Paul’s Prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 | Mike Bickle

tonight we're looking at second thessalonians chapter one father we come to you in the name of the lord jesus and lord we ask you to release the activity of the holy spirit on our hearts tonight i ask you for the spirit of impartation for those that are in this room those that are watching this through the technology i ask for a spirit of impartation on this most significant prayer that you gave the servant your servant paul and we thank you in jesus name amen now one of the things that makes these prayers so important is the is the fact that they burned on god's heart before he gave them to paul or to any of the apostles god's heart was burning with these ideas and so he gave him by the holy spirit because he wanted the church through history he wanted their hearts to burn and be gripped by these things that were on his heart so tonight we're looking at session five paul's prayer in second thessalonians chapter one second thessalonians chapter 1 verse 11 and 12 i'm not taking the prayers in order you've noticed this prayer has remarkable language i mean the language is stunning in it and this prayer i want you to pay close attention and determine that tonight when you're done you're going to like say i'm going to work on this one because this prayer is one of the most neglected prayers in the new testament because it's misunderstood and the language is full of meaning but the phrases are not familiar to us so paul gives a string of phrases that we look at and go what and so it's easy i understand why this prayer is neglected i rarely ever heard hear it prayed at ihop in 20 plus years because it's a hard one to articulate and to get your mind around but what i wanted to do tonight is demystify some of it and give some simple uh takeaway points from for for some of this language that's unfamiliar but the phrases are full they're full of meaning the other point i want to make is this is one of this is a well they're all the prayers are essential for this hour of history but this has a particular value for the end time church this prayer does i could say that for several of them but this has particular importance for the end time church because it's a prayer of how to respond and a spirit of glory in the in the face of persecution and for the most part much of the church isn't experiencing persecution that's why this prayer seems a little bit strange or maybe old-fashioned but actually it's just a little bit ahead of its time it's not that it's old-fashioned it's going to be a very primary prayer all over the church not just in a few places where there's intense persecution let's read that paragraph a paul prayed for the saints kind of the takeaway point is it's really a prayer they would walk in the glory and the benefits of wholeheartedness i mean in one sentence paul's praying they come into deep agreement with god because these great glorious things happen if they live in agreement with god i'm going to re i'm going to say the same thing tonight over and over but using different language because i found that sometimes somebody says something and i go huh and then they say it different i go oh i get that i didn't and the guy says well that's what i said a minute ago but i go oh so i like to give different language because it's different on-ramps for different personalities to get their mind around the idea so paragraph a the second sentence here he prayed in essence they would be inspired to respond in a way worthy of the lord that's the essence of it is and he connected this idea of responding in a way worthy of god to the ability to walk in the fullness of god's promises in their life now everybody wants to walk in the fullness of what god's promised them but that is a condition that flows out of her responsiveness i mean i don't know a believer that doesn't want the fullness of all the promises in their life right now and paul says well back up you want to be strengthened to respond in a way worthy of him because that's the only condition in which the fullness of the promises happen in this life oh oh well that one preacher just told me hey praise god the fullness is coming and everybody shouted amen but they skipped a couple steps and i'm not saying that uh kind of be crass i'm saying this this is really a serious prayer here okay we're going to read the prayer and i have it on the notes about five times printed because the language is so unfamiliar and misunderstood and so just page by page we'll read it again you'll go okay i'm getting it i'm getting it let's go through it one more time he says verse 11. well the big catch catch word or word to alert you is the word therefore therefore we're going to look at a minute therefore he's saying in light of the five or six verses i just taught therefore and we're going to look at those five or six verses in a moment but don't miss the word therefore as the one preacher said every time you see therefore ask why is it therefore or what is it therefore he says we pray always for you well that sounds like that colossian prayer last week he goes i don't cease to pray this that doesn't mean again that he prays 24 hours a day for this one prayer but it means he doesn't let the seasons pass where this prayer gets off the radar he keeps this prayer in the conversation not all day every day but it's not one of those prayer requests where three years later he goes oh yeah i got to get back to that again he goes this is one of those prayers i want in front of my people that paul kept it in front of him when he prayed for the saints at thessalonica which is a city in greece therefore we pray always and here's the confusing phrase that god would count you worthy of this calling god wait i thought salvation was a free gift was paul confused here i thought how could we be deserving of the calling well he doesn't mean deserving we'll look at that the word count you worthy is not the same ideas that you would eventually deserve it that's not what he's talking about and here's the thing that paul wants them to connect that they would fulfill all the good pleasure of god's goodness that's a beautiful way to say walk in the full will of god the full promises for your life let's read that phrase again you would f that god would fulfill what a phrase all the good pleasure of his goodness in your life i mean talking about just beautiful and god's heart is there he goes what i've got planned for you is so good and it's going to bring pleasure to you and pleasure to me to release it in you i'm not reluctant to release this and you actually really want to and it will absolutely fascinate you as this has released the good pleasure of the goodness of what i've planned for your life individually in the specific way as an individual and as in the general way is just part of the the family of god there's glorious general promises that are so glorious and they're