Go with me if you would back
to first Thessalonians chapter 5 First Thessalonians 5 and let's
read our text which is verses 25 to 28 Brethren Pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a
holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that
this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. I love the final words
of these epistles. They are so special to me. Just
so special. They're so sweet. They're so
loving and they're so encouraging. There's something about them
that makes me feel like the time of our physically being united
with the Lord is right around the corner. Like this is it. It's almost here. It's almost
here. In the study this week, I went
back and I read the closing statements of each one of the epistles.
And they were such a blessing to me, such a blessing. I want
to read a couple of them to you, okay? Go with me to Romans 16. Romans 16 verse 21 says Timotheus
my work fellow and Lucius and Jason You remember Jason? He was from Thessalonica. He
was one of the Thessalonians one of the men that Paul was
writing the letter to we've been studying and Paul, Silas, and
Timothy, they went into Thessalonica, and Paul, as his manner was,
went into the temple, and he reckoned with them out of the
scriptures three Sundays in a row, opening and alleging that Christ
must needs have suffered. and risen again from the dead. That was his message. Christ
must needs have suffered. That is the message that God's
people love. I mean love. That's all that
a child of God wants to hear. That's all a child of God wants
to hear. How Christ must needs suffer. Why must he suffer? Because
His people must be set free. They must be. All of God's people
know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, I'm a sinner. All of God's people
know. Those who do not belong to the
Lord God have no idea that they are sinners. But God's people
know I am a sinner. And I have no hope before this
God in my current condition. If I go meet Him like this, I
will die in my sins. And then the message that Christ
must needs suffer come. Why must He suffer? Because that's
what I deserved. I look at this life I live, I
look at everything that I've done, everything I do, and everything
I will do. And I need to suffer for it.
I need to suffer the penalty for it. And then to see that
Christ stood in my place as me and suffered all my punishment. He took all my punishment. And
he did that so I might be set free. That's the message Paul
came in preaching. Christ must needs suffer. And he said that this Jesus whom
I preach is indeed the Christ. He's the Christ, God manifest
in the flesh, the anointed one, the only savior of sinners, a
sinner's only hope. We sinners have one hope, one
hope, one hope, the blood of Jesus Christ, the mercy of Jesus
Christ. That's it. That's it. Me turning over a new leaf is
no hope. The blood of Jesus Christ, And
it says in Acts 17 where all this is written, it says, some
believed. Some believed, and Jason was
one of them. But the Jews in that city, they
were so moved with envy, they went down and got them some lewd
fellows of the baser sort. And they gathered a company,
and they set the city on an uproar, and they came in and assaulted
the house of Jason. They brought Jason and his family
out before all the people, and they tore his house up, trying
to find Paul, Silas, and Timothy. But they were not in the house.
They were hiding somewhere else. And when they didn't find them,
they brought Jason before the rulers of the city, crying, These
that have turned the world upside down, Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
with this message of the gospel that has exposed our sin. All of the religious leaders
back then were just like they are today. Oh, you're a good
person. Oh God, you're fine, you're fine. Don't worry about
it. Paul came in and said, God is going to punish the guilty.
They've exposed our sin to us. They've turned the world upside
down. They said they have come to this city also, and Jason
has received them. He welcomed them. He believed
their word. And when they put Jason in prison,
they let the rest of them go, and all of them went and helped
Paul, Silas, and Timothy escape. Verse 21 says, Timotheus, my
work fellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Socipiter, my kinsmen,
salute you. They all, Jason's right here
with me, working with me. They all salute you. I, Tertius,
who wrote this epistle or penned it while Paul spoke it, I salute
you in the Lord. Gaius, mine host and of the whole
church. He's keeping me and man he keeps
the whole church Anybody who comes through town any believer
who comes through town who needs a place to lay his head Gaius
says you bring him on over He's my host and he's the host of
the whole church He salutes you Erastus the Chamberlain of the
city salutes you that means the governor Paul said God is starting
to save the some of the politicians over here. Erastus, the chamberlain
of the city, salutes you. And Quartus, a brother, the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. What a message. Grace, grace, grace. Free, free. It's free. It's free. Verse 25 says, Now to him that
is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made
manifest by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith, to God only wise be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Does that not just encourage
you? That's just encouraging. Let
me show you another one. Go to Philippians 4. Philippians 4 verse 20. Now unto
God and our Father Be glory forever and ever, amen. Salute every
saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me
greet you. All the saints salute you. Chiefly,
they that are of Caesar's household. Paul was sitting there writing
this from Caesar's cell in prison. And every person who came anywhere
near his cell, every person who got within earshot of his cell,
he was telling them what he said in verse 19. My God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He was preaching the gospel to
him, preaching good news to him. the blood of Christ for the remission
of sins. And he told the Philippians in
his letter, he said, God is starting to save some of Caesar's own
household. Caesar's keeping me here and
his house is coming around and they started listening Oh, this
free grace. You mean free forgiveness from
sin in the suffering of Christ. And they came back and listened
again. They came back and listened again.
