Thank the Lord for the wonderful music this morning, how we praise the Lord for the way that our brothers and sisters in Christ and the choir and the musicians and others have helped us to be speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. If you would please take your scriptures this morning, let's turn over to the second book, that second letter that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, and this morning begins our series on 2 Thessalonians. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 4 of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. As you turn there, remember that back in the spring we looked briefly at 1 Thessalonians, six, seven summary messages on 1 Thessalonians. And an interesting way to look at any of the letters in the Scripture is as one side of a conversation. This is probably most prominent in the book of 1 Corinthians where you can see that Paul is answering a series of questions that they posed to him. And Pastor Rod preached this last Sunday evening about 1 Corinthians 15 in answer to their questions about the resurrection. It's pretty clear that these Thessalonian believers also had questions and certainly first and foremost in their minds as you see in 1 Thessalonians was they really had questions about the Lord's return, about when the Lord would come back And we noticed in every chapter of 1 Thessalonians, in those five chapters, we noticed there was a reference there to the Lord's coming or something about the rapture, about the Lord coming to take His own. And so the acronym we put together at the time was to focus on the imminent, and that word imminent there has the idea of any minute or any moment, to focus on the imminent return of the Savior today. And this is all part of the wait for it series. It's all online where we began to ask a lot of questions. Now I know many, many lately there have been even more questions about this. Just out of curiosity, how many of you in this room have heard anything about, no kidding, Nibiru. Just out of curiosity Nibiru anybody here? Well boy I'm really glad to hear that. Hardly anybody. There are some wackos who are saying there is a secret dark planet that is going around our solar system and it's going to run into our planet at any time. It's been debunked by NASA. But most recently somebody combined it together with what they said was some numerology in the Scripture. Generally speaking if somebody starts talking to you about numerology in the Scripture I'm run, run away from them. Usually it's a shell game. I can tell you in most cases that they're trying to tell you there's a secret code in the scripture or things like that. The day in Thessalonica is very much like our own day and the speculations abound and there are prophecies that people are insisting these are the prophecies of Scripture. When really where the Scripture puts the emphasis, and we certainly saw this during the Wait for It series and we've seen it even in the book of 1 Thessalonians, The Scripture really puts it on the practical questions. Since the Lord will be returning, you and I might say, so what? What should be different about us and how should we conduct our lives? I think it's in that same spirit that we turn here to the book of 2 Thessalonians and we read what Paul has written here. We're going to be looking today at verses 1 through 4. Let's read those together. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is meet, the old English word therefore right or appropriate that we should do so, because that your faith grows exceedingly and the charity or love of every one of you all toward each other abounds so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. Shall we pause together to pray? In the sight of God then, Lord, we ask that you would help all of us today to find out what is most important to you. What is it that ought to occupy our attention? In the midst of all these world events, Lord, What is it that we should be placing our focus upon? Help us, we pray. Help us today to be thankful people who rejoice over what you have done among us. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. If I were to ask you this question today, how would you respond? Of all the things that are happening in the world at this moment, which ones are the most significant in God's sight? That helps us because with all these speculations about prophecies that we will get into in this series and the increasing danger of persecution, there are all sorts of questions about how we ought to conduct ourselves. And so let me give you some options this morning. What is it that is most significant in God's sight? Is it that Kim Jong-un is rattling his nuclear sabers in North Korea? And as I mentioned in last Sunday morning's message, apparently has begun to trigger an inactive volcano on the border of North Korea and China as a result. It was one of the most devastating volcanoes that went up back in the very early part. I think it was 647 or 947 AD that it went up. and it could be devastating. Is that the most significant in God's sight? Or is it the questions that are going on today with Spain and Iraq? Both of them had people groups that recently decided to vote. I think the Catalonia vote is going on today. Iraq, the Kurds voted to withdraw from Iraq and Turkey is threatening them. Is that the most significant in God's sight? Or would it be the European elections and the immigration issues there? The immigration issue has really caused significant questions among every one of the European nations and it's being reflected. The concern of the people is being reflected in those elections. Is it Puerto Rico today after the devastating hurricane there? Is it the flash floods that are there among those in Puerto Rico today, is that the most significant in God's sight? Or in Mexico City, where there's been a devastating earthquake and we're getting reports out about the devastation there, is that the most significant? Or is it our U.S. government? Guess what? The Democrats and Republicans are wrangling and threatening each other. Really? What's new about that? And whether it be about health care or the national debt or defense issues or civil rights issues. It just goes on and on and on. What is it that is the most significant in God's sight today? Because that's really where we ought to place our attention. What is it that is the most significant and can we find out what that is? I think this passage today actually helps us to do exactly that. When Paul here, this is Paul and Silvanus, another name for Silas, also known as Silas, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, they are writing here from Corinth. And I'll explain in just a moment about that. writing to the church there at Thessalonica. And as they're writing to them, notice the way they describe them. They said, unto the church of the Thessalonians, in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a fascinating way to think about the church. the church in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in verse 3 when he says, we are writing to you, the three of them are sending their greetings, obviously Paul is the chief author of this letter, but he's writing here, of all the places on earth that he could have been concentrating on, he's writing here to the church at Thessalonica. Remember we talked about this during the first Thessalonian series, if you were to go up there into the GNC, You would go up to those three little peninsulas that are sticking out there and you can just zoom in on Thessalonica and you can see this is where he's concentrating on. But remember Paul in his mission trips, as you can see here on the map, Paul planted churches all over the Mediterranean into the Aegean Sea. He planted these churches that you and I are very familiar with. Philippi, we've heard about Berea over in Acts chapter 17. We know that it was about the churches. I would like to suggest to you this morning that is exactly where the Lord's focus is in In all these troubled times, speculations about biblical prophecies and persecutions, I really think that what we're seeing here this morning is the Lord shows us exactly how we ought to focus. And there are some wonderful clues in scripture about this. Consider, for instance, in the ancient Ur of the Chaldees, among all the thousands, perhaps millions of people who were alive at the time, Where was the attention of the Lord placed? It was placed on a man named Abraham. Or among all those thousands of Egyptians, perhaps millions of Egyptians, where was the Lord's focus? It was on a young man named Joseph and what the Lord was doing in his heart. That's very, very significant. Among all those Israelites and Philistines and the other nations that were in an uproar all around Israel, where did the Lord devote his attention? He devoted his attention to a little shepherd boy named David. You see what I'm driving at here today that you and I could easily be distracted by North Korea or the things going on in Puerto Rico or Mexico City or we could be distracted in a number of ways. And what we really have to ask this morning is, where's the Lord's focus? What is it that the Lord is putting his emphasis on? Because in that enormous Roman Empire, the Lord's total focus was on a lowly carpenter in Nazareth. And his name is Jesus. And Jesus was the one whom the Lord was putting all of his attention upon because, in fact, he is the Savior of the world. He is the Son of God. So as the world rushes on today, the world is rushing on constantly. Do you see how the Lord is quietly sometimes, very silently, and sometimes in very subtle ways that you and I might not even notice if we didn't go to the window of the Word of God to look? It's really interesting to think, you know, the Lord is carrying out His plan of redemption. He is causing all these things in the fullness of time to come to pass. I would suggest to you today that what you and I need to do is to ask, what is it that the Lord is placing his concentration on? Remember over in Ephesians when the Lord talked about, Paul wrote, to the praise of the glory of God's grace? In Ephesians chapter 3, as he was giving this wonderful doxology to the Lord, he talked about in Ephesians chapter 3, unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. You see, if we are to really carefully think about what the Lord is placing His attention on, we have to start with the glory of God. We have to start with that which makes sense out of all reality. It's about the praise of the glory of His grace. And as you see in Ephesians chapter 3, it says, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus. So today, as we are concentrating on 2 Thessalonians, notice, if you will, where the emphasis is being placed. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul said down in verse 3, he said, we ourselves boast or we ourselves glory in the churches of God. That is most certainly where Paul's attention was focused. And he's giving us good reason that you and I today ought to be asking ourselves, where should our attention be focused? What is it that we ought to be thinking about and concentrating on? It is, as you can see here, in the churches of God. Just out of curiosity for all the children in the room, how many of you have heard this? If you have heard this, if you would please raise your hand. I think I can see all of you. How many of you can finish the poem for me, Here is the church and here is the steeple? Just out of curiosity, how many children here in the room can finish that? Here is the church and here is the steeple? We were comparing notes about this. Now let me ask the adults, how many of you can finish that? Here is the church and here is the steeple. Look around, children. Hey, this is something that we have to pass. I still remember my, and for some reason this is riveted in my mind, my father's very muscular hands as he did this for me the first time. I think I was about four years old and I was just fascinated by the object lesson. And the way it went at the time, I'm going to have to rearrange it a little bit, the way it went at the time was here is the church and here is the steeple. You open it up and here's all the people. It was a great joy to see the people wiggling. Here's the church and here's all the people. I have to get into that and work through that because that's not exactly where the scripture places the emphasis. And so let me say it, and for you adults who want to now teach it to your children who may not know this, may I say it just a different way. Here is the church. It's made up of people. it's not about programs or buildings or steeples. Let me say it again. Here is the church, it's made up of people. It's not about Programs or buildings or steeples because that's where Paul is putting the emphasis here The church at Thessalonica was not a white building with a steeple, you know where they all gather together It's very likely it was a group of home churches as they they tried to meet but it was it was the believers It was the congregation there at Thessalonica. And so as he's thinking about this, he's thinking about it's about people That's where the Lord is putting the focus here As you think about this then, think about the special significance of these words. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus unto the church of the Thessalonians. He's thinking about the people, the church, the believers there at Thessalonica. I believe that there is special significance to this because of what the Lord tells us over in John chapter 10, John chapter 17. You can get the notes of this morning's service if you did not get those already. They're back here on the tables. Think through carefully what you're seeing in those passages. Because when Jesus says things such as, in John chapter 17, in the high priestly prayer, that they may all be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Get that idea of one in us. You see, when Paul writes here, the church in God, the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father, he is reflecting, I think, on what Jesus said in John chapter 17. This is why, for instance, you would read in passages such as Colossians chapter 3 and verse 3, For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. In God. You see what I'm saying here? The church in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't miss the word our. It comes out twice there in verses one and two. God, our Father. Think about the relational aspect of that. Drawing on what Jesus said in John chapter 10 and John chapter 17, it was the common understanding. This is why, because Jesus the Messiah died for the sins of his bride, the church. in order that the church could be in union with him and in union with his father, that the church could be in God. How would it be possible for sinful rebels to be in God only if they were regenerated? Only if they repented of their rebellion could they enter in God. But here's the privilege. As they repent, as they are regenerated, They enter into God. The church is in God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the marvel of the gospel. He, Jesus Christ, did this in order that his people could enter into union with him. That is, enter into his living, enter into his dying. It was all about you and me this morning being able to say in prayer, God our Father, or our Father who art in heaven. So of all the things that were happening there around the world, I would point out to you the focus that Paul was driving at there was What was happening in the churches of God, the church at Thessalonica? You can read Acts chapter 17, perhaps this afternoon, to see all that happened there. Paul, Silas, preaching there at Thessalonica in the synagogue. There were many Jews who believed. There were many Gentiles who believed. But those who did not believe, especially among the unbelieving Jews, created an uproar there in the city. And in that uproar, after apparently many weeks of ministry by Paul and Silas, in that uproar they had to say to Paul and Silas, we have to get you out of here. And so they sent them on to Berea. They preached at Berea. And Paul went on to Athens. He preached there at Athens. That wonderful message he preached there at Mars Hill. And apparently what they did was they all met back together in Corinth as they were preaching there in Corinth, planting the church there in Corinth. That's when they wrote this letter back to this church here in Thessalonica. The church at Thessalonica, as we saw a few moments ago, really had a lot of questions about biblical