Sunday School: He Has Chosen You (1 Thessalonians 1:2-10)

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament, and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. So we're in 1

Thessalonians 1, and last week focused primarily on verse 1, just that greeting where Paul says,

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. And now we go from there through verses 2 to 10.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our

Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father, knowing, brothers, beloved by God, your election.

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the

Holy Spirit and with full assurance. Just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake, you also became imitators of us and of the

Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the

Holy Spirit, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

For the word of the Lord is sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth so that we have no need to say anything.

For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true

God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,

Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, as we come to this text today, as we have been reading through this letter and desire to hear the truths that Paul proclaimed to the

Thessalonians 2 ,000 years ago, I pray that we would receive this word and it would be written upon our hearts that it changes our mind and thinking to desire to walk in your spirit.

We have sitting among us today those who have proved themselves followers of Jesus Christ, because the word of God came to them just as it came to the

Thessalonians, in power and in authority and with full conviction and assurance.

And may we hear these words today and not just be hearers of the word, but doers of the word also.

May we understand the imperatives, the exhortation that is given here, calling us not just to hear, but to go and be and do in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his precious name that we pray and all God's people said, amen.

So here Paul has introduced himself along with Silvanus and Timothy who were along with him when they came to Thessalonica and had preached the gospel.

And as Mark had taken you through last week, and I had done with my class also looking at Acts chapter 17, right at the very beginning there where Paul had come into the city and proclaimed the gospel and was persecuted because he had proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will go through things in this life that will be pushed back because of the gospel that we proclaim, but may not necessarily have to experience the kind of persecution that the apostles went through for the sake of the gospel.

I had been banned from Twitter this morning. I woke up and found out that I had been banned from Twitter and I have been kicked off for a week.

Now I'm not comparing my persecution to what Paul went through by any way, shape, or measure, but nonetheless, this was the tweet that I had put out that I got banned for.

Here's what I got banned for. I said, the pandemic that you will hear about, COVID, the pandemics that you will not hear about, sin, porn, divorce, addiction, feminism, weak men, homosexuality, transgenderism, effeminate men, sexual immorality, unfaithful marriages, murder through abortion, the cure, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I got banned for that. So I've been kicked off Twitter for a week and I'm not allowed to continue to spread truth or the gospel in any way, at least through that particular platform.

So we're going to proclaim truth in this world that the world is going to hate us for.

And we may not experience the kind of persecution that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy went through, but nonetheless, we need not be surprised when the world hates us for these things.

And as my class had gone through 1st and 2nd Peter earlier this year, Peter had said in 1st

Peter 4, there are going to be people who will malign you just because you won't join them in the same flood of debauchery that they're in.

You don't have to go to a street corner and proclaim the gospel of Christ for the world to hate you. Just because you pursue godliness and righteousness, the world hates you for those things.

And so we see this encouragement that Paul gives to the Thessalonians. This was a church that was going through these kinds of persecutions.

Same persecution that had happened to Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, Silas. But they went on to another place.

They went on to Athens, well Berea from here, and then to Athens and were continuing to spread the gospel.

But even as they came here to Thessalonica, they had come from persecution when they came to this city.

They had been persecuted in Philippi before they got to Thessalonica. The Thessalonians knew that.

They knew they had been persecuted before coming to them and yet came to them preaching the gospel though they knew they were going to be persecuted again.

And as we see this firm stance that comes from the example of the apostles, so we must know those truths and hold fast to those things.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, blessed are you when others persecute you and revile you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Jesus said rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Paul is writing this letter to the Thessalonians because he wants them to rejoice and be glad even in the midst of much affliction and persecution.

As they see these persecutions that they go through, the reviling that comes to them from the world, they do not lose heart but they hold fast to the promise that they are given in Christ Jesus and looking forward to that day when

Christ returns to judge the living and the dead and we will be with him forever in his eternal kingdom.

Paul even mentions that here at the end of this chapter as we read in verse 10, wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead,

Jesus who rescues us from the wrath that is to come. Now as we look through this chapter, specifically verses 2 through 10,

I've broken up this chapter in the following ways. Paul begins by expressing thanks to the Thessalonians for their faith, hope, and love.

That's in verses 2 through 3. He knows with confidence that they have been chosen by God.

We see this reference to election in verses 4 through 6. And then finally, he gives the testimony of their genuine faith and how it has spread even through Macedonia and Achaia in verses 7 through 10.

And that's quite significant. Thessalonica was the largest city in these regions.

