Paul stated in verse 12 of this chapter that his great desire for the Thessalonians was that they would walk worthy of God. God who called them into his kingdom and into his glory. And because they were indeed walking worthy of God, Paul's thankful. And he's thankful because he knows that it was their receiving of the word and believing of the word of the gospel, which he had preached to them. He is thankful they gave an ear to the gospel and seriously considered it, and then they welcomed it, or they believed it and they embraced it. They knew that although Paul was preaching the word, it was not Paul's word, but it was the word of God. and that it was God who was speaking to them through Paul, and they believed it. They believed it to the saving of their souls. And Paul gives God thanks for this, and he does so, he says, without ceasing. Well, once they welcomed the word, the word worked effectively in them. And the words effectively worked means to perform or to energize. So the word energizes or moves believers to obey the word of God, to do what is right and to reject what is wrong. It works in the people of God to work for God and to seek his kingdom, to fulfill his design and purpose in our lives. It works in them to recognize sin and to repent of sin and to seek forgiveness. To be about the works of faith and labor of love. and patiently hope for the return of Christ. And now in verses 14 to 16, we see the energized word of God in their lives, working in them to suffer for Christ's sake. They were able, as chapter one, verse six says, to receive the word in much affliction. And sufferings for Christ's sake is a tremendous evidence that one has received and believed the word of God. What I'd like to do today in a sermon titled, Imitators of the Churches of God, is look at verses 14 to 16, using a two-point outline, and the first point is the sufferers, and I think I worded it sufferers, I forgot the E-R, but sufferers of Christ, and then the persecutors of Christ. So let's look at the sufferers of Christ in verse 14. I'll read it again. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God, which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans. Well, Paul starts by calling them brethren. for you brethren, and by calling them brethren, he's showing them how he feels about them, and he's reminding them and encouraging them of just who they are in Christ. And just in this letter alone, he calls them brethren 16 times. So he says, for you brethren, became imitators of the churches of God. And imitators means to copy, to follow. The Greek word is mimitis, where we get the English word mime from. And Paul's already used this word in chapter one, verse six, when he said, you became followers, imitators, mimes, of us and of the Lord. So they not only imitated Paul and Silas and Timothy, they not only imitated the Lord, but now he says, they also imitated the churches of God. So they didn't believe the word and then say, oh, I'm so glad I'm saved from hell, and now I can just coast my way into heaven. They didn't do that. No, they were immediately transformed with new desires, with a new holy disposition. And they immediately started to pattern their lives around Paul and others, and we see after the churches in Judea. Even though they had never met them, although I'm absolutely sure Paul would have discussed this with them, And brothers and sisters, we should imitate godly responses to persecution. We should imitate those who suffer for Christ's sake. And listen, it's not normal for a Christian not to suffer in some way for their faith in Christ. And I've said this before, but it's just not normal. When we are mocked or ridiculed or canceled out or excluded because of our trust in Christ, and for us standing on his word. You can't stand on his word and someone not want to knock you down. We are just experiencing what those who have trusted him before us have experienced. It has always been this way. The world wants to imitate the rich, the famous, the successful, the trendsetters. And truthfully, we once wanted to imitate them too. But now we rejoice that we can imitate the godly. And how can we not want to imitate them? If our faith is working and our love is laboring and our hope is fixed on the return of Christ. So if we're sharing the gospel with those around us, we will stir up the anger and animosity of some. Now notice, Paul says they became imitators of the churches of God. Meaning the whole church was suffering for their faith. It wasn't just an individual here or an individual there that was suffering. It was the church. And how unusual is it for the church to be well loved? Or even to be liked by the world around them? How unusual is it for everybody to be okay with the church? Because people who dislike Christians usually dislike the church. And take note what Paul said. He said that they are the churches of God. So it's not Paul's church, not Peter's church, not the pastor's church, it's not my church, it's not your church, it's God's church. Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20 verse 28, he said, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock of God among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. To do what? To shepherd the church of God, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. And if it's God's church, it is the Lord Jesus' church as well. For it was given to him, and with his blood, he purchased it. He said in Matthew 16, 18, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Paul said in Ephesians 1, 22 that Jesus is the head of the church. And in Ephesians 5, 24, that the church is subject to him. Well the way they imitated the churches of Judea was they suffered from their own countrymen. Just like the churches in Judea suffered from the Jews. And Paul says the churches in Judea are in Christ Jesus. And the truth is the church everywhere is in Christ Jesus. So you can call yourself a church, you can have a sign on the door that says you're a church, You can have a building where you meet, you can have a lot of people, you can have a constitution as a church, but if you're not in Christ Jesus, you're not a church. If you're not in Christ Jesus, you're not a church. And to be in Christ Jesus means to be Christ-centered, Christ-led, Christ is the focus of all that you do. It means your love for him is that what drives you to do all that you do, and in the end, it is all for his glory. It means that you faithfully preach his word and you faithfully live his word. So having lots of people and many baptisms and a world-class choir or sound system, and polished preachers does not make a church. Remember what Jesus said to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3. He said this, you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. What does it mean to have a name that you're alive? It seems that everything is going well. Everyone else thinks this is a happening church. Lots going on, lots of ministries, lots of money flowing in, lots of people getting dunked and whatever else. But they were missing one thing. They were missing Christ. Never, they didn't have the spirit. He says, you're dead. Now, the way the Thessalonian church imitated the churches in Judea is that they, again, suffered the same things from their own countrymen. What things would they be? Well, rejection, suspicion, hatred, mockings, loss of friends, loss of jobs, physical persecution, and probably a lot more. And we know that the churches in Judea suffered from the Jews. In Acts 4, verses 1 to 3, the Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John for preaching Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. And in 18, they charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. In Acts 5, again, the apostles are arrested by the Jewish leaders for preaching the gospel. In Acts 12, verses one to three, we see Herod kills James, the brother of John, and when he sees it pleases the Jews, he goes ahead and has Peter arrested. And the Jewish believers suffered greatly at the hands of a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus, whom Christ would save and make him, well, the great apostle Paul. But as an unsaved man, he brought great destruction and havoc upon the church. After the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, we read in chapter 8, verse 1, now Saul, that would be Paul, was consenting to his death, that's Stephen's death. And at that time, a great persecution arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. And then in verse three it says, as for Paul, he made havoc on the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Paul was not a nice guy. He said of himself in Galatians chapter 1 verse 13, And when the Lord told Ananias, to go and open the eyes of Saul of Tarsus after Paul has an encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Here was his response. Here was Ananias' response to the Lord. He said, Lord, I have heard many things about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. So the Jewish Christians were persecuted by the Jews. And the Thessalonian Christians were persecuted by the Thessalonians. Just as Nigerians persecute Nigerian Christians, and North Koreans persecute North Korean Christians, and Americans persecute American Christians. And the persecution may differ, but they are all actions based on dislike and hate for Christ and his gospel. You see, people persecute Christians because Christ and his word are an offense to them. It's it. They are like those in Psalm 2 who say, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their courts from us. We don't want God ruling over us and don't tell us that we're sinners. And we ought not to think at all that our government is tightening the screws on the church. That is, the church that will not comply. Pastor Phil asked me a couple of months ago for a religious exemption letter from having to take the vaccine as mandated by the Department of Education. And he told me as far as he knew, every single Christian where he worked who asked for an exemption was denied, but the one Muslim guy who asked for it got it. Colleges routinely reject Christian groups from meeting on their campus, yet they will allow other groups of faith to do so. Just yesterday, Pastor Phil sends me a photo as we were out preaching by the Queen's Center Mall. He went in the mall, and there was set up a free Quran. Why Islam? A bunch of Muslims giving away free Qurans, and I guess under the guise of some sort of a medical thing, and they were set up in the mall, and I sent them back. How is this possible? Can we do it? Well, probably not, but Phil's gonna find out for us. The media and social media paint Christians as bigots, homophobes, intolerant, anti-women, right-wing fanaticals. Christian bakers and photographers are targeted and sued for refusing to offer their services to same-sex couples getting married. High school football coaches have been fired for just praying with the players. Now get this one, a Virginia county required a church to get a liquor license in order to serve the Lord's Supper. And by the way, they didn't serve wine, they served grape juice like we do. A Belk employee was fired last year for requesting to go to church. So we don't all suffer the same things, but all Christ-centered churches suffer for his sake. So these new converts in Thessalonica were exhibiting a family likeness. They were looking like the saints in older, more mature churches. Their perseverance in the face of hostility and resistance was God-glorifying. It was a God-glorifying verification of their belief in the word and that they were walking worthy of God. You see, they were willing to suffer. for the Word, just