No More Doom

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 | May 24, 2020

Have you ever gotten tangled up in something?

• Christmas tree lights?
• Fishing line?
• Boat ropes?
• Computer cords?
• Conspiracy theories?
• Your Rainbow Mermaid Snuggie?
• Your hair during stay-at-home restrictions?

It has been noted in many places and in many memes that lately our lives have been running parallel to the Disney movie “Tangled”.

The movie is a re-imagining of the classic story of Rapunzel.

Rapunzel is locked away in a tower for 17 years and her hair grows really, really, really long – and her long hair gets her tangled up in all kinds of trouble and adventure. 

Unlike our stay-at-home hair Rapunzel’s hair is magical, but that magical hair doesn’t set her free – in the movie she needs a dashing hero named Eugene Fitzherbert to help set her free.

If you are Disney movie watcher, you might have an opinion on an article I saw a few weeks ago that profoundly proclaimed, “Tangled is better than Frozen in every way.”

The author gave some banter comparing different aspects of the characters and then made this intriguing statement about the plots of each movie:

Mary Rose Weber

…at the end of the day, what I’m looking for in a Disney movie is something akin to wish fulfillment.

Mary Rose Weber

I don’t want to imagine myself as a princess in a magical land still having to deal with the same old sister problems. I want to be a princess who falls in love with a handsome rogue!

We could make some similar claims, right?

Most of us are looking for something akin to wish fulfilment – we wish the circumstances of everything happening right now would magically change. 

We don’t want to be on our actual land still having to deal with the same old stay-at-home problems. 

We want to be a person who falls in love with a handmade pretzel at the mall.

But life isn’t always like a Disney movie, is it?

Sometimes the things we are tangled up in can’t be quickly untangled with a strong frying pan or a catchy song. 

So, what can we do?

When life is a tangled-up mess, how can we get untangled?

The Apostle Paul was writing to some folks in a placed called Thessalonica.

He was trying to protect them from certain kinds of conspiracy theories and give them some hope for the future. 

Can we make any connections with that?

So, how does he try to keep them from getting tangled up in their circumstances?

Let’s find out.

Listen to 1 Thessalonians 1, beginning with verse 9:

9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,

What kind of report could be given about our lives over the last two months?

Have we turned from idols and turned to God?

Have we turned from…

• The idols of fear?
• The idols of frustration?
• The idols of anger?
• The idols of apathy?
• The idols of impatience?
• The idols of criticism?
• The idols inside the fridge?
• The idols inside our smartphones?

And why should we turn from idols?

About 950 years before Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, the psalmist wrote this about what our idols can really do for us:

Psalm 115:5-6

They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell;

 

Psalm 115:7-8

They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

Those are sharp words designed to help our hearts see that watching our idols and driving our idols and working out on our idols and gaming with our idols and eating our idols and scrolling through our idols will not ultimately help our souls. 

The only person that can help your soul is the one, living and true God.

Those folks in Thessalonica got that.

Their faith wasn’t defined by whether or not they were sitting in the sanctuary on Sunday morning.

Their faith was defined by serving the living and true God whether they were sitting in the church room or watching the church zoom. 

Their faith was defined by serving the living and true God before a pandemic and during a pandemic and after a pandemic. 

Why?

Because the living and true God is not a pastor or a politician or a parent or paramedic or a paralegal or a phlebotomist or a part-time server at the snowball stand. 

He is the living and true God – holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!

I can’t describe exactly what God looks like but I can take the truth of the Scriptures and tell you that unlike an idol…

He has a mouth and when he speaks the wind stands still.

He has eyes and he can see the smallest cell in your body.

He has ears and he can hear the quietest cry in the corner of the emergency room.

He has a nose and he can smell the tiniest aroma of kindness and obedience and humility in your life.

He has hands and if you are in Christ there is no virus and there is no vaccine and there is no vandalism and there is no vote and there is no valley of any shadow of any darkness that can ever snatch you out of his hand. 

