A Rising Tide Raises All Boats-The Sermon 1 Thess ch 3

Uh oh

We'll sing out, shout the victory!

We are the people of every battle

We'll spread the fire

Once we're ready

May the heart burn

Now I'm sure I'll fight

When we are in the fight

One day everyone will have to leave

And we all will sing

Jesus will sing

And shout out the victory!

The river of the King

Loved in majesty

And all the earth rejoiced

All the earth rejoiced

In the heavens himself in light

In the darkness drives in light

And turn those eyes towards

Turn those eyes towards

I'll breathe the sour gout

Sing with me, I'll breathe

The sour gout

You'll almost see me I'll break

I'll break

The sour gout

In the age to age this town

The sun has set in its head

We're turning at the end

We're turning at the end

So come all that's waiting in the world

The Father, Spirit, and Son

You'll find that place

That you'll never find

You'll find that place

Right there!

Right there!

Alright, inspirational moment in time

This is your opportunity to share how the Lord has been speaking to you this week

What you might have read, what you might have seen, what you might have done

You were there and God said, hey pay attention to that

There's a little something to notice, a little something to learn

What have you got? What have you heard? What have you seen?

What the last seven days have been like for you?

Yesterday, okay we should go ahead

And then, and then, and then, go

So, I have seen for myself this week

And I've seen a little bit in others too

We can talk about it

The power of perseverance

And you know what it is that God wants you to do

And regardless of what's going on in your life

Or what other people are doing or saying

Or what other people are doing or saying

Or how you feel, you do it anyway

I'm struggling with physical pain

Emotional pain

Also suffering from physical pain

Health condition

I got some rough news from my doctor

A couple weeks ago that I've just kind of been

I don't know, not really in denial

But I don't have time for that right now

It's kind of how I feel about it

And try and figure out how to deal with it

Try and figure out how to go about it

How to push through that

And feeling like it's just not something I want to deal with right now

What's the one truth?

But through all of that

I know where God wants me to be

I know what I'm supposed to be doing

And I do that

And I cried in pain all the way here this morning

And I got up there and started playing the guitar

And all the pain went away

And so I'm standing here right now with no pain

I've been in pain since I went to bed last night

And so when you do what it is that God wants you to do

And you lean on Him and you say, God, take this away from me

And you do what you're supposed to do

He will be there

He will help you and He will pull you through that

You just have to show Him that you want to do what you want

Amen. That's a good word. Good word. Here.

On Tuesday

On Tuesday our school band went to Senior Point

And while we were there

Me and my group of friends

We were supposed to do a shat run

But our shat run left us

And we couldn't just find them

And I feel like I was keeping me calm

Even though it was like a stressful situation

Because everybody else was freaking out

And we had to keep calm

And I was really nervous hoping I'd see that

Awesome. It's good to know God has comforted us

In this stressful situation

So I got to watch the movie

If you get a chance to see it

I'll give you a little warning about it

But I would recommend it

It's called Tulsa

Anybody ever seen it?

Good. Want to watch it?

Alright, so I'm not going to ruin the end for you

Don't worry about it. No spoiler alert or anything

But there is a man in the movie

And he tells a story

And I think maybe I had heard this story parable

If you will

Previously but I had forgotten all about it

And so as he was telling it

I'm thinking like I think I've heard this

I think I remember it

But I had forgotten all about it

And it's about a man who's out on a sailing vessel

And he's in the

Sailing on the ocean

Or whatever

And a storm comes up

And it's pretty bad

And the ship begins to get swamped

Gaining a lot of water

It's still afloat

And he's theoretically safe

As long as the ship doesn't sink

Or capsize or whatever

But it's going to be

Pretty close call

Like the ship could sink

The ship might not be serviceable

And he might not be able to get enough water out

To really be able to use it

And he's riding out the storm

And he's praying

And he's praying

And then all of a sudden

Lightning strikes the ship

And when the lightning strikes the ship

A good portion of the ship bursts into flames

And the ship begins to burn

Out of control despite the storms

Rain, the counter would see windy

Dark clouds, everything counter would see

And yet the ship is burning

And they'll do that

And so no solution left

He goes overboard

Grabs a light ring

And goes overboard into the water

And he watches from a little bit of a distance

As the ship is just engulfed in flames

And it's going down

It's definitely not salvageable now

Everything above the water line will burn

And just then

A search light comes shining through the water

And he is spotted

And they haul him aboard the ship

Well as he's in the water

Right before the search light comes

He's saying, God, what is going on?

I trusted you

I trusted you with everything

I've been out here

I take a certain amount of risk

I understand it, but not here

And then the storm comes

And that's bad enough

And I might have survived the storm

But then my boat is being burned out

Now I'm stranded in the ocean on a light ring

And no one is out here to save me

And what is going on?

And he's really kind of accusing God

And then the search light comes up

And he saves me

He gets pulled up on board the boat

And the captain says to him

He says, it's amazing

It's an absolute act of God

That we were able to find you out here in the ocean

He said, did you set your boat on fire?

He said, that was the smartest thing you could have done

Because there's no way we would have found you out here

Lost in the storm, in the dark

If the boat had not been burning

But we saw the flames of the boat in the distance

And we came and I see the boat is gone now

But we came because of the flames

And we found you in the water

And the man in the movie reminded me of kind of the moral of that story

You might find several in there

But one of the key was pointing out

Sometimes your boat's got to get set on fire

In order for you to get saved

And so I look at the world

And I see a lot of burning going on

There's a lot of trouble

A lot of people who are just kind of plugging away day after day

Facing a lot of real difficulty

And feeling alone, feeling stressed, feeling like there is no hope

But we know there is hope in Christ

And in the movie, the man that if he didn't suddenly accept Jesus or anything

But that parable got him thinking

That story got him thinking about how his life had been basically a dumpster fire

For several years, many years

And really wasn't getting any better

He was kind of on the verge of suicide and whatever

And that parable got him thinking

And I just felt like God was saying to me two things

First of all, that we need to remember that sometimes when things are going bad

It sure could be a lot worse

And God may be protecting you from something that's a lot worse than what you're going through

Like when your car breaks down, you could be avoiding head on with a semi

Or when you have a physical ailment that stops you

Truly stops you from doing something that you wanted to do

You could have been hurt worse while you were doing it

Or so, I mean, God knows the future, God knows the variables

God knows what's going to happen

And so sometimes bad things happen to take us to a place where God can do something amazing

And then the other thing was concerning the fact that I had forgotten the parable

And I thought about how we in our own lives

I felt like I was supposed to say to me how we in our own lives, we experienced these things

Maybe we could come in here and talk about it like that

Getting lost from your chaperone at Cedar Point

That's probably not an event you're going to forget anytime soon, right?

