This morning I am continuing the exposition and proclamation of the written word of God in 1 Thessalonians 1. So please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1. In a minute I'll be reading the whole chapter, 10 verses as I've done each time as we've begun this the exposition of 1 Thessalonians. But before I read 1 Thessalonians 1, I want to give you an illustration that I hope will aid us as we go through the passage this morning and in the weeks to come. I hope it will aid you in showing you why I'm going through the passage the way I am. And not only this passage, but in a sense how I preach when I preach through other passages of scripture. So here's the illustration. I guess I'll begin like this. I've never been to the Grand Canyon. But because I love to see the beauty of God's creation, it is a place I'd like to go. I don't know if I ever will, but I'd like to. The Grand Canyon, by the way, how many of you have been to the Grand Canyon? Okay. A number of you have been to the Grand Canyon. It's located in Arizona. It has been described as a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide in some places, and it attains a depth of over one mile. There are places that it's over 6,000 feet deep. I've seen pictures. It's massive and beautiful. Now, if you wanted to see the Grand Canyon, there are different ways to see it, which will give you different perspectives. You could fly over the canyon in a plane, and that would give you a particular perspective. From that perspective, you would get to see what we call a bird's eye view. And there's something magnificent about seeing such a massive and awesome natural wonder from the sky. Now we've seen satellite pictures of the earth and there's something rather magnificent to see it from that perspective. And the same way we're looking at the Grand Canyon from a plane, a bird's eye view, let's say 30,000 feet in the air, to be able to see even from that distance, you can see the magnificence and the grandeur of it. But you can get another perspective by viewing the canyon by standing on its rim. And the Grand Canyon has three rims accessible to visitors from which to view the canyon, the South Rim, the North Rim, and the West Rim. And each rim is different. The views and perspectives are different. And sometimes the climate is very different. It's my understanding there are certain times of the year that the North Rim is closed because of the cold and the harsh winter weather there. I've heard it spectacular to stand near the steep cliffs, viewing the vastness of the canyon and the beauty of the river below. But there's another perspective. You can go down into the canyon. Now how many of you have been on a rim looking? Okay, how many of you been in the canyon? Okay, I see one hand. You can hike parts of the canyon. It's my understanding you can fish the Colorado River in the canyon. You can see the wildlife. Desert bighorn sheep. the elk, the various reptiles, and some animals you don't want to run up with, like mountain lions, coyotes, and bobcats. And from this perspective in the canyon, you can see the details that you can't see from a flyover or even from standing on the rim. And this perspective allows you to explore the detail of the canyon. From this perspective, you look up instead of down. You see the massive walls of the canyon from within and can see and explore the details and the intricacies of the canyon. Now, all of these views, all of these perspectives aid in knowing and enjoying the Grand Canyon. Now, what does all this have to do with preaching through 1 Thessalonians, and in particular this morning, preaching in the first chapter? Well, here's how it applies. As you read the scriptures, you're often getting a flyover kind of view. You just read through, like often, and we'll talk about this in my discipleship group that I'm beginning this month on practical principles of studying the scriptures. We'll talk about the overview of reading through books of the Bible, a flyover kind of view. And that's actually a magnificent view to get large portions or to read through the whole book of 1 Thessalonians in one sitting. But you also need a closer look Sometimes you need to go to the rim, so to speak, and see Trudes therein from that perspective. You see it a little closer than a flyover. Now you're looking at maybe a certain section, and you're seeing a little more detail. And that fills you with wonders. You stand on the various rims of Scripture, so to speak. But sometimes you need to hike the canyon to plumb its depths. You don't want just an overview, you want detail. You want to hike its paths, you want to get your feet in the water. The flyover gave you an appreciation for the beauty of the hole, but there's a need to go down and explore the details and the depths. And when you do all three, see it from the sky, the rim, and explore from within, then you begin to really know and understand, in my illustration, the magnificence and beauty of the canyon. And in a sense, that's how I want to preach. That's how you should study the word. I want to give you a bird's eye view, a flyover sometimes, just as we read through certain portions of scripture and saying, look at this from this perspective. But then it's necessary to look a little closer, standing on the rim, so to speak. But then sometimes we need to get even closer or see things even in more detail so that when we fly over it again, or stand on the rim again, we have an even greater appreciation and understanding for what we're looking at. Sometimes you stand on the rim and you might look over in the illustration of the canyon and say, look at that over there. I wonder what that is. I can make it out a little, but you can't see it with the detail than if you go down into the canyon and are able to get up close. And so this is what we're doing with scriptures. We read the context, a broad context, and we see certain truths, but then we get a little closer and we examine certain parts, but then we need to get down and hike, so to speak. We need to get in the canyon. We need to look at specifics. Now, last