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Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org
Now We Live
Good morning Cornerstone! How are we all today?
See, I got a big old smile response from my brother Gary. Good to see you brother. But it's awesome to be with every single one.
We're gathered together in the Lord's presence. We're here to hear, to be taught, to worship, to celebrate the love, the majesty of God.
It says in Psalm 82, my soul longs, yes faints, for the courts of the
Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Do we, as we get ready to come to church, as we're getting our coats on and climbing in the car, getting the kids ready, can we say my soul longs, yes faints, for the courts of the
Lord. Are we excited to be here because this is, this is something the world can never experience out of the falsehoods and the lies that are told.
Pastor Jeff's going to talk to us all about that today. I got some announcements for you. First of all, today is the sixth in two weeks.
Please put it on your calendar. Please make it an important time for you. We're going to have a special congregation after second service.
So in two weeks, we're going to ask you to stick around. We're talking about what God is doing in and through our church.
Then right now we're talking about our facility. How does God want us to be proceeding?
Not what do we see, but how is God leading us? And right now we're specifically looking at a potential piece of land.
We've brought it up in January. We're going to have another meeting in two weeks to continue the dialogue.
Please be in prayer for that. A few years ago, Pastor Jeff's first year here back in 2016, we had a board retreat and Pastor Jeff laid out a vision for the next four years, how
God would work and how he will be working through us. And one of them was growth. And that was defined in three ways.
One, our growth in relationship with the Father. The second was koinonia growth, one with another in fellowship.
And then the third is, as God would lead, that we would increase in numbers, that his word would be spread wide throughout our community.
I want to just emphasize this depth of growth with the Lord, because our church is seeing some amazing things going on, opportunities for you to be part of.
There are things going on like apologetics classes that are being taught, like women's precept classes going deep into the word.
And actually in a month there's going to be a two -day preaching camp. We need to teach this guy how to preach.
There's going to be a professor from Dallas Theological Seminary coming in the first day teaching us about hermeneutics.
These are some heavy, heavyweight things. The meat of the God's word is being offered and is being taken and it's an exciting thing.
So let me go on with these announcements. First of all, this coming Saturday, and I believe
I was told on our app it says the following Saturday, the 19th, but it's this Saturday, the 12th is our
Love Life ministry. It's our prayer walk for the individuals that have been created in the image and likeness of God, have not yet seen the light of day.
They're in the womb and are in danger of never seeing the light of day. And so we gather together with a prayer walk, going before the throne of God, interceding on behalf of these young women and young men, on behalf of these yet unborn children.
Join with us, it's from nine to ten, out by the Women's Center on King's Highway. Men are having a prayer breakfast.
Okay, this is the koinonia growing one with another. Guys get up at 530, get here at six o 'clock, we have a prayer breakfast fellowship.
It's a great time to grow. We get about a dozen guys showing up. Let's overfill that room so we have to come out here.
But six o 'clock tomorrow. And then we have the apologetics class for the men starts tomorrow.
If apologetics sounds like a big scary word to you, then come. If apologetics sounds like a good word, then come.
Because we're going to learn how to understand the depths, the truths of scriptures, so that we can make an apology.
We can make a proclamation of truth when the world has lies. So come, come be prepared for that guys.
It's Mondays at seven o 'clock here in the church. At the same time, the women are having a precepts study, going deep into the word, drawing the meaning out of the word together.
And so the women also meet on Monday nights. They're meeting at 630.
Now talking about our growth with the Lord and how he's doing it, let's think about our growth one another in koinonia.
And one of the great places to experience that is in our small group ministry.
It's where we gather together in smaller groups. Some are in homes, some are in the church building.
But it's anywhere from eight to twelve, maybe fifteen people gathering together, sharing their life together, praying with each other, studying the word of God together.
So be part of our small group. We have them, they meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We have three groups.
We're about to launch a fourth. If you have not been part of it, see myself, see Pastor Jeff, one of the elders.
Go on to CornerstoneSJ and look up our small group ministry. And I also would encourage you strongly to come back at six o 'clock on Sunday nights for our prayer meeting.
It's a time that we specifically pray for the needs of the church, for the ministries of the church, for our missionaries, for all sorts of things.
I strongly encourage you to come back for that. There is going to be a special announcement next week, but I'm going to give you a promo on it.
