1 Thessalonians 5

0:24 Would you turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. By God's grace, we're going to finish this book tonight. I said by God's grace. And we'll see how far we get. Chapter 5. Supposing that we do finish this book tonight, Our next study for next week will be the book of Esther in the Old Testament. Ten short chapters. You may want to get a running start on those chapters, and we'll be doing that next week. But tonight we're in chapter five of this incredible book of 1 Thessalonians.

1:09 We should all be concerned about the future, because we're going to be spending the rest of our lives there. And what does the future have? Well, Jesus Christ is coming back. And that is a theme throughout this little epistle of 1 Thessalonians. And it is one of the mega themes of the scripture that Jesus is coming to the earth. He came once and he's coming back again. The first time he had a different agenda than the one he's going to have at his second coming. So we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 that delivers us, or to us, the rest of the story. We started last week talking at the end of chapter 4 about the great gathering together of the saints in the air, what we call the rapture of the church, and then the chapter ended.

2:16 Some of the greatest songs in church history have had as their theme the second coming of Christ, including Isaac Watts' famous Christmas song, which really has nothing to do with Christmas. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive its king. that is a song with the theme of the second coming of Christ. Julia Ward Howe gave us the great song, the battle hymn of the republic, Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, about the second coming of Christ. How great thou art when Christ shall come with shout of acclamation to take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

3:20 So it is the anthem of many a song. And it is the theme of much of scripture. And 1 Thessalonians is a book that highlights that in every single chapter. All five chapters mention the coming of the Lord. If you were to do a count, and it has been done, the verses of Scripture that deal with the coming of Christ, the second coming of Christ, it has been estimated there are 1,845 references to it in the Bible. 1,845 times the scripture alludes to or predicts the coming of Christ to rule and to reign, what we know is the second coming.

4:17 One out of every 30 verses in the Bible deal with the end times or in particular the second coming. For every one time in the Bible, the first coming is predicted or mentioned. The second coming is predicted or mentioned eight times. One time, eight times. For every time atonement is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned twice. 21 times Jesus made personal reference to his coming again. And 50 times the Bible tells us that we as believers should be ready for it. that we should be anticipating and we should be looking for it. And that is one of the undergirding themes as we have seen in so many of these chapters already.

5:22 Then there is the Apostles' Creed, what we know as the Nicene Creed. It was formalized in 325 AD. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. and of his kingdom there will be no end. Now the question that some people have is, you know, why is he coming again? He was already here. Why didn't he just stay? I mean, why come and then leave and then come back?

5:52 Well, you ought to be really glad for that fact. Because he came the first time to deal with the sin issue, the greatest problem of humanity, sin. And then he opened the doors wide at his first coming to the last 2,000 years of salvation being possible to anyone who hears and believes, including you and I. So he came the first time to deal with mankind's greatest problem, sin. He's coming the second time to rule and reign with those of us who have been cleansed from our sin. the first time he came to deal with that issue the second time he's going to set up his kingdom first time he came he said my kingdom is not of this world the second time he comes his kingdom will be over the entire world now in chapter four as we ended it talks about that harpazo that rapture the gathering together of God's children in the air to meet the Lord.

7:04 Verse 16 of chapter 4. The last few verses. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Remember, they were worried about their dead loved ones who, if the Lord is coming back and they're dead before he comes back, will they participate in his kingdom? And so he addresses that. The dead in Christ will rise first. They won't be left out. They're first in line. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up, harpazo, raptured together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

8:03 So he concludes chapter 4 with the joyful hope of the gathering together of the saints with the Lord in the air, including those loved ones who have died before those who are alive at that time to meet the Lord. we'll all have an incredible reunion with the Lord, with our loved ones, in glory. what I didn't have time for last week is the interesting parallel between what we read here and the book of revelation the book of revelation by the way is pretty easy to discern I wrote a book called you can understand the book of revelation based on the premise that it was meant to be understood because that's how it is presented blessed are those who read and keep the words of this prophecy in chapter 1 of Revelation, verse 3. So I think it's pretty straightforward.

9:01 John gets a vision in chapter 1 of the glorified Jesus Christ. It dazzles him. It's Jesus unlike he had ever known him before. John spent three and a half years with him in his public ministry. But he gets a vision of the glorified Christ.

