1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (Part B)

Feeling look you want to you. You want to be a Christian than this is what you have, what might happen to you here. Ask chapter 14.

This captures the story. After Paul had suffered stoning and we read there in verse 21 and went there to preach the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to list Tri-County human Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of first Thessalonians. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. First Thessalonians chapter 3 is the portion of Scripture.

Pastor Rick will be covering today cross reference radio when your pastor says trust God what he supposed to say, trust, Smith & Wesson was attempting to say that but in most cases it's illegal, so got a bully in school, you know you get annual you could even bring those two up together they wish they could come and cuff me for that, within the jurisdiction here anyway, trying to be cocky or anything, just disgusted with the stupidity that's on the throne in the hearts of so many people who have more power than they should ever have. Again, you know, not enough brains debate official.

But that doesn't stop them from running for office and getting elected. I made up this is bad. You have to watch it as a Christian we used to love you know go somewhere and you look at someone and was saved and unsaved now is like would you vote for, and can't allow that stuff then so anyway that no one should soon be shaken by these afflictions. Now the Greek word here for shaken is to wag the tail if the Greek were writing about my dog is kind of cowardly and he wags his tail and fawned over me whenever I show up because I've broken his. That's the Greek word he would use. So Paul is saying to them. No one should be wagging their tail in these afflictions going up the people I'm sorry I'm a Christian, you tell me how I should live. I'm sorry you don't agree with my views on homosexuality and Islam. You tell me how I should think and that would be certainly spineless and faithless, and it would it would break the heart of God for people who claim his salvation to live in this way and Paul was on top of this and so he said, look, it's not going to be easy being a Christian was going to be harder living in hell would you like to just sometimes take wings and fly away from all this political stuff and all things going on in the world and why because Jesus commands us to go to the world I'm in. When we say hello that firemen run into the far all we happy for them. Same thing with us were running into the fire for the same reasons though I was a spiritual more than physical to save souls and I don't think there's anything attractive about a church sneaking around apologizing for what it claims it should believe to be strong in the Lord again. This is not bravado, no alternative to this, when Paul came to this church.

They they knew this back was bruised from upholding Christ.

So they knew what they were getting into when they converted, and this is why we admire the testimonies of the martyrs because we ask yourselves we be this way to temptation to abandon Christianity and purchase exemption by renouncing our faith is from Satan and not the Lord send Satan tempted, these Thessalonians to purchase peace to not stick with it. Paul knew what they were up to. And this is why he so relieved to hear that they not backing down by the time he writes the second letter.

This still not backing down so he says for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

Not a cheap gospel. He never wavered at the cost of Christ and him in in his presentation of the gospel. He did not extract that. Well I can't tell them about the difficulties in Christianity because they might not become Christians. That's deceptive feeling look you want to hear. You want to be a Christian and this is what you have my happen to you here. Ask chapter 14. This captures the story. After Paul had suffered stoning and we read there in verse 21 and when they had preach the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to list Tri-County human Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. So when they appointed elders in every church they prayed with fasting commended them to the Lord whom they had believed a symbol Lord is now going to be your Lord. Trust him as you go through these difficult things in life. Trust the Lord.

Now you gotta live and you can't you can, but it's not advisable. Don't wait for the bad news to come and then start loading up your faith be ever ready be a Minuteman child of the word of child of the Lord commune with him. Stop letting your moods always have the last say so yeah there's no way to shut him up.

Moods are going to come this this morning. I stop by to get something on the way in and had a moody person, so I'm still irritated by I just noticed it and and I got a little moody to be honest with you and welcome you hope am always honest with you up here specially as I do fear the Lord, you may not use lightning only here he might get it when no one is looking. Anyway Lord rebukes he chastens that I try to give him no reason at all to chasten me. Last thing I want the Lord to say come on, let's go to the woodshed ought not been there with you once I'll meet you somewhere, but anyway now in verse, Roy says, for in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know that's what we've been talking about this morning.

Being strong in the face of tribulation because that's what our text is talking about well on a rant about tribulations when on them unimpressed with the Scripture demands. We consider this one of the benefits to going through the Scriptures we have to talk about everything that God chooses talk about eventually God has a history of allowing his servants to suffer, and his servants have a history of allowing God to allow them to suffer the world has a history of suffering.

That's it is the end just suffer and there's a difference though between here. He says we would suffer tribulation and what the Scripture also has to say about the great tribulation. Two different things. This tribulation now and why Jesus said in the world you will have much tribulation lot strong.

I've overcome the world. Be of good cheer, you cannot be of good cheer view if you're weak in spirit have to be alive and in Matthew 24, 21 I read this there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time know nor ever shall be. So we make the distinction between tribulation in our life while we are preaching the great tribulation to come and we have never been this close.

