WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.259 at some point in your life, someone, maybe a teacher or a coach, I don't know, somebody who 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:13.960 wanted to encourage you in a particular season has probably made this statement to you. 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:24.240 They probably said, you know, it's not how you start. It's how you finish, right? It's a helpful 00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:29.640 proverb, isn't it? It's helpful for us in times of success so that we don't get a fat head, right? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Just a reminder that things may be good right now. You may be doing pretty well right now, 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.920 but you may not always be doing that well, right? So persevere, keep going. Don't get a big head. 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:45.380 It's particularly helpful in those seasons of defeat or at least in the seasons of potential 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:54.299 defeat, right? And it certainly applies to the Christian life as long as we just tweak the 00:00:54.299 --> 00:01:00.899 wording just a little bit so that instead of applying this phrase to the Christian life, 00:01:00.959 --> 00:01:05.459 it's not how you start, it's how you finish. We might change it more appropriately to the Christian 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:13.039 life and say, it's not how you start. It's that you finish. It's that you finish. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:23.580 Because only those who finish win. And it is this doctrine of perseverance and endurance 00:01:23.580 --> 00:01:33.180 that is the main idea with which we need to wrestle in this text, okay? Now all of Paul's actions and 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:38.280 emotions, and this is quite emotive, isn't it? All of his actions and emotions here in this text are 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:45.599 really flowing out of two realities. The first being his immense love for the Thessalonian church, 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:56.159 for these new Christians in Thessalonica. The second being his desire to present them faithful to Christ 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:04.980 at his coming when the Lord returns. Now we know that all of these actions and emotions are flowing out of 00:02:04.980 --> 00:02:10.740 those two realities because that's exactly what the preceding verses told us that we studied in detail 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:21.360 last Sunday. So that with an eye fixed on Jesus's return, at which time Paul understands he will come 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:27.539 to judge the earth. So in his first coming, he comes to save the lost. In his second coming, he comes to 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:34.300 judge the unbelieving, right? Paul understands that and he's got an eye fixed on that coming. 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:42.040 He knows Jesus is coming to judge the earth so that his ministry was aimed at the goal of seeing the 00:02:42.040 --> 00:02:47.060 Thessalonian Christians and everyone else he ministered to. His goal was to see them endure 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:56.660 to the very end. And the reason is because Jesus himself said that only those who endure 00:02:56.659 --> 00:03:07.280 to the very end will be saved. That's what's motivating his ministry. Yes, it's love. Yes, it's truth. But he wants 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:14.219 to see these people finish. Not just that he cares that they finish weak or strong. No, he just wants to see 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:25.020 them finish. The trouble is that after having just begun his work in Thessalonica, he was forced to leave. 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:34.360 And in that time, he had no way of knowing just how things were going. He had no way of knowing. He had heard no reports yet 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:44.660 of whether or not this young church was persevering. He kept trying. That's what we read last week. He and his team, 00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:51.520 they endeavored more eagerly with great desire. We just read that a moment ago. They were trying to get back. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:59.160 They were trying to return. Satan was continually hindering those efforts. He couldn't make it. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:07.840 Paul knew that if Satan was working so hard against him returning, then there was no question that Satan 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:15.780 would also be working to cause the Thessalonians to fall away from the faith and prevent further gospel 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:25.660 influence in the city there. So you can imagine Paul's pastoral anxiety. Isn't that the emotion that 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:31.740 really comes to the surface here? It's anxiety, worry, concern. 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:37.259 Were they standing firm in the affliction? 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:48.740 Had Satan successfully turned them away from Christ? Had his ministry there been fruitless, vain? 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:56.139 These are the questions that Paul needed to have answered. And we need to remember that at the time 00:04:56.139 --> 00:05:01.279 that he writes the letter to the church, Timothy has already returned. That's why I wanted to read the 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:07.259 whole unit to you. Because immediately after verse five, we find out, oh, Timothy came back and Timothy 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:12.259 came back with a report. And it was a good report that they were standing firm in the faith. But Paul's 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:18.119 reflecting here on the time before he understands that, before he knows it, right? And he's speaking 00:05:18.119 --> 00:05:25.500 about this anxiety that he feels. So these verses show him explaining the fact that he was so concerned 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:32.879 and why he was so concerned, so concerned even to be willing to be left alone so that Timothy could go 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:39.139 and minister to them and investigate the nature of their faith. And here's what the text does for us. 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:48.620 Paul's reflections put the issues of perseverance of faith and endurance in faith front and center. 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:57.240 Because the reality is that not everyone who seems to start the Christian race finishes it. 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:04.000 A truth that is made abundantly clear through the scriptures. It's not a mystery. 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:12.660 The warning of falling away from the faith is implied here. And we do not need to quickly 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:20.180 dismiss that warning lest we become an example of it and of the damning results of it. 00:06:21.460 --> 00:06:29.420 The point of the text is that perseverance of faith is necessary for salvation. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:39.920 That it is routinely challenged by suffering, but that it is also divinely supplied 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:47.480 through the means of gospel exhortation. Those are the three movements, okay? Those are the three big 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:51.939 things we want to see. Salvation comes through perseverance. 00:06:54.520 --> 00:06:57.900 Our perseverance is constantly challenged by suffering. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:07.620 But the way to persevere is through grace and through the means that God uses, which is gospel 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:11.220 proclamation, okay? Let's think about those three things. First thing I'd like for you to see 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:18.860 is the means of perseverance. The means of perseverance. How persevering faith is established. 