Remembering Why You Believe – part 2
1 Thessalonians 2:9-12

As you know the letter of 1 Thessalonians is all about encouragement.
Paul is encouraging the church that so greatly encouraged him.

Their obedience encouraged Paul.
1 Thessalonians 3:8 “for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.”

And in turn Paul writes this letter to encourage them.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”

And as we said last Sunday night, encouragement is vitally important.
Anyone who has ever faced hardship or difficulty, or suffering, or persecution knows the value of encouragement.

You simply cannot overstate the significance of a brother or sister Who comes to you in the midst of your hardship,
And reminds you of the truth, and encourages you to fulfill it.

Those types of people are absolutely invaluable.

For, as we said last week, suffering can be a great discourager
In our walk with the Lord.

(WE TALKED ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST)
But I would also tell you that John is not an isolated incident.

Let me remind you of a few other pillars of the faith
Who also fought bouts of discouragement.

Remember this fellow?

One day:
1 Kings 18:21 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”

Just a few days later:
1 Kings 19:4 “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

1 Kings 19:9-10 “Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

And of course you remember from our study of this text,
That similar to John the Baptist, Elijah was thrown a curve ball.

He didn’t get what he “expected”, and it derailed him
And caused him to doubt everything he believed.

To which God encouraged Elijah.
1 Kings 19:15-18 “The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Perhaps you remember Jeremiah and his doubt against God.
Jeremiah 15:18 “Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable?”

Maybe you remember Asaph as he saw the wealth of the wicked.
Psalms 73:12-14 “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”

The point is even the strongest of the strong can be blindsided by adversity and need encouragement to keep them going.

(And we likened that encouragement to giving them Jesus all over again)

And although we have no record of the Thessalonians doubting God
Paul knows that based upon their trials it is a real possibility.

So he writes to encourage them to push on even in the face of opposition.

Now when you read this text at first glance
It appears to be a simple defense of Paul’s ministry.

And it is a defense of his ministry.
But Paul is not defending his ministry
Simply because he hates for people to speak evil about him.

Paul knows if he is discredited, so is his message.
If his message is discredited, so is their faith.

That is why Paul doesn’t write to his accusers to defend himself.
Paul writes to the Thessalonians because he wants to encourage them
As to why they can know what they believe is the truth.

And so while it appears to be a defense of himself,
It is really better seen as a confirmation to the Thessalonians
That what they initially believed was right.

Last week we saw the first five characteristics of Paul’s ministry.
1) Courage (1-2)
2) Conviction (3-4)
3) Contentment (5-6)
4) Compassion (7)
5) Consistency (8)

And in all of those statements Paul revealed things
That he DID NOT do, or would not do.

For example.
He didn’t come for his own enjoyment.
He didn’t come telling lies or made up stories.
He didn’t come seeking money or glory or even sex.
He didn’t come bullying or brow beating people.
He didn’t come in arrogance, but practiced what he preached.

These last three work in opposite fashion.
They reveal how Paul DID act among them.

Just as there are some attributes that should not be a part of a true ministry, there are some attributes that must be a part.

Courage, Conviction, Contentment, Compassion, Consistency
#6 COMMITMENT
1 Thessalonians 2:9

And here again we get Paul’s statement of reminder. “For you recall”

(and indeed he will remind them like this two more times)

“For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”

And obviously that is a tremendous statement of commitment.

Paul was absolutely committed to preaching the gospel to them.

And it didn’t matter if he had no support,
He would simply work at night and preach during the day,
Or work during the day and preach at night.

But nothing was going to stand in Paul’s way
Of preaching the gospel to these people.
And what a great way to be remembered!

When the Thessalonians thought about what mattered most to Paul, they would remember, “Paul wanted us to hear the gospel”.

1 Corinthians 9:16-18“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.”

Paul was committed.
You might say he had tunnel vision.

So Paul says, you know I am real, you know I was committed when I came

Courage, Conviction, Contentment, Compassion, Consistency, Commitment
#7 CONSECRATION
1 Thessalonians 2:10

And here again we a statement of reminder.
“You are witnesses”

Paul was not asking them to take his word for anything,
He was just simply reminding them of what they saw.

“and so is God”
And even if the Thessalonians doubted what they saw,
Paul took comfort in the fact that before God he had a clean conscience.

Paul was saying, “You know what the truth is”
“how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers.”

There you will notice that Paul uses three words
To describe the way in which he behaved toward the Thessalonians.

“devoutly” translates HOSIOS (piously)
“uprightly” translates DIKAIOS (righteously)
“blamelessly” translates AMEMPTOS (without blame)

Paul was not giving three separate descriptions,
But one description enforced with three synonyms

When we lived among you
We were pious, we were righteous, we were without blame.

Paul asks the Thessalonians to jog their memory and see
If they can find anything corrupt or carnal about the way Paul lived.

There was not, he was wholly consecrated to the Lord
As a holy example of how to live.

And again we cannot stress how important this is.

When Jesus sent out the twelve He said:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

And the point is “Don’t give the devil a stick to beat you with.”

Now he is more than willing to lie in order to condemn you,
But make sure he has to lie to do it.

If you or I live in a carnal or sinful way,
It only gives the enemy all the evidence he needs to discredit us.

(The Smokescreen or The Magnifying Glass)
I mean just ask yourself,
Which type of news spreads fastest; good or bad?

Paul knew it so he walked in purity.
And he uses that purity to remind the Thessalonians that he was real.

Courage, Conviction, Contentment, Compassion, Consistency, Commitment
Consecration
#8 COACHING
1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

And this is where the whole point of the first twelve verses
Really comes to fruition.

One more time gives that reminder phrase.
“just as you know”

“how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,”

Earlier Paul said we were gentle as a mother,
Now he uses the illustration of a father.

We all know why we love our mothers.
She is gentle, she coddles us, she pampers us, she kisses it when it hurts.

Dad however is a whole different story.
His message is “Get up, shake it off, dry it up, be tough”

AND TRUE CHRISTIAN ENCOURAGEMENT ENCOMPASSES BOTH.

Let me give you an example of this.
In Sunday school recently we saw where John Mark
Deserted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey.

Acts 13:13 “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.”

Later when it came time for the next missionary journey
We have a problem.

Acts 15:36-40 “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.”

There you have Barnabas as gentle as a mother.
There you have Paul as stern as a father.

BOTH were needed encouragement in Mark’s life.
He needed to feel compassion and forgiveness,
But he also needed to know that his prior decision was unacceptable.

And together Paul and Barnabas would encourage Mark
In how to rightly live the Christian life.

So much so that at the end of his life, Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”

Sometimes the sternness of a father is necessary.

We did more than just coddle you and goo over you.
We also pushed you to be more than you presently were.

“we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you.”

“exhorting” translates PARAKALEO – to come along side to encourage.

It is also translated “imploring” in other passages.
The Holy Spirit is the PARAKLETE

“encouraging” translates PARAMUTHEOMAI – to come along side to comfort.

“imploring” translates MARTUROMAI – to summon as a witness

It is where we get our word for martyr.
It is a living witness for Christ.
And Paul said this is the goal we had for you.

We stood beside you and cheered you on.
We stood beside you and encouraged you.
And all the while we kept before you the ultimate goal of Christlikeness.

That is what a coach does.
He verbally encourages, he reprimands, he even comforts,
And all with an eye to the prize.

WHY DID PAUL COME LIKE THAT?

WHAY WAS PAUL Courageous, Convicted, Content, Compassionate, Consistent, Committed, Consecrated, and Coaching?

WHY DID HE DO ALL THOSE THINGS?

(12) “so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you inot His own kingdom and glory.”

And now all of a sudden it makes sense.

Yes Paul was defending his own ministry,
But not just because he wanted to save face.

Paul knew that the attacks weren’t really meant to hurt him.
The attacks were meant to hurt the Thessalonians.

Those persecutors were trying to discredit Paul
So that they could get the Thessalonian believers to stop believing
And return to their former life of sin.

This was really an attack on their faith.

When Paul writes defending himself,
He does so, so that they will remember why they believed
And stand strong despite the opposition.
And ultimately achieve the goal that Paul still has for them.

