Well, I've got time to start, and we are in 1 Thessalonians 4 tonight. It's where we start at, 1 Thessalonians 4, so let's have a word of prayer as we begin. Father, we are grateful for the day, for all the provisions that you give for us. We thank you for the blessings, and I thank you, Father, for the service this morning, for the people who are here, and I thank you for the baptisms. I pray that you would bless Dana and Francis, and Father, I pray that you'd bless their families. I pray, Father, for Mary, that you'll comfort her in her time of sorrow. Bless her and the family as they prepare for memorial services at whatever point. just be with the others who are ill and infirm. I thank you that Tom and Lucy were here today, Father. I pray that you would bless him as he's gonna have some more treatments and so forth. I pray that you would keep him from getting. in her from getting anything that's going around now, that you just bless them and bless in their lives, Father. I pray that from the service today, some people may have thought about baptism, membership, and about salvation, Father, and that you would just work in a mighty way. Bless us as we look in your word tonight. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Okay, we're ready for chapter 4. Last week as we ended with chapter 3, Paul was saying that he wanted the Father, that was really his prayer, and the Lord Jesus Christ to direct the way unto them. In other words, he was still wanting to go back to the Thessalonians to visit Thessalonica to see them. And in verse 12 of chapter 3, he had said, the Lord make you increase. May he make you productive, in other words, and increase and abound in love toward one another. So what he was talking about was that they might love each other more and more and more, that they might grow in the love of God. Toward their brothers, but also toward all men as we do toward you So he said I have great love for you And I want you to love other people, not just the people in the church, but people everywhere. And the end result might be of that, as we love each other, as we teach about Christ, as we follow the commands of God, to establish your hearts without blame and holiness before God. So what he really said was, I want you to have holy lives. I want you to have a holy heart. I want you to have a holy spirit in you. That is a heart that is dedicated to God. Because a lot of times we see, or at times we see people who are holy on the outside, or at least appear to be holy on the outside, but they're not always holy on the inside. And he said, I want you to be established in your hearts with the love of God and that you be holy. In other words, that you don't have sin in your heart or in your life that you're keeping there. Get rid of that sin, don't hold anything there, and be holy before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. And so he's introducing there the fact that Jesus is coming back, and I want God when he sends his son back to find the people that are prepared and ready at Thessalonica that are holy in their hearts. Now understand Holy does not mean that there's no sin at all in their life because everybody sins. But no known sin, no sin that they're holding, that they're keeping there, that their hearts are totally given to God. And so they're waiting for the coming of the Lord, that he would find them in peace and in sanctification. So in chapter four, as we start, furthermore, That's kind of like the word therefore that we've talked about in the past. Furthermore, so in addition then to what I'm already saying to you, in addition to I want your hearts to be holy before God, we beseech you, we plead with you, we beg of you, brethren, and notice again how he uses that word over and over and over again, brethren. I'm not sure why he does it other than they are brethren, and also he wants everybody to know that he's writing to the brethren who are Christians, but I think one reason why he maybe uses it so much, remember he was only there for three weekends, okay? So he's, I believe, partially using the word brethren so much. Yeah, it's true, and he believes it. but I think it's just another way of saying we're really close. In three weeks, we've built a close relationship, and I've built a close relationship, and I count you as family, not only family in the Lord, but I count you as family because of my love for you, and I want you to love each other and everybody else like I love you. And I exhort you by the Lord Jesus. I am going to strongly encourage you by the Lord Jesus. And so he's saying, not just my words, but by the Lord Jesus. The Lord is talking to me about you guys. And the Lord has called me to you guys. And the Lord has called me to write this letter. So I am going to exhort you really encourage and teach you through the Lord that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and please God, so you would abound more and more, okay? We've taught you how to walk the Christian life. We taught you how to please God, to live before him. and I want you to grow in that, that you pile on top of that, and that you grow more and more and more. Now again, remember, Paul did not have the luxury of a six-month discipleship course to teach these people. He didn't have the luxury of a three-month discipleship course, or even a month. We're talking they're less than a month, he's with them and establishes this church, and now he's trying to see if they're following through, and he's encouraging them, what we taught you, build on that. Build on it, add to it more and more and more and more so that you walk, as we taught you, to live the Christian life. In other words, live the Christian life like we taught you, And please God, do everything you do to please God so you would, like I said, abound more and more. So on that verse, do you think anything about that that you wanna share? Anything come to mind or something you wanna say? Okay, in verse two then, For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice what Paul is saying. You already know, because we've taught you and told you, what the commandments are of Jesus Christ. Now, he didn't say suggestions. And he didn't say, these are my thoughts. He said, you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, what we're instructing you and teaching you is coming from our Lord Jesus Christ. And you notice that as you see that, again, it's not a suggestion. The commandments are from God. So you know how to live. So many times we get caught up, and we're doing that today in our age, in our society. We're doing it in the church today. What are we doing? We're rewriting the word of God. Okay, that wasn't a suggestion, that was a commandment. It wasn't something that just Paul dreamed up. The word of God is the word of God, and these are things that we're to follow, but we are explaining it away in many cases today. And Paul is saying, this is what the Lord has commanded. I'm writing you, not what I think, not what I feel, not what I want, but I want you to know the commandments that we gave you, and again, I think it's really imperative to understand, not suggestions. but commandments we gave you, and they come from the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, for this is the will of God. Do you realize how many people say, I don't know what the will of God is? I don't know how to find the will of God. I don't know what the will of God is and what he wants me to do. Do you understand what Paul is saying here? He's not iffy at all. This is the will of God. Now, how can he say this is the will of God? Well, in this particular instance, I think there's probably at least two reasons why he can say it. Number one is, I believe Jesus talked to him. I don't know how he did it all the time, but remember when Paul gave the Lord's supper directions, I received of the Lord what I gave to you. However the Lord told him or did it, he told him. And this is what the Lord told us how to do it, okay? So, however he's doing it, he's relaying it to him. But the other thing is, there are certain things that we know about the will of God. I can explicitly tell you without question that the will of God is that you don't murder anybody. Anybody wanna argue with me about that? I could explicitly tell you that the Bible says you're never supposed to hate anybody. Want to argue about that? You see what I'm saying? There are some things in the word of God that we don't even have to have a new revelation from God. They're there, and we know what they are. Sexual immorality is wrong. We know that. We know that a husband or wife should not cheat on their mate. And that's not should not, they're commanded not to. So we know it. So he said, this is the will of God. And what is the will of God? Even your sanctification. Now, we can make that word sanctification a lot more complicated and complex if you want to, but it really simply means to be more like Christ. Become holy, right. To be more like Christ in holiness so we can unquestionably say this is a command of God and the will of God. We know that. Even your sanctification, and notice what he added to that. to abstain from fornication, to abstain from sexual sin. So he said, this is the will of God that you become more like Jesus, that you become more holy, that you grow and mature, and that you should abstain from fornication, sexual sin, verse four. that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. In other words, that every person would know how to control their body and they would control their desires or whatever. And so therefore, that you would know how to possess this vessel, to live in this body of yours, if you would, in sanctification and honor. So we should live holy lives in our body, Christ-like lives, and live in honor as well. That's what we're supposed to do. So any questions, comments, thoughts about that? Okay, he says in verse five, not in the lust, of concuspicions, and that is strong sexual desire, that we are not to live in a state of strong sexual desire like the Gentiles which know not God. I mean, if you look at our society, And it's been that way off and on I guess forever, but it gets worse in certain societies or certain times or whatever's become more open to things. There's a very strong sexual drive and promotion in our world today. Look at commercials on television. If you watch the commercials, look at them. See what they do. If you get somebody like Beyonce or somebody out there doing a concert or any of these people that are doing it, or a halftime show at a football game, these people who are supposed to be great musicians and dancers, that's what they'd be defined as. Okay, so if that is their talent, that they're a great musician and dancer, why do they have to do it half naked? And if you're really looking at what's happening, the actual act, and remember, who's following these people? The younger people. The younger people. There are some young adults and stuff, but kids are following them. And they're caught up with these people. And if you watch what they're doing on stage, what are they doing on stage sometimes? They're literally acting out sexual acts in public. This is something that would have been banned many years ago. But today, it is lauded and promoted and all that kind of thing. So he said. Parents spend a bunch of money to take their kids to those shows. They do. They do. I can't think of what's her name. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift. Yeah. She's despicable. But parents spend a whole lot of money to take their teenage daughters to see that. Right. So that has become a part of our society. What we don't actually understand and realize is, sometimes, some of you do, but it was really bad during Paul's day in certain areas. Corinth was a city of sin. To play the Corinthian was to play the harlot. they had temple prostitutes, both male and female, that were used in the worship of the gods of that day. So what Paul is saying is, don't get caught up with strong sexual desire that is satisfied outside of marriage, like the Gentiles who know not God. You know, I've heard preachers say before, and I'm sure that you probably have too, we get upset with sinners who sin. Why? They're sinners. They're supposed to sin, right? That's their nature. Who do we get upset with? Who should we get upset with? Christians who sin. There's the problem. Sinners have a nature to sin. They're gonna do what they do. Pigs are pigs. Horses are horses. Cows are cows. You know, whatever. But he said, don't be like the Gentiles who don't know God because they were pagans. They didn't know any different. And you have to realize the pagan was not originally given the Ten Commandments. Who was given the Ten Commandments? The Hebrews, right? And so they were following God. So he says, don't get caught up in that like the Gentiles who know not God. So what's Paul trying to tell us here about Christians? What's there something about our life do you think he's trying to tell us here? They have to be different. Have to be different. Different from the world. And not just on the outside, but on the inside. That's what he's talking about, the holiness of the heart. Because what's on the inside comes out to the outside, right? As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. So sin literally comes from the heart, and that's why Paul is saying that we need to sanctify our heart. He said in verse six that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any manner because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified. Nobody should go beyond what he's supposed to do. Nobody should sin, in other words, especially in Christians here, and defraud his brother in any way, to cheat him, and that could be money, it could be anything. Don't treat your brother in a way that's wrong, and why should we not Do something to our brother. Why should we not do terrible things to them, or bad things, or even not so bad things, but things that aren't good? Why is he saying here? Because God's supposed to be the avenger. God's the avenger. God's the avenger. And notice what he said as we forewarned you and testified. You know, you hear from time to time people who are non-Christians And we've mentioned this before, we'll say what they're gonna tell God, what they're gonna ask God, and all that kind of stuff. And you know, it's very interesting to me that Paul and others teach over and over again what? We forewarned you. We taught you. And it's not gonna be an excuse before God to say, I didn't know. Especially for a Christian. There's not an excuse for that. The Lord is the true avenger, as we forewarned and testified. Okay, if somebody mistreats me, I don't have the right to mistreat them, even if I'm right. I don't have the right to mistreat them. No, you're called to actually bless them. Right, exactly. Because God will take care of them, eventually, whether it's in this world or not. I may never see that happen, but it'll happen. The other side of that is, who is going to avenge us if we do wrong? He sees what we're doing. And we claim to be a child of his, and so therefore, he's forewarned and testified. And I think that's really noteworthy for us to realize. God's not putting us in a position that we don't know what to do. He's given it to us to know what to do. And that's what Paul is saying here, I'm teaching you to follow the commands of God, to be sanctified, to be holy in your heart. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness, verse seven. What does that say to you? that he's calling us into the sanctification yet to be holy. He's calling us out of the world too. Right, calling us out of the world. He's called us to dedicate ourselves to that, making a deliberate commitment to follow his law. Right. God's calling was not to sin, which is what uncleanness is describing here, but God's calling was that we would live holy lives, that we would live lives dedicated to him, because that's what he's called us to do. Again, you don't hear, I don't think, much of that in our society anymore, but many of you will probably remember that years ago, and especially, as I think, in my younger years and so forth, there was much put into the effect of who you were, who your parents were, where you came from, and that kind of stuff. Because you were not to disgrace the family name. You're a part of this family, and if you do something that you shouldn't, you're gonna disgrace the whole family name. Okay, if that's true in life, how much more so in the Christian life? to never do anything that would disparage or bring disgrace to the name of Christ. Because once that damage has been done, it's almost impossible to undo it. It really is, it's almost impossible to undo it. I served in a church some years ago that had a funeral home in town, and the funeral home, well, it had more than one, it had two or three in town, but anyway, the funeral