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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 We are closing out a series called what happened in Thessalonica. And the reason why we have been doing this series is because what happened in Thessalonica is happening here. A church took root in a very pagan culture,0:12 a very godless culture. God blessed this church, grew this church. Paul was only there for 3 weeks. Somebody say 3 weeks. Paul the Apostle who went from city to city planting churches, he was only there 3 weeks, chased0:23 out of town by a riotous mob, and not only chased out of Thessalonica, but he was chased out of the next town that he went to by the same crowd that chased him out of Thessalonica. You know you hate someone when you0:34 chase them out of your town and the next town that they go to. Amen. That's what happened in Thessalonica. And yet, and I've said this repeatedly in this series, there is a gospel preaching church in the city of0:45 Thessalonica in Greece to this day. That's the power of the gospel. The gospel changes people's lives. It doesn't just change people's lives. It changes communities. Amen, somebody. And that's why we are planting0:57 churches. That's what really big things is about. On the way out at every location, those 10 tips that you just heard from our our elder Doug White, is a professional financial professional, we are gonna give you a card1:09 that will give you a reminder of all those 10 things. Start saving. Hopefully, you've already opened up a savings account, started to put money aside. Remember, we've got a 30 week offering coming for really big things.1:20 I believe that is December tenth. I'm doing this on the top of my head now. Don't have it written down. And then we have a 40 week offering, which is February eighteenth weekend. So you got plenty of time, but start now1:30 week by week, and I believe we will be able to fund the vision of this church. Okay. Let's get into it. First Thessalonians, take out your notes. Fill in the blanks. I don't have paper notes with me to show you, so I1:42 trust you have them in house in your hand. If you are not in the locations, go to Watershirts dot guide. It looks like that. And then you can fill in the blanks by clicking on today's message, which will look like that.1:55 Okay. Stand with me for the reading of God's word. First Thessalonians in all locations. The last few verses of this book, verse 12 of chapter 5. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who2:07 labor among you and esteem them highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. That was last week. Now this week. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle.2:19 Encourage the fainthearted. Help the weak. Be patient with them all. See that no 1 repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to 1 another and to everyone.2:31 Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not2:42 despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. And now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your2:54 whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under3:06 oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and the sisters. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And this is God's word. Let's pray together.3:18 Father, thank you for the chance to hear your voice through your word, and I pray that my words will be what you want them to be and nothing that you don't want them to be. And may our ears be open and our hearts3:27 receptive and our minds renewed. Help us, father, to see Jesus. Him and him only. In his mighty name, we pray. And everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat at all locations.3:39 We have gotten to the end of this book, first Thessalonians. And remember that first Thessalonians is a letter. It's not a book. It's a letter. It's a letter from Paul to a church in the first century church in3:49 Thessalonica. And what I love about the end of Paul's letters and he has written a third of the New Testament. Remember that. Most of the New Testament is letters, and most of them are from Paul the apostle, a former4:01 adversary of the church, and he became the greatest apostle that ever lived. But what I love about the last few verses of all of his letters is this. They give us a little clue4:13 as to what the church was like in the first century. Does does anybody wonder about that? Does anybody anybody like me? I mean, I know you don't spend your life doing what I do, but I think about that a4:25 lot. What was the church like in the first century? Anybody wonder about that? I I think about that a lot. Because I know what the church is like in our century, and4:37 I always think like this, and maybe you do too, that ours our generation, not so great. The early church, really, really great. Like, I always have this inferiority complex with the4:49 early church. Anybody with me on that? You know, you know, feel like that? Because, like, they went to the lions for Christ. Right? They were this is historically true. They they were burned alive on5:00 stakes for Christ. They were grilled in the Colosseum alive to death for Christ. But if you do a little bit more research, you realize that those5:12 persecutions, those real big ones, those were headline persecutions, and many people didn't