He has feet and there is coming a day when all those in heaven and on earth will bow down and fall at his feet and be transferred once and for all into the kingdom of light or into the kingdom of darkness – there are no other options.

And every person who trusts in the living and true God will never be disappointed. 

You will be disappointed in your pastor and you will be disappointed in your politician and you will be disappointed in your spouse and you will be disappointed in your parents and you will be disappointed in your kids and you will be disappointed in that person next to you in line who will not wear a mask and you will be disappointed in that person that has the audacity to wear a mask in front of you when the church regathers, but if you are in Christ you will never, ever, ever be disappointed by God. 

Why?

Because when you are like the Thessalonians and you are serving the living and true God, you have something amazing in your tank.

You have something that can slay the dragon of fear in a millisecond. 

You have something that can stab the darkness of despair and pierce your mind with mesmerizing light.

What is that something?

Hope. 

What kind of hope?

Paul tells us.

Listen to verse 10:

10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus,

This is how you get untangled. 

• You wait for Jesus
• You look for Jesus
• You long for Jesus

You expect Jesus to come around the corner one last time at any moment. 

Now, does that mean we walk around in fear with our eyes to the sky scared to go through the drive-thru and get a chalupa and a pineapple whip freeze because we think we are going to miss him?

No.

Does that mean we abandon our families and go live in a tent on a hill outside of Jerusalem and wear sackcloth and eat locusts and olives.

No. 

It means that we fight to keep telling our souls:

“Jesus is coming again, and he will make all things new and he will make all things right and at some point I will get a seriously cool new body and I will be finally and fully saved to sin more!”

And, dear Christian, until he comes again everything will not be new and everything will not be right, and we need to embrace that.

We need to fight against our flesh that tells us our stress and our anxiety and our fear and our frustration over people and politics and pandemics and parenting and panic over college football has more power and more authority than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Chew on that for a second.

There is nothing and no one in the universe that has more power and authority than the Risen Jesus.

Therefore, the resurrection of Christ matters on Easter Sunday and it matters on Senior Adult Sunday and it matters on Graduation Sunday and it matters on Christmas Sunday and it matters on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Memorial Day and the day after the third Tuesday of next month.

The letter to the Hebrews described why Jesus is the Priest of priests and the Shepherd of shepherds and the Pastor of pastors and the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

What gives Jesus that kind of authority?

Hebrews 7:16

who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

Jesus was brutally crucified on a Roman cross – he physically and physiologically died, but he did not stay dead!

• He was raised from the dead!
• He came back to life!
• He conquered death!
• He robbed the grave!

If you are believing in and trusting in and relying on and clinging to Jesus as your only source for true and lasting salvation…

• You have something to hope in!
• You have something you can trust!
• You have something you can depend on!

What?

The power of an indestructible life!

There was never a moment that it was ever possible for Jesus to stay in the grave!

• It was not going to happen!
• It was impossible!

And if you have repented of your sin and have put the faith of your heart first and most in Jesus, then you have a great and living hope!

Death is no longer master over Jesus Christ; therefore, death is no longer master over you!

And if that is not stunning enough, then lap up some of this icing on top of the cake – Jesus is coming again to make all things new and to make all things right and to save you finally and fully so that you will sin no more.

And the people in the early church thought that Jesus was coming like in the next 5 minutes.

What about us?

Do you have the Second Advent app on your phone?

The way the early church untangled themselves was to keep whispering to their souls that Jesus was coming again. 

They were eager to make the return of Christ their greatest hope. 

Is the return of Christ your greatest hope?

Or is your greatest hope the return of Sunday morning church on campus?

Listen, if that is your greatest hope you are going to get disappointed, because your church didn’t magically become perfect the last two months and neither have you.

If your greatest hope is in the regathering of churches or sports or restaurants or work or school or Disney World you will be disappointed. 

Why?

Because none of those things have the power of an indestructible life – only Jesus. 

We need to be eager for Jesus. 

We need to be eager to remember Jesus is coming again.