9:22 And then he is told, write the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. That's chapter 1, verse 19 of Revelation. And that single verse forms the outline for the entire book. Book of Revelation is divided into three parts. The things John saw, the things which are, and the things which take place after those things. So, what did he see? He saw a vision of the glorified Christ. Write the things which you have seen in chapter 1. Write the things which are. So chapter 2 and 3 are the current conditions, when John writes, of the seven churches scattered throughout Asia Minor. The condition of the church, the things which are.

10:14 The third is, and you will write what will happen after these things. In Greek, meta-tauta. After this, after these, after these things. Meta-tauta. When you get to chapter 4, chapter 4 begins in the Greek, meta-tauta. After this, after these things. So chapter 4 to the end of the book is what takes place after what John saw and the things which are. And what's interesting about chapter 4 of Revelation, John says, I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and a voice spoke to me as of a trumpet. saying, come up here and I will show you which must take things, which must take place.

11:16 Metatauta, after these things. He is then ushered into heaven and everything he sees from chapter four onward are from the vantage point, not of being on earth in a cave on the island of Patmos, but from glory, from heaven. But isn't it interesting? He hears a voice, and it's the voice of an angel speaking to him, and it sounds like a trumpet, and it sounds very similar to the Lord himself. Verse 16, will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first and will be caught up. John was caught up into glory and recorded what he saw after these things.

12:04 So that's the rapture of the church. There's going to be a loud voice from heaven. What will that voice say? We don't know. My guess is come up here like chapter 4 verse 1 of Revelation. And the trumpet of God and we will be taken together. Okay.

12:27 Chapter 4 ends with that joyful, blessed hope of the gathering together with the Lord in the clouds at the rapture of the church. Chapter 5, there is a distinct pivot, and he writes about something more ominous. It's not a joyful hope and expectation for the saints. It's a warning to those who are living in darkness on the earth. now sometimes I read the Bible and I don't like where the Bible translators or the Bible the people who put in the numbers of the chapters and the verses decided to put the chapters in the verses now I've told you before that wasn't in the original documentation the scriptures were not written with chapters and verse numbers that was added in the year 1227 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. And he did it for a very good reason. So you and I could turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Otherwise, I'd say find in your Bible Paul's letter to the Thessalonians and go to the last section and we'd be digging around for words.

13:45 So I'm grateful for what Stephen Langton and his associates did in 1227. But oftentimes, I believe they break up the context and they don't have it in the right spaces. The chapters end and begin in inappropriate places. Here's one, however, where I wholeheartedly agree. Not that that matters, who am I? But I think he nailed it here. Because chapter four is all about that blessed hope, the joyful hope for the church. And then there's a pivot concerning the day of the Lord, but concerning verse 1 chapter 5, the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

14:48 For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Concerning times and seasons. chronos and kairos chronos times kairos seasons chronos times chronological time the flow of time in chronological order when things happen and then kairos event time the epical moments, the pivotal moments in redemptive history concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need that I write to you. The Old Testament is filled with the times and the seasons leading up to the second coming of Jesus Christ. As I said, it's one of the great themes of scripture and especially the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah all speak about the day of the Lord in graphic detail and some of the events leading up to it and during this period that I'm going to be describing to you called the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is not a 24-hour day. It is a season. It is an era of time.

16:36 It's a season of time. The day of the Lord. A season of time that the Old Testament writes about. Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. Now you may remember that when Jesus rose from the dead and was with his disciples for 40 days teaching things concerning the kingdom of God in Acts chapter 1, the disciples came to him and they said, is now the time? Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Okay, you rose from the dead. Are you going to usher in the kingdom age? And remember, Jesus said, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons. Same language, that the Father has put in his own authority. But you'll be given power and you will preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

17:32 Don't worry about the when. Worry about in the meantime, what? Do this in the meantime. But he used that phrase. Jesus used that phrase. The times and the seasons. we have an indication that the end is near, but the precise moment that triggers all the events that lead up to the kingdom age, we don't know. Now we are looking for it, we are anticipating it, but Paul is making the point that the world will be taken completely off guard. It's going to come upon them like pains come upon a woman in labor. Suddenly and unexpectedly, it'll be a surprise to the people. It seems as I read through 1 Thessalonians, and I've read through it several times, one after another, just to get the flow of it, Paul seems to indicate that he had taught them already things about the end of days, especially the coming judgment and then the Lord after the judgment setting up his kingdom. But he had not explained the rapture to them in detail, hence they were worried about their loved ones who had died. So he writes the letter and explains that gathering together, the rapture. But he says, concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. I've already told you some of these catastrophic events that are coming for the unbelieving world. For you yourselves know perfectly the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. Okay. In Matthew 24, I'm going to read this to you.

