Life Like Today Is The Day Series

INTRODUCTION

• Christians have to learn to live in necessary tension.

• We are citizens of heaven, and yet we live on earth.

• We are ready for and anticipating Christ’s return, yet we also work, eat, sleep, play, and have families.

• This tension requires balance.

• We have to live daily life wisely in the present while waiting for the future with hope.

• Throughout this series, we have emphasized the Second Coming as we sought to debunk some of the incorrect views concerning the Second Coming.

• Some say it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe.

• What a person believes matters, as we can see as we have been going through the books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

• What we believe will impact the way we look at life as well as the way we live.

• We live on the tightrope of living in this world and for Jesus.

• We live on the tightrope of waiting joyfully for Jesus to return and living the life we have.

• While we are awaiting the return of the Lord, we need to live life to the fullest, and we need to make the most of the time we have.

• Today, let's examine three ways we should live the life that we have.

› Big Idea of the Message: It is an error to refuse to live daily life wisely because Jesus is coming back.

2 Thessalonians 3:1–5 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, that the Lord’s message may spread quickly and be honored as in fact it was among you,

2 and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith.

3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

4 And we are confident about you in the Lord that you are both doing—and will do—what we are commanding.

5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ.

SERMON

I. Live life with confidence.

• The Apostle Paul, in his chapter, encourages the Christians at Thessalonica to pray for him and his companions so that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored.

• This demonstrates an aspect of living life with confidence - an unwavering trust in the power of prayer.

• We can be confident that our prayers can impact the lives of others and bring about transformation.

• Paul would face difficult times, and one way he could live his life confidently was he had an unwavering trust in the power of prayer.

• Paul knew who he prayed to, and he was confident in the fact that prayer makes a difference.

• First, he prays that the Lord's message would spread quickly.

• The thought of spreading quickly meant that Paul wanted the Gospel to spread from person to person and from place to place without interruption.

• The concept of honoring the Gospel meant he wanted the message to be respected and followed, not just heard.

• Our prayer should be that the Gospel impacts the lives it touches!

• The second prayer request from Paul was that he and his team would be delivered from perverse and evil people who would seek to hinder their work for Jesus.

• The unbelieving Jews at the time gave Paul and his team a lot of problems.

• The word PERVERSE denotes someone who does outrageous and harmful acts against others.

• At the end of verse 2, we are told why people can be evil and perverse; they do not have faith.

• Verse 3 gives us hope that will allow us to live with confidence in the face of such people.

• Even though Paul acknowledges that not everyone will have faith, he assures the Thessalonians that the Lord is faithful.

• This highlights the second key element of living with confidence - trusting in the faithfulness of God.

• Despite our challenges, we can have confidence that God will never abandon us.

• He is always by our side, guiding us through every situation.

• The passage emphasizes that the Lord will strengthen and protect us from the evil one.

• This serves as a reminder that living life with confidence requires us to rely on the power and protection of God.

• Our Heavenly Father is steady and unwavering in His love, care, and provision for us. He will never abandon us, and His faithfulness is our assurance in times of uncertainty.

• We can confidently face adversity, knowing we are not alone in our struggles.

• In the face of opposition, doubt, or challenges, we must hold fast to the promises and truths found in Scripture.