2024: WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION? (LIVING IN LIGHT OF THE RAPTURE!)

1 Thess. 1:1-10, 1 Thess. 4:15-18

(2024! Wow! Another Year has come and gone! You know I was thinking earlier about the year 2000. You remember that? Y2K? All the uncertainty around it. Make the most of this New Year. Time is Precious! Our Days have been numbered! So Live them Out to the best of your ability for the Lord!)

This 1st Sunday Morning of the New Year, we are going to open up God’s Word and read from the Crucifixion account of Our Lord and Savior! I believe there is no better way to start this New Year off, than to remember that Christ died for us! Amen!

Read Matt. 27:45-54

Besides the Fact that the Savior of The World, the Lord Jesus Christ, who had been prophesied to come for hundreds of years, had just been put to Death upon a Cross, vs. 51 starts the sequence of some Abnormally Strange Events!

But none Stranger than what we saw in vss. 52 and 53!

(Tell what we saw there, and the event of people coming out of graves.)

We aren’t given any more information about what took place here. But I would say at the least, that these Risen Saints were probably a Disturbing Sight for many!

Now this event of Many bodies coming out of Graves was not seen before in all of History, and it is an event that has not been seen since!

But Listen to me, it is an Event, that will One Day, take place again! AMEN! It is an EVENT WE CALL THE RAPTURE!

Turn to: 1 Thess. 4:13-18

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

(You see, the Thessalonian Church, was obviously concerned about what would happen to those that had already died, before the Return of Jesus! What would their fate be? And Paul says, listen don’t sorrow for them as if they have no Hope! - A Christians Funeral, is Full of Hope!)

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord SHALL NOT PREVENT them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP...

(In Greek this word “Caught Up” is har-pad-zo, and it means: Pulled, Plucked, Snatched away by FORCE – hence where we get our word RAPTURE! Christian, even if you decided that you didn’t want to go, you would have no Choice! You will be Forceably Removed from this World! - And unfortunately, that will be how it is for many Christians who are not ready!)

...together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

You see Jesus tells us in John 14:1-3 -

Let not your heart be troubled...

(Oh how we need to take that verse in today! AMEN! Oh how the Church needs to here that today! Often we are no better than the world, we get Worried, and we Fear over the things we see taking place around this Dark ole’ world; (As if its a surprise!) the Sin, the Corruption, the Destruction, the Perversion, the Wickedness, as if we are a people with NO HOPE!

Hear it again CHURCH, “LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED!)

...: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you (LISTEN!!!), I WILL COME AGAIN, and RECIEVE you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

You see, Before Jesus is taken to be Crucified, He gives His Disciples those Comforting Words!

He reminds them (and us), that just as He would go away (40 days after the Resurrection), HE WILL, COME AGAIN!

And notice that He says, “if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and RECIEVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Understand this, this is not the 2nd Coming, for when Jesus Comes at the 2nd Coming, He will be bringing the Church/Us, with Him, as He rides a White Horse, to make Judgement and to Rule and Reign upon the Earth!

Jesus tells us, that He has gone away to Prepare a Place for ALL of His Disciples, so that we may be with Him, WHERE HE IS!

And where is He? HEAVEN! (Seated at the Right Hand of the Father, Interceding for us, Being our Advocate, and Preparing a Place!)

Waiting, for His Father to say, “Son, go get your Bride!” (PAUSE)

NOW, Who here this morning believes that this Event we call the Rapture, is a Real Future Event? Who here believes that the Rapture could occur at any moment?

If you answered yes, to those two questions, my question then is, “What are You Doing About It?” (We will get back to this in a bit!)

Today, we are going to see a CHURCH, that was Ready for the Rapture, and they were DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Turn with me to 1 Thess. 1, we will read vss. 1-3.

The Purpose of this Letter, was to Strengthen, Encourage, and Motivate the Church of Thessalonica to remain Faithful, until Christ’s Return!

As we just read a few minutes ago in 1 Thess. 4:13-18, some of the Thessalonian Believers were worried about their dead loved ones missing the Return of Jesus.

And some apparently believed according to what Paul later writes later in 2 Thess., that Christ’s Return was so Imminent, that some even quit working to Wait for His Coming!

So Paul was writing and saying, “PRESS ON”, “DON’T QUIT”, “FINISH WELL!”(And he reminds them often throughout the Letter, for every chapter ends with an exhortation to Godly living,...

...BECAUSE... Jesus, may come back, at anytime!)

And If that is the case, which I believe it is, we must ask ourselves another question:

WHAT IS OUR MOTIVATION FOR LIVING?

Now there are 3 things in this text that Paul says he remembered, about the Thessalonian Believers. So we are going to go out of order, and focus on the 3rd thing first!

(Again, look at 1 Thess. 1:3) What was the Thessalonians Motivation in Life?

I. THEIR MOTIVATION: HOPE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!

1) And what was that HOPE? Well look at vs. 10 (1 Thess. 1:10) Their HOPE, was that JESUS WAS GOING TO

RETURN!

The same Jesus that would Deliver them from the WRATH TO COME (Tribulation)

Everything they were Facing, the Trials, Troubles, and Persecution, were all Worth it because, they KNEW, who they were Living for, and they KNEW, He would Return to take them Home!

a. Look with me at Titus 2:11-13 “...WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, and GODLY...” Upon this Earth!

b. WHY should we LIVE.... BECAUSE we are LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE AND GLORIOUS APPEARING OF OUR

GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

c. HOW do we LIVE… BY LOOKING TO THE BLESSED HOPE AND GLORIOUS APPEARING OF OUR GREAT GOD AND

SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

2) I ask you again, “WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR LIVING” What makes you get out of bed every morning?

a. For some it’s the next HIGH! Whether it be from drugs, sex, entertainment…

b. Some Live For their Work! Monday morning is their Motivation! Some Live for the Weekend! Friday at 5, is their

Motivation!

c. Some Live For Money, Power, and Status. And no matter how much they obtain, it is never enough!

c. Some Live For their favorite Sports team! Rain, Heat, snow, freezing temps., obnoxious people, Long lines for

food and bathroom, yet they never get upset and stop going! Imagine that!

d. What else are we Living For?

As Christians, Our Motivation should be the Return of Jesus! WHY? Because it keeps us on track to Live as Titus 2:11-13 says we SHOULD LIVE; SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, and GODLY!

When Jesus Christ Returns, who here wants to be PLEASING TO HIM? Read Col. 1:10

Listen to me, if you are not LIVING IN LIGHT OF THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST, I say there is a good chance, that you WILL NOT BE PLEASING TO HIM, when He returns to take you Home!

Why? Because your MOTIVATION IS WRONG!

3) You know, On the 1st Sunday of a New Year, The Church is often accustomed to hearing a message of Reflection.

a. A message that Examines what we have Accomplished for the Lord over the Last year, or What have we Failed to

do for the Lord over the Last Year?

b. Which don’t get me wrong, Reflection is Good!

God’s Word in 1 Cor. 11:28, Lam. 3:40, Psalm 119:59 call us to Examine Our Lives, and re-align ourselves with God’s Word.

c. But today, I want us to look Forward! I want us to have the attitude of Paul as he said in, Phil. 3:13-14;

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

d. Too often we focus on our Past!

The things we have done, the things we haven’t done, the things we should of done, and we get so caught up in the Past that we forget the Future that Awaits us as Believers!

e. Often our past is filled with Failures and Sins, and we spend too much time trying to figure out how to PUT A

STOP to those things.

And that’s Good, Right? As Believers we should not want to Sin, we should want to put away the Sinful practices that use to control us!

f. But here’s the thing, We get so focused on what we SHOULDN’T DO, that we loose Sight of what we SHOULD BE

DOING!

Ex.: Its kinda like this; “Have you ever had an annoying song or jingle, stuck in your head and you can’t stop singing it?

JG Wentworth 877-CASH-NOW!!!, (I here this on TV and I can’t stop saying it for DAYS!) "Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man!", “The best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup!”

(See brother Mike just needs to mix some Jingles in with his messages so he can SING to us more often! Right Bro. Joe!)

Now your probably going to have one of those on your mind the rest of the service, get nothing out of this message! AMEN!

But Listen, It does no good to try to stop thinking about those jingles, because we just think more about them!

You have to get a new song in your mind, to replace that annoying one!”

So often we say, “I have to stop doing THIS SIN or THAT SIN…,” which is True, but that becomes our Focus, “STOPPING SOME SIN”!

We need to give ourselves BETTER OPTIONS!

We need to FOCUS on, DOING that which is Righteous!

Don’t just try to quit thinking about the SIN, because your FOCUS IS STILL ON THAT SIN!

