So I'll start us off by reading the chapter. 1 Thessalonians 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus answer 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 all, 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. Knowing, brethren and beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. As we know what manner of men we were among you for your sake, and you became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. For they themselves show us what manner of entering we had unto you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. whom we raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." Let's open with a word of prayer. Father, as we enter into now the word of God, we ask, Lord, that you would open up this passage to us and that the true teacher of the Holy Spirit be the one in control here, Lord, and that we be submissive to your word. And Lord, as we hear it, we ask you to help us to be changed by it if it needs to be changed, and that we would grow closer to You through Your Word because of our love to You. For Jesus Christ is the Word of God. We ask Your blessing now, in Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, so Thessalonians. I've always liked this book. I don't know where you stand and how often you've read it, but it's a good book to go through, I think specifically in the times that we live. This book perhaps was written around 52 AD, more than likely Paul's first epistle written from Corinth. And this church was comprised of mainly Greeks, Romans, and some Jews, but to a lesser extent the Jews. They were powerfully saved and delivered from idolatry. as it may be, there was many gods to pick from in that city, Thessalonica. Jupiter, though, seemed to have the priority during this time. It was the chief deity of the Roman state religion. And it's equivalent to Zeus in the Greek mythology, so you can get an idea of where it was in its place. In that city also, there was issues there. They had the gladiators, and they had a lot of issues with sin there, as far as also they had a circus there. Thessalonica would be one of the chief cities in Macedonia. And you can read about this on your own time, perhaps during the week. I'll give you just an assignment of Acts 16, 17, and 18. You can kind of see how the whole thing developed. At first, when Paul went there, he had Silas with him, and as was Paul's custom, he would go to the synagogue there, where this church came out of, and some of the Jews there were angered. And what they did was they raised up a ruckus about it because he took a lot of people out of that dear synagogue that would follow Christ because they got saved. And what happened was they were going to hunt down Paul to kill him. So he would only have three Sabbath days to preach or three weeks. to teach, and as people got saved, he only had a short time to organize that church. So he had to abandon them for his own safety, and yet, as we'll see, Paul cherished them for their love of God's truth. And in the short time he had there, Paul preached about two major themes. One of them was the return of Jesus Christ, and the second one was the ministry of the local church. So we have here in this particular book, and actually, the second book also, What we have is two main themes, the practical lifestyle of the Christian as well as the prophetical, the end times. Paul gives a lot of information in these two books. Interestingly, it was the first books that he writ. For some reason, that seemed to be the main subject there. And from what I can tell by reading this book is it was because there was a great persecution at that time. So I think we can identify with what's going on in our world today. Paul presses the fact of the doctrine of the return of Christ here. That it's far more than a doctrine, but it's rather a dynamic of how, if we know about what's coming, we can live in the light of the return of Jesus Christ for His church. And so my title is today, Jesus Delivered Us from the Wrath of Calvary. Recognize verse 10 there, in that last piece right after the calmer after dead, he says, Even Jesus, which, past tense, delivered, delivered us from the wrath to come." In other words, it's already in the mind of God in return to be passed. And so as God is beginning to release perhaps judgment upon this earth, maybe not in the tribulation sense, but He's starting to let His presence be known to the world globally. And I think that's a wake-up call to the church. So I think we can pull something out of these books. This will be preached probably, these books will take maybe a month and a half to get through, but I hope you stick with it and pay attention to what Paul is saying here, because I think it really impacts us here. Let's go to verse 1. First of all, Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, 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. So, I think one of the ways you can tell that this really isn't an early epistle is, first of all, that Paul doesn't make any mention of his apostleship here, because there really is no reason to. Because in this church, in this area, nobody really doubted Paul's apostleship. That would not come until later. And also, at this point in time, perhaps maybe there were no false apostles among the people who tried to usurp Paul's authority. And mostly also, you can see here that in this book, he includes his two disciples here, which would be Silvanus, which in the Roman, that's what it means in the Roman, but in our language, it would be Silas, and then Timotheus saying, my dear Timothy. So, one thing I want to point out here is that Paul shows his humility here. It's not all about Paul. It's like, no, I'm here, but I got these two guys working with me, Silas and Timothy. And Paul himself was a very humble man, and it shows his humility here. He's willing to honor those who's