He Will Do It

I just want to refer to the groundbreaking time that Paul was involved in as the church extended from Jerusalem to Judea and then worldwide. But we zero in on him arriving at Thessalonica.

Acts 17:1-7

Just note the fact that when Paul came to an area, here he starts at the synagogue and starts talking with people about Jesus Christ, who he is and what he means; who he stands for. He is the Lord, he is the Christ. The accusation in verse 7 that “there was another king apart from Caesar called Jesus.”

So it was that “the world was turned upside down” is so accurate on the strength and power of the gospel.

Acts 17:9

He was only with these people for three weeks and he formed a church, probably in his house. Here we have believers who are meeting in a house and Jason was obviously one of these people And yet in these three weeks that Paul was there, there was a real pulling together of Christ and fellowship.

1 Thessalonians1:2-6

There’s something about the word of God which is in line with his will. God can work through you, by his holy spirit.

There’s no way that there was some weak-knee-ed membership form that they signed up to. They were aware of the power of what they were preaching.

The more we go on, day by day, so it is, that God is revealing what he wants to do in this place, for his glory. The links that we are forming and the way that God is moving in your heart and bringing to your attention that he is faithful. He is being faithful and he will be faithful. To the end that his name with be glorified in his church.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

It’s the word of God, it’s the truth. And as we go forwards we will cherish the word of God. There’s a narrow way and a broad way; there’s good fruit and there’s bad faith; there’s a foundation built on rock and there’s a foundation built on sand.

How do you know if the foundation is right? It’s when the storms and the floods come. They both look the same but when the circumstances hit you, it’s then that you know what the foundation is. And this church in Thessalonica was formed when other people were totally anti-what they believed in. Their lives were changing and the Jews couldn’t stand it because these people weren’t becoming Jews. And the whole world was turned upside down.

And as Paul writes to them, he can’t stop thanking God!

1 Thessalonians 3:9-14

He longed to be there, he’d founded the church and he privately wondered how things were and couldn’t wait for Timothy’s report and it was the truth, God was taking them forwards. And it was the Lord who was causing them to expand.

“Love towards another”.

What is a church? It is a body of people because they have a common goal and purpose to worship him, to lift up His name. It isn’t a place where people are trying to score points off others.

It’s a place where Jesus Christ has the pre-eminence. It’s about who he is.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-19

You notice it’s not “for” everything” it’s “in” everything, give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-25

Who is faithful? Jesus Christ is faithful. God is faithful. If you want to stand there and hurl at him a heart of mistrust or non thanks! Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. There is no way that God gets involved with a life, injects his power and life into a life and then somehow leaves them or forgets about them or leaves them on their own. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. In other words, this faithfulness goes all the way until such time as you see him face to face. All the way through. It isn’t that you’re sort of looked after and then left to work things out for a few years. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

New Year’s Eve Service

As we stand at the brink of a new year, Deuteronomy reminds us that the Lord cares for us, and that His eyes are upon us from the beginning of the year even to the end of it.

This is an occasion when there is a new beginning. We also need to be aware of what we can thank God for. When we had the series on prayer, it was possible to think ... if I were to make a list of say three things I’d like to thank God for, what would be on that list? People began to think about that.I’d like you to share with people what you’re going to thank God for. It’s a good time to think about what we can thank God for.

It’s quite an episode when you look at the preparations for the departure for the Promised Land. Joshua was there with Moses. He was ready. The Lord spoke to the children of Israel about the land they were to go in to possess.

Deuteronomy 11:10-12

The complete opposite of Egypt – a land which drinketh water.

Revelations 22:16-18

God has been faithful to us as a group of people, part of the church worldwide, and He has been faithful to you.

Deuteronomy 11:12

There is no way that God doesn’t care for you.

Psalms 37:4-6

His eyes are always on you from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

As we gather together now at the end of this year, and as we flip to the next year on the calendar, and I know God has been faithful to us jointly and to you. There is no way that God will fail to make provision, will fail to guide you. He will make provision and guide each one of us according to what He wants. It doesn’t matter what sounds there are offstage. It doesn’t matter what efforts there are, overt or covert, to derail what God wants in this place. He is a faithful God.