Which is that they “would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

CAN WE SUM UP THE CHRISTIAN GOAL ANY CLEARER?

First we notice that God has “His own kingdom and glory”

It is not ours, it is His.
“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”
It is His kingdom. It is His glory.
Yet, God has called us into it.

We were invited.
We were called.
We were drawn.

We are like guests at a banquet.

And Paul says, since you have been invited to God’s banquet
i know that it is important that you “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you”

In other words, you are invited guest so act in a proper manner.

Psalms 96:9 “Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

Walk in holiness when you claim to serve God.

This is God’s intention.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

God’s desire is that we would walk blameless before Him.

And this is why Paul writes.

There are those in your midst who would undermine my ministry,
Solely so that they can turn you from the faith
And lead you back into a lifestyle of idolatry.

But if you do that,
You will be insulting the God who called you into His kingdom.

So before you get deceived.
Take a walk down memory lane, and remember why you believed.
And then remember what God expects from you.

AND STAND STRONG AND FULFILL IT AMIDST THE OPPOSITION.
And yet again
We see an important type of Christian encouragement.

First we said that our obedient lives encourage others.
Those who teach us that their lives are not in vain.
Those who serve with us, to keep going.

Next we said that when brothers or sisters are struggling we remind them why they believe, and encourage them not to stray from the truth.
Here that encouragement reaches a new level.
Where not only do we gently comfort them not to leave the faith,
But remind them even in the midst of those difficulties
That their responsibility is still to please God.
We don’t just give them a pat on the back,
We give them a push.

We help them up, but we also encourage them to keep going.

The goal for a Christian is not just to refrain from denying Christ,
The goal of a Christian is to confess Christ;
To glorify Christ;
To honor Christ;
To walk in a manner worthy of Christ.
And so we encourage each other to “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
As I told you at the beginning of our study.
All Christian encouragement has this goal,
If it does not, then it is not Christian encouragement.
So this week, make a point to encourage another brother
To walk in a manner worthy,
Even if he faces opposition in the race.

It is an important part of Christian encouragement.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

Remembering Why You Believe – part 1
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

If you were with us two weeks ago, you know we began our study
Of this wonderful letter that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians.

And just to make sure our minds are again fresh in regard to this context, let’s review a little.

• As you will see again in a moment, Paul actually traveled to Thessalonica after being persecuted in Philippi.

• He went to the synagogue and started having huge success, not only among Jews, but also among the Greeks.

• However, the Jews became jealous and literally formed a mob to have Paul, Silas, & Timothy arrested.

• However they never found these men, and instead the mob arrested on of the local church members.

• The church then helped Paul and his companions escape to a town called Berea, which is about 50 miles away.

• And as Paul was preaching there, it wasn’t long before some of the angry Thessalonians tracked him down and began causing trouble for him in Berea as well, so that he was forced to flee again.

• This time Paul found himself alone in Athens (and you are familiar with what occurred there).

But always on his heart was this new young church at Thessalonica.
How were they doing?
Did their faith continue?
Had they stood strong?

1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 “Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,”

Paul wanted to make sure that the Thessalonians were standing strong.

However, Timothy never really did have to encourage the Thessalonians,
For in fact they encouraged him.

1 Thessalonians 3:6-8 “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.”

And so it is obvious that this new church
Had served as an encouragement to Paul.

That was what the entire 1st chapter was about.
• Since the Thessalonians stood strong.
• Since their faith was heard about in the whole region.
• Since they served God, loved people, and persevered in hope:

Paul knew that true salvation had occurred
And Paul fell to his knees and thanked God.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;”

And as we said then, Paul was thankful to God because
Their perseverance in the faith revealed two things.
God really did choose you.
God really did change you.

And that of course meant that God really was using Paul.

It is the greatest encouragement a preacher of the gospel can receive.
3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

This is the type of encouragement Paul received from the Thessalonians.

And we said then, that as a believer you should go out and live
In such a way that it encourages other believers to do the same.

Let your lifestyle of obedience be an encouragement,
Not only to those who teach you, but also to those who serve beside you.

And that is one type of encouragement.
THAT WE SAW TWO WEEKS AGO

Tonight we see a second type of encouragement.
It is the type of encouragement that Paul gives to the Thessalonians.

WHY DID THEY NEED IT?

Put yourself in the shoes of the Thessalonians.
• Paul came in, stayed a short while and started a church,
• And then he had to flee.
• You were left behind, with the hot-headed mob.
• And not only do they hate Paul, but now they hate you as well.

And this might have been fine at first, or even for a while,
But when that type of hostility endures it can ware on you.

We all know that suffering and hardship and opposition
Can cause us to question what we thought we once knew.
To give you an illustration:

TURN TO: MATTHEW 11:1-6

You could easily make an argument that no one ever lived
Who was more bold or passionate than John the Baptist,
And yet here even he is in doubt.

Did he forget what God had told him?
Did he forget the dove at the baptism?
Did he forget his specific role from God?

It’s amazing what spending time in prison will do to a man.
And so he needed encouragement from Jesus to see
That his prior convictions were still accurate,
And he simply needed to hold on to what he knew was true.

That is the same type of encouragement Paul is giving here.
No, we have no record that they were in denial,
But certainly Paul knows it is a temptation.

And so Paul writes this letter.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS 2ND CHAPTER?
On one hand, it is a defense of his own ministry.

You have to know that those Jews who ran Paul out of town
Are doing everything they can to undercut and discredit his ministry.

Paul even speaks a little of this opposition later in the chapter.
1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 “who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”

And so we know Paul and the Thessalonians had opposition.
In fact, in our text tonight it is heavily implied
That the Jews were accusing Paul of being:

Wrong about the truth (3)
An impure man seeking sex (3)
Even a flat out liar (3)
Some may have accused him of being in it for the money (5)
Others accused him of being in it for the glory (6)

And so certainly Paul would be defending his own ministry, just as Jesus did to John the Baptist when he said, “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

So there is definitely a “defense” element here.
But more so than that this is a passage about encouragement.

Jesus concluded to John by saying,
“and blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

It was a form of encouragement for John
To come to his senses and stand strong for Christ.

And that is what Paul is really doing here.
Paul knew that the attacks weren’t just to discredit him
But were intended to destroy the faith of the Thessalonians.

And so by defending his own ministry
He is simultaneously establishing the faith of the Thessalonians.

Just as Jesus called John back to his senses,
So Paul does here with the Thessalonians.

3 times in these 8 verses we see Paul use the phrase “you know”.
That is clearly a statement to help the Thessalonians
See past the difficulty and past the deception
And take hold of what they know to be true.

Paul is saying, “You remember what we taught you, you remember how we lived, you know it was the truth, now stand strong in it.”

It is very similar to the encouragement Paul gave to a struggling Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:14-15 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

That is what Paul is doing here as well, and really even through verse 12,
But we will only make it through verse 8.

But tonight we see the first 5 of eight reminders Paul gives about his ministry,
So that he may encourage the Thessalonians to follow his lead.

#1 OUR COURAGE
1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

There we see our first reference to their memory.
“For you yourselves know, brethren”

This is not new information,
Paul is simply reminding them of what really happened.

WHAT DO THEY KNOW?
“that our coming to you was not in vain,”

Even though it is true that Paul was effective in Thessalonica,
He is not here saying that he had a good showing.

Instead he is reminding the Thessalonians that when he came
It wasn’t just on some sort of sight-seeing tour.

We didn’t just come to be able to say we came.

(2) “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

When we came it wasn’t a token trip, and it wasn’t an easy trip.
We came to you having just been persecuted,
But that didn’t stop us from speaking the truth to you.

We faced persecution and opposition, but still we spoke the truth.

And of course you remember what occurred to them in Philippi.
(Acts 16)
• Paul cast a demon out of a fortune-telling girl.
• They were beaten.
• Publicly humiliated.
• Thrown in jail and chained in the inner cell.
• (But at midnight an earthquake from God set them free)

And after that many preachers
Would have given second thought to their approach.

