1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,720 You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,920 podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,280 learn from God's Word together. If you would like more 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,760 information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our 5 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:20,960 pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com. 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:31,320 Well, if you'd turn with me to. First Thessalonians chapter 1, 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,240 We're going to be this morning. Man, what a what a joy on this 8 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:43,600 Lord's Day, singing of our one foundation, Jesus Christ, to 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,680 look into his word, to be with his people. 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:49,840 There's no better place to be. Amen. 11 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:59,240 We're going to look at the 1st 10 verses of First Thessalonians 12 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,760 today. And so if you follow along with 13 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,800 me as we begin in the first verse, we'll read this and then 14 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:15,480 we will look at it in detail against Paul, Silas, and Timothy 15 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,200 to the Church of the Thessalonians and God the Father 16 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,120 and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you. 17 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,440 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you 18 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,880 in our prayers. We remember before our God and 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,800 Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by 20 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,960 love, and your endurance inspired by hope and our Lord 21 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:41,240 Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved my 22 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,360 God, that he's chosen you because our gospel came to you 23 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,040 not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy 24 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:50,720 Spirit. And deep conviction. 25 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,880 You know how we lived among you. For your sake you became 26 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,640 imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in 27 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,520 the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy 28 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,040 Spirit. And so you became a model to all 29 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,600 the believers in Macedonia and Ikaya. 30 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,560 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and 31 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,200 Ikaya. Your faith in God has become 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,520 known everywhere, therefore we do not need to say anything 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,640 about it, For they themselves report what kind of reception 34 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,960 you gave us, and they tell how you turn to God from idols to 35 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,920 serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from 36 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:32,080 heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from 37 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,800 the coming wrath. Father, we come to Your Word 38 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:43,640 this morning asking that You would humble us, that You would 39 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:49,640 help us, and You would impress Your truth upon our hearts and 40 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:53,320 our minds that You may change us by it. 41 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,520 Lord, we recognize Your power in Your Word that You've placed 42 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,960 there for Your glory and for the benefit of Your people. 43 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,640 Father, we ask that today that You would grow us and equip us, 44 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,000 and most of all you'd be honored as we look at Your Word together 45 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,760 on Your day. We pray this in Jesus name we 46 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,800 all sent together. Amen. 47 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,200 Well, if you'll read the New Testament, and I encourage you 48 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,280 to do so regularly, if you read the New Testament, you will find 49 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,960 out. This fact you will find out that 50 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,640 to the New Testament writers and to the New Testament believers, 51 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,920 it was a foreign concept for someone to be a Christian in 52 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,080 name only. It was foreign to them to have 53 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,920 someone bear the name of believer in Christ and not do 54 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,600 anything else with it. It was impossible for us to 55 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:58,360 understand for in the church to be room for Pew warmers, people 56 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,040 who just come in and they take and they never actually do 57 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,800 anything and they're not involved in the life of the body 58 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,680 of Christ. And so on that train of thought, 59 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:15,560 Paul begins this letter with to the church, telling us something 60 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,560 that it's definitely going to be helpful for the Church of all 61 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,400 time, of all believers, of all walks of life, every tribe, 62 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,400 nation, tongue, every time period. 63 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,840 But it's specifically to this local body. 64 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,840 It was founded by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. 65 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,680 You can read about it in Acts chapter 17. 66 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:43,360 And when he writes this epistle to this church, exuding off of 67 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:53,240 the pages is encouragement, great pastoral care, deep 68 00:04:53,240 --> 00:05:03,000 compassion, love, even patient correction, we see that there 69 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,480 had been a false teaching that had corrupted this church and 70 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,200 some of the. Believers there that some people 71 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,080 were spreading the false notion that the resurrection of 72 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,760 believers had already taken place and we had no future 73 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,520 resurrection to look forward to. And Paul of course correct this 74 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:24,240 in chapters 4 and chapter 5 in a very pastoral, again loving way. 75 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,680 I mean, Can you imagine being a believer and not having the hope 76 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,560 of a future resurrect resurrection, that one day we 77 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,880 will rise from the grave just as Christ rose and we will meet him 78 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,080 in the air to be with him forever? 79 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,240 That's our great Christian hope. And this church had been 80 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,720 sideswiped with the notion that we had nothing of that sort to 81 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,800 look forward to. And so Paul corrects them. 82 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,920 Paul lovingly points them back to the truth. 83 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,320 But it's also a letter of commendation. 84 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,560 This was a church that we would say was absolutely rocking. 85 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,400 This is this is a healthy church for the most part. 86 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:03,880 Of course, it's not a perfect church. 87 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:11,080 There are no perfect churches, but this church very healthy as 88 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:12,920 Paul informs them very quickly on that. 89 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,080 He always thanks God for all of you. 90 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:19,080 And he continually mentions them in his prayers. 91 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:20,360 I don't know. About you. 92 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,680 But if I am continually thanking God for someone I love that 93 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:29,360 person or I love those people I can get, I definitely can feel 94 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,920 what he is thinking here and what's going through his heart 95 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,160 and mind that the people that he's writing to, he really cares 96 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,600 for them. He really loves for them, loves 97 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,400 them deeply, and he's thanking God. 98 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,560 And remembering them continually in his prayers. 99 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,680 But who are these people? I find it very hard to believe 100 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:54,480 that Paul is just addressing A nameless crowd or just a clump 101 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,760 of people that he's not thinking about specifically. 102 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,000 Because I know and you know, if you spend time praying for the 103 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,280 Saints of God, there are certain specific people that come to 104 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:06,400 your mind, aren't there? And there's details that come to 105 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,560 your mind about them, and you begin praying to God, thanking 106 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,520 God for that person or those people specifically, don't you? 107 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,400 So who's he addressing? Who's he thanking God for? 108 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,880 Well, it is the church members in Thessalonica. 109 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:27,000 When he mentions them, it's because he can confidently call 110 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,800 them the church. The church. 111 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,040 Not the church in name only, but a church. 112 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,040 So much so that he calls them later on. 113 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,680 A model for all believers. I told you this was a very 114 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,400 healthy church. And so it's safe to safe to 115 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,840 conclude this is a real church. This is a real church with real 116 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,800 church members, vibrant church body, if you will. 117 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,120 And that's what I want us to examine today, what it looks 118 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,440 like for a church member or a real church member. 119 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,800 What do they look like? Well, today there's much 120 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,160 confusion about a church member. There are people who they want 121 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:06,880 to join a church, they want to be a member of the church and 122 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,120 they believe this, that if I just sign up and fill out the 123 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,080 card, I'll be a member and I'll be in the club. 124 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,360 Or maybe if I give money, I can pay my dues to this club and 125 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,760 then I'll be in the church. I'll be a member of the church 126 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,800 or I'm going to be a private church member. 127 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,520 I don't want to know. I don't want anybody to know me. 128 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,360 I really don't care about knowing anybody. 