Living in Light of the End - Part 5 - Pastor Raymond Woodward

[Music] go [Music] this is part five of our series on thessalonians called living in light of the end and the whole premise of our time together over the last few weeks has been this that from the very day that jesus ascended into heaven every one of his followers then up till now they have always lived with this one characteristic predominant in their lives and that's they lived in expectancy of his return and that hope for all believers throughout history that hope impacted every day and every detail and even every decision of their lives and today it still does especially as we approach the end times but here's the other premise of this series that keeping your focus on that day that is coming can be very challenging when in your life you're just trying to get through this day thank you very much you're just trying to negotiate struggles and problems and trials and and over the years misconceptions have developed about the coming of the lord but paul even dealt with misconceptions in his day and that was early in the church age and so in these two letters he corrects some misconceptions about the coming of the lord and he teaches us that the purpose of prophecy is spec is not speculation to to argue and and speculate about the coming of the lord it's to motivate us to live right so throughout this first letter uh paul commends these thessalonian believers because they really are living in light of the end since he was forced to leave thessalonica prematurely by opposition and enemies paul defends his ministry among them and he sends timothy to pastor them for a while and he promises to pray for them and he exhorts them to live holy lives and he encourages them as he writes about the hope of the rapture we talked about that last week specifically their coming reunion with believers their loved ones who have died in the lord and so the whole thing that when you look at thessalonians it's kind of neat because although satan hindered paul's plans to return to thessalonica paul says that paul turned around and wrote these two letters because he couldn't go in person he writes these letters and 2 000 years later we're still studying them we're still praying over them we're still being encouraged by them directed by them so what the enemy meant for evil god turned around and boy has he used it for good it's amazing now the testimony of the new testament concerning the rapture is always that jesus is coming quickly you might think that word means soon and you would be right from god's perspective because with the lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day but from a human perspective let me tell you 2000 years is not soon not from a human perspective but the word quickly that is used in the new testament about the coming of the lord it means swiftly speedily without delay or as soon as possible in other words what that word is saying to us is that once these prophetic events begin to happen once they begin to swirl around the end time generation jesus will be here before you know it it's the very same thing that john is writing about in the very last book of your bible in the the very last chapter of the bible actually he said he that testifieth these things saith and this is jesus speaking to john and john responding surely i come quickly as soon as possible without delay swiftly speedily when it begins to happen it's going to be over before you can blink your eye almost and john's response is not one of terror his response is one of anticipation even so come lord jesus so this quickly principle uh we can't misunderstand it it's the same principle that jesus teaches at the end of his parable about the unjust judge you remember that the widow lady she comes to the unjust judge she says avenge me of mine adversary he shuts her down shuts her out but because she keeps coming finally he avenges her and here's what jesus says he's talking about prayer in the book of luke he says and shall not god avenge his own elect they cry day and night unto him and watch this though he bear long with them they pray no answer they pray nothing changes they pray it doesn't seem like they're getting through at all and god bears long with them but then jesus said i tell you that he will avenge them speedily quickly same word nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth jesus said that that process that feels like it's taken so long that process that feels like it's never going to happen when it begins to happen it's going to happen speedily it's going to happen quickly and then he references the coming of the son of man when jesus comes back will he find you faithful will he find you with faith or will you have given up because it seemed to be taking forever now paul is on the very same note as we open chapter 5 in first thessalonians because the important thing paul wants to stress to the thessalonian believers is you've got to be ready for the coming of the lord at all times not just when you feel like it or not just when the news media and the culture and the tragedies in the world make you feel like something's going on you've got to be ready at all times here's what he says chapter 5 but of the times and the seasons brethren you have no need that i write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night the phrase times and seasons is found three times in your bible once when god was giving daniel prophetic understanding in daniel chapter 2 and once when jesus was answering his disciples prophetic questions in the first chapter of the book of acts and then also here times and seasons paul wants the thessalonian believers to know this above everything else you need to know about the end times there is no need to try and figure out prophetic precise prophetic timelines and prophetic dates in fact jesus in acts 1 and 7 he said it's not even for you to know the times and the seasons the fathers put those in his own hand but you shall receive power god's going to keep the calendar you get the power to do something for god while you're waiting for his coming you shall receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you and so paul says you don't even need for me to write to you about precise prophetic dates because nobody knows the coming of the lord nobody knows when that day and hour will be he said you don't need me to write to you and he uses a term here that's common in scripture concerning the day of the lord and that term we're familiar with it but sometimes we misunderstand it and he's writing to clarify misunderstandings the day of the lord is an all-encompassing term it has the sense of god pouring out judgment on the earth the day of the lord will immediately follow the rapture of the church it's a time on this planet when god's judgment will be seen during the tribulation his reign will be seen during the millennium and then his judgment will be seen at the great white throne judgment where he judges every man woman boy and girl who has ever lived and then he will set up his eternal kingdom so the day of the lord is all about god judging this earth and paul said you don't need to figure out all those details you don't have to have a degree in bible scholarship you don't have to have some kind of prophetic bent you don't have to know any of that you just need to know one thing that the rapture and the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night that's all you need to know if you know that you know as much as you have to know about the end times i'm going to be ready for the coming of the lord because he's coming as a thief in the night and jesus used this