[0:00] So let's open our Bibles to 2 Thessalonians. And if you would stand with me, I want to read. We're starting 2 Thessalonians this morning.

[0:18] And so I just want to read from verse 3 to verse 8. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, brethren as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest, with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey Obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Bless this time that we have together looking to you. And we just want, Lord, to hear from you personally.

[1:40] In Jesus' name, amen. You can all be seated.

[1:50] So the letter begins with Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of Thessalonians. In God our Father, in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now...

[2:10] Significant to the name of Paul. Whenever I start a letter or when I have opportunity, I like to remember the significance of the name of the Apostle Paul.

[2:26] And that is, if you look later, you could read the chapter.

[2:31] But in Acts chapter 13, in verse 9, where it tells us, then Saul who also was called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked intently at him and so here in that section I remember when I was a young believer when I learned that that rule of first mention which is you know followed carried through the whole Bible but the first time that things are mentioned nate it's significant and so saul whose name at was paul's name previously meant the anointed one the exalted one you know something like that and whose name is who's called paul now paul means small but then it says filled with the holy spirit and from there on out and he dealt he was he was powerfully used by the lord his name was always paul which means small and he was filled with the holy spirit so paul who was small did great things for the lord and and paul humility.

[3:57] Is something that is a strength and quality we see in Paul's ministry and should be a strength and quality in our ministry. I was quoting one commentator. He says, It is probably safe to say that humility is the one character quality that will enable us to be all Christ wants us to be. We cannot come to God without it. We cannot love God supremely without it. We cannot be an effective witness for Christ without it. We cannot love and serve others without it. We cannot lead in a godly way without it. We cannot communicate properly without it. We cannot resolve conflict without it.

[4:51] We cannot deal with the sin of others rightly without it. We especially cannot resist sin without it in short we must embrace and live out humility in order to to truly live and be who god means for us to be it is for this reason that god exhorts us through paul and we look at the testimony of paul he remained that way and so in other words humility is necessary humility is not optional and pride is more than a deterrent pride is a road block and will be a log jam to blessing in which so many have experienced that roadblock to blessing you know you'll hear or see or come across i know that i've been in ministry now since 81 1981 so i've come across all kind of scenarios and been through it myself many times okay so i'm not like excluding myself from my own examples of things but you know you tend to learn along the way when you submit to the lord and then but you know they will say or think or they'll wonder.

[6:16] Why it is that I'm not happy, or why it is that I just don't have the peace, and why is it that I struggle with people that I should be getting along with?

[6:26] Why is that? Well, wonder no longer.

[6:31] Humility has a lot to do with all of that because we look to the blessings of the Lord. And this was recorded for us, these examples, like with Paul, recorded for us because not only was that foundational for Paul, but it should be for all Christians in our life. It must be. The Apostle Paul, he writes, the Apostle Paul, the one that was most prolific of all the apostles and disciples of Christ and also the one who labored more than all of them, he writes, he was given amazing insight. But in Philippians chapter 2 in verses 5 through 8 Paul writes let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man And he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

[7:51] Have this mind as we follow the Lord. Paul writes again in Ephesians 4, 1 and 2, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all loneliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love. That's two examples Peter writes.

[8:19] In 1 Peter 5.5, likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you, be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. And you know, there's plenty of examples in the Proverbs of pride and humility and things. Proverbs 16.18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And so pride, the Bible teaches us, really assaults humility. Pride runs contrary to humility.

[9:01] Be on guard. Paul again, he writes in Philippians 2, 3, and 4, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others, that can only be accomplished through humility and so we're exhorted to be those of humility and then of course our most important example is Jesus Christ himself, you know as we read there in Philippians but also, you know, tells us in Mark 10, 45, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So once again, you know, we have that. And so we see there Paul. He mentions Silvanus and Timothy. Now they were being raised up to be pastors. They were following. they had the great teacher, Paul, and then a shining example in Paul. He writes to the church there in Thessalonica. Now, this is a quick...

[10:20] Following letter that he writes which actually the title of this message is getting back to you because his first letter first Thessalonians it spurred even more he wrote first Thessalonians to answer some questions and then in that letter stirred more questions so he quickly wrote back to them in this letter and so he says grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord jesus christ now i love the acronym of grace g period r period a period c period e period did i get that right god's riches at christ expense grace unmerited favor you can't earn it it's a gift that the lord has gifted us with and so he he says also in in peace.

