WEBVTT 00:00.291 --> 00:01.532 [SPEAKER_00]: Sisters, how y'all feel? 00:02.212 --> 00:03.572 [SPEAKER_00]: Brothers, y'all all right? 00:03.932 --> 00:07.173 [SPEAKER_00]: If this is your first time at True Stable, welcome to the table. 00:07.373 --> 00:09.914 [SPEAKER_00]: And you've been sitting at the table with us all these years. 00:10.174 --> 00:19.858 [SPEAKER_00]: We are so grateful that you have been listening to us through these years, and we are inviting you to partner with us and support our work at patreon.com slash True Stable. 00:20.138 --> 00:23.139 [SPEAKER_00]: Now pull up a chair and have a seat at the table with us. 00:24.259 --> 00:26.420 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're in first lesson when you shop the one. 00:26.840 --> 00:28.621 [SPEAKER_00]: Now I have tagged this song. 00:29.781 --> 00:31.563 [SPEAKER_00]: face that speaks for you. 00:32.563 --> 00:40.369 [SPEAKER_00]: Since I've been given the honor to start this series, hailed by hope, allow me to set the background context of first Thessalonians. 00:40.409 --> 00:41.910 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's the background y'all, all right? 00:42.510 --> 00:50.256 [SPEAKER_00]: This book starts off with a letter written by Paul along with Silas and Timothy addressed to the Thessalonian church in Thessalonica. 00:50.716 --> 00:53.398 [SPEAKER_00]: You see Paul, Silas and Timothy are what I call. 00:53.859 --> 00:55.780 [SPEAKER_00]: The three missionary musketeers. 00:56.100 --> 00:58.422 [SPEAKER_00]: So when you hear me say that, I'm talking about the three of them, OK? 00:59.502 --> 01:03.444 [SPEAKER_00]: And we know that missionaries suffer greatly for the sake of the gospel. 01:03.925 --> 01:16.871 [SPEAKER_00]: However, in Paul's case, from the moment Jesus called him, on the road to Damascus at Acts 9, Jesus said, I will show him, meaning Paul, how much he must suffer for my name. 01:17.431 --> 01:39.304 [SPEAKER_00]: and suffer he did, just as Jesus said, Paul was struck with blindness, physically beaten, clogged, stone within an inch of his life, shipwrecked several times, beaten by angry mob, beaten by a snake, and he was falsely imprisoned so many times, even leading up to his time in Thessalonica. 01:39.985 --> 01:44.467 [SPEAKER_00]: Now that's a Netflix documentary I want to see, but I digress. 01:45.648 --> 01:52.952 [SPEAKER_00]: Acts 16 records Paul and Sidus' imprisonment just before they entered the Sonalanaica to continue their gospel mission. 01:53.593 --> 01:57.195 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine suffering and enduring all of that for the gospel? 01:58.115 --> 02:00.917 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all, people have walked away from Jesus for less. 02:01.877 --> 02:03.218 [SPEAKER_00]: But not so with Paul. 02:03.998 --> 02:06.019 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul suffered but he was undeterred. 02:06.860 --> 02:10.642 [SPEAKER_00]: Turn to your neighbor and say, there's a blessing in the pressing. 02:12.796 --> 02:13.436 [SPEAKER_00]: That's right. 02:13.496 --> 02:14.357 [SPEAKER_00]: Hang on in there. 02:14.397 --> 02:15.017 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't give up. 02:15.577 --> 02:16.377 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't give in. 02:16.878 --> 02:18.838 [SPEAKER_00]: You will repurpose if you faint not. 02:18.878 --> 02:20.599 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what Galatians six nine says. 02:21.079 --> 02:27.862 [SPEAKER_00]: So in Acts 17, we get more insight into Paul in silence is time and it's the co-city of vessel and like the increase. 02:28.702 --> 02:50.313 [SPEAKER_00]: While there, they preached in the synagogue for three Sabbaths and reasoned with the people from the Scriptures, proving that Jesus is the Christ, and because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation, many Jews, Greeks, and prominent women were converted to the faith, and wanted to live for King Jesus, whom Paul and Silas proclaimed. 02:50.953 --> 02:53.975 [SPEAKER_00]: A church community was formed beyond in Thessalonica, 02:56.280 --> 03:01.585 [SPEAKER_00]: The Iyer, Rage, envy, jealousy of the Jews began to rise. 03:02.526 --> 03:04.308 [SPEAKER_00]: How many all know the devil is busy? 03:05.169 --> 03:06.290 [SPEAKER_00]: But God is busy here. 03:06.550 --> 03:07.051 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 03:08.075 --> 03:15.101 [SPEAKER_00]: They accuse the Christians, and Thessalonica of defiance user because of their newfound faith and allegiance to King Jesus. 03:15.502 --> 03:28.133 [SPEAKER_00]: So they came up with an evil plot and scheme to stir up an angry mob full of bad actors to start a riot in the city in order to take back control, to run Paul and Silas out of town. 03:28.873 --> 03:41.741 [SPEAKER_00]: Does that sound familiar to anyone, a bad actor, a self-proclaimed king, stirring up an angry and his disgruntled followers to storm the capital in order to take back control? 03:42.721 --> 03:46.684 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, yeah, I thought that was sound real familiar never forget. 03:47.597 --> 03:59.525 [SPEAKER_00]: The persecution from this angry mob was so extreme that Paul and Silas had to flee leaving the newly converted Christians of Thessalonians The abruptly and the departure was painful due to their deep love. 03:59.805 --> 04:06.870 [SPEAKER_00]: The missionary musketeers had for the Thessalonians and immediately deep love that the Thessalonians had for them. 04:08.502 --> 04:11.045 [SPEAKER_00]: So because of the persecution, they had to go y'all. 04:11.366 --> 04:19.236 [SPEAKER_00]: Their time was cut short, but as God's power and faithfulness would have it, Paul sent Timothy, while he was in current, Paul had to go to Corinth y'all. 04:19.837 --> 04:22.440 [SPEAKER_00]: sent Timothy to go check on the Thessalonians. 04:23.261 --> 04:23.842 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what? 04:24.350 --> 04:34.952 [SPEAKER_00]: Timothy, he sent a good report back to Paul that the Thessalonians says we're growing and thriving in the Lord in the midst of persecution. 04:35.552 --> 04:37.553 [SPEAKER_00]: That brings us to our ironic text. 04:37.753 --> 04:40.313 [SPEAKER_00]: First, Thessalonians chapter one, one through ten. 04:40.733 --> 04:42.774 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith, that speaks for you. 04:43.154 --> 04:48.295 [SPEAKER_00]: Turn to your neighbor and say, neighbor, does your faith speak for you? 04:54.465 --> 04:56.528 [SPEAKER_00]: What is your face saying about you? 04:56.548 --> 05:02.595 [SPEAKER_00]: Because that is the question now, all right, point number one. 05:02.836 --> 05:05.679 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you is fueled by love. 05:05.699 --> 05:08.222 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to go through versus one to five for this point. 05:09.137 --> 05:10.859 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse one, Paul, Salas and Timothy. 05:10.879 --> 05:12.300 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm reading from the NIV 2011. 05:12.401 --> 05:13.442 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just a little kid, y'all know. 05:13.802 --> 05:19.889 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul, Salas and Timothy, to the church of the desolonians and God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you. 05:20.509 --> 05:24.013 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you is fueled by love. 05:24.073 --> 05:25.515 [SPEAKER_00]: That is our first point. 05:26.135 --> 05:28.899 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, this letter was written to reconnect with the Thessalonians. 05:28.939 --> 05:35.046 [SPEAKER_00]: It was penned by Paul with silence and Timothy in agreement as pollabers in this gospel mission. 05:35.147 --> 05:38.871 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is a church that is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. 05:39.212 --> 05:44.338 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, this is a true church of God, just like quenany a church, amen. 05:45.099 --> 05:47.181 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen, because if you don't believe that you shouldn't be here. 05:47.201 --> 05:47.641 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay? 05:47.761 --> 05:53.305 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, verse two It's striking in me because I ain't gonna be in no false choice. 05:53.345 --> 05:53.985 [SPEAKER_00]: What's happening? 05:54.686 --> 05:55.526 [SPEAKER_00]: You believe that? 05:55.686 --> 05:56.287 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 05:56.647 --> 06:10.957 [SPEAKER_00]: All right It's too it's striking to me because it says we always thank God for all of you and continue We'll be mentioning you in our prayers that we're continually in the Greek is idealapos now I might have butcher the pronunciation, but that's all right 06:11.457 --> 06:17.721 [SPEAKER_00]: which can also be translated as constantly or unceasingly mentioning you in our prayers. 06:18.341 --> 06:20.623 [SPEAKER_00]: When you love someone, you think about them all the time. 06:21.283 --> 06:23.965 [SPEAKER_00]: I know this is true when I think about my little baby nieces. 06:24.405 --> 06:26.947 [SPEAKER_00]: I think about them all the time and I pray for those little ones I tell you. 06:27.647 --> 06:29.188 [SPEAKER_00]: And I pray for the parents too, all right. 06:30.369 --> 06:33.030 [SPEAKER_00]: When we love someone, we think about them continually. 06:33.391 --> 06:46.639 [SPEAKER_00]: But we ought to do as Paul has done here and lift them up in prayer, praying for the flourishing, the health, their growth in the Lord Jesus Christ, favor divine connections, open doors and growth in the Lord. 06:47.179 --> 06:50.381 [SPEAKER_00]: We pray that they will be sharpened and quickened by the Holy Spirit. 06:50.681 --> 06:58.627 [SPEAKER_00]: We pray for their conviction in Christ so that they might press toward the mark for the price of the high calling in Christ Jesus. 06:59.227 --> 07:08.714 [SPEAKER_00]: If your thoughts for your loved ones, neighbors and fellow believers only stops at the at thoughts, receive this challenge to turn those thoughts into prayers for them. 07:09.762 --> 07:20.994 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 3, remember before our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 07:21.375 --> 07:26.560 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul acknowledges their work produced by faith and their labor and their endurance. 07:27.101 --> 07:30.625 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the marks and the fruit of true believers. 07:31.085 --> 07:36.568 [SPEAKER_00]: The gospel of Jesus Christ took such deep root in their hearts and lies that they did the work of an evangelist. 07:36.989 --> 07:49.957 [SPEAKER_00]: proclaiming it to those not yet in the covenant community that Thessalonians are like the Psalmist in Psalm 1, verse 3, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring it forth fruit. 07:50.677 --> 07:57.199 [SPEAKER_00]: in his season, his leaves shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper. 07:57.660 --> 07:58.780 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the King James version. 07:58.800 --> 08:00.601 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the one my grandma taught me, all right? 08:00.641 --> 08:02.501 [SPEAKER_00]: If you know, you know, she don't play about that. 08:03.842 --> 08:12.845 [SPEAKER_00]: As I continue to advance, I want to highlight this part of the verse, your labor prompted by love, because this is no ordinary love. 08:13.800 --> 08:21.942 [SPEAKER_00]: And I know that your faithful elders here have broken down love for you through its various meetings all down through the years have come in here. 08:21.962 --> 08:25.342 [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't have to write a dissertation on all the various forms of love. 08:25.562 --> 08:27.803 [SPEAKER_00]: But I will briefly state them here. 08:28.443 --> 08:32.504 [SPEAKER_00]: E-roll, eros, sorry, is passionate romantic love right between lovers. 08:33.044 --> 08:37.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Store gay is the love between a mother and a child, father and a child, etc. 08:38.605 --> 08:42.289 [SPEAKER_00]: Philia is brotherly and sisterly love between friends. 08:42.309 --> 08:47.074 [SPEAKER_00]: That's how we get the root of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection. 08:47.494 --> 08:50.978 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't hear that latter part, but I used to live in Philly, so I had to say that. 08:52.319 --> 09:01.768 [SPEAKER_00]: Last but not least, it's a God Bay, which is the highest form of love because it is covenantal love, unconditional and sacrificial. 09:02.449 --> 09:05.852 [SPEAKER_00]: Agape is the love that God disposed on humanity. 09:06.173 --> 09:13.520 [SPEAKER_00]: The love that God has for me and you, the same love, spoken of in Romans 838, the 39. 09:13.580 --> 09:23.390 [SPEAKER_00]: For I am convinced that neither death, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor death. 09:23.750 --> 09:30.996 [SPEAKER_00]: No, anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 09:31.456 --> 09:39.743 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is highlighted here that their labor was prompted by a God Bay, and that their endurance is inspired by their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. 09:40.284 --> 09:47.670 [SPEAKER_00]: As Paul said, at Romans 8, 24 to 25, for in this hope we were saved, but hope that it's seen is no hope at all. 09:48.050 --> 09:50.031 [SPEAKER_00]: who hopes for what they already have. 09:50.451 --> 09:54.713 [SPEAKER_00]: But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 09:55.634 --> 10:01.897 [SPEAKER_00]: The Thessalonians waited for their faith to be made side just as we are waiting patiently now. 10:01.997 --> 10:03.217 [SPEAKER_00]: Aren't we waiting y'all? 10:03.517 --> 10:05.318 [SPEAKER_00]: We wait patiently. 