1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Let me begin reading this chapter
to us. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and
verse 1. Wherefore, when we could no longer
forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and
sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow
laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort
you, to encourage you concerning your faith, that no man should
be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we were
appointed thereunto. For verily when we were with
you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation,
even as it came to pass, and you know. For this cause, when
I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. lest by some
means the tempter have tempted you in your labor, or our labor
be in vain. But now, when Timotheus came
from you unto us, and bought us good tidings of your faith
in love, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring
greatly to see us, as we also to see you. 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. For what thanks can we render
to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for
your sakes before our God? Night and day pray exceedingly
that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking
in your faith. 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 in love one toward another and
toward all, even as we do toward you. 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. The Apostle Paul and Silas had
come to Philippi and preached the gospel of Christ, you will
remember that Lydia was converted at Philippi. And Paul had cast
the devil out of a woman preacher and they got so mad at him they
threw him in jail and beat him and Silas and shamefully treated
him. You remember the Lord at midnight
sent an earthquake and they opened the doors and freed all of them. The jailer was saved. And the
Apostle Paul left there and went to Thessalonica. And this was
a group society that was filled with idolatry. You had a synagogue
there and you had a large number of Jews there, but they were
just so self-righteous and legalistic and hateful. They never helped
anybody. They can pass land and sea to make one proselyte, but
when they made him, he made him two or four more of the child
of hell than themselves. So Paul preached to them, never
done the Jews no good, but there was a great host of Gentiles
that heard him preach. He spent three weeks here in
Thessalonica and went to the synagogue and preached, and these
Gentiles began to flood into the synagogue, and Paul reasoned
with them. of why Christ should come down
from heaven and suffer, the necessity of Him suffering, that He suffered
for our sins and that God raised Him from the dead. And as those
idolatrous Thessalonians were listening to that, that went
home to their hearts. The gospel opened their understanding
and their affections and they believed it and they were saved. And they turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God. But I think it's very telling
here in chapter 1, the Apostle Paul explains somewhat of how
this happened to them. He says here in verse 4 of chapter
1 of 1 Thessalonians, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election
of God. How do we know that we're one
of God's elect? For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as ye know what men are men, we were
among you for your sakes." Notice how he says this. He says, when
I preached unto you, the gospel that I preached came to you in
word. Now what does he mean by that?
Well, he means the gospel can be defined How else could anybody
understand it if we can't define the gospel? It has to be preached,
doesn't it? We're told by some today that
you really shouldn't even define the gospel, it's just something
we feel. It's just like a man climbing
a mountain and he finally gets to the top of it and his muscles
are aching and he's out of breath and he looks out over this beautiful
valley and it's so beautiful he just, his breath's taken and
he stands there with gaping mouth and he goes back down the mountain
and he says, you'll never believe what I saw. I saw the, I said,
well I can't explain it. I just can't explain it. You'll
have to go up and see it for yourself. Brothers and sisters,
the gospel has to be preached. Our intellect is involved in
hearing the gospel, isn't it? And the gospel is something like
this, that God is our creator and He is a holy God and He's
a just God. And you and I are fallen sinners. We're born and we live at enmity
with our God, and God has taken us to account for it. He hasn't
looked over our sin and our enmity and excused it. He's charged
us with it. We're guilty before God. That's
society's trouble now, isn't it? We talk about everything
that's going on today. Men thinking they're women and
girls thinking they're cats and all of this stuff. But that's
not our biggest problem. That's just the fruit of our
problem. The biggest problem we have, our society is fallen. Our society is depraved and God
is a holy God and we're guilty before Him. But God has done
something about it, hasn't He? He sent His only begotten Son
who has suffered for sin. He's atoned for sin. He's made
reconciliation for sin. And that's what Paul said, I
preach to you. My gospel came in word. If it never comes to us in word,
how are we going to know who to call upon? How can we believe
in Him of whom we have not heard? So it must come in word. But
He didn't stop there, did He? If it comes in word only, it
won't be saving to us. How many people sit under the
gospel of the grace of Christ and they finally die in their
sins and perish? The gospel must come in word.
And please don't say this. Please don't say this. Bruce,
I don't understand the gospel. If you don't understand the gospel,
child, then you're lost. I'm not saying do you understand
the book of Revelations. I'm not saying do you understand
a lot of the other great mysteries. But you understand the gospel
if you're a saved person. Don't you know that God is holy?