time that we were in 1 Thessalonians 1, the title of my sermon was, Lives Changed by the Gospel. And it was, in one sense, kind of an overview. We did a flyover in chapter one, and we saw how these believers' lives were transformed by the power of the gospel. And then we got on the rim, so to speak, and we looked at verse three in chapter one and saw some of the fruit of that changed life. And when we read chapter one, I'm struck by this. I'm struck by how their lives were changed by the God who saved them by his grace. I'm in awe of God. Again, you have to read the scriptures, not in some detached way. These are souls. Yes, some 2,000 years ago, but souls who heard the Gospel for the first time, those who were in darkness, and God brings into their midst missionaries, the Apostle Paul, Timothy, and Silas, who would preach the Gospel. And it would come to them not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. And a church would be born. And we should read that, and we should be in awe of the power of God. That's the flyover. Or maybe that's standing on the rim. But we need to go down into the canyon and examine these things more specifically. And this will allow us to see the glory of our salvation, the power of God, the goodness of God in the gospel even more. So their lives were changed. That's the flyover. But on the rim, we can see a little more detail. I mentioned verse three. The little more detail is their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. And we get a little more detail of how their lives were changed. But then we go down into the canyon, so to speak, and we see what was at the root of that change. namely the sovereign love and grace of God who chose to save undeserving sinners before the world was even created and all to the praise of the glory of his grace. And that's in verse four, knowing brethren beloved by God, his choice of you. Now that's plumbing even deeper into the reason for the change. It originated with the sovereign and free choice of God in eternity past. Now, this week and next week, we're gonna just look at verse four, where we need to just get a little more detail that we might plumb even deeper into the depths of what is at the root of this change? You see, we need to go into the depths of the phrase, His choice of you. and why he calls them brethren, and why he says they're beloved by God. Remember, every word is inspired by God. And sometimes in preaching, I don't give equal time to every particular word, but there are times that I might take the liberty to say, let's just plumb this a little bit. Let's get off the rim, and let's go for a hike, so to speak. And so we've done kind of a flyover. We've stood on the rim. But we want to look at some details. We'll go back and forth. Maybe use illustration of the tools we have at our disposal. We talked about Google Earth. And on your computer, you can pan out and you can see a whole large area. But then you can come in and see the details and get the street view, so to speak. And so in preaching, we're doing that. As I proclaim the word of God, sometimes we step back and we get the big view. And then sometimes we need to look more specifically at a verse or even a word in a verse. And so with that introduction and illustration, follow along as I read 1 Thessalonians 1. And again, I encourage you to look for ways that their lives were affected by, changed by, indeed transformed by the power of the gospel. And look out, be on the lookout for the cause of their changed lives, the reason their lives were changed, the catalyst or the means by which their lives were changed, and the description of this life changed by God in the gospel. Hear the word of God, 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father, in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. Knowing brethren, beloved by God, his choice of you. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you. not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven. whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. The gospel came to the city of Thessalonica, modern day Thessaloniki in Greece, through the apostle Paul, who was accompanied on his second missionary journey by Silas and Timothy. You remember this is recorded for us in Acts chapter 17, verses one to 10, how Paul came into the city, he went to the Jewish synagogues, he was reasoning from the scriptures, he was explaining, giving evidence from the scriptures that Jesus had to suffer, that Christ had to suffer, rise again, and he was proclaiming to them specifically, this Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. And they heard, but they didn't just hear. It didn't come only in word, as it says in verse 5. But it came with power and in the Holy Spirit, making it effectual so that it was received with full conviction. And a church was born and established that day in the city of Thessalonica. But the gospel was opposed. Immediately, there's opposition. There's persecution. But this opposition didn't stop the gospel. Jesus was building his church. The Holy Spirit was at work. And the gospel bore fruit in the lives of those who believed. They were changed by the power of the gospel. There were Jews who believed that this is the Christ, this Jesus of whom Paul spoke. And there were pagans, idolaters, who knew nothing of the true and living God, who heard of Jesus and the gospel, and believed, and were forgiven, justified before God, and changed by the gospel. And so we saw last time how the gospel was bearing fruit in this church. In verse 3, there was the fruit of faith, love, and hope. It was a work of faith, a labor of love, a steadfastness of hope. Their faith was producing good works to the glory of God. Their love for God and for others was manifesting itself by their labor and toil for God's glory. And their hope in the promises of God in the gospel was yielding endurance and perseverance. In verse six, they were bearing the fruit of true discipleship. They were becoming imitators of the Apostle Paul and Silas and Timothy, but more importantly of the Lord Jesus. In verse