It was the capital city of Macedonia. And so to hear this word about these people who've turned from idolatry to worship the

Lord Jesus Christ was an amazing testimony to that city and even to the region.

An awesome thing to see how the gospel had spread in that area during this particular time. So we begin here in verse 2 with Paul saying, we give thanks to God always for all of you making mention of you constantly in our prayers.

Now that word constantly is also translated without ceasing. This comes up at the beginning of this letter to the

Thessalonians and it comes up at the end of the letter. In chapter 5 verse 17,

Paul encourages the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. So he has set before them himself who prays for them continually and then he encourages them to pray continually as well to follow his example.

To the Romans, Paul said in Romans 1 .9, without ceasing, I mention you always in my prayers.

To Timothy, he said, I remember you constantly in my prayers. Second Timothy 1 .3,

demonstrating his trust in the Lord and his love for the saints.

So Paul trusts in God that God will keep them in the faith and he expresses his love for the saints in that I pray for you.

When I am with God in prayer, when I am appealing before the

Father, before the Son, before the creator of the entire universe in the Holy Spirit, I pray for you.

I mention you always in my prayers. And so we see the love and the affection that Paul has for these churches in that expression and even in his spiritual disciplines and his habits.

So this is part of that expression of thanksgiving we have here at the very beginning. He goes on into verse 3 to say, remembering without ceasing.

So we have once again that expression of remembering without ceasing. Your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our

Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father. Now as Paul makes this reference of remembering, he says,

I remember your work of faith. This is likely not in reference to his experience with the

Thessalonians. So when he came there and was preaching the gospel and he was persecuted and then knowing therefore that they have been persecuted like he was.

Rather, what he's simply saying here is that he thinks about them when he prays. So this isn't in reference to a particular event or circumstance or the time that he was with them.

But when he's saying that I am remembering without ceasing your work of faith, he's just simply expressing that I remember you in my prayers.

Now we have something else that appears here in this particular verse, and it's common to Paul's letters, pretty much no matter who it was he was writing to.

We see these continuing Christian virtues expressed of faith and love and hope.

Does anybody know where else in Paul's letters you hear that faith, hope, and love? Where else do we hear that come up?

Say that again. Galatians. It is in Galatians. Yes. Anywhere else? Faith, hope, and love.

First Corinthians. That's right. That's probably the most well -known passage. So in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 13, it says, these three remain, right?

Faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. Now it was fairly recent

I asked this of my class, and now we have Mark's class in here too. So maybe I'll get some different answers than I did the first time

I asked this. But as Paul expresses these three Christian virtues, he says the greatest of these is love.

Why is love the greatest of the three? Say again.

The other two will end. That's right. Love endures forever. Even have an entire psalm dedicated to that.

Psalm 136, for his steadfast love endures forever, said over and over again throughout that psalm.

We will be in the love of God forever, for all eternity.

We're in God's love right now. We will be in his love when we pass from this life into the next.

Whether that is we die and go and be with him in glory, or he returns again, whichever event comes first.

We will be with him forever, and so we will be forever with the Lord, as Paul expresses in chapter four. So love is forever.

Faith and hope are things that we need right now. We have to have faith. For as it says in the book of Hebrews, without faith it's impossible to please

God. Forever would desire to please God must believe that he exists, and he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Now isn't that a fascinating definition of faith? You must believe that he exists, and if you're going to please

God, you must also believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

That God is good and loving and benevolent, and he gives to his children good gifts.

We've been hearing about that as we've been going through the Sermon on the Mount. God will give to his children, and we must believe that he will.

That he is our loving father who is in heaven. In Romans chapter 5 verses 2 through 5, these virtues of faith, hope, and love, they're a little more spread out.

So we read there, through him we have also obtained by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And then verse 5, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So you have those three virtues expressed there as well, faith, hope, and love, but spread out over more verses.

In Ephesians 4, we are bearing with one another in love, verse 2, called to one hope that belongs to your call, verse 4, in one

Lord, one faith, and one baptism. And so there you have faith, hope, and love spread out there as well.

So here these virtues are mentioned also in 1 Thessalonians 1, 3, a work of faith and a labor of love and a steadfastness of hope, demonstrating the genuineness of the

Thessalonian salvation. Being justified by faith, Romans 5, 1, we are not saved by our works, but our works will be seen as the evidence of our faith.

These three virtues, faith, hope, and love, are all in our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that expressed there at the end of that verse.

Without ceasing, I remember your work of faith, your labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our

Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father. This is how

Paul expresses his thanks to the Thessalonians here at the beginning of this letter.

