1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,480 Now please turn in your bible to The Book of Second Thessolanians, three short chapters, 2 00:00:06,480 –> 00:00:12,320 and they are full of encouragement. That’s the great thing about this particular letter, 3 00:00:12,320 –> 00:00:17,120 and that’s why I’ve chosen the title for this series, Staying the Course when You’re Tired 4 00:00:17,120 –> 00:00:21,440 of the Battle. That is what this letter is all about. It is full of encouragement. 5 00:00:22,320 –> 00:00:27,920 Just by way of quick background, the church in this town of Thessalonica, 6 00:00:27,920 –> 00:00:32,880 where these believers were, it was born in great difficulties. You can read the story 7 00:00:32,880 –> 00:00:39,040 if you’d like to in Acts chapter 17, boils down to this, that Paul spent three weeks there 8 00:00:39,040 –> 00:00:45,840 proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ. Many people came to faith in Jesus through his ministry. 9 00:00:45,840 –> 00:00:50,880 But as soon as that happened, there was opposition. There were some bad characters, 10 00:00:50,880 –> 00:00:57,599 Luke says in the Acts, who rounded up a mob in the marketplace and started a riot in Thessalonica 11 00:00:57,599 –> 00:01:02,720 over these people turning to Christ. They came to the house of a man called Jason, 12 00:01:02,720 –> 00:01:08,239 who was giving hospitality to Paul, they were looking for Paul to arrest him. Jason had hidden 13 00:01:08,239 –> 00:01:13,919 the apostle Paul, and so Jason himself ends up under arrest and then in trial. Paul is banned 14 00:01:13,919 –> 00:01:18,720 by the authorities from the town, has to be shepherded out of the town at night by the 15 00:01:18,720 –> 00:01:24,879 believers and so he leaves this young church, forced away from them not knowing if he will 16 00:01:24,879 –> 00:01:30,720 ever in person be able to see them again. So he goes on to Corinth and a few months later 17 00:01:30,720 –> 00:01:37,199 writes a letter to this group of believers that we know as first Thessalonians and then a few 18 00:01:37,199 –> 00:01:43,680 months after that, after Timothy had visited this group and brought back a great report about them, 19 00:01:43,680 –> 00:01:49,680 Paul writes the second letter of Thessalonians, which we’re going to focus on over these next 20 00:01:49,680 –> 00:02:00,559 weeks. Now most people are able to stand up under trouble for a while, but when problems just keep 21 00:02:00,559 –> 00:02:07,199 coming, eventually they can wear you down, and that’s how it was with these new believers. 22 00:02:07,199 –> 00:02:12,960 If you look back to the first letter just for a moment, chapter one in verse six, Paul says that 23 00:02:12,960 –> 00:02:19,199 you welcomed us in spite of severe suffering. So right from the beginning when Paul was first 24 00:02:19,199 –> 00:02:25,520 welcomed, the suffering began. Then chapter two and verse 14 of the first letter, you suffered 25 00:02:25,520 –> 00:02:31,039 from your own countrymen, he says. Then chapter three and verse four, when we were with you, 26 00:02:31,039 –> 00:02:37,279 we kept telling you that we would be persecuted, and it turned out that way as you yourselves 27 00:02:37,360 –> 00:02:44,479 well, no. So this had been the case from the beginning. Now, months later, it’s still the same. 28 00:02:44,479 –> 00:02:49,919 And in the second letter, chapter one and verse four, which was read to us, Paul says, 29 00:02:49,919 –> 00:02:54,880 Among God’s churches were boasting about your perseverance and your faith in all the 30 00:02:54,880 –> 00:03:01,679 persecutions and trials you are enduring. Notice the present tense. So it’s still going on after 31 00:03:01,679 –> 00:03:06,800 all this time. And you can understand that these believers who are doing well 32 00:03:06,800 –> 00:03:12,160 under this pressure are at the place where they’re saying, well, how long is this going to go on? 33 00:03:13,039 –> 00:03:18,080 And that’s no doubt a question that you have asked in your own life, as I have in mine 34 00:03:18,080 –> 00:03:24,960 when we become weary in the battle. So this letter, then, is written to encourage these 35 00:03:24,960 –> 00:03:31,360 believers, young Christians, to stay the course. And I think a key verse for this letter is chapter 36 00:03:31,360 –> 00:03:41,279 3 and verse 13 where Paul says, never tire of doing what is right. So big picture, this letter 37 00:03:41,279 –> 00:03:47,679 is all about how Christ enables His people to persevere. We’re going to learn how Christ will 38 00:03:47,679 –> 00:03:54,479 sustain you in what you’re facing, how Christ will enable you to persevere in the battles that 39 00:03:54,479 –> 00:04:01,039 sometimes seems very wearying. Now, that’s by way of introduction to the letter. Let’s now 40 00:04:01,039 –> 00:04:07,759 try and connect our own experience to this letter. Let me ask you this question, 41 00:04:09,039 –> 00:04:15,360 what is the battle in your life that is making you weary right now? 42 00:04:17,119 –> 00:04:20,959 Now, you see, maybe for some of us in the family, maybe you’re struggling to hold a marriage 43 00:04:20,959 –> 00:04:25,279 together, you’ve been doing that for a while and the longer it goes on, the harder it seems to get. 44 00:04:26,239 –> 00:04:31,119 or you’re dealing with a rebellious son or daughter or a difficult relative or whatever, 45 00:04:31,119 –> 00:04:36,160 and you’ve been doing this for some time or this person is making or being a pain in your life and 46 00:04:36,160 –> 00:04:43,359 it’s not easy for you to keep going. It may