It’s a wonderful thing that we can join together and partake of the bread and wine.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15

It talks there about the next generation. I was talking to some people earlier about their children. I want us to join together and pray for each member of each family.

1 Corinthians 11:23-30

Be Diligent

We can all give thanks to God for who He is and what He does. God will do things because He is faithful and true to Himself. Now that we come to read His word together, you and I know that it is through preaching that faith comes. I know that there are a few here that God has already spoken to this morning. It matters what fruit you have in your life. It matters whether our lives are being lived according to God’s will to His purposes or for ourselves.

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2 Peter 1:8-11

‘Give diligence’. Two words meaning work hard at it, focus upon it. Don’t let there be any needless intrusion of what is going to make you go the wrong way. On Friday we looked at a man called Asa who started off well, but things went wrong because in the end He didn’t really rely on God. It came to the point where God had to send someone to say something to him because Asa, at that time, had done a deal of his own strength instead of relying on God as he had done earlier on in his life. We saw how 580,000 of his soldiers knocked out a million of the others because he relied on God completely. There came a time where he did a league with the King of Syria. God sent him a prophet.

2 Chronicles 16:7-10

Asa’s reaction to this is interesting because God was speaking to him through Hanani, and one’s reaction when God comes to you is either to embrace what He’s saying, or to push Him away.

He took it out on the people because the man of God had come to Him and pointed out a few things. Jesus was aware that when He came to people they could either hear what He said or ignore it. God has been speaking to people in this hall latterly. I want to know what you’re going to do with the word that God’s spoken to you, because it matters what we do with the Word He’s given us. This following parable talks about God seeking fruit from a life because the fact of the matter is that either you going to accept and act upon what God is saying, or you’re going to put up the barriers and perpetuate that you’re going to live for yourself. The Holy Spirit is being faithful and coming to you with that Word, or prompt in your heart. This parable is to do with the nation of Israel but it applies to a life.

Mark 12:1-5

I wonder how many times God has spoken to you but you’ve stopped that word from coming into your life. Even though it keeps coming back you keep pushing it away. He sent servant after servant to collect what was rightfully his.

Mark 12:6-14

Jesus, the owner of the vineyard if you life, was talking to the very people who were going to kill him. How much does it take for God to keep coming with His word for you to accept His word? He’s gracious and loving. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. God is speaking to people about their lives at the mountain. At the end of this parable Jesus spoke about the stone. Little did they know that it was Him that would become the corner stone of the church. He was talking to Jews but it extend beyond this to the gentiles too.

Ephesians 2:19-23

The church is fitly framed together with Jesus Christ as the corner stone. After Jesus’s death and resurrection it was clear as to how the church was going to be formed. We are part of His church. God is coming to your life and asking you ‘where do you fit in?’ What is the fruit in your life? It is God’s word coming to you. God won’t force Himself on you, He’s gracious and patient. He’s here this morning.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Here in these verses Paul points out that we are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in us if we are a Christian.

1 Corinthians 6:19-21

You and I have been bought with a price and the price is Jesus’ life. In the parable they didn’t reference His son. Here now I’m asking you what the fruit of your life is? What are you doing with the words God is coming to you with by the Holy Spirit? What is the effect of the word in your life?

2 Peter 1:1-4

He’s writing to people who have heard that word and are partakers of the divine nature. But he now adds these words:

2 Peter 1:5-12

Always keep an eye open to the end of the sentence in the epistles. As far as you’re concerned this is telling us that there is something that we need to do. We can’t just respond in a meeting and be grateful, although that is wonderful, we must also act on this. We need to know what we must do going forward. God may be speaking to you, but this is very clear from Peter, you’ve got to give diligence. This word is used twice. What does it mean to be diligent? It means that I don’t respond in here and then live anyway out there. We have to be practical about this. I’ve got to prioritise my time and link up with the right people. I need to make sure that I don’t do things that will get me into trouble again. There’s a way of living and of establishing God’s word in your heart.

2 Peter 1:4

You’ve escaped that. It could be you need to escape from that, but God’s power is such that you can escape from that.

