Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020623.htm

2 THESSALONIANS: BLESSING BY RIGHT ESCHATOLOGY
Part I: Blessing By Orienting To Man's REAL Final Destiny
(2 Thessalonians 1:1-12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

(1) A few weeks ago, one our church's young women had a long discussion with a young man who attends another evangelical church on the destiny of the unsaved after death.

The young man held God was too merciful to allow an unsaved person to suffer eternally in hell, so he felt either God annihilated the unsaved person's soul at death or gave him a second chance to believe in Christ for his soul to be saved from hell after he died!

(2) This belief is on the increase in evangelical circles. Author R. Albert Mohler, Jr. in his chapter, "Evangelical': What's In A Name?" in the work, The Coming Evangelical Crisis edited by John H. Armstrong, noted that because of the growing emphasis of "new Arminianism" in reaction to Reformed Theology, some evangelicals are coming to deny that hell is an eternal torment.

This "new" view holds there is such "a wideness in God's mercy'" that God would thus never let anyone suffer eternally in hell, so God of necessity must do one of two things when a believer dies: (a) either God annihilates the unsaved to alleviate their suffering endless torment in hell or (b) He gives them a chance after death to trust in Christ when they see their true spiritual need (Ibid., p. 34-35).

(3) However, holding to such views create problems for conscientious Christians: (a) If God will give unbelievers a second chance to believe in His Son after death, why should anyone trust in Him in this life if doing so will produce persecution from unbelievers in one's earthly sojourn? (b) Also, if one will suffer extensive persecution for becoming a Christian, something akin to a "temporal hell" on earth when he believes he will be annihilated at death so as not to suffer anymore, would it not be tempting for a party to want to say "no" to Jesus Christ and escape a "hell" altogether by just being annihilated by God at his death?

Well, IS there a "second chance" to believe in Christ after this life, or NOT? Will God annihilate the souls of the unsaved after death so they will not EXPERIENCE any eternal suffering in Hell or the "lake of fire" as Revelation 20:15 puts it? How do we KNOW so we know what COMMITMENTS to make in THIS life?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Some teach non-Christians will NOT eternally suffer in hell, but God will mercifully annihilate them or they will have a SECOND CHANCE to trust in Christ after they die. Is this so, and IF so, why accept Christ NOW and be PERSECUTED for it by the unsaved?"
  1. Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians began with his expressed thanksgiving to GOD for his readers' spiritual growth in the face of PERSECUTION from the UNSAVED, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5:
    1. Following his greeting in 1:1-2, Paul expressed thanksgiving to God for the growth of the faith and love of the Thessalonian converts due to their relationship [and fellowship] with God, 2 Thess. 1:3-4a.
    2. Paul noted his readers endured persecution for their faith, and that this was an evidence of their membership in God's kingdom, 1:4b-5.
  2. Paul then noted the VALUE of TRUSTING Christ REGARDLESS of persecution faced FOR it: the DESTINY of EVERY HUMAN is either EXPERIENCING ETERNAL BLISS or EXPERIENCING ETERNAL SUFFERING in HELL, making TEMPORAL persecution for the FAITH a TOLERABLE experience, 1:6-10:
    1. The unsaved will one day be recompensed, or be given "pay back" judgment from God for the persecutions they have meted out upon Christians for their faith, 1 Thessalonians 1:6.
    2. Conversely, Christians will experience rest from persecution at Christ's glorious appearing when He comes to take vengeance on the persecuting unsaved in their behalf, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Thess. 1:7-8.
    3. When Christ JUDGES the unsaved, they will eternally SUFFER damnation as separated from God's blessed presence in the eternal lake of fire, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 with Luke 16:19-31:
      1. The word "destruction" (KJV and NIV) is translated from olethron in the Greek text, and it means just that, cf. T.D.N.T., v. V, p. 169.
      2. Also, the word "everlasting" (KJV and NIV) comes from the Greek word, aionion, the genitive plural form of aion meaning "age" so that aionion literally means "of the ages, eternally," cf. UBS Greek New Testament, p. 715; Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 26-28.
      3. Then, the expression "will be punished" (KJV & NIV) is translated from two Greek words we examine as follows:
        1. The word, tisousin, in third person plural future indicative of tino, is included in the expression and means "to pay, undergo a penalty," Ibid., p. 826; Zond. Analytical Greek Lex., p. 406.
        2. The expression also uses dikayn, a Greek word that means "punishment," Ibid., UBS Grk. N.T.; Arndt & Gingrich, p. 197.
      4. So, "will be punished with everlasting destruction" literally means "shall pay, undergo the penalty of destruction of the ages."
      5. As the presence of tino in 2 Thess. 1:9 does not give room for us to conclude the unsaved will be annihilated as then they could NOT PAY the penalty if they ceased to exist, the lost will eternally suffer the punishment of destruction, cf. also Luke 16:19-31.
  3. In VIEW of these SOBERING FACTS about man's ETERNAL DESTINY, Paul prayed his readers might GROW in faith and love REGARDLESS of TEMPORAL PERSECUTIONS for the FAITH that they might reflect Christ's glory at His RETURN, 1:10-12:
    1. Paul spoke of Christ's being glorified in the Thessalonian believers and admired by them at His return since they had believed in Christ's Gospel when Paul had first preached it unto them, 2 Thess. 1:10.
    2. Consequently, Paul prayed that God would keep developing his readers' faith in God and love for one another for the glory of Christ regardless of the persecution thus suffered for it, 1:11-12 with 1:4-6.
Application: Since FAILING to TRUST in Christ in THIS life will lead to eternal separation from God's blessing as one forever suffers the penalty of unbelief in the lake of fire's destruction, and since faith in Christ will lead to eternal company with God and His saints in glory and blessing, REGARDLESS of what TEMPORAL PERSECUTION we face for FAITH in Christ, BEFORE THIS life ENDS (which could be at ANY time for ANY of us) we NEED to (1) trust in Christ for salvation from sin, John 3:16. (2) Then, we rely on God for the grace to face persecution for the faith, and hope in God's recompense to persecutors at Christ's coming, 2 Thess. 1.

