Morning, I'd like us to turn back in our Bibles to 2 Thessalonians. We're working our way through again this second epistle, the second letter that the Apostle Paul and Silas and Timothy, his co-laborers, were sent to this church in Thessalonica, which is in present day Greece. As we go through this book, I hope and I pray as we look at the overall theme a few weeks ago, That as we look at these individual brushstrokes, we will have a greater understanding of why there are certain things in our life that need to still change. That was the overall point. There were some things that they had grown in as believers from their first letter, but then there were still some misunderstandings. There were still some areas in their life that they had not really become fruitful in. And we all know that there are areas in our life that God seems to always put his finger on that need to change and that need to grow. And we need to be willing to submit to his conviction and his process of change. And one of those tools that he uses to bring us to change is the preaching and the teaching of the word of God. So let us open our ears and our heart today as we focus on what God has to teach us about righting the wrongs that we see all too often in life today. In 1986, an event in the heavens captured the attention of the whole world. It was an event that only came once every 76 years. It was the arrival of the famous Halley's Comet. You remember that? 1986. I remember it because that's when my parents decided to give me something that I always wanted, and that was a telescope. A telescope where I could look into the heavens and see Halley's Comet in all its glory, coming so close to the earth in its once every 76 year circuit. This particular coming of Halley's Comet took the world by storm. Children like me received their first telescopes. Adults were planning comet parties. Maybe you plan something like that for your kids or for your family members. Observatories were booked solid. If you wanted to see it very close in an observatory telescope, you couldn't do it. They were booked solid. When Halley's Comet was going by, I lived in Colorado, and there was a number, there were scores of observatories in the Rocky Mountains, and they were trying to get the best glimpse of it But so many people could not see it like that. Everyone, perhaps even you, wanted to get a glimpse of Haley's Comet, which was, and is still, a once, maybe twice in a lifetime experience. I don't expect, unless I live to be over 90 years old, to see it again. Mark Twain, the one who wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, he saw it or he didn't really see it, but he was near it twice. He was born the year that it came, then he died the year that it came again. And so some people have a thinking about Halley's Comet that it's an omen of death and destruction. When it finally came in 1986, the pictures and the videos were spectacular. I remember vividly seeing in my own telescope a little blip, but then being able to see on television the beauty and the glory of this instrument from heaven going around, making its circuit, thinking that I'll never be able to see that again. That frozen ball of space ice continues its orbit around the sun with a long, glistening white tail. The arrival of Halley's Comet was not always so welcoming like it was in 1986. Before the invention of the telescope, comets would seem to appear out of nowhere in the sky and they would gradually vanish out of sight. And they were usually considered to be bad omens of deaths of kings, of nobles and even coming catastrophes like earthquakes or other events. Some even thought it was an attack by a heavenly being. The four telescopes people would not it could be excited about the anticipation of a comet coming. They didn't know it was coming. And when it did come, it struck fear and terror in their hearts because they weren't prepared for it. They weren't prepared and so they were afraid. Not only that, because they didn't have these telescopes, they could not understand why it was there. They didn't understand what it was. The difference between the arrival of Halley's Comet thousands of years ago and the arrival of Halley's Comet in 1986, the difference between fear and fascination was preparation and an understanding of what it was and what it was doing there. Over the course of centuries, they were able to pinpoint exactly when and exactly where that comet would appear overhead. And now that we understand what a comet is, now that we understand the circuit that it makes around the sun, we have nothing to fear as it comes. And we can get telescopes and we can have parties and we can go to the observatories and enjoy this great, spectacular, heavenly object that God has made. And we don't have to be afraid. But that's not what happened thousands of years ago. The coming of Jesus Christ, which the Apostle Paul is explaining to them again here in this second letter, the coming of Christ will have similar reactions as the coming of Haley's tongue. Some will be terrified at his coming and rightfully so, because they don't understand his coming and they're not prepared for his coming. But then there are others. And I pray that you are included in this. There will be others that will be thrilled at his coming and rightfully so, because they do understand about his coming and they are prepared for his coming. And to the persecuted Christians, Here in the Thessalonian church, Paul describes in these first few verses of this letter what the coming of Christ is all about. And I like to read verses 1 through 10. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is neat or proper, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity or the love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. Seen, it is a righteous thing with God to recompense or to repay tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us when, and here is the initial description of the coming of the Lord, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. And then we find how the Lord Jesus will come in verse 8. He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in the saints and to be admired in all them that believe. Because our testimony among you was believed in that day. Imagine if Halley's Comet in 2061, which is the next time it's supposed to come close to Earth. Imagine if it took a sudden turn toward our planet. What would happen? What would it be like? Of course, great panic would probably go throughout all the world. as this streaking comet would go very quickly, very brightly, very powerfully through the atmosphere, much of it would disintegrate and burn up, but if it was large enough, if it impacted the earth, the devastation would be absolutely catastrophic. That is a picture of what will happen when Jesus Christ does in fact return. like a heavenly body hurtling through the earth's atmosphere, Jesus Himself will come, as it says in verse 8, in a flaming fire. He will come bright, quick, and with everlasting and devastating destruction for those who are not prepared for His return. Why? Why is He going to come in this way? Because there will come a day when Jesus Christ is going to come and make everything right. Again, you know, things were right at the very beginning, in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth. And he made everything in seven days, six days and rested on the seventh day, he said, behold, everything was very good. But what happened? Sin entered into the world and death by sin. And since that moment, when sin entered into this world, this world has not been right. There's been a lot wrong with this world. There's been wrong in the animal kingdom. There's been wrong in having weeds in your gardens. There's been wrong in our life and in our hearts. And there's been wrong in the wicked because they seem to continue on without any kind of repercussions for their sin. The fact is, God will return someday. And when he does, he will come like Halley's Comet. To some, it will be unexpected. To us who believe in him, we will be prepared. But when he does come, it will be as a flaming fire in order to make things right. There are really three groups that will be affected by Christ's return. And each one is now currently not receiving what they are due. For example, the wicked. They always seem to prosper. The devil, even now, is the prince in the power of the air and is able to do and go wherever he pleases. And what he's trying to do is to bring people away from hearing the gospel of God. And there will come a time, though, when the wicked and those that deny Christ and those that are sinners and have not repented of their sin and not received forgiveness of their sin, there will come a time when God will make things right. And the wicked that seem to prosper will get their due reward. Not only will the wicked receive what it deserves, what they deserve, but also the Lord. The Lord will receive what he deserves. Right now, the Lord doesn't receive what he deserves. Right now, he seems to be mocked all the time and in every place. Not too long ago, I was flipping through channels on my television and I came across a comedian, a female comedian. a worldly, godless female comedian who became very popular. In fact, this particular I saw on the television that she was going to have her show, if you will, over a course of maybe six or seven hours. It was a marathon. And I paused for a moment, and in the five minutes that I paused to watch this and to see what was going on, what made this lady so popular and so funny, In the five minutes that I just happened to come across it, she blasphemed Jesus Christ and his people more times than I care to count. And Jesus Christ in the world today is not welcome. He is not loved. He is not exalted. He does not get what he deserves. But there will come a time when he will make things that are wrong right. And he will, when he comes in a flaming fire, will get what he is due. But then there's a third group as well, and that are the righteous, not those that do right to become righteous, but those that receive the righteousness of Christ. Why? Because of the relationship with him. The righteous, those that love God and love his appearing and seek for it, always seem to be persecuted. Always seem to be mocked along with Jesus, always seem to be getting a short end of the stick. The fact is, Jesus is coming for you someday. And when he does, you will get what you deserve and what is your due as well. When Jesus returns in flaming fire, as it says in verse eight, he will make all things right and everyone will get what they are due. And so we find in verse eight through nine, the first group receiving what they are due. The wicked will receive what they are due when Jesus ultimately comes. I'd like to begin at verse 6 because this is part of the context. Paul says, seeing that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense or to repay trouble, tribulation, to them that trouble you. Basically, Paul is saying persevere Christians, even though you're being persecuted, because there will come a day when God will come and render justice against those who are opposed to God. Now, this is not a pleasant thing for us to think about or talk about. In fact, there are many churches today that would rather take some of the verses that we'll be looking at today and rip them out of these books that we're reading. Why? Because no one wants to talk about the just judgment of God on the wicked. No one wants to talk about that. They want to talk about God being a God of