Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Church with the Right Stuff │ Msg 112

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A Church with the Right Stuff │ Msg 112 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: The First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. That's a
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Speaker 1: rather daunting title, isn't it? Originally, though, it was just
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Speaker 1: a heart-to-heart letter from a pastor named Paul to a
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Speaker 1: struggling young church in the Greek city of Thessalonica. About
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Speaker 1: a year had passed since a storm of persecution had
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Speaker 1: swept Paul away from the Thessalonians. leaving them as mere
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Speaker 1: saplings in their faith. Paul had to wonder if they
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Speaker 1: could weather the tumult alone. So much was at stake.
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Speaker 1: These people, this city, the momentum of the faith, all
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Speaker 1: of that was on the line. According to commentator William Barclay,
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Speaker 1: it is impossible to overstress the importance of the arrival
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Speaker 1: of Christianity in Thessalonica. If Christianity was settled there, it
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Speaker 1: was bound to spread east along the Ignatian Road until
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Speaker 1: all Asia was conquered, and west until it stormed even
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Speaker 1: the city of Rome. He continues, The coming of Christianity
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Speaker 1: to Thessalonica was crucial in the making of it into
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Speaker 1: a world religion. Thessalonica was a test case, and Paul
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Speaker 1: was torn with anxiety. to know how it would turn out.
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Speaker 1: Here's a question. Did the Thessalonian church have the right
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Speaker 1: stuff to survive and grow? Through our study of Paul's letter,
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Speaker 1: we'll discover that answer. And we'll also discover what it
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Speaker 1: takes to develop a stronger faith and a greater joy
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Speaker 1: in our own lives, the kind of Christianity that not
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Speaker 1: only lasts, but endures and spreads. a contagious Christianity. To
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Speaker 1: get underway in our study, let's turn in our Bibles
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Speaker 1: to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 1. I'll read the
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Speaker 1: chapter for you. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the
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Speaker 1: church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. We give
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Speaker 1: thanks to God always for all of you, making mention
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Speaker 1: of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your
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Speaker 1: work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of
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Speaker 1: hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of
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Speaker 1: our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, his
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Speaker 1: choice of you. For our gospel did not come to
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Speaker 1: you in word only, but also in power and in
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, just as you
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Speaker 1: know what kind of men we prove to be among
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Speaker 1: you for your sake. You also became imitators of us
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Speaker 1: and of the Lord, having received the word in much
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Speaker 1: tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that
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Speaker 1: you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia
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Speaker 1: and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has
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Speaker 1: sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
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Speaker 1: but also in every place, your faith toward God has
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Speaker 1: gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
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Speaker 1: For they themselves report about us what kind of a
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Speaker 1: reception we had with you, and how you turned to
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Speaker 1: God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
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Speaker 1: and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He
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Speaker 1: raised from the dead, That is Jesus who rescues us
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Speaker 1: from the wrath to come. There's a fine line between
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Speaker 1: healthy admiration and unhealthy exaltation. It's one thing to look
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Speaker 1: upon a person or a place with real respect and delight,
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Speaker 1: but it's another thing to exaggerate in your mind just
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Speaker 1: how great that person or place might be. Exaggeration really
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Speaker 1: does foul things up. I read an old Chinese proverb
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Speaker 1: this past week that I think says it very well.
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Speaker 1: Exaggeration is to paint a snake and add legs. If
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Speaker 1: the thing is made to crawl, it's not going to walk.
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Speaker 1: It's just going to crawl. If the thing is made
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Speaker 1: to walk, it won't be able to walk on water.
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Speaker 1: It may not even be able to swim. So easy
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Speaker 1: for us to hold up certain individuals in our minds
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Speaker 1: as though they have put life together so well they
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Speaker 1: don't really know the world in which we live. In fact,
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Speaker 1: it's easy for us to have the mistaken idea that
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Speaker 1: a person, because he or she may have achieved something great,
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Speaker 1: knows little of needs as we know them. I chuckled
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Speaker 1: to myself as I read some time ago about a
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Speaker 1: 20-year reunion of the old AFL football owners and managers
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Speaker 1: and some of the athletes that played in the American
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Speaker 1: Football League. They held it here in Los Angeles because
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Speaker 1: apparently this is where things got started. Back in 1958,
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Speaker 1: was it? Al Davis was among them, the owner of
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Speaker 1: the Raiders. And as you would expect, he, along with
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Speaker 1: many of those people that were there, swapped stories about
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Speaker 1: those days in which things were lean and tough and
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Speaker 1: yet a lot of vision, a lot of hope for
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Speaker 1: that budding football league. Al Davis told a story that
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Speaker 1: I thought illustrates so perfectly how exaggeration can cause things
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Speaker 1: to be pushed out of the realm of reality. Sitting
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Speaker 1: at his table was Nikki Hilton, famous name around our world.
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Speaker 1: And of course, many people at that table looked upon
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Speaker 1: Hilton with awe. As Nikki was introduced, everyone sort of
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Speaker 1: waited as they sucked in their breath, it was said.
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Speaker 1: And now here is the man who just not long
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Speaker 1: ago made $ 100, 000 in Los Angeles in the baseball business.
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Speaker 1: And he's introduced and everyone applauds and he walks up
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Speaker 1: to the rostrum to speak and he chuckles and says,
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Speaker 1: perhaps I should clarify that it wasn't me, it was
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Speaker 1: my brother Baron. And it wasn't here in Los Angeles,
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Speaker 1: it was San Diego. And it wasn't baseball, it was football.
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Speaker 1: And it wasn't $ 100, 000, it was a million dollars. And
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Speaker 1: he didn't make it, he lost it. It's amazing when
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Speaker 1: you look under the cover, what you see, what's really
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Speaker 1: there is just another man with just another set of
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Speaker 1: problems like yourself. Now, every time I open the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: I have to do battle with idealism. Don't you? I mean,
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Speaker 1: I read first Thessalonians and I think, oh, what it
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Speaker 1: must have been like to be in the church at Thessalonica.
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Speaker 1: And I think of the man that founded the church
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Speaker 1: and I, once again, I want to paint the snake
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Speaker 1: with legs on it. I think of Paul as almost
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Speaker 1: walking on water. I think of him as the great
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Speaker 1: founder of the churches and the apostle of apostles and
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Speaker 1: this great teacher of grace. In fact, I'm of the
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Speaker 1: maverick opinion that if Paul could somehow come back from
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Speaker 1: beyond and would be willing to appear on Christian television,
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Speaker 1: which is in itself a question, I imagine he would
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Speaker 1: be introduced as the expert in church growth, the man
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Speaker 1: who was the beloved evangelist whom everyone longed to hear.
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Speaker 1: He spoke in a day when people were starving for
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Speaker 1: the truth, family man, popular writer, dynamic speaker, the Apostle Paul.
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Speaker 1: And I think this dear gentleman would shuffle up to
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Speaker 1: the rostrum and just in his appearance surprise us. And
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Speaker 1: I think he would begin by clarifying, I am no
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Speaker 1: expert in church growth. I probably broke more rules than
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Speaker 1: I made and kept. I am not a beloved evangelist.
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Speaker 1: I have been stoned and I have the scars to
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Speaker 1: show you of when I was scourged. I have been shipwrecked.
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Speaker 1: I have been misunderstood. I am not a family man.
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Speaker 1: There's not a word in scripture of a wife or children.
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Speaker 1: I am not a popular writer and I am not
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Speaker 1: a dynamic speaker. And if you want my story, you
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Speaker 1: can read it in 2 Corinthians 10. His letters are
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Speaker 1: too strong. His presence is unimpressive and his speech is contemptible.
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Speaker 1: In an ancient work I have come across entitled The
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Speaker 1: Acts of Paul in Thecla by Onesiphorus of Iconium, I
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Speaker 1: find this description of the apostle. Paul is a man
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Speaker 1: of moderate stature with thin hair, crooked legs, large eyebrows,
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Speaker 1: and a long protruding nose. Now you're talking. There is
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Speaker 1: a guy I can identify with. That's our man. That's
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Speaker 1: the Apostle Paul. That's our guy. And if he's any
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Speaker 1: other kind of man, he's too much. You see, we
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Speaker 1: forget that strength is in weakness. That greatness is in humility.
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Speaker 1: That significance is in a true, authentic walk with God.
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Speaker 1: not in being able to sway the masses in your
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Speaker 1: own strength, which Paul could not do. One of the
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Speaker 1: most unlikely candidates for worldwide evangelist is this man. And
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Speaker 1: one of the most unlikely places for a letter to
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Speaker 1: be written from his pen is Thessalonica. You see, these
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Speaker 1: places and these people are just places and people. They're
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Speaker 1: significant because they have been touched upon by the Spirit
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Speaker 1: of God. Almost like a coin you own that was
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Speaker 1: once held by the Queen of England. It's just a
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Speaker 1: coin until the Queen holds it. And now it's a
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Speaker 1: coin of nobility. And you And you preserve it. You
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Speaker 1: don't spend it. You frame it. You don't forget it.
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Speaker 1: My commitment to you in ministry is reality. I will
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Speaker 1: not allow you to skate on the frozen ponds of
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Speaker 1: idealism very long. You do. You hit thin ice. And
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Speaker 1: you tumble and you get frozen in your faith. It
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Speaker 1: loses its zest and it's all theory. It's stuff for
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Speaker 1: another century and it's applauding great historical people, but it's
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Speaker 1: not for you. I don't buy that. In fact, that
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Speaker 1: helps nobody. The founder is Paul. He lived in Thessalonica
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Speaker 1: not more than five weeks, if that, probably more like
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Speaker 1: three weeks. He writes to affirm and to exhort and
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Speaker 1: to inform, and that's it. That's the letter in a nutshell.
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Speaker 1: The city is Thessalonica, called today Thessaloniki or Thessalonica. If
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Speaker 1: you travel Greece, it's the second largest city in that country.
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Speaker 1: It's a city of about 200,000 people. It was located
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Speaker 1: along the earliest freeway, the Via Ignatia. It could have
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Speaker 1: been a letter written to the Californians, according to verse 1,
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Speaker 1: to the church of the Californians, to the people of Fullerton,
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Speaker 1: in fact. We're located along the freeway. It's just a
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Speaker 1: place like this place. It's a place where dirt was
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Speaker 1: dirt and people were people and chariots were driven too
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Speaker 1: fast and It was just an ordinary garden variety town.
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Speaker 1: Happened to be a great place to live economically if
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Speaker 1: you were into the free thinking of the day. It
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Speaker 1: was along that freeway that connected people to the heartbeat
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Speaker 1: of the capital of the world, but it was just
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Speaker 1: a place. The reason he wrote is because he missed it.
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Speaker 1: He was now in Corinth. And when you lived in Corinth,
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Speaker 1: you were you were full of nostalgia about those quiet places,
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Speaker 1: those places where life seemed to be a little easier,
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Speaker 1: a little more pure, where relationships were deeper. Thessalonica. And
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Speaker 1: so he sits down to write him a letter. He's
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Speaker 1: not into writing letters. If he was, we don't have
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Speaker 1: any of them before this. So it doesn't have the
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Speaker 1: aura of Rome, the Roman letter. It certainly doesn't have
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Speaker 1: the emotion of the Timothy letters. Remember those first letters
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Speaker 1: you wrote? They were simple letters, especially if you were homesick.