Because you're searched and you have to figure it out and solve the problem and whatever

But someday you probably will

And then someday one of your kids might get lost at Cedar Point or whatever

Or as a dad you might be able to prepare them for that circumstance

Because you hadn't forgotten

But if you have forgotten, the amazing thing that God has done

The way your story unfolded

What you experienced, what you learned

What somebody shared in an inspirational moment

Then when you go into that situation

You might have this feeling like

I think I kind of remember this

I think I kind of know what's going to happen here

Maybe I even know what I'm supposed to do

Because so and so shared from across the room when they were in that circumstance

What they did or what God did or so on

And maybe when you're faced with pain and persevering

You can stand firm and see God take your pain away

Even if it's only for a time

But when your boat's on fire

And you leap into the water and think

Okay, there's nothing left for me now

I totally wait for you to realize that God is still there

And he may be at work and no terrible circumstance

Okay, so we're going to pray together at this time

And we have just a couple more songs to worship

I just have a few more songs

I have scheduled my real tape exam for the clinic

And I am super nervous and stressed about it

And I'm trying not to be

Because I know that's only going to make it worse

But I just pray to God

So both things, both for the test

And also that Katelyn will get her mind under control

And submit it to God, right? Amen

We have some more questions

There you go

There's, again, knowing me

I found inspiration from music

There's a new person that I found

It's Brian T.

I've never heard him up until like two weeks ago

I just heard about him two weeks ago

He's a Christian rapper

But his is a lot more, I guess, gospel type rap

Okay, that's cool

And he has a song called Who Told You

And I was listening to it

I just remembered what it was called

Because I couldn't remember what it was called

But I was listening to it at work

I think Thursday or Friday

And I went to lunch break

And I put it on again

So I could actually really listen to the song

There's a couple of things that really stick out

So I'm going to read a little bit of the lyrics

It says, Who told you money makes you real?

Who told you pistols make you tough?

Who said that mercy is for the weak?

Who said forgiveness is for chumps?

The crowd say, they say

A crowd dies a thousand deaths

A soldier dies but one

And they mourn you

Who told you God doesn't exist?

Who told you God was just a myth?

Who planted seeds of disbelief

Inside your mind so you could trip?

So this whole song is like that

It's those kinds of questions that

I feel that we as Christians

We ask ourselves that all the time

Or at least I do it

Because I ask myself that a lot

Why wasn't I told this stuff earlier?

Why wasn't I shown the right way to live for God

When I was a kid instead of in my twenties?

And I look back and I think about all the people

That I had in my life that would spread those kind of lies

That God's not real or God's just a myth

And you can't forgive people because that makes you weak

And in reality it's completely wrong

God wants us to forgive people

God wants us to love people

And he doesn't want us

He doesn't want us to die

But if we have to, serving him

Then we'll go into heaven and what better honor is that?

So if he's asked to pray for Holly

We know her not, but Holly's been going through some

Significant issues, abdominal issues really with her intestines

Please, please be afraid for her

She does have a chance

What's from the past?

Tomorrow?

That's tomorrow

She has that emirate tomorrow

And then spring

Last night she prayed to eat something

And she started getting like

Thinking her stomach upset

And she was starting to get like

To that low moment when she wasn't praying

Why is God doing this to me?

And then I was trying to tell her

Like God isn't doing this

It's just something that's going on

And she was feeling like she will

Be absurd by not actually got to that

And through all the situations that she's been through

And that's

Hearing that she's been through a lot

And she got to the point

She was just like, nervous right now

Something like made her breathe

Footprints in the sand

And I guess it was God

And it just felt like God got to the end of it

When it said he was hearing her

Hearing her through that situation

And it just hit her how often we would forget

That God's always there

And then he would carry us through the difficult moments

That we go through

I love that she got to go back home

And put footprints in the sand for you

He doesn't realize until the very end

He would say, well why does he do that?

And he says, no, there's only one set of footprints

It's not your footprint, it's mine

He did that very well

Great message for being lost from your chaperone

Great message for overcoming pain and persevere

Great message for when you're thinking about an upcoming death

Great message

Alright, let's pray together

Father God, I do thank you

It's true that you sustain us

When the boat's on fire

And we have a week where we think we will not be safe

We know that that week is taking in you

And even for a person who does not know you as Lord and Savior

You still are orchestrating the arrest of the Lord

You still are setting up the parameters

You still are governing every outcome

And as Paul said in Acts 17

That you set all those things up

So that that person might rope around and find you

And realize that you were never far away in the first place

And the key there is you are never far away in the first place

The outcome of events

As we get an MRI to hopefully discover the problem behind

An ongoing pain, an ongoing struggle, abdominally

Lord, the outcome events as we take a test

That's really going to impact our career going forward

Or that's going to give us a certification that allows us to do things that we couldn't otherwise do

And that's compounded on a lot of effort

We put a lot of effort in and that's going to feel like it was wasted

If we don't get the result that we think we were supposed to get

And Lord, in those moments

Those moments when we're facing those challenges

It is great comfort to us to remember that you alone are God

You alone know

And whatever outcome comes out

That is the outcome

That is the best one

That is the one that you can ultimately work for our good

At the same time, Lord, we need the strength

We need your presence to control our minds

To submit to you

Calm our anxiety

And our frustrations

And even our nagging doubts or questions

That's what RJ was talking about

And there might be somebody in this room who has not said, okay

I see it

I realize that it's real

And I'm willing to live it

I'm willing to walk with Jesus for the remainder of my days

And then when I face those trials

Those moments when I'm barely getting by

I remember that it's him carrying me

Lord, the truth is we cannot carry you

We could not carry you

We are not able to carry you in our physical strength

Or even in our spiritual strength

Even if we are an amazing creation

Created in your image

We are bearing at best a portion of your image

Our God

We think of like these old places and you go with us

And the truth is you go ahead of us

You carry us there

You see us there

You work us through whatever it is that we're experiencing

Lord, I thank you for bringing equipment in the sand

Of course, it's mine when he was in a dark moment

And also that he could share with Holly

And that he can encourage his wife

Lord, I thank you for blessing Alicia

And healing her pain

So that she can be doing what it is that you called her to do today

Specifically, Lord, it's not been mentioned here for Amalia

What's been going on with her ear

It's a little better today

But that's a crazy positive term

Because it's been so bad for the last couple of weeks

And she's almost done with this round of antibiotic

Where she really just needs a healing

And I wish there had been somebody around for me

When I did that when I was her age

And I had that ear infection that lasted for nine months

And somebody would have been praying for my healing

And maybe there was and I don't know who they were

And I did finally come out of it

But Lord, it lasted way too long

And I pray that that will not be the case for her

That this round of antibiotics

These remedies that are being utilized

Will be a solution

And the same thing for Holly

That that test, whether it's that test

Or by another means, whatever

That a solution will come into play

That'll be enacted and it'll be good

Just as you've done for others in this room

Even recently in the last month or two

Lord, as you healed people

As you finally got them the surgery that they're waiting on

For a really long time

And you brought them to strength

And you're empowering us to do what you have us to do

Lord, help us move forward

Overcoming all the false teachings of the world

To stand for you

We pray you thank you for your things

Music

Jesus, King of my heart Father, my peace and my life

Sweet King, the truth of my soul in your word

Music

Music

These spousal hills

Will never arrive

The Prince of mighty God

They bring me to my peace and grace

Amazing love, amazing grace

Was on a hill, my Savior on a die

A broken heart

Music

Have you heard before the saying

A rising tide raises all boats?

