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Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram Daily Podcast - How to Lift Up Those Who Are Down, Part 1 · WPGM On Demand

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Are you tired of taking flack for your faith?
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Do you find that just because you're a Christian,
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you have an impossible situation with your family
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or your work? But what do you do? Don't give
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up. Stay tuned. God has a word of hope for you
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today. I'm Dave Drewy, and this is Living on
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the Edge with Chip Ingram. In the series we've
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just begun called Building Authentic Community,
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How to Lift Up Those You Love, Chip tackles what
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to do when a friend's faith isn't just discouraged,
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but genuinely under attack. Chip takes us back
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to his own freshman year of college when a professor
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made it his mission week after week to dismantle
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his brand new faith and shows us the Apostle
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Paul's four -part game plan from 1 Thessalonians
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chapter 2 for getting back on solid ground. Here's
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Chip with today's message titled, How to Lift
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Up Those Who Are Down. I'll never forget the
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first day of Sociology 101. I was 18 years old.
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I had just become a Christian about seven or
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eight months before. I had never opened a Bible
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in my life until I was 18. And so I've been reading
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it now about six or seven months. I was overwhelmed
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with what I was learning. I had zeal. I was excited.
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The thought of forgiveness and peace and purpose.
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I was a zealous, brand new, whistling in the
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hall Christian. And then I went to sociology
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class. You've got to remember, this is 1973.
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The 60s are rounding to an end. Kent State is
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barely in the rearview mirror for those of the
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era. I walk into class, and people are filing
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in, and I notice there's an unusual guy sitting
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on the desk up front. He has, for the day, extremely
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long hair, which was really unusual then. for
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a teacher at this school. He had frayed jeans,
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a rather unusual shirt, a headband, sandals,
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and he was sitting cross -legged on top of his
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desk. He was warm. He was friendly. He said nothing
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for the first five or 10 minutes. We all sat
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down and he sat there bow -legged, you know,
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crossed, you know, looking at us, saying nothing.
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And then he began to open up and we found out
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he was the teacher. Every textbook we studied,
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whatever you always thought or believed about
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life, about God, about America, about anything,
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he had a book to refute it. And he started for
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the next semester, week after week after week,
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to challenge every single thing that I believed.
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And I mean decimated the Christian faith. Now,
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I don't know the Bible very well. I don't know
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how to answer any hard questions. And at first
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I just thought, well, he's a little unusual.
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But he had a captive audience. And it wasn't
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long before he raised some doubts in my heart.
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And the confusion in my soul began to grow. And
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then I felt inadequate and I couldn't answer
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the questions. And I wasn't ready to give up
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my faith because I didn't want to become like
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this guy, but he was dealing with a lot of issues
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that I didn't know how to deal with. And I just
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felt knocked down. I just felt like he took the
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air out of my sails. He took the whistle off
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my lips. Whatever joy I was experiencing, I spent
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most of my time semi -confused and insecure and
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struggling and just feeling kind of beat down.
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His arguments weren't good enough or strong enough
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to really cause me to question the depths of
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my faith, but they were strong enough just to
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keep me messed up most of the time. And my observation
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is it's only a matter of time before something
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or someone attacks your faith that will raise
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doubts in your heart, confusion in your soul,
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and a sense of inadequacy in your mind. In fact,
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you might have a work situation where there's
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such a culture of unbelief that basically Day
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after day, it just assaults your faith and makes
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you feel lower or smaller because you're a believer.
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Or you might have an antagonistic family member.
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That works well. You know, someone that just
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whatever you say, they have a little needle and
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their goal is to pop the balloon of your life
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whenever they get a chance. Or I've had a couple,
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quote, intellectual relatives. And you get together
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three or four times a year and they just keep
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asking these questions that at this point in
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your life, you know someone has good answers,
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but you don't. Or you have the fellow student
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or teammate that just, you know, keeps looking
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at you. You really believe that stuff? Are you
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kidding? Don't both brain cells work with you?