nine, they turn to God from idols to serve a true and living God, a picture of repentance. And they were serving this God. They didn't just make a profession of faith, but it was bearing the fruit of now, they are no longer worshiping idols, but they're serving the true and living God. And in verse 10, we see that they walked in light of the gospel as they had an eye toward the coming of Christ, waiting for his return. And this was an example to all the churches. They were changed by the gospel. And we saw that even in the greeting, Paul, Silas, or Silvanus, also known as Silas, and Timothy were changed by the gospel. Three men, one formerly a Jew, a self-righteousness of his own, trying to attain to justification by works of the law, humbled in understanding he had no righteousness. Silvanus, who was changed by the power of God, who now is a leader in the church, a faithful brother, a missionary, a preacher, and he's called a prophet in the scriptures. And Timothy, who heard the gospel growing up from his mother and his grandmother, but then was converted as a young man, A man of proven character, unselfish, fateful, a laborer for the gospel. He's described in these ways. He's changed by the power of the gospel. And so the Apostle Paul, penning these words, born alone by the Holy Spirit, has these men who were with him. And he writes to the church. The church in Thessalonica. that previously there was no light of the gospel. But now there's a church in Thessalonica. Geographically, they're in Thessalonica, but spiritually, he says, they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been united with the Father and the Son through their salvation. And this was all by the grace of God that brought peace with God. And now the grace of God was operable in their lives to sanctify them. Remember that grace didn't end at justification. But now they needed grace to love God, to love others, to obey Christ's commandments, to walk with Him. And so the apostle is remembering these things. And as he remembers it, he's giving thanks to God. He expresses this thanksgiving, how he frequently would think of them and give thanks to God. But it's a Godward thanksgiving because he knows that this is not something that was done by their power, but it was done by the power of God in the gospel. And so we've seen that our lives should be changed by the gospel and should continue to change. Has your life been changed? Are you a new creature in Christ? And are you continuing to grow in Christ's likeness? So, lives changed by the gospel. But not only were their lives generally changed by the gospel, but the gospel changes our relationships as well. Look at verse 4. He then says, knowing brethren, Beloved by God, His choice of you. Now we might quickly wanna just jump into His choice of you, and that's next week. We might wanna quickly jump into this doctrine of election that we need to hear again. We need to see that the evidence that they had been chosen by God before the foundation of the world is now seen in the fact that their lives are changed by the gospel. Their work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, was fruit born out of the gospel that then the Apostle Paul would look back and say, knowing, understanding the sovereign grace of God, that this gave him confidence that they were those who had been chosen of God unto salvation. But before we look at that, we need to see how relationships are changed by the gospel. Now, this is where we hike into the canyon, so to speak, and just need to look. At a distance, we look. In the overview, we say, oh, brethren, beloved by God. But you look at that and you say, here's an occasion. I want us to just say, what about that word brethren? Let's not just look at this from 30,000 feet by means of a five, or from five or 6,000 feet standing on the rim, so to speak. Let's look at the details more clearly, that we might see the significance. Now, why do I say it's significant? Just the word brethren here. Why I say that, because Paul addresses them as brethren 17 times in this letter. That's a lot of times, actually. There are 89 verses. That's an average of once every 5.235 verses. That's a lot. When you look at Paul's other letters, you might see a similar number of references to the church as brethren, but those are much larger letters. So he repeats this many times throughout this letter. 17 times he calls them specifically brethren, and seven times in 2 Thessalonians, which is even a shorter book. He calls them brethren because of his affection for them and because he understands their changed relationship because of the gospel. And that's the key. A changed relationship because of the gospel. Now, remember, Paul was a Jew. And before his conversion, he was a very self-righteous Jew. He trusted his parentage, his lineage. He trusted in his ability to keep the law of God. And he looked down upon Gentiles. But now he goes, when he came to Thessalonica in Acts 17, he goes and he preaches the gospel, not only to Jews, but to Gentiles. And God saves not just some Jews, but he saves Gentiles. This was a church that we filled with former idolaters who turned from idolatry now to the true and living God. And he calls them his brethren. Those once where there would be enmity and strife, just because of ethnicity. Now he says, you're my brethren. So he uses this phrase, brethren beloved by God. By the way, he uses that phrase in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, which is almost It's really the same thing he says here in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4, where he says this, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. That's parallel, almost exact. This is how he thought of them. Chosen by God, but on a human level, manward, horizontal relationship, they're his brethren. Why? Because they had been loved by God, loved by the Lord, just as he had, and now brought into the family of God. So brethren. He calls them brethren. Because of our relationship to God, we are in relationship to one another. And it's like a familial relationship or a family relationship. We