as the Judean believers were willing to suffer for the Word. They had counted the cost. They willingly entered through the narrow gate, showing a true brotherhood, which no one can belong to if they are unwilling to suffer for Christ's sake. and the Thessalonians were willing. Paul said of them in 2 Thessalonians chapter one verse four, he said, we boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith, here it is, and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. We boast, we boast of the persecutions and tribulations you endure. Did not Jesus tell us that it would be those closest to us who would persecute us? Even as it was read today. And listen to, listen what it cost. Listen what the mindset must be for the person who truly follows Christ. And this is not a negotiable here, all right? Jesus said in Matthew 10, 34 to 36, do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword. Oh, that's interesting, right? I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, And a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. A man's enemies will be those of his own household. And then we read, if you don't love him more than all, you're not worthy of him. And let me add a word of comfort. A word of comfort. That we're not the only ones suffering for Christ. I know at times it may seem like we're going through something that no one else has ever gone through before, but that's not the case at all. Elijah thought that way, didn't he? He thought that way, as we see in 1 Kings 19. He said this, he said, to the Lord, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life. That's it, all Israel's shot, I'm the only one. I'm the only one who loves God, who honors God, who desires to see him glorified. Well, the Lord responds in verse 18. He says this, I have reserved 7,000 in Israel, all those whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mount that has not kissed them. I got people, you don't see them, but I got people that are mine. And he always has people that are his because he's saving people throughout all the time we're here. So you're not alone. You have brothers and sisters all over the world going through the same things that you're going through and maybe a whole lot worse. And so we see the sufferers for Christ. Secondly, the persecutors of Christ in verses 15 and 16. And there he says, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us. And they do not please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. So is always to fill up the measure of their sins, but the wrath of God has come upon them to the uttermost. Well, Paul says the Thessalonians suffered for their faith, just like the churches in Judea did. Now he will tell us how the Jews have a history of persecuting the people of God. And he starts by saying, who killed the Lord Jesus and his prophets? Who killed the Lord Jesus and his prophets? And of course, this isn't every single Jew that did this, but primarily the Jewish leaders. And Paul doesn't mince words here. He says, the Jews killed the Lord Jesus. Now, some have a real hard time with this, and they say, you know what, Paul was anti-Semitic. Paul didn't like the Jews. Nothing could be further from the truth. He said in Romans 9.34, I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh. You know what he's saying? I could wish that I would be damned to hell if they could be saved. Now it's hypothetical because he couldn't do that. But we believe he absolutely meant that. He said in Romans 10, one, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. My desire and my prayer. And then he states in verse two, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. So Paul loved the Jews. He prayed for the Jews. His heart broke for the Jews. But at the end of the day, they were guilty of killing the Lord Jesus and the prophets and of persecuting him. Now you may say, well, the Jews didn't actually kill Jesus, right? The Romans did. They're the ones that crucified him. They're the ones that put the spikes through him, right? Well, that is literally true. But the Jewish leaders wanted him dead, and they couldn't legally kill him themselves. So they trumped up charges against him, calling him an enemy of the state, and they had Rome do it. They had Rome kill him. Remember, Pilate gave the Jews the choice of a prisoner, that he would release one to them, either Barabbas, who was a murderer, by the way, or Jesus. And under the stirring of the Jewish leaders, the people chose Barabbas. And then Pilate said, I'm innocent of this man's blood. And here's what the Jews answered in Matthew 27. His blood be upon us and our children. And it was. Peter said to the Jews in Acts 2.23, Him, meaning Jesus, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. You did it. He said in Acts 3.13-15, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go, but you denied the Holy One and the Just One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. You did it again, you did it. He said to the Jewish leaders in Acts 4, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man stands here before you whole. The man that was lame by the temple. And again to the Jewish leaders in Acts 5, he said the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. And Jesus himself said the Jewish leaders would kill him. Matthew 16, 21, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised the third day. He told his disciples in John 17, 22 and 23, the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and the third day he will be raised up. The two men on the road to Emmaus said to Jesus, not knowing it was Jesus, in Luke 24, 20, they said that the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. They're telling Jesus, who they don't recognize as Jesus, that what happened to Jesus was he was crucified. And Stephen said in Acts 7, 52 and 53, that not only did