We have a Saints Pen Pal ministry coming up. Now many of you have heard of the
Saints ministry. A lot of times it's sports teams, a basketball team, a softball team, a volleyball team.
This is something that you can do if you don't feel like you're ready to jump up and spike the ball over the volleyball net.
This is one -on -one correspondence, and it's a man corresponding with a man, a woman corresponding with a woman, who are actually in prison.
And you can encourage them. You can give them spiritual truths. Jill's going to give us more details on that next
Sunday. Let's go to prayer. Lord, as we come to you, we come desiring, desiring your spirit, desiring your grace.
We need that even to be in worship with you and to be in communion with you. We come beseeching,
Lord, decisions that are being made for those unborn humans who are in danger for this love life ministry.
We pray, Father, that this prayer walk, this time of walk, will have impact on those lives, those decisions that are being made.
For our church, as we grow in you, as we seek you, as we seek to be sanctified and growing with you, eventually being glorified with you, the spiritual growth of our church, whether it's in teaching, whether it's in prayer, whether it's in fellowship in small groups, whether it's individuals spending time with you,
Lord, for the spiritual growth of our church. And then we lift our missionaries who are carrying the lampstand into other countries, into other lands.
Lord, this word needs to be heard throughout all of the world. Lift up our missionaries. Give them your strength, health.
Give them your encouragement. Give them the very, very words to say. This morning,
Lord, as we are going to continue in worship and in song, and then as Pastor Jeff comes, 1
Thessalonians 3, how should we live? How should we live in the midst of what the world lies about?
How should we live? Speak through him and encourage us. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Before we go to song, I've asked Pastor Jeff to come for a special prayer. We received an email from a woman named
Pamela whose nephew, Ryan, was burned in a very bad accident here in Mount Laurel a couple weeks ago.
So Ryan has third -degree burns all over his body, and he was flown to Texas for a burn unit surgeon, and the report has been good as far as the surgeries go.
She asked me to pray, and I have an 11 -year -old boy, so my heart just goes out to this little guy,
Ryan. So I said, you know what we're going to do? Our church is going to start praying for him until he's okay, and we're going to just come together on Sunday mornings from time to time.
So right now, I would just like for the whole church, just to begin in the Spirit, you just call out to the healing, and also that the
Lord would guard his heart. Let's pray. So Father God, we pray right now in the name of Jesus for this dear boy,
Ryan. Lord, we pray for his physical healing, that his body would recover from these burns.
Lord, we pray for all the skin grafts and everything that happens, that you would restore to him his body,
Lord God, that you would touch and heal him in Jesus' name. We also pray, Lord, that you would keep his little heart at perfect peace.
We pray that you would take away his anxiety, his fear, Lord God, that in Jesus' name, his heart would be kept at perfect peace before you.
And Lord, we pray for his spiritual life, that he would learn to trust in you in the midst of this storm, in the midst of this trial,
Lord God, that his heart would turn to the living God, that you would bless him with faith, Lord, that you would grant faith to this dear boy and to his family as well.
We pray that you would protect them and guard their hearts, comfort them. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. Will you stand with me? Let's sing this morning to our
Jesus, the Son of God. Never known of thorns to mock your name.
Forgiveness fell upon your face.
A love like this the world has never known.
On the altar of our praise, let there be no higher name.
Jesus, Son of God. You laid down your perfect life.
You are the sacrifice. Jesus, Son of God.
You are Jesus, Son of God.
You took our sin. You bore our shame.
You rose to life. You defeated the grave.
On the altar of our praise, let there be no higher name. Jesus, Son of God. You laid down your perfect life. You are the sacrifice. Jesus, Son of God. You took our sin. You bore our shame.
You are Jesus, Son of God. Be lifted higher than all you've overcome.
Your name be louder than any other song.
Your power that can come against your love.
The cross was enough. The cross was enough.
There is no power that can come against your love.
Lord, we come before you, before your throne, and lift our voices to you in song.
You are the greatest, the name above all names. You are the strong and mighty tower.
As morning dawns and evenings fade, you inspire our songs, our songs of praise.
Let those rise above the earth and touch your heart this morning. We glorify your name.
As morning dawns and evening fades, you inspire songs of praise that rise from earth to touch your heart and glorify your name, your name.
He's a strong and mighty tower, your name.
He's a shelter like no other, your name. Let the nation sing it louder, because nothing has the power to save but your name.
Jesus, in your name we pray.
Come and fill our hearts today. Lord, give us strength to live for you and glorify your name, your name.
He's a strong and mighty tower, your name. He's a shelter like no other, your name.
All the nations sing it louder, because nothing has the power to save but your name.
We come before you, Lord, your name. Let's sing that again.
Your name is a strong and mighty tower, your name.
Your name, Lord Jesus. You may be seated.
I was considering this week what the apostles might have been thinking about on Thursday morning.
Now they're about to have the Passover meal, they're about to celebrate with their master, with Jesus, but what were they thinking about?
I mean, this last six days for these guys has been amazing, if you think about it.
By the way, if you don't have one of these, raise your hands, we have some guys that are ready to hand them out.
So Jesus says, go into the town and ask this guy, say that your master has need for a donkey.
A donkey? Now, if a victorious king were coming into a town, they'd be riding on a steed.
A donkey was more of a sign of humility. Go get a donkey, and they did. And then they entered
Jerusalem, Hosanna, Hosanna, and they heard the crowds just cheering for the entry of Jesus.
Then they would have seen him go into the temple with the money changes and their tables and the rage, and he overturns the tables and says, you have made my father's house a den of thieves, and they would have witnessed all of this.
And then they're told, go make a room ready, and now they're ready to go in. What were they thinking as they were getting ready to go into the room?
And it made me stop and think to myself, what am I thinking about on Sunday morning?
We know it's the first Sunday, and we know the first Sunday is our opportunity, first Sunday of the month, to come before the
Lord at his table. The thoughts in our minds should be there that I have disappointed,
I have sinned, I have no right to be there whatsoever. The thoughts could be
Jesus. The thoughts could be that even before the founding of the earth, but long before Satan deceived
Adam and Eve and the sin and the fall, the plan was that the sun was going to come.
And the sun was going to come, and this was going to be a horrific moment as he gets arrested, and as he goes on trial, and as he's beaten, and he's scourged, and his crown of thorns is placed on his head, and he walks with the cross up his shoulders up the
Via Dolorosa on the way to Golgotha, and he stumbles, and he falls, and he gets up there, and they drive nails into his hands and his feet, and they put him in the most horrific death that man knew at that time.
That's that where your thoughts are. Are your thoughts that, praise God, that love, that even though I'm such an undeserving person, that God would send his son, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son.
Is that where your thoughts go? And so that as we're here this morning, are your thoughts in pain?
I would have to think there has to be thoughts of pain, thinking of Christ on that cross, but at the same time, thoughts of relief.
Thoughts of thanksgiving. Because of that cross, those of us who call on the name of Jesus have a hope eternal, and our sins are washed white as snow and separated as far as the east is from the west.
Is that where your thoughts go this morning as we come in? We shouldn't just come because it's
Sunday, and we're coming because it's just Sunday. Think about this first Sunday, and have your thoughts in preparation.
Psalm 70 verse 4, may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Now we're here this morning, knowing that we're going to hear the word of God, seeking to be in fellowship with God, and specifically to remember in these elements, seeking, rejoicing, and being glad in him.
May those who love your salvation say evermore, God is great. So we're going to share in this, because we're told to share in this, in remembrance of him.
In reality, that we need this sacrifice. This is not his body. This is not his blood.
These are elements that make us remember what actually took place that Friday.
When on the cross, he said, my God, my
God, why have thou forsaken me? You see, my sins, and each one of us can say this, my sins were on the sinless.
And so God allowed that sacrifice to happen. We remember this. We celebrate this.
But we need to come with hearts that are in surrender to him, not carelessly. It says, as Paul writes to the letter in Corinthians in chapter 11, wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the
Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
And so with that exhortation, let's examine ourselves in prayer before we partake.
Let's pray. Lord, my sins of selfishness, my sins of wanting my own way and being unkind to my wife, to that driver in the other car.
Maybe there are deeper, deeper sins, but Lord, right now we confess them to you. We seek after you.
We can only say thank you as the Holy Spirit leads us and as your grace enables us coming to you in that faith.