Raise your hand

Thirty seconds ago

So we've got a few people who have heard it in the past

Does anybody know who popularized or kind of first brought the saying to American culture?

It's a name you'll recognize

No?

No?

Although he did bring a lot, didn't he?

He brought a lot of sayings

Yeah, he's your go-to for a cute saying

Yeah, he was downright sarcastic

In fact, Samuel Clemens made his fortune on being sarcastic

But this was John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy is the one who popularized this saying and brought it to the United States of America

And he actually made the saying in regards to economic changes or economic efforts

That were taking place in the New England states in the 1950s or so

And he said it a number of times and it sort of got common, alright?

And so the concept of a rising tide raises all boats is that if you look at the boats in a marina or in a harbor

When the tide goes up, all the boats go up, right?

Simple concept

The idea of it is if a positive change is made, something good is happening

That everyone who is in the marina or since it's an economical statement, right?

In the economy at that time will be affected

So if they invest money in infrastructure and a lot of guys get jobs

And those guys are going to go spend that money

So now all the restaurants and all the stores and all that, they're going to do better

And then they can employ more people, then they're going to make money

And then they'll go spend their money and it just kind of cycles

So if the government invests money in the economy or if an economic system is designed that benefits the economy

Then everybody in the economy will be benefited

Now we know that it doesn't transfer necessarily all the way across the United States, right?

It has to happen in a more localized environment

And he was talking about specifically the New England states

Which are those states that kind of run up the point in the northeast of America

And I assume would probably include New York, although it's kind of almost a beast of its own

By the time I'm done today, I hope to forever pollute your thoughts

So every time you hear this phrase, a rising tide raises all boats

You will remember some whatever the Lord gives you, whatever the Lord puts in your heart out of this sermon

Whether it's anything I say or not, that is the goal, right?

And I submit to you that scripture probably was kind of instrumental in creating this concept

And if you think about it in our church, for example, if our church does something well

Then everybody in the church is going to be affected by that

And the converse would be if our church does something poorly

Then everybody in the church is going to be affected by that, right?

Because we're all in the same marina, if you will, okay?

So grab your Bibles, if you would, or be prepared to kind of meditate on the Word of God

As we go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, amen

1 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

So this is God's Word, and whether or not I get right what I'm about to say, I certainly intend to

But whether I do or not, I hope you will get from God's Word whatever He intends for you today

That is the plan

We're going to begin reading in chapter 3 verse 6, and this is 1 Thessalonians

Quick background, this is a letter written by the Apostle Paul

Who was formerly the man Saul, who was both blinded and accosted by Jesus on the road to Damascus

From that point on, he began to share the Gospel

And ultimately became what we call the Apostle to the Gentiles

So you can kind of say of Paul that he is the one responsible for the church at large amongst Gentiles

Which, in case you hadn't noticed, we are, right?

So we can kind of trace our idea, our bringing to Christ, our coming of the church

And all that kind of thing back to Paul

Paul was writing to the church at Thessalonica

And they had been through some tough times

But now he has heard that they are staying true

That they are continuing to be what they're supposed to be

And we sort of pick up with that notion then in verse 6

He says, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love

I want you to remember those two words, faith and love

And that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us, just as we also long to see you

If you were going to sum up longing to see someone with one word, what word might you use?

Say it again

Missing someone

Yeah, so missing someone

And then if you miss them and then somebody calls you on the phone and says, you miss me, right? Yeah, I miss you

And they say, well I'm going to come tomorrow

And you're thinking they're going to come tomorrow

Your missing becomes now?

Excitement

Excitement?

Hope

Energy surrounding the idea that it's coming, right?

Whatever word you want to use for that

So they were longing to see them

And so now you've got in that two verses you've got three main concepts

Faith, hope and longing

Or faith, I'm sorry, faith, love and longing or hope, right?

And so Paul realizes that this is a people capable of the three pillars of what it means to be a Christian

What it means to be the church

And he's frankly excited about that

Verse 7

For this reason, he says brethren, he calls them brothers in Christ

And you could say sisters, but he says brethren

In all our distress and affliction, no matter how bad it got

We were comforted about you through your faith

The fact that we heard that you were staying true to the faith

That comforted us with all the things that we were going through

Verse 8

For now we really live

And that word really, if you're reading the New American Standard, is going to be in italics there

If you're reading in like the King James Version, it's going to say

For now we live

Okay, so of course they lived, right?

He's writing a letter, he lived

So it's not talking about his physical life

And he lived spiritually

Because he was born again, so he was living in Christ

And he lived in the sense that his life was always being put online

Like he could always be killed for his faith

He was always wanting to do that

So all of those things are true

So I submit to you that he's saying something more and we'll come back to that

What is he saying when he says for now we live or now we really live

Emphasizing this new living that he's doing

Coming out of the fact that he's hearing something about them, right?

Alright, so back to verse 7

He said, for this reason brethren, in our distress and affliction

We were comforted about you through your faith

For now we really live

If you stand firm in the Lord

So that life of his is tied to their standing firm

So also we know it's not about him having or losing salvation

Because he's not going to lose his salvation because they don't stand firm, right?

So it's nothing like that, it's something more

Verse 9

For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy

With which we rejoice before our God on your account

That's a confusing sentence

But just understand it's a literal concept to ask a question

So it's like you say like

If you get a steak and somebody serves you a steak and it's just awesome and you love it

And then you say, man, where could I ever get a better steak than this?

So that's what he's saying

What gratitude or what thanks, how much thanks could we ever give to God

For all of this joy which we have gotten

With which we rejoice before our God on your account

Because we're so excited that we hear these things of you that you are staying in the faith

Verse 10

As we night and day keep praying most earnestly

That we may see your face and may complete what is lacking in your faith

So that's the finish of the sentence of the question that he was asking

So the first part of it was what thanks we might we give

And the second part of it he's saying so we're looking forward to coming to see you

And we will actually be together all of us

And how exciting that's going to be it's really awesome, right?

