Good morning. It's open this
morning service with hymn number 42 in your hardback temple number
42. All hail the power of Jesus name. Let's all stand together. ? Let angels prostrate fall ? Bring
forth the royal diadem ? And crown him Lord of all ? Bring
forth the royal diadem He chosen seed of Israel's grace
He ransomed from the foe Hail Him who saved you by His grace
And crown Him Lord of all Hail Him who saved you by His grace
? Every tribe on this terrestrial
floor ? ? To Him all majesty ascribe ? ? And crown Him Lord
of all ? ? To Him all majesty ascribe ? ? That with yonder sacred throng
? ? We at his feet may fall ? ? We'll join the everlasting song ? ?
And crown him Lord of all ? ? We'll join the everlasting song ? Please be seated. Good morning. Let's open our
Bibles together to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1. I've titled this message, Examples
to All the Believers. Examples to All the Believers.
that the Lord will enable us to be an example of faith to
one another. And that is the message in this
passage of God's word this morning. And before we begin, I want us
to have a word of prayer. In particular, I want us to pray
for Billy Agaropoulos and for the new church that has begun
in Clearwater as of right now. They're having their very first
service. I was over there Saturday night and Sunday morning and
the Lord gave us a lot of liberty and a lot of clarity on the gospel
Saturday night and Sunday morning. Billy has learned the gospel
just recently and he's been pastoring a free will Baptist church. And
so after this past weekend, he showed up on Wednesday night
to have their regular Wednesday night service in hopes that there
would be someone interested in hearing what they had heard last
weekend. And everybody in the church was
there when he got there. And they were prepared to confront
him, which they did very angrily. and forced him to resign as their
pastor. So he is no longer there. Some of our friends that live
over on that part of the state were at the service Saturday
and Sunday and they are meeting with him in his living room this
morning. And they are beginning right
as we speak their very first service. So he's very excited. And I'm very thankful that the
Lord has brought together some believers. This will be his very
first time this morning to preach to believers. And so he wants
me to come back over there next Sunday evening and have a service
and baptize him. So that'll be the plan, Lord
willing, for next Sunday afternoon. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, thank you for the gospel of your
free and sovereign grace in the glorious person and accomplished
work of thy dear Son. Thank you for the liberty that
you give to your people when you deliver us from the bondage
of our sin and translate us into the kingdom of light. Lord, thank
you for the work of grace that you've done in Billy's heart.
Thank you for the believers that you've gathered together there
in Clearwater. Lord, we pray for them as our
sister church, that you would be glorified among them, that
you would knit their hearts together in the love of Christ. and that
you would have a witness there in that community. Lord, we thank
you for this opportunity that you've given us to gather together
in this place. Thank you for your word. Lord,
the hymn that we just sang to crown you, Lord, we know that
you are Lord. We pray that you would give grace
to our hearts to bow willingly and joyfully before thee and
to worship thee in spirit and in truth. We ask it in Christ's
name, amen. Those of you that were with us
27 or so years ago can remember the conflicts that we experienced
after first hearing the gospel and leaving the place where we
were, the exact same thing is happening right now in Clearwater. And it always happens when the
gospel is preached. Billy knew when he invited me
to come over there that one of three things were going to happen,
and it did. One of those three things did
happen. They asked him to leave. and he was prepared for that. It's just amazing the hatred
that men have for Christ and for his gospel. And it was clear
in the comments that they made that the message of the gospel
robbed them of their righteousness It took away the hope of their
salvation. And sinners delight in that, don't
they? We like being shut up to Christ
and being made dependent completely upon him and being exposed for
what we are, sinful before God. You have your Bibles open to
First Thessalonians, we're going to begin reading at verse five.
For our gospel, our gospel came to you not in word only, but
also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as
you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
And you became followers of us, having received the word in much
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost." Nothing's changed, has
it? What happened in Thessalonica
2,000 years ago? Paul was there for three weeks.