Don't you know that you're sinful? Don't you know that you're in
need of Christ? Haven't you believed on Him? You do understand the
gospel. But it must come to us more than
just in word. And Paul said this, not in word
only, but also in power. That's the same word we use as
dynamite. It's the same word Paul used
in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God. This word is used 120 times in
the New Testament. And almost every time, it's used
to define the mighty power of God, the strength of God, the
strength of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is what happens when
the gospel comes in word only, it won't profit us. But when
it comes in power, it goes on to our hearts. It arrests our
thinking, our attention. Didn't it do that with us? Here
we were, and maybe we were religious, and we were going on in our way,
not really concerned deeply with our souls and our sins and eternity. But suddenly, something happens. Here the gospel comes. And now
it's with power. When we say God is holy, oh,
that comes home to our hearts. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. You're a fallen sinner. Oh, my
soul, my sin, I've sinned against God. Christ is the only Savior. Give me Jesus or I die. It comes
with power. But what kind of power is that?
Well, He tells us in the Holy Ghost. That third person of the
sacred trinity is involved in preaching the gospel, and he's
involved with our hearing the gospel. I hope I never come to
this pulpit without praying, Lord give me utterance to preach,
and Lord give people ears to hear. And the hearing ear is
of the Lord, isn't it? The Holy Spirit makes us to know
we're sinners. It's the Holy Spirit that makes
us know that Christ is mine and he's the lover of my soul. So
Paul said it came that way and it came also in much assurance. I tell you, it's one thing to
be saved. It's another thing to have the assurance of it,
isn't it? I want both of them, don't you? I don't want to live
in doubts and fears. I want the gospel to come to
me in much assurance. And it's there for every one
of us, isn't it? The Word declares, He that believeth
in Me shall never die. He that believeth in the Son
shall never come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
This book is full of assurance for those who believe. So Paul came here to Thessalonica. He preached to these people.
And they were converted by it. It came to them in such a way
that in chapter 1 in verse 9 and 10, he said you turn from idols to the true and living God. It
had not effect upon these people. And to wait for His Son from
heaven. But here's what happened. It
seemed like it happened pretty quick. They began to suffer these
persecutions. They began to suffer these trials
and temptations and afflictions. Look here in chapter 2 in verse
14. Paul tells us in these verses
some of the things that they faced. In verse 14, For ye, brethren,
became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in
Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews,
who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us. And they pleased not God, and
are contrary to all men. When they believed, Even some
of their former friends began to persecute them and to mock
them and to laugh at them. And it was terrible what they
suffered in their hearts. And here in chapter 3 of our
text in verse 5, we're told something about how Satan now began to
deal with them. 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 should be
in vain." Now what does this tell us? Well, it sort of corrects
what we're being told today, that when the Lord saves us,
that it's His will that we should never suffer, that we should
always be in great health, We should always have a large bank
account and we should be happy every day. Isn't that some of
the things we're told? Well, what do we do with passages
like this? That as soon as the Lord saved
these people, they ran into trouble. I'm not here, brothers and sisters,
to promise you this morning or anybody else. If you come to
Christ, you're going to live on a cloud the rest of your life.
You're never going to have any problems. You're never going
to be tempted of Satan. You're never going to be persecuted
by your former friends. I'm telling you, if you want
trouble, come to Christ. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. Ain't that what the Lord told
us? In this world you shall have tribulation. Thank God He added
to that, be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. But that
won't stop the tribulations, will it? Even our Lord said sometimes
our own family, man's own family, are his foes. How many people
has the Lord saved and their own spouses have turned against
them? That's happened several times,
isn't it? When the Lord saves us, He gives
us a new heart. He gives us a tender heart. And
we experience trouble like we've never experienced before. Maybe
it didn't bother you much when some friends turned on you before
the Lord saved you, but it bothers you now, doesn't it? You've got this conflict in your
soul between good and evil. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. You've got this struggle between
faith and unbelief in your heart, and you feel these things deeply. And the reason you feel them
deeply is because He's given you a new heart, a heart of flesh,
a tender heart, and you feel these things like you never felt
them before. My goodness, it used to be you
never thought about your soul. You never thought about eternity.
You weren't concerned about your sins being forgiven, but you
are now, aren't you? These things are concerning to
you. We have unconverted friends that
have forsaken us. They even speak evil of us. We have trials in our bodies
with sickness and weakness and pain. And we have struggles in
our soul, and we're apt to be moved to doubts about our salvation
and ask ourselves sometime, if I truly believed the Lord, would
I be experiencing these things? Have you ever thought of that?
