This morning, I'd like us to return to the book of Second Thessalonians. A couple of weeks ago, we looked at an overview of this book and beginning last Sunday, we're taking a look at the individual brushstrokes that make this a magnificent masterpiece. And it is a beautiful book because it teaches us how we can grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And how, even though there might be some areas in our life that we have grown in, yet there are still some areas in our life that we need to continue to grow in. And my desire is that we as a church look at this and consider it from an individual perspective as well as a church perspective. What is lacking in your walk with Christ? What is lacking in our corporate walk with Christ? What do we need to change? What areas do we need to grow in? And this morning, as we come to a few verses again in the first chapter, we're going to see the basis, the groundwork from which we can grow. And that is from the righteous judgment of God. And that is the title of the message this morning. We find that exact phrase in verse 4, which talks about this endurance that is a manifest token or an evidence of the righteous judgment of God. Now, we're familiar with judgment, aren't we? Every time that we get a speeding ticket or some kind of reprimand, it is a form of a judgment. And a lot of times when we hear that term judgment, we think of it in a negative way. It is amazing what a speeding ticket can do for you, isn't it? Obviously, you lose a lot of money. It was just a few years ago or a year and a half or two years ago. I was coming up Fortville Pike and I got caught. My mind was completely elsewhere. And I even told the officer, I'm sorry, I wasn't even concentrating on my driving. That's the worst possible thing you can say to an officer when he pulls you over for speeding. But I got a speeding ticket. But you know what? It wasn't so much a bad thing, even though I had to shell out $120. of my hard-earned money and I didn't want to do that, but it did something to me. It usually does if you are thinking about what it is for. If you haven't received a speeding ticket in a while, you probably aren't aware of some of the bad habits that you have started doing over time in your driving habits. Some of the habits that you might have are, of course, you're speeding. Instead of going the 45, you go around the 50 or the 55 or again. Your mind is elsewhere. You're starting to think about, you know, where you're going, why you're going there. You're thinking about work. You're thinking about problems in your home. You're thinking about the different things you have to do that day. And you just Not intentionally, but your foot just goes a little bit harder on that accelerator and you're going a little bit faster Because you haven't really been thinking about your speed and sometimes we didn't forget about our stops It was so funny when we were in when I was in high school. We went to Quebec Canada and I think I learned my bad habit of stopping at stop signs from them. In French, I'm not sure how you pronounce it, but their stop signs, they look like ours, but they have A-R-R-E-T. And we pronounced it Arrête. And so we actually started calling their kind of stops Arrête, because they didn't actually stop at all. They would come up very close to that stop sign, and they wouldn't exactly come to a complete stop, and they would just shoot off if no one else was coming. And so we described that as an Arrête. And sometimes your stops might become arrests if you're not really focusing on what you're doing. And that can be a bad habit, right? Some other bad habits is, I have this sometimes when I'm driving along and we start swerving into other people's lanes or start swerving. Why? Because we're not really focusing on what we're doing or where we're going. A bad habit that I got into when I was, before I was married and had kids, And serving as a youth pastor in Illinois, we would drive miles and miles and miles before we'd get to a town where we would go canvas or go witness or visit people. And I thought this was such a waste of time. Here I am traveling 30 minutes one way. And what can I do with this time? And I just thought, well, this would be a great time to catch up on my reading. and while I'm driving. And so I'd have a magazine or a catalog or some of my letters and I would be reading while I was driving down the road. And that goes a bad habit to get into. Find myself swerving off the road and things like that. It is amazing, though, what a speeding ticket or another form of ticket will do for you, right? Instead of those bad habits, it starts you focusing on what you should be doing. Now that I come across Fortville Pike, I'm always cognizant of my speed, especially. It did a good thing for me. I'm very aware of what my speed is at that time. I'm aware of my stops, because I know that someone might be behind me, following me, and looking at what I'm going to do. The point is, the point of those speeding tickets is to change your habits and to change things. And when someone makes a verdict, like a police officer, about your speed, and says you are guilty of this, the point is to make a change. A lot of times when we come to the word judgment, we think of a negative. But those negatives very often can turn to positives. Now, the judgment of God can also be both negative and positive. Obviously, when we know that there will be people, and there are people, that are suffering because of