is the book of the Bible that we're in this morning. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4. Turn there with me if you would. It's interesting to see as you study. We've been going through Paul's epistles and we're going to see a little bit of the difference of some of those in the notes this morning. But as you study and you see, for somebody that doesn't really know the Bible or doesn't study the Bible, they would think, hey, the epistles, those are just a bunch of letters from Paul to all the churches. So they're basically covering the same things or whatever. But that would kind of like me saying that everybody in this room is going through the exact same thing and they all need to be. But we're all going through different things and we all need help in different areas. And in the same way, the churches that Paul writes to and the pastors that Paul writes to They all were dealing with different issues and at different places in their Christian life and all those different things. And so there is a lot of difference from book to book as you go through the epistles that Paul wrote. There are some central themes. He talks about the importance of unity and walking in the Spirit and all those different things. You see some themes that are carried out, but at the same time you see a lot of differences. in the epistles as you read through them. And depending on what you're going through in life, you may find that one epistle or another might be exactly what you need as pertaining to whatever you're dealing with in your life today, or this week, or this month, or this year. And they can be a great blessing the more that we find out about them. And so the more you find out about them, the more you say, you know what, this is what I'm dealing with, or this is what I need help with, or this is what somebody else needs help with. And so this would be a great book for them to read. I oftentimes, when I'm trying to help folks, occasionally I'll give them a verse of scripture or a couple of verses of scripture. But oftentimes what I'll tell them is, hey, you know, a great book of the Bible for you to read would be the book of Romans, or the book of John, or the book of 1st or 2nd Timothy, or Titus, or if you need some help with the love of God, read 1st John. There's so much in the Bible, but you have to get to know some of these things about it in order to help you, and then to be able to help other people as well. The sub-theme under there is watch. The importance of watching, of being vigilant, of being aware as Christians. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16 is the key verse for our study this morning. It says this, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Can't read that verse without excitement this just thinking about that is exciting to me. He is coming back We were talking back in a prayer room a little bit ago about some of the things that are going on just in our world today I haven't been this this especially this week has been Just very, very busy. A lot going on and I don't mind it all being busy, but one of the things I haven't had a chance to do is watch the news. And my wife was telling me yesterday, I've kind of heard little bits here and there about the fires up in Canada and about the flooding up along the east coast of the United States. She said the one place they were having rain up to an inch a minute that was coming down. I mean, an inch an hour is a lot of rain. But an inch a minute that's like somebody taking a bucket and just dumping it I mean that's a lot of rain that was coming down with this the flooding and then Mount st. Helens erupting and Brother Leo said this morning. He said the Lord is coming back. He said, you know, it's just there's a lot of things going on But in spite of all that, we can read verses like this and know that we know what's going to happen. We know one, yes, there are, you know, the world is getting worse and worse. There's a lot of things happening, not just in society and social problems, but other tragedies and things that are going on. And we're aware of all that. But isn't it a blessing to know that if you're saved today, you're not gonna have to go through the tribulation. You're not gonna have to go. It's gonna get a whole lot worse. But when it gets to that point, you and I, if you're saved this morning, we're not gonna be here for that. He says, the dead in Christ shall rise first. A blessing to know that those that know the Lord, that have passed on before us, everybody in here, I'm sure, Has family members and loved ones that have passed on that that have that know the Lord that are that are in heaven today? but the bodily resurrection and to know that we're gonna be We're gonna meet them in the air and what a blessing that'll be so shall we ever be with the Lord? Even so come Lord Jesus. I told you I think I said something Wednesday night AJ and I were talking last week. He said dad I really want the Lord to come back But I there's some things that I really would like to be able to do before he comes back and I said I think every Christian Deals with that at some point or at different points in their life where you know, I'd like for this to happen You know when I was growing up I wanted to graduate high school and then I wanted to go to college and graduate college and I wanted to get married and I wanted to be able to have kids and now want to see my kids grow up and I want to I'd like to be able to someday, 30 years from now, walk my daughters down the aisle, right? Long time from now. But I want to be the one to be able to do that. And I'd like to see grandkids and different things like that. But if the Lord came back today, that'd be all right with me, too. And to know that He is coming. We're to be watching. Key words in the book. Coming. Used four times. First used chapter 2, verse 19. Most significant use chapter 4 verse 15 just a couple verses before what we just read it says this for this we say unto you By the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent Them which are asleep. Oh, don't worry. We're not going to get in their way We're not going to we're not going to hinder them when the Lord returns. There won't be a problem there at all. Oh but the coming of the Lord. It's going to happen. Then, with the coming is the other significant word, and that is comfort. Sometimes looking forward to His coming is the only place we can look for comfort. But it is a comfort to know that He's coming. The word comfort used four times. First time, chapter 3, verse 2. Most significant