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Speaker 1: I may speak to some college and university students today
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Speaker 1: who are away from home and you found yourself feeling
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Speaker 1: things you never thought you'd feel, like love for home.
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Speaker 1: And you're realizing that it's a lot of months between
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Speaker 1: now and when you see mom and dad again. Maybe
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Speaker 1: you've already written one of these little simple letters. You'll
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Speaker 1: understand this letter. You'll understand why he says some of
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Speaker 1: the things he says. He begins, as we ought to
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Speaker 1: begin our letters. I have a thing on the way
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Speaker 1: we write letters, and you've heard me, so. I don't
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Speaker 1: know why we sign them at the end. You write
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Speaker 1: a person a five-page letter, the first thing he does
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Speaker 1: is go to the fifth page and see who wrote
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Speaker 1: the letter. Then he goes back and he reads it.
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Speaker 1: If you don't know who wrote it, you can't interpret
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Speaker 1: and enjoy how it's written. You've got to know the writer.
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Speaker 1: They did it right then, Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Why
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Speaker 1: these three? Well, they were the traveling companions at that time.
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Speaker 1: They were with him in Corinth, and Timothy has just
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Speaker 1: come back from Thessalonica with a report as to how
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Speaker 1: things have been. Paul can't wait to write and say,
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Speaker 1: I've gotten word, and I'm anxious for what God's going
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Speaker 1: to do among you. But he hasn't been with them
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Speaker 1: very long. He was only there about a month. Then
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Speaker 1: he went on his way to Athens and then Corinth.
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Speaker 1: So he misses them. Notice something in verse 1. It
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Speaker 1: is to the church of the Thessalonians. To the church.
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Speaker 1: It is truth for the church, not from the church.
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Speaker 1: Since the church has become institutionalized, we get a lot
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Speaker 1: of things from the church, don't we? What does your
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Speaker 1: church teach on? Then you fill in the blank. Or
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Speaker 1: what's the teaching of the church on? What's the church
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Speaker 1: policy on? You know that there is not a time
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Speaker 1: in the New Testament when the church had a policy
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Speaker 1: on things? Or did you know that the church didn't teach?
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Speaker 1: The church was taught. In the first century, the church
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Speaker 1: was the recipient of truth, not the dictator of truth.
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Speaker 1: The church had open arms when the Spirit of God
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Speaker 1: opened his mouth. But Now the church seems to have
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Speaker 1: a long bony finger pushing at people's chest saying, get
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Speaker 1: this straight. This is truth to the church. The church
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Speaker 1: is a learner. The church is a discoverer. The church accepts.
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Speaker 1: The church receives. The church doesn't dictate. If it is
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Speaker 1: indeed listening to the scriptures. The scriptures dictate. The scriptures teach.
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Speaker 1: When the scriptures are open, we stay quiet. We listen.
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Speaker 1: Because the scriptures coming from the very pen of the
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Speaker 1: Spirit of God is pushing at us. The scriptures are saying,
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Speaker 1: thus saith the Lord. We listen. It's to the church.
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Speaker 1: I thought about it as I first read this letter again.
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Speaker 1: Information for me. I am to stay quiet and take
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Speaker 1: it in. And for all of us, it's the church
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Speaker 1: of Thessalonians. That's their earthly address. But their heavenly address
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Speaker 1: is that they are in God, the Father and the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. And aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
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Speaker 1: your heavenly home is not Fullerton? Aren't you glad your
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Speaker 1: heavenly home is not California? And all God's people said, amen.
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Speaker 1: That's right. I mean, it may be fine, but it
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Speaker 1: is no place to spend eternity. Your eternal home is
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Speaker 1: in God, the Father, and in Jesus Christ. And that's
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Speaker 1: a double lock security. Double lock. Question. How can I
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Speaker 1: get out of Christ? I'm in. Well, if he ever
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Speaker 1: gets out of God, we're out of him. But I'll
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Speaker 1: tell you, that's never going to happen. We are in
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus who is in the Father and the
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Speaker 1: Father is over all, in all and through all. You're safe.
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Speaker 1: You've got it. Now, since that's true, there's a way
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Speaker 1: to live and it's marked by grace and peace. His
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Speaker 1: favorite words. A lifestyle of grace... flooded with peace. Is
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Speaker 1: that your lifestyle? Is that your environment? It's for you.
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Speaker 1: It's for you to claim. It's for you to live.
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Speaker 1: And there are all kinds of people around you that
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Speaker 1: will try to take it away from you. Don't let
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Speaker 1: them do it. It's yours. Live it. Enjoy it. If
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Speaker 1: I could start a heresy, it sounds like a heresy.
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Speaker 1: It's really true. It's God's easy to live with. He
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Speaker 1: was hard on sin at the cross, but he took
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Speaker 1: out all of his wrath on sin and And took
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Speaker 1: his son. He paid the penalty for our sins. And
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Speaker 1: the blood came. And the blood washed us clean. And
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Speaker 1: now in Christ I am free. God's anger is assuaged.
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Speaker 1: His wrath has been poured out on the cross. Not
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Speaker 1: on his children. Isn't that wonderful news? Every time I
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Speaker 1: think of it I laugh. I said to a man
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Speaker 1: on the plane the other day, Jesus makes me laugh.
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Speaker 1: I thought you were a preacher, he said. I said, yeah,
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Speaker 1: but he makes me laugh. What do you mean? It
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Speaker 1: was the most wonderful moment of witness. I think the
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Speaker 1: guy's still leaving the plane thinking, Jesus makes him laugh. No,
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Speaker 1: I meant that in the right way. I don't laugh
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Speaker 1: at him. I laugh with him. I laugh at life.