willing to honor Christ with their lives. And he says, unto the church, the church, the ecclesia, the called out assembly of God. So he recognized that this church is a called out assembly here. And that's what we are. We are called out of the world to live for Christ. And he says, this church is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, you can't be in the Father unless you're in Christ. So they had fellowship with the Father through Jesus Christ when they believed on Jesus Christ by faith, who was the only mediator between God and man. So Jesus Christ gave himself a ransom to be testified in due time. And Paul here is testifying something. that this church is in Christ and in the Father. And he says this, Grace be unto you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So grace be unto you. Verifying that this truly was a Christian church. saved by grace through faith. This was a true Christian assembly. It had an unlimited supply of grace and peace also. And one of the things that you find out as a true believer is that when you come to faith in Christ, you have this sense of a peace that comes upon you. And you don't have the worry anymore that you used to have. As a matter of fact, when this I'm going to call it a scam, this virus that come out here. I don't know how it impacted you, but it did nothing to me. I had no fear whatsoever. I know who I'm in. I'm in Christ Jesus, and I'm also in the Father. So I know no matter what happens to me, I'm going to be with them. And in Romans 5, verses 1 and 2, it says this, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace. Where do we stand? Because we stand by grace. And it says, and rejoice in hope of the glory of the Lord. I hope you guys have that rejoicing in your heart, because you have a hope. And we'll talk about that a little bit later. But knowing what's happening today, understanding the scriptures of prophecy, I just rejoice because I see the Lord moving. I see Him moving globally, and I rejoice in that. And it's to the praise of the glory of God's grace that God the Father has made us accepted in the Beloved. And don't forget that God's grace was given us in Christ Jesus even before the world began, 2 Timothy 1.9. And Titus 3.7 says that we are justified by His grace. that we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." So, notice a lot of these phrases I'm going to mention today, especially with our last verse here. It's all past tense. It's all past tense. And in the heart of God, it's already been accomplished. And that's another thing that I like about our Lord, is that He knows all things from the beginning and to the end, of which there is no beginning and there is no end. And once that you are saved by grace, Isaiah 9, 6, give Jesus Christ the very name, the Prince of Peace. Once you are saved by grace, you get that peace and joy of the Holy Ghost once it comes into you. I hope you all recognize that when you trusted in Jesus, that you had a joy of the Holy Ghost. I know I did. I had never experienced anything like that because it was only a one-time event, but I just remember being joyful. and of that peace. And we are never, or rather, we are ever to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We do that by staying together in Christ. And it's the peace of God that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Verse 2, he says, So Paul, Silas, and Timothy, they were prayer warriors. I can see them every night. Alright, let's have a prayer meeting. And let's pray for all the churches, and let's pray for all the things that are going on in the churches. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, they practice what they preach by praying for this church and other churches also. And they always thank to God. He says, we give thanks to God always for you all. And I hope, brethren, that when you pray, you think about each other and you pray for each other. Because one thing about small churches is we know what's going on in each other's life for the most part. and we can pray for each person personally. If you ever want what to pray for, just think about everybody that's in the church and just spend time praying for them. That's a good thing to practice there. And it should be the object of our worship, as I mentioned today with Psalm 100, is to thank God for all things, especially His goodness, and to keep It is our duty to thank God for salvation, thank God for His grace and His mercy and His peace, and also for all those fellow believers we know in all the churches, not just this church, but in all the other churches we know too. Philippians 4, 6 reminds us that we are to end everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. In other words, before you even pray for anybody, Do it with thanksgiving first and and I find that if you do that you appreciate God much more that way and Thank him for anything like I thanked him yesterday for that blizzard. We have there It was just a crazy crazy day as soon. I was driving home from New York It was just a blizzard the trees were just blowing and the snow it was beautiful it really was and you know you might be a little bit mad because you didn't get the spring day, but I Seen God's power in that wind blowing that stuff around it was just an amazing thing In chapter 5, verse 18 of our text today, actually not of our text, but of this book, it says, In other words, because it's in this book, what Paul is saying is that even when you are in the midst of persecution now, with the things that are going on today, and I mentioned this morning talking to the men, was that a pastor now, because he had a church service, they put one of those ankle bracelets on him, So they would know that when he was going towards the church, they would go up and get him and arrest him. And we see the church under great persecution today. So we can identify really with this church here, because they also were under a great persecution, which is really why Paul wrote this letter. And he says in verse 3 here, that while they were praying, he says, remembering, in other words, while they're praying, remembering without ceasing three things, your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the sight of God and our Father. So, remembering without ceasing your work of faith. In this church, Its faith was spread abroad in every place that they went. And verse 8 speaks to that also, which we'll get to in a minute. But true believing faith will always be followed by the evidence of works. Now, always remember, and I'll always tell you, that we're not saved by faith and works. But we're saved by a faith that does work. And I ask you to turn to the book of James, which is just after Hebrews. Book of James, chapter 2. I always like to use the Bible itself to teach, because it's its own best teacher. James, chapter 2. Let's go to verse 14. James chapter 2, verse 14. What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? In other words, no lip service. Okay. Now, verse 15. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Well, sorry to hear everything about that. Depart in peace, but be ye warm and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body. What does it profit? Verse 17, very important. He's even so faith, if it has not works, it's dead being alone. Yea, a man may say thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. He's not trying to prove that he's saved, but it was a natural byproduct of salvation. Look at verse 19. Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well, Very scary thought here. The devils also believe in tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? That's how it works. That faith is justified by a working faith. Now, you're not working to keep your salvation, but you're working because you are saved. That's the idea here. Now before you go back to the text, go to the book of Romans. Chapter 4, this is the great book of doctrine. Romans chapter 4, just to give you another little nugget here. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture as it talks about that Abraham was justified by a faith that works. Verse 1 of chapter 4 in the book of Romans. So as it pertains to justification, he says, what shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? Paul always uses a question to get you to perk you up to think. Now he says this in verse two, for if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. In other words, if he worked to be saved, then he gets glory. Paul says, uh-uh, not before God. For what saith the scripture, verse 3, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. So, what did he believe? He believed that God was God, and he was going to do what he said he was going to do. We have a picture really here of justification, of salvation, even into the New Testament. By the way, that was Genesis 15.6. But, Paul is quoting Genesis 15.6 here. So, he says in verse 4, Now to him that worketh, In other words, if you're trying to work for salvation, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. In other words, you can't work for your salvation, that would be debt. You're trying to pay something off, you can't pay off. But he says in verse 5, he sums it up very nicely. He says, "...but to him that works not, or who doesn't work, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for." In other words, just by believing on Jesus Christ. Remember I told you, if you were here last week, that John the Baptist preached repentance and then the baptism of the water. To give a picture of what happens when you come to faith is that God washes your sins away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Well, he was just setting up what was coming, and Christ was going to say this, if you just believe on me, you have eternal life. So to him that doesn't work, but believes on him that justifies, only God can justify the ungodly. So then your faith is counted for righteousness, because you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can't work for it. You can't work for it. You can only get it from Jesus Christ. And that's really the work of faith is just believing on Jesus Christ. That's the work of faith. Let's go back to the text, please. One of the things I'm going to push hard, as Pastor David, I know, did too, justification by faith alone, by grace alone. And that's something that needs to be the foundation of every church. One thing about faith also is a faith that works by love. And that's one of the... It's actually actuated by love. And faith works. And also we have in this work of faith, we have what's called the labor of love. It's faith works, love labors. And Jesus says, if you love me, you keep my commandments. And what these two things produce in faith and love is the third part, the patience of hope. And we're talking in First Thessalonians chapter one, verse three. So we have the work of faith, we have the labor of love, and then we have the patience of hope. And since the return Jesus Christ is a dominant theme in these two letters. Our patience of hope in our trials he's talking about here. It keeps us in a condition to be able to bear those trials. Because we have a blessed hope. We're not like the unsaved world who has no hope. The unsaved world is not looking for that blessed hope right now. They're looking for a cure. I'm looking for Jesus Christ. I'm not looking for a cure. I've already been cured of sin. I'm looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who delivered us, past tense, from the wrath to come." See, it's faith, love, and hope. Those are the evidences of verse 4, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. So, those three evidences right there in verse 3. Paul says, because you do these things, you