love and God being a God of grace, but they fail to remember that God is also a God of holiness and righteousness and justice. And if someone continues in their sin without repentance and without faith in Jesus Christ, they will receive a payment for their sin. they will receive a just sentence from God. And that is what these verses are talking about. And what is that sentence going to be? Look at verse 9. In flaming fire, when Jesus comes, He will take vengeance on them that know not God, and them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Those verses are very sobering to us because we see in them, again, as we looked at last Sunday, the righteous judgment of God. There are people in hell today Because they, in rebellion against God, refuse to recognize Him and refuse to submit their lives to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they are getting what they deserve. And there are millions out there that will be getting the same. There is a purpose for Jesus' return. His purpose is to make the things that are wrong, right. The psalmist even said, why did he even rage? Why is it that the heathen continue on in their lives as if nothing is going to happen to them? Why is it that I suffer for righteousness sake? God says here and throughout Scripture, if they rebel against me in their heart and they reject me and they refuse what I've given to them already, they will get their due. So what is the Lord going to do? We see in verse eight that he will render the sentence against the wicked. The phrase taking vengeance that we find in verse eight seems to us to be something that is very negative. Of course, it is not really positive, but it seems like why would God want to get even with them? It just seems beyond God to take vengeance upon someone. Well, the word vengeance, we're taking it from our understanding of that word. And what that phrase can literally mean is rather God is paying and giving to them what they deserve. He is giving to them their payment, their penalty. It's not so much about God enacting judgment and going beyond what they justly deserve, but God is simply giving to them what they deserve. Now, the world does not like to think about God judging sinners. They think that God is so loving and so gracious that no matter what people do against God, that he will just overlook sin. But as I mentioned last Sunday, God cannot and will not overlook sin because he is a holy God and a just God. But the world doesn't like to see God that way. But the world does see things like that when it's talking about people that do things against them, don't they? If someone comes and does something, they steal something from me or they break into my house or they harm my my property, what am I going to do? What's the very first thing today? I'm going to sue you! I'm going to sue him and I'm going to take him to court because I want the judge to render a just judgment upon that person so I can get what I'm due. And so we are perfectly acceptable with judges and juries exacting sentences and judgment upon criminals But no, when God is going to come and judge the world in a righteous manner. Oh, no, he can't do that. He's too loving. He's too gracious. He's too good. And we will give credit to men what we don't give to God. But the fact is the world has offended God far more than any person has offended any judge on this planet. God is the one who's been offended. And the truth is when we consider the vengeance and the punishment that God will bring is that God has been patient. God has been long suffering and God has been merciful. Thousands of years have elapsed from the very first sin. God could have immediately judged permanently the sin of Adam and Eve and done away with the human race, but he didn't. He spent time, thousands of years, in the fullness of time, to send forth his Son in order to provide redemption for people. But there will come a time when God's patience has run out. And that time is when he comes as a flaming fire. And for the wicked, on this day of God's vengeance, those who have rebelled against God and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, will realize that ignorance of the gospel will be no defense. Ignorance of the gospel will be no defense. Who is going to be impacted by this judgment? In verse 8 it says that he will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on who? On them that know not God. This is an ignorance of God and his gospel. But when Jesus comes, ignorance of him or the gospel will be no defense. This is true even of our laws today. When I was living in Illinois before I was married, I had a little Honda Accord. And my little Honda Accord I loved. It was a manual. My wife drove it a little while and she didn't like it because it was a manual. And I really didn't like it either because it was a manual. I like the automatics. But I liked my little Honda Accord. But I had a lot of problems with it. I think I paid a thousand dollars. It was my first car. And as I was driving it, I realized it was starting to feel a little funny. I was driving up to where I was, the church and the place that I was staying in Illinois, and I pushed in the clutch, and I felt a ping. I didn't know what was happening. I'm not mechanically inclined, but I realized I couldn't get it shifted into any gear. It pinged, and so basically my car had to die, and it was on the side of the road, and I didn't know what to do. I was about a quarter mile away from the town that I was in, and I thought, well, I've got an idea. I will get the church band that I'm ministering in, and they have a hitch. and I've got a chain and I'll hook the chain to this hitch into my car and I'll tow it to where I can hopefully get someone to look at it and get it fixed. So I waited until it was dark of night and I went over there by the cornfields out in the middle of nowhere and I hooked that chain around my car and the hooks and I hooked that chain around the tow bar and I was the only one there and I thought I'll just drag it and it's only about a quarter of a mile and I'll do it really really slow. And so here I am driving straight, middle of darkness, and I'm towing my little car behind this church van. And every once in a while I have to stop and I slow down to make sure it wouldn't hit me in the back. I was very cautious and very helpful. And I realized there was someone behind me and they had some lights and I waved them off. They wouldn't go around me. I waved them on again. All of a sudden I see the lights. It's a police officer and he pulled me over. I didn't have a car to go over, but he pulled me over and he said, Do you realize that you are breaking the law? What do you mean? I'm just towing my car back to where I can get it fixed. So you have to have a certain kind of hitch and you have to have a certain kind of towing cable. You are committing an offense of illegal towing. Illegal towing. That was the law. I was ignorant of it, but was that an excuse for me? No! The laws were out there, they were publicly displayed, just like the laws that we know. They're publicly given, and I had no excuse, even though I was completely ignorant, and I'm sure that police officer would agree with that. I was completely ignorant of the truth of those laws. But if that is true in our courts, ignorance is no defense. How much more true will it be in the court of God? Ignorance to the wicked of God and his gospel is no excuse. Why? Because their ignorance is a willing ignorance. You don't need to turn there. But in second Peter three, five, we read that this morning. It talks about how they Speaking of unbelievers and wicked men and women, they willingly are ignorant of God and His creation. They are willingly ignorant of God. Why? Because God has revealed Himself. God has revealed Himself in two ways. He's revealed himself through the world. We call this in theology, general revelation. Not too long ago, I was taking my kids and we were driving around and I think there was a sunset or a sunrise, probably sunset. And it was absolutely stunning. It was gorgeous. And I said, look what God can do. The Bible says that the glory of God is displayed in the heavens. And God reveals Himself in unmistakable ways in the heavens and the world around us. And in such a way, it is to provide unbelievers and the wicked No excuse when the day of judgment comes. They cannot say, I did not know you, God. And God will say, I showed you who I was. I showed you my glory throughout the world and the revelation that I've given you. But also, he didn't just stop there. He didn't just give us his general revelation. He gave us a specific revelation through his word, the word of God that we have here today that is now and has been spread throughout the world. Translation after translation, country after country, language upon language. The Word of God has been given to share the gospel. And there will be no defense. Because ignorance of the gospel and of God Himself is no defense. Even though they know not God, God will take vengeance on them when He comes in flaming fire, in verse 8. And even though God has revealed Himself through the world and through the Word, They still do not know him. And their judgment will be completely and wholly their fault. Keep your finger in 2 Thessalonians and turn with me to Romans. Romans chapter 1 says it this way. Romans chapter 1, I'd like to read just a few verses, beginning verse 18. It explains how God has revealed himself and will hold men accountable because they are willingly ignorant of Him and His Word. Romans 1, verse 18, we read, For the wrath of God... That's what we're looking at in 2 Thessalonians. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Why? Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. For even the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. Why? So that they are without excuse. They cannot flee ignorance. They cannot flee ignorance, because in verse 21, Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like a corruptible man. They made idols and they looked like birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, the result is God also gave them up. He gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore. These unbelievers who will receive what they are due will have no excuse. They cannot flee ignorance. But not only will ignorance of the gospel be no defense for them in that day, but ignoring the gospel will be no defense as well. Not only is it that they do not know God in verse 8, but also it's they who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those that have received the gospel and have heard the gospel and have rejected the gospel, they also will receive God's judgment. This is also especially true today. Imagine if you were driving 60 in a 45. And of course, you see those lights again and the officer pulls you over and you weren't ignorant of that particular sign that said 45. I remember one of my first weeks as we were driving, I was coming here on a Wednesday night. And you remember we had the officers sitting in their lawn chairs right here at the corner of Mohawk. Remember that? If I was slowing down, you know, you have to stop sign. I was slowing down and they pulled me over again. And they said, do you realize it's 30 miles an hour? I said, yes, I do. I was going 30 miles an hour. I was slowing down and he was coming to the stop sign and I didn't go on. They said, do you know where it starts at 30? I said, no, I don't. One of them said at the sign. I said, well, where's the sign? I was legitimately ignorant of where the sign was. And