Lord, we remember in Jesus' name. Amen. It's recorded, for I have received of the
Lord that which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me, take, eat. After that, in the same manner, he also took the cup when he had stopped saying, this cup is the
New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, take, drink.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You have died for my sins.
You have paid the penalty. My sins are washed in your blood. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Will you stand with me as we sing one song before Jeff comes to open up God's word.
This prayer is focusing us, our minds, our hearts to be open to what
God has in store for us. Let's sing together. Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word.
Take your truth, plant it deep in us, shape and fashion us in your likeness that the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory.
Teach us, Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of your purity.
Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail.
Let the truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds.
Help us grasp the heights of your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on your promises.
And by faith we'll walk as you walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory.
Open my eyes,
Lord, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain.
The Lord is my portion. I will keep your words. Let those who fear you turn to me that they may know your testimonies.
Lord, we are opening your word this morning. And we pray for ourselves,
God, that we would hear what you say, that you would change us from the inside out through the preaching of your word.
Lord, I pray that I would get out of the way, that this preacher would not be a stumbling block to any, that your word would be set before us, and that you would minister in our midst.
We're calling upon the name of Jesus for the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The Christians of Canada are now criminals.
The Bill C -4 made it illegal for Christians or anyone to say that God changes people and converts them to the image of Christ, delivering them from sexual perversions.
Now, when the Bill C -4 passed in Canada, the authorities did not arrest any preachers, although on January 16th, hundreds of Canadian preachers proclaimed the truth of God's word regarding sexuality.
They were not arrested because the goal of C -4 was to send a chilling effect over the churches.
It was an intimidation tactic and a card in their back pocket that they may one day pull out to arrest those who stand against the cultural orthodoxy.
But in the Bill C -4, which outlaws conversion therapy or helping people to overcome their homosexual desires and things of that nature, there was a direct shot at the
Bible and at you and I. It says that the myth, mark those words, the myth and stereotype that heterosexuality, cisgender, and gender expressions that conform to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
These ideologies, according to C -4, are a myth. It's a myth, according to C -4, to believe that God made them male and female, and these things are immutable.
Of course, we also regard the worldview of Canada.
Interestingly, there was not one vote against C -4 when it passed, not even the conservatives.
It was a unanimous bill. It is a shame. But we also regard their worldview as a myth.
It is a myth to say that a man can become a woman or that a man can give birth.
It is clearly a myth. So you have competing worldviews that run up against one another.
And in order to maintain a worldview that's contra the reality as God created it, there are two things that must be suppressed.
Really, the beginning of all things and the end of all things. It is required of someone who is rejecting
God as the author to suppress knowledge of the truth.
All people are aware that there is a God. We're told from Romans 1, it is evident through the things that have been made.
There is a God with eternal power and divine nature. All that one needs to do is to consider the fact that they exist.
I think, therefore I am, said Descartes. He knows that he exists because he thinks.
He knows that there is matter, which means all of this had to come from somewhere. There is innate in the human being, the knowledge that there is a
God. That knowledge is suppressed in those who deny God.
But secondly, people must suppress that there is purpose in life.
It is innate to man to know that we are here for a reason, that we are more than just stardust.
We're more than just a clump of cells. We have purpose.
We have meaning. Life has a reason. Those who reject
God must suppress that knowledge because in a world where there is only matter and a big bang brought everything into existence and you're waiting on the big crunch where everything will once again collapse upon itself, there is no meaning.
Everything is meaningless because nothing will amount to anything. And so, unbelievers must suppress this knowledge.
They must chase that thought from their mind. Why am I here? What is the meaning of life?
They must chase that thought out of their minds and they do so by fanciful imagination.
One of the more recent expressions of this fanciful imagination is called transhumanism.
Everybody knows that we're going to die and this world will collapse in upon itself.
It's not eternal. And so, there is a new movement in the culture called transhumanism.
Raise your hand if you've even heard of transhumanism. Some of you have read about this. The term transhumanism was coined by Aldous Huxley's brother,
Julian. Aldous Huxley, of course, wrote The Brave New World, that famous dystopian novel.
But his brother, Julian, coined the term transhumanism. And it is, by his definition, when man transcends man.
Man changing humanity's very nature, their very core identity, to become something superhuman.
There are scientists who believe religiously in such a thing. In fact, the World Transhumanist Association, no members of that here, right?