are brothers and sisters in Christ with the same heavenly father. Jesus taught us to pray, our father, our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. In 2 Corinthians 6 verse 18, it says, I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. And so this designation brethren is related to the wonderful truth that our salvation that we have in Christ is a salvation that brings adoption into the family of God. that we have been adopted. Ephesians 1 verse 5, in love he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will. In Romans 8 verse 14, it says, all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And he goes on to say that we have received the spirit of adoption by which we cry out to God, Abba, Father, John 1 verse 12, to as many as received him, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. We hear once where enemies have now been made beloved children. Children, plural. Brethren, plural. As I've said before, and many others have said, we are not an only child. God has chosen to love other sinners and to place us all together in the one family of God. Therefore, there are many brethren. So at salvation, we are made a part of the family of God. We're made a part of the people of God, the household of faith. And so here's a change that we see as a result of the grace of God and the power of the gospel. We have changed in our relationships. So here's a basic truth. When we come to faith in Christ, one of the areas that our lives are changed, and one of the areas where there's a noticeable change is in the area of relationships. Just as the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden back in Genesis chapter 3 quickly manifested itself So also, salvation should quickly manifest itself in our relationships. You remember, when Adam and Eve sinned, there were immediate consequences on a horizontal level, on a human level. There would be strife, Genesis 3.16, in the marriage relationship. And then in Genesis 4, Cain kills his brother Abel. There's immediately strife in relationships. We could also say this, being born again, being made alive in Christ, coming to Christ by faith, bowing the knee to his Lordship will affect our relationships with others. There's a change in those relationships. Before Christ, our relationships were generally characterized by conflict, dissension, fighting, selfishness. It's described this way in Titus 3, verse 3. We were spending our lives in malice, envy, hateful, hating one another. 2 Timothy 3, verses 2 and 3 says that people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips. That's the state of the unredeemed. That's what characterizes their relationships. That's what used to characterize ours. When we come to God through faith in Christ, the power of the gospel changes our lives and specifically changes our relationships. The focus of the unbeliever is himself. The center of his universe is himself, so to speak. And others existed for our pleasure when we were unbelievers. But as believers, we now believe and understand that others exist for the glory of God, not our glory, and therefore our relationships change. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Jesus said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. If you've been saved by the grace of God, then you will see the evidence of that in your relationships with others. Do you see the change? Sometimes we say, well, I was saved at a young age. I really didn't see much of a change because I had not gotten to the age where I was giving my life to various outward sins of debauchery and other sins, maybe immorality or other things. Listen, young people, children, if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, the power of the gospel will work in you to where your hearts towards others will change. You will see it in your family. You'll see it in your relationship with your siblings, your relationship to your parents. Yes, it is true that sometimes when some come to faith in Christ, there is a more marked, noticeable, outward change that we see. But there's always a change. And there's always a change in relationships. Now, step back a little and look at the significance of this one word in the context of 1 Thessalonians. Understand this in the particular context of these believers in Thessalonica. The gospel was believed among much opposition and persecution. Immediately when they believed the gospel, there's a mob, there's opposition, and many were ostracized for their faith. And those with whom they once had relationships now rejected them. They love them one minute, they believe in Christ, they've been changed by the power of the gospel, and the next minute they're hated. Why? Simply because they had come to faith in Christ and now they were new creatures in Christ. The relationships they once had and the so-called fellowship they once had is now broken because they have fellowship with God through faith in Christ. Jesus said this in Matthew 10, verses 32 to 37. Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Some of you have experiences. When you came to faith in Christ, now those relationships that used to have quote-unquote peace, now there's a sword. Those who once were your friends are now your enemies, and sometimes that's even within your own biological family. There were some Jewish believers in the church at Thessalonica. And they had fellowship with other Jews prior to coming to faith in Christ. But now Christ had brought a sword into their relationship with unbelieving Jews. There were families that had quote unquote fellowship together in their paganism or in their idolatry. But now there was no more fellowship because they turned from serving idols to the true and living God. The ties of ethnicity that once tied them to others was now superseded by their relationships in Christ. And even the ties of immediate family, biological family, were superseded by the tie and bond of Christ in their common salvation. So when Jesus says, Paul says in this letter, you're my brethren, and he keeps calling them brethren, brethren. Can you imagine those who've been rejected