Living in Light of the End - Part 1 - Pastor Raymond Woodward

[Music] well tonight we are starting a brand new series and we're going to go for a few weeks in a couple of books uh both called thessalonians first and second thessalonians and i pray that this series is a blessing to you our title is living in light of the end and a very important subject for sure from the very day that jesus ascended into heaven his followers have always lived in expectancy of his return he told them that he was coming back and they believed what he said to them and it was that hope that impacted every day of their lives every decision that they made it impacted every detail of every day and for the followers of jesus that hope still impacts every day every detail and every decision the problem for us is that keeping your eyes focused on that day can get a little challenging and a little difficult when you're trying just to get through this day your boss has been a little overwhelming your family situation is a little challenging your disappointments a sickness a circumstance has been kind of devastating to your life it's tough to keep your focus on that day when this day has given you grief in his two letters to the thessalonians we're going to study the words of paul and he corrects some misconceptions that cause christians to do one of two things when they think about the coming of the lord for some they live too casually for others they live far too fearfully and so in these two letters paul is going to teach us something that i hope you can lock in your spirit because there's so many opinions now so many preachers and teachers and books and and there's all kinds of stuff about the end times paul teaches us that the purpose of prophecy is not speculation the purpose of prophecy is motivation to get us to live godly lives so here's the point it's going to come at you probably a dozen ways in this series we don't need to figure out exactly when jesus is coming there's no assignment in the word of god it's not an algebra equation you don't need to figure out exactly the day and the time and the hour that jesus is coming nowhere are we given that challenge here's the challenge we're given we don't need to figure out when he's coming we just need to be ready for whenever he comes that's our challenge from the word of god and so in this series we want to discover and embrace that there is nothing more liberating than living your life in light of the end for some people that's so fearful for other people they don't even acknowledge it they're just careless about it but for those of us that get it living our lives with the end in view living our lives with the end in mind living in light of the end is actually very liberating now these are two of paul's earliest letters probably galatians was written earlier but these are two of his earliest and they're written to believers who were part of a church that he planted in thessalonica you can still visit that city today it's called thessaloniki and and it's still there it doesn't look anything of course like it did in ancient times but luke tells us this amazing story of how paul the apostle ended up in thessalonica in the book of acts it happened on his second missionary journey and he had a a new traveling companion and and don't tell anybody but the reason he had a new traveling companion is he and barnabas got in a fight big quarrel and they split up and and so god just worked through it uh they had a problem and god just said well okay we'll have two missionary teams and barnabas and john mark went one way and paul grabbed silas and they went another way and now we have two missionary teams and and it's on this second missionary journey with his new traveling companion named silas and then in the the city of lystra they picked up another young man you might recognize his name he he was called timothy and and he joined the missionary team and and he would later become paul's lifelong protege paul would train him and mentor him and timothy would end up pastoring a church and being a bishop and all kinds of stuff and then luke who wrote the book of acts he traveled with them from time to time little secret when you're reading the book of acts any time you see and we did this luke is with them and then other times you'll see and paul did this or someone else did this and luke's not with them at that point but he gathered the history and put it together but anytime you read and we did or we went or we saw that's luke writing and and he's kind of in and out of the team but he's the one that records this story now they wanted to establish new churches so you can read about this in the book of acts around chapter 16. paul wants to go east into asia he wants to go into asia minor he wants to establish some churches but two times the holy ghost blocks their efforts they're not allowed to go acts 16 and 6 says that they were forbidden of the holy ghost to preach the word in asia and then the very next verse acts 16 and 7 says the spirit suffered them not so two times the holy ghost blocks them from going east into asia and then finally god sends a vision to give them direction i want you to notice this there's going to be a lot of little things in this series that i hope are beneficial to you please notice that two-thirds of their direction was closed doors not open invitations we like open doors we like open invitations we like lots of options but when paul the apostle was seeking direction for the preaching of the gospel and the planting of churches two-thirds of the direction he got in acts 16 was closed doors sometimes in our life that's the way god wants to work but we don't want him to work that way we need to always be alert to discern every way that god speaks to us god will speak to you and direct you through your circumstances he could give you a closed door there have been many times in my life in fact when people ask me about you know how do you discern the will of god for your life and especially if they're younger i always try to tell them this that a lot of the times i just figure god gave me a brain and he would like for me to use it from time to time so it doesn't get dusty and so i try to figure out the best option and i pray about it and i seek counsel about it with those that i trust and those that