We've really missed you it's really awesome that we would see you

And maybe could supply something that is lacking in your faith

A teaching, a bit of knowledge that you need to know

And I submit to you the bit of knowledge is in the text

We're going to hear it

Verse 11

Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you

So he's praying God bring us there, right?

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another

And for all men just as we also do for you

So that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness

Before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints

Again a long sentence

Now in the Greek that's only about nine words, okay?

But when you stretch it out to make sure you've translated into English

It becomes quite a bit more

And it says and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound

So in other words he's hoping they'll do better, right?

Now I submit to you he's not just hoping they're going to get a promotion

Or a bigger paycheck

That's not what this is about

But he's hoping that they will do better

And to abound that they will be more, right?

In love for one another and for all men just as we also do for you

So that he wants them to love each other and to love everyone else

As Paul was saying as Paul and the people were with him loved them

Why?

So that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness

So in other words that you'll be right by God

To be holy is to be right by God and to be different from the world, right?

Holiness is the word of sanctification essentially

And you're going to see that word specifically sanctification in a minute

But basically saying you'll be different from the way the world is

A lot of people say I love you

When I was in high school I had several girlfriends

Three within about a four year span

And I told every single one of them I love them

And as I look back at it I probably did

The best I knew how I wasn't saved at the time, right?

But two of the three of them I told I love you

One of them I told I love you before I met her

We talked on the phone for about seven hours

I'd never met her before

And you laugh at me go ahead

But how many people fall in love over social media

With somebody they don't even know what they look like, right?

So it's still happening today

And so I was very quick to say that

And I submit to you that now that I've learned what real love is

I'm a little slower

You know I love my family

I love brothers and sisters in Christ

I know I am called upon to do that

But to love someone is a significant investment

The truth is if you really love someone

You will never be away from them

At least in heart for the rest of your life

People fall in love, fall out of love

That's a worldly thing

That is not a kingdom thing

So God's concept of love is lasting

It is eternal, alright?

And so they were, He was asking them to love each other

And the people around them that way

So that they could be found blameless

Which is to say if you don't love each other

And the people around you that way

You could be found blamed

And that's bad

That's not where you want to be as a believer

Notice that the ultimate judgment will be

Before our God and Father

At the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints

Chapter 4

Now be aware that in the original text

There were no chapter divisions

Also those cool little titles that exist above

In your chapter above sections

Those weren't there either, right?

That's there for us to study the Bible

So we can have usage

So when Paul wrote this letter

There was no chapter division

In fact, there was no line

There was no segment

There was no space in between the word saints and finally

What comes next is finally, alright?

Finally then, brethren

We request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus

That as you receive from us instruction

As to how you ought to walk and please God

Just as you actually do walk

So basically he's saying

You heard from us what you were supposed to do

We find out that you are basically doing those things

But then he says that you may excel still more, right?

So if you're being fairly faithful in God

You're doing basically what you know to do

By no means is your calling complete, right?

We are required to reach new heights in Jesus

In this verse

So there is growth

There is an excellence yet coming

Even though someone might say

Hey, that person is amazing

They're doing great, whatever

It would be completely reasonable of someone in the Lord

To expect you to excel

To do a little more, still more

And that was Paul's desire for the church there

That they might excel still more

Verse 2

For, that's a because

For you know what commandments we gave you

By the authority of the Lord Jesus

So he's saying you already kind of know

The teachings that we gave you

You have access to the word of God

And so for you to kind of blow that off

And not do what God told you to do

That's not really reasonable

And for you, if you're doing it pretty well

Then you know you can still always do better

Verse 3

For this is the will of God

So this is the desire

Now I want you to see that in this for

This because this is the will of God

He is saying that just doing the things

That God has told you to do

Is not the will of God

That's not enough

That's not the sum total of the will of God

There is something more

And that's why he's saying to excel

Because he's saying for this is the will of God

Your sanctification

Now again, sanctification is that process

By which you become holy

Different from the world

And truthfully different from anybody else

Different from your parents

Different from your friends

Different from your loves

Whatever, different

So different the way God is different

Yes, but different from the world

So he is saying that the real goal of God

In all of this is your holiness

That you're becoming holy

You're being like him

Not holier than thou

Not preachy

Not stand up as an example

Put yourself on a pedestal

And everybody else has got to be like me

But rather different

The way that God truly desired for you

To be different in the faith

So that is the goal of God

Your sanctification

That is that you abstain from sexual morality

So included in everyone's sanctification

Is abstention from sexual immorality

Sexual morality can look like a lot of different things

It is the use of sex in any way that God does not authorize

So it could be as simple as you use sex

To tease someone

Never actually get around to it

But that's how you get your promotion

Or that's how you get them to do what you want

There's no actual sex involved

It could be you watch or see things

That you should not watch

That's all sexual morality, right?

So he's saying abstain from that

It means go without that

He says in verse 4

That each of you know how to possess his own vessel

In sanctification and honor

So here's the problem with sexual morality

That is just laid out for us

When we participate in sexual immorality of any kind

We lose sight of the image that God has of our physical being

It's very easy, for example, to look at too many pretty girls

And start thinking

You'll start thinking negatively of yourself

And you can be a man or a woman and do that

Or to talk about sex with lewd comments or coarse joking

Like jokes about naked women

Or jokes about sexual acts or whatever

And you are essentially despising the image of the vessel that God has given you

And it becomes bad

And then for women or for men, for example, who actually do become active sexually

Then when they get with their spouse

They've screwed up the relationship before it ever begins

And it takes a miracle and healing from God

And so it's not even about being sexually active or not being sexually active

It's about the fact that whenever a person is involved in sexual morality at any level

They lose that ability to possess their own vessel in sanctification and honor

To recognize that this thing that God gave me has a purpose

And that purpose is a purpose that will fuel my whole life, right?

And then that's the part about the honor

And then also the part about the sanctification

This thing that God gave me is supposed to be different

Everybody wants to be unique and different

And the truth is you are

But the problem is you've been programmed to be like somebody else, right?

Your parents taught you to be like somebody else

Society, TV, social media, etc. etc.

You're always getting programmed to be like somebody else

So you're more of a conglomerate of so many various people than uniquely yourself

When you become uniquely yourself in Christ

And that's what that sanctification is all about

When you become uniquely yourself in Christ

You become one

And when you are one and uniquely one

You are then equal to everyone else who is one

This is why in Christ and the Kingdom of God

It does not matter your culture background

It does not matter your skin color

It does not matter your experience

It doesn't matter if you were in prison or not in prison

It doesn't matter if you were caught for tax evasion

It doesn't matter if you molested a child 10 years ago

That's all bad stuff

Everybody's got their bad stuff

But what matters is if you're walking in Christ and allowing him to move you

From that messed up individual that you were

To the one whole being that he's trying to make you into

And because we're all in that process

We're all unique and also equal

Which is why we can say now

There is now therefore no more Jew nor Gentile

And so on

Male nor female and so on

Because this is the goal of God

Let's go back and read it from there

For you know the commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ

For this is the will of God your sanctification

Your wholeness and holiness in God

That is that you abstain from sexual morality

That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor

Not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God

And that no man transgress

That means you don't cross the line

And defraud his brother in the matter

Because the Lord is the avenger in all these things

So there should be justice and peace amongst us as Christians

Because when you defraud your brother or sister in Christ

When you misuse them in any way

You understand God is the avenger

God is the one who will bring the hammer down

And we know that and because we know that

We should be not willing to hurt others

Certainly not in the body of Christ and truthfully at all

The Lord is the avenger in all these things

Just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity

But in sanctification

It's a great illustration of this in the fish

Fish swim in water

But do they get waterlogged?

They spend their whole life in water

But do they get waterlogged?

No, they are in the water

But they are not of the water

And that's exactly what we're called to be

We live in this world and we're going to be beset all the time

By things that will try to make us impure

And God's goal for us is purity rather than impurity

Sanctification

Be holy yourself in Christ

We're almost done

Consequently, he who rejects this

In other words, if you reject those things that he was just explaining

That true desire of God to make you sanctified

Is not rejecting man

But the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you

There it is

So

This is the point, if you will

This is what he's trying to say

That there is a method of God at work

And we have a response to that method, whatever it is

And there's just a couple things

So today, instead of three points and a conclusion

We're going to have three points total

So it's two points and one for a conclusion

The first one I want you to see

And I think it's pretty obvious

And we're kind of working backwards through the text

Is this

When the tide rises

You can fight the tide

This verse, these end verses

Are about rejecting God after the fact

You could be in this room and say, I believe in God

You could say, I believe in Jesus

But after believing in God and Jesus

It would still be possible for you to reject him

Now you know

I'm not talking about apostasy or losing your salvation

I'm not talking about you said, Paul wasn't

He was praising the church at Thessalonica

We're not talking about people walking with the Lord

It does happen that people will say, I'm a follower of the Lord

And then later come out and say, I really don't believe all that I said I believed

Now I'm walking my own way

Or I found Islam or I found some other thing

So it does happen to people

But I'm not talking about that

I'm talking about a believer who genuinely believes in God

Genuinely believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

And then as this text says, rejects him

But what does the word reject mean?

The King James here translates this despise of him

So what does that mean?

That's kind of a weird word we don't even use

To despise something, we kind of know what it means

Like to look down on it or whatever

We sort of use it in common language

What it really means is to take a thing

And make it impossible for that thing

To do the thing that the thing was made to do

Is that confusing? I don't think so

If you take this chair and you hit it about five or ten times with a sledge hammer

From that point on, it will no longer be useful as a chair

Someone might be able to reparate it

Make it back into the basic shape of a chair

Add some more legs to it

Something like that might be able to get there

We're talking about taking a thing that has a purpose

And making it not useful for that purpose

If you go take all four of your tires off your car

And wheel them into the garage

And leave your car sitting on blocks

Your car, which is designed to take you from place to place

Will no longer be able to do that

You'll still be able to listen to the stereo

You can slam the doors when you're angry

You can store stuff in the trunk

But the car is not going to be able to take you from place to place

So we're talking about removing the efficacy

Taking the effectiveness out of a thing

Except the thing that we're talking about taking the effectiveness out of is God

Ouch! We are rejecting God in that way

As I was thinking about this

I was thinking of a man who had a big home, a mansion that was left to him

We'd call it a mansion

5,000, 6,000 square feet, whatever

Really big house

Very nicely laid out

Multiple bedrooms

10, 12 bedrooms

5 bathrooms, whatever

And he was living in it alone

He had never found a significant other

And he was reaching middle age

And whatever, he was working for a man at an engineering firm

And the man's daughter was also working there

And she was a polite young lady

And way too young for him

25 years apart in age

Wasn't anything romantic going to go on or anything like that

And the man's boss asked him and said

You know, you got that big house

And my daughter is looking to live near you

Because she wants to go to college

Any possibility that you could let her use that part of the house that you're not using

You hardly ever have to see her

And the man's like, yeah, we can do that

Move her on in, go ahead

And he locked out a couple of bedrooms

One for her and one for her closet

And then the kitchen was accessible

She had her own bathroom and stuff

Moved her into the house

Now they didn't see each other all the way

They were living in the same house

They didn't see each other all that much

But when they did, over a period of time

It started to happen that the man would

This older man was doing things that was annoying her

Walking around in his underwear

Making his coffee in the morning

Kind of not dressed appropriate

Watching stuff on the TV that wasn't good

And she'd wander in the room

And there's something going on in the TV that would kind of bother her mind

Things like that

And so he was letting her stay in the house

But he was offending her

Now she was staying there so that she could go to college

So she started avoiding him

She said, I'm just not going to go in the kitchen in the morning

That solves that problem, right?

I'm just not going to go in the living room when he's in there watching the big screen TV

That solves that problem, right?

But still, occasionally they were living in the same house

They would bump into each other

He would park her car in

Things like that

Ultimately she thought, man

Even though this place is free and it's a beautiful house

And I've got all this room

And everything is taken care of

And it's right near college where I've got to live somewhere else

She called her dad up

And she said, I'm really having trouble living there

I think I'm just going to live somewhere else

And his dad's like, I'm not paying for it

That's where you're living

Just work it out

So she's stuck living there with this guy

Who is seemingly doing intentional things to annoy her

It becomes an untenable situation

It sucks

She's in a horrible spot

Well, this is the very thing that Christians sometimes do to the Holy Spirit

Yeah, you can come and live in me

Yeah, you have a purpose

You have a thing that you like to see happen, whatever

As long as you stay out of my way

You can do whatever you want

But it's for me and my body

It's for me and my hands

For me and my thought processes

I've got some habits I'm going to keep

And the Holy Spirit is like, this is really obnoxious

I have to be here while you watch this stuff you shouldn't watch

While you see and do these things you shouldn't see and do

While you participate in activities

While my heart yearns to heal you

To free you

To make you able to do all the things that God wants you to do

To make you whole and a whole person in the Kingdom of God

Advancing forward new heights in Jesus every day

While my heart yearns to do that

You just keep saying, you're going to do the things that offend me

And the Holy Spirit's like, well, I'll just stay back

I'll just stay out of the way

I'll just be quiet in the corner

Except, He's the Holy Spirit of God

He's not one to stay quiet

He's really being chastised daily and offended daily

By Christians who are going on to do what they want to do

Or what their flesh wants to do

Or misusing the resources of God

While God is there offering them all this power and authority

To transform them into something that will truly honor God

If you say, I'm going to do what I want to do

Regardless of your discomfort or your opinion

That's no welcoming to the Holy Spirit

Rather, that's rejecting Him

Making Him out to be useless

If you think of the Holy Spirit as obligatory

I have to do these things because the Holy Spirit is with me

I have to talk like this

I have to act like this

I've got to follow the rules

That is not welcoming

If you only wear all of your clothes when you have friends over

That's all fine

But there are probably other habits that you have that you're going to offend

And if you do not show respect and act welcoming and hospitable to them

They're going to figure it out

If you leave your underwear laying on the middle of the living room floor for example

Even though you're fully dressed, they're going to go, oh, that's there

I have a problem with that being there

That's offending me

Am I supposed to be?