We got to preach three messages in two days. But regardless,
it always divides and much affliction will come toward them who believe
the gospel if God gives us ears to hear. And that's exactly what
happened in Thessalonica. Acts chapter 17, Paul went to
Thessalonica and a riot broke out. and he was forced out of
town. Remember, Justin was arrested
and beaten and that's the affliction that he's talking about. They would do the same to us
if they could. If the law permitted it, they would do the same for
us. So that you were examples, and
that's the word examples, just an old English wording for that
same word, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place that your faith to God were to spread abroad,
so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you
turned 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,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. All we can do is speak audibly
what God has said. And if the Holy Spirit doesn't
bless the audible voice and the written word to our hearts with
faith and understanding and grace, then the gospel will go out only
in word only, in word only. Paul begins by reminding them
how it came to them. It did not come to them in word
only. It came to them in power and in the Holy Ghost and in
much assurance. The assurance was the evidence
that the Holy Spirit had anointed his word with power to the hearts
of God's people. The assurance that they had,
that Christ was everything in salvation, that they were sinners,
that God was not looking to them. for any contribution to make
whatsoever for the hope of their salvation. And they rested all
of their hope in the glorious person and in the finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ." That's the assurance. Words also are only heard if They are demonstrated in example
by the one speaking them. Now, a perfect illustration of
that would be parents with their children. You cannot say to a
child, do as I say, not as I do. That doesn't work. It doesn't
work. instruction verbally we give
to our children, they must see those instructions being fulfilled
by example in our lives or they will follow what they see, not
what they hear. And same thing's true of a preacher.
Turn to me to, well, let's see. I was going to turn to a passage,
but let's just leave it. In 1 Timothy, when the Lord gives
the qualifications for elders and bishops and pastors and deacons,
the reputation of their life must be consistent with the message
that they're preaching. Now, that doesn't mean that we
have to live our lives perfect, whether we live as a parent in
trying to raise children or whether we live as a pastor. trying to
teach and pastor a congregation. But it means that there's a consistency,
that we believe what we're saying, and that we don't just come in
word only, but that we declare what we say in example as well. That's what Paul's saying. Look
at verse 5 again. For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake."
We didn't preach one thing and do something else. And he said, and you became followers
of us. You see that in verse six? Paul in another place said, follow
me as I follow Christ. And if I'm not following Christ,
don't follow me. The same thing is true in the relationship with
a husband and a wife. In Ephesians chapter 5, the scriptures
are clear that the wife is to submit to her husband as unto
the Lord. In other words, as long as the
husband is directing her in the things of God and not requiring
something contrary to what God has required, then she is to
submit to his leadership. And how easy that is for a believing
wife to do if she sees some level of consistency in the life of
her husband. And so you became followers of
us and of the Lord. and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." The affliction
will come not only from the world, which hates the gospel. The Lord
Jesus said, I did not come to bring peace, I came to bring
a sword to divide Mother against child and mother-in-law against
their daughter-in-law, your enemies, he goes on to say, will be of
your own household. Men by nature prefer the praise
of men more than the praise of God, and they will choose to
have peace with men rather than to have peace with God. But when
the gospel comes effectually to the heart, if God be for me,
who can be against me? Yes, there's going to come affliction
in this world over the gospel. The real affliction that comes
is when the gospel exposes our sin. It's the conflict within
ourselves where the message of the gospel reveals us for what
we are and we find ourselves bowing in hope and submission
and faith to the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin. And
that affliction never goes away. Every time the Lord is pleased
to draw us into his presence, we are conflicted and afflicted. When John in the book of Revelation
was given the scroll, the word of God, the Lord told him to
take it and eat it. And when he ate it, he said that
it was sweet like honey to his taste. And honey is used in the
Bible to describe the word of God. It was sweet like honey
to my taste. And then when he swallowed it,
he said it became bitter to my belly. Now the belly in the Bible
is our flesh. And so anytime we are given the
gospel, given Christ, the bread of life, the word of God to eat,
if God's given us faith in Christ, it'll be sweet to the taste,
but it'll be bitter, bitter to our belly. It will expose us
for what we are. And so the word of God is always
received. If it's received, not in word
only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost, And in much assurance, it's going
to also be received in affliction. Just count on it, it'll be that
