Now What?

Let's bow to a word of prayer together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for today. We thank you for this week. Lord, there's been a lot happening, not just in our in our state, but around this nation and around the world. So many things are taking place, Lord, that help us understand more about your soon coming again. And our prayer, Father, is that you just do a mighty work. We realize, Lord, that what's going to happen has already been predetermined. And our response, Lord, is to pray and to continue to preach the gospel so people will hear the truth and respond and anticipate, Lord, you're coming again.

We don't know exactly what when that's going to be. We would hope it be today, even before I'm done preaching, so we could go home and be with you and and celebrate Christ for all eternity. But yet, Lord, we know that you are on a perfect, perfect timetable and your arrival will be exactly as you have predetermined it. And so our time together this evening, Lord, will help us understand more about what you have for us that we might live for you and honor you as we anticipate, Lord, you're coming again and realize the church's responsibility in light of the day of the Lord.

So we thank you for our time together in Jesus name. Amen. You know, when we gather together in June, we're going to have the kids up on stage and we get them up on stage. We're going to talk to them about one of the great narratives of the Old Testament. You know, the Bible is filled with all kinds of narratives. I hate to use the word story because it sounds like it's something fictional, but they're really true narratives about what is taking place in Israel's history. And for the most part, if you've been with us over the years, you know about a lot of those narratives.

We've studied Moses. We've studied Joseph. We've studied Abraham. We have studied Nehemiah and Gideon and Samson. We have studied Joshua, Judges. I mean, we've done a lot of Old Testament study on Wednesday nights just because we want to give you the whole counsel of God. My responsibility is to make sure you hear all the Bible, not just parts of the Bible. So we have pretty much devoted Wednesday nights to the Old Testament and Sunday mornings to the New Testament, except when we did Revelation and Genesis.

That was reversed. Revelation was on a Wednesday night and Genesis was on a Sunday morning. But for the most part, we try to cover those Old Testament narratives to show you that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He's always in operation. He's always doing the work that he deems best and which will bring about his glory and his honor. But one of those Old Testament narratives, you know very well. And that Old Testament narrative is about David and Goliath. And David would come against Goliath.

He was about 17 years of age at the time of First Samuel, Chapter 17. And the Philistines had come against Israel. And Goliath had blasphemed the name of the Lord. And in First Samuel, Chapter 17, David said these words, which are very, very important to our time together this evening.

He said, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day, the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.

David recognized that the battle was the Lord's. David recognized that the only way he could ever defeat the giant was because of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so we understand that. And yet throughout the whole process, we know the story about David gathering five smooth stones. That story, right? And the question always comes, how great of a marksman was David? I mean, after all, he was a marksman, according to the scriptures, according to the fact that he killed the lion and he killed the bear.

And therefore, he was a sharpshooter, needless to say. But why would he gather five smooth stones? If he was really that great, why not just gather one stone? Right. Just one. Or if he thought he'd miss, maybe two. Why did he gather ten stones? Why five? And the answer is very simple. If you know the story, it's simply because Goliath had four brothers. So that's why David gathered five smooth stones. Most people don't read the story or read far enough into Second Samuel, into Chronicles to understand those stories and who those brothers were.

In Second Samuel, one brother was named Saf. In First Chronicles, there are three brothers mentioned.

One is Lami. The other was Sapi. And the fourth one or it was one had 24 fingers and toes. He had six on each hand and six toes on each feet. But he don't give us his name. He's just a 24 fingered toe guy. All right. But he was one of the giants. And so he was one of the brothers of Goliath. And so the reason he gathered five smooth stones is because he was going to destroy all five brothers. That's why he gathered five. He knew he only needed one for Goliath. And he knew he only wanted for the other ones.

But he gathered five of them because he knew that the Philistines were the group of people that were hindering Israel's progress. And there was an enemy in the way. And for Israel to be able to continue doing what God had called them to do in the land of Canaan, they had to defeat the enemy. Well, David was the only one who had no fear of the enemy, even though he was a young person at the time. And he knew about the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies, and he could be able to come against Goliath and destroy him.

And so that was his plan, because he knew that the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies, would defeat the Philistine army. Well, those five smooth stones become an outline for us this evening. In 2 Samuel chapter three, to understand five simple principles, five simple principles that will help us through our lives as a church so that our progress is not hindered and that the enemy cannot stand in the way because we as a church are gathered together to do what God has called us to do. So I have five smooth stones in my hand.

I have a slingshot. I'm not going to whip them at you this evening unless, of course, you fall asleep and then we will see how good of a sharpshooter I really am. We will do this with our children in June. We'll gather them up on stage. We're going to give them five words from the book of Proverbs, five words that will set them on the right path, five words that will help them understand that if they follow what God's word says through the book of Proverbs and understand the importance of those five specific words, it will take them through their young childhood, through their teen years into adulthood.

But they must master those five words. And they're all in the book of Proverbs. We'll share them with you. They'll be good for us to be reminded of, but challenge our children with as you go home and spend time with them in the word throughout the week. But tonight it's about five smooth stones that will help us not be hindered in our movement as a church, so that no matter who the enemy is, no matter what the enemy is, if we understand these five stones, they will help us be all that God wants us to be.

So let's begin by looking at 2 Samuel chapter three. And let me read it to you, set it in your mind, and then we'll go from there.

All right. 2 Samuel chapter three, verse number one. Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men.

For not all have the faith, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. OK, so principle number one is this.

You understand that you need to personally pray. Personally pray. I've written it on the stone so that you would know that with the verse on the back. So you know that as well. But you need to personally pray. Paul says, finally, brethren.

Pray for us. You know, prayer is a very taxing work. Prayer is not something that's simple to do. Just ask yourself how much time you spent in prayer today. Probably not very long, right? Don't say yes. Just don't say anything. Just listen.

But for the most part, we don't spend a lot of time in prayer. And why is that? Well, why is it we don't want to get up and get on our knees, spend time going through a list of petitions, trying to pray and ask God to do a great work in our families, our churches, our workplace. We will spit a prayer out here and there. But for the most part, we don't spend a lot of time in prayer. But Paul was a man of prayer. He knew prayer was the key to everything. I mean, spiritual ministry, spiritual work demands a spiritual task.

And if we don't, if we don't go to the Lord and beseech him to do a great and mighty work, then we do what we do in the flesh. We do it because we're talented, we're gifted, we're eloquent. We have our own ingenuity, our own devices. And so we just think we can go through our Christian life just like we do our regular life, not knowing that they all come together as one, right? The Christian life is our regular life. But we need to be in prayer, trusting God to do great things. Paul says, finally, brethren, I need you to pray.

For us. Now, think about this. Here's the Apostle Paul. He wrote 13 epistles in the New Testament. The man of God, the strong man of God, the powerful man of God. I mean, he stood against everybody and God used him in a mighty way. And yet he requests. Prayer. He wants those in Thessalonica to pray for him, to pray for Silas, to pray that God would do great things. It reveals his humility. It reveals his transparency. It reveals his authenticity. This is the man who understands that prayer is the work without prayer.

The work goes under the guise of the flesh. We got to be very careful about that. When our prayer group meets together on Tuesday evenings, they gather together to pray for the church, to pray for the ministry of the church. What are young people on Sunday mornings gathered together in between services? They gathered together to pray. For the church. When those who gathered together during the first service and second service on Sunday mornings, they're praying for the church, they're praying for you, praying for God to do a great work in your hearts.

We want to have prayer permeate every aspect of our ministry. But it won't permeate every aspect of our ministry until it permeates every aspect of our lives. And Paul says, finally, brethren, in light of the fact that you are loved by God, you've been chosen by God, you've been sanctified by God, you have been called through the gospel of God, the gospel of truth.

And finally, brethren, besides all the fact that you have been redeemed by the redeemer, I need you to pray for us.

Finally, brethren, in light of the day of the Lord and second Thessalonians 2, it's all about the coming day of the Lord.

The Antichrist is coming and all that's going to happen. Finally, brethren, don't forget you need to be in prayer and you need to be praying for us.

Be involved. Now, Paul. Was a man of great prayer. He prayed for those in Thessalonica all the time over in First Thessalonians chapter one.

Paul said these words when he wrote the first epistle. He said, we give thanks to God always for all of you making mention of you in our prayers. We give thanks to God for every one of you, always mentioning you in our prayers. And then over in chapter two, verse 13, for this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

We are so grateful to God that when you heard the word, you received the word. You put out the welcome mat to the word. You welcome the word. And because you're believers, it had a powerful work in your life. And then he says over in chapter three, verse number nine, for what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face and may complete what is lacking in your faith.

Again, Paul mentions, I am praying for you. We are bringing you before the throne of grace. And then, of course, over in chapter five, he does it again at the end of verses 23 and 24. And then in chapter one, we've already seen he's praying for them in verses nine and following. So in chapter two last week in verses 16 and 17, and then in chapter three at the end of this chapter, 16 and 17 again, he's praying for them. Paul was a man of prayer. He knew. In order for things to happen in the spiritual realm, it happens because the spirit of God's at work.

And it demands that we pray. As a church, Paul is saying to those in Thessalonica, Brethren, you need to pray for us. Pray for what? He gives two specific requests. Listen carefully. These two requests should be the way you pray for everybody. If you understand these two requests, your prayer life will be full. And never lacking for something to pray about. Number one, pray, pray.

The spread of God's word. And the safety. Of God's workers. That's it. The spread of God's word and the safety for God's workers. If that's what consumes your prayer life, that is, you get up, you pray for your husband. You pray for your husband as he spreads God's word. And for the safety of God's worker as he spreads God's word. You pray for your children when they go to school, when they go to play, when they go to be a part of their athletic teams. You pray for the spread of the gospel and for the safety of those who spread the gospel, your children.

You pray for your church. Same thing is true. You see, our prayer life is so centered on the physical. That we miss the essence of the spiritual. All we can think about is our physical needs. What's going to happen when I go to the doctor this week? What's going to happen when I see the dentist next week? What's going to happen when this happens? We're always so consumed with the physical. Paul was not that way. He was consumed with the spiritual. He just wants there to be safety for us so that the word of the Lord will continue to spread.

That's what he says. He says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified.

We want it to spread fast, not slow, fast, and that God's word be glorified. God's word be exalted. God's word be magnified. How often do we pray for for God's word to be magnified and glorified and extolled? Remember Psalm 138, verse number two, thy word, O Lord, is magnified even as thy very name.

God's word is on the same level as his name. And so therefore, he's praying for God's word to be magnified and exalted that has spread rapidly. Back in the book of Acts, the 13th chapter says this in verse number forty four, the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first.

Since you repudiated and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us. I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth. Then the Gentiles heard this. They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believe and the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. So Paul knows the effects of the word of God.

He knows how it spreads. He wants it to spread rapidly. He wants it to spread so rapidly that the word of the Lord is magnified. Now, think about this. This is what our prayer life should be consumed with. Not people's physical needs. But the spread of the word of God, because people need to hear the gospel. People need to know the truth. And if we don't give them the truth, who is? So when you pray for your church, you're praying for the spread of the gospel. And you're praying for the safety of those workers who share the gospel so that God will protect them, watch over them.

Now, if anybody knew about persecution, it was the apostle Paul. And this is not the first time this was addressed over in Romans chapter 15.

Paul says this Romans chapter 15, verse number 30. Now, I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now, the God of peace be with you all. He is praying for his safety because there were those who came against him and persecuted him.

He is asking those in Thessalonica, listen, pray for our safety. When we pray for those in our assembly who are police officers, we're praying for the spread of God's word and the safety of God's workers, because they're going out and representing Christ to a lost world. And as they go to represent Christ to a lost world, we're praying for the safety as they do so. You see, this is so simple to understand. If we just focus on the right things and ask God to do a marvelous work. And Paul says these words.

He says in, excuse me, 2 Thessalonians chapter three, verse number one or verse number two, in that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men for not all have the faith.

Not all have the faith. Over in 2 Corinthians chapter one, Paul says this in verse number eight. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction, which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength. So we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us, he on whom we have set our hope and he will yet deliver us.

Paul only wanted to be delivered for one purpose so he could speak to more people about the gospel. That's it. He just wanted to preach the truth. So he asked specifically that they would pray for them for the spread of God's word and the safety of God's people. Paul understood what it meant to be saved and delivered from those who came against him. Remember over in 2 Timothy chapter four, Paul's in prison. And in verse number 16, it says that my first offense, no one supported me, but all deserted me.

May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me, the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. What a great request. So when we gather together, we realize that in order for us to defeat any obstacle in our way, in order for us to overcome any enemy that stands in our way, it begins where all spiritual things begin.

On our knees before the throne of grace, asking God to do a great and mighty work. And it centers on two specific requests, the spread of God's word and the safety of God's people. If you could wrap your prayers in those two principles, everything about the people you're praying for would change drastically because God wants to use those people for his glory. They're part of his kingdom. So you're praying for them about things that matter for the sake of eternity. Paul knew the Lord would rescue him from every evil deed and every evil person.

Ultimately, he would deliver him into glory so he could stand before the throne of grace. But that's what his prayer was. So stone number one is to personally pray.

That's where it begins. Number two. Number two is rather unique because it means you need to totally trust.

Totally trust. Verse number three, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Do you believe that? You have to totally trust the Lord, the God who is faithful. You have to depend upon the God who is true and never lies. You have to fully trust. You have to totally trust him. Paul did. Paul lived the life of trusting obedience. That's how he lived his life. He put all of his hope, all of his trust in the living God. So Paul says to them, very simply, but the Lord is faithful. What a tremendous statement that is. Remember what Paul said over in 1 Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians 1 verse number nine.

He says this, God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. God is so true and so faithful that the name he wrote down in eternity past that he predestined to be conformed to his image. He was so true to that, that when it was time to call you into his kingdom, he did. Remember 1 Corinthians 10, 13, very familiar verse. Paul says these words. He says, no temptation has overtaken you, but such as common to man. In other words, every trial, every perosmos, every, every temptation that comes your way is something that's very common.

It's not uncommon. We tend to think that, you know, the temptation coming my way is just so different than everybody else's temptation. It's just so uncommon. But it's just, no, it's very common. Your brethren all go through this. You might not know all of them who go through the same thing you do, but the trial, the temptation is common to man. You're not on an island all by yourself. Now listen to this. He says these words. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape.

Also, so that you will be able to endure it. Wow. What a testimony. God, you know that God in every temptation provides a way of escape. And do you know why you don't see the way of escape? Because you don't want to see it. That's why you succumb to temptation. God is so faithful that whenever temptation comes, he always provides a route of escape. There's always an escape route. But the reason you don't find it, the reason you don't see it is because you want to stay in the temptation. You want to sin.

That's why you don't find it. God doesn't hide it from you. See if you can find the escape route. I'm going to put it over here in a corner someplace. You got to, you got to find your way to go get it. No, no, no. He always provides a way of escape because he's faithful. Do you think he wants you to sin? No. He can want you to live in disobedience. No. So what's he going to do? God is so faithful. Remember the disciples prayer, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 1 Corinthians 10.13 is the answer to Matthew 6's prayer.

Because God always finds you in a situation and provides for you the escape route. He always does. And so when you succumb to temptation, it's because you want it to. It's because you want it to sin. It's as simple as that. We can say, psychologize it any way we want. We can try to philosophize about it any way we want. It's all because you want to sin because the escape route is always there because God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure. But will always provide that route so that you can run away.

That's why Paul tells Timothy, flee these things, Timothy. 1 Timothy 6. That's why it says, flee immorality, flee idolatry. Run away from those things. There's always a pathway that you can follow, that you can run, that you can be on, that will cause you to endure the temptation. And come out on the other side stronger. And Paul says, I need you not only to personally pray, I need you to totally trust the Lord. In light of the day of the Lord, in light of the church and the day of the Lord, in light of the fact that in chapter one, it was all about consolation of misadversity.

Chapter two was all about correction around prophecy. Chapter three is all about clarification concerning your responsibility. And what is your responsibility? To be involved personally in praying for us and totally trusting God because he's faithful. We need to learn to live dependently upon the living God. Listen, if you are personally praying, you will be totally trusting. But the reason you're not trusting is because you're not praying. You're trying to tackle the temptation yourself. You're trying to handle the difficulties yourself.

You're trying to raise your family yourself. You're trying to provide for your family yourself. You can't do that. You need the Lord. You need him in everything. And so you go to your knees, you cry out to the living God and you pray. And as you do, you begin to throw yourself upon him and his mercy and to trust him for everything. So Paul says, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. Wow, that is so important. Why? Because we need to be protected from the evil one.

Listen, as time goes on and we live in this country and the persecution of the church becomes stronger and stronger and stronger. You're going to need people who continually pray for the church. And you pray specifically for the spread of God's word and the safety of God's workers. That's what you pray for. It's all you got to pray for. That's it. Just pray that way and watch and see what God does, because God is going to strengthen and protect you from the evil one. You have to believe that because God said it and God is faithful and God is absolutely true to his word.

Remember 1 Peter chapter 5, verse number 9, we're to resist the evil one steadfast in the faith. Ephesians 6 talks about the shield of faith. The truth of God's word and trust in all that God says is so important.

Let me help you understand something about God's faithfulness. Listen to Psalm 36, verse number 5. Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 40 says these words. Verse number 10, I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great congregation. Psalm 89, verse number 1, I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever to all generations.

I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. And then over in verse number 2, in the heavens, you will establish your faithfulness. Verse number 8, O Lord, God of hosts, who is like you, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds you. Verse 24, my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. And in my name, his horn will be exalted. Verse 33, but I will not break off my loving kindness from him, nor do you falsely in my faithfulness. Just take a journey through the Psalms, looking at the faithfulness of God.

Take a journey through the Old Testament and see how faithful God is. God is so faithful to his own. He's so true to his own. And Paul says, I just need you to totally trust the God you're faithful. That's it. You want to be able to handle difficulties in your church? Want to be able to handle the difficulties in your marriage and in your family? Personally pray and totally trust in the faithfulness of God to strengthen you and to protect you. Because let me tell you something, you can't protect yourself.

You can't. Your husband can't protect you either, ladies. I know you want him to, but he can't. Okay. And you can't protect your children. We want to. But you know what? The evil one is deceptive. He never sleeps. He's always on the prowl, seeking people he can devour. We need to totally trust the Lord. So number one, you need to make sure that you personally pray.

Number two, you need to make sure that you totally trust. And number three, I love this one. You need to make sure that you, what? Can you read that? Fully follow. Isn't that good? Fully follow. Listen to what it says. Second, Timothy chapter three, verse number four.

We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. In other words, you're going to keep following the commands of God. If you are totally trusting, you can fully follow, but you've got to fully follow, not partially follow. You've got to be so sold out to what God says.

Listen, everything, everything about Christianity is about following Christ, right? Luke 9, 23, any man come unto me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, then what? Follow me. It's all about following Christ. Christ said to the apostles, what? Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. But you've got to follow me. You've got to obey my commands. Paul says, I know you're following God's commands. How do we know that? Look back in, in, in first Thessalonians chapter one, he says, knowing brethren beloved of God, verse number four, his choice of you for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy spirit and with full conviction, just as you know, what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake, you also become imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word of much tribulation and with the joy of the Holy spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in a K I for the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and a K I, but also in every place, your faith toward God has gone forth so that we have no need to say anything for they themselves report about us, what kind of reception we had with you and how you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.

That is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. See, he knows of their obedience. He knows of their work of faith. He knows of their steadfastness of hope. He knows of their desire to honor the Lord. Now he comes back and he says, look, I need you to fully follow everything that we've commanded you. We know from Psalm 19 verse number eight, at the, the commandments of the Lord are clean and pure and holy. Everything is about the commandments of God. God is not into suggestions. God never gives suggestions.

He only gives commands, but you must fully follow what God says. Have you ever noticed that we'd love to do some of the things God says?

We just don't want to do everything that God says. And we think that if we do some of them, we'll gain his favor. God wants total obedience, not partial obedience. Remember Saul way back in first Samuel who partially obeyed, but didn't fully obey, he lost his kingdom because he didn't destroy King Agag and didn't kill all the animals.

God said, destroy everybody, kill every living creature, destroy them all. But Saul had another plan. He thought it'd be good to spare the King. Why? Because he was a King. He want people to spare his life. So he spared King Agag. That's not how it works. You got to fully follow the Lord. Remember Joshua and Caleb way back in Joshua chapter 14. Listen to the words in Joshua 14, beginning with verse number six. Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kinezite said to him, you know, the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God concerning you and me and Kadesh Barnea, I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land.

And I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear, but I followed the Lord, my God, fully. He fully followed. So Moses swore on that day saying, surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord, my God, fully. So not only does Joshua give testimony that he fully followed the Lord, because right now he's 85 years old.

Okay. So it's 45 years later, he's still following the Lord fully. So now Moses echoes the fact that Joshua fully followed, excuse me, Caleb fully followed the Lord. And then it says, verse 10, now behold, the Lord has let me live just as he spoke these 45 years from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses when Israel walked in the wilderness.

And now behold, I am 85 years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses spoke to me. As my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in now, then give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard on that day that Anakim were there with great fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I would drive them out as the Lord has spoken. So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, until this day because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully. Three times in chapter 14, it speaks of Joshua fully following the Lord. You see, Caleb, excuse me, I keep calling Joshua, it's Caleb. But see, that's the essence of obedience. That's the essence of Christianity. It's all about following the Lord Jesus. And Paul wants these people in Thessalonica to be sold out, not just to totally trust, but to fully follow.

Why? Because faith is trusting obedience. It's trusting in God totally and fully following everything He says. That's what faith is all about, trusting obedience. And so here was Paul echoing the same thing, but it's letting them know, look, you need to depend upon the Lord who is faithful because He will rescue you. He will deliver you from the evil one. At the same time, you need to keep obedient, keep obeying the commands that we've given to you. We know you're already obeying them. Don't stop.

Fully follow everything the Lord God says. Listen, in order for us to win every battle, we must personally pray, totally trust, and fully follow. Those are the stones that allow you to gain victory when facing the enemy that you need to grasp and you need to come to grips with. Oh, by the way, Caleb was the only one to dispel the enemy from his inheritance. Nobody else could, but Caleb did. Why? Because he was the only one who fully followed. If you fully follow, you dispel the enemy. And he did.

And he wanted Hebron, the oldest Jewish residence in Israel, 800 Jewish residents live there today. They're surrounded by 150,000 Palestinians who went them all out. But Hebron is that great place where Abraham spoke face to face to God. That's what Caleb wanted. He wanted to be in that place of intimacy, the place where he could commune with his God face to face. He longed for that because he knew that the key to victory was intimacy. And sure enough, he gained the victory. He dispelled the enemy.

He was able, the only one to do that. You read through the book of Joshua into judges, and they could not, and they could not, and they could not repeat it over and over and over again. Why? Because he didn't fully follow the Lord. But Caleb did. That's why you're able to win your battles, because you're committed to doing what God said. You would obey the commands of God, not partially, but fully. And that's what he did. So Paul says these words in verse number five. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, into the love of God.

I love this one. It's my favorite one. Okay. May God direct your hearts into the love of God. That means you got to do what? Spiritually surge. Oh, that's a great word. Surge, move spiritually into the love of God. May God direct you. May God make you give you the direction to love him all the more. You see, you can do that if you're totally committed to him and following him fully. You want to, you want to love him all the more. Paul says, I want you to be so spiritually astute, so spiritually strong.

I want the Lord to direct you into the love of God. Not just the fact that God loves you. They knew that, but that you love him. Is that not the essence of our Christian life? Loving God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, with all of our strength. That's the first and greatest commandment.

That we should love God with all that we have. And as Peter says, even though you do not see him, you love him. Because that's, that's the essence of, of our walk with the Lord. And Paul says very simply, listen, I want the Lord to direct your hearts into the love of God. We need to love the Lord with all that we have. We find ourselves loving other things more than the Lord. We know that Romans 5 says that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts. We know that John tells us in 1 John that we love him because he first loved us.

We also know that 1 Corinthians 14 says that we are to pursue love. Do you know that in our walk with the Lord, we are always pursuing what it means to love him all the more. To give of ourselves to him and for him all the more. In fact, you can read through the scriptures and realize that the Bible says that we're to put on love in Colossians 3 and Hebrews 3, we're to continue in love.

And in 1 Thessalonians 3, we are to increase in our love. In 1 Peter 4, verse number 8, we're to be fervent in our love. And the Bible says over in 2 Corinthians 8, we are to be sincere in our love so we can provoke one another to love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, we need to be people who love the Lord, who love him with all of our hearts. Paul's concern is that their hearts would be directed to the love of God. In other words, you want to surge spiritually, you want to be moved spiritually, you want to be passionate about your love for the Lord, you need to pursue him. You need to go after him. You spend time with him. You need to serve him, you need to honor him and exalt him. That's what Paul wanted for them. I need you to spiritually surge.

That is, I need you to grow so deep when you walk with the Lord, to be so intimate with him, so in love with him, that you are not sidetracked by anything or anyone else. All your attention, admiration, affection is all directed upward, not outward. It's all given to the Lord God of Israel. Everything about your life is focused on him. Our love for the Lord should be so great. That's why Christ says, if you love father, mother more than me, you're not worthy of me, right?

If you love son or daughter more than me, you're not worthy of me. If you love your own life, you're not worthy of me because you need to love me. I love you so much, I gave my life for you. I redeemed you from the pit of despair, the pit of hell, and I've saved you. I need you to love me. Remember 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. Why is it we saw earlier in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the reason people turned away from the Lord is because they did not love the truth.

They love something else other than the truth. Those who love the Lord love his word. Remember in John 21, when Christ asked Peter after the resurrection, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me more than these? More than what? What are the these? It could be his future of fishing. It could be his family, could be his friends. Do you love me more than anything else, Peter? Tend to my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? In fact, he said, Peter, three times, do you love me? And Peter got irritated, didn't he?

He was irritated with the Lord asking three times, do you love me? Of course I love you, Lord. And Christ said, then you follow me. He says, you're going to go and you're going to stretch out your hands, signifying his crucifixion, and you're going to die for me. If you love me, you're going to die for me. And Peter said, well, what about John? Is he going to die for you too? Is it just going to be me? And what did Jesus say? Forget about John. I'm not talking to John, I'm talking to you. I want you to love me.

I want you to follow me, even to death. And Peter did. He did. He loved the Lord. So important. And so if you personally pray, you will begin to totally trust. As you totally trust, you fully follow. As you fully follow, you spiritually surge into the love of God. And then lastly, you patiently persevere. He says these words, may the Lord direct your heart into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ or the patience of Christ. The, the hupo mone, the, the bearing up under pressure. You need to patiently persevere.

You can't give up. You can't quit. You can't stop. You can't take a break. You got to keep persevering over and over and over again. Because Satan wants you, wants to sit you on the sideline. He wants you to take a break and take a, take, take time away from the service of the kingdom. No, you need to patiently persevere. Look at the Christ.

Follow him. Look at his temptation in the wilderness. Matthew 4. Remember that? Remember his temptation before Caiaphas, his temptation in the garden of Gethsemane, where he would sweat like great drops of blood. Our Lord was tempted at all points like we are yet without sin. And that's why we can go to him, right? Our great high priest and appeal to him because he knows temptation. He knows the difficulties. He knows the hardships that we face. And when we go to him and beseech him at the throne of grace, we realize that there's one there that truly understands our deepest needs.

I wish that I could understand your issues. I just don't. And I never will because I'm not God and I'm not you. But the Lord God of Israel, he understands your issues. He knows your frailty. He knows your weaknesses. So he beckons you to come to him and cast your burdens upon the Lord so he will sustain you. Remember what Peter says over in 1 Peter chapter 2? He says this, servants be submissive to your masters, verse 18, with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God, a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, that you endure with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in the steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Wow, that's what he did. He entrusted himself to the one who judges righteously. Paul says, you need to patiently persevere by understanding the Christ who gave his life for you. This is what you need to do. And so Paul makes it very clear. When you go to war, and believe me, every day you wake up, you go to war. If you wake up tomorrow and don't think you're in a war, go back to bed because you're in a war.

You're not ready to face the enemy. You've got to be ready to face the enemy. To do that, you have to realize that Satan will put every obstacle in your way, try to destroy you. Every temptation to come your way. He'll do everything he can to get you off track, to get you to doubt the truth of the Lord, to get you to be distracted in your work for the Lord. He'll do everything. So in order to win the battle, so you ultimately win the war, you got to personally pray. You got to totally trust. You got to fully follow so you can spiritually surge and patiently persevere day in and day out.

And tonight, I want to give this as a gift to someone in our church who embodies these five principles. They have no idea that I'm doing this. Somebody who truly has lived out these principles before us as a church, who understood what it meant to be on their knees and to pray. Seek the face of God. Who in the midst of difficulty and hardship had to totally trust the Lord for everything. And when things didn't go well, had to fully follow no matter what. Fully follow no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the situation.

At the same time, they just grew deeper and deeper in their love for the Lord. And they surged spiritually. And each and every day, they patiently endured the difficulties that they would face. Never quitting, never backing down, never stopped going to church, never stopped serving in the church, never stopped serving the Lord. They just kept going and going and going. So when I was putting this together this week and I asked my daughter Erin to do this, as you guys are the guinea pigs for our Sunday morning with our children.

I was thinking of this one person and that's Debbie McCorkle. So Debbie, I want you to have this as a gift to remember the principles of Second Testimony chapter three.

And the testimony you are to us as a church, week in and week out, day in and day out, your testimony to pray and to trust and to live for the glory of our God. We're so grateful for your testimony. Let's pray together. Finally, we thank you Lord for today and all the things you do.

Truly Lord, you are a great and awesome God. Our prayer Lord is that we would follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Every one of us can trust you more. Every one of us can pray, oh, so much more. Every one of us needs to follow you better because Lord, there are times we don't. And Lord, I love for you. Sometimes it wanes and it becomes weak. But Lord, we need to be in the word, on our knees with the people of God, serving our God. And Lord, there needs to be the steadfast endurance, this patient perseverance to bear up under pressure no matter what and never quit.

Because Lord, the battles are gonna come against us as a church, more so in the weeks ahead than ever before in our generation. We need to be ready. We need to understand your call upon our life. And may what we heard tonight through your word strengthen us to live for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.