How God Saves (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)

How many languages are spoken in this room?

If I had a guest looking around, I'm guessing 10 at least.

I'm not great at learning languages.

I have to confess that I've tried my hand at Spanish four

years. I am fluent in about four

phrases, my Greeks a work in progress.

I'm still trying. My Hebrew is dead and gone.

I'm taking a Latin proficiency test at the end of this month,

so you'll find out how good my Latin is in about a month.

How's your language acquisition? Today?

We're considering a biblical language.

Not Greek, not Hebrew, not Aramaic, the language of

encouragement. Of course there are times where

you need a critique, but today we're talking about

encouragement. I wonder which language you're

more fluent in, encouragement or critique.

Who was the last person you encouraged?

What was the last encouragement? You gave?

A good encouragement, and we all know this to be true.

It is like oxygen when you're starving to breathe.

I wonder if you came here today needing encouragement.

Today we're beginning a new series and what I would say is

one of the most encouraging books of the Bible.

If you have your Bible, open up to First Thessalonians.

If you don't have the Bible, go ahead and raise your hand.

Somebody's in the back right now ready to bring you a Bible.

First Thessalonians, just raise a hand.

Somebody's coming to bring you a Bible.

If you're new to the Bible, just feel free to open up to the

table of contents. You can see where First

Thessalonians is there in the New Testament after the Gospels.

One of the last of Paul's general epistles.

It's one of Paul's earliest letters written within 20 years

of Jesus death. First Thessalonians is a window

into a newly planted church in the 1st century.

Thessalonica, which is modern day Thessaloniki in Greece, was

a large city with a harbor on the Aegean Sea.

During Paul's second missionary journey, Paul, Silas and Timothy

came to Thessalonica probably around 49 or 50AD and upon their

arrival there was no church. After three weeks there was what

happened in Thessalonica. We read the story in Acts

Acts 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17 on three Sabbath days, so over three weeks.

Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures, particularly the Old

Testament. He opened it up.

He proved that Christ suffered 4 sinners on the cross and he rose

from the dead. In other words, Paul preached

the gospel and some were persuaded.

We read in Acts 17. Devout Greeks leading women of

the city believed in Jesus. Now Paul and his companions

likely stayed for more than three weeks.

We know from the book of Philippians that the church at

Philippi actually sent him a care package while he was in

Thessalonica. But either way, whatever.

Where was a few more months than that?

He didn't stay long because as we read in Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

eventually he was driven out of town by the Jews.

They said this man Paul is turning the world upside down.

That's what he's been doing. That's what he's here to do.

And if you've received Christ, you know that's actually true.

That is what happens when Christ enters your life and you believe

the gospel. Your world is turned upside

down. You know, we can learn a little

bit more about this book, the historical context, especially

by just reading through it. So if you have your Bible right

now, open it up to the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of

chapter 3. A couple things to point out

that help us understand the context.

Look at chapter 2, verse 17. Paul referenced here being torn

away from the church and how he endeavoured eagerly to see them

face to face. Verse 18.

But Satan hindered his coming. Look at chapter 3, verse 2.

So Paul sent Timothy to establish and exhort their

faith. Verse 5 of chapter 3.

Because of their severe affliction, Paul feared that the

tempter had tempted them and his labor would be in vain.

But Timothy reported verse 6. He's returned and reported good

news. And Paul's heart was comforted.

And that's the context for this letter that we have Now, before

we dive into chapter one, one more thing to point out that's

crucial to understanding this epistle.

There's five chapters. At the end of every chapter Paul

points this month's old church to the end to the second coming

to the return of Jesus Christ. Just skim through the look at

look at chapter one, verse 10. He talks about waiting for his

Son from heaven. Turn the page if you have a

Bible like mine. Chapter 2, verse 19 they are

waiting. He wants them to be His crown

before the Lord at his coming. Chapter 3, it ends with the

coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 4 it's all about the day

of the Lord, the coming of Christ.

Chapter 5 Verse 23 His aim is that they be kept blameless at

the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What do we learn from that? Yes, Paul wants to come to them

even more. He's concerned about Jesus's

coming. That is what all these

exhortations and encouragements are aimed at.