are that i'm in submission to and and i get all of that feedback and i get it in my head and then sometimes it's still not clear because there's not one clear path there's two options or three options every single time in my life i have put those options in my brain and mulled them around and prayed over them and talked about them and then sometimes you have to pick one and every single time i've said jesus if this is not what you want i not only give you permission i'm asking you to shut the door i'm asking you to block this direction i'm asking you to let it all fall apart you don't you don't have to force me to i'm alert i'm looking for you to close the door you know a lot of people are resistant to closed doors um i've worked with pastor jack for a lot of years and we've talked about this from time to time you know sometimes people will come and they want all kinds of counsel and all kinds of prayer and all kinds of advice until you say no then all of a sudden god speaks through a different source than their spiritual leadership and off they go to do what they wanted to do in the first place they weren't actually coming for advice or counsel they were coming for a rubber stamp of pastoral approval and when they didn't get it they threw the stamp out set fire to the email and off they went and you can't help somebody like that because they're so insistent on their direction notice that paul's direction here two-thirds of it is god saying no he asks again no and then finally god sends a vision god will speak to you through your circumstances closed doors he'll speak through sometimes direct divine intervention god can speak through visions he can speak through angels he can speak through the gifts of the spirit god can speak to you in prayer god can speak to you certainly through his word and god also speaks to us through the spiritual leaders who teach us his word i'm praying that god speaks to somebody during this series and gives them direction for where they are right now that's how it happens so here's his direction acts 16 and 9 this is after the two closed doors and a vision appeared to paul in the night there stood a man of macedonia that's not east that's west that's not asia that's europe it's a different direction entirely and in his vision this man prayed him he he begged him saying come over into macedonia and help us and after he had seen the vision immediately luke writes we endeavored to do everything we could to go into macedonia a shortly gathering that the lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them as soon as we got that clear direction we were all in so it was two closed doors and one open vision that led paul to go west into europe instead of east into asia and once he got in the roman province of macedonia they headed to the major city called philippi and a church was established there a powerful church but it all came about when the household of one little lady named lydia was converted and it was in that city not it wasn't all fun and games it was in that city where paul and silas got thrown in prison you remember that story we sing about it all the time but it wasn't so melodious or so pleasant that night they were singing through beatings and whippings and stripes that's where they were thrown into prison simply because they cast a demonic spirit out of a soothsayer a young woman and her owners were so upset that they'd lost the ability to make money off of that slave that they accused paul and silas manipulated the courts to get them thrown in prison but the lord sent an earthquake and set him free and then the jailer and his household were also added to the church and that was the start of the church in philippi an amazing story and luke is penning this all down and writing it for us to read 2 000 years later it's amazing now paul then moves on to the city of thessalonica where these letters would be written to and this was the capital of macedonia it was a major business center and paul went in and this is going to be important later he supported himself as a tent maker he had his own profession where he could earn money and support his ministry and he began his ministry among the jewish community he spoke in their synagogues the bible says three successive sabbaths he went week after week after week and on three successive sabbaths he taught in the synagogue that was enough time just three weeks to ignite this tremendous response to the gospel especially among two groups greeks who were called proselytes they'd converted to judaism but when they heard about jesus they knew that judaism was just the vehicle to point them to the messiah and they grabbed hold of the gospel and the other group was a group of influential women and and the bible uh says that not a few believed um that means there was a really big crowd who believed here it is acts 17. and paul as his manner was he went in unto them and three sabbath days in the synagogue he reasoned with them out of the scriptures opening and alleging that christ must needs have suffered it was necessary for jesus to be nailed to that cross on calvary in jerusalem so it was necessary that he would have suffered and risen again from the dead and here's his punchline and that this jesus whom i preach unto you is christ he told them in the synagogue the jesus that your leaders crucified he's the messiah and the bible says some of them believed and consorted with paul and silas they followed them to the meeting place they became part of the church and of the devout greeks the proselytes a great multitude believed and of the chief women not a few there was a massive response to the gospel and they all lived no they didn't not everybody was happy about this the hard-line jews who didn't believe and didn't want to hear about jesus and thought paul was wrecking their religion they were angry to see so many being converted and they soon had a violent mob assembled and they began terrorizing the city rioting as they looked for paul and his team and then they discovered that paul had been staying at the household of a man named jason and when they found out that paul had been staying at the house of jason that angry mob literally tore that man's house apart looking for paul but when they couldn't find paul he happened to be out probably preaching praying