prophecies. They all wanted to know, hey, what is the end of all these things and how is all this going to work together? And this has been referred to as the study of eschatology. Eschatology is the study of last things. Buddy Fitzgerald, our missionary, his father, Bernie Fitzgerald, said something years ago. I've never forgotten about this. He said, if you want to remember what eschatology is, then just remember that escargot is the last thing you'd ever want to eat. So eschatology is a study of last things. Never forgot that one. And it just sort of stands out. If you're trying to figure out What is eschatology again? Just remember escargot snails. There may be those of you who have eaten that here in this room. I've never eaten snails. I prefer fast food. I mean, I just don't, I don't want to go in that direction. But eschatology is the study of last things. That's what they wanted to know about. Lord, of all these prophecies that have been fulfilled to this point, what about what is coming? What about the day of the Lord? And Lord willing, as we get into this in 2 Thessalonians, we'll be dealing with this. In these times of trouble, persecutions growing, biblical prophecy questions, where should our focus be? Now, I would point out that what we did during the recent series on Wait For It is, We tried to answer this question repeatedly from a number of different passages. And all those messages are online. You can go back and listen to those and work through those. We'd be glad to give you the notes again if it would help you. John MacArthur said this about Second Thessalonians. He said, the emphasis is on how to maintain a healthy church with an effective testimony in proper response to sound eschatology, the study of last things, and obedience to the truth. And so that really is the focus. Even right here at the outset, as Paul is writing, He really begins there in verses 1 and 2 and talks about giving thanks. Giving thanks to God continually. That's where his focus is. Read again in 2 Thessalonians. Look what he says after he gives that introduction there about the grace of God. Look what he says in verse 3. We are bound or we think it is the right thing to do. We are bound to thank God always for you as it is meet or appropriate or right because that your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you toward each other abounds. so that we ourselves," that's an emphatic expression. Paul says, yes, even I, even I myself, or we ourselves, glory or boast in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. What he's focusing on here then is what should be our attention in these last days. Is it on North Korea? Is it on building shelters? Is it on all the disasters that are happening? You see where the emphasis is? It's on the church. It's on the church in God and our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's about the people. It's about putting the emphasis on those relationships just as Jesus put the emphasis on the relationship of the Father and the Son in John 10, and again, in John chapter 17. So look at the way that Paul is expressing this. He's saying, I want to give thanks for the brothers and sisters in the church for two reasons. First of all, because their faith grows exceedingly. And secondly, because their love abounds. Their love for each other overflows. If your eyes today then are fixed on all these national and international events and you're saying, well, I think those are the most important, then I would appeal to you to go back and read what the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6 and 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1. He described the faith that Paul is speaking of here as precious faith. Look, if it is precious in the sight of Almighty God, shouldn't it be precious to you and me? Shouldn't we put a high value on this? This faith, as you know from Romans chapter 10, comes by the preaching of the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And he says in Romans chapter 10, verse 8, that this is the word of faith which we preach. That's the message that is giving these people such maturity. It is the message of the Word of God. So as you give thanks to God today, Give thanks for the growing faith of the people who are around you this morning. Let me just encourage you to do something for a moment. Look around. Look around at the people here in this room. Think about what they have gone through with recent deaths in their families, or hospitalizations, or at this very moment they are struggling with problems and difficulties, or in the midst of everything else, there are upheavals in their workplace, perhaps because they are known to be a Christian. There are all kinds of things going on right here in our congregation. And here's what the Apostle Paul says about the church at Thessalonica. He said, I want to praise God that their faith grows exceedingly. Now look, here's the way the world looks at this. The world says familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds contempt. In other words, the better you and I get to know each other, the world would say it's like, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's all the same. You know, it's just people, people, people. That's not the way that Paul looked at the church, folks. He looked deeper. He looked beyond the personal problems. He looked at what was going on with their faith growing exceedingly, their love that was abounding yet more and more. So I'm going to suggest something. When you and I look around at the congregation, and when we walk out those doors in a few moments and head down to our Sunday school classes, let me encourage you to play the little game of I spy. You remember playing that when you were a child, I spy? We would usually say, I spy something, and you'd name a color, and your mind has a wonderful way of filtering out all that, everything that's not that color. Well, what if today you would do that differently? What if you were to say, I spy growing faith that grows exceedingly? I spy abundant love for each other. And begin, even as you are walking along and looking at the people here in our own congregation, and as we greet each other, we walk down the hallway, just play the game and say to yourself, wait a minute, I do see this. I do see faith that grows. Think about the trial this one went through. What would that be like to go through that kind of trial? Hasn't that occurred to you? I mean, haven't you looked at people who've given testimonies right here in the congregation and thought, well, if I had to go through what they went through, oh, I don't even know if I could. And yet what you're seeing is their faith grows exceedingly. Not only that, but their love for each other. is abundantly seen. That's where Paul is putting the emphasis today. In fact, in prayer and praise, he's expressing his great rejoicing, yea, even his boasting. He's not boasting about himself, he's boasting about the grace of God. Remember he said in Galatians, God forbid that I should glory, God forbid that I should boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is here rejoicing and glorying and boasting about the way that people have been taught and trained. They have received the word of God. in the words of 1 Thessalonians, they turn to God and from idols. He is rejoicing that here is evidence of people who have taken a firm grasp on the way they were taught and the way they were trained and that they are steadfastly bearing up under these persecutions. You can see this in verse 4. In verse 4 he says, so that we ourselves glory in the churches of God for your patience and your faith in all your persecutions and tribulations or troubles that you endure. So when you're playing the I Spy game today and you're thinking about this, praise God for his great grace in the way that these people, even here in our congregation, have endured persecutions. Persecutions generally is hostility that is aimed towards someone because of their stand for Christ. You know people right here in this congregation. I know people right here in this congregation. They have faced hostility in their workplace, in their families or extended families. They face genuine hostility and pressure and persecution because of their stand for Christ. Here's what Paul is saying. He says, I really praise God. I thank God for this. We ourselves glory, we rejoice, we even boast in the fact that God's grace is at work because of the way they endured persecutions and the way they endured troubles. The word troubles here is a very general term. Tribulations, it can refer to sickness and hunger and poverty. It can refer to financial reversals. You see, in every one of these, What Paul was focusing on was the people. He was focusing on the individuals in the congregation, some of whom he probably didn't even know by name, but he rejoiced over the stories he was hearing, sometimes from nameless individuals, about someone who had been able to persevere and endure. This is the source. This is the reason he was giving thanks. In all the things that were happening throughout the world there, he was giving thanks to God continually for the way that they pressed through, the way they endured these. So in these times of trouble, when we wrestle with these biblical prophecies and growing persecution, how should we respond? I think we ought to do the right thing. I think we ought to give thanks. When you go into your Sunday school classes in just a few moments, Why not find someone that you have seen their faith grow exceedingly or their love for each other abound and say to them, I want to thank God for you. I want to thank God for the way that you came through this trial. I want to thank God for what I've seen evidenced in your life. I have seen the grace of God laboring in you and I rejoice. It is that focus and all the things going on in the world right now, it is that focus that will help you and me to give thanks to God for others and to give thanks continually. Shall we bow our heads together? Heavenly Father, it is with great rejoicing that we come before you today and can say that we do give thanks. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your great grace laboring in us. Thank you for the way that these Thessalonian believers gave great evidence of the way that your grace had taken hold of them. Not only had your grace taken hold of them, but they had taken hold of your grace. And so now today, Father, I pray that you would make us a thankful people that even as we anticipate this season of the year with the cold snap last night and we begin to focus our hearts on the Thanksgiving time, Lord, help every one of us, I pray, to be able to say, I want to give thanks. I want to give thanks for such great faith that grows exceedingly and for love that abounds and for my brothers and sisters in Christ who endure persecutions and troubles. And Father, we give you the praise and honor and glory because it is with thanks that we give thanks to God continually. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.