we're starting a new book study this evening in the book of first Thessalonians so if you'll take your Bibles and turn to first Thessalonians and if you need a Bible the ushers are happy to hand you a Bible if you raise a hand in their direction first Thessalonians is where we're gonna be this evening and if you take a Bible from one of our Usher's its page 877 so quite the icy dreary night and and so I'm so I'm so glad to see out this evening as we start a new book study together here first
Thessalonians we're gonna be obviously chapter one let's pause and pray Lord as we open up our Bibles now we're just so grateful that we can come together in your house and study your word together and we pray as we dive into this new book that as always you will use it to speak to our own hearts we're reading a letter that was written almost 2,000 years ago but we thank you that you speak to us through the pages of Scripture even in our generation so use this book and tonight use chapter one in our lives
to strengthen us and encourage us and to draw to yourself Lord thank you for your word we love you and we're thankful that you reveal yourself through Scripture it's in Jesus name that we pray and everyone again said Amen all right so we're heading now through the Bible from left to right but as you go from Colossians which is what we finished last week to first Thessalonians even though you're going chronologically in your Bible from left to right you're not going chronologically in time because we're actually going backwards from Colossians to first Thessalonians about 10
years Colossians was written around 62 ad first Thessalonians was written around 51 52 53 ad and so we're actually going backwards in time so your Bible is not necessarily arranged in chronological order first Thessalonians was one of the earliest of Paul's letters that he wrote just after Galatians which was the first letter that Paul wrote and then first Thessalonians so what I'd like to do first is I often do whenever we start a new book is just to kind of give you a little bit of the background get a little bit of the historic reference
and then we'll we'll read 1st Thessalonians we're also going to look in the book of Acts to see the story leading up to this letter but in the meantime those of you who like to take notes about all of this information first some information about the city of Thessalonica it is located in modern Greece it is a port city along the macedonian gulf along the northwest corner of the aegean sea the population of Thessalonica in Paul's day in the first century was around 200,000 plus which is considered a very large city in that day and
it was originally named Therma the city was called Therma because of the hot springs that were found there it would be renamed after Alexander the Great's half-sister in 315 BC her name was Thessalonica and so the city took on her name after the half-sister of Alexander the Great today however the city is called sometimes Thessaloniki but most often it is called Salonika with a population of more than 300,000 here is actually a picture of sunset of Salonika today a very very pretty city city along the Aegean Sea even though this was a city at one
time with a large Jewish population in 1941 the Germans took over Greece during World War two and in particular this city of Salonika or Thessalonica and as a result the persecution of the Jews under Hitler's Nazi regime resulted in first the Jews being sequestered to a ghetto side of the of the rails in Thessalonica and then subsequent to that in 1943 they were rounded up and taken to concentration camps as many as fifty four thousand Jews were taken from this city in 1943 which represented 90 percent of the Jewish population today in the city of
Salonika there are only roughly 1,200 Jews but at one time there were well over 60,000 but again world war ii took its devastating toll on Jews around the world and in particular here in Salonika so that's the background of the city itself now a little bit about the church at thessalonica because this is a letter written to the Church of this city the Church of Thessalonica it was founded by Paul around 51 52 AD after only a three-week visit during his second missionary journey which is a very remarkable thing when you think about it because
you know to get a church going and our church was a church plant 26 years ago I can tell you to get a church going off the ground it usually takes more than three weeks this is just a testimony of God's grace in in establishing this church and ER Paul's leadership and then after three weeks the thing just excelled and it was a mix of mostly Gentile believers those who came to faith in Christ who were Gentiles and also Jews who came to faith in Christ but it was mostly made up of Gentile believers and
some Jewish believers we'll see that in a moment when we look back at the reference point in Acts chapter 17 the this first letter to the Thessalonians because you'll notice in your Bibles that after 1st Thessalonians follows 2nd thessalonians another letter that paul writes to this church but the first letter to the thessalonians was written by paul while he was in corinth around the year 52 53 AD which is about one year after he had founded the church and the main theme of this letter get excited friends because the main theme of this letter is
the second coming of Christ this is a great book having to do with the return of Jesus now I never want to assume that everybody understands some of the basics or fundamentals of the faith so for those of you know when Jesus Christ was crucified he was dead and buried for three days on the third day he rose from the dead and then the Bible says that he appeared for forty days and in his resurrected state and then he ascended back into heaven from which he came where he is presently seated at the right hand
