Turn to 1 Thessalonians. I want
us to go through the book of Thessalonians. I'm only gonna look at the first
three or four verses, probably just the first three verses. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
enter the church of the Thessalonians. which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father. Knowing you know this, brethren,
beloved, your election of God." I titled this message, The Birth
of the Church in Thessalonica. Paul wrote this letter when he
was in Corinth. This was at the close, I believe
it was, of his second missionary journey. And as I read to you there in
Acts chapter 17, that Paul had gone to Thessalonica, which was
the chief city of Macedonia, and he went there and he preached
the gospel. And I like the way it is written, in Acts where
it says, "...as his manner was." You know, it says the same thing
about the Lord. When you go through the Gospels, He'd always be in
the synagogue or the temple and teaching and preaching, "...as
his manner was." And Paul, everywhere he went, especially if there
was a synagogue in that place, a place where the Jews would
meet, he'd go in there And he would take the Scriptures, and
he would open the Scriptures and preach the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did this in Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a very prosperous
city. It was kind of a Navy base because
of the waterways there. It was a very prosperous city.
Like Corinth, it was just a lot of dives in that place. There's a lot of sinfulness going
on there openly. But Paul took the opportunity
that God gave him. And I noticed it jumped out at
me there in Acts 17, how that he would preach the gospel for
a few weeks, and then they'd be ran out of town. And that
was God's way of spreading the gospel. that was God's way of
getting the gospel to Thessalonica, to Berea, and then to Athens,
then to Corinth, and just throughout that whole region. They chased
Paul all over the place. But everywhere he went, he went
preaching the gospel. But while he was there at Corinth,
Well, he wasn't really at Corinth at that time. I believe he was
at Berea, or Athens, one of those. He sent Timothy. He sent Timothy
back to Thessalonica. They were on his heart. His heart
was heavy. He was so concerned about them,
like a father concerned about his children. That's the heart of a pastor.
That is the heart that I pray God would give me, is to have
that much concern for the people you preach to, that they really
come to know Jesus Christ. I cannot think of anything more
important than for you to know the Lord Jesus Christ. to stress,
to impress upon you the importance of that, because I know, I live
in this same world, and I know how easy it is to get your attention
off of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know how easy that is. There's
so much that comes our way, so much that grabs our attention, And I feel the responsibility
from week to week to try to pull us all back, so to speak. Just pull us all back. Focus
back in on the Scriptures and to understand and see what's
really important. The Lord Jesus Christ. And so
Paul sends Timothy back there, and Timothy comes back. But when
he comes back, Paul's already moved to Corinth. That's where
he's at when Timothy comes back. And when he comes back, Timothy
gives a good report. He gives a good report. He reports
that they were bravely enduring hardships, that their faith had
grown, that they were stable, they were enduring. The church is still there. The
church is still there. But he also told Paul that some
had died. and that the people there were
very troubled over the ones who had died as to what was going
to happen when the Lord came back. It's like, they're not
alive when the Lord comes back. Now what's going to happen? Are
they going to perish? See, they didn't have this. They didn't have this. Oh, what
a blessing. What a blessing we have. They didn't have this,
so they were just an infant church, and they're worried, concerned
about their loved ones who have died, who believe the gospel,
and they've died. And this is why in chapter 4,
we'll see when we get to chapter 4, Paul explains this, that they're
with the Lord. And when He comes back, He'll
bring them with Him. He settles their mind. I wish
I would do this. They were so convinced of the
second coming of Christ, they were looking for it immediately. They were looking for it to happen
in their lifetime. They thought, this is going to
happen. This is going to happen right now. I wish I would live with that
attitude. I wish we would live with that
attitude, looking for Him to come, anticipating His return. I tell you what, if we could
really, really look to the return of Christ with such anticipation,
it's not so hard to lay these things aside. It's not so hard. If we're looking with real anticipation
to His coming, Now this church was made up of some Jews, but
mostly Gentiles. As I read to you over there in
Acts, there was a lot of Greek Gentile men and women who believed
the gospel. You know, the church is made
up of sinners chosen by God in Christ from all over the world,
from all walks of life. The church is made up of just
sinners. It doesn't matter if it's a Jew
or a Gentile or from China, from Africa or America. It's made
up of all kinds of sinners from all places of this world. Now
he says in verse 1, Paul and Silvanus, which is Silas and
Timotheus, he includes Silas and Timothy here in this letter
to let the church know of his unity with them. They are brethren. And what I see here is an amazing
work of God. This is amazing grace. There was a time when Paul would
not have shared the spotlight with those two men. There was
a time Paul wouldn't share the spotlight with nobody. He would
pop in his suspenders and it was all about Paul, or that time
Saul. But he's... I thought something
interesting, side note. I was reading where the name,
you know, his name was Saul, and then the Lord named him Paul,
and that means little. Paul means little. He gave him
a name of little. Paul, you're little. You remember
that he has such abundance of revelations that God gave him
a thorn in the flesh to keep him down? and to keep him down
and to make him realize that, Paul, when it all comes down to it,
you're just little. You're just little. The one that's
great is the Lord Jesus Christ. We're all just littles. We're
all a bunch of Pauls, aren't we? In that sense, just little.
But Paul here, he never tries to steal the spotlight, but was
willing to show it, and willing to share it, and to show his
unity with Silvanus and Timothy. You know, Timothy's mother was
Jewish, but his father was a Greek. He said, this is my brother.
This is my brother. And he writes to the church here
in Thessalonica. This church was named, not this church, but this city
was named after the sister of Alexander the Great, Thessalonica. I believe it was his sister.
And this city was started by his brother-in-law, Cassander,
of Alexander the Great. And this is the This is the city
he preached to. A bunch of Gentiles, mostly Gentiles,
who were just like the Corinthians. They were just given about every
vice you can think of. Now he says here, Paul and Silvanus
and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians. Now the
church here means a company called out or called out one or an assembly.
They were chosen of God So he lets them know in verse 4. Brethren,
knowing, knowing, you know this. You know the early church in
all those years after, in those early years, election wasn't
a problem. The preaching of the doctrine
of election was not a problem. They knew it. He said, You know
that you were chosen of God, elect of God. You were chosen
of God. You were called by His grace,
born of His Spirit. This is the church. And this
is the church in every age. This is the church in every community,
wherever it is. And the church is said to be,
now listen, he doesn't say which is in Thessalonica. He says to
the church which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The church, the local church
here in Spring Lake, is in God the Father. and in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The word in here shows their
intimate union with the Father and with the Son. We cannot get
any more intimate or any more close than to be in the Father
and in the Son. It doesn't get any closer than
that. It doesn't get any closer than
that. They were protected by His power, they were guided by
His counsel, and they were cherished by His grace. This church in
Thessalonica, as well as this church in Spring Lake, is in
God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole church
has always been in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's never been a time when the church was not in Him. I
can't explain that. I can't explain that, but it's
so. The church is in God the Father
and in Jesus Christ before the world began, and now, and shall ever be. They'll never be separated. Never
be separated. This also He says this also because
they used to worship idols, false gods. You see that they turned
from their idols to serve the living God. They turned from
something they could see to someone they could not see. God is Spirit. They could not see Jesus Christ
because Jesus Christ is seated at God's right hand. He ascended
back to glory. And what he's saying here is
that this assembly of believers is in God the Father, in Jesus
Christ, as opposed to being standing before these idols that they
at one time worshipped. They used to worship these idols.
And he says, you don't do that no more. You don't do that no
more. You don't worship idols no more. You worship. You worship Jesus Christ. You
worship Christ in God. You worship Him. Because you're
in Him. You're in Him. And grace be unto
you in peace. This grace that he's talking
about is a quickening grace. It's enlightening. It's because
of the grace of God, you know God. It's because of the grace
of God, you know how God saves sinners. It's because of the
grace of God, you know Jesus Christ. You know how many people
in this community does not know Jesus Christ, who profess that
they do, but they don't. Grace, grace unto you. It's quickening grace. It's enlightening
grace. It's strengthening grace. It's
transforming. It's transforming. If you and I, or any sinner,
taste of the grace of God, I promise you, we will not be the same. You will not be the same. You
can't be. You can't be. You know, the Scripture
says, the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. And ungodliness
was our way of life. You'll not be the same. This
grace elevates. This grace comforts. I read this
from somebody. It says, "...We are lost till
grace finds us, undone till it saves us, naked till it clothes
us, miserable till it comforts us. Grace finds us poor and makes
us rich, sunk and never leaves us till it has raised us up to
heaven." Grace! Unmerited favor of God! be to
you, and peace, peace." You know, the greatest thing
that Paul could pray for them, and the greatest thing that I
could pray for you, sincerely now, sincerely, is that grace
and peace be to you from God. The unmerited favor of God be
to you and peace of heart and mind through the peace that we
have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace,
peace of mind, peace of mind, through the reconciliation that
we have in Christ, peace in our understanding, no longer harassed
by doubts and fears. You know the
truth. You know the truth. And the reason
you know the truth is by the grace of God. By the grace of
God. How many family members do you
know that have nothing to do with the grace of God? Or they
may be religious, but they want nothing to do with the true grace
of God. But you do. You do. You know why? Grace made the
difference. Grace made the difference. He
was brought up in the same house. You know, I think of Cain and
Abel. Both heard the same message,
brought up in the same house, and yet Abel offers that sacrifice
that God told him to offer, and Cain rebelled. And the only difference
between those two boys was the grace of God. That's
the only difference. The grace of God. Our greatest blessings are spiritual. Someone said we can pray for
others no higher good than grace and peace. Grace and peace. Now where does grace and peace
come from? We see it's here from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Apart from the Father and apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, His person of work, there is no grace
or peace. There is none. There is no grace
apart from Christ. You cannot experience the grace
of God apart from Jesus Christ. And you sure can't experience
peace if you've never experienced grace. Because peace follows
grace. The Father is the source of it,
and the Lord Jesus Christ is the channel. And notice something
else here. He calls, first of all, God our
Father. God's our Father. What a Father
we have. What a Father we have. Couldn't
have a better Father. Couldn't have a better father.
