Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Amen. (2 Thessalonians 1:2-3)

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Return to this world and rescue us from this present evil age. The signs of the end of the world that you told us to watch for are happening all around us – wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, earthquakes, persecution, false prophets, an increase in wickedness are just some of these signs that we see in our times. O Lord, make us ready for your imminent return. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.

There was once a spider who lived in a cornfield. He was a big spider and he had spun a beautiful web between the corn stalks. He got fat eating all the bugs that would get caught in his web. He liked his home and planned to stay there for the rest of his life. One day the spider caught a little bug in his web, and just as the spider was about to eat him, the bug said, "If you let me go I will tell you something important that will save your life." The spider paused for a moment and listened because he was amused. "You better get out of this cornfield," the little bug said, "The harvest is coming!"

The spider smiled and said, "What is this harvest you are talking about? I think you are just telling me a story." But the little bug said, "Oh no, it is true. The owner of this field is coming to harvest it soon. All the stalks will be knocked down and the corn will be gathered up. You will be killed by the giant machines if you stay here." The spider said, "I don’t believe in harvests and giant machines that knock down corn stalks. How can you prove this?" The little bug continued, "Just look at the corn. See how it is planted in rows? It proves this field was created by an intelligent designer."

The spider laughed and mockingly said, "This field has evolved and has nothing to do with a creator. Corn always grows that way." The bug went on to explain, "Oh no. This field belongs to the owner who planted it, and the harvest is coming soon." The spider grinned and said to the little bug, "I don’t believe you," and then the spider ate the little bug for lunch.

A few days later, the spider was still laughing about the story the little bug had told him. He thought to himself, "A harvest! What a silly idea. I have lived here all of my life and nothing has ever disturbed me. I have been here since these stalks were just a foot off the ground, and I’ll be here for the rest of my life, because nothing is ever going to change in this field. Life is good, and I have it made." The next day was a beautiful sunny day in the cornfield. The sky above was clear and there was no wind at all. That afternoon as the spider was about to take a nap, he noticed some thick dusty clouds moving toward him. He could hear the roar of a great engine and he said to himself, "I wonder what that could be?"

Jesus warns us in the Bible: "If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Luke 12:39-40) And when you hear the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God and see Christ descending in the clouds, you won’t be asking, "Hmm, I wonder what that could be?"

Jesus explained the end of the world like this: "‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:36-43)

A harvest is coming. Jesus is returning. He will come when we don’t expect him. God in his infinite justice will judge the whole world. Today we see that the Day of Judgment is near. It is a day when those who hate God will be punished and it is a day when those who love God will be glorified.

Today we are going to be discussing the fact that God will send people to hell. However, there are those who would argue that a loving God would not send people to hell. Do you know how ridiculous that statement really is – that a loving God wouldn’t send someone to hell? Does a loving parent punish his wayward child? You bet! If your child misbehaves you threaten with spanking, timeout, or grounding. If the child continues to misbehave and you give your child a piece of Halloween candy as a reward, what have you just taught that child? You may seem loving, but you really aren’t. You are training that child to misbehave. You are teaching your child that you aren’t trustworthy – you don’t carry out your threats. You are not teaching your child the difference between right and wrong, or that there are rewards for good behavior and consequences for bad behavior.

God is a loving parent. He is also a just parent. Paul says in our text that "God is just." He threatens that sin and unbelief will result in hell. And if a person persists in that sin and unbelief then God must carry out that punishment. He gives people an eternal timeout – in hell. That is being just.

God is just. Sin is wrong. Sin is a slap in the face to God. Sin is a breaking of God’s holy law. And God, in his infinite justice, must punish sin. However, since God is also loving he didn’t want to punish humanity for its sin. Instead, God, in his gracious love, chose to punish his only Son in humanity’s place. Someone had to die and be punished for sin. God punished Jesus for that sin. God’s love and justice meet at the cross of Christ.

God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of Jesus as Savior. But if people choose to reject God’s love, to spit in his face, to refuse the sacrifice of his Son and live in unbelief, then God has no choice but to punish them.