finally I found out where it was and I slowed down. What if the officer said, do you realize that you're going too fast? Yeah, I do know that. I saw the sign. I saw all the signs going down there, 45, 45, 45. I didn't care. I ignored it because I'm better than that. I can handle 60 and a 45. Now, what do you think that officer is going to do? They're going to slap the biggest fine possible if not say, get out of the car. That's what they're going to do. Why? Because ignoring the truth, ignoring the law is worse than just ignorance of the law. And there is still no excuse. The fact is, the gospel is something that must be obeyed by those that hear it. And we in this country have heard the gospel so many times and in so many ways. And the gospel is not just a knowledge of the good news. And so many churches get this wrong, because it's not just a knowledge, not just a head knowledge, but the gospel is a call and a command to believe the gospel and to be changed by it. It's not just a knowledge, but it is a command to obey. And if you do not obey the Gospel and you do not believe the Gospel, you have ignored the Gospel and you will be judged because of it. 1 John 2, verse 23 says this, And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. You see, the call to the Gospel is not just an invitation, though it is. It's not just an invitation. It is a command. And that is why it is imperative that we as preachers and teachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ say, not just if you want to, but you must if you are going to have your sins forgiven. You must come to him and believe on him and be changed by him, because if you don't, This is what's going to happen. Jesus Christ will come in a flame of fire and execute judgment upon you. And you must obey the gospel, not just receive it, not just hear it, not just believe it, but obey it. It's a command to believe. Do you do you recognize the command? Many of you do. Some of you just still think, well, it's a choice that I have to make. And maybe in a few years, when I've lived my life, and I've sowed my oats, and I've done this and I've done that, maybe then I'll get things right before God. The fact is, it's a command. And God says, if you don't obey this command, you will be punished. When you ignore the Gospel call, it is a disobedience to Christ, it is disbelief in what Christ has done, and it is absolute denial of Christ. Listen to 1 John 5.10. He that believeth not God, in other words, the person that does not obey the command to believe the gospel, he that believeth not God, hath made God a liar. That is serious. That is a serious problem and a serious accusation. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. Why? Because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. The fact is those who ignore the gospel, And those who are ignorant of the gospel, their sentence is a righteous thing. Look at verse six again. It's a scene, it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. We think, how could God do something like this? How could God execute judgment because of their ignorance? How could God execute judgment because they were ignoring? It's because God is just. And what he does is always righteous. He will render the sentence of the wicked. But then also in verse 9, he will then receive the settlement of the wicked. He will receive the settlement of the wicked. The sentence that God will give to them is the sentence and the penalty that they will pay to God. Look at verse 9. It says, describing those that are ignorant of the gospel and have ignored the gospel, They who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. The phrase who shall be punished. Kind of takes the focus off the responsibility of those people and puts it on God. Literally translated, that phrase who shall be punishment says this, the penalty they will pay. God has rendered a punishment and a sentence. Now they will have to pay that penalty. They will pay their debt to God. Have you heard that phrase when someone is tried and convicted of their crime and they're going to go away to jail for a long time? It said that they are paying their debt to society, right? Well, when God comes, the wicked who have not had their sins forgiven have a deep, deep debt to pay. And they will pay. They will pay. But what is the ultimate sentence? Sometimes we hear life without parole or the death penalty is the ultimate sentence. The ultimate sentence is found here. Everlasting destruction. Where is this penalty paid? Jesus describes the place in Mark 9 as hell. But then we see how this penalty is paid in this verse. They will be separated from God forever. Look at what they'll be separated from. They will be separated, first of all, from the presence of the Lord, it says in verse nine, literally the face of God. This is one of the blessings of Christians. Psalm 1611 says in thy presence is fullness of joy at your right hand. There are pleasures forevermore. That's what Christians will receive. But an unbeliever, will be separated from that joy. They will also be separated from the protection of the Lord. It goes on in verse nine. They will be punished from the presence of the Lord and from separated from the glory of his power. This is the display of his power through the gospel. You see, Isaiah 59 one says that the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save. God can save. He's powerful and able to save. And we who have trusted in him in the gospel will be. But the wicked will not receive that. The wicked will receive what they are due. Verses 8 and 9 are important for us to realize because it's not taught in many churches today. And even though the focus is on what he will do to the wicked in verses 8 and 9, the real priority of Christ's return is found in verse 