home that I'm talking about went under, basically. I don't remember exactly what happened, but they ended up selling it, but what had happened was they were caught in a lot of practices that were not right. They were cheating people, they were not doing what they should, okay? So somebody eventually bought that funeral home, I believe they changed the name to get away from the reputation, but the funeral home was already known. The reputation was there. And you don't know how many people in that town refused to do business with the new owners because of what the previous owner had done. It made no difference there's somebody else in charge. They'd been burned, and they were not gonna do it. And that's true with churches. I know churches that have had problems And it got talked about in the community and members of the church talked about it in the community. And it has taken 20 to 40 years for them to overcome that reputation. So how do we overcome that with people when Christians do not live Christian lifestyles? Because you see, it's not like they say, oh, okay, Dana burned me. But there are plenty of other Christians that are great, so I'll listen to that. When Dana burns them, every Christian burns them, many people feel. So he's telling them, just be right towards your fellow man, live a holy life, don't do anything to harm your brother, because the Lord will take care of it, but he's also going to judge you if you're in the wrong. And you've been forewarned and testified. So again, we can't stand up and say someday, I didn't know. Notice verse seven. Again, as we go forward, as we've already said, he's not called us to sin, but he's called us to holy lives, to godly lives. So in verse eight, he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. What do you think that means? He who despises, despises not man, but God, who hath also given us His Holy Spirit. There's no greater enormity to sin than to sin against your Creator. Exactly. You can't sin any higher than that. That's right. I thought I heard somebody else say something, too. Yeah, I started, too. Mine says, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but God who gives the Holy Spirit to you. To me, that's a little clearer. Definitely rejecting God. And the other thing is what we fail to realize sometimes is how we treat our fellow man is actually regarded as treating God. Now, why is that? Because God made man. And if we're doing it to a Christian, then we're doing it to a child of God, not just a creation of God, but to a child of God. So he's saying that as we look at this, if we are despising people, then we're not really despising those people, it actually goes to God. So as Gail said, the greatest sin you can have is against God, right? And so we're actually sinning against God. You know, it's one of the things that you've probably been taught through the years, like in witnessing classes and so forth, and it's very hard. But let's say that you're going out visiting door to door and you knock on a door and somebody comes out and screams at you and cusses at you and tells you what they think about you and all that kind of stuff. That hurts. And you go away, and you may be discouraged, and you may be sad, and who else? What else may be going on? But who did they really sin against? God, it's the witness of God. They're not really mad at you, because if they don't know you, they can't be mad at you for the first place, because there's nothing to be mad about. They're sinning right in the face of the Holy Spirit that God put within you. That's right. It's exactly right. It's telling the Holy Spirit where to go. That's right. That's exactly what they're doing. And that is sinning against God, obviously, but we need to understand that it's despising God and not man, so we should not take it personally, although that's very difficult, because we are people who take things personally, very easy. That's our makeup, our nature, if you would. But God, who hath also given us of his Holy Spirit, and we've already talked about that with Gale and others, we have the Holy Spirit of God in us to guide us, to direct us, but it's also the attacking of the Holy Spirit. In verse nine, as touching brotherly love. You notice that he's kind of going through things here. He was talking about love earlier. He's still talking about it, but he said, touching or concerning brotherly love. And he's talking really here about basically Christian love, but it also carries over to others. But the true brothers are those in Christ. So as touching brotherly love, you don't even need that I write to you. Isn't it interesting that he says that, but he's still writing them to him? So he really does need to write to him. He's not lying, that's not what I'm saying, but he's saying, I really shouldn't have to write to you. That's not something I should tell you, because you know, you've already been taught. Concerning brotherly love, you know yourselves that you're taught of God to love one another. By all these things, by love, men will know our love and our love for God. So you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. So that shouldn't even be a subject we have to discuss. Christians should love one another, and then you also love the world. And of course, the love that we have for the world is what? that they would be saved. That they would be saved. To tell them about Jesus Christ, that they would turn from their sin. And of course, our love for our fellow brother is to encourage them. We ought to be very careful how we deal with our brother, that we don't hurt them, harm them in some way, offend them in some way. And it