way. So that you were examples. So that you were examples. Here's
the result of this effectual work of grace that God gives
to the hearts of his people when they hear the gospel. They become
examples to one another. Notice with me so that you were
examples to all that believe, to all that believe. I can remember
in religion we used to pride ourselves in wanting the world
to see Jesus in us. so self-righteous and sanctimonious
in our religion. Brethren, the world did not see
Jesus in Jesus. The world is not going to see
Jesus in you. They will despise what they see
in you. They will hate it. They will
fight against it. Perhaps, initially, those who
care for you will be glad that you found something that works
for you. But the more they hear about
what you have found or what has found you, the more they're going
to hate you for it. The world's not going to see
Christ in you. You're not going to win the world
over to Christ by your living and by your life and your testimony. Now, we don't want to profane
the gospel. We don't want to be a stumbling
block. But to think that somehow our
lives are going to be some sort of shining light that's going
to convince the world to want what we have, One of the men
this past weekend that became so angry against Billy Wednesday
night, the one that was the most vocal, prided himself, and it
was clear in my conversation with him on Saturday night, he
didn't come back on Sunday morning, but it was clear in my conversation
with him on Saturday night that he prided himself in the fact
that he had led many people to Christ. Witnessing was his righteousness. And when he heard the gospel
and that righteousness was taken away from him, he turned in vehement
anger toward the gospel, stripped him of his righteousness. Paul is thanking God that they
were examples to the believers, to the believers, that's who
we want to be an example to, and that's who we will, by God's
grace, be an example to. If God sends his word, not in
word only, but empowered in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance
with affliction, and it finds a place in the hearts of God's
people, they will be an encouragement to one another. We don't have
anybody else to encourage us in this world but one another. And this word example, when Thomas came back after the
Lord had appeared to the disciples in John chapter 20, and Thomas
said, They said, the Lord's been here, you missed him. And Thomas
said, I'm not going to believe unless I see the prince in his
hands and thrust my hand into his side, that's when I'll believe.
The word print is the same word that's used here for the word
example. Until I see the evidence of his crucifixion, I'm not going
to believe." We know what happened when the
Lord appeared the next time and Thomas was there. Thomas saw him, he didn't have
to put his finger into the prince. of his hand or thrust his hand
into the side of our Lord, he saw the Lord and he fell on his
face before the Lord Jesus and said, oh my Lord and my God.
Yes, I've seen the example, the evidence, the proof of what is. When the Lord gave to Moses instructions
on how to build the tabernacle, he told him that he was to fashion,
and that word is the same word here, example, he was to fashion
it after or according to the pattern that was given to him
in heaven. And so we see the tabernacle
is an example. It's not the substance, it is
the example. It points us to the substance. The prince in the Lord's hand
points us to the sacrifice that he made to put away our sin.
The tabernacle pointed the children of Israel to that living tabernacle
that would come down from heaven. The scripture speaks of Adam,
the first Adam, as being a figure of the last Adam, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so Adam is spoken of as an
example. And how Adam fell in the sin
of his wife and how God's redemption was given in the covering of
the lamb's fleece and the shedding of blood, that was all given.
Everything about the gospel can be seen. in the garden and in
the fall and in the redemption that God gave to the first Adam
who was a figure of the last Adam. The scripture says that what
happened to the Israelites who did not believe God in the wilderness
was given to us as an example that we should not follow after
them. And so here again, the word example
means exactly how we use it, it's a picture of something that
leads us to see the substance of that. 1 Timothy chapter 4 is the verse I wanted to show
you earlier, 1 Timothy chapter 4. Look what Paul says to Timothy
in verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth,
but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation,
in charity or in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. Pastors are to be an example. to their flock. Parents are to
be an example to their children. Husbands are to be an example
to their wives. And we are to be an example to
one another, pointing each other by the evidence of the work of
grace in our hearts to the substance of that grace, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, here's the evidence
that the gospel did not come to you in word only, but it came
to you in power, and in the power of the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance, and with much affliction. And the evidence of that is that
you become an example to the believers, to the believers. And unbelievers, you're not going
to be an example to them. You're going to be a fool or
you're going to be a fanatic, but you're not going to be an
example to them. But to the believers. What are we an example of to
one another? Well, here it is. Look at verse 8. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord, the gospel.
