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1 Thessalonians 3 - How Christians Will Handle Persecution · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Well, good morning, friends and faith listeners, and welcome to
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  Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. And today we're going to be
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  Speaker 1: discussing First Thessalonians and the lead up to Paul answering
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  Speaker 1: the questions that the Thessalonian Church actually had, which mainly
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  Speaker 1: was about Jesus's second coming. So we're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about the lead up to that today, and also persecution
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  Speaker 1: for Christians and how we deal with all of that.
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  Speaker 1: Stay tuned for today's episode. It's going to be a
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  Speaker 1: good one. So let's go ahead and jump right in
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  Speaker 1: and talk about First Thessalonians chapter three. Again, I will
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  Speaker 1: be discussing the entire chapter. I usually try to break
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  Speaker 1: the chapters up into smaller sections, but I've noticed recently
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  Speaker 1: in Thessalonians that there's not a really good breakup point,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose in the chapters because they're all talking about
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  Speaker 1: one main theme so far. So again today we will
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  Speaker 1: be discussing the entire chapter of First Thessalonians three. So
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  Speaker 1: grab your Bible out of the version that you prefer,
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  Speaker 1: but I, of course will be reading from the web
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  Speaker 1: as I always do. Feel free to grab You are
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  Speaker 1: a cup of coffee, or you a cup of tea
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  Speaker 1: this morning as well, and today I'm drinking a delicious
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  Speaker 1: cup of seven Weeks Coffee. Seven Weeks Coffee is the
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  Speaker 1: best coffee brand that I have come across personally, both
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  Speaker 1: in quality, taste and mission, so you should check them out.
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  Speaker 1: They are linked in the description of this episode. But again,
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  Speaker 1: let's go ahead and read for Thessalonians three, the entire chapter. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: when we couldn't stand it any longer, we thought it
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  Speaker 1: good to be left behind at Athens alone, and sent Timothy,
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  Speaker 1: our brother and God's servant in the good News of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith,
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  Speaker 1: that no one would be moved by these afflictions, for
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  Speaker 1: you know that we are appointed to this task for
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  Speaker 1: most certainly, when we were with you, we told you
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  Speaker 1: beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened.
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  Speaker 1: And you know for this cause, I also, when I
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  Speaker 1: couldn't stand it any longer, sent that I might know
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  Speaker 1: your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter
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  Speaker 1: had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.
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  Speaker 1: But Timothy has just now come to us from you
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  Speaker 1: and brought us glad news of your faith and love,
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  Speaker 1: that you have good memories of us, always longing to
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  Speaker 1: see us, even as we also long to see you.
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  Speaker 1: For this cause, brothers, we were comforted over you in
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  Speaker 1: all of our distress and affliction through your faith. For
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  Speaker 1: now we live. If you stand fast in the Lord
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  Speaker 1: for what thanksgiving can we render again to God for you,
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  Speaker 1: for all the joy with which we rejoice for your
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  Speaker 1: sakes before our God night and day, praying exceedingly that
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  Speaker 1: we may see your face and may perfect that which
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  Speaker 1: is lacking in your faith. Now, May our God and
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  Speaker 1: Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way
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  Speaker 1: to you. May the Lord make you to increase and
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  Speaker 1: abound in love toward one another and toward all men,
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  Speaker 1: even as we also do toward you, to the end
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  Speaker 1: that He may establish our hearts blameless in holiness before
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  Speaker 1: our God and Father at the coming of our Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus with all his saints. So at this point in
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  Speaker 1: the letter, Paul is beginning to ramp up his main
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  Speaker 1: point for writing the letter, but in the last few
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  Speaker 1: chapters Paul is prefacing everything by talking about some of
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  Speaker 1: the issues that the Thessalonian Church might be having. For example,
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  Speaker 1: Paul knew that there were some rumors going on about him,
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  Speaker 1: like how he is just a charlatan and trying to
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  Speaker 1: get people's money and not telling the truth, just making
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  Speaker 1: things up. And so Paul addresses some of those rumors
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  Speaker 1: because it is for sure that the Thessalonians have heard
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  Speaker 1: these rumors and also might start to believe them, because
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  Speaker 1: you know, Paul was only with them for three weeks
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  Speaker 1: before he had to leave due to persecution, and in
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  Speaker 1: those three weeks he did not get a lot of
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  Speaker 1: time to really get to know the Thessalonians before they
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  Speaker 1: really built up their church. And now this church is
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  Speaker 1: thriving without Paul. But the new converts wouldn't have known
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  Speaker 1: Paul at all, they probably wouldn't have met him. And
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  Speaker 1: with these rumors swirling around, Paul, I'm sure was concerned
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  Speaker 1: that the new converts might believe that Paul's message was
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  Speaker 1: a fake one. And so of course Paul has to
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  Speaker 1: once again defend his character, and so that happened in
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  Speaker 1: the last chapter. And so now in this chapter, Paul
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  Speaker 1: begins to explain why he sent Timothy to the Thessalonian church.