have these things, you're living them out, he says, you are the elect of God. Because if you're operating in faith, love, and hope, You're doing it through the power of the Holy Spirit. And what you are doing is producing fruit to maturity. And then you are what's called the elect of God. Every person should examine their heart. If they claim to be a born-again Christian, and you only know, he says, I know this, brother. He says, I'm knowing this, brother and beloved. It says here, it actually means beloved of God in the original language here. We are the beloved of God because we are the elect of God. Paul, Titus, and Timothy were knowing of these things because there was evidence in this church. Paul was quite surprised of that because he was only there three weeks. But when you think about it, it's the Holy Spirit that is doing this sanctifying work. And I think even Paul needed to learn that too. When we think about the doctrine of election in verse 4, we have both two things. We have God's divine sovereignty. And then we have number two, human responsibility. Of course, God always comes first in everything. These two things are taught, of course, in the Bible. The doctrine of divine election will confuse some people, and it will scare others, though I don't think either response is justified. But on this side of heaven, I will say this. We're never going to fully understand the doctrine of election, yet it should never be ignored either, because it's in Scripture. The entire plan of salvation was in the heart of God, as we sang today, long before the creation was. And I will say this about God. He never sends anybody to hell. Mankind sends themselves to hell. And God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In Matthew 25, verse 41, it says that the everlasting fire, or hell, was prepared for the devil and his angels, not for us. Jesus Christ wasn't sent into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. Unfortunately though, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. John chapter 3. And yet, many people don't even know that it's the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance, because God is no respecter of persons. If you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, and that He rose from the third day according to the Scriptures, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, if you believe by faith on that, then you are the elect of God. And you are chosen in Him, miraculously, before the foundation of the world, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, who saved us with a holy calling. That it wasn't according to our works, but according to His own purpose in grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, here it is, before the world began. So you have both God's divine sovereignty at work and human responsibility clearly taught throughout Scripture. So that Romans 2 says, man is without excuse. And man doesn't like to retain God in their knowledge, Romans 1. And God's Spirit will not always strive with man. Well, a church at Thessalonica was the elect of God, and it's verified by Paul the Apostle. So verse 5 says, "...for our gospel," so here's the purpose clause, this is why he can say that, "...for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as we know what manner of men we were among you for your sake." This is the evidence of their election. that God's word was not only spoken and not only heard, but it was in power. Not in word only, he says, but also in power. That word power, dunamis, it's a miraculous power. That word power means it's mighty to save. That word power means that it produced a powerful effect on the heart and life, and not just a mere empty sound, but such power to convert the soul, to create a new person in Christ who was reconciled to God, who has made the righteousness of God in Christ." God's word believed is effectual. In other words, if you believe this today, and you don't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but if it proves to you that Jesus Christ, who says He is, He's a Savior, then it's powerful enough to save you. 1 Corinthians 4.20 says, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. In other words, it's proof of the work of the Holy Ghost. He says, and in the Holy Ghost. So only God's Spirit can do that work. I can't save you, but God can. He says, and in much assurance, verse 5, complete confidence, that means a full assurance, complete confidence, a firm conviction, in a firm persuasion of God's truth, that's not doubted, well, I don't know, or half-believed. It can't be that way. You have to be fully persuaded in your mind, in your hearts, in your souls, that this is the very Word of God, to the full assurance of hope until the end. And that true evidence was manifested in this church of the full conversion of this church. They embraced the gospel with a strong conviction of its truth and its power. They believed God said He could do what He said. This church had a zeal for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul, Silas, and Timothy were competent witnesses for Christ here. And also to show them, he says, in their daily conduct, he says, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. In other words, they lived what they preached. They were not unhypocritical. They were not hypocritical. They were practicing what they preached. And when they seen Paul, and Silas, and Timothy, they realized, wait a minute, look at these guys. They're actually doing what they say they're doing. They're not hypocrites. And they showed, by example, what the gospel can do as evidence in their lifestyle. And that really got that church realizing this thing is real. And that's why he says in verse 6, "...and you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Ghost." So, again, we see the persecution here. That this church had become