129 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,400 I just want to come in late. I want to slip in the back. 130 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:33,799 I want to slip out as soon as it's over so I don't have to 131 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:35,520 talk to anybody. My church membership is going to 132 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,640 be private and maybe my church membership is going to be 133 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,400 anonymous. Don't want to know anybody. 134 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:45,680 Don't want anybody to know me or they'll tragically church hop 135 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,960 and church shop and never invest their lives and invest their 136 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,200 families for one specific local body. 137 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:53,560 They'll just go to this church for a minute. 138 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:55,880 They'll go to that church for a minute and whatever church they 139 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,200 feel good going to at that time, that's where they'll go. 140 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,360 And they'll never plant and they'll never root. 141 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:02,720 That's what some people want out of a church. 142 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,040 That's what some people think about when they think of church 143 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,440 membership. And some people even sadly, 144 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:13,080 think that church membership in a local, local sense, in a local 145 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,120 body is not important at all. And they'll say this well, I 146 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,280 don't need to join a local church. 147 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,240 Because I am a member of the Universal Worldwide Church. 148 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,560 Well, the problem with that is the New Testament letters, the 149 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:33,600 epistles, go to local churches. And so yes, if you are a 150 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,080 believer in Christ, you are a member of the universal body of 151 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:41,040 Christ worldwide and throughout time, but it is also your duty 152 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:46,200 and obligation to be a member of a local body, a local 153 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,040 fellowship. So you can get the picture. 154 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,480 Yes, you're the church is worldwide, every believer 155 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,200 everywhere, but this is the local church key life 156 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,280 fellowship. And if you are here, you need to 157 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,680 be invested in, you need to be bought into. 158 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,200 So I want to address and all those things would be corrected 159 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,160 as we look at this text. I want to address, I think, the 160 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:15,320 five marks that the apostle Paul ascribes to real church members. 161 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,480 What is a real church member? What do they look like? 162 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,320 And again, 5 marks so that you can follow along if you're a. 163 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:25,600 Note taker the first mark I want to look at is a real church 164 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:26,880 members. They are remembered. 165 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,600 They are remembered and that's what Paul begins with in verse 166 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,000 2. We always thank God for all of 167 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,240 you and continually mention you in our prayers. 168 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:41,080 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by 169 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,240 faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance 170 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:48,080 inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 171 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:53,240 Again, this is not just a random vague group of people that he's 172 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:58,600 addressing. This is a living Organism called 173 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:03,040 the Church that he remembers. Specifically, the Church is 174 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,240 likened to a body elsewhere in Scripture, with parts and 175 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,920 movements and jobs, and then we actually depend upon one 176 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,040 another. If the hand is not doing its 177 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,120 job, the rest of the body will suffer. 178 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,920 They're remembered real church member. 179 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:22,320 They remembered. They're remembered first for 180 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,360 their service. And these are going to come up 181 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:26,680 all throughout. I think it's kind of a 182 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,120 foreshadowing of what he's going to expand upon. 183 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,520 He remembers them for their service and namely their work 184 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:40,400 produced by faith. No, he is not teaching salvation 185 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,520 by faith plus works. That would be a heresy. 186 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,880 That would be legalism. But here's what he is teaching. 187 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,520 He is teaching real faith that works. 188 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:55,160 Faith alone saves. Faith alone in Christ alone is 189 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:56,360 what saves us. Amen. 190 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,680 But that faith alone will not be alone. 191 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:01,600 It will be accompanied by works, won't it? 192 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,400 You will do something. It is these works that are 193 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,760 produced by faith that Paul remembers about this body and 194 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,760 even that James expands upon. In James chapter 2 verse 18 he 195 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,520 says you have faith, I have deeds but show me your faith 196 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:21,480 without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 197 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,800 See it's faith producing work. You believe that there's one God 198 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,480 good. Even the demons believe that and 199 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,400 they shudder. Verse 22, he just talks about 200 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,040 Abraham, that his faith and his actions were working together. 201 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,320 This church was a working church. 202 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,880 This church was not just the church that was working for the 203 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,480 sake of working. They were producing their works 204 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,440 because of the faith that they had in Christ. 205 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,760 And Paul remembers it and he remembers their labor prompted 206 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,360 by love. There is an. 207 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:01,920 Unexplainable love between believers isn't there? 208 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,760 Believers that you serve with specifically, and you can't 209 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,560 explain it. If there's a Christian that 210 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,160 doesn't do anything in the body of Christ, they don't get the 211 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,040 love that you get with somebody by serving next to them, 212 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,040 whatever it may be, in whatever capacity. 213 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,400 There is a bond that happens, isn't it? 214 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,440 Paul remembers their laborers of love. 215 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,120 Now this is the scary part about laborers of love. 216 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,920 First, John 3 verse 14 says we know that we've passed from 217 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,080 death to life because we love each other. 218 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,600 In verse 18, he says let us not love with words or speech, but 219 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,880 with actions. And in truth, their laborers 220 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,280 were prompted by their love for one another. 221 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,160 It is because they love the brothers and sisters in Christ. 222 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,640 They labored with them and they labored for them. 223 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,640 It is because of their faith in Christ that they worked and 224 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,680 served the Lord Jesus Christ and his body. 225 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,280 And Paul goes back in his mind to the names and the faces in 226 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,160 this, a local body of believers. And he remembers their work, and 227 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:12,400 he remembers their labor. He remembers their service and 228 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,800 he. Remembered not just for their 229 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,360 service, but they remember for their steadfastness. 230 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:26,320 This church ride off the jump faced some pretty trying times. 231 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,640 We'll read about in just a moment. 232 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:30,760 But Paul. Says this their their endurance 233 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,800 inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and this. 234 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,760 Hope that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ that prompts our 235 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,040 endurance, that inspires our endurance. 236 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,720 It is not a vein or an empty hope. 237 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,720 It's not like I hope this is going to happen. 238 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,680 It is a firm hope. Hebrews 619 says. 239 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,400 It's an anchor for our souls. It's firm. 240 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,360 It's steady. And Paul remembers their 241 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,840 steadfastness when anything happens. 242 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,440 Maybe he heard the stories, or he lived it alongside of them. 243 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,320 When persecution came, they remained steadfast. 244 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,680 They remained steady. They remained firm When danger 245 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:08,800 came. They didn't sway, they didn't 246 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,960 run away, but they stayed firm in the faith. 247 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,520 When heresy came in gripping the Church about no future 248 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:21,120 resurrection, they endured. And Paul writes the letter and 249 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,960 corrects them, remembers that baby. 250 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,080 When tragedy strikes, he sees these believers staying the 251 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:33,760 course. The real church, the real church 252 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,240 members, they can look back and they can look around and they 253 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,840 can say, wow, I remember when so and so went through this hard, 254 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,120 difficult time and how they handled it and how they endured, 255 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,800 how they didn't lose hope, how they didn't fall away, but they 256 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:53,280 remained steadfast. And I'll tell you, I think one 257 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,920 of the best ways to see this happen is at a. 258 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:04,080 Funeral of a fellow believer or the family going through some 259 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,160 kind of death? Isn't that the truth? 260 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,080 That when you see them face death head on with hope and you 261 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:16,040 see them endure through losing a family member, losing a spouse, 262 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,760 losing a child, having something unspeakable happen in their 263 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,680 life, and you still see their endurance inspired by hope in 264 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,320 our Lord Jesus Christ that will prod you along and will cause 265 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,680 you to remember them to. Remember what they had done. 266 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:38,480 Real church members, they're remembered, they're remembered, 267 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:43,280 but it's it's impossible to be remembered if your church 268 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,680 attendance and maybe your church membership or so you think is 269 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:53,760 just online, online church. Is not a thing. 270 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:01,000 We stream our services, but you are missing out. 271 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:05,119 If online is all you get, You can gain a lot, you can learn a 272 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:10,119 lot, but there's no replacement for meeting with the church. 273 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,400 You can't be remembered if all you're doing is watching 274 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,560 Facebook or YouTube. You have no accountability to 275 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,079 the body. Real church members are 276 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,319 remembered, but it's even virtually impossible. 277 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,880 If you're here in person and you show up late and you leave early 278 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,000 and you're not involved, how are you going to be remembered? 279 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:30,880 That's not a church member. That's a parasite. 280 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:33,600 You don't want to be noticed. You don't want to be 281 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,760 accountable. You don't want to hold others 282 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:37,640 accountable. You just want to come in and 283 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,680 just do your own thing. No, you need to be sold out for 284 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,760 the body. That's what church members do. 285 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:47,280 I love this because for the most part, that's not this church. 286 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,360 We have to kick some of you guys out most Sundays. 287 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,320 You know you guys can talk at a restaurant. 288 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,440 It is OK to do that. I love it, please keep staying, 289 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,360 but it's also just entirely impossible to be a remembered 290 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:09,600 church member if you're not an active member of a local body. 291 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:12,640 You say? Well, I'm a member of the 292 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,280 universal body. The church actually had 293 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,320 membership roles dating back to its earliest time. 294 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,160 Or scripture reading today. The men were saved that day and 295 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,640 they were added to their number. Somebody was keeping count. 296 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,280 Somebody knew these people. When Paul writes to other 297 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,840 churches, he actually names specific believers to commend to 298 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,360 them. It wasn't just I'm. 299 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,400 Going to pop in and pop out. This is real church membership. 300 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,480 They are remembered, they're joined, they're involved, 301 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,720 they're serving, they're steadfast. 302 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:51,320 But. I don't want you to get the 303 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,480 wrong idea. A church member is not just 304 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,760 someone who serves and they're just steady. 305 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,160 They're on the rolls. But a church member, secondly, 306 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,440 is one who has been regenerated. That's the second mark. 307 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,520 They have been regenerated. They have been born again. 308 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,440 They have been made alive. This is the doctrine of 309 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,800 regenerate church membership, that you may join a church on 310 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,640 paper. You may serve, you may do 311 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,280 everything you can. Every night at the church is 312 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,240 open, you're there. Every opportunity you're there, 313 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:25,920 anything you can do, you're doing it. 314 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,240 But if you're not regenerate, if you're not made alive by Christ 315 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,040 alone, you're not actually in his body, the church. 316 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:38,600 You may be there on paper, but in God's economy you are lost no 317 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,360 matter what your service looks like. 318 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,360 Since said that you can have your name on a church roll. 319 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,760 And not have your name in the Lamb's book of life? 320 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,400 Very possible. Jesus addressed his people like 321 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:50,760 like this to Matthew 7, doesn't he? 322 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,080 Many will say to me on that day, did not we do this? 323 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,600 Did not we do that and it'll say depart from me for I never knew 324 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:02,360 you, you workers of iniquity. What in the world that's 325 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,360 unregenerate church members, real church member. 326 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:10,440 They've been regenerated and they've been regenerate 327 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,400 regenerated because of a sovereign choice. 328 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:19,800 Look with me in verse 4. For we know, brothers loved by 329 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:25,400 God, that He has chosen you. This is clearly speaking about 330 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,480 sovereign election, that a real church member is regenerated 331 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,160 because of the sovereign choice of God. 332 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,120 You don't sign up to get into the church. 333 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,720 The Lord of the church selects you. 334 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,840 He doesn't select you by your pedigree. 335 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,480 He doesn't select you by what you can bring to the table. 336 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,440 He selects you by His own sovereign, unaided, 337 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:54,040 unconditional choice. And Jesus said this really 338 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,480 clearly to his disciples in John 1516, didn't He? 339 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,720 You did not choose me, but I chose you. 340 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,800 All the I choose Jesus or I chose Jesus crowd just kind of 341 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,440 go quiet when you speak that right. 342 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,800 But when did this choice happen? Well Ephesians one verse 4 tells 343 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,480 us that He chose us in him before the creation of the world 344 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,720 and so God shows. A specific group of people we 345 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,080 know as the Church to be saved, to be holy and blameless in his 346 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,400 sight. And he did it before time began. 347 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,400 Absolutely. You see, how do we change this? 348 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:29,440 How do we have them? You don't. 349 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,480 God's already done it. He selects who is going to. 350 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,920 Be in the Church simply because of his own pleasure and 351 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,200 goodwill. In fact, the very word Church in 352 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,920 the Greek is the word ecclesia. And it means to be called out 353 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,840 and assembled together. The idea is that someone calls 354 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:57,200 you and that someone we know. Is the Lord himself? 355 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,520 Did he say this in John 644? No one may come to me unless the 356 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,040 Father who sent me. What draws them? 357 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,720 Wow. You mean I I don't have a role 358 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,120 in this? Nope. 359 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,800 You have 0 role in regeneration. Your regeneration is only 360 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,480 because of a sovereign choice of God. 361 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,080 Now Paul also answers this. He answers how you may know 362 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,800 someone is elect or someone is regenerated. 363 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,640 And here's how. It is because of the gospel's 364 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,200 reception. Look at verse 5. 365 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,160 He said. We know in verse four that he's 366 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,600 chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with 367 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:40,280 words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep 368 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:45,240 conviction. We know that God has chosen you 369 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:47,400 because of the way that you believe the gospel. 370 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,800 And in Acts 1348, there's a group of people that Luke 371 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,640 writes, all who were appointed unto eternal life believed. 372 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,040 Why did they believe? Why did they believe the gospel? 373 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:00,880 Why did the gospel transform their life? 374 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,400 It's because of a sovereign choice of God. 375 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,320 It's because God made that effectual to them and they 376 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,040 believed the gospel and the gospel changed them. 377 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,680 They've been regenerated because of the sovereign choice. 378 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,680 And it's by the Spirit's power that's at work in them that this 379 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,760 sovereign choice becomes a reality in the here and now. 380 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:25,640 Understand how this happened, that God before time shows we 381 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,720 can use these guys, the Thessalonian believers to be 382 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,400 saved. And in the time and space that 383 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,920 we live or they live, the gospel comes to them. 384 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,240 And Paul says, we know that it came to you not just in words 385 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:45,760 but in power, that they heard the gospel and they didn't take 386 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,800 it as just Paul and Silas and Timothy's words. 