- One day everybody in this room, everybody at every campus
where we're gathered, one day every single one of us is going to come face to face with Jesus. Every single one of us. Either we will die and come
face to face with Jesus, or Jesus will come back
while we're still alive, and either could be any day. That's the point here. God is saying and put this in your notes that moment will be sudden. God describes it like
a thief in the night. If you know a thief is
coming to your house tonight what do you do? All kinds of things go through your mind, the point is you prepare accordingly. You don't say there is peace and security and then go to sleep. I give you a picture of what this world is telling you and me to do day after day. To say I have a good job, good health, a place to live, a 401k,
maybe even I go to church, I'm fine, I'm secure. Don't say that, because in an instant all of
those things will be gone, and it could be today for any one of us. Your job, your health,
your home, your 401k, your attendance at church do
not guarantee you tomorrow. Today you or I could meet Jesus, and in that instant our hearts will be fully exposed before God. Like our hearts laid bare, and it will be suddenly clear whether or not Jesus was indeed our life. Some of the most haunting
words in all of the Bible, Matthew chapter seven, verses
21 to 23, where Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord "will enter the kingdom of heaven, "but the one who does the will
of my father who's in heaven. "On that day many will
say to me Lord, Lord "did we not prophesy in your name, "and cast out demons in your name, "and do many mighty works in your name? "And then I will declare
to them I never knew you, "depart from me you
workers of lawlessness." Did you hear that? Jesus just said many
people will be shocked. He uses the word many. Many people will be shocked
to stand before Jesus one day, and say look at all I did in your name, and He will tell them I never knew you. And in instant our hearts, our souls, will be exposed before God, and in that instant our
lives will stand alone. And Jesus talks about his
return in Matthew 24, He says, "Two men will be in the field, "one will be taken and one left, "two women will be grinding at the mill, "one will be taken one left." The picture is whether it's the day you breathe your last breath, or the day when Jesus
comes back it won't matter what home you're in, who
you're or not married to, what your parents
believed, how you grew up, where you spent your
life, who you were around, on that day your life will stand alone. You will stand face to face with Jesus the judge of the world and
the judge of your life, and his judgment will be final. On that day your decision
will have been made, and there will be no second chances. Every one of us is going
to stand before Jesus as judge any day and please follow this, "All who do not know Him, "will experience eternal
destruction away from Him." It's said destruction is no strong term, I think it is, and the only reason I use it is because that's the term God uses. He just said into what we
read in chapter five here, and then the very next
chapter of the Bible, 2nd Thessalonians
chapter one, verse seven, talks about when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven listen to this language, "With his mighty angels and flaming fire, "inflicting vengeance on
those who do not know God, "and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus. "They will suffer the punishment
of eternal destruction, "away from the presence of the Lord, "and from the glory of His might." It's exactly what we talked about earlier, if we die in our sins separated from God, having rejected Jesus the only one who can reconcile us to God, we will spend eternity separated from God, which is why I wanna
urge every single person within the sound of my voice
to trust in Jesus today. Like right now God is
warning every one of us in this passage that judgment is coming, and He has made a way for you to be safe on that day through trust in Jesus. And I'm talking to all
kinds of people today who the truth is you have not
trusted in Jesus as your life. Either you're playing games
with the facade of Christianity and Jesus is not actually your life, or maybe you are atheist,
agnostic believing in some other religion
Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, regardless I am urging you today make sure you're banking your life for
eternity on that which is true. I'm urging you to hear God
saying in his word right now, "I have made a way for you to
have a life forever with me." Trust in Jesus before it is too late. I heard this last week from
a self-proclaimed agnostic in his mid-20s on the rise
in the professional world, about to get married he comes about a month ago to a
church we recently planted, only reason he came to that
church was to appease his family said he was not planning to
even listen to the sermon. He ended up realizing who Jesus is, what Jesus had done for him, and he turned and trusted
in Jesus as his life. He came that day not ready to
come face to face with Jesus, he left that day looking forward to coming face to face with Jesus. And looking forward is the
right way to describe it, for on that day all who know Him, will enjoy eternal satisfaction with Him. 2nd Thessalonians one
continues talking about when Jesus comes on that day
to be glorified in his Saints, and to be marveled at among
all who have believed. By God's grace through Jesus as your life, you can enjoy eternal
satisfaction with God.