their sin and have not turned to God because of their sin, and in their sin they have died, and they are going to be judged and are being judged by God in hell. Why? Because of the righteous judgment of God. They deserve. what they get. And if we were to go into hell, we would deserve what we get as well. But there's also a positive side of the judgment of God. And I believe this is what we're going to be looking at here early in the early verses here this morning. And that is a verdict that God renders upon a person who has established a right relationship with him. Sometimes there are people that stand before the judge and the judge renders a verdict guilty, and that's a very negative thing for them. It might mean that they have to pay a lot of money in a fine, or they might have to spend a lot of time in prison. But then every once in a while, there are those individuals that have been brought before the judge and the judge renders another verdict. It is still a judgment, but it is a verdict that says you are innocent, you are not guilty, and that opens up freedom and liberty for them as well. We need to realize that the way that we live as a Christian ought to be founded on and based on the righteous judgment of God upon us. How does God see you? What is God's judgment of you? What is his verdict to you? Can he look at you and say, not guilty? because of your relationship to him through his son Jesus Christ? Or is his verdict of you guilty as charged? Depart from me, you that work iniquity. What is your verdict? What is the verdict of God upon you? And based on that verdict, how are you going to respond and how are you going to live your life? It's amazing what a speeding ticket can do. But it is even more amazing what the righteous judgment of God can do for a Christian. And that's what we see in verses 4 through 7 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I'd like to read those. After Paul commends them for their faith and love in verse 3, he then focuses on their patience in verse 4, even in the middle of the persecutions and pressures that they were facing. He says in verse 3, We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet and proper, because that your faith is growing exceedingly, and the love, the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounds. so that we ourselves also glory in you among the churches of God, or in the churches of God. Why? For your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. Here, the believers in Thessalonians were enduring patiently the persecutions and the afflictions that they were facing. But why were they able to endure? Look at verse 5. This endurance, which is a manifest token, or that can be translated an evidence or a proof, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment or verdict of God, so that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer. seen that it is a righteous thing with God. Again, this is his righteous verdict and judgment. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense or repay tribulation to them that trouble you. And it is further a righteous thing with God to recompense to you that are troubled. Rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. How could These believers possibly endure the tribulations and the persecutions that we see in verse 4 and that we learned about throughout the book of 1 Thessalonians. How was that possible? Verse 5 clearly answers that question. It is because of the righteous judgment of God on them. It was because of the righteous verdict that God had toward them. They could endure anything that the world and the devil would throw at them because they knew how they stood in relation to God. They could see. They could see the evidence of God's righteous judgment and verdict upon them. How could they see it? Because they were enduring. That endurance had nothing really to do with them, even though they felt like it was. It had everything to do with a picture and a proof of what God was doing already in their life. They could endure it because they saw the evidence of God's judgment in them, but also they saw the expression of God's judgment. God's judgment will be expressed in different ways to those that are unbelievers. He will express it in a negative way to those who are believers. His judgment will be expressed in a glorious, positive way. And you need to realize that our endurance through anything that this world throws at us is the evidence of the righteous judgment and verdict of God to us. This young and persecuted Thessalonian church could see the evidence of God's judgment on them, and they could seek the expression of God's judgment to them. That is why they could endure. And those are the two points I'd like us to look at, is we need to see the evidence of God's judgment, God's verdict on us, in order for us to endure any trial that we face in this life. But also in order to endure, we need to seek his judgment. We need to desire his verdict. We need to desire his judgment upon us so that we can endure. How can we endure like the Thessalonians? This morning first we see in verse five, you need to see the evidence of God's judgment upon you. And again, this judgment is not the negative form of judgment, but God's righteous verdict. How does God see you? What is God's impression of you? What is God going to say about you because of your relationship with Him? Verse 5 says, this endurance that we saw in verse 4, through patience and faith, 