Would I think like this if I was a true believer? Well, that's why Paul wrote here
in verse 3 and verse 4, that no man should be moved by these
afflictions. for yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto." He writes here that he sent Timothy to
comfort them, to encourage them concerning their faith. It seemed like these afflictions
had overwhelmed them. They began to think, Well, I
didn't have this kind of trouble before the Lord saved me. Why
am I having it now? And he was afraid they would
be moved by this trouble. So he sends Timothy and he tells
Timothy to instruct them this way. He says, Timothy, tell them
this, that God has appointed us to trouble. Now, that's astounding, isn't
it? A Christian is a paradox. He
is filled with joy and he is filled with sadness. He has the
light of the gospel and he walks in darkness sometimes. He is free and yet he is bound.
He is a paradox to himself. Why do we suffer when we come
to Christ? God has appointed us to suffer. Did you know that when the Lord
saved you? I didn't know that. I was shocked. I was shocked
when people started turning on me. I was shocked when I began to
suffer in my soul. I didn't know what this struggle
was all about. I did not know that God had called
me for that purpose, to suffer. But He does, doesn't He? He does. Somebody might say, well, Bruce, I didn't realize that. I didn't either, but that didn't
change the sufferings, did it? They came anyway. Well, I just
can't believe, Bruce, that's true. Well, will you believe
it or not, they're coming. Paul said, I told you that God had
ordained, He had appointed these sufferings even as they came
to pass. It's better if we know it. That
way we can be prepared for it and we won't be moved when it
happens. If you're witnessing to your
neighbor and she cusses you out, that's appointed of God. You're
to suffer for the gospel. Don't let this move you. When Satan tempts you and harasses
your mind, Think of this. God's appointed you to that. We need to know this, brothers
and sisters, so we won't be offended. We won't be moved when somebody
persecutes us. And we won't try to avenge ourselves. I'll get even. You said that about me. I'm laying
wait for you, buddy. I'll get even with you. And you
go off and spread rumors on people just trying to get even with
them. Don't avenge yourself. The Lord has appointed you to
that. When David was fleeing from Absalom, his son, a man
by the name of Shimei met David. David was weeping. And old Shimei
started cussing him and throwing rocks at him. You bloody man. God's getting even with you.
You scoundrel, you. David's cousin said, let me go
over and take off his head. And David said, God has told
him to curse me. You leave him alone. God's got reason for our suffering,
brothers and sisters. He appoints us on purpose to
that. When Satan harasses you, just
remember this. God's going to bruise him under
your feet very shortly. And when you're tried and tested,
remember this. God is using that to increase
and strengthen your faith. Don't complain about your suffering.
Realize they come from the throne. And they're good for your faith.
That's why Paul sent Timothy to tell them these afflictions
are appointed. Don't be moved by them. Look here in verses 5 through
9. As I read this the other day,
I thought, boy, how much Paul loved the Lord's people. I wish
I loved the Lord's people like this great apostle did. I wish
I had it in my heart to care for the Lord's people and spend
and be spent for the Lord's people. But this man had it in his heart.
Look here in verse 5. For this caused when I could
no longer forbear I sent to know your faith, lest by some means
Satan had tempted you, and our labor be in vain. But now, when
Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings
of your faith and love, and that you have good remembrance of
us always, desiring greatly to see us, and we also to see you,
therefore, brethren, we were comforted concerning you in all
our affliction and distress by your faith. For look at this,
for now I live, we live, if you stand fast in the Lord. Ain't that amazing how he said
that? He said, now I live if you stand
fast in the Lord. So much of his joy or his grief
was wrapped up in the joy or grief of the Lord's people. He
said, if you're up, I'm up. If you're down, I'm down. If
you stumble, I stumble. If you live and you're steadfast
in the Lord, then I live and I'm steadfast in the Lord. Don't
you wish you had that kind of care for people and concern for
people? I tell you, people will never
know. Even you come here and there's no way you can know what
a pastor goes through. There's just absolutely no way
unless you experience what a pastor goes through. And it's 24 sevens. The people that aren't here this
morning, I'll go home tonight and I probably won't get over
three or four hours sleep. I'll probably sit up to 12 o'clock
just thinking, Lord, is it well with their souls? Lord, are these
people OK? And you come here and you read
and you ask the Lord for a message to encourage people and help
people and you empty yourself and you're never out that door
until you're praying, Lord, give me a message for next Wednesday.
