Pastor Troy Lee? Oh, sorry. Turn to 1 Timothy, I'm just gonna read the first few verses. 1 Thessalonians, sorry, what'd I say? Our topic. is an introduction to First Thessalonians. And today, we're going to introduce it and just consider the first verse, the greeting, or part of the greeting. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, 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. We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers. remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Please be seated. The two letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians are of great interest to Christians and scholars. They not only contain a lot of Paul's inspired teaching on the doctrine of the last things or eschatology, in the first epistle every chapter ends with a reference to the second coming of Christ, but also we find crucial ethical exhortations as well as description of what will occur at the second coming, including the rapture. There's also the highly debated passages on the meaning of the great apostasy, the falling away, the man of sin, that which restrains and the mystery of lawlessness. The interest with the end times reflects a concern of the congregation with such matters. The apostles' primary reason for writing to the Christians in Thessalonica was their concerns and lack of knowledge concerning such matters. It was the largest and most important church in Macedonia, or modern Greece at that time. There's also a discussion of persecution, which is a constant problem in pagan cities. We also learn of Paul's concern with missionary work in 1 Thessalonians 1, 5-9, and the latter does not discuss the doctrine of justification or the Judaizers. The heresy was not a problem in Europe at this early date. Before we examine the apostle's words of greeting, there are a number of important introductory matters to consider. And I'm just going to give you the Orthodox, Bible-believing, conservative view on all these things and not get into all the debates of various scholars. The city of Thessalonica has a long and fascinating history. In ancient times, the city was called Therma due to the hot springs in that area. It was the resting place of Xerxes and some of his troops on his march. It's next to the coast and the ship, he tried to coordinate his troops with the ships that were traveling because his quest was Athens in the south of Greece. Eventually, the Macedonians conquered all of the Greek speaking areas. That'd be Philip and then he would die and his son Alexander would take over. And the city grew and became an important trading center. It received its new name, Thessalonica, when Cassander, the son of Antipater, named the city after his wife, who was a half-sister to Alexander the Great. Philip Alexander's father named his daughter Thessalonica in commemoration of a great victory that occurred on that day when he heard of her birth. The modern city is called Thessalonica, and it's the second most populated city in Greece. After the Romans conquered Macedonia, they united its four provinces into one and made Thessalonica the capital. It was the most populated city of Macedonia and in Paul's day had a population of over 200,000. Before the founding of Constantinople as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, the city served as the capital of one of the four provinces of Macedonia. Later, it became the capital of Macedonia, where the four parts were merged into one city administratively. During the Roman Civil War, the city sided with Anthony and Octavian, who won. Don't confuse this with Anthony later, who gets involved with Cleopatra and loses. That's later. This is earlier. Consequently, the city was made a free city in AD 42 by Mark Anthony. A free city. in the Roman empire had a certain amount of local autonomy from Rome and could mint its own coins and imperial coins. It had certain tax concessions, was free of military occupation and did not become a mere Roman colony. It did not have to take in a large, large groups of demobilized soldiers as happened in other cities, such as Philippi. This gave the city more distinctly Macedonian or Greek flavor with a local ruling elite. Moreover, the original Greek institutions were left in place. So it's a very Greek city. Although many Romans lived in the city, the population was primarily Greek. There was a sizable Jewish community in the city who had their own as well-established synagogue. In Philippi, a much smaller city, there was only a small group of Jews who met out for public worship down by the river. And this is where you encounter Lydia and so forth. The church, Paul started, thrived for centuries. And Thessalonica became well-known for upholding the Orthodox faith against pagan barbarians and heretics. Later in the history, of course, Constantinople would become the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. And then the western part of Rome fell. And then it continued until 1452, or whatever the date was, when they were conquered by the Turks, by the Muslims. And now it's Istanbul. The city was on the main Roman road, the Via Egnatia, which is the main east-west land route between the Aegean and the Adriatic Seas. It was a port city and was where goods were offloaded for the province of Macedonia and the northern area of the Balkan Peninsula. The main local products were agricultural, farm products, and timber. Later, mining became very important. The religious situation at the arrival of Paul was greatly varied. Besides the large Jewish community, There was a variety of pagan cults. In First Thessalonians 1.9, Paul implies that the majority of converts came straight out of paganism. Such cults were state-sponsored, and thus, at times, they had pagan deities on their coins. For example, Dionysius and Cabirus. There were cults that were designed to please the Roman authorities, such as the Cult of Rome, a state cult, and, of course, the imperial cult, which involved emperor worship. They wanted to keep things happy with the state. There are coins from the area with Caesar Augustus declaring him to be a god. Pagan religions were carefully designed to uphold and mediate the Roman imperial power over the social order of the city. And this reality helps explain some of the conflicts Paul and the Christians had with the Romans and local authorities. And of course, in the early days, these were all brought on by the Jews who would go to the authorities and try to get them in trouble. The heathen were very fond of religious festivals. These celebrations were sponsored and paid for by wealthy elites and civil officials. The meats and delicacies were dedicated to various gods, and the common people were expected to participate in the religious celebrations. And later on, when the Christians became predominant, one of the great charges by pagans against Christians is they're kind of like a secret society. They don't come to our feasts. What's going on here? What are they doing? The founding of a church. The missionary work of Paul in Europe began on a second missionary journey. When Paul landed in the northeast of Greece and began preaching in Philippi, 10 miles to the west of the Aegean Sea, Philippi was a Roman colony with a very small Jewish community, Acts 16.12. Paul's companions were Silas, Acts 15.40, Timothy, his assistant, 16.3, and Luke, Acts 16.10. After a small house church was established with Lydia, her husband, The jailer and his household, as well as others, Paul was forced to leave the city due to a riot after he cast out a demon, a spirit of divination, from a slave girl. He was arrested, shamefully treated, but being a Roman citizen, the authorities apologized and begged him to leave the city. From Philippi, he traveled southwest along the Ignatian Road, 30 miles to Amphilopolis and another 30 to Apollonia. he did not stay to preach in these cities. Then he journeyed another 37 miles and arrived at Thessalonica, which was his main goal all along, being the largest city. The fact that he merely passed through on the smaller cities on his way to Thessalonica indicates that this city was viewed, Thessalonica, as the center of operations in Europe. After arriving in the city, Paul at first focuses attention on the Jews. This is Acts 17, 4. Then Paul, as was his custom, went to them, the synagogue, and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, saying, this Jesus who I preached to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded. And a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas. Acts 17.4. You say, well, he didn't mention Timothy or Luke. Well, Timothy was very young and was an assistant. He wasn't really doing much, and you didn't mention assistants usually. It appears that initially most of the apostle converts came from the Greek God-fearers who were the proselytes of the Jewish religion. And that's a pattern you see in the New Testament in the book of Acts. The old-fashioned Jews, you get a few. But the Greeks were much more open to Isaiah 53 and the suffering servant Messiah. The other Jews had been taught from birth of the conquering Messiah on a white horse who's going to kill the Romans and the Greeks and take over and the Babylonians and the Assyrians. The Jews who did not believe in Christ became haters and persecutors of Paul and the church. And this is a pattern we see throughout the book of Acts. The Romans persecuted the Christians. Well, they were the sword. The Jews instigated the Romans. Paul arrived in Thessalonica for at least three weeks, remained in Thessalonica for at least three weeks, Acts 17.2. However, the three weeks probably only pertains to his synagogue activities. Luke apparently condensed Paul's activities, or perhaps Paul left for some time due to persecution and then eventually returned. Act 1710 for 1 Thessalonians 2.9 and 2 Thessalonians 3.8 indicates that the Apostle worked a trade in the city so that he would not be a financial burden on the congregation. Now if he's there for only three weeks, did he actually stop and set up a trade for only three weeks? I doubt it. Moreover, Paul's statement, you have turned to God from idols, 1 Timothy 1.9, implies a good deal of evangelization among pagans who were outside of the synagogue. Moreover, I think the more decisive argument for Paul living in Thessalonica for a longer period, how long we don't know, is