specific promises but here's the thing i want to say they're all anchored in goodness and they bring pleasure to the person when they unfold and they bring pleasure to god to release them to us and he says the next phrase that god would release the work of faith with power wow that's a big phrase and then that that verse 12 the name of jesus would be glorified in you we sort of get that one but how about this phrase that you would be glorified in him paul we're not supposed to be glorified in him paul says yeah it's what the father told me pray it i mean what an interesting well more than interesting but so there's actually four benefits four things he focuses on we'll look at later that flow out of this prayer that you would be counted worthy well let's look at the word the verse 11 therefore paul says i'm praying this because what i just taught you from verse 4 to 10. i'm gonna pray in light of what i just taught you so we're going to take a minute we're going to go back to verse 4 to 10. because we're going to gain understanding of this unusual prayer by understanding the context that paul's praying it in and what happened what he taught just before he prayed the prayer so we're still in ii thessalonians 1 verse 11 and 12 is the prayer we're going to back up to verse 4. and we're going to go from 4 to 10 and then we're going to come back to verse 11 and 12 the prayer verse 4 if you read the whole context paul is he's boasting or he's affirming or honoring their perseverance now when you read us a new testament the word patience in many translations is the word perseverance it doesn't mean like patience in your relational style like hey don't interrupt that person when they're talking be a little more patient when you drive it's not that kind of patience although those are nice things important things patience another word is perseverance not quitting is the idea he goes i boast i honor i affirm i i tell everyone all these other churches how you have perseverance in your persecution and in your tribulation and persecution and tribulation are the same general idea now he's not talking about that they have perseverance just in the fact that they got some hard situations in life that that's important to persevere but they're actually being persecuted because they've taken a stand for jesus and the implications of that in the culture now he says this unusual phrase he says your perseverance in your persecution verse four here it is verse five is manifest evidence okay is proof it's the evidence and we're gonna show you why it's evidence in a minute he's gonna give you three reasons why persevering and persecution is evidence of something what is it evident of what is it tokens of what is it proof of well we'll look at three things in a moment it's evident of the righteous judgment of god now that phrase can throw you off because what he means by the righteous judgment of god he's not talking about his punitive judgments he's saying his judgments his decision-making his conclusions his determinations he says the fact you persevere in persecution is evidence that god has made a right a wise determination and how how he leads your life a righteous judgment a wise determination in his leadership by how he's leading you you say wait if i'm being persecuted that's proof that god's leadership over my life is wise and good he's making good choices or judgments the way he's leading my life no it's the other way around you know i've told the lord over the years i'm an american we don't do it that way here we want it fast easy comfortable quick bigger easier funner whatever that word is you know the lord says no i'm going to show you my righteous judgment my good leadership is what that means the judgment my decision making for you i'm going to create the optimum environment for you to be transformed and when all the information is in front of you one day you'll go that was brilliant this is proof that you were leading my life in a good way but in our natural mindset it looks like it's proof god isn't leading our life he abandoned us so you don't want to lose this because of the unusual language paul says the fact that you're persevering and you're staying with it it's the proof god's leading you and he's inspiring you along the way he's not only leading you in the optimum environment it's got pressure in it but he's got glory resting on you and he's keeping you he's sustaining you in it and you're getting transformed right in front of my eyes and the good thing about that transformation you'll bring it with you to the age to come and you'll have the benefit of it forever the choices you made under pressure in this age now our natural mindset is i don't want to sustain these rigorously godly persevering choices under pressure i want the pressure to left things to get easy the lord says but gold is being formed in your spiritual life you're doing spiritual exercises push-ups you're lining up with me day after day i'm allowing the pressure but i'm putting glory on you as well that's why you're not quitting that's the proof you haven't the fact that you haven't quit is the proof i'm leading you in helping you because i know the end of the story and you're going to be so grateful i led you this way maybe not now you're grateful but you will be it will be so evident to everyone when all the information is laid out in front of you now right now we only have this insight because paul gave it to us by the holy spirit our natural mind says hard is bad i mean when they're persecuting if that's bad the lord says no you're working a muscle you're aligning with me i'm helping you actually i'm leading you i've appointed you to to face these difficulties of people resisting you because of your faithfulness to the lord again this is very contrary counterintuitive to the western culture but it is the kingdom culture and it's going to be global this reality not many days from now we can see the escalation of it picking up and just to honor saints many saints like in china and different islamic nations they've been living in this for years but the majority of the world outside of a few of these hot these really intense places this is new this is foreign this is like what are you talking about that's why this is an easy prayer to move past and neglect he says verse 5 the fact you're persevering in your persecutions is the proof it's the evidence of god's righteous judgment his good leadership leading you and inspiring you along the way and adequately helping you so that you would be counted worthy so that you would make choices befitting who jesus is you would make choices that are worthy of who he is so when you stand before him he will be so delighted you're not earning salvation but you're making choices that so delight him and we don't always feel his delight when we're making them but he goes when you stand before him he will affirm you won't believe how you will feel what he says to you