10:05.978 --> 10:09.200 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you is fueled by love. 10:09.780 --> 10:15.063 [SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, love is not what we often see in our world, and even in the American church today. 10:15.963 --> 10:26.226 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus warned us in Matthew 24, 12, when speaking about the sign of the end of the age, He said, because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 10:27.277 --> 10:31.600 [SPEAKER_00]: On their daily, we see the manifestation of this prophetic warning from our Lord. 10:32.201 --> 10:35.704 [SPEAKER_00]: Indeed, the love of many has waxed code. 10:36.364 --> 10:38.065 [SPEAKER_00]: Lovelessness is ubiquitous. 10:38.146 --> 10:40.127 [SPEAKER_00]: It is everywhere all at once. 10:40.968 --> 10:46.532 [SPEAKER_00]: Ice agents snatching our immigrant neighbors, separating families, disappearing loved ones. 10:46.992 --> 10:50.515 [SPEAKER_00]: They have killed over 10 people that we know of. 10:59.120 --> 11:02.761 [SPEAKER_00]: Alex Pretty and the cold good, lovenessness. 11:04.342 --> 11:15.146 [SPEAKER_00]: In the past year, several young black women and men have been found hanging like strange fruit at various places in these yet-to-be united states, love-lessness. 11:16.893 --> 11:32.836 [SPEAKER_00]: false pastors, false prophets, false teachers, spewing sinful toxic by sinches, hateful and racist teachings from the Pope, it going viral week by week love less, less, and that's on the left and the right. 11:34.396 --> 11:40.257 [SPEAKER_00]: Lowland Wells, my, my, this young black boy. 11:41.777 --> 11:44.978 [SPEAKER_00]: On July 4th, in horn, Island, Mississippi, 11:45.986 --> 11:52.070 [SPEAKER_00]: To go have fun with his white friends, the friends returned. 11:52.511 --> 11:54.272 [SPEAKER_00]: Nolan was nowhere to be found. 11:56.113 --> 11:59.336 [SPEAKER_00]: Two days later, his lifeless body was recovered. 11:59.776 --> 12:01.758 [SPEAKER_00]: Lovelessness. 12:03.232 --> 12:14.420 [SPEAKER_00]: Wars and rumors of war genocide and Palestine, Congo bombings in Lebanon, the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world is happening right now in Sudan. 12:14.440 --> 12:16.321 [SPEAKER_00]: Do we care about those black lives? 12:16.821 --> 12:18.702 [SPEAKER_00]: Love, less, less. 12:20.795 --> 12:25.959 [SPEAKER_00]: I have said many times through the years, and I will say it now in your hearing again. 12:26.820 --> 12:30.222 [SPEAKER_00]: Lovelessness will crush this nation and the world. 12:30.683 --> 12:37.168 [SPEAKER_00]: If we don't lay hold of a faith that speaks and is fueled by love. 12:38.128 --> 12:44.033 [SPEAKER_00]: Saints of God, what the world needs now, is love, sweet love. 12:45.263 --> 12:53.273 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the only thing that there's just too little of, and that's word to backerack and how David. 12:54.854 --> 12:57.498 [SPEAKER_00]: The Theologian, Howard Thurman. 12:58.323 --> 13:01.904 [SPEAKER_00]: Good fourth, his working definition of love and his sermon, the meaning of love. 13:01.924 --> 13:17.511 [SPEAKER_00]: He said this, love is the experience of being dealt with at a point in oneself that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil, to love is to deal with another person at a point in hand that is beyond all the good and beyond all the evil. 13:18.031 --> 13:26.875 [SPEAKER_00]: There is something in the experience in which has with it always a note of security of emotional security. 13:28.042 --> 13:39.971 [SPEAKER_00]: and quote, that is to say a child of God that love invites us, that gives us, calls us, requires of us to live into our higher selves. 13:40.271 --> 13:41.912 [SPEAKER_00]: What do you mean by that preacher? 13:42.432 --> 13:48.437 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so glad you asked, I mean that love calls us to become what we already are. 13:49.629 --> 13:54.732 [SPEAKER_00]: We are made in the image of God, the image and likeness of the thrice Holy God. 13:55.312 --> 14:03.597 [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, we have intrinsic worth, value, and so do our neighbors, strangers, and enemies whom we are also called and commanded to love. 14:04.445 --> 14:21.020 [SPEAKER_00]: Thurmin is expounding upon the unconditional sacrificial nature of a goppy love that is beyond your goodness That is beyond your own sin on your worst day a goppy says that I am with you and I love you because of who you are I love you because of who's you are 14:21.861 --> 14:24.124 [SPEAKER_00]: And you are made in the image and likeness of God. 14:24.164 --> 14:27.067 [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, that is enough for me to love you wholeheartedly. 14:27.507 --> 14:36.356 [SPEAKER_00]: That is a call for us as Christians to love one another to show forth that we are truly the sons of God, whose light shines brightly in this present evil age. 14:37.097 --> 14:44.024 [SPEAKER_00]: And Matthew 22, 37, 40, Jesus said, not the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 14:44.445 --> 14:48.288 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it. 14:48.969 --> 14:50.791 [SPEAKER_00]: Love your neighbor as yourself. 14:51.512 --> 14:55.155 [SPEAKER_00]: All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. 14:55.896 --> 14:57.337 [SPEAKER_00]: This is not a suggestion, y'all. 14:57.958 --> 14:58.899 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not an option. 14:59.539 --> 15:02.202 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not dependent on your mood, or if the vibes are right. 15:02.762 --> 15:03.983 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a command. 15:04.584 --> 15:08.868 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're going to have a faith that speaks for you, it must be fueled by love. 15:09.648 --> 15:13.792 [SPEAKER_00]: And now is the time to show that we are truly Jesus' disciples 15:15.954 --> 15:30.375 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 4 and 5, for we know brothers and sisters love by God that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simple words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction, you know how we lived among you for your sake. 15:30.936 --> 15:44.546 [SPEAKER_00]: We see a gope appears here again and what I love about this particular sentence construction in verse 4 is that the phrase, love by God is in the passive verse, a voice meaning that the Thessalonians are the recipients of God's love, right? 15:45.226 --> 15:54.553 [SPEAKER_00]: Moreover, this phrase, love by God is also acting as an adjective to describe the subject of the sentence and the subject are the physalonians. 15:55.073 --> 16:01.197 [SPEAKER_00]: They are subjects of God's love, the recipients of God's love, whereas God is the prepositional agent. 16:01.757 --> 16:03.879 [SPEAKER_00]: Meaning that God is the one doing the loving. 16:04.699 --> 16:06.661 [SPEAKER_00]: God is the doer of the action of love. 16:06.781 --> 16:11.364 [SPEAKER_00]: After all, God is love, and we love only because God first loved us. 16:11.584 --> 16:14.526 [SPEAKER_00]: Our God doesn't love and mere abstraction. 16:15.046 --> 16:17.988 [SPEAKER_00]: God loves us particularly and thoroughly. 16:18.428 --> 16:25.031 [SPEAKER_00]: and all the details of our lives, faith that speaks for you is fueled by love. 16:25.571 --> 16:31.713 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's made possible only because God lavishes love on us and chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world. 16:32.053 --> 16:40.377 [SPEAKER_00]: According to Ephesians 1, 4-5, God loves and chose the Thessalonians and in the Greek it is election. 16:41.157 --> 16:43.578 [SPEAKER_00]: God's love and election, they go hand in hand y'all. 16:44.298 --> 16:48.922 [SPEAKER_00]: They hold hands and embrace us before the very foundations of the world. 16:49.282 --> 16:51.063 [SPEAKER_00]: That is good news brothers and sisters. 16:51.123 --> 16:55.046 [SPEAKER_00]: God chose you and I before we could do anything good or bad. 16:55.627 --> 16:58.909 [SPEAKER_00]: That is the good news of the gospel. 17:00.110 --> 17:07.356 [SPEAKER_00]: In verse five, Paul shares the evidence for the, or the receipts, if you will, for the election of the Thessalonians. 17:07.456 --> 17:14.201 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. 17:14.642 --> 17:16.943 [SPEAKER_00]: You know how we live among you for your sake. 17:17.384 --> 17:25.070 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of y'all know to these days social media profits and self-proclaimed pastors and theologians are saying just about anything and calling it gospel? 17:26.189 --> 17:29.030 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, y'all know, you see them, you might follow some of them. 17:29.910 --> 17:35.552 [SPEAKER_00]: In the old church, we used to say, some were sick and some just went. 17:36.712 --> 17:46.295 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, anybody can say words, but Paul said the gospel came with power, the Holy Spirit and conviction. 17:47.617 --> 17:48.617 [SPEAKER_00]: This one is for free. 17:49.118 --> 17:55.280 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't let false teachers, false prophets turn you around and get you confused about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 17:55.660 --> 17:57.761 [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. 17:58.021 --> 18:00.762 [SPEAKER_00]: And he will guide you into all truth. 18:01.162 --> 18:05.804 [SPEAKER_00]: God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. 18:05.964 --> 18:08.565 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell your neighbor, truth don't change. 18:11.046 --> 18:16.248 [SPEAKER_00]: So what did this power, did this power and the Holy Spirit empower them to do exactly? 18:16.803 --> 18:22.024 [SPEAKER_00]: It gave them the power to say no to unguiliness and yes to righteousness. 18:22.724 --> 18:28.505 [SPEAKER_00]: It gave them the power to say no to the sinful impulses of the flesh and say yes to the Holy Spirit. 18:29.566 --> 18:34.347 [SPEAKER_00]: To say no to wickedness and say yes to holiness because it is still right. 18:35.487 --> 18:40.728 [SPEAKER_00]: Say no to injustice and yes to justice and advocacy for those in need. 18:41.829 --> 18:45.711 [SPEAKER_00]: It gives us the power to say, no, to all manner of sin. 18:46.371 --> 18:52.214 [SPEAKER_00]: The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work within you and in me, brothers and sisters. 18:52.334 --> 18:54.875 [SPEAKER_00]: It is high time for us to exercise. 18:55.095 --> 18:56.476 [SPEAKER_00]: This holy ghost power. 18:57.316 --> 19:05.098 [SPEAKER_00]: Galatians 220 reminds us that I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 19:05.538 --> 19:12.839 [SPEAKER_00]: The life I now live in this body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 19:13.740 --> 19:15.500 [SPEAKER_00]: Donald's Lawrence said it this way. 19:15.880 --> 19:18.461 [SPEAKER_00]: These nails keep holding me. 19:18.481 --> 19:20.621 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm crucified. 19:22.185 --> 19:24.407 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't go where I used to go. 19:24.427 --> 19:26.649 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't do what I used to do. 19:27.289 --> 19:30.052 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to do what I used to do. 19:30.452 --> 19:32.794 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to go where I used to go. 19:32.814 --> 19:35.036 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have the will to want y'all. 19:35.116 --> 19:36.557 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have the desire. 19:37.037 --> 19:43.303 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't have the will because better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. 19:43.983 --> 19:58.668 [SPEAKER_00]: I will rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness, come on somebody and say, this is evidence of a change heart and a resolute mind fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. 19:59.228 --> 20:03.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you is fueled by love. 20:03.815 --> 20:04.795 [SPEAKER_00]: Point number two. 20:05.656 --> 20:09.157 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you, imitates the faith of faithful saints. 20:09.457 --> 20:11.998 [SPEAKER_00]: Versus six through seven, let's get into this. 20:12.398 --> 20:20.101 [SPEAKER_00]: You became imitated as of us and of the Lord for you, welcome the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 20:20.561 --> 20:24.102 [SPEAKER_00]: And so you became a model to the believers in Macedonia and a chia. 20:24.662 --> 20:26.443 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to have faith that speaks for you, 20:27.203 --> 20:30.547 [SPEAKER_00]: imitate the faith of faithful saints as they follow the Lord. 20:31.167 --> 20:33.910 [SPEAKER_00]: It takes a village all to raise the Christian. 20:34.651 --> 20:41.878 [SPEAKER_00]: Saints, we cannot imitate the Lord and bear the fruit of the Spirit and love sacrificially and unconditionally in isolation. 20:42.692 --> 20:44.713 [SPEAKER_00]: It's never happened and never will, okay? 20:45.133 --> 20:55.940 [SPEAKER_00]: Never forget that the devil does his best work in isolation, and he's prowling around, like a rolling lion, seeking someone to devour, according to 1 Peter 5A. 20:56.540 --> 21:07.527 [SPEAKER_00]: The Christian faith is a communal faith, and if we're going to have a faith that speaks for us, it must be fueled by love, it must imitate the faith of faithful saints, that God has placed within our community. 21:08.307 --> 21:11.969 [SPEAKER_00]: This call to imitate the faith of faithful saints is not a performance. 