the Jews kill the prophets, but they killed the one they foretold was coming, the just one, Jesus. Now the fact that the Jews killed Jesus is a tragic thought. And we find the murder of anyone a tragic thought. The reason why we're so troubled by what's going on in our world today, in the Ukraine, is because people who are not at war are now at war, unfortunately, because Russia is invading them. And we're bothered by that, and we should be bothered by that. But here's the thing, the Jews literally had the Messiah, the Lord of Glory, put to death. They had the Prince of Peace, the God-man, the Redeemer, the Savior hung on a cross. The only pure and holy man that ever lived, they handed over to be crucified. The one who loved God as a man with all his being and loved his neighbor as himself, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. And now here's the thing. Let's not think, well, those Jews were bad. The truth is, if you and I were there, guess what we would be doing? Crucify him, crucify him. we would be going along with the crowd. Shows the depravity of the human heart that man would kill the one God promised and sent to save them. And that begs the question, why do they want to put him to death? Why do they want him dead? And there are a lot of reasons for it. One, He didn't fit their ideas as a messiah. He didn't fit the idea of a messiah. They were looking for a military messiah. They wanted someone to rescue them from the bondage and enslavement of Rome. They wanted to see Israel restored to a world power like it was in the days of King David. But Jesus said he didn't come to save them from Rome, but he came to save them from the wrath of God for their sins. He didn't come to deliver men from enslavement to Rome, but from their enslavement to sin. They hated him because of the claims that he made. He claimed to be the son of God, which meant he was equal to God. He claimed that all authority was given to him. And he claimed that he could forgive sins, which only everybody knew only God could do. So by extension, he claimed to be God. which is why over and over again, the Jews wanted to kill him. In John 8, 58, he said, before Abraham was, I am. And that means, I am being, I am the self-existent eternal God, which is what I am means. He said, I am. And then in verse 59, we read that they took up stones to throw at him. In John 10, he said, I and my father are one. Then we read in verse 33, then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works I have shown you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God. They hate it that some of the Jews question whether Jesus was the Messiah because of the many miracles and the casting out of demons, but the Pharisees' reply to this was, listen, he gets his power from Satan. Not from God, he's from Satan. They hated him because he was a threat to their power and their way of life. After Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, which the Jewish leaders could not deny, We read, they said in John 11, 48, if we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Raised him from the dead, they knew he raised from the dead, and yet, instead of bowing before Christ, they wanted him dead because they didn't want to lose the good thing they had going on. They hated him because he socialized with the lowest class of people. They hated that. People the Jewish leaders would not even give the time of day. He talked to lepers and healed them, hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners, like the low life people. They hated that. They hated the fact that his disciples were a bunch of blue collar laborers instead of people of learning, and prominence. They hated that he spoke against their traditions, and in particular, about the Sabbath, and that he broke the rules of the Sabbath. They wanted him dead because he healed the man with a withered hand in the temple on a Sabbath. They wanted him dead because he healed the man who was crippled for 38 years by the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath day. also that he healed a woman who was hunched over for 18 years in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Think about that for a second. Think of what he did. Think of the miracles of being crippled for 38 years or hunched over or no hand on the Sabbath and instead of praising God that the Messiah was here, he broke the Sabbath. In their mind, that was work. They didn't understand the Sabbath, did they? That's why Jesus said that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. They hated him because he called them hypocrites. He exposed their sins to the people. Read Matthew 23, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. He does that seven times. He's condemning them for their hypocrisy. They hated him because they were envious of him, that the people flocked to him, that he drew massive crowds. And Pilate knew this. Pilate knew that it was because of envy. In Matthew 27, 18, we read, for he, Pilate, knew that they handed him over because of envy, envy. That's just some of the reasons the Jewish leaders wanted him dead. Well, not only did the Jews kill Jesus, but they also killed their prophets. History's Israel is not a good one. Israel's history is not a good one on how they treated the men God sent them to bring the word of God to them. It's not good. Stephen asked the Jewish leaders a rhetorical question in Acts 7. He said, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? Well, none of them. They persecuted all of them. In 1 Kings 18.4, we read that Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord. Nehemiah prayed to the Lord in Nehemiah 9.26 concerning Israel. He said, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. Cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets. Who did what? Who testified against them to turn them to yourself. Well, not only did they kill Jesus, and not only did they kill the prophets, but Paul says, they persecute us. They persecute us. And the Jews were always on Paul's tail. His whole ministry was marked by persecution from them. Others too, but certainly from them. Which is exactly what happened when he went to Thessalonica. In Acts 17, verse five, we read, but the Jews, who were not persuaded, they didn't believe, becoming envious, there's your envy again, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathered a mob set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them, that's Paul, out to the people. And they stirred up trouble for Paul in Berea, in Corinth, in Jerusalem, in Lystra, just to name a few. And Paul says they do those things and they don't please God. They don't please God. And of course, they think they're pleasing God, they think they're defending God, but he's not pleased at all. Jesus told his disciples exactly this is what would happen. He said in John 16 too, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think he offers God service. So the Jews thought they were pleasing God when Herod killed James, the brother of John, and then they arrested Peter. They thought they were pleasing God when they forbid the apostles to preach in the name of Jesus. And listen, some today think they're pleasing God by burning down abortion clinics, or by roughing up homosexuals, or by yelling at the anarchists. The Muslims think they're pleasing Allah by putting to death those who don't believe in Him. Radical Hindus think they're pleasing the gods, and there are plenty of those, by killing Christians. Some professing Christians think they're pleasing God by exacting vengeance on their enemies. Forgetting what Paul said in Romans 12, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. We don't have to square anything away. We don't have to right the wrongs. God will do that. Our job is just tell the truth. Just share the gospel, and let the chips fall where they're gonna fall, and God will take care of it. He's the judge, not me, and certainly not you either, right? So they think they're pleasing God by accepting all kinds of religions and not judging anyone, by turning a blind eye to sin and allowing all kinds of biblical things in the name of unity and diversity. Listen, God is not pleased when you mess with his children or when you mess with his word. He is not pleased when you mess with either of those. And the truth of the matter is the unsaved cannot please God. No unsaved person, if you sit here today and you're not a Christian, I am telling you by the word of God, I'm gonna show it to you right now, you cannot please God. Romans 8, verses seven and eight. And the apostle Paul says, the carnal mind, that's the unsaved mind, if you will, the carnal mind is enmity at war against God. For it is neither subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh, cannot please God. And those who are in the flesh mean those who are not saved. They cannot please God. Now the Jews are not only not pleasing to God, but Paul says they are contrary to all men. Contrary means hostile, to be against. And they are contrary to all men because they forbid Paul to speak to the Gentiles. As he says in verse 16, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, why? That they may be saved. So they kept men from hearing the words of life, from hearing the only message that could save their souls, the gospel. You see, they didn't want anything to do with the gospel, and they didn't want others to have anything to do with the gospel either. It would be like you don't want to take the life-saving medicine from whatever your illness is, and you don't want anyone else to take it either. You don't want it, and you don't want anyone else to have it. How many times have we been street preaching and some angry person comes up and just starts screaming to try to keep us from sharing? Calling us liars and ignorant and heretics and everything else. Or when you share with someone and someone else comes along and mocks what you just said, calling that a bunch of garbage. Or you're starting to share with someone and then their friend is interrupting, wanting them to leave and pull them away from you. And there are a hundred more scenarios here, but what they're doing is contrary to all men. They are keeping them from hearing the gospel. Why? So that they won't be saved. They don't know that, of course. The only message that really matters in all the world is the very one people try to keep from others. It's the only message. You'll get fired from some jobs for sharing it. There are laws prohibiting it in certain places. The media and Hollywood paints a picture of those who preach it as fanaticals and those who hear it as fools. By the way, the word forbidding means to hinder, to restrain. Jesus said in Matthew 19, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of heaven. And I wanna suggest to you, sometimes we can hinder the sharing of the gospel or people from hearing it. How? Well, one way is when we act like a jerk, when we're foolish, right? When we're angry, we can do that. Or when we talk like the world, right? We can do that. We can hinder it. When we don't let our brother or sister, who is sharing with someone, share with them, but we butt in. Telling them we wanna go, come on, let's go, I'm hungry, we gotta make the bus, stop sharing with that guy, you can do it later, get a number, right? Or maybe we wanna add our own two cents into the conversation. Well, I think I could do a better job than my wife, let me do this. We hinder it when we are graceless, graceless, and just bring hell and damnation, but never the hope of the gospel. I certainly believe in hell and damnation, but I also believe in the hope of the gospel, and we need to give it all. We hinder it when someone wants to know