Intro: 35 years ago Mount St. Helen’s was a beautiful mountain 96 miles south of Seattle, Washington, and 50 miles northeast of Portland,
Oregon. Geologist became concerned that all evidence pointed to a major
eruption on the mountain and the call to evacuate was issued.
Over TV and
radio; over loudspeakers mounted on top of police cars, the announcements were
loud to evacuate the area. House to house notification were made and people
began to leave the area. One person
refused to leave: Harry Truman – not the President.
Harry Randall
Truman was a resident of the U.S. state of Washington who lived on Mount St. Helens. He came to brief fame in the months preceding the
volcano's 1980
eruption after he stubbornly refused to leave his home
despite evacuation orders.
He was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens
Lodge at Spirit
Lake, located at the south end of Spirit Lake at
the foot of the mountain in the danger zone at the time of the eruption. I know
this mountain and it will not kill me.
An ash plume billows from the crater
atop Mount St. Helens hours after its eruption began on May 18th, 1980, in
Washington State.
On that date, an earthquake struck below the north face of
Mount St. Helens in Washington State, triggering the largest landslide in
recorded history and a major volcanic eruption that scattered ash across a
dozen states. The sudden lateral blast—heard hundreds of miles away—removed
1,300 feet off the top of the volcano, sending shockwaves and pyroclastic flows
across the surrounding landscape, flattening forests, melting snow and ice, and
generating massive mudflows.
That morning Harry Truman and his 16 cats had just
finished breakfast when the eruption took place. Harry along with every living thing near him
was dead moments later. A total of 57 people lost their lives in the disaster.
The column of ash and gas reached 15 miles into the atmosphere, depositing ash
across a dozen states.
But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and
the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are
in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10 NKJV
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples
came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And
what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And
Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For
many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive
many. And
you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for
all these things must come to pass, but the end is not
yet. For
nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be
famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All
these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation
and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And
then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one
another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness
will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the
end will come. Matthew 24: 3-14 NKJV
The church in 2 Thessalonians was confused
over the belief of the second coming of Christ. They responded with panic and
lawlessness. Some were shaken and alarmed by the things they heard, while
others were caught up in rebellion against God. Paul taught the church to
respond with faithfulness and preparation. We should respond the same way as we
get ready for His return.
"Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church
of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you
and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to
give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is
greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever
greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God
for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and
afflictions which you endure." 2 Thessalonians
1:1-4
How do you get ready for something that you don’t
know when it’s going to happen? How do you get ready and stay ready for
Christ’s return?
1. Expect PERSECUTION and AFFLICTION
We ought always to give thanks to God for you,
brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the
love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we
ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance
and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you
endure. 2 Thessalonians 1:3
Paul says they were experiencing
persecution and affliction. To be a follower of Christ doesn’t mean you are
exempt from life’s trials; it can actually bring them. Christians face
harassment at school, at work and around the world Christians are persecuted
for their faith. Persecution is probably what you think it is… Christians are
marginalized from society.
“I have told
you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” John 6:33 MEV
Jesus promised that in this world we would have
tribulation. Jesus said if they hated me they will hate you and if they
persecuted me they will persecute you. If you aren’t expecting that and
prepared for that, you might wane in your faith. But if you know it’s coming,
you can be prepared.
2. STAND in FAITH
We ought always to give thanks to God for you,
brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged… 2 Thessalonians 1:3a
Paul bragged on the church of
Thessalonica for modeling an increasing faith — they kept pressing forward like
Paul to know Jesus more deeply and to see their faith grow. Faith is like a
muscle, you can feed it and exercise it and see it grow. Think about your
service to the Lord. Many work hard for
God – other say – I can’t give 2 hours on one Sat a month to help clean the
church. I can’t help in the nursery or
with the children’s ministry – others can do that. Pastor – stop asking for money – I just can’t
give 10% of my money back to God. When
will you exercise your faith?
3. GROW in LOVE
We ought always to give thanks to God
for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and
the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater … 2 Thessalonians 1:3b
We should grow in our love for one
another more and more. We need each other. There are many “one another’s”
in the Scripture. As the time of Jesus draws near, we will need each other more
and more. The writer of Hebrews said gather and encourage each other. As the
day of Christ grows closer, you should press in toward your faith family and
love others and receive love from them.
Let us
not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each
other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25
Therefore,
my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! Philippians
4:1
So love through acts of kindness…. LOVE
IN ACTION.
4. PERSEVERE in HOPE
Brothers and sisters,
we want you to know what happens to those who die. We don’t want you to mourn,
as other people do. They mourn because they don’t have any hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV
Paul bragged on their perseverance in
the midst of the hard times. They persevered because of the hope within them.
True faith is not perfection. True faith will always get back up. You must
persevere because that is when the character of Christ is developed in us.
… because you know that the testing of your
faith produces perseverance. James 1:3
Not only so, but we also glory in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance… Romans 5:3
As you know, we count as blessed those who
have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what
the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5:11
When we pass the test, when we walk through
the fire, God says He can reward us and strengthen us. It will all be worth it
when Jesus returns.
Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set
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