First Thessalonians, we have
Paul in verse 13, saying of the second chapter, he says, for
this cause also thank we God without ceasing. because when
you received the Word of God which you heard of us, you received
it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of
God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For you, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God which are in Judea, which in Judea
are in Christ Jesus. For you also have suffered like
things, suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even
as they have of the Jews." Last week we looked at the ministry
of Paul and Silas and Timothy, as they came to Thessalonica
from the beating that they suffered in Philippi, and we looked at
the entrance of gospel preachers. Tonight I wanted to look a bit
more closely and a bit more personally at the entrance Paul talks about
it in chapter 2, verse 1, he says, our entrance. He talked about the things that
these people know and he talked about our entrance. You know our entrance unto, you
know our entrance into you, that it wasn't in vain. But here in
chapter 2, verse 13, he's thanking God in verse Chapter 1, he thanks
God always for them, making mention of them in his prayers. He's
actually calling the Thessalonians, as I believe in all the New Testament
letters, he's actually calling them to remember the things that
they witnessed of his life, that they witnessed of his proclamation
of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and particularly what we'll be
looking at tonight, they actually witnessed, they bear witness
to what happened in their lives. He kept saying, you know, you
became followers, you were examples, you sounded out the Word of God.
Verse 8, your faith toward God is spread abroad. Verse 9, there
was a report from these other people in Macedonia and Achaia,
show us what manner of entering in we have into you. Verse 1,
as we read earlier, you know our entrance into you. So he's
reminding them. He's reminding them and He's
reminding us. He says, you remember you are
witnesses. He's reminding us of that entrance
of the Gospel into their lives. For this cause, for this cause,
what's the cause? What's the great cause that Paul
is thankful for? That you walk you would walk
worthy of God who has called you into his kingdom and glory. The Gospel comes as an effectual
call from God. See what it says? He's called
you into His kingdom and glory. The Church is a Church that's
described as a Church that is in, verse 1, in God the Father
and in the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you get
to be in God? You get to be in God when God
calls you into His kingdom and glory. And this is what the preaching
of the Gospel is all about, isn't it? God's ordained preachers
go with God's ordained message and they go to people whose hearts
are prepared, as Ezekiel 16 says, at the time of love. And as Isaiah
60 says, Arise, shine, for your light is come, and the glory
of the Lord is risen upon you. God has called you into his kingdom. God has called you into his glory. It's according to the glorious
gospel of the blessed God. It is the means, isn't it? Gospel
preaching is the means, and God's calling through the gospel is
the means by which He displays the redemptive work and the successful
work of the Lord Jesus. So often we are caused to think
that He's trying, but our Gospel is a triumphant Gospel and in
Revelation we have picture after picture of this triumphant Saviour
of ours marching out, ruling and reigning. over all things
and all his enemies are effortlessly put underneath his feet. The Word of God is sown into
this world, you think of that parable of the sower, the Word
of God is sown into this world and it falls on four different
sorts of soils in that parable. But on a quarter of the soil
that it falls on, there is fruit. And that's what Paul's giving
thanks for here, isn't he, being first Thessalonians. He's thankful
because the fruit is there, the fruit of God's calling, God's
activity, the fruit of the work of the Lord Jesus. It's a receiving,
isn't it? He talks about how, in verse
13, when you received the word of God which you heard of us,
you received it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth,
the word of God which effectually works in you. receiving the power
as John describes it, receiving the ability and the authority,
receiving the right to become the sons of God. This entrance
of the word into the hearts of people is called a regeneration,
isn't it? It's an effectual calling. It's
conversion and sanctification. It is a description of the first
coming of grace into the soul. And you, many of you here can
bear witness to the situations we've been in when the same word
is proclaimed to a group of people. And the soils are made evident,
aren't they? As a farmer, one of the things
you learn very quickly is you cannot make soils. Soils are
made by themselves, aren't they? Soils are made shallow on rocks.
