How Does the NT Use the Word Kingdom?
How does the NT use the word kingdom? What does it mean to enter the kingdom, seek the kingdom, or even proclaim God's kingdom (Acts 28:31)?
1. The word kingdom appears 157 times in 148 verses in the NT, but it does not have a single consistent meaning or definition from Matthew 3:2 to Revelation 16:10. What we find is that context matters.
2. Most often, kingdom means the 'reign of God' as it does in Matthew 6:33, 'seek first the kingdom of God.' First, above everything else, seek that God reigns in your life. Is He your Lord? When we pray 'your kingdom come,' we are praying for two things simultaneously. We are praying that the reign of God will grow, and we are praying for the return of Christ to establish his reign.
3. There is no difference between the 'kingdom of God' and the 'kingdom of heaven.' Matthew alone uses the term ‘kingdom of heaven’. Both refer to the absolute rule and reign of God in heaven and in individual lives as they submit to his R-E-I-G-N. Read Luke 17:20-21. Christ said, 'my kingdom is not of this world.' And the thief on the cross said, 'remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Revelation 11:15 promises that 'the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ.' And that ‘he shall reign forever.' In one verse, we see an example of the already and not yet aspect of God's kingdom.
4. Sometimes kingdom refers to the R-E-A-L-M where God is, and where the believer goes when he or she dies (Acts 14:22). Jesus said, 'unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God' (John 3:3,5). This kingdom is eternal (2 Peter 1:11) and heavenly (2 Tim 4:18).
5. Occasionally kingdom refers to earthly kingdoms or the realm over which Satan is ruling as in Matthew 12:16 and Revelation 16.10.
6. One can quickly get confused concerning the kingdom. Paul said the kingdom is not what we eat or drink (Rom 14:17), but Jesus said, 'the kingdom is not coming in ways that can be observed' and 'we will eat bread in the kingdom of God' (Lk 17:20 & 14:15). This shows me the strikingly different ways the NT uses the word. Paul is speaking of something present in a spiritual sense, while Jesus describes it both ways.
7. Finally, what is the gospel of the kingdom of God? Jesus said, 'And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come' (Mt 24:14; Acts 8:12). The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that the king died for your sins so that you don't have to die in your sins (Jn 8:24). The good news of the kingdom is the king who died for your sins is not dead—He rose from the grave, ascended to his throne in heaven, and is returning to establish an eternal kingdom on this 'new' earth and you by faith in him can be part of this eternal kingdom. The question is: ‘Will you be?’
Seeking the City which is to Come
In the middle of Hebrews 13 is a simple yet profound verse that impacts our understanding of what the future holds.
For here, we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city
which is to come (v. 14)
The writer of Hebrews tells the Jews that they do not have a
lasting or enduring city on this earth. The Jews were in love with Jerusalem;
it was the capital and, more importantly, the temple's location. But for the follower of Christ, that temple
is meaningless. When Christ gave up his last breath on the cross, the curtain
of that temple was torn in two. And then, about two decades later, the Romans
destroyed the temple in 70AD. Simply put,
the NT is done with that temple. We, the believers, are the new temple. Physical
sacrifices have been replaced by spiritual sacrifices. The sons of Abraham are
now all who believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we are the people who are now seeking the
city which is to come.
Hebrews
13:14 is the third reference to this city in this book. Previously the writer
has told us about a better country, the city of the living God, and the
heavenly Jerusalem.
But
as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city
(11:16)
But
you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, (12:22)
Where else is this heavenly Jerusalem mentioned and
described? Revelation 21 is the chapter that contains John's vision of this
city coming down to the earth. Read the
text with me:
Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And
I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place
of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and
God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He
will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things
have passed away." 5 And he who was
seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also
he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Now, if one subscribes to the assumption that Revelation
4-22 is a chronological presentation of the events to come in the future—that
is to say the writer never circles back and describes events again from a
different perspective (recursive parallelism) then we are left to conclude that
there are 1000 years of time on this earth where Christ is here, but we are
still looking for the heavenly city. The
language of the text is 'we are seeking
the city to come.'
It is difficult to imagine how Christ would be
ruling on the earth, yet the city of God is yet to come. But this is precisely
what one must conclude if there is a future 1000-year kingdom separating the
return of Christ from the descent of the heavenly Jerusalem. Look at the language in the text: 'as a bride adorned for her husband.' Is
Christ ruling on this earth for 1000 years without his bride? Or will Christ be on this earth ruling
separate from God the Father in heaven for 1000 years? Pause and think about what I am saying. Paul says in Titus 2:13 that we are "looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Are
we waiting for Christ, and then once Christ returns, we turn to waiting for the
city to come? Will we be with the Son
but not the Father? Is the heavenly city empty for 1000 years?
However,
if we dispense with the idea that Revelation 20:6 is a future kingdom on this
earth, then our problems are eliminated. And our eschatology becomes so much
simpler. We live in this age and long for the age to
come (Mk 10:30). For in the age to come:
·
Christ has returned with all his Saints
·
Believers are given new bodies
·
Satan, the Beast, and his followers have been
defeated
·
The dead are resurrected for judgment
·
The sheep have been separated from the goats
·
A new heaven and new earth have been created
·
The enemies of God are consigned to the lake of
fire
·
The heavenly Jerusalem has descended to the new
earth
·
Death is defeated
·
All tears are wiped away
·
The dwelling place of God is with man
·
The eternal kingdom is inaugurated
The greatest obstacle to this understanding of the future is
the issue of the binding of Satan. As
described in Revelation 20:2-3
And
he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and
sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until
the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little
while.
Yet Peter says Satan "prowls
around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter
5:8). So, which is it? Is Satan bound,
or is Satan loose seeking someone to devour? Jesus provides us much help in reconciling the
issue as to whether Satan is bound or loose presently? Jesus said, "no one can enter a strong man's house [this world] and plunder his
goods, unless he first binds the strong man [the Satan]. Then indeed he
may plunder his house" (Mk 3:27).
If we assume that the binding of Satan has yet to occur, then the
instruction Jesus provides concerning binding the strong man is meaningless. Jesus
says one must bind the strong man but then does not bind him. There is no reason for Christ to wait until
after the Great Commission has been fulfilled to bind Satan. The church needs
Satan's ability to deceive the nations bound now since it has been charged with
making disciples of all the nations now—not in the future (Matt 28:19). And Mark 13:10, "the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." Clearly,
there must be a connection between 'the nations' in Revelation 20 and Matthew
28 and Mark 13. It seems best to conclude that Satan's power to deceive the
nations has been bound until just before the end of this age when he will be
permitted to deceive the nations one final time before the final battle of this
age (Revelation 19-20). But this binding does not eliminate the degree to which
Satan remains the enemy of God and the people of God. The parameters of the binding are limited to
what Revelation 20:3 says, 'so that he
might not deceive the nations any longer.'
Don’t Take Away My 1000-Year Kingdom!
For many years, I believed what others taught concerning a post-return of Christ 1000-year kingdom on this earth. In fact, I believed it so much that I taught it as well, but I also struggled with it. I struggled with why neither Jesus nor Paul ever mentioned it. I struggled with why is a temple being rebuilt? And why are we going back to animal sacrifices? I struggled with where do the souls go of those who die during the 1000-year kingdom. And why is there another battle at the end, just like the battle at the end of this age? Or why doesn’t Paul say anything about it in 1 Corinthians 15?