can be done so easily, but yet on the other hand, as Christians, we also ought to be careful that we're not offended easily, that we don't carry a chip on our shoulder, you know? So there's that love process in there that as we're taught of God, we're to love one another because they'll know we are Christians by our love. And so therefore, we need to show the love of God. If you think of God, And what he did for us, what do you think about God? As you think of what God has done for us, what do you think describes that? We don't have words to describe that. OK. But what is the overarching theme? He is love. Yeah, he's love. And his grace is extended because he is love. Right. He can't do anything else. Right. But we can. Right. He loved us even though we were sinners. He loved us by sending his son to die for us. He loved us by forgiving our sin. He loved us by purchasing our salvation. And we could go on and on. So the overarching theme of God is that he loves us, and so therefore, because he loves us, we are to love other people. Verse 10, and indeed you do it, he's saying, you do love the brothers and love one another and other people, toward all the brethren and to those which are in all Macedonia, but we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more. Okay? They loved people. They loved Christians. But they didn't just love people at Thessalonica. They loved them all across Macedonia. The love of Christ was in them. It's just like us. We're here in this church. as Baptist church, Camp Verde Baptist, we ought to love one another as Christians, okay? And we ought to love one another even if we weren't Christians. But because we're Christians, and that's what I'm talking about here, we ought to love one another, okay? But we also ought to love the people at Calvary Church. We ought to love the people at all the other churches in town. And they also ought to love us. It never should be seen as a competition. Never should be seen as a competition. I went to a community one time to pastor a church, and there were like four churches in pretty close proximity. They weren't all in the same town. It was a smaller area town, a country town. but there were like four churches in the area that were Baptist that were a few miles apart, like six miles apart or something like that. It's one of those weird situations. And when I went there, I was told in advance the church that I went to that there was a lot of competition among the churches. And what happened was that somebody gets, let's say they got upset where I was pastoring, okay? They'd go six miles down the road and join that church. If something happened there, they'd go six miles and go to the other church. Then they'd go six miles. And then when something happened there, they'd come back to where I was pastoring, the church that I was. But that's before I came. And I told some people in church, that's not going to happen. We're not going to play that game. If they're going to come and join the church, they're going to come and join the church and be a part of it. They're not going to play us against one another. And I talked to the other pastors. And we kind of banded together, that we're not going to just take this nonsense. When somebody gets ready to run to another church, that we just take them. There's going to have to be a conversation. There are reasons why people leave churches. And it's not saying we would never. But this had become a habit of some people, because they'd leave, try to run this church, couldn't. They'd leave, try to run this church, couldn't. That was the whole, and it became a vicious circle. And as a body, with the churches and the ministers, we stopped that. And it was really best for us, and it was actually best for the people who were doing it, too. We're not in competition. And in the previous, some of them have been actually courting each other's members. If you find somebody that you could court, let's court them, get them to come over here. That's not our job. My job isn't to pull members from another church. My job is to preach the gospel and try to get people saved. And if people come to our community that are looking for a church, that's fine. But I should never actively go out and try to get them from another church. Now, if somebody comes from another church in town and there's a legitimate reason, we can do that. But it should never be that we're out there, okay, we're gonna build our church by taking from another church. And so what we have here is we've got Paul saying the church at Thessalonica, what, loves not just themselves, but they love all Christians. And they're trying to reach people for Christ. If every evangelical church was actively cooperatively working together to reach people for Christ, how could we change our communities? How could we change our world? The great things that could happen. I'm thinking about when we, Pastor, when we have VBS in the past and coordinate with, say, Calvary or the other churches on our days. We're working hand in hand. Those kids go over here for VBS, and then they came over here. Then they go over here. They're getting a wide variety of teaching. And it's always been a joy. It has been, yeah. And that's what he's talking about, to love all Christians, work together with all Christians, and that's what we're supposed to do. And in verse 11, you study to be quiet, to do your own business, to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing. What do you think he means there in verses 11 and 12? That we work together and that we share what we have so nobody goes without. Okay. What else? They want him to be self-supporting. Yeah. Don't