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Speaker 1: I laugh at my tomorrow because he has freed me
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Speaker 1: from that thing that plagued me. called sin and its
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Speaker 1: awful twin, guilt. That's a wonderful way to live. Grace
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Speaker 1: and peace to you people in Thessalonica. Now, he's giving
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Speaker 1: thanks for them. Verse 2, we give thanks to God
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Speaker 1: always for all of you. Wait a minute. Sounds like
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Speaker 1: one of those always and never. Remember having arguments with
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Speaker 1: your mate? Don't say always and quit saying never. There
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Speaker 1: are some times when you can say always and you
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Speaker 1: can say never. Paul does. We give thanks to God
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Speaker 1: always for all of you. So it isn't idealism. This
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Speaker 1: is real. Here I am in Corinth and I'm thinking
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Speaker 1: back on my days a year, 15 months ago when
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Speaker 1: I was in Thessalonica and I smile and I thank
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Speaker 1: God for all of you. And he says, we make
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Speaker 1: mention of you in our prayers. Why? Before I ask that,
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Speaker 1: let me ask you, do you give people reason to
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Speaker 1: be grateful? Do you give folks reasons to be thankful
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Speaker 1: that they're alive? I think that one of our goals
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Speaker 1: in life is to spread a little cheer germ here
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Speaker 1: and there. Give them reason to be glad they woke
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Speaker 1: up that morning. Now, second question I was at it
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Speaker 1: a while ago. What is it that makes us grateful
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Speaker 1: for some people? Isn't it interesting? Some people you can't
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Speaker 1: wait to forget. Other people you can't forget if you try.
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Speaker 1: Why is it that you want to forget some people
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Speaker 1: and others every time you, you know, have a spare moment.
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Speaker 1: Seems like they flash in your mind and you're praying
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Speaker 1: for them and you're thankful for them. I walked up
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Speaker 1: and down the hallway of our pastor's floor this week
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Speaker 1: and I just talked to different ones of the of
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Speaker 1: the people there and I stopped off with my secretary
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Speaker 1: and asked her the question and I I bumped into
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Speaker 1: Doug Haig who has just brought back from Columbia 21
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Speaker 1: of our high school college kids he took 23 no
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Speaker 1: I'm teasing he brought back all that he took and
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Speaker 1: I said uh man you must have had a terrific
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Speaker 1: relationship with that family over there he says yeah it
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Speaker 1: was great the Dyes over in Columbia I said uh
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Speaker 1: Makes you grateful for him, doesn't he? He says, oh,
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Speaker 1: every time I think about him, I just smile. He says,
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Speaker 1: I remember when Mrs. Dye would come out on the
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Speaker 1: runway that we were building and she'd bring a big
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Speaker 1: jug of ice water or iced tea. And no one
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Speaker 1: had hinted and no one had left a little note.
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Speaker 1: Nobody even expected it. But we looked up and there
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Speaker 1: she stood smiling with this frosty jug of iced cold
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Speaker 1: water ready to pour it out. And he says, every
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Speaker 1: time I think back, I remember those things. And I
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Speaker 1: said to Doug, tell me the things that cause you
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Speaker 1: to remember and give thanks and pray for certain people.
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Speaker 1: I had already typed in my notes some of the things,
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Speaker 1: and you would have thought we did a Xerox. The
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Speaker 1: things he told me and the things I'd already put down.
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Speaker 1: Here's a few of them. People who accept us as
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Speaker 1: we are. Second, people who affirm us. I don't mean
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Speaker 1: that they agree with us across the board. That's not real.
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Speaker 1: But who regularly affirm us. They give us energy to
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Speaker 1: go on. Third, people who are real. We like real people.
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Speaker 1: We don't like phonies, do we? We want to be
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Speaker 1: away from phonies. When we sense that somebody is a fake,
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Speaker 1: we can't get away fast enough. But we like people
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Speaker 1: that are authentic. We like folks that are supportive. People
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Speaker 1: who are innovative and generous givers rather than takers and users.
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Speaker 1: Don't we? We don't like to look back on an
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Speaker 1: experience and feel that we were used. That someone got
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Speaker 1: out of us what they wanted and then that's over
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Speaker 1: and we go on. We like to feel that that
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Speaker 1: person gave. Didn't try to just suck the life out
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Speaker 1: of us. Hey, that's what he thought about. In fact,
25:41
Speaker 1: he doesn't leave us with a list that some preacher
25:43
Speaker 1: could come up with. He tells us the list. Verse 3,
25:47
Speaker 1: he says, I give thanks for all of you constantly
25:50
Speaker 1: bearing in mind. That's a great statement, and it has
25:54
Speaker 1: in mind never forgetting. This isn't a flash in the pan,
25:58
Speaker 1: glad handing, slap on the back. This isn't a.
26:03
Speaker 1: Passing fancy so that they'll send him money. It's not that.
26:09
Speaker 1: He says, I constantly bear in mind three things. Your
26:14
Speaker 1: faith that was put to work, we could call faith
26:18
Speaker 1: at work, your faith at work, your labor that came
26:24
Speaker 1: out of love, and your steadfastness because of hope. And
26:31
Speaker 1: when I think about that, I give thanks. I smile
26:37
Speaker 1: because I know a few folks like that. Don't you?
26:41
Speaker 1: People who don't leave faith on the shelf, they put
26:43
Speaker 1: it to work. People who don't just talk about love,
26:48
Speaker 1: they love. They fill up the jug, put in the ice,
26:51
Speaker 1: and bring it to the runway. Got it? They don't say,
26:58
Speaker 1: if you have a need, give me a call. When
27:01
Speaker 1: has anybody called you and said, I really have a need?