be that God has placed you in a working environment 47 00:04:43,920 –> 00:04:49,519 that is very hostile towards your Christian faith. And you find when you go to work, that 48 00:04:49,519 –> 00:04:58,000 you’re in a place where everything is affirmed, except faith in Christ and except the pursuit 49 00:04:58,000 –> 00:05:02,000 of a godly life. And you feel very lonely as a Christian, there are not many others who 50 00:05:02,000 –> 00:05:06,959 think like you do or live like you do, and over time it just wears you down. 51 00:05:08,239 –> 00:05:13,200 Or maybe for you it’s the battle with temptation, a particular temptation, and you think you’re 52 00:05:13,200 –> 00:05:19,440 making progress, and then you find you fall again, and it just goes on and on and on. You’re tired 53 00:05:19,440 –> 00:05:26,559 of that battle. Or maybe it is in relation to sustaining ministry. Some who are listening to 54 00:05:26,559 –> 00:05:33,279 this message right now, God has placed you in a position where it’s really tough to serve him. 55 00:05:34,320 –> 00:05:38,880 And you’ve been doing it for some time, but the pressures are great, and so you say, 56 00:05:38,880 –> 00:05:44,079 well, now I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this. How much more can I take? 57 00:05:44,720 –> 00:05:48,160 Well, my point is very simple, you can add to the list. Everyone has 58 00:05:48,799 –> 00:05:54,880 their battles to face and there will be times when you get tired in your battle. 59 00:05:55,920 –> 00:05:59,040 And that’s what this series is all about. It’s about perseverance, 60 00:05:59,679 –> 00:06:05,760 it’s about how you can stay the course when you are tired of the battle. 61 00:06:06,720 –> 00:06:10,880 So I hope you have the Bible open in front of you and we’ll begin at verse four. 62 00:06:11,839 –> 00:06:18,720 And you noticed there that Paul speaks about, among God’s churches, he says we boast about 63 00:06:18,720 –> 00:06:24,559 your perseverance. You are persevering, he says and we’re thanking God for this 64 00:06:24,559 –> 00:06:30,559 and we even talk to people in other Churches about it. We encourage them by telling your story. 65 00:06:30,559 –> 00:06:38,079 By the way, you’re persevering under difficulties will bring more encouragement to other people who 66 00:06:38,640 –> 00:06:45,600 stand than you may ever know in your life in this world. We boast among the other Churches about 67 00:06:45,600 –> 00:06:50,399 your perseverance. Now, if you have the New International Version , you have the Pew Bible, 68 00:06:50,399 –> 00:06:57,279 you’ll see the word perseverance there. If you have the King James Bible, the Authorized Version, 69 00:06:57,279 –> 00:07:02,239 you will have the word patience in there. If you have the English Standard Version, 70 00:07:02,239 –> 00:07:07,440 you will have the word steadfastness in there. And if you have the New Living Translation, 71 00:07:07,440 –> 00:07:11,679 you will have the word endurance in this verse. All of these are good translations. 72 00:07:12,399 –> 00:07:15,679 And I give them to you just to get the range of what Paul is talking about. 73 00:07:16,480 –> 00:07:23,119 He’s talking about perseverance, he’s talking about patience, he’s talking about steadfastness, 74 00:07:24,000 –> 00:07:27,679 he’s talking about endurance. And you look at these four words and you say, 75 00:07:28,320 –> 00:07:34,160 how do I get that? That’s what I need. It’s exactly what I need. How do I get more patience 76 00:07:34,160 –> 00:07:41,200 with a person who is really troubling me? How do I get perseverance and build it into my ministry? 77 00:07:42,079 –> 00:07:47,679 How do I gain stability and endurance in my life and how do I go after that kind of character? 78 00:07:47,679 –> 00:07:53,440 How do I become the kind of person who goes the distance in the Christian life, in this hostile 79 00:07:53,440 –> 00:08:00,720 world, and not one who simply fizzles out as so many do? What produces this character? 80 00:08:01,679 –> 00:08:05,920 Now folks, this is a one-point sermon, though it has a number of applications. 81 00:08:05,920 –> 00:08:09,760 And I’ll just give you the point, and then we’ll see it in the Bible because I want us to get one 82 00:08:09,760 –> 00:08:16,640 thing from the Scriptures clearly. Here it comes. The big thing I want us to learn from the Bible 83 00:08:16,640 –> 00:08:23,200 today is that perseverance is the fruit of growing in faith and growing in love. That’s the point. 84 00:08:23,299 –> 00:08:30,640 Perseverance is the fruit of growing in faith and growing in love. So if you grow in faith, 85 00:08:30,640 –> 00:08:35,440 you grow in love. What you get is perseverance. That’s how you get perseverance. That’s how 86 00:08:35,440 –> 00:08:41,179 patience grows. And that, as we’ll see in a few moments, is what Paul is saying 87 00:08:41,179 –> 00:08:45,679 exactly here. Now look at it in your own Bible. In verse 3, 88 00:08:45,919 –> 00:08:50,640 We ought always to thank God for you brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing 89 00:08:50,640 –> 00:08:56,599 more and more. Remember, in Scripture there are degrees of faith—Jesus says to Peter, 90 00:08:56,599 –> 00:08:58,119 O you of little faith 91 00:08:58,119 –> 00:09:03,679 He says about us in Turin—I’ve not seen in Israel anyone with such great faith 92 00:09:03,679 –> 00:09:07,719 Disciples say to Jesus, Lord increase our faith 93 00:09:07,719 –> 00:09:11,359 When they’re in the boat and they begin to panic because of a storm, Jesus says, where 94 00:09:12,359 –> 00:09:19,039 He’s not saying you haven’t got it. He’s saying you aren’t using it. Apply your faith. 