based on Philippians 4.16, which says that he received financial assistance on more than one occasion from the Philippian church while he was in Thessalonica. If he was receiving assistance on more than one occasion, then this would indicate communication back and forth between the two established churches. And I don't think that's gonna happen in three weeks. So, anyway, that's a common view. This may explain why Paul does not directly quote from the Old Testament in these epistles. Or why he does not see any need to refute the Judaizers who were a problem in the regions of Galatia, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Most scholars believe that the converted pagan Gentiles were the majority in that church. Having noted the majority of scholars, we should note that some commentators believe that everything did happen within three weeks. And that's possible, but I think it's unlikely. Lenski thinks he was there four weeks. The Jews who rejected Jesus were resentful and very angry over the success of Paul in drawing away a large number out of their synagogue, primarily from God-fearing Greek proselytes. And you know his Paul tactic, he goes to the Jews first, he preaches in their synagogues, he's thrown out of the synagogues soon, and the people who are converted go start a church with Paul. So when you go into somebody's church and you take half of them out of a church in a very short period of time, you're not going to be very well liked. The tactic of the Jews who clung to Pharisaical Judaism was to provoke a riot in opposition among the Gentiles to get Paul into trouble with the pagan state. They accused Christians of turning the world upside down, that is disrupting the social order or peace of society, the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar. They are wicked breakers of Roman law. They don't keep our laws. of saying there is another king, Jesus. In other words, they are traitors to the Roman state and dangerous revolutionaries. And the great persecutions that would come later under Nero and others, this was the charge. Bow the knee to Caesar, give a religious ritual indicating he is your chief lord, your chief god, and we won't kill you. And Christians were unwilling to do that, and they were put to death. The Jewish opposition would force Paul to leave the city, but as we have noted, he likely returned. Or he just stayed there long and kept out of sight. I don't know what he would do. The Jews were experts at cooperating with a pagan state to persecute Christians. They did not hold political power, but were experts at influencing and directing that power against Christ and his church. And we see that today. Liberals. People who call themselves Christians who are modernists or liberals who believe in abortion on demand and socialism and they don't believe in a literal resurrection and they don't believe that Jesus was really God. These kind of people, they hate our guts and they do everything they can to persecute us and they would kill us if they could. Time and place. Bible-believing scholars place the date of first Thessalonians around 51, 52, or 53, 51 at the earliest, making it the first epistle, although there's a few scholars, like Linsky, thinks that Galatians came out two weeks before Thessalonians did. But he's in the minority. According to Acts 16.11-40, Paul conducted a second missionary journey, which took him to Philippi, to the east, near the Aegean Sea, Burya, and then to Athens, Acts 17. From Athens, he traveled to Corinth, Acts 18.1, where he returned with Silas and Timothy, who came from Macedonia, Acts 18.1 and 5. In both 1 Thessalonians 1.1, Silas and Timothy are with Paul when he wrote the two epistles. He wrote the epistle, and this is how we know the date very certainly, when Galileo was prow council in Achaia, thus fixing the date, it had to be 51 to 53. So if you can tie something into a leader when we have exact dates, then you know you can really fix the date. Paul's ministry in Corinth lasted 18 months. He wanted the right to them to defend his ministry, encourage them in the midst of persecution, and deal with issues relating to personal and corporate sanctification. This epistle is far less doctrinal than later epistles, but contains teaching on a number of crucial doctrines. These epistles are important for refuting the full Preterist heresy, because the apostle wants to dispel the idea of some of the Thessalonians that the second bodily coming of Christ was imminent. And he gives a very excellent description of the second bodily coming of Christ. OK, there's some introductory. Here's the outline of the book real quickly. The greeting, 1, 1, and 2. It's followed by a lengthy thanksgiving for salvation, good works, and the example of the Thessalonians 1, 3 to 10. This introductory section is followed by a defense of the apostle's ministry in their midst, 2.1 to 12. Then Paul describes the good effect that ministry had on the church, 2.13 to 16. He describes his love and deep concern for the church, 2.17 to 3.10, and prays for their progress, 3.11 to 13. Then there is a lengthy section dealing with sanctification. The need for ethical purity, 4.1 to 8. Christian