THE COMING OF THE LORD

1 THESSALONIANS 3                                                                                      

Pastor Rick Jackson

I. GOOD TEACHINGS A HELP [v. 1-4]

1. Good Teachers Care [v. 1-2a]

2. Good Teachers Comfort [v. 2]

3. Good Teachers Contribute [v. 3-4]

II. GOOD TIDINGS A COMFORT [v. 5-9]

1. An Inward Comfort [v. 5-6, 2 Cor. 7:4]

2. An Outward Comfort [v. 7-8, Proverbs 25:25] As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

3. An Upward Comfort [v. 9, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4]

III. GOOD TIMES AHEAD [v. 10-13]

1. A Time of Ministry [v. 10]

2. A Time of Fellowship [v. 11-12]

3. A Time of Holiness [v. 13, Psalm 17:15]

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

REMEMBERING

REMEMBERING

EPHESIANS 2:11-19

Pastor Rick Jackson

Remembering and forgetting. We forget things every day. Medication, appointments, keys, birthdays, anniversaries, names... Sometimes it is so easy to forget.

I think we all realize there are some things that are just too important to forget. The things of God are important, and God, through His servants, reminds us to remember certain things.

What are some things would God have us to remember?

I. REMEMBER OUR SALVATION [Exodus 13:3]

1. It happened at a certain time [1 Pet. 2:9-10]

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

2. We had been in bondage to the world, the flesh, and the Devil [Eph. 2:1-5]

3. God brought us out completely by His power and Grace! [Psalm 40:2]

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

II. REMEMBER OUR TIME [Ex. 20:8-11]

Now, as Christians, we are NOT commanded to keep the Sabbath [vs. 1-2] but here's a principle showing God is interested in time management.

1. God Wants Us to Know the Time is Short [1 Corinthians 7:29]

But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

2. God Wants Us to Know The Time [Romans 13:11]

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

3. God Wants Us to Redeem the Time [Ephesians 5:16]

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

III. REMEMBER

1. Our Responsibility [Num. 15:37-40]

To be what we ought be, not be what we shouldn't be, do what we ought do, not do what we should not do. [Eph. 5:1-11]

2. Remember Our God is Working [DT.]

-          Overcoming our enemies [7:17-21]

-          Leading by His Word [8:2-3]

-          Allowing us to prosper [8:18]

-          Chastening us as needed [9:7, 24:9]

3. Remember Our Enemies [Dt. 25:17-19, 1 Jn. 2:12-17]

Question of the Week - What about God's Created Order?! 🌈

---

From the highly recommended: Answers in Genesis <www.answersingenesis.org>

Get the latest science, Bible, and culture news from Answers in Genesis.

​​ Latest Answers July 14, 2018 View in browser Answers in Genesis Partners with Pure Flix Answers in Genesis is partnering with online streaming service PureFlix.com to provide you with faith-building content to equip and encourage your family to trust God's Word. This relationship protects our content and allows as many people as possible to learn more about the truth of God's Word and the gospel. Read Now A Journey from Homosexuality to Christ Confronted by the gospel, including God's plans for Adam and Eve, a national LGBT activist saw Christ transform everything about her life—even her identity. Find Out More Genesis, Science, and the Culture War Hear Ken Ham and Dr. Georgia Purdom's presentations in a packed auditorium at the University of Central Oklahoma, where at first they were denied the opportunity to speak. DVD  $12.99 $9.99 What Was the College Afraid Of? In this DVD, Ken Ham shows that cultural issues like abortion and gay "marriage" are viewed differently because people start with different foundations. Dr. Georgia Purdom examines issues like mutation and natural selection to show how science supports a biblical worldview. Order Now Christians Apologize to the Filipino LGBT Community A group of professing Filipino Christians recently marched in an LGBT pride parade near Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Their message? "I'm sorry." Learn More → No Matter Who You "Zing" For, You Gotta Go For It Is Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation yet another movie that subtly proclaims a common anti-God message? Learn More → Building Tomorrow's Generation Nobody ever said parenting would be easy. All the daily struggles seem to keep getting in the way. Learn More → Experience the Creation Museum in Spanish at Día Latino 2018! Mark your calendar and start planning your visit to the Creation Museum on Sunday, September 30, 2018, for our sixth annual Día Latino. Learn More → See More Teach through the Bible in four years with this full-featured Sunday school curriculum for all ages. Get equipped to confidently share the gospel and biblical authority with this award-winning worldview magazine. Teach kids that the Bible is more than a dusty book of stories so they can trust its life-changing message of salvation! Copyright © 2018 Answers in Genesis, All rights reserved. PO Box 510 Hebron, KY  41048 view in browser

John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Oh, marriage out of the will of God is a tragedy unspeakable. And always a marriage of a saved person and a lost person is out of the will of God. - John R. Rice

Oh, Christians should be glad to suffer for Jesus.
These days are not crowning days; these are cross days. And these are days to go outside the camp to Jesus bearing His reproach. And "if we suffer, we shall also reign with him" (II Tim. 2:12). - John R. Rice

When I come to ask things from God, I am a poor, weak kind of a child, and I don't always know God's will and don't know what is right. But when I find out what Jesus wants, I can honestly ask in Jesus' name. - John R. Rice

No matter what you believe about a ferryboat, it will not take you across the river until you get on it.
And no matter what you believe about Jesus Christ, He cannot be your Saviour until you trust Him. Saving faith means that you must depend upon Jesus personally; that you risk Him, rely upon Him, commit yourself to Him. - John R. Rice

We should remember that the only kind of men that God has to use are imperfect men. Dr. J. B. Gambrell, famous Southern Baptist of a generation ago, used to say, "God can hit some mighty straight licks with some mighty crooked sticks." And I am glad that God in mercy puts His treasure in earthen vessels. I am glad that He calls people to preach and counts them worthy who are unworthy, as Paul said he was. - John R. Rice

Christians may expect trouble when they go out and out into Spirit-filled, aggressive soul winning and into any aggressive fight against Satan and wickedness and unbelief.
One preacher said to me, "You talk about the Devil as if he were a person. You speak about Satan being against your work. Why do you think Satan does not attack and bother me?"
I answered in the familiar cowboy language of my childhood, "If you twisted the Devil's tail as much as I do, he would hate you, too." - John R. Rice

Only a rotten heart full of sin and love for sin can keep anybody away from Jesus Christ! If you today are not a Christian, if you did not run to Jesus the first time you ever heard about His love and mercy, then you are a blackhearted sinner. You love sin; you choose sin; and you purposely, deliberately turn your wicked heart away from righteousness, and walk into the darkness and wickedness of sin! Nothing in the world shows a wicked heart like staying away from Christ. - John R. Rice 

HAVE FAITH IN GOD!

MARK 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Pastor Rick Jackson

We need faith in God for special needs, we need faith in God for the rough times. But we need faith in God for everyday... for ordinary times... for life in general. Jesus here made a blanket statement in response to the disciples noticing a miracle Jesus had performed as a matter of course. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

I. THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

1. No-one can please God without it! [Heb. 11:5-6]

It is the first requirement to do anything pleasing to God. Without faith---

-one cannot be saved

-one cannot pray acceptably

-one cannot live victoriously

2. Faith is plainly commanded as a duty! [Mk. 11:22]

John 20;27 Then saith he to Thomas, ... be not faithless, but believing.

3. Unbelief is a Sin! [Hebrews 3:12]

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God

Romans 14:23b ...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

4. Faith can get anything in the universe with nothing impossible!

Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Mark 9;23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

FAITH FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL ITEM--- faith for salvation won't get you a job, etc.

II. WHAT IS FAITH?

1. Faith is a certain conviction, an evidence that we will get the thing we hope & ask for [Hebrews 11:1]

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2. Not every confidence, feeling or assurance we have is faith in God

-people make a false assumption of salvation based on baptism, church membership, good works, etc.

That's not Bible saving faith. [Lk. 18:9-14]

-like the lady that prayed for a girl but got a boy, God didn't lie, she wasn't given assurance by God for a

girl even though she thought she had begged enough, she had faith in her prayers not faith in God

-sometimes self-deception is called faith

3. It is only as we come to know the will of God through the Word of God and the Spirit of God that we can have faith in particular matters!

Jn. 3:36, 6:37 - saving faith takes God at His Word

Faith in God is faith based on the Bible, or the clear leading of the Holy Spirit. It is always based upon what God has promised and it NEVER goes against His Word!

Faith is not a way of getting things God doesn't want us to have.

Faith is a way of getting things God wants and plans for us to have.

Find a clear promise in God's Word that He will do such a thing and believe and depend upon it--- then you have trusted God and your faith will be rewarded with the thing promised. If you are clearly led by the Spirit of God that a prayer request is in God's Will, will honor God, and that He will do it--- then that is faith in God and He will do it!

If someone says they had faith in God and still insist they didn't get it... be sure they did not have true faith in God. True faith in God is always rewarded. God keeps His promises. Faith is the assurance that God will do a thing because He has promised to do it. Faith is believing God.

4. Faith may be based on a known mercy of God without a definite promise. [Matthew 15:22-28]

But remember- God's wisdom is higher than ours. What we think would be mercy to have God may know to not be right for us!

III. HOW TO EXERCISE FAITH & GROW GREATER FAITH IN GOD

1. Learn the Word of God [Rm. 10:17]

-it's true - because faith is based on God's promises

-it's tried - because the more you are in the Word the more familiar you become with God [Psalm 37:4]

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

-it tunes us to Him- Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

2. Fully surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to the will of God [1 John 3:20-22] Sin will kill faith!

3. Act on the faith you have.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.