Paul says that on Judgment Day, God "will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." Paul declares the price tag for unbelief will be God’s wrath – his punishment! Those who do not know God personally, those who have heard of Christ but do not want to know him and those who have heard the good news of Jesus but have refused to repent will receive the just consequences for their actions. If they did not love God, they hated him. If they didn’t listen to him, they hated him. If they didn’t accept his free gift of salvation, they hated him.

God will say to these people: "If you did not choose to worship me on earth, then I won’t force you to worship me for eternity in heaven. I will honor your choice and send you to a place where I am not present. Go to hell!"

Paul is saying that our Lord will deal out divine retribution on the Day of Judgment. The righteous, wise, all-knowing Judge will give to every man and woman what he or she deserves. He will reward faith with heaven, unbelief with hell. True justice finally will be served - if not here, in the hereafter. And so "they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power."

Payback is God's responsibility. "God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you, and give you relief to you who are troubled." Wimpy used to always say to Popeye, "I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." I don’t think Wimpy ever paid up. But there is another "payday" that is coming from God for humanity. Pharoah went after the children of Israel, and he and his army were drowned in the Red Sea. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace, but didn't get burned. Instead the men who threw them in, were burned and killed. Some of you have been wondering why God hasn't done anything to bin Laden, the Taliban, and the terrorists yet. Their payday is coming. Sometimes, the payday comes quickly, other times it happens for an eternity. But with God there is always a payday.

I like to put it this way: You are going to get to know God. Every one of us is going to get to know God. The question is: You can live your life to serve God and get to know Him as a loving and forgiving Lord who died for you. Or, you can live your life to please yourself and get to know God as a just and righteous God who allows eternal damnation to be the consequences to those who reject Him. The choice is yours.

The Day of Judgment is near. That day will be a two-pronged affair. The first part of this day we will see the judgment of those who hate God. They will be punished. The second part of the day we will see the judgment of those who love God. They will receive the blessing of being glorified with the Lord Jesus.

You and I do not need to be afraid of this Day of Judgment. Paul assures us that when Christ comes like a blazing fire for the unbelievers, he will also come in an entirely different way for the believers. He will come "to be glorified in his holy people." Christ is the head; believers are the body. On that day Jesus will be glorified. He will be acknowledged as God and Lord. On that day believers will also be glorified with Jesus. They will be acknowledged as Jesus’ good and faithful servants.

Christ Jesus will come on that last day with a "loud command." He will raise the dead, and then take all believers to meet him in the air to be with him forever. When this happens all the believers will glorify him with their praises.

He will also come "to be marveled at among all whose who have believed." Paul tells us that we will marvel at heaven. Words are not able to describe the glories and the beauties of heaven. It is so beautiful that it is beyond description, too marvelous for words. Since heaven is so far beyond description for human beings, God tells us very little of what it will be like. The Bible says that there will be no sorrows, only joy. There will be no sin, only righteousness. Our bodies will not be weak or imperfect in any way, but like Jesus’ glorious body.

You and I have faith in Jesus as our Savior. We have been given the gift of faith. We belong to Christ. We will be judged worthy of heaven. How awesome is that? However, this certainty should not make us complacent in our faith. This knowledge of the certainty of our salvation should not make us gloat. Rather, this knowledge should encourage us to share our faith with as many people as possible.

You and I know John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." But don’t forget John 3:18: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." If people do not believe in Jesus as their Savior, they will not enjoy the glories of heaven with us. They will go to eternal punishment. Sharing your faith with others, then, is extremely important. It is a matter of life and death – eternal life and eternal death. It could make all the difference between heaven and hell.

Payday is coming for all of us – the righteous and the unrighteous. A harvest is coming – both for the good seed and the weeds. A judgment is near – both for the believers and the unbelievers. Are you ready? Do you hear the harvester coming? The signs are there. Jesus is coming soon. The Day of Judgment is near. Amen.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. Amen. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)