image of a thief in his own teaching in matthew 24 in luke 12. and and it's also used in god's words to the apostle john in the book of revelation a thief in the night uh revelation 3 revelation 16. now a thief doesn't take things by confrontation a thief takes things by stealth he sneaks in just like the devil does the image here is that a thief comes when you are not aware when you are not alert when you are not awake or even when you're not in the house so the message from jesus and from paul and from others is clear stay in the church stay in the house stay awake stay alert be ready at all times at any time because the rapture will happen suddenly and it will take the world by surprise and the day of the lord that day of judgment when god writes every wrong and judges sinners that day of the lord is coming immediately on the heels of the rapture of the church if paul continues he said for when they say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape sudden destruction is coming to our world because the birth pains of prophecy have already begun our planet itself is in prophetic labor pains according to romans 8 28 the signs of the times are the labor pains the earthquakes and the turmoil and the violence and the uprisings and the war and the the plagues and and and all of these natural disasters those are the birth pains of end time prophecy the birth of the day of the lord the birth of god's judgment on this earth is now inevitable and the world cannot escape just like the birth of a baby is inevitable once a woman goes into labor they try the world they try to put the end of this world the end of the earth out of their mind they distract themselves with pleasure and with busyness and they work so diligently to achieve peace and safety now i have something to say about peace and safety when i was growing up for many years in the church in our country and in my generation certainly bible teachers everywhere of all stripes they warned us that we should expect the coming of the lord in a time when the world was crying peace peace peace and they scared us to death some of our elders could teach prophecy till you white-knuckled it until you could run to the altar i lived in that era i remember that era i remember those feelings i remember more than once in my childhood going home walking around the corner everybody's gone i don't know where they are i thought the rapture had happened some of you were looking at me through those masks like me too they could scare you to death but they all preached watch out when the world is crying peace so we went on a high alert every time there was a conflict in the middle east we went on a high alert anytime two or three world leaders gathered on the white house lawn and signed a peace treaty but then the terrorist attacks of september 11 2001 happened and that unfolded another leaf in this prophetic page that now the world is crying not peace they're crying peace and safety we have been for nearly two decades now inconvenienced in a major way at our borders and at our airports and in our travel all in the name of safety and we've experienced severe restrictions on our personal liberties especially during the covet 19 pandemic of 2020. again all in the name of safety so peace and safety when you hear people crying peace and safety and that's what you hear today in every corner of the u.n complex you hear peace and safety in every kind of media and among all the politicians you hear peace and safety between the nations of the world this is what you hear peace and safety but there's something even further behind paul's words i didn't know till i was studying for you folks this week peace and safety or peace and security that was the rallying cry of the roman empire in paul's day from the very moment that the roman senate granted almost unlimited powers to its first emperor caesar augustus that was a few years before jesus was born from the moment caesar augustus was given almost unlimited authority and power by the senate he instituted what they call the pax romana the roman peace it lasted for almost 200 years all through the time of the new testament the ministry of jesus the birth of the church the book of acts the epistles it lasted all through that the pax romana the roman peace but it was an imposed peace if you were caesar or the senate or a high-placed dignitary in the empire you enjoyed the roman peace and security because that meant that you could go anywhere unmolested as a roman citizen and and and you had the upper hand in the world of that day but it was an imposed piece the elites at the top made the rules sometimes harsh rules sometimes rules of conquest and conquering the elites at the top made the rules for all the citizens down below and it was all done in the name peace and safety all of it and and so if you were the emperor you thought this was a great idea but if you were one of the conquered people in gaul or britain or wherever else the the tentacles of the roman empire reached and they conquered your nation and killed a bunch of your people and took a bunch of your property and then imposed their rules and their peace and their security on you you didn't think it was quite such a good idea and paul says and he's alluding to that when men cry peace and security when men cry peace and safety that's the generation that's the time when sudden destruction is going to come so what paul's saying please don't miss it especially in our day when you see a time that the world is crying for enforced peace and enforced security often to the detriment of christians and churches and whoever else you're living in the time when sudden destruction can come when you see a time that personal liberties are curtailed including the right to assemble or the right to worship you're living in a time when destruction is around the corner when you see a time that the cultural elites make the rules and they enforce their views and they impose their immorality on everybody else you will know that destruction is coming soon our day parallels paul's day in a frighteningly similar scenario because we live in a day when so much in the name of peace and security has been imposed on the citizens of the world so the world's oblivious to this oh there's a few conspiracy nuts and there's a few people that are making some kind of waves but for the most part the world is oblivious to this agenda but paul said but you brethren you're not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief you're not in the darkness that the world's in you've got the scripture you've got your preacher you've got the word of god you've got the holy ghost you've got biblical knowledge you are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief in fact you are all the children of light your children of the day we are not of the night we are not of the darkness can i just give you a little revelation if you're an apostolic christian you may have a house you may have a car you may have a job and a bank account you may have a whole lot of stuff that people in the world have but you are not at all like people in the world you are a child of god you are not in the darkness you are not of the darkness you are of the light you were a child of the day they live in darkness you live in light they are crying peace and safety but the cry of the child of god is jesus is coming that's the cry of the child of god it doesn't matter so much what goes down on this earth because jesus is coming and he is going to set it right they mock the church we rejoice in our hope they are oblivious paul says it's like a drunken slumber but we are awake and alert they will be