by family members because of their faith in Christ, now being reminded, but you're my brethren, and we are brethren. And maybe Jews who've been rejected because now they've come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, and now there's persecution and hatred and slander. But they weren't alone. They were now united with this tie, this bond of fellowship with other believers. Jesus knew what it was like to be rejected by his family. In John 1 verse 11, it says, he came to his own. Those who were his own did not receive him. In John 7 verse 5, it says, for not even his brothers were believing in him. And in Mark 3, verse 21, it says, when his own people heard this, they went out to take custody of him, for they were saying, he has lost his senses. He's out of his mind. Even his own family rejected him, were not believing in him, and said, the man is crazy. And that's why he said this in Matthew 12, when someone said, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak with you, maybe to say, hey, Jesus, you need to come with us. What you're saying, you're out of your mind. And Jesus said, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, He said, behold, my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. So when you understand now the context of that, and some of you have experienced that, you understand the comfort that that is, and you say, brethren, Yes, we're brethren. Our fellowship is in Christ. What a comfort this is. What a change in relationships. Yes, there's been a change in my relationships with those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins. And I've been brought into fellowship with these who have a common salvation. And so when he calls them brethren, it reminds them of their common bond in Christ as the family of God. And as I said, remember, the Apostle Paul was a Jew. He once looked down on the Gentiles, but now he calls those Gentiles who are in Christ his brethren. May we treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. How do you treat others in this room? Do you treat them like you would treat someone when you were an unbeliever? Lost and dead in your trespasses and sins? Quick to speak about them behind their back? Speak ill of them? Do harm to them with your words? Or do you see them as your brethren? And one of the most disappointing things that you see in the church of Jesus Christ is the old word, King James word, and the old English word of backbiting. The conflicts among those who are brethren. In this church, they were bearing the fruit of love for one another. In verse three again, there was this labor of love, and part of that labor was for other Christians. They were laboring for God's glory, but that would then manifest itself as they labored for the spiritual good of others in the congregation. They love one another. And Paul will acknowledge this in the letter, how they were loving the brethren. And others were hearing of this love among the brethren, believers there in Thessalonica. And he would say to them in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 10, excel still more, grow in love. And he would exhort them in 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 12 and 13 to esteem their pastors in love. because of their work and to live in peace with one another. Do we really bear the fruit of changed lives here at Grace Fellowship Church? Specifically of changed relationships? We come into this place, we sit and you just look around you. Start with your family, your husband, your wife, your children. Have those relationships been changed by the power of the gospel? What about the others you sit near week after week and you sing songs of praise to God with them? Do you treat them like your brethren? Do you love them? Some of the most hurtful things done to me as a pastor have not been by unbelievers, but by believers. And not just by believers, but believers that I have shepherded their souls and sought their spiritual good. But then they become critical and fault finders and complainers and even slanders and liars. I think of Psalm 73 and the psalmist talks about one of the things that almost made his foot to slip was he became envious of the wicked. He saw their prosperity. Let me just say in all honesty, one of the things that is a temptation for my foot to slip is to see believers, professing believers, hurting and harming and slandering one another. James said this, with our tongues, we bless our father. And with it, we curse men who've been made in the image and likeness of God. He said, with the same mouth, both blessing and cursing come. And he says, brethren, these things ought not to be this way. You see, we need to be reminded of this basic truth that when we come to faith in Christ, one of the areas of our lives where there is a noticeable change is the area of relationships. Our relationships are changed by the power of the gospel. And if they are not, then what claim do you have that he has chosen you for salvation from before the foundation of the world. What claim do you have that you've been saved by the grace of God, when the grace of God not only rescues you from what your sins deserve, but is operable in your life to make you a new creature? Now, I'm not saying that we never sin in our relationships. Every husband and wife knows that, right? but we know we're not what we once were and we know that we are growing and those relationships are changed and are changing. And one thing that would be a cause for the church to have an experience the power that Paul is talking about in Thessalonica and the gospel to be heard and be sounded forth from them. One of the The things that would make that occur here even more than it does now is if we live together as brethren in Christ. Relationships changed. For they will know we are his disciples, not because we gather here and they drive by or they come in or they see it or you tell them, but because they see our love for one another. And at the root of this change in human relationships is our relationship to God. 1 John 4 verse 9, we love, why? Because He first loved us. And