be idle. Be self-supporting. Work with your own hands as we commanded you. Only there are three weekends, three weeks, but what do you teach them in that time? Support yourselves. Do what's necessary. And maybe, why did he say that to them especially? I mean, it's something we ought to do, but why do you think it's so important in Thessalonica? But they were going to lose their jobs, maybe, and their place of living. Very possibly. And families would kick them out. Yeah, very possibly that they would be opposed. And so they needed to learn to work with their own hands as they were commanded. What do you think you mean, study to be quiet? Live peacefully. Before you talk. OK, live peacefully. Think before you speak up. Think before you speak up. Right, right. Study to be quiet because it's easy to get caught up with talk, criticism. It's easy to get caught up with gossip or whatever. So he's saying study to be quiet. In other words, it's kind of a nice way of mind your own business. you know, stick to the important things and do what are right. So stick to the important things, do your own business, work with your own hands as we commanded you, know how to make a living so that we may walk honestly toward who? toward them that are without. Okay, which is? People that are outside of the church. Right, right. The unsaved. Learn to walk honestly toward them that are without, that you may have lack of nothing. Now how do those two fit together? Treat the people outside the church honestly, and if you do, you won't lack anything. How does that go together? Respect goes both ways. Okay. If they respect the outside world more. earn boisterous towards them because they think they've got the right answers or something. Respect goes both ways. You don't, what's the word you know, you don't, I don't know, you don't draw bees with vinegar. Right, right. You know, I don't know what may have been going on with the honesty part. He may have just been looking in advance and probably was to try to encourage them to be honest, but You know, it would be very easy for a Christian, if they weren't in the right spirit, to say, well, I could charge this guy who's not a Christian a little bit more money. I can make a little profit off him, because he's not given to God anyway. It would be very easy. And Paul is saying, don't do anything like that. Treat them right. The lack of nothing is probably right in what you're saying, that yeah, it goes both ways. But if you treat people right and follow the will of God, what is God promising? He'll bless us and take care of us, right? He'll take care of us. You'll have lack of nothing. Now that doesn't mean that they're gonna be overly rich or anything like, but he says your needs will be provided for if you live like you should and if you live before God. I mean, we've taught that for how many years in the churches in tithing? And maybe some people use it a little bit wrong, trying to bait people and think they'll give more. But the reality of it is, if you are right with God in the tithe and the giving and what he wants you to do, he'll bless you. I believe that wholeheartedly. Now, I don't think if you come in and say, well, I'm gonna give this money today, because if I don't, God's not gonna bless me. If I do, he's gonna bless me. I don't think that's the right attitude. But if I come knowing that this is what God has called me to do, I believe he blesses it, and I think he does that in all of our life. We go places and do things or go somewhere. In ministry, sometimes ministers go places, they feel called of God to go, and they go there and they say, financially, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. I'm not sure how this is gonna work out, but I really believe God has called me here. And it's strange how God takes care of that. Don't you think those people would have found it rather difficult being ostracized for the major part of the culture was against, or different, or even adversely critical of them? But don't you think that being self-sufficient and not owing things to people like they're dependent on them for their housing or their farmland or whatever, That goes a long way to cohesion in a group, but they're all going to be in the same boat, all perhaps harmed by the society. So their self-dependency was a group thing. And they had to do that, too, to not be You know, beholden to people telling them, well, you're a Christian, but you're going to do it this way because I'm your boss and you need the money. Right. That happens today, too. Sure does, yeah. Yeah. I think the idea of the independents, as Ms. Pate was just saying, is an interesting thought because If they're able to do all these things, then they are able to stand on their own two feet, if you will, and basically square their shoulders and have honest conversations with people who are not in their circle. And even if those people don't agree with them, they're going to respect them because they see how they're living their lives, and it's an honorable way that they're living. They're not trying to scam people, they're not trying to get over on people or take advantage of the systems they're actually trying to provide for themselves. And I think that's a God-honoring thing. Right. Very definitely. So in verse 13 he says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren. That's an interesting thing you see from Paul once in a while. I would not have you to be ignorant, which means you're ignorant. It's a nice way of saying that. And he didn't mean it in a bad way, but I'm saying they're ignorant about this subject. So I don't want you to continue to be