If your house is a mess

You say, oh, you're welcome, you're welcome

But your house is always a mess

When they come over, it's an issue

It's not welcoming and hospitable

So if you think of the Holy Spirit as obligatory

You're missing out

You're basically making him out to be useless

He is so much more than that

If you think of him as controlling or demanding or needy

You're missing out

You're not realizing that he is God-given

And he is God himself

He absolutely has a right to run the show

And frankly, he's used to doing so

He's not used to people saying no to him

When he's trying to do what's good for them

It's as if you're dangling over a cliff

And he's trying to take your hand or wrap a rope around you to pull you up

And you're like, no, no, no, I'd just rather dangle here, possibly fall

He's absolutely going nuts to try to be your friend

Absolutely going nuts to try to help you

To exhibit your spiritual gifts and to act through the spiritual disciplines

He himself feels rejected

And there is nothing to being changed by the Holy Spirit

He does all the work

And yet, there is nothing to be changed about the Holy Spirit

He is who he is

And so if you're sitting here today and you're not a Christian

And you're thinking about being a Christian

Just realize that when he comes in, he's God

He's not a demon that you can chase out later

And then he'll come back and things will get worse

He's not a teaching of the world that you cannot think about for a while

And then come back around to it if things go well

No, he's God

And you're literally talking about being inhabited by God

Consider it holiness

That is God's goal for you

Rather than safety netting

I went to the circus when I was a child

It was really impressive

In fact, I've been there probably eight or ten times total

And they had these guys, a swing on, they call it the trapeze

And they throw themselves

They had this girl, kind of like a one-piece bikini thing

And she would dangle from this man's hands

And then he would whip her in the air

And they would just go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

Like five loops

And come to the other side

And he'd grab her ankles

And then they'd swing away

And then come back and whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

To the other side

And he'd grab her hands

And I'm like, that's incredible

That's amazing

I can't believe that they can do that

And then the announcer came over to the PA

And he said, and now

We'll drop the net

And they'll do all of this with no net

And the crowd went, no

They're too amazing

We don't want to see them splat on the pavement below

And they dropped the net

And they did all the actions

And it was all good

And nobody fell

And nobody got hurt

The holiness of God

Is the Holy Spirit in you at work

Transforming

Yes, it seems crazy

Yes, it seems outside the box

Yes, it seems risky

For you to go and tell somebody about Jesus

Or for you to exhibit your Holy Spirit

Whatever that might be

Or for you to spend time praying

Before you go do something

You're like, I've got an hour and 15 minutes

To do three hours of homework

But I'm going to take seven seconds to pray first

And that seems nuts

Because that seven seconds added to that hour and 15 minutes

Gives you an hour and 15 minutes and seven seconds

That you can do three hours of your homework

You don't have enough time to do all the things in this life

That you want to do anyway

You don't have enough strength

You don't have enough capabilities

You may as well put God first

The God who can multiply it all

Magnify it all

Make it all possible

He may just increase you

And cause you to abound

His desire for you is holiness

Not a safety net that will take care of you

Like, oh, when I screw up

I'm still going to heaven

Yay for you

If that's how you think of the Holy Spirit

As a safety net

If every time you make a decision

You're just kind of hoping

He'll take care of it when it gets screwed up

If that's your goal

That is not the Holy Spirit of God

Not the picture that God has anyway

A rising tide raises all boats

In a particular harbor

And if you're in the harbor

And the tide goes up

You will be raised

But if you're in another harbor

Or if you're creeping up on land

Where you don't belong

Boats don't belong on land

Then when the tide rises

You may not rise

But it is God's goal to raise us to holiness

The second point then is this

In these verses it was very clear

It was where he said

Even though we see you are doing those things

We call upon you to excel

Progress is called for

He's saying let it rise

Prepare to ride the tide

Participate in each other's rising

Right?

And celebrate the rise when it happens

Let's figure out what it is that we can do for God

What it is that God desires of us

What it is that we're capable of

And let's go and do that

But do it better than we ever thought we could

And it might be that you know something

There's a commercial that's playing on streaming like on Roku right now

And it says there

It's talking about the days of your life

And how incredible it is the day you discover what you were made for

The day you got saved

You said okay God show me what I'm made for

Show me what I can do

How can I glorify you and honor you and make something of myself

That nobody else could do it exactly like I do it

Not that I'm going to go be a Christian

Part of some movement that there are 12 million other people doing the exact same things that I'm doing

No I want to be me serving you

With you in me serving me serving you

I want to start this cycle in a way that it never stops

Progress is called for

Let it rise

Prepare to ride the tide

Participate in each other's lives so that everybody has the same opportunity

And then celebrate the rise

1 Peter was a disciple of Jesus and a really close friend of Jesus

And became a leader in the early church

And in the book of 1 Peter in chapter 1

He gives us a word picture of exactly what we're talking about when we talk about rising

Beginning to rise

Celebrating each other's rise

And I'm going to read it I'm not going to break it down as we go through it for the interest of time

I encourage you to study it some more later if that's something you feel the Lord leading you to do

It's 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 12 and it says as follows

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

It was revealed to them

This is the people who came before Jesus was living

Died buried rose again

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves

But you and these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you

By the Holy Spirit sent from heaven

Things into which angels long to look

So people before realized they were living for what God was going to do that he hadn't done yet

And even angels wanted to know the part that they knew part that they figured out

Verse 13 therefore

Gird your minds for action

Let's get ready

Let's go

Keep sober in spirit

In other words let's not drift off into all these excesses that the world proposes are good for us

Let's be focused on doing what it is that God would have us to do

Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

In other words live your life for the free gift of grace that God has given you

And how you will be declared innocent when that time comes

As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance

But like the Holy One who called you

Be holy yourselves also in all your behavior

Because it is written

You shall be holy for I am holy

And if you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each man's work

Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth

Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life

Inherited from your forefathers

But with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless

The blood of Christ

For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world

But has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God

Who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God

Notice that there is a participation that is called for

There is an action

A set of choices

A requirement and a restriction

Who's supposed to put that into place?

Who is the one who's supposed to say you can't watch pornography?

Who is the one who's supposed to say you can't stab your friends or family members in the back?

Who is the one who's supposed to say you can't go around lying?

Is it God?

No!

It's you!

You're the one!

Filled with the Holy Spirit of God, empowered to know right from wrong

Desiring, realizing you will one day receive true grace if you're a Christian

At the coming of Christ again you'll receive true grace at every mistake you've ever made forgiven

And in eternity in heaven with God

Realizing that you live for what that's going to be like then

And you set standards for yourself

Now the problem is the world will also set standards for yourself

But their boats are in another marina

The standards that they set fluctuate from time to time and so on

Peter was saying, focus!

Let it rise!

Let the tide rise!

Let us prepare to ride the tide!

Participate in others rise and celebrate the rise as it happens

We have a job to do, sober minded, we have a job to do

Let God's Holy Spirit reign in you and make those choices

That brings us to our conclusion and also our third point

And it was in those verses where it said either living or really living

It doesn't translate super well into the English and that's why it's like that

But clearly it wasn't talking about being alive like taking breaths and so on

I talked about that before

Let me tell you now what God has revealed to me about what really living is

According to Paul it's just one thing

Just one thing made it

Now he was living in Christ

He had Holy Spirit gifts

He had miraculously healed people by praying and laying on hands

He had preached the gospel in a dozen nations

And started churches all over the Gentile world

Including in Thessalonica which he's now celebrating there continuing

He'd done all that and on top of that he says here is what really living is

As soon as I tell you what it is some of you are going to go, I felt that

I kind of know that, I know what that's like

Really living is loving someone enough to want what's best for them

And then seeing them do well

That's what he said

That's what really living is

Go back and look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 8

1 Thessalonians 3:8

I got to go back there now

We read it together

He says and I'll go back to the top of 6

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

They had faith, hope, love

For this reason brethren in all our distresses and afflictions

We were comforted about you through the faith

For now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord

He desired for the church at Thessalonica that they would discover

This very same thing that we're talking about

That God is in the business of rising the tide

He's in the business of bringing people to holiness

He's in the business of bringing people to a relationship with him

That goes on for an eternity

And you become the kind of person that God crafted you to be

That you never were because you had sinned, your parents had sinned

Things were done, things happened, memories plugged in your brain

That you can never quite get rid of

All kinds of programming, etc.

And to be born again, to become a Christian

Is to enter into the marina where God raises the tide

And all boats rise

Unless of course you reject him

Unless of course you refuse to progress

But we're called not to

And when we do not, we find others

And I submit to you that there are other people in this room that you care about

You brought them here

You came here because there are other people here that you love

You came here because there are other people that you want to see do well

Maybe it's me, maybe you're hoping for me

That I'll figure something out today, that I'll do better, whatever

The best thing you could possibly do is love someone

And see them doing well

And you go, whoa, wait a minute, it's not kingdom well

I mean it's not world well, it is kingdom well

It's not world well because people get promotions

And then get fired later from the same job

And by the way, when you get promoted a couple times

You start thinking, oh this is awesome, I'm really loving my job

And then you suddenly get fired, it feels like death

It feels way worse than if you'd have never got promoted in the first place

And so the bottom line is this, it's not world well

Even though we like to see our kids, people go to graduation ceremonies

Isn't it awesome to see kids walk at graduation?

Or college students walk at graduation, that's great

And we're super excited for them

But that is a facsimile

It's a shell

It's there to teach you that what you really can live through

What you really can experience, what's really good for you

What you really feel alive in

Is when you find someone else and you love them enough

That you would actually die for them

And that does exist by the way

In fact, if it's not like that, it's debatably real love

But you love them enough that you would sacrifice for them

And then you see them doing well, kingdom well

Worldly well is a hollow substitute

But if you can do well, even under tribulation

The Thessalonians were under tribulation

Paul was under tribulation, they desired him to do well

He desired that they would do well

And both did well

Yes, he got whipped within an inch of his life

Yes, he was stoned and left for dead

Yes, he had to be lowered in a basket through the wall so that soldiers wouldn't kill him

Yes, he was persecuted

Yes, he had tribulations

Yes, things did not go for him in the world system the way he might have desired

But in the kingdom, he did well

And they were longing to see him and longing to know that he was doing well

And he saw that they did well

That they loved one another and so on

And he was encouraging them to excel and do better

Because that's what's required of us as we move towards sanctification

To put away sexual morality, to put away betrayal

To put those things away and truly live for the Lord

He desired for them to excel and do better

And he said what he was hearing of them made him alive

Now if you're a mother or a father in the room

And you have seen your child do well, exhibit godly behavior

Show patience toward another child

Apologize without being told they had to

Work, pick up, clean, volunteer without being told they had to

Then you have that inkling

You have that beginning of that feeling, you know what he's talking about

I have children who have grown up and are serving the Lord in our church

And when I see them do well

And I realize that they are doing that because they are serving God

Not because I am imploring them to

Not because I desire them to, well that's definitely true, right?

But because they want to serve God

And I see that there is nothing like it

I have never watched a TV show that fulfills like that

I have never eaten a meal that tastes like that

I have never received a word of encouragement unto me that feels like that

There is nothing in life like loving someone and wanting them to do well

And seeing them do well

And in the kingdom it's like that

If you've got a child, if you've got a friend, if there is somebody in this church

You're like, I hope they do well

And you desire good for them even if you are willing to sacrifice yourself

And then to see them do well, Paul tells us

That is living

That is feeling and living life

And I submit to you Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly

And you cannot have abundant life unless you can care about somebody else

Enough that you would sacrifice for them

And then see them do well

That is abundant life

Why? Why is it like that? Because frankly, talk is cheap

You could talk about Jesus

You could talk about God

But living for God, sacrificing for God, serving for God, giving for God

Putting yourself out there without anybody asking you to

Without anybody forcing you to

Your parents not holding your hand, nobody kicking you in the butt

You're just doing it because it's the right thing to do

That's not just talk

That's action

That's embracing the rising tide

I'm going up because God says go up

If God says go down, I'm going down

If God says go out, I'm going out

I am faithful to the Lord

Talk is cheap

Say it, go ahead

I love Jesus

You could be here today and be a Christian

And by the way, if you can't say I love Jesus, you're probably not a Christian

Right? If you can't say Jesus is Lord, you are surely not a Christian

But you could be here today and say I love Jesus and Jesus is my Lord

And you could actually be saved

But you will never experience the life that God has for you

Until you embrace the rising tide of the Holy Spirit

That's intention is to make you holy and different

You, complete, uniquely you

God wrote on your DNA

Like they can identify you down

You might be pretty close to your brother, familial match or whatever

But nobody's got your DNA

And an identical twin has identical DNA

But then out of that DNA, so much happens

They're still not identical

They can look exactly alike

And you've ever hung around identical twins for a minute?

