dying and going to

judgment without the

saving knowledge of

Jesus these are

people in our

homes people in

our workplaces

people in our

neighborhoods in our

streets people that

we rub shoulders with

every day we are

the ones with the

message that can

bring hope the

message that

everyone needs to

hear but we need

to share it with

them the message of

the future of the

wicked should also be

a reminder to the

suffering Christian

that God is not

blind he has not

forgotten about or

overlooked your

suffering God is

just as angered at

our pain at the

pain and suffering

inflicted on his

people as you are

in fact God is more

angered by it and it

will not go unpunished

the future of the

wicked the future of

all those who reject

Jesus is God's

judgment which is

just frightening and

final and the second

thing I want us to

see this evening from

this passage is the

future of the

faithful in verses

6 and 7 and 10 and

12 the future of the

faithful now in these

verses we see

marvelous truths that

are specific to those

who are suffering for

the name of Jesus and

because of their faith

in him but we also

see awe-inspiring

truths of the reality

of eternity that

awaits every single

Christian so if the

first half of our time

together was the hard

news of the gospel the

news of judgment and

hell this is the good

news forgiveness

redemption perfect union

with God and for us to

share the true gospel the

gospel the apostles preached

the gospel that Jesus

proclaimed then we need

both sides of that coin

both the good news and

the hard news to read

verses 6 to 7 with me

God is just he will pay

back those trouble to

those who trouble you and

give relief to you who are

troubled and to us as

well this will happen when

the Lord Jesus is revealed

from heaven in blazing fire

with his powerful angels

do you see that Paul is

promising these Christians

relief relief from their

oppressors relief from

persecution relief from

suffering in the name of

Jesus

looking at their situation

they probably didn't feel

that that was ever going to

happen

they see the pain they feel

the blow from the enemy

they feel the attack that

hits them on the back

they see the physical

dangers that surround them

every day relief was

probably the last thing

they would have thought

but Paul is inviting them

to fix their eyes on

eternal things on things

that are unseen and to be

comforted and notice how

Paul says they aren't in

alone because he includes

himself in this verse by

saying we too long for this

relief it's the idea of rest

eternal rest and relief from

the enemies of God and in

the presence of God forever

now this doesn't mean that

all of our troubles in this

life will go away it doesn't

mean that there won't be any

rest or relief in this life if

you look throughout church

history there were times of

great persecution against

Christians there were also

times of peace and rest

but can you imagine just how

comforting this message of

this promise of relief would be

to this suffering church

it's a bit like those scenes

from the movies where a little

kid is being pushed around on

the playground by a group of

bullies they're physically

bigger than him they're

stronger and they decide to

combine forces and push the

wee guy to the floor now at this

point in the movies it's

normally where the teacher

jumps in or the hero of the

story comes in

but in that moment the main

concern of the little kid on

the floor is the sheer size of

the bullies towering over him

it's natural to look at the

dangers that are right in front

of your face use the things you

can see but Paul is telling

these Christians don't look at

the bullies don't look at those

oppressing you don't look at your

persecutors in verse 7 Paul

says look at your lives look at

your persecutions from an

eternal perspective and

remember the relief and rest is

yours in Christ there is hope

because on that final day Jesus

will come in blazing fire with his

holy powerful angels as the end of

verse 7 says now both of those

images fire and angels are images

that the Bible uses to describe

judgment and the punishment of

evil

through these Christians will find

relief

Paul is pointing them to their

secure future in Jesus which will

make when God will make his

dwelling place with mankind

those wonderful promises that on

that day there will be no more

crying

no more pain

no more death

no more sin

and we will Christians will live in

the eternal glorious presence of

God

Paul says relief is coming

and then he goes on in verses 10 to

12 read those with me

on that day he he comes to be

glorified in his holy people and to

be marveled at among all those who

have believed this includes you

because you believed our testimony to

you with this in mind we constantly

pray for you

that our God may make you worthy of

his calling and that by his power he

may bring to fruition your every

desire for goodness and your every

deed prompted by faith

we pray this so that the name of

Jesus Christ Jesus may be glorified in

you and you in him according to the

grace of our God and the Lord Jesus

Christ

these verses speak of it the day that

Jesus will return and the rewards that

all Christians will receive

there are rewards both for the now in

this life and the not yet as we wait

for the future to be materialized

so let's first look at the rewards for

the not yet let's look at verse 10 where

it says on the day he comes to be

glorified in his holy people and to be

marveled at among all those who have

believed this includes you because you

believed our testimony to you

all the difficulties that we face in

this life for the name of Jesus will

fall into the background when we see the

weight of eternal glory that awaits us

it will make our problems disappear in

this life but it will help us fix our

eyes on Jesus even in the darkest of

days the imagery of is of Jesus the king

coming with crowds and crowds of people

watching him it's a little bit like a

bride walking into a church we had it