Soils are made into paths by the constant treading of men
on them. Soils are made to be full of
thorns and weeds that choke the seed because of the curse of
God upon this natural world and men living in that place. They
are swamped. But that word falls, it just
goes out and it falls and you've borne witness to it, haven't
you? How some receive it and it becomes a delightful word
and it becomes something which brings new life and brings new
light. And that's exactly how the scriptures
describe it, don't they? To the natural man there is,
that's just a complete mystery. They have no understanding of
its source or its power and they see it as foolishness. They see
it as enthusiasm. They see it as men being caught
up in some sort of cultish thing that's taken them captive. But
to the natural religious man, even though the Word of God speaks
so often and gives so many pictures of this new birth. You think
of Ezekiel 16 and how the Lord comes to that cast out baby and
says, live. And at his time of love he cast
his garment over her. Ezekiel is told in chapter 37,
that famous chapter of the Valley of Dry Bones, he said, you go
and preach to them. You preach and life will come
where there is death. Life will spring out of utter
hopelessness. Enoch and Isaiah and Hezekiah
and even wicked Manasseh are just emblems and trophies of
grace throughout the Bible that show us that when God sends His
Gospel with power it is a mysterious activity. Natural men and particularly
natural religious men have no knowledge of it. Just like Nicodemus,
brilliant, learned man, and absolutely no clue. And the Lord Jesus gave
him a simple message out of Ezekiel 36 about the new birth, and Ezekiel
didn't have a clue what he was talking about, even though he
knew the words off by heart probably. To be born again, the Lord Jesus
says, you must be born again. You must be born from above. And that's what Paul's rejoicing
in here. He's rejoicing in the fact that these people have in
themselves and have in the experience of their church fellowship, they
have the experience of being born again. See, our first birth,
we were born of sinful parents. In our second birth, we're born
of God and created anew in His image. Our first birth was a
corruptible birth. Our second birth is incorruptible. Our first birth was in sin. Our second birth is in holiness
and righteousness. Our first birth men are polluted
and unclean. In the new birth they become
holy and are called saints. The first birth is of the flesh
and it's just carnal. It lives Like a snake, in the
dirt of this world, the second birth is from above and it's
of the spirit and it's spiritual. From our first birth, men became
foolish and they were unwise. They're typified as a wild asses
cult. But in the new birth they made
wise unto salvation. In the first birth men are slaves
to sin and slaves to the lust of their flesh. In the new birth
they become Christ's free men. In our first birth, our natural
birth, we are children of wrath, wrathful children, wrathful towards
God. in our new birth. We are the
objects of the love of God. How does James describe this
new birth? He says, of his own will, James 1.17, of his own
will, of God's own will begat he us, born us again with the
word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Peter says in 1 Peter 1.23, being
born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by
the word of God which lives and abides forever. This word is
the word that God sends. In Acts 10 he says, he sent this
word unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ. This regeneration is a gift from
God. It's to be called into His Kingdom. Its regeneration is a light from
God. It shines a light on God's Word. It shines a light on God's Son
and we behold Him. We look upon Him. We look upon
the Lord Jesus as God. We look upon Him as crucified. We look upon Him as buried and
risen. We look upon Him seated. We look
upon Him coming again. We look upon Him with delight. And this light, this light that
brings this light, shines in our heart, that well-known verse
in 2 Corinthians 4.6, the God. has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge... I'll read it to you. in whom
the God of this world has blinded, lest the light of the glorious
Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon
them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You see, he's called his people
into his kingdom. See, God's gifts are without
repentance. He cannot give and take it back.
He's not that sort of a God. You see, God's gifts are received. Every time he gives, there is
a reception of the gift. Otherwise, it's not being given. We received, he says to the Thessalonians,
you received the word of God which you have heard of us. You've actually heard this word,
you've received it. It's a reception in to us, isn't
it? It's that word of God which lights
our light. For you will light my candle,
the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. And what an amazing
thing, what amazing promises are associated with it by the
Lord Jesus. He says, truly, truly, in John
5, 24, I say unto you, he that hears my word and believes on
him that sent me has it in his hands, has everlasting life,
and shall never come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life. And Paul is rejoicing, as the
Lord Jesus said to those people who said they believed on him.
He says, if you continue in my word, then you are my disciples.
Indeed, he'd heard these reports that these Thessalonians had
continued in his word. And we know from experience and
we know from the scriptures that so many do not continue in the
word. He says to the Jews, he said
they believed in him but didn't really. He says, I know that
you are Abraham's seed but you seek to kill me because my word
has no place in you. You see, Paul is thankful. He's thankful to God for these
Thessalonians because they've received. He thanks God without
ceasing, you received the word of God which you heard of us
and you received it not as a word of men. But as it is in truth,
the Word of God, which works, worketh. It works and it works. It means the Word of God is set
in operation in you that believe. Set in operation, and that good
work that's set in operation is a work that comes from God
and it continues because of God's power. I love the fact that our
faith, we are kept by God. I don't know about you, but I
struggle enough to look away from myself, thankfully, and
look to Him who keeps and keeps His people. He says to the Thessalonians,
remember, Look back, I'm reminding you of what happened, I'm reminding
you of how we came, I'm reminding you of how we behaved, but I'm
reminding you especially of what happened in your hearts. This
new birth is described in the scriptures as a new creature. A new man has new born babes
and it requires God's almighty power. It requires as much of
God's power to create, to put Christ in you as it does for
him to create a universe. That's why he likens it in 2
Corinthians 4, let there be light. Let light be and light was. New birth be. New creation be. And new creation was. It's the power of God. The Gospel is the power of God. It's likened to that first creative
work. The creation of something which
didn't exist there before. It's the creation of something
that's not in our human nature. It's the creation of something
that Adam didn't have. And it's not the reworking of
old principles, polishing what is there. It's not an improvement. but it's an implantation, it's
Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's not repairing what was damaged
and broken, it's God's almighty power. For our gospel came not
unto you in word only, verse 5 of chapter 1, but also in power
and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. mighty power
from God and they received the Word. They received the Word
in much affliction and in the Holy Spirit. So this new man
has a new heart, a new heart to know God, a new spirit a new
understanding to know and to understand. They knew and they
understood that when Paul came, his words came with much assurance. I don't think that's the assurance
of salvation so much as the assurance that this was the word of God. God was speaking through Paul. And what did Paul do? He spoke
to them from the scriptures. You can read about it in 1 Corinthians
15. He brought the scriptures to
them. I delivered unto you first of
all, which I also received, how the Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures." He was buried and rose on the
third day, according to the Scriptures. Paul took this Old Testament
and revealed the glories of the Lord Jesus, revealed the promises
of God as yes and amen in him. And from that Gospel preaching,
a new heart, a new life, a new spirit, a new heart to know God,
not just in creation and conscience, not just in those things that
God gives as witness to all to hold them accountable, but to
know God in the face of Jesus Christ. to know the love of God
in Him, to know the fullness of grace in Him, to know that
He is both the covenant and the one who signs the covenant and
ratifies it in His blood, that covenant, that eternal covenant
of grace is in Him, to know the perfect work that He did on the
cross. Sin's gone forever. not remembered by God, perfect
justification by His righteousness, perfect atonement, perfect reconciliation
with God by His sacrifice, perfect acceptance with God through Him,
complete salvation. He is saying to the Thessalonians,
remember what happened. when you believed, when God gave
you faith. Adam knew none of these things.
