Good morning to you on this beautiful day. This is Pastor Greg of One Hope Fellowship in Norfolk, Nebraska, and Community of Believers Church in Creighton, Nebraska. Today is Sunday, March 22nd. You know, I don't think any of us were thinking last week that we would be spending this Sunday at home under some form of quarantine. Let me encourage you to grab your Bible and listen along. Even if we can't be joined physically, we are joined together in the Spirit and with the Lord. Father, bless this time. We ask that you would do that for us as we turn our thoughts to you, as we pull away from the world for a time, as we come to your word to consider what you have said and to be encouraged and strengthened for this day and for this time. And in Jesus' holy name, we pray. Amen. A Swedish pastor wrote this hymn several years ago, but it stands true today. It's called Rejoice, Rejoice Believers. Rejoice, rejoice, believers, and let your lights appear. The evening is advancing, and darker night is near. The bridegroom is arising, and soon is drawing nigh. Up, pray, and watch, and wrestle. At midnight comes the cry. The watchers on the mountain proclaim the bridegroom near. Go forth as he approaches with alleluias clear. The marriage feast is waiting. The gates, wide open, stand. Arise, O heirs of glory. The bridegroom is at hand. The saints, who here in patience their cross and sufferings bore, shall live and reign forever when sorrow is no more. Around the throne of glory, the lamb they shall behold. In triumph cast before him their diadems of gold. Our hope and expectation, O Jesus, now appear. Arise, O sun so longed for, o'er this benighted sphere. With hearts and hands uplifted, we plead, O Lord, to see the day of earth's redemption that set your people free. The darkness of our time can only emphasize the light of Jesus Christ for those who belong to him. I'd like to spend a little bit of time in 1 Thessalonians this morning. I hope you've grabbed your Bible. If not, why don't you do that? We're going to start in Acts 17 and see where Paul first visits the city of Thessalonica. Luke writes, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. Let's stop there just for a second. It's become popular in our time. For some teachers, for some pastors, to say that the Old Testament has no meaning for the church, has no application for the church, really causes more problems than it could ever solve because of six-day creation, because of the exodus, because of Jonah and the whale, and things of that sort. And one well-known pastor has said that the church needs to unhitch from the Old Testament. And in fact, he said that the apostles unhitched the church from the Old Testament. Well, Paul reasons with the Jews from the scriptures. What scriptures do you think he was using? Well, he was using the Old Testament, wasn't he? He was using the Torah, the books of Moses. He was using the prophetic books. He was using the historical books. He was using the wisdom books. Those were the scriptures that he had, and those scriptures were sufficient to prove and explain that it was necessary for the Christ, the Messiah, to suffer and to rise from the dead. And then Paul gave testimony saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. Well, going on, some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women, but the Jews were jealous. And taking some wicked men of the rabble, that is the Gentiles, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, They dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. And Jason has received them. And they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another King, Jesus. Let's stop for a second. This is Jews defending Caesar against their own Messiah. This is Jews who have put together a mob formed of the wicked men of the Gentiles. It is those people who set the city in an uproar, not Paul. They attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd and could not find them, which means that they actually invaded the house. They didn't just pound on the door and demand that Paul and Silas and the others come out. They actually invaded the house and searched for them. When they couldn't find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers, these brand new Christians, before the city authorities, shouting. Who's doing the shouting? It's the Jews. These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. It's really ironic. The gospel turns lives upside down. Let me put it differently. The gospel turns lives right side up. But the gospel doesn't turn the world upside down. It was these men turning the city upside down. Well, they said Jason has received them, and they're all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And the people in the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things, as they would be. And when they had taken money as security from Jason as the rest, they let them go. That means, basically, that Jason and the rest paid bail. They paid a bond against doing further damage to the city, causing further disruption. And the brothers then immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. That's Acts 17, 1 through 10a. We don't know a lot about Jason. He's only mentioned here in the Bible just a few times. He is almost certainly Greek because his name is Greek. He had opened his home to Paul and his traveling companions. He was one of the new believers and he was unwilling to deny Christ, even as a brand new Christian. That's really a shocking start to the Christian life. I don't know when you came to Christ, but take a moment and think about how others responded to that news. And think about how you would have responded if within a few days of receiving Christ, of being born again, your house had been surrounded by an angry mob, You had been forcibly dragged to court, maybe jailed for a few days, and then forced to pay a bond against causing trouble in the town. That's the kind of circumstance that people today, many people today, would say, well, that will keep people from becoming Christians. If there's that kind of response, they're not going to become Christians. Or if they have accepted Christ, if they have become Christians, and they experience that kind of opposition, and persecution and violence and antagonism, they're going to deny Christ. They're going to walk away from Christ. Well, it's obviously not true. It obviously didn't happen that way with the Thessalonians. Well, let's turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter one, and we're going to walk through a little bit and then spend some time in chapter four. So in 1 Thessalonians 1, after Paul greets them, he says in verse 3 that he remembers before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's saying there that he's grateful to God for their salvation. And he says then that their salvation was a miraculous event, that it was a work of God's sovereign grace, and that the Lord proved his election of them by his continued work through them. Look at what he says in verse four. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he, God, has chosen you, that he has elected you, is the word chosen, because our gospel came to you not only in word, which is what Paul and the others could do, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. That's what only God can do. Only God can infuse the gospel with power. Only God can send the Holy Spirit. to grant regeneration and new birth and forgiveness and new life. Only God can give a sinner full conviction in the truth of everything that the gospel says. Paul says there in verse five, you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And notice what he says, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. The much affliction is the opposition from the Jews. That angry mob, that angry rabble that surrounded Jason's house and probably caused trouble for Christians, for these new Christians elsewhere in the city at that time. And nevertheless, those who were coming to Christ were coming to Christ full of the joy of the Holy Spirit, full of the joy of new life. He says, so that you Thessalonian Christians became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we don't need to say anything. As Paul continued to travel, He met people who had already heard about the Thessalonians coming to Christ and their faith, and who had even been benefited by their testimony. Paul says in verse 9, for they themselves, the people we encounter in these different cities, report concerning us the kind of reception among you. We show up to this city or that city, and they tell us how you received us. And even more importantly, he says in verse nine, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, from whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. The gospel had this huge impact in Thessalonica. Why? Because God had chosen them, because he'd elected them. They had quickly embraced the Christian life because of the power of God. because of the Holy Spirit, because of the full conviction granted to them by God. As we've seen in Acts 17 already, there was a huge public outcry at the preaching of the gospel. It was terribly offensive to the Jews and the Gentiles alike. But all the Thessalonian believers knew was the joy of the Holy Spirit. They became an example to believers in their area through their evangelism and through their testimony and personal faith. And it seems that of all the churches in the area, Paul is saying that Thessalonians were the most overjoyed to receive Christ and to hear the gospel. That's a work of God. That's not due to Paul's actions. That's not due to a methodology or a certain way of preaching. It's not because they put on puppet shows or concerts. It's because God worked through the simplicity of his word preached. Well, in chapter two, Paul goes into more detail about his first visit to Thessalonica. He says that when he and his team preached the gospel there, the Thessalonian believers received it not as human words, but as the very word of God. They fully embraced Christ. And as a result, they experienced the same suffering from their own people that Jewish Christians in Judea had experienced from the Jewish leaders there in Jerusalem. Paul's time in Thessalonica was so brief that he admits having some pretty strong concern. He says in chapter 3, verse 5, For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you. and our labor would be in vain. He sent Timothy. Timothy spent time there encouraging him. He came back and gave Paul the report. And then Paul says, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. And then Paul goes on in chapter four to give them some instructions about the Christian life, especially given the persecution and the suffering that they are experiencing. And these words have some meaning for us today. Now it's true that we're not suffering persecution here in Northeastern Nebraska or in the United States. We've got brothers and sisters around the world who are dying for their faith, literally dying today, right now, for their faith. We are not, but we are still in a strange time. Our culture has changed. Our world has changed. We're isolated from one another, and this is very new for all of us. And so I think that Paul's words can give us some wisdom for these days in which we live. So looking at 1 Thessalonians 4, I want to point out a few things. First of all, we need to remain firm in our faith in Christ. In chapter four, verses one and two, Paul says, finally then brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us, how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. The foundation of their life in Christ hadn't changed. Paul had given them the basics of the gospel. He had given them the basics of what it meant to be a Christian and how to live in Christ. He didn't have a lot of time. Timothy gave them some more instruction. But nevertheless, he gave them enough. And he says, so what you're doing, you know how to walk and please God. So just as you're doing that, keep doing it and do it more. Well, the foundation of our life in Christ hasn't changed either. We have the scriptures. We have the Holy Spirit. The circumstances of earthly life have shifted a little bit, haven't they? But the circumstances of our spiritual lives haven't been altered in the slightest. So keep doing what you have been taught. Keep your faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Stay in the Word of God. Keep your eyes open for temptation. Look for opportunities to do good. Seek to increase your faithfulness and devotion during this time. As Paul says, do so more and more. The second thing that we need to understand is that it's important that we don't become complacent about sin. Verses three through eight, Paul says, for this is the will of God. your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. It's the will of God that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Our world has been changed. Maybe these changes are temporary, and in a few weeks everything will be back to normal. But maybe this is a new normal. Maybe our world has changed for the long term. It's important that we not respond with self-pity. It's important that we don't respond with a sense of deprivation so that we don't reach for worldly comforts. Paul felt that it was necessary to urge the Thessalonians to be sexually pure and keep in mind Paul