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Our presence.
I love.
Oh God.
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Three, loving God and our Father, we give thee thanks.
Again this morning, for my great love to us, so fully known, displayed in the giving of Thy beloved Son, His precious bloodshed for us, His body given on that cross. And we thank the our God and our Father, that having glorified thee there without its reason from the dead, in a straight way glorified Him. Lord Jesus, we look to Thee, we think of how thou just leave this earth, Thy hands up lifted and blessing upon Thy own.
And now thou art interceding for us on high, thy hands uplifted there.
Intercession ever effectual for thy Saints, and we would lean upon thee this morning.
Into or Jesus as head of the church.
Is thy body.
That thou just guide and direct us to a portion that would be suitable for each member here.
And that why those?
Joints of supply those bands that.
That what's in thy grace?
Be thy people through that thou give a portion and direct and help us to be.
Subject and waiting on the leading of the Holy Spirit where we know about us guiding direct through him and so we look to the Lord Jesus or portion this morning in the readings that would we're left here through this weekend would carry us through the readings and be for profit and blessing for our soul and Lord Jesus that the result might be.
That our hearts would be drawn near and closer to the Atlantic. Might walk more of that to a good way.
Workout before SO.
We ask this Lord Jesus, as we look to thee, to thee, our God and Father, knowing every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from thee, the Father of lights, and thou art unchangeable, and thy goodness and my grace, the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen, Amen. Amen.
And the Digging Brethren of First Thessalonians, chapter four and five.
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The readings if it if it would be the mind of the brethren, I want to impose my.
Will in the matter.
Been on my heartbeat passages in view of the.
Imminent return of the Lord.
Resident.
So it sounds good.
Three chapter 4. Did you want to read all both of them through at one time, brother?
Chapter 4. Today this reading.
First Thessalonians chapter 4. Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, that everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel.
In his vessel and sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles, which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any manner, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you, and testified. For God has not called us unto uncleanliness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despises, despiseth not man, but God.
Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit? But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you. For ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another, And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more.
And then you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you might walk honestly towards them that are without, and that you might have lack of nothing. But I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope, or if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Well, we know the apostle was only with the Thessalonians for about 3 weeks.
Because of the fierceness of the persecution, that rage in that area, that's the Lanika. We read it in Acts chapter 17.
He was forced to to leave them and move on, but we had them upon his heart and.
Praying for them, and He was exhorting them as a father.
Have a great deal of dispensational doctrine in the epistle.
But there was the work of faith, there was a labor of love, and there was the patience of hope in the Thessalonians, though they were.
Babes converted out of even them likely where they were serving idols now they were serving the and they went back in the first chapter verse nine. They themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had them to you.
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And how he turned to God.
From idols, not from idols to God to God, from idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Numbers, but they had the hope of the Lord's coming, however.
Wrong doctrine came in later and they they really lost the freshness of that hope and that's why the apostle is writing to them to confirm the coming of the Lord and what it would mean for us.
Their fellow believers would pass through the article of death. Would they miss the Kingdom entirely, as the Thessalonians thought? And so Paul unfolds the truth of the rapture so clearly, the revelation that he had received from the Lord in glory.
It wasn't very long ago, I think we took this up in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and.
We referred all these little scribbles I have on my page here, but you've probably heard this referred to as the Enoch chapter.
And so from the beginning of chapter 4 down to about the end of verse 11 of chapter 5, it speaks of our personal lives and view of Lords, of the Lords coming and in connection with it. Enochs chapter, You see that verse in Hebrews Chapter 11, don't you?
Verse Five. Become quite fond of this verse.
Hebrews 11 and five. It says by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God, and that would be there should be the desire of our hearts as believers to walk before God, waiting for his return, that we might please him.
That's good Jonathan and if you look in first John chapter 3 talking about the Lords coming and seeing the Lord Jesus and how it would relate to our our personal lives here before the Lord comes into the live our lives in purity. He says in first John 3. Let's start at verse two. Beloved. Now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be what we know that when he shall appear.
We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now look at verse 3. Every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. And so our chapter here in First Thessalonians 4 looking forward to the coming of the Lord. It tells us how we conduct ourselves before the Lord comes in light. He that has his hope in him purifies himself. And so it's it. It talks about possessing your vessels and sanctification.
Having a pure sexual life in in.
In honor of the Lord Jesus. Now why did he have to tell these people this in Thessalonica? Because it was common in the in their society. It's common in our society today too, to have sexual impurity on all levels. And so it's, it's important for us to be able to possess our vessels in sanctification. Our vessel would be our bodies.
Keep our abilities and sanctification along.
I was just noticing in that chapter first John 3.
That the apostle John says in verse 21 The love if our heart condemned us not, then have we confidence for God and what's what we asked we receive of him.
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Why? Because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight so as believers today.
It is our desire to do that which is pleasing to the Lord, and if we're not doing that which is pleasing to Him.
I believe it's going to affect our confidence in the Lord.
And we're going to be unhappy.
Christians and that's not good because it affects our testimony of God in this world. You know, if the world sees that we are happy and appraising people.