somebody through to the holy ghost baptizing somebody in jesus name at that moment when they couldn't find him they dragged that man named jason and some other christians to the roman authorities hoping to get them in some serious trouble and jason was forced to pay a large fine because he had housed this rabble rousing preacher but at least that gave paul and his team an opportunity to escape they were forced to leave the city under cover of darkness so that's not a very pleasant way to start a church but it worked in thessalonica and that is how the church got started in the capital city of the roman province of macedonia acts 17 and 6 puts a little post script on the situation when they found them not they drew jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city crying here's what they said they meant it as an insult but what a post-script it is on paul's church planting ministry in thessalonica these that have turned the world upside down are come here too isn't that a great post script they turned the world upside down in jerusalem they turned the world upside down in philippi they turned the world upside down on his first missionary journey and they've come here too they were nervous about it but god has a sense of humor because what a postscript that is that when the church comes into an area it turns what was upside down the world sees it as being turned upside down what god's really doing is stepping in and he's turning things right side up that's what he's doing and that's the ministry of the church you know righteousness we use that word it's a bible word the old english word for righteousness was right wiseness literally righteousness is when god reaches into your life and turns things right side up you were addicted he turns it right side up and gives you freedom you were depressed he turns that right side up and gives you joy you were anxious god turns that right side up and gives you peace it's amazing what god does and so that's a pretty great post script they've turned the world upside down let it be said of the church in the 21st century that when we're around we kind of turn things upside down i think that's a great uh thing now paul tried after he left the city under cover of darkness later on he tried to go back to thessalonica twice but he says and we'll read it in these epistles he was hindered from doing so the devil didn't want him back in thessalonica and that's why later on while paul's in another place he's in corinth and he's working there trying to establish a church paul took the time to write these two letters to this young church this new group of believers he wanted to assure them of his love he wanted to tell them to stand strong he wanted to ground them in apostolic doctrine he knew he'd heard from timothy and others that could get in and out of that city he'd heard that they were still encountering severe persecution and they were still facing the temptation to compromise what they believed and most concerning to paul and this is what gives rise to this series brothers and sisters most concerning to paul many of these christians were confused about the return of jesus christ they just didn't have a handle on it and as a result some were living too casually and others were living too fearfully just like so many christians today now i want to hit this one more time and then we're going to jump into chapter one the return of jesus christ is not a theory to be discussed it is a truth to be lived that's what it is scripture your bible is not a weapon to fight with it is a tool to build people with the purpose of prophecy the book of revelation the book of daniel matthew 24 all the passages that we quote the purpose of prophecy is not so you can speculate and argue and fight and and you know kind of lord it over people that don't have your wisdom and your knowledge the purpose of prophecy is not to speculate about timing and details it is motivation to live a godly life what you're supposed to take away from prophecy is not this smug attitude that i understand at all and you don't got it right but i got it right that is not what prophecy is for prophecy is to make you fall on your face and say look at the signs of the times i don't know where this all fits but it's getting wild out there and something is happening in this world and i know my bible says jesus is coming the purpose of prophecy every prophecy in the bible is motivation for us to live for god i'll say it again you don't need to figure out exactly when jesus is coming some of the preachers you're listening to they may have it figured out they're wrong no man knows the day or the hour the bible says that paul's letter to the thessalonians it's written to give us confidence in our future it's written there's a famous passage it's so beautiful thessalonians is written to give us comfort when we lose loved ones because we know where they're going and thessalonians is written to give us stability in a world that is shaking and has lost its way anybody noticed lately that the world is shaken quite a bit anybody notice lately that the world is just kind of spiraling out of control in so many social issues well thessalonians is written to a group of people just like us we don't need to figure out exactly when jesus is coming we just need to be ready whenever he gets here first thessalonians chapter 1. paul and silas and timothy unto the church of thessalonians so he's writing back to them he's now in corinth working there he couldn't go back to thessalonica but he's writing to these believers that he knows and loves under the church of the thessalonians which is in god the father and in the lord jesus christ grace be unto you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ we give thanks to god always for you all making mention of you in our prayers paul is so thankful for the sincerity of these believers and he tells them i pray for you consistently i pray for you all the time now paul had written to the corinthians that the three abiding characteristics of god's people are faith hope and love we read that at weddings uh first corinthians 13 13 and now abideth faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is love charity but here in thessalonians paul is going to expound on that a little bit here's what he says next remembering without ceasing your work of faith your labor of love your patience of hope in our lord jesus christ in the sight of god and our father knowing brethren beloved your election of god he says i have confidence in you i pray for you i remember you i remember without ceasing that you have a work of faith now that's unusual for some people because they think if you say faith you've denied works and they quote all kinds of verses you know we're saved by grace through faith but they forget all the verses that say you know that god has saved us unto good works and they they forget that james said faith without works is dead and they forget all of that here paul says i remember you i remember your work of faith the word there in the greek is ergon and it means responsibilities that are to be accomplished paul said i remember you you didn't just believe it in your head you worked it out in your life you realized that when you believed in jesus that came with some responsibilities of following his word and obeying his commandments so you i remember you i remember your work of faith and i also remember your labor of love that's the word koppos in the greek and it literally means difficulties this is kind of a strange phrase i remember your labor of love the difficulties you endured because you love jesus and that word has the sense of of crushing fatigue does anybody ever get tired in this room y'all just like a bundle of energy and and nerves there's something about the last days that there's this attack of fatigue on the church of the living god i don't know if you've said this and i'm not talking about physical if you worked a hard day and you're tired you go ahead and take a nap right now that's fine we know you're doing it we know you don't pray that much in the pew we know you're taking a nap mom i'm not talking about you you can relax she's behind her mask i can't tell she's smiling at me i'm not talking about physical exhaustion i'm not talking about physical exertion i'm talking about this spiritual attack that comes against the church and you've said to yourself recently i'm just so exhausted have you ever said i've said this i'm not tired i'm just exhausted you know there's an attack at the church and this is what this is what paul says i remember your labor of love your co-post i remember that you worked it through even when it was difficult even when you were fatigued even when the enemy was fighting even when you were worn out spiritually i remember that you loved jesus so much you just kept going to church you just kept serving god you just kept pressing forward i remember your labor of love and finally he says and i remember your patience of hope faith hope and love faith love hope in this in this order he said i remember your patience of hope and patience here means a consistency i remember your consistent living when you had delays and trials and troubles and problems i remember your consistency during delays you had patience of hope i remember that and paul says you are brethren beloved he said you're not just loved by god you're loved by me i love you too and he said i'm confident in your election by god outside of the new testament this bible study we'll catch up with a feeling in a few minutes outside of the new testament the word that's translated election there eclogue that greek word outside of your bible in the new testament that greek word can refer to choices made by humans but in the new testament the word election only is ever used to refer to choices made by god specifically how god chooses people for example in the book of acts chapter 9 verse 15 god told ananias when saul of tarsus was still a sinner still a rebel still a persecutor of the church still a killer of christians god told ananias that man over there that i'm sending you to he is my chosen vessel he is elected by me i have chosen him to preach the gospel to the gentiles i don't know about you it is a powerful often overwhelming thing when you sit and consider i have been chosen by god you have been chosen by god we have been chosen by god out of all the billions of people on this planet god looked at us and said they're going to serve me so i'm going to use them they're going to love me so i'm going to anoint them they are going to walk with me so i'm going to use their life to impact something for my kingdom elect chosen of god and god's church is made up of elect people those who have been chosen by god truly born again local churches the church around the world is bulletproof the church universal it is undefeatable it is unstoppable but local churches they have to make choices local churches can be rendered almost powerless if the congregation contains too many people whose names are only entered in the church directory but not in the lamb's book of life it's not important that we have your contact info if god doesn't have your contact info it's not important that you show up here if you don't show up in your relationship with god it's not at all important that somebody here knows your name if god doesn't know your name but local churches are powerful when the people who sit in the pews are the elect of god they're not just part of a church they don't just attend a bible study they walk with jesus they talk with jesus they pray to jesus they worship jesus and there's something when they get in contact with other people just like them that's what sets off these little holy ghost bombs that kind of explode every once in a while in a service that's because the elect people of god are here thank god for the power of being chosen by god and the question we need to ask ourselves in all seriousness looking at the coming of the lord approaching us like a freight train is how apostolic would our church be if everybody acted like me if everybody prayed like i do if everybody served like i do if everybody got involved like i do how apostolic would this church be pastor jack alluded to it a little while ago you know sometimes it's it's easy to just kind of watch everything unfold well there goes brother phillips that's good good good there's alan allen what are you doing back there you're freaking me out tonight you're supposed to be up here goodness there goes alan there he's out in the aisle again they're good good that's wonderful yeah we're going to have a good one who