21:12.530 --> 21:22.296 [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can bear fruit in keeping with repentance and imitate the faith of faithful saints as they also imitate the Lord. 21:22.656 --> 21:28.600 [SPEAKER_00]: We need healthy faith communities comprised of faithful saints who have been walking with the Lord. 21:29.340 --> 21:37.367 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is God's desire for us, so mark the person or persons that you see in your community here at Quentin India who are true Christians. 21:38.087 --> 21:41.530 [SPEAKER_00]: And I hear you ask and preach, how can I identify a true Christian? 21:42.030 --> 21:45.153 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the fruits of the spirit are an excellent barometer y'all. 21:45.553 --> 21:50.077 [SPEAKER_00]: And you can find that passage in Galatians 5, 22 through 23. 21:50.677 --> 21:56.021 [SPEAKER_00]: Observe their life over the course of time, they're speech, they're way that they talk to people, the way they talk 21:59.092 --> 22:01.233 [SPEAKER_00]: You are not looking for perfection. 22:01.293 --> 22:03.994 [SPEAKER_00]: You are looking for faithfulness, okay? 22:04.495 --> 22:07.116 [SPEAKER_00]: The fruits of the Spirit are evident in the lives of true Christians. 22:07.156 --> 22:09.737 [SPEAKER_00]: They are like a tree planted by the rivers of water. 22:10.137 --> 22:11.978 [SPEAKER_00]: And they bear fruit in due season. 22:11.998 --> 22:16.301 [SPEAKER_00]: That means that you can pick off of their fruit tree and you should be able to taste love. 22:16.621 --> 22:20.202 [SPEAKER_00]: You can pick up another fruit and you can taste gentleness. 22:20.383 --> 22:23.464 [SPEAKER_00]: You can pick another fruit and you will taste self-control. 22:23.744 --> 22:27.266 [SPEAKER_00]: And the abundance of the fruit is evidence that the tree has good roots. 22:27.747 --> 22:30.896 [SPEAKER_00]: and is planted in front of soil by the river banks of the Lord. 22:31.257 --> 22:31.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 22:33.176 --> 22:35.877 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember when I was a young whipper snapper in the Lord. 22:38.538 --> 22:41.260 [SPEAKER_00]: And the Lord, I mean, this is nothing but the Lord. 22:41.980 --> 22:46.522 [SPEAKER_00]: After church, I got saved right out after college. 22:47.222 --> 22:54.325 [SPEAKER_00]: And this woman named Stephanie Evans came and grabbed me in my best friend up, and she said, I want to invite y'all to a prayer meeting. 22:54.625 --> 22:56.206 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my God, prayer meeting, what is that? 22:56.426 --> 22:57.447 [SPEAKER_00]: I was in corporate America. 22:57.467 --> 22:58.887 [SPEAKER_00]: I only knew about corporate meetings. 22:58.927 --> 23:00.588 [SPEAKER_00]: What is a prayer meeting? 23:00.948 --> 23:06.510 [SPEAKER_00]: We were all living in Pasadena, so she was like, I want you on to come to my house, I want to have a prayer meeting. 23:06.570 --> 23:08.010 [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, all right, she was really nice. 23:08.050 --> 23:11.951 [SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, all right, but I don't know what a prayer means about to be about. 23:12.271 --> 23:15.332 [SPEAKER_00]: She should gather me, my best friend, and another sister. 23:15.612 --> 23:18.853 [SPEAKER_00]: And we will meet at her house every week, y'all. 23:19.293 --> 23:26.815 [SPEAKER_00]: It must have been a Tuesday night, because maybe by the time I was on Wednesday, maybe from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and we would share our lives. 23:27.963 --> 23:33.728 [SPEAKER_00]: that would share, I would share my best friend, Jenner would share, I mean, we will all just go around. 23:34.188 --> 23:36.010 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just life on life to set up a ship. 23:36.050 --> 23:38.972 [SPEAKER_00]: I'd see her in her home with her kids and her then husband. 23:39.012 --> 23:42.655 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was just, we didn't know the gift initially, right? 23:43.175 --> 23:44.737 [SPEAKER_00]: And Steph has been in my life. 23:45.377 --> 23:53.764 [SPEAKER_00]: for these 21, 22 years, just saw her two weeks ago when she was in town, what a blessing she has been. 23:53.864 --> 23:59.008 [SPEAKER_00]: I have been able to imitate the faith of Stephanie Evans, all of these years. 23:59.048 --> 24:01.510 [SPEAKER_00]: God knew I needed an extra help, y'all. 24:01.931 --> 24:04.853 [SPEAKER_00]: I needed some help and more as caught than caught. 24:05.033 --> 24:12.399 [SPEAKER_00]: And now I realize that not everybody has the blessing of having a trusted mentor or a disciple or that's been walking with them for all of these years. 24:12.479 --> 24:17.543 [SPEAKER_00]: And I know that it's hard to find mentors in the faith that will disciple you. 24:17.603 --> 24:21.025 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is a tragedy really and a travesty and more over. 24:21.105 --> 24:23.667 [SPEAKER_00]: It's an indictment really on the Western church. 24:24.048 --> 24:29.252 [SPEAKER_00]: The disciples deficit in the church is a reflection of the leadership crisis in this country. 24:29.272 --> 24:33.115 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're fooling yourself of you think that there's no connection between the two. 24:33.555 --> 24:43.265 [SPEAKER_00]: This has serious consequences and ripple effects both now and for the years to come, but that's a sermon for another day that I'll leave to Dr. Christine Edminson to teach about that. 24:43.305 --> 24:44.306 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what she does, okay. 24:44.727 --> 24:49.051 [SPEAKER_00]: My point is this, if you have a mentor, give thanks to God. 24:49.872 --> 24:54.419 [SPEAKER_00]: And to them, for their sacrificial love towards you and their obedience to God. 24:54.799 --> 25:03.451 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't have a mentor or disciple in your life, you can pray that God will provide one, and you can imitate the faith of faithful saints here in your local church community. 25:03.852 --> 25:04.573 [SPEAKER_00]: whom you admire? 25:05.013 --> 25:12.702 [SPEAKER_00]: You can also imitate the faith of someone who has a good reputation for public integrity at this and whose life is above reproach. 25:13.043 --> 25:15.025 [SPEAKER_00]: Do not despise small beginnings. 25:15.606 --> 25:21.312 [SPEAKER_00]: While I'm in this portion of text y'all, I want to implore you all to honor your elders here at Quentin Nia. 25:22.193 --> 25:35.898 [SPEAKER_00]: whom God is placed over the care of your souls, Hebrews 13, 17 says this, have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. 25:36.498 --> 25:38.618 [SPEAKER_00]: Do this so that their work will be a joy. 25:38.959 --> 25:42.580 [SPEAKER_00]: Not a burden for that will be a no benefit to you, okay? 25:43.440 --> 25:46.402 [SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't mean that you don't share the things that are going on in your life. 25:46.442 --> 25:50.225 [SPEAKER_00]: Put them the hardships, besetting sins that inspire you quite the opposite. 25:50.245 --> 25:54.527 [SPEAKER_00]: They pray for you all on the regular and you opt to pray for them too. 25:54.888 --> 25:56.969 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know the sleepless nights. 25:57.209 --> 25:59.551 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know the emails that they receive. 25:59.591 --> 26:05.755 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know the warfare that keeps them up at night pray for your elders. 26:06.275 --> 26:09.696 [SPEAKER_00]: They preach to you weekly and teach you during well Wednesdays. 26:09.736 --> 26:11.656 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been to enough well Wednesdays to know. 26:11.896 --> 26:13.076 [SPEAKER_00]: They be teaching you all good too. 26:13.436 --> 26:15.257 [SPEAKER_00]: They teach you all the illogical doctrine. 26:15.557 --> 26:19.517 [SPEAKER_00]: They do surveys, data, teaching you all the things. 26:19.997 --> 26:22.858 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not just coming up here with the vibes. 26:22.878 --> 26:23.778 [SPEAKER_00]: They give you data. 26:24.078 --> 26:25.138 [SPEAKER_00]: They give you stats. 26:25.558 --> 26:27.819 [SPEAKER_00]: And then let you know what's really going on in the body. 26:28.079 --> 26:29.479 [SPEAKER_00]: That does not happen everywhere. 26:29.839 --> 26:35.060 [SPEAKER_00]: That does not put a hand, put your whole hands together and give them a hand type of praise for real. 26:36.530 --> 26:38.371 [SPEAKER_00]: They want to see you grow in the Lord. 26:38.391 --> 26:39.851 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why they do all of that. 26:39.931 --> 26:42.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, now, these are busy people. 26:42.472 --> 26:43.852 [SPEAKER_00]: They have to win it just to do it. 26:44.112 --> 26:45.933 [SPEAKER_00]: They're doing it because they want to see you grow. 26:46.533 --> 26:49.734 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith speaks for you, it mitigates the faith of faithful saints. 26:50.694 --> 27:00.277 [SPEAKER_00]: The verses continue saying, you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you welcome the message in the midst of suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 27:00.317 --> 27:04.058 [SPEAKER_00]: And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia 27:06.579 --> 27:10.642 [SPEAKER_00]: don't miss this sense, and I don't want this to get lost. 27:10.662 --> 27:17.366 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what Anika was in, the Macedonia region of Northern Greece, and Akaya was in the southern region of Greece. 27:17.586 --> 27:32.015 [SPEAKER_00]: So from the north to the south of Greece, they became a model for all believers, that Thessalonians were the gold standard, or the prototype, if you will, of what a Christian should be, because they imitated the Lord amidst suffering. 27:32.795 --> 27:41.762 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that we will go and do likewise, Saints, to have joy and suffering is counterintuitive to the world, but it is the way of the Christian. 27:42.363 --> 27:45.906 [SPEAKER_00]: Suffering is never wasted, always redempted for the Christian. 27:45.986 --> 27:59.517 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why James won, verse two says, consider it pure joy of my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, the crown of life awaits y'all. 28:00.077 --> 28:05.902 [SPEAKER_00]: and we have been united to Christ in blessings and suffering as part of our union with Christ. 28:06.322 --> 28:16.030 [SPEAKER_00]: And when I think about Jesus and what He's done for me, listen, I immediately think of the suffering, my Jesus went through. 28:16.710 --> 28:21.294 [SPEAKER_00]: In his 33 years of life and ministry, Jesus was rejected by his own 28:29.420 --> 28:39.011 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine trying to put your hands on the living God to push him, not to grab onto his the hem of his garment, but to push him off a cliff. 28:39.111 --> 28:40.793 [SPEAKER_00]: My God, people do not fear God. 28:41.013 --> 28:41.493 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a thought. 28:41.533 --> 28:42.635 [SPEAKER_00]: People do not fear God. 28:43.215 --> 28:49.062 [SPEAKER_00]: I think about how he suffered for us in the garden of the Semini, praying and interceding for us. 28:49.562 --> 28:58.805 [SPEAKER_00]: to the point of shedding blood, I'll never forget when Dr. Edmundson's plural and us and some friends went to South Africa. 28:59.125 --> 29:03.226 [SPEAKER_00]: In 2019, we went to go do some anti-racism work there. 29:03.246 --> 29:05.327 [SPEAKER_00]: And we were in a church in Johannesburg. 29:05.647 --> 29:08.368 [SPEAKER_00]: And they were speaking, the whole service was in Swahili, right? 29:09.088 --> 29:13.270 [SPEAKER_00]: And which I love because I don't understand the language. 29:13.670 --> 29:15.090 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what I do understand? 29:15.610 --> 29:16.731 [SPEAKER_00]: The language of worship? 29:17.926 --> 29:21.994 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't need to understand the words to render to God the worship, do his name. 29:22.134 --> 29:22.635 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 29:23.376 --> 29:24.819 [SPEAKER_00]: Turn to your neighbor, neighbor. 29:26.021 --> 29:27.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you understand the language of worship? 29:30.447 --> 29:34.569 [SPEAKER_00]: So we are here in this church in Johannesburg and they are singing in Swahili. 29:34.870 --> 29:45.436 [SPEAKER_00]: They are dancing together in a circle, literally like around up and through the altar, around the church, and they're singing this song, gotta be at least 50 people in this line. 29:46.276 --> 29:48.698 [SPEAKER_00]: And what the song that they were singing? 29:49.578 --> 29:54.419 [SPEAKER_00]: was remember how Jesus suffered for you at Getsemony. 29:55.019 --> 29:56.160 [SPEAKER_00]: This was in November, y'all. 29:56.660 --> 30:00.881 [SPEAKER_00]: This was in according to the liturgical calendar, you know how we loved to stick to our calendars. 30:02.641 --> 30:08.423 [SPEAKER_00]: That he said, remember how Jesus suffered for you at Getsemony and it brings tears to my eyes. 30:10.303 --> 30:15.645 [SPEAKER_00]: because when we go through the gospel narrative, it is my belief that we don't linger enough in Christ's sufferings. 30:16.226 --> 30:20.207 [SPEAKER_00]: But what the saints in South Africa understand and what we rush past is this. 30:20.387 --> 30:23.669 [SPEAKER_00]: If we miss the suffering of Jesus, we miss the gospel. 30:24.229 --> 30:30.492 [SPEAKER_00]: In the garden of Get 70, Jesus experience a dark night of the soul because of the weight of the sin of our world. 30:31.720 --> 30:32.680 [SPEAKER_00]: It was laid on him. 30:33.460 --> 30:36.961 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus cried out to the Father in heaven, to our Father in heaven. 30:37.222 --> 30:40.142 [SPEAKER_00]: Let this cup pass for me if it be a will. 30:40.762 --> 30:43.643 [SPEAKER_00]: Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. 