ignorant. I want you to understand and to know. So what he says is, brothers concerning them which are asleep, those who have died, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Now, what was Paul teaching them? He was teaching them the return of Christ. And most of our understanding about Paul, he seemed to believe, from everything we can see in scripture, that Christ was going to come in his lifetime. However, toward the end of his ministry, he saw that was not gonna happen. And so therefore, he went on to look to the future, but he had already taught them here at some point. The rapture, not that word, because that doesn't appear in the Bible, but that's what we're talking about. The coming back of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what they're to look for. So now what you've got, remember you have young Christians who have a limited amount of knowledge and study. However, it seems like Paul has really done a great job, and they've done a great job to learn this much in a short time. But you've got these guys, and what are they thinking now? Okay, some people have died. Jesus hadn't come back yet What's gonna happen when Jesus comes back? So now they're beginning to wonder about this situation so He said I don't want you to be without knowledge. I want to teach you that those that are asleep don't sorrow as those who have no hope Now he didn't say don't cry, he didn't say Christians can't weep over lost loved ones because we have feelings on that too, but he's saying don't sorrow as others which have no hope. So he's saying to them, you have a hope, you have an assurance, and I want you to know that. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Now he's reiterating here, they know that, they were taught that, that's how they got saved. If you believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Okay, when he comes in the rapture, Who's he coming for that we know about? I mean, we in a latter day know more than they did. But whenever you think of Jesus coming back, who do you think about him coming to get? The believers. And basically, we think of the believers who are alive, right? I mean, we know different in this day and age, I'm saying. But the idea is, okay, he's coming back to get his people and call them out, and we think about the rapture. Now, he's saying when the Lord comes, those that have died, he's gonna bring with him. Now, this does not necessarily mean bringing from heaven with him. Now, eventually, he's gonna set up his kingdom, but what's he gonna do? He's coming to get Christians to do what? What's he gonna do when he calls the Christians up to meet him in the clouds? What's he gonna do with them? bring them up to heaven, okay? So who else is he gonna bring? The dead and Christ. Yeah, so he's gonna bring them all. So he said, you don't have to worry about it. You don't forget your loved ones. They're taken care of who have trusted in Jesus Christ. He will bring them for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, verse 15. Okay, now it's really important again when you see Paul talking, not his opinion, Not his thought, not what he dreamed up, this is what I say by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain, okay? Now by the word of the Lord, what does he mean by the word of the Lord? I don't know exactly what he means by the word of the Lord, I know part of it. We know what Jesus said, the apostles and so forth, but has the Lord actually spoken to him about this? We don't know for sure. But just like he told him about the communion, he may have told him about the resurrection too. But whatever, it's the word of the Lord. However he received the word of the Lord, he got it, and here's the word of the Lord. We which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, And notice that he put we in there, which indicates that he thought he'd be one of them. I believe by what he said, we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. We will not prevent them. And I think another word in there that we could probably use, we shall not precede them. In other words, they're not gonna be left behind. He's gonna take them all. So, we which are alive and remain for the coming of the Lord are not gonna have any effect, really, on those which are asleep. Because what? The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. So the Lord himself is going to come, the archangel is going to sound with the trump of God, and actually the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we would be brought together is what he's saying, and so that we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them into the clouds, who's them? Those are asleep in the Lord, right? They've been caught up. We'll be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. That's key, that is key. It is key, yeah. And that's quite a picture, is it not? You've got the graves opening, or maybe they're not opening, I don't know what's happening, but the spirits or the whatever, the bodies are coming out to be changed, basically, and being caught up to be with him, with those who are alive and reigning, and we will meet the Lord in the air, And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now, we're not gonna ever be with the Lord in the air, in the clouds, that's not what he's saying. We'll meet him in the clouds and he's taken us to heaven, that's what he's saying about it. To ever be with him in his home. And then he says what? Wherefore, comfort us. one another with these words. Okay, apparently, from what we can tell at Thessalonica, was happening as after Paul left, the people became concerned for people who died. And