Studies in Song of Solomon 01 His Head as Fine Gold — Svend Christensen

Reading 1 Thessalonians and Its Five Chapters

On the Lord Jesus, and then the other time we'll take up both expository from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. There's only five chapters, so we'll just spend one message on each chapter, so that means we'll only be skimming the surface, but we trust we'll get enough of this for all of us to get something from the Lord to our souls.

Now, reading 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and 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, brethren, beloved, your election of God.

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as ye know what man of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that ye were an example 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 your faith toward God is spread apart, so that we need not speak anything. For they themselves show of us what man of ending end we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and to God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his holy words. Now, as you notice, this is a wonderful epistle regarding the Lord's coming. The coming of the Lord is mentioned in all five chapters. Chapter one and the end of the chapter have to do with their conversion, how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God.

In chapter two, it has to do with the crown, the soul when it's crowned. At the end of verse two, what is all hope or joy or calm of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In chapter three, at the end of it, it has to do with their conduct. To the end, you may establish your hearts unblameably in holiness before God, even though Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

And then in chapter four, it has to do with all comfort. Comfort one another with these words. And in chapter five, it has to do with consecration. I pray God your whole, and the very God of the peace, sanctify your holy, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Historical Setting in Acts 17

Now, the background for this is found in Acts chapter 17. 17 chapter of Acts. We'll find a little bit about the background of how Paul came on his second missionary journey with Silas. You remember they had been beaten and persecuted at Philippi, thrown in the inner dungeon.

Then they were let loose, and we read how they came to Thessalonica in Acts chapter 17, verse 1, where was a synagogue of the Jews. Telling us it was quite a Jewish community there. They had a full established synagogue.

Verse 2 of chapter 17, and Paul, after his manner, went in unto them and tree-sabbathed. He's reasoning with them out of the scriptures. So the time was very short there. Opening and alleging that Christ would need have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.

So there you see something about their message. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the cheap women not a few. But the Jews who believed not moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd or vile fellows of the base of sorts.

What a description! And gathered a company, and set all the city into an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring out the people. So you see the gospel came to them in all its clarity with persecution.

So that's how the gospel came there to that city of Thessalonica. At that time it was the capital of Macedonia, a population of some 200 ,000. It was situated on the great Ignatian road, and was at first called Therma because of its hot springs.

Cassander enlarged it and changed it to Thessalonica in honor of his wife, who was half-sister of Alexander the Great. Now it's called Thessalonica. Now then, as to the theme of the epistle, I think the notes of the Schofield Bible give that very, very nicely.

The ever-Schofield Bible, it points out, was to confirm these young converts in the foundational truth taught them, to exhort them to a life of personal holiness, to please the Lord, to comfort them concerning those that have died, and also to teach them regarding the Lord's coming again.

The Three Authors and Five Triplets of Chapter One

Now, as to the author, authors, I should say, there's three. You notice in chapter one there's five sets of triplets. See, I might just mention these to you, the threefold authorship. Paul, you know, this great man of God who was formerly Saul of Tarsus, how he's converted, how God revealed his son to him and in him, and then commissioned him to be the apostle to the Gentiles.

Silas, one of the chief among the brethren, you remember, who had endangered his life, the great man of God. And Timotheus, his son in the faith, he could speak of him as having no one like-minded like him.

We read about it in Philippians chapter two. The great man of God is Timotheus. So you have a threefold authorship. And then you have a threefold subjective experience. In verse three, work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope.

And then you have a threefold reception of the message in verse five. For gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, holy spirit, and in much assurance. And then threefold result in verse six and seven.

They became followers of God and the Lord. They were in samples in verse seven to all that believed in Methadonea, and they became witnesses for whom you sounded out the word of the gospel. Threefold result.

And then you have a threefold call in nine and ten. Verses to the past, they turned to God for not their idols. It speaks about their salvation. And then, to serve the living and through God. That's their occupation.