“On second thought maybe we shouldn’t be so direct.
Maybe we shouldn’t be so confrontational.”

But not Paul, we came to Thessalonica and did the same thing, and
When opposition arose we still didn’t quit.

WHY?
“we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
The only reason he did it is because
God had given him the boldness to do it.

You see the Spirit of God replaces cowardice with courage.

And by the way, Jesus expects this type of boldness.
Matthew 10:28-33 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

I know it is hard.
I know it is dangerous.
Confess Me anyway.
PAUL DID

Paul says you can be certain that we were the real deal
Because we had the boldness of God to speak
Even when it wasn’t in our best interest.

Paul said that is what we did, and not only should that prove to you that we are legitimate, but you should follow our example.

Our courage
#2 OUR CONVICTION
1 Thessalonians 2:3-4

It is not hard to imagine that those same Jews
Who succeeded in running Paul out of Thessalonica
Would also be at work to undo all that he accomplished.

And based upon Paul’s defense here,
It is fairly obvious what they said about him.

“For our exhortation does not come from error”
• And so obviously there were those who accused him of being theologically mistaken.

“or impurity”
• This is a term denoting sexual immorality.
• Many of the pagan religions thrived based upon sexual immorality, where having sex with a priest or priestess actually led you closer to God.
• No doubt the Jews accused Paul of being that type of occult leader.

“or by way of deceit”
• Others obviously accused Paul of just being a flat out liar, making up his doctrine to suit his own needs and to gain the approval of men.

Paul sternly refutes all three notions.

“For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.”

If the Thessalonians would remember clearly,
They would remember Paul’s motives to come and preach to them.
• Paul didn’t preach a “user-friendly” message.
• Paul was no people pleaser.
• Paul was no ear tickler.

It was clear Paul saw himself as a steward of the mysteries of God
And it was God and God alone that Paul wanted to please.

You may remember his statement to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 4:1-4 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.”

It was abundantly clear that Paul could (for all practical purposes)
Care less what people thought.

He wanted to please God, and if the Thessalonians would remember correctly that was obvious in the way he preached.

• People who want to please men don’t tell them to leave their family religion of paganism.
• People who want to please men don’t tell them to lay down all their idols.
• People who want to please men don’t tell them that everything their daddy taught them about religion was wrong.

AND YET PAUL TOLD THEM TO DO ALL THESE THINGS

Point being Paul’s conviction was obvious.
(The Thessalonians had no reason to question Paul’s motives)

And this by the way is the example they should also follow.
Don’t be swayed here and there by every wind of doctrine,
Nor give too much credence to what men think.

Set your heart on pleasing God
And strive to be found faithful to Him at all times.

That is what Paul did and it’s what he challenges the Thessalonians to do.

Our Courage, Our Conviction
#3 OUR CONTENTMENT
1 Thessalonians 2:5-6

And again it is easy to see some of the false reports
That must have been circulating about Paul.

“He’s just a prophet for profit”
And Paul says, you know that wasn’t the case.
“For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness – nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.”

We just finished studying 2 Peter and we know that
One of the chief characteristics of false prophets is their greed.

2 Peter 2:13-14 “…They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;”

And Paul said you know that wasn’t us.
We didn’t flatter you.
We didn’t ask for money.

And even though we are apostles,
We did not put our authority on display
So that you would be enamored with us.

We didn’t “Throw our weight around” so to speak.

Now, had we come in our festive robes with our apostleship credentials,
Taking up offerings and flattering you just before we passed the plate,
Then you might think we were up to something.

But we didn’t do any of those things.

In fact, Paul would remind them later that they worked for all they got.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 “For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”
Paul was not the type of person
Who did what he did to make a prophet or to get famous.

2 Corinthians 2:17 “For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.”

Their ministry was not only marked by courage and conviction,
But also contentment.

And not only was Paul reinforcing what he taught them,
But he is also encouraging them to follow his example.

1 Timothy 6:9-12 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

That is the example Paul gave the Thessalonians.

Our Courage, Our Conviction, Our Contentment
#4 OUR COMPASSION
1 Thessalonians 2:7

You may also remember that false prophets are antagonizing.

2 Peter 2:10 “Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,”

False prophets brow beat people and manipulate people.

But Paul said, if you will remember we didn’t do that either.

“But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.”

We didn’t have any huge emotional alter calls.
We didn’t try to use scare tactics.

Paul might even say, “We determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We were with you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and our preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. So that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
We weren’t coming trying to badger you into results.
We were coming simply letting God work through us.
We were gentle.
We were patient.

This was Jesus.
Matthew 12:15-21 “But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.”AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

The truth may indeed be scary to some,
But Paul didn’t intentionally scare them.

He was compassionate, he was gentle.

And there again is not only a proof, but also an example to follow.
Colossians 3:12-14 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Follow our example.

Our Courage, Our Conviction, Our Contentment, Our Compassion
#5 OUR CONSISTENCY
1 Thessalonians 2:8

When Paul came he didn’t just give you the truth, he gave you his life.

“Having so fond and affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

We call it consistency in the Christian life.

It is the works that go hand in hand with our message
And give us credibility.

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

Scripture says it like this:
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

If there isn’t a consistency in your life that matches the message Then your message is in vain.

And Paul tells the Thessalonians to stop and ask themselves.
Did Paul practice what he preached?
Did Paul exhibit the love he was promoting?

And if the Thessalonians looked back, they would know that he did.

And this encouragement stands to remind them that
The truth they accepted from Paul was THE truth,
Even if momentary hardship was causing them to question it.

Furthermore they are reminded that the example Paul gave
Is the example they are to follow.

And so Paul sets out to encourage the church
Who so greatly encouraged him.

And with this we learn another aspect of encouragement.

Sometimes (as we saw in chapter 1)
We encourage by living an obedient life
And therefore encouraging those who instruct us,
But also challenging those around us.

Other times we encourage by reminding people
Why they know Christ is real, and the gospel is true.

In those moments of hardship and suffering
We remind them why they believe,
And that sort of encouragement is equivalent
To giving them Christ all over again.

When you remind a discouraged brother why he believes in Christ,
He leaves with a renewed hope and a renewed joy
As though he just found Christ for the first time.

And in our world of disillusionment and chaos,
It is so important to continually remind one another
Why we believe.

And so this week, not only do I encourage you to live an obedient life as a form of encouragement to others.

But also, if you see a down-trodden brother,
Verbally remind him/her why they believe,
And why Jesus is just as good a decision today
As He was on the day they first accepted him.

And through that encouragement help them stay the course.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

The Encouraging Church at Thessalonica
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Well tonight we begin a new book study.
(A book I’ve never preached through before,
But one I have thoroughly enjoyed studying thus far in preparation)

So let’s begin by taking a COMPREHENSIVE VIEW

If I were to give you an overall theme of the book, it would be:
Being an Encouraging Christian

And while that is not necessarily a complex concept,
I do think we all have things to learn
About being more encouraging in our Christian walk.

It is true that there are many ways to encourage
(Many of which we will see manifested throughout our study)

• Whether it is a word of comfort
• Whether it is a word of exhortation
• Whether it is a word of recognition
• Whether it isn’t even a word at all

We understand that encouragement comes in many forms.

But one thing as Christians that we must remember is that Christian encouragement always comes with a goal in mind.

There is a definite aim to our encouragement.
We are not simply patting people on the back
To make them feel better about themselves,
We are pushing people towards a definite end.

WHAT IS THAT END?
To be like Christ.
To be Sanctified
To be Holy

True biblical encouragement has to be that
Which not only affirms people on the right path,
But also pushes them to be more like Christ every day.

Another word for encouragement is “EXHORT”
It is to heavily encourage a person to move in a certain direction.

And this is very much a call of the Christian life.

2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
Hebrews 10:24 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,”

You ladies that went on the women’s retreat understand this.
Titus 2:3-5 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

And so we know that encouragement is far more than just
An emotional pick-me-up, or even a pat on the back of approval.

Encouragement is an essential tool that one believer uses
To push another believer towards the goal of Christ-likeness.

And so we are aware that encouragement is important.