what he says to you about the choices you made you'll be counted worthy you'll live in a way prepared to walk in everything the kingdom's about and verse six he's making a second point here it's going to be manifest evidence that it's a righteous thing for god to repay with tribulation the people that trouble you we're not going to unpack that right now but in a few minutes but i just want you to register it he says evidence number one of god's good leadership is you respond in a way worthy you keep responding and it's transforming you evidence number two is that you believe it's righteous it's wise and good that god's going to repay those people that are beating up on you you go why is that righteous and good we'll get there in a minute but that's evidence of god's good leadership that it's righteous or right or wise that he pays them back and verse seven another the third evidence of god's good leadership in allowing you to face this pressure in sustaining you in it is that you that are troubled or persecuted you're going to have rest there's going to be a full recovery of everything you lost one day and we say really and paul's saying if you believe these three things that you will be made worthy or transformed that god will repay those who came against you and he will bring you rest or recovery of everything you lost if you believe those three things about his good leadership you will be anchored to face anything and then he takes the prayer that he prays in verse 11 and 12 and he prays it in light of those three points now i realize because these are such strange terms and they're new ideas to most of us that you're already going uh what i mean so i worked through this prayer through the years i go paul why don't you just say it a little more simple you know it's a little tough to follow because the word righteous that he uses here in verse 5 and verse 6 means god's right or wise choices as a leader choice as a leader it's right it's right in that way it's a good for you it's good for the kingdom it's right he goes and what's going to happen when it's all said and done verse 10. jesus is going to come on that glorious day the day and there's going to be millions around the earth that have been responding in this right way they've been anchored in these three points again you might not have the three points in your brain right now but i got them all in the notes over and over this is one of those prayers you're gonna have to take later and talk about and work through and have a discussion with a few friends and huh okay i think i'm getting it but there's gonna be millions that are going to respond in this right way and on the day he comes he will be glorified because when he comes back there's going to be so many people on the earth that have been lining up in a radical obedience to him even under pressure he will be so glorified they will be trophies of his beautiful leadership their lives are trumpeting to the earth he's worth it he's that beautiful he's that powerful he's that winsome he won me over because i saw him more he's glorified in that sense he's got so many people anchored in loyal extravagant love for him because they've seen his leadership and that's a trophy that's a that's a trumpet blast to the nations of how glorious his leadership is he's gonna raise up people like you to show unbelievers how winsome and how good of a leader he is because of the way you obey him with loyal extravagant love even under pressure you're gonna be the signpost now jesus can just come and there you have it everybody go whoa he goes no no i'm gonna i'm gonna do a setup first i'm gonna have you display me before i display me openly in my person and then when i show come to the in the clouds the way you've lived and my beauty are gonna come into that that uh convergence is gonna be so clear who we are together and i will be so pleased and glorified and you will marvel at me i don't like the new king james the land the translation i'm using it says you'll be admired admired i need a little bit stronger than mired i like the new american standard other translations jesus will be marveled at in that day and they'll say we knew it was worth it we knew it oh my goodness we gotta like strengthen that word admired a little bit you know well let's look at it again i mean let's go on to paragraph one and just so you know there's so much repetition in the notes i'm not worried to get to at all because i'm just giving it to you again and again and again so i'm going to take my time so you can maybe get the framework of it so then if you're really zealous to understand the phrases i've got a little bit more of it written out there for you well paul he this is now we're second thessalonians this is the second letter to the city of thessalonica let's go back to the first letter to the city at thessalonica paragraph one now paul had just been boasting or affirming how they've persevered but he goes let's go back he wrote this he goes i sent timothy to you to encourage you because they were brand new believers in acts chapter 17 the this church at thessalonica was actually started in three weeks paul said he was only there for three sabbaths for 21 three weeks 21 days maybe a few more days but three sabbaths then he had to move on he was driven out by persecution but undoubtedly multitudes hundreds maybe i don't know we don't know the number but many people got saved and paul's gone and they're all brand new believers i mean the pastors and elders are you know a month or two later they're eight weeks older than the lord and the others are like six weeks old in the lord i mean that's a rough situation but he goes i sent timothy back because you i was only there three weeks to encourage you verse three here it is so that no one would be shaken by the afflictions because they were really tough on paul and drove him out of town and so paul's new believers they're they're persecuting them now they're saying oh you like that that preacher that was here last week and they go uh well no no we love his god it's his the messiah no we're gonna do to you what we did to him and so timothy came and said hey don't be shaken by these afflictions but here's the kind of the surprising thing to our modern western ears for paul said for you yourselves know we are appointed by god to have persecution come against us because it transforms us and it trumpets the glory of the message then believers when they see people loyal in love to jesus under pressure they go who is it that they're worshiping that we don't know about there's a bigger storyline to life they know something we don't know there's something bigger going on so not only are we appointed to persecution because it makes us work the muscle over and over and saying lord i love your leadership i trust you ouch wait wait do i really want to stay true yes i do want to stay true are you really worth it i don't know yes you are i don't know how it