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I mean, I don't get it. I thought you were a
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reasonable person. Or finally, there's the old
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friends who just question your newfound faith
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and say, how long is it going to last? How long
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are you going to go through this phase? And so
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the question I want to ask and answer tonight
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is how do we encourage those people whose faith
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is being knocked down? That's what we want to
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ask and answer today. And God has a game plan.
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And the game plan at first sounds really kind
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of weird. You know what the game plan is? Remember,
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remember, remember. The Bible is replete with
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the importance of remembering. In fact, in the
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Old Testament, The Bible will say, be careful
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lest you forget the Lord your God. Moses, when
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he took the second generation in, you know what
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he named the book? Two, Deuteronomy, the second
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law. You know what the key word in the book of
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Deuteronomy is? Remember, remember, remember,
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remember. Because you know what happened? The
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first group forgot. They forgot God's great acts,
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they forgot his great ways, and they didn't follow
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him. Now, the Apostle Paul, as we learned, went
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into a Greek town of about 200 ,000 people, Thessalonica,
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planted a church. It started to multiply. It
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started to grow. It started to mushroom. They
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were becoming well known. I mean, they were on
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fire and making incredible impact. And then some
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people came along and started slandering Paul,
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slandering their faith, poking fun, just a little
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criticism. Oh, you know that Paul, yeah, we heard
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about him. He's just out for your money. Oh,
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all that new Christianity stuff. Oh man, it's
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dying out. Or we've heard this, we've heard that.
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And they kept poking and poking and poking. And
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so by the time Timothy came back to give the
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report, he said, Paul, they're really doing well.
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But man, they are taking it on the chin. Week
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in and week out, people are questioning your
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motives. They're questioning your message. They're
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questioning the validity of the Thessalonians
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faith. And you know, I got to be honest with
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you, Paul, they're having a great impact, but
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you know, they're going through some hard times.
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And so in chapter two, verses one to 12, first
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Thessalonians, guess what Paul does? He causes
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them. to remember the most important things in
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their life in order to restore their perspective
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so that they grow through their faith being knocked
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down. How do you help? How do you encourage people
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whose faith is being attacked or slandered? Now,
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I'd like to read through the passage, and as
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I read it, here's what I want you to do. I want
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you to pull out a pen. I'm going to put you to
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work. We're going to do a little Bible study.
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Whenever you read a passage of Scripture, Words
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or phrases or concepts that are repeated are
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often the key to understanding the passage. Because
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if they're repeated once, twice, three times,
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they're important. If they're repeated five,
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six, seven times, they're probably the theme
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of what's being taught. So let's listen to what
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the Apostle Paul does. First, in verses one and
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two, he reminds them of their reception of the
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message. He says, for you yourselves know, brethren,
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that our coming to you was not in vain. But after
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we already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi,
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as you know, we had the boldness in our God to
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speak to you the gospel of God amid such opposition.
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You got your pen out? Put a little box around
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you yourselves know in verse 1 and then verse
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2. Put a little box around you know. First two
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verses. Isn't it interesting that he's... You
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know, you yourselves know he's bringing things
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back to their memory. Notice in verses three
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through six, he reminds them of the character
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of the messengers. He, Timothy and Silas. He
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says, for our exhortation does not come from
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air or impurity or by way of deceit, but just
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as we've been approved by God to be entrusted
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with the gospel, so we speak. Not as pleasing
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men, but God who examines our hearts. For we
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never came with flattering speech, as you know.
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Guess what you're going to put a box around?
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Nor with a pretext for greed. God is our witness.
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Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you
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or from others, even though as apostles of Christ,
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we might have asserted our authority. Put a box
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around, as you know, in verse five. Next, he
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reminds them of the ministry they received in
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verses 7 through 11. He goes, but we prove to
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be gentle among you as a nursing mother tenderly
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cares for her children. Having thus a fond affection
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for you, we were well pleased to impart to you
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not only the gospel of God, but also our own
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lives. Why? Because you had become very dear
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to us. Verse nine, put a box around the next
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phrase. For you recall, brethren, our labor and
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hardship, how working night and day so as not
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to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim to
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you the gospel of God. Notice verse 10. You are
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witnesses. What's that do? It reminds them. Put
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a box around that. You are witnesses. And so
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is God. How devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly
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we behave toward you believers. Just as, verse
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11, you know how we were exhorting and encouraging
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and imploring each of you as a father would his
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own children. Why? Paul reminds them of the results
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in their lives when they receive the message.
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So that, or resulting in, that you may walk in
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a manner worthy of God who calls you into his
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own kingdom and glory. You're listening to Living
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on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll pick
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the message back up in just a moment. Quick question,
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is Chip's teaching already on your phone? The
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free, and it only takes a minute to download,
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wherever you get your apps. Okay, now let's get
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back to today's message. Now, just by way of
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doing a little Bible studying, by the way, this
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is what I do. I'll read a passage over and over
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and over. And any concept that is repeated, then
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I'll circle it or underline it. Look at verse
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one, you yourselves know. Verse two, you know.
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Skip down to verse five, as you know. Skip down
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to verse nine, for you recall. Verse 10, you
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are witnesses. Verse 11, you know. Are you getting
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the idea that possibly The apostle Paul writing
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to these people whose faith is being undermined,
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that he wants them to remember something. Could
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this be a possibility? Why? See, there's something
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extremely powerful about remembering. What we
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tend to do is see the problem on the horizon
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and it doesn't have to be very big, but as that
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problem gets closer and closer and closer, what
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happens? We lose perspective and we lose sight
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of all of this, let alone all that happened behind
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us. And one of the great ways to get perspective
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is to pull that problem back in light of history
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and what God has done and who he is and what
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you've experienced. Then all of a sudden, it's
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just a little pebble to deal with. But when you're
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looking at it right through here, it looks pretty
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big, doesn't it? And so the apostle Paul is going
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to teach the Thessalonians, remembering God's
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work in the past is the key to getting perspective.
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for doing his will in the present. That's what
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he's going to teach him. And now what I'd like
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to do is I'd like to give you four key principles
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to help people who are faltering. Here's how
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to help them. First thing I think you need to
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do is help them remember the day. Just remember
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that phrase. Remember the day. You've got a friend.
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You've got a son. You've got a daughter. You've
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got a mom. You've got a dad. You've got a brother.
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You've got a sister. Whoever it is, help them
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remember the day they came to Christ. Notice
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what Paul says in verse 1. For you yourselves
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know, brethren, that our coming to you wasn't
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in vain. It means it wasn't empty. It's in a
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tense of the verb that means we came and something
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happened and the results are continuing in prosperity.
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He goes on in verse two, but after we had already
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suffered and been mistreated, he said, remember,
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we were in Philippi. Man, we got our heads bashed
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in. They took the clothes off our back. They
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threw us in prison. We were Roman citizens. We
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were publicly humiliated for doing what? For
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preaching the gospel. And yet, even though we
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went through that, you know that we had the boldness
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in our God. I like the NIV's translation. It
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says, we dared to speak to you about the gospel
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of God amidst such opposition. Let me give you
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a couple things as you try and encourage people
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about remembering their day when they were saved.
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First, help them remember their experience. Now,
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we're in a day where people take experiences
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to an extreme, but sometimes in the church, we
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go the opposite direction. When's the last time
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you just sat down and really pondered your experience,
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where you were in your life? What would have
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happened if you hadn't have trusted Christ? Think
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of all the things that have changed. When's the
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last time you really thought about that? Well,
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guess what? The way God wants you to encourage
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other people, he wants you to remind them through
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a letter this week or through a phone call or
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through an invitation to lunch or through an
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email. He wants you to do something to spur them
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on to remember the very day that they were saved.
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To reminisce, if you will. It will be a powerful
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experience and it will give them perspective.
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The second thing you might want to do to help
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others is help them remember the price tag and
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the sacrifice of those who shared it. You know,
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sometimes we look at our salvation experience
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just through our lens. The Apostle Paul, in stirring
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up their memory, you know, he does something.
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He says, you know, this stuff preaching the gospel,
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it's not cheap and it's not easy. The last major
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town I did it in was Philippi. I got beat up.
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I got stripped publicly. I ended up in jail.
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And then I got run out of town. Now, thinking
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human beings realize that when that happens to
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you, keep your mouth shut next time. The Apostle
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Paul says, though, very interesting word. It
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has the idea of confidence and courage combined.
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And as you look at the translation, some of them
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translate the confidence and others the courage.
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We had boldness or we dared to speak even though
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there was a lot of opposition. What do you think
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the message is to the Thessalonians? You matter.
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Hey, you really matter. Last time we shared this
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message, we got beat up. When we came into town,
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we knew it was going to be a rough situation
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and we dared to speak. We boldly proclaim the
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message because that's how much you matter to
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God. When's the last time you thought of the
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price tag of the people who shared Christ with
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you? The life lesson, you need to remember the
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day for yourself, for sure. That's not the life
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lesson. You need to remember the day for others,
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but here's the life lesson. Sow the seed wildly.
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Sow the seed of the gospel wildly. Past difficulty
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is not a prediction of future impact. We need
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to remember that. Jesus in his parable told us
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only 25 % of the time people would respond, well,
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parable of the soils, sow the seed wildly. Just
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every time, every opportunity, tell people, tell
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them there's an answer for sin. There's forgiveness.
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It's Christ. He came. He loves them. He wants
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to give them peace. He wants to give them a new
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life. He wants to forgive them from the wrath,
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just wrath of God. Sow it wildly. That's what
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the apostle Paul does. And then remember the
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day. Remember the day that you were saved. It
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will give perspective and encourage others. Whatever
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you can do to encourage them to remember the
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day they were saved. Second principle here is
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not only remember the day, but Paul says, remember
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the people. We need to remember the people that
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God used in our life because when our faith is
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a little shaky, bringing back to mind those people
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and remembering their character and remembering
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later their love will help us get perspective.
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Notice what Paul says in verse three. He says,
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for our exhortation or our appeal does not come
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from air. It means delusion or impurity. There
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was no sexual connotations or by way of deceit.
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Now you say, why would he say sexual connotations?
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In that day, every Tom, Dick and Harry was roaming
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around the Roman empire and they were doing their
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little tricks. And they did their little tricks
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either to hoodwink. They were charlatans, just
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like today. And they did it to get a following,
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to get self -promotion, to get money. And then
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most of the ancient religions had some sort of
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sexual deal hooked in with them. And the leaders
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were highly involved in it. And so the apostle
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Paul defending himself, he says, when we came,
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it wasn't no air, no impurity sexually, and no
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trickery or deceit. The word means literally
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a bait, like for a fish. He says, but just as
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we have been approved by God, notice this phrase,
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to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak.
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We've been approved by God. God's approval is
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on our life and we have been entrusted. We are
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stewards of the gospel, so we speak. How? Not
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as pleasing people, but God, and he says, who
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examines our hearts. The character of the servants
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of the gospel message, he says. We were straight
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shooters. Notice verse five. He says, for we
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never came with flattering speech. We would call
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it a con man. It's the idea of leading people
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along, getting them to follow you, building into
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their confidence until the point you take them
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down a different path. And the whole goal of
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the different path is you fleece them, either
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emotionally, monetarily, or sexually. He says,
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not us. We never came with flattery, as you know,
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nor with pretexts or it's literally a mask. No
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hypocrisy. We didn't come for greed or money.