And then, quite accidentally, a fantastic journey began in June of 2018 when I embarked on a study of the last book of the New Testament. Up to this point, I had avoided Revelation like I avoid snakes and dark alleys in big cities. Initially, I committed to only preaching through chapter 3. I will just cover the letters written to the seven churches in Asia Minor, is what I said. Surely, I can do that! And then, on one fateful Sunday morning, I committed to the assembled church that I would preach through the whole book. Wow. Did I just say that? Now what? I knew what was in the book. I had walked down that alley in the daytime. A year later, I finished that journey, and it was incredible. Each week I would share where I had been and what I was learning with the church. Like a tour guide, for 51 weeks, I led the church through my tour of the book. I had slides and pictures. I wanted everyone to see what I saw.
In the end, after ten months of continuous study, I concluded that the correct interpretation of Revelation 20 was not a literal 1000-year kingdom on this earth that ends with the battle of Gog and Magog. Since that conclusion, some have been quite bothered with me. "You're taking away our 1000-year kingdom on this earth." And I want it back is what is implied. But I am not taking it away.
I want you to imagine that your family took a two-week vacation to Myrtle Beach for all your childhood and into your adult years. I mean a great getaway. Terrific memories. Lots of fun in the sun. But each year, your time at this incredible beach house came to an end. It wasn't an eternal vacation. It had a beginning and an end. Each year you looked forward to it with great anticipation, and each year it came to an end.
And then one day, your dad came home and announced with all the authority a dad can muster: "Family, we are no longer going to Myrtle Beach for vacation." Your heart sinks. “But why not?” You want to know. You have been looking forward to this vacation with Dad all year. He travels a lot. He is often gone for days, sometimes weeks. But at the beach, you will see him face to face every day. You can't imagine why you are not going on vacation this year. Why is Dad taking away our annual beach trip?
Then after a very long pregnant pause, Dad announces that he bought your favorite vacation home, and even as he speaks, crews are working on rebuilding the entire house from the ground up. Dad begins describing how everything is going to be made new. The game room, the kitchen, the AC units, the swimming pool - all made new. Wow! You can’t wait to see this new beach home.
And then dad says we are moving to that family beach house. No longer will our vacations come to an end. Dad says we will live there for all eternity. Suddenly your heart changes. Dad isn't taking away anything. Living at that beach house forever is far better than any two-week vacation. And while the house was great, it was getting old and had its issues. You can't wait to see what it is going to look like new.
You see, those who don't believe in a separate and distinct 1000-year kingdom on this earth aren't taking anything away. Instead, we believe the next stop on this epic journey after the return of Christ is a new heaven and a new earth, as described in Revelation 21. And by the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:11-13. Peter writes,
"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
Notice Peter says nothing about another kingdom on this earth that will precede the eternal kingdom and follow this current age. Instead, Peter says, "we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth." And whenever Jesus talks about the future, he talks about this age and the age to come (Mark 12:32).
I don't understand why anyone would get upset about skipping this year's vacation at the beach (which comes to an end) and moving to the beach for all eternity. Peter says it like this, “For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1.11).
Furthermore, and finally, at the end of the 1000 year kingdom (if that is correct) is another brutal global battle in which millions, perhaps billions, are deceived. The number is as the sand of the sea. They surround the camp of the saints, and fire comes down from heaven and consumes them all. Read Revelation 20:7-9. After much analysis, I concluded that Armageddon and the battle of Gog and Magog are the same battles. See the chart below. This age ends with an epic battle, and that is the final battle before eternal peace. In Ezekiel God promises he “will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore” (Ezekiel 37:26–28). Compare that to Revelation 21:2-4 and you realize God fulfills the covenant he made to Israel in the eternal kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus. Come establish your eternal kingdom on this earth for we long to be with you for all eternity.
Abortion Open Letter to Rev. Raphael Warnock
December 11, 2020
Reverend Raphael Warnock
Ebenezer Baptist Church
101 Jackson Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30312
Dear Reverend Warnock,
We are a coalition of Black Christian ministers who, like you, feel called by God to preach the
Bible, advocate for justice and fight against societal evils. We applaud your commendable efforts
to share Christ while pursuing political solutions to our most pressing problems today.
But precisely because we share so much in common with you, we feel compelled to confront
your most recent statements concerning abortion. You have gone on the record saying that you
are a “pro-choice pastor” who will “always fight for reproductive justice.” You have publicly
expressed your views that abortion is an exercise of “human agency and freedom” that is fully
consistent with your role as a shepherd of God’s people.
We believe these statements represent grave errors of judgment and a lapse in pastoral
responsibility, and we entreat you to reconsider them. As a Christian pastor and as a Black
leader, you have a duty to denounce the evil of abortion, which kills a disproportionate number
of Black children. Your open advocacy of abortion is a scandal to the faith and to the Black
community.
Abortion is fundamentally in conflict with the plain reading of the Bible. The Bible clearly
teaches that human life is created by God beginning at conception. As Psalm 139 proclaims:
“You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am wonderfully and fearfully
made.” What human being could possibly have the right to blot out an innocent life that God has
wonderfully and fearfully made?
Abortion prematurely thwarts God’s providential and loving plan for a promising human life.
And by terminating an innocent unborn life in the womb, abortion directly violates the seventh
commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” God demands that every faithful Christian protect and
uphold the sanctity of innocent human life, at every stage of life. Supporting abortion represents
a serious abdication of and a transgression against that responsibility, just like the disrespect of
the poor, the disabled, or the elderly.
Couching abortion in the language of “reproductive justice” may be savvy marketing, but killing
an innocent human life has nothing to do either with reproduction or with justice. Do American
adults really need another public voice urging them to put their own short-term desires ahead of
the needs of their children? As a pastor who speaks for the Christian community, we implore you
to speak the plain truth about a practice as barbaric and destructive as abortion.
And then there is the uniquely devastating impact that abortion has on the Black communities
you serve. The pro-abortion movement in America has been characterized by racism and white
supremacy since its inception. And to this day, abortion continues to unequally and
disproportionately harm Black lives, perpetuating systemic racism. Despite making up only 13%
of the female population, Black women represent 36% of all abortions, and Black women are
almost five times more likely than their white counterparts to receive an abortion. In some cities
across the country, more Black children are aborted every year than are born alive.
Can you in good conscience defend abortion, knowing that abortion kills 474 Black babies for
every 1000 live births? Abortion decimates Black communities, disrupts Black families and
inflicts untold harm on Black women. Black women and Black families need your advocacy;
they need your protection, and they need your support. But they do not need Black pastors
making excuses for the racism in the abortion industry. Killing Black lives, especially killing
unborn Black lives, does nothing but brutalize and scar vulnerable Black communities who are
already suffering so much.
For all of the above reasons, we entreat you to reconsider your public advocacy for abortion.
Unborn Black, brown and white lives are so much more than clumps of cells, burdensome
inconveniences, or health problems. They are sacred human persons endowed by God with
inalienable dignity and worth. We implore you to uphold the Biblical defense of life and to fight
against the systemic racism of abortion.