I don't know at what time the Lord is going to say to his beloved church come here, but there is nothing remaining to be fulfilled, not only prophetically that is been the case for a long time thousands of years but there's nothing to be fulfilled physically. We now have the technology for the things in Revelation that have been prophesied to be implemented. So what is the purpose of the book of Revelation to tell the believer that God knows what he's doing is calling it before it happens so that when Satan comes on to doubt the word you try to do it, which keep failing every time you leave the church you make this pledge use of you going to be stronger you fall flat on your face and you must not be true right that's the devil.

Lord says wheezing, my grace is for do you love me, follow me work at get back up not going anywhere. Are you now, there are those that say here you can, not yours. You're stuck with the Lord. Once you're in your red is not the mob God will always treat us with respect. Always give us a choice because he wants us to follow him through our election we choose to follow him. Anything less cannot be love. We know of no such love in the world we know of lust like this we know of molests things like this, but we do not know of a love that is jam down someone's throat can't even do your pet fish well in verse five he says, for this reason, when I could no longer endure it.

I sent to know your faith less by some means. The tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.

We did all this for nothing. That was his concern is that mean me just what it says there's no idea how many theological degrees. You might think you have. There's no way to make verses like this go out of the Bible.

It means exactly what it says. The person that comes you say you have to be educated to know what the Scripture says God does not set it up that way. He says to come to him, not as theologians. One of them messages behind the altar that was part of the life of Abraham was that it was made out of anything he could put together pretty much with that was a pile of dirt or rocks that would be the altar and the ideas that anyone could come to God when he says man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

If you have a degree in divinity never says that he never even hinted other benefits to education without question that comes from time in the Scripture and in the presence of the Lord and around God's people and around people were not God's people are called its collective bill. Things that contribute to who we are, so man is created and managed made is made by what he goes through what you made out as a Christian all go to find out you have a choice. You young ins again once you start getting out into the world on your own and mom and there's nothing that is not standing over your shoulder for everything would love find out what your faith is made out of what you can hear that so many times you don't hear the longer real all you want is the fun bucket and there's no power is no glow. There's no meaning to your life, you miserable all the time you cantankerous around believers pick you jealous of them you don't like what they represent to you.

They remind you that you're supposed to be walking straight and squeezing through the narrow, and that when you're not doing this you are in jeopardy of not finding favor with your Lord, that that if unchecked leads to backsliding and once you start sliding back.

If you keep sliding back. You fall away, that is apostasy. I do not believe there's a way back for a full apostate. In this description doesn't presented to us that way. Balance for exit example was an apostate.

He fell away and that was that he was stressed through by the army of Israel. God gave him every chance you know this guy. Maybe if a donkey speaks to him. He'll snap out of it. That didn't work. I mean come on, you would think if imagine you go home well so you may have pets that actually talk to you been hiding.

As you know the rest of us going to giggle and get you a jacket with the buttons in the back, but really they look like they can talk and and it is easy dog language is so easy they look at chuck you how they looking at is I am hungry and there's no other anything when it's when watchdogs it just saying to the person coming in. I just want to eat well anyway when not here to talk about dogs talking in animals, but don't be pulling out you know Christian Doolittle on us. I don't mean Jimmy I mean Dr. I have. I could talk to the animals of Valentin and got him nowhere anyway and is dialoguing with the beast, no less, but okay so back to the verse. Consider these foreboding words that we come across in Scripture.

Here's Paul later on writing to this Timothy Timothy Amini when he sent him back to Macedonia and then back to conduct a 400 mile round-trip and there was no cars in them. This is just the hard way and so here are some of the things he wrote to Timothy concerning pastoring in first Timothy chapter 1 he says concerning the faith. Some of suffered shipwreck of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander my delivered Satan cold man is a hard pastor.

He's a meaning, meaning they deliver them to Satan. What does that mean I don't know and I don't care it's bad. That's all I need to know is like the house on fire. What color is the flame I don't care it's on fire and so there is an apostle saying I delivered those dues to hell. That's pretty says like handcuffing them, cutting them down you go pretty sobering. So when you hear words like this scene. I just can't sashay into my Christian faith just waltzed into it like there's no big deal. At the beginning they pay attention first Timothy continues chapter 4 verse one the spirit Holy Spirit that is listening by comes talk of the great spirit that is not Christianity. That is, that is an and 11. That is someone trying to steal his identity. He is the Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity equal with the father and the son self existent, all-knowing, omniscient, all-powerful and worthy of our praise and you talk about the great spirit you tried to leaven into the Christian faith language verbiage that doesn't belong here that aligns them up with some other spare what what is his name. Where see from what's he like what does he do for me.

I'll tell you what he does.

Our spirit he testifies of Jesus Christ and not of himself and so coming back to this chapter or chapter 5 of first Timothy is another thing Paul wrote to this passage is having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith was that mean means just what it says it means in English and Chinese and Spanish, and Greek and Hebrew. They cast off their faith.

You'll get commentators that don't like it because it doesn't sit right with what they have gotten in the seminary. So there come out to doesn't mean that is suggesting that and III did I disagree with you and I disagree emphatically because it's not just one versus a string of them. Many Christians are uncomfortable with this. Why is that because I think the faith is childish, it's puerile, it's immature. It's stunted. That's one section, the ones that like to hear the other group is teaching it because they've been taught it and now they can abandon in many written books about it. Now they can never let it go is not a essential but it still irritates me because there too many scriptures in here to ignore like this when not even talking about what's in Hebrews some of the others. While he continues first continues. First Timothy chapter 5 verse 15 says he turned aside after Satan what is that me that means they were following the Lord, they turned aside and then they want, following the Lord anymore. They were following the teacher's teachings of Satan, though they're not in Satan's name Satan doesn't sign his name to anything he forges. It is like an empty chair is not. There is like I did know that was going on how was even there to do it in all the time. It is him. We see this in our politicians, not all of them would many of all way up to the top. I do know about the you supposed to know about that you don't know about that makes you double guilty. Well coming back to this, but why would I inject that into a spiritual sermon because we have to always think about was going on serious issues at times to veg out. But there are times to not veg out. I mean being aloof and airheaded find. If you're playing I don't know if you curling you know who thought of that, the sea along we can get this piece of pottery across the ice anyway. It is got to be one of the most remarkable things. If this is live.

If there is an iguana on Mars. He's looking back, this one not coming there because you people in his curling thick. I couldn't criticism.

I was up in Minnesota.

They tell me after service I can do it here in Virginia in the land of cotton good time here. I soon forgotten, okay. Would back to this look away look away Dixieland, is this a nice song. It's easy song to sing when you happy but anyway coming back to this first Timothy chapter 6 that I really thought we were going to finish chapter 3 I said you know this just to knock is not a lot here that should bog me down with comment and I did it but will get up to chapter this next session we we should completed. We still got some guy sections.

We get to the site. He talked about the father and the son is equal, it would that's gonna take 20 minutes right there, but coming back to this first Timothy chapter 6 now or in Thessalonians, but I'm quoting Timothy as a point in trying to establish is that this trivializing the handling of our faith is severe. You noticed how many times Satan shows up with this things like shipwreck turn beside Castaway department overthrown.

These are things that belong to apostasy you cannot fall away from that which you were not at. You can leave a place you were never there at so basic to all language in every understanding of ancient language into you get the brainiacs to come in and verse six department. First Timothy chapter 6 verse 10 he says they strayed from the faith. One was that Ms. Mize straight from the faith. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 17 and 18 is Hymenaeus and finally this are of this sort who have strayed concerning the truth saying that the resurrection is already past the overthrow the faith of some.

Just susceptible to having a faith overthrown. That's what the Bible tells you, you got your doctrine out of the Reformation era you can handle any of the stuff you leave the church and 1/2 and you going to go find a church with a still like to hear what Luther has to say more than what the Scriptures will swipe entirely on Luther with people of done with what he was was trying to do in the age that he lived in. Now this naming of names. Moses did it. We haven't written for us in the book of numbers. There was Jason Byrum on and Cora. These decided Moses took too much power to himself. They had every right to be priest. Also, why did Aaron get to be. They were accusing Moses of all source of evil things, the ground opened up and swallowed most of them lightning came out. The sky killed some of the others and their families because their families really wanted to.

And Moses said to the people get away from them and their tents and are they and their possessions are gone. So he name names as Paul name names to be careful when you do this because the spirit that is being done with Paul is writing to a pastor and he says you need to know case. These people show up in your church. They need to be dealt with or they will deal with you and so he names them to him. God names them in numbers to tell the Christians you better watch your step because I am watching your step now is not saying this from this magnifying glass over us unless we drift under the magnifying glass true spirit of rebellion are God does not walk around looking to thump us in the head. He's got other things to do with us. He's very excited about, and discipline is no more fun to our God than it is to a parent is heir apparent here that enjoys getting after their kid if they if you do you need prayer. No parent should enjoy disciplining their child trying to get them to go the straightway training the trial. I don't even like training a tree unit with a little rubber thing and rope on it is a pain in the neck like anything brother well wanted to grow but anyway such as life and so stick to the Lord in the debate and the problems go away concerning how my doing with Jesus Christ. He says abide in me, I will abide in you, I don't need anyone to break that down for me. It's right on the surface. It's like manna I can scoop it up and consume it and be strong because of it and go forward with what God has for me and so how convenient that there are those that reject such simple versus well before I close though. I just want to again encourage you not to be driven by your moods. The gonna win, sometimes with with most of us, but that does not mean they get to have the last say this this insane over work at it communing with the Lord Communion is is just being in the presence of cry terms good with it very comfortable and pleasant. Sometimes I like to just sit out my woodsman, backyard, or wherever a man just communing with the Lord. I think it is a very healthy thing for us to do.

Thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study in the book of first Thessalonians cross reference radio is the teaching ministry of pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia to learn more information about this ministry. Visit our website cross reference radio.com once you're there you will find additional teachings from pastorate. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you will be notified of each new edition of cross reference radio.

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