387 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,440 They took it as the very word of God. 388 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,920 You've experienced this if you've been saved that there was 389 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:02,760 a man preaching to you and for some reason there was some power 390 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,560 behind the. Words he was saying. 391 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,280 There was something, or rather someone drawing you to receive 392 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,080 and believe that message. Then it became so real to you 393 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,960 that it wasn't just. Yeah, I think Jesus really did 394 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,440 die. And I think really, Jesus did 395 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:19,880 resurrect. And this guy has a point. 396 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,280 And I think Jesus is a better way to live than everything else 397 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:23,720 I've tried. Let's try them. 398 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:30,600 No, there was a drawing power of the Holy Spirit through the word 399 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:35,560 of God that caused you to have faith and gave you the gift of 400 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,960 repentance and made you alive in him so that you can now believe 401 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,920 this message that it went from Jesus died to Jesus died for me 402 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,240 and he died for every one of my sins and he resurrected to bring 403 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,120 me life. Oh, it's salvation. 404 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:51,760 You probably didn't understand election. 405 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,160 Amen. He didn't get it. 406 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,040 But the only reason you believed and the only reason the gospel 407 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,280 was so powerful to you is because of God's electing power 408 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,280 before time began. And the only reason that the 409 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,960 Thessalonian believers believed the message of the gospel is 410 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,520 because God's sovereign choice and His Spirit who worked 411 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:16,000 powerfully within them. In the gospel we see this. 412 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,040 It wasn't just powerfully working in their life, but there 413 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,920 was a spiritual power working in the life and through the words 414 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:25,080 of the preacher as well. Then when we preach the gospel, 415 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,520 it is not our power, it is not our words, but it is the power 416 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,840 of God unto salvation. I'm going to tell you this. 417 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,680 If I didn't believe in sovereign election, I don't know why I 418 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,840 would evangelize because all the hope would be on a guilty Sinner 419 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,960 and my own good presentation. I have no hope and guilty 420 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,520 sinners and I have no hope in my own presentation. 421 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,600 But you know what I have hope IN when I share the gospel with 422 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,240 people, that the Spirit will work through the gospel and He 423 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,880 will save all that the Father has chosen to save. 424 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,720 That's why I evangelize. Evangelism doesn't. 425 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:05,560 Squat. I mean. 426 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,000 I mean election doesn't squash evangelism. 427 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,200 When you understand God's sovereign election, it should 428 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,840 propel you to evangelize to anybody you can. 429 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,040 That's the fuel, that's the motivation. 430 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,800 God has saved souls and they need to hear the gospel. 431 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,760 I know the gospel and I'm going to go get them whoever I can, 432 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:24,960 wherever I can. However I can. 433 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:33,800 And when you come to grips with the truth, when you are 434 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:39,600 regenerated, it's not because of your mental or willpower, is it? 435 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,680 It's not because it just all clicked one day and made sense. 436 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,120 Oh yeah, I can get that. Because you can understand just 437 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,080 the basic form of the Bible, you can kind of. 438 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,720 Get the picture right but. There's a difference between 439 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,360 knowing what's going on and knowing who it is, right? 440 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,920 That's that's the difference. God brings this new birth. 441 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,560 And if God has not brought new birth into your life, no matter 442 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,680 what church you've joined, you're not a real church member 443 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,720 because you're not regenerate. You don't belong to his body. 444 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,800 You can know the scriptures. You can recite the gospel, you 445 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:15,640 can serve, you can even share the gospel. 446 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:18,360 This is how. Powerful this is. 447 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:19,440 This is how powerful the gospel is. 448 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:25,200 You can actually share the gospel, be lost people, hear the 449 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,240 gospel from a lost person, and be saved because the power of 450 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,080 the gospel Trump's your own sinfulness. 451 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,560 But here's the scary situation. There are those who know a lot. 452 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,680 There are no those who may even be teachers but have not been 453 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,480 born again. They have not been regenerated. 454 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:46,840 That Jesus encountered a guy like this in John 3. 455 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,000 Remember him, old Nicodemus, and he comes to Jesus at night. 456 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,200 And Jesus said, very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the 457 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,480 Kingdom of God unless they're born of water and the spirit 458 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,600 flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to 459 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,240 spirit. You should not be surprised at 460 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:02,920 me saying you must be born again. 461 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,240 The wind blows wherever it pleases. 462 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,160 You hear it sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from 463 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,160 and where it is going. So it is with everyone born of 464 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:12,680 the Spirit. Here's. 465 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,440 What he's saying, God does a work. 466 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,440 Outside of us that we know not of. 467 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,840 To regenerate us completely unaided, completely sovereign, 468 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:30,120 so that a real church member is regenerated by the power of the 469 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:33,440 gospel because of God's choice, because of the Spirit's power 470 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,640 working in him. I've seen this in my own life. 471 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:42,320 I've seen it in many of yours. Or the convicting and the 472 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:47,000 changing power of the gospel just grips you and you're no 473 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,880 longer who you used to be. That's regeneration. 474 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:57,400 Being made new, the grown men will be moved to tears. 475 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,400 They will be moved to love for people that they would never 476 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:05,240 think about loving before doing acts and laborers of love and 477 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,480 works produced by faith that they would never have sacrificed 478 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,080 to do before. But now there is this love, 479 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,920 there is this new heart that they have for the body of Christ 480 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:21,800 and Christ their head, that this compels them to love the Church 481 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,200 and to love the head of the church. 482 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,160 That's regeneration. That's what happens in a real 483 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,400 church member. The third mark of a real church 484 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,280 member is they have a reputation. 485 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,320 They have a very solid reputation. 486 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:43,200 He begins in verse 5 to talk about them setting the standard 487 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:49,000 in actions. The middle of it, He says, You 488 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,760 know how he lived among you. For your sake you became 489 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,640 imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message. 490 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,400 In the midst of severe suffering, with the joy given by 491 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,120 the Holy Spirit, you became imitators. 492 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,720 Of us, you started to do what Paul, Silas, and Timothy did 493 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,320 when we were with you. What is it that they did? 494 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,840 Well, in chapter 2 of First Thessalonians, he kind of 495 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,080 reminds the people what they saw in Paul, Silas and Timothy. 496 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,680 And here's what he said, that they continued in suffering. 497 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:26,240 The Thessalonians imitated that that Paul was truthful. 498 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,040 They imitated that that Paul was approved of God. 499 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,640 They imitated that that Paul had no pretext, no greed. 500 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,880 He sought no glory for men. They imitated that that he was 501 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,080 gentle, loving. He gave the gospel and he gave 502 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,360 their lives to them. They began to imitate that as 503 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,000 well. He labored with them and for 504 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:51,440 them day and night. He was devout, he was righteous, 505 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,120 he was blameless. He exhorted them as a father 506 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,080 does to his children. And everything that they saw in 507 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:02,000 Paul, Silas, and Timothy, they began to copy. 508 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,720 They even copied. Some of their ministry 509 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,480 practices. In Acts 17 we read the account 510 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,480 of the Thessalonian Church's birth. 