SO, HOW DO I BECOME AN ENCOURAGING CHRISTIAN?
How do I better exhort others?
How do I better stimulate others to love and good deeds?
How do I better encourage others to be obedient?

That is precisely what we will learn
As we study this book of 1 Thessalonians.
This book is all about encouragement.

Let me give you the background.

TURN TO: ACTS 17:1-15

We learn a little about the town of Thessalonica.
They were not very “noble minded”
They were hot-headed, they were irrational, they were mob-like.

And because of that it was hard to become a Christian in Thessalonica
And it was hard to live as a Christian in Thessalonica.

• And when Paul went there to minister he did so under difficult circumstances.
1 Thessalonians 2:2 “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

• And not only did they minister amid opposition, but those who believed the message did so under opposition.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”

And so this was a rough place to minister and a rough place to live.
It even caused Paul and his companions to abruptly leave
This new church of persecuted believers.

And as Paul moved on and continued to suffer persecution, he knew that the same must be occurring for this new church he had left behind.

• This fact caused Paul to try and return to Thessalonica several times to no avail.

1 Thessalonians 2:18 “For we wanted to come to you — I, Paul, more than once — and yet Satan hindered us.”

• And this fact may have only served to heighten Paul’s concern even more.

You can imagine what Paul must have been thinking.
Did they still stand strong?
Had their faith overcome?
Was Satan able to devour them?

• And these types of questions obviously led Paul to a decision.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 “Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.”

Paul was afraid of what might have happened to this young church
And so he sent Timothy to find out.

• But when Timothy returned to Paul, it was evident that Timothy had not encouraged the Thessalonians, they had encouraged Timothy.

1 Thessalonians 3:6-8 “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.”

It wasn’t what they said, it was how they lived.
When Paul received word that the Thessalonian church stood strong
He was encouraged.

It sort of reminds of what John the apostle said:
3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

This was Paul’s joy.

The Thessalonians had encouraged him.
And now, he writes this letter to return the favor.

He writes to encourage those who encouraged him.

And his encouragement is easy to spot.

Paul spends some time in review in this letter.
That is especially evident in chapter 2.

(7 times he makes reference to things they already know)
(2:1) “you yourselves know”
(2:2) “as you know”
(2:5) “as you know”
(2:9) “for you recall”
(2:10) “You are witnesses”
(2:11) “just as you know”
(3:3) “you yourselves know”

Paul spends a great deal of time reminding them
Of the things he taught them when he was there.
And not only what he taught, but how he lived among them.

And the concept is to remind them to imitate him as he imitates Christ.
It is a soft encouragement
To remember how to walk and to continue to do it.

And then he takes that encouragement even to a higher level
As we see at the end of chapter 3 and in chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians 3:11-12 “Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;”

1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.”

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,”

Paul’s encouragement is far more than “You are doing great!”
Paul’s encouragement is “You are doing great, now do even better!”

He wants them to go all the way to be like Christ.

But even then his encouragement is not finished.
We also see that “Consolation” type of encouragement.

As I said the Thessalonians were persecuted,
And so it is possible that even some were martyred,
And if not they certainly faced the threat of martyrdom.

And this concern would weigh heavy on their minds
So Paul sought to defuse that fear
By giving the truth about those who are dead in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”

And Paul then closes the letter
By encouraging them to continue encouraging each other.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

And so it is obvious that throughout this study
We will learn how to be an encouraging Christian.

And tonight we begin our study with the first chapter of this great letter.

(1:1) “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.”

At one point in Paul’s life it is clear that he was concerned
Whether or not there was even a church left to write a letter to,
But they had endured and now Paul writes to encourage them.

As we study this first chapter it opens in a VERY OPTIMISTIC way.

(2) “We give thanks to God always for all of you”

And there we understand that when a church begins
And when a church remains, all credit and thanksgivings go to God.

God is the author of salvation, God is the sustainer of our faith,
So while Paul is encouraged by the Thessalonians, he is grateful to God.

And in this first chapter we see two main reasons why Paul is grateful to God.
#1 GOD CHOSE YOU
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5

When you read those first 5 verses we see that
There are actually numerous reasons why Paul is thankful.

As he looks at the faith or the love or the hope of the Thessalonians
All of these are reasons why Paul is grateful.
But in reality all of those are a byproduct of something else.
Those things exist because God chose them,
And that is the point Paul makes in verse 4.

(4) “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;”

And once again we cannot escape
The absolute sovereignty that surrounds salvation.

If we had time we could again go in and through the doctrines of grace
And the sovereignty of God.

And regardless of what you believe about those doctrines,
There is no denying it here.

It was not the Thessalonians who chose God,
It was God who chose the Thessalonians.

It was God who sent Paul.
It was God who opened their heart to believe.
It was God who opened their eyes to see.
It was God who gave enough life for them to respond.

If God hadn’t chosen them, they would not be saved.

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

And we are again reminded of that powerful chapter in Ephesians 2
In which we were dead in our transgressions and sins.

“But God, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead, raised us up”

Men can’t come to God apart from God’s choosing.
And so Paul is write to give the credit for the Thessalonian church
To God and God alone.

He chose them for salvation.
And it is because of God’s choosing that they live the way they live.

In fact Paul actually gives three ways that he knows that God chose them.

1) Evident in your SERVICE (3a)
“constantly bearing in mind your work of faith”

The Thessalonians were serving God.
They were consistent in Christian service and ministry.

They had not retreated from their responsibilities,
They were determining to live the Christian faith.
2) Evident in your SACRIFICE (3b)
“and labor of love”

We know that love is a sacrifice of self for the good of another.

Not only did the Thessalonians exhibit this
By helping Paul and his friends escape the city,
But by their willingness to cover for him.

They gave of themselves for the good of others.

3) Evident in your STEADFASTNESS (3c)
“and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”

Simply put, they did not give up.
They did not quit just because it was difficult.
They did not stop even though there was opposition.

And even without Paul there to guide them,
They had remained faithful on their own.

And so Paul says we constantly pray to God the Father,
Thanking Him for His choosing you,
And it is evident that He has chosen you and saved you
Because you have faith, hope, and love.

The presence of these three attributes in their lives help Paul to know
That what occurred in Thessalonica was true salvation.

That is what he means in verse 5
(5) “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”

And that is an interesting statement.

Paul is saying we know now that your acceptance of our gospel
Was more than just lip service.

We know that you accepted our gospel
Because the Holy Spirit was convicting you
And because the power is evident in your transformed lives.

“Timothy told us about your faith, hope, and love and now we are convinced that you really did come to a true saving faith in Christ.”

And that is a huge encouragement to Paul.

Do you remember when Paul gave his list of sufferings?

Do you remember the last hardship he listed?
2 Corinthians 11:28-29 “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?”

Paul had the heart of a true minister of the gospel.
He wasn’t just blowing into some city trying to get results so that he could go to the next city and say, “Had 1,500 conversions in Thessalonica”.

Paul was concerned that every one of those conversions was real,
And this was always his concern.
That is why he kept writing letters and returning to visit.

In fact, it was the churches who failed to demonstrate true faith
That grieved him the most.

We are all familiar with the concern the Corinthian church caused him
What with all of their immorality and lack of love.

Remember the Galatians?
Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”

Galatians 4:11 “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Galatians 4:19-20 “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you — but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I amperplexed about you.”

Or how about the Ephesians?
Ephesians 4:17-24 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Paul would travel and plant these churches and witness a huge response.
But his heart never rejoiced fully at the initial response.
Paul rejoiced years later when they were still walking in truth.

That was how Jesus responded as well; remember?
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Certainly these guys were pleased
To see so many make a profession of faith,
But it wasn’t until their lives bore fruit
That they were convinced that true salvation had occurred.

And when Paul received news that the Thessalonians stood strong
He was overjoyed and knew that salvation was real,
God really had chosen the Thessalonians,
And God really had used Paul to reach them.

WHAT ENCOURAGEMENT!

God had actually used him to draw out His elect,
And it was certain as evidenced by their fruit.

3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

God Chose You
#2 GOD CHANGED YOU
1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

Down in verse 9 we read that
The Thessalonians were formerly idol worshipers.