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:22.959 How does it actually come about in our lives? That's what we learn in the first three verses. 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:30.579 Let's read it again. Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:38.139 Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ, 00:07:38.919 --> 00:07:46.579 to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one be moved by these afflictions, right? 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:52.439 Now again, Paul was so concerned about the Thessalonian church that he was actually willing 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:58.279 to be left alone. There is a sacrifice at work here, we would say. Maybe this isn't a huge sacrifice. 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:02.619 We don't know exactly what the nature of his condition was at the moment, or the nature of 00:08:02.619 --> 00:08:09.839 Timothy's service to him. We do know from Acts record that Paul was ultimately left alone in Athens. 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:14.919 So on some level, this comes as a sacrifice. He's concerned, and he's so concerned that he's willing 00:08:14.919 --> 00:08:19.819 to actually break up the ministry team, which probably posed a threat to their safety, all of them, 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:25.299 even the ones that he was sending away. And he sends Timothy. But notice that the focus of his 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:33.500 concern was the potential that suffering affliction would cause some, or maybe even all, of the 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:41.980 Thessalonians to, quote, be moved. Does it mean to be moved? To be moved away from faith in Christ. 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:51.820 So the stakes here couldn't be higher. What's at stake? Their very salvation is at stake. 00:08:51.820 --> 00:09:00.980 However, in these verses, these first three, it's Paul's understanding of the means of persevering 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:07.960 faith that is so important. How did he actually expect that perseverance to happen? How did he 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:17.260 expect them to persevere? And the answer is that it would come by God's grace at work in the ongoing 00:09:17.259 --> 00:09:27.360 ministry of the gospel. Persevering faith comes by God's grace in his work through the ongoing 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:32.700 ministry of the gospel. Now let's just pick it apart. Pick the verse apart here. Notice how Timothy is 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:41.759 described. He's not only a brother in Christ, but he is said to be God's co-worker in the gospel of 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:46.919 Christ. Now that's significant for us, isn't it? Because it shows us that this wasn't Paul's idea. 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:54.600 This wasn't Timothy's idea. This is God's work and it's God's idea and it's God's desire. Timothy 00:09:54.600 --> 00:10:03.259 is laboring as a servant of God in this work. And what is the primary focus of that work? Gospel. 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:03.299 Gospel. 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:16.959 Teaching and preaching the Bible. That's what God would use Timothy to do in order to establish 00:10:16.959 --> 00:10:27.199 and exhort their faith. Paul understood this to be how the Thessalonians would persevere and not be 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:37.400 moved by their afflictions. So their faith is Paul's concern in God's work through gospel ministry was the 00:10:37.400 --> 00:10:44.900 path to their persevering faith. Now what are we supposed to take away from that? It's very simple 00:10:44.900 --> 00:10:56.180 actually. Our perseverance of faith is a divine work carried out through the ordinary means of gospel 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:03.579 biblical exhortation. Biblical exhortation. Let me try to break it down. Just three things if you like 00:11:03.579 --> 00:11:08.699 to keep things in order and take detailed notes. Maybe three things you can write down. The first would 00:11:08.699 --> 00:11:15.139 be this. Our perseverance is a work of God's grace. Our perseverance is a work of God's grace. We don't 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:22.740 persevere to the end merely because we have the right grit and determination to do so. Ultimately, 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:31.620 it is God who sustains us. Just flip one page over to chapter 5 at the very end of the book. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:38.139 Paul prays a blessing on the church before he closes the letter. Notice what he says 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:42.299 in verses 23 and 24 of chapter 5. He says, 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:49.120 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Sanctify completely. What does he mean 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:53.940 by that? That he will finish this work that he has begun. That God will be the one to do it. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:12:00.840 He says, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit and soul and body 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:08.860 be kept. How? That it may be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now notice what 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:19.080 he says in verse 24. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Our perseverance of faith, 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:28.519 fundamentally, ultimately, is a divine work of grace. And we see it multiple times. Romans 8 30. 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:35.539 Those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:43.440 he glorified. Salvation is a work of God from beginning to end. If we persevere to the end, 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:49.820 it will be as a result of his grace at work in our lives. And it should come as tremendous comfort to us 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:59.980 that when God saves us, he keeps us. He keeps us. Our assurance of salvation 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:07.480 rests on his faithfulness, not on our grittiness. 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:12.200 And we flip that so often, don't we? 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:20.539 We think that we must continue to do our best and try our hardest. And if we do our best and try our 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:27.440 hardest, we'll make it. No, we don't persevere because of grittiness. We persevere because of 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:33.800 his faithfulness to us, his faithfulness to his promise, his faithfulness in the gospel. 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:41.219 That doesn't mean that we're passive in it, as if continuing faith and obedience is irrelevant. 00:13:41.459 --> 00:13:49.479 They're not. The call to persevere is real, as are the warnings to those who do not persevere. 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:57.019 But in the end, those who endure do so because of the gracious work of God in them. 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:03.339 So if you're keeping order here, what are the means of perseverance? Well, first we would have to say, 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:10.340 well, fundamentally, our perseverance is a work of God's grace. Secondly, our perseverance is a 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:19.399 community project. Our perseverance is a community project. This is where Timothy comes in. 00:14:20.920 --> 00:14:26.960 Though it is a work of God's grace, God uses other believers to execute that work, right? 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:34.139 The notion of being a co-laborer with God is an important one. It's echoed in other places. 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:42.280 Consider 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. In other 00:14:42.280 --> 00:14:48.639 words, he and Apollos is the example he's using there. Ultimately, they're insignificant. They're 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:54.220 just a part of the process that God is doing. Notice what he says, only God who gives the growth. 