Hi, welcome to Go to the Word radio broadcast, a ministry of Faith Baptist Church in Ontario, Ohio. I'm Pastor Dave Davenport. Today we're studying in 2 Thessalonians and we're in Chapter 2. We trust you'll have your Bible open and stay with us for the next several minutes as we go to the Word. If you would go, please, first chapter of 2 Thessalonians this morning. Last week I gave you my hope. I said I believe that God is in the midst of the details of life. And we went through Daniel 11. And some of you responded with a real warm affection for that message. And in fact, I ran into Jim and Devonna. They said they had their Bibles open on Monday just saying, we went back through it. We were just taking it in. And so it was really neat to hear that feedback. God has a master plan, that's what we found from that chapter all about the times of the Gentiles. And so my hope was that we would all understand and get our minds around the fact that China is in the Bible, they're just not one of the primaries. You have to have a ten-nation confederacy trying to do some imperialistic things. and they're going to have an Antichrist and he wasn't Chinese, okay? He was going to be from the European Union, the EU. I just read last night that many of the people in Brexit are really crying out to get back into the Union. It's just weird. But there it is, right? It's like another thing dropping. So we have a lot going on and if this unfolding of things that are going on behind the scenes right now with the Pope and with President Trump and perhaps some blackouts over in the Vatican City, and I say that for those on the radio, there's stuff going on. You just weren't here to hear about it ahead of time because we talked about it before the message. But I just want you to know that things are moving and God has a plan. And my hope was that because God has a plan that we would be able to kind of calm ourselves down and collect ourselves. And I said something about Amy Coney Barrett. I told you about how I thought she was a gift from the Lord. And I know some of us think, well, where was she? Where's she been? She's just baby. She's the brand new one. She can't invite courts. We don't know what she's going to do now until we know what she's going to do. And if Chief Justice Roberts is as corrupt as we are being led to believe in a criminal sense, then what we're talking about is a compromised court and she can't shine until she shines, right? You guys know they're going after Clarence Thomas right now, right? That's happening. They're beginning to attack his wife. They're attacking his wife, just like they're attacking Ted Cruz. So a lot of things are happening. But when I take you to chapter 1, I do this because I wanted you to see an updated, expanded view of some of the things we saw at the end of chapter 11 in Daniel. And the Bible says in verse 4 of chapter 1, it says 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. Now, I obviously took a word off at the beginning because there's a connective, but I want you to know what Paul is saying to the Thessalonians. He's saying, we glory in you before other churches. And then he tells you why he glories in the Thessalonians to the other churches. And the reason he does is because they are absorbing a great deal of persecution. He calls it persecutions and tribulations. Do you see that? Verse four. Now, this is a lead into chapter two, which will be our primary text. But I want you to know that what he just did there was he just gave them encouragement. He was saying to them that what they're thinking, and we'll get to that here in a minute, but to say in a word, they're thinking they're in the tribulation. And there are people in America and around the world probably thinking we're in the tribulation, this is stuff happening. And I mean, with the Vatican being possibly penetrated last night, we're talking about some pretty amazing stuff. And so you might be tending to think, well, is this that? Well, I will say this about the Vatican being penetrated and the possible apprehension and criminal charges toward the Pope. I will tell you this, that he's so old that if he had seven years for the tribulation, he probably wouldn't make seven years. He's at an age. So they have to kind of remove him. So we just maybe are seeing God move things up a little bit by getting rid of him because they're not going to fall. They're going to regroup and get a new Pope. And if they got a young Pope who was really dynamic, that would be interesting. But what we're seeing here is he's saying, you're in tribulations. Yes. We're in tribulation right now. Yes. But it's not the tribulation. We are in tribulations. We have been ever since the church was born. The first 200 years, man, they're taking them, throwing them to the lions, burning them at the stake and decapitating them. So what I'm saying to you is, is that he's giving them the credit that, yeah, I get it. I know why you're, I know why you're startled. Things are really bad. And you guys are getting the brunt of it. You're losing some of your people. Remember, what do we do with the people who died? Chapter four of the book of first Thessalonians. And what about them? He says, we're not going to prevent them. They're going to go rise first. Then we're going to rise. They were worried about that because people were maybe dying by natural causes, but who knows? Maybe they were also dying because they were put to death. We don't know what their circumstance, maybe both, because there's an overlap, perhaps, to the two. Because it did give way to persecution. He says, we brag on you before all the churches because you're going through persecution and you're going through tribulations. And we even brag on you before other churches because you guys are killing it. That's what they say in our day. You guys are handling it. You're handling it perfectly. And we point others to you and how well you're doing. The Bible says in verse 5 that that endurance in the midst of the trials is a manifest token to the unrighteous that they are going to be judged themselves. It's God's mercy that He lets the church suffer. Verse 6 says, seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them. So there's you endure tribulation in verse 4, and then there's going to be tribulation to them that trouble you in verse 6. Now that tribulation is another thing altogether. That would be the people that are the predecessors of those who will be here when the Lord returns. Tribulation is going to be given to them. You say, well, I thought it was localized. I thought it was historical. No, this is the Word of God. It's transgenerational. This was written by the inspiration of the Spirit, and we know that that word, tribulation, here is going to be given to them and their seed, or their kind, because chapter 2 is going to be all about the tribulation. Okay? I'm just trying to make this make sense, because the devil gets in there and he says, yeah, but yeah, but yeah, but you're like spending your time possibly Parrying the truth, but the truth is he's telling them you're doing good, but it's not the tribulation It's tribulation, but it's not the tribulation now. He's saying they're going to get tribulation. They're the lost people Do you know lost people are going through the tribulation? Okay, that's pretty big deal And so we get a word about that. How do we know? Because it's stuff like this, the Word of God talks about it. It's all in the book of Revelation, Tribulation, Tribulation, it's all there, and in Matthew 24 and elsewhere. And so he says, it's a just thing for God to recompense tribulation to them who trouble you, and to you who are troubled, rest. Now, usually the Greek word for rest is airene, means to bring together. To join, okay, Irenae, that makes sense, you know, peacemaker, somebody brings God together with a lost sinner. Joining, that's peace, you know, blessed are the peacemakers, people who join. But the word peace here is a different word, it's a word that literally means relief. Now, when we get home, there's relief, OK? It's not relief now. He's not promising them they're going to get relief in real time. Many of them are going to live through a lot of hard times. They're the ones who are at the threshold of all that big persecution in the second and third centuries. The Bible says, then to you that are troubled, rest with us when, there it is, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed. You see, God does not promise you and me rest right now in that sense, which means relief and so forth. When you think of this word, it shows up in other places you may be familiar with. Paul talking about, we had no rest in our spirits because we didn't know what happened to Titus or some other condition or situation. So anyway, we go back, he says, it's a just thing to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, but rest to you when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed. Now, one of the great encouragements to you and me in times like these is that Jesus is going to be revealed. Amen? Isn't that a good thing? It's great, right? Now let me tell you something else that's a great thing. And you might not think it's very Christian to think it, but Paul wrote it, and I'm going to tell you about it. He says he's going to be coming in flaming fire taking vengeance. He's going to be taking names. And the Bible says on them, he's going to take vengeance on them who know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." You hear that? Now, I can rejoice in the fact that there is ultimate justice, because there's a whole lot of injustice down here. In our world right now, the political scene is out of control with injustice. The President of the United States was not able to get one hearing from the Supreme Court of the United States. And when everybody came back after the hiccup that occurred on Wednesday, we found that even the Senate and Congress began to vilify a million people over a couple of dozen people who stirred things up. This is the world we're living in, and only a handful of guys who were going to object to certain electors did so, and they were chided. How can you do that? Let's move on. Move on. You ever heard of the organization moveon.org? That's what they got their name from. They keep saying, move on. That's over. Move on. Clinton and other things, the emails and the servers, move on, move on. They started an organization called moveon.org because that's what they want you to do. Just keep moving, move, move, move. And that's what they did the entire election cycle. President-elect Biden, president-elect, and there's no president-elect until the electors are picked. And they were doing it way ahead of that. So we see him saying they're going to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. That means they're going to go to hell. Not just them, but every single person who does not love and obey the gospel. The gospel says we're sinners and we need a savior. And when you understand that, the light goes on, you can do one of two things. You can either accept the truth and put yourself in the place of refuge, a bulwark, never failing. Or you can dismiss and grow to despise everything about the gospel, and especially the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ. You see, that's the choice. And some people say, well, I'm thinking about it. Do you know what? A maybe is a no. It's a no right now. If I'm not moving, I'm not moving. And when the trumpet sounds, you ain't going. It's the way it is. You don't get to go because you had a good intention. That doesn't work. Well, you've heard it, right? Road to hell is paved with good intentions. We say that all the time. Well, I'm not going to change. Hey, is there a time for an awakening in America? There's a time for that. I think we need one. There's a lot of people been singing about it prematurely. Heard some rock and roll songs that were Christian that were saying, this is the days of the great awakening. And all I'm seeing is corruption everywhere. Church is weak. No witness. It's all about the party. It's not about the activity of the kingdom. It's about the party. What he says there is a lesson to all of us where he says, rest with us in verse 7. That's a word that they need to be reminded of. Because why? Because the rest is later. We get rest later. Right now? Boots on the ground. And I reference back to you the parable I've been referencing of late. The Lord's played on my heart about those servants who are working. Will he let him sit down and eat? He'll say, no, you feed me and you take care of my table. And when we're all done with this, then you can eat. This is the time to work. When we get home, the Bible says, then the Lord himself will come forth and gird himself and serve us. What? We'll be like Peter. No, Lord, not me. Let me serve you. He'll say, if I don't serve you, you can have no part with me. He's going to serve us. How amazing is that? But that's later. It says, when he shall come, he will come and be revealed, and that's apocalypse, the same word, we get the word revelation, from apocalypse, apocalyptico, from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire taking vengeance on them that obey not the gospel. Now I say all this to show you two things. Just go back and look at it. Verse four talks about persecutions. He gives them credit. Yes, it's bad. It really, really looks bad. I get it. You think you're in the tribulation. He says, but there's a different tribulation that they're going to be recompensed with, verse 6. So that's the run-in. It puts the context here. When we come down to verse 1 of chapter 2, the Bible says, Now we beseech you, brethren, this is the purpose for the letter. We beg you, we appeal to you, we really draw you near, put our arm around you, and we say, please don't be shaken. The Bible says, Brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. And what we're seeing here is he's talking about two different events, the coming of the Lord and our gathering together to him. We're in the church age, a time where the bride of Christ is gathered. We're in the church age, the bride of Christ is being gathered. And when the trumpet sounds from heaven for the rapture, the bride of Christ is being taken home immediately. Well, that concludes today's portion of the message. This has been a ministry of Faith Baptist Church in Ontario, Ohio, and I'm Pastor Dave Davenport. I hope you'll join us Monday through Friday for our verse-by-verse studies, and we hope you'll tell others to tune in as well. If you'd like to contact us and learn more about our ministry, go to faithbaptist1.net. You can also download recent broadcasts on our homepage. We hope you'll make it a point to tune in daily as we go to the word. you