of the Father this is what the Bible teaches and the Bible also teaches that Jesus is coming again he's coming back to earth we don't know when but God has it as an appointed time when Jesus will return to the earth and he is waiting he's waiting for as many people as possible to become saved but then the Lord is going to return again to the earth now there are about three hundred plus give or take prophecies about the first coming of Jesus in the Old Testament things related to when he would come to be
born of a virgin in Bethlehem a descendant of the tribe of Judah a Nazarene and and so many prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the first coming of Jesus but in the sum total of Scripture old and new Testament there are three times as many prophecies related to a second coming as related to his first so there are more than a thousand prophecies that speak about the second coming of Christ how many of you understand that's pretty good evidence because if Jesus fulfilled all 300 plus prophecies all of them came true related to his first
coming and now there were more than a thousand prophecy related to a second coming it's going to happen it's just a matter of when it's not a matter of if it's just a matter of when and because we don't know we should always be ready for his imminent return now even though there are three times as many prophecies in the Bible related to the second coming of Christ as compared to his first coming there is not yet a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before he comes to remove the church from the earth in other
words there are prophecies still to be fulfilled but ever since Israel became a unified nation again on may the 14th 1948 there is no prophecy that needs to be fulfilled in order for Christ to come back for us so that means we should be looking and waiting and watching now it's not a fearful thing you know we shouldn't be afraid we should be looking forward to our ultimate you know redemption when Christ returns but it should put within us a strong sense of how we should live in light of the fact that he could come
at any time that really has a lot to do with this letter to the Thessalonians here the 1st 1st Thessalonians because Paul's gonna write to them and he's going to say listen I want you to know about the second coming of Christ he's gonna come again and I want you to be prepared I want you to be ready I want you to be watching I want you to know that it's imminent now what actually happened is that the Thessalonians were so encouraged by that news that they checked out I mean they literally decided well if
Jesus is coming again even though we don't know when it could be at any time and they believed they were living with that expectancy in their own day as much as we should now and how many understand do a little bit of the math right I mean this is first century Jesus didn't return we're closer to a second coming right now than they were then and yet they lived in a spirit of expectancy for the second coming of Christ how much more should we live in a spirit of expectancy but because they were so expected
of his imminent return they checked out they decided we don't need to go to work anymore we don't need a job because he's coming again and so they just checked out they just sat at home eating Twinkies and they just like but Jesus come at any time so we know we don't need to worry about anything and in 2nd Thessalonians and 2nd Thessalonians which we'll get to you know in a few months probably but in 2nd Thessalonians Paul says hey listen wake up you still need to work go get a job and he actually says
in 2nd if a man does not work he shall not eat so he says don't check out you need to still live with the understanding that Christ could return at any moment but you don't check out of life you engage your culture you live like you normally would live but you just always have in mind that he could come at any time and so therefore it should prompt us and motivate us to live a life of holiness in devotion to the Lord because we want to be ready whenever that might be so that that has
to do with a lot of what's behind this first letter to the Thessalonians and you'll see also in 2nd Thessalonians 2 in second Thessalonians he's going to talk about the Antichrist so there's a lot between these two letters so you're having to do with when Christ comes in the cloud to receive the church and which we call the rapture that's in Chapter four of this of this letter he's also going to talk about what we need to do in preparation for a second coming and then second Thessalonians he talks about the the man of lawlessness
the one doomed to destruction talks about the Antichrist and we're again and the temple being rebuilt at Jerusalem so there's a lot here in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians what I love about this letter is that when you when you look at the three main points that he tries to make here it's divided very neatly like this trials will come that's chapters 1 through 3 temptations will come that's chapter 4 and Jesus will come that's chapters 4 and 5 so he's going to talk about how how there's gonna be some trials in life that's the first
few chapters and we're gonna be tempted in different ways our sin nature is going to be tempted and he says but I just want you to know that in addition to trials coming and temptations coming Jesus is coming and and in you know he concentrates on the return of Christ in chapters 4 and 5 but I just want to point out if you'll survey your Bibles with me he ends every chapter he ends every single chapter in 1st Thessalonians with some reference to the return of Christ look at how chapter 1 ends just glance with
me in your Bibles chapter 1 verse 10 for example he says and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath because he's going to talk about the tribulation a little bit to look at out chapter 2 ends go to chapter 2 verse 19 for what is our hope our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes is it not you indeed you are our glory and joy look at the way chapter 3