The end that day when our Lord Jesus Christ will return.

Now, Trinity Baptist Church, we're just nine months old.

We're actually older than this church here in this letter.

What can we learn from the only church in the entire New

Testament that Paul says is an example for other churches?

And if you're not a Christian, maybe you've visited churches

before. Maybe you've met some Christians

and they've just rubbed you the wrong way.

You've looked at their lives, you've been in their churches

and thought, I don't know, these people seem just like me or

worse. Friend, visit the Church of the

Thessalonians this morning and see a healthy church.

If you're visiting and looking for a church, this is the type

of church you want to join, so let's read it.

First Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy to

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord

Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly

mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and

Father your work of faith and labor, of love and steadfastness

of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers, loved by God, that He has chosen you

because our gospel came to you not only in Word, but also in

power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction.

You know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your

sake, 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, so that you became an example to all the

believers in Macedonia and Achaea.

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in

Macedonia and Achea, but your faith in God has gone forth

everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of

reception we had among you, and how you turn to God from idols

to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son

from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us

from the wrath to come. Paul's like a good coach.

This is his halftime speech. They're down, they're afflicted,

and yet Paul encourages them. It's not the end yet.

And he points out God's grace in their lives.

He says look at how God's working in you and through you.

He uses that encouragement to help them be ready for that day

when the sun will return. He wants their faith to flourish

even in affliction until Christ returns.

And here's how this church is an example for us today.

Here's the main point. Encourage one another towards

the end with evidence of God's grace.

Brothers and sisters, encourage one another towards the end with

evidence of God's grace. There's two points.

If you're following along taking notes, .1 sovereign grace verses

one through 4, and then .2 evident grace verses 5 through

10. So first, sovereign grace verses

one through 4. Look at verse one, Paul,

Sylvanus, and Timothy. The letter is from that

missionary team in Acts 17. Paul, Sylvanus or Silas is the

same person and Timothy, Paul's the primary author.

He mentions twice in the letter that he himself is writing.

Silas and Timothy are like his cosigners.

Paul the apostle was not a Lone Ranger.

He was always doing ministry that included others and Silas.

Back in Acts chapter 15, he was a prophet.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

He was one of the leading men at the Jerusalem Council.

Timothy is Paul's protege. We know a lot about Timothy.

He often served as Paul's delegate.

When Paul was unable to go visit someone, he'd send Timothy.

Notice what Paul calls the church though.

Look at verse one. They are the Church of the

Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ the

the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father.

You know, it'd be like us saying we're Trinity Baptist Church of

Chapel Hill and Durham in God the Father and the Lord Jesus

Christ. An interesting phrase in they're

rooted in God. They receive their life from

God. He's the vine, they're the

branches. And it's astonishing that Paul

is the one writing this. If you remember, Paul bursts on

the scene persecuting those preaching that Jesus was risen

from the dead, that he was the Lord of all.

Here he is now a preacher because he had been converted.

You read about Paul's conversion in Acts Chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Paul says to them, grace to you and peace.

Friends, it's so easy to skip over these phrases.

They're vital to the life of the church.

Grace and peace. This is a persecuted minority.

They need grace, they need peace, Paul reminds them.

They have them in God. Then in verses 2 and 3, Paul

pours forth the praise. He thanks God for them and he

tells them, look at verse 2. We give thanks to God always for

all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and

labor, of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus

Christ. This was a church where God was

at work, and Paul could see it. He saw it and he remembered it.

What did Paul see? Sovereign grace at work in three

ways. Faith, hope, love.

Their faith worked, their love labored, their hope endured.

You could see their faith in God growing.

You could observe their love and care for one another.

You could watch their eyes look towards heaven as they hoped in

Christ's second coming. Paul saw it and he thanked God

for it. He thanked God in prayer.

He prayed always, He prayed for everyone.

He prayed constantly. You can kind of picture Paul,

he's writing from Corinth with Silas and Timothy.

They're working through their mental membership directory of

the church in Thessalonica as they remember those Saints.

