1 Thessalonians 4

chapter 4 in the last verse of chapter 3 paul said to the end that we may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before god even our father at the coming of our lord jesus christ with all the saints the idea or the fact that jesus is coming again should be an incentive for us to live holy righteous lives we don't know when the lord is coming we do believe that he is coming soon but that belief in the fact that jesus is coming again should inspire us and should be an incentive for us to live holy lives and so verse 1 of chapter 4 is really sort of tied with verse 13 of chapter 3. as he goes on to say furthermore that is in light of the fact that the lord is coming soon then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the lord jesus now quite often paul uh beseeches and that sort of i beg you i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god present your bodies he said in romans 12 1 now not only beseeching but exhorting them by the lord jesus that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please god so you would abound more and more in a life of holiness now i think that often a great mistake is made in our endeavor to determine how close we can live to the world and still be a christian what things can i engage in worldly things and still be a child of god not uh you know be alienated from the lord how close can i live to the world and still walk with the lord and is it right then for a christian to do this and and they people are so often wanting us to set the guidelines of what is right what is wrong uh what is sinful what is not sinful and they're wanting to live on the edge i don't believe that the real issue is trying to drive a fine line between what is right and what is wrong for me to do i don't think that that's the real issue i think the real issue is does it please the lord and that should be the basis upon which we judge what we're doing does this please god would god be pleased with me doing this would i want to be doing this when jesus comes again for the church now when i grew up i grew up in a very strict regiment the church that i was in was opposed to a lot of things and of course i sort of look back and i thank god i was not exposed to a lot of junk in the world because our church sort of had prohibitions against it i'll never forget the first night i succumbed to the peer pressure i was in high school and i went to a movie and we have been taught that movies were sinful now the movie i went to wasn't really what was extremely not uh tame according you know to the standards that they have today i mean it was the stars and stripes forever it's sort of a military kind of a movie you know of of patriotism to the united states and and all but oh i'll tell you the conviction i've felt as i sat there in the theater uh it was the broadway theater here in santa ana i still remember where i was sitting in the balcony and i really didn't enjoy the film at all because i was certain that the lord might come and i didn't want to be there when the lord came and and so uh that's the whole thing is it pleasing to god and that should be what concerns me will god be pleased in my doing this jesus said i do always those things that please the father i think that's a great standard and if i can do those things that please the father if that's my desire and my purpose only to do those things that please the father i really don't have to worry our chief desire should be to please god in revelation chapter 4 in the heavenly scene as the cherubim are worshiping god as they declare his eternal character and nature holy holy holy lord god almighty which is which was which is to come the eternal nature of god and the holiness of god as they are declaring that the 24 elders respond and they say thou art worthy to receive glory and honor and power because thou has created all things and for your good pleasure they are and were created you were created for god's good pleasure and thus the prime concern of our lives should be am i pleasing god does my life please him in as much as that is my purpose for existence that should be my primary concern pleasing god in all things and so paul is writing to them how they ought to walk now as believers walking in a way that will be pleasing to god so that you might abound become richer and richer in your relationship with god and in your christian experience and paul said for you know what commandments we gave you by the lord jesus so he is reminding them how that when he was with them how he commanded them how they were to live holy lives he goes on now to say for this is the will of god even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication your sanctification this is god's desire that you be holy that you live a holy life god said be holy for i am holy saith the lord the word sanctification is sort of an old testament word and it is a word that was used especially as regards to the vessels that were used in the worship of god in the tabernacle these vessels were to be sanctified holy unto god that is they were not to be used for any other purpose they were to be used exclusively for god they weren't to be used for any other common purpose you shouldn't take one of the vessels from the temple for instance and and take it down and and gather water from the spring in that vessel that vessel was set apart solely completely for service to god so when it talks about our being sanctified it means that our lives be set apart totally completely for the service of god that we should live for him and as we said our primary desire to live to please him now the first thing that paul speaks as a prohibition is that of fornication abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor you have to realize the background to paul's writing to the thessalonians it was a completely immoral world at that time the romans for the first 520 years of the roman republic did not have a single divorce but once the roman republic had become the roman empire divorce became so very very common in fact they they spoke of of women who would change husbands every year and and it was just a very common thing to divorce and remarry someone else and you read of the roman empire you read of the moral decay in fact gibbons in his rise and fall of the roman empire actually declares that rome was not conquered from without but was destroyed from within because the moral planks became so rotten that the nation just crumbled the bible does say that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people and when you read the rise and fall of the roman empire by gibbons as he lists for you the five reasons why rome fell it's sort of frightening to realize that it looks like you're reading a newspaper today those same five conditions that perpetrated the fall of rome are so common in our country today the loss of family values the high rate of divorce and as he goes down and lists these things we see that these are the things that we are facing today as social problems in america but the greeks were perhaps even worse and thessalonica was a part of macedonia or the area of greece and demosthenes said we keep prostitutes for our pleasure mistresses for our daily needs of our bodies and wise for the beginning of our legitimate children and the faithful guardianship of our homes and so as far as the greeks were concerned as long as a man supported his family they he was considered a moral man he you know supports his family and there was no shame or taboo about extramarital relationships so these people growing up in thessalonica grew up in that kind of a culture where the mores of that culture were so open to sexual promiscuity that the gospel with its message of purity holiness faithfulness in marriage and all and it was just really something that was totally foreign in the minds of the people even with the jews in those days the law of divorce was a little stricter but under the law it said if a man finds any uncleanness in his wife let him give her a writing of a bill of divorcement now that word uncleanness is also uh translated as shame if a man finds any shame in his wife now there were two schools of thoughts by the rabbis there were those rabbis that said uncleanness constitutes sexual impurity if she is sexually impure commits adultery then that is grounds for the divorce he should give her a writing of a bill of divorcement there was another school of rabbis that said uncleanness was well among other things if she put too much salt on his food for dinner that was uncleanness and he could divorce her for making a bad meal if she went out into public with her head uncovered that was grounds for divorce if she was talking with men in the streets that was cause for divorce or speaking disrespectfully of her husband's parents in his hearing was cause for divorce or if she was a brawling woman he could divorce her and brawling woman was defined as a woman whose voice could be heard in the next house now with these two schools of thought it's no wonder that the more liberal school of thought prevailed and thus even among the jewish culture divorce became common because of their liberal interpretation of finding a shame in his wife so paul with that kind of a immoral background is writing to them about purity sexual purity and living in holiness and so the will of god is your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication that you keep yourself for your wife or for your husband that you be set apart and only for them that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification that is set apart and in honor now the word vessel is interpreted by some as to be your wife because you remember that peter said that husbands should honor their wives as the weaker vessel and so when he says that we are to uh no to possess our vessel that is our wife in sanctification and honor some people say that the word vessel refers to our own body and they're probably both correct you remember that paul speaking about our bodies declares we have this treasure in earthen vessels talking about the glorious gospel that we should have within us so this treasure in these earthen vessels referring to our bodies but whether it be your wife or your own body they are both correct we should keep them sanctified and we should honor you know this body that god has given us and the relationships that we have within marriage and be true to those relationships not in the lust of concupiscence as the gentiles which know not god you're not to live like the world love not the world neither the things that are in the world he that hath the love of the world in his heart hath not the love of the father the word concupiscence is the greek word epithumia and it means a longing especially for that which is forbidden and there are many people who seem to just have a longing for forbidden things an attraction towards evil and so paul is telling them that's the way the gentiles live you shouldn't be living that way you should be living a life that is set apart from the world set apart for god and for the things of god not in the lust or not desiring those things which are forbidden not lusting after them like the gentiles do but they do it because they don't know god that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because the lord is the avenger of all such so he now speaks about how people oftentimes take advantage of other people and in a context here of of sanctity and marriage there are those commentators who talk about uh you should not try to flirt with or or to be attracted to or or seek to attract your brother's wife uh that is uh defrauding your brother by trying to uh entice his wife uh you go beyond the limits in this kind of a uh flirtation and all but paul says in any matter and so we are not to try to defraud people in any matter and paul gives the reason for this is that god is the avenger god will get even the bible said be not deceived god is not mocked whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap and we know him the book of hebrews says who declares vengeance is mine i will repay saith the lord. and so god is the one who takes vengeance upon a person who is guilty of defrauding a brother the lord is the avenger of all such as we have also forewarned you and testified now paul is bringing them back into remembrance of the things that he taught them while he was there and as you go through these things that paul taught while he was there in thessalonica you wonder how he could have taught so much in just such a short period of time and he was not in thessalonica very long before he had to leave but yet he got in so much in his teaching in just that short period of time but you know that he taught the essentials these are basic these are essentials to the christian walk and to the christian faith for he said god has not called us unto uncleanness but god has called us to holiness not to impure living but god has called us to holy living he therefore that despiseth that is the rules you're actually despising god because god is the one who made the rules quite often i find people arguing with me as they seek to justify the things they are doing and i'll just give them the scriptures and they'll get angry at me well i realize they're not really angry with me they're angry with god with what god has commanded us and so uh if you despise the rules you don't despise man but you despise god who has given unto us his holy spirit and that is in order that we might live holy lives oh god help us god help us to live in purity may god cleanse our minds our lives from any impure thoughts or desires that we might desire the things of god that we might desire a close walk with god a fellowship with god and what fellowship hath light with darkness what concourse hath christ with belial and so may god help us to live holy lives pure lives now paul goes to another subject and that is the subject of brotherly love now touching or concerning brotherly love you really don't need that i write to you paul spoke earlier in the epistle of his rejoicing when he heard of their love and of their faith toward all men so uh he said this is you're you're you're doing all right in this in this area uh i've heard of your love and so as touching brotherly love you really don't need that i write to you for ye yourselves are taught of god to love one another surely isn't that one of the basic teachings of the new testament when the lawyer came to jesus asking what is the greatest commandment jesus said thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart soul mind and strength and thy neighbor as thyself and in this is all the law and the prophets in other words it's all summed up in just loving god and in loving your neighbor loving your neighbor as yourself jesus told his disciples by this sign shall men know that you are my disciples that you love one another he told them to love one another even as he loved us and even as the father loved him so this is basic you've taught of god paul said this is just a part of god's basic law and purpose to love god foremost and to love our neighbors as ourselves and you don't need any further laws you don't need any further commandments that just capsulizes the whole thing it's all in that in our love towards one another so teaching touching brotherly love you don't need that i write because yourselves know that you've been taught of god to love one another and indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in macedonia you're faithful paul is commending them now this is something that you have done but we beseech you brethren that you increase more and more love each other with a greater love let it increase more and more the truth is you can't love too much and that you study to be quiet now in the church of thessalonica because they did believe that jesus was going to return immediately some people took advantage of that and they said well the lord's coming right away so we might as well drop out of college and or we might as well quit our jobs and just wait for the lord to come and they became sponges sponging off of those who were working they became busybodies just going around and and talking going from house to house just gossiping and talking and so paul said study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you we should not seek to live off of others we should provide for ourselves now in his second letter to the thessalonians evidently this continued to be a problem so paul said if a person doesn't work they shouldn't eat in other words don't feed them when they get hungry enough they'll find a job and so that was uh you know if a person now if a person is truly looking for work or there's some inability that keeps them from working yes then we should reach out in charity and in love to help them but if they're just lazy and and they're just uh trying to live off of and there are a lot of people that way they're just plain lazy and they don't deserve to be supported by the church or by their friends but they'll live off of friends so long and that's not right paul said that we should work not only that we might provide for ourselves but that we might have enough to share with others a great motive for working so study to be quiet don't become busy bodies just going around meddling with everybody's business mind your own business and work with your own hands just like we commanded you that you might walk honestly toward those who are outside of the church those that are without and that you might have a lack of nothing provide for yourself for your family so that you won't have the lack now he turns to the final subject of chapter four and that's the subject of their loved ones who had died and what their state was i would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope now the term sleep is a term that was used in the new testament to refer to a person dying it probably began with jesus when he and the disciples were down at the jordan river and word came from mary and martha that lazarus was very sick come quickly and jesus stayed down there at the jordan river for a couple of days before beginning his two-day journey to bethany to the home of lazarus but while he was there he was talking to them about lazarus and and they were probably saying lord you know you're going to go i mean you got this message and all but he just sort of passed it off and finally he said well lazarus is asleep and i'm glad for your sake i wasn't there. one of the disciples said well if he's sleeping he's probably getting better no he said lazarus is dead he plainly told him but he used the term sleep because what happens to a child of god is not what happens to a sinner who dies jesus said i am the resurrection and the life and he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and if you live and believe in me you will never die now what did he mean because obviously millions of people have lived and believed in jesus and have died you can go to any cemetery and read the tombstones and you can see the little uh messages of faith over in fair haven in santa ana they're in one of the places where my mother is buried we have on her little grave marker there jesus never fails because that was sort of her theme as we were growing up jesus never fails but her grave is there and she walked with jesus what did jesus mean if you live and believe in me you'll never die the bible has two definitions for death the first definition for death is the separation of a man's spirit from his body the term is used in the bible and he gave up the ghost or he gave up the spirit there came a separation of his consciousness from his body that is used today as a definition for death when a person is in a terminal state has lapsed into a coma has been placed on life support systems they connect the eeg probes and they watch the brainwave activity as it is monitored on the little graph by the bouncing needle and as long as that needle is bouncing they know that the brain is still functioning though the person is in a coma but when that line goes flat then they remove the life support system and they say they are dead clinically dead there's no more brain activity and so the life support system is removed a biblical definition of death the separation of a man's consciousness from his body obviously that is not the definition that jesus is thinking about when he said if you live and believe in me you'll never die and i'm glad for that i would hate to think that i would have to continue for the next hundred years in this body even the next 25 years in this body this body is no longer capable of doing the things that it was once capable of doing i find myself walking more carefully i don't jump off of walls i carefully let myself down i mean the body just isn't what it was i'm not the man i used to be and i never was but uh i was more than i am now it's downhill and i'm with paul we who are in these bodies too often grown earnestly desiring to be delivered not to be unembodied but to be clothed upon with the body which is from heaven so i'm looking forward to that experience and i'm glad that jesus didn't mean that i would have to live forever in this body that's going to pieces there is the second definition for death in the bible and that is the separation of a man's consciousness from god and you paul said as he made alive who were dead in your trespasses and sins paul said if a woman is living only for pleasure she is dead while she is still alive jesus said you've got to be born again there's got to be a spiritual birth and when jesus said he who lives and believes in me shall never die he's making reference to spiritual death which is the separation of your consciousness from god and he is saying that you'll never be consciously separated from god when our spirits leave these bodies paul said we know that when this earthly tent talking about this body is dissolved when it goes back to dust we have a building of god that's not made with hands that's eternal in the heavens this body isn't eternal this body is in the process of decay the catabolic forces are at work and it's in the process of decay but i have another body it's a building of god it isn't a building of my ancestry i don't have the dna and the genetic factors that are built in that have been passed on to me but i have another body that comes directly from god that will not wear out they cannot know weakness or pain they can't not that cannot know and does not know any kind of infirmity the building of god not made with hands and it doesn't wear out its eternal in the heavens and that is why we who are in these bodies as we begin to experience the result of the catabolic forces begin to groan and travail earnestly desiring to be freed not to be unclothed but to be clothed upon with the body which is from heaven for we know that as long as we're still living in these bodies we're absent from the lord but we would choose rather that we would be absent from these bodies that we might be present with the lord thus jesus said if you live and believe in me you'll never die that is you'll never be consciously separated from god and death is only a shadow that crosses your path as you are walking to the father's house yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me and surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and what then i shall dwell in the house of the lord forever so one day my path is going to take a turn into the valley in that valley there will be a shadow that crosses the path he'll take me by the hand and take me beyond the shadow you can't have a shadow though without light he takes me into the light of my father's house where i'm going to dwell forever in my father's house so paul said i wouldn't have you to be ignorant concerning those which are asleep a term used for the believers because jesus said if you live and believe in me you'll never die so to say well he died isn't really quite correct he moved he moved from the tent into a mansion what's so bad about that he moved from a worn out tent moth eaten couldn't hold out the rain anymore and he's living now in a beautiful new mansion the building of god and so it it you see it didn't quite add up to say well he died so they said well he went to sleep asleep in jesus and it was just a term to separate it from what happens to the sinner the sinner dies he's actually was dead before he died because living in sin you're dead he that believeth on the son of god hath everlasting life he that believeth not the son of god shall not see life but the wrath of god abides on him so without christ you are already dead twice dead and so it's it's just to separate what happens to the believer from the unbeliever the term asleep but paul is saying i don't want you to sorrow as those who have no hope now paul had taught them that jesus was coming back and was going to establish the kingdom of god upon the earth it was going to be glorious because when jesus comes again the earth is going to be just filled with righteousness with joy with peace we're going to live in a perfect environment and it's going to be absolutely beautiful there will be no pain there will be no wars there will be no crime it's going to be just an ideal beautiful earth just to enjoy and he was telling them about how glorious it will be when jesus comes again and establishes the kingdom of god upon the earth well some of the people had died before jesus returned you see they were expecting him to come back any time and when some of them died before jesus returned they had the mistaken notion that they've missed out on this wonderful kingdom age what a tragedy poor old joe love that guy but yet he's not going to be able to live now in the kingdom you know when jesus comes and we just have this glorious time oh i was looking forward to just having such a great time with joe and all oh wow you know what a shame you know he died before it happened and and so they were sorrowing like the world sorrows at death when there is no hope what a tragic thing it is for a person to die without christ because there is no hope there are no words of comfort that you can give it is a tragic horrible thing to die without christ there's such a hopelessness but for a person who is a believer for them there's such a wonderful hope and so paul is saying i don't want you to be ignorant of how things are working that because i don't want you to sorrow like those who have no hope for if we believe which we do that jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him now notice those that are asleep in jesus will god bring with him the indication of course is that they are with him now and when he comes for us that god will bring them with him paul said that i'm in a straight between two i'm sort of mixed feelings mixed emotions because i have a desire to depart from this world that i might be with christ which is far better yet i don't feel that my job is done yet i i feel that you still need me to be your father an instructor in the faith and so i feel pulled because i love you and i love the the opportunity of instructing you in the things of the faith and so i'm pulled in this want to be with you in order that i might minister to you but oh i i'd sure love to be with the lord that's so much better so i find myself he said caught in this feeling of mixed emotions now notice he didn't say i am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to die and sort of be in a limbo for a thousand years or so no my desire is to die and to be with christ which is far better when stephen was being stoned he said i see the heavens open and the son of man is there standing at the right hand of the father i believe he was standing there ready to receive stephen in fact jesus he said jesus receive my spirit to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord and so our loved ones i believe are presently with the lord consciously present with the lord in ecstatic joy and glory there with the lord and waiting for the lord to complete the number who are to be saved and waiting anxiously for that coming again of jesus to establish god's kingdom upon the earth now those that are asleep in christ we believe that god will bring with him for this we say unto you by the word of the lord in other words this is by revelation from jesus that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord will not precede those who are asleep they have preceded us into glory we make reference well they've gone on ahead of us right they've gone on before us they've already entered into the glorious beautiful heavenly scene my dad my brother my mother they're waiting one day we're going to have a great reunion can hardly wait for that to take place my brother was the kind who knew everything got into everything and i'm sure he'll be able to show me all the nooks and crannies that other people don't discover up there we won't precede them the word prevent there in your king james version is literally in the greek we won't precede them they've preceded us for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and the trump of god now the shout of the lord will be like the voice of the archangel and the shout will be as a trumpet sounding sort of like a trumpet there are scriptures in well revelation 1 10. john said i heard a voice as of a great trumpet saying unto me i'm the alpha and the omega and the beginning and the end and i turned to see the voice which spoke to me and he said he saw jesus christ and so the voice of jesus is as a trumpet in revelation 4 1. john said that he after these things i heard a voice saying as he said i heard a voice as of a trumpet saying unto me i saw a door open in heaven and there was a voice as of a trumpet saying unto me come up hither and i will show you things that are going to take place in the future and john said immediately he was taken by the spirit into the heavenly scene which he describes for us in chapter four plus he describes the worship in the heavenly scene in chapter 5 he describes for us the sort of legal transaction that takes place when the time of the redemption of the world has come and the scroll is brought forth with the seven seals and the announcement made who is worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals and when no one is found worthy john begins to sob until the elder says don't weep john behold the lion of the tribe of judah hath prevailed to take the scroll and to loose the seals the title deed to the earth who's worthy to redeem the earth no man no man was found worthy but jesus christ steps forth and as he does they brought forth the golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying worthy is the lamb to take the scroll and loose the seals for he was slain and as redeemed as by his blood out of every nation tribe tongue and people and he's made us unto our god kings and priests and we shall reign with him on the earth who can sing that song only the church that's the song of the church then where is the church right there in heaven observing this glorious scene the church was raptured in chapter 4 verse 1 the voice of us of a trumpet saying come up hither so jesus is coming with a shout the voice like the archangel a voice like of a trumpet and the shout jesus will be saying come up hither come on up you know we've often said that when jesus did come to the tomb of lazarus finally and he said you know roll back the stone and they objected and they and jesus roll it back and when they did he said lazarus come forth good thing he said lazarus come forth or the whole graveyard would have empty jesus is going to call us all come on up whoa caught up to meet the lord in the air so the voice of the archangel the trump of god and the dead in christ shall rise first in order of events they've risen first we're not going to precede them then we which are alive and remain here on the earth we will be caught up the greek word is harpanzo and the the word means to be snatched away or taken away by force uh it is a word that is used in the classic greek of a general who takes hostages by force it is used in the new testament and translated at times by force when paul was in the midst of the sadducees and pharisees and they were sort of tearing him apart big tumult the captain of the roman guard sent the soldiers in to rescue paul and to take him by force from the mob the word by force there is harpanzo same word caught up by force that is taken away by the power by a force and we will be taken away by the force of god's spirit at the call of jesus will be caught up together with our loved ones to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord this is not the second coming of jesus we meet him at this time in the air he is coming for his church prior to his coming back in his second coming with his church there will be a period of time in which we will be with the lord in heaven revelations 4 5 and 18 19 uh the sort of describe for us the heavenly scene as we are with the lord in heaven but then when the lord comes back to the earth in his second coming then we will be coming with him when christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory enoch said behold he cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon the earth and so we'll be coming back with jesus when he comes back to reign over the earth in the glorious kingdom age will be returning with him at that time but prior to that we'll be caught up and we'll be with the lord in heaven and and that exciting heavenly scene as we see all of these transactions and the transfer of the of the earth back over unto jesus the rightful ruler of the earth and he comes in chapter 10 of the book of revelation with this scroll that is now open the title deed and he lays one foot upon the sea and one upon the earth and he declares there's not going to be any more delay and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our lord and of his messiah so glorious days but it's important that you distinguish between the rapture of the church which is spoken of here and the second coming concerning the rapture of the church in first corinthians 15 51 paul said behold i show you a mystery we will not all sleep that is not all of the christians are going to die but we will all be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye for this corruption must put on incorruption this mortal must put on immortality there will come a moment of time when all of us at once will be changed when jesus says come up hither flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven and thus we will receive our new bodies and will be caught up to meet the lord in the air to ever be with the lord when he's in heaven we'll be in heaven when he comes back to the earth we'll come back and live with and reign with him for a thousand years upon the earth ever be with the lord wherever he is there's where we'll be and that's the glorious part of heaven being with our lord forever as he is revealing unto us the exceeding richness of his love and of his grace towards us in christ jesus paul said wherefore comfort one another with these words in other words those that are you know in sorrow and grieving over their loved ones comfort them with these words we're going to see them again we're going to meet them soon when the lord comes for us catches us up we'll be with them and we'll share the kingdom with them we'll all be together in the glorious kingdom age and the kingdom of god is not meat or drink but it is righteousness and peace and joy and we'll be in the presence of the lord and in his presence there is fullness of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore now what a foolish thing to give up the hope of the eternal glory and pleasures and joy with jesus for a few moments of pleasure here on this earth it doesn't make sense god said come now let's reason together saith the lord and he talked about how unreasonable they were he said they don't consider they don't stop to think of the consequences or the possible consequences to a life of sin not considering and how tragic that so many people don't really consider what are the consequences of sin those who are involved in illicit sexual relationships don't consider the possible consequences of those relationships the many many some 21 socially social diseases that are uh now being transmitted uh through sexual relationships they don't stop to consider the damage and and just for a few moments of pleasure giving up the eternal pleasure and glory it doesn't make sense and so paul said comfort one another with these words encourage one another get your mind on the eternal glories that god has for those who walk in fellowship with him as jesus said if you want to come after me deny yourself. take up your cross and follow me to the rich young ruler he said come and follow me and you'll have great reward in heaven but he was more interested in the reward or in the riches he had here on the earth he wasn't willing to deny himself and so are you paul is saying now look live a holy life live a life of purity deny the desires of the flesh those evil desires of your flesh deny those take up your cross follow jesus and you'll have reward in heaven the reward of god's eternal kingdom the kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy father we thank you for the hope that we have the hope of the calling you've called us to be your children you've called us to walk as your children you've called us to live a life of holiness and purity set apart lord for you and may we indeed lord live a life of separation from the world help us and lord how we look forward to that wonderful day when we hear the shout the voice that calls us to come up hither and we are caught up by your spirit into your presence to dwell forever in the glory the wonder the beauty of the things that you've prepared for those that love you so lord sustain us and challenge us to holy living in jesus name we pray amen shall we stand when i get to heaven gonna walk with jesus when i get to heaven gonna see his face when i get to heaven gonna talk with jesus saved by his wonderful grace because i'm saved saved wonderfully saved washed in the blood of the lamb same same wonderfully saved and i'm so glad i am hallelujah when i get them and gonna walk with jesus when i get to heaven gonna see his face when i get to heaven gonna talk with jesus saved by his wonderful grace because i'm saved safe wonderfully saved washed in the blood of the lamb safe saying wonderfully saved and i'm so glad i am hallelujah when i get no end to that [Applause]

Channel: Chuck Smith TWFT

Views: 261

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: NS1q5kRBxZQ

Length: 62min 10sec (3730 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 12 2021