That says so much for our Savior. It's a powerful witness for Christ, but if we're going on in that which is not pleasing to Him.
It's just the opposite. It brings desire on the board. And I just noticed that you refer to that chapter, Tim, and I was just thinking about that chapter.
Here it tells us in the first verse of our chapter we just read.
You ought to walk and to please come.
They were familiar with the habits of even them or immorality was rampant.
And idolatry, you know, Satan is behind me. All the idolatry that we see.
In the world today, Satan is the God.
Of this world religiously.
And the Prince of it political. So we're really in Satan's world.
And it can lead the child of God into immorality.
He has achieved his purpose.
The sanctification here is not positional. That is brought out in the book of Hebrews. Positional sanctification, absolutely, but here it is.
The practical side, the progressive side of sanctification, we should be more sanctified this year than we were last year.
So sanctification is really separation.
Unto the Lord.
Separation from.
Worldliness.
And from all the.
Root of the old nature which we have.
Please, the Lord, thank you.
Jesus do.
As you can see, we always.
Remarkable statement I do always.
Those things, that things, really.
When we look at.
69.
We consider.
The kind of man and the kind of walk that he had.
In Psalm 69, just starting at verse 7.
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach.
Shane has covered my face.
I have become a stranger unto my brethren, and nearly unto my mother's children. His walk made him different.
Strange or misunderstood?
The zeal of thine house that heating me up.
And the reproaches of them that reproach thee.
Perform upon me.
And Paul refers to this in Romans chapter 15.
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He says, for even Christ please, not himself.
But the reproaches of them, that reproach these fell on me.
His walk was such. We heard that Enoch please God. Well, if our walk is pleasing to God from the unpleasant command.
The Lord Jesus said it, Woe be unto you when all men speak well of you.
In other words, all men are not going to speak well of you if you learn.
Walking with God, at least to some degree.
So it's just striking that Paul associates pleasing him.
Praising God with suffering and reproach.
We know the Lord Jesus ever and always please God.
And I was just thinking of that picture we get in Matthew.
It's so striking. The Lord Jesus was here to please God.
And in Matthew 16, we all know the passage well, I'm sure.
And he reveals to his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem.
Matthew.
1621 From that time forth again Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto the region.
And suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and raised again the third day.
Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him.
Saying, He is far from me more. This shall not be unto thee.
But he turned and said unto Peter.
Thou art an offense unto me.
Thou Savior, is not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Peter would spare the flesh.
But this time, naturally, he thought he was doing something good, something right, defending his this wonderful man, but the Lord Jesus.
The indication is that the Lord did savor the things that be of God. He wanted to please God. He wanted to die to God's glory. He wanted death, the only man ever born to die.
And so he had to say to Peter, Thou outer in the fence unto me, they'll save her as not the things that fear of God. It's so striking.
This coming suffering and death, God would save you.
And it certainly speaks to us of the savory burnt offering.
You know Christ, please, not himself.
He offered himself up.
I'm offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour during TV 5.
And that's what he wanted. That's all he cared about.
In his life as the meal offering, as ascending, as a sweet saver, and in his death.
Ascending as a sweet saver pleasing God.
So it's striking to see.
We're pleasing God, they mean to us.
This has a little side rather that word saverist. So remarkable that it comes in again in Philippians 3.
Of those that mind earthly things, who are enemies of the cross, that word mind is the same as savorist. They savor earthly things and they're enemies of the cross. Just stay in connection with pleasing the Father. That's really the context of the previous chapter, the joy of the path that the apostle was concerned about them, that they would have been tempted and turned aside and rejoiced the claim that they had not.
And he says.
Verse eight of chapter 3 Now we live, if he stands fast in the Lord, and what is his thought? He's looking forward to a coming day and desires. Verse 12 That the Lord would make them to increase and abound and love 1 towards another, towards all men, and that he may establish your hearts unblameable and holiness before God, even our Father. It's the same thought to be pleasing to the Father.
That was His desire, that they would be pleasing to the Father now in their lives. In the same way he hoped that they would be presented to God the Father in the coming day by the Lord Jesus Christ that is appearing. So that desire for holiness now in the life, that it would correspond to that coming day of the presentation of His own to the Father.
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And now our chapter comes in and he says, here's the things that are going to rob you of that.
These things will rob you of present joy.
Right now they will rob you of.
Enjoyment of what he had hoped for them and and desired for them. Pray for them in the previous chapter. Just like to touch on one verse in Hebrews 12.
Verse 16.
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as he saw over one morsel of meat, sold his birthright.
Sold as birth price.
As believers, we have a birthright.
We have those things that are our privileges as belonging to Christ as children of God.
Movement for vacation can come in and we can sell our birthright, and we can lose privileges that belong to us as believers here in this world.
And there are some that are no longer at the Lord's table of privilege of every child and God.
Because they sold their birthright for a very little short period of pleasure.
The Apostle had been a wonderful example to them as the outlines in Chopster 2. The Thistle.
He has worked with his own hands.
You know, labored fervently and prayer and ministry and all the time was only about 3 weeks.
They were babes like.
All of his workers, I guess.
Address here and they work with their hands. They were a testimony not only by what they said, but by what they did.
As an example of these Thessalonians.
That they could see the.
Sacrifice.
The fervent sea of the Apostles, Life and death.
And labor for these these young Congress.
It's remarkable too, isn't it? That says the Lord Jesus in verse one, and then in the second verse the Lord Jesus again, and in the sixth verse the Lord. So it's very important, isn't it, to acknowledge the Lordship.
In His Lordship in our lives and to acknowledge that we have a responsibility to walk in obedience to His words. Striking that it mentioned Lord here three times.
I think Stanley the Lordship of Christ mentioned more in this these officials than in any other of Pauls writings. I forget the exact figure 2030 times the warship of Christ is referred to.
That's important to to practical acknowledgement.
We are not our own. We belong to the Lord and.
You own this authority.
In our lives with everything that we do.
We have to be subject to him, to his voice.
I believe, Brother Stan, you mentioned responsibility, and we see that clearly here in this chapter, don't we?
Tim, you mentioned that you know this is back in Thessalonica, but today we live in the same situation. And so in verse one.
It beseeches them, he says, rather than I exhort you.
By the Lord Jesus, that is, ye have received of us. So that's something that they had told them. They've instructed the minute and they knew and you and I have been instructed in these things too. We know he says you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God.
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And then he tells him of the blessing.
So you would abound more and more.
They continue these as free know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus and tells of his will, the will of God, your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess.
This vessel and sanctification and honor. And so it's very clear that we have great responsibility in these things. You know, he spoke to the Thessalonians here, but in Timothy.
We've given Timothy a similar charge, didn't he? And he said that thou oughtest to know how to behave thyself in the House of God. And so surely individually we have this responsibility, and collectively too, and so that we might abound more and more. And we see further on in the chapter it brings that out with loving one another in the assembly effect too.
He says you have received the loss how he ought to walk. In other words, I believe the Apostle Paul had instructed them the importance of walking in self denial, you know, in paganism.
There was the worship of the goddess of luck and connected to that was fornication. But now they have to realize that those things are not pleasing to the Lord and theirs is necessary to walk a life of self denial.
A judge in the flesh and not allow it to creep its head up.
I think it's important to see here how practical this, these verses really are for those Thessalonians and, and not only for them, but for us, because as someone has said, we're living in days very similar to what it was like then.
How can I abound more and more?
If I'm giving up pleasure in this world, I'm giving up success. What does it mean to abound?
Our understanding of the word of God in the.
The character of God was there.
The verse in Matthew 6.
Might apply to it. Matthew 622.
The light of the body is the eye.
Therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light, and if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
So he says that.
He would desire that they would abound. They have heard been taught how to walk.
It says.
Do you have a single eye?
Do you desire to know the will of God in order to do it?
You'll abound more and more. You'll be full of light, but if your eye isn't single, you'd like to know what God says, but without a desire to do it. Or I'll decide maybe later whether to do it or not. It suits me before the darkness. So when the eye is single and there's a desire to do His will, when it is made known to us, you just abound more and more. The bodies whole of life. It just keeps going. And he'll show you more and he'll show you more.
As soon as you say no, don't want to walk in that one.
That's the end of the light coming in. We had He stops right there with us. So I just enjoyed that verse in connection with it. I don't know if that helps too.
This abounding is connected with walking and pleasing God.
When you love someone, is there any limit to what you'll do to please them?
When the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts.
There should be no limit to what we'll do, please.
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I appreciate connecting with the previous chapter when it says in abounding there I was just thinking at the end of the third chapter it's the Lord working in US. And then in the start of the 4th chapter here it's more responsibility. It says there at the end in chapter 3 verse 12 Says the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, toward all men, even as we do toward you.
To the end, you may establish your hearts unbelievable and holiness before God.
Even the Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all those things, so he's working in us for this abounding.
Nancy in love, one toward another and toward all men, even as we do towards you. I don't know if it's the exact same abounding is it what it's referring to in the start of Chapter 4, but it's interesting.
In chapter 4 and verse one to eight, it's it's power to perhaps the bound towards God and then eight and nine towards other Christians and then in verse 11 and 12 towards unbelievers. And you know, there's an aspect where.
The Lord is working in us, which is absolutely incredible. You think he's doing that until he comes to bring fruit for the Lord's glory. And as we see that through the Lord Jesus, we have the opportunity to abandon. What does it start with? It's.
Just appreciate what you said about love. And that's what the Lord working at us and that's what we should seek to abound towards others as well. And you know, there's a longing for care in this world where things become more fragmented and through screen and those types of things and even here being together, you know, naturally.
Sometimes we don't want to go out of our way, perhaps towards other people. We should be seeking to show love in a very practical way towards other people, and that's what the Lord is working on.
Under the law, we find that.
Thou shalt not lust, and so fornication is certainly forbidden, and it was a sin. And God's moral ways don't change from dispensation to dispensation. He's not different today. It still is. But you know, it's not just the negative. Now when it comes to Christianity, you get the negative in verse three. You might say the prohibition, but you get the positive in verse 4.
Because we have the indwelling Spirit of God.