511 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,560 And the apostle Paul, joined by Silas and Timothy, go there, and 512 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,920 in verse 2 says, as was his custom, Paul went into the 513 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,880 synagogue, which would have been the gathering of the Jewish 514 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,720 believers there, the followers of the Old Testament in that 515 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,800 city. And on three Sabbath days he 516 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:32,920 reasoned with him from the Scriptures. 517 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,360 It would have been the Old Testament Scriptures as well, 518 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,840 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise 519 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,160 from the dead. This Jesus I am proclaiming to 520 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,840 you is the Messiah, he said. And So what Paul does is for 521 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,360 three Sabbath days at least, he goes into the synagogue and he 522 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,600 takes the Old Testament and he begins to explain from the Old 523 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,160 Testament who Jesus is so that they. 524 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,800 Believed. And these believers copied it, 525 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:05,560 imitated it, They imitated him. As he was imitating Christ, they 526 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,760 imitated him in a couple ways, because they were not deranged 527 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:11,480 by the world. That's how they imitated him. 528 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,520 They were not deranged like the world. 529 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,440 And maybe just look around and watch the news for a minute. 530 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,760 Isn't our world absolutely deranged? 531 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,240 I mean, some people don't know what bathroom they're supposed 532 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,920 to go to. It's really obvious. 533 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:31,760 If you can't get that right, you're deranged. 534 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:41,920 Some people don't know or even tried to deny who the creator is 535 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:44,120 or that there is a creator at all. 536 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,040 If you deny, there's. A creator. 537 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:47,840 And who that creator is? You, Sir. 538 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:52,400 You, ma'am, are deranged. The people around them, of 539 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,040 course, are deranged. They were pagans. 540 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,480 They worshipped false gods. They worshipped many other gods, 541 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,680 but they didn't imitate them. They didn't imitate what is 542 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,720 evil. But as Third John 11 says, they 543 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,240 imitate what is good. They imitated what they saw in 544 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,880 Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Very simply, they just lived 545 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,080 like Christians. That's it. 546 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:14,720 They lived separate than the world. 547 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,640 They didn't live like the world, but they imitated godly 548 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,280 ministers. They weren't deranged like the 549 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:23,680 world. They weren't deterred. 550 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,240 By the world, he says that they received the message with joy. 551 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,760 Look what a little bit was going on in Acts 17 when these people 552 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,400 were saved. In verse 5, we read about this 553 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,280 other Jews were jealous that's. Because people were being saved 554 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,520 and they were leaving their way and following the way. 555 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,000 So they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, 556 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,600 formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. 557 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,360 They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in 558 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:51,800 order to bring them out to the crowd. 559 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,400 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some 560 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,360 other believers before the city officials. 561 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:02,040 Immediately there's persecution. And Paul says here's your 562 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,040 reputation, here's the standard that you're setting in your 563 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,520 actions and in your behavior that you are receiving the 564 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,679 message amidst affliction with joy. 565 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:16,920 They're dragging believers out of their households and you're 566 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,159 still receiving the message. That's a standard to follow, 567 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:23,040 isn't it? That's something to commend. 568 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:27,000 So this was a model for the rest of the church to follow. 569 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,480 In verse seven, I think you could do this. 570 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:34,800 Church in Macedonia, church in Ikaya, be like them, church in 571 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,239 Ephesus, church in Corinth, Look to this church. 572 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:43,080 They're who you want to be like. They're the model. 573 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,800 They had this reputation. Setting the standard in action 574 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,080 and even of sharing the gospel everywhere. 575 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:51,520 Look, look what happens in verse 8. 576 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,239 The Lord's message rang out from you. 577 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,520 The idea is this. A trumpet is being sounded from 578 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:05,840 you with the Lord's message. It is blaring on a loudspeaker 579 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:11,600 from your midst to all believers in Macedonia and Ikaya, the 580 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,000 Lord's message rang out from you. 581 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,840 Not only there, but your faith in God has become known 582 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:19,520 everywhere. Therefore, we. 583 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:23,200 Do not need to say anything about it. 584 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,120 For they themselves. Report what kind of reception 585 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:32,960 you gave us. They were evangelizing so much 586 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,280 and spreading the Lord's message so much that other believers are 587 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,720 telling Paul about this church that is so zealous for the 588 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:44,080 gospel, that is so missional, that other believers are saying, 589 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:48,800 those believers in Thessalonica, they're reaching everybody with 590 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,360 the gospel. It's even getting to us. 591 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,320 They're sending missionaries to us. 592 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,320 They want to reach whoever they can. 593 00:35:57,720 --> 00:35:59,240 People are talking about you, Paul says. 594 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,680 Because this is what church members do. 595 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:07,680 They set the standard in their action and their morals, don't 596 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,880 they? They live upright and holy lives 597 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,880 amidst this godless generation, and they share the Gospel with 598 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:15,920 whoever they can and any opportunity that presents 599 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,400 itself. That the message of the gospel 600 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:24,200 rings out from real church members, and it does so much 601 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:31,760 that other people begin talking. It should be this. 602 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,480 And I will say I've even heard this, someone was talking to one 603 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:38,880 of our members and it's happened on a number of occasions. 604 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,800 And then from the area and they said where do you go to church? 605 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:46,520 Do you go to church anywhere? Something like and they told 606 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,160 them where they went to church and they went to Key Life 607 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,360 Fellowship. And the person said, I figured, 608 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,080 why is that? Of course, whoever that is, and 609 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,960 there's several of you, they were living like a real church 610 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,320 member. They had a real reputation. 611 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:11,760 Their behavior was outstanding. They shared the gospel, they had 612 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,840 a glow about them that the Lord's message was ringing out 613 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,920 from them. And there should be a certain 614 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,840 rap about you around town, proverbially speaking. 615 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,480 That you go to key life. It shouldn't be this you're 616 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,600 going to key life. Unless the next response is I 617 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:34,960 heard you believe. Insert something biblical. 618 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:38,560 That should be your wrap. You go to key life. 619 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,000 I heard they believe. Well, yeah, because that's what 620 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,600 the Bible teaches. That's a very good reputation, 621 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:49,080 that you are believing things about the word of God that 622 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:54,480 professing Christians balk at. You're bold enough to believe 623 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,000 it. They should know this. 624 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:57,880 The world around you should know that. 625 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:02,960 You go to the church that believes that the eternal Son of 626 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:09,400 God came down to this earth Incarnate, truly God, truly man, 627 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,560 and He lived under the law and He was cursed for us and he was 628 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,280 cursed by being hung upon a tree. 629 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,880 That God the Father punished His only begotten Son on the cross 630 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,040 for the sin of everyone who will believe in Him. 631 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,800 And if you or if anyone doesn't repent and place their faith in 632 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,960 Christ alone, who bled and died and resurrected for them, you'll 633 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,480 be cast into the eternal lake of fire. 634 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,360 You go to that church that believes that Jesus is the only 635 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:35,400 way. Amen. 636 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:38,600 That message should ring out from you. 637 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:41,920 So much. Did people talk about it? 638 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:44,480 It was coming out of this church. 639 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:46,760 It was coming all over the known world. 640 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,720 And they had a reputation. That's a real church member, 641 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,440 firstly, a real church member. They have repented. 