00:14:54.220 --> 00:15:03.220 And then he says, for we are God's fellow workers, co-laborers, co-workers. And then he says, 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:13.040 you are God's field. You are God's building. Your salvation is his work. He's just using us to do it. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:17.899 We are co-laboring with him in his work. It's a community project. 00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:26.740 No book in the New Testament has as many warnings about perseverance as the book of Hebrews. But notice 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:32.799 what it says in a couple of places. Hebrews chapter 3, verses 12 through 14. The writer says, 00:15:33.079 --> 00:15:39.919 take care, brothers, lest there be any of you with an evil, unbelieving heart, 00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:46.100 leading you to fall away from the living God. So what's the solution, he says? 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:54.879 To keep that from happening, he says, exhort one another every day, every day. Exhort one another 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:03.220 as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:12.639 And then he finishes, for we have come to share in Christ if we hold our original confidence firm 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:24.360 to the end. So what's at stake here? Our salvation by faith. It's a work of God, but it's a work that God uses 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:34.019 the church to accomplish. Exhort one another every day so that you will not fall away. 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:42.899 And then again, in Hebrews chapter 10, the writer says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:51.079 without wavering our faith in the gospel. For he who promised is faithful. There's no reason to doubt 00:16:51.079 --> 00:16:58.519 him. In any season of life, he's faithful. And then what does he say the solution is? What is the 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:06.660 safeguarding the fence? He says, but let us consider how to stir one another to love and to good works. 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:17.099 In what context? Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:21.940 In what? In the gospel. In persevering faith. 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:29.680 And do it all the more, he says, as you see the day. You'll notice that day is capitalized in your 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:36.460 Bibles. It's a reference, a proper noun. As you see the day drawing near. What day? The day of judgment. 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:44.160 The day of Christ's return. Think about that. The writer, like Paul, acknowledges Jesus is going to 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:51.080 return. And when he returns, he's going to return in judgment. So hold fast to the end so that you will be 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:59.639 saved. Well, how can we do that? Oh, consider how to help one another. How to stir one another up in 00:17:59.639 --> 00:18:07.039 love. Just to love our spouses and our friends? No, to love God. To love the gospel. All of it flows from 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:14.480 that into good works. What's the nature and foundation of good works? Our faith in the gospel of Christ. 00:18:15.419 --> 00:18:19.079 How are we to do it? By not neglecting to meet together. 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:26.399 We may think of a passage like that. We know it well because pastors like me like to use it a lot to 00:18:26.399 --> 00:18:29.759 hang over our heads and say, you should have been at church last Sunday, right? 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:35.039 Is that really what the author is getting at there? Well, of course, maybe that's an implication, 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:42.399 but it's far more than that. We cannot look at this command to not neglect the meeting together 00:18:42.399 --> 00:18:46.399 with other Christians. We don't look at that as like a minimum requirement for faithful Christianity. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:50.380 No, we look at it as a necessity that will get us to the end. 00:18:52.220 --> 00:19:02.220 This is the thing that God uses to make it, to persevere. It's a community project. 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:09.600 Persevering faith is God's work, but it's carried out through Christian discipling. I cannot echo enough. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:13.899 I tried to do this all the time. We'll think about it again in our members meeting this afternoon, 00:19:13.899 --> 00:19:20.759 but I cannot echo enough the scripture's emphasis that we desperately need each other. 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:29.299 We desperately need the church. Why? Because it is the church. It is other believers. It is 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:35.199 discipling relationships with other believers that God uses to help us persevere. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:42.259 Why should you care to be faithful to gather? Not just for worship, but fellowship, for mutual 00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:47.559 discipling. Why should our time around the dinner table when we go to one another's house at some 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:52.279 point have some kind of focus on the gospel? Because we desperately need one another to do it. 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:59.940 Our salvation hinges on it. If we neglect it, we risk putting ourselves on the path of falling away. 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:11.640 Third, our perseverance is accomplished through Bible instruction. It's accomplished. Now, all these 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:15.779 three things, they have to fit together. You can't take one without the other. Fundamentally, 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:22.180 our perseverance is a work of grace. God does this work in us. He uses ordinary means to do it. It's a 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:27.220 community project, right? He gives us the church. He gives us other Christians that help us in that. 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:34.960 And what is it that he uses those other Christians to do? Teach us the Bible. Remind us of the gospel. 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:42.100 Isn't that what Timothy's doing? I'm sending Timothy to you. He's our brother, but he's God's co-worker. 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:47.779 He's going to carry out God's work, God's gospel work. And what he's going to do is he's going to 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:57.700 establish, and he's going to strengthen, and he's going to exhort you in the gospel, in your faith. 00:20:58.339 --> 00:21:04.539 Why do we need this, Paul? He's going to do this so that you won't be moved by the affliction, 00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:11.119 so that you won't turn away. But notice what it is that Timothy is tasked to do. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:19.639 It would not be enough for Timothy to go to Thessalonica and pat them on the back and say, 00:21:19.779 --> 00:21:24.219 there, there, everything's going to be okay. That will not do it. 00:21:25.959 --> 00:21:33.599 The last thing you need in the midst of devastating suffering is for somebody to sit down 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:41.779 and give you some type of shallow, simple, ah, it'll be okay. That's not what you need. 00:21:42.059 --> 00:21:48.139 That is not what will cause you to persevere. What will lead you to perseverance? Exhortation. 