Adam's natural children know none of them. This new man, a
new life, a new heart, new desires, and new delights. They'd heard
Paul speak. and they heard the voice of the
Good Shepherd, and He called them into His fold. And He says,
as the Lord Jesus says, blessed are your eyes for they see, and
blessed are your eyes for they hear. Blessed are you. And Simon Peter And Caesarea
Philippi was asked a question, who are you? And he says, you
are the Christ, the Son of God. And then he says, didn't reveal this to you, but
my Father in Heaven, only God the Father can reveal these things
in the hearts of His chosen ones. He's saying to them, remember,
look at what happened, look at the entrance of the Word of God,
which works effectively in you. It's God's work and God's power
comes through God's gospel as God's word by the voice of the
shepherd calls his sheep to himself. And it comes with God's power
in the inner man that continually renewed, continually kept by
the power of God through faith, taught of God, taught the Gospel
of God, that they have the eyes of faith and they can see the
glory of Christ's person. They can see with these new eyes
the fullness of His grace and the greatness of His power towards
us who believe. They see Him high and lifted
up and holy. Isn't it remarkable? In this
pagan world the most shameful thing that could happen to a
man was to be hung naked on a cross to die. The cross was a public
way of the Romans saying, do not do what this man has done. This man is being shamed to the
uttermost. It's remarkable, isn't it? They
preached Christ crucified, the most shameful thing that could
possibly come upon a Gentile in that world. And in that preaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ upon that cross, they saw him high
and lifted up. And they saw that blood that
covered him and fell to the ground. They saw it as Peter said, it's
now precious blood. It's precious. And they hear
with new given ears. They hear and they love the word
and it speaks powerfully and personally to them. It comes
in much assurance. They are assured that it is God's
Word. They are assured that it is true.
They are assured that these promises are faithful, yes and amen, and
their promises are personal. These words of God are true in
the hearts of these people, so they know the Gospel is a joyful
sound and they rejoice to hear it. The new man has a new mind,
a new heart, a new eyes, new ears and they have new hands
to lay hold of the Lord Jesus and not let Him go, to embrace
Him, to work from better principles and better purposes. And they
have new feet. They have feet that flee to Christ. They have
feet that flee away from the force. and they have feet that
long to walk with him, to walk in him, to walk after him. How does he say it? In verse
9, the Holy Spirit says, You show what manner of entering
in we had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols. And as we saw a couple of weeks
ago, the idols are the idols of Jewish religion as much as
they are the evil wicked idols of pagan religion. These people
were drawn out. These people in that synagogue
were both Greeks and Jews, and they were turned to God from
idols to serve, to serve the living God, and they were turned
from idols to wait. They were caused by God to have
that gift of patience. And they were caused, as we see
in the next verse, 2 verse 14, they were caused to walk even
in the face of persecution. Whether they are Jewish idolaters
or Gentiles idolaters, the natural man's response is the same, an
irrational, enmity is stirred up. It's contrary to the evidence
that's clearly before them. There was Paul. He lived blamelessly
and wholly before them. He didn't come with any cloak
of covetousness. He wasn't acting deceitfully
or with any guile. He was just there proclaiming
the Gospel and working with his hands during the week to feed
himself and not be a burden to any. And yet the crowds were
stirred up in wicked hatred and rebellion against him, exactly
as they were against the Lord Jesus Christ. We became followers of the Churches
of God which are in Judea. The same things that happened
around Jerusalem and in Judea are the same things that happen
as the Gospel goes into Europe for the first time. For they,
you also suffered the same things of your countrymen, even as they
have the Jews. All idolaters behave the same
way until God possibly in mercy comes and rescues them from it. Don't forget this man Paul was
the chief idolater and the chief persecutor. There is none that
we see with these eyes who is beyond the scope of God's saving
grace. If you save the chief of sinners,
you can save sinners that we see, sinners like us. See, at the time of love, the
Lord speaks life into them. And at the time of love, He produces
life in them. Our brother Paul is rejoicing. I trust that the Lord gives us
the grace to rejoice in the things that he rejoiced in. What did
he rejoice in? He rejoiced in the fact that
these people had remained faithful. And he says, Now I live because
you stand fast in the Lord. Chapter 3, verse 8. Now I live And he knew that their faith
would be tested. He saw them holding on to the
faith of the Lord Jesus, to trusting him in any circumstance. And he was rejoicing. Paul was
thankful. He was continually thankful.
And he calls them to remember the thankfulness they had at
the beginning is the thankfulness they still have. The rejoicing
they had when the Gospel came is the rejoicing they have now. May God cause us to be thankful. May God cause us to trust this
gospel. This gospel who is a person. May God cause us to have the
rejoicing that our brothers and sisters throughout time and into
eternity will have. Let's pray.