is it's that working of the muscle day by day in the face of persecution that changes us it makes us worthy it makes us be fitting in our response to who he is paul says i just want you to get this he goes i want you to know he goes and i told you clear you were appointed to this now again this is hardly ever mentioned in context of a western church but i'm not acting all heroic i don't ever talk about it much so i i'm here because this was the next verse on my list and so here i am preaching on it so i'm not uh saying well at least i'm preaching on it because i haven't spoken much on this but i'm saying this fyi you wait the next year two three four five six seven and i said these kind of themes are going to be emphasized by the spirit he goes verse four we told you beforehand and that three weeks i was with you i told you you would suffer tribulation i told you and it happened just like i told you i told you what we need tender messengers that make it known to the body of christ beforehand that tribulation which means persecution i'm not just about you lost your job because economics are bad i'm not talking about difficulties in life because there's difficulties in every sphere of life and everybody's got some that's not what i'm talking about i'm talking about specifically resistance because you're faithful to jesus because you're taking a stand on a certain point and you're losing something because of it maybe your job maybe your friends maybe your reputation maybe there's even believers might rise up against you to attack you but that's what persecution is so don't don't lose sight of that's what we're talking about here well just so you know that paul didn't only preach this at thessalonica paragraph one let's go to paragraph two paul went from city to city in acts 14. he was strengthening the disciples they were all new believers i mean this is the early church this is paul's you know first missionary journey he launches out in acts 13 it's only acts 14. it's his i mean they're all new believers and he's going back to the cities that he traveled through he's strengthening their heart how telling them to continue in faith and perseverance is what he means continuing confidence in god's leadership saying this we must through and the word would i mean the idea is persecution enter the kingdom of heaven we must through persecution it doesn't mean you got to go go up to knock on somebody's door and offend them so they get mad at you because you can't get in the kingdom without it he's saying when the kingdom power is is really moving demons will be stirred up the spirit will be moving and there will be persecution but you enter the kingdom meaning doesn't mean you're born again by deserving it it means you're living in kingdom reality by standing steady in the face of that kind of resistance paragraph three i mean paragraph c paul identified three ways i've already mentioned the three so i'm gonna go through them real fast in which god's judgment or his leadership in this sense again judgment means his decisions his verdicts his conclusions you know i make my judgment we're going to do this in the future it's it's that kind of sense of the word judgment paul identified three ways in which god wisely or righteously made these decisions over our life that he would use persecution and he would use people mistreating us in sinful ways to transform and strengthen us god determined that i mean the devil's very happy to to uh jump in and we always rebuke the devil but the lord says no i've appointed it for my people it will be a that environment where transformation will happen in them because i'll give them spirit grace for it and they will be trophies of grace they will magnify the grace of god in the beauty of god to unbelievers who go what is it that you know you've got if you don't have something to die for you don't have something to live for and there's believers raised up in the earth now they're willing to die for this so the unbelievers go what is it that i don't know that you know so they become pictures and trophies and statements of the glory of god so again paul uses the phrase verse 4 all your persecutions your perseverance it's evidence three evidences that god's judgments his leadership in your life is wise free evidence is proving you think well it's not proving it now and paul would say it's proving it because by revelation i'm telling you his point of view in these three areas well i don't feel that point of view is right paul what if you missed it paul says no this is from the holy spirit as much as you get anchored in these three things they will be evidence to you of god's good leadership and therefore the enemy can't get you defense offended at god because if we're not anchored in these things the enemy is going to tempt us to get offended and say your leadership in fact is bad god it's not good it's not righteous judgment leadership it's inadequate it's deficient it's it's not good you've let me be persecuted where are you at and again this is why the paradigm shift in the in the western churches must happen where we understand that god's actually appointed this as part of the transforming part of our lives and as part of showing off the grace of god unbelievers well paragraph one it takes spiritual insight to see this because our natural eye does not does not see these three evidences but paul says it's really clear to me it's like shouting at me evidence because the holy spirit's made it clear to me well we have here in hebrews 1 faith is the evidence of things not seen meaning its holy spirit has convinced our heart that's the evidence it's holy spirit evidence at the heart level that's evidence because when the holy spirit marks you in a strong way about a truth that's invisible to the natural eye no devil can shake you from that truth it's evidence to you somebody else that's an unbeliever or they don't have spiritual understanding they go how come you're so rock-solid on this point you go i have the evidence it's really clear to me and they go what it where are you getting your information at well the word of god marking my heart by the holy spirit that's evidence paragraph 2 and i got to get to the prayer well the prayer is pretty simple if you get the concept behind it this passage second corinthians 4 16 to 18 this i want you to catch this is one of the most significant revelations that paul gave for the end time church verses 16 to 18 here i mean he gave it for the church and his generation he gave it for church history this passage is so significant for the hour that that that's yet coming if we lock into this truth and the spirit touches us to where we have that internal evidence because the spirits marked us with this truth he gave it to paul first and it marked him and to paul it was proof proof positive though nobody could see it with their eyes he goes you've asked the spirit if he marks you it will be evidence to you too verse 16 we do not lose heart we don't get offended we don't quit so many believers quit and get offended because they don't know verse 17 and 18. and i understand why we don't know it again it's counterintuitive to our western culture it's opposite of what we think and feels like it's often opposite of what we're taught in ministries in our churches in our back church background verse 16 we won't lose heart we won't get offended we won't quit that's what lose heart means and practically though our outer man is perishing and he meant because of persecution yet the inner man is being renewed they're resisting us in our outer man and our circumstances are creating pressure in our outer man or our human our our body and our circumstances they're creating pressure but in the pressure we're leaning into god's leadership and signing back up saying we believe you're good we don't see it all but we trust you and the spirit every time we do that is marking our heart little by little we're renewed day by day just a little bit and i don't mean every day we gain ground but just a little mark of the spirit every time we sign back up and realign our heart here it is verse 17 for our light affliction paul they stoned you yeah it really hurt and it hurt that day and for the next couple weeks it really hurt but after that it didn't hurt after that like really you're calling that light a fake flicker he goes well i'm thinking of the thousand-year millennial reign and then the billion years after that yeah yeah i'm gonna walk in indescribable glory because i stayed faithful in love even though it i didn't like it so yeah it's light because i've got revelation on what the score really is well it seemed heavy to me well that's because you don't know what i know paul would say but you can know it if you stay with it the lord will mark your heart too it's working it's a light affliction verse 17 a light persecution which is only a moment i mean when he got stoned only hurt him for four or five hours real bad and then three four weeks really quick like okay paul man you're kind of a boy scout paul i mean that's intense stuff no it's really really quick yeah but it happened a number of times in your 30 years of or whatever of apostolic ministry i don't know how many years i haven't tabulated it i studied his life in depth a lot of years ago i think about 37 years he goes yeah it happened a number of times but guess what i'm at the end of my life now and i'll be in glory in a minute anyway it's momentary here's the phrase it is working for us that pressure creates the optimum environment it's negative but where we changes the conversation we have with god we're talking different to god when that pressure hits us and we're trusting his leadership when our natural eyes can't see the benefit and our inner man it's working for us it's changing us inch by inch little by little and it's going to result in an exceeding weight of glory in the age to come when we stand before jesus he's going to lay out his response and his reward for loyal love under pressure it paul said it's it's not i always say it's a hundred fold return closes that's a little that's a little skinny it's like a thousand-fold return it's a million-fold return it's way more than a hundred-fold it's an eternal weight of glory so verse 18 paul says i've learned i'm not looking at the persecution and the difficulty i'm looking at what's invisible god's smile and the rewards and what's happening inside of my spirit just day by day when i line up again line up again your leadership is good your leadership is perfect i can't see it but i trust you and the spirit's going oh i love that every time you say that the spirit would i'm just making up this term i love it when you say that to jesus i'm going to touch you again because we're we we're looking at things we can't see with our natural eye we're looking at his affirmation his values we're looking at eternity all of those will be very evident to everyone when the lord returns but it's just we have to trust the word of god in the spirit touching us between now and then well evidence number one he weans us from worldliness top of page two we're counted worthy he the process makes us little by little keep lining up with him again it changes the conversation we have with him and look at paragraph one the word worthy doesn't mean deserving of the kingdom it means prepared for the kingdom fit for the kingdom suited for the kingdom you're in line with the kingdom you're in agreement with the kingdom and you're getting more and more in agreement with what the kingdom's about i mean your entrance in the kingdom is a free gift but the last thing i want to do is have the free gift in the kingdom have 20 30 40 50 years walking with the lord then when the lord returns i didn't make choices that were in agreement and so my inward life and my history in god is out of sync with the glory of this realm i'm stepping into paul says actually you're going to want to get in agreement with it now you will be so happy then it will be so worth it when that day comes let's look at paragraph e evidence number two that god's good judgment his righteous leadership is evident by letting you by appointing you to persecution and letting you be transformed under the weight of that persecution by little by little god's leadership is good and the second proof and this is like you go what is that verse six it's righteous it's wise and good is the idea for god to repay with tribulation those that caused you trouble you say okay why is it a good thing a righteous thing that god will repay because the lord was saying this i want you to know the consequences of what they're doing to you is very serious it is terrifying and it is inevitable if they don't repent i am going to repay them so what does that do to you number one a lot of believers when they get pushed back i'm tired of this i'm going to be like you and push you back and lord says no no no don't go there repayment's real it's real so we go okay we get the fear of god in us okay this is evidence the fact we believe that there is justice in the universe in the in god's order it's just delayed that's all so whatever you do don't get into that feisty that's a soft word don't get into the same spirit that the persecutors are coming against you in to go back at them because paul's saying i promise you there will be consequences for that attitude i promise you so because of a verse like this and others i go i better not do that because it's real this is not a joke and number two because god says that it's delayed i'm delaying paying them back why i want them on the scene for a while longer because you're getting changed by them but don't you dare take vengeance in your own hands i want you to know i've got it covered there's a cry of justice in the human spirit the lord says i put that cry on you i will answer them it's delayed so don't you answer them but worse don't