followers of Paul, because that word, by the way, followers, it also means imitators. In other words, by the example that was set by these three, they actually were imitated by this people in the church. It's okay to be followers of godly people. You and I hang around with godly people and it rubs off on us. Godly people have a godly lifestyle. Not so much the people themselves, but it's the lifestyle that they're living out. And he says, not only in us here, he says, but of the Lord became followers of us and of the Lord. Now, there's no greater example to follow than the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you're preaching about Jesus, there is the perfect life right there. He's the only one that could live a perfect life for us. So when you put your faith in Him, you're trusting in His perfectness, His righteousness. But Jesus Christ is our greatest example of who to follow. And I know just as a young believer, and I started reading the Gospels, and I recognized that Jesus got up every morning to pray, I wanted to follow that example. And I got up to pray. And I just wanted to follow in His footsteps. That's the tall order. because there's nobody perfect except Jesus. But they started small, and they watched Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and that's the way it went to. And we need to show people, really, what this holiness of life is. We don't need to be hypocritical and still go back into the world type of sins here. If people look at us, they're going to think, well, it didn't do nothing for them. See, but when you live a holy life, see it points out evil, evil kind of can see that goodness. So it says, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. So as the world seen the change in this people, in this church, again it began to convict them of their sins and their evil lifestyle. And this church here received God's word in the midst of persecution. You can read about it in Acts 17, verses 5 through 8 on your free time. But they went through many trials. And the word affliction here means persecution, as well as anguish and tribulation. We can't be like the world. We just, that's not our calling. The gospel not only changes you from the inside, but it should change your lifestyle on the outside. If you start doing the same things you used to do when you claim you have been saved, then you have to ask yourself, was I ever truly saved? The result of salvation, it makes you better, it makes you a stronger Christian. And even though we're going to be going through some things here, brethren, I'm just going to warn you, with the things that are going on in the world today, they're coming after us. And as a matter of fact, I'm surprised, you know, we have a good supply of cars here today. You know, if a cop wanted to be, you know, not very nice, he could come here and say something. When I say more, bring them all. I'll take them. The point is this, we're not supposed to change our lifestyle to suit the world. We're supposed to walk like Christ loved. No matter what's going to happen, and I believe some things are going to happen, we still have to retain our witness for the Lord. And when you do that, He gives you the joy of the Holy Ghost, and it shows that the spirit of the glory of God rests upon you. And on their part, God was glorified, because they took that affliction, and God gave them joy of the Holy Ghost. He's going to give us that. Verse 7, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. So, I'll give you some more information in this book. I didn't want to give you all the information at first about about everything about this church, where it was located and everything. But let me just say that these two areas represented most of Greece. And they were examples because they were rooted and grounded in God's word. And they remained faithful even in these trials. And they had a constant zeal to spread God's word abroad, even if it was the godliness of their life. So they encouraged all those in Macedonia and Achaia. And their influence was very much felt in those regions. And by the way, we can do the same thing today, that when people watch us, they can see the holiness in our lives if we're living it out. And we can be examples to all those in Rochester or, you know, Ossipi, wherever we are. You can be an example for the Lord. And this church became important because the people that were in it, by the way, Thessalonica, let me just mention, was a major commercial city. They had a major seaport. It had its advantages to be there. And some of those in the church, if you read again in Acts, you're going to find out that there was merchants and mariners there. So they were going places. They were going into other nations and other cities. And with that, the gospel went with them. And that's another thing. Wherever you are, Remember, you're a witness for the Lord. If you have an opportunity, especially today, in the light of the times that we live in, it's a good idea to maybe bring Jesus Christ into someone's life. And if it's someone that you're going to see continuously, you can just do it gradually. But if it's someone that you just come across, boom, in an instant, you might only have a few seconds. But sometimes a couple of seconds is all enough it will take to let people know that there's salvation in Jesus Christ. Well, this church was doing that. And in verse 8 it says, For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but watch this. but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything." I just can't imagine how Paul felt during that time. He didn't have to say anything because their lives said it all. He didn't have to say, oh, there's a bunch of new Christians over here in Thessalonica. He just had to listen to the witness. He goes, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord. You know the word there for sounded out in verse 8 there. It means in the Greek like the sounding of a trumpet. In other words, their life was so changed. It was like somebody was sounding a trumpet. And it carried with it the idea of a trumpet echoing from every place and reverberating all throughout Greece. And this helps us to understand that this is the indirect flow of true conversion. It's the overflow of the Holy Spirit. And it shows us what the impact is of the spirits moving in an area of souls, and whose faith is working, whose faith is a work of faith. It's a labor of love and a patience of hope. Those things were so visible, it was like a trumpet being sounded. And people, I can only imagine, okay, so these people got saved out of the synagogue. They were not saved in the synagogue before Paul preached to them. So they were still on their trespasses and sins. So they were still living in sin. And this town, this Thessalonica, was a great place if you wanted to sin. Matter of fact, that's where Demas went, if you didn't know. He forsook Paul and he went there. But these people, once they got saved, there was a major change there. The impact was great in the whole country and the surrounding areas. And that's what happens when the God moves in an area. Their faith was working, their love was laboring, and they had a patient hope. In Isaiah 58 1a, it says, cry aloud and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. But, he says, your faith to God would, in verse 8 there, he says, but also in every place your faith to God would And let me just say something about that. It means their fidelity to God. And the word fidelity, you can take out of that. Devotion. A staunchness. You know, when someone is truly strong in their faith, you can see it. You can see their confidence. And also, they were very dependable Christians. And they displayed on the outside what God did on the inside. And that really shows us the importance of a living, vibrant faith. Take it seriously. See, they walked the gospel, they just didn't talk it. It was so good that in verse 8 Paul says, so that we don't have to say anything, we don't have to speak anything. They were living for Christ and being a testimony for Christ. Their excitement and their enthusiasm for Christ, even with the opposition and persecution against them. You know, I actually prayed for this nation. from this church that God would bring in persecution. So once again, Christians would start living out their life of faith. Because there's no better test for faith than afflictions and for persecutions. I really think America lost that. When we have churches, by the way, I don't know if you know, 50% of the pastors they just found out, and there's gonna be some studies in the churches because of the way they've taken this virus thing, It's been said that 50% of the pastors were not even preaching against sin in the church. You know these big negative churches where there's thousands of people? If you're a pastor there, right, the cost for that church is in the millions per year. So can you imagine if they started preaching against sin, you're going to start to lose people. Wait a minute, I didn't know I couldn't sin. I don't want this, so they're going to leave, right? Well, a lot of those people are rich people, and they give a lot of money to the church. So they didn't want to hurt those people's feelings. Well, that's what happens. I got a feeling it was God's plan to knock down these mega churches so that people could really start thinking about what they were doing. There was a story in California years ago about a man who was a pastor. He only had a church of 20,000 people. He's someone that I never heard of before, but he had a heart attack. While he was in the hospital, he started reading his Bible for the first time in years. Imagine that. And all of a sudden, he started crying. And he started to realize, here he was at the foot of death. And he said, what have I done? When he thought about his church, they were paying the people that were singing. Everybody was getting paid to do everything. They had to take in $11 million a year just to pay for all their bills. It was ridiculous. He went back to the church when he finally got healed. And he says, I'm not going to pay anybody anymore for anything. If you're going to do anything for the Lord, you're going to do it out of your heart. Half the church walked out. And he continued it the second week. Of the half that was left, a third of them walked out. And he didn't care, though. Reading the Word of God, it brought him to the truth. And I think today, I hope the pastors of these churches who truly are saved will think about what they've been doing and how they've been holding back from Scripture, and not teaching these things that were accountable to holiness, and that we have to show on the outside what happened on the inside. We don't have the right to sin anymore. And we have a right to follow the Lord and to do what he tells us to do. See, but Paul didn't have to say anything for this church. This is a model church right here. And he continues in verse 9 when he says, Now that's a very important verse right there. There's a great man who understands prophecy very well who wrote a book on Thessalonians by the name of John Wolvard. And he made an interesting note that I want to bring to you in regards to the part there where it says, how you turn to God from idols. And he says this, he says, they turn to God from idols, not from idols to God. In other words, they didn't seek to clean up their lives by themselves. You know, that's what AA does there. If you're in alcoholism, they try to get you to clean yourself up. They try to get you to reform yourselves. They try to get you by turning away from idols and then turning to God. No. Now, that's a personal repentance thing. Now, this church here, he says, you turn to God first, then from idols to serve the living and true. In other words, they didn't try to reform themselves. It was with the power of the Holy Ghost. It's only the Holy Spirit that can do that work, see? They repented, and then with God's help and strength, they turned away from their idols. In Romans 2.4 it says that it's the goodness of God that leads thee to repentance. So in other words, you come to faith in Christ and it's the power of the Holy Spirit that takes the sin out of your life. He forgives you and you can feel that sin just peel off. See, God's goodness can melt even the hardest heart, of which I probably was a pretty hard heart by the time I got saved. That his long-suffering mercy is second to none. That God is good in long-suffering to mankind, happy is the soul whose heart is melted by the goodness of our loving God. And whoever trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation. He says here, at the end of verse 9 there, they turn from idols to serve the living and true God. Our God is not a dead idol. He's a living God and He's the only true God. Knowing that, he says, and, he adds to that, to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Of course, Paul always bringing in the resurrection. Even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. So we are to wait for his son from heaven, and that's what we're doing right now. The prominent subject of Paul's preaching in these two epistles was the return of Jesus Christ. And it was to give them comfort during this time as they were under great persecution. I think also by their families and surrounding friends and everything. It would have a comforting effect on them. In regards to that subject, the importance of the resurrection is mentioned, as I said. He says, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, even Jesus. That God is the God of all power, so the evidence of salvation is the evidence of God's power. Now, God not only raised Jesus Christ from the dead, but He's going to raise the dead of all mankind, which some will be to eternal life, those who trusted in Jesus, some to eternal death, who did not trust in Jesus. but also that even Jesus, which delivered us, past tense, from the wrath to come." So it's the historic, crucified, risen, and ascended Jesus Christ who will very soon deliver us from God's wrath. He didn't save us to go through God's wrath. He saved us to deliver us from the wrath of God. Jesus Christ himself will come for us. These believers had turned to God to escape the wrath of God. When I got saved, oh good, I'm not under the wrath of God anymore. I'm under grace. So as man rebels against God, and man is being conditioned today, the unbelieving world, to accept the New World Order which is run by the Antichrist system, which will enter in the Antichrist himself. I believe Bill Gates is a major part of that. I believe the CDC is a part of that. I believe the WHO is a part of that. And I believe the UN is a part of that. And it proves itself out. They're going to do everything they can. to knock down Christianity, to stop the church. That's their job, because they're working for Satan. The seven-year tribulation is God's wrath poured out on mankind, and it's coming fast. The world at large is condemned. The day of the Lord is set. God knows the date. We don't. And we are delivered past tense. And I think that's for us to really acknowledge it. He didn't say which is going to deliver us, which delivered us. It's done. In God's heart, it's already done. And that word delivered, you know what it means? It means rescued. So think about this. Think about if you had children, some of you mothers. Think about your children would be outside in a sandbox. Think about all of a sudden a big, big storm is coming with black clouds. Are you going to go, I'm just going to let them go through that storm alone? No, no. You would go and you would run and get your children and bring them in the house. Well, God's going to run and get his children and he's going to bring us into his house. In Joel 2.13 it says this, Now this church turned to God from idols to serve the living God. I just want to say in closing this, to be advised. That if you are struggling and standing, you find yourself falling back into your old habits. What happens next is, it brings you back into your old sins. And eventually, that's going to bring you back into your old lifestyle. Then all of a sudden, you find yourself turning back to your idols. And once again, you're serving them and not God. Pay attention to what your lifestyle is. We don't know when the Lord is going to come. It's going to be just like that. So put on your breastplate of faith, and love, and your helmet of salvation. Remember who you are in Christ. That Christ died for you. So whether you wake or sleep, you should live together for Him. And to be at peace with each other, to encourage one another, especially as we see the day approaching. Thessalonians is the model church. And as we go through the rest of this book, I hope and pray that it'll bring some things to your heart that maybe will help you if you're struggling in these areas. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, I thank you, Lord, for your word. And Lord, I know in my own life it meant a lot to me to study this out, and I spent much time in prayer. I hope everybody else, Lord, if there's something in their life that they're struggling with during this time, that they would take a serious look at which direction they are going, and make sure they're walking with you, and in you, and for you, and to you. That also as a church, Lord, we can encourage one another, and Lord, just edify each other, and to glorify you, that Lord, we'll have the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope that we have in our Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray, amen.