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:54.659 The teaching of the gospel. In the old translations, if you have a King James Version with you, 00:21:54.679 --> 00:22:00.459 you'll see this, this word for establish, it is translated as comfort. But that comes from a Latin 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:06.799 phrase, which means to fit for battle. So imagine that you're sent out onto the battlefield, but you 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:15.000 have no weapons or armor. That's pretty scary. But if someone comes along and they give you armor 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:22.059 and a weapon, okay, that's a form of comfort, isn't it? That's what Timothy is to do. He's to take his 00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:29.140 Bible with a focus on the gospel, and he's to go to Thessalonica, and he's to fit them for battle. 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:37.759 And fitting for battle comes through exhortation, through teaching. Yes, gentleness, love. Yes, 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:46.060 but firm exhortation, because the stakes are high. Endurance comes through biblical instruction. 00:22:47.060 --> 00:22:53.960 All right, that's the means of persevering faith. Secondly, I want you to see the challenge 00:22:53.960 --> 00:23:00.140 to persevering faith, the challenge to persevering faith. Look again at the end of verse three. 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:09.620 For you yourselves know that we are destined for this, for this affliction. For when we were with you, 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:16.779 we kept telling you. When Paul was there at the first, he was doing that establishing and exhorting 00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:19.819 work. He's trying to fit them for battle. He's trying to prepare them beforehand. 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:26.339 We kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, 00:23:26.379 --> 00:23:32.720 and just as you know. This is the challenge in the text, isn't it? Why is it that perseverance is 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:41.119 even an issue? Because there are challenges at work against us, pulling us away from faithfulness to the 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:48.799 gospel. Now again, Timothy's task was to establish and exhort the Thessalonians to persevere in faith 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:56.919 against the threat of a specific challenge, suffering affliction, suffering affliction. 00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:05.960 Now persecution isn't the only challenge to our faith, is it? There may be all kinds of reasons that 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:14.579 we would be tempted away from faith in Christ. We may be moved by general suffering. Maybe it's not 00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:20.559 persecution for our faith, but it's just the fact that life is hard, and God allows us to go through 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:31.019 hard stuff. That may move us away from Him. It could be the allure of sin. Anyone who understands 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:37.099 Christianity knows that Christianity is a turning away from sinfulness. Well, the allure of sin may cause 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:45.240 us to turn away from Christ. If you must turn from sin to turn to Christ, then a turn back to sin is 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:53.019 necessarily a turn away from Christ. That could be a means of pulling us away. It could just be the 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:58.559 appeal of some other belief system. It could be secularism. It could be some other religion. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:05.440 All of these things work as challenges, don't they? But when we come to this text, there's a specific 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:13.220 one. Now in each case, no matter what the challenge is, the means of perseverance is the same. Verses 1 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:19.319 through 3, that holds true no matter what the challenge is. The only way we will persevere is by 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:25.139 God's grace through gospel exhortation, right? But the threat in Thessalonica had to do with suffering 00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:31.880 because of the faith. Persecution because they were Christians, because of what they believed. 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:39.420 And it's in this brief digression that Paul reminds his readers that this kind of affliction 00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:45.180 was actually to be expected. They were to anticipate it. 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:54.060 And he surely meant this as an encouragement. But how could that possibly be an encouragement? 00:25:55.140 --> 00:26:01.020 He comes to Thessalonica. He preaches the gospel. They profess faith in Christ. And then he sits down 00:26:01.020 --> 00:26:04.980 as he disciples them. He says, listen, I just need to warn you. People are going to hate you 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:12.720 because of this. You're going to suffer at the hands of others because of this. And I mean that to 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:21.120 encourage you. What? How is that an encouragement? The answer is that suffering, in this case, 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:31.439 is a sign of the kingdom. And our participation in it, according to the Bible, our participation in it 00:26:31.439 --> 00:26:39.239 is a sharing in Christ's suffering. Now, don't let me lose you on this. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:48.640 Kingdom, this idea of kingdom, it's a critical theme in the Bible from the very beginning all the way to the end. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:55.099 In creation, God puts Adam and Eve there and he gives them a kingdom. He's to rule his kingdom. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:00.579 And he falls. It becomes a fallen kingdom, doesn't it? This idea of kingdom, it flows, this theme. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:04.920 It flows all the way to the end. What's happening in the end in the new heavens and the new earth? 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:12.300 It is the reestablishment, the recreation, the restoration of the kingdom, right? The way it's 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:18.039 meant to be. It's important. The Old Testament foretold the establishment of an eternal kingdom. 00:27:18.620 --> 00:27:26.160 And that eternal kingdom was inaugurated with Jesus's incarnation. With the incarnation of the 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.800 Messiah, his death and resurrection and ascension, all of that together, it introduces the kingdom. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:34.860 Remember what Jesus was preaching as he went from town to town. He said, repent, 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:41.420 the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's here. How is it here? It is there in the sense that he is the 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:47.580 representative of it. He has come to inaugurate this new covenant spiritual eternal kingdom. Now, 00:27:47.820 --> 00:27:59.539 one day, Jesus is going to return. He's coming back. And when he comes back, he's coming to establish 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:07.019 the physical peace of the kingdom. Right now, it continues on as a spiritual kingdom, doesn't it? 00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:15.980 But Jesus, when he returns, he's coming back for the purpose of establishing the physical dimension 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:24.159 of his eternal kingdom. And as God's people are saved and restored to the king during this 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:36.980 intermediate time, the ruler of the kingdom of this world, rages against us, rages against the kingdom of God, 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:43.440 rages against those who would desire the kingdom of heaven. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:51.840 And Jesus said that this period would be marked by tribulation. 00:28:53.340 --> 00:28:59.680 We think of tribulation as this apocalyptic event that comes at the end. That is not how Jesus taught it. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:06.160 Tribulation is now. It only reaches its climax at the end. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:14.519 But he says we are to expect it now. Why should we expect it now? Because the kingdom has come. 00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:17.380 It's a sign of the kingdom. 00:29:19.140 --> 00:29:24.060 Surely, this is why the apostles spoke the way they did about suffering with Christ. 00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:30.519 Suffering is a sign of the kingdom. How can Paul go to Thessalonica and actually encourage these people 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:35.600 with the prospect and the potential of certain suffering? Because it means the kingdom has come. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:39.159 It is meant to build up their faith, not to turn away from it. 00:29:41.219 --> 00:29:49.899 So the apostles tell us, along with Jesus, to expect it, even to welcome it, as if it identifies us with Christ. 00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:55.399 Let me give you just a couple of passages about this. Hang with me here. This is important. Hang with me. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:03.819 Acts 14, 22. Paul is going back to some of the churches that he planted, and here's what he's doing as he goes back 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:11.099 and revisits them. He was strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith 00:30:11.099 --> 00:30:18.679 because the prospect of falling away is always there, and saying to them that through many tribulations, 00:30:19.220 --> 00:30:21.700 we must enter the kingdom of God. 00:30:21.700 --> 00:30:28.480 When Paul said that, he didn't expect them to think, oh, tribulation at the end. 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:35.299 No, he means tribulation now. Through many of them, you will enter the kingdom, he says. 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:37.160 So continue. 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:42.120 Romans chapter 8, verses 16 and 17. 00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:44.079 Paul, writing to the church there, he says, 00:30:44.219 --> 00:30:50.099 We are children of God, and if children, then we are heirs, and heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:59.639 provided that we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. 00:31:00.459 --> 00:31:01.519 Why bring up this suffering? 00:31:02.819 --> 00:31:04.939 Because suffering was to be expected. 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:11.299 And if we endure the suffering in faith, we will be glorified with him. 00:31:11.380 --> 00:31:15.519 There would be no reason for us to doubt his faithfulness to his promise. 00:31:16.299 --> 00:31:18.940 Now, I want you to turn to the last one because I want us to read it slowly. 00:31:19.299 --> 00:31:21.019 Turn to 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:24.680 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:31:26.840 --> 00:31:28.860 I want to read verses 12 through 19. 00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:40.719 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12. 00:31:42.399 --> 00:31:43.740 Beloved, Peter writes, 00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:51.659 Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. 00:31:52.659 --> 00:31:56.459 Don't be surprised as if something strange was happening to you. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:58.339 What does he mean? 00:31:58.859 --> 00:31:59.759 Expect it. 00:32:00.019 --> 00:32:00.759 It's coming. 00:32:01.779 --> 00:32:03.679 Why would you think different, he says. 00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:05.699 Don't let that surprise you. 00:32:07.699 --> 00:32:09.159 Instead, he says, rejoice. 00:32:09.159 --> 00:32:15.539 But rejoice insofar as in enduring this you share Christ's sufferings, 00:32:15.539 --> 00:32:19.879 that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:22.579 It identifies us with Christ, Peter says. 00:32:23.139 --> 00:32:25.799 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:31.440 you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 00:32:32.579 --> 00:32:33.339 And then he qualifies. 00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:38.419 He said, don't suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:41.139 Don't suffer because you are sinful. 00:32:41.859 --> 00:32:43.879 No, that is not what he is talking about. 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:44.519 Verse 16. 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:51.359 Yet, if anyone suffers as a Christian because they're a Christian, let him not be ashamed. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:56.819 Now, ashamed almost always in the New Testament does not simply mean, 00:32:57.059 --> 00:33:00.500 I'm going to hide my face because I feel a little embarrassed by this. 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:01.460 That's not what it means. 00:33:01.619 --> 00:33:03.240 It means to actually move away. 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:08.079 Ashamed in this context means I'm suffering, so I'm abandoning. 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:08.819 Right? 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:14.180 He says, if you're going to suffer as a Christian, don't be ashamed. 00:33:14.620 --> 00:33:18.019 But instead, let him glorify God in that name. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:19.579 In other words, persist. 00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:20.839 Be faithful. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:27.019 And then he says, for it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God with God's people. 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:28.460 What does he mean? 00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:34.220 God uses the fiery trial to refine his people, to strengthen their faith, 00:33:34.539 --> 00:33:40.299 and to expose the imposters who only pretend to know and love Jesus. 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:43.620 Verse 19. 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:48.720 Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will in your suffering, 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:54.960 entrust your soul to a faithful creator while doing good. 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:01.340 Remember what Luther wrote in Mighty Fortress is Our God that we sang it last Sunday. 00:34:02.019 --> 00:34:05.039 The body they may kill, God's truth abides still. 00:34:05.360 --> 00:34:06.519 What is it that Jesus says? 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.500 Do not fear those who can kill the body. 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:11.079 Fear the one who can kill the soul. 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:12.579 What is it that Peter says here? 00:34:12.699 --> 00:34:17.659 In your suffering, in your suffering, entrust your soul to God. 00:34:17.659 --> 00:34:21.159 In other words, persevere. 00:34:22.460 --> 00:34:22.940 Continue. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:24.719 Be faithful. 00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:30.159 Of course, the apostles were just teaching what Jesus himself had taught them. 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:35.799 This explains why the Thessalonians faced such affliction 00:34:35.799 --> 00:34:39.599 and why Paul was so concerned about preparing them for it. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:45.980 Suffering for Christ is a miserable and faith-threatening affair 00:34:45.980 --> 00:34:52.539 when we are not prepared to acknowledge it as the only path to the glory of the kingdom. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:34:54.619 That's the point. 00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:03.559 Now, we might say a word here about perhaps what is one of the greatest, 00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:06.420 if not the greatest, spiritual threat in our world today. 00:35:06.420 --> 00:35:08.039 And it isn't secularism. 00:35:08.619 --> 00:35:11.960 It is the perversion of the prosperity gospel. 00:35:14.619 --> 00:35:20.159 Millions of people in our world are turning to Christianity 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:27.440 because deceivers are telling them that Christianity is the path to health and to wealth 00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:31.280 and to achieving all it is that they want out of this life. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:32.920 That's a lie. 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:38.240 And what happens to these people who turn to Christ because they've been told 00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:41.440 that Christ will give them benefit and nothing else? 00:35:42.659 --> 00:35:44.800 What happens when the prosperity doesn't come? 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:46.599 Who do they blame? 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:48.280 God. 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:49.760 Jesus. 00:35:50.860 --> 00:35:51.340 Christianity. 00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:56.260 The scriptures teach us to expect and endure affliction. 00:35:56.260 --> 00:36:02.240 And unfortunately, many of us are only really interested in escaping it. 00:36:03.640 --> 00:36:12.380 And if your desire to escape suffering is greater than your desire to know and follow Jesus, 00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:16.600 you will fall away from the faith. 00:36:17.740 --> 00:36:18.520 You will. 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:26.000 Again, this is why we must commit ourselves to being wherever the Bible is faithfully taught 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:31.420 so in that moment of suffering we can sit down with others who understand that suffering 00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:33.619 and understand the gospel in relation to it. 00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:36.320 And they can come alongside of us and they can not just say, 00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:37.320 there, there, it will be okay. 00:36:37.579 --> 00:36:39.599 No, they can say, no, you stay faithful. 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:42.360 Christ is faithful. 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:44.300 Don't turn. 00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:44.340 Don't turn. 00:36:44.340 --> 00:36:44.440 Don't turn. 00:36:47.240 --> 00:36:54.420 Gospel exhortation will prepare us to withstand the challenge of suffering with joy and hope 00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:57.660 rather than with fear and doubt. 00:36:58.579 --> 00:37:02.120 Third, the necessity for perseverance. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:04.660 Now let's keep it all together. 00:37:05.720 --> 00:37:07.700 We have seen the means of perseverance. 00:37:07.940 --> 00:37:09.079 It's a work of God's grace. 00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:11.140 He does that work through ordinary means. 00:37:11.139 --> 00:37:17.559 He uses other Christians, but he uses specifically gospel preaching, gospel teaching, gospel exhortation, right? 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:20.500 Now, why do we even need to be prepared for that? 00:37:20.819 --> 00:37:22.639 Because suffering is a sign of the kingdom. 00:37:22.819 --> 00:37:25.199 If you belong to the kingdom, Jesus says, you're going to suffer. 00:37:26.019 --> 00:37:26.839 You're going to suffer. 00:37:27.699 --> 00:37:29.940 And we need to be reminded of the gospel in that. 00:37:30.920 --> 00:37:33.960 But finally, we need to understand the necessity of it. 00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:34.980 Why is this so important? 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.840 Why is Paul so concerned? 00:37:38.900 --> 00:37:44.159 Why is he so urgent to get Timothy there to teach this gospel to them again? 00:37:44.659 --> 00:37:45.179 Verse 5. 00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:52.000 For this reason, he says, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith. 00:37:53.260 --> 00:38:00.179 For fear, that's his anxiety, because I was fearful that somehow in these afflictions, 00:38:00.179 --> 00:38:06.299 the tempter, the tempter, had tempted you, and that our labor would be in vain. 00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:08.000 What labor? 00:38:08.659 --> 00:38:09.699 His gospel labor. 00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:17.480 Now, it's here that we find the warning of falling away very clearly implied. 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:21.099 And we need to pay close attention to it. 00:38:22.199 --> 00:38:24.059 Paul's fear, that's his word. 00:38:24.059 --> 00:38:33.019 Paul's fear was that through affliction, Satan had successfully tempted them to abandon the faith, 00:38:33.500 --> 00:38:39.279 making his gospel labor in Thessalonica useless and fruitless. 00:38:40.099 --> 00:38:49.460 But for his labor to have been in vain necessarily means that those who first professed faith in Christ 00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:51.320 were no longer believing. 00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:58.260 And his fear comes from the fact that if they were no longer believing, 00:38:58.780 --> 00:39:03.820 there was no hope that they would escape the judgment at Christ's return. 00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:08.160 This is where we need to think about it in its context to the verses just before. 00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:09.380 What has he just said? 00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:10.800 I'm longing to get to you. 00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:11.539 I love you. 00:39:11.700 --> 00:39:13.680 I want to be with you in a particular way, though. 00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:15.420 I want to encourage you in the faith. 00:39:15.420 --> 00:39:22.440 Because my aim, my goal is to see you through until the very end when the Lord comes at his return. 00:39:23.240 --> 00:39:27.680 And it's only after he said that, he's given us his goal, that he now says what his fear is. 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:33.019 Because my fear right now, my fear is that Satan has tempted you successfully, 00:39:33.099 --> 00:39:34.260 that you've turned away from the faith. 00:39:34.460 --> 00:39:38.340 And if you've turned away from the faith, you will not be saved when Christ returns. 00:39:38.340 --> 00:39:41.539 You'll be judged as an unbeliever. 00:39:44.900 --> 00:39:50.000 This introduces some important questions, doesn't it? 00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:56.820 In chapter 1, Paul said he was confident that they were among God's elect. 00:39:56.820 --> 00:40:08.220 Does his fear in chapter 3 then suggest that it's possible for the elect to, at some point following their conversion, 00:40:09.340 --> 00:40:13.980 lose their salvation, no longer be a Christian? 00:40:15.420 --> 00:40:20.039 Can the gospel be preached to the elect in vain? 00:40:21.660 --> 00:40:25.400 And there's two observations from this text that we need to make. 00:40:26.820 --> 00:40:36.740 First, we need to remember that Paul wrote chapter 1 after the events of chapter 3. 00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:43.700 After Timothy has returned with his report, where he said, yeah, affliction's been great there, 00:40:43.980 --> 00:40:46.080 but you'll be glad to know that they're persevering. 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:47.640 They love Jesus. 00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:49.840 They're being faithful in the perseverance. 00:40:50.640 --> 00:40:56.360 Now as Paul goes back and he begins his letter, he says, oh, I know that you're the elect, 00:40:56.360 --> 00:41:03.220 because the gospel came in Holy Spirit power and that's seen in the fact of your perseverance, he says. 00:41:03.740 --> 00:41:05.260 Now that's important for us. 00:41:05.680 --> 00:41:12.579 He doesn't make a judgment on that before Timothy's report, only after. 00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:19.559 In fact, it was their perseverance that was the reason Paul was so confident in their election. 00:41:19.940 --> 00:41:21.299 So you have to keep that in mind. 00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:25.480 It's not like he wrote chapter 1 and sent that as one piece of the letter, 00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:30.679 and then when Timothy came back, he wrote chapter 2 and 3 and sent that as another piece of the letter. 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:30.960 Okay? 00:41:31.319 --> 00:41:32.279 You've got to keep that in mind. 00:41:32.280 --> 00:41:42.540 Second, and perhaps more important, in verse 5, Paul is not making a theological judgment 00:41:42.540 --> 00:41:48.540 about whether or not a genuine believer can abandon their salvation. 