We already know they came from a
“hot-headed” “narrow minded” “mob-forming” town.

And apparently one which was steeped in pagan idolatry.

BUT NOT ANY MORE.
God had changed these people.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Paul even lists 5 characteristics of the Thessalonians
That reveal their change.

1) THEIR OBJECTIVE (6a)
“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord”

That was certainly different.
Before they lived for themselves and worshiped idols.

Now they were actually doing everything they could to be like Jesus,
And to follow Paul example.

This is not the passion of a lost person.

2) THEIR OBSTACLE (6b)
“having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”

And this makes their objective even more impressive.
They didn’t just go with the crowd or the mob in accepting Christ.

These people actually lived out their goal by swimming upstream.

That is not the attitude of a lost man.

3) THEIR OBSERVERS (7-8)
“so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.”

What an impressive resume.

Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonians to find out how they were doing,
But Timothy didn’t have to make it all the way there to learn.
The Thessalonians faith was famous.

The Macedonians knew about it.
Those from Achaia knew about it.
And people in many other places knew as well.

This church had developed a reputation
As those who obey God even in the midst of tribulation.

Wouldn’t that be great?

We all know that everywhere you go, someone has heard of Spur.
Wouldn’t it be great if what they heard
Was that the Christians there are the real deal?

What if people said, “Don’t stop in Spur unless you want a sermon”?
What if people said, “Those Spur Christians love Jesus”?

That is what happened to the Thessalonians.
People knew about their faith everywhere.

And Paul was encouraged at the change in their lives.

4) THEIR OBSESSION (9)
“For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,”

I hope you caught what Paul said there.

Paul said, that when we visit with those people who have heard about you, they tell us “what kind of reception we had with you”

In other words, they tell us,
“Boy you sure made a difference in that town”.

And then they go on to tell us “how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.”

In other words, it was obvious to all that the Thessalonians
Were far more than just marginal Christians.

Those guys were obsessed.
They were passionate.
And they left an impression.

And the people who hear their testimony
Go away convinced that those guys are for real.

5) THEIR OUTLOOK (10)
“and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”

They also know that you are looking for the return of Christ.

When they see the suffering you endure, it is obvious that you tell them,
“It won’t always be this way” “Soon, Jesus will return and deliver us.”

Because they are convinced that you are eagerly waiting for Jesus.

And the point being, that the Thessalonians were on fire for God
And in love with Christ, to the point that everyone knew it.

That’s quite a change over an idol worshiping, hot-headed, mob.

These guys were different.
Not only had God chosen them, but God had changed them.

And Paul was encouraged.

Tonight, just let me challenge you to be that type of an encourager.
Let your obedience to Christ inspire other Christians to be obedient.

One friend of Adrian Rogers spoke “I think about a lot of the sacrifice and the trouble that he went through; people criticizing him. He just really had to turn the whole situation over to the Lord. I know by watching his example, it grew my faith.”

We aren’t talking about the lost here.
“Make them want what you have”

What we are talking about
Is challenging and encouraging fellow believers.

You follow Christ in such a way
That it encourages others to follow your lead.

That is how you encourage as a Christian.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

In Defense of the Holy Spirit
2 Peter 3:1-2
October 27, 2013

Over the course of the past few months
We have been talking about the Holy Spirit.

• We talked about who He is – namely God in us
• We talked about what He does
(Sanctifies, Equips, Seals, Guides, etc.)
• And we talked about how we are to respond to Him

Most recently learning that we are to
“Be filled with the Spirit” and we are to “walk by the Spirit.”

And I told you from the beginning that I really didn’t know how long this study would go, because I didn’t have a real good handle on where we would go from week to week.

And honestly I had thought about concluding with the last sermon
And moving on with our next study this morning.

However, I think we’ll go one more here this morning,
And it is in reference to the conference that Carrie and I just attended.

We spent last week in Sun Valley, CA (just outside of Los Angeles)
At Grace Community Church at a Truth Matters conference.

The theme of this conference was “Strange Fire”
(you can listen to it at gty.org)

And the root of this name comes from Leviticus 10

Leviticus 10:1-3 “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.”

Now we don’t know the specifics of what Nadab and Abihu did.
We know they offered “strange fire”,
Which could indicate fire from the wrong source.

But it wasn’t just the fire that was the issue,
It was that in their worship they failed to treat God as holy.

And not only did God consume them with fire, but adamantly stated,
“By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy”

Obviously this was a grievous offense.
God must be treated as holy.
And this isn’t an isolated incident.
Numbers 20:8-12 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.” So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

There again, what seemed like a small matter to us,
Was in fact a very serious matter to God.

Moses failed to treat God as holy
And he was denied access into the Promised Land.

• We could go to 1 Samuel 15 and see Saul disobey the Lord in regard to Agag and God departing from Saul from that day on.

• From there we could go to 1 Chronicles 13 and see David transporting the ark to Jerusalem. Now, they weren’t doing it as God had prescribed, for the priests were supposed to carry the ark, but David had it on a cart.

And when the oxen stumbled and the ark nearly fell, Uzza put out his hand to catch the ark, and the Lord struck Uzza dead.

You don’t mess with the holiness of God.

• We could move on to 2 Chronicles 26 and watch Uzziah try to enter the temple to burn incense to God even though that was only for the Levites, and God struck him with leprosy until the day of his death.

• We could even move to the New Testament to Acts 5 and see a man and woman named Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit about their offering, and we could watch God strike each of them dead.

And I think you get the point.
God is holy and He must be treated as holy.
Failure to do this is an offense to God and is dangerous for the offender.

We must worship God the way He commands to be worshiped.
• That includes a true understanding of who He is.
• That includes a true understanding of what He does.
• That includes a true submission to His required methods of worship.

And we know this.
If someone comes in and starts maligning the person of God we rise to defend Him.
If someone accuses God of being unjust or unloving or not real, we defend Him.

If someone comes in and maligns the person of Jesus we rise to defend Him.
If they say He isn’t God, or isn’t man, or wasn’t holy, we defend Him.

Well one of the points of this conference was
Why do we not do this for the Holy Spirit?

• If believers will rise to their feet to defend the person of God (and they do)
• And if believers will rise to defend the nature of Christ (and they do)
• Then why won’t believers rise and defend the person of the Holy Spirit?

We must defend the truth about the Holy Spirit.

Now we learned a lot at the conference (we’ll talk some later)
• Cessationsim
• Reformers view of charismatic doctrine
• Effect Charismatic doctrine has in Africa

But we can’t talk about this all right now.

But if I had to summarize the point of the conference
(and I only do this because it fits so exactly with what we have been talking about)

Here were the three main points of the conference.
1) THE SPIRIT IS BEING BLASPHEMED

And we say that because not only is He worshiped wrongly,
But He is accused of doing things that He does not do.

Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Jesus did true miracles and unbelievers attributed them to Satan.
Today people do false miracles and attribute them to the Spirit

• TONGUES TODAY IS NOT NEW TESTAMENT TONGUES
• PROPHECY TODAY IS NOT NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY
• MIRACLES TODAY ARE NOT NEW TESTAMENT MIRACLES

And the burden does not fall on me
To prove what they are doing is not legitimate.
The burden falls on them
To prove what they are doing is Biblically legitimate.

What is done today is not the same.
Yet it is commonly attributed to the Holy Spirit.
It is false worship.

And yet it is staggering how unbiblical much of what goes on today
In the name of the Holy Spirit actually is.
• We have people “slain in the spirit”
• We have people “speaking gibberish”
• We have people “twitching and falling”
• We even saw a group doing “The Holy Spirit hokey pokey”

The Spirit is blasphemed

2) THE SCRIPTURE IS BEING IGNORED

This desire for new revelation, whether it be tongues or prophecy
Is really nothing more than a rejection of the true revelation,
Which is Scripture.

Has Scripture lost its sufficiency that we are in need of something new?
Certainly not!

Is Scripture no longer “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness”?

When Jesus promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would “guide them into all the truth” (John 16:13) or that He would bring to their remembrance “all that I said” (John 14:26) was He lying?

Experience has become the new sovereign,
Scripture is pushed to the back with a token place at best.

That is a real tragedy because the gospel (not experience)
Is the real power of God for salvation.

The Spirit is blasphemed, The Scripture is ignored
3) THE SAINTS ARE BEING SILENT

We don’t speak out against it.
We hear of stories, we hear of experiences, and we just let it go.
We don’t challenge it, we don’t call it out, we don’t condemn it.

We just let it go because someone told us that
To oppose it is to oppose the very work of God.

NOT TRUE
That is not the Holy Spirit, we have seen what He does.
We know His fingerprints.

He convicts, He guides, He glorifies Jesus, He sanctifies, He equips,
He seals, He intercedes, He gives life.

The fall out is that our silence gives them a supposed acceptance
And this false gospel is literally being broadcast all over the world.

The Spirit is Blasphemed, The Scripture is Ignored, and The Saints are Silent
And this just cannot continue.
Now, I don’t want to keep going on this conference,
Because at the very heart of it, those men may in fact be speaking the truth,
But we don’t stand on the authority of those men.

We stand on the authority of Scripture, so this morning
I want us to see this very thing in the Scriptures.

Now, hang on to your seat for a second, because this is going to hit you a little funny this morning, but our text is the entire letter of 2 Peter.
(I know, you just looked at your watch and thought, “no way”)

But hey, it’s pastor appreciation Sunday, so you’re stuck!

But I want you to see the letter as a whole because I want you to realize
That Peter sounded this same alarm as the last thing he ever wrote.

This letter was written around AD 23 or 24.
Peter was martyred in AD 24

This letter was written at the end, and incidentally Peter knew it.

2 Peter 1:13-15
Do you hear Peter’s concern?
The things he is writing aren’t anything new, they are reminders.
And the purpose is not to enlighten you to new doctrine,
But rather to stir you up to remember the old doctrine.

And Peter does it because he knew the time of his departure had come.
He was about to die and his one concern was that
The next generation would not lose sight of the truth.

And incidentally the truth Peter wanted them to remember was simple.
It was that Christ, through His word,
Has given you everything you need to live the Godly life.

2 Peter 1:1-4

You don’t need a supposed secondary filling of the Holy Spirit.
You don’t need some new experience with the miraculous.

Peter wants you to know that you have everything you need.

And he builds on that by telling you to act on that truth.

2 Peter 1:5-8

And you see it don’t you.
THIS is what a Christian pursues.
We aren’t after experiences or mystic events.
We are pursuing practical godliness that is evident in our lives.
If you live like this, you are useful to the Lord.

And that is what Peter is stirring them up to remember.

And incidentally all of these truths and matters of guidance
Are preserved for us in the Scriptures.

2 Peter 1:19-21

Do you see Peter’s point here in this first chapter?

• I am about to die.
• I am writing because I want to leave on your mind what being a Christian is really all about.

• It’s not about seeking mystical experiences or secondary fillings.
• You already have everything you need to live a godly life.
• The Scriptures explain it all – they are sufficient.
• You just need to pay attention to the Scriptures.

NOW WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE PETER WAS CONCERNED?

2 Peter 2:1-3

There it is.
You need to get a handle, not only on the truth, but also the source of the truth, which is Scripture because the deceivers are on their way.

There are people coming who will lie to you and manipulate you
And tempt you and seduce you and lead you to destruction.

And don’t think God won’t destroy these people and their followers.

2 Peter 2:4-10
God knows how to punish the ungodly.

So you be godly, as the Scripture indicates.
Don’t get sucked away by these coming false prophets.

BUT WHO ARE THEY?
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

Peter actually gives four criteria by which you can spot these people.

1) THEY REVILE THINGS THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND
2 Peter 2:10-13a

“revile” translates BLASPHEMEO
It means “to speak profanely or to rail at”
And because people see that they “revile angelic majesties”
Most assume that they speak bad about good angels.

Listen to me, if someone came in this church and started railing at Gabriel or Michael would you have any problem spotting them as false prophets?

He is talking about people who revile fallen angels.
HOW DO I KNOW?

Jude 8-10 “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.”

They aren’t talking about reviling good angels,
They are talking about reviling fallen ones.
Even Michael wouldn’t do that, but these men will.

They are “Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.”

Even good angels don’t have the audacity to do what they do.

Ever seen it?
“We bind you Satan – we rebuke you Satan – we command you to leave Satan”

Peter says, “Watch out” they don’t have a clue what they are doing, it is all for show, they are not real.

(VERSE 12-13a)

And we see that sort of pompous junk all the time in this movement.
Peter was warning about them 1,990 years ago just before he died.

These false prophets revile the things they don’t understand.
2) THE REVEL IN THEIR WORLDLY EXCESSES
2 Peter 2:13b-16

“they count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime”

“revel” is a word that means “luxuriousness or daintiness”

In other words they put their luxurious lifestyles on display.

Jesus was poor
The apostles were poor
But not these people
And what is worse, you and I know where they got it.
They exploited the poor, promising them prosperity
For a seed faith gift of as much as they could give.

Is that not what Peter said earlier in the chapter?
2 Peter 2:3 “and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

That is what they do.
(VERSES 13b-14)

Don’t miss that Peter also uses words of sexual scandal,
And we’ve seen our share of those over the years as well.

And you get the picture of who these guys are.

In fact, Peter even gives you their mascot.
(VERSE 15-16)
• You remember that prophet for profit don’t you?
• Willing to haggle a price for what it would cost to curse Israel.

These men are no different.
They love their sin, they revel in it, they live luxurious lives
And have no problem putting it on display.

They aren’t new. (because Satan isn’t new)

Matthew 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

Peter compares them to Balaam and says it is “madness”

Do you see that these guys are coming?
• You had better cling to the more sure word of Scripture.
• You had better seek the godliness God requires, not the gold fortune they are offering.

Don’t get seduced by their reveling in their luxury.

Remember Asaph nearly did.
Psalms 73:3-9 “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”

But God straightened Asaph out didn’t He?

Psalms 73:16-20 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”

I know they look prosperous, I know they are inviting,
But don’t step into their snare.

And that is the tragedy – MANY DO.

They Revile what they don’t understand
They Revel in their worldly excesses
3) THEY RECRUIT THOSE WHO LOVE SIN
2 Peter 2:17-19

You see it again, these men have no value at all.

People say you can’t mess with these guys, because they must be doing some good, I mean can their television ministry be all bad?

Well, is a spring without water of any use?
There is nothing of value.

So why do people follow them?
BECAUSE THEY ARE OFFERING WHAT PEOPLE WANT.

People want prosperity and that is what they are selling.
(VERSE 18)

They use their sensuality to entice people.
That, by the way, is why they revel in the daytime.

No, it doesn’t look good that they preach from crystal cathedrals.
That is a clear contradiction of Scripture.

However, it’s hard to seduce a man who wants to get rich
If you preach from a barn.

So they put their riches on their arm
Because it makes their prosperity message sell.

The guys are so dangerous.
That’s why Peter says you had better stick to the scripture,
And seek out godliness.

If you venture off that path these men are waiting to ensnare you.

They recruit those who love sin

4) THE RETURN TO SIN THEY CLAIM TO HAVE OVERCOME
2 Peter 2:20-22

Peter nailed them didn’t he?
• Scandal after scandal after scandal
• Financial scandal
• Sexual scandal

And they return to it because that’s who they are.
Washing a pig doesn’t mean they aren’t a pig any longer.

And you can take a servant of Satan and put him in a church,
But that doesn’t make him a servant of God.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

Peter wants you to know where these guys are headed.

AND THAT BRINGS HIM BACK TO HIS MAIN POINT.
2 PETER 3:1-2

Wake up, cling to the Scriptures, both the old and new testaments.

That is the problem.
• The Spirit is being blasphemed
• The Scriptures are being ignored
• And the Saints are sitting silent – or are sleeping

Someone has to wake up and expose these people.
Someone has to revive their concern for Scripture.
Someone has to promote true godliness.

Now if we stand to expose them does that mean they will stop? No

2 PETER 3:3-4

Mockers will mock, that is what they do.
The fight will come.
But listen, you have the truth on your side.

Don’t let them seduce you away from it.

Incidentally the truth they work against in chapter 3
Is that the judgment is a myth.

They say it won’t happen.
And if you are preaching a prosperity message and drinking up the world as fast you as you can, you had better hope it isn’t coming.

But we’ve heard that message too lately.

Half of these preachers aren’t sure if God will send people to hell or not.
Most are convinced everyone is getting in.

The judgment will come, they will be destroyed,
And sadly they will take others with them.

And obviously there is much more that could be said, but I’ll direct you to the close of the letter.

2 PETER 3:17-18

There is Peter’s closing plea.

It is a plea for you
• To know who they are
• To guard yourself
• To grow in the truth
• And in this way to glorify Jesus

See friends there is an entire movement that is pulling people away
By convincing them that the Holy Spirit is the One
Who authors all of these bizarre events.

• They convince people that He is the One behind their ecstatic utterances, their prophecies, and their miracles.

• And they convince people that He is the One who will make the rich, you know give them “Your Best Life Now”.

But that is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
He didn’t come to do all that.

• He came to give you life
• He came to sanctify you
• He came to equip you to serve God
• He came to guide you
• He came to seal you
• He convicts of sin
• He guides us into truth
• He glorifies Jesus

And our command is to let Him fill us and to walk by His strength.

Not to get sucked away by the hucksters
And not to stand idly by while other people are led astray.

We have spent several months studying
Who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.

Now, if someone attacked the existence of God would we not rise to our feet and defend that there is a God and He is holy? That He is good and loving and gracious?

If someone attacked the deity of Jesus, would we not rise to our feet and defend that He most certainly is God? That He is the only Savior? That He is sufficient?

So why do we stand by and let people misrepresent the Holy Spirit
As someone that the Scripture never says He is?
We must defend Him as well.

We started this study saying that so many in the church
Are actually afraid of the Holy Spirit,
Namely because He has been so misrepresented.

People are afraid if they seek the Holy Spirit
Then the wildest and strangest behavior is going to happen.

They think what they see on television will happen to them.

That is not the Holy Spirit, and don’t let their blasphemy of Him
Cause you not to trust Him.

• You know who He is.
• You know what He does.
• Trust Him
• Worship Him
• Follow Him
• Defend Him

Because plenty of others are distorting Him.

John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

How to Walk by the Spirit
James 4:1-10
October 13, 2013

As you know we have been studying the Holy Spirit.
Who He is – What He does – What He expects

And most recently we have been talking about the command to
“walk by the Spirit”

We looked at Romans 8 and saw that
It is every believer’s obligation to “walk by the Spirit”

And then last week we studied Galatians 5 and saw that
Every believer is dependent to “walk by the Spirit”
Since in their flesh they have no ability to do what God requires.

And as we have studied this, it has been my desire to give you
A sort of practical, “How To” in regard to walking by the Spirit.

When we talked about being “filled with the Spirit” the practical “How To” was easy. Colossians said, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”

But a practical “How To” passage in regard to walking by the Spirit
Is a little more difficult to come by.

And so I am going to tell you from the outset this morning that the passage we are studying in James is not a direct passage
Which explains practically how to walk by the Spirit.

In fact there is some disagreement among scholars as to
Whether or not James is even writing to believers here at all,
Or if in fact he is writing to imposters who are really lost and need to be saved.

SO WHY CHOOSE THIS PASSAGE?

Because walking by the Spirit is a matter of submission.
You are either obeying and trusting the flesh
Or you are obeying and trusting the Spirit.

And the path for a sinner to be saved and the path for a saint to be revived
Are in many ways the exact same path.

So whether James is here writing to believers, or if James is writing to those who only think they are believers, it really doesn’t matter to me.

What we find here is some of the most practical and clear instruction on how to quit living according to the flesh
And how to start living according to the Spirit.

Now just a little intro to the book of James
So we all know where he is coming from.

This James is not the brother of John, who was a disciple of Jesus.
That James was the first disciple to be killed.
His death is recorded in Acts 12:2

This James is the half-brother of Jesus.
(called a half-brother since Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father)

James was not a believer while Jesus lived.
John 7:5 “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

However, after Jesus rose from the dead
He appeared to James and James became a believer.

This reality then gave James a very unique perspective.
• James didn’t listen to Jesus teach for 3 years.
• James watched Jesus live for 33 years.

• James didn’t get a lesson in theology from Jesus.
• James got a front row seat to righteous living from Jesus.

James was there as kids when Joseph and Mary said to stop talking and go to sleep.

James was there as teenagers when all the other kids wanted to go behind the barn and smoke.

James saw how Jesus related to the kids who were picked on.
James saw how Jesus responded to every day dilemmas

James saw righteousness displayed daily.

And because of this James has absolutely no use for skin-deep religion.

He is not interested in your theological writings…
He could care less about you religious resume…
James is only concerned about practically living the life God intended.

And that makes his book a perfect place to turn when we are looking for
A practical lesson in how to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh.

And to do that this morning we are going to look at James 4.

3 main points
#1 THE FLESH’S DESIRE
James 4:1-3

And just by reading those four verses you understand why many commentators
Come to the conclusion that James is writing here to the unsaved.
They are filled with “quarrels and conflicts”,
They are full of “lust”.
They are “envious”,
They are murderers.

And even in verse 4 James calls them “adulteresses”
Who are enemies of God.

That certainly sounds like a lost man.

If you couple that with the fact that in verse 8 he calls them “sinners”
We seem to have them pegged.
We could certainly call them lost people.

However, if they are lost, they don’t know it.
Because these people are in the church.

They consider themselves to be believers.
They consider themselves to be the redeemed.

And so at the very least they are those
Who have made a profession to follow Christ.

Are they lost?
Are they saved?
I don’t know…

What I do know is that regardless of their spiritual standing
Before God it is obvious what direction they are walking.

These people are filled with the flesh.

All of those characteristics that James reveals about them, does that not sound just like those “deeds of the flesh” we read about last week?

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

And so we can make one confident assessment in regard to these people.
Saved or lost, they are obviously not walking by the Spirit.

There are three real giveaways here in this verse.
1) Who they Follow
2) How they Fight
3) What the Feed

1) WHO THEY FOLLOW (1)
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?”

So obviously these people are living lives of conflict.
There is not peace, or patience, or brotherly love.

They are exactly what Paul warned the Galatians about
In the text we read last week.

Galatians 5:15 “But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

That is who they are.
And James wants them to know why

“Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?”

In other words, “Isn’t the source of your fighting your flesh?”

And that makes sense to us,
Go work the nursery some time.

It’s not hard to figure out why the toddlers fight.
If Quincy and Tyler go after it in the nursery it won’t be over a theological issue.

It will be over one of them having what the other one wants.

The flesh isn’t hard to figure out.
And James says that is why you are fighting.

You are following the flesh.
• Every single little impulse that your flesh desires, you act on it.
• When everyone does that it’s only a matter of time until the fight breaks out.

They followed the flesh.

Who they follow
2) HOW THEY FIGHT (2)
“You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”

They are filled with all these lusts for things they don’t have.
And in order to get them, what do they do? They “commit murder”

There are things they want but can’t get, so what do they do? The “fight and quarrel”

And notice the whole time WHAT THEY DON’T DO.
“You do not have because you do not ask.”
It is the most basic and primitive response of the human flesh.
I mean it sounds like cave men.

You have rock – I want rock– I hit you in head with club – Now I have rock

That is about as basic and beastly as it gets
• Forget asking nicely
• Forget sharing
• Forget saying please

And in a spiritual sense, forget petitioning God in prayer for the situation.
THEY ARE FIGHTING TOTALLY IN THE FLESH

But Paul explained spiritual warfare.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

But that isn’t these people.
These people are following the flesh and they are fighting with the flesh.
There is no hint of spiritual discipline in their life at all.

It’s all about what the flesh wants and they use only the flesh to get it.

WE’VE ALL SEEN THIS (even in church)
It’s not hard to recognize that this is not a person walking by the Spirit.

Who they follow How they fight
3) WHAT THEY FEED (3)
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

We saw that one coming didn’t we?

They don’t want things to be a better servant.
They want things to gain a better advantage.

We learned recently that we are to stop feeding the flesh.
Paul said, “Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts”

But that is exactly what these people are doing.
They follow the flesh
The fight with the flesh
And they feed the flesh

And I think we can all confidently say that
This is not a person who is walking by the Spirit.

Agreed?
Now, you and I both know that this is not what God desires for us.
So let’s look at the next point

The Flesh’s Desire
#2 GOD’S DESIRE
James 4:4-6

And James wastes no time relaying the massive problem
With the type of selfish living explained in the first three verses.

(4) “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

James couldn’t possibly be clearer.
Can’t you see that this type of lifestyle is exactly contrary
To the life God has for you?

• You are seeking the world…
• You are craving the world…
• And that is contrary to the life God desires…

1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

Living your life to gratify your flesh
Is not at all what God wants from you or for you.

And trying to accomplish all your desires
By the strength of your flesh is also contrary to God’s will.

SO WHAT IS GOD’S DESIRE?
(5) “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
God puts in His children all that He hopes to receive from them.

• God doesn’t want you walking by the flesh…
• God doesn’t want you warring in the flesh…
• God doesn’t want you feeding the flesh…

HOW DO I KNOW THAT?
Because He gave us a different Spirit when He saved us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
That was Paul’s whole point to the Galatians.

Don’t walk in the flesh.
Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

James just outlined the pathetic way that people in the flesh live
And clearly indicates God has no desire for you to live that way.

God wants you to exhibit “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”

And I know that because that is “the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”

• God didn’t put a selfish Spirit in you…
• God didn’t put a greedy Spirit in you…
• God didn’t put a carnal Spirit in you…
God put the Holy Spirit in you…

And incidentally the Spirit God put in you is greater than the flesh.

That is what James means in verse 6, “But He gives a greater grace.”

God can overcome your wicked flesh with His wonderful Spirit.
It is possible through His tremendous grace.

“Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

God opposes those who insist on walking in their own strength
And according to their own flesh.

But those who humble themselves and ask for His help, God is more than happy to extend to them the grace by which they can have victory.

And so the point thus far is simple.

There is a flesh – but don’t follow it.
God has given us His Spirit – walk according to His desire and strength.

So we could easily say at this point,
“Don’t walk by the flesh, walk by the Spirit”

But we have already said that a few hundred times
Over the last few weeks.
What we want to know is HOW to do that.
#3 YOUR DECISION
James 4:7-10

6 simple and basic commands.

And as I told you at the beginning I’m not concerned if we are talking to a phony believer who really needs to be saved or if we are talking to a fleshly believer who needs to repent.

The path is the same for each man.
Both need to kiss the flesh good-bye and choose the Spirit.

1) SUBMIT (7a)

“Submit therefore to God.”

The idea here is that you finally let go of control
And allow God to have full control of your life.

When I was a kid I used to watch professional wrestling. And there was one wrestler I just hated, his name was “The Nature Boy Rick Flair”.

(And if you know who that is, then shame on you, I was only a kid at the time and didn’t know any better)

But Rick Flair had a signature move called “The Figure Four”
It was some sort of way he twisted his legs up in yours and when he took you to the grown the pain appeared to be tremendous to such an extent that the other wrestler would submit.

He would give in.
He would quit fighting.
Rick Flair wins
Whatever he wants

And that is what James tells you to do with God.
There is a reason you are walking by the flesh and not by the Spirit,
And that is because you have thus far refused to submit to God.

2) RESIST (7b)

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

“the devil” is a master deceiver and his main tool is temptation.
He constantly offers you the things the flesh desires.

Your command is to “resist” his bait.
Say no to his candy

Quit taking what he is offering.
And if you do “he will flee from you”
You are going to have to determine to say no to the temptation.

BUT THAT IS HARD…
3) DRAW NEAR TO GOD (8a)
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

When you are a teenager, people offer you all sorts of things.
Drugs, pornography, alcohol, etc.

And I had my fair share offered to me as a teenager as well.

But you know I don’t recall a single person ever offering me that
When my momma was with me.

One is because they didn’t want to mess with my momma.
Two is because they knew I didn’t want to mess with my momma and I was much more prone to resist if my momma was near.

And there you have it.
Are you having difficulty resisting temptation,
Then “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

I promise it’s not nearly as hard to say no to temptation
If you are walking hand in hand with Jesus.

This would be that being filled with the Spirit that we have talked about.

Submit Resist Draw near
4) CLEANSE (8b)
“Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

It’s called repentance.
It’s called confession.
It’s called turning and walking away.

And when he says to “purify your hearts, you double-minded”
He is referring to you setting it straight in your mind
Exactly how you are going to live.

That is the second time James used that word.
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

That was a man who didn’t know what he wanted.
That was a man who didn’t know what he believed.

And that is no way to repent.
Look, you have to decide either sin is ok or it isn’t.
Either you are ok being a sinner or you aren’t.

You can’t leave drunkenness, but keep adultery.
You can’t leave adultery, but keep gossip.

It’s time to make a conscious decision in your heart.
Are you ready to leave sin or not?

Yes?
Then “cleanse your hands” and don’t vacillate as you do it.

Joshua said:
Joshua 24:14-15 “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Elijah said:
1 Kings 18:21 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”

And that is what James is saying.
For crying out loud either leave sin or don’t, but don’t play around.

If you are serious about living according to the Spirit God has placed in you, then make a full blown 100% decision
To leave sin in your life.

“Cleanse your hands”

5) MOURN (9)
“Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.”

Obviously this is not a command forbidding the Christian virtue of joy.

What this is, is a command telling a person in sin
To quit rejoicing in their iniquity.

It’s time to see your sin for what it really is and start hating it.
It’s time to see that your life is not where it should be and grieve over that fact.

Perhaps the main reason people continue to walk in the flesh
And fail to walk by the Spirit is because
Instead of hating their sin, they love it.

It goes back to that reality we mentioned a few weeks ago.
People try to resist the flesh without killing it.

You can’t.
You have to make a foundational choice.

Is your sin you friend or your foe?
Do you hate it or not?

James says that if you are going to walk by God’s Spirit you must.

6) HUMBLE YOURSELF (10)

“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Of course submission is included here, but it is more than that.

It is to quit relying on your own strength and start relying on His.
It is to come to Him for help
And not to try to arrogantly do it on your own.

We’ve talked about it quite a bit lately,
But in your flesh you have no ability,
And to fight the battle in the flesh is certain failure.

• It’s time to approach God
• It’s time to bow to Him
• It’s time to submit to His plan
• It’s time to quit listening to the enemy who tells you your flesh is enough
• It’s time to quit holding on to the sin that is killing you

If you want to sum it all up – Die to self!

Beyond that, do you recognize how closely this list resembles the list Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount?

Matthew 5:3-8 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Those are the same attitudes James mentions.

DO YOU KNOW WHY?
Because those were the attitudes that he saw in Jesus
Every day of Jesus life.

He knows that is the path to walk.

So let’s get practical for a moment.

You understand the command to be filled with the Spirit.
And you understand how to do that:
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.
(In short, fill up with what you want to be full of)

You also understand the command to walk by the Spirit.
And now you understand how to do that:

Quit trusting in your own strength and trying to be your own boss:
• Submit to God
• Resist the devil
• Draw near to God
• Cleanse your hands
• Mourn over your sin
• Humble yourself before God

That is how you do it.

And frankly, as we said before, I don’t care if you are a false believer
Who needs for the first time to get real with God,
Or if you are a genuine believer who has fallen out of fellowship –
The path to renewal is the same.

SO:
We know we are obligated to walk by the Spirit
We know that we are dependent on the Spirit to walk righteous at all
And now we know how

Humble yourself, hate your sin, and submit to God

And here is the promise:
“and He will exalt you.”

He will lift you up
He will cause you to live according to His will

It’s really not hard to understand, it’s your decision.

Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”