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." Endurance is a proof and an evidence of this righteous judgment of God. What does that mean? What kind of judgment is being talked about in verse 5? We see throughout the Bible that it teaches that God is the ultimate judge. Now, in many churches today, they are not hearing that God is a judging God. They're hearing that God is a God of love, which He is. They're hearing that God is a God of mercy and patience, which He is. But in many churches, in many places today, they water down the fact that God is also a righteous judge that will judge every single human being that has ever walked and is walking on the face of this planet. God is the judge of all. He's the judge of everyone. He judges unbelievers for sure, but He also judges believers. And that is what this judgment is focused on in this verse. It is a judgment upon believers. A verdict, if you will. A verdict about followers of Christ. Here, it's not a judgment of condemnation, but it is a judgment of God's approval. It says in verse 5, it is a token or a proof of the righteous judgment or approval of God. The Bible not only teaches that God is judged, but that God is also a just judge. Way back in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 4, God set the stage for our understanding of him. In Deuteronomy 32, verse 4, it says this. He, God, is the rock. His work is perfect for, and here's the key phrase, for all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Anything that God does is just and right. Anything God does, when He judges the unbelievers, it is based on His righteousness and His justice. When he judges believers, it is based upon his righteousness and his justice. God is judge of everyone sitting here this morning. And God's judgment is always just and right. Now, sometimes that doesn't sound right to us or doesn't feel right to us. But it doesn't matter what it sounds and feels like to us. What matters is what the Bible says about God. His judgment is always just and always right because He says it is. And so even if it doesn't feel right or look right or sound right to us, it is always, always right because God is a just judge. All His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. So when it comes to the approval of God, we need to realize that he will only approve us based upon his justice to us. How did these Thessalonian believers know that God had approved of them? It was through their endurance. Their endurance, according to this verse, was the evidence of God's approval. Of course, we know that his approval was not based on their endurance. That would be putting the cart before the horse, but rather their endurance was based upon God's verdict and judgment of them. It was based on his approval. They could only endure something because something else was going on in their life that was deeper. And we need to realize that we don't come to God and seek his approval based on our faithfulness, but rather we remain faithful based upon his approval of us. Now, how do we become approved of God? How can we be approved of God? In order to endure, you need God's approval, and the only way you can be approved of God is through your connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how He can still give you His approval by remaining just. Why? Because He took Jesus Christ, His Son, His only Son, His only begotten Son. who was sinless and perfect. And he brought him and he sent him into this world to live that perfect and sinless life that you and I were called to, but never did or never could. And then he was crucified and he paid the penalty for our sin. And that is the gospel. And he says, all who believe that that sacrifice, that payment for sin was on their behalf and for them has eternal life and therefore stands approved before God. And because you are approved before God through your relationship and connection with Jesus Christ, then you have the righteous judgment of God upon you. His verdict is you are clear of your sin and now you can endure. I will help you endure. I will give you strength to endure. You don't have to go through these things all by yourself. If you go wherever in the world, behold, I am there. If you are in heaven or in the reaches of hell, behold, I am there with you, he says. Why? Not because of your endurance, not because of your faithfulness, but rather because of God's faithfulness and God's approval of you through His Son, Jesus Christ. In order to endure, you need God's approval. and God's judgment of a Christian is approval. But the righteous judgment of God is also a judgment of God's acceptance. Not only will He approve of those who come to Him through Jesus Christ, but He also accepts them. It goes on in verse 5, and it says that He has this judgment, this righteous verdict of you through Christ, for what purpose and with what result? so that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. So that you might be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. If you've ever traveled outside the United States, you know that it's more of a process than just hopping onto an airplane and going overseas and then just entering into another country and enjoying time as a tourist. There's a lot more to that depending on where you go. If you want to go to a country that is one of our allies, it's a little bit simpler, but you still need to go to the post office, you need to get a passport, you need to have your picture taken, and you need to give them all this information about you so that you can get that passport and go overseas and go into those countries. But then there are other countries that require certain visas. So it's not just enough going to go to the post office to get your passport. Now you have to apply to that consulate and get a visa that allows you certain kinds of entrance into their country. And after you pay certain money and wait a certain amount of time, you're able then to get this visa which will allow you and permit you to get that ticket to go onto the plane, use your passport and your visa to enter into that country and be accepted into that country. We need to realize that Get into heaven is not as easy as we think. The fact is, we need to be accepted by God. Not anybody who says, well, I'm going to go to heaven or I want to go to heaven will go into heaven because there is one path. There is one road. And that road is through Jesus Christ. You can't go down to another path. You can't go through another God. You can't go through another religious organization. There is one way. Jesus is that door. And he is the only one through whom God himself will accept you and then let you enter into the kingdom of God. It is not simple because Jesus Christ himself had to die for that admission. He's the one that had to pay that price for our visa into heaven. Now, does he require us to endure? Does he require us to obey in order to have this? No. He says just receive the gift. So in one sense, it is not simple because it was a complex transaction between God, the Son and God, the Father. But it is a simple process for us to accept and believe what Jesus Christ has done for us. We need to realize there's one way. And there's one path. And that one way and path is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he and he alone is the one who gives us acceptance. He is the one who makes us, as it says in Ephesians 1, 6, accepted in the beloved. We receive acceptance in God the Father's eyes through the beloved, through Jesus Christ. You see, it is up to God whether or not we are worthy. It's not up to us. I can't say that I am worthy because of what I've done, or what church I attended, or how much money I gave in the offering plate, or because I haven't really done so many bad things. It's up to God. And God says, you have to come to Me on My terms, not on your terms. And My terms are through My Son, Jesus Christ. By belief and trust in what He has done and the sacrifice that He has made, only through Jesus Christ can you come. And then, He says, I will count you worthy to enter into the kingdom of God. But when you do come to God on his terms, he will render you worthy and deserving to receive his kingdom. And that is the greatest blessing of the gospel, because it's not what I have to do. It's not whether or not I am worthy. It's what God says and what God does. And if we just trust him and say, God, I'm going to come to you on your terms, he is worthy to accept us. through his son. In order to endure, we need God's approval and we need God's acceptance that is based entirely on coming to God on his terms. And that is only through his son, Jesus Christ. But this righteous judgment of God is further a judgment of God's admission into the kingdom of God. It says in verse five, that is where we are counted worthy of. That is our ultimate place. And this is the real reason why the Thessalonians were being persecuted. It's not because of where they lived in this world. It was because where they were going to live in the next world. Do you realize that the reasons why we suffer And the reasons why we experience tribulation and the reasons why we experience persecution is because we are citizens of another country. We are citizens of another kingdom. And because they belong to the kingdom of God and because they served another king, they could realize that there was significance in their suffering. as D. Edmund Heber wrote concerning this verse, the prospect of the coming kingdom is well worth suffering for. This is why they endured. Their endurance had nothing to do with their fortitude and their strength and their might. The reason why they could endure the persecutions that they faced were because they had God's approval, God's acceptance, and God's admission for them into heaven. And that is how we know we are accepted of God. Our endurance has everything to do with what God has done for us. If you wonder what would happen if persecution came upon us, if you ever wondered whether or not you would endure, sometimes I've wondered that. What would happen if the United States of America started putting laws that says you can't do this, you can't do that, and Christians started being persecuted for their faith and their witness? What would I do? What would I do? What would we do? Would we endure? Would we persevere? Would we be faithful? The question is not so much what would I do, but what will God do in me and through me? Because the fact is, when those pressures come, as it came upon the Thessalonians, God was telling them, your endurance is an evidence of what God has already done in your heart. It's an evidence that God has already proved of you because you've trusted Jesus Christ. It's an evidence that God has accepted you in the beloved because you've come to him through Jesus Christ. It's an evidence of his admission into heaven saying this is where you will belong because of your faith in Jesus Christ. And it's not because of what you have done. It's because of what I have done in and for you. Romans 8 18 puts it this way. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And we can endure because of God's work in our life. That is why we need to depend on him and trust in him and in his power and in his strength. Is there endurance? in your life as a Christian. Obviously, we have not experienced the persecution and the afflictions like the Thessalonians have, but we have experienced some kind of suffering. Sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's emotional, sometimes it's financial. Whatever it is, have we endured? Is there an endurance? Is there a faithful, patient perseverance in suffering in our life as Christians? If it is, don't pat yourself on the back. Rejoice in what God has done for you, because that endurance is a manifest token of God's righteous judgment and verdict of you. It is an evidence that he accepts you, that he is approved of you and that he is going to admit you into heaven with him. It's an evidence that you're saved. It's an evidence that you are a Christian faithful to him. It is the proof that you have a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. So we understand that the opposite is also true. If you do not endure, If you do not persevere, if for time after time after time you continue to fall and fail and you reject and you do not respond to Him, it's an evidence that perhaps you have not been accepted of Him. You don't have any groundwork, any basis for the might and power of God at work in your life. How can we endure? Through our relationship with Him. What is God's verdict of you? What would He say? What would He say? to you about your relationship with him. You need to see the evidence of God's righteous judgment upon you. You need to see that evidence through your endurance, even as they saw it in their life. But secondly, not only must you see the evidence of God's judgment upon you, but you must seek the expression of God's righteous judgment to you. And we see God's judgment, God's verdict of different people expressed in three ways in verses six and seven. He goes on, seeing based on this evidence of your standing before God, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to do some things. Again, God is a judge of all people. And not only is He a judge, He is a just judge. He is a righteous judge. So anything and everything that He does is just and right. Even if it doesn't seem like it, or sound like it, or feel like it, it's us. It always is. Seen, then, it is a righteous thing with God, first of all, we see, to recompense. That word recompense means to repay. To recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. God's judgment is always just, and he can display his just judgment through a righteous retribution. That's the first way that he demonstrates his judgment. He says, it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. What does that mean? It means that it is just for God to persecute or to afflict the ones who are afflicting his people. Now, sometimes we think that doesn't make sense, because what does God call us to do? He's called us to turn the other cheek, right? He's called us to be patient with those that afflict us and persecute us. So is God telling us to do one thing and he's going to do another? Yes. Because God's just judgment upon those who are afflicting his people is that he will then afflict them. Why? Because they have sinned against him and his own people. And the fact is, God cannot, as the just judge, God cannot and will not overlook sin. God cannot and will not overlook sin, especially sins that are committed against his people. We need to realize that there are people in this world that are persecuting believers in just a ghastly fashion. I received a book not too long ago, a very nicely bound copy of Fox's book, The Martyrs, and if you've ever read some of those, it's astonishing to see and to hear what these Christian martyrs went through. But what made them become martyrs? The affliction and persecution of unbelievers. And God is saying that those who have persecuted My people and who end up not coming to Me but remain rebellious and stubborn in their sin, you know what's going to happen? I am going to turn around and afflict them. Why? Because He is a just judge who will not overlook sin. He cannot and He will not overlook sin against especially His people. And so those who afflict his people, it is a righteous thing with God to repay to those that trouble you more trouble and tribulation. That is just and right for God to do. And so that is one reason why we can turn the other cheek. Why we can persevere and remain faithful and endure some of these persecutions and afflictions and oppositions. Why? Because vengeance doesn't belong to me. That's not my business. That's not my job. Because I can lash out in anger and hostility. I can lash out in an unrighteous, unholy way. But God can judge in a just and a true and a right way. As it says in Romans chapter 12, verse 19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. So here we have that idea, how it's not your job, it's not your duty to repay. It's not your duty to lash out on those that have afflicted you. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath. For it is written, why? Vengeance is mine, God says. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, God says, if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing, you will keep coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good, because God is the judge of all. Why are these people going to receive the judgment of God? It's because they're standing with Him. They are rebellious. They are responsible for what they've done to God and to His people. And what they have sown, they will reap. And this ought to be one of the areas that we seek after God's judgment. It's not seeking and wanting these people to be persecuted and afflicted and go to hell. Absolutely not. But it's leaving that job and that judgment in the hands of God. So when we're afflicted and we're persecuted, what do we do? We seek God's help and strength to endure it instead of doing our job, if you will, of lashing out against Him. The Thessalonians, I could imagine, were probably experiencing some really tough times. And I know in human nature you want to get back at those people that got to you, right? But he says that's not the way of a Christian and a child of God, because you can do it in the wrong way and with the wrong heart and with the wrong attitude. He says, be angry, but sin not, and sometimes we're angry and we do sin. But God says my job is I'm the just judge. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. So your job is to patiently endure and follow after me, no matter what the persecution that you're facing, because that is what I have called you to do. It is a righteous retribution that God will give and repay those who have troubled his people. But secondly, a second way in which he can display his judgment is not just through a righteous retribution. That's the negative side, but also through his righteous reward. He adds in verse seven, not only is it a righteous thing for God to repay trouble to those who make trouble for his people, but also it is a righteous thing for God, for those of you who are troubled, to give you rest with us. That is the righteous reward of God to those who have followed after him. Those who endure by his grace, God will reward. This is one of the greatest reasons why we can and should endure affliction, persecution, and trials, and troubles, and anything else the world and the devil will throw at us. It's because of the rewards that God is offering to His people. That's a wonderful thing, and the Bible's filled with promises of reward. But what is our endurance? Again, our endurance, as it says in verse 4 or verse 5, is an evidence of God's own work in our lives. So what is God rewarding? Here we have God's work of approval, then our endurance is based on that, and then His reward is based on our endurance. So why would He reward something to us that we really had not much to do with it? Because of His grace. Because of His grace. I've always wondered why when you go to a county fair and they have prizes for the biggest, ripest, freshest tomato or different kind of vegetable, you know, always wondered why they give those prizes out to people that have had this huge tomato. It's beautiful. There's big pumpkin. You've seen those things. Sure, they might have. planted the seed. They might have watered it, made sure it had the right amount of water. They might have put the fertilizer in there. They might have made sure it had the right and proper sunshine. But ultimately, what grew that seed? The life within that seed, right? If there was no life in that seed, anything that that person would do to that seed would mean nothing. In the last round of storms that we had, our little spindly little tree in the front blew over. Just snapped right in half. And so, because we knew our trash was coming the next day, I got out a little hatchet and we sawed that off and we got rid of that part. So, if you go to my yard now, there's a stump about this big and about that thick. It's a little spindly thing. My wife and my kids are like, are you ever going to take that out? I said, no! I will, but I was hoping against all hope that that tree would start to grow again. Oh, I'm hoping. Why? Well, because I really don't want to pay for another tree and I really don't want to have to dig that one up. I'm hoping that there's still life in that tree. And unfortunately, I know there's not. But even if I went back to that tree and started pouring water on it and made sure that I had the proper kind of diet, made sure there was some fertilizer on there and made sure I had the right kind of soil, made sure that didn't get too much sun and not too much water and all these different things. Unfortunately, that tree is dead. There's nothing that can happen. Same thing was with us. Our endurance doesn't come from our own strength. It comes from God and his approval and acceptance and admission to us. And so God is actually rewarding us for something that he has done for us. But isn't that what salvation is? Salvation is God's reward to us for something that he did in the first place. That's grace. We didn't deserve the salvation in the first place. And yet God rewards us with heaven, with eternal life, with a glorified body that will never, never diminish. And God rewards us for things that he has done in us. That is why he rewards us because of his grace and because it is a motivation for us to continue to persevere. What is this reward? It says here that it is a reward of rest to you who are troubled. He will give you. It is a righteous thing for him to give you rest. That word rest has a picture of a release and a relief from bondage, from bondage. Some of those individuals in Thessalonica may have been arrested and thrown in prison. But then there's also those that