You know, we have a lot of different activities
in our lives that we're interested in and interested in for one
another. You know, there's family and there's vacations and there's
sports and there's weather and there's politics and all of those
things that we could spend our time talking about. But I hope
that the Lord will teach us and enable us the very precious little
time that we have together that we'll reserve those subjects
for other people that we might be able to talk about those things
with. And that the Lord will cause
us to see the need to encourage one another in the word of God. Let us spend the few precious
moments that we have together after the service and When we,
you know, let's talk about what we've heard, what God has said,
what we've experienced by his grace. Let us be like the believers
at Thessalonica and be an example to one another, reminding one
another of who the Lord is and what he's done, what he's taught
you and listening to what he has taught your brethren. That's
what he's saying here. That's such a precious thing. From you sounded out the word
of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every
place where your faith to God were. An example of faith. Now faith is not as the world
sees it. The world sees faith as some
sort of you know, stalwart character trait whereby we can be proud
that we are men and women of faith. Faith is our dependence upon
Christ. Faith is an expression of our
weakness. Faith is our need for Christ,
for all of our righteousness and for all of our hope and for
all of our encouragement. Paul is saying to the believers
here, here's the evidence that the Word of God came to you not
in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much
assurance with affliction. You became an example to all
the believers, the believers that are in Macedonia and Achaia
and how the Word of the Lord went out from you and how They
heard of your faith toward God, your faith toward God. You need to hear, you need to
hear, I need to hear about my brethren's faith toward God. I need the example of other believers
to express to me what the Lord has taught them and emboldened
me to have more faith. You know, the disciples asked
the Lord, Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. Well, this is one of the means
by which the Lord increases our faith. By hearing of the faith
that God has given, miraculously, faith is a work of grace in the
heart. Faith is not our contribution to salvation. Faith is not what
we've done in order to make what Christ did work for us. Faith
is what God has done for us, causing us to be able to look
and trust and rely and love and believe on Christ. I need to
hear about your faith. And we need to hear that from
one another, that we might be an example to one another. Examples are important, aren't
they? Examples are important. Paul said, the word that we brought
to you, you know what manner of men we were among you. And
you became followers of us because you saw that we were believing
what we were saying. We were practicing what we were
preaching. We need that, don't we? There's
enough inconsistency in all of our lives to where we don't practice
what we preach that we need the encouragement of hearing about
the faith that God has given. God gives faith, two things happen. We are shut up to Christ. for all of our righteousness
and all of our justification before God. We've got no place
else to go. And number two, we know that he is the truth. The truth. Now those two things
were expressed in what Peter said to the Lord when the Lord
said to Peter, will you leave me also? He said to the disciples
after the 5,000 departed, he said, aren't you going to go
with them? What did Peter say? Lord, to whom shall we go? You've shut us up to yourself.
We've got no place else to go. And we know and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. You've not
only shut us up to yourself, but you've convinced us that
you are the truth. There, my friends and my brethren,
is a description of faith. Faith. Lord, I've got no place
else to go, and I believe with all my heart that you are the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and there's no
truth anywhere else. God gives you that faith. Brethren right now are being
encouraged to hear me say that. And we need to say that to one
another. We need to express that faith
toward God in our fellowship. You know, religious people talk
about fellowship all the time. Usually what they're talking
about is, you know, is eating a meal and talking about, you
know, vain things, you know, just enjoying time together.
No fellowship in the gospel is when we encourage one another
with the example of our faith to God. And how we need to be encouraged
in that. Turn with me to first Peter, first Peter chapter five. We looked at this verse Wednesday
night. I wanna point it out again. First
Peter chapter five. And look with me at verse eight.
Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a
roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Now child
of God, you know something about that, don't you? You know something
about the conflict and the affliction that the gospel has caused in
you and for you. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood but against principalities and powers and wickedness in
high places and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they're
mighty through God, they're spiritual. This is a spiritual war that
we have and the devil is very real. And the conflict that we
have within and with that evil spirit and with the world in
which we live, where do we get encouragement? Where do we get
hope except by the example that we receive from one another?
Now look at the next verse. Whom resists steadfastly in the
faith. And to resist the devil in the
faith means that you look to Christ. for your strength and
for your hope and that the battle's not yours, it's the Lord's and
that he's got to fight that battle for you. But nevertheless, when
you're attacked by him and these things are very real, you turn
and look to Christ and you cry out to him. Look at the rest of this verse,
knowing. Knowing, you know this, that
the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world. These afflictions that we're
talking about, these conflicts, these contradictions within ourselves
and these conflicts with the world and these conflicts with
Satan that believers experience. Every child of God experiences
the same thing. Sometimes we think, you know,
nobody really understands what I'm going through. Don't believe
that. It's not true. The Lord just said it right here.
These same afflictions are accomplished. You say, well, what's the accomplishment
of me being afflicted like this? God's glory. That's the accomplishment. Because
when we're afflicted and we're brought to the end of ourselves,
we are forced to call out to him, cry out to him, dependent
upon his grace. And he is merciful to show forth
his grace and his power and his glory. And that is the accomplishment. It's the same accomplishment
that took place in the fall, in the garden. God ordained the
fall. Adam was fully responsible for
what he did, but God purposed it. Why did God purpose it? To
show forth his grace and his glory. Adam didn't know anything
about forgiveness of sin. Adam didn't know anything about
grace. He didn't know anything about
mercy. He didn't need mercy. He didn't need grace until the
fall. He didn't really know the fullness
of love. He didn't know anything about,
I mean he saw Christ, he walked with him in the cool of the day
and he knew that he was God and he was glorious and beautiful
but the full glory of God is only demonstrated at the cross
and the cross is necessary because of sin. And so God ordained our
sin to which we are fully responsible for, don't misunderstand that, in order for him to be glorified
as our Savior. And let me give this example
because I see it so clearly in the in the liberal agenda of
this world, the people on the far left, you know what they
do? They make everybody to be a victim. If you listen to the
liberals, everybody's a victim. Everybody's a victim. So that
they can step up and become the savior and establish their righteousness
and bring glory to themselves. Well there we see a fake sinful
demonstration of what God has done when he makes us to be a
sinner and we're not the victim but we are sinful and he demonstrates
his glory as our Savior and we become completely dependent
upon him. don't know if that's good an
example or not but I think you know what I'm trying to say. That's what's accomplished in
our afflictions, in our conflicts, in our sin. The glory of God
is accomplished in his grace. Ephesians chapter 1 makes that
clear. Turn back with me to just a couple
of pages to Ephesians chapter 1 and look at this. Look at verse 5. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glory."
That's the accomplishment, that's the purpose of everything, the
praise of His glory, of the glory of His grace. Look at verse 11,
"...in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Look at verse 14,
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. Not unto us, O God, Not unto
us, Psalm 115 verse 1, but unto thy name be glory. This thing
of salvation is not for us, it's for his glory. It's for his glory. And his greatest glory is our
greatest good. That's it. how you turn to God from your
idols. Let's go back to our text quickly,
quickly. Verse eight, in every place your
faith to God word is spread abroad so that we need not speak anything
for they themselves show unto us what manner of entering in
we had unto you and how you turn to God from your idols to serve
the living and true God. Now in a works free will religion,
you have to turn from your sin before you can turn to God. You
have to clean up your life. You have to turn over a new leaf. You have to get some sort of
reformation in order for God to accept you. Notice that the
Lord did not say you turned from your idols to God. You turned
to God. And in turning to God, your idols
were exposed for what they are. Idols. Oh, don't be deceived in thinking
that you gotta do something in order to clean up your life and
your act in order for God to be able to accept you. Come just
like you are with all of your sin. All the filth, come just
like you are, turn to him. And in doing so, he'll spend
the rest of your life cleansing you of your idols, exposing those
idols. You see, faith and repentance,
that's what we're talking about here. Your faith to God, word. and how you turned to God from
your idols to serve the living true God. That's repentance.
Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. You can't
have one without the other and they're both works of grace in
the heart When the word of God comes not in word only but in
power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance with affliction,
with affliction, we might be an example, an example to one
another. To wait for his son from heaven,
you see that in verse 10? to wait for his son from heaven. Oh, child of God, express to
one another your hope, the longing that you have to
see him as he is and be made like him. The struggles that you have in
this world keeping you from being what you want to be. This
is the example, you see, this is what your brethren throughout
all the world are dealing with. That's what Paul's saying. The
fact that our gospel came to you not in word only but in power
and the Holy Ghost and much assurance with affliction and by example. The evidence that it came to
you that way is that you'd become an example to one another of
waiting on the Lord and knowing. Look at the last part of verse
10. Him he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. In all of our fears and all of
our struggles and all of our afflictions in this world, We
take great comfort in knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ has
delivered us from hell. We have no reason to fear the
wrath of God. The full fury of his wrath fell
on Calvary's cross. The Lord Jesus Christ quenched
that fire when he put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself.
and I need to hear that from you and you need to hear that
from me and we need to express that truth. I'm not suggesting
that we become some sort of fake religious people trying to make
something, trying to manufacture something. I'm saying that we
need to be examples to one another. I need your example, you need
my example, don't you? and what faith is and what repentance
is and what hope we have. If the word comes to us, not
in word only, but in all those other things, I feel confident
that's what we will be to one another. And I'm so thankful
that that's what you are to me. I hope that we can grow in this
grace. All right, let's take a break.