10, where we read, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day. You see, not only when God comes will the wicked receive what they are due, but the Lord Himself will finally receive what He is due. When He comes, He will receive, as it says in Psalm 29, 2, the glory due unto His name. Today it seems like troublemakers get all the attention. I remember in college and in high school, the troublemakers always got the attention of the teachers and the principal. And the ones that always did the right thing never got the credit they deserved. But not at Christ's return. He will get the attention he deserves as well as the wicked. And what kind of attention will he get? We see in verse 10 that he will be adored. He will come to be glorified by his saints or in his saints. The Bible calls us to glorify God all the time. But sometimes we glorify him in an imperfect way. Do you know what God's going to do when he comes? He will perfect our praise in such a way that when we glorify him, it will be the praise that he deserved from everlasting. That is what he is due. He is due our praise and he is to be adored. What does it mean to glorify God? What does it mean when it says here that he will be glorified in his sins? I like what Thomas Watson writes. He says the glory that we give God is nothing else but our lifting up his name in the world and magnifying him in the eyes of others. And then he includes appreciation to God. adoring God in worship, having a love and affection to God and then being subject to him. All this is tied up in being in glorifying God. And the fact is, when he comes, the main reason why he's coming is not just judgment, though that's a big part. It's so that he will be lifted up and exalted by you in a perfect way, a way that you can't do right now. But when he comes, He will be glorified in his saints. He deserves to be adored, but he also will be admired, it says in verse 10. He shall come to be glorified and to be admired in all them that believe. This word admire is an interesting word because in other places throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, It means to marvel at someone or something, or to be captivated, to wonder at it. Much like when Haley's Comet went over the sky and people were captivated, the coming of Jesus Christ is to capture our attention to Him. There's a lot of things that distract our attention from God, isn't it? There's so many things that take our mind off of seeking first the kingdom of God, our jobs, our families, our problems, our sicknesses, all these things try to take away our attention from God. But the fact is, when God comes, he will be admired by us and he will get what he is due. This applies that we will see him when he comes, because when we see him, we will be awed and we will admire him. And as Horatio Spafford puts it, Lord, hasten the day when my faith shall be sight. Do you realize that someday we will not be called to live by faith? Right now we're called to live by faith and not by sight, but then when Jesus comes to execute the righteous judgment of God on the wicked, he will also come to make our faith into sight. Lord, hasten the day when our faith shall be sight and the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trumpet will resound and the Lord will descend. And as he said, even so, it is well with my soul. The Lord will receive what he is due. He deserves to be adored and he deserves to be admired. But what will the coming of Christ be like for you? Without knowledge of Christ and His coming, it will be like those thousands of years ago without a telescope. And when they saw Halley's Comet, they were terrified. To those who have no knowledge of God and His coming, it will be, as it says in verse 8, in flaming fire. But if, like the Thessalonians that we find in verse 10, if their testimony was among you believed, that's trusting in the gospel, You are prepared for his coming. And if you are prepared for his coming, these verses teach that you will then participate in his. You won't be terrified, you'll be thrilled when you see him. And it will be your privilege to see you'll see him face to face, what will the coming of Christ be like to you? Will it terrify you because you're unprepared or will you be thrilled because you've accepted the testimony of the gospel in the Bible? In the year 1066, a monk, an English monk by the name of Elmer of Malmesbury in England, when he saw Haley's come, he said this, You've come, have you? You've come. You source of tears to many mothers, you evil. I hate you. It is long since I saw you, but as I see you now, you are much more terrible for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country. I hate you. 1066, that's what people thought of Haley's Comet. They were terrified of it. They hated it. Is that how Christ coming will overtake you? Or do you long for it? Do you look for it? This man had little understanding and a lot of fear. But if we have perception of his coming, we will be prepared for his coming because we don't need to fear. Remember what I said earlier, the difference between fear and fascination is preparation. It's knowing the facts. It's having an understanding of what is going on. And so this morning, as we looked at predominantly God's judgment on the wicked, we have an understanding of that now and we don't need to fear. Because not only do we understand what God is going to do to the wicked, we understand really what's going on when God comes. He's going to come so that we can glorify him and that we can admire him the way he deserves. We need to obey the call, obey the call that he's given to us. And when, not if, but when he comes, we will be prepared. And because we are prepared, we will participate in his coming. Someday we'll see him face to face.