19:31 Matthew chapter 24. Jesus speaking, and it's all about the day of the Lord. He says, then two men will be in the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken, the other left. Watch, therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, same imagery, same metaphors as Paul just wrote about,

20:13 he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him. the day of the Lord mentioned 19 times in the Old Testament four times in the New Testament a period of time when God acts dramatically and directly with the affairs of humanity on earth that's probably the best description of the day of the Lord when God acts directly and dramatically in the affairs of humans on the earth, typically in terms of judgment. Typically in terms of judgment. Now, of all those times in the Bible where the day of the Lord is mentioned, sometimes it's the dramatic direct working of God in a localized historical sense.

21:17 there's a time of punishment of judgment it could be the Babylonian captivity sometimes it is used that way usually however it is used not of the historical local sense but of the eschatological sense the end of days day of the Lord one is a preview of the other the lesser one is a preview of the greater ultimate day of the Lord. And whenever the day of the Lord is mentioned, or almost always, it is not like, oh boy, I can't wait for the day of the Lord to come. It's like, uh-oh, the day of the Lord is coming. It is ominous. It is portentous. It is filled with indignation, wrath, and God's judgment. Let me give you a sampling of it. I have put it here in the page of my Bible. This is from Isaiah chapter 13, verse 6.

22:18 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. And this is Jeremiah 46, verse 10. For this is the day of the Lord of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries. This is Amos chapter 5, verse 18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light. Jesus spoke about the day of the Lord in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. Those three chapters are devoted to that period of time described by the Old Testament prophets as the day of the Lord, also known as the tribulation period, the coming day of judgment, the coming day of wrath.

23:21 So Jesus gave the details about it. But Paul the Apostle in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 speaks about it and in a couple of other places. And then the Apostle John gives us the most amount of details in Revelation chapter 6 all the way to chapter 19. where you have bowl judgments, you have trumpet judgments, you have seal judgments, one upon another cascading, in crescendoing into the battle of Armageddon and then the second coming of Jesus Christ. So that is the day of the Lord in the scriptures. Here he says back in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, for you yourselves know the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.

24:26 When they say peace and safety, what does that mean? Well, in Daniel chapter 9, verse 27, we are told that there is a period of seven years reserved in the future, at which time a man, a leader, the man of sin, will make a covenant of peace, a seven-year covenant. And people will go, finally there's peace, especially peace in the Middle East. finally we've settled into and figured this thing out when they say peace and safety he makes a seven-year contract he breaks it we are told in the middle of that seven-year period that one week of years that seven-year period at a three and a half year mark is the abomination of desolation a desecration of the Jewish temple and all hell will break loose at that point of time.

25:33 And the last three and a half years of that seven year tribulation is known as the day of the Lord or the great tribulation period. It is coming upon the earth. Now back to our text just notice the phraseology. It's going to come on them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. when Jesus described the day of the Lord, Matthew 24, when the disciples came to him and said, tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? He said, take heed that no one deceive you, for you're going to hear of wars, rumors of wars. Nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There'll be earthquakes and famines and pestilence in various places. But the end is not yet.

26:26 These are the beginning of sorrows. Literally, birth pains. These are the beginning of birth pains. These are the contractions that will lead up to the final convulsive end of the birth of the wrath of God or the day of the Lord. So it's going to come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape. Okay, I want you to contrast something. And that is the use of us versus them, right? He's talked about the rapture and the coming of the Lord. Comfort one another with these words. The Lord's going to catch us all up together. There's going to be a glorious reunion and resurrection. Now he's talking about the day of the Lord, verse 3. When they say, peace and safety, sudden destruction comes upon them. Labor pains as a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.

27:21 Look at verse 4. But you, brethren, are not in darkness so that that day should overtake you as a thief. It's going to come like a thief to those who don't expect it, people in the world, unbelievers, those living in darkness. Nobody looks forward to a thief coming. Nobody watches and schedules the thief, leaves a note on the counter, hey, I'm on vacation, take what you'd like. Oh, by the way, my wallet's in the second drawer from the right. a thief just breaks in and it's a shock. It's all of a sudden. But, brethren, you are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are waiting for it. You're watching for it. As Jesus told us to watch and be ready for his coming. So you're not in darkness that that day would overtake you as a thief.