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  Speaker 1: He says in verse one, Therefore, when we couldn't stand
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  Speaker 1: it any longer. We thought it good to be left
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  Speaker 1: behind at Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and
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  Speaker 1: God's servant in the good News of Christ, to establish
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  Speaker 1: you and to comfort you concerning your faith. When Paul
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  Speaker 1: says he couldn't stand it any longer, I am sure
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  Speaker 1: that that means that he couldn't stand the fact that
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  Speaker 1: he was unable to be with the Thessalonians. So he
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  Speaker 1: felt that it was better to stay in Athens alone
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  Speaker 1: and send Timothy back to see the Thessalonians than it
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  Speaker 1: was to have friends and companions with him. He was
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  Speaker 1: far more concerned with the spiritual health of the Thessalonian
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  Speaker 1: Church than he was of his own well being. And
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  Speaker 1: you know, it was kind of dangerous for Paul to
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  Speaker 1: be alone in Athens. I mean, I don't know if
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  Speaker 1: he was fully alone. I'm sure there were some people
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  Speaker 1: there with him, but it was certainly far more dangerous
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  Speaker 1: to be with fewer men in a huge city like Athens,
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  Speaker 1: with hostile people there than it was to have a
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  Speaker 1: big team of people around you. But Paul knew that
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  Speaker 1: the Thessalonians needed Timothy more than he did, and that
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  Speaker 1: is why he sent Timothy on his way. Now, we
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  Speaker 1: also know that Silas stayed behind in Macedonia as well,
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  Speaker 1: because that is talked about in I believe Acts chapter
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  Speaker 1: eighteen that Silas also was not with Paul when he
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  Speaker 1: was in Athens. So I don't know who was with
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  Speaker 1: Paul in Athens, but he did not have his two
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  Speaker 1: main guys with him. They were back in Macedonia making
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  Speaker 1: sure that areas like Thessalonika were being taken care of.
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  Speaker 1: So he says he sent Timothy to establish you and
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  Speaker 1: to comfort you concerning your faith, that no one would
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  Speaker 1: be moved by these afflictions, for you know that we
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  Speaker 1: are appointed to this task. When reading that, you might
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  Speaker 1: be like, did Paul just say that Christians are appointed
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  Speaker 1: for afflictions and persecutions? Yeah? He did, Yes, he did
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  Speaker 1: in fact say that. He said he hopes that the
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  Speaker 1: Thessalonians were not moved by the afflictions, meaning they're faith
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  Speaker 1: shaken from the afflictions, because we are all appointed to
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  Speaker 1: this task. In other words, every single Christian is going
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  Speaker 1: to suffer some form of persecution. And I mean this
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  Speaker 1: is factual because Christianity is the most persecuted religion in
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  Speaker 1: the world. People do not like Christians, and they are very,
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  Speaker 1: very persecuted, even so far as some Christians being martyred
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  Speaker 1: or killed because of their faith. Now Here in America
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  Speaker 1: we are seeing a revival of some sort taking place.