caught by surprise but we will be caught up in the rapture and we are expecting jesus to return now nearly 20 centuries have come and gone since jesus gave this promise of his return 20 centuries and he hasn't returned yet that does not mean that god doesn't keep his promises it does mean that god's not going by your calendar he's going by his calendar that's what it means but it also means something else that in whatever whatever generation you live in whatever time you live in whatever atmosphere you live in you know right now we're facing some restrictions on our liberties and it chafes us but we prayed with our brothers and sisters last week in the country of china and they've had an incursion they've had inconvenience to their civil liberties for a long long long time long before anybody ever heard of this pandemic and they're surviving and they're thriving and they're living for god so whatever environment you live in if you're a child of god here's what you need to know i'm ready for the coming of the lord if he comes on a good day i'm ready if he comes in persecution i'm ready if he comes in the middle of a church service with 500 people i'm ready if he comes and i'm sitting at home watching church on youtube i'm ready the important thing is be ready for the coming of the lord and live in light of the end verse six he said therefore because of that let us not sleep as do others don't act like the world don't take your pattern from the world don't sleep as do others but let us the church watch and be sober for they that sleep they sleep in the night and they that are drunken they're drunken in the night they live in darkness but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation now scripturally speaking to be sober means to be on the alert to live with your eyes open the sober-minded believer has a calm steady outlook on life he is not complacent he's calm there's a difference neither is he afraid he's just calm and he's steady he hears all the tragic news of the day but he doesn't lose heart he experiences all the difficulties of life like everybody else but he doesn't give up because he knows that his future is secure in god's hands furthermore he knows jesus is coming so he lives every day calmly and obediently but the unsaved people in the world they're not sober they're not alert they're asleep they're like drunken men paul says they're enjoying a false sense of peace they're boasting about a false security they're living godless empty lives and rarely do they give any thought to eternal matters to them this life is all there is to us this life is just like walking through the lobby for two seconds on the way into the sanctuary for a 90-minute service it's totally different it's just an introduction to eternity it's amazing and paul says i want you to put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope is what he says and he often refers to armor in his epistles in romans 13 and ephesians 6 because here's the point we are always living in a state of spiritual warfare in the last days even if we can't see it or feel it all the time we're always in a state of spiritual warfare paul has already in this epistle in chapter one referenced faith love and hope but here he portrays them as part of our armor that protects us in this evil world and and faith toward god and love toward people it's like a breastplate that protects your heart but then he said but your hope it's like a helmet that protects your mind against the overwhelming assault that you find in our day when you got bad news when you got travesties and tragedies and violence and all kinds of things going on your hope is like a helmet that protects your mind from becoming overwhelmed and then he drops the bomb of good news on us he said this in chapter one and i knew this was coming in chapter five so we just brushed over and but here he drops the balm of good news this is amazing for god hath not appointed us to wrath god is going to judge the world god is going to pour out his judgment on the world but for the church for the child of god god has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our lord jesus christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep he's referring back to chapter four when he talked about those that are sleeping in death at the time of the rapture whether we wake or sleep we should someday live together with him wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as you also you do you're already doing this but keep doing it keep comforting one another keep edifying one another in light of this that jesus is coming that we're going to be reunited with our loved ones who've gone on before and that we are not appointed to the wrath that is coming on this earth this is the second time in this single letter that paul has emphatically stated that the church is not appointed to wrath in chapter 1 verse 10 he said god has delivered us from the wrath to come so his point is believers church you don't have to fear the day of the lord here on earth because the day of the lord god's poured out wrath and judgment that is not part of god's plan for the church now christians have always gone through tribulation jesus said in john 16 33 in this world you shall have tribulation and some of us we've gone through tribulation and some of us just think we've gone through tribulation but there are brothers and sisters of ours in the church in this world who have really gone through intense tribulation but while christians have always gone through tribulation they will not go through the great tribulation because that is a time appointed in scripture to judge a godless world and also to judge the nation of israel it has nothing to do with the church if you read in the book of daniel i think it's chapter 9 he gives six purposes of the 70th week of daniel's vision of all about the tribulation and it's all about israel nothing deals with the church there is no mention in the word of god of the church here on earth during the tribulation because that's not part of god's plan for the church the church is going to be gone we've got instructions for a whole lot of things in the word of god we've got instructions how to pray when the devil attacks we've got instructions on how to get through trials and how to resist temptation can you imagine in the word of god there wouldn't be a single instruction on how to get through the great tribulation if god had appointed us to be here during the great tribulation but there's nothing there he's silent and so i will say this because some of the people that purport to say well the church is going to be here through the tribulation the rapture is going to happen part way through the rapture is going to happen at the end good godly men and women believe that and some of them teach that and i have no quarrel with them and because none of us know 100 percent for sure about prophecy uh because prophecy is still being fulfilled and going to be fulfilled we'll all know by the time we get to heaven and then we can talk about it have a good laugh uh when we get to heaven or have a good argument or whatever we're going to do but but but for now people have different opinions i'm not here to quarrel with them but some of the people that talk about the rapture happening at the end of the tribulation they get very adamant that we've got seven years to go i think that's incredibly dangerous when the bible tells us and the the references and the context of scripture is that the apostles 2 000 years ago read their writings they expected jesus to come in their day i am not going to live thinking well i got three and a half more years i got