They just thank God. Lord, we're, we're thankful for

Brother Bob zeal to share the gospel with others.

Lord, we're, we're grateful for Susan and her gift to love and

care for the Saints in the church.

Oh, Lord, we're thankful for Joe and his evident care for this

body, his concern for the gospel to go for.

You know, the first time I heard a church pray publicly for other

Christians was 10 years ago. University Baptist Church,

Fayetteville, AR. I was shocked, seriously, that a

church was praying for not only their own members by name, but

for other churches down the street.

I mean, this was unheard of to me.

I'd been a Christian for already 10 years at that point.

It was brand new to me. But it shouldn't have been.

This should have been normal practice.

That church, University, Baptist Church, they were just following

Paul's practice. Let's learn to pray like Paul

now. It's not wrong to pray for

yourself. I trust most of you do that.

It's wrong to pray exclusively for yourself.

When Paul prays, he constantly prays for other Christians.

When he thanks God, he regularly thanks God for other Christians.

When he remembers other Christians before God, he

reflects on spiritual fruit, faith, love, hope.

So as you spend time in prayer this week, pray for other

Christians. Have your membership directory

sitting right beside your Bible and use it for fodder to pray

for members of the church. Thank God for those other

Christians. Remember the spiritual fruit

that you've observed in these nine months together as a

church. And even better, do this with

other Christians. Paul thanks God for the

Thessalonians, and then he tells the Thessalonians about it for

their encouragement. One brother a few years ago, he

texted me every morning what he was praying for me for two

years. Man, that was encouraging.

You know, sometimes I'd skim over it, to be honest.

Other times it was like, wow, this brother's still praying for

me, Praise the Lord. Let's learn to encourage like

Paul. Sadly, in many churches, this

type of encouragement, it's like a foreign language.

It's rarely spoken. Some only dish out compliments

that are vague. Great job brother, you're doing

great. You're a great mom, you're an

awesome church member. Sometimes the comments are

false. They're not true.

You are the best fill in the blank in the world friends.

That is so often flattery. Flattery is shallow.

It's self-serving. Friends don't say something to

someone's face that you would never say behind their back.

You know, you get this picture of flattery in Proverbs.

The Proverbs say that if you're flattering someone, it's like

you're actually taking a net and spreading it out for their feet.

You're laying a trap for them. It's not for their good, it's

for your gain, Paul says in First Thessalonians chapter 2.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

I did not come with words of flattery.

That's not what He's doing here. He's encouraging them, but still

others. Others of us withhold

encouragement because we're fearful.

We don't want to puff someone up with pride or worse.

Some of us have no encouragement to share our eyes are blind to

God's grace in the lives of others.

Or even worse, some of us don't have any praise for others

because we're too busy praising ourselves.

We're too focused on our own hearts.

Instead, Paul models for us, giving thanks to God and then

telling others about it. In other words, telling others

what you're thankful to God about in them.

Of course, we know First Thessalonians 514 Paul cares

about admonishing the idol. He has that tool in his tool

belt. But if you've mastered the

surgeon's scalpel, don't forget the other tools in your tool

belt, like your pom poms. You know you want to be a

cheerleader for someone else standing on the sidelines going,

hey, you got this. Keep going.

Here's specific ways I see God working in your life.

That puts wind in our sails. So how can you begin?

How can you begin to fan the flame of God's grace as He's

gifted others in the church? A couple things.

One, pray for humility. You can't see what God's doing

in someone else's life if all you're concerned about is your

own life. Pray for a humility that would

be able to catch others doing spiritual good, that you can

actually see it and give thanks to God for it.

Then plan to share it with them. Maybe you're brand new to this.

It's not just going to come out of you.

You're going to need to plan to do this.

Next time you meet with a brother and sister in the

church, write down a few things that you think of.

OK, I've been reflecting on them.

I've been remembering them. Here's what I'm going to share

with them for their encouragement.

Share specifics. Specifics are always helpful.

Point out exactly what you see and how you see it as God's

grace in their life. And then eventually pray for

this to be your posture, your default, that you just shout

them out, shoot them out every time you see them.

Who does it Need more encouragement?