were experiencing great oppression from people and they may have never been in prison, but they still needed rest and they could experience the rest of God as a reward for their endurance. Not only is it a reward of rest, but it is a reward of reunion. It is a rest, Paul says, and Silas and Timothy with us. Some rewards are based on competition, aren't they? Not too long from now, there's going to be the Olympics in China. And those Olympians are over there and are going over there for one thing. They want to win a gold medal. That's going to be the reward if they come in first place. Now, they'll settle for the silver, they'll settle for the bronze, but ultimately their eye is on the prize of a gold medal. And so they'll compete and they'll work hard to get that one reward. The beautiful thing about the reward of God upon us who endure and our endurance is based upon God's work in us. The beautiful thing about his reward is it's not just for one person. It's not just for the best. It's not for the brightest. It's not for those who are the church pastors and the church doctors. It is for every child of God who He has called and enabled to endure the persecutions and afflictions of this life. It is for every child of God. Do you realize that every one of us, because of Jesus Christ, will receive the same reward of eternal rest with Him? That is, again, the greatest reward it is for those who endure. This is the judgment that we need to see. This is what will help us through some of those most difficult trials in life, knowing that there is a reward in the end for those who endure. But when will this happen? He displays his judgment through a righteous retribution to those who are unbelievers and rebellious. He displays his judgment through his righteous reward to those who are following after him through his son. But he will also display his judgment when he comes in his righteous return. Ultimately, this judgment will take place when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. How does God judge? God judges in a powerful way. He is the powerful master. He is the Lord Jesus. He is the one before whom every single knee shall bow. He will come with his powerful messengers. Those angels will accompany him and do some work in Matthew. It talks about the angels that will gather those that are not believers and take them to their place. And then there are angels that will come and take the believers and take them to their place. And so in great power, God will return and judge his people and those who are not his people. And that is what we need to see. We need to seek after the return of Jesus Christ. Is there endurance in our life as Christians? If not, we need to seek after. We need to seek after the righteous judgment of God because through it we will be rewarded for our endurance. Christian patience is an amazing thing. It's something the world does not understand. For centuries, Christians patiently endured temptations, Trials and tribulations because of the righteous judgment of God upon them was more important than the world's judgment of them. And that is why, as Carl Olson writes in his book Passion, this is why in the late 17th century in southern France, a girl named Marie Durant could with patience and faith endure when she was brought before the authorities charged with Christian heresy. She was just 14 years old. Bright, attractive, marriageable. She was asked to abjure the Huguenot Christian faith. She was not asked to commit an immoral act. to become a criminal or even to change the day-to-day quality of her behavior. She was only asked to say, J'abjure, which means, I recant. No more, no less. At 14 years old, she did not comply. Together with 30 other Huguenot Christian women, she was put into a tower by the sea. And for 38 years, she continued there. And instead of the hated word, j'abjure, she, together with her fellow martyrs, scratched in the wall of the prison tower the single word, resist. The word is still seen and gaped at by tourists on the stone wall at that prison. We do not understand the terrifying simplicity of a religious commitment which asks nothing of time and gets nothing from time. We can understand a religion which enhances time, but we cannot understand a faith which is not nourished by a temporal worldly hope that tomorrow things will get better, because in her life, nothing was going to get better. to sit in a prison room with 30 others and to see the day change into night and summer into autumn, to feel the slow systemic changes within one's own flesh, the drying and wrinkling of the skin, the loss of muscle tone, the stiffening of the joints, the slow stupefaction of the senses, to feel all this and still to persevere seems almost, in his words, idiotic to a generation which has no capacity to wait and to endure. How could she and the Thessalonian believers endure in that way? It's because it was a manifestation and evidence of the righteous judgment of God. It was an evidence of God's approval and God's verdict in their life. Because of their connection to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, it was an evidence that they were His and belonged to Him and no one else. Will we endure in that way? Would we endure in that way? Do we seek the righteous judgment of God in our life? Let's remember today Your endurance is the evidence of His righteous judgment, of His right verdict of your relationship with Him. Let's endure. Let's persevere in our faith and walk with Him.