28:17 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. We're sons of light. They're sons of darkness. They're going to experience the day of the Lord. They're going to experience the wrath of God. We, on the other hand, are looking for the blessed hope, the glorious hope, the gathering together with the Lord in the air, because we are children of the light, children of the day. In John chapter 3, you remember John said, And this is the condemnation, light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Neither would they come to the light, lest their deeds should be exposed.

29:11 that's the unbelieving world as opposed to the believing world the sons of the day sons of the light what paul is telling the believers in thessalonica is don't fall asleep on the job christian if you're not children of the darkness but you're children of the light Don't fall asleep on the job. Anticipate his coming. Look for his coming. Paul's last letter anybody know what it was? 2nd Timothy toward the end of that letter really that great crescendo of that short little letter to Timothy he says I have fought the good fight I finished the race I've kept the faith.

30:12 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not to me only, but to all those who have loved his appearing. He writes about believers as those who love his appearing. That's a description, a descriptive phrase of what a believer ought to be. A believer is somebody who loves the coming of Jesus, loves the appearing of Jesus, is anticipating and looking forward to that. All who have loved his appearing. Now I'm going to give you another text. I pre-marked it to read with you because these are related texts. This is 2 Peter chapter 3 and I'm beginning to read in verse 10. Peter says, but the day of the Lord, same phraseology, same idea, the day of wrath, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

31:40 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness? If the material world is going to burn up and disintegrate and be no more, what kind of a person ought you to be? Certainly not a materialistic one. You got your eggs in the wrong basket.

32:06 What manner of persons ought you to be, asks Peter. A better translation is what kind of other worldly person ought you to be? What foreign-born person ought you to be is the idea behind the text. What exotic, foreign, otherworldly person ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness? I'm convinced that one of the greatest motivations to living a good, righteous, and pure life is the belief that Jesus is coming. The imminent return of Christ, that he could come at any moment. in the book of 1 John chapter 3, John says, this we know when he is revealed, we shall be like him for we will see him as he is.

33:13 When he shows up and he reveals himself, when he comes, we're going to be transformed and be just like him for we're going to see him as he is. Then he says this, and everyone who has this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure. It's one of the most purifying ways to live. Jesus can come back at any moment. there's two different ways to view the coming of Christ. You can look at it, or you can look for it. And those are two entirely different ways of viewing the same event. Some people just look at it. They study the text. They're theologically and eschatologically sensitive to what is coming. They are a scriptural observer. of end time events.

34:07 Oh, they love all the books and the seminars. nothing wrong with that. But not just looking at it, but the best way is to look for it. Here's the difference. If you're invited to a wedding, you sit and you watch the wedding take place, you are looking at it. If you're the bride, man, you've been looking for it for a long time. You have been anticipating it, looking forward to it, counting the days, imagining the moment. One group is looking at it. The bride is looking for it. Hopefully the groom too. there's a little town in southern England called Tiptoe, England. Tiptoe, England.

35:00 How did it get its name? In the days before paved roads, when the roads were dirt, and it rains a lot in England, roads got very muddy. Well, they got muddy then. They're paved now. But because of the mud, people would walk through the streets on their tiptoes. and so they just gave it the crazy name tiptoe england because it was sort of in a valley in a bog and it got quite muddy so you just kind of lift your feet up and walk on your tiptoes to get to the location but i like that because that's how you and i should walk through this dirty muddy world on our tiptoes is the lord coming anytime could be today if not today maybe tomorrow right We're always looking with anticipation. So, what manner of persons are you to be in holy conduct and godliness?

35:56 Back to 1 Thessalonians. Therefore, let us not sleep, verse 6, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night. Those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us, again the contrast, who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. Cover your heart, cover your mind, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath. One of the key verses in his whole teaching. God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, you see the word salvation appears in both of those verses.

