(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Thank you, Father, for such a wonderful church here, God. We thank you for every precious soul here. We thank you for our pastor, and we ask that you please bless him exceedingly as he preaches your word tonight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, we're continuing this evening with the book of 1 Thessalonians. We're in chapter number three. Let me give you a bit of a review from the last couple of weeks regarding the first two chapters, of course. Previously, what we're looking at is Paul's conduct amongst the Thessalonians, and he kinda goes over the events that happened at Philippi, leading to him going into Thessalonica and establishing the church there. And of course, what we see is that when there's persecution, whenever there's affliction, God is basically working in the midst of that to work it together for good. And the good that came out of the persecution that came to the Apostle Paul in Philippi was that he basically ended up going to Thessalonica, getting a bunch of people saved there, and ultimately starting a church. And so obviously, the good that came out of the persecution of Philippi was the fact that a church was established, people got saved, and Christians were trained, and it became basically bonafide Christians, because these are Christians that are not just your Sunday morning glories, you know, we would say, but rather, you know, they're suffering affliction, they're going through trials, they're standing up for God's word, and so it's a solid, solid church there. And he begins to kinda go into the dissertation of his constant running with the Jews, because the people who are persecuting Paul are the Jews. You know, they're basically, you have Jews in Judea, but there's obviously synagogues all over the place, even in Greece, and they've heard of Paul, and so they're persecuting him there, they persecute him there in Thessalonica, and it gets to a point where Paul basically goes to Athens, because the persecution was so hot. And so he's telling them this because of the fact that the Thessalonians are also suffering persecution at the hands of the Jews. So he's telling them, hey, I know what you're going through because I'm suffering persecution of the Jews as well, you know, they don't really like me either, and he begins to basically give a brief history of the Jews, right, saying that they've killed Jesus and they're contrary to all men. So, you know, he's teaching them a little bit of replacement theology, you know, kinda helping them to understand why they're so antagonistic against the gospel, against Jesus Christ, against Christians, it's because of the rejection of the gospel, the rejection of the Lord. And, you know, he gets into the fact that he wants to go and visit the Thessalonian church, but he's being restricted, he's being hindered, okay? And he makes this statement and he says, Satan hindered me, right? Now this doesn't mean like Satan literally came out as a spirit and just kinda like stopped Paul and there was like a force field or something like that. What he's saying is that the agents of Satan, which are people, okay, more specifically in context of referring to the Jews, they're the ones who are hindering the Apostle Paul from going back to Thessalonica to visit the brethren there because obviously he's a high profile type prophet and so, you know, he can't really go there. And of course he talks about the reward of the labor there. They are the reward of his labor, you know, people who are saved. So in chapter three, we continue with this theme of affliction and persecution and tribulation and he's basically letting them know, hey, just understand this, this is gonna be for the rest of your life, okay? You are appointed for affliction, you have an appointment with suffering, you have an appointment with tribulation, this is just part of the Christian life. And he's kinda driving that in and he's talking about how he sent Timothy to kinda go establish them and then we'll go from there. Look at verse number one. He says here, wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone and sent Timothy as our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. So what is he saying? Well, he's like, I can't take it anymore. When he says we can no longer forbear, he's basically saying, I'm hindered from going to go see you, but I can't because they're hindering me, I can't go over there, I can't see you and I just can't take it anymore, so instead of me going there, I'm just gonna stay in Athens so as to not call attention to you and then what I'm gonna do is we're gonna send Timothy over there instead so he can kinda check up on you. And what's the purpose of Timothy going to the Thessalonians? Well, it says at the latter end of verse two, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. Now, go with me if you would to Acts chapter 14, Acts 14, we'll come back to 1 Thessalonians. He's sending Timothy to go establish them and comfort them concerning their faith. So you gotta picture this, they're going through persecution, they're going through affliction, they're going through trials and you know, for a new person, for a new convert, this can be kinda hard, you know what I mean? Because they're just kinda like getting, they're barely getting into this Christian thing, they're barely getting into the Bible and then all of a sudden, boom, persecution comes. And it's of my opinion based upon what we're reading in 1 Thessalonians that people are actually dying, okay? You say, where do you get that idea from that people are dying or people are being put to death for their faith? Well, because of the fact that he brings up and later at the latter end of chapter four, you know, the hope of the second coming and the fact that, you know, they're gonna see their loved ones once again. So he's obviously writing this as a means to comfort them because maybe people have died, okay? So this persecution is getting pretty hot and people are dying. And so, you know, you think of new Christians, when they suffer like this, it's like, you don't want them to fall by the wayside. Because you can see, you can easily see how something like that can kinda scare a new Christian from really getting involved in the Christian life. They're just like, I don't wanna die. I got a wife, I got kids, or it's just like, I'm not married but I wanna get married one day, you know, it's like, I wanna continue to live, and they can fall by the wayside, they can become afraid of persecution and get out of the will of God. Now this is not something that's only subject to this time period. Because obviously, you know, it's subject to even the day and age in which we live. There's people that, you know, they receive persecution at whatever degree and what happens? The Bible tells us that they get offended because of the word and by and by, you know, they fall away, they get offended, they get out of church, they get out of the word of God. So this is actually a common thing that takes place, okay? Where Christians can become afraid, they can become discouraged, they can become depressed or be anxious because of