00:41:49.980 --> 00:41:52.220 That's not the point that he's making. 00:41:52.640 --> 00:41:56.000 He's not interacting with that theological judgment in verse 5, okay? 00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:04.960 We know from many other passages that Paul wrote that he did not believe that someone whom God saved, 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:09.059 a genuine believer that has received the new birth, 00:42:09.739 --> 00:42:15.159 he did not believe that that person in any way would be lost. 00:42:16.179 --> 00:42:19.920 We already know that's a part of his theology, but that's not what he's arguing here anyways. 00:42:20.099 --> 00:42:21.320 He's not even making that point. 00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:25.680 Paul's point and the warning that we really need to listen to here. 00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:29.760 Listen to it closely, please. 00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:38.300 His point is that no one who turns away from faith in Jesus will be saved. 00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:40.160 No one. 00:42:42.660 --> 00:42:49.460 Again, he's not making a statement about whether they were saved at first in the truest sense of that word. 00:42:49.460 --> 00:42:50.460 He's alluding to the truth. 00:42:50.460 --> 00:43:00.220 He's alluding to the reality that no one without faith in Jesus will be saved in the judgment at his return. 00:43:01.220 --> 00:43:03.840 A point that Jesus made abundantly clear. 00:43:04.900 --> 00:43:06.659 Matthew chapter 10 and verse 22. 00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:10.400 You will be hated by all for my name's sake, 00:43:11.260 --> 00:43:16.340 but only the one who endures to the end will be saved. 00:43:16.340 --> 00:43:20.960 Again, we go back to Hebrews chapter 10 here. 00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:25.220 Verses 35 to 36 and then verse 39. 00:43:27.160 --> 00:43:28.240 The writer says, 00:43:28.539 --> 00:43:32.420 Do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. 00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:35.460 What confidence in relation to? 00:43:35.840 --> 00:43:36.780 Faith in Christ. 00:43:37.100 --> 00:43:38.500 Don't throw away your faith in Christ, 00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:41.720 because faith in Christ is what brings the reward of heaven. 00:43:41.719 --> 00:43:48.459 For you have need of endurance, he says. 00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:54.539 So that when you have done the will of God, 00:43:54.759 --> 00:43:56.980 you may receive what is promised. 00:43:57.359 --> 00:43:58.000 In other words, 00:43:58.879 --> 00:44:02.179 you do not receive what's promised without endurance. 00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:04.159 He says it clearly. 00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:07.500 But then he says, 00:44:07.859 --> 00:44:12.359 We are not of those who shrink back, 00:44:13.359 --> 00:44:14.719 that is they turn away, 00:44:15.420 --> 00:44:17.319 and then are destroyed. 00:44:18.299 --> 00:44:19.179 Destroyed by who? 00:44:20.199 --> 00:44:21.519 By God at the judgment. 00:44:23.319 --> 00:44:25.000 That's not what believers do. 00:44:25.079 --> 00:44:25.899 We don't shrink back. 00:44:26.339 --> 00:44:27.599 Those people are destroyed by God. 00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:28.639 No, he says. 00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:32.480 We are of those who have faith 00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:35.579 and preserve their souls. 00:44:36.539 --> 00:44:37.699 Preserve their souls. 00:44:38.460 --> 00:44:40.339 Do you see the necessity of this? 00:44:42.500 --> 00:44:46.960 No one without faith in Christ will be saved. 00:44:47.500 --> 00:44:48.039 No one. 00:44:48.400 --> 00:44:49.239 That's his point. 00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:50.519 That's his fear. 00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:57.119 Now, among evangelical Christians like this, 00:44:57.619 --> 00:44:58.079 like us, 00:44:58.079 --> 00:45:02.239 a popular way to have expressed this idea of perseverance 00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:05.400 in more recent years 00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:07.000 has been to say something like this, 00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:09.099 that once you're saved, you're always saved. 00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:14.119 I want to suggest that that's probably not a helpful way to say it. 00:45:14.119 --> 00:45:17.019 If what we mean by that 00:45:17.019 --> 00:45:19.480 is that once God saves you, 00:45:19.839 --> 00:45:21.359 he will never unsave you, 00:45:22.039 --> 00:45:24.980 then absolutely we're standing in line with the scriptures when we say that. 00:45:25.759 --> 00:45:27.500 But I'm convinced that there's many people that 00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:29.519 that's not what they mean when they say that. 00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:31.539 What they mean 00:45:31.539 --> 00:45:33.759 is that so long as you follow 00:45:33.759 --> 00:45:35.359 this kind of external 00:45:35.359 --> 00:45:37.219 series of rituals 00:45:37.219 --> 00:45:38.699 that we call conversion, 00:45:39.920 --> 00:45:41.219 that it doesn't matter 00:45:41.219 --> 00:45:42.759 what your life is like thereafter. 00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:44.240 After, you're in. 00:45:46.580 --> 00:45:48.620 So that, yeah, if you go on sinning, 00:45:49.160 --> 00:45:49.480 fine. 00:45:50.220 --> 00:45:51.880 If there comes a point in your life later 00:45:51.880 --> 00:45:53.420 that you doubt and you abandon Christ, 00:45:53.680 --> 00:45:53.880 fine. 00:45:53.940 --> 00:45:55.240 As long as you did this one thing, 00:45:55.940 --> 00:45:57.980 your bases are covered and you're good. 00:45:58.580 --> 00:45:59.660 And if that's what we mean, 00:45:59.720 --> 00:46:01.460 if that's the concept that we have 00:46:01.460 --> 00:46:02.840 when we make a statement like that, 00:46:03.060 --> 00:46:04.540 we are utterly wrong 00:46:04.540 --> 00:46:06.980 and standing not in line with the Bible. 00:46:06.980 --> 00:46:09.560 We are standing strongly opposed 00:46:09.560 --> 00:46:12.320 to what the Bible actually teaches us. 00:46:12.760 --> 00:46:18.140 walking an aisle 00:46:18.140 --> 00:46:21.480 and praying a prayer, 00:46:22.180 --> 00:46:22.860 being baptized, 00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:24.960 joining a church, 00:46:25.240 --> 00:46:27.280 all of those things are signs 00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:30.940 that one has been converted. 00:46:31.700 --> 00:46:34.040 They are not, any of them, 00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:35.360 or collectively, 00:46:36.300 --> 00:46:37.860 the cause of our conversion. 00:46:37.860 --> 00:46:42.079 Salvation comes by grace 00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:43.680 through faith alone, 00:46:44.120 --> 00:46:45.740 not through a subscription 00:46:45.740 --> 00:46:48.380 of evangelical rituals. 00:46:50.260 --> 00:46:52.059 Faith in the person and work 00:46:52.059 --> 00:46:52.960 of Jesus Christ 00:46:52.960 --> 00:46:54.539 is the determining factor 00:46:54.539 --> 00:46:55.500 in one's salvation. 00:46:56.240 --> 00:46:58.220 And those without genuine faith 00:46:58.220 --> 00:46:58.940 in Christ, 00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:01.240 no matter what they have professed 00:47:01.240 --> 00:47:02.579 at some point in their past, 00:47:02.579 --> 00:47:06.059 have no grounds whatsoever 00:47:06.059 --> 00:47:07.960 for believing 00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:09.380 they will escape God's wrath. 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:14.159 If you are not truly trusting Christ, 00:47:14.259 --> 00:47:15.219 it doesn't matter 00:47:15.219 --> 00:47:16.440 how much you've given. 00:47:17.299 --> 00:47:18.239 It doesn't matter 00:47:18.239 --> 00:47:18.960 how morally 00:47:19.500 --> 00:47:21.019 you've kept the law. 00:47:21.799 --> 00:47:22.759 It doesn't matter 00:47:22.759 --> 00:47:24.340 how many church services 00:47:24.340 --> 00:47:25.019 you go to. 00:47:25.519 --> 00:47:26.059 It doesn't matter 00:47:26.059 --> 00:47:26.779 if you've been baptized. 00:47:27.660 --> 00:47:28.320 It doesn't matter 00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:29.760 if you have belonging 00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:30.240 and membership 00:47:30.240 --> 00:47:31.240 to our church 00:47:31.240 --> 00:47:32.340 or to any other church. 00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:33.400 It doesn't matter 00:47:33.400 --> 00:47:34.240 if you read your Bible. 00:47:34.780 --> 00:47:35.280 It doesn't matter 00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:35.860 if you pray. 00:47:36.620 --> 00:47:38.120 If you are not truly 00:47:38.120 --> 00:47:39.940 trusting Christ alone 00:47:39.940 --> 00:47:40.840 for your salvation, 00:47:41.460 --> 00:47:43.180 you have no biblical grounds 00:47:43.180 --> 00:47:43.960 whatsoever 00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:45.019 to expect 00:47:45.019 --> 00:47:46.519 that when Jesus returns 00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:48.220 and he is going to return, 00:47:48.500 --> 00:47:49.160 you have no grounds 00:47:49.160 --> 00:47:49.720 for expecting 00:47:49.720 --> 00:47:50.560 that you will escape 00:47:50.560 --> 00:47:51.140 God's wrath. 00:47:51.340 --> 00:47:51.700 In fact, 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:52.760 you decidedly 00:47:52.760 --> 00:47:53.519 will not escape 00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:54.080 God's wrath. 00:47:56.780 --> 00:47:58.340 this is the warning 00:47:58.340 --> 00:48:00.460 implicit in Paul's fear 00:48:00.460 --> 00:48:02.880 and we don't need 00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:03.720 to take it lightly. 00:48:05.460 --> 00:48:05.940 Now, 00:48:06.480 --> 00:48:07.460 what did we say 00:48:07.460 --> 00:48:07.880 at the beginning? 00:48:09.820 --> 00:48:11.340 It's not how you finish. 00:48:11.500 --> 00:48:12.500 It's that you finish. 00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:15.440 That doesn't mean 00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:16.360 that how you finish 00:48:16.360 --> 00:48:17.500 isn't relevant. 00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:19.340 Of course, 00:48:19.500 --> 00:48:20.500 we understand 00:48:20.500 --> 00:48:21.300 we want to grow 00:48:21.300 --> 00:48:21.820 in Christ, 00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:22.260 don't we? 00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:23.740 We want to be faithful. 00:48:23.960 --> 00:48:25.200 We hope that today 00:48:25.200 --> 00:48:26.360 we're more obedient 00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:27.840 and strengthened 00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:28.420 in our faith 00:48:28.420 --> 00:48:29.340 than we were yesterday. 00:48:29.680 --> 00:48:30.559 That's what we want. 00:48:30.900 --> 00:48:32.220 We want to finish well, 00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:33.099 right? 00:48:34.539 --> 00:48:35.740 But more important 00:48:35.740 --> 00:48:38.420 than the strength 00:48:38.420 --> 00:48:39.420 of our faith 00:48:39.420 --> 00:48:42.079 and the strength 00:48:42.079 --> 00:48:42.820 of our obedience 00:48:42.820 --> 00:48:43.960 at the time of our death 00:48:43.960 --> 00:48:44.440 or at the time 00:48:44.440 --> 00:48:45.059 of the Lord's return, 00:48:45.140 --> 00:48:46.200 more important than that 00:48:46.200 --> 00:48:49.420 is that you actually finish 00:48:49.420 --> 00:48:51.160 in the faith. 00:48:51.159 --> 00:48:55.739 Mark will fly a plane 00:48:55.739 --> 00:48:56.639 probably this week. 00:48:56.699 --> 00:48:57.079 He flew one 00:48:57.079 --> 00:48:57.940 a couple of days ago. 00:48:58.839 --> 00:49:00.019 No doubt on the flight 00:49:00.019 --> 00:49:02.159 to or back from Syracuse, 00:49:02.259 --> 00:49:03.099 there were some people 00:49:03.099 --> 00:49:04.440 that got on the flight 00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:05.599 that were absolutely terrified 00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:06.379 to be on the flight. 00:49:07.219 --> 00:49:07.779 They're shaking. 00:49:08.480 --> 00:49:09.079 They're scared 00:49:09.079 --> 00:49:10.259 because they don't know 00:49:10.259 --> 00:49:10.779 what's going to happen 00:49:10.779 --> 00:49:11.379 in that plane 00:49:11.379 --> 00:49:12.079 and they know 00:49:12.079 --> 00:49:12.920 there's a big snowstorm 00:49:12.920 --> 00:49:13.500 coming through 00:49:13.500 --> 00:49:14.980 and they probably read 00:49:14.980 --> 00:49:15.480 some things, 00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:16.859 some kind of conspiracy theory 00:49:16.859 --> 00:49:17.679 that says that 00:49:17.679 --> 00:49:18.699 the plane might go down 00:49:18.699 --> 00:49:20.899 and they're afraid. 00:49:21.579 --> 00:49:22.699 But they get on the plane 00:49:22.699 --> 00:49:24.199 and they find their seed. 00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:25.319 They don't have a lot 00:49:25.319 --> 00:49:26.279 of joy in the process 00:49:26.279 --> 00:49:27.679 but they get on the plane 00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:29.500 and Mark gets them safely 00:49:29.500 --> 00:49:31.739 to Syracuse. 00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:33.480 There's a different kind 00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:33.859 of person 00:49:33.859 --> 00:49:34.859 that gets on that plane. 00:49:35.460 --> 00:49:36.099 There's a kind of person 00:49:36.099 --> 00:49:37.419 that doesn't think a thing 00:49:37.419 --> 00:49:39.199 about that plane crashing. 00:49:40.919 --> 00:49:41.960 He has total confidence 00:49:41.960 --> 00:49:42.419 in Mark 00:49:42.419 --> 00:49:43.139 and Mark's ability 00:49:43.139 --> 00:49:44.299 to fly the plane appropriately 00:49:44.299 --> 00:49:44.679 and get them 00:49:44.679 --> 00:49:45.579 where they need to go. 00:49:46.539 --> 00:49:47.339 Gets on the plane, 00:49:47.340 --> 00:49:48.860 has a lot more joy 00:49:48.860 --> 00:49:49.760 than the other person 00:49:49.760 --> 00:49:52.140 but he gets to Syracuse 00:49:52.140 --> 00:49:53.059 safely, doesn't he? 00:49:53.460 --> 00:49:54.380 Now what do the two people 00:49:54.380 --> 00:49:55.000 have in common? 00:49:57.480 --> 00:49:58.680 The strength of their faith 00:49:58.680 --> 00:49:59.620 is very different. 00:50:00.559 --> 00:50:01.800 The reality of their faith 00:50:01.800 --> 00:50:02.880 is exactly the same. 00:50:04.340 --> 00:50:05.539 They both get on the plane. 00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:08.260 They both trust the pilot. 00:50:08.980 --> 00:50:10.039 They both get where 00:50:10.039 --> 00:50:10.660 they want to go. 00:50:12.500 --> 00:50:13.519 That's the point here. 00:50:13.519 --> 00:50:16.280 He said, 00:50:16.360 --> 00:50:17.500 I just wish that 00:50:17.500 --> 00:50:18.780 if the Lord came back today 00:50:18.780 --> 00:50:19.659 I'm just so embarrassed 00:50:19.659 --> 00:50:20.500 at how I've been living 00:50:20.500 --> 00:50:21.400 my life as a Christian. 00:50:21.820 --> 00:50:22.119 Okay. 00:50:23.679 --> 00:50:24.039 Okay. 00:50:24.219 --> 00:50:25.179 That's all right. 00:50:26.179 --> 00:50:26.559 Turn. 00:50:27.480 --> 00:50:27.880 Confess. 00:50:28.599 --> 00:50:29.159 Do better. 00:50:29.159 --> 00:50:29.840 For sure. 00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:33.280 But that's not what 00:50:33.280 --> 00:50:34.420 ultimately matters anyways. 00:50:35.500 --> 00:50:36.320 It's just that 00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:37.079 you're on the plane. 00:50:38.199 --> 00:50:39.139 That you're actually 00:50:39.139 --> 00:50:39.880 trusting him. 00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:41.660 that your faith 00:50:41.660 --> 00:50:43.519 is in his gospel. 00:50:44.740 --> 00:50:46.059 Only those who endure 00:50:46.059 --> 00:50:46.840 will be saved 00:50:46.840 --> 00:50:48.900 and you can count on 00:50:48.900 --> 00:50:51.119 your endurance being tested. 00:50:52.559 --> 00:50:53.720 So what do we do? 00:50:54.440 --> 00:50:55.640 We trust God 00:50:55.640 --> 00:50:56.940 to keep his promise in Christ. 00:50:58.300 --> 00:51:00.059 And then we refuse 00:51:00.059 --> 00:51:00.700 to neglect 00:51:00.700 --> 00:51:02.300 to give and receive 00:51:02.300 --> 00:51:03.519 biblical exhortation. 00:51:04.640 --> 00:51:05.920 Because that's what God 00:51:05.920 --> 00:51:07.360 uses to persevere his people. 00:51:08.180 --> 00:51:09.099 It's a community project. 00:51:09.880 --> 00:51:10.539 And we want to do that 00:51:10.539 --> 00:51:11.079 for one another. 00:51:11.079 --> 00:51:11.140 Amen. 00:51:11.140 --> 00:51:11.220 Amen. 00:51:11.220 --> 00:51:11.220