27:07
Speaker 1: They are the type people who call you and say,
27:12
Speaker 1: let me help. And furthermore, they are folks whose steadfastness
27:18
Speaker 1: just motivates a socks off of you. Steadfastness, that's a
27:23
Speaker 1: great word, steadfastness. The margin renders it perseverance. It's an
27:28
Speaker 1: old Greek word from two terms that mean to abide
27:32
Speaker 1: or to rest under something. Hupo, under, to abide, meno, hupo, meno.
27:41
Speaker 1: It was used for a beast that carried the load.
27:44
Speaker 1: If you've ever been to Mexico, you've seen the burros,
27:47
Speaker 1: and you've seen people on a trip, They pile their
27:51
Speaker 1: stuff on top of this burrow and they don't stop piling.
27:57
Speaker 1: It just keeps going until there's more stuff than burrow.
28:01
Speaker 1: And they've got straps around it and rope around it
28:04
Speaker 1: and a knot, 15 granny knots to tie that thing.
28:07
Speaker 1: And that old burrow just holds on under the load.
28:10
Speaker 1: His back sways. In the words of the New Testament,
28:14
Speaker 1: he abides under the load. That's the word. When I
28:22
Speaker 1: call to mind the load you were under, but you
28:25
Speaker 1: didn't fuss about it. I give thanks. I give thanks
28:35
Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ in the presence of the father. You know,
28:41
Speaker 1: one of the reasons that we push everybody together so
28:43
Speaker 1: close at this place, you know, if some of you
28:46
Speaker 1: had your way, you'd have a space between you and
28:50
Speaker 1: the other person. You'd, you'd prefer to kind of be
28:54
Speaker 1: left alone. We don't leave you alone around here because
28:58
Speaker 1: you need to feel the presence of other folks. You're
29:02
Speaker 1: not alone. If we knew how many people came to
29:05
Speaker 1: this place lonely and broken and desperate, it would shock us. See,
29:11
Speaker 1: I get the letters from folks two weeks, three weeks,
29:14
Speaker 1: a month later saying back, and they'll name the date,
29:17
Speaker 1: when we came, we were so low. But there was
29:22
Speaker 1: something about being in a companionship that just stirred us on.
29:30
Speaker 1: Ever heard that happen? I have. I've felt very much
29:33
Speaker 1: alone and had a life rub up next to me
29:37
Speaker 1: and make a little friction. and bond it together. I
29:42
Speaker 1: often think of the words of Anne Ortlund, a little
29:47
Speaker 1: book called Up With Worship. Every congregation has a choice
29:52
Speaker 1: to be one of two things. You can choose to
29:55
Speaker 1: be a bag of marbles. single units that don't affect
29:59
Speaker 1: each other except in collision. I like that. On Sunday morning,
30:03
Speaker 1: you can choose to go to church or to sleep in.
30:06
Speaker 1: Who really cares whether there are 192 or 193 marbles
30:11
Speaker 1: in a bag? Or you can choose to be a
30:16
Speaker 1: bag of grapes. Now that's interesting. The juices begin to mingle.
30:25
Speaker 1: Ever sat on a bag of grapes? That's another story.
30:27
Speaker 1: I'll tell you about it. It just, the bag begins
30:31
Speaker 1: to get really moist. There is no way to extricate
30:36
Speaker 1: yourselves if you tried. Each is a part of all,
30:40
Speaker 1: part of the fragrance, part of the stuff. Good word, Ann.
30:47
Speaker 1: Part of the stuff. We keep the stuff to ourselves.
30:51
Speaker 1: We build walls around our houses and we build big
30:55
Speaker 1: thick places of residence so that you can't get in.
30:58
Speaker 1: Then we come to worship and we realize we're not
31:04
Speaker 1: walled up. We're together in this thing. We need that.
31:12
Speaker 1: We need the work of faith and labor of love
31:14
Speaker 1: and steadfastness of hope to keep rubbing off, to keep
31:17
Speaker 1: saying we're in this thing together. So lonely alone. So awful.
31:26
Speaker 1: feeling like Elijah. He felt the wrong thing, but he
31:30
Speaker 1: felt it. I'm all alone and there's no one left.
31:38
Speaker 1: I mean, I got Jezebel on my case and that
31:41
Speaker 1: wimp Ahab is on my case. It's kind of a
31:44
Speaker 1: swindle paraphrase of 1 Kings 17. I mean, where are they?
31:49
Speaker 1: And God speaks to him and says, man, I got 7,000.
31:54
Speaker 1: that haven't even bowed the knee to Baal. Why is
32:00
Speaker 1: he telling him that? Same reason Paul gave thanks. Because
32:05
Speaker 1: there's something about knowing next to me is a person
32:08
Speaker 1: that's got faith and love and hope and it's in
32:10
Speaker 1: place and he's a struggler with me and he's not
32:13
Speaker 1: giving up. And that makes me give thanks when I'm
32:16
Speaker 1: in lonely Corinth and it's late and it's dark and
32:19
Speaker 1: I'm tempted. Something great this summer. Wasn't it about knowing
32:25
Speaker 1: you had home, you had a place of residence, you
32:28
Speaker 1: had a body of people? It was great for me,
32:31
Speaker 1: I'll tell you. Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, his choice
32:35
Speaker 1: of you. Our gospel didn't come to you in word only.
32:41
Speaker 1: Verse 5, don't you hurry through that. I had to
32:43
Speaker 1: put the brakes on when I got to that part.
32:47
Speaker 1: He's thinking now, a year, 15 months ago when I
32:50
Speaker 1: first came to you, I didn't dump a truckload of
32:52
Speaker 1: theology and say, there. Next. I came and I gave
33:00
Speaker 1: you the gospel, but it wasn't just a pack of words.