Lord, give me a message for next Sunday to help these people. You have to be a pastor to understand
that. When you're down, I'm down. When you miss the worship, Then
my heart's heavy. When I see you rejoicing in Christ,
my heart rejoices with you. Paul said in Hebrews chapter
13, I think it is, Obey them which have the rule over you.
Obey your pastors and your teachers, for they watch for your soul. What an awesome experience to
watch for somebody's soul. You have a soul. And you're headed
for death and eternity. And my heart is burdened for
your soul. I watch for your soul. Sin is
on your trail. Satan somewhere will straddle
your path. And you have a soul that stands
in the balance. And I'm concerned with my soul.
I'm concerned with your soul. And Paul said, Submit yourself
to those who have rule over you, for they watch for your soul,
that they may do it with what? Joy, and not with grief. Some people brings you great
joy, and others put you under a burden. I've often told preachers,
I told a pastor the other day, I said, Boy, I'd give Give both
of my arms if I could sit down and retire as a pastor and have
somebody else to come in and preach to me and preach to you.
I'd make one of the best church members you've ever seen in your
life. I would. I'd pray for that man. I'd spend
time in prayer for him because I know where he's at. Paul said,
I live if you stand fast in the Lord. But if you're moved, oh,
it's like I'm moved. If your heart's trouble, my heart's
trouble. He loved these people, didn't
he? God give us grace to love people like this man loved them.
When I look at the Apostle Paul and consider him, I don't think
there's any of the other apostles that had the Spirit of Christ
as he did. to fill him to the degree, what
an attitude of humility and love. He was just like his Lord Jesus. That's why he said, Be followers
of me, even as I am of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look how here
he said it in verse 10. Night and day, pray it exceedingly,
that we might see your face, and might perfect that which
is lacking in your faith. We see this so many places in
this man's epistle that he prayed all the time for Christians,
for believers. Prayer night and day exceedingly. You'll notice even in the scriptures
and in every society, you have these two extremes when we talk
about prayer. We have this silly, you get this
silly picture. Well, get a picture. Go back
to Elijah's day when he was upon Mount Carmel and it hadn't rained
for three and a half years and the Lord was ready to send rain.
Remember that occasion and 250 prophets of Baal build their
altar. And remember what they were doing. Now you talk about
extreme. They were jumping on the altar
and all they were doing was repeating over and over again. Hear us,
O Bell! Hear us, O Bell! Hear us, O Bell!
And they did that for about four hours. They did it so much they
tore their altar down. They had skin places all over
their knees and legs. They had just fallen over the
altar. Ain't that a silly way to pray?
I'll tell you something that's silly. Holy Mary, the Mother
of God, pray for us sinners. Holy Mary, the Mother of God,
pray for us sinners. Holy Mary, the Mother of God. Holy Mary!
Just repeat that all you want to. The Lord Jesus said that
was vain repetition. And it was heathenism. And it
proffered us nothing. We don't have any warrant to
pray to a dead saint. We don't have any warrant to
call upon Mary. She can't help us. But you've
got that extreme. Then, brothers and sisters, we've
got this other extreme. We pray once and if the Lord
don't answer us, we just quit. It must not have been the Lord's
will. Or we don't want to twist God's
arm. Don't we think that sometimes? So we just quit praying. That's
just as bad as the other side. Do you have children? Have you
prayed for them once or twice and you quit? No, Paul said night and day,
I was praying for this one specific thing, that I might see your
face. I want to see you. I need to
see you. Brothers and sisters, if we have
a burning desire for something, if we have this felt need for
something, then seek the Lord's face for it. If it doesn't seem
like He hears you to begin with, don't give up and say, well,
it must not have been His will. How do we know that? Our Lord
told us about this unjust judge and this widow who had lost her
husband. And now they were going to come
and take her sons and to pay her debts. And she went to this
unjust judge and said, help me, avenge me. He said, I ain't going
to do it. And she went back home. She said,
I'm not stopping. She went right back to him again.
She said, help me, I'm in trouble. I'm not going to do it. And she
never quit going to him until she worried him sick. And he
said, finally, he avenged her. Now that was his motive. But
our Father has a much better motive than that. He wants to
hear His people. He loves to hear them come to
Him in prayer. and bring your need to Him. And keep coming to Him night
and day if you have a need. I remember when I was in high school,
grade school, and high school too, my dad never would give
me enough lunch money to pay for the whole week. I don't know
what it was about him, but just a quarter a day And every morning,
I would have to say, Dad, I need some lunch money. Sunday, I gave
you lunch money yesterday morning. You gave me lunch money for yesterday,
Dad. I need it today. Our Father is
not that way, brothers and sisters. Our Heavenly Father wants us
to come to Him. Lord, You gave me a message Wednesday
night. I need another one for Sunday.
Lord, I want this. I want that. I need this. Then
go and make Your request known. unto God. That's Paul's way of
praying. Night and day, making requests
that I might see your face. And notice why he wanted to see
their face here in verse 10. That he might perfect that which
is lacking, lacking in their faith. There was something lacking
in their faith. But you know something, I've
never met a man, good man, believing man. But what's said, something's
lacking in my faith. I wish I had more. I wish my
faith was stronger. Is your faith as great as you
wish it was? Is it as strong as you wish it
was? Paul said, if I could just come there and visit you and
preach to you and teach to you, hopefully under God I would perfect
that which is lacking in your faith. When you think of this
word, the faith, we often think of these two things, the doctrine
of faith and we think of the grace of faith. And I love to
think about Peter because he is the good example of having
something lacking in his faith. He wasn't very clear on the gospel
at first, was he? He said, You're the Christ, the
Son of the living God. We believe in our share. You're
the Christ. You're the Son of the living
God. But the Lord Jesus told him one day, He said, I'm going
to cross Peter. They're going to betray me and mock me and
they're going to crucify me and I'm going to raise the third
day. What did Peter say to him? Lord, not if I can help it. Forbid from you to die and be
buried. Boy, he had something lacking
in his faith, didn't he? But before we get too rough on
Peter, let me ask you this. You're saying you're probably
truthful when you say this. Bruce, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. I believe that He died and rose
again. I believe that He suffered for sin. Then why do you have
so much doubt concerning your sins and the forgiveness of them? Maybe you don't understand the
gospel as well as you should. You say, I believe that Jesus
Christ made reconciliation to God. Then why do you live under
the frown of your heavenly Father? You say, I believe that life
came out of my Lord's death. Then why are you doubtful that
you have that life? Do you understand the doctrine
of faith as you should? And then we've got the grace
of faith. Peter's a good example of that,
too, isn't he? Little faith is saving if it's
the faith that God's given you. You may not have little, but
little, but little faith is saving if it's the faith of God's elect.
But I tell you one thing, when trouble comes, little faith won't
dispel your doubts and your fears a lot of times. Remember when
the Lord Jesus came walking on the troubled sea and the apostles
saw him early one morning while it was still dark. They looked
through the mist and Peter said, Lord, is that you? Bid me come
to you. He got out of his ship and began
to walk towards the Lord. And he looked around and saw
those waves and the winds boisterous. And he began to doubt. He began
to fear and he began to sink. And the Lord wretched out His
strong arm and picked him up and said, O thou of little faith,
why did you doubt? I don't want to live my life
full of fears and doubts. And if my faith is so little
and so weak that it won't dispel these fears and doubts, then
my prayer is this, Lord, increase my faith. Lord, enlighten my
understanding. And you know something? He'll
do it. We find this here in our text.
Look what Paul said in verse 12 of our text. And the Lord
make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another,
and toward all men, even as we do toward you. Look in the second
book, the second epistle of Thessalonians, chapter 1, and look in verse
3. Paul prayed for them. Not only that their faith would
increase, but that their love would increase. And look what
he says in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 3. We are bound to thank
God always for you, brethren, as it is fit, because that your
faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of every one of you
towards each other aboundeth. If you've got some problem with
your faith, I don't know what it would be. But I tell you this,
the Lord can remedy your need. It may be a lack of understanding
that you need. He can remedy that. Look what
he did the Apostle Peter, the same man that doubted and feared. Look at that message he preached
on the day of Pentecost. And went to prison for the Lord's
sake. You may be here this morning
and you may have little faith. The Lord can increase that faith.
You may be here this morning and you have no faith at all.
I'm telling you, He can remedy that too. He can remedy whatever
your need is concerning your faith. Back over here in our text, Look what Paul said in verse
11. Look what he said. Now God Himself
and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. Look what he does here. He equates
the Lord Jesus Christ as being equal with God Himself and our
Father. Ain't that amazing? He not only prayed to God the
Father, he prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ. That tells us something, doesn't
it? You would not be allowed to call upon the name of Jesus
Christ, the Lord, if He wasn't God. Remember when Stephen was being
stoned and he looked up to heaven and he saw the Father and Jesus
standing on his right hand. Remember what he said? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Remember that. Sometimes we address God as our
Father and we call upon Him as our Father. Other times we address
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He is the Second Person
of the Sacred Trinity. He's God. And He's God and He's
our Mediator between God and man. Boy, if we didn't have the
Bible, we'd be confused about the Trinity, wouldn't we? But
Jesus Christ is the One that we call upon. And I love how he says this,
and we'll look at this and we'll close. They can request, he told the
Romans, if by any means I might have a prosperous journey by
the will of God to come unto you. And that's what he says
here in our text, that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ
might direct our way. unto you. Now, why didn't he
just up and go? That would have been what I would
have done. I would have rented me a buggy
or had a taxi, got a ticket to get on a ship or something. I
just went, but not the Apostle Paul. You know something? It seemed like this man prayed
about every step before he ever took it. I ask my Lord to direct my way
unto you. I make requests that I might
have a prosperous journey unto you. Why in the world do that? Do you remember when Naomi and
her family left Jerusalem, the place of bread, and went down
into the country of the Moabites? Remember that occasion? And remember
what she said when she came back? She went down there and she lost
her husband. She lost both of her sons. And
she left one of her daughter-in-laws down there when she came back.
And she came back and they said, Oh, Naomi has come home. She
said, Don't call me Naomi anymore. Call me bitter. I went out full and God brought
me home empty. I wonder, brothers and sisters,
if her and her husband sought the Lord about going down to
the land of the Moabites. I doubt it. You may come here to church this
morning. I hope you prayed and asked the Lord to prosper you.
Because if you didn't, you may believe you're like Naomi and
go home empty. But if you come here this morning
and you've prayed, Lord, let this day be profitable to me. Teach me what I need to know.
I bet you'll go home full. You can come to church and go
home empty if the Lord don't direct your steps, but you can
leave home and go to the supermarket and come home full if the Lord
directs your steps. Little is much if God is in it. I love that passage where the
Lord told Jacob, I'll be with you in all places that you go. Everywhere you go, Lord, Jacob,
I'm with you. Wouldn't that be wonderful? That's
what Paul was talking about. He said, I want to come to you
so bad, but it's got to be God's will. I want to come in His blessings. And then we'll close with this
in verse 13. I love this. 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
the saints. Cindy and I was reading this
the other day and one of us read verse 13 that He may establish
your hearts unblameable in holiness. And I almost threw up my hands
just in jest and said, Wait! Don't use that word! Don't use
the word holiness. We're scared to death of that
word, aren't we? If anybody mentions holiness, it just scares us to
death. Maybe use this word then. Dedicated. Giving yourself up to serve the
Lord and worship Him. Nothing matters with that word,
brothers and sisters. But Paul mentions the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'll notice as you read
1 Thessalonians, every chapter he closes with the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote five chapters in 1 Thessalonians,
three chapters in 2 Thessalonians, and in every chapter he mentions
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I love the way he
mentions this at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ with all His saints. Look what he says in chapter
4. He clarifies that just a little bit. For if we believe in verse
14, that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with Him. Every saint that dies is
in two places. We know their body is here because
we put them to rest. But their soul is in heaven.
Their soul is with the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a desire to depart,
to be with Christ. And there is no lapsed time.
When the thar took his last breath, he was with Christ. And he is
there today. And he is coming back when the
Lord comes back. And the Lord is going to raise
that body and unite His body, that glorified body, with His
soul. And those who are alive and remain
are going to be changed and caught up forever to be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these
words. I pray this has been a blessing
to you. It's a blessing to me just to study it out. Glenn,
come up here and dismiss us in prayer. And ask the Lord to bless
our food for us, if you would. I hope we all can stay and eat,
because there's some good food. Good food. Thank you, Glenn. Lord, we just come to you to
thank you, Lord, for everything that you do for us. We ask, Lord,
that you continue to hold us, walk with us, and lead us. Thank
you, Pastor, for this wonderful message today. We really appreciate
it. It touched my heart. I hope that everyone got touched
by this message today. We ask that you bless this food
for the nourishment of our bodies as we travel. Keep us all safe.
We love you. We pray in Jesus' precious name.
Amen. Sarah, you and Brad stay neat
today. Jim, you hungry? I love that song, Sarah. Oh, no. That's the music. You're
welcome.