642 00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:56,000 And Luther talked about repentance like this. 643 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,200 He said that. Repentance is not a one time 644 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,080 repentance. You don't just repentance, 645 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,360 salvation. Rather, repentance is lifelong. 646 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,800 You're continually turning from sin, and that's what these 647 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,120 believers did in verse 9, he said. 648 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:13,840 They're telling again how you turn to God from idols to serve 649 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:19,800 the living and true God. They are telling how you've 650 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:22,480 turned. What a testimony. 651 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,760 You don't even have to tell what God has done for you. 652 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:28,640 People are talking about what God has done for you and who you 653 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:30,000 are. Now that you've turned from 654 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,760 idols or you have turned from sin. 655 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:34,920 That's the first step of repentance, turning from sin. 656 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:39,120 Real church member is one who is turning from sin. 657 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,120 For these believers here, it was idols that was their sin. 658 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:43,560 That's what they were gripped with. 659 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,560 And so when they turn from idols, that's a drastic change, 660 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,720 isn't it? You've turned from many gods to 661 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:55,520 1. You claim is the one God who was 662 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:58,640 hung on a cross and resurrected from the dead. 663 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,600 They tell how you've turned from idols. 664 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:06,400 They even tell the specifics of what you've turned from. 665 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,160 This should be this. Your repentance should be so 666 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,080 drastic. Your repentance should be so 667 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,600 changed. Changed from who you used to be, 668 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:19,680 because that is repentance, turning about and unto. 669 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,120 The people tell how you've turned from sin, and if you 670 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,240 haven't just turned from sin, but repentance also is turning 671 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:30,120 to God. These believers turn from sin, 672 00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:34,120 they turn from idols, and they turn to the living and true God. 673 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:37,480 They didn't just turn from something. 674 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:41,120 They didn't just quit this and then later pick up something 675 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:45,560 else. They turned completely away from 676 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:50,680 their old life and they ran fully at the only true God to 677 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,160 worship him. That's repentance. 678 00:40:54,560 --> 00:41:00,160 And it happened so such a big. Deal on Acts 19 that an Ephesus 679 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:02,560 and people began being saved there. 680 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:06,160 They turn from idols and they turn to the one true and living 681 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:07,480 God. And so of course, when you turn 682 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:09,960 to the one true and living God, you also turn to follow his 683 00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,120 statutes. And the first one is you shall 684 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,280 have no other gods before me. And the second one is don't make 685 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,200 for yourself any graven image. Well, these people are saved. 686 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,480 They have been following idols their entire life. 687 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,960 And so they stopped following idols. 688 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,800 And what was so dangerous for them is they stopped buying the 689 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,240 little shrines from the local metal workers. 690 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:35,000 So much so that he got so upset. And he said something like this. 691 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,960 The followers of the Way are pretty much killing my business 692 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,040 because they're not buying my shrines and my idols anymore. 693 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:47,200 We need to do something about it because the local economy is 694 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:52,640 just absolutely getting worked over by these Christians. 695 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:55,640 Everything about him had changed. 696 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:59,080 They turned from who they were and they turned to serve the one 697 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:01,760 true and living God, and nothing was the same any longer. 698 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:04,400 That's the testimony that Christians have. 699 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:09,080 They have repentant, They've repented from their sins. 700 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:11,120 They are repenting. They're still turning from sin. 701 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:15,800 They're still turning to God. And you cannot have a gospel, 702 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:19,720 you cannot have a Christianity that does not include 703 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:25,080 repentance. It's not I'll follow Jesus now, 704 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,080 or I'll trust Jesus now and then later I'll repent. 705 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,400 No, you repent now and follow Jesus or you don't follow Jesus 706 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:35,600 at all. This was ingrained in the gospel 707 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:37,560 messages. Acts 1415. 708 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:43,320 We are bringing you good news, the word for gospel, telling you 709 00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,000 to turn from these worthless things and to the living God. 710 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,560 Now, does that sound like repentance turning from turning 711 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,360 to? Acts 2618 I'm sending you to 712 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:55,920 them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and 713 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:59,000 from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive 714 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,840 forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified 715 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,480 by faith in me. I'm sending you to preach the 716 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:07,280 gospel to turn them from sin and turn them to God. 717 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:10,440 That's the. Essence of A. 718 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:14,120 Believer they aren't who they used to be. 719 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:17,360 They're on a completely new path. 720 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:24,120 They're no longer worldly. They're not carnal Christians. 721 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:30,440 Church members have turned from sin. 722 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,560 They hate even the clothing stained by sin. 723 00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:38,640 They want nothing to do with their old life because they have 724 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:42,200 turned to serve and follow the one true and living God who has 725 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,640 made them alive. They want nothing to do. 726 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:51,280 With their sin. That's a real church member, and 727 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,880 it's not just internal. People begin to notice that. 728 00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,160 They begin to talk about it. You repentance should be so 729 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:59,760 radical that Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are a little 730 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,320 awkward. Why is that? 731 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:07,760 Well, you have turned from worthlessness. 732 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,160 Some people at the dinner table have not. 733 00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:13,560 They're living in filth and worthlessness. 734 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,280 You've turned to follow the one true and living God. 735 00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,800 That's kind of ruffle feathers. You're different than you used 736 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:25,280 to be and you should be. What's troubling is if you claim 737 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:27,200 Christ and you're not any different than you used to be, 738 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,200 you haven't repented. You're not a church member. 739 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:34,080 You're not a Christian. Oh, but if you are a church 740 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,680 member, you know. I'm not who I used to be. 741 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:41,320 I have left the broad Rd. that leads to destruction and I've 742 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,960 entered the narrow way that leads to life that only few 743 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:45,720 find. Praise God that I found it. 744 00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:47,720 And you begin to put the pieces together and realize I didn't 745 00:44:47,720 --> 00:44:51,680 find this narrow Rd. The narrow Rd. has found me and 746 00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:57,600 I've turned and now I'm walking towards Jesus. 5th mark of a 747 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:01,080 real church member. And this should produce 748 00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:04,800 something in you that they will be rescued. 749 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:11,280 And that that's how he keeps. Going in this text, I think 750 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,040 we've seen their their labours of love and their reputation 751 00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:18,320 that they love people. We've seen their work of faith 752 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:21,840 and thinking turning from sin and turning to the Lord. 753 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:26,120 I think in our rescue we see the endurance and hope. 754 00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:34,680 Look at verse 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he 755 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,160 raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming 756 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:43,640 wrath, Christian member of the church. 757 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:49,280 We will be rescued and when we are rescued, it is going to be 758 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:54,880 fulfilling our deep longing, our deep longing to see our Savior. 759 00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:59,440 If you don't long to see Jesus, you don't know him. 760 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:05,120 If you. Love living now you don't know. 761 00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:13,320 Jesus every time you have a toothache you should long to see 762 00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:22,040 Jesus every time that your. Old sin nature creeps back up. 763 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,040 You should long to see. Jesus, who will rescue you? 764 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:29,720 Who will rescue? You from your sin, who will 765 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:32,440 rescue you from this world? Who will rescue you from 766 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:35,160 yourself? Who will rescue you from His 767 00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:37,840 wrath? This Savior is who we long to 768 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,560 see. This is the one we. 769 00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:47,400 Love the one we love so dearly. Church, this is our. 770 00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:51,080 Our. Groom, we are his bride. 771 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:56,000 What bride does not long to see their groom? 772 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:04,080 A church that does not long to see Christ is. 773 00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:13,240 Not a church. This is the one who we've served 774 00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:16,200 all these years. We have served faithfully. 775 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:17,760 Shouldn't we be ready to see him? 776 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:23,840 In Acts chapter 1, when the Lord Jesus ascends into heaven, He 777 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:25,960 had told his disciples to go into Jerusalem and wait for the 778 00:47:25,960 --> 00:47:27,920 promised Holy Spirit. For when he comes on you, you 779 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,800 receive power to be by witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea to the 780 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:34,000 end of the earth. And then he ascends into heaven, 781 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:35,720 and he hid themselves from their sight. 782 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:38,640 And I'd like to read the Bible like this because it was a real 783 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:43,840 story with real people, Amen. And I know a little bit about 784 00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:46,360 the disciples. They were slow to catch on, 785 00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:48,400 weren't they? And So what? 786 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,760 You just told him that he ascends into heaven and they're 787 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:55,520 literally doing this. He had just told them to go into 788 00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:57,320 Jerusalem and wait, and here they. 789 00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,080 Are and right then in verse 11, some angels appeared to them and 790 00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,240 said, what are you doing looking up into the sky? 791 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,960 It's really a rebuke. Did you hear what he just said? 792 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:08,360 What are you doing? Look up into the sky? 793 00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:11,680 He said this this same Jesus who's been taken from you into 794 00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:14,120 heaven will come back in the same way you've seen him go into 795 00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:17,160 heaven. What are you doing looking up? 796 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:19,240 He said he's going to he's coming back, but he told you to 797 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:21,200 do something. Go serve him. 798 00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:24,520 Remember Matthew 25? Jesus told that parable. 799 00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:28,400 He said that it'd be good when the master returns to find his 800 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:34,200 servants working. We have served this Savior so 801 00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:39,040 faithfully for so long, and when we see Him, oh what a glorious 802 00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:45,080 day that will be, the one that we see who's the source of our 803 00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:49,240 hope. This is what was so sad about 804 00:48:49,240 --> 00:48:51,240 this church. The one thing they had against 805 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:53,200 them is that they weren't looking forward to the 806 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:57,520 resurrection. You have no excuse. 807 00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:03,640 You know, 2000 years of church history have over and over and 808 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:06,720 over again confirmed that the Scriptures teach a future bodily 809 00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:09,480 resurrection where we will meet the Lord Jesus in the air. 810 00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:12,720 We know it's coming. That's our hope and it's a firm 811 00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:14,720 hope It's not. I hope this happens. 812 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,880 We know it's going to happen. So we endure, so we serve Him, 813 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:22,080 so we hope in Him and so we long to see Him. 814 00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,920 And as Paul speaks in Second Timothy 4 verse 8, that there is 815 00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,880 in store for me. A crown of righteousness. 816 00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:32,760 But not only for me, but also for. 817 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:37,400 All those who long for his appearing, that's what's coming 818 00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:39,360 for real church members. They're going to be rescued. 819 00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:40,840 They're even going to be rewarded. 820 00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:48,040 This will all take place when Christ our life appears. 821 00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,000 We will also appear with Him in glory. 822 00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:54,680 That's what we wait for. That's our rescue that's coming. 823 00:49:56,560 --> 00:50:00,800 And right now, he's seated at the right hand of the Father in 824 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:04,240 heaven. If he is our life and our life 825 00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:15,600 is there here does not consume us any longer, Paul writes in 826 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:22,480 Philippians 320 our. Citizenship is in heaven and we 827 00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,080 eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 828 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:33,200 That's our hope. That's who's coming to rescue 829 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,040 you and me, believer. And that will fulfill our deep 830 00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:38,880 longing to see our Savior, will it not? 831 00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:42,120 And it will free us from God's wrath. 832 00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:45,480 Christ is coming. Christ is returning. 833 00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:48,120 He's bringing us home. And he's going to free us from 834 00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:51,680 God's wrath because sin's penalty has been removed from 835 00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:55,480 real church members. The confession that Jesus died 836 00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:57,800 for me is not just because he demonstrated His love. 837 00:50:57,880 --> 00:50:59,440 Though it was so loving, wasn't it? 838 00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:04,400 No greater act of love. Our hope is that the Father's 839 00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:09,560 wrath has been satisfied in the Son, that there's no more wrath, 840 00:51:09,720 --> 00:51:12,800 no more condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. 841 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:16,280 Why? Because Christ took every bit. 842 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:19,520 Of our wrath. There's no more. 843 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:22,960 Left so we can look forward to the hope of Christ returning 844 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:24,920 because He will rescue us from God's wrath. 845 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:27,520 He will not give us what our sins deserve. 846 00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:29,200 And that's all of His wrath, isn't it? 847 00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:36,480 We are look forward to this day. I pray you are. 848 00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:40,080 I pray you're longing to see our full salvation come. 849 00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:48,800 But so sadly, in our woke world, we want to remove God's wrath 850 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:53,240 from the gospel. We want to take it out. 851 00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:57,960 We want to erase the need to be rescued from God's wrath. 852 00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:01,160 It's just that God wants to have a relationship with you and 853 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:02,520 you've messed up the relationship. 854 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:06,800 And so you, you, you need to, you need to follow Jesus so that 855 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,520 your relationship with your creator can be restored. 856 00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:12,440 And yes, when you follow Jesus, your relationship with your 857 00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:15,320 creator is restored. But you need to flee to Jesus 858 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:18,000 because there is a wrath coming upon your sin, and Jesus is the 859 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:20,200 only answer for the wrath that you deserve. 860 00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:26,560 And so if you erase God's wrath, you erase the need for Jesus, 861 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:31,520 the true Jesus. And that's the real danger with 862 00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:32,880 the church members. They're going to be rescued. 863 00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,600 They have no guilt in life. They have No Fear in death. 864 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:40,080 They've been freed from God's wrath. 865 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,680 They will be rescued from the coming wrath by Jesus Christ. 866 00:52:46,720 --> 00:52:49,840 Oh, but those not in the church, those who are not real church 867 00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:56,280 members, they only have a fearful expectation of judgement 868 00:52:56,480 --> 00:52:59,760 and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 869 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:03,080 Hebrews 1027. That's what you have to look 870 00:53:03,080 --> 00:53:06,640 forward to. Now, I don't want you to think 871 00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,520 this. I don't want you to think that. 872 00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:15,440 There was a meeting this week and all of us pastors got 873 00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:17,080 together and said, wow, what do we need to do? 874 00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:21,040 Service numbers are down. We need more nursery workers. 875 00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:24,120 And so Jake, it's you're up this week, can you guilt trip them 876 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:26,480 into being real church members so they'll serve a little bit 877 00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:29,520 more? That's not what's happened. 878 00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:35,440 But when we read this text, when we read what a real church 879 00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,200 member looks like, and I warn you of the wrath of those who 880 00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:42,400 are not real church members, I am scared for some of your 881 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:46,280 souls. Because this is a real church 882 00:53:46,280 --> 00:53:50,400 member. And if you're not a real church 883 00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:56,760 member, you have a fearful expectation of the fire of God 884 00:53:56,760 --> 00:54:02,040 that will consume you. It's not you just need to flood 885 00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:05,200 church Center and sign up for as many service opportunities as 886 00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:08,760 you can. It's that you need to do some 887 00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:13,400 deep soul searching and to see this church is just some game 888 00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:15,480 you play and some addition to your life. 889 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:17,800 Or is Christ and His body your very life? 890 00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:20,720 Because if he is your life, all five of these marks will flow 891 00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:22,720 out of you because you're a real church member. 892 00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:24,680 But some of you it doesn't flow out of. 893 00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:32,560 I'm scared. You need to flee to Christ not 894 00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:35,800 to add something to your life. You need to renounce everything. 895 00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:42,240 You need to come to this Jesus. Your very eternity is at stake 896 00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,760 because the real church members are looking forward to a rescue. 897 00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:48,080 No rescue for non church members. 898 00:54:52,120 --> 00:54:56,960 Don't ask this question. Is anything keeping you from 899 00:54:56,960 --> 00:54:59,040 being a real church member like we've just seen? 900 00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:01,440 That's what a Christian looks like. 901 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:05,640 What's keeping you from it? Is your service not remembered 902 00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:06,800 because you just don't do anything? 903 00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:14,320 It's a great possibility if no one would know if you're 904 00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:17,280 steadfast in trials because you never open up and you're never 905 00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:20,080 vulnerable to seek prayer from other Christians. 906 00:55:23,360 --> 00:55:26,960 Do you have 0 labours of love and works of faith within the 907 00:55:26,960 --> 00:55:28,960 body of Christ that we would know you? 908 00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:37,160 Are you just lazy? Are you scared of being known? 909 00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:41,640 Are you scared of having other people look to you? 910 00:55:42,720 --> 00:55:44,280 Are you scared of accountability? 911 00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:47,280 Are you scared of holding other people accountable? 912 00:55:48,640 --> 00:55:51,320 Stop being foolish. That's what the church is all 913 00:55:51,320 --> 00:55:53,440 about. It's about remembering one 914 00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:57,040 another. But if you have no heart for 915 00:55:57,040 --> 00:55:59,760 that? You're probably not regenerate, 916 00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:01,360 which is where we need to start first. 917 00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:04,120 William Gernold said this the Puritan. 918 00:56:05,240 --> 00:56:09,000 He said it can be written on the tomb of an unrepentant Sinner, 919 00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:16,320 that here lies a man who in all his life worked not an hour for 920 00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:19,760 God. It will do nothing for the Lord 921 00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:23,920 and they'll be OK with it. You, ma'am, You Sir, are not 922 00:56:23,920 --> 00:56:27,040 saved. You have a fearful expectation 923 00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:31,320 of wrath heading your way. You need to flee from and flee 924 00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:33,800 to Christ. Maybe let's look at your 925 00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:37,960 reputation. Do you have a reputation similar 926 00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:41,400 to this church? Your actions are outstanding, 927 00:56:42,080 --> 00:56:44,440 not so people can say, oh look at me, but just because the Lord 928 00:56:44,440 --> 00:56:47,480 has changed you so much that people are talking about it. 929 00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:54,120 Do you share the gospel when you have the opportunity? 930 00:56:56,640 --> 00:56:59,760 Do do you seek to reach people with the only way to reach them 931 00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:03,840 in the gospel? Do you have the spiritual 932 00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:06,280 discipline and practice that is disciplined because it takes 933 00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:13,840 sacrifice to evangelize. Are you sure about your hope of 934 00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:16,280 rescue? Have you really repented of sin? 935 00:57:16,400 --> 00:57:19,400 Have you turned to the one true and living God? 936 00:57:19,720 --> 00:57:22,400 Do you know that one day He's coming to give you rescue from 937 00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:24,760 His wrath that He has purchased on the cross? 938 00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:34,040 Fear of death is real, isn't it? But there's a real cure to a 939 00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:35,920 real fear of death. Here's the real cure. 940 00:57:36,080 --> 00:57:39,480 The real cure is repenting of your lack of trust. 941 00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:45,160 That's why you feel fear death, because you don't trust. 942 00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:49,680 That Christ really did pay to rescue you from God's wrath, and 943 00:57:49,680 --> 00:57:58,240 that anything. After death is good, we look at 944 00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:04,040 this, we say, well, we have, we have covered about everything in 945 00:58:04,040 --> 00:58:08,480 life, haven't we? This encompasses all of life. 946 00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:13,040 A church member. They're not known primarily for 947 00:58:13,040 --> 00:58:16,080 their job. They're not known for being a 948 00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:20,760 Texans fan, an Astros fan, a hunter, a fisherman, a whatever. 949 00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:33,040 They are known by this. This should be our life. 950 00:58:35,040 --> 00:58:37,960 This should be everything that we do and say and are. 951 00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:42,720 That's a Christian. That's a member of the Lord's 952 00:58:43,120 --> 00:58:44,960 church. And you may be skeptical and 953 00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:48,280 say, wow, this is a lot to ask. We have a lot going on. 954 00:58:49,880 --> 00:58:55,840 If you're a parent, the world wants to own your children. 955 00:58:56,640 --> 00:58:58,920 And the way they're going to own their children is by 956 00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:01,920 infiltrating your mind and temptations and desires. 957 00:59:02,480 --> 00:59:05,600 And they're coming after that. Here's what your kid has to do. 958 00:59:05,680 --> 00:59:08,400 Here's what your kid has to do. Here's who your kid has to be. 959 00:59:08,480 --> 00:59:10,280 Here's what you have to do to set your kid up for. 960 00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:13,720 This kind of stuff. And all the while it's 961 00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:19,520 distracting you from living your entire life sold out for the 962 00:59:19,520 --> 00:59:22,600 church and the body of believers, and you're teaching 963 00:59:22,600 --> 00:59:24,560 your kids to be far worse than you. 964 00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:33,840 Teach them to flee the fleeting. Pleasures of this world and to 965 00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:38,160 give their lives and pour their lives out for the body of 966 00:59:38,160 --> 00:59:41,040 Christ. Ironically, the body that was 967 00:59:41,040 --> 00:59:47,360 poured out for us. You say, wow, this is going to 968 00:59:47,360 --> 00:59:49,800 cost me some things. If I am going to live like a 969 00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:51,280 real Christian, it's going to cost me. 970 00:59:52,120 --> 00:59:54,240 I'm going to sacrifice this. I'm going to have to stop doing 971 00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:56,920 this. That's the point. 972 00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:01,160 Being a follower of Christ will cost you everything. 973 01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:04,880 In fact, that's worship, Paul says in Romans 12. 974 01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:09,040 I urge you, brothers, to offer your bodies as a living 975 01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:13,280 sacrifice unto God, holy and pleasing unto them unto him, for 976 01:00:13,280 --> 01:00:15,200 this is your true and proper worship. 977 01:00:16,080 --> 01:00:18,360 Offering your bodies is a sacrifice. 978 01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:24,360 This isn't easy. A real church member, it's going 979 01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:29,160 to cost you so much, but it's still worth it because what else 980 01:00:29,160 --> 01:00:32,560 could you live your life for than the one who bled and died 981 01:00:32,560 --> 01:00:37,120 for you? Some might look at this and I 982 01:00:37,120 --> 01:00:42,120 pray this is you because I do believe talking to a real church 983 01:00:42,160 --> 01:00:48,320 for the most part with real church members that they are 984 01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:52,440 remembered that I can look at some of you live your lives and 985 01:00:52,440 --> 01:00:54,960 I can go back to times or even there are Times Now where I've 986 01:00:54,960 --> 01:00:58,760 served alongside of you and I'm still encouraged and I thank God 987 01:00:58,760 --> 01:01:00,920 for that. I know that you're regenerate 988 01:01:00,920 --> 01:01:03,480 because I know what you believe and and how you have received 989 01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:07,440 the gospel. I know your reputation because 990 01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:09,960 I've heard people talk about it and I've seen it in my life, 991 01:01:09,960 --> 01:01:12,680 seen it with you. I know you've repented. 992 01:01:13,520 --> 01:01:18,280 You've shared the struggles of your old flesh in the world. 993 01:01:19,360 --> 01:01:21,560 Now you're striving to turn to Christ at every corner. 994 01:01:23,600 --> 01:01:25,240 I know you're looking forward to a rescue. 995 01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:30,240 So you may say I'm doing pretty well. 996 01:01:33,640 --> 01:01:36,840 But Paul calls this church a model for believers. 997 01:01:41,160 --> 01:01:46,160 How has this model highlighted your shortcomings? 998 01:01:47,800 --> 01:01:50,080 'Cause I know. This this has highlighted many 999 01:01:50,080 --> 01:01:53,000 of mine. It was said before this service, 1000 01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:55,960 three of these marks will hit you, if not all 5. 1001 01:01:58,320 --> 01:02:02,200 Where has this shown that you are falling dreadfully short? 1002 01:02:07,160 --> 01:02:12,240 You might be regenerate. You might be a member of 1003 01:02:12,240 --> 01:02:17,720 Christ's family by the new birth, but what comes out of 1004 01:02:17,720 --> 01:02:22,160 your life doesn't always match. Like you belong to the body. 1005 01:02:22,600 --> 01:02:24,520 You're a hand, but you've cut yourself off. 1006 01:02:25,440 --> 01:02:27,480 You're a foot, but you're just dragging behind. 1007 01:02:33,300 --> 01:02:37,500 Whatever it takes, whatever sin needs to be cast off, whatever 1008 01:02:37,500 --> 01:02:39,340 help from the Lord needs to be sought. 1009 01:02:40,340 --> 01:02:46,820 Be a church member. Devote your very life 1010 01:02:46,980 --> 01:02:52,240 personally. Start in your own heart that I'm 1011 01:02:52,240 --> 01:02:56,520 going to be a real church member and whatever doesn't look like 1012 01:02:56,520 --> 01:03:02,920 that, I'm casting it off so that you can be a model to all. 1013 01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:06,440 How blessed would that be to have the Apostle Paul write to 1014 01:03:06,440 --> 01:03:11,800 this church? And so you are a model to the 1015 01:03:11,800 --> 01:03:17,920 believers in New Caney and Splendora and Kingwood and 1016 01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:25,480 Porter and Cleveland and Tarkington and to the ends of 1017 01:03:25,480 --> 01:03:30,440 Texas. What will it take? 1018 01:03:30,440 --> 01:03:36,760 What will it take for you to be a real church member? 1019 01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:40,240 The Lord has laid it out very clearly for us. 1020 01:03:41,840 --> 01:03:45,840 I pray that the Lord will change your hearts and change your mind 1021 01:03:46,600 --> 01:03:51,120 and compel you and propel you to be all that the Son has died for 1022 01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:55,120 you to be. Father, we ask that that would 1023 01:03:55,120 --> 01:03:59,800 be true. Well, Lord, we thank you for the 1024 01:03:59,800 --> 01:04:05,320 churches of ages gone by who lived the truth fiercely and 1025 01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:08,800 boldly and with everything. And we thank you for their 1026 01:04:08,800 --> 01:04:15,840 example. We know if we were asking them, 1027 01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:18,080 they would give all glory to you. 1028 01:04:19,600 --> 01:04:22,000 So we praise you for the work you did in this church's life. 1029 01:04:23,440 --> 01:04:24,840 Yeah. We praise you for the the work 1030 01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:30,680 that you've doing and you have done here in this body of key 1031 01:04:30,680 --> 01:04:37,160 life fellowship. Got to ask that you would make 1032 01:04:37,160 --> 01:04:40,000 us in to be make us to be real church members. 1033 01:04:41,840 --> 01:04:45,600 You'd conform us to the image of your Son, then we would show 1034 01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:48,880 him. And when people see us, they see 1035 01:04:48,880 --> 01:04:55,840 the glory of our great God and Savior, they see our good deeds, 1036 01:04:57,360 --> 01:05:02,240 and they would glorify you. And we ask that we would be, 1037 01:05:02,920 --> 01:05:09,440 above all else, people personally and collectively who 1038 01:05:09,440 --> 01:05:15,360 seek to bring honor and glory to you or whatever that takes. 1039 01:05:15,360 --> 01:05:17,840 May you convict us, and may you change us to make that happen. 1040 01:05:17,840 --> 01:05:23,360 We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. You've been listening to Key 1041 01:05:23,360 --> 01:05:26,120 Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast. 1042 01:05:26,480 --> 01:05:29,640 Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.