you imitate their bad spirit now a lot of believers do that because a believer persecutes a believer and then the persecuted believer rises up and pays the other one back in the same spirit and i'm telling you it's bad paul is saying there is repayment it is inevitable it is real it is terrifying don't make light of this and one day when all the information is out on the table you will see it was my good leadership by delaying the payback and it was my good leadership that convinced you not to be like them because they actually kept the pressure on you and you kept changing and being transformed by it my leadership was perfect in your life well paul you're not again you're not very american this is not what we grew up with where did you get the idea of paul evidence number three that it says verse seven one is verse five the next evidence is verse six the next is verse seven evidence of god's leadership by allowing you to bear to be appointed for persecution is that he will give you who are troubled rest there's going to be a full recovery because the rest isn't just the you know the cessation of the trouble the rest is you enter into the glory and the reward and because we believe that because the bible says it and the spirit marks our heart all every time we line up with that the spirit marks are hurt a little bit we go it's really worth it it's full recovery it's a hundredfold it's a thousand-fold there is a day where it all comes back paul said when it all comes back and you see the full reward and his pleasure and you see that there are really consequences to the people who moved in that wrong spirit and you see how much i transformed you because i allowed this up this situation and my spirit was helping you you will say my leadership was perfect you will say that on that day but don't wait till then join in with paul and say it now even though you can't see with your eyes you have evidence of it in your heart now pair now let's look at paragraph f we're still there i i'm going to read the rest of it verse 7 he'll give to you who are troubled or the persecuted believer he'll give you rest the full recovery is this going to happen well not next year how about in 5 or 10 years when the revival comes no no not then either when jesus is revealed that's when the full rest comes we're not about rest in our spirit you know like resting because we're living by faith i'm talking about the full recovery and that day he will come to be glorified by his saints because again the day of the second coming there will be so many believers on the earth that are living in unity on the inside with what he's like this christ-like transformation it will be this convergence of him and the company that's with him and the angels and all the saints coming back and all the saints on the earth that have been in unity and they've been transformed through the pressure and there's this dynamic family reunion but more than i mean in addition to the family reunion there's unity it's like-minded it's equally yoked it's yes it's vindication it was good that we stayed godly under the pressure oh it's so worth it now jesus will be glorified and these millions there'll be trophies there'll be shouts pictures of how winsome and beautiful his leadership is to the nations just as he's coming oh what a beautiful picture and he will be marveled at by all the saints look at paragraph one well during the persecution during you know in the persecution goes sometimes intense for a few weeks or a few months and then it lifts or maybe a year or two maybe a persecution is verbal maybe it's rejection maybe it's economic maybe it's physical you know i'm talking i'm not talking about enough an abuse situation and a family relationship that's not what i mean by physical i mean where like in cardiac areas of the world they actually beat them up if they're believers the spirit paragraph one redirects our marveling from the things of this world we start marveling at him little by little we marvel more at him than we do at the world that transformation is happening now here's a verse that we don't think about much but we need to paragraph two john the apostle said abide in him or live close to him you know abides a little stronger than that but live close that intimacy with god live close with him because when he appears you'll have confidence you won't be ashamed to what he appears there will be believers that the way they're living today they will still be saved but they will be ashamed of their lifestyle let's say these last 10 20 years oh my goodness he was so good and his word and spirit was beckoning me but i didn't let go of that stuff i am so not okay that i did not let go but they're still saved it doesn't say they're going to hell they will be sad at their life choices on that day they'll say why it would have been so worth it to break loose of those things so worth it but he says if you do break loose of those you'll have confidence and i don't mean confidence that you're safe confidence that he's smiling at your last last at your life choices over the last number of years leading up to that day it's not about confidence of being in the family of gods about confidence that your life is pleasing to him and that will matter so much on that day a lot of folks because they never think of that they think well i'll just take my chances when i get there oh when that beautiful man comes with nail scarred hands and he looks at you and says i gave everything for you and you're the darling of my heart and you go [Music] i just stayed in these five things oh man it's stupid what was i thinking why isn't i listening ii peter verse 17 talks about beware some of believers they fall from their steadfastness they're diligent for five or ten years or whatever and they get weary tired ah the great promises i was believing didn't happen in the time frame and they drift and then eventually fall away from their diligence okay let's look at top of page 3. well this is pretty repetitive here so i'm saying what i'm saying here in paragraph page three is over and over what does it mean to be worthy of the lord it's not to earn salvation but it's to have a worthy response and i just say that several different ways paragraph b right in the middle being counted worthy by god confuses some people it's a confusing idea because we've been trained that salvation by faith not by works or justified by faith alone how could we be counted worthy because they're thinking how could we be deserving of salvation and paul's saying that's not at all what i'm saying paul wrote romans chapter three he wrote those verses about justification by faith he's not talking about being deserving he's talking about living in a way that's in unity with god because it will matter to us now i mean we'll live feel different on the inside but it will matter to us on the day when we stand before him so there's two applications of being counted worthy in scripture