seven more years i'm waiting for the antichrist i'm waiting for a peace treaty i'm waiting for some sign in the heavens or some sign in the middle east i refuse to live that way not when the bible says that you need to be ready at all times and jesus could come at any time and so i think it's very important that we realize no signs remain in the bible that must be fulfilled before jesus comes for his church there's no sign of the times holding jesus back from coming for his church his return could happen at any time and this is exactly why the apostles lived in expectation of his return this is why when paul writes about the lord's coming for the church to take his bride away the event we call the rapture he uses the pronouns we and us we are expecting it we need to be ready paul lived his life fully expecting to be in the rapture of the church himself in fact he says it right here in verse 11 whether we wake or sleep whether i'm alive when jesus comes or whether i'm in the grave when jesus comes i'm going in the rapture and it could happen at any time now the study of prophecy as we've said every week i think it should never become a source of argument because god intended prophecy to be a source of encouragement we will meet our loved ones and we will forever be with the lord so in 4 18 of this book he says comfort one another with these words you've got a hope but right here he says we are not appointed to face god's wrath on earth we will not have to endure the day of the lord and he says it again so comfort yourselves together with these words i know we're living in terrifying tumultuous times i know the earth politics and and society and culture i know things are reeling and rocking but if you could catch a glimpse of what scripture says about you and to you you can comfort each other with these words jesus is coming and although the wrath of god is going to fall on this earth like a blanket the church is going to be snatched out of here and we are going to be forever with the lord and not just those of us that are alive when he comes but all the saints all the elders all the pioneers all the apostles all the missionaries all of your loved ones we're gonna join them again in heaven and so shall we ever be with the lord so don't panic each other with these words don't terrify each other with the news comfort each other with these words edify one another paul says because you're you're always living in light of the end he said comfort yourselves edify one another and now he shifts gears at the end of this letter he does this in almost all of his letters he will shift gears after he's kind of delivered the mail you don't have to worry about your loved ones they're going to go even if they're in the grave he's already answered that question you don't have to worry about the day of the lord the wrath of god we're going to be delivered from that he's answered that question so he's dealt with some of the issues he's defended his ministry he's encouraged them he's he's talked about praying for them and all of that and now he shifts gears and he's going to give them some practical advice and so i'm going to give you some practical advice because i'm just going to read paul's practical advice so if you don't like my practical advice it's not my practical advice it's paul's practical advice so just fasten your seatbelt and listen to the bible here we go verse 12. he said and we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake and be at peace among yourselves paul's favorite name for the believers in the new testament is brethren he uses that word to describe the church the god's family more than 60 times in his letters in fact he uses it about half of those times 27 of those times right here in the two letters to the thessalonians paul sees god's church as a family especially when it comes to local assemblies of believers and he sees that family as absolutely crucial to the birth and the growth of each child of god and just like your family god's family is the same it is absolutely crucial in your home and it's absolutely crucial in god's family the church that that family has leadership and in god's church in god's family the leadership he puts in the church they are the people in the ministries that god has placed over you he says to admonish you they are the people that teach and preach to you the word of god they are the people that challenge you and direct you as you follow the lord and so paul's question to these believers unspoken is how as a church member should i honor the spiritual leadership in my life he doesn't ask a question he implies a question and he gives them the answer first of all you should know them know them which labor among you when he says to know them he's talking about knowing them personally knowing them individually he's talking about realizing that god has placed an authority on them for your life and your family he's saying when he says know them he's saying accept their authority but he uses this word no because he's he's also saying something beyond just authority that you know your pastor gives spiritual direction and you accept that authority and you follow that authority he's saying something slightly more than that he's saying know them because in the church of the new testament as in the church today there are multiple ministries and leadership roles and giftings and such is the same in our local church and so when he says know them he's saying know their individual giftings honor their individual giftings pastor raymond is not at all like pastor jack in many ways pastor jack is not like pastor raymond we teach different preach different we lead differently so so when you know your leaders when you know those that god has placed over you it's not just in the sense that you know their name or you know their position it's that you you realize you honor you know their individual giftings and you can receive leadership and you can receive the word of god and you can receive authority from the different giftings that god has put in leadership and then he says you need to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake when you esteem your leaders you receive their counsel and you obey their teaching their book of hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17 says obey them that have the rule over you and so this principle's everywhere in scripture and a lot of times pastors don't talk about it because it seems self-serving but it's not because pastors have to be under authority the same as god puts them others under their authority and so authority is not this top-down monolithic structure that somebody gets control and they become a tyrant is paul's principle is follow me as i follow christ so he said your leaders know them honor their giftings accept their authority esteem them receive their counsel and and obey their teaching and then he says be at peace among yourselves that's how you can help your leaders don't cause church problems that they then have to deal with don't do that be at peace among yourselves i didn't say that paul said that verse 14 he said now we ignore you brethren that's that word again he loves that word you're a family your brothers and sisters we exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble-minded support the weak be patient toward all men see that none render evil for evil unto any man but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves in the church and to all men everywhere else and here he just shifted gears again he said we exhort you brethren he's not going to talk about the pastor's role anymore or the pastor's job anymore because having a successful