Remain Standing: The Danger of an Unfenced Table

• Standing Strong in Faith 00:26:37 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the theme of chapter 3 as 'standing strong in faith' and contrasts the future hope with the present reality of waiting on earth.
• Strengthening Faith (Sterizo) 00:29:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the Greek word 'sterizo' (strengthen/establish) as the key thought holding the chapter together, linking it to the concept of 'bulking up' faith like steroids.
• Partnerships and Community 00:33:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines the first point of the sermon: that remaining standing requires people or partnerships, illustrated by Paul's sending of Timothy to check on the Thessalonians.
• Paul's Missionary Journey and Timothy's Role 00:34:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines Paul's journey from Athens to Corinth and explains why he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen the believers.
• The Meaning of 'Synergos' and 'Parakaleo' 00:36:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines the Greek words for 'fellow worker' (synergos) and 'encourage' (parakaleo) to explain Timothy's role in supporting the faith of others.
• The Necessity of Community in Trials 00:39:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that believers cannot face trials alone and need the physical presence and encouragement of other Christians to remain steadfast.
• Sacrifice for the Gospel 00:44:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses Paul's sacrifice of leaving Timothy in Athens as an example of giving up personal comfort for the sake of the church and the gospel.
• Church Expansion and Resource Allocation 00:47:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor applies the biblical principle to a current church situation, advocating for sending staff to a new location despite personal loss, framing it as gospel-centered thinking.
• Church Planting and Sacrifice 00:48:20 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that the church must not hoard resources or personnel but should sacrifice for the greater good of the body of Christ by supporting new church plants.
• Gospel-Centered Thinking 00:49:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines gospel-centered thinking as prioritizing the expansion of God's kingdom over personal comfort or local church stability.
• Perspective on Suffering 00:51:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces 'perspective' as a key to remaining standing in the face of persecution, citing Paul's teaching that affliction is expected and destined for believers.
• Expectation of Persecution 00:52:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that opposition and persecution are part of the package for being a believer, referencing biblical texts to show that suffering is anticipated, not surprising.
• Rejection of Health and Wealth Gospel 00:57:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explicitly rejects the health and wealth gospel, stating that the Bible never promises it and that suffering is unavoidable for Christians.
• Faith in God's Character 01:01:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor concludes that the ultimate perspective needed is faith in God's character, promises, and goodness, rather than just a desire for healing or relief from trials.
• Community Support in Suffering 01:02:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that believers need each other to encourage and strengthen one another when facing trials.
• Christ's Affliction and Atonement 01:02:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects the congregation's afflictions to Jesus' suffering, noting He was tempted but did not sin, and suffered for our sins.
• Invitation to Salvation 01:03:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor issues a direct call for those who have not received Christ to do so by faith, receiving Him as a gift of life.
• Christology and the Lord's Supper 01:06:58 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads a confession of faith regarding Jesus' nature and work, linking belief in these truths to the significance of the Lord's Supper.

• Sermon Illustration 00:27:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of the Pioneer Cabin Tree, a giant sequoia that collapsed in California storms due to a hollow core and shallow roots, using it as an analogy for believers who feel hollow and shallow-rooted.
• Sermon Illustration 00:40:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story about a university professor asking students who think they are idiots to stand up; only one student stands, claiming he felt bad seeing the professor stand alone.
• Sermon Illustration 00:47:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his staff member Jay moving to start a new church location in West Oklahoma City, expressing his own sense of loss but affirming the need to sacrifice for the greater good.
• Sermon Illustration 00:48:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his colleague Jay leaving to start a new church, expressing his sense of loss but affirming the necessity of sacrificing for the greater good.
• Sermon Illustration 00:49:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor quotes G.K. Chesterton regarding how life becomes larger when oneself becomes smaller, applying it to the church's willingness to sacrifice.
• Sermon Illustration 00:51:47 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells a story about three men (an artist, a pastor, and a cowboy) looking at the Grand Canyon, illustrating how different perspectives lead to different conclusions about the same reality.
• Sermon Illustration 00:53:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a humorous story about two brothers fighting, where the younger brother claims he hit back before being hit, illustrating the concept of anticipating trouble.
• Sermon Illustration 00:58:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about a man facing financial and family struggles who sees a stonecutter preparing a stone for a cathedral and realizes God is similarly shaping him for glory.
• Sermon Illustration 01:00:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references David Ireland, a man with a crippling neurological disease who wrote 'Letters to an Unborn Child,' illustrating faith in God's goodness despite lack of physical healing.
• Sermon Illustration 01:00:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of a man who, facing the loss of his unborn child due to illness, responded to questions about healing by asking 'Do I really need to be healed?' and expressed faith in God's genuineness rather than a specific outcome.

• Pastoral Charge 00:43:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to immediately reach out via any preferred method to encourage and strengthen fellow believers.
• Pastoral Charge 01:02:52 ▶️ 📄
  > Receive Christ as Savior
• Pastoral Charge 01:03:07 ▶️ 📄
  > Receive Christ by faith as a gift to receive life
• Pastoral Charge 01:08:11 ▶️ 📄
  > Bow heads and prepare hearts for communion

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] Thank you. Great to see you. I want to welcome you to gathered worship here at Faith Bible Church. My name is Jay. I'm one of the pastors here and just want to say that we're excited about gathering here this morning. If you're a guest with us, I just want to say welcome to you and invite you to do something. If this is your first or second time to be in worship here at Faith Bible Church, stop by the Welcome Center. That's the larger desk out in the lobby. We'd love to meet you there, give you some information about Faith Bible Church. If you're looking for a church home, we want to help you out with that as well.