That's a great occupation, isn't it? To serve the living and through God. And then their expectation, and to wait for his son from heaven. So you have these five triplets in chapter one. Now, in connection with the readers, because they were the Thessalonians, notice five things just briefly about them.

Spiritual Growth: Birth, Nurture, Standing, Walking, and Fighting

In one, verse nine, chapter one, verse nine, you have their hurt. They were born. They turned to God from idols. Secondly, in chapter two, verse seven, they were nursed. And Paul was the nurse. He was a nursing mother to them.

And number three, they were standing. Verse eight, now we live if ye stand. Isn't that the order? First we're born, then we're nursed, then we stand, and then next, we walk. Chapter four and verse one.

In the black letter verse, how you ought to walk to please God. Verse twelve, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without on the outside. That's the walk. And then fifthly, fight. Verse eight of chapter five, for let us who of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for on helmet the hope of salvation.

Five things mentioned in connection with these readers. These Thessalonians do notice the wonderful safety of these believers. I like the way it's put there. And in the Lord, it speaks about them. They were in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isn't that a wonderful place to be? In God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a position. It's ours. A place of security, satisfaction, safety. It reminds me of John chapter ten. I give unto my sheep eternal life.

No one is able to pluck them out of my hand. My Father which is in all else in his hand. In God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a place of security we have in God. And this is the only time I think in connection with the Thessalonians that this is mentioned.

You hear the same in second epistle in the first verse, I believe it is. You hear the very same thing. They're in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're living in Thessalonica for the real place was in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's ours, too. John says, truly all fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. All position leads to all fellowship in him. In the heavenlies in Christ. Marvelous to have this, isn't it?

Grace, Peace, and the Believer's Spiritual Riches

And then there's the wonderful greeting. And it's again the two-fold greeting from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First he says, grace be unto you. Grace is one of Paul's great verses. He was the apostle of grace.

He taught the doctrine of grace. And it's the grace of God that bringeth salvation. Grace is the source. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that he through his poverty may be made rich.

Oh, the grace that drew salvation fast. Isn't that right? It was grace that brought it down to man. Mighty, wonderful grace. Sovereign grace of our God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. We read being justified really by grace, by his grace, through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3, 24. Titus 2, 11 says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared. And, of course, it teaches us certain things. That's the source. And then the effect of that grace is peace.

Peace. Remember the Lord Jesus bequeathed his peace before he left? Peace I give unto you, my peace. Not as the world give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Yes, we have peace.

The word was preached, peace by Jesus Christ. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. And we not only have peace with God, but God wants us to have the peace of God. The word of God calls him as the source, the God of all grace.

And he's called the God of peace. That's the source of the... My, we're rich people tonight. You know, there should be a lot of just worship and love and adoration and praise and thanksgiving going up to him all the time.

When you think of who we were, what he became and what his grace has brought in and to us and in our hearts and made us meet to be partakers of his glory. Oh, the grace and the wonderful peace. May I ask you a question?

Do you have that peace tonight? Do you have peace with God tonight? You say, yes, thank God I'm saved. Well, did you have the peace of God? That settled quiet peace. That peace that has all understanding.

Living in the midst sometimes of turmoil and trouble and agitation and so on. Do you have peace? So many times Christians get ruffled, you know. They start raising their voices and they get all excitable.

That's not peace. That's not the peace of God. God wants us to have that quiet, victorious peace. At rest, like a bird sitting in the cleft of the rock with the storm raging on their side, she's at peace.

That's what we have from God, peace. And then it goes on through many wonderful things and I'm not worried. Notice in verse 2 this thanks. Thanksgiving, we give thanks to God always for you all. How often?

How much? Always, he says. The Bible says in everything give thanks. Giving thanks for all things. You know, thanksgiving is close to thanksgiving and it produces holiness and the like. A person that's a thankful Christian are usually godly Christians.

You remember one of the very objects of thanksgiving is murmuring. And one of the great sins of Israel, they were murmured. And when God dealt with them, it was because of their murmurings. My brethren and sisters, we have nothing to murmur about.