He said, God started saving Caesar's house. I'm not the prisoner of
Caesar. I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ.
This is all according to the purpose of God's grace. It's
for the furtherance of God's gospel. He said in verse 23,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Let me show you one more. Go
to Revelation 22. Revelation 22, verse 20. He which testifieth these things
saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. He is coming quickly. Oh, he's coming so quickly. He's
coming so, you know how we say, boy, time flies. It's just, I'm
telling you, he's coming so quickly. He's coming so quickly. He's
gonna return. He's coming back for us. He's
coming back for his people. Every soul that blood was shed
on, he's coming back for them that quickly. So Paul closed
his letter to the Thessalonians by asking them something. And
I want to sincerely, I mean sincerely, ask you the same thing. I wanna
ask you the exact same thing. Go with me back to 1 Thessalonians
chapter five. 1 Thessalonians five, verse 25,
he said, brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. He's saying, pray for those of
us who have been given the responsibility of preaching the gospel. This
letter was written from Paul, Silas and Timothy. That's how
he opened the letter. He said, this is coming from
the three of us. Paul wrote it, but he listed Silas and Timothy
with him. And Paul knew, God's apostle
knew, that he needed the prayers of
God's saints. Crying out to God for help on
his behalf. An apostle knew this. An apostle
said this. I mean, a man that God had given
the ability to conduct miracles, raise people from the dead. A
man who had the Word of God in his mind and heart. He said,
brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. It becomes more
and more clear to me, the longer I do this, that every preacher
of the gospel needs the exact same thing. Every man needs the
same thing. Pray for us, pray for us. Everything in regard to the flesh
is going against us everything in regard to Spiritual powers
and principalities is going against us everything Aside from our
Lord is going against us And as often as this ministry comes
into your mind I Every ministry of the gospel not just this one
every ministry of the gospel every place that preaches the
true gospel Pray for us Pray for us We are just men We're
just men You know, we we we sit in the word all week we open
the word and that Would lead us to believe that
we're more a Guard and we're more this but in reality, we're
just men We're just men. We're subject to the same distractions
and hindrances of this flesh We get tired just like everybody
else We grow spiritually cold sometimes
just like everybody else crying Lord, please speak to me please
touch this heart and Please let me mean what I'm saying. James 5, don't turn over there,
but in James 5, it says, Elijah was a man subject to like passions
as we are. Just a man, Elijah. He's just
subject to like passions as we are, just a man. Sometimes the
burden of this responsibility is so great, you think no man
is able to bear this. Now, I know that I am not bearing
my burdens any more than you're bearing yours. I know that. If we belong to Christ, He is
bearing all of our burdens. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing is of the Lord. He is bearing all the
burdens for all of his people. If we have been united to him,
then he bore all of our griefs and he carried all of our sorrows. We can cast our burden on him
because he's already caring for it. He's already holding that
burden for us, but sometimes we forget. Sometimes we forget
that. And just like Elijah did whenever
he said, Lord, the whole world is against me and it's against
the gospel I preach. Sometimes we need the Lord to
come to us in a still, small voice like he came to Elijah
and say, I have 7,000 reserved that have not bowed the knee.
Sometimes we need that encouragement. Sometimes we do. So brethren,
Would you go to him on our behalf? These other preachers, they're
just men. They are just men, and they need
our prayers, and I need their prayers, and I need your prayers.
Pray for us. As often as it comes to your
mind, pray for us. And then pray for the gospel. Pray for the gospel. Look at
2 Thessalonians, go over a page to 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you. If it is the Lord's will, I don't
know what he has for this city, I don't know what he has for
this ministry, but if it is the Lord's will, be praying that
this gospel would go out in the power of the Holy Spirit and
reach the hearts of the people in this city. be praying in as
as it is with us as the lord has been so kind to us and so
merciful to us can we enter into the fact that he has plucked
us from the fire he has spared us from destruction lord please
pluck more you're so able you're so mighty you're so merciful
would you please do what you delight to do Please, just rake
them up. Rake them up. I pray that there are more Jasons
out there. I do. The Lord's will be done.
Show us thy way. Not my will, thine be done. But
if he is willing to do a mighty work, if he purposed to do a
mighty work in the hearts of us, our children, and more people,
then let's pray, Lord, thy will be done. Would you do that mighty
work? And this is my prayer, that I
might not be a hindrance in the process. That's my prayer. Lord,
let me not be a hindrance to the gospel and a hindrance to
this ministry and a hindrance to the calling out of your sheep.
Please don't let me be a stumbling stone, please. Turn with me if
you would to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6 verse 18 says. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the spirit. and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me. Pray for me that utterance may
be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known
the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds
that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Brethren,
pray for me and every man that is called to speak, every man,
that we may open our mouths boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel, that we may preach Christ alone, Christ alone, whether
it's in season or out of season, Christ alone. Pray for us that
we may speak as we ought to speak. Pray for all of us, all of us.