or brotherly love, 4.9 and 10. Proper Christian behavior, 4.11 to 12. Hope regarding the real bodily resurrection of the dead at the second bodily coming of Jesus, 4.13 to 18. The proper attitude of watchfulness, diligence, and hope that are connected to one's faith in his second bodily coming, 5.1 to 11. And various brief exhortations, 5.12 to 22. The epistle draws to its conclusion with a prayer for sanctification and perseverance, 523 to 24. Final requests, 525 to 27, and the benediction. It is noteworthy that in Paul's thinking, correct theology and faith in the truth is the foundation of genuine hope, sanctification, and prayer. You gotta get the facts right. You gotta get your doctrine right. You gotta get correct theology. If you're going to have a proper life, proper worship, proper communion with each other, proper this, proper that, it all depends on first establishing a correct view of theology. And that brings us to the greetings. I'll read one and two again. Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians and God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, different cultures and societies have different ways of beginning a letter. In our tradition, we begin by noting the person we are addressing. Dear Bob, you know, bring over the pumpkin pie, make sure you got some whipped cream, you know, that kind of stuff. In Greco-Roman culture in the first century, the common practice was to first identify the person writing the letter or who the letter is from and then noting the addressee. This would be followed by a pious, friendly expression with a mention of one's gods, or who the writer believed had the power to impart health, peace, and prosperity, and so on. So if you're a pagan and you like Zeus, you're going to mention Zeus. Or you might mention Artemis, or whatever. For Christians, we always mention, of course, God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and sometimes the Holy Spirit. Now Paul follows the normal pattern of his own day with a great difference being that he serves the one and only true and living God and his only begotten son who really has the power and character to impart genuine grace, biblically defined. False gods, as you know, can't do anything. And he can impart real peace. If you're going to have real peace, you've got to have real grace. There are a number of things to note regarding this greeting, which is likely the apostle's first letter to a church. First, he does not identify himself as an apostle in both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, which is very unusual. In all of his other epistles except Philippians, he explicitly identifies himself as an apostle. Romans 1.1, 1st Corinthians 1.1, 2nd Corinthians 1.1, Galatians 1.1, Ephesians 1.1, Colossians 1.1, 1st Timothy 1.1, 2nd Timothy 1.1, Titus 1.1. and I think Philemon, I think. This omission is likely due to a few things. Number one, Paul's status and authority were not challenged or questioned at this early date by the churches, and he saw no need to emphasize his calling and his apostle by Jesus Christ. Once wicked men arose that rejected and challenged his lawful authority, the notation of a special calling by Christ became a regular part of his greeting. This is a tactic of wicked men throughout history. We see it in our own day. If they can't beat you on the doctrine, if you got the truth, you got the facts, you're preaching the truth, you're a true prophet, a true preacher, they can't get over that, then they challenge your authority. Oh, your church is too small, or you're not a real Presbyterian, you know, all these kind of things. And that happened to Paul in Corinth and a number of places. Two, the greetings of First Thessalonians is very simple and abbreviated. Second, even though he is the author of the letter, he includes his evangelistic accomplices who were with him when he wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Paul, Silvanus, also called Silas, and Timothy. This procedure is common. 1 Corinthians includes Sothenes, our brother, 1-1. 2 Corinthians 1-1, Philippians 1-1, and Colossians 1-1, and Philemon 1-1 include only Timothy. Timothy, our brother. or Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ. Such introductions raise the question whether the mention of these evangelists means they had any input as to the contents. In 1 Corinthians, he mentions Sophonies, but by verse four, he is using the first person singular, and he will use that throughout. Then at times, he will say we. In 1 Thessalonians, we is used throughout the epistle. The basic view is that these men read Paul's letter and fully agreed with its contents. Even as an apostle, he was in the habit of consulting with other presbyters or overseers. In addition, we should keep in mind that the office of evangelist, and I'm talking about evangelists in the first century sense, which is a unique and temporary office that ceased when the original generation, the original apostles and evangelists all died out. Matthew's an evangelist, John Marker, Mark was an evangelist, Luke was an evangelist, et cetera. They had the gift of divine inspiration. If they contributed in any way, their contributions would have been inspired and infallible and authoritative anyway. Now Paul was the greatest or most accomplished of the apostles. His former name was Saul, meaning asked of God, a popular name among those from the tribe of Benjamin, and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was born in Tarsus, a Roman citizen, and thus his Roman or Latin name would have been Paulus, which means small or little. Paul, due to his former life as a persecutor, regarded himself as, and this is a quote from Ephesians 3.8, less than the least of all the saints. Although Paul always preached to the Jews in a city first, he was the chief apostle sent to the Gentiles, Peter being the chief apostle to the Jews. And then, of course, Peter ends up in his later days ministering, according to tradition, in Rome and other places. There's also Silvanus, who is called Silas. Silvanus is the Latinized version of the Greek name Silas, both of which may be based on the Aramaic name Sila, which means Saul. Silas figures prominently in the council held in Jerusalem regarding the Judaizers, Acts 15, 22, 27, 32. Once the decision was made, he was sent by Paul to Antioch to spread the council's decision to the elders and Christians in that city. Very important person in the New Testament in the book of Acts. Silvanus is the one Paul chose for his second missionary journey after the apostle argued with Barnabas regarding John Mark. They had a big falling out. And they didn't get along, so he chooses somebody new. And of course, John Mark will have a great ministry after that. And he'll hook up with Peter. And he gets the primary. His source material for Mark is from Peter. After the second missionary journey, he is no longer mentioned in the Book of Acts. In Paul's epistle, Silas is always noted with a reference to the second missionary journey, 2 Corinthians 119, 1 Thessalonians 1.1, 2 Thessalonians 1.1. The same Silvanus noted in 1 Peter 5.12, who conveyed Peter's letter to the churches. So these assistants, these evangelists, these crucial helpers of the apostles, they'd move around. They're helping Paul. They're helping Peter. So this liberal argument that Peter and Paul were in conflict and they disagreed about the gospel, that's all lies of Satan made up by liberals. It's just absolute garbage. They all were in total harmony. Some scholars believe that Silas originated from the Mother Church in Jerusalem. Silas was a reliable church leader and evangelist and a respected colleague of Paul and perhaps later of Peter as well. I think it probably is the same Silas. The associate Timothy was a close companion of Paul for years. He is listed in Paul's epistolary greetings in 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, as well as 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He is mentioned in all of Paul's letters except Galatians and Ephesians. And of course, there's two epistles written to him. According to the history of Acts, Acts 16, 1 to 3, his mother was a Jewish Christian and his father was a Greek pagan. So it's one of those situations where they probably both heard the gospel, the mother's converted, the father was not. The brethren in Lystra and Iconium, both in Southern Galatia and Asia Minor, spoke well of Timothy to Paul. The apostle had him circumcised because of the Jews and took him with him as an assistant on his first and then second missionary journeys. You say, well, his mother was a converted Jew. How come he wasn't circumcised? Well, in those days, they didn't have feminism. And the father called the shots. And he says, my son's not going to be circumcised. If you're a pagan, why bother with it? It's painful. In Acts 20, verse 4, we learn that he traveled with Paul on his final journey to Jerusalem. The prescripts of Philippians and Philemon indicate that he was with Paul in his imprisonment probably in Rome. He is noted as being set free in Hebrews 13 23 which supports the view that Paul is the author of Hebrews. He is the recipient of two epistles from Paul first and second Timothy after he became a pastor or overseer in a church. First Timothy is dated circa AD 63, while second Timothy is AD 64, shortly before Paul's death. Most scholars believe that Timothy was quite young when he was asked to join Paul. So he's with Paul for years and years and years and years. The terms used in the greeting. Let's look at the greeting now. There are a number of important words and phrases in the greeting that need to be carefully defined. First, the word church, ecclesia. originally was used of an assembly of citizens who gathered together to discuss political issues and vote. And you can also find it in Greek literature of just a gathering of people. Let's say you had a bridge club and they would get together. Oh, that's an ecclesia. It's a gathering. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, it refers to the people of Israel as a covenant community under God. In particular, the solemn gatherings of the people of Israel as a religious assembly for public worship. For example, Deuteronomy 31.30, 1 Kings 17.47. In the New Testament, it refers to believers in Christ corporately as the whole body of 1 Corinthians 12, 28, Ephesians 1, 22, or a local assembly or congregation, 1 Timothy 4, 17, Galatians 1, 22. The word is even applied to the small house churches, Romans 16, 5. So if you have a tiny church and it's small, yeah, you're still a church. Occasionally, the term is probably used of all the churches in a single city. Possibly Romans 16, 1 and 1 Corinthians 1, 2. In Acts 15, the word is applied to a whole group of churches or a synod or a council, whatever you want to call it. I'll read, here's verse 22. Then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church. to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas, who is also named Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. Now this is early, but by the time Jerusalem was destroyed, there were well over 33 established congregations just in Jerusalem. So you have, at minimum, a presbytery, at least a synod, probably a synod or council. And it's used of that. And these kind of passages, of course, are a problem for Baptists and those who hold to independency. The New Covenant Church did not hold to independency, obviously. Because the Christian community constituted the true New Covenant people of God who gathered for worship, fellowship, and discipline, they replaced national Israel as God's covenant bride permanently. And the divorce was made official in AD 70 when the Jewish nation, Jerusalem, and the temple were destroyed. Jerusalem is no longer a sacred city. It's no more sacred than Kansas, I mean, St. Louis. It's not a sacred city at all. The temple site is not a sacred site. It has no significance whatsoever. Now, it's interesting historically, fascinating. But these Christians who talk about the Jews as still God's people and Jerusalem is still significant and all that, that's all nonsense. Ethnic or religious Jews can now only be part of God's covenant people by joining themselves to Christ's multinational church. God still has a plan for Israel according to the flesh, but only as a part of Christ's one true church. And yes, there's quite a few Christians in Jerusalem and in the Middle East, but they have to be careful. The Christian Church holds the keys of the kingdom, and through the gospel preaching, teaching, and discipline, is the chief institution for godly dominion and the spreading of Christ's kingdom on planet Earth. The signs of a true church are, number one, fidelity to the deposit of Orthodox Christian doctrine found in the canon of scripture. If you don't have that, you're not a church. Contrary to Doug Wilson, an Eskimo, liberal, lesbian bishop is not a Christian. Two, faithful biblical church discipline. And I'm basing this basically on what the Protestant reformers said. Three, the proper administration of the sacraments. Yes, it's important. Is not baptizing your babies a damnable heresy? No, it's not. But it is a sin. It is wrong. And it does merit separation from Baptist. Second. The city is said to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. According to theology of Paul and Jesus, to be united to Christ by regeneration faith unites one to God the Father as well. Here, of course, we have the wonderful Trinitarianism of Scripture. Those who received Jesus received the Father who sent him, John 1320. Our Lord said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have also known my father also. And from now on, you know him and have seen him. That's the last parts for the disciples there. Paul's use of Christ and the Father with only one preposition in grammatically flows from the unity of the Godhead, the doctrine of the Trinity, both as to essence and purpose both as the essence and purpose in the economy of redemption. God saved us by sending his son and his son's salvation unites us to God spiritually. Christians are not simply people who follow a philosophy or an ethical system. By the redemptive work of Christ, perceived solely by faith, all believers are vitally connected together by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and are adopted into God's own family. Our union with the Father in Christ is the root ground or foundation of our spiritual life and progress in sanctification. And Jesus' high priestly prayer is very instructive. This is from John 17, 20 to 21. I do not pray for these alone, and he's talking about the Christians who's right there, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one As you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. That's mind blowing stuff. And if you don't believe in the Trinity, you're an ignorant fool. It's so clearly taught in scripture. Now, is it a difficult doctrine? Yes, but it's taught in scripture. And if you don't believe it, you're a heretic. Here's what Calvin says. Calvin says that Paul's statement is designed to teach us. that the Thessalonian church is a true church of Christ. He writes, quote, we may infer from it that a church is to be sought for only where God presides and where Christ reigns, end of quote. God the Father is the center and origin of all true religion, while Jesus' son is the author and center of all revealed religion. As the original creation originates with the Father and is mediated through the Son, read