We Live if You Are Standing Fast

Spencer walks through 1 Thessalonians 3:6–13, reading it alongside D.A. Carson's book on Paul's prayers. The thread: Paul, under persecution and forced to flee Thessalonica, isn't distressed about his own affliction — he's distressed until Timothy brings word that the young church's faith is holding. Paul's joy and very life are bound up in their spiritual well-being, not their size, popularity, or programs.

From there Spencer draws the application: a life of significance is a life poured out for others, for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel. He contrasts a culture that asks "how can I use others to serve myself?" with Paul's model of giving your life away.

He shares two field stories (locations withheld for safety): a pastor to nomads in sub-Saharan Africa, called to that work since 1980, who recently baptized 13 new believers — including a village leader who said he'd never seen anyone love his people that way. And a pastor in a region hostile to the gospel who spent three months in prison on conversion charges, then returned, served through a water project, and was eventually welcomed into the very homes that had rejected him.

Spencer closes by praying for an unreached people group in Chad, and giving thanks for the pastors on the ground and the supporters who make the work possible

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Connect with Spencer and the neverthirst team: neverthirstwater.org

Host: Spencer Sutton

To Learn More About neverthirst: neverthirstwater.org

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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of neverthirst 2025.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Alright, everybody, welcome back to another episode of For the Kingdom and Never Thirst Podcast. Glad to be here with you today. I am your host, Spencer Sutton, and I want to talk to you today. I was I've been reading a book by a guy named DA Carson, and this book is called, I think it's called, I shouldn't know exactly what it's called, but it's called Uh Praying with Paul, I believe. And essentially the book is he's unwrapping and unraveling Paul's prayers and has some great insight. So what I've been doing is I've been reading this book. I've just been taking parts of uh different letters that Paul has prayed for the people at the church he's writing to, and I've just put them in my iPad and I just kind of underline different things, highlight different things, and I just journal about it. I just like to sit with a few verses every morning and just sit and think about them, journal what I'm thinking about, and uh it's turned into these thoughts that I want to share with you uh this morning. And so let's let me just I'm gonna start off by reading. And so I've this passage is is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. And before we begin, the background here is Paul has planted this church. He planned this church. You can read about it in Acts 17, the first nine verses. He talks about going to Thessalonica, and he goes to the synagogue of the Jews, and he went in there and he was talking. It says verse 3, he was explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, This Jesus who I proclaim to you is the Christ. So these Jewish people would know what he was talking about when he said, This is the Christ, this is a Messiah that we've been promised all these times. But it says that some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some of the wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob and they set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. So this persecution arose, and then Paul had to leave. And so he wrote them this letter. He's writing back to them, and you can read the greeting at the very beginning because he says, um he says in verse 8, he says, For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. So he was sending, I think he was sending Timothy back to find out how are you doing? He's he he had to leave so soon. I was reading different commentaries, and one of them says that he probably only spent a few weeks there, and being chased out of the city, uh driven out of the city, he was writing back to see how was this young church doing in the mid-I mean, you you you had a few Jewish people who had believed and had faith in Christ, but then you had uh Greeks and they said uh a women, several women. So he wanted to find out, and thankfully the report came back good. And so Paul was praising God for them in the first chapter, and he praises God for them again here in the third chapter. So I want to read just a few verses. I'm gonna read verses six through thirteen, and then we'll just kick off. I'm just gonna share a few thoughts and then tie it in at the end, uh, and we'll pray for a people group. All right. But now, this is verse six, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly, night and day, that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. And here comes the prayer part. Now may the God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all the saints. And so as I was journaling about this, it's just evident, it's incredible to see Paul's passion for people. Like you can feel it coming out of the letter. Like he he planted this church, and then he he's in distress until he finds out he's not in