Sincerely,
Bishop Garland Hunt
Father's House
Norcross, GA
Bishop Wellington Boone
Fellowship of International Churches
Atlanta, GA
Bishop Flynn Johnson
Metro City Church
Atlanta, GA
Bishop Michael Paden
GA Metro Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction COGIC
Atlanta, GA
Bishop John Reid
John Reid Ministries
Cumming, GA
Pastor Frankie Vega
Awakening Reformation Center
Smyrna, GA
5 Reasons to Join a Local Christ-exalting, Bible-believing Church
Five God-glorifying Reasons to Join Berean (the local church I pastor)
1) Joining Berean Baptist church is like getting married. Membership brings you into a covenant relationship with this local church. You don't attend here—you are a member! You are officially part of the church. Without a membership role, how do we know who comprises the church? Is it anyone who attends on Sundays mornings? Is it anyone who shows up to a member's meeting? How are local disciples of Christ supposed to follow the protocols outlined by Jesus in Matthew 18 without a church membership? The Apostle Peter exhorted the elders to "shepherd the flock that is among them" (1 Peter 5:2). Who is the flock? Uniting with the church says, "I want to be part of the flock at Berean."
2) Joining Berean brings you under the authority of the local church. Uniting with us is profitable for your sanctification and perseverance in the faith. If you wander from the gospel, the elders, deacons, and members of the church have a formal obligation to speak into your life, and you have made a formal commitment to respond appropriately. The elders of Berean can't watch over the souls of every believer in Fayetteville—membership formally communicates, "I want Berean's spiritual leaders watching over my soul for my sanctification and spiritual growth." Read and study 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, 1 Timothy 5:17, and Hebrew 13:17.
3) Joining Berean gives you a legitimate voice in the church. Our church polity is pluralistic elder-led congregationalism — members of Berean have a voice. If you are not a member, you can’t approve or disapprove of recommendations brought before the church. You don’t see the reports and know the health of the church. Why wouldn't you want to be able to participate in making important decisions? Read 1 Corinthians 5 and see the church doing its spiritual duty. Ask yourself, is my lack of commitment coming from the Spirit dwelling in me, or is my spirit grieving the Holy Spirit?
4) Joining Berean sets the conditions for you to be able to use your spiritual gifts to the fullest ability in the body of Christ. Non-members are not permitted to teach or lead. Yet this may be the will of God for your life. You may have spiritual gifts that will not be used at Berean because we believe it is quite prudent to limit the office of teacher, deacon, and elder to church members. I trust you understand the necessity of venting all teachers of the Bible in the church. And the same for deacon and elder.
5) Joining Berean is helpful for the corporate witness of the church in the community. Your formal commitment to membership speaks volumes to your level of commitment to Christ and the Christ the unbelieving world sees. We don't go to church—we are the church. In a day and age, when people are struggling with commitment and apathy—we need to be counter-cultural. We are salt and light. Formal membership declares, loud and clear—"I am committed to being a faithful engaged member until God moves me to another city."
I pray the Holy Spirit will use these five reasons to move someone to do what I know brings God glory. For all who are on the fence, please pray earnestly about formally uniting with the church of God that assembles on Glensford Drive. I trust you understand that I would be negligent in my duties as a shepherd if I were not admonishing you in love for our Lord.
Sean
The Rapture & the Second Coming are NOT Separate Events
The church in America especially, has adopted an unbiblical position concerning the rapture. The dominant view that the church gets called up to heaven before the tribulation begins on the earth cannot be supported from the New Testament. Many have been taught that Jesus comes back twice. First, he comes to gather the elect and take them back to heaven, then seven years later, he returns to establish his kingdom on this earth. That perspective cannot be supported by the Olivet discourse, the gospel of John, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Yet 1 Thessalonians 4 is the passage that is quoted to support the rapture as a separate and distinct event. This is the view of pastors like John MacArthur and others. The popular website www.gotquestions.org illustrates the dominant position.
Question:
"What is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?"
Answer: The rapture and the second coming of Christ are often
confused. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a scripture verse is
referring to the rapture or the second coming. However, in studying end-times
Bible prophesy, it is very important to differentiate between the two.
The rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to
remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. The rapture is
described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.
Anyone who will let the Scripture speak for itself will not adopt
the view that the Rapture and the Second Coming are distinct events. The position that can be most easily
supported by Scripture is the truth that the rapture of the saints is one of
the things that happens when Jesus returns to establish his kingdom of this
earth. And yes that does mean that
some believers will experience tribulation.
The word rapture (like Advent) has a Latin origin, but rapture is
found only once in the Latin New Testament.
Whereas the Latin word Advent with its various endings (-us, -um, &
-u) occurs throughout the New Testament to describe either the first coming of
Christ or his Second Coming or the arrival of someone else. And advent is
consistently a noun. Nouns represent
persons, places, entities, events, things, etc., whereas verbs describe an
action. Thus, we can say Jesus is coming
again, in which case we are describing the action of coming or we can say 'the
coming of the Lord' in which case we are describing the actual event. While this seems technical, it is critical to
understanding the text. The Greek, Latin,
and the English language all make clear distinctions between nouns and
verbs. So in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 we
see Paul is describing the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one of
the things that will happen during the Advent is the rapiemur (the rapture) of the saints or the catching up or the
gathering of the saints.
|
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (Clementine Vulgate
[Latin]) |
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (English Standard Version)
|
|
15 Hoc enim vobis dicimus in verbo Domini,
quia nos, qui vivimus, qui residui sumus in adventum Domini, non præveniemus eos qui dormierunt. 16 Quoniam ipse Dominus in jussu, et in voce
archangeli, et in tuba Dei descendet de cælo: et mortui, qui in Christo sunt,
resurgent primi. 17 Deinde nos, qui
vivimus, qui relinquimur, simul rapiemur
cum illis in nubibus obviam Christo in aëra, et sic semper cum Domino erimus. |
15 For this we
declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left
until the coming of the
Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord
himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the
Lord. |
When you see in the Scripture the clear distinction between the adventum, the noun and rapiemur, the verb, I can't understand
how the church ever adopted such an unbiblical position as to take 'the
catching up of believers into the air' and separated it from the Second Advent
of Christ.
Let's imagine for a moment that we are the church at Thessalonica,
and all we have is the book of Matthew in Greek and a letter from Paul written
to us (the local church).
And we notice that both Paul and Jesus use the same Greek word to
describe the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—the word παρουσία or parousia. Now would we conclude Jesus and Paul
are talking about the same event or a different event?