C.H. Spurgeon

Remember Jesus till you feel that He is with you, till His joy gets into your soul, and your joy is full. Remember Him till you begin to forget yourself, your temptations, and your cares.

C.H. Spurgeon

Remember Him till you begin to think of the time when He will remember you and come in His glory for you. Remember Him till you begin to be like Him.

Some of you have seen the candy challenge that’s out there on social media and if you haven’t then please go check out the Facebook pages of Jennifer Waring and Lindsay Shupe – two of our super cool moms here at Holland Avenue.

Logan Waring and Camden Shupe were rock stars before these videos but now they are both legends.

The challenge is basically that you put some candy in front of your kid and tell them not to touch it until you get back and of course you have your phone secretly recording them while you are gone.

I don’t want to give them away before you see them, but let me just say that when you watch Logan’s video you will be watching exactly what most of you would do with a candy challenge right now no matter how old you are.

And Camden’s is equally fantastic and there is this moment toward the end when she has patiently waited for the most part for Lindsay to return and she hears a noise in the distance and she quickly turns her head with her eyes big and wide and says out loud, “Coming?”

She was eager for her mom’s return. 

Listen, this isn’t candy we are talking about.

We are talking about being eager for Jesus because Jesus is the answer for the ultimate thing in life.

The return of Jesus is the answer for the ultimate thing that your soul wants the most.

And what is that?

10 who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Even if you don’t agree with it or think you don’t feel it, your soul wants to be rescued from the wrath of God. 

The wrath of God is usually not a trending topic that people like to discuss.

And many choose to ignore or dismiss or passionately reject the whole notion of the wrath of God. 

But borrowing the words of philosopher Nathan R. Jessup – deep down in places we may not talk about at Zoom parties, we need the wrath of God and we want the wrath of God.

Why?

Because without the wrath of God there is no ultimate justice. 

The most well-oiled legal system in history would still be created and managed with imperfect humans. 

If we depend on humanity to perfectly carry out justice, we will have to wait to infinity and beyond.

1. Edmond Hiebert

Without the truth of divine wrath, the universe would sink into moral chaos.

Why?

Because just take a casual look inside your home and your school and your workplace and your church and your community and your own head and you will find that you tolerate sin. 

I’m not saying you always tolerate sin on purpose, though, sometimes you do – and I’m also not saying that you always glorify sin, though, sometimes you do.

What I’m saying is that you are not perfect and nobody you live with is perfect and nobody you work with or go to school with or go to church with is perfect.

Generally speaking, we all take a pretty good shot at it and our law enforcement systems take a pretty good shot at it and our court systems take a pretty good shot at it.

But none of us are perfect so we cannot perfectly carry out justice. 

We need and we want a perfect judge at the end of the line to make sure that evil is not ultimately ignored.

And that someone is the living and true God rescuing people through the rescuer, Jesus, the Christ.

God cannot tolerate sin and the ultimate effects of sin.

The wrath of God is not God throwing a temper-tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. 

The wrath of God is his holy love perfectly stirred up against sin and evil. 

The wrath of God is his holy love making sure that perfect justice is ultimately served.

So, what does the wrath of God have to do with you?

279 years ago, Jonathan Edwards said it this way:

Jonathan Edwards

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given;

Jonathan Edwards

and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto;

Jonathan Edwards

the floods of God’s vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath;

Jonathan Edwards

the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back…

Why don’t you engage with the mere pleasure of God today and be rescued?

How?

Repent of your sin and run to Christ – let him untangle the cords of wrath and set you free.

Jesus made the first and greatest and only true ultimate sacrifice so that you could be saved. 

Saved from what?

Saved from sin and sickness and pandemics and conspiracies and stress and anxiety and death and the wrath to come. 

I was reading a story a few weeks ago about a British writer and politician named Hilton Young.

When he was 35 years old, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and went on to serve on the H.M.S. Iron Duke during World War I.

During the war he was thinking back on the people he grew up with and others back home and he wrote this:

Hilton Young

I should not mind to die for them,

My own dear Downs, my comrades true;

But that great Heart of Bethlehem,

He died for men he never knew.