what's gonna happen to them? Because the rapture hasn't come yet, and they didn't live to see Jesus come back. Those folks are dead, what are we gonna do? And Paul is saying, don't have anything to worry about. God's got it all taken care of. Jesus is coming back, he will raise the bodies of the dead, and he will also take those who are alive and remain to meet him in the air. I have a question. Okay. If they were concerned about those who had already died before Paul was there to bring the gospel, What made them think that those people were believers who had already died? We don't necessarily think it was that, but the people who died after Paul was there. Because apparently there were some people that died, and they wondered about their loved ones who had died. After talking to Paul. Right, right. That's our understanding of the scripture. And so comfort one another with these words. What thoughts do you have? questions or something you want to share, whatever it might be. I thought of a couple scriptures that kind of tie in with this. If we're thinking about the idea of stumbling block, where we were reading in 4. Verse three, for this is the will of God, even in your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, and we're just giving those directions. And then in Romans 14, if you guys want to turn there, I thought this was interesting. The Bible says, on verse 10, but why dost thou judge thy brother, or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, For it is written, as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block for an occasion to fall in his brother's way. And I think that that kind of ties in with that idea that he's teaching there. And then regarding the rapture, the first Corinthians 15 verses 51 and 52. And that says, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. I think that ties in with that pretty well as well. Right. It does. Very interesting. Yeah. Yeah. definitely taught the rapture without ever using the word. And that's what some people get caught up, all the word rapture's not in the Bible. Don't have to have the word that we use today, it's what he tells us, what the truth is. Any other thoughts? I'm thinking if he spent three years in the desert, he wasn't just talking to the camel drivers. Right, no. God couldn't have taught talking to them then. Right. did, maybe if only through other prophets or something, but he spoke to him in that time because he came out trained a different way. That was God putting him through his own seminary. Yeah, he came out trained a different way and started preaching things that he hadn't been aware of when he was a Pharisee. Any other thoughts or opinions? Okay. I don't want to go unspiritual here tonight, and I know a lot of you people probably are not interested in the Super Bowl, and normally I don't get that caught up with it, but the Kansas City Chiefs are playing, and this is a historical event. I would like to be excused next Sunday. It starts at 4.30. I'm glad you didn't say today. Yeah. Who knew? But I would like to be excused. I don't know if there's somebody else that wants to teach the study, or you all. I hate not to have the study for you guys, but I really would like to be, because I'm going to miss a lot of it if I stay. Or we could have Bible study at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Oh, no? That would mean we would just get home from lunch and have to stay here. Right. And it might be good to have a little break anyway. I vote we don't have time for Sunday. I agree. I second. OK. If that's all right with everybody, like I said, I don't want to disappoint anybody. But this is a special year, and I'm excited about it. Any other requests that you have for prayer or anything we want to remember, of course, Mary Linder. It was really good to see Tom Melendez and his wife here today. He wanted to come. That was him. You need to understand that. That was a big thing that he wanted to come. I mean, it wasn't that Lucy didn't, but she knows his health, but he said, I want to go to church. He came. He said now that he wouldn't be back for a while because of the treatment that he's taking. Yeah, he's going to be taking a treatment that he can't really be around people because of the fear of what it'll do to him. She said he was in a window in between treatments. Right, yeah. Jessica's mother. Yeah, so, yeah. Any other requests or anything? Okay, Fred, would you dismiss us please? this morning. Baptism was good. We haven't seen one of those in a while, but we're glad that two people got baptized and were going to serve the Lord. And that's the main thing is serving the Lord. And we thought I could tell the people were all energized, whatever you call it, excited about what was going on in the church. Everybody was interested, and several of the people that had been gone for a while were back today, and I was glad to see them back. They'd been gone on vacation and stuff like that. Thank you, Lord, for what you do. You give us what we need, as the pastor was talking tonight. You've always done that. You've given us what we need. we have to do what you call us to do, Lord, and help us to do that, because not all of us are perfect, and we have a long ways to go to be there, but you will help us do the things that you want us to do, and Lord, we need your help. And so we thank you for loving us and caring about us and everything, and giving us the help that we need. Guide and direct us and use us as we, that we might eat here, wherever we're at, serving you and doing what you called us to do. And thank you for your love, in Jesus' most precious name we ask. Amen.