experience that. Most people in the early church lived ordinary lives. Yes. They were5:24 harassed in more ways than we are. Absolutely. And they had absolutely limited rights than we do. But for the most part, and this is the good news. Okay? They were a lot like us.5:36 They were a lot like us. And what do I mean by that? They were jacked up just like us. They were a mess. Okay. And here's why I say that.5:49 For let's put up verse 14 from what we just read on the screen. Look what Paul says about the or to this church. He says, I want you to do 3 things. I want you to admonish the who?6:02 Aido. If you see the word, just shout it out. I I I like talk backing kind of congregations. Okay. So admonish the what? Encourage the faint hearted and help the weak. And then the last6:13 line, be with them all. I don't like those last 3 words. I wanna be patient with certain people. Anybody with me? But notice that he says there's 3 kinds of6:25 people in this church. Idle, fainthearted, weak. Let me explain those 3. Idle, some translations, if you have something other than the ESV, which is the translation of the Bible that I read from, they6:37 translate the word idle as unruly. Unruly. So what does that tell you? In the first century church in Thessalonica, there were some unruly6:49 Christians. How many of you feeling better about yourself already? Right there. Okay. How many of you have ever met an unruly Christian? Raise your hand if you've ever met 1 of these people. If you haven't, you might be7:00 1. Okay? Anyway, fainthearted. The word fainthearted means it's a 2 part word in Greek. It means small spirited. These are people who were they were just very,7:11 diminutive spiritually. They weren't that strong. They weren't that strong in spirit. That's what fainthearted means. If you feel like you're that kind of person, good news. You're you7:23 belong in the church. You belong in the church because the church is here to make you strong hearted. And I guarantee that you get stronger in the Lord, everything in life gets easier. Amen,7:35 somebody. Then the third kind of person, the weak. And the word weak is not just weakness, physically. It's weakness spiritually. He's literally talking about people. And and the translation7:47 in other texts of this word means people who keep stumbling in the same way again and again and again and again and again and again. Am I talking to anybody who can resonate with some of these groups?8:00 Or you know some of these groups, or you're 1 of these people. Good news, the early church was just like us. And and that hopefully brings hope to8:12 you. Because if there's 1 thing that I've seen the devil try to do in the church and with every Christian, and I know he's doing it with you because he's definitely doing it with me all the time, he's trying to8:21 discourage you and tell you time and time again, you're not strong enough. You're not healthy enough. You're not good enough. You're not faithful enough. You're not active enough. And he's always trying to8:33 accuse you. The Bible calls him the accuser of the brothers. He stands and he accuses you day and night before God. But the good news of the gospel is that we have somebody who8:44 stands in our place and defends our case before the heavenly court, and his name is Jesus Christ. He's our advocate. He's our edifier. He is our8:56 big brother. He is our champion. And in him, we are enough in Jesus. Amen. That's the good news of the gospel.9:08 So Paul was talking to the church in the first century saying, I need you to deal with these people this way. There are people like this even in today's church, and maybe you're 1 of them, and you're welcome here. But9:17 that's why the title of my message is this, church, a mess, and a miracle. Because that's what the church is. The church is a mess and a miracle at the same time.9:29 Because the church that Paul says is filled with idle people, unruly people, and fainthearted people, and morally weak people is also the church that if you back up to the first chapter of Thessalonians 1, it says this.9:41 He says, we give thanks to God always for all of you. Now think about putting those 2 things together. Paul, you've got idle people. You've got unruly people. You've got faint hearted. You've morally weak people in the9:52 church. And yet here he is saying, I'm thankful for all of you because I'm praying for you. I'm remembering you. Your labor of love, your faith, and and your perseverance, your10:04 steadfastness. You know, you can be steadfast and spiritually weak at the same time. I I know that doesn't sound like you can, but you can because I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes when I'm hanging on by a10:15 thread, I know that that thread is enough because that thread's name is Jesus. All I need is him. And so here's the big idea for this message is this. To be in the church write this down. To be in the church is to live10:27 between a mess and a miracle. That's what it is. Your life, by the way, lives between the mess and the miracle. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You10:38 came to Christ. Maybe maybe might maybe all of you did. Maybe most of you did, but at least a few of you did, and your life was a total mess. And you couldn't get anything working. You couldn't get anything together. And10:50 you knew that you were you were bound and locked in a sin, and things just weren't working. And and yet God loved you, and God saved you. And there's a process. We call that sanctification whereby you turn from11:02 a mess into a miracle. But here's the deal. You already are a miracle. To be saved is a miracle in Christ, and yet we've got a great miracle coming at the resurrection on the11:13 last day. And so to be a Christian is to live between being a mess and being a miracle. And sometimes it's a miracle day, and sometimes it's a mess day, and sometimes it's a mess11:25 week, and sometimes it's a miracle month. But the good news is God is in charge of it all. And if you're gonna be part of the church, you gotta learn.11:37 And let me just give you the 4 1 1 right now. You gotta learn to be okay with rubbing shoulders with messy miracles. Amen. Thank11:49 God he was patient with me. We all wanna say, oh, thank God he's patient with me. Okay. Yeah. But he's also patient with the people you don't like. Am I already slipping on toes? You12:01 see, people say, I don't like the church. You know? I I've had a hard time with the church. Oh, people in the church have and this, that, the other thing. And I've been hurt by that church. Yes. Of course you have.12:10 Because the church is filled with messy miracles. So so here's what he says. Be patient with them. Oh. You gotta be patient. If you wanna survive in the church,12:22 you need patience. And and and this is the distance, and I want you to write this down. Because the distance between the mess and the miracle is patience. Patience to12:34 trust that God is not done with the church yet. God's not done with you yet. God's not done with me yet. And for anybody who says, and I hear this a lot from from12:45 former church people is they say, well, the church heard me and the church did this to me, and so I'm done with the church. And I get that, and I've been through those things before. But I will tell you, take my word for12:57 it, there's nothing better out there. There's nothing now I'm not talking about specifically our church, although I happen to have preference for our church, as I hope all of you do.13:09 Amen. I'm talking about being in the big c church gathered in community. Because as much as this might be difficult at times because everybody's a mess and a13:20 miracle, how many know outside this place is worse? Outside this place, you don't have people getting convicted by the Holy Spirit. You don't have a standard of13:32 morality on which we can live. You don't have some document from God on which you can hold people accountable. Even our country right now, breaking apart at the seams, proving13:44 that the constitution of the United States is not the living word of God. It can't hold us together. But there is a word that has held people together13:55 for 2000 years. It's the word of the living God, and we stand on that. And that holds us together. Amen. So14:07 it's patience. If you're gonna deal with the church, if you're gonna be in the church, if you're gonna grow in the church, you need patience. You need patience for you. You need patience for the guy who bugs you or the14:15 girl who bugs you, and you need patience for the church around you. But let me make something clear. Patience does not just mean sit back, do nothing, and let the time pass by.14:27 And that's what the rest of this text is about. He actually gives us some principles on how to see the mess turn into a miracle. So that's what this text is about. Let's get into it a little bit more. Verse 15, he says,14:39 see that no 1 repays evil for evil. Okay. That that's pretty simple. Don't get into the payback principle. Don't get back don't get into that I'm gonna get them forgetting me,14:51 mindset. Here's what he says. Always seek good seek to do good to 1 another. That's the body of Christ and to everyone. Always seek like, look for15:03 opportunities to do good to your brothers and sisters in Christ and and then also people outside of the church. And and you say, that's hard for me. People have gotten after me. They've done15:15 stuff to me, and I wanna get them back. And and look. I get it. That's our that's our human nature. We want to see fairness and equality, but but, usually, our sinfulness, we go beyond equality15:26 too. We do worse to them than they did to us. And so the restrictive principle of the Old Testament is eye for an eye. In other words, just equal measure. But the New Testament principle is don't repay evil for evil15:38 ever. Like, forgive. Let it go. And you say, well, what's gonna happen? Here's what's gonna happen. Are you ready? God's gonna get them. And and let me just tell you, you want God to get them15:50 because God knows how to get them better than you know how to get them. And sometimes, God's gonna save them. And then when he saves them, there's no need to get them because now they're his.16:02 And and the best thing that God can do for any 1 of your enemies is make you your enemy 1 of your brothers or sisters. Amen. And that should be our hope. And that's what Paul says. If we're gonna have if we're gonna have16:12 a healthy church that's both a mess and a miracle, we can't get into this back and forth. We gotta leave it in the hands of God and trust him to settle all accounts in the end. So point number 1 to that end. How do we16:24 live between the mess and the miracle? Write this down. We develop inward strength so that we can be outwardly serving others. That's what the church does. The church develops16:35 inward strength so we can outwardly serve each other. We can't just sit back and expect our spiritual life to grow. He gives us16:47 some principles here in verses 16, 17, and 18. What does he say? Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. This is God's will. Okay. Couple of points about the16:59 rest of the verses in first Thessalonians here. There is this comp comprehensive, all inclusive language that runs through every verse. You ever have you noticed it yet? It's do good to all17:11 people. Be patient with all people. Rejoice. Always give thanks in all circumstance. I mean, this is what what Paul said. This is comprehensive. You gotta learn17:23 to have a comprehensive mindset about your faith. And first things first, learn how to celebrate Christ all the time.17:35 Letter a in your notes. Write it down. Participate in public celebration of God and his victory in Christ Jesus. Rejoice when? Uh-oh. You didn't17:47 sound so confident here down in Apollo Beach, but I'm I'm sure you're more confident than that. Rejoice when? Always. Always. It it's not that you're rejoicing about what's going on, but you're17:59 rejoicing in Christ because you know that he's in charge of what's going on. Philippians 4 4, Paul says elsewhere. He says, rejoice, what, in the Lord always.18:11 So you say, I don't have anything going on in my life that I can rejoice about, pastor. Everything's coming at me. I feel this thing coming at me. I got this problem over here. I got that problem. Don't think you18:23 understand. There's nothing to rejoice over. Oh, yes. There is. You can always rejoice that the Lord is in charge of what's going on in your life. You can always rejoice that He18:34 knows how it feels because He was with us. He walked with us. He is Christ became flesh, and He dealt with every human emotion and every human struggle. The scripture18:46 says in Hebrews that we have a high priest in heaven who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. If you're going through it, know that Jesus Christ went through it. The only difference between you and him is that he18:57 never sinned. And so he knows how to get you through what you're going through without sin because he went through it and did not sin. And he can empower you through the Holy Spirit to19:09 rejoice through it because you know God is working no matter what you see around you. Rejoice in the Lord. So it is imperative, Waters Church, every location, that you19:20 make gathering in the church a regular occurrence, that you worship with us before the word of God. Because sometimes, I don't know about you, but I come into the house, and I don't feel like singing. I don't feel19:32 all that great. But the moment I start singing and the moment I start enjoying the Lord with other people, my emotions are changed in that moment. Anybody else feel that?19:44 This is a scientific fact, by the way. Everybody at all locations I know I can't see everybody, but everybody here and everybody at every location, just smile for me. Just smile. Just smile. Go ahead. Come on. You like19:55 to smile. You know it. All right? Do you know physiologically that God has wired our brains to release the dopamine hormone in our brain when we smile? And the dopamine hormone is the happy hormone.20:08 So if you ever want to feel happy, act happy. It's it's counterintuitive because our world tells you and especially you young people, they're telling you this all the time20:19 you need external realities to come in to make you happy. That's not true. You can teach yourself to be happy by what you do, not by what other people do. That's why Paul says,20:31 rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. I don't wanna rejoice. People hate me. Rejoice in the Lord. Stir your spirit up. Give him20:43 praise, and know that if God is for you, no 1 can be against you, that he's got you in the palm of his hand, and no 1 can pluck you out. You've always got a reason to praise God.20:54 Always. And the moment this is a good thing. The moment that you start acting in faith and doing it, that's when you start feeling it. The world teaches you to let21:06 your feelings follow your act the world tells you to let your actions follow your feelings. God tells you, let your feelings follow your action. You wanna do something? You wanna21:18 get happy? Act happy. Be happy. Praise God. Rejoice in the Lord. I gotta go go on. Deuteronomy 12 7. This passage is near and dear to my heart. He says, there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and21:30 and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake in which the Lord your God has blessed you. What's he talking about there? He's talking about when you come to the temple in the Old Testament,21:40 and they came 7 times a year to the temple, and they celebrated feast days. Israel, in the ancient world, in the Old Testament, they had 3 feast days that lasted a week,21:52 a weeklong feast, 3 times a year, 1 in spring, 1, a few months after that, and 1 a few months after that. Think about this. This is how God wanted Israel to act. I want22:04 you as a