appointed you the panel of judges 7 8 2 church is awesome when god's people show up but god's people showed up with jesus before they showed up with all the rest of us and that's what makes it powerful the elect of god the chosen of god and paul he nails this he says in verse five our gospel it came not unto you in word only it wasn't just a bunch of lectures about judaism and jesus the christ and our gospel came not unto you in word only but it came also in power and in the holy ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake paul said this gospel is not just a doctrine this gospel is an experience thank you for being able to win a debate with somebody over the new birth that's wonderful thank you for being able to to argue somebody into a choke hold on the godhead and the oneness of god that's awesome but the gospel is not just a doctrine to be debated and thrown around and argued about and believe the gospel is an experience that changes your life from the inside out it doesn't just come in word it comes in power if all you got is the word and you believe it you acknowledge it and you can argue about it that's not very good but if you've got the power of the gospel on the inside now you're talking paul said it didn't come in word only it came in power it came in the holy ghost and it came in much assurance paul didn't talk like the other traveling preachers and the philosophers of his day his ministry was accompanied by a holy ghost anointing that transmitted faith and power and he says assurance it transmitted the conviction of truth the assurance of truth but there was something else about paul's ministry he said you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake there was something else about paul's ministry it was backed up by an authentic life it wasn't just some cleverly crafted staged presentation it wasn't just some kind of image on social media paul said the gospel that i preached you know how we lived when we were among you you know that we were sincere and real and authentic he says in verse six and here's what happened next and you you became followers of us and of the lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the holy ghost you see no matter how wonderful or godly or anointed you might think your leaders are it accomplishes nothing for you to show up and cheer on the leaders until you become followers of the lord and followers of the example of your leaders this is the power of a local church and if you're a relatively new christian and you're part of ccc one of the greatest things you can do for yourself is pick out somebody that is on fire pick out somebody that is following the leadership of the church pick out somebody that's got some seasoning in their life and they've been faithful to god for a little while and imitate them that's what the word followers hear means it's literally mates it means imitators paul said here's what happened next after you were exposed to the word after you got an experience after you watched our life lived among you as we ministered and preached you became imitators of us and you became imitators of the lord that's what happened in thessalonica that's why it became a powerful church they not only openly receive the message they openly receive the messengers and that's what happened to propel that church into its future it is the best way to grow if you're a new believer become an imitator of your leaders in the church those that are ahead of you in the journey living for god paul said this many times in the new testament he uses the same word here in first corinthians 11 be ye followers imitators of me even as i also am of christ you watch me and you can learn how to please god he said now i know you received the word of much affliction but you received the word with joy even though the conversion of these dear people resulted in persecution and rejection in thessalonica they never lost their eagerness to receive the word of god and this made their church an influential example across two roman provinces thessalonica literally became a regional church because they had people who were willing to submit themselves and humble themselves and catch the vision and the passion and take the direction of their leaders it's an amazing story in verse 7 he said here's what happened next because you became imitators of us and imitators of the lord and you received the word with the joy of the holy ghost so that you were examples to all that believe in macedonia huge roman province and achaea another huge roman province he said from your church now this is a a new relatively young church from your church he says from you sounded out the word of the lord not only in macedonia and in aca but also in every place your faith toward god is spread abroad and here's what he said so that we need not to speak anything i don't need to tell anybody about you they've already heard about you i don't need to tell them you're a praying church they've already felt that you're a praying church i don't need to tell them that you're a generous church they've already been a recipient of your generosity i don't need to say anything it is a tremendous thing brothers and sisters when godly lives and fervent prayers and generous giving and compassionate hearts and the consistent testimony of a group of believers like these people when that gives their church disproportionate influence for the kingdom of god let me tell you something about this local church so thankful for you folks this is not a perfect church it's not um we can point out some flaws in the building if we get really close to you and we wanted to we could point out some flaws in some people now don't you worry because they're all on staff it's not you you're perfect angelic actually but we could point out some flaws in the building some flaws in the property we could point out some flaws in our programs we could point out some flaws and a few people not perfect but it's an incredible thing when a group of people band together and by their prayers and by their giving and by their submission and by their their involvement it's a tremendous thing when god blesses a local congregation and gives them a disproportionate influence for the kingdom of god and i really believe that that's what's happened in this church it has very little to do with one leader or two leaders it has everything to do with a group of people that have made up their mind to be faithful to the word of god to be faithful to the house of god and to do what god commands them and so this is what happens it doesn't happen just because of the leader it happens when god's people follow the leader that god gave them and that's why across the regions of macedonia and achaea other believers and other churches they began to look up to this church in thessalonica and paul said we don't even have to say anything anymore your lives are the message that impacts others it happens every single day of the year sometimes they take a day off on christmas it happens every single day of the year that somebody texts or emails or communicates with us phones in some way every single day happen today something about some message some service some series something we're doing here at this local church have you noticed yet maybe you haven't been out for a while because of coronavirus have you noticed that fredericton new brunswick is not the largest city in the world no just me okay center of the universe have you noticed that new brunswick is not maybe the wealthiest province in the nation of canada anybody have you noticed that we're kind of i describe us as being kind of stuck up here in the armpit of north america sometimes we're just kind of off in the corner the atlantic corner now in a bubble it's where we are but god can lay his hand on a faithful group of people last night i had the privilege of putting together what brandon had recorded and and sent off to our friends in guangzhou your prayer from sunday morning and a little message from me they're looking for you to pray for them because they know you pray they're looking for you to intercede for them because they know that your relationship with god is real and god has privileged us and blessed us and honored us to give this group of people not in the biggest city in north america not in the wealthiest area of our nation but god has privileged this group of people us to have disproportionate influence we couldn't normally affect a group of people in guangzhou china or in halifax nova scotia we couldn't normally do that but we can through the help of the holy ghost that's what happened in thessalonica paul said we don't even have to say anything to these people paul traveled everywhere he's an itinerant preacher he's a traveling apostle he's a great evangelist he's an effective communicator he's all over the map in the book of acts going from one place to the other he said i don't even have to say anything to anybody when they talk about you they do so with a respect for your relationship and your connection to god last couple of verses here he said for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you they can tell us the story of thessalonica they're not even in thessalonica but they've heard about you they're they're not even here they're not even part of the local congregation but they can tell the stories i don't know how many times i've had people right out of the blue in some state at some conference in a message on the phone ask me about one of you how's that brother how's that brother that runs how's that sister that was singing and this happened it's amazing you don't realize your influence you say well that's just the webcast no that was thessalonica a little while before they had internet god's people that's how god uses churches paul said they themselves can tell me what manner of entering in we had unto you they can tell me the whole story of how thessalonica gets started and what god did and how you they can tell me some of your testimonies how you turn from god to god from idols to serve the living and true god they can tell me some of your history because they've been following you they can tell me part of your testimony because you've impacted them there are saints in this local church that your prayers and your giving to missions and your intercession for missionaries and pastors you have no idea the people around the world that you have never met that count on you to continue praying for them and count on you to continue living steadfastly for god because they watch you they know you love missions they know you love missionaries they know you love the work of god and they watch the saints in thessalonica they sounded out the word like a trumpet and others far and wide far beyond the borders of their city and certainly far beyond the borders of their little church they were affected those people as he traveled would tell paul all about it how they'd heard the testimonies of deliverance and then this how they were impacted by the faithfulness of the thessalonians look at this we heard they heard they told me paul said how you turn from to god from idols to serve the living and true god and they told me that they knew you were waiting for the son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come they're impacted by one more thing about you folks that in a world that's gone mad in a culture that's gone crazy they know there's a faithful group of people that are still standing for god and waiting for his return no matter who stops no matter who leaves no matter who quits no matter who backslides no matter who becomes apostate it doesn't matter what happens we know there's a faithful group of people in thessalonica that are just living for god they've been delivered from idols and they're waiting for his return and they haven't quit and they will not stop and they are faithful and they are patient and they just keep serving god and that is the testimony of some wonderful people in this room that i have the unspeakable privilege of teaching the word of god to tonight some of you have been serving jesus i used to say longer than i've been on this planet but that's getting to be a pretty thin crowd but so many of you have been serving jesus for decades and you have been through all kinds of situations and circumstances and trials and troubles and temptations some of you have suffered betrayal and loss you've been through all kinds of stuff guess what devil we are still here we've still been delivered from sin and we are still waiting for the coming of the lord culture mocks it as though it's some warped fairy tale and they say we're insane