95 00:09:19,039 –> 00:09:23,679 Exercise it. Now what about you? You have faith if you’re a Christian. But are you 96 00:09:23,679 –> 00:09:32,679 exercising faith by trusting God in the particular battle in which you find yourself weary? 97 00:09:32,679 –> 00:09:39,200 For faith is confidence in the ultimate triumph of God. And what I need when I’m struggling 98 00:09:39,280 –> 00:09:45,200 difficult relationships or stubborn sins or difficulties in ministry, or the hostility 99 00:09:45,200 –> 00:09:50,380 of an unbelieving world—what we need is that confidence, that faith in the ultimate 100 00:09:50,380 –> 00:09:55,140 triumph of God. Now, Paul says, That’s what’s happening in you. You’ve got that. Your faith 101 00:09:55,140 –> 00:10:02,140 is growing. Then he says, verse 3, your love is increasing. The love every one of you has 102 00:10:03,080 –> 00:10:10,080 for each other is increasing. Now again, there are degrees of love. Help me with this. The 103 00:10:11,140 –> 00:10:18,140 Lord Jesus said, He who has been forgiven little loves little. Hey, do you know this 104 00:10:20,159 –> 00:10:26,260 verse? Does anyone know this verse? The one who has been forgiven little loves little. 105 00:10:26,260 –> 00:10:31,239 The one who has been forgiven much loves much. You see there are degrees of love and he says 106 00:10:31,340 –> 00:10:38,099 you can grow in love. By the way that is Luke Chapter 7 and verse 47 for all who didn’t 107 00:10:38,099 –> 00:10:42,780 know it straight away. There you go. Your faith is increasing your love is growing. 108 00:10:42,780 –> 00:10:49,780 Now, here is what he says. This is evidence that God is at work in your life. This is 109 00:10:54,260 –> 00:10:59,219 a marvelous thing. Here are these young believers, they’ve made a decision to follow Christ, 110 00:10:59,479 –> 00:11:05,760 but thank God their faith is more than a decision. If your faith was only a decision to follow 111 00:11:05,760 –> 00:11:09,820 Jesus, then when it got tough, you would have changed your mind a long time ago, right? 112 00:11:09,820 –> 00:11:15,239 You would have made a different decision. So what is it that sustains you? Well, the 113 00:11:15,239 –> 00:11:20,760 life of God, that produces faith within you and produces love within you. This is the 114 00:11:20,760 –> 00:11:25,320 work of God within you. It’s the very thing for which Paul has been praying. If you check 115 00:11:25,880 –> 00:11:31,559 chapter 3 of the first letter, some months earlier, Paul says in chapter 3 and verse 116 00:11:31,559 –> 00:11:38,039 10, he says, night after night, we’re earnestly praying. And he says, we’re praying that God 117 00:11:38,039 –> 00:11:43,479 will make up what is lacking in your faith. So praying for their faith to grow. And then 118 00:11:43,479 –> 00:11:49,059 in 1 Thessalonians 3.12, he says, may the Lord make your love increase and overflow 119 00:11:49,059 –> 00:11:53,760 for each other. So he’s praying for their love to grow. Then he sends Timothy. Timothy, 120 00:11:54,219 –> 00:11:58,619 go and find out how it is with these guys. They are enduring such pressure. And Timothy 121 00:11:58,619 –> 00:12:05,619 comes back to Paul in Corinth and he gives this wonderful report. And he says, Paul, 122 00:12:05,940 –> 00:12:10,919 they’re still facing the same pressure, but here’s the good news. Their faith is growing 123 00:12:10,919 –> 00:12:15,520 and their love is increasing. And Paul must have said, this is exactly what I’ve been 124 00:12:15,520 –> 00:12:20,940 praying for praise God. That is an answer to prayer. Only God can do these things. And 125 00:12:21,099 –> 00:12:25,299 he writes this letter under the inspiration of the spirit. And he says, oh, I’m thanking 126 00:12:25,299 –> 00:12:31,020 God, though you are still facing all of these difficulties. Your faith is growing, and your 127 00:12:31,020 –> 00:12:37,320 love is increasing. This is irrefutable evidence of God’s work in your life. You truly have 128 00:12:37,320 –> 00:12:40,119 the life of God in you. 129 00:12:40,119 –> 00:12:47,119 Now I want you to notice where he goes next. Look at verse 4. Your faith is growing, your 130 00:12:47,700 –> 00:12:54,700 love is increasing. Therefore, he says, we boast about your perseverance. Now, the word 131 00:12:58,719 –> 00:13:02,400 therefore makes the connection here. There’s a connection between their growing in faith 132 00:13:02,400 –> 00:13:07,719 and their growing in love and their persevering. 133 00:13:07,719 –> 00:13:14,719 How do you get perseverance? Well here it is. Perseverance is the fruit of growing in 134 00:13:15,559 –> 00:13:22,559 faith and in love. Calvin, who uses the word patience rather than perseverance in his commentary 135 00:13:24,479 –> 00:13:31,479 as the King James Version does, he says, patience is the fruit and evidence of faith. 136 00:13:33,080 –> 00:13:37,760 And so he says, these words, in verse four, ought therefore to be explained in this manner. 137 00:13:38,080 –> 00:13:44,080 that Paul glories in the patience, which springs from faith. 138 00:13:45,200 –> 00:13:50,719 So here’s the point. As you grow in faith and love, you will have patience to endure. 139 00:13:51,679 –> 00:13:55,039 You say, Oh, I need more patience. Here’s how you get it. 140 00:13:55,039 –> 00:14:01,440 As faith grows, and as love grows, patience increases from these roots. 141 00:14:02,239 –> 00:14:06,719 Now, this is the teaching of all of the Bible. You remember, James and chapter one, 142 00:14:07,440 –> 00:14:13,919 James writes these words, it’s the trial of your faith that develops perseverance. 143 00:14:13,919 –> 00:14:18,320 Where does perseverance come from? Your faith is tested, your faith becomes stronger, 144 00:14:18,320 –> 00:14:22,479 and that’s what produces perseverance. And the same is true of love. 145 00:14:23,520 –> 00:14:30,559 Best known chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, love is 146 00:14:31,280 –> 00:14:38,479 patient, love is patient, love is patient. So do you need more patience? 147 00:14:39,599 –> 00:14:45,760 Get more love, because love is patient as love increases, guess what increases with it? 148 00:14:45,760 –> 00:14:52,960 Patience, love is patient. And then Paul says in the same chapter his four marvelous 149 00:14:52,960 –> 00:14:57,119 statements. Help me with this one, see if we can get there a little quicker on this one. 150 00:14:57,119 –> 00:15:05,440 He says four things about love that it always does, love always protects, it always trusts, 151 00:15:06,239 –> 00:15:12,479 it always hopes. And what’s the last one? It always perseveres always perseveres. 152 00:15:12,479 –> 00:15:20,719 You feel it in its nature, it always perseveres. That’s why increasing love is the root or the 153 00:15:20,799 –> 00:15:27,039 fountain of patience or of perseverance. So here is the doctrine or the great truth, 154 00:15:27,039 –> 00:15:32,719 the single point that I want us to grasp here, that Christ causes his people to persevere 155 00:15:32,719 –> 00:15:37,280 by growing their faith and by increasing their love. That’s how it works. 156 00:15:39,440 –> 00:15:43,119 Working on this message, came through and talked to my wife she said, you need an illustration. 157 00:15:43,119 –> 00:15:46,960 She’s absolutely right. I’m scratching my head walking around the house looking 158 00:15:46,960 –> 00:15:50,479 for an illustration and there it was right in front of me, in our living room. 159 00:15:51,359 –> 00:15:57,760 The Christmas tree. You know here we are now into the first week of January and like many 160 00:15:57,760 –> 00:16:05,200 of you we’ll be taking down the Christmas tree. We have a cut tree this year in our living room 161 00:16:05,200 –> 00:16:09,440 as I’m sure many of you do, and you know what the deal is like once you get into January with one 162 00:16:09,440 –> 00:16:16,000 of these things you know, the needles start falling off and the tree that you brought home 163 00:16:16,080 –> 00:16:25,200 on the roof of your van begins to dry out, the color begins to fade, this tree has looked 164 00:16:25,200 –> 00:16:35,200 beautiful for a while but it will not be evergreen because it has no root. 165 00:16:36,880 –> 00:16:41,520 There was life in the tree when you brought it home, some life in the tree when you brought it 166 00:16:41,520 –> 00:16:49,280 home on the top of your van, but here’s the point, that life could not be sustained, that’s the point, 167 00:16:49,280 –> 00:16:55,280 perseverance you see, couldn’t be sustained why? Because there is no root. Now faith and love are 168 00:16:55,280 –> 00:17:06,400 the roots that feed, nourish, sustain, perseverance, patience, steadfastness, stability, 169 00:17:06,479 –> 00:17:17,199 endurance, are nourished by the deep roots of faith and love, faith and love. Now that’s the 170 00:17:17,839 –> 00:17:24,719 teaching of these verses, now let’s get to the application. Some of you know that I increasingly 171 00:17:24,719 –> 00:17:29,439 am finding help from reading some of the old Puritan writers of the 17th century and those 172 00:17:29,439 –> 00:17:35,040 who followed them later, some of these guys seem to live at another level of knowledge of God 173 00:17:35,040 –> 00:17:40,479 and perceptiveness of the human condition and of the Christian life and the way in which many 174 00:17:40,479 –> 00:17:44,640 of the Puritans used to preach was that they would set out what they called a doctrine 175 00:17:45,439 –> 00:17:51,280 and then after that they would give its use we would call it application today but they 176 00:17:51,280 –> 00:17:56,239 would say here are the uses and they would have use one, use two I kind of like that really you 177 00:17:56,239 –> 00:18:01,599 know you say okay here’s this truth, what’s the use? Well I want to give to you four uses 178 00:18:02,319 –> 00:18:05,599 of this truth this single truth that we are learning from the Bible 179 00:18:06,239 –> 00:18:15,199 today, we’ll pause just a little longer on the first use. Use this truth first to improve your 180 00:18:15,760 –> 00:18:26,160 praying to improve your praying think about this a wise counsellor will address the issues 181 00:18:26,239 –> 00:18:32,400 underneath the problem you know, if you’re having too many fights in your marriage you see and you 182 00:18:32,400 –> 00:18:36,000 go to a counselor you say hey we’re fighting all the time in our marriage well if the guy 183 00:18:36,000 –> 00:18:38,959 just says to you well stop fighting in your marriage you’re probably not going to feel you 184 00:18:38,959 –> 00:18:43,920 got your money’s worth right what you expect him to do is to ask some questions and get to well 185 00:18:43,920 –> 00:18:51,119 what’s causing the fight you see, so a wise councillor will will help by looking underneath 186 00:18:51,119 –> 00:18:56,880 the problem that is brought to that person and giving you wisdom as to what is feeding it 187 00:18:58,000 –> 00:19:05,040 so that if you address that you’ll make some progress now. It’s the same with effective 188 00:19:05,040 –> 00:19:11,920 praying. It’s very easy for us to pray about the surface problem but you will improve your 189 00:19:11,920 –> 00:19:16,959 praying if you begin to pray in relation to the roots that are feeding the problem. 190 00:19:17,280 –> 00:19:21,760 So when you are worn out or you’re losing heart or you’re discouraged and 191 00:19:21,760 –> 00:19:25,839 you’re weary in the battle you can come and you can say to the Lord give me patience, 192 00:19:25,839 –> 00:19:31,199 nothing wrong with that but a better way for you to pray would be to pray 193 00:19:31,199 –> 00:19:37,280 regarding the roots of the problem because underneath all of your struggles with 194 00:19:37,280 –> 00:19:42,959 patience and all of your difficulties in persevering you will find that underneath 195 00:19:43,760 –> 00:19:49,599 these struggles there is a decline in faith and there is a love that is growing cold, 196 00:19:49,599 –> 00:19:56,719 I’ve found this invariably in my own life when I am struggling to keep going what’s underneath 197 00:19:56,719 –> 00:20:03,439 it relates to a diminishing of faith and an erosion of love invariably. So pray about 198 00:20:03,439 –> 00:20:07,760 these things and then you will find that your perseverance, your patience increases, 199 00:20:08,719 –> 00:20:15,280 that’s strategic praying so I’m saying to you use this to improve your praying, 200 00:20:15,280 –> 00:20:21,920 understand what’s going on in your soul when you are tired of the battle. 201 00:20:22,640 –> 00:20:26,719 So let’s get specific, let me give you a couple of specific examples as to how this 202 00:20:26,719 –> 00:20:31,680 might work for you. Let’s say that you’re praying for an unbelieving loved one, 203 00:20:33,040 –> 00:20:36,800 many of us will have been praying, here we’re in a new year again and you’ve been praying for 204 00:20:36,800 –> 00:20:45,520 an unbelieving loved one for 20 years, 30 years, some of us 40 years and you get tired of that 205 00:20:45,520 –> 00:20:50,079 don’t you praying, praying, praying for the same person, not a thing has changed in all these years 206 00:20:50,079 –> 00:20:55,520 and it’s not easy to persevere in praying for this person you get discouraged. 207 00:20:56,959 –> 00:21:01,599 Well you can say to the Lord, Lord another year help me to persevere in praying for him 208 00:21:02,560 –> 00:21:12,160 but a better way to pray would be this, Lord increase my faith in what you are able to do 209 00:21:12,160 –> 00:21:18,959 in his or her life because the very fact that I’m struggling to keep praying means that I’m 210 00:21:18,959 –> 00:21:25,760 beginning to lose sight of what God is able to do. My faith is fatigued in this matter 211 00:21:26,719 –> 00:21:33,920 I need it to be renewed. And then another great thing to pray when you’re discouraged in interceding 212 00:21:33,920 –> 00:21:41,520 for a loved one who is not yet showing faith in Christ pray that God will increase your love 213 00:21:41,520 –> 00:21:46,880 for that person, because when you’re tiring and praying for someone who’s been resistant to the 214 00:21:46,880 –> 00:21:52,239 Gospel for years and years and years, if you look under the surface of that tiredness I guarantee 215 00:21:52,239 –> 00:21:58,479 you’ll find some frustration with the person themselves. You’ll be saying I’ve been praying 216 00:21:58,479 –> 00:22:05,359 for 40 years and he hasn’t moved an inch, you know, he’s incorrigible. And that’s a good word 217 00:22:05,359 –> 00:22:12,640 isn’t it, incorrigible? Now at that moment you see, what I really need if I’m to go on praying 218 00:22:12,640 –> 00:22:20,319 for this guy is to be renewed in love for him, for my own heart to be made tender towards him again 219 00:22:20,319 –> 00:22:26,319 because I’m frustrated out of my mind with his intransigence. See that’s strategic praying, 220 00:22:26,319 –> 00:22:33,040 it’s going to the root of the problem. How am I going to persevere in prayer? By being refreshed 221 00:22:33,040 –> 00:22:40,400 in love for this person for whom I pray and renewed in faith in God’s ability to do great 222 00:22:40,400 –> 00:22:45,839 things beyond what I ask or even what I think in his or her life that will give you fresh 223 00:22:45,839 –> 00:22:51,520 wind in your praying you see in a new year. Or let me take another example, same principle. 224 00:22:52,640 –> 00:23:00,319 Suppose you’re caring for young children or suppose you are caring for a needy older person 225 00:23:01,680 –> 00:23:07,760 and there are great demands involved in this and they are constant and you find that you are 226 00:23:08,400 –> 00:23:15,680 getting short tempered and impatient and you’re snapping and you see this in yourself and you 227 00:23:15,680 –> 00:23:20,000 don’t like it and you want to change and you say I really must pray about this, I don’t want to be 228 00:23:20,000 –> 00:23:28,239 like that with them. Now how are you going to pray? You can say, Dear Lord I really ask you 229 00:23:28,239 –> 00:23:34,880 to help me be more patient with the children that’s fine. But when you know that patience 230 00:23:35,680 –> 00:23:44,000 is the fruit of faith and love a better way for you to pray would be for you to ask the 231 00:23:44,079 –> 00:23:54,000 Lord to renew your love for these children or for this older person and to increase your faith 232 00:23:54,719 –> 00:24:02,560 in what He can make of their lives, what He can do. One more example suppose you’re battling 233 00:24:02,560 –> 00:24:07,520 again with the same old sin and here you are it’s a new year you’ve failed already, 234 00:24:07,520 –> 00:24:11,359 you’re discouraged by your many failures and you’re tired of the battle you say, 235 00:24:12,079 –> 00:24:18,959 this has been like this for years and years. You could ask the Lord to give you perseverance, 236 00:24:18,959 –> 00:24:25,520 that that’s fine. But a better way to pray would be to say Lord what I need to see right now 237 00:24:26,880 –> 00:24:34,000 is your power to overcome this evil in my life, because if your faith has become fatigued and 238 00:24:34,000 –> 00:24:40,079 you no longer really believe that God can do this in you, then you’re not going to pray very well. 239 00:24:40,079 –> 00:24:48,479 Lord give me a glimpse of what you are able to do in this regard in me and help me to believe that. 240 00:24:48,479 –> 00:24:59,680 And then Lord help me to love you more than I love this sin. Because you see at the point of 241 00:24:59,680 –> 00:25:03,839 sinning, what’s happening is that you love what you’re doing more than you love Christ and you’ll 242 00:25:03,839 –> 00:25:11,280 gain victory over it as you come to love the Lord Jesus Christ more. So this is strategic praying 243 00:25:11,280 –> 00:25:17,599 folks. This is striking at the root of the problem as your faith grows and your love for Christ 244 00:25:17,599 –> 00:25:22,719 increases you will persevere in your battle against sin, you will grow in patience because 245 00:25:22,719 –> 00:25:28,959 that is the inevitable fruit that comes from these roots that nourish perseverance. 246 00:25:28,959 –> 00:25:33,760 And it is God who causes faith to grow and it is God who causes love to grow that’s why Paul 247 00:25:33,760 –> 00:25:39,760 thanks God for it when he sees it and therefore you can ask him for it and you can ask him to 248 00:25:39,760 –> 00:25:45,359 do that in you in relation to the particular battle in which you are finding yourself tired 249 00:25:46,239 –> 00:25:52,880 at the beginning of this new year. Now more briefly some other uses because this has 250 00:25:52,880 –> 00:25:58,000 multiple multiple applications first was use it to improve your praying. Learn to pray 251 00:25:58,000 –> 00:26:05,439 strategically. Go for the root not the surface problem. Here’s the second use this to sustain 252 00:26:05,439 –> 00:26:13,760 your usefulness. You know there’s a lot of people who make beginnings at things but don’t manage 253 00:26:13,760 –> 00:26:20,479 to endure and if you talk to people who have sustained ministry over many years you will find 254 00:26:20,479 –> 00:26:25,439 invariably these two things are true. Talk to someone who’s led a Sunday school class for 20 255 00:26:25,520 –> 00:26:31,040 years. Talk to someone who’s been involved in a difficult ministry in the inner city for 40 years. 256 00:26:31,040 –> 00:26:35,599 You will find these things are true. That they love the people that they serve 257 00:26:37,280 –> 00:26:42,160 and they have great confidence in what God is able to do in these people’s lives. 258 00:26:43,680 –> 00:26:47,199 That should not surprise you because it’s simply an application of what we’re learning 259 00:26:47,199 –> 00:26:51,760 that perseverance is nourished by the roots of faith and of love. 260 00:26:51,760 –> 00:26:58,479 And I always look back with great thankfulness to the counsel of a wise pastor when 261 00:26:59,040 –> 00:27:03,920 I was 22 years old and beginning in ministry myself and I said to the senior friend, 262 00:27:05,439 –> 00:27:09,599 tell me, what’s your best advice with regards doing this for the long haul? 263 00:27:11,280 –> 00:27:20,160 And he said to me Colin, ask God to give you a large heart full of love for the people you 264 00:27:20,160 –> 00:27:29,040 serve and then ask God to give you a quiet confidence in what He is able to do among 265 00:27:29,040 –> 00:27:34,319 them. That was brilliant, brilliant counsel, and it comes directly from the scripture. 266 00:27:35,199 –> 00:27:39,439 He understood that all perseverance is nourished by the roots of faith and of love, 267 00:27:40,160 –> 00:27:45,280 and that to sustain a lifetime of ministry would flow from this. A large heart full of 268 00:27:45,280 –> 00:27:51,760 love for the people you serve and a quiet confidence in what God is able to do 269 00:27:52,640 –> 00:27:57,439 in their lives. It’s very important to understand how ministry is sustained. 270 00:27:58,079 –> 00:28:05,040 Great gifts never sustain a ministry. Never. See, gifted people can be like rockets going up on 271 00:28:05,040 –> 00:28:11,280 the 4th of July. You know, a lot of noise and a lot of explosive light and then the 272 00:28:11,280 –> 00:28:15,520 whole thing fizzles out after a very short time. You know people who you know they suddenly come 273 00:28:15,520 –> 00:28:22,640 on the scene and then are off the scene, and they fizzled out. You know this from 1 Corinthians 13, 274 00:28:24,079 –> 00:28:31,599 faith and love will never fizzle out. Talking about gifts Paul says where there 275 00:28:31,599 –> 00:28:38,800 are prophecies what will happen, they will cease. Where there are tongues they will be stilled, 276 00:28:39,599 –> 00:28:44,880 where there is knowledge it will pass away. You can’t sustain ministry just by being brilliant. 277 00:28:47,040 –> 00:28:57,280 But these three things remain. Help me faith, hope and love. You see now the word that’s the 278 00:28:57,280 –> 00:29:00,319 key there is remain. You see that’s the perseverance piece, these are the things 279 00:29:00,319 –> 00:29:07,760 that last endurance, patience is where it comes from. Not great gifts but a love for those you 280 00:29:08,160 –> 00:29:15,119 serve and being constantly renewed in that love for those you serve and a quiet confidence in 281 00:29:15,119 –> 00:29:20,479 what God is able to do in the lives of these people. That’s how you’ll keep teaching a 282 00:29:21,040 –> 00:29:26,800 group of kids for 20 years. That’s how you’ll sustain anything that God is calling you to 283 00:29:26,800 –> 00:29:32,640 do in the long haul. The refreshing and the renewing and the increasing of faith 284 00:29:33,520 –> 00:29:36,560 and the replenishing of love that is the gift of God. 285 00:29:37,680 –> 00:29:39,439 You know why Paul was praying for these things? 286 00:29:41,520 –> 00:29:43,680 Use it to improve your praying. 287 00:29:44,959 –> 00:29:52,800 Use this to sustain your usefulness. Here’s one I just throw in briefly. John Stott has 288 00:29:52,800 –> 00:29:59,839 a very helpful observation here, use this to encourage others is the third use. He raises 289 00:30:00,319 –> 00:30:10,000 the question how can you encourage a person who’s doing well without spoiling them through flattery? 290 00:30:10,000 –> 00:30:16,959 I think that’s a great question. One of your children is doing well and how do you affirm 291 00:30:16,959 –> 00:30:23,280 their progress without it going to their heads? If you simply tell people how marvelous they 292 00:30:23,280 –> 00:30:27,680 are all the time you may tempt them to pride but then if we don’t say anything that encourages 293 00:30:27,680 –> 00:30:31,280 other people then we will leave them very discouraged indeed. So what do you do with a 294 00:30:31,280 –> 00:30:36,000 person who’s doing well? How do you do this in the family with your kids? How do we do this 295 00:30:36,000 –> 00:30:41,920 in the fellowship as we are trying to encourage one another? Well John Stott says that Paul shows 296 00:30:41,920 –> 00:30:48,719 us how to affirm a person without spoiling them, he thanks God for the Thessalonians and then he 297 00:30:48,719 –> 00:30:55,839 tells the Thessalonians that he’s thanking God. That’s great! I thank God for you! See the thing 298 00:30:55,839 –> 00:31:01,599 isn’t, hey you guys you’re growing in faith and you’re growing in love let’s have a round 299 00:31:01,599 –> 00:31:08,400 of applause for all you guys. You see that’s flattery but Paul would say I see you growing 300 00:31:08,400 –> 00:31:16,640 in faith, I see you growing in love and I thank God for it. I see what God is doing in your life 301 00:31:17,439 –> 00:31:23,599 and John Stott says so helpfully if we follow this example we will avoid both congratulation 302 00:31:23,599 –> 00:31:32,319 that corrupts and silence that discourages. This way of encouraging it affirms without flattering 303 00:31:32,959 –> 00:31:37,599 and it encourages without puffing up. That’s a great way to encourage others so 304 00:31:37,599 –> 00:31:41,359 use it to improve your praying. Use it to sustain ministry. 305 00:31:41,359 –> 00:31:43,920 Use it to encourage others and here’s the very last thing, 306 00:31:44,880 –> 00:31:50,079 use it to leverage your trials. Use it to leverage your trials. 307 00:31:51,359 –> 00:31:58,239 Someone in the congregation kindly sent me, this week, a piece by Archibald Alexander, 308 00:31:58,239 –> 00:32:04,319 another of these old guys who writes at a very rich level. Born in 1772, 309 00:32:04,319 –> 00:32:08,479 it was the best thing that I had read outside the Scriptures in all of this week. 310 00:32:09,199 –> 00:32:15,760 And Archibald Alexander, he was a pastor for 20 years, East Coast, and then became the 311 00:32:15,760 –> 00:32:22,160 first-ever professor at Princeton Theological Seminary where he taught for 40 years. He was, 312 00:32:22,160 –> 00:32:27,119 in fact, initially the only professor there when that great institution was 313 00:32:27,680 –> 00:32:33,839 founded. And he wrote a piece called, Growth in Grace. And you can find it on Google if you want 314 00:32:33,839 –> 00:32:41,439 to read it, in which he gives practical directions for how to grow in the Christian life. 315 00:32:41,439 –> 00:32:46,800 And as so often with these folks from earlier centuries, the level of perception, it seems to 316 00:32:46,800 –> 00:32:51,040 me, was profoundly helpful. So let me quote to you from what he says. 317 00:32:52,640 –> 00:33:03,280 For your more rapid growth in grace, some of you will be cast into a furnace of affliction. 318 00:33:03,359 –> 00:33:06,959 That’s one of the reasons I like these guys. They just say it as it is, you know. 319 00:33:06,959 –> 00:33:09,680 None of this messing about. Just get to the point, you know. 320 00:33:10,319 –> 00:33:13,760 Here we are at the beginning of the new year, and in so many of our hearts, we’re saying, 321 00:33:13,760 –> 00:33:18,000 oh, I want to grow in grace. And Archibald Alexander says, well, 322 00:33:18,000 –> 00:33:25,359 for your more rapid growth in grace, some of you will be cast into the furnace of affliction. 323 00:33:26,000 –> 00:33:28,479 Now, he gives some examples as to what he’s talking about. 324 00:33:29,199 –> 00:33:31,680 Sickness, he says. I would have thought of that. 325 00:33:32,479 –> 00:33:34,640 Bereavement, I would have thought of that. 326 00:33:35,680 –> 00:33:42,880 Number 3 in his list, bad conduct from children and relatives. 327 00:33:42,880 –> 00:33:45,520 I would not have put that as number 3 in my list, would you? 328 00:33:46,319 –> 00:33:51,280 Have you ever thought that God may advance your growth in grace more rapidly by bad conduct from 329 00:33:51,280 –> 00:33:56,640 your children? You see? But he’s saying it’s through afflictions and through difficulties 330 00:33:56,640 –> 00:34:03,439 that you’re struggling with that faith grows and love increases and perseverance endures. 331 00:34:04,000 –> 00:34:07,680 Then he says, it may come through loss of property, we’d have to include in that financial 332 00:34:07,680 –> 00:34:15,199 loss. Maybe for your more rapid growth in grace, he says that affliction, or it may be even the 333 00:34:15,199 –> 00:34:20,239 loss of reputation that may come upon you unexpectedly and press heavily on you. 334 00:34:20,239 –> 00:34:23,360 Now, he says, in these trying circumstances, 335 00:34:24,080 –> 00:34:29,760 exercise patience and fortitude. And then this line that I really loved, 336 00:34:30,959 –> 00:34:39,439 be more eager to have the affliction sanctified than to have it removed. 337 00:34:40,639 –> 00:34:47,600 In other words, be more concerned that this trouble should be a means of God advancing 338 00:34:47,600 –> 00:34:50,719 his work in your life, as it was with the Thessalonians, 339 00:34:50,959 –> 00:34:55,120 than that simply you should get out of the problem and have it removed. 340 00:34:55,120 –> 00:34:58,719 Think about this, have you ever really thought, seriously, 341 00:35:00,159 –> 00:35:08,320 that a difficult marriage could be the very thing that most quickly advances your growth 342 00:35:08,320 –> 00:35:12,159 in the likeness of Christ? Rebellious children, 343 00:35:13,439 –> 00:35:18,560 in which you’re cast on the Lord and you find that somehow he works in your life in a new way. 344 00:35:20,719 –> 00:35:25,360 Or sickness, or a financial loss that somehow you’re cast on him, 345 00:35:25,360 –> 00:35:30,320 and this is sanctified. It is used for your growth in the Christian life, 346 00:35:30,879 –> 00:35:35,760 and that proved for eternity to be far more important than that it was quickly removed. 347 00:35:38,479 –> 00:35:44,639 God will use the hardest things in your life to make you more like Jesus Christ. 348 00:35:44,639 –> 00:35:52,000 He will use the trials of your life as the setting in which he will place the gems of his grace 349 00:35:53,360 –> 00:35:57,600 in your experience. So don’t waste your suffering. 350 00:35:59,199 –> 00:36:05,120 Be more eager to have your affliction sanctified than to have it removed. 351 00:36:06,000 –> 00:36:09,439 This thing that is wearying you. It may be precisely the point 352 00:36:09,919 –> 00:36:15,840 at which God’s most significant work is being done in your life. And if you can see that, 353 00:36:15,840 –> 00:36:21,120 you will leverage this trial and it will be for your great and for your eternal good. 354 00:36:21,120 –> 00:36:23,439 And then Alexander says this very last thing, 355 00:36:24,879 –> 00:36:27,520 and learn, he says, from Christ 356 00:36:28,800 –> 00:36:35,040 how you ought to suffer. How was it that Jesus endured all that he suffered? 357 00:36:35,919 –> 00:36:41,120 And the answer was, he did it by faith and he did it by love. 358 00:36:42,719 –> 00:36:45,120 When they hurled insults at him, Peter says, 359 00:36:46,239 –> 00:36:49,840 he did not retaliate, and when he suffered he made no threats. 360 00:36:51,040 –> 00:36:54,080 But Jesus, how do you do that? How do you suffer without threatening? 361 00:36:56,080 –> 00:36:58,639 How when you’re insulted do you not retaliate? 362 00:36:59,840 –> 00:37:01,120 Peter says, here is how he did it. 363 00:37:02,080 –> 00:37:05,360 He trusted himself to the one who judges justly. 364 00:37:06,080 –> 00:37:09,600 He exercised faith in the sovereign outcome 365 00:37:09,600 –> 00:37:12,159 that the father would bring from all his suffering. 366 00:37:12,159 –> 00:37:12,959 Faith. 367 00:37:14,159 –> 00:37:17,919 Surrounded by darkness but he puts his trust in the ultimate triumph of God. 368 00:37:17,919 –> 00:37:18,879 That’s how he endured. 369 00:37:20,800 –> 00:37:22,159 And he endured through love. 370 00:37:22,159 –> 00:37:24,719 How could he have stayed on that cross? 371 00:37:24,719 –> 00:37:28,000 All these people saying, come down from the cross, come down from the cross, 372 00:37:28,879 –> 00:37:30,159 and he stays there. 373 00:37:31,919 –> 00:37:33,120 How can he stay there? 374 00:37:35,520 –> 00:37:38,080 Greater love has no one than this 375 00:37:38,080 –> 00:37:41,360 than that a man lay down his life for his friends. 376 00:37:43,199 –> 00:37:48,800 Was it the nails oh Saviour that bound you to the tree? 377 00:37:49,919 –> 00:37:56,000 No, it was your love, your everlasting love, your love for me. 378 00:37:57,600 –> 00:37:58,719 Even me. 379 00:38:00,080 –> 00:38:01,040 That’s how he endured. 380 00:38:02,080 –> 00:38:04,080 That’s how he endured. 381 00:38:05,280 –> 00:38:08,479 Christ persevered through faith and he endured through love. 382 00:38:08,479 –> 00:38:11,199 And what the apostle Paul is saying is this. 383 00:38:11,360 –> 00:38:17,439 When I see you enduring great trials because your faith is growing 384 00:38:17,439 –> 00:38:19,760 and because your love is increasing, 385 00:38:20,479 –> 00:38:25,600 I see in you a reflection of Jesus Christ 386 00:38:27,040 –> 00:38:30,959 for which I lift my heart in thanksgiving to God. 387 00:38:32,080 –> 00:38:35,679 Make that reflection of Christ to shine brightly in me 388 00:38:37,360 –> 00:38:39,679 through all battles, trials and afflictions. 389 00:38:40,320 –> 00:38:44,639 Sustain me through the growth of faith and the increase of love 390 00:38:45,760 –> 00:38:47,439 that Christ may be exalted. 391 00:38:48,320 –> 00:38:52,320 That my affliction may be sanctified before it is removed 392 00:38:53,280 –> 00:38:55,280 and all for the sake of the Lord Jesus, 393 00:38:56,159 –> 00:39:00,399 in whose name we pray, amen.