Hold Fast

So I always want to be there for my kids.

But the truth is, I can't always be there.

I had to come to grips with that pretty early on.

When you go from having one child to two to ultimately five, you very quickly become aware of the fact that you have limitations.

And as people you often describe it, you know, parenting, they describe like playing defense.

So if you're familiar with you know some of the terms they use for that.

So when we had our first child, my wife and I, we were able to both give our full undivided attention, right?

So it was we were double team, playing double team at that point.

And then when we had two, we had to break off into man-deman.

And then it was a really short amount of time when we had our third.

And from that moment forward, we started playing zone.

And so what that means is I know and my kids know, as much as I want to be with them physically, I can't always be there for every one of them.

It's not a lack of desire, it's a lack of capacity, it's a lack of ability.

And beyond that, like so many of you, I have all these other things in my life that are drawing for my time and attention, other resources I have, and that pull me away at times.

And so one of the best examples of that was a couple years ago.

Our church had a mission trip where we went to Ethiopia.

We went to Soto Christian Hospital with the Carnes family.

We support them here.

And so a team went.

Phenomenal trip.

It was a blessing to be part of that.

But during that trip, I'll be honest, there was a part of me that felt a little bit burdened because I felt torn.

Because I knew that when I went on that trip, there were things back home here in the lives of my kids that I was going to miss during that time.

So, in particular, I missed one of my kids' birthday parties.

I missed Halloween.

Things I wanted to be here for, I missed and I couldn't be there for.

And so what I did during that season before I left on the trip is I wrote a series of letters.

In fact, I actually wrote almost a dozen letters, one letter for each day that I was gone.

I put them in envelopes, and I would have the kids open the letter and just read them as a family, just so that way there was a chance to connect.

And in those letters, I tried my best to put into words what I wanted them to know while I was gone.

So I wanted them to know that I loved them.

I wanted them to know that I cared about the things that were going on in their lives, that I was missing.

I wanted them to know that I wished I could be there with them.

I wanted them to understand that even though I was physically absent, my heart wasn't absent.

Now I share that with you because, in many respects, this is what the Apostle Paul does.

This is his posture as he writes the letter of 1 Thessalonians.

Paul had helped plant this church in the city of Thessalonica with his buddies, with Silas and with Timothy.

They planted this church, and Paul became a spiritual father to all these baby Christians.

The church was born, but not long after he arrived there, opposition forced Paul and his co-workers to leave the city.

And so he was separated from this little church that he had planted physically, but Paul's heart was not absent.

Paul cared deeply about what was going on.

He was still concerned for them.

He wanted them to know that he was concerned for all the things that were going on.

He wanted them aware of the fact that he desired to be there.

And so because he couldn't be there physically, Paul decided to write to them.

And the section of 1 Thessalonians that we're going to be in today, more than probably any other section, you can feel that from Paul.

You can feel his heart, his love for this church.

And here's what I like about Scripture.

We're looking at a letter that somebody wrote 2,000 years ago to a group of people we've never met.

And you might go, well, that sounds like a snooze fest.

What is the point of us sitting here and listening to somebody who wrote an ancient letter to a group of people we never met?

Well, here's the thing: what we're reading is breathed out by God.

This is scripture.

This is God's word.

And so even though this wasn't written to us, this was written for us.

And so I believe today, through this letter, God is still speaking.

And I believe in his providence, there's something God wants to let us know this morning, right in the middle of whatever you're facing, God wants to speak a message to you today for whatever you're walking through.

And so if you want to see this for yourself, I'll invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of First Thessalonians.

We're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 today.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

1 Thessalonians chapter 2.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

If you're a guest with us today, welcome.

We're glad you're here.

We open the Bible every single week.

And so if you brought a Bible, you're right on target.

I'm glad you brought the Bible.

If you didn't, it's all right.

We got you covered.

There's a Bible in front of you.

You're welcome to use that.

If you don't own a physical Bible, take the Bible in front of you home.