[00:03:34] up to speed with some of the things going on around here. Tonight, we have a great event going on. Starts at five o'clock and then bleeds into our fall worship night, which is tonight at 6.15,
[00:03:46] 6.30, we'll see. I was just talking to Joel about that. But tonight at five is our agape feast. So that will be a potluck supper that we're going to have out here in the east parking lot. So that's
[00:03:57] where we'll enjoy our meal together. It's going to be a beautiful evening, a great time to be able to do that together. We're going to serve here in the East Foyer, but bring something to share
[00:04:06] for that event. Again, that meal starts at five. We'll enjoy some table fellowship together, and then we'll move in here after some time for our worship night. Our worship night is always a really encouraging, edifying time. But tonight, we've been doing these sing devotionals
[00:04:24] now for a month and a half or so as a church body. Tonight, we're going to be recording live a few of those sing devotionals. So it should be a cool time together. I just wanted to also ask
[00:04:35] if any of you have a little bit of margin after the service today, there's going to be some men out here at the East door, moving some tables and chairs out to the East lot so that we can
[00:04:45] host that dinner. So if you've got the ability and the time, I would love to see you help out with that. Also last week, we introduced some information about our extending faith capital campaign. And one of the things I talked about was a prayer guide. So these prayer guides are
[00:04:59] available at the resource desk. We just encourage you to pick one of these up. Use that to guide your daily or weekly prayers, whatever rhythm you have. We'd love to see you incorporate this into it. I think we are bathing and viewing everything we do related to this capital
[00:05:15] campaign as starting and stopping with prayer. We just want to have this whole project immersed in prayer. And so this is the way that we want to direct you in doing that. So grab one
[00:05:25] of these prayer guides. If there's none out there left, hit me up and I'll make sure you get one.
[00:05:30] If you would now stand, greet a few people around you, then I'll call us to worship.
[00:05:33] Remain standing as you make your way back to your chair. Encouraging to see you guys fellowship and greet one another. The call to worship is from Psalm 34. Beginning in verse 18, the psalmist writes, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
[00:06:33] and spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Let's pray. Fathers, we come into this place today. We come in here a delivered people. Some of
[00:06:48] us are brokenhearted. Some of us are feeling crushed. And so we are reminded, Lord, that you are near to us. So near that you sent your son to be with us, to die for us. And we are looking to
[00:07:01] him and him only for salvation today. So God, we ask just by your grace that you would exalt

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:07:10] yourself through our praise. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Who is worthy and who passed every burden upon him. And we want to ask the Lord this morning to give us eyes to see beyond whatever our
[00:11:37] temporary circumstances are to the eternal glory of God. Later in our service, we get to partake in the Lord's Supper together. And as we think about that, we want to set our eyes upon Christ
[00:11:51] who endured the cross for us and who took upon himself our sins for the purpose of looking to the forward and eternal glory of God. So I want you to think about this question. We're going to
[00:12:07] sing this in just a moment. Where would we be without the cross? Where would you be without the cross and as we think about that let's read this passage together from Ephesians 1 that reminds us of the redemption that we have in Christ read this with me in him we have redemption
[00:12:27] through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight let's reflect on the cross together this morning and continue to sing
[00:12:45] His praise.

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:12:47] I'd be without the cross I'd hide with no my guilt and shame Where would I be without the cross

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:13:20] You say You change everything You say We pray together. Well, Father, we do confess

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:23:18] together as Your people that Your glory is our good and it's our only good.
[00:23:22] The only good that we have comes from You.
[00:23:25] That's our greatest good to give you glory.
[00:23:28] Father, we sang those words earlier.
[00:23:30] Where would we be without the cross?
[00:23:32] And we all know the answer.
[00:23:33] We'd be lost and without hope.
[00:23:35] We thank you for our Savior.
[00:23:38] As you tell us in your word, we can't do anything without him.
[00:23:41] So we look to Jesus this morning.
[00:23:43] We look to him for forgiveness.
[00:23:45] We look to him for our marriages, for our families, for strength, for guidance, for our church, for hope.
[00:23:53] Now as we open your word, use it to strengthen our faith, to give us a greater grip on you.
[00:23:59] We ask these things in Jesus' name.
[00:24:02] Amen.
[00:24:05] Well, great to see everybody here this morning.
[00:24:07] Beautiful, gorgeous Lord's Day God's given to us.
[00:24:09] If you're visiting, let me just echo the earlier comments of how glad we are that you're here.
[00:24:15] And pray your time here will be a blessing.
[00:24:18] We'll celebrate the Lord's Supper at the end of the service.
[00:24:20] I hope you got the elements on the way in.
[00:24:22] But if not, there'll be some men who'll come forward before we take the supper and we'll distribute those to you.
[00:24:27] So we can be preparing our hearts this morning to celebrate the Lord's Supper together.
[00:24:32] Before we get into the message this morning, I want to just point you to this deacon's announcement in the bulletin.
[00:24:38] This is our deacon installation.
[00:24:41] We're formalizing our deacon body really here at Faith Bible Church, and it's something we've really needed to do for quite some time.
[00:24:50] And I'm extremely grateful, I know our elders are as well, for the leadership and vision of Dale Harper and Galen Yates.
[00:24:59] If you know those men and see them, you can thank them.
[00:25:02] They really spearheaded this important effort here at our church.
[00:25:06] And we're very grateful to them for that.
[00:25:08] And we want to thank them for all their hard work on this.
[00:25:10] We're also grateful for the willingness of the eight men, this kind of inaugural class of deacons.
[00:25:17] We'll add more deacons, I'm sure, in the future.
[00:25:19] But just for their willingness to step forward and serve our body.
[00:25:23] We vetted each of these men to make sure that they fulfill the requirements, that they meet the qualifications that are outlined in the Bible in 1 Timothy chapter three.
[00:25:34] We've affirmed these men.