30:44.123 --> 30:46.564 [SPEAKER_00]: For the joy set before him, he suffered. 30:47.104 --> 30:50.745 [SPEAKER_00]: He was beaten, mocked, disrespected, tormented, spat on. 30:51.005 --> 30:54.346 [SPEAKER_00]: He carried that old rug across all the way to Calvary. 30:54.666 --> 30:56.767 [SPEAKER_00]: He went for you and he went for me. 30:58.055 --> 30:59.818 [SPEAKER_00]: Saints are sins, kill Jesus. 31:00.399 --> 31:04.124 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, along with the state, but our sins, kill Jesus. 31:04.164 --> 31:10.012 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we don't share in the guilt, we cannot partake in the grace. 31:10.733 --> 31:12.115 [SPEAKER_00]: They're at Calvary. 31:12.997 --> 31:18.182 [SPEAKER_00]: There at Calvary, all there I was, purchased by God. 31:18.882 --> 31:22.485 [SPEAKER_00]: I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 31:22.505 --> 31:25.928 [SPEAKER_00]: For it is the power of God unto salvation. 31:26.288 --> 31:28.090 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus paid it all with His life. 31:28.370 --> 31:35.677 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave us everything, separated from the Father, just for you and me, home, blood, die. 31:36.317 --> 31:37.118 [SPEAKER_00]: on that cross. 31:37.519 --> 31:46.671 [SPEAKER_00]: And three days later, he rose again with all power in his hands salvation, healing restoration for all who will believe on him. 31:46.811 --> 31:47.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah. 31:48.313 --> 31:50.256 [SPEAKER_00]: Now that is love. 31:53.708 --> 31:54.268 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 31:54.808 --> 31:55.348 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 31:56.169 --> 32:02.970 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you, inmate taste the faith of the faithful saints and of our Lord Jesus Christ. 32:03.131 --> 32:03.651 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 32:04.171 --> 32:05.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Point number three and I'm out. 32:05.191 --> 32:05.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Show away. 32:06.111 --> 32:09.612 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith that speaks for you versus eight through ten. 32:09.632 --> 32:10.653 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the title of the sermon. 32:10.673 --> 32:11.453 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the last point. 32:11.873 --> 32:12.173 [SPEAKER_00]: Faith. 32:12.473 --> 32:13.714 [SPEAKER_00]: that speaks for you. 32:14.134 --> 32:20.297 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and in a car here, your faith in God has become known everywhere. 32:20.677 --> 32:22.638 [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it. 32:23.018 --> 32:25.699 [SPEAKER_00]: For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. 32:26.119 --> 32:35.244 [SPEAKER_00]: They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God into wait for His son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues you from the coming wrath. 32:35.704 --> 32:41.807 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord's message rang out from the best of theologians in their converts because they preached the gospel to those who are not yet believers too. 32:42.467 --> 32:43.789 [SPEAKER_00]: and they became believers. 32:44.289 --> 32:48.595 [SPEAKER_00]: So we know the message rang out from Macedonia, Akaya, so that's the North and South agrees. 32:48.815 --> 32:50.457 [SPEAKER_00]: But then Paul says everywhere. 32:51.198 --> 32:55.103 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, according to the scholars, they say this is a bit of an exaggeration. 32:55.143 --> 32:57.566 [SPEAKER_00]: They say Paul was putting dubs on it a little bit. 32:58.054 --> 33:01.197 [SPEAKER_00]: But that, it doesn't mean that literally it went everywhere in the world. 33:01.217 --> 33:04.580 [SPEAKER_00]: But rather the places that the three missionary musketeers had been. 33:04.660 --> 33:12.167 [SPEAKER_00]: So that is neighboring towns, villages, cities that they've been to on their missionary journeys, including current. 33:12.707 --> 33:16.411 [SPEAKER_00]: Thessalonica was a bustling seaport city, a metropolis destination. 33:16.451 --> 33:24.038 [SPEAKER_00]: So when the Thessalonians began to receive the gospel, believe it, live it out and preach it to others, they were winning more and more souls. 33:24.658 --> 33:29.280 [SPEAKER_00]: to the point that the faith of the Thessalonians and the new converts rang out like a gun. 33:29.700 --> 33:31.981 [SPEAKER_00]: They had a faith that speaks for them. 33:32.581 --> 33:36.723 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, can you imagine if American Christians were known for a faith that speaks for them? 33:37.243 --> 33:38.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Like the faith of the Thessalonians? 33:39.364 --> 33:42.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Hear me when I say this, there is a faith that speaks for us. 33:43.546 --> 33:50.989 [SPEAKER_00]: But to borrow Paul's language from 1st Corinthians 131, it sounds like a noisy gun and a clanging symbol, 33:54.032 --> 34:03.518 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a faith that has been tied to capitalism, as Lea pray, greed, sexual immorality, nationalism, racism, departure abuse, and so much more. 34:04.158 --> 34:07.440 [SPEAKER_00]: It has been a counterfeit faith that has been speaking for us in America. 34:07.920 --> 34:09.681 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's been ringing out everywhere. 34:10.041 --> 34:11.742 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's even been exported. 34:13.083 --> 34:17.586 [SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, unlike Paul, I'm not exaggerating this point. 34:18.547 --> 34:19.907 [SPEAKER_00]: I wish it were so, but I'm not. 34:20.367 --> 34:26.529 [SPEAKER_00]: And I got to say, y'all, I believe that if Paul was a lie today, he'd be sending their American church a letter. 34:27.069 --> 34:28.869 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably another book, you'd be honest. 34:29.289 --> 34:30.969 [SPEAKER_00]: And probably would give us a weapon, too. 34:31.149 --> 34:31.850 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm the same. 34:32.750 --> 34:34.690 [SPEAKER_00]: We caught an up, we caught an up y'all. 34:35.390 --> 34:35.910 [SPEAKER_00]: We caught an up. 34:36.611 --> 34:43.512 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine, though, if the true Christian faith rang out from the West to the entire world, picture that. 34:44.332 --> 34:49.073 [SPEAKER_00]: Christians being known for being Christ-like, now let me Scripture that. 34:50.234 --> 34:53.334 [SPEAKER_00]: By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples. 34:53.475 --> 35:02.417 [SPEAKER_00]: If you love one another, that's what Jesus said, and John chapter 13 verse 35, to be known for Christ-like mission not be a novel concept. 