Those are dear and noble and precious words from a soldier on the front lines of sacrifice for others.

There is one distinction, though – Jesus knew you.

And he knew me. 

We were helpless sinners tangled up in the wrath to come.

And Jesus laid down his life for us.

Jesus laid down his life for you. 

And then God raised Jesus up for you. 

And then Jesus ascended into heaven for you. 

And one day, maybe today, Jesus is coming again.

Are you eager for his return?

If so, then take your fears and your anger and your impatience and your exhaustion and wrap them up in the blanket of this truth – if you are in Christ…

• You have been rescued from the wrath to come
• You are being rescued from the wrath to come

And one day, you will be finally and fully rescued from the wrath to come.

As it has been said:

I know no softer pillow at night than that.

Message by Dow Welsh |

May 24, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

more |

Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

Have you ever gotten tangled up in something? We got tangled up in something. Maybe the Christmas tree lights, maybe the fishing line. Maybe some some rope from your boat. Maybe some computer cords may be entangled up into some conspiracy theories. Maybe got tangled up in a Rainbow Mermaid Snuggie. Maybe you got tangled up in your hair in the last few weeks because it's just gotten a little out of control. Well, in many places and in many maims lately, it has been said that our lives are parallel to the movie. Tangled. Yeah, the movie Tangled Tangled is a reimagining that the classic story of Rapunzel, Rapunzel in the movie is locked away in a tower for 17 years. And during that time, her hair, like many of IRS, has grown really, really, really, really long. Her hair is long, and as the story goes, it's her long hair that gets her tangled up in all kind of trouble and tangled up in all kinds of a venture. But unlike my long hair, her long hair was magical, but it wasn't magical enough to rescue her are free her. She needed a dashing hero, Eugene Fitzherbert, to come and rescue her from her tower. I was looking this week. You may be a Disney movie person and I saw an article, actually, a few weeks ago. I had an interesting land in it. It said Tangled is better than frozen in every way. Yeah, so if you're battling between those two movies, there you go. But but this person was saying Tangled is better than frozen in every way. And then they had some lively banter about the characters and some of the things. And then they said this about the plots of both movies. At the end of the day, what I'm looking for in a Disney movie is something akin toa wish fulfillment. I don't want to imagine myself as a princess in a magical land, still having to deal with the same old sister problems. I want to be a princess who falls in love with a handsome rogue. We could make similar claims right now, right? We're all in this this state where what we have something akin to wish fulfillment. We want a wish to be granted. We want everything that's happiness happening around us to somehow magically disappear or change. We don't want to be on our land with the same stay at home problems. We won't to fall in love with a handsome room. At the very least, get a handmade pretzel from the mall. We want things to be different, but you know life isn't always like a Disney movie is. Everything that's that's tangled up can always be quickly untangled with magical loan hair or strong frying pan or or acute song. So what do we do? What do we do? And when Life feels like a huge tangled up mess and we can't untangle ourselves, what do we do? And when that tangling begins to define who we are, how do we get untangled? The apostle Paul was writing to some folks in a place called Salonika, and he was writing to them for a purpose. He he wanted to help them avoid certain conspiracy theories, and he wanted to help them find some hope for the future. I think we can make any connections with that. So was he D does he tell her? Well, what does he tell them to try to help them not get tangled up, discouraged and bogged down in their circumstances? Let's find out first Thessalonians Chapter one, beginning with verse nine, Paul writes for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. What kind of report could be given about us over the last two months? Have we turned from idols and turned to God? Have we turned from the idols of fear? The idols of frustration? Have we turned from the idols of anger or apathy? The idols of impatience or criticism? Have we turned from the idols inside the refrigerator? Have we turned from the idols inside of our smartphones? Why should we do that? Why should we turn from an idol to begin with? Well, 950 years about before Paul wrote his letter, the Psalmist wrote something to us about idols. That's what Psalmist writes. Someone 15. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel they have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trust in them those air sharp words designed to help our hearts see that watching our idols, driving our idols, gaming on our idols, scrolling through our idols, eating our idols from the cookie jar. All of those things will never help our souls. The only thing that can help your soul is the living and true God. The only thing that could help your soul is the living and true God. The folks and Veselin, aka they got it. See their faith wasn't defined by whether or not they could sit in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. Their faith. What's defined by serving the living and true God. That's what defined their faith. Their faith was defined by serving God, not defined by sitting in the church room and not defined by watching the church zum but defined by serving God. Their faith was defined by serving the true and living God before a pandemic during a pandemic, and after a pendant, nothing changed in their faith. Their faith was still set on God. And why did they do such a thing? Why did they live in that way because the living and true God is not a pastor. He's not a politician, he's not a parent. He's not a paramedic. He's not a flat bottom ist. He's not a part time server at a snowball stand. No, he is the living and true God. Holy, Holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who waas and is and is to come. I can't describe exactly what God looks like. But I can tell you this I can take the scriptures and I can tell you that he has According Toa all that we see, he has a mouth and when he speaks, the wind stands still according to the scriptures, he has eyes and he can see the tiniest cell in your body. According to the Scriptures, he has ears and he can hear the quietest cry in the corner of an emergency According to what we see in the Bible God, in some way since he has a nose and he can smell the smallest aroma of humility and kindness and obedience in your life And according to the Scriptures, God has hands And if you are in Christ, there is no virus. There is no vaccine. There is no vandalism. There is no vote. There is no valley of any shadow of any death that can ever snatch you out of his hands. The Bible says that got us feet. And there is coming a day when those in heaven and on earth will fall and bow down at his feet. And then all will be transferred to the kingdom of light are transferred to the kingdom of darkness. There are no other options. And every person who trust in the living God will not be disappointed. Every person trust in the living God will not be disappointed. But you will be disappointed in your pastor and you will be disappointed in your politician and you will be disappointed in your spouse and you will be disappointed with your parents and your kids. You'll be disappointed with that lady behind you in line at the store that has the audacity to not have a mascone. And you'll be disappointed with that guy. When the church re gathers that has the audacity toe wear a mask, it turns You're going to be disappointed. But if you are in Christ, you will never know, never know never be disappointed in God. Why? We'll see these folks. And desolate like a they they learned the key was to serve The Lord served The Lord served the Lord. And when you are serving the true and living God, you have something in your tank that is amazing. Something that can consng slay the dragon of fear in a millisecond. Something that can compere sauce the darkness of your despair and blow in mesmerizing light. What is that? What is that thing? Quite simply, it is hope. What kind of hope Paul tells. Look at Verse 10. They're serving the true and living God. And they're also doing this and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. That is Jesus. This is how you get entangled. This is how you get untangled. You wait for Jesus. You look for Jesus. You long for Jesus. You expect Jesus to come around the corner for the last time at any moment? Does that mean that you're supposed to live in fear? You know, like you. You're so afraid you you won't go get a Chiluba and a pineapple. You know, whipped freeze Because you're afraid that Jesus is going to come when you're the drive through. No, that's not what it means. You mean you're supposed a banned in your family and go live in a urine outside of Jerusalem on a hill. And it ain't nothing but Locusts and wild honey. No, that's not what it means. This is what it means. It means that no matter what your tangled up in that you keep whispering to your soul. Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again. And when he comes again, you tell you when he comes again, he'll make all things new. He'll make all things right and I'll get this new cool body, Ah, body that is finally and fully saved to sin no more and to be stand against no more. That's the hope, what we have in Jesus and they're Christian. Let me say this until Christ comes again. Everything is not going to be new, and everything is not going to be all right. And we need to embrace that. We need to embrace it so that we can fight against our flesh when our flesh tells us that our our stress and our anger and our frustration or discouragement despair. People, politics, river pandemics, Tarantino or panic college football. When our flesh tells us that those things actually are more powerful over our emotions than the resurrected Christ, don't miss that. There's nothing and no one in the universe that has more power and more authority over your life than the risen Jesus No. One. Therefore, the resurrection of Christ really matters on Easter Sunday, and it really matters on senior adults Sunday, and it really matters on graduation Sunday. And it really matters on Mother's Day and Father's Day and Memorial Day and the third day after Tuesday, a month from now, the resurrection of Jesus matters. It matters. It matters. The letter to the Hebrews described why Jesus is the priest of priest and pastors of pastors, the shepherd of shepherds, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. How does Jesus have have that much title? Has he have that much authority in that much power? This is what he Bruce, after seven for 16 Jesus has become this way not on the basis of a law physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. Jesus of Nazareth was was brutally crucified on a Roman cross. He physically physiologically died. But he didn't stay, Dad. He was raised from the grave. He conquered the grave. He robbed the grave. He conquered death. That's true. Then it changes everything. If you're believing in and trusting in and relying on Jesus as your only source of ultimate salvation than listen, you've got something to hope in. You've got something you can trust. You've got something you can depend on. What? What is it? You have the power of an indestructible life. That's what that's what you have in Christ. See, it was absolutely impossible. It was never, ever going toe happen, that Jesus was going to stay. Dad, it wasn't going to happen. It was absolutely impossible because his life is in destructive. And if you've repented of your sin, if you put your faith first and most in that indestructible life in Christ and that means you have a living hope that no virus can snatch away a living hope because death no longer is master over Jesus. Therefore, if you are in Christ, death is no longer master over you and if that's not enough, then lick the icing on the top of this case. In addition to that Jesus, it's coming again. Jesus is coming again. And when he comes, he's going to make all things new, and he's going to make all things right. And he's going to finally and fully save you to send gnome or and you will not be sinned against no more, no more. And the people in the early church they felt that would happen any minute they lived is people are just going to be five minutes. I gotta get ready that they believe that Jesus was coming. He was. He was just around the corner. So how about us? Where are we in that you got the second Advent app downloaded on your phone. You ready? Are you ready for the return of Christ? Because here's the thing. You know how the early church got untangled when they got tangled up when plagues and pandemics and persecution. When those things hit the early church in how they untangled themselves from them, they kept saying to themselves, Oh, yeah, Jesus, He's coming again. But some people say, uh, for 2000 years, that has been the hope of a church that Jesus is not just some legend, some fairy tale. But he is the hope of our existence and that nothing can ever steal that hope away. Jesus, it's coming again. They were eager for the return of Christ their greatest hope. Their greatest hope was that Jesus was coming again. Let me ask you a question. Was your greatest hope is your greatest hope locked up And the fact that Jesus is coming again? Or is your greatest hope locked up in when we can come back to church again? Is your greatest hope wrapped up in and the re gathering of churches or the re gathering of sports or the re gathering of of restaurants or the re gathering of of anything else? Is that where your greatest hope is now? If so, then I want you to know you're going to be disappointed. Why I'll just use the church is an example. If you are a member of our church or whatever church you may be a member of you may not know this, but over the last two months your church has not become perfect and neither of you so so if our hope if our greatest hope is in things of this world. And our greatest hope is not in the return of Jesus. Then we will be disappointed because none of those things as great and as wonderful as any of them may be. None of them have the power of an indestructible life. Onley Jesus, Onley! Jesus, Onley Jesus! So we need to be eager for Jesus. We need to be eager for the return of Jesus. We need to be eager to remember. Jesus, Charles Spurgeon put it this way, Remember? Jesus, Do you feel that he is with you? Till his joy gets into your soul and your joyous full Remember him to you begin to forget yourself. Your temptations and your cares *** all remember him to You begin to think of the time when he well remember you and come in his glory for you. Remember him? Do you begin to be like him? Remember Jesus the eager for Jesus? Maybe you have seen the candy challenge out there on social media. If you have not that I encourage you to go to Jennifer wearing or Lindsay shoots Facebook pages. Two