33:07
Speaker 1: I didn't just stand up and say, Jesus Christ came
33:09
Speaker 1: to this earth. Jesus Christ died for our sins. Jesus
33:12
Speaker 1: Christ arose from the dead. Believe in Jesus Christ and
33:14
Speaker 1: you will be saved.
33:16
Speaker 2: Next. Next.
33:19
Speaker 1: And I pressed on to the next place. You know
33:24
Speaker 1: what that creates? That creates information-oriented Christians. And you don't
33:31
Speaker 1: hold together when life gets tough. Look at what he says.
33:37
Speaker 1: And I'm going to show you a related passage we're
33:39
Speaker 1: going to look at next time. Our gospel did not
33:42
Speaker 1: come to you in word only. Turn the page and
33:45
Speaker 1: look at chapter 2, verse 8. Having thus a fond
33:53
Speaker 1: affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to
33:58
Speaker 1: you not only the gospel, but also our own lives.
34:03
Speaker 1: I love it. When Paul got through, whether it was
34:07
Speaker 1: three weeks or three years, they knew Paul as real.
34:14
Speaker 1: Warts and all, cracks and all, struggle and all. No
34:18
Speaker 1: wonder there was such a kinship. No wonder he prayed
34:21
Speaker 1: for these people. He had delivered his life to them.
34:25
Speaker 1: I didn't just give you information. I entered into your
34:30
Speaker 1: life and you entered into mine. Now go back to
34:33
Speaker 1: chapter 1. Look at verse 5, how it wraps up.
34:36
Speaker 1: Our gospel came in power. It came in the Holy Spirit.
34:39
Speaker 1: It came with full conviction. Just as you know what
34:43
Speaker 1: kind of men we prove to be among you for
34:45
Speaker 1: your sake. Do you remember those days? You remember those
34:51
Speaker 1: late nights? You remember when I wept over the death
34:53
Speaker 1: of my brother? You remember when I couldn't put together
34:58
Speaker 1: my thoughts on why this suffering wouldn't go away? You
35:02
Speaker 1: were with me when the headache didn't stop. You were
35:06
Speaker 1: with me when I struggled with those people out of
35:09
Speaker 1: Philippi that dug my steps. You knew me. And he
35:17
Speaker 1: pointed that direction. Derek Bach, Harvard president, said, there is
35:21
Speaker 1: a very obvious dearth of people who seem to be
35:24
Speaker 1: able to supply convincing answers or even point the direction
35:29
Speaker 1: towards solutions. You one of those people? Yes, many of
35:37
Speaker 1: you are. Don't stop. Don't be ashamed of having answers.
35:45
Speaker 1: Don't think that being a fellow struggler with the human
35:48
Speaker 1: race means you're completely out of all answers. That's not
35:54
Speaker 1: real either. The gospel is here and it's truth and
35:58
Speaker 1: it's objective and don't miss that, but don't stop there.
36:05
Speaker 1: Isn't the gospel sufficient? Yes, it is sufficient. Well, isn't
36:09
Speaker 1: it sufficient for the entire balanced Christian life? It is not.
36:14
Speaker 1: It needs life. It needs a body. I love the
36:18
Speaker 1: story of the little girl afraid at night and couldn't sleep.
36:21
Speaker 1: And her mother kept coming to her side. And she said, honey,
36:24
Speaker 1: remember the Sunday school lesson. Jesus is with you all
36:28
Speaker 1: the time. You have no reason to be afraid. She says,
36:30
Speaker 1: I know it, mother. I just need somebody with skin
36:32
Speaker 1: on it. I need a gospel with skin on it.
36:39
Speaker 1: I need a model that's real. I don't want a
36:44
Speaker 1: snake with legs. That's unreal stuff. I want a Paul.
36:52
Speaker 1: A man who prays and thanks God and affirms, but
36:59
Speaker 1: he doesn't keep me from the hard news either. Look
37:01
Speaker 1: at what happened. I love this. Look at the affirming words.
37:05
Speaker 1: Verse 6, you became mimics of us. Literally, that's the
37:08
Speaker 1: Greek term. You became mimics of us. And you became
37:13
Speaker 1: mimics of the Lord, having received, or the word is welcome,
37:16
Speaker 1: having welcomed the word in much tribulation with joy of
37:19
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to
37:25
Speaker 1: all the believers in Greece. A-L-L. So, first of all,
37:32
Speaker 1: he affirms them for the way they responded to fellow Christians.
37:39
Speaker 1: That's verse 6, verse 7. And then he doesn't stop.
37:45
Speaker 1: The next, he affirms them for the way they responded
37:48
Speaker 1: to those without Christ. The word of the Lord has
37:51
Speaker 1: sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
37:54
Speaker 1: but in every place. Your faith toward God has gone
37:58
Speaker 1: forth so that we have no need to say anything.
38:02
Speaker 1: I wonder what that was like. When he came to
38:04
Speaker 1: some sections in Greece, the Thessalonians had already been there. Oh,
38:08
Speaker 1: we've heard that. Who'd you hear that from? Well, we
38:10
Speaker 1: heard it from the Thessalonians.
38:11
Speaker 2: Really? Really?
38:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't even have to tell us anything. We
38:14
Speaker 1: know a whole lot about that. They've already been here.
38:17
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're from a big family. That
38:19
Speaker 1: would be a family of three or four kids and more.
38:23
Speaker 1: My grandmother was from a family of 19. Not that big.
38:27
Speaker 1: That's a litter. That's a lot of kids. But if
38:30
Speaker 1: you're from a family of three or four and you're
38:34
Speaker 1: the youngest, then you know what I'm talking about. I'm
38:37
Speaker 1: from a family of three children. I have an older
38:39
Speaker 1: brother and I have an older sister. My older brother.
