Christ Will Come Again

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Revelation 4:8-11
• Hymn — Joy to the World
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 John 1:9
• Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40:9-11 and Revelation 22:12, 20
• Hymn — Man of Sorrows, What a Name
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — O Quickly Come, Dread Judge of All
• Sermon
• Hymn — Amazing Grace
• Benediction — 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

---

Sermon Title: Christ Will Come Again

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

I. Christ's Second Coming Means Just Retribution for the Enemies of God

A. The passage opens by pointing to evidence of the righteous judgment of God (2 Thessalonians 1:5)

1. Paul sets this evidence in the context of believers' suffering and the reality of Christ's return
2. His coming will bring what is perfectly just before God

B. Enemies of God are defined in verse 8 as those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel

1. Any person who refuses to acknowledge God and willfully, persistently disobeys his authority is an enemy of God
2. From the very beginning — from Cain and Abel onward — there has been conflict between those who trust God's word and those who do not (Romans 12:19)

C. Christ's coming is described as a revealing — a pulling back of the veil to make visible what was hidden

1. His return is public, before all flesh, with mighty angels and flaming fire (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8)
2. It is a consummating event — a final judgment declared for all the world

D. The judgment on enemies of God is Eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

1. Temporally eternal — it does not end
2. Locationally away from the presence of the Lord — the words of Jesus: Depart from me
3. Enemies of God will suffer eternally what Adam and Eve suffered physically — separation from the presence of the Lord

E. This is a call to perseverance for afflicted believers

1. Vengeance belongs to God alone (Romans 12:19)
2. Bear up, endure, and set your hope on Christ's coming again

II. Christ's Second Coming Means Just Rest for the People of God

A. The Greek of verses 6–7 reads: God will repay those who afflict you with affliction, and repay you who are afflicted with rest (2 Thessalonians 1:6-7)

B. It is rest from something — the full and final end of all suffering

1. A final, sweeping end to all affliction by the enemies of God's people
2. Rest so complete that, as C. S. Lewis suggests, it will begin to work backwards and turn even agony into glory
3. Rest from the need to persevere — perseverance is only suited for life this side of Christ's return

C. It is rest with someone — the presence of Christ forever (2 Thessalonians 1:10)

1. In the Old Testament God promises to be with his people; at the Incarnation — Emmanuel, God with us
2. Christ's parting words: Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)
3. Believers now have Christ's presence by the Spirit — sufficient to sustain through every trial and sorrow
4. At his second coming, what is now a bud blossoms into the full, mature tree of his presence forever

D. Paul grounds grieving believers' hope in this reality in 1 Thessalonians 4

1. Both those who have died in the Lord and those still living at his coming will together meet the Lord in the air
2. And so we will always be with the Lord — therefore encourage one another with these words
3. The Westminster Confession defines everlasting life as the fullness of joy and refreshing that comes with the presence of the Lord

III. Christ's Second Coming Means Just Regard for the Son of God

A. At his second coming, Christ will be glorified in his saints and marveled at among all who have believed (2 Thessalonians 1:10)

1. To glory and marvel in Christ is to acknowledge and ascribe to him the full weightiness he deserves
2. God's people will not fail to regard Christ with his full weight of glory

B. The glory of Christ is the end for which believers are saved, the goal for which they are being sanctified, and the object in which they will spend eternity enthralled

C. The Christian longs for Christ's second coming because it means Christ will finally and fully receive the glory due him

1. He will receive his full honor
2. The Christian's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever
3. Set your hope on Christ receiving his due glory