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To This End We Always Pray For You · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you guys have your Bibles, you can open to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 1, our text this morning is verses 5-12. I'll read that in just a moment. But I want to say thank you to the worship team, to Sam for your leadership, to Adam and Michael upstairs for serving the body in that way. I love that last song, I really do. It comes straight out of Scripture. It's Revelation 22. The Bible actually ends what we just sang. Revelation 22, verse 16.
• 0:29
  I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root, the descendant of David, the bright morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come. Let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires to take the water of life without price. He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
• 0:56
  And the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. That's how the Bible ends. And it says if the idea is, man, you're supposed to be left with this great sense of anticipation for the return of Christ. And that is exactly what we'll be talking about in our passage this morning. The difficult thing about our passage this morning is that it definitely indicates that the people who should be looking forward to the return of Christ are those who know Him. And that for everyone else who is outside,
• 1:27
  Of the grace of god and really more accurately has refused the grace of god probably are not looking forward to that day First thessalonians, sorry second thessalonians chapter 1 verses 5 to 12. Allow me to read it We'll pray and begin and beginning in verse 5 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
• 1:56
  as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in 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 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.
• 2:24
  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. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand your truth. God, may we not shy away from preaching the whole counsel of God. Lord, we believe.
• 2:52
  in grace and mercy and love and compassion and forgiveness, but God, those pale, if not for the equally important truths of judgment and punishment apart from the blood of Jesus. Lord, heaven is a shadow apart from the reality of hell. And so, Lord, may we understand the severity of our own sin this morning and what punishment that sin deserves so that we can rejoice even the more.
• 3:23
  because of what Jesus has done for us to save us from it. And it's in His name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, this morning we reach a passage, and if you're new with us, I hope that you understand that we kind of preach through the Bible verse by verse, and so I cannot, I do not have the luxury of skipping difficult topics. We come to a passage this morning, 2 Thessalonians 1, and specifically verse 9, which is hotly debated in churches today.
• 3:54
  Many even, many pastors and teachers even shying away from the idea of hell and particularly the eternality of hell. And if you're new with us, I just want to encourage you to come back. I was reminded this morning from Pastor Sam and I appreciated his reminder and encouragement. I was talking with the worship team this morning about our passage this morning and judgment and hell and all of that stuff, the doctrine of hell.
• 4:24
  And he just said, Danny, we've been praying as a worship team that the truth would be preached and that as Jesus said it would, the truth would set people free. Even the liberty that we feel in understanding the fullness of our God, that he is every bit as much a God of judgment as he is and justice as he is a God of grace and mercy. And so allow me to begin. We began our study last Sunday with an introduction to the second letter.
• 4:53
  to the Thessalonian church, a congregation planted, we said last week, in the midst of religious pluralism, compromise, and a lack of conviction. You'll recall that this young group of Thessalonian believers were commended, and in fact, our text yesterday even said bragged about that Paul himself even boasted about this young church to other churches because of their growing faith. They studied the word more and more and applied it to their life. He also commended them for their increasing love.
• 5:23
  not only for one another, but also for those outside of the church, for outsiders as well, that they did not turn up their nose in disgust at sin. They were not disgusted by sin, but rather heartbroken by it. They were commended for an enduring hope, even in suffering. And Paul's second letter to the church, the one before us this morning, was written to answer three questions primarily. Why persecution, which we'll deal with this morning.
• 5:54
  When will Christ return? That will be next week in chapter 2. And what do we do with people in the church who have lost their motivation for holy living and have grown idle? And this morning's passage deals specifically with the church's first question. Why is there suffering? Why is there persecution? In today's vernacular, it would come out this way. The church has been telling me for 40 years that God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life.
• 6:24
  We have passed out tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of gospel tracks that begin that way. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The church has been telling me this for decades. The church has also been telling me that God is all-knowing and therefore must see my suffering. We would say, well, yes. And then the church has gone on to explain that God is all-powerful.
• 6:53
  and must therefore have the ability to stop my suffering if he wanted to and we would say yes so what gives my current suffering forces me to assume either that one of those three premises must not actually be true god must not love me or he must not all be knowing or he must not have the ability to stop my suffering which is what a vast majority of humans have concluded or
• 7:22
  We must assume that God must have a reason to put me through it. A reason that I should endure suffering that either I don't understand or I can't see. In 1952, a young lady named Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters off of the Pacific Ocean near Catalina Island, determined to swim to the shore of mainland California. About 26 miles.