church family is not just the pastor's job it's not just the job of the staff that responsibility rests on all of us to have a successful loving church family and paul mentions maybe just like in your family i tell people and i told you before i have a wonderful immediate family i don't make too many claims about some of my extended family we've got some nuts out in the branches somewhere you probably do too and paul says in the family of god it's very much like your family he says there are some family members that need extra care if you're seated beside your spouse you might not want to nod too vigorously but there are some family members in your family that sometimes from season to season need extra care there are some members in the local church that sometimes need extra care why because they're weak they may be weak almost permanently or they may be weak in a certain season hear me well ministering to those kind of people is one very important area where you as a church member where you as part of god's family can really help your pastors and really bless your church at the same time so let's dive in for a few minutes paul said here's one thing you can do he said you brethren i exhort you brethren to do this he said not your pastor don't call your pastor about this you just go ahead and do it in jesus name okay so here's what you can do number one brethren warn the unruly that's something you can do to help your church warn the unruly now before some of you people with an authority kick you get too ramped up about hauling somebody over in the foyer and letting them have it let me tell you what this means before you just embark unruly means someone who is careless someone who's out of line someone who's disorderly in paul's day that term was applied to a soldier who wouldn't keep rank they insisted on marching their own way unruly is like a child who rebels against the rules and the standards and the traditions of their family all the while thinking their attitude shows some kind of freedom or maturity when all it has done is sever them from god's order and removed them from their spiritual covering and you may have had a child in your family that went through a season of rebellion you know very well what that means it's unruly they're careless out of lying they're disorderly and paul says to warn them but the word warned doesn't mean to argue it means to admonish or to advise so here's what paul just gave you as an assignment if you see somebody in the church family who's out of line who's out of order who's careless about their spiritual life what do you do do you argue with them no you can gently give them godly counsel and furthermore you can consistently be a godly example of what somebody in order should look like and act like and talk like so if a brother or sister is rebelling against spiritual authority it's not your chance to go tattle on them to the pastor if you know about it it's your chance to pray for them it's your chance to gently come up beside them and say you know are you sure this is good and i'm concerned about you and i love you and i'm praying for you and you can warn the unruly then he says here's something else you can do for your church and to help your pastors you can comfort the feeble-minded now feeble-minded that term has nothing to do with mentality it has everything to do with emotional stability it literally means someone who is discouraged or someone who is faint-hearted and these people are kind of like the quitters in the church family every second week they're quitting about something they always see the negative they always worry they always struggle they always are up and down they always want to give up and walk out walk away and quit but paul said but hey you brethren you in the pews you in the seats you in the church you can comfort them the greek word means to calm them to console them and it comes from two greek root words every greek word you can trace it down forever uh the two parts that make up this word means near and speech it is speech to them that is near to them so it doesn't mean that you scold them from a distance or you talk about them on the phone or you passively aggressively post about them on facebook it doesn't mean that at all it means that you make the personal investment to get up close and personal with them in order to help them to lift them to encourage them to speak a positive word when all they can say is negative to speak a calming word when all they can do is worry about their situation to lift them up when they're going through the trial of their life and help them understand that you know i've been through some trials too and this is going to pass and jesus is still in control and and i know it gets tiresome sometimes because some people they have a new crisis every day i know that that's why paul said they're feeble-minded he's not saying they're mentally incompetent he's saying that their emotional state is so fragile get up close get personal take it upon yourself to invest in them and speak a comforting consoling word you can comfort the feeble minded the discouraged the faint-hearted those that feel like they're going to quit and then he said you can support the weak and this word weak it means people that are weak in their faith people that are immature in their conscience these are believers that have not yet had the opportunity or maybe they've just not taken the initiative to grow up in god these are people who are justified they're saved but maybe they're not yet sanctified they've still got all kinds of questions about doctrine and lifestyle issues they've still got a lot of worldly ideas floating around in their head because of the years they spent in the world they're new they're immature they're weak in their faith now the great news in your family is if you've got a child that's kind of the runt of the litter they're a little scrawny they're a little short they're they're just you know they they haven't got it together yet the great news about kids is that children grow you leave them around they're going to be towering over you someday they're going to be eating more food out of your fridge than you do children grow if they're provided with a healthy environment so in the church it's the same principle you may look at them and say they're so weak they don't understand they don't seem to be getting it but if if we'll provide a healthy environment they'll grow if we'll provide a healthy environment where they're not picked on and criticized and ridiculed and judged they'll grow and someday they may be stronger than you and me put together and they may be doing great things for god so in the family of god we need to support the weak you can support them literally paul said hold fast to the weak don't let them fall don't let them fade away during this pandemic we've had so many people have just kind of faded off into the fringes of the church if they come it's rare uh if they show up they're so uh cautious that they they're not participating and if you see one of them you love them and you reach for them and hold on to the weak hold fast to the week support the week because they need you right now during this time every second article online right now is about all the mental crises that are happening in the lives of kids who haven't been allowed to go to school and people that have been allowed to have their business open and all kinds of stuff there's a crisis of mental health well mental health is one thing spiritual health is even more devastating if it goes down on somebody and they can't cope and so if you see something like that don't say well i wish the pastor