nation to take 3 weeks off a year, gather around me, and throw a party. Isn't that cool? I I don't know why22:16 the Old Testament version of God gets such a bad rap. Oh, that Old Testament God, He was so mean and nasty. No, He wasn't. He liked to party. He scheduled 3 a22:27 year, and he wanted them to eat and celebrate and feast. And he commanded them, and you will rejoice. We're supposed to party with God. Did you know that? That to all the grumpy Christians out there, bad news.22:39 Heaven's happy. Heaven's hap heaven's joyful. Amen? So Psalm 5 verse 11. Say, I'm going through something. Okay. Here's what it says. Psalm 5 11. Let all who take22:51 refuge in you rejoice. There's a good chance that reason why you can't break out of your your sadness is because you haven't taken refuge in God. So you got the choice when things23:03 come at you to to take refuge in something, to look for safety and happiness in something. You gotta take refuge in the Lord. Sometimes it's as simple as just getting on your knees and praying to God. Sometimes it's as23:14 simple as just switching on some praise music. Switch off the podcast. Switch off the news station and turn on some praise music. Amen? Amen. That's that's taking23:26 refuge in God. It says, let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them that they who love your name may exalt in you. Okay. So we rejoice. We participate in the joyful celebration of God. Letter23:38 b, pray over every problem and anxious thought. This is what Paul says. Pray without ceasing in first Thessalonians 5 18. Rejoice always and pray without ceasing. So when it says pray without23:49 ceasing, it does not mean, and this is a very elemental version of the faith, that you're supposed to be constantly in prayer and on your knees 24 hours a day, and that's only when God is pleased. That's how we got monks24:01 in the church. That's how we got monasteries because we take things to extremes. Okay. Pray without ceasing means you pray about everything. You pray about everything.24:13 It it doesn't mean that you walk around like this all day. It means that you're in a constant communication with God throughout your day. So so here's another way that Paul says it in Philippians 4 6. Do not be anxious24:25 about anything. But in everything then somebody say everything. Everything. Okay. Because the word everything in the Greek, it means everything. So in24:37 everything, okay, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, there it is again, the celebration, make your request known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your heart24:49 and mind in Christ Jesus. Jesus. What a powerful press. What a powerful scripture. What a powerful prescription for our age of anxiety and younger people, mental illness.25:02 You know, watch out for the terminology that you put into your own mind. I'm mentally ill. No. You're a sinner. You're a sinner. And sin25:14 affects your mind. Are you hearing this? It's getting quiet. It's truth. Usually gets quiet when I start to take it telling you the truth. The reason why we say mental25:25 illness is because that's the verbiage that nonbelievers give to things like sin. Because they don't have a they don't have a frame of reference about sin because nonbelievers think, and this is a fact, okay,25:37 what separates the human race is a fundamental belief about how people are born. Christians believe, because the scriptures teach us, that people are born sinful25:50 Yes. Rotten, evil. Let me get a little fundamentalist on you. Wicked. Oh, I don't like that word. Well, have a baby. You'll see what26:02 I mean. Alright? Not that's what the Bible teaches. Now now listen. Almost every other version of faith and philosophy in the world believes that the opposite is26:13 true. People are born naturally good, and society makes them evil. Are you understanding this? This is good. Okay. And so when you have a frame of reference that26:26 I was born naturally good and society made me evil, here's what you do. You start blaming society for your problems. You start26:37 and and if you're really mean and really immature, you blame mom and dad. And you spend your whole life blaming mom and dad for all your problems. And then you go and you pay a therapist26:49 235 dollars an hour to hear you complain about mom and dad. And the therapist does not mind. They'll listen to you complain about mom and dad until the cows come home. In fact,27:01 if you want to save yourself, I'll do it for 200 dollars an hour. Anybody want to take me up on the I'll listen to you. Blame your parents for 200 dollars an hour. At the end of the hour, here's what I'll say. Your27:11 parents were sinful, and they passed sin onto you. And you're gonna wreck your children, and 1 day a therapist will meet with your child and blame you. Because27:23 everyone's born sinful. And at some point, you've got to stop blaming everybody else and start looking at yourself. Repent. Turn to the God who made you and can save you and27:35 hand your body, soul, and spirit over to him. And you walk and watch things start to change. I don't know how I got onto that topic, but it's way off my notes. And let's get back or else I'll never27:47 recuperate. Okay? He says in verse 25, brothers, pray for us. You need to pray for your pastors. So prayer has to be a part of your life if you're going to develop inward strength. Inward strength27:58 starts with prayer and praise. And then letter c perpetually say thanks to God and for God. Notice the 2 prepositions, to God. Thank you, God.28:10 I'm saying thanks to you, and then I'm saying thanks for you. So what does that mean? That's why Paul says, give thanks in all circumstances. And28:22 just if you've got your Bibles out or your paper notes, please circle the word in all circumstances or in all or just the word in because the preposition matters. Because Paul doesn't say, give thanks for28:34 all circumstances, does he? So heaven forbid you have a loved 1 that passes away, of course you don't give thanks for that. You mourn for that.28:46 Of course, that's a sad thing. Christians mourn. We grieve. Jesus wept. He he weeps with us. But we can give thanks in the loss because we know that God comforts us in28:58 the Holy Spirit. We know that God has adopted us into his family. We know that God has a future for us in spite of the death that surrounds us. We know that resurrection awaits us. We can29:10 always give thanks in our circumstances because God is over our circumstances. And here's the best part. Are you ready? He's working through our circumstances for our good. Romans 8 28, 1 of the most29:22 powerful passages in the Bible. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for what? For good. He he can work for your good after you get fired.29:35 He he can work I know that's hard to imagine when you're fired, but he can. He can work for your good after the loss, after the the heartache, after the bad thing. He absolutely can, and he is29:47 working for your good. But you and I, we've got get to this point where we surrender our version of good, and we accept his version of good. Our version of good and29:58 his version of good, I've learned over my court course of my life, are very different. And if I just relax and here's what some of you gotta do today. If I just take my version of good and I just say, god, this is what I30:10 would love my life to be. Well, you know what? I'm not god. You are. I didn't create me. You did. I'm not you're not my idea. I'm your idea. So here's my version of good, and I give that to you. Have your way with me.30:22 I want your good in my life. Can I tell you when you get to that point, life gets a lot easier? You're not always wrestling out of God's hands, the things that you think he's holding back from30:34 you. No. No. No. No. You're trusting that in spite of what you see around you, God is working for the ultimate good that he has for you, and you can give thanks in that. So prayer, praise,30:46 thanks. Prayer, praise, and thanks. Okay. Number 2, the church must remain grounded in truth. If we're gonna survive between the mess and the miracle, we gotta remain grounded in the truth. Well, how do30:58 we do that? Big point here, the church is not gullible. The church is not gullible. Let's take a look at how Paul puts it. Verse fifth verse 19. Do not quench the spirit. In other words, let the spirit31:09 work in the body of Christ. He says, do not despise prophecies. By the way, there are whole denominations that despise prophecies, and they teach that prophecies are no longer a thing,31:21 and so forget prophecies when there really is no biblical text that supports that. How many know the Holy Spirit is still working in the church and through the church? And without the Holy Spirit, there is no31:33 church. So prophecies are essential to the life of the church. But notice verse 21. But test, what? Another comprehensive term in this31:45 text. Test everything. So so, yeah, you you get to test me. What I tell you from this stage, you get to test.31:57 How? Know this. You get to test me according to this book. Test it. See if I'm telling you what's in this book. Okay? And so test everything. Test what people tell you. And and I've said this before from the stage, but32:08 let me say it again because there's new people every week. If somebody at Waters Church comes and tells you these words, the Lord told me to tell you, test it.32:20 Test it. Because it may not be the Lord. It may just be the burrito they had for lunch, or it may just be their selfish pride or their wickedness. Okay? You test it. You32:32 don't just and what I'm saying is don't be gullible. Get grounded in the truth. It's an old preacher illustration that when secret service agents wanna test32:44 for, sorry, US marshals, when they wanna test for counterfeit bills, they don't they don't test they don't study counterfeits. They study the real. They study the genuine so that32:56 the moment they see a counterfeit, they know it's counterfeit. Here's what you've gotta do. Know the genuine so that you can sniff the counterfeit. Know what God said so that as33:07 soon as you that doesn't smell right. That doesn't sound like Jesus. That doesn't sound like my good shepherd. I know what his voice sounds like. That doesn't sound like yet. And you know it, and you save yourself a33:18 whole bunch of hurt and angst. He says hold fast to what is good. That's what he's saying there. And then abstain from every form of evil. 1 of the things you gotta understand about the church is that it has always been33:27 under attack from people within and without about truth. It's