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He says God's our witness. Nor did we seek glory
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from men. This wasn't about self -promotion or
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making a name or trying to be a somebody. either
19:57
from you or others, even though, by the way,
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let's get this straight, as apostles, we had
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every right to exercise some authority, but we
20:04
didn't even do that. We gave away our apostolic
20:07
rights in order to serve you. You're listening
20:13
to Living on the Edge with a message titled,
20:15
How to Lift Up Those Who Are Down. Now, if you
20:18
missed any part of today's teaching, you can
20:20
catch up anytime at livingontheedge .org. Today,
20:24
Chip pointed us back to the people who first
20:26
modeled real integrity for our faith. People
20:29
who showed us love in action long before we'd
20:31
done anything to deserve it. That's really what
20:34
love was always meant to be. Not something we
20:36
wait around to feel, but something we decide
20:39
on purpose, especially toward the people who
20:41
make it hardest. That's the entire premise of
20:44
Chip's book, I Choose Love, a clear, compelling
20:46
case for treating love as a daily decision instead
20:50
of a passing emotion. It unpacks what the Bible
20:52
actually means by agape love and gives you a
20:56
practical, workable way to live it out. Get your
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to the Living on the Edge podcast, wherever you
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get your podcasts. So a new lesson from Chip
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is waiting for you the moment it releases. No
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searching required. Well, now here's Chip Ingram.
21:52
Do you know someone who is really going through
21:56
a hard time right now because of their faith?
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I want you to ask God to bring to mind, is there
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someone who's being criticized or bombarded?
22:03
Someone who's ridiculed maybe by their family
22:06
or at work? I mean, someone who's maybe even
22:08
persecuted. I mean, they are about ready to give
22:11
up the faith or it's a constant struggle. Does
22:13
anyone come to your mind like that? See, that
22:16
was a situation that the Thessalonians found
22:19
themselves in. And Paul wrote this letter to
22:21
say, I want to help you. I want to encourage
22:24
you. And the theme of his letter was remember,
22:27
remember, remember. And so as this person comes
22:31
to your mind, I want to give you a little game
22:33
plan to help them. Remember, a word of encouragement
22:36
can transform a person's life. Your time with
22:39
them, helping them remember, can make all the
22:42
difference in the world. But you say, well, what
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is it that they need to remember? There's going
22:47
to be four things. I want to give you two of
22:48
them today. The first thing is they need to remember
22:52
the actual day that they came to Christ. They
22:54
need to ponder and think about when was the day?
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What happened? Where were they? What was their
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life before? Because see, what this will do is
23:04
give them perspective. And that sounds so trite.
23:07
Most people won't do that, and they won't do
23:09
it well. But let me give you a little clue. Here's
23:11
what you do. You know this person. They've come
23:14
to your mind. God's brought them to your mind.
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You give them a call. Send them an email and
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say, hey, can we do kind of lunch next week or
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breakfast? Or can we just grab a cup of coffee
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or take a walk? And you don't make a big deal.
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You don't act like it's some big meeting. But
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you know their situation. And when you get with
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them, you say, Bob, Mary, whatever their name,
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would you tell me how you came to know Christ?
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And they might say, well, gosh, you know, no,
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I want the long version. I really want to hear
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it. And ask questions and get them to rehearse
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and think back. What was their life like before
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they became a Christian? How forgiven, how loved,
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and the transformation that's occurred. And what
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that will do is give perspective. That's what
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Paul did here. The second thing you need to do
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is help them remember the people God used in
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their life. Isn't that what Paul did right out
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of this passage? You see, you got away these
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people that are attacking you and these people
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that have loved you. And you have to say to yourself,
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I'm getting a lot of flack. But in the end, who
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do I want to be like? And you can be the friend
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that just helps them rehearse it and say, tell
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me who led you to Christ. What was attractive
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about their life? What was it about their marriage?
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Or how was it that they lived in their singleness?
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What was it? The winsome quality. And you ask
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them and you get them talking. And you know what
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will happen? Someone's going to get encouraged.
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And the Holy Spirit of God will use you to do
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it. What a deal, huh? Go do it. Next time, Chip
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continues this message, showing us how remembering
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the people who shaped our faith can restore what
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discouragement steals. Don't miss it here on
24:50
Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced
24:56
and sponsored by Living on the Edge.