36:58 he's talking about the future and our future salvation do you remember Sunday I said that we're saved in three different senses past present future we're saved in the past from the penalty of sin moment you gave your life to Christ hell had no grip on you you were transformed and transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light You have been saved, past tense, from the penalty of sin. You are being saved right now in the present tense from the power of sin. Its grip on your life should be loosening a little bit more as time goes on. That's sanctification. Salvation happens when you give your life to Christ and you're saved from the penalty of sin. Then sanctification, you're being saved from the grip of sin, the power of sin. in your life, you will be saved in the future from the very presence of sin itself. There's coming a time when we are in glory, when you won't be able to sin, you won't have an old nature to fall back into, you will be completely and totally, you'll experience the consummation, you might say, of your salvation.

38:14 for God did not appoint us but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ some people read this verse and they think well the wrath that Paul is speaking about is the eternal wrath in the eternal hell given to unbelievers in the end we who are saved aren't going to go through that wrath well that is correct but that is not the context here the context here is the wrath of the day of the Lord upon the unbelieving world God has not appointed us to eternal wrath. God has not appointed us to that coming tribulation wrath. And some will say, yeah, but you know, Jesus said we're going to go through tribulation. He said, in the world you will have tribulation.

39:10 Well, yes, he did. But the tribulation that you and I experience now has its source in the world. In the world, you will have tribulation. This is the tribulation, the anxiety, the problems that you face because you and I live in a fallen, unbelieving world. It's part and parcel of living in this fallen world. In this world, you will have tribulation. So the tribulation you and I experience comes from the world. The tribulation that we're talking about here, the eschatological tribulation, doesn't come from the world. It comes from God to the world. It is God judging the world. God has not appointed us to that wrath. Yes, we have tribulation in the world, but there's a big difference between the tribulation from this world and the tribulation that comes from God to this world as a form of judgment.

40:08 God has not appointed us to that wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. How bad is the tribulation going to be? I ask the question because I've had people say, well, you know, we've had a lot of bad times in history. World War II, the Holocaust, the concentration camps, the purging of the Cambodian population under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. And they will cite several different periods of history where it's just a wholesale butchering of lives.

41:02 The prophet Daniel in chapter 12 says that that period, the day of the Lord, the coming wrath, the coming tribulation, is the worst time in human history. He said it has never been experienced since there was a nation. Jesus echoes that in Matthew 24. then there will come great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time nor ever shall be. In other words, according to Jesus and Daniel the tribulation period, the wrath of God, the day of the Lord will be the worst period in human history. Three and a half years of millions and millions of people dying under the plagues of Almighty God as God judges an unbelieving world.

42:04 So it'll be the very worst possible time ever. But again, God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. Now, you know, we have several examples of this. God judged the entire world in a flood. Almost.

42:32 Who did he save? Noah and his family. How many? Eight. Everybody else was killed. Eight survived. How did they live? They were lifted up in that ark. Lifted up from the surface of the earth, not to experience judgment. we also have the example of God judging Sodom now you remember when the Lord and two angels were hanging out with Abram in chapter 18 of Genesis and the Lord was there having a conversation with Abram in the form of a theophany and the two angels were dispatched to Sodom and And, you know, Abram goes like, okay, what's up? And God explains that the angels are going to check out Sodom to see if the report about it is as bad as has been reported in his ears.

43:29 And then he's going to destroy the city. Well, Abram scratches his head and goes, oh, that's not good. I've got a relative living there named Lot. and so Abraham says Lord will not the judge of all the earth do right if 50 righteous people be found in that city, will you spare the city for 50 righteous people? God says, if you find me 50 righteous people, I'll spare the city. Abraham said, okay. Would you do it for 40? God said, deal. You find me 40 righteous people, I'll spare the city. Hmm. Okay, 30. Would you do it for 30? I'll do it for 30. 20? Then he has one last shot. He's thinking, would you do it for 10 people? God says, listen, if you find me 10 righteous people, I'll spare the city my judgment for 10 people.

44:37 I bring that up because Peter uses this as an example when he writes his letter, 2 Peter. Peter says, therefore, using Lot as an example, the Lord knows how to deliver the righteous from the day of judgment and reserve the ungodly to be punished in that day of judgment. In other words, the Lord knows how to make a difference between the righteous and the wicked when it comes to him unleashing his wrath, his judgment in the day of the Lord. So I take great comfort in that. And I take great comfort in this verse. He did not appoint us to wrath, eternal wrath, eschatological wrath, wrath that comes from him through us, but salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Again, mark how that is written. Jesus wasn't killed. He gave up his life.