John doesn't qualify love for God or love for others, because in his letter of 1 John, he is speaking of both throughout. And he just says, we love, We love God, we love others, there's love because he first loved us. And so it's not by accident that the apostle in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4 addresses them in this way, brethren, beloved by God. Say brethren, that's the human relationship that's now been changed by the power of the gospel. But why? Because we have been loved by God. And so he calls them beloved by God. We have been loved by God. And that's the root of it all. I mean, just take that in for a minute. This is like sitting by the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a perfect weather day in a gentle breeze, beloved by God. When I think that God, his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, the hymn writer says. that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin. Beloved by God, then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art. While we were yet sinners, Helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly, the scripture says. God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called children of God and such we are. What love. How deep the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure. Brethren, beloved by God. See, that changes everything, doesn't it? The two are not disconnected, but he puts them together here and in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, only he says beloved by the Lord. You put it together. What conflict are you having? Marriage in the body of Christ with another believer. That person, you're related to them. You are brother and sister in Christ, brothers in Christ, sisters in Christ. You're related, sons and daughters of the living God because of your common bond of salvation in Christ because you have been loved by God. And that one with whom you are tempted to hate or slander has been loved by God. And Jesus laid down his life for him or her. How does that change how you relate to him or her? You see, relationships are changed by the gospel. First, our relationship to God, and then our relationships with one another. Beloved by God. So have your relationships been changed? And how is that manifesting itself? How do you practically see that in the body of Christ? Do you relate to the people here in this body because you want something from them or because you're here to serve them? How are you using your spiritual gifts? You say, I don't know what my spiritual gift is. Say, pastor, show me what the Bible says about the spiritual gifts. Well, brother, read the word of God. Begin to serve God. Serve the church. This is one thing I always say to people. The spiritual gifts aren't meant for you to just sit back and say, what does this mean? One of the ways you discover how God is to use you in the body is to employ yourself by serving in the church. And that is how then it becomes clear how God has gifted you to serve in the body. To just serve. Look for ways to serve. Pray for one another. Tonight we're going to gather to intercede for one another. Purpose to encourage one another. Be quick to forgive one another. Be diligent to preserve the unity of the body. Are your relationships changed? They have been if you are in Christ. And they'll continue to be changed. Listen to 1 Peter 1 verse 22. Since you have, in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren. Now that phrase, Peter's just saying, since you have, in obedience to the truth, you have obeyed the truth, you have obeyed the gospel. The gospel says, believe on the Lord Jesus. and you have believed on him. You have obeyed the gospel that calls you to not trust in yourself, but to look to Christ for your salvation. And he says, in obedience to the truth, you have purified your souls for sincere love of the brethren. There's been a change in your relationships. And he says, now fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and abiding word of God. You see how Peter there in 1 Peter 1, 22 and 23, he ties together your salvation and regeneration being born again with the fact that it is a purification of your soul for the love of the brethren. So now fervently love one another. You can't separate it. I've been saved by the grace of God, but there's no love for the brethren. They're inextricably bound together. This is the work of God. God not only saves and rescues you from what your sins deserve, but He makes you a new creature in Christ. Changed. We change relationships. So that now, because we have fellowship with His Son, we have fellowship with one another. So, next week we'll see, then Paul says, but you know where it all originates? His choice of you. See, this is why we can't say, oh, you know, someone can be saved, but there's no change. There's no power of the gospel to change their lives. They are as they were. They came just as they were, they left just as they were. No, he reaches back and he says, brethren, because of this, here's something I'm confident of, his choice of you, the doctrine of election. We'll see that next week. Let's bow our heads together. We thank you for your power that works within us, for the indwelling Holy Spirit, for the word of God that convicts and instructs and corrects and trains us in righteousness. We thank you that you're at work in us. Father, I pray that if there are sins we need to confess to one another and repent of in the body of Christ. Lord, may we be quick to do so. Lord, if there are conflicts in the body of Christ here. May our relationships change. May those conflicts be handled in such a way that. Where we're not concerned, first and foremost with ourselves, but with your glory in the church. For we are indeed brethren. Beloved by you. And I pray that our love or your love for us would or dictate how we then love one another, that if you would send your only son to lay down his life for us, may we would love one another sacrificially as well. May we manifest this in our lives, in our relationships to your glory, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.