use, chapter 4, verse 18, which says this, Wherefore comfort one another with these words, you know, we can comfort each other with knowing That he is coming back now keep in mind this is 2,000 years ago that this is written and Even 2,000 years ago Paul said you can comfort one another With these words what words the words that we just read about the Lord Jesus Christ coming back about the return of Christ, about us being with Him in heaven. That's what we can comfort one another with. And Christians have been comforting one another with those words, the fact that God is still on the throne, that God is in control, that God is coming back someday. We can comfort one another with those words for 2,000 years. You know if the Lord doesn't come back for another 2,000 years, I believe it'll do for that But if he didn't for the next 2,000 years You could still comfort one another with knowing that that is a sure thing that God is coming back That God is on the throne that God is in control. It can be it is a great comfort to us Jesus is referred to as Lord 25 times in first Thessalonians and The theme of the book is Christ's return, which is the believer's hope. You know, we can always have hope. There's sometimes that you and I may be in what we would think or what the world would look at as a hopeless situation. And in the world's eyes, there are a lot of things that are hopeless. Our society in the world's eyes and a lot of Christians that aren't walking with the Lord, you look at it, you look at the situation in our world today and they say it's hopeless. As long as you and I have breath, it's not hopeless. It's not hopeless until the Lord's return. It's not hopeless. It's pretty rough. Things aren't great. Our society, the world that we live in, I mean, you think about right now, and I've mentioned it in the past and now because of the due to the events of this week, we have a presumptive Republican nominee and Donald Trump and Democratic nominee and Hillary Clinton. And you look at those two things and think, man, that's what we have to choose from for the next president of the United States. That's a scary thing. It really is But at the same time I Serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living whatever men may say The hope of all who seek him the help of all who find none other is so loving so good and kind He lives and what a blessing to know Did you know? that tomorrow Donald Trump could get saved or Hillary Clinton could get saved. We ought to pray for that. God can do that. God can do that. That's in God's control. That's within His power. Now I know that He's given each of them a free will and an opportunity but to know that God is in control no matter what men say, no matter how bad things get. I mean, if we read our Bibles today, you know, for instance, the fires that are taking place in Canada. God's in control of that. God can direct the fire. God could stop the fire. God can do whatever he wants. The volcano erupting, you better believe God's in control of that. The rain that comes down, the flooding, God's in control of that, every single bit of it. He does whatever he chooses. He is in control and for us to know that his return is our hope something we have to look forward to it Something that's certain something that's going to happen But because of that because we know that that's we shouldn't just we shouldn't just sit back and say man I just can't wait for the Lord to come back. We ought to be busy looking for his return preparing for his return The date of the writing is about AD 53. Paul was approximately 46 years old and had been saved for about 16 years at this point. Came to the Lord about 30 years old from what we can tell and had been saved for about 16 years and serving God with everything he had for that 16 years. I mean full bore, all out, no hold barred, serving the Lord for 16 years. The Apostle Paul was the writer. It was written to the saints at Thessalonica, mostly Gentile believers, again, from Corinth on his second missionary journey. It's the 52nd book of the Bible, 13th book of the New Testament, 5 chapters, 89 verses. The purpose of the writing, let's look at some of these things. First of all, the purpose for the writing was to strengthen and confirm new Christians. To strengthen new Christians. And let me tell you, if you know somebody that is a new Christian that needs to be encouraged and strengthened in some things in the Lord, 1 Thessalonians is a great place for them to read. It's a great place for you to even sit down with them and go through the book of 1 Thessalonians. There's a lot of help there. Then secondly, to answer false accusations about Paul. There had been some things said about Paul, and Paul addresses those things. And by the way, can I tell you, it's good for us to read. Have you ever had a false accusation made about you? Somebody say some things about you that weren't true? You know the best defense to that is the truth. Paul's defense was the truth. He said, let me tell you the way that things are. But he answers his accusers. Then thirdly, to explain that the Christian dead would participate in the rapture. He was explaining to them the bodily resurrection of those which have passed on before, the Christians that have passed away, their resurrection. He explained that and made that very clear. I mean, you can't mistake that passage. He makes it very, very clear. For us to help us today to help the obviously it had been a matter of discussion at the church here at Thessalonica And so he addresses it and then to warn Christians about pagan immorality. Can I tell you? 2,000 years later Christians still need to be warned about pagan immorality Absolutely, we do We need to be warned about the dangers of it. I was speaking with somebody this morning on the phone, and they called and were asking me to pray for somebody, a young man. They said, man, raised in a Christian home, raised in a good church, and the direction that they're heading. Just got in trouble with the law this last week and got suspended in a bunch of different things. They said, I don't understand it. We need to constantly be warning Christians, warning believers, young and old, about the dangers of immorality and of pagan... the world that we live in today. The world that we live in today, our society, in no way does it have a desire to put God first in any place. Our society is doing everything it can to get God out of every place it can. We need to be aware of that. And we need to fight against that in our homes, in our church, in our families, in our