would get after them the pastor may not have laid eyes on them for six months but if you know about it you can support the weak you can hold fast to them don't let them go don't let them fall over the edge hold on to them and by the way don't compare some weaker less mature believer to somebody else who grew faster than them got it faster than them man they got baptized and all those habits just fell off they come out of the tank soaking wet and no addictions and this person struggled maybe for months with something after they got saved don't compare them hold fast to them hold on to them support them and then you'll be amazed at what god does to allow them to grow and then he says this oh yeah while we're talking to all you brethren all you family members brothers and sisters in the family this isn't your pastor's job this is part of your job be patient toward all men patience in scripture is long suffering there is no other way to slice and dice this when you're patient in scripture you suffer long that's what it means long suffering it takes patience to raise a family and everybody who's ever been a parent say amen and it also takes patience to grow a church family so don't overreact when you're dealing with the problems and the weaknesses of others you would be absolutely shocked and ashamed and overwhelmed if your pastors came to the pulpit and overreacted in the pulpit during the sermon about everything they had to deal with this week with people it would just sound something like that would be every sermon in the whole church for the rest of the year especially in 2020 but pastors are commissioned by god this is the church calm down get a grip on yourself it's god's church he said i will build my church so just go preach the word of god teach the word of god reach for people let god do his work can i give you the same advice when you hear that somebody stumbled or failed or fallen somebody's made a mess somebody's done something wrong somebody's dealing with a struggle a trial a problem somebody's on in danger of backsliding somebody's got a major weakness in their life can you just not overreact just suffer long pray for them encourage them reach for them be patient toward all men what paul is saying i'll put him in the 21st century paul's saying do everything you can as a saint of god to make the church a no drama zone for your pastors do everything you can so some people think church is like grade one teacher teacher she said teach your teacher he did no this is church we're all growing here and if there's somebody not growing as fast as you let me give you a tip you be the spiritual adult and help them paul said be patient toward all men here's another principle he gives see that none render evil for evil now the word doesn't mean evil like sin it means evil as in something that is harmful or something that is painful he said if somebody gives you harm if somebody gives you pain don't turn around and pay them back with harm and pain and the plain truth is this that if you live in a family long enough you're going to get your feelings hurt if you attend a church long enough you're going to get your feelings hard it is inevitable even people that you're trying to help may reject you they may retaliate against you and sometimes even when they do respond positively they don't even come close to appreciating all the time and energy and effort and prayer and investment you put in them so the question is do you personally have the maturity to just keep serving god and just keep serving his church when you get hurt or do you want to pay everybody back for everything that happened in your life if your motive for helping others is this secret desire for appreciation or this secret desire for somebody to acknowledge you publicly you're going to be sorely disappointed but if the genuine motive of your heart in helping others is what paul said in second corinthians 4 5 he said ourselves your servants for jesus sake that's how we do this i'm serving you not because i need something from you you're serving someone not because you need something from them ourselves your servants for jesus sake see christians have this confidence my reward is not coming from you my reward comes from god so i can serve you with a pure heart and a pure motive because i'm not really serving for you to do something for me i'm serving for god to see it and he can reward it and then he says so see that none none of you your brethren this isn't your pastor this is you don't render evil for evil don't pay back somebody with pain if they gave you pain he said but ever follow that which is good in the language of scripture good is not quite the same as the common vernacular that we use good is something in scripture that shows up on the outside the the word literally means beneficial or beautiful it shows if it's good if you really want to help your pastor if you really want to bless your church paul said follow pursue after things that are good things that appear beautiful what he's saying is let your every day go into work nine to five life let it be beautiful let it be a reflection of the commands of scripture and the teaching of your pastor let it be good pursue things that are good pursue things that are beautiful and do things that are beneficial they're good be sure your actions and your attitudes never create a hindrance for anybody else to the best of your ability follow things that are good pursue after things that are beautiful and beneficial and this shouldn't just happen in the church he said not just among yourselves but to all men be a blessing to the lives of people all around you it's not our goal to only be kind to fellow christians it's not our goal to only be nice only be helpful only be generous to fellow christians we live in a world that is hurting and so do it not only among yourselves but to all men he can't stop he's on a roll he does this in every epistle pretty much he he just gives these principles he's he's trying to take the the theology he's written be ready for the coming of the lord and he's trying to say and here's how you live if you're living in light of the end he said here's how you live rejoice evermore pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you so rejoice evermore joy makes your journey are easier and joy takes the burden out of serving our happiness is totally based on circumstances that can change in the drop of a hat but our joy isn't based on circumstances that can change our joy is found in jesus and that's why rejoice is not a suggestion it's not an option it is a command rejoice evermore i don't know if we got enough people in the building to make just a tiny bit of noise and say i'm so glad about serving jesus i'm so thankful that i get to be part of his church i'm so grateful that i have a hope see that's joy rejoice evermore no matter what life threw at you this week rejoice a little bit no matter how tough it was at work today you can come into god's presence at church at home in prayer in worship and you can just rejoice ever more it's not an option you need some joy in a world that's lost its way and he said here's something else pray without ceasing prayer is the responsibility of every christian especially if we're living in the end time generation the greek word for without ceasing this is bible study uh you know i don't even like greek food but there's a lot of greek if you're studying the little words of scripture so i apologize if that messes you up but the greek word here that paul uses for without ceasing in his day in secular language it was kind of almost like a medical thing uh without ceasing was used to describe a person who was suffering from an intermittent cough you know that you can't do it now because people will like arrest you because they think you've got the virus but but but you know that intermittent cough it just nags you can't get your throat clear and it's like in every five words you're you know that intermittent cough well prey without ceasing was used to describe this intermittent cough it didn't continually occur but it was constantly recurring it didn't happen every minute they weren't coughing all the time every second of every day but every so often it kept constantly recurring so it happened at regular intervals they just kept coughing and clearing their throat some of those people come to church no none of them are here tonight i haven't heard one everybody's terrified to cough it's like everybody's going to look at me it's been a wonderful thing for like audio recordings in the church but anyway i i digress so so here's what he says pray not continuously occurring that you're always on your knees that you're always saying oh thank you god thank you jesus i need no not continuously occurring but constantly recurring that that you never go long you never go far without saying a word of prayer it's like you've got intermittent prayer it's just happening randomly all the time you just can't get rid of it you just pray constantly without ceasing doesn't mean it's happening every second it means it keeps happening over and over prayer is supposed to be a long conversation with god that's kind of unbroken and you go through your day and and you may start in the morning with a an official kind of prayer time but then things should hit your heart things should dawn on your mind things should come into your life and and you should say oh my jesus please touch them that's terrible that's a tragedy please heal them please help that little girl please help that family see it's part of an unbroken conversation with god and and then maybe you know you see something happens with me sometimes when i see uh you know something beautiful in nature a picture of of something precious to me uh people that i've met in travels or family members or or loved ones that have gone on and you see that picture and it's like oh thank you jesus and and i've even said to jesus in fact i said to jesus today i said jesus i miss my dad and and you just have this long it's like driving in a vehicle with somebody and unless you're two women you don't talk every second of the whole trip it's like two men driving in a van somewhere okay so i've offended half the congregation tonight it's you know they just drive and they don't feel this compulsion to fill every empty moment with words i think i've said enough on that they just drive along and and you know they may not say anything for five miles and then it's just like they carry on where they were before and that's prayer i'm not saying only men pray i'm just saying it's like that it's this unbroken if i was living like before you had your cell phone uh i i would say it's like leaving your phone off the hook and and and you leave your phone just sitting there now we call it pocket dial prayer is kind of like a pocket dial you know have you ever dialed someone and you didn't mean to and then you notice after like five minutes that your phone's on and you look down it's like wow i've been revealing all of my life to this person for five minutes people sometimes do that with me i i got this message the other day i think it was from a couple of women because they called the answering machine picked up and you couldn't make out what they were saying but my goodness they were having a really great conversation and from a couple of words i think i overheard at the very beginning of the recording that was left for five minutes i think they were not really happy that i didn't pick up the phone i think that's what it was but i wasn't home so i just heard kind of this agitated whatever and then this so i don't know where the cell phone got put probably in a purse or something but i listened for five minutes to see if i could figure out who it was don't look at me like that you would have too and and that's prayer prayer no not eavesdropping on your neighbors prayer is this conversation that just goes on it's it's unbroken you can just jump into it at a minute's notice and then you can go on about your day and you can go through your but but you're you've got god on the phone you've got god in the car you've got god with you and so paul said pray without ceasing it doesn't mean you're always saying words it means intermittently throughout your life throughout every week and every day you're going to be just constantly aware that jesus is with you and you're talking to him all the time on a regular basis brothers and sisters that's prayer do i think you should have a daily prayer time yes i think you should but do i think that if you don't have a six-hour daily prayer time you're not very spiritual no i think you need to live in and out of an atmosphere of prayer all day long one of the things i loved and i'm i'm watching time here one of the things i loved about our elders was some of the elder preachers and pioneer pastors that have gone on to heaven you could be walking with them in the mall and all of a sudden they just see something or think of something and man they're gone oh thank you jesus and they would just be like literally gone i've walked with some of them in the mall and i i think that is not cute or quaint i think that is wonderful and powerful that they have such a touch of god that they really are more in tune with god and what he's saying then what's going on all around them oh i covet being like that he says rejoice ever more pray without ceasing and then he says this in everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you thanksgiving is the consistent heart response of every christian notice what he said he didn't say for everything give thanks he said in everything give thanks he's saying be thankful regardless of your circumstances because just like joy thanksgiving can make your journey easier thanksgiving can take the burden out of service but then he says this for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you literally he's saying thanksgiving is who you are in christ jesus he's saying thanksgiving isn't an action that you do once in a while thanksgiving is an attitude of life it is who you are in christ jesus he's still going he's still got advice quench not the spirit despise not prophesying prove all things hold fast that which is good abstain from all appearance of evil he is wound up he's just given one piece of good godly advice after another he says don't quench the spirit don't put out the fire of the holy ghost don't stifle the move of the spirit don't suppress it don't let the fire go out in the altar of your heart but don't let the fire go out in our services when we're gathered together don't quench the spirit and he says despise not prophesying yes prophecies are given through failed fragile fickle human vessels they can make mistakes but he said prophecy is a spiritual gift given to the church by god so don't put a prophecy out of your life take a prophecy when it's given through the gifts of the spirit take that seriously now we never would put verbal prophecy on the same level as the word of god because the bible tells us we are we can judge a prophecy but we should still receive prophecy i do not want to become a non-profit organization when it comes to prophecies i want prophecies to flow the gifts of the spirit to flow in the church don't despise the gifts of the spirit why are you saying that paul because in the end of the end times the pressure is going to be on this rational critical pseudo-scientific way of thinking that says that's all hocus pocus that's just your imagination and so the apostolics have to stand up to that pressure and say no every once in a while god moves in our service god moves on an individual and we hear through the spirit of god and the gifts of the spirit from god and we pay attention to that you may think it's fiction we know it's reality don't despise prophecies he says prove all things brothers and sisters and hold fast that which is good don't be gullible and follow everyone who pretends to be spiritual especially if they're spiritual on facebook observe their lives over time here's here's a clue watch their church attendance over time align yourselves with people who are good align yourselves with teachings and trends and things that are good remember what good is good's an internal attitude that can't help but show itself in external actions good is beautiful and beneficial that's why titus said paul told titus in titus 2 10 he said we should adorn the doctrine of god our savior in all things it should show in your everyday life if you're a child of god and so paul said watch those people watch those things watch those trends prove everything put everything to the test don't hold to everything don't follow everything don't be gullible and just accept that everybody that talks about god is somehow spiritual no you hold fast that which has an outgrowth in their lives and then he gives next what i think is one of the most important principles in the new testament governing your christian testimony in my mind this is one of the most important principles he says abstain from all appearance of evil it's not enough in your christian life especially facing the end times it's not enough to avoid the actions of evil because your actions and your attitudes have an impact on other people he said it's not enough just to avoid actions of evil or attitudes of evil you need to abstain from the very appearance of evil your social media posts they have an impact on other believers it's not enough just to abstain from cuss words and bad images on social media you abstain from the very appearance of evil because your your appearances how it looks in your life what it looks like you might be doing or thinking that has an impact on fellow believers and on others who observe the church and so god holds his family to a higher standard he commands us to abstain from even the very appearance of evil not evil that's that's grade one we got that abstain from evil no abstain from the very appearance of evil it's not enough for a child of god especially in the end times it's not enough for your conduct not to be wrong paul said it shouldn't even look wrong it shouldn't smell wrong somebody shouldn't suspect that it's wrong and so you need to guard from the appearance of evil what's that mean means if you're a married person don't be going to all these private places with someone that's not your spouse that's very practical and very old-fashioned in this day and age it's why in the office we don't have like one pastor here in the building counseling some lady after hours at seven pm it doesn't happen here you know why not because we can't trust our pastors not because you wouldn't trust our pastors not because that lady that came in for counseling couldn't trust the pastor no because it doesn't look right it doesn't even look right in some semblance in society but that's fade and fast but paul said abstain from the very appearance of evil it's why we tell young people when you're dating somebody don't be alone with them in a house and if you're a parent don't allow that the world just looks on that and says yeah we know what those two apostolic kids are doing when their parents aren't around abstain from the very what appearance of evil he said that's not a very good place to end it's where paul ended i didn't say it paul said it it's nice to have somebody to blame why is paul dealing with christian living principles in a letter while he's answering questions about the coming of the lord what in the world is going on well here's what nothing is more critical than your spiritual life if you are really living in light of the end and so he closes and the very god of peace here's my prayer for you in thessalonica the very god of peace sanctify you wholly i'm praying that god he grows you holy w-h-o-l-l-y completely fully it's gonna take time but i'm praying for you that you keep growing in holiness he said i'm praying your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our lord jesus christ i'm praying that god preserves not just your spirit but your mind and your body i'm praying that all of you lives a holy life before and until the coming of the lord and then he says and here's the punch line faithful is the one who called you because you're not going to have to do this under your own power you're not going to have to grit your teeth and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps to accomplish living a holy life you've been given the holy spirit and so if you'll live by the holy spirit faithful is the one who called you who also will do it so paul ends first thessalonians saying basically this i want you to live holy until jesus comes because if you don't live holy until he comes you won't be going when he comes have a holy motive have holy attitudes and actions and appearance and then he ends with brethren keep praying for us that's our responsibility greet all the brethren with unholy kiss don't get freaked out that's middle eastern it still happens in countries like italy today it's a holy greeting he says greet the holy brethren with a holy greeting he's saying watch out for each other look out for each other be a good impact and influence on each other pray for each other encourage each other remember that your actions and your attitudes have an impact on everybody else so every time you get together greet one another greet the holy brethren with a holy kiss with a holy greeting encourage each other to live authentically for god and the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you amen he's still got more to say that's why there's second thessalonians but we're not going to do that tonight i'm going to end right there where he ends and i'm going to tell you i'm so thankful for every one of you i'm so grateful for all of you that have joined us online i'm so grateful for bible study when i get to teach you the word of god i just love that i get excited about it i love this book i love the word of god but the most important thing i could tell you is live your everyday life in light of the end watch your attitudes watch your motives watch your heart watch your mind watch what you're allowing in your life and in your home live in light of the end because jesus is coming and it's not terrifying it's exciting that jesus is coming lord jesus i thank you for your church i thank you for the privilege of teaching your people and i thank you for the authority of the word of god that we've heard and taken in tonight let it take root let it grow fruit in everyone's life and i pray it in your name jesus and everybody said amen everybody at home say amen wherever you are thank you for being with us tonight god bless you all in jesus name [Music] you

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 6,486

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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: XiFykbUfN7Y

Length: 73min 30sec (4410 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 03 2020