2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

What a privilege and an honor and a blessing

to stand behind this sacred desk

And I am not worthy every time I stand behind

this

sacred desk I am

Nervous and

Cuz I know I'm I'm incapable and apart from

God's grace I

Would have never walked up here. So with that

May we pray?

Father what a privilege what an honor

What a humbling opportunity to be here with

your flock at Providence Baptist Church

And I am incapable of doing anything apart

from you

And I want to thank you for saving a wretch

like me

I

Am fallible and feeble and

Wretched

But it's only because of your grace

your mercy and

Your love and your finished work on the cross

through your son Lord Jesus

That any of us

Can hear your word

Can be doers of your word. So that's my prayer

Lord. I

Know

That I have not brought anything to your

salvation, but more sin

And anything more to your ministry, but by

weakness

We know your grace is sufficient

For your powers made perfect in weakness. So

have your way may your will be done

May this precious flock only hear from you

move Kyle a bear

Completely out of the way

Have your way

We love and praise you it's in Jesus name we

say

I'm blessed to be here and just so grateful

for pastor Philip and you know him allow with

me

I got story after story

I could take up all kind of times brother Phil

back there and with y'all y'all have been such

a a

Great part of my life and being on this

journey since I've been home matter of fact

the already brother Phil the

15th of this month I will have gone on to the

parole board

2021 it'll be four years. I walked out by the

grace of God from Angola the 17th of December

of 21

And so here I am in

2025 already. I mean it's been

Amazing and now at Salem Baptist Church, you

know, the Lord planted me at Riverside

And then they sent me and Chad Chauvin over to

Salem and you know, and then Brian Gunner, and

I'm

Brother Phil and then Philip, you know, it was

all in my life. So this this whole God bless

you this whole

precious reform

Doxons of grace flock that we have here has

just

Created the Lord created a fence of love

around me

And and here I stand and just just humble by

that. I just wanted to thank y'all this

morning's message

It's a hard one and and I'm grateful for that

because you know anytime the Lord puts puts a

scripture on my heart and

You know a topic

To you know to really share he he works on me

first. So this sermon is first and foremost

for me

I'll be coming from 2nd Thessalonians chapter

1

verses

1 through 12

but I'm only going to be dealing specifically

with verses 11 and 12 and

The Lord impressed upon my heart the title of

this message is the role of suffering in

sanctification at the at the jail. I've been

going through the order of salvation

And it's precious, you know, we deal with

election

We deal with the gospel call regeneration. We

deal with conversion

Justification and we leave one out between

Justification and what we're going to be

talking about this morning

sanctification, but we've been adopted

Adoption we bear the family resemblance and

then on from

Sanctification we persevere, you know, and I

believe mightily in the perseverance of the

saints

But this sanctification that leads into

perseverance and then finally our final stance

with when we see Jesus face-to-face is

Glorification but the reason I believe so much

in the perseverance of the of the saints is

because of the order of salvation

With God begins in us through his son. He

completes. So we go from election to glor

ification

and in between that there's suffering and

trials and tribulations and and so many

So many churches and I'm blessed that we're

not a part of that any of us that there is

much

Social and prosperity gospel that's being

preached

around the country

meaning that there's a

False and skewed theology being preached that

whenever a Christian goes through something

God owes you something

He owes you a blessing

He owes you to make you famous and we can fill

in the blanks, but this this is terribly ske

wed and false theology about

sanctification

Sanctification y'all is the process by which

God makes the Christian actually holy

Although positionally in Jesus we are perfect

We're sanctified set aside and given Jesus's

imputed righteousness

Practically, we're still raggedy

So in light of us all still being raggedy God

Has to use and rig and cause things in life by

his sovereign grace to sanctify us

To actually take us

from

spiritual

infancy to spiritual maturity and

Suffering is one of the primal ways in which

God utilizes to sanctify every Christian

Although the scriptures

All through them all through the scriptures

and I mean all through the scriptures you can

see

this concurring idea of suffering

with sanctification if

Sanctification I put it this way is

The process by which we become actually holy

Suffering is the superintendent and the fore

man of the construction project of

sanctification in other words

God has a

Hard hat just for hard hats amen

So with that let's open out Bibles y'all to 2

nd Thessalonians

Chapter 12

Chapter one, I'm sorry beginning at verse one

one through 12

But we're gonna be dealing specifically with

verses 11 and 12. I love this y'all

Paul so Venus and Timothy

To the church of the Thessalonians and in God

our father and I'm reading from the ESV and

the Lord Jesus Christ

Grace to you and

Peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus

Christ

We are always

To give thanks to God for you brothers as

Is right

Because your faith is growing abundantly and

the love of every one of you for one another

is

increasing

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the