We'd love for you to have a Bible.

So just take that home.

And if you're looking for the book of 1 Thessalonians, it's in the New Testament, near the end.

So you get the four Gospels in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, then you get the epistles.

Romans, 1 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians.

If you're in 2 Thessalonians, go back.

That's where we're at.

And as you're turning there, a couple quick things.

First of all, I want you to know that based on the data, this is the magic of technology, I already have live data from this service specifically.

Based on the data, 70% of you are going to 11 a.m.

Just so you know.

Now, across the board, this is the third time we've done this today, 6% of people are saying they're going to 12 30 at this point.

Just so you know that.

So, you know, that's gonna be like the cool kids are all going to 1230.

Just letting you know.

I heard there's full-size donuts and cash prizes.

I don't know if that's true, but uh, it's not true.

You already heard me lie to you about the gift today.

So, yeah, anyways.

Okay.

But uh, yeah, just so you know.

So you'll probably hear more information from us later on about how we want to shift people around a bit.

So um, but if you've been here, you know that we were working through a series called Ready on the Book of First Thessalonians.

We're walking through Pastor Mark, already kicked off the series.

He he tackled the first two messages in the first chapter and a half of this book.

And I just want to give props to Pastor Mark.

He did a phenomenal job uh so far with us.

So we can we give it up for Mark just for what a great job he did.

And I am richly blessed with a phenomenal team here of people.

And when you come on Sunday, uh not only for the people who bring the word, but for all the various ministries, just thankful for the people I get to work with.

We've got a great team here, and we're blessed because of it.

I'll talk a little more about that later.

But before we move on, even though Mark covered some of the groundwork for the book, let me just remind you of some things that he already hit.

So Paul, who was the apostle Paul, who became a believer in the book of Acts when he went on the road to Damascus to try to stamp out the church.

He had this amazing encounter with the risen Jesus where he trusted in Christ in that moment and he was commissioned by the risen Jesus to go and to be an apostle to the nations and to the Gentiles.

And so Paul began a series of missionary journeys, and he would always take his buddies with him, and different people went with Paul on these journeys.

And so in his second missionary journey, we see that this is a much more robust journey than his first one.

He decided to go and take Silas with him, and along the way, early on, they picked up a young guy named Timothy, and that was kind of the core group of their team.

And we read about the second missionary journey in those kind of middle section of the book of Acts, but in Acts chapter 17, we see after heading into Macedonia, what happens is that crew goes to Thessalonica, and they're there for only a few weeks.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

This is a completely unreached area.

They go there for a few weeks, proclaiming the gospel, the reasoning and the synagogues.

And what's amazing is after they begin only a few weeks of ministry, all of a sudden people start responding to that good news of Jesus.

So it says that some of the Jews believe there.

It also says that some of the God-fearing Greeks believed.

If you read Acts 17, it also says that there was a number of prominent women who believed.

And so after the gospel is proclaimed there, by God's grace, a church was born.

A church was born in the city of Thessalonica.

But almost as quickly as that church was established, opposition began.

Acts chapter 17 tells us that the Jewish leaders in that city were jealous of this fledgling church, and so they gathered a mob, and what they decided to do was throw the city into an uproar.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

They began looking for Paul and Silas, and when they couldn't find them, they ended up dragging this guy named Jason, who was a leader in the Church of Thessalonica and some other believers before the authorities, before the magistrate, and they made an accusation against this little tiny church in Thessalonica.

They believed that these Christians were defying Caesar because they were proclaiming that there was another king.

You know who it was?

His name was Jesus.

This church began proclaiming Christ as king, and so they immediately started facing persecution.

In fact, the pressure was so intense immediately that Paul and his companions were forced to leave under the cover of night.

And even then the opposition didn't stop.

Pastor Mark talked about this.

Paul ended up traveling to the neighboring city of Berea, and there he started to teach and preach.

And if you remember, the Bereans are more noble because they searched the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true.

And as he was there, a group of people from Thessalonica who were the opponents of the gospel there traveled to Berea and they started stirring up more drama and causing all kinds of problems.

And so what we see here is this brand new baby church, this group of baby Christians in Thessalonica, immediately they're facing challenges.

Paul and his companions are gone, they had to flee.

And now the leaders of the church in Thessalonica, they're being targeted, and now these newfound Christians, their neighbors, are out to get them, and there's hostility, and everything starts to become really, really difficult, right?

So from the very beginning of their faith, following Jesus, it came at a very high cost in the city of Thessalonica.

So now we understand why Paul, along with Silas and Timothy, they felt such a burden for this church.

Now we understand why this distance that Paul had with his spiritual children, these people that he raised in the faith, and he was forced to leave them almost immediately when they embraced the gospel.

Now we understand why there's so much angst.

In fact, when you you read the end of chapter two, you kind of hear it in Paul's voice.

Notice what he says here.

He says, But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you.

I, Paul, again, and again, but Satan hindered us.

Can you kind of hear the angst in his voice?

That expression that Paul uses, that's not a light word when he says we're torn away from you in Greek.

That word gives off this idea of bereavement.

It's a word that's used when someone you love, someone in your family dies and you're separated from them.

That's the word you would use.

Paul is describing the heartbreak associated with these baby Christians, these spiritual children that he's now separated from.

He feels the agony of loss.

He longs to see the Thessalonians.

He wants to be there because he knows they're struggling, he knows they're suffering, but he can't get back to them.

Now, interestingly, Paul doesn't say exactly what's keeping him from returning.

Now, it could be just the opponents, right?

Maybe there's like a wanted poster in Thessalonica, and Paul is the dude that they're looking for, and so he realizes he can't come back.

That certainly could be the case.

Maybe there are other circumstances involved.

We just don't know.

Paul doesn't tell us.

But what we do know is how he understood it.

Whatever the obstacle was that was inhibiting his ability to return to Thessalonica, Paul knew that there was something spiritual happening behind it.

Notice how he says, but Satan hindered us.

You see, in Paul's theology, he knows that many of the events that happen in the world around us, many of the events in life that we see as problematic or challenging, much of the evil we see in the world, he knows that what lies behind that, what's animating that, are spiritual forces of darkness.

This is why in Ephesians chapter 6, Paul says, Hey, we don't wrestle with flesh and blood.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

We wrestle with principalities and powers in the spiritual realm.

So Paul understood that much of the stuff that we struggle with, there's a deeper, darker thing behind all that.

As Christians, you know we have enemies, don't you?

The world, a broken world that's fallen, the flesh, and the devil.

And so Paul saw that many of these things they were going through, this was spiritual, many of the things that were prohibiting him from going, it was spiritual.

And so from a distance, probably from the city of Corinth, Paul decided to write this letter.

He's burdened for his spiritual children, and so he writes them a letter.

And now as we move into chapter three, we're gonna really unpack three things that Paul draws out from this chapter.

And so, first of all, Paul's gonna discuss number one, the present affliction.

He's gonna talk about the present affliction.

So notice what he says in the first five verses.

He says, Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone.

We sent, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one may be moved by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

He goes on to say, For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

So what's Paul doing here?

Well, he's recounting what's happened.

Remember, Pastor Mark began by saying in those first three chapters, it's reminiscing.

Paul is talking about things they already know.

So Paul was burdened because this baby church was being afflicted, and he was so concerned that he sent Timothy to go check up on them to see how they were doing.

Now, just to kind of give you some reminder about this, Acts 17, Paul gets to Thessalonica.

That's where there's all the opposition.

He flees to Berea, that's where things are stirred up.

After that, Paul goes to Athens.

He's dropped off in Athens, and for a little while the team breaks up.

But then the team comes back together in Athens, and they're all there, and there's a strategic decision that's made in Athens.

Paul and Silas and Timothy make the decision that Timothy is going to be the one that's going to go back to the church in Thessalonica.

And so he goes back to them, and eventually, Paul and Silas they move on in the journey, they end up in Corinth.

But then Timothy comes back, and so that's kind of what we're reading here.

Timothy was sent to Thessalonica.

Now, I want you to understand a few things about this decision to send Timothy to Thessalonica.

Timothy was not expendable.

Timothy was a stud.

Like in ministry, he was awesome.

Paul did not have a massive ministry team.

No, it's a small crew.

They go from city to city preaching the gospel, helping establish churches.

And so the decision to send Timothy back to Thessalonica would be costly for Paul.

It's not like Timothy's catching, you know, a flight and coming back 24 hours later.

No.

He's heading over in a dangerous, difficult task to go travel in the ancient world, first century, all the way back to this city.

There's no internet, there's no way to find out what's going on.

They're waiting for Timothy, hoping he can come back and find them.

Like this is a costly decision.

Paul is picking one of his closest, most trusted co-workers to send him back.

And Paul says to the Thessalonians that this decision, they were willing, he says, to be left behind in Athens alone.

So Paul wanted to go back, but he couldn't.

But rather than doing nothing, he did what he could, and he sent Timothy to go strengthen them and encourage them and to help them stand firm in the faith.

And as I was prepping this message, one of the things that just kept resonating with me is Paul's heart to be with them and his inability to do so.

Can I share with you, as a pastor, one of the things that I often struggle with is the fact that there are times where I become aware of the fact that there are needs in the body.

People have situations, struggles, challenges.

The desire of a pastor is to be there for everybody.

But the reality is that can't always happen.

In fact, I would suggest to you, if you talk to many pastors, we kind of walk around with guilt because we know there are more things to attend to than we have the capacity to attend to.

And so we we live with the sense of just going, man, there's so many needs, there's so many people that need help, and I might not be available in those moments.

And that's a difficult thing to deal with.

But here is the blessing.

Here is the blessing.

One of the gifts that God gave to the church is I don't need to be there for everyone because the church is a body.

And the body works together, it builds itself up in love.

And so that's why we have a plurality of elders, leaders, pastors here who serve to help, to carry the load.

That's why we have a phenomenal staff team.

We are blessed here, just so you know.

We got an amazing staff team who labor for the sake of the body and do a phenomenal job and we share the load.

This is why we have a men's ministry and a women's ministry and leaders in those areas who help carry the load.

This is why we have community groups and so many people who are faithful to care for one another.

That's the beauty of the body of Christ.

No one person carries the load by themselves.

We carry it together.

And that's good news.

And Paul obviously is leveraging this.

He cannot be there, so he sends Timothy.

Because Paul wants to make sure that these believers are not left alone in their affliction.

He wants them to hold fast and to endure.

Because as I said, they were struggling.

In fact, notice what Paul says about this.

He says, For you yourselves know that we're destined for this.

Just so you know, the context here is affliction.

What Paul means here is that the Thessalonians, they're facing hardship and affliction.

It's through persecution, but I want you to know that affliction, this is something we're destined for, and it comes in all shapes and sizes.

I'm willing to bet this morning that there are some of you right here, right now, who are really going through it.

I'm willing to bet that there are some of you in a season of life right now that maybe this is one of the most difficult seasons of life you have ever faced.

For some of you, maybe it's your marriage, right?

Maybe you want things to go well.

You had this picture perfect kind of idea in your mind of what your life would be, and it's not shaping up to be that, and it's very difficult for you, and you're burdened by it.

For others, maybe it's parenting, right?

Maybe it's like this idea of maybe you have little ones and they're up all night and you're not getting much sleep and you're just overwhelmed and exhausted, or maybe you're losing sleep because they're older ones and they're making decisions that you're struggling with.

And they're at an age in a stage where it's not so easy anymore.

You're not in control of their life.

For others, maybe it's just family challenges you're going through.

For others, maybe you're dealing with financial burdens and struggles.

For others, maybe it's health issues, maybe it's even mental health.

Maybe you're grieving or you're fearful of something, maybe you're gripped by anxiety or depression.

Life is hard.

Life is really hard.

That shouldn't surprise us.

It shouldn't surprise us, first of all, because we live in a broken world.

So whether you're a Christian or not, life is hard for everybody.

However, I would suggest to you that if you're a Christian, there are certain aspects of your life that can become even more difficult because you're simply a follower of Jesus.

If Jesus suffered and we are to follow him, what makes us think we are exempt?

No.

Suffering as a Christian is par for the course.

In fact, notice what Paul says.

He says he was reminding the Thessalonians about this when he was with them.

He goes on to say, For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that you were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know, right?

We're destined for this.

Affliction is part of the Christian life.

Paul himself was intimately familiar with affliction, just as you and I are.

And so, in fear that this would shake their faith, he sent Timothy to them.

But what did Timothy find when he arrived?

Well, that's what we're gonna see as we keep moving.

He he comes back, he brings a report to Paul and Silas, and so now that we've seen number one, Paul talk about the present affliction that they're facing, that they're destined for.

The next thing he's gonna talk about, number two, is the persistent faith.

The persistent faith.

And notice how our passage continues.

Picking up in verse six, it says this But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love, and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you.

For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith.

You see, just despite the affliction that they were enduring in Thessalonica, not only was the church surviving, they were thriving.

Now, when I say that, I don't mean that they weren't having any problems.

They were having all sorts of problems.

The point, as Paul is making here, is in the midst of their problems, they were still holding fast to Jesus.

And for Paul and his companions, when he found out that the Thessalonian church was still holding firm to the gospel in the midst of their affliction, for him, when he found out that news, it's like a breath of fresh air.

He was so concerned for them, so concerned that their Faith would be shaken, fearful that maybe his labor that he had poured into that church would be in vain.

He was fearful about it.

But when Timothy came back, and when Timothy said, Hey, Paul, guys, they're still here.

They're still standing, they're still believing, they're still holding fast.

Paul was overjoyed.

In fact, notice what he says.

Verse 8 is just kind of wild what he says.

He says, For now we live if you're standing fast in the Lord.

When I heard that, I had to think about this verse quite a bit.

What does Paul mean?

For now we live, if you're standing fast in the Lord, that's a pretty extreme statement.

What does he mean by that?

Well, the more I thought about it, the more I think I understand what he's saying.

Several years ago, um my older kids were very young, and one of my boys was sick, really sick.

And we went to the doctor.

We actually got sent home, but he's still really sick, couldn't hold anything down.

We went back to the doctor again, and this time we we decided to go to the hospital.

And we're there.

This had been days and days, not really struggling through all this.

And doctors did some looking into what was going on, and they determined that there was actually a pretty significant issue wrong with one of my boys.

Uh it was an intestinal issue, and we were told no, we're not gonna be released.

And the fact that we got released the first time is kind of wild, they said, because this is pretty significant.

We need to do an immediate procedure, they said.

Now, here's how it works: 70% of the time the procedure is successful, but if it's not, we need to move into emergency surgery.

And it's with the intestines, that's a pretty high risk and difficult thing.

And so they said, we're gonna move into this right now.

You guys can be in the room as we try to do this procedure.

So my wife and I are there, my son is very little at the time.

We're in the room, and I still remember the emotion of the moment of everything we were going through.

We're there, and in that moment, I kind of feel like I wasn't even breathing, right?

I'm like holding my breath.

I'm sitting there, I'm watching, I'm waiting, I'm hoping, I'm praying.

Like I'm physically in great shape.

My son, though, he's not okay, so guess what?

I'm not okay.

I'm not okay, and my wife's not okay.

And so we're waiting, and finally, when this procedure is done, the doctor says, Hey, I think it worked out really well.

I think everything's fine, we're set, he's gonna be just fine.

And I remember when he said those words to us, I was like, Like it felt like it was the first time I could breathe in a while because I was so burdened for my son.

I remember that feeling.

My life, my life was in many ways suspended because of the status of my son.

And on the same level, this is what Paul is really describing here.

He was so burdened for the Thessalonians.

He didn't know how they were doing from a distance, he didn't know whether their persecution had broken them, he didn't know whether they were still standing firm in the faith.

But then Timothy arrived, and when Timothy gives the all-clear, Paul goes, Now I live.

Now I live if you're standing firm, standing fast in the faith.

It's like Paul can finally breathe again.

His life, his calling, his purpose was so deeply bound up in what Christ had called him to do that the spiritual health of these baby Christians, it was almost like it was what was holding up his life.

It was of utmost importance.

I think pastors can resonate with that as well.

So Paul goes on to thank the Lord for the fact that they are standing firm in the faith.

He says these words He says, For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, Thessalonians, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly, night and day, that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.

And so essentially what Paul says is, Hey, God, thank you.

Thank you that they're standing firm, and he continues to express his desire to go to Thessalonica.

So now that we've seen number one in our text, the present affliction, this church was facing serious challenges.

Now that we've seen number two, the persistent faith.

Timothy comes back, he gives the report that they're still standing firm in the faith.

Now that we've seen this, we're going to move on to our final point, but I want to pause for a moment.

Because the truth is, as I said, there are probably some of you right now who are struggling.

In fact, let me go so far as to say there might be some of you in the room who are struggling to such a great extent that maybe you're at a point in life where you're really kind of wondering if you can hang in there.

As I said, affliction is part of the Christian life.

We face all kinds of challenges.

For some, it's opposition, persecution, like we see here.

But the truth is, there are sometimes more subtle ways that we're tested.

And sometimes those challenges can shake us to the core, and maybe even in certain circumstances, it can make keeping the faith, walking faithfully with the Lord, it can challenge that, it can test that.

To keep going when life is hard, to keep on the narrow path, that can be a difficult thing.

And so the question I want to ask this morning is in the midst of present affliction, how do we keep persistent faith?

In the midst of present affliction, how do we keep, how do we live with persistent faith?

Well, what Paul unpacks for the Thessalonians again and again and again and again in every single chapter of this letter, it's this.

Number three, the promised return.

The promised return.

Notice how our chapter ends by Paul saying this.

Now, may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness, and notice this, before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Notice how everything about Paul here that he's been writing and teaching, it is leading us toward this reminder that Christ is returning.

In fact, in the previous chapter, he ends the chapter the same way.

We just skip that verse.

If you notice when we walk through, notice what verse 19 of chapter 2 says.

You see, everything about Paul's life is lived in light of the Lord's return.

And so as he encourages this church, a church facing real problems, real afflictions, as he encourages them to hold fast with persistent faith, he keeps reminding them over and over and over and over again, Christ is returning.

Jesus is coming again.

And when he returns, these present afflictions and struggles and burdens will become a thing of the past.

There's something incredibly comforting about that truth, isn't there?

It reminds us that what we are walking through today is not the end of the story.

It gives us hope, gives us perspective, it strengthens our resilience.

You see, when life is hard, when the pressure is real, when we're tired and weary and tempted to give up, this promise enables us to endure without losing heart.

Beloved, the promise from Scripture is abundantly clear.

Jesus is coming back.

Are you ready?

You know, one of the things, as I was talking in the beginning about writing those letters to my kids, one of the things I didn't tell you is that throughout those letters, I put a countdown in there.

Every day or so I would put a little reminder.

I would say, hey guys, in seven days I'm coming back home.

Hey, three more days, and I'm gonna be back.

Oh, tomorrow is the day I return.

I'm so excited to see you guys.

I kept putting the countdown in there over and over and over again.

And in some ways, this is what Paul does here.

He keeps reminding the church over and over and over again Jesus is coming back.

But you notice here that Paul never gives a countdown.

In fact, Jesus repeatedly speaks about his own return, but he never gives a countdown either.

You remember in the Gospel of Matthew, the Olivet Discourse, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives.

He's there with his disciples.

He begins to teach them the signs of the things that would happen at the end of the age and of his coming.

Jesus teaches them this only a couple days before he's arrested.

And if you remember the story, he's arrested not because he did anything wrong.

Jesus is sinless.

He's arrested because they were jealous and threatened by him, and again, because the spiritual powers of darkness wanted to put him to death.

And so Jesus is arrested.

He's taken before the Sanhedrin and before Pontius Pilate.

And even though he's done nothing wrong, the crowd shout, crucify him, crucify him.

So they take Jesus, and after beating him to the point where he's unrecognizable, they give him a cross, and he marches all the way to Golgotha, where he's stretched out and nailed to the cross and lifted up and crucified.

He's crucified for the sin of the world, for your sin and for my sin.

And then three days later, he was victorious over the grave.

Three days later, he was raised for our salvation.

So this is the work, the redemptive work that gave Jesus to do at his first coming.

And so only days before Jesus accomplished that work, he's there on the Mount of Olives, he's teaching his disciples, and he begins to talk about his return, and he says something interesting.

He says, But concerning the day and the hour, no one knows when I'm coming back.

He says, Not the angels of heaven, nor me, the Son, but only the Father knows.

You see, we don't have a countdown for when Jesus will return.

And I think there's wisdom in that because the truth is, instead of knowing exactly how much time we have left here, we're called to live ready each and every day.

We're called to live with expectation.

We're called to live with endurance.

We're called to live as though Christ could come back at any moment.

We don't know when he's coming back, but rest assured, he's coming back.

We know that.

And so the big idea I want to bring you from our text very simply is this hold fast until he comes.

Hold fast.

Stand firm.

Hang in there.

Cling to the truth of the gospel.

Jesus is returning.

For some of you here today, I recognize life has been difficult.

I know that this season is hard.

Maybe it's so hard that words don't even express it for you.

Life is hard.

And if you feel like you can't endure the pain anymore, you can't keep going, you can't continue to do this, I want to challenge you to remember that your present afflictions are producing an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison.

There is hope for the future.

The things you're facing are light and momentary compared to the surpassing greatness of what we can expect when Christ returns.

So cling to the hope of the gospel.

Continue trusting in Jesus, standing firm in the faith, believing in the one who died on the cross for your sins and was raised for your salvation.

He will not leave you as orphans.

He's promised you.

I will not leave you as orphans, Jesus says.

Rest assured, Jesus is returning.

So in light of that, hold fast until he comes.

Let's pray.

Lord, as I shared earlier, I do not know the present circumstances or situations that everyone is facing.

At best, I have a fraction of the knowledge of what people are going through today in this room.

But Lord, you know all.

You see all.

You are intimately aware of everything people are going through.

And so for the person in the room right here and right now who feels as if they're at the end of their ropes, I pray that they would sense your spirit in this moment, surrounding them, bringing comfort to their hearts, reminding them of this truth.

Their present affliction is not the end of the story.

It's part of the journey.

That there is comfort and hope that we have in Jesus and at his coming, at his returning.

Lord, I pray that you would just surround them with this incredible truth that through the power of your spirit and by your word, Lord, that you would strengthen, encourage a lot of discouraged people probably here today.

Lord, I pray that you would encourage them.

I thank you for the hope that we have that transcends what we're facing.

Lord, there are a lot of things that can shake us.

This reality of your return, it's unshakable.

And so help us, in the midst of whatever our affliction is, to live with persistent faith.

Lord, until your son returns or calls us home, help us to hold fast for your glory, for our good, for the good of the church, for the good of our witness, as people watch our lives and see our endurance in the midst of struggles.

Help us, we ask and pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.