How We Behave, Part 2

Charge worthy of being imitated becomes a megaphone calling out to the world. You are following the wrong God, you have become obsessed with a carrying body bowing before idols that will betray you and abandon you and leave you turn from those idols to serve the true and living God. You asked your neighbors to describe the Christian church, what would they say sadly, the perception held by unbelievers in our culture is not always a positive one.

Our behavior as followers of Jesus Christ dictates how others see us. Our behavior also dictates how effectively we can lead others to Jesus. Welcome to wisdom from the heart. Today Stephen baby takes us. Two Thessalonians chapter 1 is going to expound on the behavioral commandments, written by Paul to that church and as he does, you're going to say that what Paul said to the Thessalonians is what we all need to hear my commentaries mention the first century letter from Dionysus as he is describing the first century Christians, but he isn't one of them, but he's describing that I did a little digging and found a copy of the full letter to rather lengthy down a couple of paragraphs and in light of the study and read it to you. And as I read a couple of paragraphs asked the question, is this describing is this describing us the rights and I quote Christians are not distinguished from other men by country, language, or custom, they don't inhabit cities of their own or use a particular way of speaking or lead a life marked up by any curiosity yet they display to us their wonderful and admittedly striking way of life they live, but they do so as those who are passing through. As citizens they participate with others.

Yet they endure everything as if they are foreigners they marry. Like everyone else and they have children. Notice how this struck them, but they do not destroy their offspring is in a day when abortion was legal and rampant in infanticide after they been born in one they do not destroy their offspring. They share a common table, but not a common bed. I love all men are condemned by all men, they lack everything but overflow and everything there reviled their insulted and repay it with respect. They do good, but are punished as evildoers, and when punished they rejoice as if they were raised from the dead." How's the pressure out there is the pressure. It's intense let's it never gives us a break.

We can't catch a break, but we have the word in the Holy Spirit using the word in our lives, and through us. It produces several peace and security and joy marketable to look at what happens for seven so that it overturns the practical application of the word in the work of the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia in northern Greece up north and in KL all the way down to the southern province where they drink sweet tea like we do right. He said to them, you are becoming an example effectively, then to the entire nation from the north to the south urine example the word he uses two paths we transliterate that and we get our word type that word originally referred to a mark left by the hammer or perhaps a dye into which precious metals were poured in, and it would come out with an impression on the face of that coin is what Paul is saying to the Thessalonians. Here is an remember he doesn't say this to any other New Testament church. He says if you became a type II paths. An example is effectively saying you are making an impression on the believers who care about you. They were given. Then, as Paul gives them here is a pattern were following an impression was being marked simple people, yet profoundly influential be on what they would've known Palmer and author and former pastor who lives in California wrote about his nearby high school Milpitas high school. He talked about their orchestra.

He said for these kids. The orchestra you know it doesn't sound all that great.

Unlike what we were able to hear today right, he said, but they they work hard but every year they perform Beethoven's ninth Symphony now for you musicians. That's is not the easiest is the birthday party learn when he started learning piano or chopsticks.

The ninth Symphony. He said I'm convinced their performance were probably make whole blood would roll over in his grave, and you might ask why bother. Why inflict on the audience these kids the burden of trying to render what Beethoven had in mind.

Even he writes great symphonies cannot attain to that perfection of come to understand the answers. This Milpitas high school orchestra will give some people in the audience there only encounter with Beethoven's ninth Symphony far from perfection. It is nevertheless the only way this audience will ever hear Beethoven's message that rate is not. I think the Thessalonians would probably be surprised. 20 centuries later to find that we've been discussing them. Here's an example probably said here. An example of man will not us study's yet we are far from perfect. No Christian church ever gets it right perfectly. But God effectively reminds us he's chosen to use us to allow those in our Ryan's out there to perhaps the only opportunity they will ever have to hear his message is how we behave we mimic faithful role models.

We model joyful responses to the word into the pressure. Thirdly, Paul writes that we motivate spiritual reformation act.

I think he plays office music musical idea here. Look at verse eight he writes for the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you that only in Macedonia and Acadia but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone forth so that we don't even have any need to say anything about me and is just spreading.

He uses this word to sounded forth, it could be a reference to sounding the trumpet playing music on a trumpet.

It's the sound. The idea here is the sound of a trumpeter who plays, and it just kind of echoes and I get to hear this magnificent art is required three times on a Sunday morning, I sit here by the woodwinds hide over back in their time and I can hear this morning.