ends look at verse 13 of chapter 3 he says may he strengthen your hearts that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his Holy Ones and that's not angels that's a reference to the Saints who return with Christ we'll talk more about that we get to chapter 3 look at out chapter 4 ends chapter 4 verse 16 for the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet call of God
and the dead in Christ will rise first after that we who are still alive and and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever therefore encourage each other with these words and then look at that at the way chapter 5 ends verse 23 5:23 may God himself the God of peace sanctify you through and through may your whole spirit soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ so this is this
is gonna be a great time together on Wednesdays as we take a look here and at the hope of the church the hope of the church is our reunion with Christ and that he's coming again and so Paul as much to say here in 1st Thessalonians now again at the risk of kind of belaboring the introduction I do think it's important for us to always get the context of something so if you'll maybe put a pen or pencil or a piece of paper there in first Saloni ins and go back where it's hanging a left
and go to the book of Acts because I want you to see how this church even was birthed and we're gonna go to Acts chapter 17 we're not going to spend too much time here in acts 17 but I just wanted to to give you a little bit of the context here so in Acts chapter 17 this is Paul's second missionary journey we're in the middle of a second missionary journey which starts right around the end of chapter 15 and and and Timothy and Paul and Silas are now traveling together Paul at the end of
chapter 15 Paul has a little disagreement with Barnabas over over a Barnabas's nephew or cousin depending on the translation John Mark so Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement they decide to part company Paul then chooses another traveling companion by the name of Silas and also Timothy joins him and so we're in the middle of the second missionary journey he's going throughout Asia Minor which is you know a lot of Europe primarily the region of Turkey and Greece and here in Chapter 17 we read this verse one when they get passed through em Amphipolis and
Apollonia they came to Thessalonica so that's what that's the city we're talking about here where there was a Jewish synagogue all right pause you would not have a Jewish synagogue in a city or a town unless there was a presence of at least 10 Jewish men so we know here in Thessalonica that there was a Jewish presence because there is a synagogue here and verse 2 says as his custom was Paul went into the synagogue and on three sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and proving that the christ that just means
the Messiah that's Jesus had to suffer and rise from the dead okay so Paul Paul's primary mission really was to the Gentiles but he went to the Jew first and he was a Jew so we went first to the Jews to explain from their own Jewish Scriptures how Christ is revealed and who Christ is and how G is the savior of the world who rose from the dead and so he starts to miss agha synagogue and it tells us here that he spends three sabbath days that's how we know that he spent three weeks with
them because he goes in and teaches in the synagogue reasoning with them it's it's the Greek word dialog of mayy which is we get our English word dialog he dialogues with them he teaches them he reasons with them from the scriptures from the Old Testament are what we have is our Old Testament and and he explains to them and proves from the scriptures from all these 300 plus prophecies about Christ related to his first coming proving that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead so so Paul is this master apologist and he's using
Jewish Scriptures to reason in a Jewish synagogue with the Jewish people about the truth of the Messiah Jesus and he's and he says to them this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ he said verse 4 some of the Jews were persuaded ok not all some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a large number of god-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women so that's how we know one of the bullet points earlier it was that this church was initially made up of a few some Jews who
believed but it says a large number of Greeks those are the Gentiles come to faith in Christ so it's predominantly a Gentile Church but it also does have some Jewish believers as well there's five but the Jews were jealous now this speaks about the Jews who didn't believe so you have a whole group of Jews who didn't believe that Jesus is the Messiah as a result of Paul's preaching and they they become jealous they become angry and it says so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace formed a mob and started a riot
in the city so if you don't know what to do just get a mob you know and start a riot in the city and they rushed to this guy named Jason to Jason's house cuz that apparently is where Paul and and Silas and Timothy were staying they rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas bring them out to the crowd but when they did not find them they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials shouting these men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here and Jason
has welcomed them into his house they're all defying Cesar's decrees saying that there is another king one called Jesus now listen listen notice what's happening here now this is the day when only Caesars King and only Caesars Lord okay Augustus Augustus a goose deuce for Caesar means the divine one at this time in Roman history the Caesars were regarded as deity you know it's interesting though when you look at how the real truth survives you know who is the one we exalt now it's the Lord Jesus I mean whatever happened to the Caesars what's their
claim to fame a salad that's it and a really mad monkey on the Planet of the Apes but other than that there's no claim to fame the seizures are gone even though they were in a position of deifying themselves Agustus so in this day you can only you can only glorify caesar he's Lord he's King what is so tragic here is that the Jews who didn't believe in Jesus were so offended by that that they use their own culture as a weapon against the message of the gospel so we don't like this whole thing about
