The Hope of Christ's Return

Introduction

As we do things a little differently tonight, we are going to briefly continue our study of 1 Thessalonians and examine Paul’s heart for this church and a call to have hope at the return of Jesus Christ. This is certainly a timely message and reminder for us in our context today as we know that Satan is hard at work trying to frustrate us and prevent us from accomplishing God’s plan for our lives while we seek to honor God and share the Gospel knowing that Christ is coming back.

This morning we talked about choices and how we must choose wisely as followers of Jesus Christ because we live by faith. Sometimes, it can be difficult to make the “right” choice, though. For the child who is offered alcohol at a party with a group of friends, it can be hard to make the right choice due to peer pressure. It can be hard for us as Christians to defend our faith in front of a group of atheists or people who look down upon Christians in general. In such moments, we must choose what we will do. Will we stand up for our faith or will we cower down?

As we continue in 1 Thessalonians 2, we see that Paul experiences opposition and is weighed down by concerns for this church whom he loves dearly. He fears the persecution that they are facing as young believers. He is concerned that he will never be able to see them in person again. He is concerned that this church will lack direction and harbor ill thoughts towards him and his co-workers. Finally, he was concerned about the false teachers that would tempt this church.

He loved these believers and wanted them to grow in their faith. Even though he was not presently with them in person, he prayed for them and they were not walking on this journey alone. Likewise, we must remember that we are not alone today. We have brothers and sisters in our local congregation to encourage us and we also have many godly leaders from other congregations that lift us up in prayer on a regular basis. Because of this, we should look ahead with hope towards Christ’s return.

1 Thessalonians 2:17–20 CSB

17 But as for us, brothers and sisters, after we were forced to leave you for a short time (in person, not in heart), we greatly desired and made every effort to return and see you face to face. 18 So we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 Indeed you are our glory and joy!

Satan can foil our plans (17-18)

From the get-go in this passage we see a problem that Paul is facing, he was forced to leave this church - we talked about this back in Acts 17 as an angry mob formed whenever Paul was preaching the Gospel in Thessalonica and they kicked him out of the city! This saddened Paul and he attempted to return and see these believers again. Paul wanted to be with these believers and these believers wanted Paul to return and fellowship with him. If you look ahead to chapter 3 verse 6 you see...

1 Thessalonians 3:6 NASB95

6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you,

Whenever we view church as entertainment or a ritual, we lose out on this deep relationship with one another. Church is an investment. Church is relational. Church is a family. Paul loved these people and desired to see them, these believers loved Paul and longed for him to return too. There is this idea in the modern church that church is 1 hour a week and you can check off on your weekly planner that you’ve done your job. I’ve listened to my weekly sermon and I’ve sung the songs, therefore I’m good for the week. Seriously, many people view church like that. That’s not what it’s about though, is it? Isn’t it something more? Church is more than a service, church is God’s people gathering to do God’s work and that extends beyond 1 hour a week.

Consider how you can do a better job of ministering with others this week. Just as these believers longed for Paul to return and fellowship with him, are there people that you long to return and fellowship with? With COVID-19, churches all around the nation are dealing with situations that we never imagined we would endure! There are people that I’ve talked with on the phone and communicated with thru text, but I haven’t seen them in months and it breaks my heart and it likely does yours as well but that’s the reality we’re in today. How can we minister to them? Paul might’ve returned to Thessalonica during his 3rd missionary journey, several years after visiting them the first time, but we don’t know that for sure and even if he did, this would’ve been years after the fact. Did Paul wait years to do things with this church? No. We are told that Satan hindered Paul’s plan to return to this church and Satan is hindering many things in our world right now - but we are still responsible to do ministry! We are responsible for praying for others and for sharing the Gospel.

Scholars contemplate how Satan hindered Paul and his companions. We don’t know for sure how this happened, but it must’ve been a serious opposition because Paul tried his hardest and couldn’t return. Some speculate that Satan brought about sickness or stirred up a mob in Thessalonica that prevented him to return. We know that a messenger of Satan tormented Paul in 2 Cor 12

2 Corinthians 12:7 ESV

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

This is a mysterious verse, but we know that Satan cannot stand the Gospel being proclaimed and so he will do everything in his power to stop that from happening. He stopped Paul from immediately returning to Thessalonica and this troubled Paul, yet he continued to pray for this church. Just because Satan is hindering people from returning to worship with us in person, there still remains a duty for all of us at Morgan Baptist Church. Ministry never stops. We continue to pray. We continue to lift one another up. We continue to share the Gospel and serve as a light in our community. Satan can foil our plans, but he doesn’t get the last laugh. Why is this the case?

Satan cannot steal our joy (19-20)

In verses 19-20 we see the ultimate hope that Paul has which is that Christ is going to return. Even though Paul’s plan didn’t work out how he hoped it would, he still had the opportunity to teach this church and we know from 1 Thessalonians 1:7 that this church was an example to other churches in the region. These believers had a solid foundation, but they still had questions.

Think of some of the questions that you have that you can’t wait to have answered whenever you are face to face with God. What came first, the chicken or the egg? How did Jesus feed 5,000+ people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and have 12 baskets left over? How did Satan fall? We have a long list of questions and we see in 1 Thessalonians that these Christians had a big question regarding Christ’s return. We see that because Paul keeps on addressing it left and right in this letter.

Because of that, we’re going to spend some time looking at some truths of Christ’s return and how it effects us today as we live our daily lives.

Jesus will save His Church

We will give an account to God for how we lived our lives - our actions matter

God will judge this world

Paul stresses these points throughout his letters and we know that Christ’s return has a great impact upon us with how we live our lives.

In my Theology II class at Midwestern, this past week we studied Eschatology in depth. Eschatology is a secondary or tertiary theological issue that many people get riled up about and sadly it splits churches when treated as a primary issue. What is the theme of Revelation? Jesus wins and if you’re in Christ, you win too. Simple! How is everything going to happen? I don’t know, you don’t know. John Hagee doesn’t know even though he writes a new book about it every other year, no one knows for sure! But, we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Christ will return. Therefore, we are able to have joy that nothing and no one can take away. As Paul talks about often in his letters and as we’ve been looking at in Hebrews 11, we must keep our eyes fixed towards towards heaven. We should live our lives with the expectation that Christ is coming and His coming could be today. Does that mindset change the way that people live their lives? It should. If we understand that today might be our last day and that our mission is to share the Gospel, the way that we live changes because we have an urgency to make disciples. Even when there is tragedy and discouragement, we have joy because Christ is coming soon.

Another point of application for us is that we will be held accountable for our actions whenever Christ returns. Some people think that they have prayed the prayer and they are free to live however they want because they’re now in Christ and Romans 8:1 notes that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What does the Bible share with us in Romans 6:1-2?

Romans 6:1–2 CSB

1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

We, as Christians, are called to stop living in sin because we have died to sin. Christ is returning and we are going to be held accountable for our actions as Matthew 25:1-13 shares with us. 1 Corinthians 3 also talks about this idea of there being a crown and a time of accountability for our actions

1 Corinthians 3:10–15 CSB

10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.

Notice what verse 15 says, your foundation can be built upon Jesus Christ but if your work is wood, hay or straw and is burnt up, you are saved because of your faith in Christ but you experience the loss of a reward. See, we are saved the millisecond we repent of our sins and place our faith in Christ, but we are not saved to sit. We are saved to serve. Paul speaks of there being hope, joy and a crown. The idea of there being a crown in verse 19 is similar to an athlete receiving a wreath placed on his head after winning a race. Paul is saying here that we should live our lives in such a way that we receive this crown and reward and hear “well done” my good and faithful servant when we pass away.

1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV

5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

We live to receive commendation from God, not man. No one can take this hope away from us.

A final point for us from Christ’s return is that Christ will have the final word. Our world is one of corruption, disappointment and violence. There are so many injustices going on and we are responsible to represent the love of God towards those who are being abused, picked on and wronged. But, we also know that Christ will have the final word. As one commentator notes, “We have the promise that God will exercise His righteous judgment at Christ’s coming. God is more than capable to balance the books.” 1 Peter 4:5 shares with us that all humans will give an account to God and we look forward to the day of Christ’s return so that wrong will be judged accordingly and right will be rewarded appropriately.

Most of all, we look forward to Christ’s return knowing full and well that that our eternal home and destination is secured not in ourselves but rather in the victory that Christ has won for us once and for all on the Cross of Calvary as Hebrews 10:18 shares with us.

Conclusion

Paul is struggling in this passage as he longs to return but he is unable. We see that Satan hindered him from doing so. One of the incredible truths for us as Christians is that God has a perfect plan for our lives. Even though Satan tries as hard as he can, God’s plan will come to fruition. What is our responsibility? To trust in Him and wait for His timing.

Where is your focus today and where is your hope placed in? Is your focus on yourself and your immediate circumstances or are you living with an eternal perspective? Is your hope in yourself or is it in Christ and His imminent return? Trust in Christ and live with the expectation that He is coming back… It could even be tomorrow!