[11:14] And so the peace is that found foundation to the trust factor that we have in our relationship to jesus we have peace based upon faith trusting in the person of jesus christ or not because if you do not then peace seems to flee go out the window and and you know and human element is intermittent it will because that's just our failure to completely trust god in everything you know and so and so there's that trust factor and peace really is that byproduct of faith but notice where it's from it stems from it originates with god himself grace to you and peace from god our father so god himself and again those of us who walk in humility will be or are those who enjoy the experience of knowing this knowing this because and i because these can be true relationally, be true, grace and peace, but not experienced in our lives.

[12:35] And let me explain what I mean by that. Because if you are a prideful Christian.

[12:44] Then you're saved because of the humility of Christ on your behalf. And are, because of God's grace, ready for heaven. And, yes, because of Jesus, peace has been granted to you. The peace of God, relationally, is yours.

[13:08] But a prideful Christian will not be able to enjoy it, even though it be true. Instead, this side of heaven will struggle spiritually to follow Christ in obedience. Humility is a must factor in receiving from the Lord that peace and that grace to be experienced. You know there's some people that it just exudes from them these things and others you know for whatever reason they're so uptight spiritually they're not receiving that grace and that peace, and and so but it's there for us to experience and then paul says in verse three we are bound Bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly in the love of every one of you. All abounds towards each other. I love that. We're bound. It means obligated.

[14:20] It means indebted to thank God. And this would go without saying that we should all have hearts of thanksgiving for those things that God has used us for and has done the lives of those that are around us and the things that the Lord is doing, you know, through us. And if you remember just a few paragraphs before Paul finished 1 Thessalonians in the fifth chapter there, he says, you know, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And so having a heart of thanksgiving and the reason paul says hey we're obligated he says because it is fitting notice he says that it is fitting that they do that which means because of what god has done and is doing in your life and so we are rejoicing it's a fitting thing for us to do rejoicing in your faith in your love toward one another, They were moving forward. They were experiencing growth.

[15:33] Growth spurts in faith and in love. You know how it is when you haven't seen anybody for a while, and then you see their, well, not the adults, but you see the kids, and you go, what the heck? You know, when I saw you, you were only this big. And now they're this big. You know, you see it. And so this is a young church. And it was obvious that they were growing in the Lord, and Paul's making note of it. You know and and sometimes as we're being used in the lives of others you say oh they're growing a whole lot slower than i hope that they would you know and but they're still growing they're still serving you know following the lord they're a slow learner whatever but i would only say that if you move quickly in the lord don't boast because it's only what god's done in your life you can't even and take credit for it. And when you have that right mindset, you're not going to point the finger at somebody who, I pointed over there, but I'm not pointing at you. I'm like, wait a minute, Eric. You know, you got to be careful. You know, and that isn't saying that you should be growing faster, you know, pointing at somebody that they should be growing faster.

[16:48] So, but there in verse four, five, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. Suffer and so here we see that they boasted of you it's kind of like have you heard what god is doing in so-and-so's life they were rejoicing you know how god is using them and how patient they are before god even in the midst of hard things that they're going through they're so patient Do you see what God's doing in their life? This is the idea that word patient means steadfastness, constancy. Patient in the New Testament means it is characteristic of a man or a woman who has not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering. That's patience.

[18:11] Patience and persecution. Well, I have to read what Paul says about persecutions when he says there in 2 Timothy 3.12, Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, Paul says. So, you know, the description of persecution in America, people hassle you.

[18:45] People make you feel bad. People hurt your feelings. People harass you. You're ill-treated because you believe in Jesus. That's the American persecution. Wow. But it's not so in many places in the world. Christians are still dying and being brutalized in persecution. execution.

[19:15] And so, you know, and I don't know how or why we're, where we're at right now, but, you know, it seems to me that people rise to their greatest potential when they're challenged to their greatest. You know, it happens a lot in athletic competition and so forth. You know, You did so terrible. How do you bowl only 70 points in that game? Well, I was bowling with a bunch of kids, and that's all they were bowling. But then competition hits, and a couple of the guys are there, and it's like you're focused, and bang, bang. Oh, now you bowl 120, 130 because you're challenged. You know the church has always done better when they're persecuted?

[20:05] And i'd only say that we need to take heed to that because we need to realize we are challenged and not to be deceived otherwise it is a challenge every single day to represent jesus christ not to be lulled you know but so there's there's persecution and then and then he he says also Also, tribulation that you endure. Oppression. Pressing in and pressure. You know, and that could be the enemy himself, besides circumstances, but just the enemy himself and circumstance. Maybe using circumstances. Pressure, tribulation, distress, burden. That's what it means. But remember, in the midst of that, we can have a constant joy. And that's our victory. We can continue to trust the Lord. Lord, we can continue to have peace in the midst of that. And that's the correct response from, says believers. That's correct.

[21:10] And like I said, I always like going on record that I don't always do things correctly. I don't always experience these things that I'm explaining to you like I want to experience. But I have to admit, I've come a long way. I'm sure experiencing these things a whole lot more and failing a whole lot less, I've got to admit. And that's all because of the grace of God in my life. And then in verse 6, since it is a righteous thing, With God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. And so we, knowing this, trust in God to intervene. In other words, God sees it all. If he chooses to postpone dealing with it, that's his call. The frustration comes is when we don't accept that. Then it becomes frustrating. And then we lose that peace. Why? Because we're not trusting in what God chooses to do at any given time. But see, that's why in Romans 12, it tells us.

[22:17] Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. When it's necessary, in his timing, and that's where patience comes in. Have that patience in persecutions. Have that patience in tribulations.

[23:02] I skipped five, didn't I? Going back to five, which is a manifest evidence of the righteousness of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. And so this proves that your life is governed by God. These responses and also the pressures and the attacks of the enemy. It's nice to be in tune to the fact that wait a minute this is spiritual attack that's going on here it's nice to be in tune rather than oh this is bad luck that's come again.

[23:42] No you know no doubt when you serve the lord you're in the crosshairs of the enemy it may be harder to pick out in the great united states of america where we have We have constitution. We have all these rights and we have all these laws and we have all these things that, you know, they're trying very hard to change right in front of our noses. But we still have them. That's why we're meeting here. We felt a little pressure during COVID. That was nothing. And what did the church do? Churches, they just fled from the buildings and didn't open. We were like, what the heck? if we open, is that going to seriously put people in danger? We stopped for a little bit, and then we reopened while other churches weren't. So we had people coming from all over to come to church here because, oh, you guys are open, we're coming to church. And it was really kind of amazing because, you know, we'd be in here without masks on, and people would come to the door with the mask, and they'd look around, and they'd quickly take their mask off and stick it in their pocket. It's like, okay, yeah, I'll go there. But you know we're challenged to really tune in to the Lord and not the world not the threats of the world and so and so.

[25:03] And so it's just an evidence. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Persecution is nothing new, Jesus said. You know, and he gives us a heads up. And this is before the church. How to deal with it? Expect it, Paul said. And if you live godly, plan on it. Persecution, suffering. Continue to be faithful. and it speaks of the promise of blessing for those of us who will persevere and then in verse 7.

[26:11] And to give you who are troubled rest, with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and so he said hey judgment is coming absolutely, And so Paul, he doesn't really give fine detail here to end times scenario in that. He just basically is saying, hey, the Lord's coming and judgment is coming. He gives details before and in the first letter and he will following this. But here he's just saying, hey, the Lord's coming and judgment is coming. And I believe here it's speaking of the rapture. But in other words, Paul is saying we will have trouble until we're out of here.

[27:14] And that's just the way it goes. Yet our attitude in times of trouble can be shouting victory and joy and peace and faith and love. As Paul would say, bring it on. That was Paul's attitude as a humble man. Bring it on. I'm a man of humility, but bring it on. If you remember in Acts chapter 21, You're dropping in on a typical day in the life of the Apostle Paul. Acts 21, verse 10. And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

[28:13] Now, when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. But Paul answered, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of Jesus. Wow. Wow, Paul, he was the one that said, right, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Bring it on. And he's a humble man. Bring it on.

[28:48] When he wrote to Timothy in the twilight of his ministry, when he wrote to Timothy, he says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing and so there we see the power of the holy spirit displayed in the life of the apostle paul the same holy spirit that's available to you and i to live through troubled times paul was one of those being an example of this principle as being sold out, a sold out soldier of Jesus Christ. He would be the one that would say, I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

[29:57] You know, I don't know what movie that's from, but I love the smell of napalm in the morning. I remember when I was a painter for 28 years, one of my main jobs was spraying, and a lot of times I would spray lacquer and oil-based enamels, and, you know, they're, you know, difficult. Some people can't even be near the house that I'm spraying in, but fortunately I was able to breathe that stuff. But anyway, that was kind of my motto. I love the smell of lacquer in the morning. It was like, it was like, kind of like whatever it takes. And, you know, that transfers over very easily to the spiritual battle at hand. Get her done. What has Jesus given you to do? Get it done.

[30:51] It was so funny because, you know, sometimes just doing routine life, you've got to dig in to get it done. You have to be disciplined. You can't be a whiner and a complainer and looking for handouts. That just doesn't work with those who diligently serve Jesus Christ. And I only challenge you even in your retirement diligently be serving Jesus Christ because that's what it's all about. I think sometimes we have the wrong attitude of retirement. Retirement is, well, finally, I guess it's just sit and rest after all those years of work. And I would look at it more like, finally, God's given me more time to serve him. That would be more appropriate, you know, acceptance of retirement. And so, where was I?

[31:47] And so this verse, these verses here, obviously describe the coming judgment, which includes first seven years of tribulation, then the second return of Jesus, when all of us will return with him. You know, and it seems to me, even the transition there from verse seven and eight, the wording indicates the sequence that we're first going to rest, and then when Jesus returns a second time, we're going to be with him. You know and like i said there's not a lot of detail there to kind of decipher but that jesus is going to return and it's the coming judgment is going to come and jesus is going to take care of business we know and then these uh verse 9 shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed.

[32:52] Therefore, we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[33:19] And so there we see that there's going to be an everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, separated forever from the presence of the Lord. That truly is outer darkness. The Bible clearly teaches eternal judgment and some refuse to believe that a loving God would ever allow eternal judgment. And so they in turn falsely teach annihilation, meaning that once it's over, it's like you never existed. And that's not what the Bible teaches. Yet, again, you know, Jesus taught that judgment of the wicked will be eternal. And so we see that.

[34:15] In Mark chapter 9, where it says, If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed rather than having two hands to go to hell into the fire that shall never be quenched. Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot causes you to sin cut it off it is better for you to enter life lame rather than having two feet to be cast into hell and the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched and if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched i think jesus is very clear here the point he's making is not that you're supposed to cut off body parts that's not the point because you can do whatever you you know the sin that would separate you from god with one eye or with one hand or with one foot but the point is is that whatever it takes in this life that we would believe and follow Jesus Christ into eternal life is the point he's making.

[35:41] And that judgment is eternal. And, you know, I often would think this through and realize that, you know, some people come to Christ just because they realize that hell is real and judgment is real. And they make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. So the Bible is true and what it teaches is true. And so God reveals that and many come to faith and many end up in heaven. You remove that truth and then those who came because of the rationale in their own heart and mind, whatever it takes, one person comes one way, one comes another, they would be eliminated from relationship with Jesus Christ. And so this is the truth of what the Bible teaches, and it's necessary for a loving God who loves those individuals enough to allow us to see this, to understand it. And so...

[36:46] And so we see again the promise when he comes in that day, and that we would recognize, admire that among all those who believe. And them, he's saying them because you believed, because of your faith. And so it includes us as well. That's why we say Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus. The Lord cometh. And it's it says there and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power now keep that in mind we're created in christ jesus unto good works we're to be about his business we're to be serving the lord not in our strength but in his power because we won't last a minute in our own strength but rather in humility filled with the holy spirit that god would work in our lives amen amen all right let's stand together now next in chapter two paul will answer more questions that they have concerning the lord's coming and our gathering up with him and the introduction of the antichrist and so read ahead and.

[38:07] And so also, if you need prayer this morning, remember, come forward, okay? So that we can pray with you. Don't leave if you need prayer. The Lord spoke to your heart today and you need to pray about some things, you know, come forward and mark your calendars again for Memorial Day and then also make note on Wednesday.

[38:32] No study this week. Lord, we just want to thank you for loving us. We want to thank you for your word to us, that we don't have to try and reinvent the wheel of life and figure things out. Lord, you've made it plain. You've made it simple. Lord, the ABCs of faith following you. Lord, I just ask for all those that are here that we wouldn't complicate things, that we would realize that your word says that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness all these things shall be added unto us and all of us have a bunch of things, that we're concerned with that are piled up maybe so high that we don't see the cross, lord if that's the case i pray that you just knock it that pile down and work in our lives as only you can lord uh you know what it is that distracts us you know what it is that makes us fearful and you You know all of that. Lord, I just pray that we, like the Apostle Paul, would be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, fighting the good fight of faith, as we're called to do. So I pray that, Holy Spirit, that you would work mightily in our midst. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you.