persecution, and it causes them to fall away. So this is why Timothy's being sent to establish them, okay? Let me read to you from Acts 13, you're in chapter 14, I'm gonna read to you from Acts 13, verse 42. It says that when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. What is he saying? You need to continue in God's favor. Because when he talks about the grace of God, he's referring to God's favor, right? And he's telling them, look, you need to continue in God's favor, you need to keep having God's favor in your life, okay? But the only way you can get God's favor in your life is by serving God, right? Serving God and reading the Bible, and winning souls, and living a godly life. These are things that please the Lord, these are things that will cause his favor to be upon you, but it also, the result of that is also persecution. Because when you're living a godly life, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It may not be death, but it may be persecution of your family, where your mom and your dad are against you, or your brothers are against you, or family members are completely against you, and it causes inner turmoil and grief to you. That is a form of persecution and affliction that stems from you living a godly life, right? So he's telling them, hey, continue in the grace of God. Don't get discouraged, don't get disillusioned, don't become scared, don't be afraid. Look at chapter 14 and verse 19. It says, when there came thither, certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people in having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. So Paul's preaching, they don't like him, so what do they do? They stone him. They drag him out, and they stone him, and they just leave him for dead, okay? Verse 20, howbeit, as the disciples stood around about him, like no one's even helping him up, they're just kinda like, y'all wanna see a dead body? And they're just looking at him like, lie there or whatever. They all stood around about him. He rose up and came into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas at Teutobee. I mean, talk about endurance. The guy just got finished getting beaten up by a bunch of stones, and he just gets up and goes back to work. I mean, that says a lot about the Apostle Paul. And you know, today, you're not gonna get physically stoned, hopefully you don't get physically stoned, yeah? You're not gonna get stoned or beaten up, but you know, the stones of life can hit you, right? Where there's trials and tribulations, afflictions, and the principle that we can learn there is that sometimes you just need to get back up. Even if you're hurting, even you got a couple broken ribs, maybe you're missing a tooth, you know, your eye socket is damaged, you got all kinds of lacerations and cuts, you lost blood, just get up and go do what you typically would do. I mean, what is it worth for you to just lie there in dead and just as everyone looks upon you? Might as well just get up and go preach the gospel, might as well just get up and keep serving God, get up and serve your family, get up and serve your husband, get up and read the Bible, might as well just get up. He says in verse 21, and when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra to Iconium and Antioch. So this guy's pretty bold. That's the place where he got stoned. He goes to another city, gets a bunch of people saved there, he's like, you know, let's go by there again, you know? So he goes to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, but why does he go there? Look at verse 22. Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Now, he's got a personal testimony of that. And in fact, he's probably got some physical illustrations to go with it. Like, hey Paul, everything all right? You know, you need some medical attention? And he's probably like, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. I mean, he's a living, breathing testimony of that. He just got stoned. He probably doesn't look very good. And he's telling them that, you know, if we're serving God till the day that we die, we're gonna suffer some tribulation, some persecution. But I want you to notice verse 22, in the beginning it says, confirming the souls of the disciples, okay? To confirm, you think of Spanish, confirme, right? With firmness. You're basically settling them. You're establishing Christians, okay? And this is an extremely important thing for every Christian to do, okay? And in fact, it's basically my full-time job to confirm you and establish you as best as I possibly can. What does it mean to establish or to confirm you? It's to make sure you stay in church, to make sure you don't quit. I'm like your coach outside the ring as you're fighting, and you know what? There is no towel. I'm not throwing any towel in for you. So you better just get back up and keep fighting, and I'm trying to establish you. I'm trying to confirm me, telling you, don't quit, don't throw in the towel, keep going forward. You know, don't get out of church, don't get out of your Bible. You know, this is what it means to confirm Christians. That's literally what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life is confirm and establish Christians. You say, is it really that big of a deal? Yeah, you know, churches are a constant revolving door of people. And I was actually just telling my wife this a couple days ago. I said, you know, our church is five years old, and two, listen to me, in two years, there's people who are in our church right now that it will not be in our church anymore, in two years. You say, why is that? Well, because of the fact that statistics show that people get the seven-year itch, where like they've been somewhere for seven years, and it's just like, you know, I think it's just time to move on or something, and they just have to go somewhere else. You know, they have a hard time being somewhere for a long period of time, and they just have this desire to go. And look, if they go to another church, great. They wanna move on, but then they get out of church, they get out of God's will, they start getting involved in other things that are not pertaining to the kingdom of God, and you know, they're basically moved, okay? And so you say, well, how do you know that? I've known so many Christians throughout my Christian life that were more committed than me. And I would say I'm a pretty committed person. I mean, I'm the pastor of this church. I hope that I'm kinda committed, okay? Far more committed than me, read the Bible far more times than I have, you know, taught me some things, and now they're like out in the world drinking alcohol, serving their own lust, just kinda not doing God's will. They're saved because, you know, they believed, and I know they're saved. I know there's salvation testimony, but they're just out in the world serving their own lusts, you know? And what happened? They weren't confirmed. They weren't established, you understand? And it happens multiple times. I remember being in Bible college, and in Bible college you think, well, Bible college is for those who are really trying to get into the ministry, people who are actually serious about, you know, getting involved and serving God, that's what I thought, until by the time I graduated many, many eons later, you know, many of the people that I went to Bible college with did not finish with me, you know? Not only did they not finish with me, they weren't even in church, let alone Bible college. Not only were they not even in church, they were out like doing crazy stuff out in the world, and this is not something that's only subject to Bible college students. This is for like church members too, you know? And so never think, well, you know, that's them, but not me. Hey, take heed, lest he fall. Fall from up, from your own steadfastness. So it's important that when you come to church, you come, you come with a nail, and you're just planting yourself a little deeper into the will of God, right? Even if it's one nail, you're coming to service, and you're like, all right, time to get a little deeper into the Christian life the next time I come. That's why we shouldn't take coming to church lightly. We come here with the purpose of learning God's word to become established, because we don't wanna be a shipwreck of a Christian, right? We don't wanna be a castaway. You know, I keep under my body and bring it into the subjection, lest by any means when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. In other words, you just kind of fall by the wayside, you get out of God's will, get confirmed, get established in the faith. That's what's important to do. Now, you know, what does it mean to get someone established though? Like, how do you do that? Well, I believe what the apostle Paul's doing here is basically the main way to get someone established or confirmed is to let them know, hey, just to let you know you're gonna be persecuted for coming here. That's like the main way to confirm someone. You know, I don't know if that's a good thing to tell like a brand new Christian. I tell them right off the bat. In fact, I'm shocked when they come to our church. I'm like, you're probably gonna get persecuted for coming to this church. You say, why would you tell them that? Because I'm trying to confirm them. You see, it's bad if I don't tell them and then they suffer persecution and then they don't expect it, it blindsides them and then they get out of God's will. Whereas if they know right off the bat, hey, living a godly life will cause me to get persecuted, it'll cause me to be afflicted, it'll cause people to hate me, then they're prepared. They're confirmed, they're established, they're ready for it. They're a little excited for it. They're kind of looking forward to it a little bit. You understand? And so that's a great way to be confirmed and that's what he's doing. He's going to them, telling them, hey, we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. You see what happened to me? Might happen to you. And you know what? Worse happened to the people that he won because they were killed, right? He was stoned but they were actually killed, they were actually put to death. And so he's preparing them for that. But what's another way to confirm disciples? What's another way to confirm Christians and establish them? Well, I think it has to come from a person who's actually been persecuted. I think that's important. You say, why? Well, because when a person who's never been persecuted tells you, hey, be ready for persecution, you're going to be like, what do you know about persecution? You've never been persecuted in your life. You don't do anything controversial. Take your life. We need someone who has been persecuted because if they succeeded in that area, it gives us the confidence that we can stand for the truth and God will protect us as well. You understand? Right? That's why when we're being persecuted, I look to my friends who were persecuted. You know, I didn't look to Michael Johnson. What has that guy suffered? What kind of persecution has that guy gone through? Nothing. I didn't look to old IFB pastors because they definitely don't get persecuted. I mean, I'm sure there's a sprinkling of pastors out there who are old IFB who have been persecuted in times past, but I don't even know anybody right now that was being persecuted at the level that we're getting it. Who'd you go to? I went to my friends who actually suffered some pretty hardcore persecution. Why? Because they came through, they succeeded, they stayed in the will of God, and what did they do? They made me believe that we'll be okay as well, okay? And so, you know, Paul has some credibility here is what I'm saying, okay? He has some credibility. He's shown himself to be a person who is able to endure persecution. And by the way, that's important. That's why it's important for you to endure persecution. Because it'll earn you some credibility. If people are questioning how deep of a Christian you really are, well, you know, once you're persecuted and you pass with flying colors, then you kinda earn your stripes. And you know what? First World Baptist Church earned its stripes, folks. I mean, the stripes are right there on the piano. Look at those stripes, beautiful stripes. Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. And let me say this, you know, it's important to confirm people and to establish them and let them know that they're gonna be persecuted. But it's also important to confirm and establish them to let them know that just anything can take you out of the will of God. Covetousness, greed, fornication, becoming apathetic towards the things of God can take you out of church. Because you know what? Persecution's not, honestly, it's not the only thing that can get you out of church, that's one of them. Sometimes it's just apathy. Sometimes it's just sin, right? I mean, I'm sure there's people in our church that they went through the persecution but they're not here today and it's not because of persecution, it's for some other stupid reason, you understand? And so persecution's not the only thing, there's other things that can take your attention away from the things of God. The point is this, folks, is that it's important for you to just be established, confirmed. And don't think, well, I'm confirmed because I've already made a commitment or something. No, you're confirmed as you day by day live the Christian life and you're doing it for the right reasons. You're not doing it for me, you're not doing it for mom, you're not doing it for dad, you're not doing it for some girl in the church or for some guy in the church or for whatever relationship you might have, you're doing it for the Lord. You're doing it for the Lord. And you're doing it because you know that it pleases God and so that's important. Colossians 2, go back to, go to 2 Timothy actually, go to 2 Timothy chapter 3, Colossians 2 verse 6 says, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. So another thing that establishes people is just basics. Just basic teaching, basic doctrine. And let me just say this, is that that's so important, especially in a church like ours, okay? Because if you're not careful, you know you can have this attitude when you come to church that's like, well I want to hear something exciting. Can you rip on homos? Can you just talk about the reprobate doctrine? Can you say the F word a couple times? You'll wake me up a little bit. Or can you talk about something, talk about the Jews or post-trib or something exciting. You know, but basically what you're saying is that the other stuff is not exciting. Right? Basically what you're saying is like, oh no, this is the stuff that really gets me going. Well shouldn't the whole Bible just get us going? I mean it's God's work. So it takes a level of maturity to recognize that we don't need some sort of bombastic hanging from the chandeliers, not that we have any, hanging from the chandeliers type of a sermon in order to get you to mature in the Lord. Sometimes you just need me to speak in a very low voice and just teach you basic things about the Christian life, practical Christian living, that may not be as exciting as a reprobate doctrine or something like that, but it's something you're gonna need and I guarantee will come in handy when you suffer, when you're afflicted, okay? Because guess what? Teaching you the reprobate doctrine is not gonna keep you in church. Right? What's gonna keep you in church? Teaching you how to read your Bible. What's gonna keep you in church? Teaching you how to raise your children. Teaching you how to be a good husband. Teaching you how to be a good wife. Teaching you how to love the Lord. I'm not downplaying the reprobate doctrine. I love that doctrine. It's a great doctrine and I love post-triumphary wrath doctrine, I love replacement theology. These are doctrines that we teach on frequently, but what I'm saying is we need to make sure we have a balanced view of the Bible and recognize that we need everything, okay? And not view that as like, well, I wanna come to church because I wanna be entertained or something, you know? No, you should come to be educated. And if you get entertained along the way, thank God. You understand? But be established, rooted, and built up, established in the faith. Because if not, you're gonna be moved. You're gonna be moved. And there's multiple reasons why people leave church. Sometimes people leave because maybe they have to move or they have a new job or something like that. Sometimes they leave because they hate me or something. And that's definitely a real thing. There might be someone in here that hates me, I don't know. I mean, it's a possibility, right? You know, there might be a Judas somewhere around there, who, you know, they just can't get along with the pastor. I mean, we had that a couple months ago, two months ago or something, where people, this guy confronted me, saying that I was teaching false doctrine, and we ended up finding out that he's just bitter at the church. Him and his wife are just bitter at the church, they're bitter at me or whatever, and they needed a reason to leave, and so they wanted to use me as teaching false doctrine, even though they couldn't point to one for a reason to move. But sometimes people move because they're offended. Sometimes people are moved, spiritually speaking, because they're just kind of, they're kind of done with the church. That happens. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I'm just saying it happens. Or they're just like, you know what, I just need a change in my life or something, and I'm gonna go somewhere else or something, you know? Or sometimes people move because they're just involved in sin and they can't be in this church. They're unwilling to repent. But the point is this, is that regardless of where you move, as long as you stay in God's will, it doesn't matter where the physical location is, right? There's people that have left our church and have gone to one of our friends' church. They're still in God's will, you know? And they left our church or whatever because they're moving and they ended up going to one of our friends' church, they're still doing God's will, they're still soul wanting to read in the Bibles, they're serving God. This is a good thing, you understand? What I'm talking about is when you're just completely moved out of God's will. We're just no longer serving God, okay? We never want to get to that point. Look what 2 Timothy 3, 12 says, Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. So what is something that Paul keeps driving? Just continue. Continue to come to church, continue to read your Bible, continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to win people to Christ. Go back to 1 Thessalonians. Continue down the things which ye have heard, okay? Look at verse number three. So now he's gonna give him a warning here. It says that no man should be moved by these afflictions for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. Now a synonym for affliction is tribulation. And in fact, they're used synonymously in this book. Tribulation, affliction, hardships, these are all the same thing, okay? And according to this verse, it says that we have an appointment with tribulation and affliction, right? We have an appointment, we're appointed. That means it's God's will for us to suffer tribulation. He says, for verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass and ye know. He's like, look, when we're there, we told you you're gonna go to persecution, tribulation, even as it came to pass. So why is he telling him this? Well, because 2,000 years later, someone was gonna teach a pre-tribulation rapture and say, teach this doctrine that we're not gonna be here for the tribulation. Wrong, nah, he didn't know that, but obviously God knew, right? But here it says that we are appointed to affliction. Now I will say this, let me say this about the pre-trib rapture, okay? From 2010, not 2010, well I would say 2010 in independent fundamental Baptist circles. From 2010 to 2020, that was a big battle, but I'll be honest with you, I think that battle's done now. You say, what makes you say that? Well, because in the beginning, from 2010 to like 2015, the pre-tribbers in the IFB movement would fight hard for the pre-trib rapture, to kick people out of church, for being post-trib pre-wrath, they would just blackball them, they would fight hard. But the thing is, the post-trib crowd fought harder, and we had the Bible. So now when you go to those same people who were against post-trib pre-wrath, now instead of saying, oh, that's false doctrine, now they say, well yeah, you know, some people believe that, that's fine, I'm not against that, you know? Because they know it's a losing battle. So what we see now is this turnaround where a lot of IFB, I'm not saying all of them, but many of them, especially those of influence, and I'm not talking about the ruckmanite crop. I'm not talking about the dipsticks. That's a retarded crowd, spiritually inbred, just kind of, just idiots from the South, okay? Okay, I'm not saying everyone from the South is an idiot, we obviously, we have friends there, I'm talking about those guys, okay? You know, from that Florida area, drinking that Florida water, coming up with all kinds of weird doctrines. Where is it going with that? Oh, you know, just, I'm talking about normal IFB churches, normal pastors. Now when you approach them, they're just kind of like, you know, I'm fine with that, you know? I've talked to people where I was just like, yeah, I'm good with people believing that in our church, because it's a losing battle for them, because we have the truth. So it's not, it's no longer like a war, they just kind of capitulated a little bit, and now they put up their white flag, and now they're just like, well, we don't want to fight that, because now a lot of people in their churches are poster pre-wrath, you understand? A lot of the people that are reading the Bible, and the case for the poster pre-wrath rapture has been made in such a way that, you know, it's influenced a lot of people, and, you know, the pastors don't really know what to do, so now they're just like, well, you know, yeah, it's fine if you believe that, I'm not, I'm okay with that, you know, that view of end times Bible prophecy or whatever, whereas in times past, it was just like, you're like some unsafe heretic if you believe that or something. But folks, you know, to, the easiest way to debunk the pre-chirp rapture, aside from Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, is 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, right? I mean, this heretic that I used to know, who is now in charge of the church plant that I helped start, during that warfare time, you know, he was teaching through 1 Thessalonians, debunking the poster pre-wrath rapture position, he goes to 1 Thessalonians 4, he teaches through 1 Thessalonians 4, you know, because it's obvious, both the pre-chirp crowd and the post-chirp crowd both believe that 1 Thessalonians 4 is the rapture. We just like to keep reading the Bible, because there's a chapter 5, too, and chapter 5 debunks that it's a pre-chirp rapture. So this bozo of a pastor, preaches through 1 Thessalonians 4, skips 5, and goes to 2 Thessalonians 1. No joke. So here's the best way to debunk the poster pre-wrath rapture, just skip chapter 5. Just don't read the Bible. Just don't point people to the word of God. And obviously, I'm joking, because you can't debunk the poster pre-wrath rapture, but that's the only way he could avoid the poster pre-wrath rapture is by not teaching through chapter 5. So literally, he's teaching to chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, she's the pre-chirp rapture, chapter number 4, and all he's just preaching to chapter 4 is the rapture. Well, that's the rapture. Course it is. No one's arguing that. And what does he do? He just skips 5. Skips 5, and oh, we're just gonna get into 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Why not park it at chapter 5? Thou fool. You shouldn't talk about that, you know, about a brother in Christ. Well, first of all, I don't even think he's a brother in Christ, because this guy has taught some major, damnable heresy that, you know, and he's even taught his people, don't study the Bible, just know Jesus, and you'll be fine. Don't study the Bible. I mean, a man like that does not belong behind a pulpit. To be a pastor and tell his people not to study the word of God, just know Jesus, sounds like a person who doesn't want to be held accountable for the things that he's teaching. But, folks, I mean, we don't even have to go to chapter 5. We can see it here that we're appointed unto affliction. Okay? And here's the argument that they'll make. Well, you know, we're not appointed to, he's telling them that they're not appointed to affliction, you know, and, you know, obviously we can apply that today to our affliction, that we're appointed to affliction or whatever, but, you know, we're just not appointed to the tribulation or something, as if it changes or something. Folks, understand that every tribulation that you experience is simply preparing you for the tribulation if it comes in our lifetime. What makes you think he's like, God's just like, you're gonna go to tribulation. Jesus said, in me you might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but we have good cheer, I have overcome the world. You're gonna suffer persecution, tribulation, but then when the end times comes, oh, this is not for you, though. Sorry, I know you've been working at it pretty hard, but this is, you know, this is not for you. This is only for the Jews. You know? It's foolish. Verse 4 says, For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation. Oh, what does it say? We should suffer tribulation. Even as it came to pass, and ye know, the Bible says. Let me read to you from Acts 20, verse 22 says, And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, but none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Folks, are you trying to tell me that throughout history, Christians will suffer some immense persecution and go through immense tribulation, but then when the biggest persecution comes, God's like, oh yeah, no, that's not for you. Go through tribulation in your lifetime, Christians are being put to death in times past, they've suffered affliction in times past, but this particular one is not for you. It doesn't make any sense. The Bible tells us that it is given to us on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his name's sake. You know, we have an appointment with suffering, folks. We have an appointment with persecution. And you know what, a lot of Christians, they never make it to the appointment. They avoid the appointment. You know that people have a court date, and then they miss their court date? Because they don't want to suffer whatever penalty comes with that court date or whatever. Just face the music. Well in like manner, we have an appointment with suffering and affliction and persecution, and we need to be willing to just face the music when it comes. Now obviously we want to face it prepared. So you better be reading your Bible, you better be praying, you better be right with God in order to face it, okay? But over and over again in the Bible, we see this concept of tribulation constantly being mentioned constantly being talked about, and often it's often in reference to the great tribulation. So it's like you're going through tribulation now just as people will go through great tribulation in the end times as well. It's often a picture, a foreshadowing of that great tribulation. Go to 1 Thessalonians 3, verse five. Look what it says here in verse five. "'For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, "'I sent to know your faith, lest by some means "'the tempter have tempted you, "'and our labor be in vain.'" So what is Paul worried about? He's worried that they're not gonna continue in the faith. He's like, I don't want the tempter. Oh, is that James? That's cool. As long as it's not Adam. You know, he's like, I don't want the tempter to tempt you to quit the Christian life. That's what he's worried about. And you know what? If people move from our church to go somewhere else, I'm fine with that. The thing that I worry about is the tempter tempting people to just get out of church because of offenses or because they're afraid or scared. Now, I'm thankful that during the persecution, we didn't lose anybody. I mean, pretty much everyone, as far as I know, as far as I can remember, stayed, unless they got thrown out after that. Because there's some folks that got thrown out. But I don't think we lost anybody during the persecution. And you know what? I'm sure people were tempted. You say, how do you know? Because I was tempted. You say, you're tempted to quit? Of course. I'm normal like you. I'm a human being. I'm not a superhero here. I'm a man of like passions with you folks. You say, you're tempted to quit? Yeah, I didn't say I was gonna quit. I'm just telling you what my feelings are. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. So, I'm not led by my emotions, folks. I have emotions, though. I'm not a robot. I'm not Zuckerberg, okay? I have emotions. Hey, I have tears. I feel pain. I feel sorrow. All the spectrum of emotions that you experience, I experience as well. Here's the difference. I don't act upon it. So, when fear strikes my heart, or sadness strikes my heart, I just get up and do my job and say, screw my feelings, these will come and go. You suck it up, right? Here's the problem is that Christians don't do that. What do they do? The tempter comes and says, you know what, you just need to take a break for a couple months. You need some me time. You need to get away for a little bit. Let's get out of church. You can still read your Bible. Get out of church for a little bit. You can still win people to Christ. Just don't go to church. Wait till the heat dies down. Wait till the dust settles, and then go back. No, just keep coming. Just keep being in church. You say, well, what if something really bad happens? What if we die or something? Well, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. To die is gain, folks. To die is gain. He's like, I don't want my labor to be in vain. I don't want you to be tempted to fall away, to get out of church, to just be tempted to quit. I want you to remain in spite of the persecution. And look, what we went through pales in comparison to what the Thessalonians are going through. I mean, their church members are dying. I mean, some of you guys got, I mean, I got persecuted, but some of you guys got really, your jobs are being called. Your bosses are being contacted. People are threatening you too. Well, imagine this times 20 where people are, they're killing you. You know, I come and they're like, hey, they took out Albert. He was the first to go. And I'm like, sacrifices must be made. They took out Maury. Imagine coming to church and finding out some of the church members have died because of persecution. See, for us it's like, oh yeah, I'll be here till the very end. I don't care for my life. Yeah, until the person sitting next to you at this moment is no longer here because they died. Then it gets real. Then it's just like, hmm. Maybe I should be a Sunday morning only glory. Right? It changes a little bit. So it requires some depth in your relationship with the Lord, with the word of God. You know, it can't be this casual type of communion with the Lord where it's just like, yeah, I'm new IFP. No, it requires a little more than that. Because when people start dying to the left and to the right of you, I'm not saying this is gonna happen, but it could. I mean, I never would have thought they would have blown up our building, but they did. So what if one, another, you know, what if they go? Oh yeah, then that's great. No, I mean, okay, chill out. Okay? You know, people could die. And if people die, you know what I mean, the tempter can come to you and say, oh man, what if your wife's next? Oh man, what about your children? Don't you care about your children? You know how many times I heard that in the beginning of the year from family, friends, strangers? Don't you care about your children? It was like, no, you idiot. Of course I don't. What do you think? Of course I do. What kind of stupid question is that? Don't you love your, what if something happens to your wife and, I know something can happen to them. Duh, I've already counted the cost and I've swam too far into the ocean to swim back. So, you know, that question is irrelevant. And that's the goal, folks. Swim so far into the ocean of God's will that you just can't even swim back anymore. So you might as well just keep going. A lot of people, they just like to stay up here, you know? Here, and they run from the waves and stuff. Just swim so far that you're just like, well, I'm not gonna make it back. So I might as well just keep going. I've swam too far into the vastness of God's will, the ocean of God's will, to go back anyways. People tell me, oh man, don't you care? Of course I care about my kids. But here's the thing, folks. I can't go back on God's will. If this is his will for my life, if he's chosen me to be this type of a prophet, I can't go back on that. And so, yeah, there's times when I didn't get sleep at night thinking that someone was gonna come for my family, for my wife and my kids, you know? And because they're telling me they are. They're telling me that they're gonna come kill my kids and kill my wife and kill me. Yeah, just a little bit of worry. Nah, you'll be fine. I am now, but when you're in the midst of it, when you're in the thick of it, you can think, well, maybe God will allow me to be sacrificed for the greater good. And I have to come to grips with that. Or maybe, you know, he will allow one of my children or my wife to die, and I gotta come to grips with that. But the point is, is that the tempter will come to you. I mean, the tempter came to me through various people, not in our church, but just various people outside of these walls, and said, hey, maybe you need to tone it down a little bit. Maybe you need to calm down, you know what I mean? I would chill out on this. Think about little Brucie, think about, I'm like, click, I don't need to talk to people like that. So the tempter can come to you in like manner and try to get you to quit. You know, I'm sure the tempter came to you and said, man, maybe a pastor here is a little rough. Did he really have to say it like that? Are you sure your pastor's right about this? Are you sure? He's kinda young. He's only been in this for a little bit. He did kinda go off a little bit. You know, I agree with what he's saying, but you know, did he have to say it that way, though? And then you know what happens? You start doubting, you start wanting, you start questioning, you're like, man, am I really in the right church? Or maybe am I really doing God's will? You say, what is that? That's the tempter. Because when you're in your right set of mind, when you're spiritual and you're spirit-filled, if you were to look at yourself thinking that way, you'd be like, you're an idiot. Of course you're in God's will. This is God's will. But when you're emotional and the tempter's coming to you, you have a tendency to question and wonder. You say, well, what do I do when I'm in that state? Don't make any big decisions. Just come to church, sleep it off. Not in church. I gotta make that disclaimer. Sleep it off as in, you know, when you go home, sleep it off, read your Bible. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And so, I mean, that's what I did. I just resisted. And then I would tell my wife and I'd tell others, I just don't let you know, I'm afraid, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna quit. I fear that you might die, I fear that my children might die and sometimes I question, but I'm not telling you this because I need some counseling or something. I'm just telling you this because I need to get it out in the open. Now I'm gonna go fight now, okay? And then go back out and go do it again. And so, that's the temptation of Satan. Verse six says, but now, when Timotheus came from us, from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us as we also to see you. So he comes back with this great report and he's like, they're doing fine. They're like flourishing. They're excited. They're remembering us. They desire to see us. I mean, they are good spirits. And you know what? I've had friends who looked at our church and said, you guys are fine. You guys look like you're doing great. There's pastor friends who have come to our church thinking that we might have lost people, it was gonna be scarce and they're just like, wow, it looks like your church is doing great. And they're always asking, did you lose anybody? I'm like, did I lose anybody? And they're like, man, that's really good. Looks like you guys are doing great and thank God for that. Now I do wanna make this point here that's a sub point to this where he says in that you have good remembrance of us always desiring greatly to see us as we also to see you. And what he's saying there is that when people are in God's will and they're succeeding or they're just serving the Lord, they wanna be around their spiritual leaders. They wanna be around spiritual people. They wanna be around their pastor. They wanna be around other godly people because they're attracted to that, okay? But the same goes for the opposite. And I've noticed just in my personal ministry and even in the ministry of my father-in-law who was my pastor before that years ago is that once a person begins to distance themselves from spiritual leadership, it's often because there's something going on in that person's life where just a couple weeks or days or months or whatever, they're gonna be gone. And I've seen that pattern so many times like in times past where it's like someone was really close to the pastor or really close to spiritual leadership and then they begin to distance, they kinda avoid the pastor, they avoid spiritual leaders. They're in church but they avoid the leadership. And often it's because there's something going on in that person's heart. And I've seen that in times past with my old pastor but even in my ministry here, I've seen that. I can tell when someone is struggling based upon like they avoid me sometimes. I don't know if they think like they just have a guilty conscience like, man, I hope he doesn't ask me about sin in my life. I don't know what they're thinking. But it's a common thing that when you're in God's will, you wanna be around God's people, right? You wanna be around God's people, you wanna be around your pastor, you wanna fellowship, you wanna do the work of the Lord. Whereas when someone begins to drift away from God's will, they often have a tendency to avoid the pastor, avoid other people, they just don't really wanna be around God's people a whole lot. You say, why do you mention that? Well, because that's a tendency that maybe you can have too if you're not careful. And sometimes Christians don't even know that that's what they're doing. They're not like, all right, I gotta avoid pastor or I gotta avoid this so and so because they're gonna ask me how if I wanna go sowing with them or they're gonna ask me, oh, do you wanna come to this fellowship or they're gonna ask me this. Obviously they're not thinking, I'm backslitting right now so I don't want no one to talk to me. Just naturally, they just have a tendency to avoid people, period. Or spiritual people at that. And I've seen it. I've seen it throughout these five years and I can point to people, not in this room, but I can point to people who are no longer here who they began to drift just in their relationship with me. And look folks, I'm not saying that we need to be best friends because we don't because we can't all be best friends. I'm your pastor, you're my church members and obviously we get along. But there should be a level of a relationship where we get along, we speak to each other. I mean, we're in the house of God. I'm kinda leading you spiritually. And there can be times when people just kinda like, I don't want spiritual leadership. I don't wanna be guided. I don't wanna have a spiritual conversation so I'm gonna avoid these people as much as possible. And then they drift and they're at a church and then they get into the world or whatever. But what I'm trying to say here is that the desire to see spiritual leadership is often a fruit of being in God's will because you wanna be around God's people. You wanna stick around, you wanna do God's will. You have nothing to hide. You're just kinda like, I wanna be in the house of God. You know, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Whereas sometimes people are like, I'd rather be in the tents of wickedness actually than be in the house of God. Because they're so backslidden. Okay. He says in verse seven, therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our afflictions and distress by your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. Basically what he's saying there is like, we'll live if you stand fast in the Lord. This will bring me a lot of joy if you just remain in the Lord. Look at verse number nine, remain in the service of the Lord. Verse nine says, for what thanks can we render to God again for you? For all the joy we're with we joy for your sakes before our God. So what's something that makes Paul happy? You know what makes him happy? Is seeing Christians endure. What makes him happy is not necessarily seeing Christians go soul winning, although I'm sure that makes him happy. What makes him really happy is to see people go through hard times and just stick it out. And you know what? That makes me happy too. Because I know everyone in here is not, everything's just roses and daisies for everyone in here. I know you guys are, some of you are going through persecution or going through trials, going through difficulties, going through a hard time, whether it's with relationships at your job, financially, health-wise, just go down the list. I'm sure people in here are going through hard times. Well what causes me great joy is the fact that you're here listening to God's word. You're still soul winning, you're still reading your Bible. You say, why does that cause you joy? Because that shows me that you're maturing spiritually. It shows me that you're growing up. Shows me that you're no longer a child in Christ, you're actually maturing in the Lord because you're putting important things first besides the things that you're going through. You understand? John said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Obviously he's not talking about his physical children. He's not talking about physical children, he's talking about spiritual children. He's like, I