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  Speaker 1: And it is much safer to live here in America
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  Speaker 1: as a Christian than it is to live in China
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  Speaker 1: or the Middle East as a Christian. It's much safer
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  Speaker 1: to live here. But still, even here in America, we
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  Speaker 1: are going to suffer afflictions and persecutions. And that's kind
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  Speaker 1: of the theme actually of this chapter is that Christians
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  Speaker 1: are going to go through persecution and we have to
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  Speaker 1: learn how to stand strong in spite of those persecutions.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, in Two Timothy, chapter three ten through seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: Paul talks about persecution a little bit more, starting in
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  Speaker 1: verse ten. But you followed my teaching conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness,
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  Speaker 1: persecutions and sufferings. Those things that happened to me at Antioch,
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  Speaker 1: Econium and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered
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  Speaker 1: me out of them. All. Yes, and all who desire
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  Speaker 1: to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But
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  Speaker 1: evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving
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  Speaker 1: and being deceived. But you remain in the things which
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  Speaker 1: you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from
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  Speaker 1: whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known
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  Speaker 1: the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise
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  Speaker 1: for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every
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  Speaker 1: scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
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  Speaker 1: for correction, and for instruction and righteousness, that each person
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  Speaker 1: who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for
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  Speaker 1: every good work. That little paragraph right there says that
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  Speaker 1: persecution is going to get worse. Evil people are going
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  Speaker 1: to infiltrate the church. They are going to deceive a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people. They are going to cause a lot
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  Speaker 1: of destruction, a lot of damage, and persecution in general,
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  Speaker 1: not even within the church, but outside the church is
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  Speaker 1: going to get worse as well. And every single Christian,
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  Speaker 1: every person who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is what it says, will suffer persecution. That is a promise,
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  Speaker 1: and Jesus himself actually made the same promise to his disciples.
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  Speaker 1: He said, anybody who wants to follow me is going
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  Speaker 1: to experience persecution. You all will, individually, every single one
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  Speaker 1: of us, if we are an overt Christian, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to suffer some form of persecution, even here in America.
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  Speaker 1: We may not lose our lives over our faith, but
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  Speaker 1: we might lose our livelihood, we might lose our followers,
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  Speaker 1: we might get made fun of at school. That is
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  Speaker 1: going to happen if you are a Christian. And quite honestly,
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  Speaker 1: I do think that things are going to get worse
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  Speaker 1: and worse the closer Jesus gets to his second coming,
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  Speaker 1: because that's kind of prophesied about in Revelation chapter thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: five through ten. It talks about the Antichrist and how
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be given this power. And we don't
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  Speaker 1: know who the Antichrist is, we have no clue, but
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  Speaker 1: whoever he is, he is going to really target and
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  Speaker 1: persecute Christians. Here's what this says Revelation thirteen, starting in
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  Speaker 1: verse five, A mouth speaking great things in blasphemy was
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  Speaker 1: given to him. Authority to make war for forty two
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  Speaker 1: months was given to him. He opened his mouth for
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  Speaker 1: blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his dwelling, and
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  Speaker 1: those who dwell in heaven it was given to him
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  Speaker 1: to make war with the Saints and to overcome them.
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  Speaker 1: Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given
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  Speaker 1: to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation
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  Speaker 1: of the world in the book of Life of the Lamb,
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  Speaker 1: who has been killed. If anyone has an ear, let
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  Speaker 1: him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, he
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  Speaker 1: will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed
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  Speaker 1: with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the
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  Speaker 1: endurance and the faith of the Saints. So yes, sir,
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  Speaker 1: the Antichrist is going to cause a lot of trouble
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  Speaker 1: obviously for us Christians. So unfortunately, you know, things aren't
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  Speaker 1: going to get better for Christians. Things will get worse,
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  Speaker 1: even if there are revivals that take place. And at
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  Speaker 1: this point in the episode you might be like, I
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  Speaker 1: want to shut this off and not listen anymore, because
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  Speaker 1: this is the most depressing thing I've ever heard. I'm
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  Speaker 1: really good at PEP talks, honestly, Like I'm fantastic at that.
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  Speaker 1: But it isn't all doom and gloom. It really isn't. Because,
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  Speaker 1: like we talked about on Tuesday, in first Thessalonians too.
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  Speaker 1: We're gonna be persecuted, but God just gives us this
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  Speaker 1: supernatural strength to endure it. In fact, I've talked about
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  Speaker 1: this story a few times on the podcast before, but
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  Speaker 1: I absolutely love it, and so I'm gonna share it
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  Speaker 1: with you guys again. It's a true story. There were
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  Speaker 1: these missionaries and I cannot remember when or where they were.
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  Speaker 1: I think it was somewhere in Southeast Asia. They were
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  Speaker 1: Christian missionaries in a country in Asia. They were severely persecuted,
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  Speaker 1: severely persecuted, thrown into prison, not given food, food, beaten
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  Speaker 1: all the time, and they endured this suffering and this
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  Speaker 1: persecution for many many months. Finally they were released from
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  Speaker 1: prison and allowed to go home and they finally got
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  Speaker 1: some normalcy back in their life. A few years passed
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  Speaker 1: and they decided that they were going to meet up
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  Speaker 1: and have some coffee and just reconnect with one another.
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  Speaker 1: So they do this and they're talking and after a
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  Speaker 1: little while, one of them says, Hey, this might sound crazy,
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  Speaker 1: but do any of you guys actually miss those days
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  Speaker 1: when we were being persecuted? And every one of them
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  Speaker 1: were like, yeah, actually we do, we do miss those days.
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  Speaker 1: And when they talked about it and thought about why
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  Speaker 1: they missed those days of persecution. It was because they
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  Speaker 1: felt closer to God at that time than they ever
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  Speaker 1: had before once in their lives. And at the end
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  Speaker 1: of the discussion that they had, they were all like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: we want to go back, we want to go back.
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  Speaker 1: And I find that story just so encouraging, because that
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  Speaker 1: really is what God does when we have to face persecution.
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  Speaker 1: That's not to say it's not terrible or that we
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  Speaker 1: hate it when it's happening, but God gives us a
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  Speaker 1: supernatural strength, and that's what Paul talks about moving forward
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  Speaker 1: in for Thessalonians three verse four, he says, most certainly
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  Speaker 1: when we are with you, we told you beforehand that
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  Speaker 1: we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened. And
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  Speaker 1: you know for this cause, I also, when I couldn't
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  Speaker 1: stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith,
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  Speaker 1: for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you,
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  Speaker 1: and our labor would have been in vain. So Paul
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  Speaker 1: talked to the Thessalonians ahead of time. He said, we
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  Speaker 1: are all going to suffer persecution, and then lo and
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  Speaker 1: behold two weeks later or whatever it was. Paul suffers
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  Speaker 1: extreme persecution, to the point where he had to leave
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  Speaker 1: everything behind, and even the brand new church only three
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  Speaker 1: weeks old. People were ripped out of their homes, sent
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  Speaker 1: before the magistrates, fined and taxed all of this crazy
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  Speaker 1: amount of money just for peaceably existing as Christians. The
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  Speaker 1: Thessalonians got a good taste as to what persecution was
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  Speaker 1: very early on in that church's life. They understood it,
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  Speaker 1: and Paul says, I was concerned. I was so concerned
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  Speaker 1: leaving knowing that you guys are being persecuted, that Satan
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  Speaker 1: had come and made you fearful about these persecutions, that
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  Speaker 1: it caused your faith to no longer grow. So that
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  Speaker 1: is why he sent Timothy. But then in verse six,
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  Speaker 1: here's what Paul says, But Timothy has just now come
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  Speaker 1: to us from you and brought us glad news of
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  Speaker 1: your faith in love, and that you have good memories
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  Speaker 1: of us longing to see us, even as we long
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  Speaker 1: to see you. And that is the reason why Paul
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  Speaker 1: wrote this letter. Timothy had just come back from thessalon
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  Speaker 1: and met Paul in Corinth, because that's where this letter
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  Speaker 1: was written. He comes back, he tells Paul of all
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  Speaker 1: of the good things that are happening in the Thessalonian Church.
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  Speaker 1: He says, actually, their faith is quite strong. They are
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  Speaker 1: not being deterred by these persecutions, and they have questions
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  Speaker 1: for you about when Jesus's second coming is. They are
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  Speaker 1: so excited over that and are just wondering when it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be. And so immediately I feel like Paul
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  Speaker 1: takes out his pen and paper and starts writing to
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  Speaker 1: the Thessalonians because of how excited he was over the
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  Speaker 1: fact that their faith was continuing to flourish even without
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  Speaker 1: him there. In fact, there's some evidence based upon Acts
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  Speaker 1: chapter eighteen, that Paul was revitalized when he heard about
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  Speaker 1: the Thessalonian Church. It actually made him even more bold
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  Speaker 1: in the faith in spite of the persecutions. Here's what
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  Speaker 1: Acts chapter eighteen, verses one through six says, Hold on
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  Speaker 1: a second, I forgot to turn to it. Here we go.
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  Speaker 1: After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth.
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  Speaker 1: He found a certain Jew named Aquilla, a man of
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  Speaker 1: Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy with
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  Speaker 1: his wife Priscilla. Because Claudius had commanded all Jews to
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  Speaker 1: depart from Rome. He came to them, and because he
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  Speaker 1: practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked
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  Speaker 1: for by trade. They were tent makers. He reasoned in
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  Speaker 1: the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks. When
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  Speaker 1: Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled
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  Speaker 1: by the spirit testifying to the Jews that Jesus was
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  Speaker 1: the Christ. When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook
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  Speaker 1: out his clothes them, and he said to them, your
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  Speaker 1: blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From
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  Speaker 1: now on, I will go to the Gentiles. So that
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  Speaker 1: all was talking about the period of time where Paul
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  Speaker 1: left Athens, you know, when he had been pretty much
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  Speaker 1: by himself in that city. He leaves Athens and he
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  Speaker 1: goes to Corinth. And while he is at Corinth, he
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  Speaker 1: meets this guy named Aquilla, who you guys all know,
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  Speaker 1: Aquila and Priscilla, the famous husband and wife Christian duo
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  Speaker 1: who had a church in their home. After a while,
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  Speaker 1: he meets Aquilla and Priscilla in Corinth. And after he
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  Speaker 1: spends a little bit of time in Corinth, you know,
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  Speaker 1: going to the synagogues, teaching the Jews and everything like that.
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  Speaker 1: That's when both Timothy and Silas meet him in Corinth.
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  Speaker 1: And directly after this it says that Paul was compelled
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  Speaker 1: by the spirit to testify to the Jews that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was the Christ. And then right after that he gets opposition,
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  Speaker 1: he gets persecution. And what does Paul do. He prays
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  Speaker 1: an imprecatory prayer. Sorry, I have to keep bringing that
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  Speaker 1: up because you know how when you see something, you
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  Speaker 1: take notice of it and then all of a sudden
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  Speaker 1: you see it everywhere. Well, that's happening to me recently
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  Speaker 1: with imprecatory prayers. So yeah, right here, Paul says an
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  Speaker 1: imprecatory statement to the Jews in Corinth who refused to
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  Speaker 1: believe in Jesus. Interestingly enough, but anyway, the whole point
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  Speaker 1: was that after Silace and Timothy gave Paul good news
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  Speaker 1: as to what was happening in Macedonia, this caused Paul
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  Speaker 1: to be even more emboldened to preach Jesus to everybody
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  Speaker 1: in Corinth in spite of the persecution. So going back
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  Speaker 1: to First Thessalonians, chapter three, it says in verse seven,
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  Speaker 1: for this cause brothers, we are comforted over you in
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  Speaker 1: all our distress and affliction through your faith. For now
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  Speaker 1: we live if you stand fast in the Lord. That
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  Speaker 1: right there is Paul saying, I am so encouraged. I
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  Speaker 1: am so deeply encouraged when I heard about your faith
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  Speaker 1: that I can now deal even better with these persecutions
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  Speaker 1: and afflictions. In fact, he says in verse eight, then
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: now I feel alive. That's what he says. I feel
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: alive now because you stand fast in the Lord. Verse nine,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: for what thanksgiving can we render again to God for you,
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  Speaker 1: for all the joy with which we rejoice for your
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  Speaker 1: sakes before our God night and day, praying exceedingly that
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  Speaker 1: we may see your face and may perfect that which
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  Speaker 1: is lacking in your faith. He's like, look, I am joyful,
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  Speaker 1: I am praying for you all the time, and my
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: prayers are answered. I feel alive again. I can handle
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  Speaker 1: anything that comes my way because the Holy Spirit is
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  Speaker 1: working in your guys's life. Then, in verses eleven through thirteen,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Paul concludes this chapter by praying a prayer for the Thessalonians.
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  Speaker 1: He says, now, may our God and Father himself and
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  Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. So
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  Speaker 1: it sounds to me like Paul does still want to
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: go and visit the Thessalonians once again, even though Timothy
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: was just there. Paul still has this urgent desire to
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: go and see them, and I think he's praying right
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  Speaker 1: here that God actually gives him the opportunity to go
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  Speaker 1: see them. May the Lord make you to increase and
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  Speaker 1: abound in love toward one another and toward all men,
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  Speaker 1: even and as we also do toward you, to the
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  Speaker 1: end that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: before our God and Father at the coming of our
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus with all his saints. Paul prays that the Thessalonians
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  Speaker 1: learn how to love, not just each other. That's important.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: They need to learn how to love their fellow brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters in Christ. Because if you can't love you're
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: annoying brothers and sisters in Christ. How are you going
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: to love anybody else that is outside the Church. So
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Paul prays for them to have love toward one another,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: but also that they have love toward all men. That
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: means that Paul is encouraging them and praying for them
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: that they learn to love those outside the church and
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: also their persecutors. Christians are to show love to everybody. Now,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: as we've been talking about recently on the podcast, that
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: does not mean that you just sit back and allow
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: yourself to be stepped all over and to be a
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: doormat and to let people hurt you or your family.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: That is not what love is. Love is showing Jesus
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  Speaker 1: to people. Love is telling people that they are wrong
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: and that they are sinning and that their sin is
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: separating them from God. It is proclaiming Jesus to people.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: It is showing who Jesus is, and that's what we're
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: supposed to do. And Paul ends this chapter by praying
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: that God will establish the Thessalonian's hearts as blameless in
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the holiness before God, our Father at the coming of
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus with all his saints. In other words,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: things are going to be difficult before Jesus comes again,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: and I personally think that things will ramp up before
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Jesus comes again. But in spite of all of that,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: us Christians need to stand firm, We need to show love.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: But lastly and most importantly, we just need to walk
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: in the spirit. The spirit is guiding us. He is
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: telling us what to do, he is counseling us, and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: he is teaching us how to love. He's giving us
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: the fruits of the spirit. So every single thing that
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: we do as Christians, we are supposed to walk in
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the spirit, just letting the Spirit guide our lives. And
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: how do we do that, Like, how do we know
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: if the spirit is really guiding us well? First and foremost,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: we need to pray all the time that we are
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: walking in the spirit. That's the first way. And also
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: just making sure that what we believe is lining up
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: with what scripture says. That is certainly another way that
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: we can know if we are walking in the spirit.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: In fact, in two Timothy chapter three, the scripture is
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: God breathed in verse sixteen, and profitable for teaching, for
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: a proof for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: each person who belongs to God may become complete, thoroughly
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: equipped for every good work. So that is how we
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: walk in the spirit. We read the scriptures, we make
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: sure that our beliefs line up with what the Bible says,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: because that's ultimately what a Christian actually is. A Christian
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: is somebody who follows the Bible, not man made teachings
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: about the Bible, not our own beliefs about Jesus or
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: about the Bible, but actually the Word of God itself.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: And that is how we live in the spirit, even
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: when things are difficult and we are struggling through persecution.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: In fact, in First Thessalonians four, the next chapter, verse
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: one says this, Finally, then, brothers, we beg and exhort
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: us how you ought to walk, and please God, that
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: you will bound more and more. So. Basically, the Holy
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Spirit is who is going to help us through all
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: of those persecutions, through all of those troubles, and he's
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: going to give us his knowledge of how to deal
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: with them. He's going to give us his strength and
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: also his boldness so that we can deal with anything
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: that comes our way. All right, faithor listeners, Well, I
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: hope that you guys enjoyed today's episode, and I will
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: see you guys next time on the podcast Monday morning,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: six am or whenever you choose to wake up and listen,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: unless you become a member and choose to tune in
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning for the Bible explained on Fridays. If you
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: would like to do that, click the link in the
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: description that says Kofie and it will take you over
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: to where you need to go in order to become
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: a member and listen to the Friday podcast. Faithful listeners,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: have a lovely weekend, happy listening, and God bless