The Good Church Trusts God’s Judgment | The Church God Calls Good | Pastor Zach Weihrauch

second

Thessalonians 1:

1-2 Paul Sylvanas and Timothy to the

Church of the Thessalonians in God our

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace

to you and peace from God our Father and

the Lord Jesus Christ we ought always to

give thanks to God for you Brothers as

is right because your faith is growing

abundantly and the love of every one of

you for one another is increasing

therefore we ourselves boast about you

in the Churches of God for your

steadfastness and faith in all your

persecutions and in the afflictions that

you are enduring this is evidence of the

righteous Judgment of God that you may

be considered worthy of the kingdom of

God for which you are also suffering

since indeed God considers it just to

repay with Affliction those who afflict

you and to Grant relief to you who are

afflicted as well as to us when the Lord

Jesus is revealed from heaven with his

mighty Angels inflaming fire inflicting

Vengeance on those who do not know God

and on those who do not obey the gospel

of our Lord Jesus they will suffer the

punishment of Eternal destruction away

from the presence of the Lord and from

the glory of of his might when he comes

on that day to be glorified in his

Saints and to be marveled at among all

who have believed because our testimony

to you was believed to this end we

always pray for you that our God may

make you worthy of his calling and may

fulfill every resolve for good and every

work of Faith by his power so that the

name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified

in you and you in him according to the

grace of our God and the Lord Jes Jesus

Christ well hello and welcome to the

weekend gathering at Christ Community

Chapel my name is Zach I'm one of the

pastors here and I'm so glad you're here

with us this weekend as we continue our

fall sermon series looking at first and

second Thessalonians we are beginning

now this week second Thessalonians and I

guess that's a good place to start

because you know there's not a second of

every book in the the New Testament

there's not a second Ephesians or a

second Colossians or second Philippians

but there is a second Thessalonians

meaning Paul didn't just write one

letter to this church he wrote two and

that begs the question why write a

second letter what what's the reason for

that why did he feel that was necessary

and the answer we're going to find over

the next couple of weeks is that he has

two reasons for writing 2 Thessalonians

that the the first is that he has to

clarify some things that he says in

first Thessalonians there are some

things that he said in first

Thessalonians that have caused some

people to freak out a little bit and

he's got to come back with second

Thessalonians and explain a little more

and and we'll get to some of those

passages in the weeks to come but the

second reason he writes the follow-up

letter to the Thessalonian church is to

encourage them remember that this is a

church that is suffering because of

their faith this is a church that's

undergoing persecution it's a church who

is in constant need of Paul telling them

keep going don't give up hang in there

it will be worth it he's encouraging

them and so what I want you to keep in

mind is that Paul's goal in this passage

is to encourage the church that God

calls good and what we're going to look

for is whatever he's holding out to them

for encouragement should translate to

encourage us as well so if you have a

Bible would you open it to 2

Thessalonians uh you can take out your

your phone or a device a tablet of some

sort be happy to have you do that if

you're watching online you can open the

web browser uh 2 Thessalonians chapter 1

2 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

if you're new here and you didn't bring

a Bible and you'd like to use a Bible uh

I'd love to offer you one of the Pew

Bibles in front of you or in the back of

the room in East Hall and if you grab

one of those I can tell you that today's

reading is on page

930 I'm glad that you're here thanks for

coming but by the way the verses will

also be on the screen behind me as we go

through uh I'm going to use three points

as an outline to guide our time together

three things that I think we need to

lean into to understand the

encouragement that's here for us in 2

2 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 1 and those three

points are very simple and alliterated

for those of you that enjoy that like me

those three points are this I want to

talk about truth timing and trajectory

truth timing and trajectory all right

let's start with the first one truth

this passage is about an

uncomfortable topic by the way last time

I preached my topic was

death and this week my topic is judgment

and and don't feel sorry for me though I

I was going to get mad at somebody this

week and then I remembered that I'm the

one that planned this false preaching

calendar so I have only to blame myself

for giving myself these topics the topic

here is Judgment the truth that Paul is

wanting to convey is about God's

judgment and the reason I use the

heading truth is because this is a topic

we don't like to talk about in

2024 this is a topic that churches like

to avoid that Christians like to pretend

isn't in there it's one of those

doctrines that you kind of put your

hands over your ears and over your eyes

and just kind of say no no no no no no

so that it doesn't somehow get in there

we don't like to think about or talk

about or hear sermons about or if I'm

honest preach sermons about judgment but

I want you to see it is

inescapably in the Bible there it is

it's in the Bible by the way let me say

this before I read it I've spent most of

my educational career studying

worldviews and philosophies and other

religions and how they compare and

contrast that's kind of what I nerd out

on and in all my studying the one

worldview that stands out to me as the

most

ridiculous the one philosophy that I

just think is completely backwards and

ignorant the one religion that makes

absolute sense if I'm honest I absolute

nonsense if I'm honest is what I'll call

Nom

Christianity it's a Christianity that

that that takes some of the Bible

seriously and and in other parts of the

Bible not so

seriously it's the it's the kind of

Christianity that says I like the parts

about Grace and forgiveness and mercy

but not the parts about judgment friends

if you were to take out all the sections

of the Bible about judgment I want you

to know you wouldn't have much Bible

left

you'd lose parts of

Genesis the whole first half of

Exodus you'd lose Joshua for sure judges

definitely all the Minor Prophets would

be gone whole sections of the gospels

there goes Matthew

25 Mark 13 you'd lose Paul's sermon in

Acts 17 you definitely lose the entire

Book of Revelation you get my

point so either we believe the Bible and

believe it is God's revelation to us and

it is the way he communicates to us and

with us and guides us or we don't and

either one of those viewpoints makes

sense to me logically the one that

doesn't is the picking and choosing

because the same Bible that says

everything I want to hold on to is the

same one that says this beginning in

verse 5 this is what Paul says this is

evidence of the righteous Judgment of

God

that you may be considered worthy of the

kingdom of God for which you are also

suffering since indeed God considers it

just to repay with Affliction those who

afflict you and to Grant relief to you

who are afflicted as well to us when the

Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with

his mighty Angels INF flaming fire

inflicting Vengeance on those who do not

know God and on those who do not obey

the gospel of Our Lord Jesus they will

suffer the punishment of Eternal

destruction away from the presence of

the Lord and from the glory of his might

I mean there it is it's inescapable it's

unavoidable there it is literally in

black and white and I want you to see

that this passage isn't just talking

about God's judgment it's telling us

three things about God's judgment that I

just want to hit quickly those three

things are this that God's judgment is

certain do you see in this passage

there's no if then there's no

conditional statement there's no if we

don't figure it out if we don't get our

act in order I I if we would just do

this it wouldn't happen no no no he he

speaks with certainty there's a day

fixed in human

history where it will be the

end and Jesus Will judge all peoples who

have lived in all times and all places

God's judgment is certain the second

thing I want you to see that he says is

that God's judgment is

awful now the Bible uses a lot of

metaphorical language when it talks

about judgment it'll use words like like

fire and smoke and sulfur and then if

I'm honest even Bible scholars will say

it is tough to tell when it's being

literal and when it's being figurative

but even if the words fire and sulfur

and smoke are figurative they don't

figure something

positive but the most damning thing

about hell is what he says here in 2

Thessalonians 1 that it is a place from

which God will turn his

back but the

finality of Hell the finality of those

who face God's judgment and receive

negative results is that they will be

separated from God and that is the most

terrible thing you could ever

imagine it is certain it is awful and

then finally it is

eternal there have been some throughout

the history of the church who have

sought to kind of neutralize this

Doctrine to minimize it to make it a

little more palatable and what they'll

say is that well what happens on the day

of judgment is is that God will separate

those that belong to him and and those

who do not and those who do not will

just simply cease to exist but that is

not the picture here in 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 the language here of Eternal

destruction implies that as God turns

away from people in whatever sense he

means they begin to disintegrate they

begin to come undone but the process of

becoming undone is forever

and this is the

Bible this is the book on which we pin

all of our hopes of knowing that God

loves us that God will forgive us that

God will include us that God has a

kingdom that there's a place for us it's

the same book that tells us God's

judgment is certain it is awful and it

is

eternal we cannot be a church that

covers our ears or eyes in the face of

truth no matter how difficult it is to

preach or to

hear now it would be fair at this point

for you to say no hold on a second Zach

you started this sermon by saying Paul

writes 2 Thessalonians to encourage them

and I'm not finding a lot of

encouragement in this and that's fair

that's a fair fair point and actually

the tension there between hold on a

second why does he write to encourage

enage them and to write about judgment

is the key to understanding this passage

and actually if you would you can just

look if you have a Bible open at the

first couple of verses you'll see I'm

not going to read them for time's sake

but he's effusive in his encouragement

he is very happy he's writing about

judgment he's in a good

mood he wants to say good things to them

and the first good thing he has to say

to them is that God's judgment is

certain it is awful and it is eternal so

that that that begs the question that

might be true but what in the world is

going on second point with Paul's

timing why is he bringing up judgment in

when he's trying to encourage them and

here's what I want you to understand and

what I've been praying all week you

might get for the very first time when

you understand what the Bible teaches

about God's judgment correctly you will

understand it is meant to be a doctrine

that encourages

you it really is it is meant to

encourage you and I know you might say

well why how what do you mean how in the

world could it encourage me and I have

three answers to that and they are that

in judgment what Paul is saying that on

the day of judgment God is saying three

very powerful things to you on the day

of judgment here they are he's saying I

see you I see them and welcome in I want

you to hear this God on the day of

judgment is saying three things I see

you I see them and welcome in let's just

start with I see you on the day of

judgment there is an accounting whereby

God

acknowledges all that we have done in

obedience to him look at what Paul says

in in uh second uh 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 he says this in verse six

since indeed God considers it just to

repay with Affliction those who to

afflict you listen and to Grant relief

to you who are afflicted as well as to

us Paul says there's something about the

day of judgment that is meant to be a

relief and elsewhere the Bible will tell

us that relief comes in the form of God

acknowledging all the things that you

and I have done in obedience and in

trust to him and the reason why that's

so important is because so often those

things go seeming ly

unnoticed think about how many times you

have done something under the conviction

that it is what God has wanted you to do

and you have not gotten anything good as

a

result think about all the times you

have not done something that everyone

else was doing or that you wanted to do

or that made sense to you because God

told you no and you still are waiting to

see some kind of positive result about

that think about all the stands you have

taken in little ways and in big ways

where you woke up the next day feeling

just the same and how many times have

you wondered God are you seeing me are

you paying attention to me do you see

what I'm doing when can I hope for some

kind of acknowledgement and the Bible

says that acknowledgement comes on the

day of

judgment Jesus says it this way in

Matthew 25 he says on the day of

judgment he will separate people into

two categories the sheep and the goats

and to the Sheep he will say you visited

me when I was sick you took care of me

when I was in need you visited me when I

was in jail he'll go through this long

list you clothed me when I was naked you

fed me when I was hungry and they will

say Lord when did we do these things and

he will say when you did it to the least

of these you did it unto me do you know

what he's saying he's saying I saw

you I saw you when you went on those h

hospital visits when you went on those

jail visits when you were feeding when

you cut back on the family budget so

that you could be generous to your

neighbor I know you didn't think I was

paying attention but I was Brothers and

Sisters in Christ hear me on the day of

judgment God will be saying to you I am

here to reward you I see you not a

single thing you do for him will be

wasted not a single stand you take will

go

unnoticed the second thing though that

he's saying about the day of judgment is

not just that he sees you but that he

sees them do you remember he's writing

to a church that is suffering he's

writing to a church that's being

persecuted which is why in verse 6 he

says since indeed God considers it just

to repay with Affliction those who

afflict you now listen I want to get

really serious here for a second second

I've told you this story before but I'm

going to tell it to you again I was once

sitting down with a young lady sharing

the Gospel of Jesus with her and I could

tell I mean I I could just tell she

believed everything that the Bible was

saying about

Jesus she believed he was the son of God

she believed he died for her she

believed he rose from the dead she

believed that through him she could have

eternal life but she was unwilling to

call herself a Christian she was

unwilling to surrender and so I finally

asked her hey what is holding you

back and she looked at me and she said

listen I know if I become a

Christian Jesus will want me to forgive

my abusive

father she said I grew up in an abusive

home I was abused my entire

childhood and I know if I give my life

to Jesus he'll want me to forgive him

and then she said this and if I forgive

him he gets away with everything

maybe that's your

story friends do you know what the day

of judgment is telling

you no one gets

away with

anything there's a reckoning

coming there's a reckoning coming when

you read about Jesus coming back with

angels and and fire and

Vengeance it's because every victim

every person who's been hurt every

victim of abuse every victim of betrayal

every victim of crime every victim who's

ever been was made in the image of God

and as one man said a long time ago

Justice delayed is not Justice denied

the day of judgment is a reckoning for

those who have hurt you it isn't just

God saying I see you it's God saying I

see them

and the third thing the day of judgment

offers us is God saying welcome in verse

10 is one of the most beautiful verses

In this passage it says this when he

comes on that day to be glorified in his

Saints and to be marveled at among all

who have

believed because our testimony to you

was believed the day of judgment is a

day where those who have believed in

Jesus Will Marvel at him here's the

metaphor that comes to mind for me I had

a kid this week who was trying out for a

sports team at their school and as a

parent that's always you know we felt

pretty good because this kid played that

sport last year at the same school and

you know they're not the best on the

team they're not the worst on the team

and you know being in the middle is

where W Rocks live so we're comfortable

with

that so we felt pretty good first day I

picked this kid up from tryouts you know

it's just first day of tryouts I say how

did it go and they're telling me it was

pretty good and we're I was asking them

how many kids were better than you how

many kids were worse than you you know

where do you think you stacked we were

we were feeling good we were positive we

were optimistic we were feeling good but

the next day I picked that kid up was

the day where you knew where you found

out and this kid got in the car and my

wife had already said have them call me

if they made the team but if they didn't

make the team don't have them call

me not because she didn't want to talk

to him but because you would to let him

breathe a little bit so this kid gets in

the car and I'm like

so and they said oh I made the team I

said that's awesome tell me about it

they said' oh the coach pulled everyone

aside the coach looked at me and said

hey you made the

team we were already feeling good about

it we were already pretty optimistic but

there's something different when the

coach says to

you you're

in friends do you know if you're born

again in Jesus that's what's going to

happen for you on the day of Jud