Name one person. I don't know of anyone.

Let you let it be that you're the one who's encouraging them.

Pray that you are someone who is easily edified and edifies

easily. And brothers and sisters, I

thank God for His sovereign grace at work in you.

And just to be clear, that's y'all.

That's a plural. I had that my spelling of y'all

corrected a week ago by a church member.

I'm new to the South, OK? This is new to me, y'all.

This is you guys. God's work in you.

I'm thankful for the Jamesons. I'm thankful for their work of

faith to sacrifice for the Kingdom, leave the comfort of

their home and family, and help plant this church.

I'm thankful for the Guidrys. You know, we had so many

meetings in their house. They had like 100 people in our

informational meetings, kids running around everywhere.

And they did that for the sake of this church plant.

I'm thankful for Eric Beach. I remember after one of our

first informational meetings, Eric came up to me and he said,

man, if you're not encouraged after that, we better take you

to the hospital and check your pulse.

And I was already encouraged, but that just shot me right back

up. Even more.

Encouraged, Man, I'm thankful for the lay elders of this

church for Ashok Najshani and Brandon Haas.

They are excellent at shepherding this flock.

I've experienced their own care in my life, and I wish I could

work through all 65 members of this church right now, but I

have to preach the rest of the sermon.

But how edifying would that be if we just did that with one

another? How are you thankful for Bridget

Johnson and Krista Cam and Wilson Cam?

That would be so encouraging. We should do that.

Paul has so much to thank God for.

It's abundantly obvious to Paul that God loves this church, that

he had chosen it. Look at verse 4.

For we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you.

And here's where some of us start to get uncomfortable.

Chosen by God. Chosen is literally the Greek

word for election. What's the basis for God's

election? In other words, why did God

choose them as we just confessed in our statement of faith, not

human merit. Meaning God didn't choose you if

you're a Christian because of the good things about you, it's

because of divine love. Notice in verse 4, the love of

God and the election of God are tied together.

Paul grounds God's choice in God's loving.

We heard this idea already in Deuteronomy Chapter 7.

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

You can see it there on page 8. The Lord your God has chosen you

to be a people for His treasured possession.

Out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, why?

It was not because you were more in number than any other people

that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were

the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves

you. A farmer plants his seed in the

ground. Only some spring up and grow

into a plant. Who decides which seed lives,

Friends? It's God.

It's God alone. Church.

God chose us because he loved us.

He loved us because he loves us. How does it all work?

We're approaching a mystery that's to be received by faith.

If you're in Christ, you are chosen by God.

When did he choose you? It depends how far back you can

go. Before you were born, before the

earth existed, before God spoke and the sun created and the

solar system came to being. Before Ephesians 14 says the

foundation of the world he chose you and friend, if you struggle

to understand that if you're a Christian and you see it in

Scripture it's there first Thessalonians one verse 4 chosen

you. If that's something hard for

you. Let me encourage you.

Let your posture be one of faith that seeks understanding.

This is true. Believe God's word, and as you

struggle to understand it, ask God in faith to help you.

Now, some worry. They worry that the doctrine of

election will endanger duties like evangelism.

But friends, sound doctrine always produces good fruit.

Far from hindering evangelism, election actually fuels our

evangelism. It fueled pulse.

Here's Paul at the end of his life to Timothy.

I endure everything for the sake of the elect.

All the suffering, the sleepless nights, the beatings, being

chased out of Thessalonica. He does it for the sake of the

elect. So friends, as you declare the

gospel boldly to your neighbors, to your Co workers, to your

family, to your own children, preach the gospel, leave the

results to God. Who are you proclaiming Christ

to in the power of the Holy Spirit?

And who have you given up on for?

And only God knows which seed will shoot up.

Your job is to sow the seed. And as you do, you can be

confident that our shepherd has sheep throughout the world.

And as we preach, they will hear His voice.

Sovereign grace was at work in this congregation.

They they were chosen and loved by God.

Now how did Paul know that? How did he know that about this

church? Was this some special word from

the Lord that's only given to apostles?

Did Paul have exclusive access to the Lamb's Book of Life?

Did he get the preview? Here's the names.

No friends he knew. Because if we've been elected,

there will be evidence .2 evident grace, verses 5 through

10 evident grace. How did Paul know that they were

loved and chosen by God? Look at the first word of verse

5. Because Paul has proof and

verses 5 to 10 he lists 4 evident aspects of God's grace

in their lives. He gets specific verse 5

conviction, verses six to seven imitation, verse 8 evangelism,

verses 9 to 10 conversion. He starts with conviction.

Look at verse 5. Because our gospel came to you

not only in Word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit,

and with full conviction. What happened as Paul preached

in the synagogue, some were persuaded he used words.

It's not possible to preach the gospel without words, but it

takes more than words. Accompanying his preaching of

the Word was the Spirit. Maybe it wasn't the first

Sabbath day, maybe it wasn't the second, but eventually they

believed. Full conviction and friends.

Isn't that so many of your stories?

You came to church to investigate Christianity.

At some point you realized someone was investigating you,

the holy God of the universe. He was inviting you and calling

you to turn from your idols. And do trust in His Son.

One of the brothers from our church attended church for five

years straight, Sunday after Sunday.

And then the Spirit gave him life.

Friends, that is the power of the gospel.

And Paul's gospel was confirmed by his life.

He says, verse 5, you know what kind of men we prove to be among

you. For your sake, friends, that's

what you should pray for the leaders of your church, for the

members of this church. You should pray that for Ashok

and for Brandon and for Bobby and for myself, that there's

harmony between our preaching and our living, our life and our

doctrine. And that's what you should

expect from any man that you choose to be an elder of this

church. Coherence.

Not perfection, but harmony. You listen to them preach, you

watch them live. And brothers, so many of you

aspire to be in ministry yourselves.

I'm so thankful for that. What a gift to have men who

aspire to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

For you, what's under the hood? What kind of man are you?

Focus on your character in these seasons of training.

You know, many profess faith, they show immediate conviction,

but there's no follow through, there's no imitation.

That's what the Thessalonians did though imitation In verses 6

and seven, Paul says, and you became imitators of us and of

the Lord. In other words, Paul's example

rubbed off on them. As they followed Paul, they

followed Christ. How you might think, well, did

people start dressing like Paul? Did they start going to the same

restaurants as Paul? Paul specifies here verse 6 for

you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the

Holy Spirit. They received the preaching in

the context of persecution. Their best week ever conversion

may have just been their worst week ever Affliction.

The Spirit came, they suffered, but their joy didn't much

affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Paul doesn't say they were joyful about their

circumstances. You do not have to love the

trials that God sends you. He says.

They were joyful in their circumstances.

You have to learn to be joyful in any circumstance.

The other night it was pouring rain.

I looked outside and the sun was shining.

Blue skies, pouring rain, blue skies.

Friends, that is the paradox of the Christian life.

Suffering yet rejoicing. Just one chapter before Acts 17,

Paul, before Thessalonica was in Philippi, him and Silas were

thrown in prison. What were they doing there?

Joy in their circumstances. They're praying in prison,

they're singing hymns in prison. All the prisoners are listening

to them. What is going on in that jail

cell over there? That's joy and affliction.

Brothers and sisters, do you believe that God has good

reasons that not only Christians should suffer, but that whole

churches should face persecution?

Do you even believe that you can face your hardest days with the

joy of the Holy Spirit? It's the Spirit alone that can

do this. The Spirit alone can protect

your joy in the soil of hardship.

It's the Spirit alone that can even cause your joy in hardship

to bloom. It's a joy that's only produced

by the Spirit, but it's also a joy that's observed through

faithful Christians. The Christian life as you know,

it's not just taught, it's caught.

And I'm stealing this question from a brother in the church.

What would everyone in your orbit say if you asked, what is

my life taught you? You could even ask more specific

to this passage. What has my life taught you

about joy in affliction? Look at the result of their

imitation of Paul in verse seven.

Look at verse 7. You became an example to all the

believers in Macedonia and Achaea.

They became an example. It's the Greek word tipos, a

pattern, a type. You could translate it as mold.

The NIV says a model. Paul doesn't say examples

plural, but singular exam pull. Because the whole church, not

just a few members, were to be imitated.

They function like the mold that you use for your Christmas

cookies so that they all look the same.

Christians throughout Macedonia, which is modern day northern

Greece and Acadia, which is modern day southern Greece

followed their example. This few month old church.

You could say that those churches ran the Thessalonian

playbook. When people from the surrounding

areas asked those churches, where did you guys come up with

this stuff, they said, have you heard about the church in

Thessalonica? We're following their example,

friends. That is a good aspiration to

have as a church, that we be a church.

That's an example to other churches.

The church Father John Chrysostom said this about verse

7. He said admirable men do not

shut up their virtues within themselves, but by their good

report benefit many and render them better.

That should be the desire of our church.

It should be the desire for us, for our own lives.

Parents, do you render your kids better because of your example?

Older siblings If you're a Christian, is your example 1 You

want your little brother. Or your little sister to follow

suffering St. Are you an example for members

in this church to imitate? And if you're not, who are those

examples that you can follow? Who are those Saints that you

can see walking in the midst of trials and troubles?

With the joy of the Holy Spirit, we can at least imitate the

example of the Thessalonians. Imitation is inevitable.

If you have kids, you know this. I remember the day when my

oldest daughter started using my very exact same facial

expression. It's like, that is me right

there. Who taught her that?

I didn't tell her to do that. She just started doing it.

That's what imitations like. We want to be good examples.

There was evidence of grace all over Thessalonica, and it spread

by example into Macedonia and Achaea.

In verse 8, though, it goes even further.

Look at verse 8. Their faith had gone forth

everywhere. Your faith in God has gone forth

everywhere. Paul says.

So much so that we need not say anything.

Now. Thessalonica had that strategic

port at the Aegean Sea. It was also situated on the East

West highway, the Via Agnesia. Meaning that people from all

over the place came through Thessalonica.

And when they came through and they heard about this church,

they carried the gospel with them, N to Macedonia, S to

Arcadia, all directions, everywhere.

Paul says the word sounded forth.

It was like a clap of Thunder, a boom that echoed through the

valleys of Greece. And think about it.

This was all without a media campaign, no viral marketing,

without any programs. It was organic, it was

inexpensive, it was evangelism. It was so effective that Paul

met people in the surrounding regions, and when he brought up

this church and their faith in God, they said, oh, Paul, we've

yeah, we've heard about the Thessalonian church.

Thank you, friends. Every local church is charged

with this task of receiving the gospel and sending it on like a

telecommunications satellite. You know, the Gospels received

and then the message needs to be transmitted back out into the

earth. This is God's plan for the

evangelisation of the entire world.

That the gospel creates the local church and then the local

church spreads the gospel and that new churches are birthed

and that the cycle repeats itself.

That is it, the plan for the salvation of the world through

the local church. You know, by God's grace, we can

already see examples of the gospel sounding forth from our

congregation. Tonight we'll have a sister,

Cher, who was only a member with us for three months, and she's

doing gospel ministry across the ends of the earth.

You know, by God's grace too, we have a deep bench of gospel

preachers in our church already. I don't know, another church, 65

members. We have so many brothers who can

faithfully preach the gospel. You hear them every time you

come in an evening service. A different brothers up here

preaching the same gospel. And Lord willing, over time

we'll start to send some of those brothers out, maybe to

Raleigh, maybe to Mebane, maybe to Indonesia, to the ends of the

earth. This is God's plan, but it's

also through just ordinary members who are sharing the

gospel in their spheres of influence.

So often when I ask a member of this church, how can I pray for

you, one of the requests is for boldness as I'm sharing the

gospel with my neighbor, with my Co worker, with my family.

This is sign of God's work in our midst.

But it wasn't just their evangelism.

The last evidence of grace, he points out, is something he

actually heard from others. Look at verse 9 and 10.

What's the chatter about the Thessalonian church?

It's their conversion, for they themselves report concerning us,

the kind of reception we had among you and how you turn to

God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait

for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who

delivers us from the wrath to come.

Friends, that is a summary of two things.

One, conversion, how someone becomes a Christian, and two,

the gospel, how someone saved. It's beautiful.

It's the story of the Thessalonian Church.

It's the story of every true Christian.

You are not a Christian unless this has happened to you, that

you've turned from God to God, from idols.

In Thessalonica, the idols were many.

They were visible. They were made by hand.

They were dead. They turned from those idols.

There were social consequences there.

There were economic consequences.

But they knew they were turning from the dead to the living.

They turned from idols to serve the living and true God.

They exchanged their loyalties. They didn't place the living God

alongside their pantheon of gods.

They rejected their dead gods and devoted themselves to the

one true God. And they waited for his Son.

Did you notice how Paul describes Jesus four ways?

He's godson from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.

His name is Jesus. He delivers us from the wrath to

come. Friends, that's the gospel.

If you're not a Christian, there was Someone Like You sitting in

the synagogue on the Sabbath in Thessalonica, and they heard

that message and they were persuaded, and they were born

again. They went that day from dead to

alive. They heard the news that there's

only one true and living God, and that we were made to worship

Him and Him alone. And yet all of us have hearts

that are bent towards idolatry. We worship created things, stuff

people, rather than the living God.

And therefore wrath is coming. It's certain.

The day of the Lord is when Christ returns from heaven to

judge the living and the dead. And the only way, friend, to

escape that wrath is to have Jesus himself bear that wrath in

your place. And that is what Jesus did on

the cross. He took the wrath of God on

himself so that sinners could receive grace and peace.

And if you've trusted in Christ, if you yourself have turned from

your idols, repented of your sins, believe that He is alive

today and will return, you too have the same story as the

Thessalonians, and you have life in God Himself.

Brothers and sisters, in light of this good news, in light of

the fact that Jesus is coming back again for those He loves

and has chosen, in light of that day, friends, let's keep turning

from idols to serve the living God until He comes.

Now the Christian life begins when we turn from idols.

It continues as we keep turning, keep serving, keep waiting for

Christ's return. Idols are set before us in our

culture. They demand our obedience, our

allegiance. They promise us everything and

they crush us in the process. They have no life for us, but so

many of us. We know we all have idols, but

we're not all aware of our idols.

We need the help of brothers and sisters in the church.

Meet with a member of the church that you trust and ask them.

Help me see my idols so you can keep turning from them.

That's what the Thessalonians did.

It's what Paul encouraged them to continue doing.

Trinity Baptist Church. Imagine if we got a letter in

our mailbox. It showed up in the Jameson

house because that's the church office.

We opened it up and it was Paul describing our church.

What if this was our letter? Would that not encourage you

that he sees so much grace in our church?

By thanking God for the Thessalonian church in their

hearing, Paul piles on the encouragement.

And in their affliction, they needed it.

He means to inject their hearts so that they're ready for

Christ's return. He's not afraid to point out

every evidence of God's grace in that church.

So, friends, Are you ready to speak the language of

encouragement? Our youngest, Piper, she's going

to turn 2 next month. She's learning right now to

speak the English language. Now, we're at the stage now

where if you came over and you heard us talking to her, you

would think this is just gibberish.

But we we can already pick up words, you know?

Oh, you want more oatmeal? OK.

You'd be saying, like, how did you hear that?

She actually strung together her first sentence a couple weeks

ago. No, that's mine.

I'm not kidding. You know, at the same time,

Hannah and I were like, wow, we are sinners, we need Jesus first

sentence. But we're also proud of her.

It's her first sentence. How can we learn the language of

biblical encouragement? There's only one way to learn.

It's to listen. Then it's to start babbling, to

just try to speak it. And friends, Paul was pretty

good at it. It seems he had some practice.

So brothers and sisters, let's practice ourselves.

Let's do that today. Let's pray.

Father, we are eternally grateful that you sent your Son

Jesus, the one who delivers us from the wrath to come.

We have every reason to be encouraged, and we pray that as

our own hearts are encouraged by the good news of the Gospel,

that we would in turn encourage one another.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen.