Helping others is the focus today. On this subject of help, Tony Evans weighs in on a situation on an elevator. Tony said, ‘One time I was trapped on an elevator. The immediate reaction of all of the people was panic. We were trapped, stuck, and couldn’t get out. Some people were crying, “Help! Help! Help!” Were we sincerely crying out? Yes! Were we begging for help? Yes! But it wasn’t working. Other folks were banging on the door. Bam, bam, bam! No one was hearing all that noise, but those folks didn’t care. They kept right on banging. Desperate people do desperate things. They were crying out. There was one calm man on the elevator. I simply walked to the other side, pulled out a latch, picked up the telephone, and waited. A voice said, “Is there a problem?” I said, “We’re trapped on the elevator between this floor and this floor. Can we get some help?” They responded, “We’ll be right there.” See, everybody forgot about the phone. We were so into being trapped that we forgot there was a phone link to the security department. Merely by picking up the phone, we were released from our hostage situation. All the human effort we put forth, banging and yelling, wouldn’t work, but picking up the phone and asking for help did. We had to seek help using the connection.¹ There’s a right way to help is one point you can glean from this illustration. In the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul found a way to help those believers through their time of trial. Would you like to know what method he employed? Stay with us as we address the Real Reward in Helping People Through a Tough Day. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
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The Most High God will owe no man. Have confidence in knowing that payday will come someday.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: Do you realize that Jesus knows your labor behind the scenes? Share an example from your life where God provided for you because you were faithful.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

1. #S10-027: Hindrances To The Gospel of Jesus: Do You Know What Goes On Behind The Scenes? [Podcast]
2. #S10-026: Why It’s Important to Realize that the Wrath of God Will Balance Everything [Podcast]
3. #S10-025: How the Word of God Is Remarkably at Work in You [Podcast]
4. #S10-024: How a Spiritual Dad Can Demonstrate the Love Walk towards His Children [Podcast]
5. #S10-023:What’s Our Responsibility to Those Newly Come to Faith in God [Podcast]
6. #S10-022: Why the Second Coming of Jesus is the Expectation of All Believers [Podcast]
7. #S10-021: Why Modeling the Jesus Life Is Such a Powerful Witness [Podcast]
8. #S10-20: Why Turning from Idols Is A Super Exceptional Move of God [Podcast]
9. #S10-019: Why It’s Vital that Jesus Followers Pray for One Another [Podcast]
10. #S10-018:How to Start a Power-Packed Effective Church: Lessons from Thessaloniki [Podcast]
11. #S10-017: How the Breath of God Inspired the Writing of First Thessalonians [Podcast]

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Helping People: Motive Is Vital

1 Thessalonians 2:19–3:3 (ESV) — 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

• We have a reference here to the Second Coming of Jesus.
• If you remember from a previous podcast, there are many references to the Lord’s return in First Thessalonians.
• There is one at the end of each of the five chapters in this letter.
• The reference we see here in chapter two not only points to the Second Coming but the judgment that happens after Jesus comes.
• So knowing that the coming of the Lord draws nigh is plenty of motive to help people.
• That’s what Paul meant when he said to the Thessalonians, you are our crown of boasting before Jesus when He comes.
• Before Jesus means we will have to stand before Him.
• So the Lord Jesus is coming, and at some point after His Return, we must appear before Him — that is have a face-to-face.
• You want that meeting to go well.
• Look here in Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew 16:27 (ESV) — 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Helping People: Jesus Knows Your Labor

• The Lord Jesus is coming and then He will repay.
• So there’s a timeline indicated.
• First the coming, and then the balancing of the books.
• So, take courage, dear heart.
• Maybe you’re laboring and no one sees what you are doing.
• Payday is coming.
• Maybe your ministry is praying to your Father in secret.
• Just know payday is coming.
• Maybe you are a behind-the-scenes ministry of helps type person.
• Jesus knows your labor behind the scenes.
• Payday is coming.
• Jesus will repay — that’s what the scripture we just read said but, what does that mean?
• It means payday doesn’t come every Friday.
• It means God doesn’t direct deposit blessings into your account every two weeks.
• But, one thing is sure and you can mark it down — payday is coming.

Helping People: Pay Day Is Coming

Revelation 22:11–12 (ESV) — 12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.

• The Most High God will owe no man.
• Every minute you spend working for Him— every dollar you sow — every kind act of mercy will be recompensed.
• The word recompense is the one we want to look at and, with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The Greek word recompense means reward, wages, or pay for work done.
• No work means no pay.
• That’s an unnerving thought — standing before Jesus and telling Him how you went to church.
• But, what are you doing — what are you putting your hands to?
• Maybe we need to get to work?
• It’s just the Law of Sowing and Reaping we are talking about here.