Jesus uses parousia
four times in the discourse on the Mt. of Olives, and Paul uses parousia four times in his first
letter to us (church at Thessalonica). Jesus refers to a 'loud trumpet call'
and Paul talks about 'the sound of the trumpet of God.' Then Jesus says the
angels will gather the elect (Mt 24:31) and Paul says ‘we who are alive, who
are left, will be caught up.' Are Paul and Jesus talking about the same event
or two different comings? If the only reasonable conclusion is Jesus and Paul
are talking about the same thing—how did the church develop an eschatological
position that the rapture is distinct from the Second Coming occurring before
the tribulation? When Jesus said:
"Immediately
after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son
of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the
Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other. (Matt 24:29-31)
This is not a gray or a debatable interpretative discussion. There is only one Second Coming. And this Second Coming happens after 'the
tribulation of those days' according to the Son of God. The next text www.gotquestions.org presented
as an authoritative passage creating a distinction between the rapture and the
Second Coming is 1 Corinthians 15:50-54:
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this
perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on
immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable,
and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is
written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
The problem with referencing this passage is it doesn't reference
the rapture. The text says nothing about being raptured (in the Latin) or
caught up (harpazō in the Greek)
or 'gather his elect.' But Paul does refer to the 'last trumpet,' so it is
very reasonable to conclude that Paul is once again talking about the parousia since he uses that Greek word
in 1 Corinthians 15:23. And indeed, no one would consider the 'last trumpet' to
be a trumpet call that sounds before the 'loud trumpet call' of Matt 24:30 or 'the
trumpet of God' in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 or the 7th trumpet of
Revelation 11:15.
Words matter. What was written by the biblical authors determine
the systems of theology we form. We
develop our understanding of the end times from the New Testament's words, and
we are not free to randomly ignore what the actual text says or the connection
points easily established by comparing one portion of Scripture with
another. Finally, study 2 Thessalonians
2:1-12 especially vs. 1, 3-4, & 8 and Paul removes all doubt concerning the
unbiblical notion that the rapture is distinct from the Second Coming in 1
& 2 Thessalonians. See the comparative analysis of the Olivet Discourse to 1
& 2 Thessalonians in the chart below.
The Eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ
The eternal gospel is the good news that God is redeeming and reconciling sinners to Himself eternally through the sacrificial and substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of the man Christ Jesus through authentic faith in what Jesus, the one and only sinless Son of God, accomplished on a tree in the city of Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
Gospel Glossary
Authentic: that which is real, true, genuine, and from the heart
Christ: the promised king and deliverer of the Jews, Messiah
Crucify: to put to death by nailing or binding to a cross
Faith: belief and trust in Christ alone and the salvation He provides
God: the Supreme eternal triune Being who created everything and governs all things
Gospel: the message of salvation found in Jesus
Jesus: the second Person of the triune God who is fully God and fully man born of a virgin
Reconcile: bring back to a former state of harmony, to eliminate hostility
Redeem: to free from the consequences of sin including the wrath of God
Sacrificial: the death of Jesus as a sin offering to God
Salvation: deliverance from the power of sin and punishment in hell
Sin: any violation or trespass of God’s law
Sinners: individuals who acknowledge their guilt before God and their need for a Savior
Substitutionary: Jesus taking the place of sinners
Tree: the cross on which Jesus was crucified
The Number One Sign of the Coming of Christ
I saw a Facebook post that really bothered me. The post referred to J Vernon McGee (an American ordained Presbyterian minister, pastor, Bible teacher, theologian, and radio minister) preaching on the Rapture of the Church. Here is the post: He reminded us that Christians are looking for Christ, not for the Abomination of Desolation. His quote was, “I wouldn’t even know an Abomination of Desolation if I met one on the street.”😂
The post bothered me because it is so unscriptural that it is nearly heretical. Jesus himself told His 12 disciples to look for the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24. They ask, “What will be the sign of your coming and the close of the age?” (v. 2). And Jesus gives them the sign of Daniel 9:27 (v. 15). Pause for a moment and think about what I just said. The disciples want to know when Jesus is coming again, and Jesus gives them the sign that J Vernon McGee says he would not even know if he met on the street.
Some will say that Jesus is giving the Jews a sign for His return for them at the end of the tribulation in Matthew 24 (Daniel’s 70th-week concept) and does not reveal to the disciples a pre-tribulation rapture of the church in the Olivet Discourse. The problem with that argument is that it doesn’t synchronize with the rest of the New Testament and, in particular, 2 Thessalonians 2.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul describes with great specificity that one of the things that will happen when Jesus returns is “we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The Latin translation of ‘caught up’ is rapiemur cum, from which we get the English word rapture.
Before we move to 2 Thessalonians, I would like you to see how similar Paul’s writing in this passage (1 Thess 4:16-17) is to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:31
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Do you think Paul is describing a different event or the same event?
In Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica, he addresses questions they have and the issues they are going through. One of them is that some thought they had missed the rapture of the church—the second coming of Christ described in his first letter. Let’s read the first four verses of 2 Thessalonians.
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Now the question is: Is Paul describing the ‘abomination of desolation’ of Matthew 24:15, or is this something completely new that neither Jesus nor Daniel previously foretold?
It seems absurd not to conclude that opposing and exalting oneself against every so-called god and proclaiming himself to be God is the most abominable thing anyone could do. Notice that he ‘takes his seat in the temple of God’, which is the ‘holy place’ of Matt 24:15.
Notice how specific Paul is: he says let no one deceive you. The coming of the Lord and our being gathered will not happen until the abomination of desolation occurs. Paul reminds the church of the same thing Jesus told his disciples. One of the signs which will proceed the Second Coming of Christ (including the rapture) is that the man of lawlessness reveals himself to the point of demanding that the world worship him as God.
While some still struggle with what I am showing you from the Scripture, the connection points are too many not to make the linkage. For example, one of the strongest is the “our being gathered together to him” (v. 1) compared to Matthew 24:31 ‘gather his elect from the four winds.’ The Greek is nearly identical; Paul uses the noun, and Jesus uses the verb form of the same word.
Finally, who is the book of Revelation, which tells so much about the signs that will proceed the Second Coming of Christ, written to? The letter was written to and hand-carried to the seven churches that are in Asia. Churches filled with Christians whom God intended to know an ‘abomination of desolation’ if they met him on the street. And in this letter, more detail is given about this beast, who is the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2, and the responsible agent for the abomination of desolation of Matthew 24:15.
Read Revelation 13:5-6:
There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
The holy place, temple, sanctuary, dwelling place, and tabernacle are all words to describe the assault against God and His people. If today’s Christian does not need to know what this incredible act of defiance looks like, the abomination of desolation, why is it described in Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 2 Thessalonians, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ?
This is the number one sign that the Coming of Christ is imminent.
Children Need a Bed Time
What does it mean to call upon the Name of the Lord for Salvation?
Twice in the NT, we are told that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13) Both Peter and Paul are quoting from Joel 2:32, where the prophet Joel promises a coming day where anyone can call on the name of the Lord for salvation. Joel’s emphasis is not upon the act of calling but rather the promise of whosoever. Both Peter and Paul use the verse in that context. Paul makes that clear in Romans 10:12 by stating, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” So then how should we understand the word “call”? Does Paul mean “pray to”? Is that the context of Romans 10? Certainly not. The context of Romans 10 is salvation, and Paul is reminding his audience that all (i.e., Jews and Gentiles) who name the name of Jesus as their Savior will be saved. Without question, the reason these people identify Jesus as their Savior is that they believe in Him. The reason I call my wife “my wife” is because I am married to her; the reason I call the President “President Trump” is because he is the President; and the reason believers call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for their salvation is because they believe Jesus is their Savior. I call you “Bob” because your name is Bob, and the reason I say “Bob” is because I believe you are Bob. That is the manner in which the word “call” is being used.
We know that is the correct interpretation because of the context of Romans 10. Beginning in v. 6, Paul speaks of a righteousness that comes by faith. In v. 8, we read about a “word of faith” that is preached or proclaimed. In v. 9, we read “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. In v. 10, Paul states: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Then in v. 11, Paul quotes from Isaiah 28:16, where the prophet promises that those who believe in God will not be put to shame. Verse 12 then begins with the preposition “For”, establishing a link between the preceding sentence and Paul’s premise in which there is no distinction between Jews and Greeks (Gentiles). Jews and Gentiles are saved in the same way. The same Lord who saved the Jew is the same Lord who saves the Greek. There is no distinction. To make his point even stronger, Paul then quotes from Joel 2:32, where the prophet spoke of a coming day when anyone can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Anyone—that is Jew or Gentile. Beginning in Romans 1, Paul repeatedly emphasizes that people acquire Christ's righteousness by faith in the Gospel. (Romans 1:17)
So then, is faith in the gospel the first step in a series of things that must be done? Is it believe, call, confess, and repent (a word that Paul doesn’t use a single time in Romans) or is it repent, believe, call, and confess? To gain a better understanding of how Paul is using his quotation from Joel 2:32, let’s look at Romans 10:14. Paul writes, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”. Calling and confessing provide evidence of faith or belief in the gospel, but faith and faith alone in the gospel is what saves people. The reason you confess that Jesus is Lord is that you believe He is Lord, and the reason you call upon the name of Jesus to be your Savior is that you believe He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Calling and confessing are not prerequisites to salvation; they both occur after one believes.
By no means is Paul establishing a series of things that must be done to be saved. Calling and confessing are no more a part of how to get saved than baptism is a component to salvation. We know that from Acts 16:31 where Paul plainly tells the Philippian jailor “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. Nothing more is said. Nothing more is implied. Believing on the Lord Jesus is the complete reliance or dependency on Jesus as Savior in the same way that a person relies entirely or trusts completely in the ability of a ladder to support his weight.
To the Saints at Philippi Philippians 1:1-11
I'm going to show you this map before we read our text. Here's Philippi (modern day). Here's Italy. I'm on the screen. My right. Your left. Here's Greece, Albania, and Macedonia. This region here. Here's Philippi right here. Now I'm going to show you this map. In red—it's a little bit difficult to see. Red is never a good color to use, but that's what they had on this map. It's Via Egnatia. It's a Roman roadway way. It's the equivalent of I-95. Philippi is located right here.
Now Paul's over here. Again, I'm on my right, your left. He's over here in Rome. We ended Acts. He's in house arrest. What we're reading—grasp this with me now this morning—we're reading in English a translation of a letter that Paul sent that traveled from way over here in Rome, down here, across the Adriatic Sea, on this road to a group of believers in Philippi. Real Paul writing a real letter on material that's preserved, recopied, recopied, recopied, and translated into English. We’re getting ready to read what Paul wrote them 2,000 years ago, preserved for our edification today. It spoke to them 2,000 years ago. From that point forward, this small letter has been speaking to believers ever since.
Now let's read the Word of God together: “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” (Php 1:1). Overseers is the literal translation of the word, bishop.
To the overseers, the elders, the pastors (those who shepherd the congregation), the servants, the deacons, and then the saints: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy” (Php 1:2-4). What are you thanking them for? “For your fellowship [or partnership] in the gospel from the first day until now” (Php 1:5). The first day is referring to the day that Paul started this church in Philippi.
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:6-11)
Lord, do a work in this your church this morning. May every young person be incredibly attentive. May no phones be a distraction. May we all focus on the Word of God in our lap. And may we see your glory in the salvation that's described in this text. In Jesus' name. Amen.
The Relationship Between Paul and Timothy
This church at Phillipi on our map was started when Paul got the Macedonian call. Remember when he was told, "Go to Macedonia.” The church at Philippi is the first church planted in modern-day Europe. You will recall that Lydia, a seller of purple, was one of the very first converts. She had quite the financial resources, so she began supporting Paul in this endeavor. You'll remember that Paul got locked up in a prison, the prison doors rocked, and nobody escaped. The Philippian jailer said, "What must I do to be saved?” (Ac 16:30). The answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Ac 16:31). That's the embryonic beginning of the church at Philippi. No doubt Paul visited them again after his second missionary journey, and had an impact on them. Now through a letter, he's continuing to have impact.
What we want to do is work our way through all four chapters, not this morning, but Sunday after Sunday, diligently looking at everything that God inspired the Holy Spirit to write through Paul. There are some amazing passages. Philippians 2 is going to hold this amazing description of Jesus Christ who leaves the glories of heaven, comes down in human form, and will ascend back up and receive the exaltation. We're going to just camp out there for at least a couple of weeks because it is so doctrinally informative for us. It will teach us much.
For now, let's get started with these words, Paul and Timothy (the simple description, Paul and Timothy, in verse number one). Let's stop for a minute and recognize the significance of this. First of all, they're not peers. They are not peers. Paul is definitely the older man. He's had an impact on Timothy. There's a generation between them. What we're getting here is the communication that “I'm leaving.” Paul knows he's departing, and he's passing the mantle to Timothy. He can think of no better way to set Timothy up for success than to communicate—
Gramps got all the candy now. We're good to go. The candy exchange has occurred. Now we're ready to continue preaching. Very good. I'm sorry. I notice distractions. I've got this crazy expectation that you pay attention to preaching. I don't know where I got that from, but that's what my expectation is.
Paul and Timothy (older Paul and younger Timothy), have a mentoring relationship. It reminds us today that we are in the business of mentoring, that the Christian church needs to be building these mentoring relationships. All the young moms in here, every one of you should be looking for an older mom to build a relationship with. All the older moms in this room—
I'm not in either camp right now. I'm not the older. I'm not the younger. We're right in the middle right now. Why are we laughing, Darren? Why are you laughing? Let's stay focused. We're going to Harris Teeter. I'm at Harris Teeter. Let's get this out of the way. We're asked about the senior citizen discount, Adam, at Harris Teeter. I said very emphatically, "Do I look like a senior citizen?" There was a mixed bag of answers across the board. So I feel like it's a little bit young.
In any case—let's set that aside—are you impacting anybody in the younger generation? Are you being impacted by anybody in the older generation? Are you building relationships? Do you have a Paul in your life? Do you have a Timothy in your life? Are you doing anything with the older generation or the younger generation?
You may do it through sports. Sports is an incredible vehicle to build relationships. A soccer ball, basketball, football, a frisbee, cross country—whatever you want. It's not about that. It's about our relationship-building event in which Paul is impacting Timothy. Timothy is being impacted by Paul. He's seizing it all. Timothy's setting the conditions to impact the next generation. These words, “Paul and Timothy to the saints at Philippi,” is a reminder that Paul is not going to be here forever. He's not an eternal apostle. The next generation has to pick up the mantle and carry it forward.
That's the impact here with these simple descriptions of Paul and Timothy. Who are you mentoring? Who is mentoring you? Who's teaching you? Who's impacting you? Younger moms, find the older moms. Older moms, when you get a sense to mentor a younger mom, seize it. Don't be too busy to have a conversation. Get to know that person. Impact them. Find out what's going on in their lives. You've been there. You've been through that.
In the ICU, I remember talking to Lauren when her little infant was born prematurely. They were there early, and it was such a struggle. I said, "Understand that you're going through this so that when it happens to another member of the body of Christ, you'll be there to walk them through the same thing. And because you've been through it and you walked those days, you can impact somebody else.”
That's what this is all about, this relationship between Paul and Timothy.
Grace and Peace To Servants and Saints
Look at the next description we get here. You're not an apostle. Instead, it's a plural reference to doulos. It's "we are slaves, servants, or bondservants to Jesus Christ." He, by implication from the word “servant,” is my master. He's my master. I am the servant.
Let me ask you very emphatically if anyone looked at your life in the last five days at work, would they think you were a servant of Jesus Christ? The way you carry yourself, the way you are, the what you speak, the language you use, the way you interact with other people—would anyone notice anything different about the way you are versus anyone else on the assembly line? Or are you so much like everybody else that we can't tell the difference?
Paul and Timothy are being described as slaves to Jesus Christ. You bought me. You redeemed me. You delivered me from hell, and for that, I am incredibly thankful. You are my master. You're my master.
We talked about this in Sunday school for just a moment of time, this idea of a kingdom. In this kingdom, we are the citizens. All the kingdom members submit to Jesus Christ as their King. This is the same type of description. Then, notice "to all the saints.” Not St. Teresa, not Saint Elizabeth, but all the saints. All of them. If you are born again this morning, converted, have been redeemed, purchased with a price, are a born-again believer, changed by the power of the gospel, you are a saint. You don't have to wait until you're dead and have an an entire research project done to prove you had a couple of miracles. You have been made a saint by the Lord Jesus Christ.
You are, according to the Word, literally a holy one. In other words, in the city of Fayetteville, there are a whole bunch of holy ones running around (or little Jesuses). They are set apart. They are different. They have been made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ. By implication, they are expected to live a holy life.
And lest you think that this is too strong of an idea, pause for just a moment with me. Let's run over to Hebrews 12:14. Find Hebrews very quickly in your bible. It's before James. It's after the Pauline epistles. This is a verse worthy of your attention.
By the way, would you guys mind joining me for just a moment in wishing Sister Elizabeth Jones, who's sitting right here, happy birthday. She celebrates ninety-two years of life. That's amazing. Happy birthday. She qualifies for the senior citizen discounts. She gets it every time. They don't even ask her at Harris Teeter. It's a wonderful thing.
Please look at Hebrews 12:14. That gave you a moment to find it. “Peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). If it seems like we put too much emphasis on personal holiness in this church, the only reason we put such an emphasis on it is because you can't see the Lord without it.
He says, "To [the holy ones] in Christ Jesus” (Php 1:1). And they are located where? "In Philippi." We are located at Fayetteville. They are located at Philippi.
Who is he also issuing a greeting to? To the overseers. Who else? To the deacons. In the church at Philippi, there is a group of overseers. They are supported by a group of deacons. Then, there is the entire congregation, all collectively referred to as saints. Let me draw to your attention that there are no saints outside of that.
See, this quasi-group of Christians who have no overseers, no deacons doesn't exist in the New Testament. They don't recognize this group. They're never addressed. These are the folks who don't go to any local assembly. These are folks who call themselves Christians, and they're fed by the Internet. They have their favorite Internet preachers. They have no relationship with local overseers. They don't know a single deacon. They are not a member of a local congregation. He doesn't know about this group. He can imagine that. If you're a believer, you're part of a local congregation. He either can't fathom the idea of existing through the Internet world. No, you're plugged in. You have an overseer. You have an overseer that knows you, and you know the overseer. You know the deacons. You're part of the group called the saints.
Where do you worship? Whenever the believers assemble in Philippi, you're there. You're part of that local assembly. We are losing the emphasis on local church attendance, local church membership, and the local body of Christ. We prayed this morning for Jack who is leaving to go to Georgia to start college. He's one of our seniors. Hey, you've got to plug in right away. You've got to find a local church. Well, I listen to Pastor Sean on the Internet. No, you've got to go find a pastor in Georgia and connect to a local church.
Let me tell you something. The Internet preacher's not marrying you. The Internet preacher's not—he may or may not. I guess you could get them if you give enough money. Maybe you could bribe him, but in most cases, he's not going to come visit you in the hospital. He doesn't know who you are. He doesn't connect with you on a personal basis. He doesn't recognize your face and know who you are and care about you.
Paul knows these people in Philippi. He knows them. He knows them by name. He impacted their lives in a personal way. So he writes to the saints, the deacons, and the overseers. Let's see what he says to them.
“Grace" (Php 1:2). Paul can think of nothing better than to wish that God's grace would be shed abroad in their lives. The very first thing that he says is, “May the grace be unto you. May you be a recipient of God's grace. May you experience more of God's grace.”
Grace is so nebulous that way we almost don't even think about it and its significance. Webster defines it as this unmerited divine assistance that brings about our regeneration and then our sanctification. Now remember sanctification—that's a high speed word right there—is the progressive work of God working in you to make you more like Jesus. Let's break it down like that. God the Holy Spirit is inside you. God is working in your life to chip away at all the sin, all the imperfections, and conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. That's the end state. That's the end game.
Now we know this, in particular, from verse six. Let me look at my Bible real quick. I'm back in Philippians 1:6. Paul says, “[I am] confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). Let's unpack that in relation to this idea of sanctification because Paul said, "I'm praying that you become a recipient of more grace, grace unto you."
I'm already saved. I've got grace be saved. No, it's more than just grace to be saved. It's more than that because I'm not there yet. I haven't arrived. God's still working on me. There used to be a song like that. There is a song like that: To make me what I ought to be. That's sanctification right there. Boys and girls when they sing that song, they're singing about God's ongoing work in them.
Someone said, "I want to know that I'm saved."
Is God working in your life? Is God working on you?
I want to know that I'm saved. How can I get assurance of my salvation? How can I get assurance? How can I know for sure?
Has he begun a good work on you? "Being [ver]y confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [perform] it"—when?—"until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). When did the good work begin? It began on the day that I was saved. And when will that good work end? It will end on the day in which I appear before Jesus Christ at the judgment seat of Christ. Between that day and this day, there is an ongoing work of God in my life. says that grace is God's divine assistance to conforming to the image of Jesus Christ. Every day I'm progressively being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. So he prays, "Grace from God to you."
Small business owners, do you need God's grace on your small business? Platoon leaders, company commanders, battalion commanders, do you need God's grace in your life? Absolutely. I make a lot of decisions. I deal with people's lives all the time. I need wisdom. I need grace. I need favor from God. I need discernment from God. Paul is praying that you receive that. He's praying that virtue comes from God to assist you in your life.
Then, he can pray for peace that you can have peace with God. You were at enmity with God. You do realize that, right? You were at enmity with God. Before you there was a hostility between you and God. God was hostile to your sin. He wasn't okay with your sin. It wasn't like, "Oh, I understand.” No, there was a open hostility between you and God. Christ steps in and mitigates the hostility through his shed blood. Suddenly, the war is over, and you're at peace with God.
Thankful For More Than Food
Three and four. Good stuff.
"I thank my God upon every remembrance” (Php 1:3). Let's just stop right now, be real upfront, and say unequivocally, nobody on the planet should be more thankful than Christians. Now let's stop. That's not up for debate. That's not like a Methodist thing, a Presbyterian thing, or Baptist. We don't really agree with you on that. No. Wait a minute. We've been saved. We've been recipients of God's grace. When you've been a recipient of God's grace, we are to breathe thankfulness.
It is routine for us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. That was awesome. Thanks. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. That was amazing. I didn't know you're going to help me. Thank you very much. It's like overboard.
We just can't get over it. Our children, our young people, us, all of us old people in the room, all of us ought to be thankful. Thank you for serving me today. Thank you again that for me. Thank you. That was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is that you?
I want to ask this question because Paul is thanking God for people. "Upon every remembrance of you” (Php 1:3). When was the last time you thanked God for something and someone beyond food? Thank you for the food. Thank you for the food. Thank you for the food. Thank you for the food. Thank you for the food, Lord. Thank you for the food you've given us. I believe God thinks, Food? I've given you so much beyond cheeseburgers and French fries. Could we grow beyond food? Think about the last seven days and what you've expressed thanksgiving to God for beyond food. When was the last time you thanked God for a person?
You thank God for people because Paul says, "I thank God every time I remember you. I thank God everyday. I'm thinking about Lydia and the work she's done. I'm thinking about that Philippian jailer, Lord. I just want to thank you, God, for bringing them into my life." When was the last time you thanked God for a person, human beings who had an impact in your life?
Anytime I'm praying, he says, "I'm able to make my petitions with great joy over you as God brings you to my remembrance. I just issue a statement of 'Lord, thank you for bringing so-and-so in my life.'"
I thank God beyond measure for our granddaughter who brings joy into my life, an absolute gift. It's a person. It's a human being. Much more than a cheeseburger (bacon cheeseburger), human beings. I thank God for mentors, twenty years in an army career, people that impacted my life. I thank God for Mike Hubbard. We had over a decade of a relationship, and God brought him into my life when I was a first sergeant. He was a battery commander. Because we were believers, we were partakers of the grace of God together. God instantly knit our hearts together, and we've had a relationship ever since. I'm going to push the envelope. There are occasions where I even thank God for Darren Hawk. It is not as frequently as everybody else, but it does happen. The point is, who do you thank God for?
By the way, let's push the envelope just a little bit more this morning. If you're having struggles with a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ, and you begin to pray for them, it'll change. That's exactly right, sister. It'll change. It will start changing because it's really hard to be at enmity with somebody that you're thanking God for. Lord, I just want to let you know I'm praying for so-and-so. Pretty soon, God will begin to knit your heart together with somebody. It'll start in a prayer closet. When was the last time you thanked God for something or someone beyond food?
Our Partnership In the Gospel
Why is Paul thanking God so much for these Philippians? He tells us in verse five. Your King James Bible has the word “fellowship” (Php 1:5). Partnership is even a better word. "For your [partnership] in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Think about what we're reading there in verse five. Let's not run over this. Paul was saying that the Philippian saints took an interest in his ministry from the first day until even now in the imprisonment. When others had abandoned him, they had not. When others had forgotten about him, they had not. When others decided he doesn't need their money, they had not. How do we know that money's being in reference here? Let's turn over to Philippians 4:15 where Paul will say, "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church [communicated] with me concerning giving and receiving [except] you” (Php 4:15). What a statement. Don't miss that. Of all the churches that Paul had planted, of all the lives that he had impacted, of all the people that he touched, only the church at Philippi had provided financial support. So "fellowship" in verse five is thanking God “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Php 1:5).
So I want to ask you this morning, are you a partner with us? Half of you are not. Hear me well. Half of you give more money to Redbox than you do Berean Baptist Church. Now I fully realize there are some folks who can't, and I got that. I know that there are some folks in our congregation who are financially strapped. I understand that. I got it. But not everybody.
Paul says, "I thank God that you partnered with me in the advancement of the gospel." Tomorrow morning, we believe that we will open the first day of school with well over 500 students, perhaps as many as 520. Those students will be in ages three to twelfth grade (16-17 year olds). Do you know that they are going to be impacted with the gospel whether they like it or not five days a week in every possible forum?
I'll get the privilege next week, the week of the 25th—whether that's next week or the following, I can't remember—to go down to Get Acquainted Days. We're going to bring a hundred of the high school kids down to Camp Anchorage, and we are going to preach the fire out of the gospel. They are going to be introduced to the gospel front ways, sideways, upside down, left side, right side. We are going to infuse gospel with all our might by the power of the Holy Spirit into the very fiber of their being. Five preaching services all focused on gospel-centered application into their lives.
When you give to this ministry, when you say I'll be a partner, what you're saying is, I believe in the gospel ministry of Berean Baptist Church. Let me be even clearer with you. If you think, I'm not really sure they know how to steward my money. I'm not really sure they preach the gospel that seriously around there. Please hear me well. Go find another church. I wouldn't attend church that I didn't believe was preaching the gospel. I wouldn't attend a church that I couldn't partner with. I wouldn't attend this church and send my money somewhere else.
He's says, "You're a partner." Let me let me give it to you another way. (We’re talking about partnership.) Let me give you another idea. At the present time, we're probably going to have to cap the number of people that can participate in Awana on Wednesday night. You say, "Why would you cap anything?" You have to cap it according to the workers. You can't put one adult in a room for fifty kids. That's dangerous. That's unsafe. So at the current number of volunteers offer Wednesday nights, we're probably going to have the cap it. In other words, nineteen, twenty-one, and that's it. If you come after the twenty-one, I'm sorry. You can't participate tonight. Come earlier next week. The reason we're going to have to cap it is because we don't have enough partners.
Let me ask you, do you think that children learn the gospel in Awana? Yeah, absolutely. They are introduced to the gospel sideways, upside down, and front ways. They're introduced to Scripture. They're introduced to the New Testament. They are taught the Gospel in Awana. So you could be a partner in the advancement of the gospel through Awana. Or you could continue to be the most selfish person on the planet and do nothing.
I know that sounds harsh, but do you live for yourself or do you live for others? Every time we refuse to give of our time, talent, or finances, we are saying, "Actually, I'm the most important person on the planet." But when we step out in faith and we give, we partner, we serve, we're saying there's something more important than me. That's what the church in Philippi said about Paul. We believe in your gospel ministry and we're going to keep on supporting you. We support you from the beginning, and we're going to continue supporting you.
Can I tell you that partners receive a reward both now and eternity? "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk 6:38).
I can testify that for 28 years of marriage and giving, God has blessed Pam and I. Is there anyone else who can testify like that? Is there anyone else can say, "We've given to God and God has just been so generous to us”? We've seen God work over and over and over again. God works through promotion. God works to take care of us.
I want to give you an example. Let me preface this very clearly. You guys are amazing to Pam and I. You take care of us really well. You guys are generous and we are well taken care of. One of you last week put in the offering a little bit of cash and said, "We want you guys to go out to lunch.” Pam and I were sitting at dinner together last night and we just said goodbye to Erica and Autumn. We're sitting down, and I told Pam, "You're not going to believe this, but somebody put a little bit of cash in our envelope and told us to go out to lunch with it." And she started crying. I said, "What are you crying about?" And she said, "Do you know that I prayed that someone would show a little bit—"
I'm going to tell you right now. God is good. God is good. You can't out give God. I'm not telling you this to try to encourage you to give us any more because we're going to give it away if you do. I'm trying to show you how the prayers impact in an amazing way. It starts with faithfulness. You can't out give God. You believe in a ministry, what a ministry is doing, and what their effort is going towards. You believe that this place is going to be a gospel preaching station as long as I'm alive and have any impact in it. So you say, “I want a partner with that effort to get the gospel forward.”
I'll give you another example. Rahm [???] is coming tonight. Rahm [???] is a church planter in Brazil. He's on his fifth church. Four of them are still functioning entities. They don’t start a church and it fails, start another and it fails. No, they're still preaching the gospel. He's on his fifth right now. We support him every single month. If you support this church, you are partnering with a gospel-preaching entity in Brazil. You're partnering on Wednesday night. You're partnering with Berean Baptist Academy. You're partnering with one in Brazil. If you were here last Sunday night, you heard another one in North Africa. You’ve got partners all over the world if you give to this ministry. We're doing the exact same thing.
When you think, I can't afford to give, let me be clear. You can't afford not to give. You say, "You don't know my finances." Start with anything. Just start with anything. Just start. In faith, I'm going to give this $5 to the kingdom of God. In faith, I'm going to give this $10. I'm just going to step out in faith and believe that God is able. And it starts that way.
He says, "Sell your possessions." Jesus said, "Give to the needy. Provide yourselves money bags"—where?—"treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Mt 15:20). You are not going to say, "Man, I wish I got that purse,” at the judgment seat of Christ. “I wish those brightened shoes—I can't believe I missed that purse.” You're not. At the judgment seat of Christ, we are all going to say, what more could we have done? Us, all. Us, all.
Don't act like for a moment that I'm sitting up here as some self-righteous guy that's got this fixed. I see good looking cars like you do. I gawk at Mercedes and BMWs just like you do. I think about those things just like you do. We all desire that. (Sorry, all but Jennifer Jefferson.) Pick whatever you want. We all have eyes towards nice things. Everyone in this room does. All of us. But it's about your priorities. Get your giving done first. Make God priority first. Then, work with what God gives you. But get that as a priority in your life right off the bat. This is what we're going to do. This is what we're going to give. We believe in this. We believe in it, and we're going to give.
The Deep Affection of Brotherly Love
I'm sure of this: “[God] who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). Our salvation begins and ends with God. I say to you this morning, the greater degree to which we see the Spirit of the Lord working in the life of a person gives us greater confidence in the authenticity of their salvation. Why? Because he who began a good work in you will perform that. Pastor Sean, how can I get assurance of my salvation? Did you pray to ask Jesus in your heart? I did. Okay, you're good to go. No, that is unbiblical assurance of salvation. What then would be biblical assurance of salvation? Is God working in your life? Is God working in your life? I can't answer that for you just like you can't answer for me. I can see what I think God looks like working in your life, but in the end, only you know. Is God working in your life? Eternal security of the believer rests with the sovereign will of God from beginning to end.
Notice verse seven. Notice what he says: "I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace” (Php 1:7). I want you to grab this idea: "I have you in my heart." Look at verse eight: "For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels,” or the affections or my inner being (Php 1:8). Look at what Paul is describing here. He's saying that in the body of Christ there is this amazing affection one for another, that we love each other. There's a brotherly affection in the body of Christ. "I have you in my heart."
Would you turn over to 2 Peter for a moment please? I want to draw a parallel. I have five minutes with you left, and I want to use all five minutes of them. Second Peter 1. I want to make one final point, and then I want to draw this to an end. The reason we're going over here is because of this idea of brotherly affection that I'm drawing from Paul. Paul says, "I have you in my heart. I have an affection for you." I want to see if Peter confirms the same idea. That's why we're moving to 2 Peter.
In verse five, I want you to see what Peter tells me. Peter says in verse five, "Giving all diligence [or make an effort], add to your faith” (2Pe 1:5). I want you see it in your own Bible. I've got this salvific faith. I can't touch it, but it's there (my saving faith in Jesus Christ). Now Peter says, “Add to your faith virtue,” or moral excellence. (I’m transitioning to verse six.) “To [moral excellence, I want you to add] knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control [steadfast endurance (that’s the King James word patience], to [steadfast endurance, I want you add] godliness, to godliness, [add some] brotherly kindness,” or some brotherly affection (2Pe 1:5-7). After that, he tells him to add charity.
So Paul and Peter both distinguish between unconditional love we have for humanity and the deeper bond that we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. Two different ideas. The one is a general unconditional love for everybody. That's the last thing he calls charity. But before that is the bond that Adam and I have. Do you know why? Because we're brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul says, "I have you in my heart. I know who you are. I care about you."
If you don't have such affection, ask yourself why. Why do you think it is, Bob, that we put an emphasis around here on knowing names? David, how in the world can you have a brotherly affection for somebody if you don't even know their name? You've heard me rail against the megachurch. One of the reasons I rail against the churches because I don't believe it provides this brotherly affection. You usher in. You sit in. It looks just like this. We all stare forward. When the entertainment's over, we all exit.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked you put in your bulletin a name of someone you met. How in the world can you develop brotherly affection if you don't know anyone? How can you have a sister-brotherly affection? How can we have these mentoring relationships around here? Do you know how they work? They work through developing friendships, communication, talking, and exchanging ideas. How was your week? What's going on in your life? How can I pray for you? Over time, a greater degree to which we build these relationships is the greater degree to which I have you in my heart.
We have this ongoing rivalry, Darren and I, but underneath that is an incredible brotherly affection that bonds us together. I can't imagine doing this thing called church and life without Darren, and I don't know if he'd say the same thing. On a very serious note, we care about each other. I hold you in my heart. You can't hold people in your heart that you don't even know. You care about them. You get to know them. What do they do for a living? Where do they live? What do they like? What do they not like? What are their struggles?
We're not in a theater. It's called the body of Christ. We love each other. We care about each other. We come early to church. We stay afterwards. We come to fellowship events. We do all that because we're trying to achieve what he describes here which is this: "I have you in my heart” (Php 1:7). I have a deep inner affection for you. I care about you.
Who do you care about in this church? I don't really know anybody. That's the problem. That's the entire problem. How can I fix that? You serve together in Awana on Wednesday nights and you'll start getting to know somebody. Teach a Sunday school class with somebody. Partner with somebody in Sunday school. You'll start getting to know somebody. Serve in Power Hour. You'll start getting to know somebody. Come on Wednesday night and do Awana, and you'll start getting to know somebody. You can't do it with one hour a week. It doesn't work. It simply doesn't work. That's not the model that we have.
Instead, we have this deep affection one for another that guides us in our thinking, impacts how we live, and we are doing exactly what Peter told us to. We're starting with our faith in Jesus Christ. We’re systematically adding things to it. And we get down to brotherly affection.
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