We have nothing to complain about. We are to be thankful, praising the Lord. Sometimes you meet Christians that just long to see you so they can unload their burdens on you, unload their sicknesses, unload their pains, unload all their handicaps, unload them all on their fellow Christians.

That's not what it teaches here. He's giving thanks all the time. And that's one of the greatest way to overcome. Be thankful. Giving thanks to God, and it's to Him always. Thank Him for your difficulties, thank Him for your pain, thank Him for the troubles and all this.

They all bring us closer to Him. Thank Him for blabbing and roughing you the wrong way even. Sure, they rough the rough corners off you now. You never saw rough stones along the ocean. They're all nice and smooth.

That's the way to make them rough against one another, rough all of those rough corners off. Thank God for the Christians that rough us the wrong way, you know, and agitate us. Take it to the Lord. Thank God for them.

There are ministers sent to your life to rough off some of these rough edges, to make your smooth stone neat for the master's use. And then he's praying. Along with thanksgiving, there's prayer, making mention of, you know, prayers.

He's asking God for them. It tells us different places about Paul night and day praying. You wonder, when does the man ever sleep? He's just, as it seems, a ball of spiritual energy. Night and day praying, giving thanks to God always, laboring night and day.

All the time abounding in the work of the Lord, willing to lead the life of Paul, isn't it? I was almost contemplating speaking a little bit about his life. And then there's remembering. Remembering what?

Without ceasing. Remembering what? All their faults and their shortcomings. We seem to remember that sometimes better than the good points, don't we? But he says, I'm remembering three things about you, and they're wonderful things.

The Work of Faith, Labor of Love, and Patience of Hope

First, they're a work of faith. In the sense, this is the work of God. Do you believe in Him whom God has sent in John 6 through 28 and 29? You remember, the work of faith was evident by Abel, who offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, nor who built an ark to the saving of his house.

The evidence of his faith. Abraham leading the earth, according to these, going up for a country that he'd never seen. In faith, the evidence of faith. We have to let down the scarlet cord, and the evidence of the faith.

James, he'd weigh down this aspect. He says, now you show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works. Work of faith is evident in what we do. When you really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the evidence is seen in the new life.

When you exercise faith after you're saved, the evidence is seen in the result of that faith being evident in what it produces. Then there's the labor of love. Now, this is service motivated by love. Love that shows itself not in empty words, but in action.

Love that expresses itself in labor, toil, weariness, exhaustion, sweat, blood, and tears. Christianity is not a life to be endured for duty's sake, but that person to be served for love's sake. That's Christianity.

The love of Christ constrains us. And when we really show our love to the Lord, we then also love to serve his people. Love serves. It doesn't always look what it can get, but rather what can it give.

And then there's patience of hope. This sheer, dogged endurance. Endurance of hope. Because of the knowledge of Christ that he's going to fulfill it for us, I will come again. In the midst of their persecution, they knew the Lord said, I'm going to come again.

The church was ever expecting the Lord from heaven, and so should we. And this is what proved their election. But before I mention that, notice then, in the sight of God our Father, these things were all before God.

Everything we do is open and naked to him with whom we have to do. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 9, that I may be accepted of him. Doing it all unto God and the Father, this is the great thing. Do everything as heartily unto the Lord.

That's the great motive, and that's how they did these things. Then we see their election. Notice that in verse 4. Knowing your election. What's it based on? He knew their election because they produced in their lives what was in accord with the faith.

If a man is truly born again, it'll be evidenced by how he lives. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. All things pass away, all things become new. And, actually, that's why he knew they were elected.

Yet, there was that wonderful work of faith. Labor of love, patience of hope. These were the marks of their election. Notice these endearing terms that he uses here. Brethren, beloved. Now, that's the greatest title you can have.

Paul, in Philippians 2, speaks about ticketing, and he says, My brother. Wouldn't you like to be called that by Paul the Apostle? My brother. That's better than Reverend Dr. So-and-so. My brother. And then, beloved.

In Romans 1 -7, we'll read beloved of God. Isn't it great? Like Daniel, greatly beloved. God reminded him he was greatly beloved. Well, so are we. So near, so very near to God, nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his Son, I am as dear as he.

So near, so very near to God, nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his Son, I am as near as he. Beloved. Precious to be beloved of the Lord. And then, in verse 5, notice the manifestation of the power of God here.

The Gospel in Power and the Example of Godly Servants

First, from the negative side, he says, Our gospel came not to you in word only. It wasn't just a lot of talk, but from the positive side of a thoughtful preaching, but also in power. In Acts 14 -1, it says about the Apostles, They so spake that many believed.

The word of truth goes forth in power. It'll have results. They so spake that many believed. And it came forth in power, in the Holy Spirit. That was the power, and in much assurance, that's the results.

You know, when you get healthy parents, you get healthy children. And here you have healthy parents, as we'll see now as we go into that, and you get healthy children. Notice it goes on to say, As ye know what man of men we were among you for your sake.

The greatest servant that can be preached is that godly life. The man is his message. You cannot respect the man's message if you know the man that's speaking is nothing but a hypocrite. If you know he's a crook and he's a cheater, he may say the nicest thing in the world, but if you're listening to him, it doesn't have much effect on you.

Paul says, you know what kind of men we were. They were holy like their master. They were followers of Christ. They were self-denying. They were self-emptying. They just poured out themselves for others.

That's the key. And that's the thing that spoke so loudly. Do you think they would have knocked at Philippi and they would have gone home with their tail between their legs? But no, they kept on. Why did they go to Thessalonica?

Nothing but the love of Christ constrained them. That's what we need better than this. And as a result of that, he says, ye became followers of us. Notice that's the order here. They first became followers of us.

Young people, young converts, usually become sort of followers of the people who lead them to Christ first. And then they get weaned from them and into Christ. And then of the Lord. Notice the order there?

Ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction and joy. Notice the contrast here. Great persecution and great joy. And one thing that marked the book of Acts was joy, joy, joy.

You'll find out there was much joy, great joy. All through the book of Acts. It says in Acts 13 .52,. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Romans 14 .17,. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And you could go on and on as time would permit me. Acts 8 says,. And there was great joy in that city. Do you know something of that joy? That joy unspeakable and full of glory? Do you have joy unspeakable in your heart?

For the Spirit is love. Joy. Do you have it, brethren and sisters? Is anyone here tonight? You're not saved. You'll never have joy. You'll never have peace until you know the Lord Jesus Christ. It's impossible.

There's no joy outside of Him. Everything of this world vanishes away. You may have a good time tonight, like a man says he'll have champagne tonight, and you'll have real pain in the morning. That's about it.

Nothing to it. A bubble that soon vanishes away. Now, notice the process here, by which the Thessalonians became reproducing. First, they have the example of Paul and his companions. You know what men and men we were among you, says Paul.

Secondly, they followed. They followed them. Thirdly, they became imitators of the apostles, it says here. You became followers or imitators of us and of the Lord. And then the next thing you read, so that you were in samples.

See the growth? There's development in the Christian life. There's growth. And that's how they became strong and healthy, because they were born in affliction by healthy parents. And that's how we get strong in the Lord.

The Gospel's Expanding Testimony

And then you have the entering in, or firstly, in verse 8, the testimony enlarged, local to the local sort, from you. From you. What was from them? From their power of God in their lives, they sounded out the gospel.

It was sort of the re-echoing of the apostles and their lives and their message, re-echoing out. From you sounded out the word of the Lord. And notice the scope of that. Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, all over Greece there.

No, no. It sounded out, not only in that immediate area. Notice what it was that sounded out. The word of the Lord. From you sounded out. This was not talking about themselves and what God had done for them.

That was evidenced in their new lives, completely transformed from heathenism. People that did not know God now, they were in God the Father. They had a heavenly Father, been adopted into his family, and now they were sounding it out, the word of the Lord.