judement you know you're forgiven right

you know you believe you feel good about

it you know God loves you you know God

has a place for you but on the day of

judgment is the moment where he will

look at you and

say welcome

in this is what I'm really trying to say

listen we have to acknowledge that the

reason why the doctrine of judgment sits

so poorly with us not the only reason

but the major reason is because most of

us have lived privileged lives where

judgment doesn't seem

necessary because the truth is when

you've been

hurt you know that if God loves you at

all there has to be a reckoning you know

when doing the right thing costs you

that if God loves you at all there has

to be an

accounting the day of judgment is a

doctrine of encouragement because God is

saying to us I see you I see them and

welcome

in but that leads me to my third point

which is to say that the point of this

passage is not just to give us truth and

not just to give us truth in a way that

encourages us but is to remind us that

the trajectory of all of our Lives is to

this

day everyone here whether we realize it

or not is moving towards this day

everyone here is moving towards judgment

that is certain and awful and eternal

everyone here is moving this

way which means that what Paul also has

in mind is not just the people he can

encourage with the good news of judgment

but those he's worried will not hear

good news on the day of judgment those

who are not finding them M themselves in

Jesus that's why he says this to the

Thessalonians at the very end in verse

11 and 12 he says to this end we always

pray for you that our God may make you

worthy of his calling and may fulfill

every resolve for good and every work of

Faith by his power so that the name of

our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you

and you in him according to the grace of

our God and the Lord Jesus Christ he's

saying we're praying for you that God's

glory would shine through you why

because Paul had given his entire life

to this idea that the day of judgment is

coming for everyone which means the day

of Escape is

now so I'm praying that you will

continue to fight that you will continue

to follow Jesus that you'll continue to

live out your faith so that those around

you might one day have the same

encouragement you have of the day of

judgment he has in mind here that one of

the reasons the Bible talks so much

about judgment is because the entire

Bible is what God has done to help you

escape

judgment in fact you could put it this

way that in the Bible there are two

great days of

judgment one is the day we've spent most

of our time this weekend talking about

the day when we die and we stand before

God the final day of judgment we give an

account for our Our Lives we answer for

our sins for our

victims but the other day of

judgment was the day that Jesus Christ

the son of God went to the

cross on our

behalf the other day of judgment was the

day that God made him to borrow from

Paul in another book made him who knew

no sin to become sin in order that we

might become the righteousness of God

when Jes Jesus the perfect sinless man

went to the cross and came up under the

Judgment of God when Jesus became

separated from the father so that he

would cry out on the cross my God my God

why have you forsaken me when Jesus

underwent the thing that makes hell hell

because he became your sin and mine in

order that he might die in our place in

order that when he rose from the dead he

might say to us there are two days of

judgment choose with which one you

want the one where you speak for

you or the one where I speak for

you so if you're here and you're a

Christian listen what the Bible is

saying to you here in this passage is to

find encouragement in the day of

judgment but also to be sobered up by

the idea that the day of judgment one

day waits for every friend every family

member every colleague that your prayer

would be God do in and through me in the

things I say and the things I do and the

things I don't do in the transformation

of my life do something that gets their

attention do something that helps them

to see the day of judgment when Jesus

was on the cross before they see the day

of judgment where they answer to

you but friends if you're

here and you do not have a relationship

with Jesus I want you to see that In

this passage the dividing line on the

day of judgment is not who's good and

who's bad who came to church and who

didn't not any of that this is the

dividing line according to 2

Thessalonians it says this in verse 7

and to Grant relief to you who are

afflicted as well as to us when the Lord

Jesus is revealed from heaven with his

mighty angels and flaming fire

inflicting Vengeance on those who do not

know God and on those who do not obey

the gospel of our Lord Jesus the

dividing line of human history

is what you do with

Jesus Oh for a generation of Christians

who believe that more than thinking that

the dividing line of human history is

who votes Republican and who votes

Democrat the dividing line of human

history is what you do with Jesus the

day of judgment is certain for us all

won't you today decide that your day of

judgment is when Jesus died for your

sins receive his forgiveness and his

mercy and his

grace and be included in his kingdom so

that one day you don't fear the end but

you see it as the day where God himself

because of Jesus will say I see you I

see them and welcome in let me pray for

us father

God thank you for the doctrine of

judgment thank you for telling us the

truth thank you for warning

us a Bible that didn't speak of judgment

wouldn't be because judgment isn't

coming it would be because you didn't

love us enough to tell

us God help us as Christians to pick up

this truth that we have put down to be

reminded that our hope that you see our

our our obedience that you see what

we're doing is in the day of judgment

Our Hope of Justice for those who have

heard us is in the day of judgment that

all that is waiting for us is to hear

welcome

it but oh God for those who are here

apart from

Jesus that they might today turn to him

before they stand before you in his name

we pray amen