felt that it was necessary to urge the Thessalonians to be sexually pure. Keep in mind, they didn't live in a time when pornography and other sinful pleasures are just a click away on a phone or a computer. The issue for you may not be sexual sin. For some, it might be overeating. It might be abusing alcohol, engaging in gossip. It might be spending hours and hours and hours buried in a video game. It might be giving into bitter speculations about whose fault all this is and what should have been done and when. We all face the temptation to comfort ourselves when we suffer or to indulge ourselves because of what we are enduring. We can have this attitude that it's my right. I'm suffering this and so I have the right to this. This is the will of God, your sanctification. God has not called us to impurity, but in holiness. Commit yourself to sanctification. Commit yourself to holiness. Do that now. Do that today. Don't give in to sinful indulgence. The third thing that we see is a reminder to love one another. It's odd. Paul says, now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. For that indeed is what you were doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. We know that we must continue to love one another. But self-pity can cause us to stop reaching out to others. and isolate ourselves. Self-pity can cause us to demand that others meet our needs and our expectations, to place ourselves as the center of our own little universe. Well, let's not do that. Let's remember what Paul says we don't need to be taught. Let's remember that we are to continue to love one another. that we're to love one another as we are able to do and as he has given us the ability to do that. You might be thinking, but I'm homebound, I'm doing this, I'm isolated, I've got the social distancing thing going on, and I'm not working, or work is different, and relationships are different, and even family is different. Well, we live in a time when technology can be a tremendous blessing. You can call someone, you can FaceTime someone, you can Skype with someone, you can send them an email, you can send them a text, and you can do that without any fear of exposing yourself or them. to the coronavirus. You can bless somebody today without taking any personal physical risk. So do it. Do that today. Take a moment and think, who can I call? Who can I encourage? Who can I text? Who can I FaceTime with just to say, I'm thinking about you. I care about you. I love you. How's your day going? How can I continue to pray for you? And I'm thinking about you, I care. Do that. Fourth, do what you can to keep busy and productive. Paul writes in the latter part of verse 10 and then 11 and 12, we urge you, brothers, do this more and more and to aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. What a change there would be if we all aimed at what self-sufficiency we can have, and then serving others according to their need. But let me just say, being self-sufficient doesn't mean you never need others. It means you minimize that need to actual need. Those others, after all, have themselves to care for. The real goal of self-sufficiency is not just to care for your own needs, but to be able to care for others who are in need. There's a lot of tension today. A lot of people are on edge. A lot of people are anxious and fearful. So let's make it our goal to live quietly, mind our own affairs, and stay busy. I think we're fortunate to live in Northeast Nebraska, for those of us who do, Some people are finding that their jobs really aren't changing at all. Well, that's a blessing from God. Others may find themselves completely unemployed and in need of various kinds of help. Be a help to others as God gives you the ability. Accept help from others as God provides for you through them. Let me close with these words from the hymn, See, He Comes, by Charles Wesley and John Sinek. See, he comes upon the clouds. Jesus Christ, our King, appears. All the saints bought by his blood will rise to meet him in the air. Earth and sea shall flee away. All creation waits and groans, for the Lord Redeemer comes to take his longing exiles home. Those who mocked and scorned his name pierced and nailed him to the tree, deeply wail in sorrow grief when the true Messiah they see. Every eye will see the Lord. Those who mocked and scorned his name pierced and nailed him to the tree, deeply wail In sorrow grieve, when they the true Messiah see. Every eye will see the Lord, dressed in dreadful majesty. Every knee shall bow before the judge of all eternity. Still he bears the holy scars, evidence of saving grace. All the saints bought by his blood shall then rejoice to see his face. Yes. Amen. Let all adore Christ on his eternal throne. All the power and might are yours. Come claim the kingdom as your own. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come oh Lord on earth to reign. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We await the coming day. If you have never been born again and find yourself longing for a Savior today, then let me tell you that Jesus Christ is the perfect Savior and the only Savior. Every human being is born in sin and rebellion against God, facing eternal judgment. We only add to our own judgment as we live in sin and rebellion. For the sake of his own glory and for his love for his people, God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ, to die as a substitute for them. Jesus bore the wrath of God against sinners, completely satisfying God's requirement for justice. Jesus rose from the dead because his sacrifice was fully accepted. Jesus returned to heaven where he continues to this day to pray for his people, bringing them safely home. He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to bring new birth to sinners, granting forgiveness of sin, giving them repentance and faith and a new power to live increasingly holy lives. The command of God is for sinners to turn away from their sins to Jesus Christ and to believe the gospel. I pray that if you don't know the Lord today, that he will draw you to himself by his power and that you will repent and trust in Christ. Father, grant us faithfulness and obedience today. Help us to live with the changes that are taking place so quickly in our towns and state and city. By all means, give our leaders wisdom and our doctors skill and protect lives. But even more, Lord, make your gospel shine in this dark time. Strengthen our hope and our confidence in Jesus, in the indwelling spirit, and in your perfect word. Bless us, Lord, so that we may bless others. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen. This is Pastor Greg. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.