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Ainslie Earhart
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Ainslie Earhart
Hello everyone, this is Ainslie Earhart. Thank you for joining me for this 42nd episode of this 52 episode podcast series, the Life of Jesus. Our podcast today will pick up at Chapter two of Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians and will take us through the end of 2 Thessalonians. The church at Thessalonica was a fledgling group of believers. Paul was concerned about them and wrote 1 Thessalonians, the earliest of all of his letters in the New Testament. Above all, Paul wanted to make sure these early believers had reason for hope. More of the Life of Jesus Next
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Paul (Narrator/Reader)
for you yourselves know, brethren, that our visit to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God in the face of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile. But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak not to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts. For we never used either words of flattery, as you know, or a cloak for greed, as God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ, but we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember our labor and toil, brethren, we worked night and day that we might not burden any of you while we preached to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses and God also. How holy and righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers, for you know how like a Father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God which is at work in you believers. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out and displease God and oppose all men by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they may be saved. So as always, to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last. But since we were bereft of you, brethren, for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavor the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face. Because we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, again and again. But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you in your faith and to exhort you that no one be moved by these afflictions. You yourselves know that this is to be our lot. For when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass. And as you know, for this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent that I might know your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor would be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love, and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord, for what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God, praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your Faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Finally, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learn from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from unchastity, that each one of you know how to take a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God, that no man transgress and wrong his brother in this matter. Because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we solemnly forewarned you. For God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not men, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. But concerning love of the brethren, you have no need to have anyone write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. And indeed you do love all the brethren throughout Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands as we charged you, so that you may command the respect of outsiders and be dependent on nobody. But we would not have you, ignorant brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and with a cry of command where the archangels call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. That when people say there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet. The hope of salvation for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we wake or sleep, we might live with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that none of you repays evil for evil. But always seek to do good to one another and to all, rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. For you do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophesying, but test everything. Hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I adjure you by the Lord, that this letter be read to all the brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. The second letter of paul to the thessalon. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, and as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. Since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call and may fulfill every good resolve and work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter, purporting to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the Son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you this? And you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. The coming of the lawless one, by the activity of Satan, will be with all power, and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our Gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you and guard you from evil. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things which we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We did not eat anyone's bread without paying. But with toil and labor we worked night and day. That we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this. If anyone will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness. Mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living. Brethren, do not be weary in well doing. If anyone refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times, in all ways. The Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine. It is the way I write the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with you all. I'm Lauren Green, Fox News Chief Religion Correspondent.
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I hope this podcast series blesses and leaves you with tangible reminders of God's
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Paul (Narrator/Reader)
presence in your life.
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Thank you for listening. We'll be be back with more after this.
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Ainslie Earhart
In 1 Corinthians we heard Paul say, if for this life only we had hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. In other words, if there is no life following this one, our hope is turned to despair. A life without hope would be a truly miserable existence. Hope is the very fuel of faith. Far too often we hear the word hope and we think of wishes and dreams. Hope has come to mean desire or aspiration. This is far removed from the hope we are called to have as Christians. This singular type of hope is spoken of in Romans. In describing the faith of Abraham, Paul said in Hope he believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations. Even though God's promise that Abraham would have a child with his aged wife seemed impossible, Abraham chose to hope. His hope was not a wish or a pipe dream. It was a confident expectation that God would do what he said he would do. Hope, then, is the aspect of the Christian life that sets us apart. We do not simply dream of a positive outcome. We trust in God who holds the future. Father, teach me to never let go of hope, knowing your promises are a certainty I can trust and lean on. Thank you for listening to episode 42 of the 52 episode podcast series, the Life of Jesus. Make sure to spread the word. Listen ad free with a Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Amazon prime members can listen ad free on the Amazon Music app.
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