They may have a lot of habits that are the same

A lot of things, but after you get to know them, you realize

They are two uniquely different people

And that's it

Talk is cheap

I'm a man of God

I'll be there to help

I'll give

See how good I'm doing?

It's all cheap

It means squat

But when people actually show up and do what they're supposed to do

And you love that person, you care about this person

Then you see them do what they're doing

And man, that's powerful

Why?

Because track record

This speaks of future likelihood

I would like to say that the people that I'm looking at

That we're going to stand there one day in front of Jesus

And every single one of us is going to get that welcome

Well done good and faithful servant

I'd like to say that

I'd like to know that

Because I only see people in this room that I love

Literally some of you, I know very well

And I still have a feeling of love towards you

And I only see people I love

I want to be there with Jesus

I want Jesus to put his arms around each one of us individually

Or all of us at the same time

I don't care because he's big

He can do whatever he wants

He can multiply himself a million times

And hug us all at once

It'll be awesome

And he said, well done good

I want that to be true for us

And when I see track record

When I see people repeatedly doing

Faithfully showing up

Serving, giving, going out of their way

They push past barriers

They overcome tribulations

And do what it is that God would have them do

I think, maybe

It looks like

It's established

And then once they've done that

Ten times, twenty times, a hundred times

You have every reason to believe

That that person's going to get that well done

Good and faithful servant

Track record

Testifies

Bespeaks of a future likelihood of a rival

And we're all going to spend eternity together

Or are we?

Because somebody's going to be fighting the tide

And I can't do anything about that

And it's just as heartbreaking to watch somebody fight the tide

As it is to see them establish a track record

That makes me think

Oh, we're going to make it

Multiplying glory to God feels good

That's why I love to see it

And we all love

And we can live big, if you will

When someone is seen doing the things

They're supposed to do in the Lord

Because when God gets the glory

And you love God

You're happy

That's great

You go to somebody's birthday party

They're your best friend

You go there, right?

And everybody ignores the birthday boy

Nobody sings happy birthday

There's no cake, no candles, and no presents

I'm going to say something about that

That's a problem

It's his birthday party

Why are we not celebrating his birthday?

Well, because before you got here

He said something nasty

So we just put it all away

Now we're not having a birthday party for him

No, that's not happening

But when you glorify God

Because you love God

And then when you see God being glorified

It feels fulfilling

You recognize, okay, this is what we're supposed to be doing

And because God is pleased

And pleasing God is our desire

So when Brother Chris does something that God would love him to do

And Brother Tommy does something God would love him to do

God is pleased with that

And we want to please him

And so I see God being pleased

I can't see the look on God's face

But I see God being pleased

Overcoming temptation

In the case of the Thessalonica and in the case of Paul

Both of them had been through the wringer

They have literally been tempted by every possible avenue

And if you can overcome temptation to walk away from the Lord

Temptation to not believe

Temptation to do what you want

Instead of what God is teaching you to do

Temptation to be unholy with the world

Rather than holy with God

If you can overcome that temptation

Oh boy

You're going to be somebody

You're going to be somebody in the Kingdom of God

Realize that the greatest in the Kingdom of God

Should be your servant

And you may propel people

You may fall in love

Not worldly

Real

Fall in love with some other people

Your church, your family members, your friends

You may love them

And you may be able to say

I'm going to spend myself

Lifting that person up

Lifting those people up

And they'll be able to do more

Than you ever could do by yourself

And you can lift three

Or five

Or even a hundred

Because you don't have to be there with them every moment of every day

Just every time you see them

You're lifting them, propelling them

Teaching them about the rising tide

Teaching them about what God wants to do

Teaching them about what they can be

Say things like

You're amazing

Everybody makes mistakes

Don't own it

Be amazing

Let's be amazing together

I will be amazing with you

It'll be awesome

Encourage and build people up

And as you do so

And they are lifted

Then allow yourself to receive that great investment of God

That real life that God intends

As you celebrate and rejoice

That they did what they've done

Paul could see in them what I call the collector's set

And you need it

You've got to buy every single one

Faith

Hope

Joy

You need them all

The blessing is Jesus already paid for a full set for you on the cross

You can have your very own set

Just believe

Accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus

You open the channel when you believe

You say, okay God, I believe

Come on, do what you do

Then walk in faith and say

God, just keep doing what you do

Trust in you

Show me the way

Lift me up

Carry me when I can't walk myself

Propel me forward

When all I want to do is crawl on a sleeping bag and hide

Make me to be

What only I can be

Holy in the Lord

And then hope for it

Look for it

He promises he'll do it

And God doesn't break his promises

But there is one possibility to be considered

Remember, as we close out

The saying

A rising tide raises all boats

Is talking about in a certain marina

Or in a certain harbor

The rising tide on the ocean doesn't raise any boats anymore

Than any other

Right?

You're out in the middle of the ocean and the tide rises in the marina

What effect does that have on your ship?

Nothing

The waves go up and the waves go down

Your ship goes up and the ship goes down

That's the way it is in the world

So if you're outside the marina

Or you're in some other marina and God raises the tide

Your ship will not go up

Your boat will not go up

You must be born again, Jesus said

You must have a moment in time in which you say, I'm starting fresh

I'm trusting Jesus

And I'm living for him from now on

We live for the one who died for us

You must be adopted into his family

How could God, who loves you

And wants what's best for you

Not die for you?

And think of the standard that he set for us

That we would be willing to sacrifice for others

But at the same time, think of God's great joy

When he, having died for you

Sees you walking forward in Christ

This is the marina in question

And the tide does not fail to rise

And those who know to whom they belong

Rise with it

Choose Christ as he has chosen you

Follow him day in and day out

Allow his Holy Spirit to convict you

And make those rules, those commands, those decisions

That you have to make, you make them yourself

The Bible gives you some really good models

But you ought to want to do what God wants you to do

Because you know it's what's best for you

Because it takes you where you want to go

And turns you into who you want to be

And then find some people to love

And want what's best for them

You'll be alive in Christ the moment you accept Jesus

But if you really want to be alive

Find some people you love and want what's best for them

Sacrifice yourself as necessary so they can do well

And then watch what happens inside you

When they do well

Amen