1st Thessalonians Part 1 – Lawson Perdue

Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast. We are beginning a brand new series today on the book of First Thessalonians. I’m sharing from a live service, and I’m gonna be talking about having an awesome testimony of faith. This group of believers had an awesome testimony of faith, and you can too. So stay tuned, you’re gonna be blessed. Let’s turn to First Thessalonians, chapter one, and I’ll begin right here in verse one, it says, “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” How many of you are glad that we got grace and peace that comes from God who is our Father? God is my Father. Everybody say God is my Father and I’m in his family. And I know that my father loves me and he always takes care of me in grand style.

Congregation In grand style.

I want you to say that every day for a while, and you see what starts happening in your life. Say it again with me. God is my Father and I know that He loves me, and he always takes care of me in grand style. Hallelujah, Amen. So say that every day for a month, say that every day for a month and see what starts happening in your life. Amen? And you’ll begin to see some good things happening. So he says, “Grace and peace from God, Jesus.” He says, “We give thanks,” in verse two, “to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Re-remember without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” So when we begin to look at this, how do we live? This is what this is really talking about in chapter one. How do we live in light of eternity? See, Hebrews 11 says, “All these heroes of faith, they were incomplete without us.” But what makes them complete really is Jesus and they pass the baton onto us, and now we have what they were looking for. That’s what it’s really saying. But when you look at this in First Thessalonians, how do we live in light of eternity? We need to be an example of believers. Our lives declare to people that there is a God in heaven, because our lives show people that there is hope. Amen, this building contractor, he came the other day, this is a big company. They now are in 25 states. And he said, “You need to keep saying what you’re saying because what you say comes to pass.” I tell you what, I made even more of a believer out of him. Hallelujah. We need to keep speaking the word and we need to keep saying what God says about us. He was so amazed after we lost the case, the next day I called him and was happy. He said, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe that you’re not mad at me and you still want me to do the roof.” Hallelujah. I didn’t he need to get mad at him? He’s not my enemy, it’s the devil. Hallelujah. So how do we live in the light of eternity, example believers in word, spirit, and action? So he says in verse three here, “We remember without ceasing your work of faith.” Faith has works, faith without works is what? Dead, it’s just a corpse, being alone. “And we remember your labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and the Father.” So we have a work of faith, we have a labor of love. I love doing what God has called me to do. I love serving Jesus. I love serving people. I love giving, Hallelujah. I get to do this. I don’t have to do this, I get to do this. So, and you know what? I get to do some other things, some of ’em aren’t as pleasant as others but I get to do it. So it’s a work of faith, it’s a labor of love. Paul talks about this in Second Corinthians 5 and he says, “The love of God has me in the straight jacket.” You need to let every decision be ruled by love. When you make a decision outside of the love of God, you’re getting ready to make a wrong decision. So let the love of God rule your life, your work of faith, your labor of love. He says, “In the patience of hope.” When you really have hope, hope, a Bible hope, I’m not just hoping so but when you have a Bible hope there’s patience that goes with it. Because, see, we don’t lose our hope good things come. Hallelujah. There’s things that I believe God for for 25 years. There’s things that God showed me when I was first born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit that didn’t come to pass in my life for over 30 years. But when you keep believing, good things happen, hallelujah. So just don’t quit believing, there’s patience that goes with hope. And so when we think about this foundation of hope, I already shared with you Hebrews 11:1, but one Corinthians 15:19 says, “If we don’t have this hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” I’m glad that I’ve got hope in Christ. I’m glad I’m going to heaven. Paul said we’d be the most miserable people in the I don’t wanna be miserable. Hallelujah. So keep your hope in Jesus. Hope keeps us going, your patience of hope. When you don’t let go of hope. So keep hoping, amen, and that is really a foundation for your faith to work. Psalm 119:43 says, he says, “I hope in thy judgments,” says, “take not the word of truth of your truth out of my mouth, for I have hoped in your judgment.” How many of you hope in the word? I still remember, praise God, I still remember when I was 14 years old when I first got ahold of the full gospel, when I first went to Bible study, when I first found out that this Bible has promises that I could believe. Hallelujah. Promises for health, promises for provision, promises for peace, promises for a good marriage, promises. You don’t know how messed up our family was, glory to God, but when I went to that Bible study I left that very first night thinking, “Thank God I don’t have to be defeated. Thank God I can believe God. I can be prosperous, I can be healthy, I can have a good family.” My daddy was an epileptic. My mama was a school teacher. They lived in the trailer house. They drove cars with 100s of 1,000s of miles. My daddy drank once in a while, and usually when he drank he’d get drunk. He smoked, they hadn’t major My parents used to lock me and my sister out of the house so they could fight. I remember one time when we were in Pinrose in our 10 X 60 trailer, my mom got mad at my dad and she’d been cooking some of them pinto beans on the stove, and she threw the pan of beans on the floor, it had been boiling all day or whatever, and they stuck on the ceiling. I think she was a little hot, Hallelujah. But praise God, when I went to that Bible study I found out you don’t have to let the devil destroy your marriage. You don’t have to let the devil destroy your home. You don’t have to let the devil destroy your health. You don’t have to let the devil destroy your wealth. The devil is a destroyer but God is a blesser, and you can believe God and I started believing. I’m so glad I started believing and I’ve kept believing. Hallelujah. Now I’ve had a few opportunities. I’ve had some opportunities to die, but I passed them up. Hallelujah, I’ve had some opportunities to go broke but I passed them up. I’ve had some opportunities to go to hell but I passed them up. Hallelujah. I just keep passing them up, and I keep believing. Everybody say keep believing. Good things happen when you keep believing God. See, he says there is a patience of hope, and when you when you hold on to hope your faith will work. A lot of people give up before their harvest, they faint before their harvest. Do not faint before your harvest, hallelujah. In verse 74 of Psalm 119, David said, “In thy word have I hope.” So hope keeps us believing. Let’s turn to this scripture in Romans 8. Let’s read this, Romans 8:23-25. I just thank God that we can believe. He says, “And not only so, but ourselves who have the first fruit of the Spirit, even also we groan within ourselves,” He says, “waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body.” What he’s saying, in Christ, when you believe on Christ, no matter what you face you keep believing ’till Jesus comes again. How many of you are waiting for the redemption of your body? How many of you know one day we’re gonna get a brand new body? You’re gonna get a body that’s not tempted with some of the temptations that you’re tempted with now. You’re going to get a body that doesn’t have to deal with some of the pain and difficulties and challenges. You can believe your way through ’em ’cause Jesus took your pain and took your sickness, but you’re gonna get a brand new body. Amen? One of these days we’re gonna live in a brand new home in heaven. How many of you wanna live in a trailer house in heaven? No takers. Hallelujah. I was talking to Jesse Duplantis one time, we were on TV and together. He said, “Most people aren’t really mad about my house; they’re mad about their house,” Hallelujah. I live growing up in them terrible things, they burn up in about two minutes. Boom, everything’s gone. Two minutes. Our neighbors had one burnt down right up the road from us. Just like that, they’re gone. Hallelujah. But we got a home in heaven. But most people, they don’t want a trailer house in heaven. Hallelujah. So we’re going to heaven. Guess what? Heaven is not a broke place. Heaven is not a poor place. Amen? God gravels His road with gold that’s so pure it’s clear. It’s amazing. And so the lights never go out. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus is the light, the Lord, God and the Lamb is the light. So he says we’re waiting, till what? Till Jesus comes again, till we get a glorified body. He says in verse 24, “For we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope. If you already have it, it’s not hope.” But see, you can see everybody say see things in the word. See, what happened when I heard the gospel, the full gospel preached, it created hope on the inside of me. Praise the Lord, friends. I’m so glad that you’ve been watching the program today. I’ve been teaching live in church on a Wednesday evening service, sharing about the hope of Christ coming. We have all of these teachings available to you in downloadable form, free of charge, on our website, and many more at charischristiancenter.com.

Before we came here, there was a disconnect between what God offers us and what we feel like we have to earn. This is a place that really teaches God’s grace. And I’ve seen my dad be transformed.

Every morning I just, I say, “Jesus, thank you because of your word and because of your blood. I’m more man of faith today than I was yesterday.”

“We’re saved by hope but hope that is not seen, if you already have it, it’s not hope. But what a man sees, why does he yet hope for?” He’s talking about seeing in the natural. If you’ve already received it in the natural, you don’t need hope to get it, you’ve already got it. But I’m talking about faith that gets a hold of hope, a spiritual hope. And so you’ve gotta see beyond where you are, if you want to go there. If you can’t see beyond where you are, you’re gonna stay where you are. But if you can see beyond where you are, you don’t have to stay where you are. So hope, what hope will really do is hope will change the picture on the inside of you. And if you can begin to see where God wants you to go, what God wants you to do, what God wants you to have, if you can see it you can receive it. But you gotta change the picture on the inside, because the picture on the inside is determining the picture on the outside. So he says, “If we already see it it’s not hope, if we already have it in the natural. But if a man sees, why does he get hope for it? But we hope for that we see not.” How many of you are believing for some things that you have not yet seen in the natural realm? If you already see it in the natural realm, it’s no longer hope you’ve already got it but I keep my faith out there ahead of where I’m at. Does that make sense? So he says, “If we hope for that we see not, then we with patience, the patience of hope, wait for it.” So hope has patience, and when you have patience and have patience with your see, the Bible says, “Be followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise.” Guess what? Most inheritances take time to receive. I just got that. So it’s a work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope. Now let’s read farther, verse five. Go back to First Thessalonians 1:4, he says, “Knowing, brethren, your election of God.” How many of you have been elected by God? Elected by God, in other words, God chose you for a purpose. He says, “For our gospel,” look at this in verse five, “did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” See, the light of the gospel brings some things. Our gospel, Paul said, did not come in word only. We weren’t just telling you a story. Some people, they’re good at talking stories but they’re not really living what they’re saying. I was talking to Pastor Ben Dailey, I didn’t realize all the challenges that have been happening in churches. And he’s down there in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there’s eight major ministries and churches that, within the last month, the leadership has been exposed for stuff that’s been going on for years. He said, “What do you think about all this, Pastor Lawson?” I said, “This has been what’s coming to me. What’s been coming to me is if judgment begins at the house of God, what is gonna happen in the world?” So judgment’s gotta begin at the house of God before some judgment, but there’s gonna be some judgment, I think, in the world too. Amen? Boy, Dr. Sumrall, he said this in 1987 and we watched it happen in 1988. He said in 1987, November, he said November of 1987, he said, in 1988, “The higher gonna be brought low and the lower gonna be exalted.” He said, “It’ll happen in the government and the church.” So when you have hope a long time, keep hoping, praise God, good things will come. But see, a lot of times people give up way ahead of their harvest. So he says, “Our gospel came not in word only, but in power.” How many of you know we got a gospel that comes in power? Paul says this in Romans 1:16 and 17, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God.” The gospel, the word releases the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes it. Are you believing in the gospel? If you’ll believe it, the gospel releases the power of God to salvation. For salvation, soteria, forgiveness, healing, deliverance, protection, provision. That’s what that word The fullness of the gospel. He says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel for it’s the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes it.” If the gospel’s gonna work for you, you’ve gotta believe it. So I started believing it. Hallelujah. And when you believe it, it’ll change what you’re receiving. He says it’s the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes it. To the Jew first. It first came to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. For in the gospel, look at this, the righteousness of God, the gospel is the revelation of righteousness. The righteousness of God has been revealed from faith to faith, according as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Did you know faith is not a movement? Faith is a lifestyle. And the first thing that your faith will receive is righteousness, but if you can receive righteousness by faith, right standing with God, then righteousness becomes a foundation in your life to receive all of the promises of God. ‘Cause what the devil wants to do when you ask God for something is the devil wants to remind you of what you did wrong last. He’s a master at condemnation. But when you receive the you didn’t receive anything because you’re good enough. Pastor Lawson didn’t get anything ’cause he’s a good boy, I got stuff ’cause Jesus was a good boy.

Yes.

And so did you. Hallelujah? So the first thing that you receive when you believe the gospel is right standing with God, but then righteousness becomes a foundation so he says, “Our gospel didn’t come in word only but in power.” And he says, “And in the Holy Ghost.” I’m glad that we got the Gospel with the Holy Ghost. How many of you are glad you got the Holy Ghost? I’m glad I got the Holy I’m not ashamed of the Holy Ghost. Amen? Hallelujah. The Holy Ghost changed my life.

Amen.

Amen. And I am not ashamed of the Holy Ghost. I want to read this verse to you in Hebrews 2:4. Let’s read verse three first, verse three and four of Hebrews two. “How we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, by Jesus, but it was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and different kinds of miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will.” I thank God that he bears witness to the word with signs, wonders, and different kinds of miracles. Different kinds of miracles, different kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost. And the gifts of the Holy Ghost, they operate what? According to His will. So he says, “Our gospel didn’t come,” the light of the gospel brings, what? “It came not in word only but in power, and it came in the Holy Ghost.” You know, Peter says, “We know those who’ve preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost.” I’m glad the Holy Ghost preaches with us. They preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost that came down from heaven. And he says, “And in much assurance.” How many of you are glad the gospel comes in much assurance, much confidence. We have a lot of assurance, we have a lot of confidence. Psalm 118:8-9 says, “It’s better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men.” It’s better to trust the Lord. How many of you are glad then to put confidence in princes? Keep your trust in Jesus. Keep your trust in the Lord. Amen? Then when man fail and princes fail, and different things fail, do you know what? The Lord’s not gonna Jesus is not gonna fail. The gospel’s not gonna fail. But he says, “You live as examples to all, you are examples to all who believe in this whole large area.” Hallelujah, be followers of us and of the Lord. He said, in verse six he says, “You received the word with much affliction and the joy of the Holy Ghost.” Sometimes when you receive the word, everybody’s not as excited about the word as you are. Amen? In much affliction and joy of the Holy Ghost, but you can still be excited about it. You can still be happy about Jesus, whether they love it or whether they don’t. But you keep living it and testifying, and one of these days they’re gonna, “Hey, something’s going on over there.” But let’s read here in Acts 13:49-52, this is just an example. Paul was preaching. Barnabas was preaching with him, and it says in verse 49, “And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.” Verse 50, “But the Jews,” religious people, “stirred up devout and honorable women and chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of town.” They threw ’em out of town. Were Paul and Barnabas God’s servants? Were they doing what God told them to do? Were they received with joy? No, but did they have joy?

Yes.

Yes. But they shook the dust off. Jesus said, “If they don’t receive you, just shake it of, shake it of.” I need to be better at shaking it off. And I’m getting better, I’m learning, I’m gonna preach a little bit Sunday. But you gotta let some things go, you gotta shake some things off, shake it off, let it go. Hallelujah, get over it. Just shake it off. They shook the dust off their feet against them and came to Iconium. They went to the next town, but the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Man, do you know what? If you’ll stay filled with joy in the Holy Ghost, the devil can’t shut you down. If the devil can’t steal your joy, he can’t take your goods. Amen? Praise God, they go to the next town and they run him out of town, they go to the next town and they stone Paul and leave him for dead. I said, if you’ll stay full of joy the devil can’t shut you down. So they stone him and leave him for dead, and his disciples gather around him and raise him from the dead. And what’s he do? He turns around, you read it in Acts 14, he goes right back at it. And he just kept preaching and he kept telling them about Jesus, he kept telling them about the Holy Ghost, he kept telling them about the goodness of God. I tell you what, that got their attention. “We drug that guy out there and left him for dead, gave him a rock service.” But he got up. The joy of the Lord is your strength and the devil can’t steal your joy, can’t take your goods. Friends, I hope you’ve enjoyed this broadcast. We actually have a lot more to share on this subject, and we have downloadable audio, downloadable video of these teachings on our website at charischristiancenter.com, and they’re all free. If you need prayer, don’t forget to call us here today. Thanks so much for tuning in, we appreciate you. God bless you and check out our website. Blessings.

Narrator Are you ready for Christ’s return? Dive into Pastor Lawson’s powerful teaching on the book of First Thessalonians in “Hope for Eternal Life”, and discover the hope, strength, and encouragement every believer needs. This audio and video download will deepen your faith and help you live out the gospel with boldness. A $25 value, free of charge. Don’t wait, download your copy today when you go to charischristiancenter.com.

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