Lord, keep us on the gospel. Don't let us leave the path of
the gospel. Don't let us leave the path of
Christ. That story is so true of that young man many, many
years ago, called on to preach, called on to fill in for the
pastor while he was away. After the message was over, after
the service was over, the young man, he went up to an elder in
the congregation and he said, brother, what did you think of
my message? The young man asked him, what
did you think of my message? Here's a side note for all of
us preachers. We can keep this in our back
pocket. If we have to ask, we do not want to know the answer.
Don't ask. Don't ask. If we have to ask,
we don't want to know the answer. This young man asked, what'd
you think of my message? That's not a good question. He
said, what'd you think of my message? The elder said, I thought
it was a very poor message. The young man said, why did you
not think I studied enough? He said, no, clearly you put
in some time. He said, well, did you think
my delivery was poor? He said, no, you were very articulate. He said, your message was poor
because Christ was not in it. And the young man said, well,
Christ was not in the text. And he said, son, in every text
of scripture, there is a road that leads to Jesus Christ crucified. Our business is to find that
road and get on it. That's one of my favorite things
to tell and to myself. Every time I tell it to you,
I'm telling it to me. That's my favorite thing to tell myself.
Find that road and get on it. And if you're ever listening
to a man who has not found that road and never finds that road,
stop listening to that man. He does not know what he's talking
about. Jesus Christ crucified blood and mercy blood and mercy
So brethren pray for us there's one road blood and mercy If results
don't come. Oh, let's not alter the message
If God doesn't start raking them in. Oh, let's not alter the message
pray for us pray for us and Pray for us individually. Pray for
us collectively in the gospel and pray for us all. As a congregation. A congregation
who truly has been given a heart to love Christ. Love Christ. Love the declaration of his blood.
We honestly do love declaring, hearing, believing, trusting
his blood. We do. We love it. Congregation who loves to unite
around his mercy. It's what brings us together
and holds us together We love to think on him. We love to speak
of him We love to praise him Put me in the dust and let him
be honored and glorified We love that he alone is true We love
that he alone is our salvation. He's all our hope. That's it. I As a congregation who knows
and loves the fact that we're just sinners, nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is our all and
in all as that kind of congregation having that spirit that God has
given us. Brethren, pray for us. Pray for
us. Pray that if God is willing,
he'll keep that with us. Lord, keep that with us. Keep
it with us. Look right here at Philippians
1, it's on my same page, I'm already open to it. Philippians
1, verse 1, I'm sorry, verse 3. Philippians 1, 3, it says,
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer
of mine for you all, making mention, making request with joy. for
your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And that's the gospel. He started
the work and he'll perform the work and finish the work. He
started the work of grace and he'll finish the work of grace.
He started the work of faith and he'll finish the work of
faith. Start to finish, it's all of the Lord. Verse nine says,
in this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more
in knowledge and in all judgment, that you may prove things that
are excellent. that you may be sincere and without
offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits
of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and
praise of God." Turn the page to Colossians chapter one, a
couple of pages, Colossians chapter one, verse nine says, For this cause,
we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge
of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that
you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened
with all might according to his glorious power unto all patients
and long-suffering with joyfulness. Giving thanks unto the father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us? Into the kingdom of his dear
son paul said for this cause i can't stop praying for you
because of christ I just can't stop praying for you now I covet
your prayers And I know that you covet mine. But let me show
you something that is one of the greatest thoughts imaginable. The greatest thoughts imaginable. Turn with me to John 17. John 17, the Lord Jesus Christ
said in verse nine, I pray for them. Brethren, he prays for us. Can you imagine? He is praying for us. He is daily making intercession
for His people. How do you handle a thought like
that? How do you even handle a thought like that? He brings
your name before His own throne. It is true that the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. But the effectual
fervent prayer of the righteous man. He said, Peter, I've prayed for
you. He said, you're going to deny
me. Three times you're going to cuss me. You're going to tell
people you hate me. You're going to say you don't
know me. You want nothing to do with me. Crucify him. He said, I prayed for you. And your faith is not going to
fail. And based on Peter's ability and based on his doing, it should
have failed. But it didn't. It didn't. Go with me back to 1 Thessalonians
5. Verse 25, he said, brethren,
pray for us. And then verse 26, he said, greet
all the brethren with a holy kiss. That was their custom back
then in the same way that ours now is a handshake or a hug.
He's saying extend love to each other. Welcome in the union of
one another That's what our Lord did for us in extending love
toward us God commended his love toward us And while that we were
yet sinners he died for us in welcoming us into the union with
him by his own sacrifice and through his intercession to God
on our behalf, when his own blood sprinkled the mercy seat. Righteousness
and peace at that moment, when that happened, righteousness
and peace kissed each other. And that holy kiss greeted all
the brethren. all of those in him. He said
in verse 27, I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be
read unto all the holy brethren. I charge you by the Lord. The
Lord is giving this charge. Why is the word of God? This is the word of God. And
what is the word of God to all the sanctified brethren? Verse
28, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Grace means favor, it means kindness,
free gift, free gift. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
within. Grace greater than all our sins.
God's salvation be with you. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together. Turn with me to 209. 209.