churches of God

For your steadfastness and faith in all your

persecutions and in the afflictions that you

are enduring

This is evidence of

The righteous judgment of God that you may be

considered worthy of the kingdom of God

But which you are also suffering

Since indeed God considers it just to repay

with affliction those who afflict you and

To grant relief to you who are afflicted as

well as

to us

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven

with his mighty angels in flaming fire

inflicting vengeance on those who do not know

God and on those who do not obey the gospel of

our Lord Jesus

They will suffer the punishment of eternal

destruction

Away from the presence of the Lord and from

the glory of his might

When he comes on that day to be glorified in

his saints and to be marveled at among all who

have

believed because our testimony to you was

believed

To this end

We always pray for you

That our God may make you worthy of his

calling and

May fulfill every resolve

for good and

Every work of faith by his power

So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glor

ified in you and

You in him

According to the grace of our God and the Lord

Jesus Christ

Here in this passage

We see in the second letter of the Thessalon

ians the church in Thessalonica was viewed as

the model church

however

It is unclear who is actually those

Who are the offenders or the persecutors? I'll

use that word who were harassing the church

Judaism come in we know that much and they was

teaching a

Law-based

salvation a work-based

salvation

But it is clear

According to the scriptures that they were

being persecuted afflicted and will under

severe suffering

And so one of the things about Paul is that he

gets worried about Christians when they

experienced their first

sufferings

He gets really very afraid and concerned and

the reason why he gets very afraid and

concerned is because he is wondering if they

Understand that this is part of the Christian

life

And so many don't today

We want to blame it on the devil and guess

what God is sovereign he can do what he wants

With any of us any of his children

But keep this in mind. I'm gonna say it now

This work of sanctification is not

Punitive meaning for punishment for purifying

That's what prison became for me and I'm gonna

talk a little bit about that. It was not pun

itive

It was purifying. Amen

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is

actually Acts chapter 14 verse 22 through many

tribulations

We must enter the kingdom of God if we can

just get a little bit of taste of that. It'll

change our lives

With these young buck believers here in Thess

alonica

And they're not getting let me tell you they

're they're not getting this that that God has

a wonderful plan for your life

And that everything is going to increase every

day these young buck believers aren't getting

that and

God's not gonna give you an increase

He's gonna bless you and he's gonna take it to

the next level. No

These fellas they knew that sometimes God

subtracts

That was a fundamental Bible doctrine for the

first century for mature Christians

That sometimes God is not gonna bless you by

giving you something you like

Sometimes he's gonna bless you by giving you

something

Most of the time that you don't like

His prayers I will pray as to him always

answered a yes and amen. Just not like how we

want him

But he knows best amen

And so Paul let me tell you this

He understood and what he's relaying to these

young buck believers

In Thessalonica is that life is gonna get fe

isty on you

You're gonna struggle

He's not bringing you to the next level but in

in all certainty he definitely is

Just not how we want it

That was the fundamental Bible doctrine of the

first century and so Paul is wondering whether

or not

They understand this principle

And prayfully by the time we get through this

this morning. This will help you

Traumatically

Through this fundamental doctrine that life

will get feisty, but God is in control and

with you through it all amen

So he's wondering if they understand this that

it it's normal for the Christian and this is

the place and this is the system and

This is the funneling and the piping and the

technique by which God utilizes to grow the

Christian

from spiritual infancy and

Bring us to spiritual maturity and guess what

y'all it is an equal opportunity

employer for every Christian

There is no affirmative action when it comes

to suffering there is no disinfectant that you

could use to anoint yourself out of suffering

It just doesn't work like that and I wish I

could tell you different

But praise God. I can't the word of God affir

ms this

However

God in using suffering

Write this down

He maximizes

What he wants to get out of us by pressing on

us what he's placed in us

So here in this precious passage we see Paul

Say in verse 11 to this end

To what end

Well, we've got to go back to verse 3

And we see that he is encouraging them based

on when Timothy had been dispatched in

first Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 1 through

10

And we can turn in look at that and he went

back

Paul went back there to

To check but Timothy went back to check on him

And so Paul checks on Timothy and encourages

them that the word is

Out about them and let's let's look at this

real quick

first Thessalonians chapter 3

One through ten and this will give us a really

good

Context of what's going on. He says

Therefore when we could not bear it no longer

We were willing to be left behind and Athens

alone and we sent Timothy our

Brother and God's co-worker

in the gospel of

Christ who established and exalt you in your

faith

But no one be moved by these afflictions

But you yourselves know