Jesus isn't Caesar supposed to be our king no God is always the king but it's convenient for them to even use out of expediency their own culture as a way to try to discredit and defame the message of the gospel so that's they start this riot and and and they're saying all these things about you no look these guys are here against Caesar and and and this one called Jesus verse 8 when they heard this the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil and then they made Jason and the others post bond and
let him go and in verse 10 it says as soon as it was night the brother sent Paul and Silas away to Berea so apparently they had hidden Paul inside of somewhere and they can't find him so they hauled Jason you know out and they beat him up and and then and then they go back to wherever Paul and Silas is like you need to get out of town your life is in danger your life is in jeopardy here and so they go off to Berea and which is about 50 miles away from Thessalonica jump
down to verse 13 and when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the Word of God at Berea they went there to agitating the crowds and stirring them up the brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast but Silas and Timothy state of Berea the men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible so that's your introduction to the church at Thessalonica and the reason I think it's important to frame the context is again for two reasons one Paul only
spent three Sabbath days there so 3 Saturdays in a row Paul goes to the synagogue talks about Jesus at the end of three weeks you have a small group of Jews and a large number of Greek Gentiles who come to faith in Christ and after three weeks this riot ensues Paul has to get out of Dodge or else he's gonna die okay and he then makes his way to Berea and then to Athens and and these these Jewish people who didn't believe in Christ stir up trouble you know you'd think that it would be enough
for okay finally Paul left town good riddance you'd think that they might think that know they're gonna go fifty miles to the next town where Paul goes to stir up trouble there too and then finally people say Paul you need to just go even further and so they they put him on a boat and he goes off to Athens where he continues his ministry but that's the vitriol in in the Jews who don't believe in Christ they're stirring up trouble not only in Thessalonica but they go fifty miles to where Paul went to Berea just
try to stir it up there as well and the church at Thessalonica starts under this cloud you've got three weeks that's all Paul is there preaches the scriptures tells people about who Christ is people get saved this little nucleus starts a little Church meanwhile you've got all this persecution and tagging ISM riots people who don't who don't like this good news that's what gospel means they don't like this good news now if you were part of a start-up Church in a town that was rioting about your faith how strong would you stay in your faith
I mean think about it youyou you're in an environment where everybody around you aside from the small group of people who have become believers with you are angry at you I mean to the point where there's mob rioting about your faith in Christ and this is challenging to me because I think you know here we are in the comfort and the coziness of our American freedom which I'm very grateful for the religious freedom that we have in our country even though at times it's often being challenged in various ways we have the luxury and the
freedom and the pleasure of worshipping Jesus and following Jesus in our country and yet we experience a little embarrassment for our faith and we bail this church survived because there were people who were so serious about their faith that they didn't care whether there were mob riots around them they didn't care if their life was in jeopardy they're gonna follow Jesus they love him so much because of his demonstration of his love for them and sometimes I think we can get so isolated and insulated in this little Christian bubble and we have no idea what
a lot of people face for their faith we have no idea around the world even today what a lot of people face for their faith so how much more then should we be strong in the Lord because we have we have we have no excuse I mean what threats are we under for our faith so why are we embarrassed about Jesus and why do we shrink back from declaring who he is and why are we so careful about who's gonna see our Bible on our desk or in our backpack er why are we so concerned
you know Paul talks about how I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ whereas the power of God for salvation unto all who believe first for the Jew and then for the Gentile let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ these people here their very lives were on the line for following Christ I don't think any of ours is but this is the kind of antagonism and vitriol that was opposing them as this church started so Paul about a year later is going to write to them some encouraging things about
stay strong trials will come persecutions gonna happen you're gonna be tempted in your flesh so those things are gonna happen too but Jesus is coming so hold on to your faith hold on to the hope Jesus is coming again but in the meantime you're gonna have some trials and temptations now that's all the background to this so let's go back to 1st Thessalonians now and take a look here at least a chapter 1 verse 1 Paul Silas and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace and
peace to you that's the common introduction of Paul's epistles grace and peace that's the Greek and the Jewish greeting Karras and Shalom to you he says in verse 2 we always thank God for all of you mentioning you in our prayers we continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith your labor prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ NoCal notice those words not just work labor and endurance but faith love and hope that's a common theme of Paul's throughout his epistles particularly remember 1st Corinthians