Colossians chapter one, redemption originates with the Father's electing love and is accomplished in history by the incarnated Son. Jesus, Hebrew Joshua, an abbreviation for Yehoshua, meaning Jehovah is salvation, see Matthew 121, is the Savior's human name. When we hear it in reference to Christ, it reminds us of his assuming a human nature, a genuine human nature, so he could suffer and die on our behalf. He assumed a human nature, Philippians chapter 2 and other places, in an unusual way. He's without sin. No original sin, no actual sin ever. He's impeccable. He's sinless. But he assumes a human nature capable of suffering and dying. because he had to be the mediator. He had to die on the cross for our sins. The title Christ or Messiah means anointed one. It tells us that Jesus was the chosen one greater than Moses and the Arianic priesthood who, according to his human nature, was anointed beyond measure at the baptism of John. And at the baptism of Jesus, God the Father speaks and the people could hear it audibly. It's the first time God spoke to the people of God since Exodus 19. The title Lord refers to the fact that Jesus is Jehovah, the second person of the Trinity. Moreover, the theanthropic, that means divine human person, Jesus Christ was declared to be Lord over all at his resurrection as a reward for his redemptive obedience. Yes, he's Jehovah, he's Yahweh, he's God in every conceivable way. But a lot of times the focus in the New Testament is on his lordship given to him as the mediator. Up to the cross and his death and being in the tomb. He's the suffering servant. He's under a state of humiliation. He's rejected by his people. He's hated. He endures the wrath of God for our sin after the resurrection. Go, I have been given all authority over heaven and on earth. He now is the Lord with power by the resurrection of the dead Romans one three, I think. To him, every knee shall bow. The true Christian church confesses all these things about the Savior to come from the heart. Yeah, Jesus is Lord. Muhammad is burning in hell where he belongs with Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler, a satanic rapist and murderer. Christ is Lord! Third, grace to you and peace concludes the prescript of the letter. This greeting is a simple abbreviated form of the apostle's more elaborate prescript found in later epistles. He'll expand on this. It's very simple. Paul ignored the typical Greek greeting and developed an explicitly Christian form. Grace from God in Christ refers to the undeserved favor and kindness to those who deserve the exact opposite. We're not just simply some bum that you hand a pie to and say, here, here's a sandwich, where you're being gracious. No, we're God's enemies. before we were saved. Humans can be kind and gracious to one another but God's grace is saving grace. It sends a savior who is by vicarious death and suffering and death delivers us from the guilt and penalty of sin. It sends the Holy Spirit to regenerate our hearts and draws us to Jesus so we will believe and follow Christ. This grace from God is sovereign and unconditional, for there is nothing within man or that can be done by man that earns or merits God's favor, period. Arminianism, semi-Pelagianism, Pelagianism, Romanism, it's all damnable heresy. If an Arminian is saved, it's because he is inconsistent with his doctrine. And I used to be an Arminian. And I used to go to prayer meetings. And I hear these little old Baptist ladies on their knees. They don't pray like Arminians. They pray like Calvinists. God save my grandson. God save my uncle. They don't say, God, we hope that my uncle will allow you to save him. Because of sin we deserve only judgment and wrath. Ephesians 2 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. God's grace saves through Christ and this brings us peace. The Hebrew word Shalom refers to the wholeness health prosperity and blessings that flow from being in the covenant relationship with God. Christ brings us into the salvation and covenant relationship so that our life has real meaning and blessings. If you believe in Christ, John chapter 3, I think it's 18, you have passed from death unto life. If you believe in Christ, two verses up, John 16, you possess eternal life. It's yours right now. It's amazing. The apostle will use this term 40 times, for only Jesus restores peace between God and man, as well as between man and other men. Jehovah's free grace or unmerited favor is the spring or fountain of all the peace, blessings and prosperity that Christians enjoy. And we'll end with Ephesians 1 3, which is focusing on the spiritual aspect. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. A brief greeting. Very theological. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing. Look what we have. Look what God has given us. It's amazing. Let us be thankful. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for this. Grant us thankfulness and appreciation of your dear son. Cause us to love him more and more and serve him more faithfully every single day. In Jesus' name, amen. Any questions? Questions? I know it's pretty simple stuff. Mr. Theologian over here, do we have any questions?