[00:25:35] We prayed over them as elders a few weeks ago in an elder meeting.
[00:25:40] And so we want to present them to you this morning.
[00:25:43] And we pray that the Lord will richly bless their service here among us.
[00:25:49] We're continuing our study this morning.
[00:25:51] We're continuing to work our way through 1 Thessalonians.
[00:25:55] If you'll take your Bible and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, we've made it now to the third chapter.
[00:26:02] And if you're with us last week, you'll know that chapter 2 ends with a glorious preview.
[00:26:08] It's a picture of Paul and the Thessalonians standing side by side in the presence of the Lord at his coming, where they will be Paul's crown of rejoicing.
[00:26:19] But when you get to chapter 3, where we'll be this morning, we kind of quickly, suddenly are brought back to earth. The text suddenly shifts from our fabulous future in the presence of the Lord that's presented there at the end of chapter 2, to how we stand on earth while we wait
[00:26:37] for the Lord's coming at the beginning here of chapter 3. Now the theme of chapter 3 is standing strong in faith. So this morning's message is part one of a message I've titled, Please Remain
[00:26:51] standing. Let me read verses 1 to 5 for us. Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and
[00:27:05] God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance
[00:27:22] that we were going to suffer affliction, and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the
[00:27:34] tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain. May the Lord write his eternal word on our hearts this morning. One of my favorite preachers, Bible teachers, is David Jeremiah. And I read one of his books a while back called Life Beyond Amazing. He actually opens the
[00:27:54] book with these words. He says, at two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, January 8th, 2017, a giant fell to the earth, causing the ground to tremble like a palsied hand. One of the best known giant sequoias,
[00:28:08] the pioneer cabin tree collapsed amid California's storms. Pioneer cabin was so named because its hollowed interior was big enough for a home and pointed upward for a thousand years. She was majestic to behold, but her core was gone, her limbs were brittle, her roots were shallow, and
[00:28:29] only a few branches still clung to life. When lashed by wind and water, the big tree tottered and tumbled and shattered on impact. Her millennium was over. Then he says this, many of us are also
[00:28:44] teetering and tottering, never knowing when the next storm will come. We want to be rooted and solid, a testimony to our creator, but we often feel hollow, shallow rooted with no strong core.
[00:28:58] And then he asked this, what if I told you that you can change all of this, that you can weather the storms of life with an inner strength and confidence you've imagined but never felt.
[00:29:11] Well, that's really the thrust of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, remaining standing. Paul is deeply concerned about the young converts in the city of Thessalonica. They face serious challenges.
[00:29:27] They face suffering and affliction. He mentions that in verse 3 and verse 4, verse 7, the afflictions that they're suffering. He mentions the end of verse 5, satanic attack, the tempter who's trying to pull them away from Christ. And at the end of verse 10, he mentions that they have
[00:29:45] shortcomings and deficiencies. He said, we need to complete what's lacking in your faith.
[00:29:51] But really, the key thought that really kind of holds this chapter together is the word strengthen. You'll see it there in verse 2, where he says to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith. Now that's the Greek word sterizo. We obviously get our English word steroid from that
[00:30:09] word. But if you go down to verse 13, the last verse of the chapter, he says, so that he may establish your hearts. That's the same word translated strengthen and then establish.
[00:30:20] But the word means to buttress, to buttress something or to support or to fix firmly.
[00:30:28] And this word, sterizo, brackets and bookends this chapter, which highlights the main message within these bookends.
[00:30:39] And so, again, like I said, we get our word steroids from this word.
[00:30:42] And we all know that many people take steroids to bulk up their bodies, to increase their strength, to increase their muscle mass.
[00:30:53] And Paul wants to bulk up the faith of these new believers so that they can stand firm in the midst of their trials.
[00:31:01] Now, there's a couple of other words in this chapter that kind of underscore this theme.
[00:31:05] If you look in verse eight, he says, now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord.
[00:31:11] Now that's a different word than the word stirizo, but it's still the idea of standing firm.
[00:31:17] And then five times in this chapter, you have the word faith.
[00:31:22] You have it in verse two, verse five, verse 6, verse 7, and in verse 10 as well. So you put these three words together, sterizo, to establish or strengthen, the word stand, and the word faith. And 1 Thessalonians
[00:31:38] 3 is talking about bulking up our faith so that we can remain standing in the face of opposition and trials. Now in the New Testament, when you think about in the New Testament, believers are
[00:31:51] pictured as sitting. Sometimes we're pictured as sitting. We're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And we're often depicted as walking. The Christian life's pictured as a walk.
[00:32:03] Sometimes the Christian life is portrayed as running, as running a race. So we're pictured as sitting, as walking, as running. But the Christian life also involves a lot of standing.
[00:32:17] standing up to tests and trials standing up to troubles and turbulence in life standing up to temptation and in this chapter we see three things that strengthened and empowered the faith of these Thessalonian believers to stand three things that gave them a second wind in life
[00:32:38] that energized them to take another step in in God's will in an evil fallen world that opposed them. So in this chapter, the Holy Spirit prescribes what we might call three spiritual steroids to give us strength in the face of the headwinds of our culture so that we can remain
[00:33:01] standing. So here's our outline this morning. And really the next couple of weeks, we'll be looking at this. We'll take the first two points this morning and the third one next week. But to remain standing, we need people, or you could also use a synonym for that. We need partnerships.
[00:33:18] We need perspective and we need prayer. So we'll look at these first two points here this morning.
[00:33:26] So the first key to remain standing as people are partnerships. Now we need to just kind of remember, get fixed in our mind again. And we've talked about this a few times, but kind of the
[00:33:36] background of Paul's relationship to the Thessalonians. It begins back in Acts chapter 17. Paul and his second missionary journey comes there with Silas and with Timothy. The church is founded. Paul and Silas and Timothy are run out of town, persecuted by some Jews who were there.
[00:33:58] And they go on down to the next town, which is called Berea, the next city down on the Via Ignatia. They get down to Berea and some Jews from Thessalonica come to Berea and stir up trouble
[00:34:10] there as well. And so Acts 17 tells us they took Paul over to the seacoast and sent him on down to Athens. Now, we don't know if he went by sea or over land, but he goes down to Athens and he's
[00:34:22] there by himself. When he left for Athens, he gave word for Silas and Timothy to join him down in Athens as soon as they were able to do that. So they come down and they join Paul down in the city
[00:34:36] of Athens while he's there. So again, not all of us know where these places are. So Paul's second missionary journey starts in Philippi, goes to Thessalonica, goes to Berea, leaves Silas and Timothy there, goes down to Athens by himself, and then they join him there in Athens. But Paul,
[00:34:57] when he's there in Athens, he can't stand to not find out what's happening with the believers at Thessalonica. So notice in chapter three and verse one of 1 Thessalonians, Paul says, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. And then
[00:35:16] down in verse five, for this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I sent you to find out about your faith. The Phillips translation translates verse 1 as Paul says, when it became intolerable.
[00:35:29] So it was intolerable for Paul. He's at the breaking point. Verse 5, the Phillips translation translates, when the suspense was unbearable. So Paul, when he couldn't stand it any longer, he sends Timothy back up to Thessalonica to find out what's happening. This is a map a little bit
[00:35:47] clear. They go from Thessalonica to Berea. Paul goes to Athens. Silas and Timothy join him there.
[00:35:54] He sends Timothy back to Thessalonica. In the meantime, Paul makes his way on over to Corinth.
[00:36:00] He sets up his headquarters there for his second missionary journey. He's there for a year and a half. But eventually Timothy comes down to Corinth and gives Paul the news that the believers there are standing strong and that they're doing well. And Paul breathes a deep sigh of relief
[00:36:17] when he finds out that these believers there are doing well. But the main thing I just want us to see here, it's a simple point, but I think it's one that's critical in our spiritual lives,
[00:36:29] is the first thing that Paul did to support and encourage these believers and to strengthen them was to send Timothy to them.
[00:36:39] He sent him to stabilize and support them.
[00:36:42] He calls Timothy in verse two, God's fellow worker.
[00:36:47] He calls him his brother, but he calls him God's fellow worker.
[00:36:51] That word worker there to work is the word synergos.
[00:36:54] We get our word synergy from that.
[00:36:57] He was one who worked in synergy with God.
[00:36:59] It's a term you hear a lot in business nowadays, you know, about synergy.
[00:37:02] but if I like this he's God's fellow worker he was God's employee he's in God's employment he lived under the lordship of Christ and Timothy is sent by Paul to buttress and support the faith
[00:37:20] of these believers he says in verse 3 he's my fellow worker in the gospel of Christ I sent him there to strengthen you and then he says and to encourage you as to your faith the word
[00:37:32] encouraged there is, you've probably heard the Greek word before, paraklete or parakaleo. It's used of the Holy Spirit. It's a word that means to call or to come alongside someone. You know, the Holy Spirit's been called, you know, God alongside us. But Paul sends Timothy there to
[00:37:52] come alongside these believers to kind of be the ministry of the Holy Spirit to them in human flesh. And so Timothy inspired and encouraged and strengthened them. Then notice verse three, he says, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. The word disturbed there
[00:38:15] is a Greek word that originally referred to a dog wagging its tail back and forth.
[00:38:20] So Paul uses this word here. It came to mean to be disturbed or to be agitated or unsettled, kind of like a tail going back and forth. And so Paul here knows that trials can be unsettling.
[00:38:36] And all of us know that in life. When we're first hit with some trial or turbulence in our life, the first thing that happens to us oftentimes is we're unsettled. It can shake us up.
[00:38:50] And Paul says, I don't want you all to be shaken and disturbed and agitated by these things. So I sent Timothy to stand with you. But the Christian life requires the strengthening presence of other
[00:39:03] Christians. We need each other for strength and encouragement. Nothing can replace godly personal involvement and personal presence. Look, other people are key for us to remain standing in life in the midst of trials. We weren't made to be alone. And life and ministry is a team sport and
[00:39:25] we have to connect with one another at a deep level. Remember back in 1 Samuel 23 that David and Jonathan had a close friendship? Jonathan's father Saul was trying to kill David, that they were close friends. There's a beautiful little statement there in 1 Samuel 23 verse 16. It says,
[00:39:46] and Jonathan encouraged David in God. He just encouraged David and gave him a greater grip on God. And you know, we have to have others who stand with us in the trials of life. Story I read
[00:40:03] about a university professor. He comes into the lecture hall one day and says, everybody who thinks they're an idiot, please stand up. Well, for a few moments, the entire lecture hall remains completely silent. Everybody stays seated. But finally, a lone student in the back slowly stands
[00:40:20] up. The professor looks at him and smiles and asks, so do you really think you're an idiot?
[00:40:26] The student replies, well, no, professor, I just felt bad seeing you remain standing all by yourself. Now, whether you're an idiot or not, no one likes to be standing by themselves in the troubles of life. It's not easy to stand. We need other people to stand with us. We need to stand
[00:40:47] with others, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, an arm in arm. We need to do life together with God's people. We need the enriching, encouraging presence of other Christians.
[00:41:01] And all of us as believers, we ought to be like a freshening breeze in the lives of others, because all of us as Christians, we achieve more and we enjoy more and we can endure more
[00:41:12] with other people. Now, I want to make it clear here in 1 Thessalonians 3, the afflictions that Paul is talking about that the Thessalonians were experiencing was primarily persecution.
[00:41:28] There were Jews there who'd been persecuting Paul and Silas and Timothy. When they were there, they left, and these believers were suffering persecution. I want to talk about that a little bit more in a few moments, but I just want to make this point because most of us here are not
[00:41:44] suffering persecution, or if we are, it's more kind of a low-grade, kind of a soft persecution of just being vilified or maybe mocked sometime or slandered.
[00:41:54] But I want to make the point here because I think it applies to our lives is whatever kind of affliction we're enduring, it may be persecution.
[00:42:02] Certainly for many believers in our world, they're suffering that direct, hard persecution.
[00:42:09] But whether it's persecution or it's just the trials and struggles of life, financial setbacks or health issues or struggles with our family or whatever it might be.
[00:42:22] The same principles we're looking at here this morning that apply to these believers who are being persecuted, the same principles apply to us and our afflictions as well.
[00:42:32] So I think we can kind of broaden the application here to any affliction we suffer.
[00:42:38] But again, the key point here is the first thing that Paul did to help and to strengthen them was to send them a man, a person.
[00:42:46] and so we need to ask ourselves who can I be there for to help stand and who is there that can be there for me to help me stand in the trials and the difficulties of life because
[00:42:59] they're coming they're unavoidable for us in this fallen world can you make a phone call or a text or an email now I know depending on what age you are you probably have your preference about
[00:43:10] how you like to communicate, but phone call, text, email, lunch, a visit to encourage and strengthen one another. Who are you encouraging? And who is there who's encouraging you in your spiritual life? Let me make another application here before we move on to the next point.
[00:43:30] There in chapter three, verse one, notice what Paul says. Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. Now that word there, left behind, is a strong word. It's used of abandoning, somebody abandoning or deserting somebody.
[00:43:51] It's used of someone leaving a loved one at death. In other words, a sense of desolation and bereavement at the death of a loved one. And so we see Paul's sacrifice here because sending Timothy came at a cost. Paul was left in Athens all alone. Remember when Paul got to Athens,
[00:44:14] it says his spirit was provoked within him because the city was just filled with idols.
[00:44:20] And Paul was willing to give up Timothy at a loss to himself. I mean, he did it for the strengthening and the encouraging of these Thessalonian believers. Paul was giving up a brother, and Paul sent to them the person that was most valuable to him at that time in his life.
[00:44:39] He gives up his own comfort and joy for others. And you know, sometimes we can hold on to other people in a way that's not beneficial to others. We have to be willing to give up a people or
[00:44:55] personnel and provision for the greater good of the body of Christ. You know, dividing and conquering really is our strength as believers. We have to be willing to sacrifice what we want for the sake of the gospel. And if you're gospel-driven and Christ-centered, that's what
[00:45:14] you do. Read a couple of quotes here that I ran across. Bring this out well, I think. One writer says this, Paul sent Timothy for the purpose of cheering them on. He was willing to adjust his
[00:45:27] plans to accomplish God's plans. That's what believers do. They recognize that God is working in a thousand ways they cannot see. Yet you and I often become so wrapped up in our world, we miss out on what God is doing in his world. We might justify keeping our Timothy by our side
[00:45:46] by claiming how much more we could accomplish together. Yet underlying this justification might very well be our reluctance to walk the streets alone.
[00:45:57] Setting aside our own comforts and ambition is often easier said than done, but Paul had the bigger picture in mind.
[00:46:04] He was able to balance his desire to advance the gospel with his understanding that the work of the gospel was much bigger than his personal ambitions.
[00:46:14] For Paul, sacrificing the companionship of Timothy in Athens was small price to pay for the sake of the Thessalonians.
[00:46:23] Despite his personal pressures, Paul was willing to carry the burdens of God's people.
[00:46:28] His comforts were secondary to the needs of the church.
[00:46:32] And then one other author just kind of reinforces this, says, Paul consistently chose what was best for others without regard to himself.
[00:46:40] He chose to give up a great source of joy and hope and consolation in order to provide to the Thessalonians.
[00:46:48] That helps us see the sending of tempathy on another level.
[00:46:52] Paul could have made no greater sacrifice at that moment.
[00:46:56] Then the final couple sentences here.
[00:46:59] We live in a world that tells us to think about ourselves and our needs.
[00:47:03] We hold on to people and things that bring us joy without considering what that would do for someone else.
[00:47:10] But that is not gospel-centered thinking.
[00:47:14] When we arrange situations to maximize our own joy, That is the opposite of gospel thinking.
[00:47:22] Now, if you'll allow me this morning to get a little bit personal, this passage really hit me at a heart level.
[00:47:29] I'm here this week.
[00:47:31] You all know Jay got up last week and announced our capital campaign for the church that we're gonna begin over in West Oklahoma City.
[00:47:40] It's gonna be Faith Bible North OKC.
[00:47:42] It's gonna be one church with two locations.
[00:47:46] But Jay's gonna be going over there, Lord willing, in August, next August, hopefully in that time frame, to begin that work over there.
[00:47:55] And, you know, a couple of our staff members might go as well. We're not really sure how that's all going to work out at this time. But on a personal level, I have to say that this is, it's personally
[00:48:06] painful for me, and I have a sense of loss about that. And I've had to deal with that over these last months, because I've said this in church, I say it a lot at our new member meetings, that Jay
[00:48:17] is like a right arm to me.
[00:48:20] As I read this passage this week, it just reaffirmed in my life that as a church, we can't hoard people.
[00:48:28] We can't hoard personnel and hoard God's provision.
[00:48:33] Think of the greater impact that's going to take place and the people God's going to reach over there that we could never reach here.
[00:48:40] We're going to expand, enlarge the footprint and the impact of Faith Bible Church.
[00:48:47] And I know I've heard many of you over the last couple of months say to me that it's not gonna be the same here.
[00:48:54] Jay goes and we'll have people from our church who'll go and help start the church over there and get it going.
[00:49:02] And it's not gonna be the same here, but we have to sacrifice for the greater good of the body of Christ.
[00:49:08] That's gospel-centered thinking.
[00:49:11] So if thinking about this has been hard for you, it's been hard for me.
[00:49:16] but I know it's the right thing to do.
[00:49:19] We can't keep people here that God wants to send somewhere else to do his work.
[00:49:24] We can't hoard the blessings and the resources of God just in this place and just think about ourselves.
[00:49:31] We've got to think about people in different parts of our city who need Christ and who need a church where they can go and learn and hear the word of God.
[00:49:42] You know, G.K. Chesterton, he said this one time, how much larger your life would be if yourself could become smaller in it.
[00:49:51] Think of how much larger our lives can be when we become smaller in it.
[00:49:56] The same thing for our church as well.
[00:49:57] How much larger our church will be when we become smaller in it and we're willing to make these sacrifices.
[00:50:05] Now, don't get me wrong here this morning.
[00:50:08] I'm not trying to over-dramatize this.
[00:50:10] I'm not Paul being left behind at Athens or something, and Jay's going, I'll never see him again or whatever.
[00:50:17] I mean, I'm not trying to be overly dramatic here.
[00:50:20] He's gonna be over there.
[00:50:21] I'll still see him.
[00:50:22] We'll still get together and all of that.
[00:50:24] But still again, that in no way lessens the sense of pain and loss that I feel from this.
[00:50:32] And so may God help all of us to think that.
[00:50:34] May we be a church.
[00:50:37] It doesn't just think about ourselves, what we're doing here, but God may lead us to plant other churches and do this in the future.
[00:50:43] We need to be generous with our people, with our personnel, with our resources.
[00:50:50] When we're willing to sacrifice our comfort and our companionship, it's a sign that we're gospel-centered, we're Christ-centered.
[00:50:59] The second key to remain standing in the face of problems and persecution is perspective.
[00:51:05] Another spiritual steroid to settle us in the face of opposition is a clear perspective about our problems.
[00:51:12] Paul was realistic.
[00:51:13] He gave him perspective.
[00:51:16] Notice verse 3.
[00:51:18] So that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions, for you yourselves know we've been destined for this.
[00:51:26] This is part of the deal as a Christian.
[00:51:28] Verse 4.
[00:51:29] For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that you were going to suffer affliction, and it came to pass, as you know.
[00:51:37] So we all need the power of a perspective in our lives to make it through trials and troubles.
[00:51:45] It's like the story I read about three men.
[00:51:47] They're standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon.
[00:51:49] There's an artist and a pastor and a cowboy.
[00:51:52] And the artist looks at the Grand Canyon and says, what a beautiful masterpiece of nature.
[00:51:56] Look at the breathtaking layers of color and the magnificent way the light hits the rock.
[00:52:02] The second man's a pastor, sighs deeply and says, it truly reflects the glory of God.
[00:52:08] It makes you realize just how small and humble we really are in the grand scheme of creation.
[00:52:14] The third man, a Texas cowboy, stares intently into the massive gorge for a long time.
[00:52:21] And he spits over the edge and shakes his head.
[00:52:23] And he says, man, that'd be a terrible place to lose a cow.
[00:52:28] I mean, perspective is everything, isn't it?
[00:52:31] We can all look at the same thing and come to different conclusions.
[00:52:36] When it comes to suffering for our faith, we need to know that this isn't something strange or unusual.
[00:52:43] for God's people. Opposition and persecution is part of the package for being a believer.
[00:52:52] Two brothers got into a fight with each other, and hearing the commotion from a distance, the mom rushes in to break up this scuffle and find out what's going on. And after scolding both of them, the mother said, who started it? Who delivered the first blow? And the younger
[00:53:09] brother spoke up and said, I hit him back before he hit me. Now that's a young man who was not going to allow himself to be surprised, right? I mean, he anticipated what was coming and he was
[00:53:22] ready for it. And in the same way, Paul had prepared these Thessalonian believers for their persecution and suffering at the hands of an unbelieving world. He taught them to anticipate the blows of the enemy, not to be surprised when they hit us. You know, the New Testament instructs
[00:53:40] us again and again to expect opposition and persecution for what we believe. I mean, you see these verses up on the screen, John 15. Jesus said, if the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me
[00:53:52] first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Philippians 1.29,
[00:54:05] for it has been granted. That means as a gift, it's been gifted to you to believe in him, but to suffer for him. And we love the part where it's been gifted to us to believe in Christ,
[00:54:17] but it's also been gifted and granted to us to suffer for him. And then 2 Timothy 3.12 just says it flat out, everyone who wants to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So if you're a
[00:54:30] believer, persecution comes with the territory. It's par for the course. And we should expect it.
[00:54:36] I mean, after all, our leader, our savior was crucified. He was rejected by this world. He came into his own and his own didn't receive him. Look, if we look anything like Jesus, this world will
[00:54:49] hate us. And if we love God, the world will hate us. I mean, after all, the symbol of Christianity is a cross. We shouldn't be surprised if we suffer. But in our world today, we're the master's
[00:55:06] minority. Believers have been hunted and hounded and harassed throughout church history. And in many places today, Christians are being led like lambs to the slaughter. That's the world we live been. Now here in America, by God's grace, for these 250 years, we've been largely shielded
[00:55:25] from that kind of physical persecution, but we kind of feel the winds of change blowing in our culture. There's an epic cultural shift that's sweeping our country. It's a spiritual climate change. And more and more, we find ourselves swimming against the tide and preaching the
[00:55:43] gospel and practicing the morality of our faith can put us on a collision course with our culture.
[00:55:51] Increasingly in our culture today, biblical Christians are the pinatas of society.
