Book of 1 Thessalonians - Ch. 1, Vs. 1-7 (11/18/2001)

If you'll turn to chapter 1, while you're turning,

Thessalonians was written between A .D. 52 and 53, the first epistle written by Paul.

Thessalonica was a Roman colony. Rome had a somewhat different policy concerning the capture of people that many other nations had.

For example, it seems that we try to Americanize all nations, as though that would be best.

Rome was much wiser than that. A city which was a

Roman colony would gradually adopt Roman laws and customs and ways, thus these colonies would become much like Rome in time.

Thessalonica was in the center or heart of the empire, Roman empire, and the chief city was

Macedonia. You've heard of that quite often. It was first named

Therma. Thessalonica had the first name of Therma because of the hot springs that were found there.

In 316 B .C., Cassander was one of the four generals that divided

Alexander the Great's conquest. You remember he conquered the world, nearly the

Roman Empire. Cassander renamed the city for his wife.

His wife Thessalonica was a half -sister of Alexander.

The city is still in existence and is known as Salonka today.

Paul established this church on his second missionary journey, and it grew swiftly.

But the Jews stirred up the rabble of the city against Silas and Paul, and they had to flee, and they went to Berea.

There was a problem in the church, and Paul addresses this problem. It was divided into two sections, if you can imagine.

One section would meet one Sunday and the other the next Sunday. It's thought that the first Thessalonians was written to the

Gentile and the second to the Jew. The Gentile and the Jew was the problem.

So we come to the first verse. He seeks a heart that bears submissively, suffers patiently, endures as seeing him who is invisible, and all of this without murmuring.

First Thessalonians 1 .1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto 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. Greg, where is this church?

That's right, and that's what could be said of this church. We the church are in God, in Christ, and all of it in the

Father. The very same words could be used greeting us, just change the name some.

Silas was a member of the church in Jerusalem that accompanied

Paul on his first journeys. Paul identified himself with all of the others.

He did not set himself apart or above or below anything. He was just a

Christian doing his job. There is no difference between the clergy and the laity, although there are lots of churches that try to make a difference, holding their preacher almost to the point of being infallible.

The other side of that is that a lot of preachers hold the congregation as being ignorant, ignorant of the word, therefore you don't know anything we have to tell you.

There are some preachers, I fear, would like to have it like that, not ours.

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.

John, did Paul pray for the people in Thessalonica? Says they did.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope in the

Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our

Father, what is there in the world that is not in the sight of God the

Father? All right, that's right.

You threw me a curve when you said sin, because I hadn't thought of that in the eyes of God. But in the eyes of our

Lord, there's nothing. Faith, hope, and love, these three are the sum total of our life in Christ.

Faith, hope, and love. Now, we can see the time drawing near, or at least

I think it's near, when he'll return.

I, at this stage in my life, my wife's life,

I feel like it's going to be a race between he and us. I fully expect to go home before he comes, but then he may come today.

We don't know. Why do I want to go home?

Why do we want to go to heaven? Now, I want you to be very careful in your answer, but Greg, I'm going to, where do you go?

I'm going to ask you first. What's the reason for going to heaven? You can't be in his presence and be here, so,

Jesse, why do you want to go to heaven? I suppose you want to go to heaven. Well, there's no pain to death.

Maybe a pain up to it, but not death. Why do you want to go to heaven,

Charlie? You asked the wrong person, Greg. That was my answer.

I want to be there. All right. Trudy? All right.

It's not a mark of much faith to be longing to get to heaven just because of the trouble here.

You've had trouble all your life, haven't you? You're going to have the rest of your life, too.

But it's not the mark of a Christian or not much faith to want to go just to get out of this.

Now, you get out of this, all right, but I would hope that that's not the primary reason.

Yes? I don't want to go, but I do want to go to heaven.

That's right. If you're a person that has progress, and you have a progress that you want to start to see this, and you're in that mode, you always want to go to heaven.

That's right. That's well spoken. In James 2 .18,

we find, Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works.

Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.

The work of faith is the way you demonstrate it to others. I hope nobody else can hear that whistle.

It's the devil's whistle. Okay, I found it.

Resonating at that frequency. The work of faith is the way you demonstrate it to others.

When you get old, your thumbs don't work. Faith is the response of the soul of man to the word of God.

Labor of love. If you love your work, you'll never work another day in your life.

There was a small girl, rather small, carrying her heavy baby brother.

And some man passing by said, Isn't that baby too heavy for you? She said,

Oh no, he's my brother. So if you love your work, you'll never work again in your life.

Labor isn't labor when it's a labor of love. If working for the Lord is a great burden to you, he'd say,

Give it up. He doesn't want it. You can be wary of work, but not wary of working.

Don't think or say you are a dedicated Christian. Just be obedient.

2 Corinthians 5 .9 Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

John 6 .28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him, and who he hath sent.

Everything that is done in the world is done in hope, in hopes of something.

If your hope is in this world, you're a fool. If your hope is in some political party, you're more of a fool.

If it's in some organized program of your church, that's the greatest fool of all.

The scepter of the cosmos is in the nail -scarred hand, the controller of the cosmos.

Romans 8 .28 and Ephesians 1 .11 must be read together.

Romans 8 .28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love

God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Ephesians 1 .11

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

In whom we have obtained an inheritance. When someone inherits something, that means someone has died, but did you work for that inheritance,

Greg? No, you didn't. So to obtain something means it's appointed unto you, it's given unto you.

It is given by the decree of God unto you to obtain something.

Knowing. Oda. Oida. Oida.

Brethren, beloved, knowing your election of God. Knowing and knowledge grounded on personal experience.

To see with the mind's eye signifies a clear and pure mental perception.

You really know it. Brethren, a fellow believer united together by the bond of affection.

Beloved, to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing.

Knowing your election of the act of God's free will, by which before the foundation of the world, he decreed his blessings to certain persons of God.

The only true God. I've been trying to come up with a demonstration.

I know it in my head, but so far I haven't been able to. And I can't see anything here.

I'll tell you. Let's urge come up here a minute.

Get a song book. Now come around here.

Now, these two books represent mankind. They're born into the world.

They are in a fallen state. Both of them fell when Adam did.

But now you catch one of them. Down low. Just one.

When Jesus came, he died on the cross.

And I missed it. Bad kids.

No. He died on the cross. And he caught one of us.

And kept us from falling into hell. Without Christ there, they fell straight into hell.

I wish I'd have used something smaller. But the point

I was trying to make is that we are a fallen nation. Some of us were caught by Jesus Christ.

And he knew who. And the rest fell straight into hell. You could hear the gates clank shut.

He is the very one who is responsible for my existence. He did not ask if I wanted to be a boy or a girl.

In fact, he didn't ask if I wanted to exist. Nor at what age of history do

I want to be born. He didn't ask me. Nor you. Nor did he ask me to pick out my mother and father.

He didn't ask you either. Wealthy or poor. God is always and shall always run this universe because what?

It is his. And we can't argue with it.

It belongs to him. We own nothing. We need to get back to the place where we recognize that we are totally depraved creatures.

Even those that were caught. There is no way democracy can work unless the people understand that God is sovereign.

Then it can work. That he must be worshipped.

Verse 5. For our glory came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the

Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Another reason why they ought to in no way start back or start over but continue to be to them because they cannot doubt this doctrine which has been in so many ways confirmed to them.

Even from heaven as they themselves will know. And ye became followers of us and of the

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

Holy Ghost. And ye became. What does became mean,

Bill? To come into existence.

To begin to be, to receive a being. Ye became followers and imitator of us and of the

Lord having received to take hold or take up the word in much affliction.

Affliction means oppression, tribulation, distress, straits. But you did it with joy.

The third person, the cause or occasion of joy of the

Holy Ghost, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, co -equal, co -eternal with the

Father and the Son. Our time is up.

And that ye were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Acacia.

In sample. Verge, get your mind working now. What is an in sample?

Well, it's like example. This is, we'll stop here, means that you're going to be pounded upon.

In sample. To leave an example for others.

It is an instrument for leaving an impression.

If I took this and I placed it here and I struck it with a hammer over and over and over,

I'd leave a dent here. That's the example. This is the in sample.

I'm up here in two. Pattern. Okay. This. Sample. Pattern.

Image. No, that's what the example is. The in sample. Now, they make, probably didn't know this.

The in sample is the tool, the thing that's pounded on.

That's what you're going to be. And you will leave the example to others.

Alright. Impression. Greg, dismiss us please.