38:44
Speaker 1: Really, really bright. The most boring report cards you would
38:48
Speaker 1: ever want to see, he brought home semester after semester.
38:53
Speaker 1: I had variety. My brother, man. And then, now he
38:57
Speaker 1: went ahead of me in high school, okay? And then
38:59
Speaker 1: my sister, super talented, personality plus, sing, played on the
39:05
Speaker 1: girls' volleyball team, starter on the front line. I mean, just,
39:09
Speaker 1: she was just all over the school. And then I came. Well,
39:15
Speaker 1: it's great your freshman year. You walk in, oh, you're
39:19
Speaker 1: Orville's brother, yes. You're Lucy's brother, that's right. Oh, we
39:24
Speaker 1: know all about the Swindolls. They were in for a surprise,
39:27
Speaker 1: I might add, but there was another part of them
39:29
Speaker 1: they didn't know. But before I even got there, the
39:34
Speaker 1: fame had spread into the school. If you're a teacher,
39:39
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. There's something about families that
39:43
Speaker 1: are putting it together that kind of run one after another, right?
39:49
Speaker 1: That's the way it was in Thessalonica. Oh, you're talking
39:54
Speaker 1: about what these people told us about. What did they
39:56
Speaker 1: tell you? The very same thing you're saying. Well, who
39:58
Speaker 1: were they? They were the Thessalonians. Everywhere we went, verse 8,
40:02
Speaker 1: the word sounded forth. The term means to echo, to
40:06
Speaker 1: thunder across the canyon. Everywhere we went, boom, boom, boom,
40:11
Speaker 1: we kept hearing it. Let me venture this challenge. You
40:20
Speaker 1: have a home in a community, right? You're like the
40:23
Speaker 1: point of a wedge into the door. That's what your
40:29
Speaker 1: home is. It isn't just a place to have privacy
40:33
Speaker 1: and to hide and to repair. It is that, but
40:36
Speaker 1: it isn't just a harbor. It's a wedge. And after
40:42
Speaker 1: a while, that home and the lifestyle of that home changed.
40:48
Speaker 1: becomes infectious. Before long, the neighborhood begins to get the message.
40:57
Speaker 1: That place is different. You know, not because you're religious,
41:04
Speaker 1: not that. It's because there's an authenticity of life. There's
41:07
Speaker 1: an honesty. There's integrity. There is a relationship that is vibrant,
41:12
Speaker 1: that is open, that's fun to be around. It's what
41:15
Speaker 1: I call magnetic, contagious. And kids don't want to stay
41:21
Speaker 1: away from it. They want to be in it. It's
41:26
Speaker 1: like that. Thessalonians were like that. Their place was magnetic.
41:33
Speaker 1: And Paul says, I traveled, verse 9, and they report
41:37
Speaker 1: what kind of reception we had with you. Verse 9,
41:41
Speaker 1: how you turned to God from idols to serve the
41:44
Speaker 1: living and true God. Isn't that great? You know what
41:49
Speaker 1: I see there? I see a voluntary turning. I don't
41:53
Speaker 1: believe Paul had to preach against idols. I believe when
41:59
Speaker 1: Christ took charge of their lives, they gave the idols up.
42:09
Speaker 1: I love the illustration from Donald Barnhouse regarding playing marbles,
42:13
Speaker 1: and I have to give him, God bless him, the
42:16
Speaker 1: credit for this. He said, for so many years in
42:19
Speaker 1: my life, I played marbles. And he says, I was
42:23
Speaker 1: one of the best marbles shooter on the block. And
42:26
Speaker 1: then I grew up. I got a little older and
42:30
Speaker 1: started playing football. I was walking home from Sandlot football
42:34
Speaker 1: one afternoon, tossing football up, and I saw a bunch
42:36
Speaker 1: of boys playing marbles. And I didn't stand there and say,
42:42
Speaker 1: you ought to give that up. You just shouldn't play marbles.
42:47
Speaker 1: I just walked by thinking, well, I've outgrown that. I
42:53
Speaker 1: think that's the way it is. I think the longer
42:57
Speaker 1: you walk with Christ, the less idols you lean on
43:03
Speaker 1: and need. And you just outgrow them. Idol by idol,
43:12
Speaker 1: piece by piece, you turn to God from them. Isn't
43:16
Speaker 1: it interesting, the order? You turn to Him from them
43:19
Speaker 1: to serve the living and true God and to wait
43:23
Speaker 1: for His Son from heaven, whom He has raised from
43:26
Speaker 1: the dead and delivers us from the wrath to come.
43:34
Speaker 1: You know what I see here? I see both responsibility
43:36
Speaker 1: and readiness. I see a group of people who were
43:39
Speaker 1: responsible to take the truth to the lost and to
43:42
Speaker 1: live the truth among the saved, and I see a
43:44
Speaker 1: readiness system people who were saying he could come today,
43:48
Speaker 1: but he may not come in our lifetime. That's balance.
43:55
Speaker 1: To live as though he would come before lunch, but
44:01
Speaker 1: to know that he may not come until I'm in
44:06
Speaker 1: the grave. I see commitment written all across the pages
44:12
Speaker 1: of Thessalonians. I see it written all across the page.
44:16
Speaker 1: Commitment to the saved, being ready to accept and to
44:20
Speaker 1: support one another in the family. That's commitment to the saved.