Galatians 6:6–8 (ESV) 6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

• Maybe we need to sow so that we can reap.
• If you are taught the Word, share all good things with the one who teaches.
• What about also sharing what you have learned with someone else?
• Share the content that you are hearing right now.
• What do you think about these things?
• Payday is coming someday.
• The meeting is set.
• The Father knows the day and the hour when the Judgement Seat of Christ will occur.

2 Corinthians 5:6–11 (ESV) — 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Helping People: Knowing Your Final Destination

• So, we are talking about sowing, and reaping.
• We’re talking about obeying God’s will and engaging in the work God called you to do.
• We choose courage.
• The Greek word courage used here means to have confidence and certainty concerning a matter ².
• We are absolutely certain that as a Jesus follower, earth is not our final destination.
• So we choose to look at our current life on planet earth through sunglasses of temporariness.
• We know that there is way more on the other side of glory than our earthly possessions here.
• We have full confidence in these facts because we walk by faith, and not by sight, that is we are doing the work of believing.
• Jesus taught us along this line.

Helping People: Stay on Top of Your Words

John 6:28–29 (ESV) — 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

• Believing God is work – it’s the good work of righteousness.
• Where’s the work at?
• It comes from doing the work of hearing for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God — Romans 10:17.
• Where’s the work at?
• It comes from your actions lining up with what you say you believe.
• Where’s the work at?
• It comes from making sure you stay on top of the words that come out of your mouth.

Romans 10:6–9 (ESV) — 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

• You see faith speaks.
• It has something to vocalize.
• So, we make it our aim to live a life pleasing to Him because we know that without this activity of walking by faith and not by sight, we cannot please God.
• That’s what Hebrews 11:6 tells us.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) — 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

• Impossible means just that — impossible — can’t be done, incapable of happening.
• You could say, ‘No way, no how.’

Helping People: Faith Pleases God

• So, we know that since we are here on Planet Earth for a short time, our aim is to be pleasing to Him.
• The Greek word aim means to have as one’s ambition, consider it an honor, and aspire.
• Your ambition, my ambition, the thing we aspire to is to please God.
• Our goal should be to make God happy.
• Trusting Him makes Him happy.
• Now, continue on with Second Corinthians Five.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

• We can glean from this entire passage that trusting God is good.
• And, not trusting Him is evil.
• We have some work to do — work that will be rewarded.
• Because the books will balance.
• Jesus encouraged us in our work with the following parable.

Matthew 24:44–47 (ESV) — 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

• Blessed is the servant whom God finds doing.
• Doing what Jesus?
• Giving food at the proper time.
• Would it be a stretch to say that we are to give out spiritual food to help people grow?
• We must see others as the objective goal of our ministries or our work for God.
• Paul told the Thessalonians that they were the hope of their ministries — that these young believers were a reason for joy and, lastly that they were a crown of boasting before Jesus when He comes the second time.

Helping People Is What It’s All About

• The ministry is about people, not performance — not miracles, not power gifts of the spirit not speaking with tongues.
• It’s helping people, feeding people, growing people.
• Why do we have gifts of the Spirit? — to help people.
• Why do we have tongues and interpretation of tongues? — to edify people.
• Why are we praying? — to help people.
• God didn’t give us nice church buildings so that we would have something to clean.
• He didn’t give you a home just to clean but to have some place to live while you are on the way to being a blessing to someone.
• Others must be your glory and your joy.
• Everyone needs to be working on being a blessing to others not just listening.
• We come to church to listen — we are not too bad on the hearing part.
• But, how are we at ‘putting into practice what we hear?’
• And why do we need things put into practice?
• So that we can grow and develop.
• Develop into what?
• Develop into a person that can help.

Romans 15:1–3 (ESV) — 15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

• How are we then at translating instruction into action?
• Let’s be people of action.
• Now, this thread spills over into chapter three of 1 Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 3:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

• Why is the word ‘therefore’ here for?
• The word links what Paul just got through saying about these believers being His glory and joy and crown of rejoicing before Jesus— it links that thought to the positive action of making sure that these believers were okay.
• That is that their walk with God was moving forward — that they were progressing in the things of God and that Pauls’s labor to grow this church was not in vain.
• What was this positive action? – sending Timothy to check up on the Thessalonians.
• Paul is saying, “We love you, you’re special in our hearts, Satan has hindered me from coming to you personally, I’m concerned because we don’t have Internet, email, or smartphones to check up on you.”
• “We have to wait on snail mail which in the first century was slower than snail mail — like sloth mail.”
• We don’t want to lose our reward, we want to have something to present to Jesus when He comes.
• So, Paul sends Timothy with a specific mission.
• Listen to it again.

we sent Timothy…, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions.

Helping People with Afflictions

• Let’s talk about these afflictions for a moment.
• What are these afflictions Paul is talking about?
• The word ‘afflictions’ is translated as tribulation, trouble, trials, suffering, hardship, persecution, and oppression. This noun is also translated as a verb: ‘to suffer’ [TEV].
• A couple of verses in Thessalonians help to frame what was going on here.

1 Thessalonians 2:14 (ESV) — 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,

• Here we have the word suffer and we know that the source of it was both Jews and Gentiles.
• I’m sure the Jews were persecuting the believers who turned away from Judaism to follow Jesus.
• And the Gentiles persecuted those believers who turned from serving the idols of the city of which there were many.
• That’s the record we have in chapter one.

1 Thessalonians 1:6,9–10 (ESV) — 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit…, 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

• Now if we jump over to 2 Thessalonians listen to what we have here in the opening to this second letter.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 (ESV) — 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

• So, persecutions, afflictions, suffering, coming from the hands of both Jews and Gentiles — we are talking major opposition to the gospel that surrounded these people as they bowed their knees to Jesus and declared Him Lord.
• Can you understand now, why Paul was concerned about these people?
• I mean Paul left town.
• These believers have to stand on their own.
• That’s why establishing a local congregation is a great thing!
• We need one another’s strength.
• We must gather together and I’m telling you this will become more critical as the time of Jesus’ Second Coming draws near.

One Way to Help People: Establish and Encourage

• So, Paul sends Timothy for one reason to help strengthen these believers so that these afflictions will not move them.
• What does the word ‘moved’ mean?
• Quit, turn back, look back, give up, turn around, and go back to their former lives of sin.
• The goal was to keep these believers steadily going forward in faith while the bombs were dropping all around them.
• What tools were Timothy going to use to help steady these believers?

and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions.

• The tool of establishment if we can say it this way and, the tool of exhort.
• Timothy was to establish these believers in faith and, he was to exhort them in their faith.
• Establishment and exhortation are two Holy Spirit-inspired tools that help during times of persecution.
• Now what do you mean by establishment?
• The Greek word establish means to cause to be inwardly firm or committed.
• So establishment is an inward thing and as such it deals with the spirit of a man.
• Helping someone to become firm or committed does not come from ‘rah, rah’ type motivational speeches.
• It doesn’t come from sound logically persuasive arguments.
• No, it comes from the only thing that can affect the spirit of a man — words.
• God-inspired words — Holy Spirit-inspired words.
• You can find these words in the Bible.
• If you want to establish someone, get them into the Word.
• No doubt Paul sent Timothy with Holy Spirit-inspired words.
• Now, at this time, the New Testament was yet to be written.
• So, Timothy didn’t have a leather-covered Bible with gold-lined pages.
• But, the revelation of who we are in Christ and what Jesus provided for us in His death, burial, and resurrection was only in the infant stages of becoming known.
• But such as Timothy had, that’s what he delivered and it was enough to get the job done.
• You have to preach the Word — you have to speak the logos written word of God and be open to the Spirit of God to speak the Rhema word of God.
• That’s how people are established.
• That’s how these Thessalonians were made firm inwardly.
• Again, you’re not dealing with a person’s head here.
• Now, we come to the next part encouragement.
• What if the people you are ministering to already know the Word you are trying to help make them firm in?
• That’s where encouragement comes in.
• It goes something like this.
• Okay, you know the right thing to do, let us go to the Word and bring that concept up in our remembrance.
• Here’s where you hook arms — again be led by the Spirit.
• If He tells you o do something do it.
• Do what you see — say what you hear.
• That’s one way you can help people through a really tough day on Planet Earth.

Now, Father God I thank you for your holy, written, unchangeable Word. Thank you that’s it’s your will that we overcome — that we are more than conquerors — and that we are established and built up on our most holy faith. Thank you for leading us and directing our way to help our brethren grow and develop in you. We give you all the praise, glory, and honor in Jesus Name, Amen.

• The Real Reward In Helping People Through A Tough Day.
• We’ll see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

In the Parable of the Sower, What Is Stony Ground?

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References: