Untitled Sermon

That's why I sing to you.

2 Thessalonians, chapter 1. By the way, just to remind you, your deacons will be contacting you during this month to just check and see if there's anything that we as leadership can be in prayer for you for, so be anticipating their contact. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1. Paul and Silas and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you're enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result, you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. God is just.

He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief. I could stop there, couldn't I? And give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction

and shame. They will be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day that he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you that our God may count you worthy of his calling and that by his power, he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified, glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Fathers, we come into your word. Give us understanding, we pray, and then apply it. It's in Jesus' name that we ask. Amen and amen. I was praying about an illustration for this section, and the Lord reminded me of something

that I did in a high school physics class, and I think they still do something similar, but we were divided into teams and given a box of toothpicks, and we had to build a box, and we had to build a bridge out of those toothpicks, and it was a structure that was determined more or less, there was a minimum size, both of length and height, that this bridge could be, but its design was left totally up to the team, to each team of students, and we had about six weeks to put it together, and then they, at the end of the six weeks, we'd all bring our bridges in, and there was this little machine that was a, it was just a compressive machine, and you'd put, it had a base, and you'd lay your structure on it, and they'd put a top board or a top piece on it,

and then they'd begin just wrenching down pressure onto this, and the object, of course, was to see how long your bridge could sustain the pressure. Now, toothpicks in high school students can come up with some pretty strange designs, and we had several that were really amazing, really unique structures, and some of them were really ingenious, but the greatest of the bridges was the one that would withstand the most pressure, was the one that endured the most pressure in that area of testing. That persevered the longest, really, was considered the greatest bridge. And really, when you come to think about it, we went to Florida a few years ago, and in several of the states there, and specifically once we got into Florida,

coming around the northern peninsula part there, there's lots of bridges that you cross, and one in particular that you went way up to get onto it. And frankly, at that time, I didn't care what the thing looked like. I just wanted to make sure we were going to get across it, you know, that it, the test at that time wasn't how cute the bridge was, it was whether or not it was going to support the weight. It was how well it held up under pressure.

And really, that's how everything in life is measured, if you stop and think about it. What makes a good marriage? I mean, there are some beautiful people who enter into marriage. Over all the years that I've been a pastor and performed marriages and gone to different weddings, I've seen a lot of beautiful weddings. I've seen beautiful people. I mean, the girl's just tremendous-looking hair,

elegant, and the guy just, you know, real strong-looking, chiseled features and all that, beautiful gowns and tuxes and flowers and all of that. But in the end, that doesn't make a marriage. What makes a great marriage is the endurance of that marriage through time under pressure. What makes a great quarterback? A lot of you are going, who cares, you know? Just the fact that a guy is 6'5

and can see over the defensive backs to make passes, just the fact that a guy could throw a ball 60 or 70 yards in the air, that doesn't make a good quarterback. What makes a good quarterback is the ability to stand in the pocket as the pocket begins to collapse and he doesn't move out of that pocket. He just plants and he looks and he finds his receiver and he's got a 350-pound lineman coming at him and he knows in his mind as soon as he releases the ball, he's going to be mashed on the ground. But he stands in there and he throws it.

And he's able to do that down the field and in under two minutes take his team down the field and over and over and over, stand in a pocket and get smashed and stand in a pocket and get smashed. Who can endure under pressure. That's what makes a good quarterback. That's really, again, anything in life. I was listening to Chuck Missler's tape in this section of Thessalonians, his commentary.

And Chuck Missler is a graduate of the Naval Academy. And he said that, you know, they talked about before, what makes a good sailor? And what makes a good sailor is his ability to perform in the midst of the worst possible conditions. A good sailor, a good captain of a vessel is one, not one who just is a captain of a vessel and he has good employer-employee relationship.

But he's able in the midst of a hurricane, in the midst of gale force winds and sea squalls with waves that are 50 feet above the sides of the boat, able to handle that boat and keep the crew in line in the midst of all of those pressures. That's a good captain. That's a good sailor. He shared that in the Naval Academy, our understanding of that really didn't come to full focus until World War II.

Prior to World War II, the U.S. Navy did its maneuverings in good weather. If the weather was bad, our ships were in port. If the weather was good, we were out on maneuvers. But during World War II, we found that the Japanese didn't do the same thing that the United States Navy did. That when the weather was sunny and good, the Japanese Navy was in port. But when the weather was bad

and there were bad sea squalls promised, the Japanese Navy was out practicing and maneuvering. And it got to the point where the U.S. intelligence, even though they couldn't see them, they got to the point where they knew, if you wanted to find the Japanese Navy, look for a storm because they'd be in the midst of that maneuvering. And really that kind of an idea, that idea of greatness is developed under pressure is true of us as Christians.

It's true of our faith. We often pray, God, give me more faith. And really what God's intentions are is to prove the faith that you have. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But it's the testing of your faith, James says, that brings about perseverance. It's the testing of your faith that brings about perseverance and endurance. And as we come to 2 Thessalonians,

things have really gone from bad to worse here in Thessalonica since Paul's first letter. And I don't know about you, but I can really relate to this study in Thessalonians because it seems like it was written for today, and it really was. That's the beauty of God's Word. It's written to where it applies to today. Paul had, as you know from our study in 1 Thessalonians,

only been there for about three weeks and was forced to leave Thessalonica. He has since sent Silas and Timothy back to Thessalonica with his first epistle. And they have since returned from there with news as far as how the church in Thessalonica is doing and with, evidently, a letter from them expressing some real deep concern that they had. About this time is when the Roman Empire began to take a stronger stand against the Christians.

The Christians were becoming more and more vulnerable. They were showing up everywhere, even in Caesar's own household, as we understand from some of Paul's other epistles that he had opportunity to share with those in Caesar's household. And it was becoming a real thorn in the side of Rome. And so Caesar ordered that his image be set up in every major city within the Roman Empire and that the people were regularly ordered to come and to bow down and worship before this image and to acknowledge Caesar as God, Caesar as ultimate authority.

The obvious idea being the separation between those who were supporting Caesar and the Christians. And we see in that just a brief glimpse of what it's going to be like during the Great Tribulation. Same kind of idea with the beast and the mark of the beast and the separation. And obviously those that didn't worship Caesar were condemned and killed. And so the crucifixion of Christians

at this particular time as we come to the study of 2 Thessalonians is increasing. And throughout the empire, and so the Thessalonians are kind of discouraged and kind of upset and kind of questioning. They're wondering what in the world's going on. The persecutions have increased. The intensity of the persecution has increased. And because of this and because of what they'd already understood,

they were beginning to think that the day of the Lord had come and that they were in the midst of the Great Tribulation. To top it off or to add fuel to that fire, they had received a letter supposedly from Paul, a forgery, in which Paul had, or at least the disciples had said that very thing, that the day of the Lord had come and that they were in the midst of the Great Tribulation. Look down at chapter 2 here for just a second. Concerning the coming of our Lord, verse 1, Jesus Christ, and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report, or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

And so Paul in writing this epistle, this second epistle, is writing to answer basically that letter, that forgery that had gone out. He was writing to answer those who were concerned because the persecutions had increased to such a great extent. He was writing to assure them, number one, that the day of the Lord indeed had not come. Why were they so upset?

Because they had believed what he'd said before about the fact that Jesus was coming to snatch out the believers before the day of the Lord. That's what he had taught them. That's what he'd written them in 1 Thessalonians, his first letter to them. And so he writes this epistle to reaffirm that. Yes, that indeed is the fact. And I don't want you to be unsettled

about these things that are happening because the day of the Lord can only come when he who is hindering has been removed. And we'll see that as we get to chapter 2. The day of the Lord is only going to come when the church is removed, just as righteous Lot was removed from Sodom before God brought judgment upon it. But also, to encourage them that the persecutions were profitable.

The persecutions were profitable. That the suffering that they were enduring had a purpose and was not just arbitrary, was not coming from a spiteful God, was not coming just inadvertently or haphazardly or by chance, but that it was by design and for a purpose. And so 2 Thessalonians is a letter of encouragement, reaffirming the truth of the rapture of the church before the tribulation and encouraging them to hang in there because the sufferings had a purpose. And so chapter 1 really in 2 Thessalonians here is a sharing of three encouragements by Paul, three specific encouragements that Paul is sharing with his suffering friends in Thessalonica.

And I borrowed this from Warren Wiersbe because it's such a tremendous outline, such a tremendous statement of this chapter. But first of all, he starts off with the encouragement of praise, the encouragement of praise in the first four verses. Paul begins verse 3 by saying, we ought always to thank God for you, praising God, and we'll get to that in just a minute, the encouragement of praise. Then in verses 5 through 10, he shares with them the encouragement of promise, the encouragement of promise.

He says, verse 5, all this is evident that God's judgment is right. The promises of God are right and you can be encouraged by the promises of God and we'll look at that. And then thirdly, he shares the encouragement of prayer, verses 11 and 12, the encouragement of prayer. With this in mind, verse 11, we constantly pray for you. And so we'll see these three encouragements

as we study chapter 1. Now we're only going to get through the first one today, the encouragement of praise, the encouragement of praise. Each one of these is so heavy, it just bears our examination. Let's look at the first four verses. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you

from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you brothers and rightly so because your faith is growing more and more. And the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. And therefore among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith and all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. Now, the first thing I want you to notice in this epistle