Lesson: (1) As FAILING to BELIEVE in Christ NOW results in one's experiencing ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in HELL, and as FAITH in Christ yields ETERNAL salvation FROM HELL and BLISS in heaven with GOD, besides God's taking vengeance upon those who persecuted Christians for their faith, REGARDLESS of the PERSECUTION faced for DOING so, we MUST TRUST in Christ NOW to SETTLE our ETERNAL DESTINY. (2) Besides, God can be trusted to develop our FAITH and LOVE even under persecution. >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Many years ago following a high school football practice when I was getting ready to drive home in my 58 Chevy, a football "buddy" named Bruce got into the passenger side of my car to "talk."

It seems one of my Christian classmates had told him about Christ, and how Bruce needed to believe in Him to escape hell.

Bruce had often before not paid attention to "religion" because he enjoyed living on the "wild" side of life so he could have "fun" by "sinning a lot." Besides, he thought Christianity could be a "hoax" and he didn't want anyone to "make fun" of him for being a "Jesus freak," so he had made a wide turn in his life around the Christian faith.

However, the Christian had told him, "Bruce, if you believe in Christ and Christianity is just a hoax, at the worst you're just a fool. But if you don't believe in Him, and you die and then find out that Christianity was true, then you'll be eternally damned!"

That had deeply impacted Bruce, for several of our high school friends had died in car accidents in the previous few years, so he had prayed to receive Christ just to be SURE of going to heaven. Bruce knew I was a Christian, so he stopped to share this news with me for ENCOURAGEMENT in his new faith.

Weeks later, Bruce joined our Church youth group on a hay ride sponsored by our Church. He then told me he had NEVER had as much fun in his LIFE as he did on that hay ride. In fact, while we drove into some fields on the hay-stacked truck bed, he relayed he ILLEGALLY used to hunt rabbits at night with some friends in those same fields BEFORE he had trusted in Christ! Though he THOUGHT he was having FUN at the time, he lacked the peace and joy within that he NOW experienced on the hay ride that was EVEN LEGAL!



Like BRUCE, make SURE of your ETERNAL welfare by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. The BIBLE teaches Hell and Heaven are ETERNALLY EXPERIENCED -- there is no escaping that! BELIEVE in Christ to be saved, and be sure to do it NOW!