chapter 13 when you talk it's the love chapter he talks about all these great qualities of love and they and they says now these three remain Faith Hope and love but the greatest of these is love those those are the the main things about our faith faith love hope he says in verse 4 for we know brothers loved by God that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction now notice again verse 4 he talks about how God
has chosen you we are chosen in him okay this gets a bit controversial we talked in in our study of Ephesians particularly about you know who's chosen who's not and how does God go about choosing look again think of this in a corporate sense in the Old Testament the chosen ones of were the is the Israelites and even though the church has not replaced the Israelites the parallel is the same God spoke about the people of Israel in a corporate sense being chosen and when you get to the New Testament it's no different he speaks
about the corporate church as being chosen those who belong to Christ are the chosen ones don't get wrapped around the axle with this and people worry like God chooses them like petals on a daisy he chose me he chose me not he chose me - am i part of the chosen get saved and then you're part of the chosen that settles it it's just like I have wonderful I am if you love Jesus do you surrender your life to him you're chosen all right so let's move on I talked about how the gospel came to
you not I love this it's not just with words it's also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction he says and he says you know how we lived among you for your sake notice he talks about how his own example he says you know how we lived among you for your so your sake and verse 6 you became imitators of us you became imitators it's the word imitators in the Greek is mementos we get our English word mimic or mime then when you know we've we've got little grandbabies now and so you
know Riley's like a year and a half now and so you know how kids are they will mimic everything you do and that's just where kids are they see what you do they mimic you so be careful when you're around kids because they will see and they will mimic exactly what you do I'm thinking of a story not of my own but I'm thinking of a story of how this this this kid that I that I his family that I know up not here at the church not here at the church I wouldn't call you
out but this family that I know of their their little kid was about five years old and got mad something about his toys got mad got really mad and one day said he said his just throwing this little temper temper town I'm gonna say the word but I'll just abbreviate he goes what the H is going on around here and you what mom and dad realized mom and dad kind of use that word every now and again around the house so the five-year-old is gonna mimic what they hear mom and dad do I think it's
hilarious but it's a sad it's a sad thing to laugh at but it's it's kind of to see a five-year-old what the H is going on around here but anyway be careful they will mimic us Paul says here in a positive sense you imitated us and of the Lord in spite a severe suffering this is talking about that persecution now they're living in a town that it's riotous got a mob they don't like you they're gonna persecute you in spite of severe suffering you welcomed the message with the joy given by the holy spirit and
so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and aquella the Lord's message rang out from you not only in macedonia and aquella your faith in God has become known everywhere alright let me summarize what we just read here and what I'm calling the gospel cycle out of verses 4 through 8 what you see here is this beautiful cycle that Paul talks about and this is how the cycle goes starting at the top he says the gospel came to you that's what he says back up there in verse 4 verse 5 because our
gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with holy spear and deep conviction and the next thing he says is we modeled it he says you know how we lived among you for your sake that's the rest of verse 5 so the gospel came to you secondly we modeled it and then in verse he says and then you received it you received the gospel and then you became imitators you you mimicked our relationship with Christ you followed our example you modeled it and then he says and then the gospel goes out
from you that's verse 7 and so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia Nakia and then he says in the lord's message rang out from you and not only to Macedonia which is the local area and Achaea the local province your faith in God has become known everywhere so this is that gospel cycle and this is the way it still happens with us today the gospel comes to you you know if you know Christ as your Savior at some point you responded to the truth of the gospel whether it was here at
Cornerstone or some other place previously where some friends shared the truth of Scripture with you you heard the gospel you heard the good news about Christ it came to you and then it came to you because people were showing it to you not just with words they were living it out you saw the truth revealed through the lives of other people as it was modeled to you then you received the gospel you received the truth he believed the truth he responded to the truth you became born again you became a Christian then you started to
model it the gospel then is modeled in your lifestyle people can see you live it out and then the gospel goes forth from you this is the beautiful cycle of the gospel this way it's always been you hear the gospel you see it modeled you receive it your life has changed you start to model it now and then the gospel goes forth from you and this is the way it continues to go and I love how Paul says here and not just in your local region he says your faith in God has become known everywhere