God is our father. And it says here, but the one
thing that jumped out at me here is the Lord. It doesn't just
say Jesus Christ. He says the Lord. The Lord. You know the word Lord, the name
Lord has the meaning of owner. It means owner. He has the right
to do with his own as he will. You remember, we looked at Matthew
12, and they accused him for breaking the Sabbath, and he
said that he was Lord of the Sabbath. And what he was saying,
I'm the owner of the Sabbath. I can do away with it if I deem
necessary. He's the owner. He's the owner. What do I really own, really? The Lord could take it at any
time. He can take it. It doesn't matter
if it's my health. I mean, I may exercise like I
ought to. I may eat right as I ought to.
And the next thing I know, I go to the doctor. He says, you got
six months. What do I really own? He's the
owner. He's the owner. It also means
this, master. It means master, one to whom
service is due. He's our Lord. He's our owner. He's our sovereign. He's our
master, one to whom service is due. It also means emperor or
king. He's our king. He's our King. We have a King, King Jesus. That's
His name, King Jesus. That's one of the reasons Paul
got ran out of Thessalonica. They said, He's preaching another
one, that Jesus is King. He's preaching another King.
Of course He is. He's preaching the one who is
King. Because we live in this country
and we are so far removed from what it is to have a king. But we have a king. We live under
the authority of a king. I mean, in reality, we do. Jesus
Christ is the king. He's our Lord, He's our Master,
He's our Owner, He's our King. Now in verse 2 here, Paul gives
thanks to God for them. He says, We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. He prays for them. He prays for
them personally. He doesn't pray in general terms. You know, you just feel like,
well, I need to pray. You need to think about it. You need to
think about who you're about to go before. We need to think about who we're
about to go before. We need to think about the petition.
And I think this, too. Is what I'm asking for, is it worth attaching the name
of Jesus Christ to it. Think about it. I'm going to
go before God, and when we pray, we cast our cares upon Him. And
we are to pray what? In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's what I'm praying about.
what I'm praying about, or what I'm praying for. Is it worth
attaching that name, which is above every name, to it? I tell you what, to me now, that
puts a lot more weight in prayer. It makes me think more about
what I'm asking for, what I'm about to say, because I'm using
the Lord's name. I'm not just name-dropping. You know how people do name-dropping? Oh yeah, so-and-so, you know.
I know him. I know him. We know each other.
You probably just met him a couple hours ago or something. Yeah,
I know him. We're not name-dropping. We're
using the name that literally moves heaven and earth. It moves
heaven and earth. We're using the name that the
angels are told to worship, here in Hebrews chapter 1. Let all
the angels of God worship Him. So when Paul prays for them, the first thing he does in his
prayer, the first thing he does is he gives thanks. He starts
out his prayer with thanks. I realize how often I don't do
that. How often I don't start out...
This is what I'm talking about. Sit down and think about what
you're going to pray, what you're about to go before God for. And
the first thing Paul does is he gives thanks. He gives thanks. He magnifies the grace of God
that's at work in them. He's saying, You are a work of
the grace of God, you Thessalonians. You are a work of the grace of
God. And He magnifies the grace of
God that's at work in them. And His prayers for them, they
were specific. He said, Making mention of you
in our prayers. Without ceasing, that is constantly,
constantly. Henry told me, this has been
some time ago, he was telling me, he said, we pray for you. He was talking about me and Vicki. He said, we pray for you and
Vicki every day. He said, most every day. He said,
we make mention of you. You have no idea how much comfort
that brought to me. To know that first of all, He
hadn't forgotten me, you know, out of sight, out of mind. But
that He was... And I'd feel the same about you
calling my name before God. But to think that they would
make mention of me at the throne of grace. that He would mention my name,
that He would literally make intercession for me before the
throne of grace. Brethren, we have a throne of
grace that you and I can come to, we have access to, and we
can use it for one another. We can intercede for one another. And not just ourselves. Not just
ourselves. Now notice here, he says, I thank
God for you. We give thanks to God always
for you all. He doesn't thank them for believing.
He doesn't thank them for gathering together. But he does thank God
for them. I thank God for you. Thank God
for the grace at work in you. And Paul does not speak of them
as his converts, but they are the Lord's converts. They are
his children. It's God who makes us believers. And this is how we ought to begin
our prayers for one another, thanking God for one another.