That we are destined for this

Mark that down in your underline it put

circles destined for this what yes

For you yourselves know that we were destined

for this

For when we were with you we kept telling you

beforehand that we were to suffer

reflection

Just as it has come to pass and just as you

know

In other words, it was a done deal

for this reason

When I could bear it no longer I sent

To learn about your faith for fear that

somehow the tempter had tempted you and our

labor would be in vain

Paul got afraid he got worried so he sent them

the troops

But now that Timothy has come to us from you

and has brought us the good news of

Your faith and love and reported that you

always remember us kindly and love to see us

as we long to see you

For this reason brothers in all our distress

and affliction we have been comforted about

you through your faith

for now we live if

You are standing fast in the Lord

But what thanksgiving can we return to God for

you for all the joy that we feel for your sake

before our God as

We pray more most earnestly night and day

That we may see you face-to-face and supply

What is lacking in

Your faith amen

So Paul encourages them about the word that

the word is out about them

They pass in the tests the believers in the

surrounding areas are being blown away

By the fact that in spite of the fact that the

Thessalonians are going through this hell

acious struggle. They are passing the test

These are young but believers y'all

And for this they're applauding

Faith is being encouraged

Depth is being developed in all the

surrounding areas and the other believers are

being encouraged who are hearing what is

happening

And that's what happens with us

Man when a lost and dying world

Sees one of us going through something

Without complaining and I say that

Just flat-footed because look I'm guilty

But the more I've learned and the more I've

gone through it

The Lord has silenced my mouth and I give him

all the glory look the lost and dying world

who's still under the wrath of God

may not

Understand

How this is happening, but they can see

something's different and guess what it makes

them want that

It makes them want the our calmness our

Genuine our our our understanding of scripture

that going through trials and tribulations is

all part of our walk

Is there anyone in the Bible that escaped any

of this?

We know, you know, we talked earlier, you know

all the disciples martyred except John

They all was imprisoned

Jesus

Come off a death row, but John

Was left around for a reason gospel three

letters and then revelation, but he was

bald on Pat Moss and

placed over there so

When someone comes to me with a with a really

shallow

Theology and been sitting under some really

false teaching of

Emotionalism I

Point them to that you you tell me

So what makes you think you're not going to go

through man? What good father's not going to

chastise

their sons and daughters

Again, this is not punitive the world is under

punishment. We're not the wrath has been

removed

We're in Christ in heavenly places. We have a

good father that is utilizing

Because we're in a fallen world but not of a

fallen world

Sometimes we do get off look there's a narrow

gate, but there's a narrow path and when we do

get off of the narrow path

Guess what happens?

It chastises us and

Causes us to get back on the narrow path and

and again, this is not about good behavior

This is not this is about a loving desire

Taste in Jesus through the scriptures and and

having a desire in our heart

We begin to hate the things we used to love

and now we love the things

We used to hate namely God and people and so

he uses these trials and tribulations

to keep us on the narrow path and

Rarily causing us to depend on him because we

can't do this. There's only one that kept the

law Jesus Christ and

When Paul says that it's Christ's love who

compelled him

This is taught so wrong in so many places it

wasn't Paul's love for Christ

It was Christ's love for Paul that compelled

him. Amen

It doesn't matter if you love Christ does he

love you because we know when he says in

Matthew

They were coming to him says Lord Lord. We've

done all these things and yeah, you my boy and

and and what did Jesus say?

Never knew you don't care what you've done. I

Never that's that's a very sobering

Remarked by Jesus all that day. I never knew

you

And we can look at the thief on the cross or

probably one of the greatest

Salvation and I don't want to go too far into

all that but look at the thief. He had one

minute

He's hurling insults the next minute

He's convicted and he sees Jesus and knew he

had a kingdom

One of the greatest salvation moments in all

the Bible the thief on the cross

So Paul is encouraging them he and and they're

being applauded their faith is being

encouraged

Listen these fellas didn't have Twitter like

we have today, and they didn't have Facebook

They just had some real good word of mouth and

the world was being encouraged because of

their faith going through these trials and

tribulations

So then Paul says in verse 5

That their faithfulness to the gospel heralds

the reality and

points to the righteousness of God

He is excited that they had not defected from

the faith

Which shows that they are being sustained only

by the living God and that God is righteous

And therefore God is using their suffering to

store up wrath for those who are persecuting

Those persecutors are under the wrath of God

and we can see this turn your Bible quickly to

1st John chapter 2

Look you can't lose your salvation

Let me just say that

Plainly and remind I know y'all know this, but

let me show you in Scripture. Look at 1st John

chapter 2 verse 19

They who's they?

These persecute the world

The fake Christians those who come into this

thing go through trials and tribulations and

run

That's why I believe mightily in the

perseverance of the saints

What God has began he will sustain us and he

will bring it to completion and glorify us

they went out from us

But they were what not of us why for if they

had been of us

They would have continued with us, but they

went out that it might be complained that they

all

All are not of us

Look, we we can say all the right things we

can do all the right things look about the

heart of stone if we're doing it for ourselves

We're not born again

This is about glorifying the Lord the heart of

stone removed the heart of flesh being impl

anted and given a new spirit

And he says I'm gonna cause you to walk in my

ordinances and obey my commands. He's equal 36

But this is precious and so verses 6 through

10 now Paul says that Jesus is going

To cause those who cause you suffering to

suffer in greater proportions

Than the suffering they are causing to you

We don't have to have vengeance

God has his children. So

No matter what you're going through this

morning if it's sickness health if it's not

your neighbor bothering you or whatever you

pray for

Even through your sickness Lord, you're using

me here to be able to comfort another with the

same comfort with which you've given me

Isn't that beautiful?

It's all for his glory Romans 828 the good the

bad and the ugly Paul

Asked to remove the throne with Jesus said no

He said for my grace is sufficient for my

power was made perfect in weakness and he

talks about what insults

inflections

Persecutions and trials. He gives a list. He

gives all the context that this

Sanctification is gonna come through. Yes,

although God says yes. He says no to the way

you want it or I want it

Let me put me in this

You know, I was blown up at age five

And I walked around woe is me nine. I was dead

in my trespasses. I didn't I didn't love God

I hated God I blamed everybody for the fire

and then when my dad died, I mean I went

through life

I mean, I started getting locked up at 17 and

from 17 to 34

I had already accumulated and I'm not proud of

this y'all. This is not bragging

This is pathetic, but God used every one of my

98 arrests

For his glory and praise God

I've been able to to meet people the very

people that have hurt and horn and the canker

worm has destroyed because of me

I caused it God has used that for me to be

able to be a minister of reconciliation to my

victims

To family members and individuals that I've

heard and then of course that was I did nine

years from

83 to 99 and then from 99 to 21

I did 22 and a half so 31 years of my life is

behind bars, but the Lord used though from 99

all the way to

221

Purifying me because what he awakened my heart

removing the heart of stone gave me a heart of

flesh

He saved me in the backseat of a police car

and I've never been the same has it been

perfect

Look, I've wobbled sometimes and he buses me

up, but guess what I'm trying to I'm following

my father

My father's leading me and that's the

encouragement this morning no matter what you

're going through. He's got a purpose in it.

Amen

So he says if you think your suffering is

something

wait to see

The one suffering that's put in the pressure

on you

That's what he's saying right here to these Th

essalonians, and he's saying to you this

morning Providence Baptist Church

No matter what you want through whoever is

coming up on you and

bothering you or

Hurting you

He says I got you back

Remember all sin is against God. We hurt

people

That's why it's so important

That we love from God's point of view amen

So this suffering

He tells the Thessalonians of yours is a light

affliction

Because these guys being unbelievers can't

satisfy the wrath of God

The only way that the wrath of God is

satisfied is either in this life on the cross

Jesus Christ the finished work or the unbelie

ver has to spend in eternity in hell God's

wrath will be satisfied

either for the believer the elect on the cross

or the unbeliever in

Hell that's sobering

They can't satisfy it takes an eternity for

God's wrath to be satisfied

So they will spend in eternity in hell and he

will repay them

But what they have done to you and then he

goes on to what I love look at verse 11

To this end we always pray for you

I did a study one time on Paul's prayers and

it's fun and I encourage y'all to do this

Paul's prayers are legendary and

What he prays for believers

All of his prayers from Corinthians all the

way to by Lehman through the pastorially ep

istles the letters blows my mind

How he prays they are?

convicting

They have great depth

They are extremely Godward and they are very

distinct

almost all of Paul's prayers contains

Thanksgiving the God for some aspect of

The Christian fruit that they are bearing and

we can see that crystal clear in first Thess

alonians chapter 5

Look at the last couple of verses 23 and 24

he says

Now may the God of peace himself

Sanctify you completely and

May your whole spirit and soul and body be

kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus

Christ

Verse 24 he says he he who calls you is

faithful and he will

surely

Do it amen?

That is precious. So in light of his prayers

Paul gets into the hard part of the prayer

And I'm just gonna walk the text this morning.

We're not gonna leave the Bible. No points to

this end

We always pray for you

That our God

May make you worthy

Of his calling

We're back in chapter 1

finishing up verse 11

I've been trying to wonder I

Mean really wonder what does it look like for

God to make someone worthy of that call?

What's beautiful about him making

Them us me you worthy is that they are not

making themselves worthy

So the worthiness

That happens

During the suffering is an act of God not an

act of man

Even though it is an act of God through man

because of

Conservation our will being taken out of bond

age and joining God's will through regeneration

it's God at work in us and

I mentioned it, but let's turn there. Let's go

to Romans chapter 8 and we're gonna pick up in

in verse

28 and I just want to read through 31 and

This is so beautiful

And this way y'all can go back and look over

this

Beginning at verse 28 look what look at Paul

says and we know

That for those who love God all things

Work together for good the good the bad and

the ugly

But those who are called according to his

purpose

For those whom he foreknew he also

predestined to be conformed

To the image of his son

Why in order that he might be the firstborn

among many brothers and

Those whom he predestined he also called and

those whom he called

He also justified and those whom he justified

He also

glorified

Well, what shall we say there about these

things?

If God is for us

Who could be against us?

Amen, wasn't that precious I?

Went ahead and read 31 so

He is counting them worthy of the calling with

which they were called the act of worthiness

in this passage is that the Christian

Faithfully supports the acts of God and God

makes the Christian worthy through the gospel

Not something that we obtain as a moralistic

act of our volition

Like so many teach falsely. That's a false

gospel

So the idea here is that God would meet

Them in their trial in such a way that he

causes the worthiness of their calling

To be matched by how they are handling the

suffering. It's beautiful y'all

in other words, I

Can put it this way show God by joining God in

your suffering

Show him that he didn't save you for nothing

So this idea that the Christian gets to become

a Christian and has no fruit and doesn't live

out anything

It's not the purpose. That's not the purpose

of salvation. You will know them by their root

But God has saved us with a particular purpose

in mind and because

He saved us with these particular purposes in

mind

He is going to get his glory no matter what

because he is most

Passionate about his glory and we can see that

quickly in verse

Let's read 90 Psalm 96 and we'll look at one

through six and you don't have to turn now. I

'm just gonna read it

He says oh sing to the Lord a new song

Sing to the Lord all the earth

Sing to the Lord bless his name

Tell of his salvation from day to day

Declare his glory among the nations his

marvelous works among all the peoples

But great is the Lord and greatly to be

praised

He is to be feared above all God's little G

For all the little G gods of the peoples are

worthless idols

But the Lord made the heavens

Lender and majesty or before him strength and

beauty are in his sanctuary

That's the walk of the Christian to glorify

our great God amen

That is precious and therefore

Paul is asking that they would be made worthy

of their calling

So that the sotoreological means their

salvation

Goal the end goal of our salvation

Of this is God's calling to the salvation

This salvation his salvation in Jesus Christ

So now what is happening for the Christian is

the Christian is graced by being able to join

God

through his drawing

miraculous breath

For the Christian

Being graced and being able to join God

without a choice because of the suffering that

will come yes

If we had a choice to walk away from this

thing, what kind of God is he that would mean

that God's drawing power

Is weaker than our wills

Think about that. Listen when God calls you

will come

It is impossible for you not to come

Believe that that's the word people say well,

I had to grab a rope. You don't even know you

need to rope

You don't know you need God. It's impossible

this Armenian

Thought process that is a false doctrine that

I'm at the bottom of the sea

But he drops a rope that you're stinking to

how dead does it take to be dead?

We're not only dead. We're stinking dead

And that's the beauty of being alive the

Christ too

Because we're dead to this world. So how can

you offend a dead man?

Amen, we're stinking dead not only just dead

You may say what do you mean? I don't have a

choice

Glad you asked listen

You are always in three places in your

Christian life. You're either going into a

trial

You're in one or you're coming out of one

Three phases that you go through but the issue

is how the worthiness of God

Is being seen as you are going through that

particular trial

So the prayer of course anticipates

The alleviation of their conduct in light of

God's calling on their life

God did not choose to take them out of the

trial. He didn't

And sometimes he doesn't choose to take us out

of it either

That's their calling on their life Paul did

not pray for the trial to be removed nowhere

in the scripture

Paul did not pray Lord deliver them in the

name of Jesus

God bring them out right now in the mighty

name of Jesus

Paul didn't say that anywhere in this text

No, he didn't tell them that because he knew

the secret of this thing

He said count them worthy of the calling with

which they've been called and make them stay

in the trial

David said something interesting and Psalm 4 1

Answer me when I call

Oh God of my righteousness

This is beautiful. Y'all you have given me

relief

When I was in distress

Ah

Rahab in the Hebrew

It's like have an elbow room in the midst of a

tight crowd

This is interesting because

That's a key preposition in in other words

while I was in distress in other words

God gave David a sense of deliverance even

though he did not take them take him out of

the distress

It was like that for me in angola going

through a lot

I mean it was tight spots trying to finish my

seminary work

Elbow room no matter what was going on around

me and the Lord created that space the Lord

gave me that freedom

the Lord gave me that peace

And it's precious y'all

God gave David a sense of deliverance in the

midst of the distress. He didn't take him out

But he gives us

Freedom in the midst of the trial and the word

for distress means a very narrow tight place

Relief rahab

It's where we find relief to have momentary or

sustained alleviation from trouble or anxiety

anxiety anybody anxious

It's like I could describe it best this way.

It's like taking attention

When you release an arrow with a bow

You gotta you gotta pull back you're about to

fire it and you just you relieve the tension

off of a bow an extension of the meaning

also means to broaden my place

As to have more room to move around

God gives us elbow room and actually widens

the territory of our trials and tribulations

in other words

David is feeling pressed like Paul says

Afflicted and afflicted in every way which

means to be surrounded by crowds, but david

prays

You have given me relief within my distress

even though god chooses y'all many times

Not to take us out of the trial. He will give

us a sense of deliverance without being

delivered from the sphere of our suffering

And in that space guess what happens

And we miss it so many times when we skip this

or at least try to skip it

We're really not skipping it. Guess what we're

doing. We're being disobedient

That's where the joy happens

The joy happens when you can say okay god

You gave me some breathing room. This feels

real good

I felt like I was in a straight jacket for a

minute

But you loosened the straight jacket of my

circumstance for a breather even though i'm

still in it

The fire is still hot. You're you've been so

loving to me and so gracious

So I cannot be so focused on my circumstances,

but we will be able to enjoy you

My only enjoyment and have perspective while i

'm in the trial

Can't teach this he's got to break us and

humble us and continue to cause us to decrease

We've read it this morning. James 1 2

Count it all joy

My brothers and sisters

When you meet trials of various kinds

Some of you are in situations right now where

you are struggling with perspectives

You have suffered many times and god has done

many things in you

But I don't know about what it is about

suffering no many how many times you and I go

through a difficult

time in the first quarter of the suffering

We tend to forget what the reason behind

everything is and we begin to complain like

god here we go again

But god is beginning y'all to teach me that

joy should not be situational

I begin to learn that a consistent steadfast

ness on jesus

Through his word is the key in the midst of

adversity

Listen what paul says in collosions 124

Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake

And in my flesh I am filling up

What is lacking

in christ afflictions

for the sake

Of the body that is in the church wouldn't the

world could have been lacking

Surely that propitiation wrath removed

But guess what we get to do now christ took

care of the wrath god the father

In in in god the son

Place the wrath his wrath his wrath

Propitiation just a 50 cents theological word.

It means wrath satisfied wrath removed. It's

been removed

So that's that's taking care of

What we've been blessed with is now the

propagation of the message

Don't tell it to the world

Go share it go live it. Don't be just hear us

but be

doers

And I know we're not masochists beat us down.

We just bought luther, you know

We don't beat ourselves. We allow god to prov

identially

Assign times in our lives that he sees

And that we will go through and he will

ultimately utilize

Everything for his glory

Some days you may feel like this block feeling

it's normal

But the question is will we move and pursue

the joy that god gives us

Because god is near to the broken heart

God loves to scoot up next to those who are

crushed in spirit. He does

been sustaining this knucklehead now for 60

years and I couldn't see it for the first 34

He loves to scoot up he loves to hang out with

those who are having hard times

He loves it because he knows you don't have

anything to prove. I'm broken. I'm at rock

bottom. That's why

I always remind

Those who are with me, you know through this

this journey, you know, especially with re

entry and

I love to help people now, but I can't make

anyone do anything

Show up and I point them to the only one I

make suggestions

Until an individual hits rock bottom. You can

't help

And guess what people have different rock

bottom

At rock bottom I have nothing to prove and the

only place to look is up there

So when you're going through a good time

everything's good, ain't it?

Feeling good everything's good and guess what

we tend to do

I don't need you. I everything's we forget

about him. No, we why it's so important to

read the word every day

spend time and pray a journal

But then when the struggle happens, you know,

your swag is off that day

God doesn't want for us to miss out on his

Consistency of knowing that he is with us. He

is consistently with us

nor to miss out on the unmovable aspect or

part

Of the fruit of the spirit called joy

This is what he's trying to work in us

And trying to get others to see it through us

His joy

I've been blown away as I continually

developed with James at his epistle. We read

it this morning was perfect

That by the testing

Of your faith it produces endurance and let

endurance have its perfect work in you James 1

3

This is a time when joy counts y'all

Joy is great to have all the time. But the

question is does that joy impact us still

While we are going through the difficulties of

our circumstances

So paul says that god may make you worthy

Of his calling then he begins chopping up some

of the ways

In which the worthiness

Is made seen

And the first way is beautiful y'all

It's two maybe three ways in this passage if I

could spend the rest of our time

Going through this

He says and may fulfill every resolve

for good

Fulfill every resolve for good. Here is the

anatomy of how god actually

Keeps us joyous

Now this good

That he gives us may not be good from our

perspective

But good from his perspective

And so the idea to fulfill here means to

complete

To finish something already initiated

The idea appeals to the fact

That they have been purified

Through god using the trials that clarify and

purify his people in such a way that their

passions

That their affections and that their desires

are unified to his

This is huge y'all

In other words god has passions

And god has desires

But most of us want god to be aligned with our

desire

But true joy doesn't come from trying to think

that we can align god with our desires

Because it will always lead to deep depression

and a lack of application of true joy

But if you approach a trial y'all

And say god

My prayer

Is not to align you with my will

But i want to be aligned with your will

Delight yourself in the lord and he will give

you the desires

Of your heart

That's the context of psalm 37 verse 4

well

If you delight yourself in him then your

desires are transformed through the light

In him and therefore when you pray you pray

back to him stuff he already

Is answering because it came from him in the

first place

Why because jesus said if you abide in me and

my words abide in you

Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for

you. John 15 7

There's another one that's twisted by 99 of

the churches around here a lot of people quote

this scripture completely out of context

But when you abide in him and his word proper

context and theology

It's not something that you would normally ask

Listen

When god allows these struggles

He causes us to go through these struggles

These struggles for your joy and for his joy

and enjoying this whole circumstance of

suffering

He's fulfilling every good resolve. That's

based on his understanding of it and not ours

And so therefore we begin to get aligned with

his will and begin to develop god-centered

affections

And so therefore it is a necessity

The construction worker the super intended

called suffering must come from the bottom of

his heart

The construction worker the super intended

called suffering must come in order that the

resolve of god

And the passion of god may be worked in us

during a time that is not unique to us

But very very unique to him

So paul says every work of faith to be done

By his power that's in the latter part of

verse 11

Every work of faith to be done by his power

Let me put that

All together right here. Let's fulfill. He

says every resolve for good

And every work of faith by his power now

before we go back into

This let's go back to that point where god

develops

His resolve many of us need to recognize that

the beauty of god's resolve in us is necessary

for us

So many of us you are here and you are hurting

you're going through a particular time of pain

where you are saying god

I cannot see my resolve

I cannot see your resolve

I cannot see any resolve. I'm frustrated with

you right now

What luther said I hate him sometimes

I can't see it

Some of you may not even admit that right but

right behind the heart of what you are saying

You're saying the right theology

But your heart isn't aligned with proper

theology that god wants to enter your heart

very practically

So god in using suffering to align you with

him

practically

So it just won't be some esoteric information

That's why it says in malachi chapter 3 1

through 4 that the messiah

Is going to come and refine us as

silver

Then he goes further

Every good work of faith by his power. This is

powerful here y'all

This here is interesting because right here in

this text

Paul is talking about the works that are done

while we are going through the difficulties

while god is working the active joint

Into our lives

I love this

It's interesting here

That the work

Is produced by faith

In other words faith based works

Jesus being the object and producer of our

faith

But you have faith in the object of your faith

Jesus christ in other words when he imputes

himself to us. It's his faith not ours

It's the faith of jesus

That's the beauty of it because our faith is t

ainted

God causes these faith faith works to be

empowered in every act prompted by him

Faith is a gift

What it says in Ephesians

Chapter 2 and 8 but what he says

But by grace you have been saved

through faith

And this is not your own doing

It is a gift of god

I'm gonna go ahead and read nine not a result

of

works

Why so that no one may boast

Let me read 10. This is beautiful y'all anyone

familiar with workmanship here

But we are his workmanship homea

Is the greek word

Where we get our english word poem

Guess what these trials and tribulations and

Everything in him that he's putting us through

he's writing out our lives

We are his workmanship. Let me finish this

watching which god prepared beforehand

That we should walk in them

Pomea god is writing out our life as his poem

to a lost and dying world. Isn't that precious

?

Pomea when christians go through difficult

times

God allows a special attention to be brought

to them

So that they might be trophies of his grace

and examples and encouragements

Like paul said to all the saints of god

Oh, how precious that is. So we thank god for

these works of faith faith

That we do do works, but god somehow in the

press

and difficulty

Of our circumstances allows these works

To count more than normal works. Why because

these works were done under the pressure

cooker

These weren't done when the sun was shining

This was done

When the sun

Was not shining

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with

gold silver precious stones wood hay straw

Each one's work

Will become manifest for the day

Will disclose it

Because it will be revealed by fire and the

fire will test what sort of work each one has

done

If the work that anyone has built on the

foundation survives

He will receive a reward. That's paul first

carinthians chapter three versus 12 through 14

right that day

Do you go back and look at it? Then he goes

into a very powerful section

Of this Thessalonian text and gives the

purpose of it all why

Why do we go through all of this? Yes, it's

for the purifying of our faith

It's for the world to see his glory. Well,

they see they see the little light going

through and prayfully

It will awake and he'll use that as the

drawing

Come come he holds back his wrath with one

hand

And he's there's coming a time guess what when

he's not going to hold back his wrath

Come come. He's constantly begging for

everyone to come

We know everyone's not coming but those who

have ears here

But guess what when this comes down and this

hand with with tracks it's over

Great white throne judgment and then here's

the beam of seed

In first Corinthians chapter three 12 through

14 is where the christian goes for rewards

So paul now in thessalonians he goes to this

powerful section

And gives the purpose of this all

We saw that

to this end

paul says we always pray for you and then paul

says

That he may make us worthy of the calling god

does the making of the christian worthy

It is an act of god on the life and in the

life of the believer

To count them worthy of the calling with which

he has called them and to fulfill every result

Of good that means good that god sees as good

And then he goes from there and says and may

fulfill

Every resolve for good and every work of faith

by his power

And then he goes and gives a purpose clause

here. He says

So that the name of our lord jesus may be glor

ified in you

That is so

Powerful to me y'all

He says the purpose of the trial

Thessalonians the purpose of the trial

Providence baptist church and I don't want to

get off focus here

I don't want your joy to be rigged to go off

into a whole another direction

The purpose of this trial is that the lord j

esus may be glorified in you

Now this glorified here is interesting

It's it's in a in the way that it's

I'm just gonna I'm a I'm a explain this to the

best of me being flat footed here with the

with the contacts

And with the greek

It's interesting in the way that it's being

used here. It's in a pro it's called a

prolactic arous

I know that ain't all and it's important, but

it's in other words

This is beautiful y'all

It's a it's in the past tense

But it's talking about something that

hasn't happened

Or maybe is happening

So it's kind of like no it's a done deal

So to speak that if god does this it's a done

deal and he is doing it

That he will be glorified no matter what I don

't look no

It's not on us to go he's gonna receive the

glory no matter how we act in other words

Past present and future

It's beautiful that if god does this it is a

done deal and that he will be glorified

But look at the beauty of this guess where

this glorification comes. It's in the it's in

the place

Of glorification. It's in the same two

We're glorified in him

We get glorification in him and a lost and

dying world sees something different

They may not be able to explain it, but guess

what it points to him and that's the beauty of

all it is

So when the christian is glorified and

honoring god, we are reflecting the fact that

god has given us a divine endorsement deal

I'll put it that way. You talk about college

football and all that we get a divine endorse

ment deal

Amen

Now we don't wear gear on the outside

But we wear gear on the inside

Because paul says in second carithians 4 10

here it is always carrying in the body the

death of jesus

So that the life of jesus may also be

manifested in our bodies

So paul says the goal of this is that the name

of our lord jesus may be glorified in you

Everything that god wants to do he doesn't do

it from the outside in he does it from the

inside out always

That the name

Of our lord jesus may be glorified in you and

you in him. It's beautiful

paul is showing that when the christians

suffer

It is one of the top ways that jesus christ's

name gets honored through them

This of course is the id card of sorts as the

believer most identifies with the person of

christ

Especially in works of faith during suffering

the stress

Is not on the glorification of the saved but

on the glorification of the savior in the

saved

john stott theologian

so i hope

as believers

As men and women who are called to display the

glory of christ during difficult times

Doing many difficulties as laymen as ministers

pastors

Is to be trophies of what it looks like to be

consistent

in the midst

Of adversity that enjoyment of god isn't

flighty because some hell broke loose

But there is an ability

To have the static unshakable joy

While you are still yet in the circumstances

and not necessarily asking for deliverance

from it

But having the theological depth

To say god

Work it in me

And get all you want out of me

olive press me

Geth simony me

All that you want

Will you get it out

Of my life

Listen flock

God is concerned about one thing and one thing

only in your lives is that we look like jesus

He doesn't care about anything else

He is spit shining each one of us

for himself

To make us practically into his image

And he will do this at any cost so get over

yourselves

But he doesn't want it to cost our joy. It's

not to make us better, but to make us better

in him

He wants it to increase

Our joy

Live for the triune audience of one

Pray for wisdom

For skillful visible living

That glorifies god

By drawing a lost and dying world

To him god bless y'all love y'all