The WTA. They seek to fundamentally transform the human condition.
Now, when someone talks about fundamentally transforming anything, the alarm bell should go off.
But here they seek that the current human form does not represent the end of our development, but a comparatively early phase.
Technological developments will eliminate aging and create enhancement of human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.
The goal of the transhumanist is to eliminate aging, to live forever.
They seek the longevity escape velocity, which is when upgrades to the human gene and person will add more than one year of life each year, meaning that a person could potentially live forever.
But they see this development as a combination of human intelligence and artificial intelligence.
They're looking for a moment that they call singularity. Singularity is that moment when humans create artificial intelligence, which itself can create an intelligence higher than humanity.
The goal would be to merge the human person with that artificial intelligence.
So have you ever wondered why Elon Musk, the richest man in the history of the world, is experimenting with monkeys?
They have created a device where a monkey can play video games with its mind.
Ping pong balls on the screen, it can move and react to it using nothing but its thoughts.
They implant in the brain a device which reads the synapses of the brain as it fires and interacts with this artificial intelligence.
What is Elon Musk up to? Transhumanism. It's also why he explores space to look for something transcendent beyond life.
You see, apart from the Bible, the very foundation of life, people in vain search for something transcendent, something bigger, some way to live forever, to escape the reality that all of us are dying.
What is the meaning of life? Paul will tell us that in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.
Turn with me. The book of 1 Thessalonians is an amazing help to the
Christian. It is a book about our sanctification. It is a book to move us away from vain pursuits in life to something transcendent, something to live for.
And so you see Paul encouraging faith, hope, and love in chapter 1.
He speaks of those who are elect, those who have come to faith, and you're to know that you are elect because the word came to you in power and you received that word by faith.
In chapter 2, Paul moves on to begin to discuss his own ministry and how his ministry was not in vain because he preached the word of God, not the word of man.
And he shared not only the word but also his life with them. He encourages them to work as unto the
Lord. And he teaches them about what it means to really be alive.
Last week we saw in chapter 3 verse 1 to 5 that he was very concerned for the
Thessalonians that they would be established in faith, hope, and love. And so what did he do? He sent
Timothy back to them to encourage them in the faith. Timothy then returns to Paul with a report of how the
Thessalonians are doing. And that's where we pick up now in verse 6. First Thessalonians, today we will study verses 6 through 13.
Let's read this together. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you.
For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith.
For now we live if you are standing fast in the
Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our
God. As we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our
God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
The title of my sermon today comes from verse 8. Now we live.
What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose? Why does
Paul here in the text say now we live? Where is he getting this sense of purpose, this passion for living, this reason to exist?
We discover that in the text. Let's look at verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news.
Now notice that that word good news in the Greek is euangelion from which we get evangel or gospel.
This is the only place in the New Testament where the word euangelion gospel good news does not refer to the message of Jesus Christ for our salvation.
So Paul could have used any word to communicate his point here.
He could have said report or information. I heard from Timothy.
No, he says Timothy brought the gospel, the good news of your faith and love.
Why would Paul use such a strong word to describe what's happening here?
It's that important to him. His heart is completely given to this cause.
His heart is wound up in what he's saying. He is describing a report he gets from Timothy as good news.
It is so good. It is the best news. It is unbelievable news.
So much so that in verse 8 he'll say now we live. It makes me alive. Now why would
Paul invest so much meaning in this report?
Timothy has been sent to Thessalonica and he's come back and he said they continue in the faith, they continue in love and it's such good news to Paul that he says now
I live. Strong language, important language.
The way to understand this is to recognize what happened in Thessalonica.
Paul had been there for only three weeks to maybe as long as two months. This is a fledgling church.
Picture it like a little plant that you're nursing in your backyard. This baby plant had just begun to grow and then he was driven out and the baby plant was left behind.
But see it's not just a plant. Paul regards this church, this group of baby
Christians as his own children. Now the other churches are of equal concern to Paul but something is different about Thessalonica.
In the case of the other churches he's already established elders and deacons in that place.
On his missionary journeys he would repeat, he would backtrack his original steps, go back to the churches and in each place establish elders and deacons to oversee the church.
To make sure that they're cared for with an under shepherd who will guard their hearts and encourage them and train them in righteousness.
Not so Thessalonica. It's like a parent who receives a phone call in the middle of the night that your child is in the emergency room.
Until you make it to that hospital nothing else matters. And this parental metaphor was present in chapter two.
Paul says, like a nursing mother I cared for you. And then he says, like a father
I exhorted you and encouraged you. And then when he was taken away from them he uses the language of being orphaned.
When I was orphaned for you, from you, torn away from you. The idea here is that Paul sees this church not merely as, you know, his job as pastor.
He sees them as his children and they're in danger.
They're not yet established in the faith. King David had a son that he loved dearly.
The child that was born from adultery with Bathsheba. This child was yet just days old and David loved him and he prayed for him.
But God in judgment sent Nathan to tell him that this child would die because he was conceived in adultery.
David would be judged in this way. And when the child fell ill, David began to pray for his child.
And he begged God to heal my boy. And he fasted and he refused to eat anything and he put dust on his head and dressed in sackcloth and ashes and he cried to God, heal my child, heal my son.
But the child grew increasingly sick and then he died. The little boy died.
And David saw his attendants talking to the side and they were saying to themselves, look how
David grieved while the child yet lived. If David finds out he's dead, he might do something drastic.
David might kill himself. So they're afraid to tell him. But David hears them talking and he could tell there's a commotion and he said, is the child dead?
And they said yes. And in that moment, David rose and washed his face and put on clean clothes and he went to the temple and he worshiped.
And then he began to eat. And his attendants found that behavior very strange.
Why does David now rest? Why does he now have peace?
David explained to them, this child cannot come back to me, but I will go to him.
Here's what it is. David knew that his son was now safe.
His son was now safe with God. David knew the resurrection of the dead, that when the spirit of this boy passed from this earth to heaven, the child was now safe.
David had the heart of a father. Here in First Thessalonians chapter two, verses six to eight,
Paul has a heart of a father to his children. He wants to see them safely through this life to eternity in heaven because nothing else matters.
Everything else in this life is just, we're passing through. Nothing else matters compared to this.
And Paul's very life, his very heart is wound up with this church, that they would have faith and so be with him in heaven.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve transgressed the law of God. They were told not to eat of this one fruit from this one tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They ate and then they fell. In the eating, they fell into sin and death came into the human race.
What was the curse that God put on the man? The curse was that the ground would now bear thorns and thistles.
The work that they had to do was good work, but the curse was that now thorns and thistles would come from the ground and the man would have to work by the sweat of his brow.
So the thorn, the thistle is a symbol of the fall of man. The death is in the world, but when
Jesus came and dwelt among us, did the work on our behalf of living a perfect righteous life, obeying the law of God at every point, having lived a life of righteousness,
Jesus Christ took a crown of thorns.
That is to say, the symbol of the fall, the thorns that come from the ground,
Jesus took as a crown upon his head and in his dying on the cross, wearing the crown of thorns, he took the curse upon his own head.
He bore the wrath of the Father, the wrath of God against sinners into his body on the tree.
He took the curse and he died with the crown of thorns upon his head.
That death that he died paid the penalty of our sin. On the third day, he rose from the dead, conquering death, and he lives forever and is seated at the right hand of God.
And he's coming back. He's going to return for us his church. This is what matters and I will tell you now the meaning of life.
To live is Christ. To die is gain. The meaning of life is
Jesus Christ and him crucified, risen from the dead, seated at the right hand of the Father, coming for his church until he comes.
We are left waiting for him with a purpose. That's why in verse 8,
Paul says, now we live. He's living for Christ and until Christ comes, he has but one ambition, to make
Christ known. And in love, he cares about people. This Thessalonian church that has come to believe in Christ.
This is what matters to him, that they would be established in faith and love. Look at verse 6.
The good news is they have faith and love. John Calvin said that those two words summarize godliness, faith and love.
They're established in faith and now he is alive. Paul lives for this.
Now, in case you're not quite tracking why he said that, look at the next two verses, 9 and 10.
Think about your life. Do you ever slap that alarm clock in the morning and wish you just didn't have to get up out of bed?
Do you ever make it through a day just wondering why you exist?
Does life ever just feel like drudgery? Read with me verses 9 and 10.
This is life. Now we live. He says, for what thanksgiving can we return to God for you?
For all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Here is a man that lives in burning fire. Paul lives in a state of joyful passion.
Notice two things. First, in verse 9, you have this overwhelming sense of gratitude.
The verse is written in the form of a question. What thanksgiving?
Paul is scratching his head, wondering, how can
I even come up with words to say thank you for what I'm feeling right now?
When's the last time you were left speechless? Because your heart was swelling with such gratitude that you couldn't even put words to it.
What thanksgiving can we return to God for you? For all the joy that we feel.
I can't even come up with words to give thanks to God for how much joy
I have because of what I just heard. That's a man who's alive.
The man who's trying to fly to Mars is in search of something he'll never find.
The man who's filled with joy and this gratitude that he can't even express.
Now that man is alive. He's living for something. So the first thing is this overwhelming gratitude that he can't even describe.
What thanksgiving could I possibly give? This is a man on a mission. And so in verse 10, this purpose.
You want to live a life that has purpose, that has meaning? This is where it's found. He says, as we pray most earnestly night and day, he can't wait to get up in the morning.
In fact, he stays up late in the night praying that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.
His desire is to get back to Thessalonica. He also wants to get to Ephesus and Philippi and stay in Athens for a while and go back to Berea and go back to Lystra and Derby and Cyprus and all the churches.
He's burning with passion. He has a purpose in life. Wouldn't you love to live that way?
You can. You're called to it. We're called to it. To live your life for the gathering of Christians in holiness as we wait on his coming.
That's something worth living for. That's what Paul's doing. My grandfather was in World War II.
One night, his uncle in Indiana. Night, it says here, praying earnestly in the night and in the day.
At one o 'clock in the morning, he woke up with this really troubling sense in his heart that Billy was in danger.
So Fred began to pray at one o 'clock in the morning for Billy in the war.
And he prayed from one in the morning until five o 'clock, at which time this peace that passes understanding just came over him.
He just felt this release like it's okay. And he got back in his bed and fell asleep.
Hopefully slept in to catch up on what he lost there. But in the morning, he took out his journal and he recorded that experience.
Do you know that when Bill Wagner, my grandfather, came home from World War II and sat with his uncle,
Fred, they opened their journals together. And Fred said, you need to tell me what happened on such and such a night.
Because I woke up in the middle of the night and I prayed for you for four hours with the most harrowing sense of danger.
You were in danger. And Bill Wagner looked in his journey, in his journal, and discovered that that night was the battle of the bulge.
That night was the most danger that Bill Wagner had ever been in, in the war. Bullets flying on his right and left.
He was a runner. He would take a message from one commander to another. And he ran the front line that night with his friends falling on either side of him.
Psalm 91, do not fear the arrow that flies by day or the pestilence that stalks at night.
That night in Indiana, as Bill Wagner in Europe was running the battle line,
Fred was alive. He was praying. There was a purpose in his life.
And God somehow, I don't understand prayer, but he somehow used prayer as an instrument to rescue his nephew and bring him back together.
This is what's happening in the Thessalonian story. They're a vulnerable church under persecution.
They're about to get stomped out. But Paul is praying and praying. When he receives word, he's overwhelmed with gratitude.
Every great man of God, when asked the question at the end of their life, what would you have done differently?
Tends to answer the same way. Billy Graham, D .L. Moody, many others, when asked the question, what would you do differently?
Almost to a man, they will say, I would pray more. I would have prayed more.
Here in verse 10, Paul was praying earnestly night and day. You know what your purpose is?
It is to pray unceasingly for those who you love to hold on to the faith.
And for those who are not yet firmly established in faith and love, that you would intercede for them night and day, calling on the name of the
Lord. And then that you would minister to them to supply what is lacking in their faith.
Verse 10. Finally, in verses 11 to 13, that they would be established in holiness.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the
Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you.
Paul's prayer for them is that they would love one another. Sound like Jesus from John 17? His high priestly prayer that they would be one as he is one with his
Father and the Spirit. Paul's desire for the church is that they would abound in love.
And then in verse 13, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our
God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Many people would like to see the church become unified by pretending that differences don't exist.
This is the movement called ecumenism. An ecumenical movement is just to bring all
Christians together and pretend that differences don't exist. The problem is that's looking for unity in unity.
But what is the basis of unity in the church? How will you have a
Christian assembly loving each other and standing together? Our church has been incredibly blessed for many years.
There's not been a spirit of division, the eudaice, syntyche spirit of the book of Philippians of slandering and beating each other up.
There's been a sweet spirit of unity. The elders, the deacons for years have been in lockstep every meeting that we have.
Where does that come from? It comes from truth and holiness.
Look at verse 13. We're established, we unify around truth.
It says so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness without which no one will see the
Lord before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
That's to say the purpose and mission that we exist for one another is to build one another up in our most holy faith.
It's not enough to get someone to pray a prayer and be baptized. That's how we come into faith but the establishment of the church in holiness that our hearts would be blameless until the coming of the
Lord. In closing, Jesus is coming soon. The coming of the
Lord is just around the corner. As you see the signs of the times, transhumanists trying to create a superhuman species, no doubt the mark of the beast will be connected with that.
Transitioning people from one thing to another, a mark without which anybody could buy or sell.
Israel back in the promised land, a great apostasy throughout Europe and much of America and Canada.
You see signs of the times. All of these should tell us that the Lord is coming soon.
So how do we occupy until his coming? What do we live for until Jesus comes for the church?
To live is Christ, to die is gain. He's conquered death.
We don't need to fear death. We live for the building up of the church, loving one another, established in holiness.
This is a purpose worth living for. You guys familiar with Jim Elliott, the missionary?
He left the comforts of the United States of America and went down to Ecuador preaching the gospel.
He was speared to death by the Alca Indians, but before dying, he wrote these words.
Remember these. You should write these down. Live by them. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Let me repeat that. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
You want to know what this life is all about, the meaning of life, to live as Christ. When you give this life away and you devote all that you have to Christ and his kingdom, you begin to live for it, you will discover what life really is.
Christ said, I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. This is abundant life, a heart overflowing with gratitude, a sense of purpose.
All of this comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Savior has conquered death.
He rose from the dead and he's coming back for us. So in closing, let me read to you the words from Titus chapter 2.
They're in your notes if you want to follow along. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self -controlled upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the words of Paul to the
Thessalonians. We pray that we would hear these words. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the
Lord. We pray that we would find our life in losing it.
He who desires to keep his life will lose it, but the one who loses it for the name of Christ will gain it.
Lord, we pray that we would give our lives away to the building up of one another in holiness.
Pray that you would give each one of us a passion for the gospel, for the good news, that each one of us would have a purpose, a
Bible study that we just have to teach, a ministry.
Give us that burning sense of purpose in life. Father, my heart now goes to those children who have gone prodigal.
There are many here who have children that no longer walk in the truth. John says,
I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth.
Paul says, now I live to know that you stand fast in the
Lord. Lord, we know there are some children who have walked away from the faith and right now we are calling on the name of Jesus that you would bring them back and establish them in love and in faith.
We pray that the prodigals would come home. Bring them home,
Lord, in Jesus' name. Grant them repentance and faith. We pray for our loved ones that are off in the army or removed from us in some other way.
We pray that they would be established in their most holy faith as well. We thank you,
Lord, for your word to us this morning. We pray that we would live by it in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand and sing.
I will trust in you, O Lord. In the silence,
I will wait. I will stand upon your word.
You're my solid rock and my salvation, my steadfast hope that won't be shaken.
My soul will wait, my soul will wait for you.
You're my stronghold and my shield in the midst of every threat.
Though the wicked never yield, they will vanquish like a breath.
Yes, I know the outcome's sure. Evil plans will fail.
In your power, I'm secure. You're my solid rock and my my steadfast hope that won't be shaken.
You're my comfort when I feel forsaken.
My refuge and my sure foundation. My soul will wait, my soul will wait for you.
This is love I can't explain. This is mercy unreserved.
Through your sacrifice so great, I have peace that's unreserved.
For the battle has been won and I fear no shame or loss.
Now the sting of death is gone. Now the sting of death is gone.
You're my solid rock, my solid rock and my salvation, my steadfast hope that won't be shaken.
My soul will wait for you.
My comfort when I feel forsaken. My refuge and my sure foundation.
I will trust in you Lord. Let's pour out our whole hearts to him.
Pouring out our hearts before you.
We will trust in you. Perfect savior, strong defender.
We will trust in you.
Perfect savior, strong defender.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you.
So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our
God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen. Go in peace.