distress about the persecution, he's in distress until he finds out how they're doing. He wants to know how their faith is. The thing that would that would cause him so much distress is if he heard that people's faith wasn't strong, or it was waning, or they were shrinking back, or they were going back to their old ways. So here he was desperate to know how they were since he had to depart. And so obviously he sent Timothy knowing that it was probably not safe for him to go back and preach. And I love what as he found out that hey, not only is Timothy bringing us a good report, but also it's been reported like your faith has is going forth all over the place. Macedonia, Anica. It's your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we don't even need to say anything. And I love what Spurgeon says here. He says, Everybody asked, What has happened to these Thessalonians? These people have broken their idols, they worship the one God, they trust in Jesus, they are no longer drunken, dishonest, impure, contentious. Everybody talked of what had taken place among these converted people. Oh, for conversions, plentiful, clear, singular, and manifest, so that the word of God may sound out. Our converts are our best advertisements and arguments. This is what Paul was experiencing. And this church had taken on the heart and characteristics of the one who planted it, of Paul. And just as Paul remembered, prayed, and longed to see them again, so they did the same for Paul. They were praying for him and they longed to see him again. And this news of their faith, this news of their faith and their love has encouraged Paul so much that his distress and afflictions even faded because he cares mostly about their faith and their life in Christ. So much so that he makes this incredible statement. I love the statement in verse 7. It says, For this reason, brothers, uh, and well, this is kind of the setup, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. Verse 8, for now we live if you are standing fast in the faith. Paul's very life, his joy and fulfillment was wrapped up in the spiritual well-being of this church. It was not their size that he cared about, it was not their popularity that he cared about, it was not their programs, it was their growing faith. And as I was reading this and as I was journaling about it, it was just a great reminder that a life of significance, a life that will result in rewards in heaven is a life poured out for other people for the glory of God and the advancement of the gospel. I love what Richard Phillips says here about this joy that Paul felt at Timothy's encouraging report. This is what he said, Richard Phillips. He says, So how can you get a life like Paul's? One that will have great troubles and anxiety, but will cause you to abound in thankful praise to God? The answer can be found all around in the lives of your fellow Christians who need your ministry, encouragement, and prayers, and in the lost multitudes of unbelievers who perish without a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Will you offer yourself to be used by Christ for the blessing and salvation of others? If you do, you will really live, both in this world and in the age to come when the glory of a true Christian ministry will be fully seen. I love that. I love that so much because it's just an incredible reminder that our lives are to be spent for other people. And I I I think about it like obviously, because um I'm I'm working here, I'm in this role with Neverthirst, and I see the incredible work going on around the world, and so obviously it's not just for me here where God's planted me, but it's also like it moves beyond that. And so when I read reports and get reports back from the field, I am so greatly encouraged that in spite of very difficult circumstances, God is using people. And and really, I have to say this to you. If you're listening to this, if you're a supporter, I have to say this to you. It's your generosity that enables this to happen. So we live in a culture that doesn't ask how can I be used to serve others, but our culture asks, how can I use others to serve myself. And and in part, in part, like I don't want to be harsh when I say this, in part, I feel as if this attitude sometimes infiltrates our churches. And and it's it's no wonder that that there's infighting and struggle and discord. And it's no wonder that many times we look just like the world. But Paul is showing us here that there is a better way to a life of significance. It's not to build the biggest church, it's to give our lives away. Paul here is under enormous pressure and opposition, but but look how at the words that he uses to describe how he feels. He says, We have been comforted about you. He says, We live if you're standing fast in the Lord. He says, For what thanksgiving can we return to God? So he's thankful. He says, for all the joy that we feel. He and then he describes, like, he said, I'm asking the Lord will increase and abound in love for one another, that you all just as we do for you. So he felt this love well up in him. So even though he is under enormous pressure and opposition everywhere he goes, and you can read all about his all about his struggles in his letters in the book of Acts. It's just an incredible, incredible uh like portrait of a life poured out for God. He's still saying, This is how I feel. I feel alive, I feel comforted, I feel thankful, I feel joy, and I have this overwhelming love for them. And these feelings, birthed by a life of sacrifice, like psych sacrificial service, they result in this prayer of praise and intercession for continued growth and holiness. And his whole point, like Paul's, if you read his letters, his whole point, he deeply desires the people that he's met, the people that churches, and even the people he hadn't met. If you look at the book of uh that he wrote to the church at Rome, he never met these people, but he still wrote to them because his biggest concern was that oh, the church of Christ would be holy, that the church of Christ would reflect the character and the love of God to the people in the world around them, that many would be saved. And so as I was thinking about this, I just I was reminded of a couple of stories that I've read recently from people on the front lines. Last week we heard from or two weeks ago we heard from Jason, who talked about his trip in Sub-Saharan Africa and his opportunity to meet with pastors and evangelists and just just incredible um you know, just stories that that he was hearing. And and I too have been reading different reports, and I was just thinking there's there's two pastors. I won't tell you where they're currently serving, but both places are extremely difficult. For different really for different reasons. I think one is probably more hostile to the gospel, and one is in an extreme environment that is very difficult. Like you you wouldn't say, hey, I can't wait to go visit there one day. You would never say that. But I think this is like when I think about how we started Neverthurst. This is the heart of Neverthirst. We wanted to go to places that other people didn't want to go to. And so I'm thinking, and I've got this picture. I put actually I actually uh put uploaded their pictures in my journal just so I could think about them and see them, and I'm just recalling the story. So one of them is in Sub-Saharan Africa, this pastor, and he is a pastor to nomads. And I was looking at a report recently uh that he uh that he had sent where, and we couldn't share this report out publicly, like we couldn't put it on the internet or any, but definitely not social media or anything like that, but um, this pastor had baptized 13 uh recent recent uh followers of Christ, and they're nomadic people in this area, and this has been his specialty. This is the ministry that God has called him to since 1980. He was saved, I think, in the late 79 or maybe 80, but but by God's grace, he was trained up, he was discipled. He wanted to go and be a pastor, but he had a wise man tell him, I think first you need to be discipled. So he took him under his wing and discipled him and loved him, and then he went to Bible school, and then he came back and he just committed his life. And and somebody had told him, you know what, you could be a pastor to nomads, and they wander through these areas, and so that's what he would do. He would find out where they were coming, going to, and he would minister and share the gospel. And he's seen many come to faith in Christ. And so this report that I was looking at, 13 baptisms, and now he's stationed in an area where a lot of nomads come in, and they're no these people are still nomadic because you know they're going to where they're like their cattle can get water and different things. And so he's just ministering to these people. And we have done water projects, like even where he is, right where he is, and and these nomads come through to get access to clean water, he's able to love them and share the gospel. And and one of actually one of the village leaders or nomadic people leaders that he um had uh ministered to reported to him and told him, He's like, I've never seen someone love our people the way that you do. And this village leader came to faith in Christ. And he said, I want all of my people, I want all of my tribe to know Jesus Christ. And it was just an incredible reminder to me. It's like as I was thinking about that, I was just so I'm so incredibly grateful for you who are listening, for your generosity. I'm so incredibly grateful for that. I'm also incredibly grateful for these pastors who are on the ground, this man who committed us long before Neverthirst was even a thing. He said, I want to serve the Lord. And by God's grace, we get to be a very small part of this ministry. The other pastor lives in an area that is hostile to the gospel. And I was just reading his report, and he was telling about his testimony, and he came and he was in this village, and he was sharing Christ and uh the village, kind of as we read in in Acts 17 when Paul was there in Thessalonica. Uh this village got all stirred up and riled up, and they actually called the authorities and said that he was trying to convert them. Like, I don't know if it was forcibly convert them or whatever, but they have anti-conversion laws. He spent three months in prison. Three months in prison. But when he got out, he came back and he was a part of a water project that we were doing in this area. And over time the people saw that he, it wasn't as if he was like coming to them with bad intentions. He had genuinely wanted for their welfare, and they started to recognize that and they started to see that, and they started to respond to that, and now they're listening to him and they've welcomed him in their homes. I think this is incredible. Both of these, even though I just gave you kind of just brief glimpses into this, is these are men who have like years in ministry, sacrificed like comforts in their life so that they could be a part of ministry of taking the gospel to these people. And so I just want to say thank you for your generosity. Thank you for making this possible. What you're doing, what you're contributing to is making an impact. I don't ever want you to think that it is not. And so I was just thinking about this because guess what? I don't live in any either one of these places. I live here in Birmingham, Alabama, and so as I was journaling, I was just writing, and this is what I wrote. I said, God places his people in his environments, like wherever you are in the world, whatever city, state, country you're listening to this, God placed you for the praise of his glorious grace in Christ Jesus. So the question I want to ask is where has God placed you and what has he given you? Like he's may have given you talents, he may have given you resources, he may have given you just opportunity. This is always kind of in my as I'm thinking about it, kind of going back to Psalm 67, 1 and 2. God has blessed us for the purpose of making his name great. And so how will he now use you? So he's placed you and he's given you certain things, how will he use you to make others glad in God in your moment of eternal history? Paul had his moment, and by God's grace, we we have his letters and we can read and we can be encouraged, and we can see his heart and his passion for people, and we can think, wow, God, make me someone who is passionate, as passionate about people as Paul was, as Jesus was. Obviously, he's the ultimate, the ultimate uh source of our love for others. Now, before we go, I want to pray for a people group. This people group lives in a country called Chad. You can look at Chad, it's I I don't know exactly where people would necessarily consider it, like in Africa, but if you're looking at Africa, it's pretty much central North Africa. It's in I would consider North Africa in the central big country right next to Sudan and right next to Niger. And so I want to pray for this people group called uh Badio. And there's around 76,000 of them, uh 0.1% Christian, largest religion is Islam. Actually, it's uh hundred percent. So, what are their lives like? They're hard working small farmers, they raise a lot of crops. Being in a semi desert area, they haul water from far away sources, finding clean. There are also resourceful people who make robots and from homelands for their own use. And the people group desperately need Jesus Christ. As we all do. Um I just want to close and pray for them. And I also want to say a prayer of thanksgiving for you and for these pastors that we were just reading about. Lord, God, we come to you and just ask that, oh God, by your grace, you would send laborers into the field to reach the Badio people living in Chad. I pray, God, that you would send workers there. That God, you would give them such a love and a burden for these people, Father, that even in the midst of difficulty and struggle and extremely hot weather, poor water access, and just a difficult life, I pray that this, that they would also be like Paul. They would love them so much and want to spend their lives serving them. God, I pray that you would send gospel witness and that they would come to know Jesus Christ, and that they would fall in love with Christ, that they would come to know you through the word, and that they would then begin to share it with their people. And Lord, that I pray that a church would form in this people group and that they would love their neighbors so much that they would want to know what is different about these people. They're our people, yet they worship Jesus Christ. Why do they love us so much? God, I just pray for them. Lord, I also want to praise you and give you thanks for the pastors that I was just reading about. One in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in South Asia. I want to pray and thank you for their testimony. Thank you for their faithfulness. Thank you for their perseverance. Thank you for their dedication and their love that they show to their people. And in the place that you've put them with the resources you've given them, Lord, I just pray that you would continue to make their ministry successful, that you would encourage them. And that, Holy Spirit, you would open up avenues to reach more people and to share with more people. Lord, give them great success for the glory of your name. And then lastly, Lord, I want to thank you for our supporters, for supporters of Neverthirst. Lord, without them, this work wouldn't carry on. And so we praise you for the people that you have introduced to us from all over the country, really from all over the world. We're just so thankful. We're incredibly grateful, God. It is all because of you that this work goes on. So we praise you for that, Father. And we pray all of these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, everybody, that is it for this episode of For the Kingdom. I hope you all have a fantastic week, and we'll be back in a couple of weeks with a new episode.