of our great moms here in the church and watch their videos on Logan and Camden. Now, Logan and Camden were rock stars before these videos came out. Now they're just legends, okay? And I don't want to give away anything, but let me just begin and tell you a little bit about the challenge. If you don't know some challenges, you basically put a piece of candy outfront your kid, and then you tell them they can't touch it until you come back. And then, of course, you have your camera phone secretly filming them while you're gone. So you know, when you watch these videos, let me just give you a heads up when you watch Logan's. What you're going to see is what every single one of us, no matter what age we are, would do if we had candy in front of us right now. Okay, you'll see that. Just enjoy. It'll be good. And Camden's is justice. Fantastic. And there's this moment toward the end where she's kind of been waiting patiently and and she hears a noise off in the distance and her eyes perk up and she and she looks toward the noise. And then is it just to say, the Lindsay coming coming. But she was eager for her mom to return. She was. She was eager for the candy. Listen, weaned on my candy. We're talking about the one thing that your soul wants the most. The one thing that your soul is desperate for, the one thing your soul it is longing for. That's what we're talking about. So what is that thing? Some of Paul says in Verse 10 and Jesus is the one who rescues us from the wrath to come. You may not agree with this. You may not even feel like it, but I want you to know, because of how God created you, that what your soul wants most is to be rescued from the wrath of God. That's what your soul wants the most. You know, the wrath of God is not usually a trending topic. In conversation. Many people reject the wrath of God. They ignore the wrath of God. They just they passionately object to the whole notion of the wrath of God. But barring the words of philosopher Nathan R. Jessup, deep down in the places that you don't talk about it, zoom parties, you won't the wrath of God. You need the wrath of God Why? Because without the wrath of God, there is no ultimate justice. I've been watching him shows kind of a historical fiction show about war, too, for often home for the last few weeks. And it's called Foyle's War, and I'm predicted, I just love I love history, and one of the things that I've picked up and so many of the episodes lately is that the war is now over, and it seems like every character in every episode is so discouraged. And they just keep saying things like, What do we find for what were we fighting for? Because we get in the middle of life and we forget what life is about. So in his kindness, God and his gracious love comes in through the Apostle Paul to say, Oh, this is what you're longing for you wont to escape the wrath of God because without the wrath of God in existence than ultimate, justice will never be served. Think about it this way. The most well oiled justice system in the world will still be in perfect because it was created and managed by in perfect people. It doesn't really matter if we depend on humanity two perfectly serve justice. We will be waiting to infinity and beyond. One commentator said it this way. Without the truth of divine wrath, the universe would sink into moral chaos. Why? Why would the universe sink in tomorrow? Chaos if the wrath of God didn't exist. But here's why. Just just just take a moment just to look into your home and your school in your workplace, in your car, in your backyard, in your head and you will find that you tolerate. Since I don't mean that that you tolerate sin flippantly, you know, like a is no big deal. I'm just tolerating sin, though sometimes you do. I'm not saying when we talk about tolerating sin that you're glorifying saying that you're saying hosts in is great, though sometimes you do. What I'm saying is this I'm not perfect. And either you and nobody that you go to church with and nobody that you work with and nobody that you go to school with nobody in your home is perfect. Therefore, generally speaking, we should not be looking toe us for perfect justice. Now, do we take a pretty good shot at it? Yeah. No, we do individually, we take a pretty good shot at justice. Our law enforcement system takes a pretty good shot at justice. No pun intended. Our court system takes a pretty good shot at justice. Okay, so So we are just This is good. And we do want to depend on the justice that God and his kindness has set up in our country and around the world. But none of us are perfect. Therefore, none of us can perfectly carry out justice. And so what we need, what we long for is we won't somebody at the end of the line who is a perfect judge who will finally deal with evil, that nobody will slip through the cracks we won't evil dealt with. If you are an atheist and agnostic and non Christian, a Christian, we won't because of how we've been created. We want some sense of justice toe actually happen. And the only way it will happen is through a perfect judge. And that perfect judge at the end of the line of life is the living