[00:55:57] We're cultural outsiders. We're kind of pushed to the margins. It's open season to mock and scorn and slander and vilify Christians. And as Paul says here in verse 3, see that no one disturb you
[00:56:11] by these afflictions.
[00:56:13] The persecution and being mistreated can unsettle us.
[00:56:17] And it can tempt us to give up and doubt the goodness of God.
[00:56:21] That's why I think the end of verse 5, he says, I sent to find out about you for fear that the tempter, that's Satan, might have tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
[00:56:32] Paul believes in a real devil.
[00:56:34] It's the second time he's mentioned Satan in this book.
[00:56:37] He believed he was a real person.
[00:56:38] He was the tempter in the Garden of Eden.
[00:56:42] Think about all the verbs connected with Satan in the Bible. Earlier in chapter two, he obstructs and hinders. I mean, he prowls around like a roaring lion. He sifts, he deceives, but he also tempts. And when people
[00:56:59] are going through trials, we can be tempted to doubt God, to doubt his goodness. We can be tempted to despair and to discouragement and even depression. So Paul says, I sent Timothy to find out and make sure the tempter hadn't tempted you, so that our labor was in vain. In other words,
[00:57:19] if Satan had come in and tempted them to reject Christ and go back to an easier way of life, Paul would sense that his labor there had actually been in vain, that they'd never really accepted
[00:57:29] Christ at all. You know, there's a lot we can say about this, and I'm just going to mention this as an aside, but one thing is for sure, there's no health and wealth gospel in the New Testament.
[00:57:41] And the Bible never promises you a health and wealth for God's people.
[00:57:45] In fact, it's the opposite.
[00:57:47] He says, suffering for the Christian is unavoidable.
[00:57:50] Trials are to be expected, but trials are to be endured.
[00:57:55] You know, one perspective to keep in mind as you go through trials is they're going to end at some point.
[00:58:02] I remember hearing a preacher years ago, I remember it vividly.
[00:58:05] He said his favorite words in the Bible were, and it came to pass.
[00:58:09] because he'd always think about that anytime he had a trial in his life and it came to pass.
[00:58:15] And you see that here at the end of verse four.
[00:58:17] Now, some of your translations may have different wording there, but in the New American Standard, I'm reading from Paul says, and so it came to pass, as you know.
[00:58:28] And however difficult and trying our trials may be, we can know that they come to pass.
[00:58:34] They'll either end here in this life or certainly they'll end in the life to come.
[00:58:40] But our suffering now is forging our character in the fires of affliction.
[00:58:46] It's preparing us for glory.
[00:58:50] Read a story this week about a man, this is many years ago, who had financial setback, having family problems, just all kind of emotional struggles.
[00:58:59] He's terribly depressed.
[00:59:00] He didn't know what to do.
[00:59:02] All the trials he was facing.
[00:59:03] And he goes out wandering around the city where he lived.
[00:59:07] And he sees a man there that's got this large piece of stone and he's chiseling on it and sanding it and preparing it.
[00:59:14] It's going to go on the very top of this cathedral.
[00:59:17] He watches the man doing that.
[00:59:18] He asks him what he's doing.
[00:59:21] And the man says, well, I'm preparing this piece of stone down here so it'll fit up there.
[00:59:28] And immediately it dawned in on the man that that's what God was doing in his life and allowing in his life.
[00:59:34] He said, I realize now that God is preparing me down here so I'll fit up there.
[00:59:40] And that's the perspective we need in life.
[00:59:42] God's working in our lives, chiseling our lives, shaping us, transforming us.
[00:59:47] He's doing these things down here so we'll fit up there someday.
[00:59:51] That's the power of perspective.
[00:59:53] That's the perspective we need.
[00:59:55] God is building our faith.
[00:59:58] Notice he says over and over again, I wanted Timothy to find out about your faith.
[01:00:03] Speaking of perspective, some of you may have known about a man named David Ireland.
[01:00:11] David Ireland found out he had a crippling neurological disease.
[01:00:17] His wife was pregnant and he was told that he wouldn't live to see the baby born.
[01:00:21] So he wrote a book called Letters to an Unborn Child.
[01:00:25] But he was frequently asked by people.
[01:00:27] You can imagine just people's sadness for him.
[01:00:31] People often ask him, do you believe God will heal you?
[01:00:35] And he would respond with a question of his own.
[01:00:38] Do I really need to be healed?
[01:00:40] Man, that's powerful, isn't it?
[01:00:42] Do I really need to be healed?
[01:00:44] He came to grips with the reality that he would never hold or kiss or play catch with this unborn child in his wife's womb.
[01:00:53] And in his book, Letters to an Unborn Child, he kind of desperately communicated his love to his future son or daughter.
[01:01:02] But he explained his thinking.
[01:01:04] He said this, I'm firmly convinced that God is extremely good and that he does love and understand all the world and all the people in it.
[01:01:14] Does he want to heal me?
[01:01:16] I can't answer that.
[01:01:18] My faith is in the genuineness of God, not in whether he will do this or do that to demonstrate his goodness.
[01:01:25] That's not the nature of my relationship to God.
[01:01:30] He had faith, he said, in the genuineness of God.
[01:01:35] And whatever trials or troubles we face, that's really the perspective that we ultimately need it's who god is it's faith in god's character it's faith in god's promises faith in god's goodness faith in god's purposes faith in god's
[01:01:51] promises in his presence faith in god's power that's the perspective we need to remain standing whatever kind of trials we're facing because you and i if we're going to remain standing trials and troubles of life. We need people. We need each other. We need each other to encourage
[01:02:13] and strengthen us. And we need perspective. As we prepare now to move to the Lord's Supper, I just want to make a quick reminder about this passage. It talks all about our afflictions in here, all about being afflicted. We need to remember that when we suffer affliction, that
[01:02:30] Jesus suffered affliction for us. In fact, he suffered with our afflictions. He suffered for our sins. And it mentions here that they were being tempted by the tempter. Jesus was tempted by the tempter. He was tempted by Satan. Yet he never succumbed to sin. And so we have a sinless
[01:02:52] Savior who suffered the affliction of our sins for us. And I want to encourage you here before we go to the Lord's Supper to receive Christ if you never have. He's just a prayer away.
[01:03:07] all you have to do is receive the one who suffered your afflictions for you on the cross the sinless one who died and rose again for you and if you do that if you'll just take it by faith
[01:03:19] as a gift he'll give you life today let's pray father if there is someone here who's never received that gift of life from christ may they believe today that he was afflicted for them may they trust him father for those of us who know you we know that we're going to face the
[01:03:41] struggles and the trials, the turbulence of life. Lord, I know there are people here right now in the midst of some terrible trial. Feels like the roots aren't deep enough and the tree's been hollowed out. Feel like they're ready to fall. Father, I pray that you'll bring people into
[01:03:58] their lives. You'll bring some of us into their lives to help them, to encourage them, to support them. Father, I pray when we're at that place in our lives, there'll be people that will come to
[01:04:08] us as well and help us. Oh, Father, help us as a church here at Faith Bible Church not to be stingy with our people, with our resources, but to see all that you can accomplish
[01:04:21] if we enlarge our vision.
[01:04:25] And Father, give us perspective in our trials.
[01:04:27] Help us to see that they'll pass.
[01:04:30] Help us to see that you're shaping us down here so we'll fit up there.
[01:04:36] And help us to put our trust in you and the character of God, the genuineness of God.
[01:04:43] Well, Father, help us now and strengthen us as we take the supper in Jesus' name, amen.

[01:04:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:04:50] Thank you, Mark, for your faithful teaching.
[01:04:53] As we go to the Lord's table, just a reminder that we practice open communion here at Faith Bible. You don't have to be a member of our church to celebrate the Lord's Supper, but you do need to be one who is looking to Christ to be your Savior and your sin bearer.
[01:05:07] Also, if you've never taken the Lord's Supper with us, hopefully you grabbed one of these on your way in. These guys that are walking down the aisles, they have those. If you didn't grab these containers on the way in, you can get one of those from them, and I will tell you when to
[01:05:18] take the bread and when to take the cup here in just a moment. But we're not a congregation that that requires our people to be catechized or to have our creeds memorized. But every couple of
[01:05:29] years, I read a statement on Christology when we come to the Lord's Supper. Now, we come to the Lord's Supper once a month, but every couple of years, I return to this statement on Christology
[01:05:40] because I think it's just so important. I think its words are as important as they are beautiful, but I want to use it again today as we prepare our hearts for the Supper. So as Mark ended
[01:05:50] pointing us to Jesus Christ, I just want to continue that thought as we go to the table.
[01:05:55] You can see on the words behind me, the confession says, we confess the mystery and wonder of God made flesh and rejoice in our great salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. With the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son created all things, sustains all things, and makes all things new.
[01:06:14] Truly God, he became truly man, two natures in one person.
[01:06:20] He was born of the Virgin Mary and lived among us.
[01:06:23] Crucified, dead, and buried, he rose on the third day and ascended into heaven and will come again in glory and judgment.
[01:06:32] For us, he kept the law, atoned for sin, and satisfied God's wrath.
[01:06:38] He took our filthy rags and gave us his righteous robe.
[01:06:43] He is our prophet, priest, and king, building his church, interceding for us, and reigning over all things.
[01:06:51] Jesus Christ is Lord.
[01:06:53] We praise his holy name forever.
[01:06:56] Amen.
[01:06:58] You can't have communion without a Christology.
[01:07:02] This is the Lord's Supper.
[01:07:05] And if we believe these massive truths about Jesus, and we believe this meal is a memorial to his perfect life, a memorial to his suffering, his atoning sacrifice on the cross for us.
[01:07:19] If we believe that, then therefore it will remain of great importance to us in the life of the church.
[01:07:24] We will continue to honor the Lord's significant place, communion's significant place in the spiritual diet of every believer in Jesus.
[01:07:34] We will look to the bread, we will look to the cup as really profound expressions of our Christology, as very tangible expressions of the gospel in which we trust and believe.
[01:07:46] So if you would, just bow your heads, silently go before the Lord, prepare your hearts for the supper, and I'll walk us through taking each element here in just a moment.
[01:08:11] Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it.
[01:08:17] And after he gave thanks, he said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[01:08:22] Take the bread.
[01:08:31] In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood.
[01:08:36] Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[01:08:38] Take the cup.
[01:08:44] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
[01:08:49] Let's pray.
[01:08:51] Father, I thank you for the way the gospel's been proclaimed in our midst today.
[01:08:56] Through the prayers we've prayed, the songs we've sung, through the word that's been taught.
[01:09:04] Lord, as we think about the afflictions that came upon Christ, what an honor it is to just in some form or fashion share in those as we endure our own afflictions. God, give us grace in these things. Use this meal
[01:09:19] to embolden us, to strengthen us, to make us worthy ambassadors of our Lord Jesus.
[01:09:28] In his name we pray. Amen. Go ahead and stand for the benediction, please. If you have a need or desire a prayer from one of the pastors or elders that are in this service, those guys will be down
[01:09:38] front following our time together. Please avail yourself to them. Again, if you're willing and available. We've got some guys mobilized out here by the east door to help set up for this evening.
[01:09:48] If you could help us out there, that'd be great as well. The benediction is from the book of Ephesians, where Paul writes, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we
[01:09:57] ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations. Amen. Go in his power and grace. You're dismissed.