Richard on the on the below trumpet hitting those high notes and it sounds like regular chlorinate some king just sounds so majestic as he plays in a disconnect echoes around, that's the idea. Here, the message of the Thessalonians is going out like a trumpeter.

Obviously, word-of-mouth writing of letters, testimonies, business contracts and deals, salesman tradesmen, whatever you did spreading and it's especially inspiring and encouraging to the believers so much so that Paul says you need to know about them and I really don't need to say much but you need to know about their an example I want their testimony to impress you to mark you to stamp your thinking and your lifestyle. The messages going out and as Doug needs. This implies, these early believers was no doubt no doubt motivating the believers to press on and it was mystifying the unbelievers want to know what this was all about.

Verse nine, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you church a vessel Thessalonica and and how notices how you turned to God from idols to survey living and true God is emphasizing here you turn from God's to serve the living God, you turn from false gods to serve the true God, you turn from false teaching and false teachers. The following truth. Everybody's talking about the word is spreading this in a church that motivates and encourages and facilitates the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing the word to the world is really bringing genuine reformation. It's a church that is spreading the message of the gospel of the true and living God in a body of believers that is obviously excited like the Thessalonians to deliver that word that their world is commendable, commendable by any means by any method now. The methods of changed over the centuries that we have more than the Thessalonians could have dreamed that because I was studying this passage, it struck me.

I wonder if there's any data on a brand-new method. I'm sure the Thessalonians would have jumped all over the Internet.

So I called one of my said pastors and I said give any data that the entire website is been totally redone. If you've never been doing colonial.O RG I get paid for telling me that colonial.O RG.

I do have people come up and say to me I miss that for the point of the 15th pointer or whatever and also look by Tuesday afternoon the entire sermon is been transcribed manuscript and footnoted is on the web. You can watch the video sermon you you it's all there, and so I called and I said we have any data because we started video streaming. These services entire services and we are archiving the sermon video as well on the site. We won't be doing it for 430 days to have any data over the past 30 days.

This will encourage you the sermons that are now video lifestream dark in just 30 days people have gone online and have watched from every state except North Dakota was from North Dakota but something about that several thousand people get this in the last 30 days the last 30 days. People also watch from 66 different countries make me take a deep breath. Hurry to most of Canada, India, Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Columbia, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia, Panama, Chile, Israel, Kosovo, Argentina, Germany, Ecuador, Guam, Liberia, Romania, Singapore, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Cambodia, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan, Austria, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Denmark, Ghana, Honduras, Iran, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Morocco, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Turkey, Trinidad, Venezuela, Zambia, Spain, France, and China believe that 30 days all these all these people been skipping church in all these countries. So how we doing what we hope and we pray as people actually watch could be a bad thing. They're not involved could be a good thing. Maybe they don't have an assembly are they getting from us the sense that that we believe the gospel that we have turned away from the idols of the world and we are following the true and living God, and for those believers who watch they can be motivated to press on in the unbelievers who watch are going to be mystified with why were so passionate about this gospel and listen I can say this without any hesitation.

No matter where you are in the world matter what country you're watching from. No matter what language the number one idol in every culture and every generation in every country. The number one title is self this body and everything related to this body.

Every idol is nothing more than a reflection of self worship in our culture is given over to our bodies the desires of our bodies are pleasures are are are pampering's are successes are antiaging processes more than a billion a year just in this country alone sort of taken our world by storm and the fallen men and women around us are focusing all their attention on that idol themselves how to dress their body how to fulfill the pleasures of their body, how to succeed with her body how to improve their body how to pamper their body. Don't take me too far for a hot shower. You know I'm doing antiaging stuff to tell this and compared to our world.

Getting out its message of other gods, primarily the idolatry of the body, the idol of sexual pleasure.

The idols of greed entertaining the body and having possessions for the body.

Even in the same ballpark getting started talk about access, passionate give you an example, I came across this article from the New York Times talked about infected uses the word missionaries give you their language missionaries who are intent on changing the world, that's their language. Women gathered in Madrid for their biennial cosmic conference to promote the values of the best selling magazine in America. Perhaps the world cosmopolitan. According to this article and using their language. Listen to the nuances of the gospel of this, the Cosmo missionaries are intent on spreading the good news of their magazine.

They strive to offer advice to women around the world on matters of beauty, relationship success and especially sexual pleasure. Its cover rarely fails to feature at least one bold RENDERING of that word. SDX even the New York Times article admitted, and I quote the repetition can be a little numb, but it may help explain how this magazine has morphed into a global enterprise solicitors. It has 64 international editions as languages. The magazines they said, speaking of himself. Spread sex stories to 100 million teens and young women, which would comprise what would be the world's 12th largest country. The magazine sales and over 100 nation, even where any discussion of sexual pleasure is to do the other of the magazine recently admitted that people might object to Cosmo's obsession word with sexual topics, but she is unashamedly proud how that focus. She says sets my magazine apart from my competitors.

She said in an interview recently. Every Cosmo reader expects to have herself and her pleasures taken care of because that's what she deserved. Talk about a trumpet sound church that is worthy of being imitated becomes competing trumpet a megaphone calling out to the world. You are following the wrong God, you are worshiping at a dead-end. You have become obsessed with a decaying body bowing before idols that will betray you and abandon you and leave you empty the Thessalonians. They have turned from those idols to serve the true and living God, and they want that message center of the world. Should we be any less passionate about this Reformation in the gospel of Christ, by the way, would you notice quickly there waiting for something or or should say someone verse nine letter party turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and the weight of his son from heaven wait for his you're working and you're waiting you're working anyway serving you're looking, waiting for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead and rescues us from the wrath to come. Getting the message out and at the same time waiting for the Messiah to come join nothing complicated is not preaching to the choir, but may God challenges even further to take another step in the right direction were following the right people were mimicking faithful role models we are modeling the right responses welcoming the word welcoming the pressure were motivating by our lifestyle others toward a genuine spiritual Reformation work were motivating. The believers were mystifying the unbelievers with our session for Christ and all the while waiting struck me as I study this passage we are effectively waiting for the sound of the trumpet, and when that sound occurs are trumpeting will be over will lay our trumpet down when his cell.

Maybe today. I close with this is commentary on first Thessalonians, and at the same verse and Gordon. We had this past summer from England.

Wonderful commentary on first Thessalonians, told a story about tourist was exploring the sites of Lake, in northern Italy. He arrived at the beautiful state in the Castle called Villa Esca need to sit there even though it wasn't open for tourists at the time he pushed open the ornamental gates and walked conceivably around. Everything was unbelievably beautiful flowers blooming in a rainbow of extravagant colors. The shrubbery green and manicured to precision might meet my yard.

He noticed over one side of the castle. A gardener on his hands and knees clipping by hand. The blades of grass in one section of the lawn walked over and he said I hope you don't mind a visitor looking at your garden and the gardener replied oh you're more than welcome, glad to have guessed, so he toured the expansive grounds and then returned as the gardener is the owner here today.

I'm afraid not. The gardener replied his way. Well, when was the last time he saw the gardener laughed and said 12 years ago. 12 years ago. You mean this enchanting place you've kept so carefully has been empty for 12 years. That's correct. The gardener replied matter-of-factly the Taurus asked what will tells you what to do.

The gardener explained that the owner has an agent in Milan who communicates with them regularly, but do you ever see the owner personally still clipping trimming.

The gardener answered never, never, the Taurus could leave his ears, but you have everything so beautifully kept conscious, manicured, it looks like you are expecting tomorrow. The gardener straightened up and looked up at his guest and said no sir tomorrow I expect to father take his word and the example of the Thessalonians, and stamp upon our hearts pattern followed. Thank you for this dear flock facing intense pressure yet welcoming the word looking to Paul as a role model, and of course to use their Lord motivating us even down through the centuries.

To this very day. This is how we father when little bit more eagerly await the return of our key and when he returns for us. We want to be found prepared and ready being faithful stewards of what he's called us to do. Today's lesson was a reminder of what some of those behaviors are the lesson was called how we behave and it comes from our current series on the church entitled upon this rock. This is wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi Stevens, the pastor of a church in Cary, North Carolina a few years ago that church expanded and modified the church Constitution and bylaws because we've always stood on the truth of God's word.

We didn't remove anything that we believe, but we did add some things there've been rapid changes in our culture that have resulted in our society affirming things to be good but the Bible declares to be sin. We wanted to make sure that we clearly articulated what God's word says about issues like marriage gender in the sanctity of life. If you're a pastor Deacon Elder are other church leader. We be happy to send you a copy of these documents in case it might be helpful to you. Just give us a call at 86 648 Bible. That's 866-482-4253 we be happy to send you a copy of that document while supplies last. Please join us tomorrow here on wisdom