communities, in our nation, and in our world. Because a nation without God is a nation in a whole heap of trouble. And that is our nation. That has become our nation. The fifth thing there under the purpose is to remind Christian members to honor and follow scriptural leaders. Hey, people that are leading in the right direction, we need to honor them and to follow them and to support them. And then sixthly, to warn members not to give up jobs and wait. Hey, don't just quit everything. Some Christians, well, I'm just quitting everything and waiting for the Lord to come back. Heard people say for years, so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good. So heavenly minded, I'm just looking for heaven. Okay, well, until that day, we ought to be busy. We ought to be doing something. I'm just waiting for the Lord's return, me too. But in the meantime, there's some things that I need to be doing, some things that I ought to be doing. Let's see the two divisions here. First of all, a recognition of how they were saved, dealt with and cared for. Paul recognized, Hey, here's how you were saved. Here's how you were dealt with and here's how you've been cared for. And then secondly, a reminder of how to live and to please God. You know, we all need that reminder. On a daily basis, I need to be reminded how I ought to live and how I ought to please God with my life. Not just how I ought to, but then some specific directions on how I can. Yes, I ought to, but what do I need to do? What does that mean to please God with my life? Paul lays out some instructions. Let's look at this outline. Some people in the church, Roman numeral one, first of all, the elect in verse four. And then the example in verse seven, these are all in chapter one. The elect in verse four, the example in verse seven, the enthusiastic in verse eight and the expectant in verse 10. Some different people that we see. Let's look at a couple of those quickly. First of all, the elect verse four says this, knowing brethren beloved your election of God. He talks about the elect and then you look down at verse number seven the example so that ye were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia talking about the Christians the believers in the church He says hey, you are an example. Can I tell you this whether whether you like it or not? You and I are an example We might not be a good example But we are an example to people around us to our friends to our family to our neighbors to the people that see us on the street to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ you and I are an example and what am I example of I Am an I am a living example of what I believe a Christian ought to be Because if I believe a Christian ought to be something else I would then other than what I am Then that's what I would be working. What what we really what we believe Shows in how we act We say there's a lot of things that people say that they believe and Paul addresses this and some other epistles as well People say they believe certain things But look at how they live Because that tells you what they really believe You know, there's some people that you can tell that they really believe that God could be coming back any moment. How can you tell that? Because of the way they live. There's some people that really believe that they're going to stand before God someday and answer for every idle word, for everything that's been done or said in their life. Then there's others that say that they believe that but you can tell by the way that they live their life that they don't really believe that I told you before I use the example of of Penn Jillette and what he said about Christians and the fact, you know, he is an atheist but he said if Christians really believe that there is a heaven and that there is a hell and that it's as bad as the Bible says that it is if they really believe that They would tell everyone they could How do you know if they really believe it You can tell by who they tell. You can tell by how they live. It's so important for us to realize we are, whether we like it or not, you know, I'm reminded of Charles Barkley, okay? NBA superstar for years and now he's a commentator on basketball And he said this was a number of years ago. He says he said I'm no Example don't tell your kids to be like me. I'm not a role model Whether he likes it or not he is an example Whether he likes it or not people are following his example people look up to it. I You can say, you know, a lot of times parents, whether they actually say it or not, are teaching to their kids, don't do as I do, do as I say. But those of you that have raised children, you know, they're gonna do as we do. Not as we say. Hopefully, as we do and as we say line up together, and when they do, that gives our children the best chance of success. That's not always a guarantee. You know, I use the example I've had people say about people that are in the ministry. Hey, if somebody that's in the ministry has a child that goes wayward, they've got no business being in the ministry because of what Paul says is the qualifications for a bishop. But the fact of the matter is, once a child gets to be grown enough to where they're making their own decisions, they answer to God for their own decisions. I always use the example of Adam and Eve. God essentially was their parent. He walked with them and talked with them and raised them and taught them and laid out the rules for them and everything. And they chose to sin. Does that mean God was a bad parent? No, it means man has a free will. It means man has a free will. We as parents need to do everything we can. to give our children the best chance for success and our grandchildren and anybody else that we have opportunity to influence, not just our children physically, biologically, but also spiritually. As the Lord brings people around us, gives us opportunity to influence people. We can do everything we can to give them every opportunity to succeed by being a good and godly example. The enthusiastic in verse 8, it says this, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God where it is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything." Hey, they were enthusiastic. Every place that Paul went, he said, everybody's heard about the testimony of the Christians at Thessalonica. Why? Because they were excited about it. They were excited about it. One of the blessings to me yesterday with having all the ladies that were here, One thing I learned when there's more than 40 ladies in a room. I just was quiet aging I we just we were just quiet and just set out food and things but no the the fact the blessing of it is There were several people here that aren't from this area, you know family members and things that that came into town to visit for Mother's Day and that we're here and I You know, it's my heart's desire for Zion Hill Baptist Church that as those people go wherever they go. I that they say, hey, those ladies at Zion Hill Baptist Church, let me tell you, that is a friendly, godly group of ladies that together, they fellowship together and rejoiced in the Lord and had a great time around the things of God and the word of God. And that's the kind of example, that's the kind of enthusiasm that our church ought to have, that we ought to have. That's what the church at Thessalonica, that's what they had. They said, hey, every place, You know any lady that wasn't from our church that has a home church that went home that they're at their church today If their church doesn't have something like what our ladies did yesterday I'd like for them to go home to their church and say our church needs to have something like that. We need to be that kind of example and that kind of have that kind of Enthusiasm to influence other people not just the people that are inside these four walls Then you see, let's move on, Roman numeral two, the preacher in the church. So we saw the people in the church, chapter one, the preacher in the church, chapter two. There's a faithful steward in verse four, a gentle mother in verse seven, an example of the example of a gentle mother that's given there in verse seven, a concerned father in verse 11, a loving brother in verse 14. All those things that the preacher, the leader in the church has those responsibilities of, of filling those roles in different ways. You know each of those people if you think about the the steward in a home and the responsibility that he has and then you think about the mother in a home and what responsibility what what role does she fill and then a father in a home and what role does he fill and then a brother or a sibling in the home what role do they fill and the in in a lot in all different ways the preacher the leader has those responsibilities those roles to fill and And then he moves on, Romans 3, chapter 3, the program in the church. Involved a man sent from God, first of all. Involved a letter written by Paul. Involved a prayer by Paul. And involved a reminder of the second coming. There's a lot of things involved in the program of the church. And then Romans 4, chapter 4, the plan for the church. First of all, to walk in holiness, verse number 7, to walk in love, verse 9, to walk in honesty, verse 12, and to walk in hope, verse number 13. And then lastly, in the Roman numeral 5, the prospect for the church, chapter 5, to walk in light, verses 1 through 11, to walk in gratitude, verses 12 and 13, and to walk in obedience, verses 14 through 28. There's all of these things for the church again a great book for you for you and I to just take some time and look at and sit down with an outline like this or another one that kind of helps to shed some light on it and then read through those things and then you can say you know what that makes a whole lot of sense it's amazing how these things fit together how it works together it's just some miscellaneous things chronological order of Paul's books the prophetic and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, the platform books or the doctrinal books, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians and Galatians. The prison epistles are Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon. The pastoral epistles, 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus. That's just kind of the way that the chronological order that they were written in, these would have been the first books that Paul wrote. The purpose of a church as seen in 1 Thessalonians. So what is, this is again just a great thing for us to look at. As a church, what are some things, what is our purpose? First of all, it's a center for getting out the gospel. Chapter one, verse eight, a center for getting out the gospels. One of the purposes of our church is to publish the gospel of Jesus Christ in every way we can through missionaries, through tracks, through any, any manner of outreach that we have. Then secondly, a nursery for new babes. Talking about new babes in Christ, people that are new Christians, this is a nursery. This is where they ought to be able to get the feeding and the teaching that they need. And then thirdly, a target for the devil. You say, that's one of our purposes? It's one of the things that we are. The church, a church that is honoring God is a target for the devil. You better believe it. I was talking to my mom also this morning on the phone, talking to her about some different things. And she was telling me about some things that her and dad have experienced in the last few weeks. And we were commiserating together a little bit. We had to deal with this. And I told her about last week, we pulled up to church and started raining. And the window fell out of my car while I was sitting there in the parking lot at church. And she was telling me about what happened with her car and different things the past couple of weeks. She said I think it's the stinking devil and I said I think it is too but you know stuff things happen Don't be don't don't mistake. I understand some things are just wear and tear in a car and can't blame everything on the devil But I do believe that oftentimes we sell the devil short. I Don't believe oftentimes we give him enough credit for the things that he does But we're a target for the devil number for a family circle abounding in love That's what a church is supposed to be. A family circle, abounding in love. Number five, a workshop of divine discipline. We ought to learn discipline here at church, in the church family. And then a school for character development. I love the fact that you have all these references alongside of these things. A school for character development. And then number seven, a hospital for the spiritually weak. This isn't this isn't just a trophy case for Saints. This is a hospital for sinners That's what this is the it says then each chapter refers to the second coming his coming and Salvation chapter 1 verse 10 is coming in service chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 his coming and stability chapter 3 verse 13 is coming in sorrow chapter 4 verse 18 and his coming and Sanctification chapter 5 verse 23, let's have a word of prayer