always been this way. So back to my point about the first century church. Look what it says in Revelation chapter 2 verse 20. It says, I have this against33:38 you. You tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches my servants and seduces them to practice sexual morality. Friends, Waters Church, there are churches across the country, mostly in33:49 America, sadly, that literally teach people to embrace sexual immorality. Literally, it's happening right now in America in churches across this country.34:01 Nothing new, by the way. Jesus condemns this church, Thyatira, in Revelation chapter 2 over that. Jude chapter 1 verse 4, certain people have crept in unnoticed34:13 long ago who were designed, designated for this condemnation. Ungodly people who, what, pervert the grace of God into a license for sexuality, immorality, and they deny the Lord. So there are gonna be people as there34:25 were in the first century. There's gonna be people today in the church that say, well, God will forgive you. Just go do it. That's a godless example. That's godlessness. Avoid it. Sniff it out. Reject it.34:37 First John chapter 2 26, he says, I'm writing to you about those who are distraught trying to deceive you. There's always gonna be people trying to deceive the church. You gotta keep your guard up and not be gullible.34:48 First Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, Paul says, the spirit express expressly says that in the latter times, some will depart the faith, and they will follow deceiving spirits and the doctrines or the teachings of demons. We34:59 are there, friends. We are there in this country with the amazing inaccuracies and wickedness and teachings that are coming out of churches. My my35:11 mouth drops when I hear what some pastors are telling their people. You gotta know the genuine so you can sniff that out and not be gullible and hold fast to what is good. Here's the fact. Write this down. The truth is35:22 always under attack. I gotta have my guard up. I can't just listen to everybody. I can't just follow every teacher, every pastor, every preacher. That's why God gives you elders. That's why God gives you35:34 pastors to keep you on track. Jeremiah, God says about Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals that you may determine the quality of my people. So we're not gullible.35:45 We're developing inward strength. We're not gullible. Number 3, this is my favorite point. I understand that the church is ultimately God's responsibility. So so maybe you're like, okay. You know, pastor, you're putting35:57 a heavy load on me here I am a mess. And I can't imagine myself getting to miracle status. I mean, I don't know how I'm going to get over this. Okay, I've got great news for you. At ease, soldier. God's36:09 in charge. He's in charge. I love verse 23 because here's what he says. He says, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you what's the next word, everybody? Completely. He's going to36:21 sanctify you what? Completely. And then he says that your whole soul, spirit, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if he stopped there in verse 23, you36:33 could say, well, it's just wishful thinking. It's just wishful thinking that that the Lord will do that. He's just praying that maybe the Lord maybe the Lord will complete me. I don't know. It's up in the air. I'm36:43 leaving it in his hands. No. Paul doesn't stop there, does he? Look at verse 24. He who calls you is faithful, he will what? Surely do it. It's a guarantee for every child of36:55 God that if you put your faith in Christ Jesus, he takes the reins of your life, and he takes ownership of you, And he takes responsibility for you. And37:06 he brings you to completion. 3 areas, your spirit, letter A. That's your connection to God. Letter B, your soul. That's your personhood. That's who you are on the inside that37:18 nobody can see. And letter c, your body. That's your physicality. That's that's this temple. You only get 1 temple, by the way. Treat your temple right. Amen? I mean, I37:30 I I said this to the men a couple of months ago at our men's meeting, and I wanna say it to the whole church. Church, we gotta watch what we eat. Your your body is not a roller coaster. It's not a carnival ride. And by37:41 the way, the older it gets, the more it breaks down. Alright? Treat it like a carnival ride in your forties, and you're gonna get a clunker in your fifties.37:53 You gotta put you gotta put unleaded high octane in that sucker. You gotta put good food in your body. You gotta watch your diet. I think and I say this a38:05 ton. But I think a lot of the things that we trust prescriptions for could be solved if we just ate better. Don't38:16 forget that the pharmaceutical industrial complex is a business. Now I understand there are some things you need drugs for, and and thank God for scientific discovery that38:28 helps us discover helpful drugs. But more often than we realize, more often than we realize, the drugs aren't the answer. Discipline is the answer.38:40 And who's gonna make that happen in our bodies? God's gonna help us. God's gonna convict us. Hopefully, some of you today, you're gonna convict it. I need to watch what I eat. I took my kids to no. I didn't take themShow more
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