love seeing my children walk in truth, in door in spite of going through difficulties. Verse 10 says, night and day praying, exceeding that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. He's trying to remove any deficit that someone might have in their life and kind of add to them spiritual things, help them to grow in the Lord. Verse 11, now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you and the Lord make you to increase and abound and love one another and toward all men even as we do toward you. So what's the main goal for the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians? He's like, I want you to do for others what basically I have done for you. Right? And shouldn't that be our goal as Christians? We never want to just like come to church and say, well, what can you do for me? You know, what can you bless me with? No, why don't you try to bless someone while you're here? How about that? When is the pastor going to come greet me? When are you going to come greet me? Well, somehow. Oh, when is the pastor going to make time for, when are you going to make time for me? When are you going to make time for someone else in the church? When are you going to be a blessing to someone else? That's a good question, isn't it? And that's what he's telling him. He's saying, I want you to increase and abound in love one toward another. So here's a good indicator, if you are abounding, if you take your eyes off of yourself and your problems and you put it upon someone else, start focusing on other people. If you are an introvert in our church, and there's quite a bit of introverts in our church, say, how dare you just say that? Well, my wife's one, so there. She don't mind me saying it. If she did, too late! If you're an introvert in our church, you know what you should do is get up and go talk to someone who maybe doesn't have friends in the church. Go be a blessing to someone, go talk to someone, go take someone out to eat. You know one of the things that really brings me a lot of joy is when I hear that some of you guys are throwing an activity together. You got to do a pool party or something, or some barbecue, or you go to some theme park together or something like that. I mean, you don't invite me, but I mean, I'm just kidding. But I like that. I like that a lot. When I hear through the fourth person, because you didn't invite me, when I hear through the fourth person that you guys are doing that, I'm like, that's awesome. I'm so happy that people are actually getting together, they're hanging out. Outside of just church activities, they just want to be around each other, being a blessing to each other. That's a great thing. And let me just let you in on a little secret about life. Your problems will never go away. Let's pray. No, I'm just kidding. Your problems are not gonna go away. And if they do go away, another problem's gonna take its place. That's just how it is. Sorry to break it to you like that, but I'd rather just be blunt about it. Not only are your problems not gonna go away, you're just gonna get more problems. Life just gets more problematic the older you get. I remember when I was 20, I was like, I ain't got no problems. Here I am 36, I'm like, dang, I hate my words. What kinds of problems? There's always gonna be problems. He said, what do I do then? Help other people fix their problems. Be a blessing to other people while you're going through your problem. The problem is people are like, well, I got a problem, so I gotta focus on me right now. I gotta fix my problem. I gotta do this for me. I gotta be able to handle this problem in my life. Whereas the actual way you should think is, well, I got this big problem in my life, so let me go help someone else with their problem. Let me go be a blessing to someone else. Because one of two things are gonna happen when you do that, or both. Either one, God will remove your problem in order for you to be equipped to help someone else with their problem, because he sees you're going out of your way to do so, or you're gonna look at the other person's problem and be like, dang, they got it worse than me. I guess my problem's not that bad. And you know what? Both of them are pretty good. So either you help someone with their problem and God sees it and relieves you of your problem to equip you to help that person, or he's gonna bless you with a person with a bigger problem than you. And be like, you know what? Life's really not that bad, actually. This person actually has it worse than me. Now, don't tell them that, though. Don't say, man, you're such a blessing to me because your life sucks. It's worse than mine. Thank you so much. Don't do that, okay? I'm saying you're gonna run into people who have it worse than you. And look, just remember this. There's always someone who always has it worse than you. You don't know me. I may not know you as well, but I do know this. There's someone out there who has it way worse than you. It's true. You know, and it helps us to kind of put things into perspective. You know, it could be worse. You could not have legs. Right? I mean, it could be worse. What if you're just maimed? Or, you know, what if you can't breathe? What if you have some crazy sickness? I mean, things could be a lot worse. What I'm saying is, abound in love one toward another, toward all men, even as we do toward you. That which you're receiving, the blessings that you're receiving, let that motivate you to be a blessing to someone else. To the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. So, basically the theme of 1 Thessalonians 3, excuse me, is the fact that he's telling them, hey, you're appointed unto tribulation, you're appointed unto affliction, you're appointed to hardships. You know, take it, don't let it move you. Allow it to just make you stronger, to be a blessing to someone else. And just understand, you have an appointment with tribulation. Don't let the appointment catch you off guard. What, I didn't know I had an appointment for the court. You know, I didn't know I had an appointment for this. No, just see it and say, well, this is part of my life. Part of my life. And it's only going to help you in the long run. Amen? Inspire your hands and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the appointments of affliction that we've had, Lord. And obviously, it's hard to have a good attitude during an affliction. And I don't think you expect us to have the best of attitudes when we're going through an affliction. I think you just expect us to endure, to just not be moved and do the best that we can. But I hope you help us to realize, Lord, that six months down the road, a year down the road, things that would cause us to cry because of pain will cause us to laugh and cause us to cry because of laughter. We can look back at even our hardships sometimes and things that difficulties we're going through and actually laugh and look upon them with fondness and recognize that they made us better. And so, Lord, help us to never avoid the appointment that we have with tribulation and affliction. Help us, Lord, to endure it and to help someone else when we come out of it. In Jesus' name, amen.