I thank God for your fellowship. I thank God for your kindness
and for your love. I thank God that you think of
me when you pray. Thank God for one another. You
know what? I thought of this. You cannot
do harm or speak ill of someone or to someone whom you thank
God for and pray for. When your thoughts are on them
in that way, you can't think ill of them, nor would you speak
ill of them. And then it's always good to
have a good memory when praying. Paul said, remembering without
ceasing. Remembering. Paul never forgot their faith,
love, and hope. They were evidences of their
salvation. And what he's so thankful for
here is that God really did a work in them through his preaching
the gospel to them. It's like it wasn't in vain.
I mean, you know, Paul knew from going from place to place, he
just ran out of town. And he knew these Jews were always
hot on his heel and trying to stomp out the name of Christ. And he never forgot their faith
and love and hope. Samuel said this, and you can
write this down, this reference, I'm not going to turn to it. In 1 Samuel 12, 23, Samuel said this, "'Moreover,
ask for me.'" Now listen, "'God forbid that I should sin against
the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.'" You never thought of that as
a sin, did you? Not praying for one another. Moreover, Samuel
said, As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord
and cease Him to pray for you. And he said, But I will teach
you the good in the right way. But it's a sin against the Lord
for me to not pray for you. Now, I'm gonna close with these,
faith, hope, and love. I'm just gonna say a few things
about them. Paul points out here three graces, faith, hope, and
love, that are at work in everyone whom God saves, everyone. He says, your work of faith,
faith is an active Grace. As James said, faith without
works is dead. It's dead. A work of faith is inspired by
faith. As soon as faith was given, it
was evidenced by repentance and good works, going about doing
good for one another. You know what good works are?
Well, first of all, it's the work of God in you, but it comes
out in looking after one another, taking care of one another, visiting
one another. That's what it is. That's what
it is. And then he says, your work of faith and your labor
of love, like faith or labor of love was
inspired by love to the Lord Jesus Christ and to one another. I realize that my love to you
is a reflection of my love to Christ. It's in the same measure. But he calls it here a labor
of love. And it means this. Here's the
meaning of it. They toiled unto weariness. It wasn't just, you know, it's
more than just working. You can work and not be weary.
I mean, you can work and not be tired and not get weary. You
can just put in an eight-hour day and go home. But what he's
saying here, to really get a hold of what he's saying here, is
that you have toiled unto weariness. It's a labor. You have labored
to the point of weariness. And you've done so in love. You've
done so in love. Love has made you go that second
mile. Love made you go the second mile.
That's the reason why you did it. The reason why you sacrificed,
the reason why you took of what you had and you gave it to help
others in the church community, in the fellowship of believers.
You took care of one. You're taking care of one another. Faith without love is empty. Paul says, just a sounding brass
and a tinkling cymbal. Remembering without ceasing your
work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Patience
of hope. You know, I think hope We guess
patience. What keeps you waiting? What
keeps you waiting? What keeps you enduring? It's
that hope that you have in you. I remember one time talking to
a gentleman He and I were talking, and this one person had just
really lost all hope. I mean, it was sad, but this
one person lost all hope. But something had happened that
gave this person a little bit of hope. And he had come by when
we were talking, he had come by and told us about it, and
walked away. I'm telling you, he walked away
with a snap in his step. And this gentleman I was talking
to, he said this, and he said, it's amazing what just a little
bit of hope will do for a man. What just a little bit of hope,
just a little glimmer of hope, it'll put a snap in your step,
it'll give you a reason to get up in the morning, it'll give
you a reason to go to work, it'll give you a reason to live one
more day. And this hope that he's speaking here of, This hope
here is an expectation of the Lord Jesus Christ coming again.
It's an expectation of being saved in the Lord Jesus Christ
when this is over. It's an expectation of standing
before God accepted in the Beloved. And that expectation, which is
called hope, enables you to endure trials, heartaches, hardships. If you have a glimmer of hope,
I tell you what, you'll be back here next week. You'll be back
here Sunday. You'll be back here Thursday.
You'll be back. But if you ever just lose that
hope, and that hope is gone, I probably won't see you no more.
Probably not. True faith, true love produces
hope. And this hope comforts in trials. This hope encourages patience. The Lord said He was coming,
and because of that I have a hope. I have an expectation He will.
And this hope is in a person. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
My hope's in a person. My hope's not in a plan, not in a prayer, not in a decision. My hope is in Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. Boy, that's a way to start out
a letter, isn't it? Grace and peace be multiplied to you. Grace
and peace They are of God through Jesus
Christ. I'll tell you, this matter of coming to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the grace of God in Christ,
the peace of God in Christ, to know Christ himself. I pray that the Lord will make
this so for us. I pray he'll make this so for
us. All right.