45:42 He died for us. He was in control of the crucifixion. He gave up his spirit. He dismissed it. who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, whether we're alive or dead, we should live together with him. Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another just as you have been doing. I thought about that verse this week. Comfort one another. edify one another this is the role of the church to minister to one another Paul said to the book in the book of Romans chapter 15 I am confident that you are able to admonish one another literally counsel each other admonish counsel better one another instruct one another Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

46:50 What this tells me is that according to Paul, Paul wasn't enough for the church. Paul's teaching wasn't enough for the church. Paul's letters weren't enough for the church. The church needed more than Paul's ministry. They also needed one another's ministry. Can you see the connection?

47:14 You can survive as a Christian just coming to church once a week. And I say that most Christians don't come once a week. Most Christians in America come maybe twice a month. That's the average. You will survive going to church once a week. But if you want to thrive, you need to make contact with other believers. and share and do life in a smaller group setting with other believers, that you can edify one another, encourage one another, lift one another up. That's the role of the church, not to survive, but to thrive. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you. Now he's turned, he's pivoted here from clearing up end time events, clarifying the day of the Lord, to giving them instruction of practical instruction what to do in the life of the church. Now we exhort you, brethren, Warn those who are unruly.

48:36 Comfort the faint-hearted. Uphold the weak. Be patient with all. I love how Paul breaks down the different classifications of people in the body of Christ. The first group, warn those who are unruly. This is the spiritually defiant child. The defiant Christian. The unruly. Warn those who are unruly. Every now and then you get a believer, saved, but tough as nails, defiant. They need more discipline than most.

49:32 Every parent knows what that kind of a child is like. My parents had four boys. The first one, Jim, was very compliant. and then they became less compliant as the children went on. I'm the fourth or last born. Rick was a little more defiant, Bob way more defiant, and I was up there with Bob, although I did a lot of subterfuge they didn't know about. When my parents found out how defiant I was, they were quick to discipline. and they never threatened me when they warned me. They warned me, like Paul says, warned the unruly, but it was never a threat. It was always a promise. if you do this, this will happen. And it's not like, okay, you've done it three times. If you keep doing it, it'll happen. No. One warning. You do that again, this will happen. Because they knew who they were dealing with. They're dealing with a defiant kid, an unruly kid. And an unruly kid is somebody who doesn't like the rules, hence unruly. Okay, so here's the rule, and this is what will happen if you don't obey the rules. So they would always promise. So we exhort you, brethren, warn the unruly. Second group, comfort the faint-hearted. Now this is not the defiant child, this is the sensitive child. He's faint-hearted, literally small-souled, easily discouraged.

51:12 always or quickly wanting to quit. You know that type. They run out of steam very, very quickly. And they always see the dark side of things. They're like Eeyore the donkey in Winnie the Pooh. Well, you can't warn that group of people. You need to comfort those who are faint-hearted. You got to deal differently with each group of people. And then finally, third, uphold the weak. These are the feeble children in the body of Christ. They wouldn't stand unless you hold them up. Now, they won't always be like this, but you need to hold them up for a time until they get their stability back. The problem with this third group in the body of Christ, I find, is you don't often know who they are because they don't want to admit that they have a need, because if they admit it, it's somehow showing they're not spiritual, which is sad. It's tragic. It doesn't mean you're not spiritual. If you are a weak believer, it just means right now you need some extra support. You just need some encouragement.

52:28 You just need some help. And the body of Christ should be gathering around those. And then finally, be patient with all, everyone. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. Now a list of short little beautiful commands. Rejoice always.

52:56 Rejoice always. In the King James, rejoice evermore. the Christian always has a reason to be joyful even when circumstances are not in his or her favor rejoice always by the way that is the shortest verse in the Bible I know you think Jesus wept was and it might be in English but in Greek this is the shortest verse rejoice always verse 17 pray without ceasing that doesn't mean 24-7 mumble things under your breath because don't talk to me I'm praying it just means on every occasion don't stop praying don't quit verse 18 in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you I'm so glad it says in everything and not for everything give thanks because frankly I couldn't thank God for everything when somebody I love is murdered I don't go oh thank you Lord they got killed awesome. I'm not thankful for that. But in all things, I can be thankful. In whatever situation I face, give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit or don't put out the spirit's fire. Do not despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold fast what is good. Now a prophet in the Old Testament spoke for God, often spoke about things in the future, sometimes just proclaimed the word of the Lord about a situation going on in the present.

54:42 There is a New Testament gift of prophecy as well. There were prophets in the New Testament. Agabus in chapter 13 was a prophet in the church and recognized as such. One of the promises of the end days, Acts chapter 2, it shall come to pass, according to Joel, shall come to pass in the last day, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. What is the New Testament gift of prophecy? Sometimes it's proclaiming the word of God, but it's summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. He who prophesies, Paul said, speaks exhortation, edification, and comfort to the church. It's right out of the text. Edification or exhortation, edification, and comfort.

55:37 exhortation means to stir up edification means to build up so edification exhortation and comfort if somebody comes on and says thus says the lord oh my children you're all a bunch of worthless creeps and i've heard people who propose to be prophets in the name of the lord and come on hot and heavy like that in judgment. Let's see, is that exhortation, edification, or comfort? No, therefore I reject it.

56:16 Whoever speaks a word of prophecy has to fall into that category. That's why I love verse 21, test all things. How do you test it? Scripture. then hold fast to what is good. If it's not good, toss it. If it's good, hold it. Abstain from every form of evil. Now he closes the letter, and now may the God of peace himself sanctify you, set you apart, make you holy. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming, there it is again, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now would you notice in verse 23 the order of those three? Spirit, soul, and body.

57:11 That's not how we would say it. We usually say body, soul, and spirit. Right? That's because you and I were fallen creatures. that's the effect of sin and a fallen world according to God the spirit is to be uppermost that part that communicates with God and then the soul your conscience your emotion your will and then your body which houses your soul and your spirit now I don't want to get too deep into the weeds, there is an in-house debate as to is man a bipartite being or a tripartite being, a bipartite soul and body, because sometimes soul and spirit are synonyms for one another. But this verse would seem to indicate that we are a tripartite being, spirit, soul, and body, and that there is a difference between the spirit and the soul.

58:17 Thus we are in the image of God a triunity like Father, Son, and Spirit. We're spirit, soul, and body. So he's saying that he's praying that God would sanctify you completely, spirit, soul, and body, and be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. That was the customary greeting back then. In some cultures it still is. Kiss on both cheeks. We usually do a hug or a handshake. We could do a whole fun sermon on just that. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. Now we got 30 seconds left, or 40 seconds. So let me just press in on that verse. This verse indicates a couple of very important truths. Number one, Paul invested his letter with the authority of God, spiritual authority. I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brethren. It's not just something I'm telling you to do. It's by God's authority I'm telling you to do that. Just as in the Old Testament, in the synagogues, the scriptures were read publicly. The Old Testament scriptures were and are read publicly. So Paul is saying, in the churches, my letters should be read publicly. So he is investing his letter with the authority of God. Second, the Bible is for all Christians, not just a few. Be read to all the holy brethren. I remember in the church I grew up in, I wanted to read the Bible and they said, oh, don't worry about that. The priest reads the Bible and he'll tell you what it says.

1:00:26 I said, well, I appreciate that, but I'd like to find out what it says for myself. Thank you. And so I got a Bible and I went to church for the first time with my brown Schofield Bible in my hand. And I walked through the doors of St. Joan of Arc's church. And I got stopped by one of the ushers. And he looked at my Bible and he looked at me and this, I kid you not, he said, what are you doing with that thing in here?

1:00:53 And it dawned on me, this book is out of place. for the average pew member in this church. It is confined to a select few who read it and talk about it and tell me what it says. And from that day forward, I thought the Bible should be in the hands of every single believer and every Christian ought to know what it says for themselves. So I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. You're the holy brethren, and we have read this letter publicly and discussed it. Finally, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And everybody said the last word, amen. Father, thank you for this book. Thank you for the incredible information that Paul gives us in dividing the nuance between the blessed hope of the coming of Christ for his church in the air and then the final return of Jesus after the day of the Lord, after the wrath is poured out upon the earth, after the time of Jacob's trouble, after the 70th week of Daniel, the coming of Christ to set up his kingdom and rule and reign with those of us who come back with him.

1:02:10 Lord, I pray that we as your people would look for your coming, look forward to your coming, and be in our tiptoes with every new newsflash coming from the Middle East and from other parts of the world, standing in our tiptoes, trying to see how this fits in and where we stand, looking forward to your return and our gathering together with you. That's our blessed hope. And I pray, Lord, that no matter what we are going through, that we would be comforted by these words. In Jesus' name, amen.