2 Peter 1:5

What does virtue mean? Another word for virtue is morality or moral excellence. Add to your faith. You add to your faith. Don’t assume that in here it will happen just in here. If you accept the word God gives you the power to live right, but then you have to live right. We must also add to virtue knowledge. What sort of knowledge are we talking about here? We’re talking about the Bible. We’re talking about taking every opportunity to understand the Bible. We must all know this book inside out. We’re not talking about the letter, we’re talking about opening your heart to let the Holy Spirit in.

This is the book we live by. God is faithful. People are saying now that we should read this word together – great. We must follow the lead God is giving us that we must get involved with this book. ‘Add to knowledge temperance.’ Another word for temperance is self-control. You add self-control to your life by not getting into situations where before you were out of control. You might be thinking that this is all works, it should be faith. There are practicalities of life. God has opened the path for us, but we have to walk down it. There is no way that God isn’t going to see you through at this time. He will, He’s your heavenly father. ‘Add to faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience’.

We are to be patient. We’re to accept as God shows different things in our life of what we need to do. ‘Add to patience godliness.’ Being godly means being set apart, having the things of God in your mind, listening to and talking about the right things and not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ. ‘And to godliness brotherly kindness’. We must care for each other. We shouldn’t cash in on a conversation that is pulling someone down, but we should cash in on a conversation that if lifting up God’s work in a life.

2 Peter 1:8

You won’t be barren. There’s a sense in which God has been faithful throughout everything in the last weeks, in the last months, in the last years. There’s no way that God has not been faithful. Where are we at this morning? I think we’re at the point where God is being faithful in speaking to us, and He is by His Holy Spirit confirming His word in our hearts. You could push Him away, He’s not going to force. He is all love and patience, but isn’t it better to open your heart to what you know He is speaking to you about.

2 Peter 1:9

There’s power in the name of Jesus.

Turn to the Lord

I want to help you focus on the main things in life. The main things in life are God’s relationship with you, and learning more about God. I’m going to look at the life of a man who did know a lot of things about God in his early life, and then things went a bit wrong.

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2 Chronicles 14:1

He began his reign over Judah well.

2 Chronicles 14:2-9

There was an army’s strength of 580,000, and all of them were men of valour.

2 Chronicles 14:9-11

So he had 580,000 men against a million. And this is what Asa cried.

2 Chronicles 14:11

Asa had totally the right perspective. He had a good ten years, and now is in this battle.

2 Chronicles 14:12-16

Not only a good start to his reign, but now when the first war appeared out of the blue, there was not a problem, because it was God’s name that he went forward in.

2 Chronicles 15:1-7

So he came to Asa and told him that he’d got it right. He’d got the right balance, because everything he did he went forward trusting God to deliver.

2 Chronicles 15:8-12

This is now fifteen years into his reign. He first had ten quiet years, and then the Ethiopians rose up and God defeated them, and now, to mark the occasion, there was a massive offering unto God.

2 Chronicles 15:12-16

Everything was fine at this point. The reason why it was fine was because he trusted in God. He knew his position was from God. No one has any power except from God. In your life, you need to know where God is. Where’s his perspective in your life?

2 Chronicles 15:16-20

This was quite a time.

2 Chronicles 16:1

Something now has happened in Asa’s heart. Before, his instant solution was asking God for help. He rested on him and went out in his name. But thirty-five years in, everything was quiet. Asa didn’t bring it to God.

2 Chronicles 16:2-7

There was no hint in getting God involved. He knew what to do. He had money in the treasury, in the church, in the king’s house. So a deal was done. But God didn’t get a look in.

2 Chronicles 16:7-10

Asa had no relied on God in all this. He knew what to do, and it actually worked. But thirty-five years in, God was forgotten about. One thing you and I need to do, if you’re aware of how it all started off with God in your life, is not forget we’re were from. We mustn’t forget the origin of our faith, and that we started off in God. We mustn’t forget the foundation of your life, if you’re a Chroniclesistian. Are you just going through the motions? Are you letting things go by? You think you know what you’re doing, that you can sort things out. It’s not a coincidence that God’s brought you here and caused you to focus on your walk with Him.

This got to Asa because he knew inside what he had done, and he got angry.

2 Chronicles 16:10

As a leader, things had been found out, and then he took it out on the people.

2 Chronicles 16:11-13

He was still in a rage. As far as he was concerned, he’d dealt with his problem. He’d sorted it. But it wasn’t done in the right way. He cut God out of it. And now he has diseased feet, but he still doesn’t go to God.

2 Chronicles 16:13-15

1 Peter 3:10-13

It might be that you know, in your heart, that God has been getting hold of you. I want to confirm to you, that this is for the reason that he wants to change you on the inside.

What happened, Asa? You started off so well, and yet it ended up like that. It was as if you got too sure of yourself, and you became in charge of Judah. You forgot that God appointed you.

God wants you to turn around. He wants you to realise that you’re dealing with a God who changes people on the inside. It’s that simple. Learn from the life of Asa. Those of you who’ve been a Chroniclesistian for some time, remember the order of things. It’s God with whom we have to do. He is the author of our faith. He is the one who is faithful and in control. We can’t take everything for granted. Our heart is one of thanks that we rest on him, our shield and our defender. We’re going forward in him.

Holding forth the Word of Life

As Christians, we need to hold forth the word of life.

In the early church, God organised everything so that His word of life came upon a variety of people and changed them forever.

Acts 16:12 – 18

The damsel was a fortune teller and her masters were running a business through her and conning people out of money.

Acts 16:19 – 34

How did God get hold of that keeper of the prison? The keeper had carried out his job and locked Paul and Silas in prison. When the earthquake happened Paul and Silas had the opportunity to escape but they didn’t, which resulted in the keeper of the prison coming to them and asking what he must do to be saved.

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God Knows What He Is Doing!

God manoeuvres things in the circumstances of mankind because He loves us. God knows what He is doing in the affairs of man. He knows what He is doing in building His church. He knew what He was doing when His son went to Calvary.

Philippians 1:1 – 7

God does what He does at the time He does it for a purpose. There is no template of how God operates. He is faithful and He is love. God has opened our hearts and our minds for that word of life to come and dwell inside us.

Philippians 2:1 – 4

These verses are very practical. The people of Philippi knew how the church had started and the miracle that happened with the earthquake. Paul wanted them to hold forth the word of life. They needed to be aware of what God had done in their midst. God builds His church in His way and in His time.

Philippians 2:5 – 8

The reason why Jesus humbled Himself, was because He knew what needed to be done in order for the church to exist. For the joy that was set before Him he endured the cross. He went through everything for you and me and forgot His own reputation. Nothing matters other than what is inside of a person.

From generation to generation God communicates His life, because He loves us. What’s the future for us and our children? Our future is to bring praise to the One who has given us life inside. Our future is to communicate to others and allow Him to share his love to others through us.

Philippians 2:9 – 11

He’s alive. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His life is communicated to people and changes them on the inside. We are here at this time in our life, because He wants us to hold forth the word of life that He has given us.

What Is Your Foundation?

Philippians 2:12 – 13

It is God who is working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Our standing before God does not change because of the current circumstances in our life. What is the foundation of your life? Where is your trust?

Philippians 2:12 – 15

Across the world there are people who can’t stand the Gospel and so we are to be as lights in the world, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. We are going to hold forth the word of life, and recognise what God has done in our lives.

What’s the future of your life? To allow God to work in your life and to be obedient to Him. The keeper of the prison didn’t consider that putting Paul and Silas in prison would result in His salvation. How are you going to react to a new circumstance? What’s your foundation? Where are you going? There are people who are just waiting for that time when God’s life comes to them.

Philippians 2:16

Are you going to hold forth the word of life or are you going to let a circumstance turn you about? You know the miraculous provision of God and how God’s life was communicated to you. God is organising His church in His way worldwide. He knows what He is doing.

He’s a wonderful saviour and the church is His bride. There is nothing that can prevail against it. He went to the cross, took everything in Himself and died to it, so that sin could be conquered in your life. You don’t have to live contrary to God, your life can change. There was a reason for the miracle that happened in Philippi.

God is faithful. He is true. He is all love. He forgives you and me. He has forgiven you and me. Why? Because He is building His church.

We’ve only got one life. Let’s go forward, holding forth the word of life.