We have the power where there's dependence on him, to possess our vessels, not to be carried away by them. That's how the world is, but to possess our vessels and and.
In sanctification and honor.
2nd Corinthians, Structure 7.
Working on the floor like it could be reminded verse one Second Corinthians 7.
Having therefore these promises here available.
Cleanses ourselves. There's the practical sanctuary.
All filthiness of the flex and spirit.
Perfect thing with Holiness.
We have a holy nature.
The divine nature which before that holy.
Our boards. Our boards see him.
And.
That divine nature will be.
Should be cultivated and manifest in our practical walk and waves, we're also saying.
And you know when the Thessalonians epistles, we have the Lord's coming mentioned in every chapter, I believe.
The apostle was careful to present to them.
The end of the journey.
And we have we have the coming of the Lord.
We probably are aware within two parts is the rapture and there's the appearing and so the apostle refers to both of those. For instance, at the end of chapter 3 we're looking at here. In the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable importance before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're all the Saints. So that is not the rapture.
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That is the appearing of the law, so we need to be clear about those two.
Plumbing, you might say. They're all part of one.
One minute character, but they take place at different times and they have different connotations. So the rapture which the apostle is is taking up in more detail in our chapter is.
Does not have the question of responsibility as the appearing, the appearing when we come with the law and all these Saints. Revelation 19.
Then our lives will be manifest.
The judge will see the price will have taken place and we will come and be admired and returned to the.
The second Thistle here.
2nd Thessalonians.
When He shot in verse 10 the 1St chapter, when he shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired to all them that believe, because our testimony among you will believe in that way. That is the appearing there when?
He will be glorified. It will be the public.
Of our.
Our sanctifications directly connected with our Lord, isn't it?
Where he is now.
And he prayed for us.
John 17.
He tells us more than once they are not of the world.
Even as I.
He was never in any way of the world.
The Eternal 1.
Now he has brought us into a position where we can say we are not of the world, even as he is not of the world.
So he prays for our sanctification.
Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth on 17/17.
And then this very special.
Verse.
So they're serious. I sanctify myself, but they also might be sanctified through the truth.
He sets himself apart in glory.
He he. He is above us.
As if it's Paul, as Paul tells us in Hebrews, looking off unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of our faith and so on. He turns 12. But just that thought looking. And I think Mr. Darby and other clearer translations have it looking off and away unto Jesus because we know where he is. He has set himself apart that we might want to be with Him.
You know, kind of like we've all seen this.
We've all seen this outside in springtime. There's a mother Robin hovering above the nest. You see the little heads.
The little necks in the head stretching up out of the nest.
As the mother hovers over the net.
And that's what the Lord would love to have us like our desire, our eyes glued on Him above, desiring to be with Him. The result being that we were set apart unto Him.
There's there's greater and greater sanctification in the life and that that which.
That which really takes root in US.
Is what sanctifies us, sets us apart. But just to point that out, especially that it's his hearts desire.
He wants us sanctified, set apart unto Himself.
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The young people, I'm sure you've heard people my age and older, you know, make comments about how bad the world is getting. And it's, it's so bad. It's just getting worse. And I think we can all understand why, why people say that.
But I just just to put it.
Very. It's been mentioned here already, but the world that these people lived in was a world in which someone such as myself was thought OK if I visited a prostitute, it was thought OK if I had a lover. This was the world they lived in. They didn't think that was harmful. They didn't see that as they just thought it was normal behavior. So the world here in this time was.
Scary.
Immoral, but people didn't really see it as such, they just thought it was normal. So he's telling.
These believers in Thessalonica that this was not OK in God's eyes and it was a big deal for them to have to abstain from these things in a world in which it was just, it was just normal behavior, it was thought that not harm anyone.
Which is the way it is for for us today. It's not thought to be harmful. As long as you're not harming anybody, it's not a big deal. And that's the the world, these guys.
Think of the verses in First Corinthians 6 when you say that Paul. Maybe you just read those First Corinthians 6.
Excuse me, verse 15 it says, know ye not?
That your bodies are the members of Christ. Shall I then take the members of Christ that make them the members of harlot?
God forbid.
Says what Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?
For Tuesday he shall be one flesh.
Verse 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the blood.
But he that committeth fornication sentence against his own body.
What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own. You're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
And your spirit, which are gods and.
Singing of what?
Steven said earlier and the ending to that or the opposite to it is we mentioned the world and how they react to these things and we have that in verse five, don't we? It says not in the better reverse Board that every one of you should know how to possess his vessels and sanctification and honor just like we read not in the lust of competence, even as the Gentiles which know not God. So because they're that way doesn't give us the excuse to be that way. We know better. We have that responsibility.
And just for any that don't know, I can remember hearing that word growing up many times and never knowing what it meant. So I wrote down in just a little definition and I'll just tell you.
It says selfish human desire for an Object, person or experience. You and I know that anything that involves.
Self or selfishness most assuredly does not have our eyes on him. Singleness of pop and that is the desire of a believer to have singleness of ideas with.
So the love that he had brought up, which is.
Mentioned a couple times in chapter 3 verse 12 for one another is really the development of by nature and the believer we have that love that we never had before for one another. There was no Capacity for it fairly human life. It's not divine love, but yet in those intimate relationships among one another as believers and we go on pretty closely. We know all about each other. We know about our kids, we know about our grandkids. We know about all our circumstances.
We rub elbows pretty closely, and so there's a danger of slipping into the world's ways and those close relationships. And so that development of the divine nature and a holy love needs to be guarded by holiness. And so he goes on to take this up. It's not just.
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With someone out in the world.
Within the sphere of the assembly, within the Christian circle that no man go beyond and defraud his brother.
And so the scripture sets hedges for us, guards, carefulness. It's good for a man not to touch a woman, we read in Corinthians. There are guards that are set in the scripture to keep us from slipping out of a holy love and relationship that should be growing and is encouraged to grow into something that is unholy and has disastrous consequences in the believers life.
God has not called us to uncleanness.
Unto holiness in the society we lived in. It's it's getting worse, as has been mentioned, and we live in a society surrounded with all these evil practices.
And I I read a statistic, there's hope. I can't remember the number but it's over 50% of evangelical Christians believe it's OK to cohabit. There's a verse in Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13 and verse four. Marriage is honorable in all and a bed undefiled, but ************ and adulterers God will judge.
One thing we need to realize.
Every one of us in this room, we have an effect on other people. And what I do will affect others. If I do good, it will affect others, perhaps for good. If I do bad, it will discourage, disappoint other people.
There's a man in Malawi, a brother in the assembly there. He had he had been visiting assemblies and encouraging them for many years. He had a motorcycle and he would drive up into the mountains and back into the remote villages on his motorcycle and teach and preach and encourage the Saints. One day his he wasn't using his motorcycle and another his his relative was using it for a motorcycle taxi. The motor as he was driving along, he got flagged down by he thought was customers.
And they hacked him to death with machetes and killed him and stole the motorcycle. Well, the brother lost his motorcycle. He couldn't go to the assemblies anymore. So he started walking to the assemblies. He was devoted. He was abounding, you might say more and more. But then he got his eyes off Christ and he took a second wife.
Just like we've been Speaking of here, he did not know how to possess his body and sanctification.
Maybe different circumstances in your life will get you discouraged.
And you'll think it's not worth it to live your life for Christ to to walk through please God. The more you walk to serve God, the more you believe and have faith, the more troubles and sorrows and difficulties you have. How do you, how do you react when difficult times come into your life? It's going to affect not only you, but others around you who look up to you and they see you, that you've been a help and encouragement to them. And now you're off doing something like this man had done.
And it's discouraging to everybody around. It's discouraging to your family, discouraging to the assembly, discouraging to your friends. Your friends don't want to give up on you. They still want to have contact with you. But in First Corinthians chapter 5, we find that if you fall into fornication and other, other things, it's, it's a dishonor to the Lord. And, and not only are you not able to be at the Lord's table and fellowship, you can't even eat with you or, or visit with you.
Until there's the repentance.
I think her brother.
John wanted to talk about the coming of the Lord. Where do you want to go to from here, John?
Well, I think that.
You can distinguish the character of the coming.
Here.
They were.
Ignorant.
Of the of the of the Rapture, they they really didn't understand the true character of the coming of rewards as.
As the rapture or the appearing, they thought, now here are some of our loved ones that pass through the article of death and that Paul is speaking about the Kingdom being established and we're part of it as what will happen to our loved ones.
01:00:17
They're gone, are they? Are we going to see them again? Are we? Are they going to have heart in the Kingdom? So that's why the apostle writes the epistle, to explain these things, to enlighten them.
They were actually being affected by wrong doctrines. We will find that although the hope at the beginning was bright, the hope begins to dim and you don't get the word hope mentioned in the second epistle or even later in the first epistle.
Something had come into dim that hope of the Lord's imminent return that right that Steve, I think that is what took place in between the epistles, especially the apostle had laid out as we have in our chapter, the rapture, the any moment expectation of the Lord's coming and the hope of the believer. And then they had gotten an epistle supposedly from the apostle Paul that it wasn't.
And.
Really denying that through telling them that they were in the tribulation now and they were in the time of the wrath of God following on this world and so on. Instead of being delivered from the raft to come as was read in chapter one and verse 10, they were under it while that threw them into confusion and so on. The second epistle, as you say, you don't get it mentioned in the same way here. Hope because that had that bad doctrine that come in and dulled their hope and they needed to be revived as to that.
But here they're giving it freshly. It's a new revelation. The apostle hadn't had time to unfold this aspect of the Lord's coming to the Saints, but now he does. There's an opportunity to. It was in connection with the fact that some had died. They were waiting for the Lord to come. Some had died. Well, they're going to miss out now on the Lord's coming. No, they're not, Because there's some details I hadn't told you, and I don't know. It's a good time to tell you now about them. He lays them out here.
In verse 14, does that refer to the appearing because it speaks about?
Those which sleep in Jesus when God bring with him. So the appearing is when we come back with the water, He's coming with us at that time. But as we read on him, there's 14.
And on he's coming for us. So that'd be the rapture. Is that the right thing? Interpretation. That's right.
So how many comings of Christ are there?
22.
Three right, Two ones already taking place. You came once.
The second coming is still going to take place. It's still ahead of us, but it has two aspects, or you might say two installments, but there is only one second coming of Christ.
Not to just one and in that second coming, he's going to bring these things with him. But this tells us how the Saints are going to get there to be with him to begin with when he comes with a sense.
And that's why we refer to those as the Rapture from the interior.
Just thinking of the difference between those two, just in the context or a doctor here at the end of Chapter 3, as John mentioned, it's referring to the appointment and at that point in time.
It will be after the judge, after we're caught up in heaven and we our body is changed and you have the very top of the Lamb and the.
Doesn't see the price, then we come down and at that point in time we will be.
It talks here at the end of chapter 3. It says the enemy may establish your heart is unblameable and holiness before God, even the Father is becoming our Lord Jesus Christ. That's when the Lord will set up his Kingdom and we'll have a perfect government and.
It, it'll, it's when the Lord will have his rightful place as King of kings, the Lord of Lords. That is what we're looking for. And that I think is what the Thessalonians were thinking about, but they had a problem. They didn't understand it. It was, they were living in a completely corrupt society that abandoned God in every way.
01:05:19
And they were lived, there was immorality around them and people were cheating one another and even the Christians weren't even treating each other well. And Paul here explains in chapter four, he says, and I like the way this, and I don't mean to go backwards. I like the way this chapter starts. He tells him about his coming with his things. But then he says, he says, furthermore, we beseech you brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus. And then he goes on to tell him, he says.
He tells them how these doctors God towards other believers and towards unbelievers and how he's going to the Lord is going to descend from heaven with a shout and call them up to heaven, which is going to prepare for that coming with his Saints. And it's a very important for us to consider today and it's very easy for us to get discouraged as we look around and see everything sort of crumbling around us.
We need to look forward to that future day, the Lord coming with this date when, when all of the things that this world is trying to correct now will be corrected. The, the, the, the total falling apart of politics, the falling apart of the world from a, from an environmental point of view to the fighting everywhere, the little come back and correct all that. And this tells us what our responsibility is here and now as we Array, we that shout will be caught up to be prepared for that thing. And to me, it's beautiful in that context because we are very, very similar as I've been mentioned, where the immorality around us is horrible. And I, I was just, I mean, it says they're, as Tim mentioned, he said God is not called us an uncleanness, but in the holiness he's called us and the holiness because of that future day when we come with him.
And.
And we need to be cognizant of that now as we await this out to be caught up to be with him, neither not explaining that well, but even I, I was thinking even if that's the only as they were confused because these people had died and they didn't know how that Fit into the Lord's coming. And so Paul, as you said, Steve is explaining, Steven is explaining to them what's happening here. And I think there's a practical teaching that we have in this chapter between verse four and verse 16.
Is very, very relevant today as we await his return in that first installment.
If I could just add what you said, Mark, and just under score how the Lord's coming with us and him coming into his Kingdom is, is like the big day. That's what it's all looking forward to. And him having his Kingdom and having his rightful place is what everything that God is doing is going forward.
It's Christ having his day. It's his great celebration.
And you know, it's interesting that the Lord is going to share that day with us over coheirs with Christ. But I was thinking of a few verses.
I think the more we understand that that the day of manifestation, the day of Christ coming into his Kingdom is what God is looking for is what Christ is looking forward to. It's what his Saints are rightfully looking forward to. In Luke chapter 22, you speaking to specifically to the 12 There, but he said in verse 28 year they which have continued with me in my temptations and I appoint them to you a Kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me.
That ye may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and sit on Thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. The Lord is going to have his celebration.
And he was so happy to be able to tell the 12 I'm going to invite you to sit at my table and to celebrate with me.
Earlier when he ate the Passover, verse 14 And when the hour was coming, he sat down, and this wall of apostles with him, he said unto them, with desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not eat anymore thereof until it be fulfilled.
The Kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves, For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come. The.
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The cup, the wine that was being served on that Passover night, the Lord said. I'm not going to drink.
Anymore, until I drink with you in the Kingdom, He's saying my celebration is future. I am not going to celebrate until that day comes and I'm going to share that celebration with you again. It's a great time for the Lord. It's his day, He's going to share it with us. It's what His Kingdom is brought into and we're all looking forward to that. The Lord went to the cross, He died, He rose again.
Acts chapter one. The disciples are there with him at the Mount of Olives, and what are they thinking about?
Verse 6 And when they therefore will come together, they asked of him, saying, more, Wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? It was so natural, and you might even say right for them to be thinking about this. This is His day. He conquered death, He rose from the grave, and is this the time?
The Lord doesn't say it's not going to happen, He just says it is not for you to know the times or the seasons where which the Father had put in his own power, but He shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. He shall be witnesses and soul.
So not to belabor the point, but it is very right for us to be looking forward to the time when Christ has his day, when he has his celebration, when when all of his rights are vindicated here in this world. And he says, I am not going to begin celebration until I can do it with you. He didn't go back to heaven, you might say, and start the party. He did not do that. I am not going to touch this cup until I can teach it with you and the Kingdom.
And he is waiting until he can enter that Kingdom with us and sit down with us and.
So as Mark said is was mentioned earlier, the question is what about those who have died? Are they going to miss it? Are they going to miss Christ coming into his day? Are they going to miss sitting down, not just in spirit but in body? Are they going to miss being there at this table when he for the first time lifts that cup that he said I won't touch again for the first time and when he celebrates with all of his own and the joy of his Kingdom, will they miss out on that? And the wonderful answer, Paul can say no.
Something is going to take place first such that they we all together.
The togetherness of that time will all come into it, into the joy of that together.
You should always remember as first age that brings before us He left when it despised it. Despise it despise it's not mad, but God blessed also gives him to us.
Holy Spirit, so that.
The Spirit of God is a divine person, not just an influence.
And he is abiding in.
We don't have two divine persons within us.
We have the life of Christ, but we we don't have Christ physically abiding in us, but we do have a divine person, the Holy Spirit of God. And it says in Ephesians 4 grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption. I thought we had our redemption already. Yes, the redemption of our souls and not the redemption of our bodies.
So the Spirit of God will not leave you. If I sin and belong with these practices mentioned here, fear of God does not leave me.
But he is grieved.
And of course.
Of course communion is broken. So a Christian has been said we can, we should be the happiest people on the earth. Sometimes we are not.
But we could also be the most miserable people.
Because if I'm not walking in obedience, I'm grieving the Holy Spirit of God. I can't enjoy the world as I did before. It's spoiled for me, and I can't enjoy the Lord.
01:15:03
By motive communion. So I'm miserable until I judge that matter, whatever it may be. Maybe, maybe could be uncleanness in the light, but it could be.
Bitter feelings for certain brethren, that I refuse to judge. Communion is as sensitive as a delicate threat.
It can easily be broken, so we need to be careful in our walk. Is that not right to extend?
So how do we know when we come to a portion of Scripture? Let the Lord's coming, whether it's talking about.
Is appearing in the Kingdom or the Rapture?
So the Rapture comes before the tribulation period. In that sense, we know that.
The difference of the two countries.
We always come in for us and before the judgement falls upon the world. Is that what you had in mind? Well, there's a lot of places where the Lords coming is referred to in Scripture, but how do we know with that particular?
One is Speaking of is coming and appearing, establishing the Kingdom or coming for us?
I think perhaps you have an answer to that.
But I've wondered about that in relation to the safe Titus chapter 2 where it speaks about looking for the lesson hope and the glorious appearance of the great God that Savior. Well, some would lump all that together and say, you know the blessing hope isn't is really you're feeling it. The Lord established his Kingdom. But I've always thought it was connection with the rapture as being the blessed hope and then.
The glorious appearance.
Stadium. That would be when he appears to establish his key.
I think that's correct.
I think.
Context is really what shows us what is being spoken of, and it just puts an emphasis on the importance of the context in Scripture in which a verse is found. We can't isolate it by itself and come up with an interpretation and meaning and ignore the other verses around it, ignore its chapter, it's book, and so on. Scripture is interpreted in the light of all the rest of Scripture, and so we always need the context, and that's really what helps us.
In Second Thessalonians.
To.
Verse 8.
Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, that word brightness.
Really could be translated appearing or shining out.
And there the word coming is used in Scripture, whether it's Speaking of is coming for his Saints or coming with the Saints, it's that same word is used.
But when it's the appearing of his coming?
It's specifically talking about his visible appearing in this world. I think coming and I, I don't know Greek, but I think the word is harassia.
Appearing is epiphany or bright shining out, at least those are kind of the root words. It's the epiphany of this piracy. It's it's right shining out of his coming that is his appearing. And so it may just say coming and we just need to look at the context to understand is it Speaking of his coming and establishing the Kingdom is appearing or is it is coming for us? Or sometimes it includes both.
01:20:16
Most of the references to the Lord's coming in the New Testament are his appeared His name.
Coming visible appearing in this world.
That word coming means simply this presence.
His presence that the epiphany of his presence, the brightness of his presence, is his appearing. But when he comes for us, he's coming. It's his presence.
World may not necessarily is not going to see it, but we will will be caught up to be in this presence. It's his presence is coming. He's present, but the appearing of his presence the world's going to see that's when he establishes.
So the rapture then is the private meeting? I believe so the Lord.
Every eye will see him.
Will be associated with him.
There are signs, definitely there are signs before the Lord's appearing yet.
And the award develops this in Matthew 24 and all of the discourse. There are definitely signs.
Kingdom, but there is no sign.
Necessary before the Rapture, the Thessalonians were told to.
Expect the Lord's return at any moment.
2000 years have passed by. The war hasn't gone.
So it's a present hope.
Not dependent upon.
Developments in this world.
Although we see things shaping up like the illustration that has been given, you passed by a cycle. You see that there's excavation taking place and materials are being put down on the ground. You say to your wife, well, it looks as if there's going to be a building for up here. Things are being brought into place and so we can see.
The Lord behind all the scenes, moving the scenes that he is behind. You can see the development of things, but the Rapture is a is a present hope for the Marine.
I remember John, Mr. Hayhoe saying that the first time the Lord's coming for his Saints that we get in Scripture in John 14, where he says I will come again and receive you unto myself. That's the first time the rapture is mentioned in its proper Christian characters. Is that correct? Yes.
Develop the the how of it there, but that is a reference to it I believe.
I was noticing too here that Paul says to the Thessalonians studied to be quiet and do your own business and to work with your own hands as we have commanded you. There seems to be a tendency to not go on with their regular employment. Maybe they were expecting what the Lord's going to come. What's the point?
In working.
But I was thinking that a leader can be a dangerous thing for the Christian candidate.
If we just sit around and are doing nothing, we know they're off and says that the devil finds things the parietal hands to do. So we're going to be careful. And I think there's a tendency today in in the world too to.
Not put much importance on working and we find they want to shorten the work week to four days now and there's more emphasis on leisure all the time.
But we have to be careful, don't we? The Lord have us to carry on, occupy till he comes.
I'm going to get that in the first chapter of this book.
In the last two verses of the first chapter.
This is a wonderful summer purchase of Christian life in a nutshell.
01:25:03
How you turn from how you turn to God from idols.
To serve.
The living in true God and to wait for his Son from the heaven.
So while we're waiting, there is serving.
So those two, you can't have just the waiting, you've got to be serving while we're waiting.
Just bring in another thought recently. Just.
Is the Lord. Those were creatures of activity and.
And we do need to be busy.
But when it comes to the time, maybe that we say, you know.
I like to serve the Lord, like to do something for the Lord with that extra time I have.
It's like when the children of Israel said through Moses to Pharaoh, we're going to go out in the wilderness, three days journey and we're going to serve the Lord. What did he do? Says you're going to work more hours and take away the straw. Yeah, an 8 hour day anymore.
You got more responsibilities now, young man. You're going to work 12 hour days. Sorry about your family, sorry about the assembly. You're going to serve the board. And Satan is clever in his way to come in and lay upon, especially young brother, way more responsibilities when it comes to a time where he could be useful and raising his little family useful in the assembly to load him up with.
Long hours and long days.
And pursuing a career.
And we need to be careful on that side of things. We don't want the leisure time that plays into the enemy's hands that way. But you know that time comes to serve the Lord, and Satan will try and load you up with ours and just make it seem like it's a priority of my life. I gotta do this. Watch out for that.
There's a verse in Second Timothy chapter 4.
Second Timothy 4 and verse 8.
Henceforth there is a laid up for me, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but to all them that also love His appearing. So there's a a crown for those who love his appearance. We look forward to the rapture when the Lord comes to take us to heaven.
Just verse is saying those it's a special blessing to love is appearing. That's when the Lord comes and he's glorified before all the world with all the Saints now in our in just before we close in our just one difference between the the rapture and the appearance in verse 1617 of our chapter.
1St Thessalonians 4 we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. See, we're the Lord not coming back to earth at the rapture. He's coming to meet us in the air. But let's, let's look over in Zechariah chapter 14 and we'll see what's going to happen at the appearance.
The Lord is not coming back to earth at the rapture. He's going to call us up with the trumpet.
If we're already dead, then we're going to hear a chef. The Old Testament Saints will hear the will hear the voice of the arcing is that.
Archangel is connected with Israel, but in Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 35 will read.
And his feet, this is when the Lord comes back at the appearing, His feet shall stand in that day upon the mouth of elves, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and on the Mount of Olives. Show, plead in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the West. And there shall be a very great valley, and half the mountain shall remove towards the north, and half of it toward the South. And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Hazel.
Yeah, ye shall plead like as he fled from before the earthquake in the days of Isaiah, king of Judah.
Now listen to this.
And the Lord my God shall come, and all the Saints with him. And so there's the Saints of God. That's you and and, and I, we're going to come back with the Lord on this day when his feet touched him out of always and throughout a time. But there's more verses that show the glory of that day.
01:30:10
Maybe we could sing 100 and 71170.
Below he comes from handy Sandy once, for they were listeners playing by all the sins by all the same time.
12 triumphs.
All the way through the old.
Hallelujah, Jesus runs and comes to reign.
Jesus comes and comes to reign.
Sing a song of God.
Again.
Passion blowing glory.
Show me that's all that Let's say it's a long day, Sailor Nation to his friends.
Jesus, Lord, I.
Glory to remain in heaven and to take my people home.
All creation.
All creation.
Trusts are still That's the Last of Us.
01:35:57
Our loving God and Father, we thank you for the sweet time we've had together this morning over Thy Word.
Thank Thee for those thoughts of our Lord's coming for us being with Him.
And all those things that brought out these things that are needful or are to be brought before us that we might have our thoughts on him. And so we just.
Amend ourself.
Again, and we think of any who may still be on the road traveling.
Pray for them. We thank thank thee for each one who is safely arrived, and we think of some who perhaps have not been able to.
Come and be here with us this weekend. We pray for them as well. And we ask this now, the name of our blessed Savior, Lord Jesus Christ.