• 7:52
  She'd already been the first woman to swim across the English Channel both directions. The weather was foggy and chilly, and she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. And still, she swam for 15 hours without stopping. She begged to be taken out of the water along the way, and her mother, who was in a boat alongside, kept telling her she was close and that she could make it. But finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out.
• 8:22
  It wasn't until she was on the boat that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day, she said, all I could see was the fog. She said, I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it. And my goal this morning is to make sure that we can see the shore. Our sermon title is taken straight from verse 11 of our text, where Paul says to this end, we always.
• 8:51
  pray for you to this end we pray now to what end does paul refer our conclusion according to the text must be that the lord has a reason for suffering and persecution and this is the goal of our faith that paul is praying for this is the end this is the shore that amidst suffering and persecution he wants to cut away the fog so that we can see the end so that we are able to endure we'll begin this morning by developing a brief
• 9:21
  theology of suffering taken straight from god's word and if you're taking notes feel free to write these references down as i go we will not for sake of time be turning to each of them i will simply recite them but a theology of suffering and a very simple one what is suffering what is the goal of the christian faith according to scripture number one god's goal for his children is maturity
• 9:43
  What he wants for each of us is maturity. That's what he wants. He wants stable, grounded, fruit-producing Christians. That is the goal of his faith. I'm sorry, his goal for our faith. His goal is maturity. Ephesians 4, verse 11 says, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
• 10:06
  for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood. What he wants from each of us is maturity. That's number one. His goal for our lives, our faith, is maturity. Second, God is more concerned with your character than he is with your comfort. God is more concerned with your character than he is with your comfort. James 1, verse 2.
• 10:35
  count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness count it all joy he's more concerned with your character than he is with your comfort third premise that we'll be working with in our theology of suffering is that god never wastes suffering suffering is never wasted romans chapter 5 verse 3 we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces
• 11:07
  endurance and endurance produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because god's love has been poured into our hearts the word for suffering in romans chapter 5 and verse 3 is the greek word flipsis flipsis was used of olive oil extraction okay so the olives would be put into a press and as that press would smash down on those olives the oil that was produced
• 11:36
  was usable right it produced something it wasn't just smashing olives for the fun of it it was producing something and that's the idea he says we are like olives in the olive press as the suffering comes as persecution comes what is extracted is usable he never wastes our suffering forth and last the future promise is greater than the present suffering
• 12:04
  because our earthly suffering is always temporary what i want you to notice about verse 11 is the word end there will be an end no matter what you're going through there will be an end the shore is not far away the future promise is greater than the present suffering because suffering is always temporary romans chapter 8 verse 18 for i consider that the sufferings of this present
• 12:30
  Time, other translations use the word momentary. The momentary sufferings that we are enduring are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. In other words, whatever awful things we endure on earth, they are nothing compared with the glory that is heaven. There will be a day when no matter what we've endured here will be less than a vapor compared to what we will experience there.
• 13:00
  When you consider, again, verse 11 of our text, to this end, from heaven's perspective, suffering's end is always in view. God wants us to see the shore, and this shore will be the focus of our study this morning. Why suffering? And the first reason comes in verse 5, because suffering provides proof of our legitimacy as children of God.
• 13:29
  Suffering provides proof of our legitimacy as children of God. Look at verse 5. This is evidence. Evidence of the righteous judgment of God that may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering. Evidence. Proof. Plain indication. I think New American Standard uses the sure token of. The sure token of your faith. Now this does not mean that the suffering endured.
• 14:00
  earns salvation but rather that the willingness of believers to endure suffering for the sake of christ becomes a sure sign that they are genuinely saved right because only a genuine believer in jesus would walk through suffering for his name's sake if we didn't genuinely believe the gospel then there's no way we would ever agree to suffer for it next chapter 14 one of my favorite stories of the apostle paul next chapter 14 the apostle paul is on his first missionary journey he goes to three
• 14:31
  famous cities, Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe. And when he's in the third one, I'm sorry. No, when he's in Lystra in Acts chapter 14, in Lystra, he walks in, he begins to preach. The people are stirred into a frenzy. There's this riot and uproar against the apostle Paul. They begin throwing stones at him. They hit him with so many rocks that they presume him to be dead. They drag him outside of the city gates and they leave him out in the desert.
• 15:00
  to die if he's not already dead. There are some commentators that believe there's a possibility he may have actually died out there. But the Bible says in Acts chapter 14 that he rose up, whether that was from the dead or presumed to be dead, and then came back and was revitalized, walked back into Lystra and began preaching again. Now, I don't know about you, but if I began preaching and the people there got so angry that they stoned me to death,
• 15:30
  if god gave me new life i would not be walking back in there right i'd be shaking the dust off of my feet i'd be going somewhere else right the door's closed lord but that's not what the apostle paul does he goes back into lystra and it says that he begins to appoint elders in every church in the region he walks in there
• 15:52
  Right? He finds these little churches all over and begins to appoint elders. Now here's my question. And then he begins to preach and it says in Acts 14 that the apostle says through many tribulations, through many struggles, persecutions, we must enter the kingdom of God. So in other words, he gives the promise that the way they treated me is the way that they will treat you. Who wants to be an elder? Right? And it says that people do it. He appoints elders in every church.
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  And these guys actually sign up. My question is, who on earth would sign up for that job? You have to assume that some of them were treated the way that the Apostle Paul was treated. They threw rocks at them, right? Who would sign up for that? And I think the answer is those who believe. Who are those who actually believe what they're preaching? Otherwise, they wouldn't sign up. Do you see what he means when he says this is the evidence, your willingness to endure suffering?
• 16:52
  is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you are actually worthy of his calling. The only people who would volunteer for suffering would be those who actually believe that theology of suffering that we just described. Provides proof. Second, God's promise of temporary suffering is given only to those who know him. Now, this is the part that gets a little sticky and is a little hard for people to swallow.
• 17:24
  But nevertheless, is the truth revealed? God's promise of temporary suffering is given only to those who know his son. Notice verses 6 and 7. God promises to repay the enemies of Christ, but also to relieve the body of Christ. Verse 6, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief.
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  to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels. To repay and to grant relief. Now that word relief is the same word as rest. It's the same word as relax. Relax. He provides rest. The undying promise of Scripture is that as long as God's children suffer, they can rest assured that they have not missed.
• 18:23
  You may recall from last week that this church had been thrown into confusion because several false teachers had come. There were even some letters that had been written claiming to be from the Apostle Paul teaching this young church that they had missed the return of Christ. You remember this from last week? They had missed it. Either Jesus had forgotten them or their faith lacked genuineness because they said, he's already come and gotten his church. He left you behind. And so they must have thought, well, maybe it was through lack of faith.
• 18:53
  Couple that with this new persecution being poured out on the church, that honeymoon phase of their faith in Christ had worn off. And so now persecution is being poured out on this young Thessalonian church. They were in despair. And he says, instead, don't despair over the suffering and persecution that you're enduring. Instead, rejoice in it because the promise of scripture is that when Jesus comes back, the suffering of the church will end.
• 19:23
  So if you're enduring suffering, what that means is He has not forgotten you. He just hasn't come back yet. The Lord promises rest to His hurting people. The suffering of the people of God, and this is a great promise of Scripture, the suffering of the people of God will cease when they see the Son of God. And so take heart, Christians. No matter what you're enduring, there will be rest when you see Jesus face to face.
• 19:55
  I love the song that we've begun singing here at the church. Come to the altar. It says, are you burdened and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin, Jesus is calling. And I truly believe in Romans chapter 5 says that no one who has ever put their meager life into Christ's mighty hands will ever be disappointed. I love that in that passage that we just read on suffering from Romans chapter 5, it says that this suffering produces hope and hope will not.
• 20:28
  Hope will not disappoint. I think the message there is, the indication there is that we will not get to heaven and think, you know what? This was not worth everything that I endured. Heaven, he says, will not be a disappointment to you. Hope does not disappoint. That's first. There is this relief promised in verse 7 to those who believe, but...
• 20:56
  There is eternal suffering promised to those who have rejected his son. If you continue in verse eight, in flaming fire, he will return with his mighty angels in 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 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints.
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  to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed. Now, for sake of time, and because it really is the word that is debated today in churches, we will focus on one word in verse 9. It's the word eternal. Eternal. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction. Isn't eternal destruction unfair?
• 21:57
  should people be punished for eternity based on their rejection of the gospel why must it be eternal there is a popular movement preached in many pulpits today that denies the eternality of hell they would say isn't it much more palatable to teach that hell only lasts a little while and the answer to that may be yes but that doesn't make it true why can't we believe that people suffer for a little while in hell
• 22:29
  and then either make their way eventually to heaven or are snuffed out altogether. Now, this first view that you begin in hell and make your way eventually to heaven is held widely among universalists like Rob Bell. Rob Bell, the unofficial founder of the emergent church, teaches that. What's interesting is so do some Catholics because there's not much difference between this view.
• 23:01
  and traditional purgatory. Basically what it is. You're stuck down there for a while, you eventually work your way out. Now the second view, and that is that you're snuffed out altogether, is commonly called annihilationism, that you are annihilated. This view has been made popular by teachers such as John Stott, who honestly is one of my favorite commentators. He's since, in the last few years, gone to be with the Lord, I believe.
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  I believe absolutely knew the gospel and I believe was an error on this point. This annihilationist doctrine. Also, a big modern day writer, contemporary of ours, a man named Clark Pinnock. He's another guy who teaches this annihilationism viewpoint. Why can't we just believe in a temporary hell?
• 23:53
  would sure make, it seems, the gospel a lot easier to swallow. Why not? And I'm going to give you guys some points here, and I hope that you're able to keep up. We're going to get academic here for just a minute, okay? A few reasons. Why can hell not be temporary? Number one, because the Bible teaches that it's not. First and foremost, Romans 6.23 sets eternal life against the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, contrast these two using a conjunction, the conjunction of contrast.
• 24:23
  But eternal life on one side, the wages of sin being death on the other side, it puts them as equal and opposites. But the wages of sin is death, right? On one side, eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Eternal life must be contrasted by eternal death. Also, in all of his teaching on hell, Jesus never once comforted his audience with the thought that the suffering would be temporary. In fact,
• 24:55
  Matthew 25, verse 41, the famous sheep and goats passage, Jesus used the exact same word used here, eternal, the Greek word aeon, identical to describe the eternality of hell. The only time suffering is promised as temporary is when the audience is genuine believers. That's the only time it's ever talked about in God's word as temporary is when it's in reference to those who know Christ. The suffering will end.
• 25:23
  otherwise it's always viewed as eternal second why can't we believe in a temporary hell second because a temporary hell cheapens the depravity of man in order for any man to claim that his sin does not deserve eternal punishment he must not understand the depths of his own depravity right any man who says i don't deserve to go forever doesn't understand the severity of sin my son and i my oldest son and i got into a
• 25:55
  A talk that I wish, honestly, I never had to have with any of my boys, explaining to them the depths, the atrocity of abortion. We've seen this last week, that New York passed their most recent law on abortion as a state, passed overwhelmingly in both the state senate and congress, that they illuminated the tower on top of the One World Tower, their new and largest tower in Manhattan.
• 26:27
  pink to celebrate this new law on abortion. And he asked me this question, why would people celebrate when in essence boils down to murder? And I said, well, they don't believe it is murder. He said, but if the baby's heart is beating and it's only a moment from taking its first breath and is prevented from doing so, then isn't that murder? Well, I believe that it is. I believe that scripture says that it is. And honestly, you guys, I know that this is a difficult.
• 27:00
  topic to breach because i know that it's affected this particular has even affected people in this room and i don't want to be insensitive at all toward you or toward the decisions that you made and i know that there are people who are hurting because of it he said but dad even non-christians wouldn't murder someone i said really is it really that humans just have this innate desire for life that we want others to prosper and thrive
• 27:33
  I don't think that's how we are. Honestly, I said, bud, the only reason I think some people don't murder other people is because they know they'd get caught. There's punishment for it. And because there's punishment for it, they're prevented, or at least, not prevented, but persuaded not to do so. I said, I'll bet if there was no law and no punishment, people would be killing each other all the time. I do believe that we are only one shipwreck away from Lord of the Flies.
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  That's it, right? No law, absolute anarchy. And the reason is because murder already resides in our hearts. It's already in there. Jesus said, if you're even angry, even angry, that's the seed of it. And left unchecked, any of us, apart from the grace of God, would be able, capable of doing the most atrocious things on earth. Right? Six of you agree? I know my own heart. I'm capable of horrible things. Apart from law.
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  apart from the thought of punishment and apart from the grace of God, making me a new man. I'm capable of horrific things. Things which, if I'm honest, deserve to be prohibited from the presence of God. It cheapens the depravity of man, a temporary hell. Third, a temporary hell cheapens the blood of Jesus. If there is any other way to heaven, even if that way is through the gates of hell, then Jesus died for nothing.