(Passion!) Most Christians FAIL, and SIN, I believe, because they are just trying NOT to SIN, to NOT THINK about SIN, instead of FILLING their HEARTS AND MINDS, and ACTIONS, and ATTITUDES, with RIGHTEOUSNESS!

You see, this New Year, I don’t want us to Focus on our Sins and Failures of the Past, I want us to look AHEAD, to what should Motivate us to do what is RIGHTEOUS!

And that is the Same thing that Motivated the Thessalonians; HOPE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!

The Believers of Thessalonica were WAITING FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS! AND NEWS FLASH, SO SHOULD WE!

These Believers were Waiting, and Watching, because of what 1 Cor. 4:2 says: “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”

The Thessalonian Believer Wanted to be Found Faithful! Do you Desire the Same! You and I have been Given so Much! It would be a SHAME to NOT BE READY when Jesus Returns!

g. CHURCH, today I Implore you to “LOOK UP” and KNOW that YOUR KING, IS COMING! AMEN!

Stop looking BEHIND YOU SO MUCH, don’t Focus on the PAST, it’s OVER AMEN! You can’t do anything about it! Yes, you can learn from it, but don’t DWELL ON IT! A Christian should be Looking forward to the Return of Jesus! He is Our Life! He is who Purchased us with His Blood! He has given us a Future and a Hope!

And One Day Praise God, we will SEE HIM FACE TO FACE!

OH, WHAT A DAY THAT WE BE! What a Day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, when I Look upon His Face the One Who Saved me By His Grace!

Let the Return of Jesus be your MOTIVATION FOR ALL YOU DO IN 2024! And when you do, the next two things that Paul Remembered will fall in Place!

4) You see this message wouldn’t be complete without the Application of Our Motivation!

a. When we are MOTIVATED by the RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST, what should we “BE DOING ABOUT IT”? (Remember,

I told you we would come back to this!)

You see, when your Motivation in Life comes from the Return of the Author and Finisher of your Faith, you Focus on what your FAITH SHOULD BE PRODUCING THROUGH YOU!

b. And as we see there in vs. 3, our FAITH Should be Producing WORK!

c. Let’s see their:

II. WORK OF FAITH (Read: 1 Thess. 1:3, 6-9)

1) Notice what was said in vs. 8.

a. “YOUR FAITH TOWARD GOD HAS GONE OUT...”

b. Because these newly Born-again Believers, were Motivated by the Return of Jesus, they had a FAITH that

WORKED! (And don’t forget what James 2:26 says!)

Paul said their FAITH - WENT - OUT! It didn’t stay locked up inside them, it wasn’t a DEAD FAITH, it WENT OUT to OTHERS!

They were making an Impact for Christ all over Macedonia, Achaia, and every other place their Faith carried them!

c. The Faith that Paul seen and heard of at WORK in the Thessalonians, was proof that they had TURNED TO

GOD, FROM IDOLS!

d. Their Faith produced in their Lives, exactly what it should produce in our Lives; SERVICE TO THE LIVING AND

TRUE GOD!

2) Listen to me, Faith that is being Exercised properly, will Result in Works!

a. Turn with me to Eph. 2:8-9.

b. Works of Faith have nothing to do with Obtaining Righteousness, being born- again! They (The Works) are the

BY-PRODUCT of Our Salvation!

Salvation is a Gift, you can’t earn it by Works, nor can you keep it by Works! The only difference between Heaven and Hell for a person is whether they put there Faith in Jesus!

(But understand this, it’s a gift with strings attached!)

Back in Paul’s day, a Gift, which is also a Grace (greek: charis; meaning gift) was given with some expectation of a Return!

You see people would give a gift, anticipating that they in return would receive something from you!

The same is true of Salvation!

You see there is NOTHING that we CAN DO to MERIT, to DESERVE Salvation, that part was Free, because it is only by the Grace of God that He Sent His Son for Us!

BUT once we are Saved, is that it? Do we now have a “GET OUT OF HELL FREE CARD”, and as Bugs Bunny used to say, “That’s All Folks”? No!

Yes, your Eternal Destiny is settled, but why are you Still Here? Why did God just not take you on to Heaven?

c. Look at verses 10 of Eph. 2:10:

We aren’t Saved BY WORKS, we are Saved FOR WORKS! And notice, this verse doesn’t say that we WILL Walk in them, it says we SHOULD Walk in them!

Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thess. 2:11-12.

Paul exhorts his New Brothers and Sisters In Christ, that they WOULD WALK WORTHY OF GOD WHO CALLED THEM INTO HIS OWN KINGDOM AND GLORY!

The Thessalonians weren’t SHOULD’VE, WOULD’VE Christians!

Neither Eph. 2:10 or 1 Thess. 2:12 said that we WILL, WALK WORTHY, BUT FOLKS when we have received the GIFT OF SALVATION, and when we are MOTIVATED by the RETURN OF THAT GIFT; ONE JESUS CHRIST, we will LIVE BY FAITH and WALK WORTHY OF HIS CALLING!

The Last thing the Return of Jesus Christ SHOULD be Motivating Us to Do Is;

III. LABOR IN LOVE (1 Thess. 1:3)

1) Our Work of Faith is Manifested, it is made Evident by our Labor of Love!

a. Look at 2 Cor. 5:14-15

The Love of Christ COMPELS US!

Compels (def): To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.

Love is a Strong Motivating Force!

The word Compel/Constraineth in the KJV; carries with it, the Idea of being Infected with something.

Like someone that is Sick with some virus/disease, and it affects the Whole Body! So, in other words Christ’s Love has infected our whole Body.

If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus’ Love for you has infected every part of your Body and Being.

And therefore, it should CONTROL YOU!

b. Vs. 15 says it all: We don’t Live for Ourselves, but for Christ!

Gal. 2:20,

c. It was obvious to Paul why the Thessalonians were Laboring. He knew they Loved Jesus Christ and it showed in

their Lives!

For They were Spreading the Love of Christ to Everyone, and Everywhere they went!

d. When His Love Controls us, we become vehicles of God’s Mission! (Which is to reach The Lost!) Exactly what the

Thessalonians were doing.

e. And Church, it is Exactly, what we should be about as well! (2 Cor. 5:17-20)

2) Church, let us not forget this New Year, what our Days Upon this Earth have been “GIVEN” to us for!

Put aside your Past, move beyond your Failures and Sin, and Focus on the Work and Labor that The Lord has Created for you to do!

Remember that Everywhere you Go, Everything you Do, Everything you Say, should be Worthy of an Ambassador of Jesus Christ!

You and I are Representatives of Our Lord Jesus, Work your hardest to Introduce others to Christ, so that they may be Reconciled with Our Father God!

3) As we begin to wrap things up, I want you to look back to 1 Thess. 1:2 one more time.

a. Paul was Thankful for the Thessalonian Believers!

He was Thankful because his Ministry to them was not in Vain!

As verses 6-8 say (1 Thess. 1:6-8), Paul was an Example of Christ to them, and they Followed his Example, and therefore, became Examples of Christ to Others!

b. I ask you one last question: WILL ANYONE BE THANKFUL FOR YOU THIS YEAR?

When Our Focus as Christians is on the Wrong Thing, When our Motivation in this Life is anything outside the Realm of God’s Kingdom, and the RETURN of His SON JESUS, we WASTE A LOT OF TIME and we LEAD many people AWAY FROM CHRIST !

I want to close by giving you a Challenge for this New Year, and I’ll do that by first quoting from the TERMINATOR; Arnold Shwarzenegger:

“People perform better in sports and everything else, if you don’t have a Plan B. I’m telling you, I’ve never ever had a Plan B . I say I made a full commitment that I’m going to go and be a body building champion. I made a full commitment that I’m going to be in America. I made a full commitment that I’m going to get into show business and I’m going to be a leading man no matter what it takes, I will do the work, I would do the work over and over and over, until I get it!”

I think we as Christians could take some advice from Arnold. We know, we understand, what our Plan A is supposed to be, but far too often we go with Plan B.

We Live by Our Flesh, instead of by The Spirit!

Imagine if we, as Arnold said, “made a full commitment” to do as Paul said in Eph. 4:1, Col. 1:10, to “Walk Worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every GOOD WORK and increasing in the knowledge of God;” My goodness, what a difference Big Bone Baptist Church would make.

CHRISTIAN, if you haven’t FULLY COMMITTED yourself to the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION, I ask you to come and do that today!

That is your Challenge, Stick to Plan A, don’t veer off the path and COMMIT yourself to the things of this WORLD!

Remember that you are a NEW CREATION, and KNOW THAT YOUR KING IS RETURNING FOR YOU!

LOST PERSON, if you have been Living Life with No Motivation or the Wrong Motivation, I ask you to come to Jesus today! If you do, this will be the first year that you REALLY START TO LIVE!

COME AND BELIEVE AND TRUST IN HIM TODAY!