Because of this work that he has seen in them, the work of faith, the labor of love, and the steadfastness of hope, this is fruit, this is bearing fruit, that Paul has seen and has evidence to him, you are truly followers of Christ.

You are truly my brothers and sisters in the Lord. And I give thanks for you always in my prayers.

So that's the first section. Paul's expression of thanks there in verses two through three. Before we go on to part two, are there any questions or comments about that?

All right, let's continue on. So in this next section, we have verses four through six,

Paul expressing his knowing with confidence that they are followers of Christ.

They are elect. They have been chosen by God. And again, because of this evidence that they have demonstrated.

So in 1 Thessalonians 1 .4, Paul affectionately assures the Thessalonians that they are brothers loved by God.

That's simply the shortness of the verse there. Knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election.

God's love is demonstrated in that he has elected them for salvation. And the evidence of their election,

Paul explains in the verses that follow. Now, the Greek word for chosen here, some of you have chosen, that he has chosen you.

I think that's in the English standard version. Anybody else have another translation they're reading from that says chosen?

Say again. I thought I heard somebody say something. So we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.

That's in the English standard version. The NASB, the legacy standard which I'm reading from, both use the word election.

And it's the Greek word eclogen, which means elect. Literally the phrase reads the election of you.

In short, Paul knows that they are elect because the gospel was preached to them and they believed it.

And the evidence of their genuine belief can be observed.

God elects whom he chooses for salvation as a demonstration of his love.

You know, Romans 5, 8, that God shows his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

In Ephesians 1 verses 4 and 5, we read, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will.

In 1 Peter 2, 9, Peter said to the church, but you are a chosen race, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

And understand something about the way Peter expresses that there. That's not a future reality, although there is still a future fulfillment of that for God's people.

There will be a kingdom in which we will dwell where there is no more evil, there is no more pain or suffering or dying, no more

COVID, no more government mandates, you know, nothing like that except the mandate to love the

Lord your God and worship him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And we will be doing that forever in his presence and glory.

So there is certainly that eternal state that is to come. But as Peter expresses these things here, he says, you are a chosen race now.

We are even now in the present, that race of people who has been called out from the rest of mankind to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Peter says, you are a holy nation. You are a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him now.

We see in Revelation chapter six and seven, chapter 15 and elsewhere that we will be around the throne forever praising

God for his wonder and his awesomeness. But we have been called out to proclaim the excellencies of him even in the present, for he has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous, into his marvelous light.

And we may live among a kingdom of darkness now in the world in which we live, but we're not part of that darkness.

We're not part of that kingdom that is coming to destruction. We are part of a greater kingdom that is coming to fruition, a kingdom of priests, as even

Peter expresses here, a, sorry,

I missed my spot, a holy nation, a people for his own possession to proclaim the excellencies of him.

So we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Rather, we are of his kingdom and living even now in his marvelous light.

Consider others in scripture whom God had chosen or elected and what is said about them in the scripture.

So in Jeremiah 1, 5, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, before I formed you in the womb,

I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Before you were born, I consecrated you and appointed you a prophet to the nations. In John 15, 16, when

Jesus spoke to his disciples in the upper room, the night before his crucifixion, he said to them, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.

You did not choose me, but I chose you. And in Galatians 1, 15, the apostle said, but when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, and Paul uses the exact same kind of language with the

Thessalonians as God has used regarding his prophets, his apostles, and his people.

The Thessalonian Christians have been chosen by God, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1, 13, not because of works, but because of him who calls. Romans 9, 11, before anyone came to them and preached the gospel, before Paul had even set foot in Thessalonica and had preached the gospel to them,

God had chosen them. And Paul will further assure them in this letter of their eternal security that they have in Jesus Christ.

I have a debate coming up in January that I'm currently preparing for, and I am going to be debating

John 6. And so what I will be positioning myself on in John 6 is that no one comes to the father or no one comes to Christ except that the father draws him,

Jesus said in John 6, 44, and I will raise him up on the last day. So I'm taking quite plainly the literal meaning of that text.

I'm debating with a man who believes that that text is only talking about the disciples.

That only the disciples who were present there to hear Jesus say that, they're the only ones of whom it is being said, no one can come to me, but that the father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up on the last day.

So in other words, only 11 dudes who were standing there, it only applies to them and not to anyone else, nor even to us in the present day, because that's the immediate context and that's who it was that Jesus was referring to.

And if that's the context, then when we read this here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 about the

Thessalonians who have been chosen by God, this can only be about them and it cannot be about us.

I mean, really, if that's the way we're going to interpret the text, then why are we even bothering studying it at all? We're just studying history here and we're reading about things that happened to other people, but it cannot possibly be relevant to us.

The Holy Spirit worked through the apostle to bring the gospel to Thessalonica that those whom

God had chosen for salvation would hear the gospel and believe it and be saved.

And just as God had done this 2000 years ago, which had been predetermined from eternity past, so he is still fulfilling his eternal decree even here in the present in this very day.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it's because God had foreordained it from before the foundation of the world.

And in fulfillment of what he had foreordained, he sent someone to you to preach the gospel.

And you're here today for that reason, because you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and you believed it, because God had ordained that you would be his son or his daughter.

Everyone comes to salvation exactly the same way. We were foreordained, we heard the gospel and believed it.

We continued in it to our dying day and we stand before God in glory.

This is for everybody who has been saved, that's the same story for every single person.

Now we don't know who the elect are. You don't know who God has chosen from before the foundation of the world for salvation.

Paul didn't know. Paul didn't know who God had chosen for salvation, but he praises God for the Thessalonians who are walking in faith because he realizes by their faith they've been chosen.

You've been chosen by God, knowing, brothers beloved by God, that he has chosen you.

We know your election because you've turned from following idols to worshiping the one true and living

God. And this is the evidence of their faith. So we don't know whom

God has elected. Paul didn't know who God has elected, but Paul went and preached the gospel to everyone.

It is not for us to decide who's elect and who's not. God determines that.

As I've heard Vodie Bauckham say, I'm just in communications. My father is the one who closes the deal.

I'm just going to tell you what the deal is and he's going to seal those whom he has chosen for salvation because they heard the gospel and believed it as has been ordained by God.

And that process of regeneration that happens in our hearts by the Holy Spirit to hear the gospel and believe it.

It's why one person comes to faith and believes and the other person who hears the same gospel doesn't believe. It's because the

Holy Spirit has regenerated the elect person's heart, but the other has been hardened against the gospel because they love their unrighteousness rather than the truth.

In 1 Thessalonians 1 .5, going on to the next verse we read, For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the

Holy Spirit and with full assurance, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake.

Now let's go through each one of these individually. Power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

So the word was preached and it's reception authentic as demonstrated in these three ways.

Number one, in power. As Paul said in Romans 1 .16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.

The Thessalonians not only heard the gospel, they submitted to the power of the gospel. It was not received as an ear tickling philosophy like the orators were known to proclaim in Thessalonica.

The gospel is not for our amusement. It's not a motivational speech to give us drive or to make us feel good.

The gospel changes a person's heart. The dead are brought to life through the power of the gospel.

Amen. Matthew Henry said the following, By this we may know our election, if we not only speak of the things of God by rote as parrots, but feel the influence of these things in our hearts, mortifying our lusts, weaning us from the world and raising us up to heavenly things.

So the power of the gospel demonstrated even here through the Thessalonians and demonstrated even to this day and every follower of Jesus Christ by those who will turn from sin in the ways of this world and follow in the righteousness of Jesus.

The power of the gospel to transform a life. So that's number one, the reception of the gospel authentic demonstrated in these three ways.

Number one, in power. Secondly, in the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God accompanies the word of God so that a person not only hears the gospel, but believes it also.

If not for the power of the Holy Spirit who regenerates a dead sinner's heart, the gospel would not be believed.

As said in 2 Corinthians 3, 6, the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

And in 1 John 5, 6, the spirit is the one who testifies because the spirit is the truth.

So we can hear the gospel, we can hear God's word proclaimed, but unless the

Holy Spirit regenerates this dead sinner's heart, then

I have no desire to follow the gospel, nor will my life be changed by it.

The gospel is not just some sort of word that is mentioned that we give some sort of mental assent to.

That's the expression that Pastor Tom uses. We don't just give mental assent to the gospel.

The gospel is also accompanied by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit changes the heart to hear the word and be transformed by it, a dead person raised to life, to no longer walk in those dead, dirty works that we were walking in when we were dead, dirty sinners, but we're now walking in the righteousness and the light of Jesus Christ our

Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. So Paul sees that even here in the

Thessalonians. And number three, he mentions with full conviction. The Thessalonians were convinced that the gospel is the truth.

They didn't decide to give it a try. That's some sort of money -back guarantee that Rick Warren gives whenever he says something about the gospel.

He says, give it a try, give it a try for 30 days. Whenever he says that, I'm ready for him to say, or your money back.

You know, tack that on right at the end of that offering. Just give it a try. We don't give it a try.

As Phil, pardon me here, the great philosopher, Yoda said, do or do not, there is no try, right?

So with the gospel, we don't give it a try. I know that was totally irreverent probably, but anyway.

The Thessalonians didn't just give it a try. They did not keep one foot in pagan temples and then the other foot in the church.

Hey, if this thing doesn't work out with the gospel, I can always go back to my paganism that I was doing in the church.

That wasn't the behavior of the Thessalonians. They knew, they knew that the gospel was true and convicted of their sin.

They left their idolatrous ways and they turned to Jesus Christ, as mentioned in verse 9.

Hebrews 11, 1 says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

So certain are we of the truth of the gospel that we are convicted to respond to the call of the gospel.

We're so certain of its truth that we will turn from our sin and we will follow the

Lord Jesus Christ. When I was at First Southern Baptist up in Junction City, there was a woman, well,

I'm going to call Kay. I'm just going to say her name was Kay, but she was not from our church. She would come to our women's

Bible studies, but she wouldn't attend church on Sunday morning. She would be a part of our women's groups. And when she came, she had these necklaces that she would wear.

And I don't know how many people had paid attention to those necklaces, but I caught it the first time that I met her.

There were all kinds of symbols on there. So she would have a cross, but she would also have, like, the crescent moon of Islam, and there would be some other symbols that I could tell were pagan in origin.

One of them was like the eye of Anuk, the Egyptian symbol. And there would be some other things that were on there that I don't recall exactly to mind, but it's just this hodgepodge of syncretism, those various different religious beliefs.

And so when I met her, I asked about that. I said, now, what are all of these things here that represent you in your necklaces?

I see a cross and a Star of David, but you got some other things that are in there as well. There was a Christian ichthys, the fish was in there also.

And I don't even remember exactly what her answer was, but it just was basically an expression of, you know,

I believe all of these different things, that I can find God in all of these things. Well, it turns out her husband was a

Freemason, and she was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, which is like the women's sect of Freemasonry.

And there was one of the women's Bible studies in particular,

I found this out later. I didn't know ahead of time. I found out after the fact. But the Order of the

Eastern Star had a brand new building. And she had asked that the women from the Bible study would come over to that brand new building and would pray for it and bless it.

And so they did. They went over there to that building, and they prayed for it. And I found out about it, and I went to the women's

Bible study, and I said to them, well, actually, let me just say this. I was planning on saying to them, ladies, you can't do this.

You can't be going and partnering with all of these other pagan things. You may not have known what the

Order of the Eastern Star was. You may have had completely good intentions. But I'm telling you, you can't be partner with that.

That's what I intended to say. But when I got to that Bible study and I sat down with the ladies, they said to me, we went to this thing last week, and it was really weird.

There was nothing godly about it whatsoever. And I was so relieved to hear them say that. I was like, okay, good. So you're not partnering with all this other stuff.

They thought they were doing something kind for this woman and then come to find, I think we're partnering with something pagan going on here.

And so I had a meeting with the woman and with somebody else that was from that women's Bible study.

And I said to her, we politely, we kindly have to ask you to move on. We know that you proclaim that you are a

Christian, but because of all the different things that you are involved in, you are not demonstrating with your life that you're truly a follower of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is just another philosopher in a long line of religious beliefs that you've committed yourself to, hoping one of these is right.

So that when I die and go be wherever it is that I'm going to be after death, hopefully I've got one of these correct.

And I said to her, I'm calling you to repent. I'm telling you to repent from all this other paganism and godless stuff that is not of Christ.

And put your faith and trust in Christ and in him alone for salvation.

None of these other things will save you. And if you think that you have to have your foot in all these other things you're just demonstrating, you don't believe that Christ is able to save you.

And she was kind about it. She said, well, I thank you. I thank you for the time that I was able to be here and letting me be in your

Bible study, but I won't be back. And I said,

I still hope that you'll think of these words and that they'll come to your mind later. It was brought to my attention after that, that she went on Facebook and just totally smeared our church.

So she was polite to my face, but just smeared how awful and how monotheist we were, which was apparently terrible in her book.

But with the Thessalonians here, what you see is a true and solid devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

They're not adding Christianity to all the other hodgepodge of religions that was going on in Thessalonica at that time.

Another religion, great. Well, we'll start believing in that one too. They devoted themselves fully to Christ because they were absolutely certain, with conviction, with assurance that it was the truth.

And Paul said, because of this demonstration, he knew that they were brothers and sisters loved by God.

Time is short now, and I have to finish up the rest of this very quickly. So let's go through the rest. Looking here at verse six, where we read, you also became imitators of us and of the

Lord, having received the word in much affliction and with joy of the Holy Spirit. So this is further evidence of the faith that they believed.

Paul and Silas and Timothy, they were more than just good role models, but they were a reflection of Christ.

They were living examples of Christ. And the Thessalonians, likewise, began to live as they saw

Paul, Silas, and Timothy live, even though they were with them for just a very short time. The conviction to imitate the faith of godly men and women follows the conviction to believe the gospel.

As mentioned in the previous verse, it is evidence of one's faith in the gospel. And notice that Paul says that the

Thessalonians received the gospel in much affliction, meaning that they were persecuted for their faith.

And yet they believed, they persevered with the joy of the

Holy Spirit. When the apostles were persecuted, when they were beaten and sent out in Acts chapters four and five.

When they left the place after they had been beaten by the Judaizers, by the Jewish priests and leaders in the temple.

It says that after they were beaten, they went out and they rejoiced. They rejoiced for having been persecuted for the sake of the name.

And here you have the Thessalonians described in the same way. They are being persecuted for their faith, and yet they have joy in the

Holy Spirit for it. The apostle Peter said, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share

Christ's sufferings. That you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

That's 1 Peter 4, verses 12 through 13. The last section that we have of 1

Thessalonians here is verses 7 through 10, where Paul says that the testimony of your genuine faith has spread.

Look at verse 7. So that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. So we've gone right from Paul showing himself as an example of Christ to the

Thessalonians, and they imitated it. And so now they've become a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.

Your faith toward God has gone forth so that we have no need to say anything. Thessalonica was such a central hub of trade and of philosophy.

You had that Ignatian way that went right through there, that major highway, that Roman highway that went through Thessalonica.

There were things that came in and went out from Thessalonica constantly. And Paul expresses to them here, even the gospel has gone out from Thessalonica because of you, because of your faithfulness and steadfastness and hope.

We've had no need to say anything, for people have already heard about this very thing.

Look at verse 9, for they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance that we had with you, how the

Thessalonians received the apostles when they came preaching the gospel, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true

God. We know that you are therefore followers of Jesus Christ because you've turned from your idolatry to serve the living and the true

God. Not into syncretism, not into like a hodgepodge of religions. We're just adding this one into a whole bunch of others.

They forsook every other way, every other philosophy to know that only

Christ and he alone saves. Only by faith in Christ are we forgiven our sins and we have everlasting life with God to the glory of God the

Father. And this message had come to them. So we have this even given in three parts.

Before we had the three evidences of the gospel that had come not only in word, but in power and in the

Holy Spirit and with full conviction. We have three things mentioned here in verses 9 and 10. They report about what kind of entrance we had with you.

So you received those who preached the gospel. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and a true

God. And then look at number 3 in verse 10, and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead,

Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. So the

Thessalonians not only believed in Christ who saves, who forgives sins, who gives us peace with God, who we have fellowship with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ, they also believe he's coming again. And Jesus is coming with the wrath of God to judge the living and the dead.

For those who did not know God, he comes with wrath. But for those who believe in the gospel, he comes with salvation and deliverance into that perfect eternal kingdom.

The Thessalonians believed that. It was every bit as much a part of their faith.

And so it must be part of ours as well. We continue in these present days, not because we're looking for a philosophy or a religion or a moral code that we can abide by, because we need a hobby on Sunday morning or whatever it is that we're looking for, a social club.

And so, therefore, I've joined the church. That's not the reason why we're Christians. We're Christians because we know we are sinners under the judgment of God.

And if it were not for Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our behalf and rose again for our justification, as it says in Romans 4 .25,

if it were not for him doing this, and for faith that we have in Jesus, who has risen again, who has ascended into heaven and is coming again, if it were not for the message of this gospel, we would have nothing to hope for.

We would perish under the judgment of God when it comes. Excuse me, we believe in Jesus because we know that there is a judgment that is to come, and it is only by faith in Christ that we are saved.

And we go out with this message to others because we know if they don't repent and come to faith in Christ, they will perish under this judgment also.

It is why it is so important for us to take the message of the gospel to the world, that we continue in it until the end, and we warn others of the end so that they will come to faith in Jesus Christ and so be saved.