for even believing this old book but guess what devil we are still here we are still faithful and we are still waiting for the coming of the lord and every once in a while it punches through the darkness of sin and perversion and the light from a church like this from a life like yours it punches a hole in the darkness and somebody else becomes part of the church and they start living for god and they get delivered from idols and sin and they start looking for the great thing that's coming to this world very soon the coming of the lord jesus christ for his people that's what thessalonians is about it's about living in light of the end not living in light of your retirement that's wonderful prepare for it not living in light of your next promotion go for it you deserve it not living in light of some little project you're gonna do or some little vacation you're gonna take all well and good but no for the christian for the child of god for the church of the living god there's something behind the clouds there's something behind everything that we're thinking about and talking about and planning to do we got plans we got plans that would make you tired but but that's not the most important thing behind every plan behind every program behind every little advancement of a local church is this thing in us that was in thessalonica 2000 years ago that we are still waiting for his son to come from heaven we are still waiting for the appearing of jesus in the clouds what every church should be is exactly the same as what every christian should be great christians make great churches what every church should be we say well the church should be more this and the church should be more that what every church should be is what every christian should be every christian should be elect they should be born again they should be the real deal they should have a real bible apostolic experience every christian should be exemplary they should be a good follower of jesus christ they should be a good imitator of the leaders that god has given and the elders that god's put in the church every christian should be enthusiastic about this they should be a witness they should have the joy of the lord away with the christians that were baptized upside down and dill pickle juice and they've never smiled since we just need to put all those people on a shelf somewhere we need some enthusiastic people that love jesus and love people and love the work of god that's what a christian should be and finally a christian should be expectant they should be waiting and watching and longing and prepared for the coming of the lord because when christians are elect and exemplary and enthusiastic and expectant then churches get to be elect and exemplary and enthusiastic and expecting the lord's return the church is not this religious institution the church is a collection of believers just like thessalonica and just like ccc and i'm so thankful for you as the coming of the lord approaches paul's going to answer a lot of questions that we have he's going to answer questions about well what about the people that died and and how do they fit in the coming of the lord and he's going to answer questions about the antichrist and he's going to answer all kinds of questions in these two letters but it doesn't matter if you get all the details right and your motivation's off it's not speculation that's important it's motivation are you motivated to live for god and serve him and be prepared for his coming more than ever before you should be read the news you should be watch the media you should be listen to the culture all around us jesus is coming soon and we are part of a church that to the best of our ability and to the glory of god we are going to live with the with with the end in mind we're going to live with the end in view we're going to live in light of the end that's what we're going to do i'm finished would you lift up your hands right now and would you just pray for a moment thank god for his word thank god for his people thank god for his great plan and thank god for the promise of his coming because when he comes back trials are over when he comes back temptation is finished when he comes back the devil is vanquished when he comes back the church is victorious when he comes back so we're living in light of the end we're living and other people get to hear about it through your testimony and other people get to see it through your life that's why we are here that's why the church is still here we're living in light of the end thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus lord god i pray for your people tonight i pray for those that are watching this bible study with us and joining us online i pray jesus that you would challenge each one of us to be like these wonderful believers in thessalonica that they had an experience with the power of the holy ghost they obeyed the gospel they followed their leaders they testified and their testimony went far and wide and impacted other lives and other people and other places and other churches god let us be a church like that god let us be families like that god let us be christians like that god let us impact our city like that god help us to impact our culture like that jesus privileged us to impact our world in some way for your kingdom let us be a church that lives in light of the end let us be christians who live in light of the end because jesus we don't get a great church without great christians we don't get a powerful church without powerful christians we don't get an apostolic church without apostolic people so jesus don't just challenge us as a body jesus i pray you'd allow your people to take this home and challenge us individually to be greater and better and more than we've ever been i pray it over your wonderful people these great people who love you i pray it over them in the name of jesus [Music] you

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 18,039

Rating: 4.9022222 out of 5

Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, church, international, apostolic, christian, preaching, sermons, sermon, raymond, woodward, jack, leaman, matthew, woodward, bible, study, biblical teaching, bible, study

Id: jqcaZ9Lz0Yk

Length: 55min 40sec (3340 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 04 2020