the truth, but we don't have the time to share it with them. We hinder it when the Holy Spirit is moving in us to share with someone and we suppress it. Because we are either afraid, I'm really busy, I got a lot to do, I got a schedule I gotta meet, right? We do that. I have done that many times where I have felt like a pressing by God to share with somebody, just walk away. I'm busy, I got this, I gotta carry the bags, right? And I don't do it. And then sometimes I'm so convicted I walk back to 30 feet and I try to talk to them. So brothers and sisters, we don't ever wanna hinder someone from hearing the gospel, whether it's from us or from someone else. Because our number one objective for them is the salvation of their souls, right? I mean, don't we want that? I mean, don't we really love them to the point that we would like to see them saved? And if they don't hear the gospel, they'll never get saved. Well, Paul says the result of the Jews forbidding the Gentiles from hearing the gospel is, he says, as always, to fill up the measure of their sins. And to fill up the measure means to make full. So men have an allotment of sins they will commit, if you will, and when that is full, God will judge them. They literally heap up their sins to the limit, to the max. So the cup of their sins is being filled to the absolute brim, and judgment is inevitable. And we see this, we see this with the Amorites way back in Genesis 6.15, where God tells Abraham that his offspring will inherit the land of the Amorites, which will be Israel, but it's gonna take 400 years. When the sins of the Amorites, he says, are complete. So when the Amorites' sins are filled up, when the cup is full, God will judge them and the vehicle that he will judge them through is Israel themselves. So the point here is this, that God allows us to continue in sin but only for so long. Jesus said to the Jews in Matthew 23 verses 31 and 32, you are witnesses against yourself that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Keep it going, keep adding to your sin. You're filling it up. So God is patient. He is long-suffering with men, but His patience has a limit, even as men's sin has a limit, has a limit, right? He gave the wicked 120 years and the days of Noah to repent and to turn from their sins, but they didn't, and He destroyed them in the flood. So men are filling up their cup of sin, and when it's full, judgment. There's a cup only so much can take, and when your sins have filled it up, if you're an unbeliever, judgment. One man said this. People who continue in wickedness without being destroyed are living only by mercy. If you're unsaved today, and you're not in hell, and you're not right now, it's only because God is merciful. And I don't care if you're a child or you're like 90. Oh, I got a 90-year-old guy here, right? I don't care if you're nine or 90, they'll come a point where your sins will fill up and it's only mercy right now that you're still here Paul ends by saying, but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost and uttermost means to the max to the end and what's coming upon them to the uttermost is God's wrath And wrath here means the full force of God's righteous anger. That's what it means. His wrath is not like our wrath. Our wrath is sinful. God's wrath is holy. It is holy wrath. And I believe this is speaking about the wrath that would soon come upon Israel and also the wrath to come. much later. And the wrath soon to come came upon Israel, the nation of Israel in 70 AD, when the Romans wiped out Jerusalem and the temple. And over a million Jews were killed. Jesus alluded to this in Matthew, I'm sorry, Matthew 24, three, speaking of the temple, he said, assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. I'm gonna destroy it. As he was carrying his cross, he said to the women who were weeping as he was on his way to the crucifixion, he said in Luke 23, he said to the women, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore and breasts that never nursed. What is he saying? He's saying, The days are coming, and they're only about 30, 40 years away, when I'm gonna wipe all of this out, I'm gonna wipe Jerusalem and this whole system down because you killed the Messiah. They suffered the destruction of Jerusalem for killing the Messiah. It was an immediate consequence. But there will ultimately be the wrath of God in the end poured out on all men, them included, all unbelievers, at the last judgment, will stand before God, and they will have to answer for this thing, which there will be no answer, and they will be judged. But praise God, Jesus took our cup. That cup was drunk by him on the, right? Father, if it's your will, let this cup pass from me. Three times he prayed that prayer. But not my will, your will be done. Well, what was the cup? Every single sin you had ever committed was in that cup, from birth to death. And you will suffer an eternal damnation for that. But Christ drank it for you. You don't have to worry about that. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, right? That's the great hope and blessing and peace of the faith. That cup was put down by Jesus. He stepped into our place and he suffered God's wrath for us. He suffered the wrath and payment for us into the uttermost, and now we are accepted in him. Praise God, amen. Well, in closing, I'd like to leave you with a thought and an encouragement. And the thought is this. In order to be an imitator of the churches of God, You must not only receive and believe in the word of God, but you must also stand on it and declare it and be unapologetic for it. The reason why so few churches know anything about suffering for Christ's sake is because they tow the cultural line. They don't go into the politically incorrect zone. They know they don't want to say anything. They are either silent on the sins that are rampant in their day, or they are neutral on them. You know, like they don't take a side. If you're quiet about it, nobody knows what you really think. Well, they embrace some of what the culture and media and politicians are feeding the masses, and they might even find some merit in it. But the word of God stands forever. It never changes. What was sin when the Bible was written is sin today and will be until Jesus comes back again. It may look different. It may take place in different ways, but it's the same. Greed and lust and anger and adultery and hatred, they're the same. None of that stuff changes. And if we're not getting some heat from the world we live in, maybe we fear man more than we fear God. Maybe. But I have an encouragement for you. Though there have been and are many who try to hinder the gospel this day, and people from being saved through it, they cannot prevent the progress of the gospel. Cannot do it. They can kill the messengers of God, but they can't destroy the message. They can arrest Christians and burn Bibles and buildings and everything else. They can pass laws that make preaching illegal. They can say that meeting as Christians is illegal. They can fine us, take our property away, strip us of our liberties, but they cannot slow down the advancement of God's kingdom. You know that, right? They can't do it. They cannot keep one of God's elect from hearing and believing in the gospel. And man has devised all kinds of schemes under Satan's rule to eradicate Christianity. Paul himself said, I try to get rid of it. whether it's by brute force and bloodshed or cunning propaganda against Christ and his church, or the inventions of fake substitutes like false religions and the twisting of biblical terms and ideas and doctrines, or things like Santa Claus instead of the birth of Christ, and the Easter bunny instead of his death and resurrection. Christ's kingdom is growing. The mustard seed has grown and it is growing and it is growing. And people from every tribe and tongue and nation have become living stones in the house of God. So remember that it is Jesus' church and He is building it. And the Holy Spirit is birthing men and women into it. So although it looks very dark in our day, and it seems like there are few, very few really faithful churches out there, take heart, because behind the scenes, Almighty God is growing and keeping His church till Jesus comes back to bring her to Himself, and then to destroy all of His enemies to the uttermost. Now, if you're not a Christian this day, if you're not a believer this day, understand that your sins are filling up. They're filling up. And your sins are against the very God who created you and sustains you and giving you the heartbeat you have right now. And he promises that wrath will come upon you to the uttermost. He promises that, that's not an idea. That is a given, that is a truth. And that is horrific news, horrific news. But the good news today is this, is that you can imitate every single believer in this room. How? By repenting of your sins, by crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness of your sins, and taking hold of Christ. Taking hold of Christ. That's what it means. Hold him, trust him, follow him, forsake all, and let him be the guide of your life. Don't worry about what other people say. Your sin right now, you may think it's good, you may enjoy it for a season, it will condemn you forever. And you can have a glorious, wonderful, faithful, loving life in Christ. You can have life like you didn't know you could have it right now. Or you can have eternal wrath and enjoy your sin for a season. What is it? Which way are you going? What do you want? Ah, it's garbage. Okay. People say it all the time. Uh-uh, no one, there's no place to go, I go on the ground. Okay. You say so, but that's not the word of God. Will you repent of your sins today? Will you cry out for mercy? Recognize the wrath of God is coming upon you. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Knowing the terror of the Lord, Paul said, we persuade men. No joke. No joke, and it doesn't end. Do you know what the sad part of that all is? If you end up in hell, it's because you deserve to go to hell, and you rejected the Savior. But you'll never forget that you heard the gospel. You'll never forget that many times, maybe once, maybe today, maybe a thousand times over again, you heard the truth and you said, not me, not me. And you'll be like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. begging for a drop of water to cool your tongue. Serious stuff. Will you embrace the gospel message which is preached to you today and be saved? Will you surrender to Christ and trust that he took your wrath for you to the uttermost? Don't blow it by. Trust in him today. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the privilege and the opportunity to suffer for your sake. Pray, Father, that each of us would be growing in boldness for you, that we would not waffle or fear man or the culture that we live in, but Lord, that we would love righteousness and we would love what you love and hate what you hate. And Father, that we would grow closer to you because of it. And Father, even as there has been so much persecution and is and will be until Christ comes again, I pray that we would never be a hindrance to the gospel in how we act and how we talk to people, in our demeanor and our attitude, Lord, that we would never in any way get in the way of that beautiful and glorious message. And Lord, for those who would sit here today or maybe be watching it today, Lord, and they're not saved, and their cup is filling up, and there's only so many sins that can fit in that cup, and then they're gonna be judged. Oh God, have mercy on their souls, draw them to the Savior, and do it for your glory's sake, in Jesus' name, amen. Pastor Phil.