and true God. And he is rescuing and perfectly judging by his grace through the rescuer Jesus the Christ that two years, so God cannot tolerate sin. He cannot tolerate the effects obscenity. And so in his holy love, he makes sure that evil and sin will ultimately be dealt with. That justice will ultimately be served Now. I think some people think the wrath of God will some God throwing a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way. No, no. The Wrath of God is not a temper tantrum. That the wrath of God is the holy love of God, perfectly stirred up to action over sin and evil. The wrath of God is his holy love, perfectly stirred up to make sure that ultimate justice is served. It's not a temper tantrum. It's grace, grace, grace upon grace. So what does the wrath of God have to do with you? Well, 279 years ago, Jonathan Edwards wrote a sermon. Many of us had to read it as part of our literature English classes somewhere in high school. I just want to read just a portion of what he writes in that sermon. The wrath of God is like great waters, that air damned for the present. Just make that connection. We've We've seen this locally and other places in the country where dams this past week have broken and we've seen the destruction. The wrath of God is like great waters there dammed up for the present. They increase mawr and mawr and rise higher and higher till an outlet is given. And the longer the stream has stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course. When once it is let loose, it is true that judgment against your evil works has not been executed. Hitherto, that's a good word. Use that in casual conversation. It just means yet the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld. But your guilt, in the meantime is constantly increasing and your everyday treasuring up mawr wrath. That's why we plead with people all the time to come to Jesus. Then he says this. The waters are constantly rising and waxing more and more mighty, and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back. Can I just encourage just to do just something so simple and yet so defining? That may be today. Why don't you engage with the mere pleasures of God and why don't you ask him to rescue how, by repenting of your sin by running to Christ so that you could be finally and fully saved today and then one day completely safe from what most people say, Why would be safe? What I need to be safe from safe from sin say from sickness safe from pandemics, safe from conspiracies save from wrath saved from death. Safe from everything to the salvation of Jesus is not just some random thing that allows you to join the church. The salvation of Jesus means that you get rescued from the wrath to come. But that's a riel rescue. You see, Jesus paid the first and the greatest and the most ultimate sacrifice the only sacrifice that can make things right between you and God. I was reading a story a few weeks ago about a British writer and politician. His name is Hilton Young. When he was 35 years old, he joined the listed into the Royal Navy and eventually he ended up on the H. M s Iron Duke and served in World War One. Once when he was out at war on the ship E, he was reflecting back on the people that he grew up with people from his hometown in other places. And he wrote a little point. And this is part of that point. I should not mind to die for them. My own dear downs, my comrades true, but that great heart of Bethlehem. He died for men. He never there. Loser dear and noble and precious words from a soldier on the front lines of sacrificing for others. There is one little distinction that Jesus knew you. Hey, New May when Jesus died, it wasn't confusing. He wasn't trying to figure out it. It wasn't for faceless people when we were helpless and dead and our sin at just the right time. Jesus died for us to rescue us from the wrath to come. According to all that we see in the Bible, Jesus laid his life down for you. And then God raised him from the dead for you and Jesus ascended into heaven for you. And one day, Maybe today, straight up hoax. Maybe today maybe not. Maybe today Jesus is coming again. And so is he. Coming for you is Jesus. Your first. The greatest treasure is your faith in him and him alone? If so, then take all of your impatience. Take all of your criticism. I think all of your fear, all of your anger, all of your apathy, all of your conspiracy theories. Just take them all. Wrap him up in this blanket of truth. If you are in Christ, you have been rescued from the wrath to come. If you were in Christ, you are being rescued from the wrath to come. If you are in Christ one day, you will finally and fully be rescued from the wrath to come different. If you've been rescued like that, then, as it has been said, I know of no softer pillow at night than that. If you've been rescued from the wrath to come, it may be hard. But in Christ we can sleep well tonight and tomorrow morning. Lord willing, if we make it, we'll wake up with brand new compassion and brand new mercy and listen. And tomorrow story will be the same. Nothing can snatch you from the hands of God. Nothing.