44:24
Speaker 1: I see commitment to the lost, being available to the
44:27
Speaker 1: non-Christian and involved in carrying the gospel. By lip and
44:34
Speaker 1: with life. I see commitment to Christ, being free from
44:39
Speaker 1: any of the idols that keep me from living every
44:42
Speaker 1: day as though it's my last. I've been reading Facing
44:46
Speaker 1: Turbulent Times again and got to page 34 and got
44:52
Speaker 1: to a part that I thought ought to be read
44:55
Speaker 1: to everybody. The person for turbulent times who chooses to
45:01
Speaker 1: be Christian in the final two decades of the 20th
45:05
Speaker 1: century will have to reexamine both the strategies of readiness
45:10
Speaker 1: and responsibility. Assuming that our age is moving into troubled waters,
45:17
Speaker 1: how shall we live? What shall we say? Where shall
45:24
Speaker 1: we serve? Christians must prepare to live not only with
45:30
Speaker 1: the possibility of the Lord's coming, but also with the
45:33
Speaker 1: probability of his not coming for a while. Some of
45:42
Speaker 1: you look at me like you've got to be kidding.
45:45
Speaker 1: You mean I bought that boat and I've got to
45:46
Speaker 1: pay for that? I've been counting on the rapture to
45:48
Speaker 1: deliver me from the payments of that boat. That means
45:53
Speaker 1: we must call upon a different kind of futurist, the
45:56
Speaker 1: man or woman with a discerning capability who can trailblaze
46:01
Speaker 1: the way for families and congregations and even communities through
46:06
Speaker 1: a period of history that is probably the twilight of
46:08
Speaker 1: an age. The twilight of an age. Does that ring
46:15
Speaker 1: in your mind as a possibility? Cynthia said to me
46:21
Speaker 1: just last night, doesn't it seem very much like these
46:29
Speaker 1: are the last days? I know if you're prophetic talkers
46:34
Speaker 1: in your home, you'd say, well, I say that all
46:36
Speaker 1: the time. We're not prophetic talkers in our home. So
46:39
Speaker 1: for her to say it kind of made me think.
46:43
Speaker 1: Doesn't it seem like this might be the last era?
46:48
Speaker 1: So I found that again this morning, the twilight of
46:51
Speaker 1: an era. I think it is. Let's bow together. If
47:10
Speaker 1: I could, I would look right into the face of
47:12
Speaker 1: every person listening to these words. I would sit one-on-one
47:17
Speaker 1: with you and I would ask you some questions. If
47:23
Speaker 1: indeed we're in the twilight of an age, what difference
47:29
Speaker 1: are you making? See what this does to your business.
47:39
Speaker 1: See what it does to your To your leisure. See
47:45
Speaker 1: what it does to your money. If I just could
47:47
Speaker 1: be as bold as to say that. Who in the
47:51
Speaker 1: world is going to need that pile of dough? If
47:54
Speaker 1: it's all going to be burned up. Except that which
47:58
Speaker 1: is eternal. See what it does to relationships with the
48:04
Speaker 1: saints and especially with the lost. What a difference it makes.
48:14
Speaker 1: How about priorities? A church with the right stuff is
48:21
Speaker 1: full of people with the right stuff who live by
48:26
Speaker 1: right of priorities. That's what this is saying. If you've
48:35
Speaker 1: never just objectively faced the facts of the gospel, you're
48:41
Speaker 1: really on thin ice. I mean, the most dangerous place
48:46
Speaker 1: to be today is in this civilization. Urban civilization. They
48:54
Speaker 1: die every minute. If you've never met Christ and you
49:02
Speaker 1: know that if you were to die today, you would
49:04
Speaker 1: not be ready for heaven. I just plead with you.
49:09
Speaker 1: Don't play with that. Stop and deal with With the
49:15
Speaker 1: fact that Christ died for you. Came back from the dead.
49:18
Speaker 1: And lives for you. and will forgive you and give
49:23
Speaker 1: you his grace and take you to heaven if you
49:27
Speaker 1: turn your life over to him. I'm so pleased, Father,
49:34
Speaker 1: to be surrounded by people today who have put these
49:41
Speaker 1: things in order. I am so pleased that I'm not
49:45
Speaker 1: in the cave of Elijah, wondering why I have to
49:49
Speaker 1: be alone in this. Today, especially, I feel affirmed and
49:53
Speaker 1: I feel supported and I feel loved and I feel
49:58
Speaker 1: a part of a body of people who are nodding
50:00
Speaker 1: and not shaking their heads back. I'm so grateful that
50:06
Speaker 1: we can make a difference We have time in which
50:09
Speaker 1: to do it. Though short, we have time. May we
50:13
Speaker 1: do it now. I pray for every ministry that is
50:18
Speaker 1: engaged in addressing the critical needs of a twilight of
50:22
Speaker 1: an era. I pray for you to encourage them. Ministries
50:25
Speaker 1: to families. Ministries to singles. Ministries to those who are
50:31
Speaker 1: struggling with so many of the abuses of our day.
50:37
Speaker 1: The hurts. the pain that keeps them from listening to
50:41
Speaker 1: what's being said. May you undergird and reinforce and give
50:48
Speaker 1: them renewed zeal as a result of hearing these things.
50:54
Speaker 1: May we all be shaken from lethargy that makes us
50:58
Speaker 1: dream while waiting for the sun from heaven rather than work.
51:04
Speaker 1: But Father, may there be a balance in this work.
51:07
Speaker 1: May it be marked by grace. May it be a
51:09
Speaker 1: labor of love. May there be a steadfastness of hope.
51:17
Speaker 1: Whether dealing with young or old, may our hearts and
51:20
Speaker 1: minds be on you. We commit to you this marvelous
51:25
Speaker 1: study of this first century letter, which is written to
51:29
Speaker 1: us indirectly. And we ask for you to give us
51:33
Speaker 1: listening ears ready to change, to apply. For Jesus' sake,
51:40
Speaker 1: we pray. Amen.
51:43
Speaker 2: The preceding message, A Church with the Right Stuff, was
51:47
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 1984, 1985, 1993, 2003, and 2024, and the
51:48
Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
51:50
Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.
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Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.