35:03.237 --> 35:05.958 [SPEAKER_00]: It ought to be the regular disposition of true Christians. 35:06.418 --> 35:13.667 [SPEAKER_00]: Now because the Thessalonians have been preaching that gospel in its bread like wildfire, the three missionary musketeers didn't have to say anything about it. 35:14.248 --> 35:25.001 [SPEAKER_00]: A faith that speaks for you lifts burdens y'all and lifts the weight off the shoulders of the ministers, the elders, pastors, bishops, and other faith leaders who God has entrusted to the care for your soul. 35:26.422 --> 35:35.087 [SPEAKER_00]: Third John, verse four says this, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 35:35.687 --> 35:44.432 [SPEAKER_00]: That is why they did not have to say anything about the genuine nature of the Thessalonians safe because they have a faith that speaks for them. 35:45.292 --> 35:52.780 [SPEAKER_00]: And the evidence abounds, their fate doesn't require the three-missionary musketeers to relay the foundations of the faith for the Thessalonians. 35:53.100 --> 35:56.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Now they can talk about way they're manners of the faith or little nuances. 35:56.784 --> 36:03.511 [SPEAKER_00]: With them because of their maturation in Christ, turn to your neighbor and say, Neba, lighten the load. 36:05.130 --> 36:16.542 [SPEAKER_00]: verse is nine to ten and then I'm out your way for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us they tell how you turned to God from adults to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven. 36:16.883 --> 36:18.064 [SPEAKER_00]: Who will be raised from the dead? 36:18.445 --> 36:21.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 36:21.808 --> 36:22.169 [SPEAKER_00]: Wow. 36:22.790 --> 36:31.624 [SPEAKER_00]: The Thessalonians faith in the faith of the Congress, they made with so powerful and efficacious that they shared the fundamentals of the gospel right on back to Paul, Silas, and Timothy. 36:32.145 --> 36:35.050 [SPEAKER_00]: This is clear evidence of the Holy Ghost Power Act work within them. 36:36.130 --> 36:44.473 [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, kindness, generosity, a warm reception during Timothy's visit, there'd be persecuted by the way. 36:45.334 --> 36:49.035 [SPEAKER_00]: But also, when Paul and Silas initially entered, that's a little night-cut, too. 36:49.575 --> 36:59.139 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember in the beginning of the sermon, I told you that Paul and Silas' time in Fessel and Ike was caught short, and they sort of they anticipated due to the intensity of the persecution. 36:59.979 --> 37:06.267 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, this is a word for somebody who thinks the assignment God put into your heart will take many years for you to see fruit. 37:06.828 --> 37:13.216 [SPEAKER_00]: Receive this word in this reminder that Paul and Tata spent in Thessalonica. 37:13.236 --> 37:14.998 [SPEAKER_00]: The time that they spent there was less than a month y'all. 37:15.863 --> 37:18.966 [SPEAKER_00]: And so much though, that we're talking about it now. 37:19.086 --> 37:23.069 [SPEAKER_00]: In 2026, the year of the Lord, we're talking about the faith of the Thessalonica's now. 37:23.490 --> 37:26.052 [SPEAKER_00]: In 2026, in the year of our Lord. 37:26.092 --> 37:31.396 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm here to remind you that what you think will take 10 years to accomplish, can God can do in 10 months. 37:32.397 --> 37:52.232 [SPEAKER_00]: What you can do in 10 months God can do in 10 weeks what you can do in 10 weeks God could do in 10 days what you could do in 10 days God could do in one What you can do in one God can do in 10 minutes and what you can do in 10 minutes God can do in 10 seconds and what you can do in 10 seconds God can do in an instant 37:53.543 --> 37:56.406 [SPEAKER_00]: Is anything too hard for the Lord? 37:57.027 --> 37:59.710 [SPEAKER_00]: We serve a God of the suddenly. 38:00.490 --> 38:03.834 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, God often makes us wait. 38:03.934 --> 38:05.816 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I see my fellow waiters in the room? 38:05.916 --> 38:07.398 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, yeah, I see those hands all. 38:07.458 --> 38:08.679 [SPEAKER_00]: I see those holy hands everywhere. 38:09.700 --> 38:14.163 [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes God blesses us with the suddenly, all right? 38:14.483 --> 38:16.065 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm coming to my clothes. 38:16.425 --> 38:20.368 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul said, they tell how you turned the God from idols to serve the living and true God. 38:20.728 --> 38:26.432 [SPEAKER_00]: And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 38:26.912 --> 38:28.554 [SPEAKER_00]: The Thessalonians got the gospel y'all. 38:28.894 --> 38:32.957 [SPEAKER_00]: They received it, they understood it, and they won more souls for the kingdom of God. 38:33.197 --> 38:35.919 [SPEAKER_00]: And I will never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 38:36.139 --> 38:38.721 [SPEAKER_00]: For it is the power of God unto salvation. 38:39.261 --> 38:42.623 [SPEAKER_00]: And it does require that we turn away from worthless idols. 38:42.824 --> 38:49.588 [SPEAKER_00]: The Thessalonians were worshiping Zeus and Apollous and ISIS and all of the gods, okay? 38:49.808 --> 38:52.930 [SPEAKER_00]: And it does require that we turn away from worthless idols, y'all. 38:53.291 --> 38:56.573 [SPEAKER_00]: Made with hands and idols that we make in our own hearts. 38:57.579 --> 39:06.763 [SPEAKER_00]: to serve the truth and living God, waiting on Jesus's second coming because He's coming back for those who are waiting for Him, according to Hebrews 9, 28. 39:06.843 --> 39:12.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And those who are waiting for Him are rescued from the wrath of God. 39:12.865 --> 39:13.906 [SPEAKER_00]: Hell is real. 39:14.346 --> 39:16.267 [SPEAKER_00]: And not ashamed to say that. 39:16.747 --> 39:18.388 [SPEAKER_00]: I am not ashamed of that doctrine. 39:18.948 --> 39:20.288 [SPEAKER_00]: And neither should you be. 39:21.309 --> 39:22.369 [SPEAKER_00]: Times are wasted. 39:23.550 --> 39:26.151 [SPEAKER_00]: And people are dying that ain't died before. 39:27.808 --> 39:29.729 [SPEAKER_00]: and you'll get that on your way home. 39:30.449 --> 39:32.109 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have time. 39:33.089 --> 39:42.012 [SPEAKER_00]: We do not have time for false gospels and counterfeit faith that confuses people's lives are being demanded of them. 39:43.132 --> 39:48.494 [SPEAKER_00]: The earth is groany and people are longing for the sons of God to be revealed. 39:49.054 --> 39:53.655 [SPEAKER_00]: This world needs to see faith that speaks for you. 39:55.190 --> 39:59.903 [SPEAKER_00]: When the Son of Man comes, we'll he find faith on the earth. 40:01.247 --> 40:01.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen.