• Psalm 119:9-16 - The importance of God’s word.

• We’re getting a little closer to normal.

  • Jeremiah 29:1-11 – Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles, telling them to settle in because they would be there for a while.

  • Nehemiah 8:11-17 – A little bit closer to normal – some of the old feat days were reinstated.

• We will appeal to the highest authority: God!

  • I Timothy 1:17

  • I Timothy 4:12, 16

  • We should be examples of what we are teaching others.

  • II Timothy 2:15

  • I Thessalonians 2:13

• A meeting helps expose groupthink.

  • I Corinthians 3:1 – Sometimes a person from outside the group can see issues those in the group cannot.

  • Luke 3:7-14 – John was blunt with people, but they had a great response!

• 1 Thessalonians

  • Introduction to the book

    • Probably written about 51 A.D. The writer was Paul.

    • Paul brought the gospel to Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, recorded in Acts 15:36-18:22.

    • Paul left Thessalonica abruptly due to persecution (Acts 17:1-5) and sent Timothy to check on them a short time later (1 Thessalonians 3:1-2). Timothy caught up with Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1-5) and delivered good news of their “faith and love.”

    • Paul appears to have written these two letters to them soon after Timothy’s return, while Paul was in Corinth (1 Thessalonians 3:6).

  • Thessalonica

    • The city of Thessalonica was the most populous city in Macedonia at that time, with roughly 200,000 inhabitants. The city was an important military and commercial port and became the capital of Macedonia in 146 B.C.

    • The modern city of Thessaloniki sits of top of the ruins of the old city of Thessalonica, making excavation difficult.

    • A first century arch, called the Vandar Arch once existed in Thessaloniki. It was torn down in 1867, but an inscription from the arch was preserved in the British Museum. It is notable in that it mentions officials called politarchs, a Greek word that Luke used to designate Thessalonian officials in Acts 17:6. Before this discovery, there had previously been some doubt about Luke’s use of this word since it had not been found in other Greek literature. This find helps illustrate the precision of Luke’s account.

  • Imagine you’re a Thessalonians. What’s your reaction to this?

    • 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 – Immediately, there’s a positive, encouraging tone.

    • 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20 – Paul reminisces with them about their time together and expresses thanks for them.

    • 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 – They received a good report from Timothy!

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18 – “Excel still more.” Looking forward to judgment.

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 – Encouragement for the judgment to come. Final advice.

• Introduction

  • Genesis 1:26

  • Genesis 9:3-7 – Human life is different!

• Understand the truth

  • Luke 1:39-44; 2:12, 16; 1:57, 36 – The unborn child is a baby. The same word is used for the child before and after birth.

  • Exodus 21:22-25 – Causing the death of an unborn child was punishable by death under the Law of Moses!

  • Isaiah 44:2; Jeremiah 1:5; Psalms 139:13

  • God’s Old Covenant laws protected the life of the unborn.

  • Abortion is a sin. It is murder.

• Love your neighbor

  • Matthew 22:39

  • II Corinthians 2:6-8

  • John 8:31-36 – We can follow Jesus’ example and show love.

  • Mark 6:34

• Love in deed and truth.

  • I John 3:16-18

• Pray for all who are in authority.

  • I Timothy 2:1-2

[Note: This sermon is the last of Jesse Jenkins’ 70 year career of regular local preaching. I’m personally proud to have hosted so many of his lessons on this site over the years. The strength of his teaching and that of others who have preached at Benchley is one of the reasons I started this site in the beginning. Good Bible teaching is far too rare these days and when it is found, it deserves to be shared. Brother Jenkins, if you happen to read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work. I have grown tremendously studying at your feet. By preserving your lessons for posterity, hopefully others will grow in the Lord as well. May God bless you. -MRW]

• Psalms 11:1-3

• The foundations of any God-approved society have always been the same:

  • Family – companionship

    • Matthew 19:6 – God organized marriage and the family relationship

  • Government – protect the good and punish the evil

  • Church – reconciliation to God

• The foundations are under attack

  • Family

    • Genesis 4 – Lamech had two wives.

    • Genesis 6 – God was ready to destroy the earth.

    • II Peter 1:5

    • Things went wrong very quickly when people disobeyed God’s marriage law.

    • The Law of Moses allowed some concessions, but God’s marriage law has never changed.

    • Matthew 19:9

    • Marriage is under attack

    • Quotes from:

      • Declaration of Feminism

      • James S. Buckley

  • Government

    • Romans 13:1-4

    • Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that my God is just. His justice will not sleep forever.”

    • Over government is under attack.

  • Church

    • Ephesians 2:13-16

    • The church is under attack:

      • By many organizations

      • By false doctrines

      • By indifference among members

    • There is a standard of right and wrong, established by two factors:

      • God IS.

      • God has SPOKEN.

• What can the righteous do?

  • Psalms 11:4-7

  • Keep trusting in God

  • Keep on being righteous

  • Keep on spreading the Word.

• If Heaven is worth anything, it’s worth everything!

[Due to technical difficulties, part of the audio in the middle of this lesson was lost and the video stream was cut in two. I have attempted to piece the audio back together. My apologies! -MRW]

• Matthew 28:1-10

• Can we believe what Matthew wrote about the resurrection?

• Are the New Testament writings reliable?

  • Luke 1:1-4

  • The New Testament is repeatedly confirmed by outside sources.

    • Luke 1:5; 2:1-4

    • If it was a work of fiction, it would be written with as few details as possible. Not so with the New Testament.

    • Luke 3:1-2

    • 59 marks of authenticity

      • John 5:2; 11:49

    • 84 marks of authenticity in the book of Acts

  • They included embarrassing and unlikely details.

    • Mark 8:33; 9:32; Matthew 14:31; 26:56; Mark 16:11

    • John 9:28-29; Acts 10:34-35

  • Alleged contradictions are actually marks of authenticity

    • John 20:12

    • ApologeticsPress – Alleged Discrepancies

    • J. Warner Wallace – Cold Case Christianity

• Could the disciples have stolen the body?

  • Matthew 28:11-15

  • What’s their motivation – persecution and death?

    • Acts 4:1, 20; 8:1-3

  • How likely is it that not a single one would recant?

    • I Corinthians 15:5

    • Acts 12:1-3

    • Most of the apostles suffered cruel, torturous deaths because of their preaching.

  • How did they get past the guards?

    • Matthew 27:62-66

  • How do we explain the appearances of Jesus?

• Could the disciples have been deceived?

  • Substitute on the cross theory.

    • Surah 4:157-158 – Jesus was not the one on the cross.

  • Swoon theory

    • Jesus was close to death, but did not really die.

  • Wrong tomb theory

    • Nobody checked? Also, how do you explain the appearances of the risen Jesus?

  • Hallucination theory

    • People don’t hallucinate in groups, and they certainly don’t hallucinate the same thing!

    • How do you explain the empty tomb?

• John 5:25-29