and both of them if you read the text i didn't read it carefully the very end of the prayer paul says you're counted worthy according to the grace of god so both of these applications are grace are founded and fueled by the grace of god both applications so it's not like one of them is the grace of god and the next one you're earning it both of them are grounded their foundation and fuel is in the grace of god so application number one of being count found worthy of god paragraph one you can read it on your own later you already know it it's the free gift you're made worthy because of what he did you're in the family not because of what you did because of what he did salvation is a free gift justification by faith alone no works freely you're counted worthy of the family after that now paragraph two we want to respond in a worthy way now that we have the gift of being worthy acceptance in the family let's have life choices that are in unity and worthy of his beauty and the way he loves us paragraph d i'll just mention this briefly and you can read it on your own jesus was the first one to according to the new king james translation he was the first one to promote the idea of being praying to be counted worthy it's in luke chapter 21. this is an end time passage he's saying take heed to yourself don't let your heart be weighed down with carousing that would be immorality plus other things like that don't let your heart be weighed down i'll just say with immorality or drunkenness or fears and all these things but watch and pray so you could be counted worthy not deserving to be saved that your heart would be strengthened to live in a worthy way because he's coming in a few moments this is luke 21 an end time passage you could read that on your own but i just wanted to tell you that this idea that paul is praying that he's praying to be found worthy actually is anchored in the teaching of jesus and it's that you would be inspired and illumined by the spirit so you would be strengthened or found able to have a worthy response to him befitting of how much he loves you doesn't determine that you get saved but it really determines a lot of the quality of your life and how what the lord says to you on that day in terms of rewarding your life and it has many implications past that page four so last but not least the prayer itself we're at the end but the the phrases are pretty they follow pretty easy once you know the context the hard part is to be encountered worthy in the midst of the pressure that's the part that's foreign to the western mindset but it's going to become mainstream before the lord returns it just isn't yet it'll be a little while and you'll get pushed back and yo people say well jesus died for you so you don't have to die to yourself jesus uh paid the price for sin so he repented for you i've heard all these kinds of things from teachers with large ministries you know and people yay you know i can live in him around in drunkenness and be happy and be clear that jesus is happy not okay let's read it now the four benefits of of having a worthy response to the lord number one benefit paragraph we're still in paragraph 8 verse 11 you'll fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness number two benefit yield to have the work of faith with power number three benefit he'll be glorified you'll be a trophy of the gl of the beauty of god to unbelievers and to others even other believers you'll encourage them when they see the reality of jesus in your life and number four you will be glorified in him these are four benefits that flow out of this being inspired and illumined by the spirit and signing up day by day to believe in his leadership in the face of pressure these four things happen paragraph a we fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness i mean all of us want to do all the will we want all that god ordained for us and i want you know the way i've said it over the years i want everything that god will give the human spirit in this age i want it all i want every promise of my life the lord says i'm willing i want you to know it's my pleasure jesus said in luke 12 it's the father's pleasure you don't have to apologize for that prayer you don't have to reluctantly kind of you know tiptoe up to god and say god would you give me the whole thing he goes oh no it's my pleasure are you kidding that's what it's about but you've got to respond in a worthy way to me to enter into the fullness of what i have for you because the fullness of what i have for you is you reflecting me and for you to reflect me to others it's got to be real to your heart you can't like not reflect me in your l in your inner life and then all of a sudden people see jesus through you because it doesn't work that way because he's the spirit of truth i like paragraph two under b paul said well he put two phrases two ideas together he goes i press on that's that work of faith we'll get to in a minute i press on to lay hold of everything that jesus has laid hold of me for paul says i was born again and jesus laid hold of me here i am i got this sovereign calling and now the lord says now you press on to lay hold of what i laid hold of you for it's not automatic paul you've got to respond i love this uh thing i have here about king david even after david stumbled you know i've told you that i've taught the life of dave a few times and one message i gave 10 times where david stumbled in his life and i'm hopefully this is a joke when i meet david at the ace to come you're the only guy that ever preached why did you do that why did you put all 10 of them in one message well i was trying to encourage everybody maybe he'll he'll be happy about it but but here's my point here's my point is he fulfilled all the will of god even in his weakness he signed back up he kept signing back up he kept signing back up and because of god's graciousness and i called the editing of the grace of god it ends up he had stumble failure this that the other but over the 40 years the 50 years the 70 years he died at age 17. he kept signing back up and the lord says in the overall you did it all you fulfilled it all is that amazing that's the graciousness of god that's the point i'm making paragraph c not only are it doing what all the will of god and i'm not going to contend i'm not content with part of the will of god i'm not content with well we got this far let's just coast for a while you want to be on your death bed if it works that way praying for the double anointing you don't ever want to just say well this is as good as it gets never ever always contend for a double anointing of what you have now always to the end that's what paul's praying that you'd be worthy so you enter into the fullness paragraph c the work of faith with power this is a partnership the work of faith isn't just i have faith therefore it happens it means i'm in partnership with him there's a i'm working together believing you so this is a partnership and it also is magnifying the the i mean it's pointing out the magnitude of the power it's called the work of faith with power but i like to hit the partnership the lord says i'm not going to just it's not going could just fall from heaven on you paul you have to press in to lay hold of what i laid hold of you you can't just be idle you've got to go for it you've got to contend for it i've had people over the years they go i don't like that because that makes me feel pressure i go it's actually supposed to they go i have this sense of pressure that if i don't press it i'll miss out i go you will i promise this is called godly pressure well i thought i was saved by faith you are you're saved by faith you're in the family of god for and now the holy spirit is called conviction there's godly pressure on your soul you will miss out well i don't like that i want to go hear other people i don't like that kind of message where's the grace of god i go that is the grace of god the pressure the convincing of you it's real where you can't let go that's grace working in you the devil didn't convince you the grace of god convinced you to press in to lay hold of and paragraphy the fourth thing i mean the third thing is that jesus would be glorified in you i mean there's to live commensurate with who he is and what he's like to live in a commensurate or a unified way with he gave his all we gave our all again our all is small but we gave our all we're looking at him in our weakness and our weak love but it was all of our love and he was like i know i know i saw it i know the human frame what a what a privilege to be a broken human being that puts on display to other believers and unbelievers what jesus is like the glory of jesus my goodness and then paragraph e that you would be glorified in him what the spirit of glory resting on believers and of course the ultimate spirit of glory is the transforming cross christ's likeness the passage would be second corinthians 3 18 we be hold him we behold his glory and we're transformed to be like him i mean the glory being glorified in him means being liberated from all dark thinking all dark emotions all dark ways where we're living in the glory inside like he does and of course there's the glory on the outside there's the new jerusalem there's the resurrected body there's the family of billions of saints with resurrected bodies in a glorious city in the presence of the father there's the glory on the outside the food the music is good and the fragrance is amazing that city is glorious but i want to give you one more verse here right here in paragraph one peter talked about worship team come on up peter talked about he goes if you're reproached in other words they're slandering you or they're putting you down does it just mean physically beaten or thrown in jail but if you're even reproached they're saying you know you're just off the wall i just don't even like your weight from believers reproach believers if you're reproached because you stand for jesus the spirit of glory will rest on your heart that doesn't mean you'll just walk you know on clouds go oh it's so amazing slander me more please this is awesome no there's a spirit of glory it doesn't mean it's euphoric it means you have this sustained this inward sustainability to keep moving forward the lord says that's not your flesh and that's not the devil that's the spirit of glory operating in you because someone says i don't know if i'll be able to uphold it if if people i love and know they say i'm off the wall and they will i promise you they're going to in the church now the church the lord says my glory will rest on your inner man i will strengthen you i will give you resolve i will make it make sense to you to be faithful to me and i'll help you the spirit of glory let's stand before the lord father here we are before you [Music] lord we love your leadership lord we ask you to touch us now and stir [Music] us [Music] [Music] we lose our reputation we lose [Music] exceeding greatness of the reward [Music] we love you jesus [Music] is [Music] we love your leadership jesus [Music] redirect my heart to marvel on you in this age [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] enlarge my heart [Music] there is no greater [Music] [Music] you knowing your name as we continue just continue to worship holy spirit [Music] i ask you [Music] that your leadership is good even in the face of adversity [Music] a renewing of courage [Music] [Music] revelation an illumination of the evidence of your good judgment your good leadership in these three [Music] we can be ways we can have a worthy response to you thank you [Music] is [Music] i will give you my life i [Music] is you are [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i know father i ask you for the spirit of revelation i ask for the tenderizing of the holy spirit of the human heart i ask for a tenderizing a courage to re-engage with your heart in an intimate way a new tenderizing of the heart [Music] tenderizer [Music] the one that feels stuck lord i asked that this would be a night of freedom in that area [Music] many believers feel stuck in their relationship with the lord they said the way that i want but i ask for grace on the human heart a breakthrough of intimacy at the heart [Music] [Music] level [Music] give us [Music] lord we speak grace over this whole community right now as for the prophetic spirit we would ask for dreams and visions to multiply lord will never let go of that you said dreams and visions multiply lord multiplies in their heart in jesus name [Music] [Music] those that are listening to us right now today tomorrow this week what our children our grandchildren [Music] dreams [Music] a breakthrough lord send your word and heal my heart and heal my heart [Music] holy spirit [Music] god holy spirit upon us [Music] [Music] wherever there's sickness i take authority over it [Music] or something isn't functioning right lord i partner with you right now the work of faith of power we believe you according to your word [Music] i ask you god for the spirit of grace for physical healing lord heal bodies and hearts right now in jesus name we take authority in this room over every manner of sickness it's you lord do what i ask in jesus [Music] name you are the healer your new deliverer [Music] we speak of chronic sickness in the name of jesus the fire of the spirit come rest on them right now lord i ask you touch eyes and ears and probes tonight [Music] do the impossible situation tonight right now open eyes and ears congestion fever arthritis lord release the power of the holy spirit [Music] restore them and heal them tonight we believe [Music] [Music] so come here [Music] [Music] our children [Music] our grandparents [Music] our bodies [Music] what you know [Music] you bring me three

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Published: Tue May 04 2021