here just a few months ago the groom

standing up here with the pastor and

then the music starts the crowd are told

to stand for the bridal party and in

comes the bride every single eye is on

her little conversations in the pews

everyone remarking just how beautiful

she looks how wonderful the dress is and

suddenly the minute the groom sees the

bride all the nerves are gone the stress

of the day the stress of preparations

fall away as he stands and looks at his

beautiful bride and on that day when

Jesus comes all of his people will look

at him with awe and marvel at his

splendor and glory and you see what

Paul says verse 10 this includes you

Paul is saying look to the future return

of Jesus and be encouraged be strengthened

in your faith because you know that you

will be with him for eternity

so if that's the not yet element of these

glorious truths then Paul goes on to

speak about what it means for the lives

of Christians every day in verses 11 to

12 Paul says in light of the truth of

that glorious future from verse 10 that

he constantly prays for the Thessalonian

church for their day to day now what does

he pray verse 11 that our God may make

you worthy of his calling verse 11 that

by his power he may spring to fruition

your every desire for goodness verse 12

that Jesus may be glorified in them

these are things that we can pray for

one another and we should pray for one

another things that we can pray for the

persecuted church and that we can pray

for ourselves as believers now I would

encourage you to take these three things

from verses 11 and 12 and pray for three

Christians this week use the language of

the Bible and pray that God would work in

the lives of those three people who are

close to you and dear to you it will be a

massive encouragement to them text them

when you say you're praying for them as

well

these prayers of Paul show the importance of

how the truth of the Christian faith should

impact our daily lives the future promises of

eternal glory must be met with practical

everyday obedience in the Christian life

as we eagerly long for heaven and look to

the glorious future that awaits every

Christian we need to remember that we still

have work to do here and we must continue to

serve Jesus every day until the day that he

returns or we're called home

now how are we made worthy of our calling as

verse 11 says well we don't live the

Christian life we don't obey God in order

to be saved that's only possible through

Jesus but we live the Christian life the

obedient Christian life out of thankfulness

and praise for what God has already done for

us in Jesus we respond to what God has done

out of thankfulness to him all of the work

that we should be doing as a church and as

individual Christians should be out of a

desire to see God glorified to see Jesus

glorified our faith being worked out as a

declaration of praise to our great God which

in turn will be a witness to the watching world

around us because we're constantly pointing

people to Jesus it's that same attitude of

John the Baptist who in John 3 30 said that

Jesus and his fame must increase and John and

his fame his ministry must decrease because

Jesus is the focus of his life the life of a

Christian is one of humility that points to

Jesus giving him all the glory as we wait for

that wonderful day when we will see him and be

in his presence forever

so brothers and sisters look to the future

that awaits you as a Christian be in awe of

Jesus and how amazing it will be to spend

eternity in his presence and then put that

faith into action every single day

glorify him now as you serve this local

church glorify Jesus as you come alongside one

another and care for each other glorify Jesus as

you take the gospel to the world that needs him

and glorify Jesus by following God's word and

living obedient lives full of growth as we eagerly

await his return and pray these prayers for one

another pray for our persecuted brothers and

sisters across the world live daily for the glory of

God by the power of the spirit and point people to

Christ share the gospel freely because only in

Jesus can hope be found and no one can go too far for

forgiveness no one can out sin God's grace no one is

beyond the love of God but how will they know that if no

one tells them we may not live in Afghanistan with the

Taliban going door-to-door hunting Christians we may

not be in Iran where we need to hide and meet in secret but

we are in a spiritual battle where the world lives and

breathes a hatred for God and for Christians that can and

often does result in persecution and the oppression of

Christians how do we respond to that we need to remember that

God is not blind and we need to remember that there is not a

second of suffering that his people endure for his name that

he doesn't see and that doesn't grieve him we need to remember that

there are two futures the future of the wicked and of judgment and

eternal separation from God in hell and a future of the faithful one of

glorious union with Jesus that will last forever that future should impact how

we live now how we serve one another and how we think about pointing people to

Jesus with every opportunity we have let's pray together

heavenly father we thank you for your word we thank you that you have given us all that we need to

know to obey you all that we need to know to

respond with obedience to the gospel

father this evening we have covered both the hard news and the good news and I pray

that if we need to be unsettled that you would unsettle us

and settle us with the truth of judgment of sin and of a life without you

but father would you also comfort us that there is hope there is life that there is eternal life

in your perfect presence through Jesus Christ

and father would you help us live obediently to the gospel every single day

and point people to Jesus that is what you've created us to do

and help us serve you well by lifting the name of Jesus above every other name

for the upbuilding of your kingdom and for the glory of Christ we pray

amen