everywhere and this is before the the technology age the information age their reputation had spread so far and wide that Paul said about this church everywhere I go people talk about you and your faith and let me tell you how this challenges me you and I need to read this and think to ourselves everywhere we go can people see clearly our faith in Christ is it a mystery to them or is it clear everywhere we go does our reputation precedes us in terms of our faith in Christ now I asked this question on two levels
I asked this question corporately because as the pastor cornerstone I constantly and you know to be sure like are we are we making a difference like is the gospel going forth from our church corporately and then we need to ask the question individually now I just I get these kind of things often and you don't get to join into the joy so I just wanted to share with you in the last week two particular email z' I got just about how the gospel is going out from our church corporately and and now through the wonder
of technology with our services all being live broadcast and then with a radio ministry around the country so I got this letter from a guy just like two days ago who said I'm blessed by the teaching in fact the program that was aired yesterday he's talking about the radio he lived he listens to us on the bridge FM it's up in New Jersey 103.1 he says I'm blessed by the teaching in fact the program that was aired yesterday ended with exactly what I needed to hear having been hit recently with excessive worry over things I
cannot control and he says now I look forward to the commute home for another reason because the program airs between 6:00 and 6:30 like drive time and he says I'm glad that cornerstone is on the bridge in that time slot I got this other beautiful email from this guy in Campbellsville Kentucky he said in January 2016 my small church started Wednesday night services using the audio from the study of Revelation from our church he says my life was changed within three weeks of starting the study tonight I will be leading a video study of judges
from our teaching library on in their Wednesday night service so this small little Church in Campbellsville Kentucky is taking the church services that we have archived on our website and they're broadcasting it there in their sanctuary and having their own Wednesday night church service I was so blessed by this and he said this is the third year now that we have been leading Bible studies using the material for of your church our church is very thankful to your website and how it provides those that are seeking an opportunity to find it we're in Campbellsville Campbellsville
Kentucky also located on the Green River Lake probably if the numbers were checked in our area talking about the hits on the website we'd have multiple hundreds of hits probably will be a thousand or more as much as I listen to your website pray for our small church and for our success with our Wednesday night service isn't that a blessing just to hear what God is doing [Applause] so there are many ways that hopefully we're corporately getting the gospel out to be a part of this cycle but this is a challenge to us individually I
hope that wherever we go we are a part of this cycle of the gospel and that our reputation as individuals is known by others as being believers as Benjamin Franklin who said that it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation but only one bad one to lose it and so we have to be always conscious of our walk with the Lord and of our relationship with him because people are watching and could it be said of us as Paul said of this church and those who are part of this church your faith in
God has become known everywhere and he adds there in verse 8 therefore we do not need to say anything about it for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us they others tell how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath and I want you to circle two words in that last verse verse 10 I want you circle the word weight and wrath weight and wrath there are
many verses in the New Testament I'm going to give you some that speak of the importance of waiting for the Lord's return here's one Hebrews 9:28 hebrews 9:28 says so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him listen to this at a James 5 verses 7 to 8 be patient then brothers until the Lord's coming see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient
he is for the autumn and spring rains you to be patient and stand firm because the Lord's coming is near and then this second Peter chapter 3 they will say meaning people who don't believe in the return of Christ they will say where is this coming he promised ever since our fathers died everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation but do not forget this one thing dear friends with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day the Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise as some understand slowness he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance so over and over again in the Bible I just read Hebrews I read James I read 2nd Peter and then you have it here in 1st Thessalonians the objective now is that we wait and we wait patiently for the return of Christ I don't know when he's coming again and anybody who presumes to know a date and tries to predict it is a false prophet Jesus himself said no one knows the day nor the
hour for the return of Christ Jesus said not even the son but only the father who was in heaven so God has a divine timetable and Jesus is going to come again when God has determined that his second coming shall appear in the meantime we wait now why is he delaying why doesn't he just come back now I didn't come back 10 15 20 30 years ago why is he waiting listen he's waiting for as many people as possible who will surrender their hearts to him that's what I was waiting God wants none to perish
he wants as many to come to repentance so he's waiting and he's waiting patiently but there will come a day when time is up time is up don't get too comfortable friends because there will come a day when time is up and God will say enough is enough I've waited long enough and his patience will reach a limit and then Christ will return so we have to be ready but his patience is extended to us his delay is because he wants as many people to be saved so that we can be rescued from the coming
wrath that's the other word that I asked you to circle there in verse 10 because Paul reminds us here that were to wait for the son from heaven whom he raised God raised from the dead Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath now the question is what wrath exactly is he speaking of here is it the wrath of hell or is it the wrath of the Great Tribulation because there is a period of time the Bible teaches a seven-year period of tribulation that will come upon the earth and it will be a catastrophic event
series of events for seven years the earth itself will be completely completely devastated by the judgement of the Lord so is Paul saying here hey Jesus coming again so wait patiently because you're gonna be spared from the wrath of hell or is he saying you're gonna be spared from the wrath of the second of the tribulation yes I mean does it matter I mean whatever wrath and whatever form the wrath comes I want to be rescued from it amen I want to be rescued from the wrath if it's the wrath of hell thank you Lord
you've died for my sins to rescue me from the wrath of hell or is it the wrath of the second coming I think in most Bible scholars believe that in the context of all of this discussion about the second coming that the church will be rescued by the Lord prior to the tribulation well there's three people glad about that and I join in the applause but if you're glanced ahead to chapter 5 and we'll get into more details when we get further into this letter but if you if you look into chapter 5 he speaks
about this coming wrath he gives like a a preview of the tribulation in chapter 5 verse 1 he says now brothers about times and dates we do not need to write to you for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night while people are saying peace and safety destruction that's that's the inference to the 7 years of tribulation destruction will come on them suddenly as labor pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape ok there's a coming wrath of God and what's up when
we get to chapter 5 we'll will parallel it with the book of Revelation so we'll get into a little bit of Revelation we get further in this letter but glance further into chapter 5 verse 9 because this is a great verse this is a great verse from verse 9 to chapter 5 for God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ okay now I know plenty of Christians and we'll get into this more later in the in our study I know plenty of Christians who believe in in
the position of what's called post-trib post-tribulation which basically means that there are Christians who believe some who believe that Christians go through the tribulation period and then they get rescued by Jesus but I like first Thessalonians 5:9 and I don't like it just because I'm a man Z and I don't want to go through seven years of tribulation I like it because I believe theologically contextually doctrinally it makes the most sense that destructions coming upon the earth oh by the way God has not appointed us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ so there is a rescue that happens for the church it's detailed in chapter four but we got a lot more to get to before we get to the closing chapters of this and we'll pick it up there next week let's pray lord thank you for the promise of your second coming and Lord we want to be ready and we want to examine our lives and we want to walk in a way that honors you that glorifies you and so lord I pray that even tonight if some of us are playing games with you
that we get serious with you because we don't know the day or the hour that you could return but there's nothing standing between now and your return and the air to get the church know no other prophecy Lord so you could come at any time we pray that you'd find us faithful and watching and ready and eagerly looking forward to your second coming thank you Lord that you have not appointed us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ I pray for those who don't know you Lord if they don't have
a saving knowledge of you if they if they're not born again that even tonight they would pray to invite you into their hearts that they would ask you to forgive them of their sins that they might have relationship with you not motivated by fear but motivated by the future that we can spend eternity with you if we know you in a personal way having our sins forgiven and then Lord no matter when you come or when we die whichever happens first we'll be ready to see you we'll be ready to be with you so I'm
gonna pause on my prayer before I close our service and just invite you if you don't know Christ as your Savior not motivated by fear but motivated by faith that you would surrender your heart to him tonight and invite Jesus into your life and you can simply do it by praying a prayer like this just say Lord Jesus thank you for dying on a cross for me come into my life and save me and forgive me of my sins I want to be ready when you come or when I die whichever happens first I want
to be ready to see you save me Lord forgive me thank you for loving me come into my life change my heart I yield my life to you in Jesus name and Lord for all of us who have already prayed a prayer like that may we leave tonight reminded of your imminent return and may the study through this letter remind us that you could come at any moment so may we get serious about you and may you find us faithful there's any compromise in Our Lives Lord challenge us we might purify our hearts we might
draw near to you we might be serious about our faith and we love you together in Jesus name and all God's people said amen amen