is who this letter is to. It's to the church of the Thessalonians. But where does Paul say that church is? I mean, you say, it's in Thessalonica. That's why it's the church of the Thessalonians. Paul didn't say that. And I don't think it's just a trivial incidental thing to look at how Paul addresses them. He addresses them to the church of Thessalonia in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, why does he say that? Is that some just Christian salutation like, you know, God bless, peace, greetings? I don't think so. Right from the beginning, Paul is wanting that church and us as part of the church to see where our true residence is. You are Calvary Chapel in Arkansas City, Kansas. But the important thing is that you are in God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The geographical setting is really immaterial. The fact that this is Calvary Chapel of Arkansas City is really immaterial. Because when things get tight and the persecutions really intensify, who knows if we'll have this facility? Who knows if we'll also have this facility? Who knows if we'll all be together in this same geographic vicinity? So the thing of importance,

the thing to hold on to is not the affiliation with Calvary Chapel of Arkansas City, Kansas, but the fact that this fellowship is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That means there's nothing going to separate us, number one. Not persecutions, not the sword, not the trials of life. Whatever happens, nothing's going to separate us in our relationships with each other and specifically in our relationship with the Lord and with the love of God.

Nothing will separate us from that. And in the midst of persecution, that's one thing you need to remember. And that's why Paul's starting off with this church that way because that's the one thing they needed to remember. Because at any moment, they were facing possible execution or possible disruption from their home. Maybe they'd have to move somewhere else.

And what about this community that had been formed in Jesus Christ and that was experiencing all these wonderful blessings? What might happen to that? It was really immaterial because they were in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all. And knowing that, we can be wherever, geographically, God wants us to be. Buildings don't matter. Communities really don't matter.

It's where God wants us because we're in Him. And so Paul begins with the foundation of this church. And he says, verse three, we ought always to thank God for you brothers. And this is really where he opens up this area of the encouragement of praise that we'll look at in these four verses. But the first thing I want you to notice is the words the Greek word

for ought always there or I can't remember what it is in King James. But it simply means it's a word that means we are bound. We are bound to do this. We owe this to you as a debt. Paul is saying this is not an option. I mean, it's not just hi there, you know, we're praying for you guys. I use that a lot. And I don't mean to. I try to become more convicted of saying something like that

unless I'm really praying for you guys. You know, we'll pray for you. Don't say it unless you mean it. Don't say it unless you mean it. Don't say it unless you stop right there and pray when you said you're going to pray for him. So Paul is just not inadvertently saying, boy, we ought to always thank God for you. He's saying we're indebted and we were bound.

We have to do this. We're always bound because of an indebtedness as such because of what God's doing for you. We just have to thank him. It's not an option. We just have to thank God. And so with us, God is doing a marvelous work in his church and in this segment of his church here in Arc City. And when we look when you take time to look around, when you take time

to look outside of your own comfort zone and look around and see the lives of the individuals here and you take time to find out about what's going on in each of the individual lives here and you find out what trials and persecutions and things that the individuals here are going through and have gone through, you are bound. You just have to thank God. God, how wonderful you are. How great it is to see you moving in the lives of these people.

And that's what Paul wanted them to see. And in the midst of persecution and trials, he wants us to see that he is moving. And the only way you're going to do that is in the midst of the trial, you begin to praise him. Not focus on the trial, but you just begin praising God. And really, Paul is putting into practice here in this first part of chapter 1 his own admonition

to this church back in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18, where he says, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Paul is exampling to them what he meant by that. Yes, you're in the midst of persecutions. Yes, these things are happening. Yes, it's happening to me too, this place and jail and all of this stuff. Praise God!

He just begins to praise the Lord. Praising God with thanksgiving. Listen, and this is important. Praise and thanksgiving change attitudes. Praise and thanksgiving change attitudes. Well, what about the circumstances? Well, often the circumstances won't change, but let me tell you, if you change attitudes, the circumstances have changed. I mean, what you had perceived,

what your attitude was towards a certain thing before, when you begin to praise God and your attitude changes, the circumstances have changed. Really, if you're honest. Let me show you this. Hold your finger here and go back with me to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. You're familiar with the story, I know, but I want to read it

to you for my benefit. Acts chapter 16. Start with verse 23. Verse 23 of Acts 16. After Paul and Silas had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, they put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. And about midnight, now notice this, Paul and Silas

were praying and singing hymns to God. Now, we talked about this some last week. When they were put in the Philippian jail, when they were flogged, they were beat severely. And when they were put in this jail, they were human just like you and me. And although it's not recorded because it says about midnight, I'm assuming, and maybe it's major conjecture on my part,

but it helps me to think that they would put in this jail their feet put in stocks, their hands, their arms put in chains, bleeding from that flogging, the pain of it there. I know how I'd feel even as a Christian. I have been unjustly treated. I know how I feel just being cut off on the highway or somebody's shooting around the corner in Dillon's parking lot.

You're coming in waiting for a parking place and somebody comes in and pulls in the parking lot. And I'm a Christian and I know how I feel. I've been unjustly treated, unfairly treated. How about for something you didn't do and put in a prison for something you didn't do? Your attitude is not going to be praise God from whom all blessings right off the bat.

Neither was his. Neither was Silas's. Paul's and Silas's. You have that initial flesh that's going, why? Just like Steve was saying, why did this happen? Words shouldn't be in here. Plus you got the other prisoners. There's other prisoners around. Now I've taken a lot of guys to jail and I've taken a lot of guys to jail in the middle of the night and you go in

and you bring these guys in and the other guys in jail are, I mean, they're taunting, you know. They are teasing these guys. They are saying all kinds of foul and vulgar and explicit kind of things to these new fish, these new guys coming in. It's not a nice place to be. And so you got Paul and Silas sitting there all beat up and probably being taunted and ridiculed

and heckled and condemned by these other prisoners. Finally, one of them, and I imagine, you know, probably Paul, right? I thought it was Silas but it really doesn't make any difference. They start praising God. They were praying and singing hymns to God. Now notice this. And the other prisoners were listening to them. So they began to praise God in the midst

of their circumstances. They, you know, I don't know that they sat there and went through the same thing that all the other, we're innocent and all the other guys going, yeah, throw away, you know. We got a good attorney though you can get. But they began to pray and praise God singing hymns to God and all the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was

at once all the prison doors flew open and everybody's chains came off. Now again, going back just to what I know. I know what would happen at the Cali County Jail. I don't care what happens if it's an earthquake or what and all the doors fly open and all the chains come off. You're going to have the best time of a fire drill escape that you've ever had in any kind of practice.

These guys are going to be gone before the little sweep hand makes half a turn around the clock. They're going to be going to be the last one that's going to start the fire and you can just hear the, and they went to a Lord and they started to say, I need to go and I need to go and I need to go and I need to get out of this and I need to go and I need to get out and I need to get out and I need to get out and I'm going to be able to smooth down the mess and make it easier for this little mess. And now I do to be saved? You see, that's just not normal. The circumstances there are just not normal. What

changed the circumstances? Praise. Paul and Silas just began to praise God. They just began to pray and sing hymns. They just began to not focus on their circumstances, but just praise God. And the other prisoners watched in awe. They couldn't believe that. They'd seen the grumbling and complaining. They expected them to do that, but they stopped. And they were just praising God and

praying. And all of a sudden this event happened and the doors fly open and the chains fall off. Man, these guys weren't going to move. They didn't know what was going to happen next. If I move, lightning bolts may come flashing through the sky and I'm greased. Man, I'm just going to sit here. And the jailer is so moved because he would never have seen any circumstance

like that. So much so that he asked to be saved. How can I be saved? Praise changes attitudes. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Satan seeks to defeat Christians by weakening their faith through suffering. Satan seeks to weaken Christians, defeat them by weakening their faith through suffering. Now Satan has to appeal to God to bring suffering into our lives. You find this

throughout scripture, but especially if you read through Job. I really, I don't want to say challenge you, but I really encourage you to read through the book of Job sometime this year. And people are going, oh man, you read through Job, you're going to get all those trials. Just like, you know, if I, if I pray for patience, God's going to give me all these trials to try and bring about patience. And so we think I'm not going to pray for patience. Like stupidly,

God's not going to bring trials. And if I don't pray for patience, or if I don't read the book of Job, then all this suffering is going to bring me all these trials. And so we think, not going to happen to me. Duh. That's superstition. That's from the world. That's superstition from the world. That's not from scripture. Why did God give us Job? Because he knew that trials were definitely going to come. He has planned, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through

10, he has planned a path for you to walk. And he already knows what trials are going to come. He already knows before Satan comes to him and appeals to him to do something, he already knows what that's going to be. He knows the intensity and the strength that he's going to allow that to happen. He's already made that plan for your life. Job is an opportunity for us to read so that when it

does happen to us, we'll know how to respond like Job did. God gives us his word so that we can have a handle on things before it happens. That's one of the blessings about the word of God. He says in Isaiah, I'm going to tell you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you'll know that I'm God because I told you they were going to happen before they happen. That's why

it's stupid for us to neglect his word, especially when we see the things going on in life the way they're going. But throughout God's word, we see that the enemy does not just arbitrarily get to do things to us. He doesn't do things to us. He doesn't do things to us. He doesn't do things to us. He doesn't just think, well, I'm going to make you do this or cause you to do that or throw this

at you. He has to go before God and appeal to God to be able to touch you, to do anything to you. And God measures the extent to what he can do. This far, no further. This much, not anymore. So the things that happen to us suffering-wise come measured through the fingers of God as if you'd take sand off the beach and you just kind of open your fingers and let the sand fall through

your fingers. That's the amount of suffering and trials that come to us. God is holding the bulk of them away from us. God is holding the bulk of them away from us. God is holding the bulk of them away from us. These are measured trials, measured coming to us through the hands of God in order to, with God's purpose in mind, is to strengthen you and I. That's why he allows the

suffering is to strengthen us. He literally uses Satan's devices against him. God takes the things that Satan means for evil and he turns them into good. And Joseph understood that in the book of Genesis. And that's why at the end of Genesis, Joseph is standing there talking to his brothers and his brothers still can't believe that Joseph would forgive them.

But Joseph's come to the point of understanding, hey, you and really the enemy behind all that you did when you beat me up and threw me in the cistern and sold me to that caravan going to Egypt, you intended it for evil, but God had already intended it for good. And Joseph could stand there and honestly forgive his brothers because he had come to understand that. God uses the things that Satan seeks to use to weaken us and destroy us. God will take those things and use those things for his purpose. God will take those things and use those things for his purpose.

To strengthen us. And so God does that with suffering. But now the thing is in the midst of suffering. Now we know that now. And it's good for us to hear these things again, even though we know it, because in the midst of suffering, we tend either to forget it or we really don't care. Just get this suffering off. You know, it's like, I don't care. God means this for good. I don't care.

Don't tell me that, you know, just get me out of this. It's at that time that praise needs to be part of our weaponry. It's at that time that we need to just be able to focus our attention on the Lord and just pray. And so God does that. And so God does that. And so God does that. And so God prays him just to begin to thank him and to praise him for his love for us. That's what Paul

and Silas do in that jail in Philippi. That's what Job did when in the midst of his trials, he hears bang, your flocks have all been taken by bandits. Bang, your crops are all destroyed and your camels and your donkeys have all been taken by bandits. Bang, there's been an earthquake and a great wind has come through at the house of your children and all of them have been killed.

And Job tears his clothes and puts dust and ashes on his head. And he says, naked came I into this world and naked I shall return. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Let his name be praised. Job praised God in the midst of that. Paul shows us four blessings here that he praises God for in the lives of these Thessalonians. And really for each of us here, we could see this and praise God

for in the midst of our sufferings. Look at verse three. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more. Your faith is growing more and more. Paul praises God that their faith was growing. I've shared this before, but I'll share it again because I really like the quote. A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be

trusted. A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. We can sit here this morning and say, I have faith in God. I have faith that God is in control of all things. I have faith that God is sovereign. Oh, sovereign Lord, we sing about that. We praise you. You are Lord. You are master. You are ruler of all things. I can say that and believe that in my heart. But unless that's tested, it is no faith

at all. And that's what James is getting at. James was Jesus' half-brother. And when you remember that, the intensity of what he writes becomes more profound. Because during the earthly life of Jesus, James ridiculed that fact. James contested that fact. James ridiculed that fact. James contested the fact that Jesus was the Son of God. He was his brother, for goodness sakes. He grew up

with him. Jesus is out healing people and teaching. And we read in the Gospels that his mother and his brothers came to take him home because they said, he's beside himself. He's nutsoid. He's gotten fruitcake-ies. This guy thinks he's the Son of God. He's my brother. And it wasn't until we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Paul tells us that when Jesus rose from the dead, one of the people

that he appeared to individually was James, his brother. At that time, to restore James, just as he restored Peter, because of James' denial. And now James writes this epistle, and he's writing it from gut level. He's writing it from somebody who's been there, who's ridiculed, who grew up with him and condemned him, and yet saw the forgiveness and saw the power. And James is saying, hey, you can talk it if you want to, but unless you walk

it, it don't mean squat. I've been there. I condemned it. I heard it. I grew up with it. But I found out that it's real. You tell me you have faith, James says. I'll show you my faith by my works. He's not replacing faith with works. He's saying unless works are a part of that, unless it's proved out in your life, your faith is worth nothing. It's dead being alone,

he said. So a faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted. And God wants you and I to step off in deep water and trust him. But too often we want to stay by the side of the pool because it's safe. You may feel comfortable right now. The intensity of the trials is not as bad as it's been before. And you want to just stay there. And God wants you to stay there. And you want to

stay there. And God's saying, no, we got deep water out here. I want you to swim. And you're saying, I can't swim. And God knows you can swim. He just wants you to get out there and trust him. I've shared this before, too. When I was eight years old, I was in the Cub Scouts. And part of our activities was swim class, was to learn how to swim. And I joined this Cub Scout pack about six

months or about six weeks after they had already formed, after they'd already started. So they'd been going to, we went to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital out in Denver and used their pool to swim. And we, out and used the pool at Fitzsimmons Hospital to swim. And I came to join this class. And they'd already been going about six weeks. And so they took me down to the, to the least advanced, to the,

to the, as beginning as the class as they could get to that was already six weeks old. And they had me join that class. And the instructor said, come on down into the water. And I did. I edged down the side of the pool, you know, down off. And I hung on to the side of the pool. And these guys were already to the point, I mean, even after six times being there, where they would, you know,

he'd back them out into the water a ways and then have them just kind of lay over and face float into the side. You just kind of push off and float into the side. Not me, brother. You're not going to make me do that. Finally, he talked and talked and talked. And he said, come on, I'll take your hand. And so I held on to him like, you know, if I let go of you, I'd

die. And he backed me off about 10 feet away from the side of the pool. And he showed me how all these kids were doing that. And he, and he said, now just, just put your face in the water, put your hands out and you'll float and just push off and float to the side of the pool. And so I put my hands out and my face down on the water and I walked to the side of the pool. And he said, no.

And he went to put my legs up and out. And I thought I was going to die. I mean, I thrashed and fought like a man who was drowning and I never went back. It was the one and only time I went. I was in high school, 17 years old, put off taking swimming at my high school until the least possible time I could do it. And it was going to be my last year in school. And my family went on vacation in between my junior and senior

year. And we were at a motel in the, in the Southwest. And I went down to the pool to swim. There's nobody around the pool. I was just by myself, came down to the pool, walked through the gate and walked over to this end. I didn't look to see there were depth markers, but they were on the sides, inside the pool. And I didn't really look. I just noticed there were two holes on this

side of the pool that I figured my thinking is that's where the diving board has been. They've just taken it out for some reason. So I walked down towards the other end of the pool, not really noticing that if I'd gotten down to the other end of the pool, there were two holes down at this end of the pool too. So it meant absolutely nothing. But I walked down to this end of the pool and I

just jumped off into nine feet of water. I had to swim or die. I mean, it was that there was nobody around. And I made it to the side of the pool. And from that point on, I could swim. Now the Lord knew I could swim. I didn't know it, but he had to prove it. And that's the way you and I are with our faith. God has already given you the faith. Faith comes from hearing a message about Jesus Christ. Romans 10, 17. You're hearing that. No matter what stage

of your Christian walk you're in, you're hearing a message about Jesus Christ, which God says that's where faith comes from. So you have faith. He's also given you a measure of faith to believe. Every man has been given that measure of faith according to his word. You have the faith. He has to prove that faith to you so that it becomes stronger in your life. And so he wants us to step

out into deep water. Faith is like a muscle and it has to be exercised to grow. Now listen, an easy life, an easy life will lead to a shallow faith. I was listening to Stanley on TV today before I came to church. And he was talking about asking for God's blessings and what that means. And it was just a blessing to me that, I mean, just tied right into what we're talking about here as far

as faith is concerned. Because usually when we pray for God's blessings, we're praying for God's, you know, God's blessings. And it's just a blessing to me that, I mean, it's just a blessing to me that, you know, God's blessings. And it's just a blessing to me that, I mean, it's just a blessing to me that, bless this circumstance. What we're asking is that nothing go wrong, you know. God bless, you know,

pour your blessings out upon me. Bless me, Lord. Bless me with your glory. Now when we say that, what are we thinking? I know what I'm thinking. Let me win the lottery. You know, let me be left and inherit blessings. Is that what you think about? Is all the good stuff? What's God's word talk about as far as his blessings? He runs us through the furnace to refine us so that we'll

become pure as gold. So I'm saying, bless me, God. And God says, I'm going to. And you're crying out, God, what are you doing? And he says, I'm blessing you. An easy life will lead to a shallow faith. Hebrews chapter 11 is called the Faith Hall of Fame. You go down through chapter 11 and you read several names at first, Noah and all of them, Abraham and Isaac and Moses and all

that. But then you get down towards the end of chapter 11 and you don't read any names anymore. But you see mothers who gave up their children and those who were thrust through with a spear and those who were sawn asunder at the altar and those who were, who were hung on crossroads, and those who were burned. No names anymore. Just those esteemed by God as, as great in God's

eyes. Blessings who did not receive the blessing. They didn't get to see Jesus come back yet. They didn't get to participate in the rapture yet, but they suffered for his sake. They're the, they're the blessed ones. Paul prayed in, in first Thessalonians chapter three, verse 10, that the Thessalonians faith might be perfected, that it might be built up. And it has been. And

he's now thanking God for that answer prayer. He's praising God for what God has done. He's praising God that their faith is increasing. And we could do that right here with each one of us. Praise God, Lord, you are increasing my faith. Second thing he praises God for is in the last, is in the second half of verse three. He says, your faith is growing more and more and the love

every one of you has for each other is increasing. So their faith was increasing and their love was increasing. Now, again, this is an answer to Paul's prayer in chapter three of first Thessalonians chapter three, verse 12. Paul prayed that their love, they were already loving and Paul prayed that they would continue to love more and more, that their love would increase. And it has

been increasing. So again, this is an answer to Paul's prayer, but it's an area where it's showing that it's the result of suffering. When we enter those times of suffering and trial, we are brought to the end of ourselves and it causes us to reach out to God. And among each other, what that causes us to do is tear off the mat. I mean, I get to the point that I'm hurting so bad that I don't care

what you think of me. I'm hurting. And you'll know if I'm, if I'm to that end in suffering and I'm reaching out to the Lord. And it's an opportunity then for the body to reach out and minister in that, in that area of suffering. But also as, as we grow as Christians, as we mature in our walk, we learn that when I am at that point of suffering and the, and I keep the masks off, it makes me look out because I know at

that same time, there's others in this fellowship that are suffering too. So Lord, in the midst of my suffering, let me love them with your love. Let me help them with the love that you've given me. And so it's an opportunity in suffering to reach up to God for his strength and then to look out and to reach out and to minister to those who are hurting. And really, when you do, you find out

that they're really hurting more than you're hurting. And it really eases or lessens the pain of your suffering. When you minister God's love to somebody else who's also suffering while you're suffering, it's a tremendous opportunity. So don't neglect it. Henry David Thoreau wrote once that a city is something is simply a gathering of lonely people, a lot of lonely people together. Don't

let that be true in the church. He wrote that there are those in the next apartment. And it's true. In the next apartment or whatever block you live in, there's those in the house next to you who are suffering great pain, going through very intense suffering. And you'll never know. You don't know. Don't let that be true in the body of Christ. There are those around you who are suffering

greatly. Look out. See where God would have you minister. And so they were growing not only in their faith because of suffering, but their love was growing as a result of their faith growing as a result of the suffering that they were. Going through. Third, look at verse four. Verse four, therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith and all the persecutions and trials you're enduring.

Their perseverance was increasing. Their perseverance was increasing. Now, as much as I'd really like to think that your endurance, your maturity level is going to come from me standing up here speaking for 45 minutes. I'm foolish to think that. A lot of people think that. A lot of people who aspire to be a pastor think, oh, I'd love to be able to stand up here and bring out pearls of wisdom to instruct people. Let me tell you, it don't work

that way. You can labor and labor and think you've got something and you offer it to the Lord and you present it and it's like it went because that's God's job. And all of the preaching in the world is not going to increase your perseverance. All of the reading in the world is not going to increase your perseverance. The only thing that is is suffering and trials. That's the only thing that the only thing that

will strengthen you is to be put in the fire by God and made stronger. Now, Paul shows us what they were persevering through in that verse, your perseverance and faith and all the persecutions and trials you're enduring. Persecutions literally are attacks from without, attacks from without for outside of them. So they range more in the. Physical realm. Persecution, physical attacks. When you are vilified by somebody, you're you're you

know, I mean, they went as far as being beat up and flogged and thrown into prisons and stuff. But so far with us, it would be like you take a stand. You're you're outspokenly a Christian at work or school or wherever. And you are ridiculed for that. You are mocked for that. You're vilified. You're name called. You're condemned because of that. Maybe you take a stand and your stand could

possibly cost you your job. That's a that's a persecution. You're either a relationship as a dating relationship. You're either a boy or a girl and your opposite is pressuring you for sexual favor and you're taking a stand and saying no. And there's that risk of losing that relationship because of that. That's a persecution. The trial, on the other hand, is an

area where it means literally pressures or afflictions which result from these attacks. That's the mental side of it. That's the emotional trial. There was a time when I worked for a department store and and. My buyer, the boss, wanted us. It was time for inventory and he wanted us to go through and change all of the stickers on this old inventory that we had and put new stickers on to make it look like it was new inventory. And I said, no, I'm not going to do that.

And from him telling us that that's what we're going to do. And then I went home and shared it with Ann and we prayed and it was the trial. The persecution came as I told him I wasn't going to do it. But the trial came before I told him when we were thinking if I tell him I'd probably lose my job. And that weighs on you. Those are the trials. But it's such a

You're physically persecuted, which weighs on you mentally, and actually brings you to a point of thinking I can't take this anymore. I'm either going to have a nervous breakdown. Or I'm going to be on a tall building with a gun. You're backed into a corner with no seeming way of escaping. And Paul says he's praising God because of their perseverance through those things.

They're trusting God in the midst of all of that. Sound like anything you're going through?

God's given you the faith to trust him. God will bring you through it. And he'll cause you to persevere if you just trust him through this time. God never wastes suffering. I like that quote. I found that. God never wastes suffering. He doesn't sprinkle suffering out on you and go, well, I'll just scrape off the excess here and put it in a doggy bag and we'll use it later.

He uses exactly what's necessary for the purposes that he's intended for your life. He never wastes suffering. And at those times, if we complain and we rebel, we're only going to continue on in immaturity and ineffectiveness and impatience. When the sufferings come, rather than just jumping right into complaining, now, I grant you, like Paul and Silas, there'll be a little bit.

You know, we'll possibly start off. The more we mature, I think, the shorter those times are. But the answer to that is praise just for what God's doing. God, you're measuring this. This is for me. And I thank you. You've got a plan. You've got a purpose. I can't see it yet, but you've got a plan. And like Job said, though they slay me yet, well, I praise you.

Fourth thing. And the last thing that Paul praises God for is their testimony. Their testimony. Their testimony was helping others. Look at look at verse four. Therefore, among God's churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith and all the persecutions and trials. We're enduring. We boast. We're boasting about you. We're boasting about how you are enduring, how your faith is growing,

how your love is growing, how you're persevering through this. We boast about you to the other people that we come in contact with. Your sufferings and my sufferings, the things we persevere through are helping others. They're helping others to grow, to hang in there. Listen, I've heard a lot of a lot of sermons, a lot of preaching in my time, and I frankly don't remember any of them.

But I remember the lives of those who persevered through some real struggles. I. We got to meet Dave Reaver when he was here and talk to him, the guy who had half of his face blown off with a phosphorus grenade in the Vietnam War. And I don't remember a whole lot of the things he said, but I remember his life. I remember the joy that was there. I remember how he persevered through those circumstances.

That's an encouragement to me. We we and I got to see Corrie Ten Boom when she was in Denver. And I don't remember a lot about what she said, but I remember her life going through the concentration camp and losing her family and all the things that she endured. I remember her perseverance. And the glow that she had and the gentleness that she had on her face.

And she encouraged us to just persevere. I don't remember a lot of the things that she shared, but I remember that she endured and she persevered. And that's an encouragement to me. I've read Jim Elliott's book and I've read Elizabeth Elliott's accounts of how her husband, Jim and four other guys were killed by the Indians down in Ecuador back in the 50s. And I could only imagine her anguish over that.

And yet I read where she went down to that tribe and entered into that tribe. The same ones that had killed her husband. A year or two before. And she led them to Christ. How she persevered through that time. I don't remember a whole lot about what was said, but I remember the example of her perseverance. And listen, that's what people remember about you and me.

They won't remember a whole lot about what we said. You are going to forget everything that I've said within seven minutes after you walk out the door today. But hopefully I can persevere through the things I'm going through. And you'll see that and you'll remember that. And it will be an example to you the next time you hit a rocky road. You see, that's what the Thessalonians were seeing in Paul.

That's what they'd seen in him through the floggings and through everything he was enduring. They would memorize some of the things he probably shared. But the thing that hit them the most was his perseverance and faithfulness. Really, in verses three and four, that word faith can be translated faithfulness. You reveal your faithful. You, excuse me. You reveal your faith in God by your faithfulness of life to God.

Your faith in God is revealed by your faithfulness, your obedience to him. Just like James said. And these Thessalonians were faithful to God and faithful to one another in spite of their sufferings, in spite of their trials that they endured. And Paul seeks to encourage us in that and praises God for that. And there's an encouragement in that kind of praise.

And that's what I want us to have as we start this new year. You're going to have trials. Yes, I think they're going to increase in intensity. I don't think they're ever going to decrease again until the Lord takes us in. So plan for it. Realize it. Realize that God is measuring you. And he's going to increase your faith. And he's going to increase your love.

And he's going to increase your faith. And he's going to increase your perseverance. And he's going to increase your testimony to others through that. And you'll be glad. When he catches us out, you're going to stand before him. And you're going to go, great and mighty and wise are your judgments, O Lord.

It's time to go to the Lord's table. We're going to be bringing the kids in in just a minute to find you. We haven't gone to the tables for a while. So maybe some of you are here and you've never been here when we've gone to the tables for communion. We may have just passed it all the times you've been here. But back to the back, the tables are set up with the elements of communion.

And we're going to play some praise songs. And just kind of... Dim the lights. And where you're sitting, you can just have a time of prayer with your family. If you came alone, you can just have some time with the Lord. And then whenever you feel like you want to, you can get up with your family and go and take the elements. And just have communion right there together as family.

Or come back to a pew and sit and pray together and partake of the elements together. Husbands, fathers, you're the priests of your family. Would you take the lead in your family and do that? Moms, if you're here and you're the single mom, you take the lead where that's concerned. If you're here just as a single individual, as a student, or a child, you can go and just partake of that by yourself with the Lord.

Knowing that God loves you, His love for you is not diminished. There's nothing you can do that will diminish God's love. Matter of fact, His love for you is so strong, He has planned the path for you to walk in. And this year is already prepared before Him for you. And He knows the things you're going to suffer and the things He's going to bring you through, the fires that He's going to put you through.

But it's only to purify you, to refine you, to bring you to that image of Christ. Thank Him for that as you go to the tables. Reaffirm your commitment fresh to Him. Share and just anticipate the things that God is bringing to you, the blessings of God. Yes, they're going to hurt, some of them, but you're going to thank Him. Father, we thank You for this morning, this time we can be together,

this time in Your Word, this time at Your table. Help us to see that everything You're doing in our lives has this fourfold purpose, to increase our faith, to increase our love for one another, to increase our perseverance, and to cause our testimony to be great for Your glory. And in Jesus' name. We pray. Amen. As soon as you partake, you're free to leave.

You can sit here if you want to and pray or whatever, but God bless you.