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  The night before he died, Jesus is praying in the garden and saying, Father, if there is any other way, please let this cup pass. If there is any other way, the father's response must have been, there's not. Can you imagine the type of father who would say to his son, you know what, there is another way, but I'm going to make you do it anyway.
• 29:45
  right there is another way and granted it's through hell but you know what people deserve it anyway so let him go to hell for a while and then jesus just skipped the cross because they could if they wanted to go through hell long enough that eventually they'd make their way here anyway if that was possible then what kind of father sends his son to the cross anyway the answer must have been there is no other way this is it a temporary hell cheapens the blood of jesus but a temporary hell also forth cheapens the sovereignty and authority of god
• 30:17
  It cheapens the sovereignty and authority of God. The most frequent argument I hear from annihilationists regarding the temporal nature of hell is that the punishment should fit the crime. The punishment should fit the crime. However, the severity of a crime
• 30:33
  is determined less by the nature of that action and much more by the authority of who that action was against. Let me say that again. The severity of a crime is determined less by the nature of that action and much more by the authority of who that action was against. Let me illustrate. If I walked up to Pastor Sam and I punched him in the face, probably shake it off with a laugh, but let's assume that I can punch relatively hard, okay? I punch him in the face, I could be arrested for assault.
• 31:06
  right? Now let's assume that I walk up to one of our deputies or officers in this church and take the same exact action, same action, same step, same right hook, same the whole thing. But now the man that I punch is a deputy. Same action is punished more severely, right? It's beyond assault. Now it's assault on an officer and I'd be in trouble, right? Now let's assume
• 31:35
  That I do the exact same thing, but I find out the man that I just punched in the face is our president. Same exact, same step, same right, the whole thing. I'm even more trouble, right? Does that make sense? The severity of the action is determined less by that action and more by the authority of who was violated, right? Now let's think about God Almighty. When we sin, when we sin, we violate.
• 32:07
  Specifically, what attribute of God? The authority of God, right? What is it about God that cannot, what attribute about God cannot tolerate sin in his presence? It's his holiness, right? It's his holiness, which is praised and sung about.
• 32:24
  Day and night by those cherubim flying around, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. You are completely and altogether separate. Sin cannot reside in your presence. When we sin, we violate the holiness of God. Does that make sense? Everybody following so far? How holy is God? Infinitely holy, right? He is infinitely holy, which means sin against him violates that holiness to an infinite degree because he's infinitely holy. Everybody follow that?
• 32:57
  An infinite violation. Even the smallest sin, even the smallest breaking of the law, going around the law, rebellion against God, even the smallest is an infinite, even though it may, from our perspective, look very small. Little and white sins, we call them. Even though from our perspective, it looks very small, from the authority of God, from his holiness and infinite holiness, it is an infinite violation.
• 33:21
  infinite violation to say that hell only should last for a little while cheapens the sovereignty and authority of god we're basically telling god you should just get over it get over it that's second the punishment the suffering is promised relief to those who believe but is promised eternal to those who refuse the grace of god third and last notice
• 33:58
  verses 11 and 12 the future focus of suffering the future focus of suffering the apostle directs the church's attention godward and heavenward notice verse 11 to this and we always pray for you that our god may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good work and every work of faith by his power
• 34:23
  The goal of Paul's prayer is that the suffering of the church will produce a progressive sanctification over the course of time, becoming more and more like Christ within the church. Because the end goal of suffering is sanctification. Sanctification and glorification is the shore that is often difficult to see.
• 34:44
  And by remaining faithful, the church will be determined to be worthy of his calling. He continues in verse 11 by saying that they would fulfill their resolve for good works. In other words, that the passions of their hearts would begin to reflect more accurately the passionate heart of God. They would want to do what God does. And last, verse 12 says 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.
• 35:16
  The last thing that our suffering accomplishes is that the Lord be glorified. And this we know is the chief end of man, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And suffering is a part of the human experience. If you're not suffering currently, there will be a day that you do. And on that day, do not be discouraged because of the fog. The shore may only be a short distance away. And this is the end that Paul prayed for.
• 35:47
  He prayed for the completion of our sanctification for Christ's sake so that we could endure. Let me pray. God, thank you for this text. And thank you, Lord, for the truth. And may the truth set us free. Even the truth that is difficult to swallow. Even the truth that many in our culture are choking on. God, may we receive your grace so that we can endure suffering. That it will be one day relieved.
• 36:17
  God, may heaven be that much sweeter and brighter because of the reality of hell. Lord, we love you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.