And that's what they sounded out. Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but what does it say? In every place. There's a vibrant testimony, and for you it speaks about in the singular, they at the local church, I don't think Paul spoke anything as much.

In chapter one you have the model church, and this church is used as an example by Paul to all of us. And you have the same in the secondary people, where they were an example to others. Wouldn't it be grand if we as individuals and individual testimony were examples?

You know, God has given us much truth. He's given us the great truth of the unit and the oneness of the body of Christ, the great truth of gathering to his name alone, the great truth of the priesthood of believers, the great truth of worship and many kindred truths.

Now are we sounding it all out? Does others know about it? Or are we like a little secret society that meets on a little side street and sort of drive up there from miles away and then go and have our meeting and then go home again and people think, well that's some kind of a secret club meeting over there.

What's our testimony? Is it sounding? Is it echoing? In every place. Just like you throw a stone in a quiet lake into the middle, you'll see the ripples starting around the stone and they keep on rippling right out until they reach the shore.

And that's what the Thessalonica, they sounded it out. The ripples reach everywhere for the testimony. Notice the entering of the reception of the word of God here. He says that we need not speak anything.

It's superfluous for us to say anything. You have done such a good job of it. What a testimony. They themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you. You remember it was an affliction with joy, with persecution and rejection that entered into them.

Conversion, Service, and Waiting for Christ's Return

Now you have three things here. First, conversion. Secondly, service. Thirdly, waiting or expectation. Conversion. How you turn to God from idols. Now, in every conversion that's a turning, the Lord Jesus taught repentance.

John the Baptist came preaching repentance. Repent! Turn! Turn about! You're going downward. You're heading for a lost eternity. You're on the road to lead to destruction. He said, turn or you'll burn!

There's a death and a turning. Ezekiel 33 says, Turn ye, turn ye! Why will you die? Why will you die in your sin? I have no flesh in the dead or the wicked, says God. And my friend, if you have never had a real born-again experience, if you have never really received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, there has to be a turning in your life.

You have to turn to God from your sin. Jesus was called so because He shall save His people, not in their sin, but from their sin. And when He saves you, He saves you from your sin and from the power of sin in your life.

He makes you a new person. I have never been the same since the day God saved me in 1942. I've been a new man ever since. I'll never be the same again. Paul was never the same again. Great apostle. He says in Galatians chapter 1 that these Georgian churches who didn't know Him, they only heard of death and healer, who weren't persecuted, now He preached the faith that He once persecuted.

And they glorified God in me. There was a turning. Has there been a turning in your life? The evidence of repentance is a new life. If any man be in Christ, He's a new creation. The old things pass away.

All things become new. That's what it means to be converted. You turn to that. Did you turn from your sin? Had you turned to the Lord Jesus with all your heart and trust in Him? Some would say you're putting that backwards.

No, no, not necessarily. In Acts 26, it gives us in that order. The main thing is you turn. And then the next thing to notice here, and that's to serve the living and the true God. First you have turning to God, looking to God.

He in our service is looking on the fields. And I want you to notice the order of conversion comes before serving. I marked something down here I just want to quote to you. If converted without the word, you are not converted.

James 1 .18. Confessing to receive it, you are not turned by it, that is by the word of God, you have not received it. If you claim to be converted and not serving God, you are not converted. If you boast of serving God without being converted, you are not serving Him.

I think that's well put. And then you have waiting. Oh, this is good. Waiting for His Son from Heaven. Notice the first one, turning to God, lines up with your work of faith. Serving the true and the living God lines up with your labor of love.

And to wait for His Son from Heaven lines up with the patience of hope. Waiting. And the word waiting means to wait up, just like a person waiting up. You're waiting for somebody to come home. You're anxiously waiting for somebody, just like a bride waiting for the bridegroom to come.

Waiting for a beloved. I'll tell you if she's there waiting up with the light burning, waiting for Him to come, she's not going to have some other man around, is she? Oh no, she'll be expecting Him. And in doing so, she'll be longing and looking for Him.

And my friend, this is how the Lord wants us to be, He wants us to be waiting up. The Lord says, I will come again. 318 times, the New Testament, the Second Coming. The New Testament, the Second Coming is mentioned.

He is coming again. Blessed is he that watches. And while you're watching and waiting, let's be working. And notice the person that's coming. His Son. To wait for His Son. The Lord Jesus. The one that died for us.

The one that saves us by His grace. And where's He coming from? From Heaven. To wait for His Son from Heaven. Where? Why, that's where He's going to prepare a place for us. Oh, what a place that must be.

It's beyond our wildest imagination. He's gone to prepare a place for His Father. The bridegroom has gone to prepare a place for us. There wasn't many mansions up there, but He's gone to prepare a special place for us.

And we're waiting for that. We're waiting for Him to come. To wait for His Son from Heaven. And the pledge is, whom He raised from the dead. That's the guarantee. That's the pledge. He raised Him from the dead.

Why, without the resurrection, of course, He couldn't come again. So that's the pledge of His coming. This saying, Jesus, He shall come. Even as you've seen Him go. He says, He that will come, He shall come.

And He will not tarry. The pledge is resurrection. Even Jesus. That's a precious name. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And we're going to see Him. Jesus, who bears that precious name. And the prospect.

Notice what it says. Even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. Wrath to pass. There's no condemnation to them that I'm Christ Jesus. And it all has to do with the great tribulation period I believe referred to here.

We'll be saved out of this place before the great tribulation comes. God has not appointed us to wrath to put up paid salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. No wrath to them that are in Christ. But, my friends, if you're here tonight, and you don't know just what I'm talking about, you've never had this experience of really being saved and really have that love and that peace and that joy in your heart, let me tell you something.

There's nothing but wrath for those outside of Christ. When Jesus hung upon Calvary's cross, He beheld the wrath of God for you. He drained the cup of God's wrath till it bit its grapes, left nothing but love for the believer.

But if you neglect or you reject this Savior who died for you, who took your place, died in your womb, and you're still on Calvary's cross, if you neglect Him or reject Him, the very wrath of God that was poured out upon Him will be poured out upon you.

The Bible says it's eternal. It says that all these that know not the Lord Jesus are going to be cast into utter darkness where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. They're going to be punished with eternal punishment, the Bible says.

In the Revelation it says they'll rest, they'll not rest day nor night. There's no rest in hell. There's no peace in hell. There's no hope in hell. They'll never rest again. It's awful great. It's far worse than anything we can describe.

It's a glorious thing to be saved from the wrath to come. And Jesus is coming to take us home, and it's best to deliver us from the wrath if you're not saved tonight. I plead with you to say, Lord Jesus, I want to be saved.

Save me tonight. Save me from the wrath to come. Come into my heart, Lord. And then, oh, there'll be no judgment for you. You say that's a low motive. Maybe it is, but I'll tell you this. It's better to come anyway to the Lord.

As long as you recognize your need and that you're sinning and you cannot save yourself, and you're afraid to die, afraid of coming judgment, whatever it is that may drive you to Him, you come. It's your soul at the stake.

It's your eternal welfare that's at stake tonight. And I plead with you, come before it's ever too late. So that's a little run-over, the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. A wonderful chapter and a wonderful Lord.

Thank everybody, in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Please, the result of His grace, may we be occupied in that work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope, waiting up, expecting things, working and waiting for Lord Jesus.

He's coming very, very soon. He could be here tonight. Are you ready? If you're not ready, I'll be at the back, entrance way. If you'd like to talk to us, we'll only be too happy to do so. Let's sit down and we'll pray.

Closing Prayer for Salvation and Sanctification

Our Heavenly Father, we thank and we praise Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee most of all for the Lord Jesus. Thank Thee for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. We pray, now just take the Word tonight and apply it to every heart present, to the Christians, all of us, we may be spoken to, for those that are not saved and might realize they must turn and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and not be saved, and not save from the wrath to come.