Pastor Ben Smith preaches from 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 on how growing in brotherly love transforms your relationship with the saints, the direction of your life, and your testimony before the world. The transformation of the gospel has both a restrictive and empowering effect on your life. In the previous verse (1-8), the Bible declares that the transforming work of God in the lives of true Christians is to cause you to abstain from sexual immorality. Most read this only as something restrictive. However, in verse 4, the Bible teaches that Christians are able to abstain from sexual immorality because, through the empowerment of God, Christians have mastery over their bodies and are no longer controlled by the passion of lust like the world (5).

Building on this, verses 9-12 declare that the transforming work of God in the lives of true Christians enables you to love one another and that this love transforms everything about your life. This passage identifies three ways brotherly love transforms your life.

God’s will for your sanctification requires that you abstain from sexual immorality, possess your body in honor, and live holy before God.

We are living in a hyper-sexualized culture. It seems sexual perversion and sexual immorality are everywhere.

However, though the world may be full of sexual immorality, the command of God and the evidence of salvation is that Christians must abstain from sexual immorality. How, then, can you live sexually pure in a sexually perverse world? This passage teaches three requirements that you must do to live a life holy before God.

1. You must be saved. (1-3a)

2. You must be self-controlled. (3b-6)

3. You must be submissive before God. (7-8)

The heart desire of Christians must be for other Christians to grow in faith and obedience. This statement seems so obvious and elementary that you may be tempted to assume that it does not need to be stated or given much attention. It is indeed obvious and elementary, but it needs to be said and given attention because it often conflicts with your flesh's natural desires.

 Often, what is celebrated are temporary and fleeting achievements. Often, what is rewarded is what the world loves and not the things of God. Often, what your heart desires are rewards that have only momentary value. As a result, what you pray for is too often from the desires of the flesh rather than the will of God.

How can you train your heart to desire, above all other things, for other Christians to grow in faith and obedience? This passage models two areas that you must give the attention of your heart and mind to in order to train your heart to desire that other Christians grow in faith and obedience.

1. Be encouraged by what God has accomplished. (6-10)

2. Pray for what only God can do. (11-13)

The passion of God's servants must be to strengthen and exhort the church to stand firm against the attacks of Satan.

In chapter three, verse 2, we have the key verse for this passage. Timothy was sent to establish and exhort the church in their faith that they might stand firm against the temptation of Satan. The question that we consider with this passage is: What does the church need to stand firm against the attacks of Satan?

I am excited to announce a new podcast project titled View from the Pulpit. Each episode will feature interviews with pastors and church members exploring the role of preaching, the labor of preparing to preach, the effectiveness of how one preaches, and so much more. This podcast is about preaching, but it is not just for preachers. So whether each Sunday you are behind the pulpit or in the pew, I hope you will tune in for engaging conversations that will help you better understand why preaching is vital to the church’s health. The podcast is available in Apple Podcast, Spotify, and many other podcast apps. Subscribe today so that you will not miss an episode.

When sinners receive the gospel as the word of God and are saved, it is not the result of man's work or ability but a testimony to God's power and sovereignty alone. In 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians' testimony and how it testifies to the power and sovereignty of God to save whom He wills. This passage reminds the church that salvation does not come and is not dependent on the work or ability of man but the power and sovereignty of God alone.

This passage teaches three perspectives that will keep your heart and mind focused on the power and sovereignty of God.

Gospel work is motivated by conviction of truth and a desire to honor God.

There have always been those who teach and preach false doctrine or use the preaching of the gospel for selfish gain. There have also been those who, though they proclaimed the true gospel, did not lead the church to faithfully live according to the righteousness of God. Paul reminds the church that his ministry among them was faithful to the gospel and unapologetically led them to live righteously before God. His testimony is not one that is unique to him, church leaders, or those with special giftedness in the church. This testimony is one that every faithful Christian should have.

This passage teaches two testimonies that a life governed by the conviction of truth and a desire to please God will bear.

Faithful gospel ministry must be God-directed, God-honoring, and God-pleasing.

In these verses, Paul reminds the Thessalonian church of the circumstances that brought him, Silas, and Timothy to them and how they conducted themselves in the community and among the church. Paul recounts these things not to brag but to testify and remind the Thessalonians that gospel ministry is not about the preacher, the church member, or the church as a whole. The gospel ministry is about God and bringing greater glory to His name. How do you ensure that the work of the church and your personal service to God is God-directed, God-honoring, and God-pleasing? This passage teaches three characteristics of a ministry that is God-directed, God-honoring, and God-pleasing.

The evidence of true salvation is more than words; it is evidenced by a life transformed by God, a rejection of sin, and obedience to God.

One of the struggles for the church in a post-Christian culture is rediscovering what it means to be saved. In a Christian culture, salvation was often assumed rather than evidenced. Now that we live in a post-Christian culture, many are no longer compelled to obey the most fundamental commands of God, like gathering with the saints on the Lord’s Day, but still claim to be saved. Today, the church must rediscover a biblical understanding of the evidence of conversion.

Romans 6:20-23 is about the consequence of sin and the hope of the gospel. It is a precious passage that I have often preached in no small part because of the great gospel promise of verse 23. Generally, when preaching this passage, the majority of attention is given to the hope of salvation, which is the main idea of the passage. However, with this sermon, I want to give attention to the warning concerning sin.

All sin leads to death, both physical and spiritual.

In the confusion and brokenness of this world, the consequence of death is sometimes ignored but more often celebrated and even encouraged. Abortion brings death but is celebrated as a way to preserve sexual freedom, ensure individual autonomy, and provide gender equality. Abortion, as with all sin, is presented by the world as good and desirable, but it produces the rotten fruit of death.

The sanctity of human life is not first a political issue; it is, first, a theological issue. Christians must be clear concerning the cost and destruction of sin. Only then will you appreciate the great and glorious hope of the gospel.

This passage exposes sin’s necrotic nature and the remedy of the gospel.

The only hope of salvation is in Jesus Christ.

There is no hope in the wisdom of man or the works of man. However, since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, the common struggle of man is to attempt to attain righteousness apart from God.

The question that this psalm is wrestling with is the relationship between God and man. How are you to understand the relationship of man with God? Psalm 14 teaches three fundamental truths that define man's relationship with God and testify to the hope of salvation found only in Christ Jesus.

From the archives. Originally preached in September 2020.

This passage comes in the greater context of understanding who God is, who you are, and what your attitude toward the Lord should be. James teaches that one with a true and living faith will have two defining attitudes toward the Lord. First, they will be humble before the Lord. And secondly, they will recognize their frailty and the power of God. These attitudes of the heart will produce the action of acknowledging God in all your ways.

Feelings are not facts, and emotions often obscure the truth. However, this does not negate the seriousness of feelings and the dramatic impact emotions have on how you see the world. God created you with emotions; however, because of the fall and the corruption of this world, emotions can be destructive and deceptive. Psalm 13 is a psalm of David that deals with his feelings of spiritual abandonment. David feels like God has forgotten him, refused to respond to him, and left him to be shamed by his enemies. David feels abandoned.

Psalm 13 is written in three stanzas. Stanza one contains David's despondent questions, which flow from his fear of God's abandonment. Stanza two is David's prayer for God to see him and answer his pleas. Stanza three is a response of faith in God's goodness. Psalm 13 teaches three ways to respond when you are struggling with feelings of abandonment.

The desire and will of God is for you to be in right relationship with Him and be in His presence. The testimony of this is that God has provided the way for the defiled to be made holy and those separated from Him by sin to draw near in confidence through the offering of His son, Jesus Christ.

The offering of Jesus reveals God's will, which calls for a response of faith. This passage teaches three responses to the offering of Jesus that God expects of you.

Some tasks are restricted from you because of a lack of ability. Other tasks are restricted from you because of a lack of qualification or authority. The pride of sin produces the lie that your own efforts can achieve righteousness. The arrogance of sin can convince you that you do not need Jesus. However, the testimony of scripture is that you can never achieve righteousness before God through your own efforts. Salvation comes only through the work of God. Jesus is the perfect high priest who, through His life, death, and resurrection provides forgiveness of sin and access to God to all who believe in faith. 

Hebrews 7 teaches three ways that Jesus, as the perfect son of God, provides for salvation.

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family are having a wonderful Advent Christmas season. I've enjoyed preaching from the book of Hebrews this Advent season. The first sermon was from chapter one, titled The Glorious Son. The second sermon was from chapter three, The Faithful Son. The third sermon is from chapter seven, The Perfect Son. And the fourth and final sermon will be from chapter 10, titled The Will of God.

It is possible to be near the gospel and miss salvation. It is possible to have some knowledge of the gospel and not believe it. It is possible to be close to salivation and not be saved. Proximity does not equal possession.

Beyond making a comparison between Moses and Jesus, Hebrews 3 warns that it is not enough to simply know who Jesus is. Like the people that Moses led, there will be many who miss out on receiving the salvation of Jesus. Those whom Moses led out of Egypt were witnesses to God's great and glorious power but did not have faith and thus did not receive the blessing of the promised land. Likewise, many today have heard the gospel but have not believed in faith and thus have not received the promise of salvation.

God has used many things to reveal himself to man and testify to his glory, but these things must not distract you from the glory of Jesus Christ. We are people who are easily distracted. The first chapter of Hebrews identifies some of the good things God has used to reveal himself to man, testify to his glory, and accomplish his will. God used these good things to point to his glory, but they are not and never have been equal to his glory. The danger and warning of this chapter is becoming distracted by these things and missing what they testify to. 

With such a propensity to be distracted, how can you keep your heart and mind focused on the glory of Jesus Christ? To keep you from disastrous distractions, this passage calls you to recognize the glorious supremacy of Christ in three areas.

Psalm 95 is about how and why you must worship. The psalm calls believers to worship and warns against disobedience. Christians must worship God wholeheartedly in response to who He is and in obedience to His word. Psalm 95 teaches three ways you are to worship.

In a day when words are used to confuse, distort, manipulate, and misdirect, hope is found in the eternal, never-changing word of God and His faithfulness to keep His word to every generation.

The foundation of the Christian faith is that God is truth, and the Bible is His inspired inerrant word. Every believer is called to believe in faith and stand firm in God's truth. Psalm 12 teaches three requirements for standing firm in God's truth.