Encourage One Another With These Words | Future Hope Week 4 | Paolo Punzalan

thank you jesus for what you're doing thank you lord you know you think about how we live life today um you know you think about shortcuts that we make many of us like to take them and you know sometimes it only makes sense why why take the long route if you can take a shorter one and you know i think about uh keyboard shortcuts right like command a for mac or control a for for windows right you be able to select the whole text uh you you click those uh command keys right and then you copy paste you know command c and v we we do all these shortcuts um because uh we want to make sure we're uh you know we're not wasting time but why do we take shortcuts and that's what we want to talk about today think about it now for one it's human tendency to put minimal effort i think i do that you all do that right you think about popcorn right if we can microwave popcorn for three minutes right and uh comparing it to the old old style of making making it with a pan or oil or stove right and it's quicker it's easier okay and it's another another reason would be hard time considering long-term consequences over short term we you know you think about those of us who try to eat healthy and long-term we want to be able to you know uh i guess keep our bodies health healthy and you think about pizza right why eat four pizza slices if you're trying to lose weight well short-term gratification becomes of higher value at the moment right if you know because the pizza's so good right or think about um ice cream right the third reason we rationalize in times of stress sometimes right so people rationalize when a part of their consciousness recognizes something that you know they've done or what to want to do is wrong and another part of their consciousness wants to create reasons why the action is acceptable um talking about food again right like ice cream we know the the the dangers of uh and the toxicity of sugar right but uh and we know that there's no nutritional value and and it actually feeds cancer cells and yet because we're in a pandemic we are stressed right and we eat and we eat ice cream i'm actually describing myself now we take shortcuts because the perceived cost and the risk of taking a shortcut in our minds is less okay and we think we can always move on if the shortcut doesn't pay off but think about it we're all born with a very limited capacity over the years um each one gets capacities to perform based on where they put their focus attention and practice one becomes a singer okay kind of like mickey right and then another one becomes a doctor right yet another one becomes a tennis player and then another one becomes a singer a doctor and a tennis player right but none of this becoming happens overnight why because it takes time takes time when you when you engage in arduous and maybe even challenging activities you accomplish something but it also increases your capacity to perform if you invest in the right activities okay slowly and steadily you become valuable in the marketplace or you know wherever god's placed you the real cost okay the real cost of a shortcut is the loss of an opportunity to become better for the future and so we think about parents right um we wish we can rescue our kids from pain we wish we can rescue our children from having a hard time so sometimes you know like all of us now are all our kids now are online schooling right they're they're at home doing online school right and so um sometimes we make shortcuts don't do your homework anymore or maybe you relieve them of their house chores but sometimes helping it's when helping doesn't help it seems like we're helping them but are we really you're a supervisor and there's a new trainee right and you say okay i can do a better job so i'd rather not make her do it but in the long run it doesn't work you think about a silversmith when you know when he was asked about how do you know that the job is done when he's purifying silver his answer would be when i can see my image on the silver i think we unite today we can super identify with these because we're all in a process we're all going through what we're going through and it seems like lord when is this going to end it seems like lord how long will we wait you know when you talk about season seasons begin have a beginning and ending but this one it seems like the ending is not coming and so how do we do this how do we actually live life these days and you know in our our text today we're going to talk about the process by which god is allowing us to get through a refining process the bible calls it sanctification and sometimes we say lord sana i hope lord you can just take me out of this situation soonest possible time and i think that's all our hearts that's all our desire but it seems like god's trying to do something still and and we're being transformed into the likeness of christ and you you look at chapter four of first thessalonians and you realize god allowed them to go through suffering last week we talked about afflictions and there were things that i'm sure they wish they didn't have to go through many of them got sawed into two many of them were burned at the stake some of them you know were killed and fed the lions and and these are stuff that they had to go through it's a different kind of suffering we're going through today but we're gonna we're gonna look into the word of god what does the bible have to say about this so let's just pray lord we ask that you would minister and speak to us teach us lord we pray for your holy spirit holy spirit come minister to us speak to us lord there are a lot of voices out there and experts and opinions but lord your word is the one that gives us the standard for what we will believe and how we will live in jesus name amen now i actually want to start at towards the end of chapter four before we get into you know the other verses in verse 18 look at verse 18 the bible says therefore encourage one another with these words anubaying these words what are these words right he says encourage one another how many of you here you're that's the prayer of your heart but lord please encourage me today how many of you need encouragement today i think we all do right um we all need encouragement and what are what's paul talking about uh here what is he saying in terms of encouragement um and so he gives us actually a picture of the events that were to take place what's about to take place in the future in verse 13 look at this it says he says but we do not want you [Music] to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep meaning those who've passed away that you may not grieve as others who do not have no hope listen we are a people hinged with hope a community marked by hope we are not left without hope if our hope is just to get to the pandemic if our hope is to just get through this coronavirus right and then after what right what after if our hope is to get a nice house and a nice car and a nice a good amount of investment in our portfolio then what right and so again here paul gives us a framework and and he makes us coming to the right perspective he's saying this life isn't all that there is there's something else right paul was saying we don't grieve as those who don't have hope you know i we had the time of worship we did earlier because last minute puyon i'm sure it was not perfect and we didn't even we were set up already something a different way normal way we would and they just said no let's just change it a little bit and i just sense because i just sense that um a lot of people are i don't have to tell you this you scroll through your facebook pages or feeds and people are hurting people are losing loved ones and so i just we need hope we need god's presence we need to be in the presence of god during these days and and he says here we're not we're not living life without hope there is hope right in verse 14 he says it says here for sins we believe that jesus died and rose again even so through jesus god will bring him those who have fallen asleep right so he died heroes again he will come back again he will bring with him those who have fallen asleep meaning those who have died in verse 15 the bible says for this we declare to you by a word from the lord that we who are alive who are left until the coming of the lord will not proceed those who have fallen asleep right so which means those who are alive will not precede those who died the dead first and then the ones who are alive right verse 16 for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of god in the dead in christ will rise first then we who are alive who are left okay if we're still alive at the coming at the coming of of jesus we will be caught up in the air nothing but think about that for a moment we will be caught up in the air okay um with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air so we will always be with the lord now think about that what an event at his command you could almost imagine god saying it's time right with the voice of an archangel with the sound of a trumpet the dead one faith in christ will rise from their graves what an event right meaning the graves would be empty and then those who are alive if this happens today then that you would be you and i if not uh you know those who will be alive at that time will be caught up in the air imagine suddenly graves are empty right and then we will all meet up with the lord in the air right just what a picture i'm sure all the cameras will see it right it'll be an event right then forever we will be with jesus now a couple of phrases i want to highlight here um caught up together caught up together in that verse this is the word harpazo okay the greek word harpazo in the new testament's original language which is it means to seize right to carry by force to snatch out that's what it means that's where you would get the when when people talk about rapture right it's you know you think well rapture's not there right in the bible well the concept of it is the teaching of it is in fact in the latin vulgate which was written in 405 a.d jerome wrote it in latin it was translated in latin the scriptures and the word was repeal okay meaning that's where you get the word rapture repeal okay and so that's why people use that word today now other portions in the bible we find this concept you know that it would be in john chapter 14 when jesus said you know i'll take you out where where i'll take you to be with me i'll prepare a place and then first corinthians talks about behold i tell you a mystery we will not all sleep right but we shall be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable for we will all be changed for this perishable body must put on imperishable in this mortal body was put on immortality now think about that a twinkle how fast is a twinkle right we sing that song twinkle twinkle little star right to shine with the flicker that's what a twinkle is it's an intermittent gleam it's less than you know a blink is is slower than the twinkle okay um and so twinkler and i would be about um one billionth of a second one billionth of a second that's pretty pretty fast imagine at that moment suddenly thousands of people are gone millions of people are gone maybe what would be the explanation how maybe aliens have come finally right or virus have come to maybe make the people vanish right people will have all these explanations but we know what the explanation will be in a twinkle perishable body turned into imperishable mortal to immortality all right and so now we look at the scriptures listen let me let me uh explain a little bit bear with me because a lot of people ask the question okay well this body if this body is turned from mortal to immortality or perishable to imperishable what will our bodies look like wouldn't that be a cool thought though i mean mickey if you think about it what will our bodies look like okay let's let's talk about that for a moment okay i had to ask pastor brandon some notes magellanic pastor brandon's a theology and so number one okay let's talk about our glorified bodies it will be the same but different okay i i won't be able to read all the verses because they mahabaying text them but you can screenshot that for for your notes right paul used the analogy here of a seed right so when we die we're planted okay it's like seeds of the earth we're transformed into uh something new so it's like in essence the same thing but our bodies will be superior than the current one we have okay same but different number two it will be patterned after christ first corinthians 15 okay incapable of dying imperishable and immortal in fact revelation 21 remember what it says when the time comes there will be no more dying no more crying no more grieving isn't that a comfort for us that's a comfort for us no the old order of things will will pass away the new will come patterned after christ number three it's it's physical and real luke chapter 24 jesus ate with his disciples now that's good news okay why it means we're going to be eating mary makes beautiful wonderful cakes okay number three okay it'll be physical and real okay number four it will have powerful qualities john chapter 20 talks about this the disciples were in a locked room and then jesus comes in not through the door whoa right so that i don't know how that happens but we will have that kind of a body luke chapter 24 talks about jesus having dinner with the disciples and then he disappeared he vanished and then showed up in jerusalem after number five it will be the prime of life right when jesus resurrected um and showed up it was his glorified state and it was in his prime theologian said that you know when adam and eve were created uh they were created at their prime not as babies nor were they old okay so that's somewhat some theologians say that's i'm about to brandel i think that's what some of the theologians are saying that that what's going to be how we will look like obviously um we will not fully know until we get there right so the prime of my life okay i'll have my six pack okay chiseled all right number six okay it'll be recognizable the bible says in revelation 7 9 from every tribe every nation every so there's the ethnicities but you will recognize ethnicities and diversities okay number seven it'll somehow have a luminescent quality first corinthians chapter 15 talks about this there's a glory that will radiate like the sun moon and stars and so these are descriptions we're given in scripture how we will look like when we're all raptured when we're all taken into heaven now so these are the seven uh i think those are the seven uh qualities of our glorified bodies now next question when is jesus coming bible says no one knows okay when will the rapture come and what are the series of events let me explain let's see if i have time to do this um we'll try to see i'll just do do this very quickly there are different rapture views right there's a pre-tribulation rapture i think i have a picture of the different rapture views if you can put the diagram on there um the pre-tribulation rapture meaning this view maintains that the rapture occurs when jesus comes secretly to gather the church prior a seven year of great tribulation that precedes the return of christ to the earth okay that's the pre-tribulation rapture now the mid-tribulation rapture as it name goes it's right in the middle okay this is similar to the pre-tribulation view except that it locates this the rapture after three and a half years okay at that point the antichrist assumes power and in the post-tribulation rapture this view sees the rapture as occurring simultaneously okay when jesus christ comes dead in christ will rise right and then all who are alive will meet jesus in the air okay and they meet each other we meet jesus in the air and then jesus comes back that's the post-tribulation rapture and then there's the fourth one in the recent times or not recent times but but the fourth one i i recently learned about is the pre-wrath rapture the position argues that the rapture will occur toward the end of the tribulation before the outpouring of god's wrath with the bowl of judgment according to revelation 16 prior to the return of christ now there are different theological positions okay and biblical basis okay are there differences yes but for some reason god did not express it clearly in scripture exactly the timeline but here's the most important thing look at verse 16. look at verse 16. the bible says in verse 16 okay for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and the sound of the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first then we who are alive who are left will be caught up in the air with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air so we will always be with the lord we will when will we meet we don't know okay the timeline we don't know okay but okay we will be with him we will meet the lord in the air and then the last part it says we will always be with the lord we will always be with the lord somebody say hallelujah to that right somebody say praise god to that amen we will always be with the lord and that's why verse 18 it says therefore encourage one another with these words that should be an encouragement to you to all of us guys take a deep breath right thank god we're gonna be with him forever and ever and ever and ever and you think about i mentioned what's going on in around us today right and this is our current reality but while the coming of the lord hasn't happened yet that he has not come yet what do we do well you go verse 1 look at verse 1. he says brothers we ask you and urge you in the lord jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk okay that as you receive from us how you walk you ought to walk and to please god just as you're doing that that you do so more and more but you do so more and more so he's saying walk to please god walk to please god and that that's something i want you to take home today walk to please god what a powerful metaphor so we're called to walk with him and when we walk with him we're called to please him and i love this metaphor because it's not run it's not sprint it's not scamper it's not rush it's not scuttle it's not zoom although we do a lot of zooming these days right but walk we're called to walk okay we started talking about shortcuts earlier we're not taking shortcuts he's wanting us to walk with him and there's a process of walking with him and we live to please him we live to please him not for another person we don't live you know for for another you know for mom and dad although it's good to honor mom and dad but we don't ultimately live for mom and dad we don't live for we don't walk and and please we don't live to please but not even the church not even pastor battle we live to please god and sometimes we we we switch into performance orientation and wanting to you know get the applause of other people or maybe even impress somebody else or or maybe at least the pressure of performing we don't have to perform to any for anybody no one to impress because we're living to please god not even for strategic image management right sims right i love what um jay vernon mcgee said listen to this jay vernon mcgee walking is not a balloon ascension a great many people think that the christian life is some great overwhelming experience and you take off like a rocket going out in space that's not where you live the christian life rather it's in your home in your office in your school room on the street the way you get around this life is to walk you are to walk with you walk in christ god grant you and i might be joined to him in our daily walk and that's the prayer the lord may we walk with you faithfully and grow in you every single day grow into christ's likeness that's the process that we're all in now let me bring some application and we'll end number one we're called to walk in holiness walk in holiness the bible says in verse three for this is the will of god for your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality that you each of you will know how to control his own body in holiness and honor not in passion in the passion of lust like the gentiles who do not know god and so he was explaining he was actually describing the culture in thessalonica it was just there was there was a lot of impurity going on there's a lot of immorality going on and so don't live like them you've been set apart and some of you are listening today the call of god for you is to live for him and to walk in holiness and so the word uh for sexual immorality here is the word pornea it sounds familiar right and so it's anything outside the boundaries of god god's design for marriage is for nia is immorality is sex evil no it's god's design for a man and woman to cleave to one another it's an amazing gift from god but it is to be within the boundaries of marriage so question are there practices that displease god in the area of purity in my life today that's a good question to ask ourselves are there practices that displease god the area of purity in my life today because the bible says in verse 7 for god did not call us for impurity but in holiness therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man but god who gives his holy spirit to you so in other words this command is not pastor paula's command it's not pastor brandel's command this is this is this is god speaking right and then number two and i'll end with this one walk in love walk in love now concerning brotherly love you have no need no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by god to love one another and to aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you so christians who love others do not steer up trouble he says they do not stick their noses in other people's personal matters nor do they sit back with folded hands and expect others to provide for them live quietly means to wait on god psalm 62 verse 1 the bible says i wait quietly i wait quietly before god for my victory comes from him i wait quietly before god and that's what you and i need today she has sit quietly before him isaiah chapter 30 verse 15 your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me i love this verse your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me are you dependent on him are you dependent on his strength live quietly means to live peaceful lives free of conflict and hostility toward others and it's a powerful witness for the gospel when we live in harmony and in peace with one another the question for all of us are there conflicts that are current in your life that you need to address and resolve today [Music] are there people that you need to go to are there friends that you need to connect with and say you know i was a that was foolish for me to say that or i'm so sorry i did this or please forgive me i hurt you paul further talks about minding your own affairs and and then working with your hands and this one was a cultural context because a lot of manual labor going on at that time but he says keep working and be excellent so as we wrap our time i want to pray and some of you [Music] god's nudging your heart to walk and live life to please him and you look at your own life today we look at our life at our lives and say lord i i'm so far from where i should be but thank you for your grace i'm going to keep running towards you let me pray lord i pray for my brothers and sisters watching today those are worshipping with us today thank you lord for your grace your goodness or there are those watching today that lord have fallen away and have walked away from your will or thank you we can trust you thank you that lord you have the ability to bring us back to restore us so thank you god for your grace help us to live life in holiness and second thing lord i pray for my brothers and sisters who are going through some conflicts lord it's so it's a really difficult season and sometimes lord we're very short fused and irritations arise frustrations are on the high and so lord we just snap right like that and we say things we shouldn't say we hurt people we actually super love and because of that lord we end up canceling each other so lord i pray that there would be just grace you know let me say that uh let me let me focus on that for a moment i we we i love what pastor manny said pastor manny carlos he said you know the devil has unleashed a spirit of offense in the world today and and offense is on the high and people are hurt people are hurting and people are hurt and so we need to watch out because there's spiritual warfare and then we think it's it's there's a lot of emotions happening but a lot of it also is special warfare there's an enemy out there who wants to bring this harmony and division and unsettling relationships and conflicts are arising and it's so easy today to you know the word unfriend is actually a word today right we we cancel people out you know once we cancel people it's hard to un-cancel sometimes well let me pray that the lord will restore relationships [Music] god forgave us i'm sure glad god did not cancel us if god canceled us we wouldn't be here today and so lord i just pray [Music] lord for god so loved the world he did not cancel he gave his only son and because of that we can stand before you pure holy blameless [Music] embraced by grace and lord i pray the same way we would do the same to other people that we would offer kindness forgiveness grace thank you lord we give you praise we give you honor in jesus name we pray amen thank you so much for joining us today thank you so much for worshiping with us we're grateful for this opportunity we've been together the lord bless you the lord keep you may he make his face shine upon you in jesus name we pray amen amen god bless you we'll see you next week [Music] you

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Length: 33min 30sec (2010 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 04 2021