Well, I would ask you, if you want, to go ahead and open your Bibles again. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I will begin reading. with verse 2 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And we'll read down through all just the very first part of verse 10, I guess. I really don't have a title to my comments today. I just, I wasn't sure just exactly what we were gonna do and how we were gonna do it today. And I'm still not sure, but we're gonna just begin and trust the Lord to lead here and we'll see what the Lord has in store for us. But you follow along as I read, beginning in verse two of chapter one of 2 Thessalonians. where the Apostle Paul writes, grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith grows exceedingly. and the charity or the love of every one of you all toward each other abounds, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. Well, let's just stop for a moment and ask God to speak to our hearts through this portion of his word this morning. And trust that he will speak what he'd have us to hear, okay? Let's pray. Our Lord, we come and we bow before you now with a portion of your word. fresh upon our hearts, having just read it together. Lord, we pray that you would make it living, real, vibrant in our understanding. Lord, use it as you're pleased and as you see fit. in each of our lives for your honor and for your glory. Lord, you've made it a blessing to me these past few days. I pray that you might make it a blessing to these who are gathered here with me this morning as well. Use it in each of our lives, Lord. We commit the time together that you've given us to consider it into your hands, trusting, Lord, trusting that your name will be honored, that Christ will be exalted, that your grace will be magnified in each of our lives. And all this we ask in Jesus' precious name. I've been looking at this passage now for, oh, two or three, three or four days actually, I guess. And if you look closely at what Paul has written here, you'll notice that the Spirit of God, through the Apostle Paul, has commended the saints at Thessalonica. But also, along with commending the saints at Thessalonica, he has spoken some pretty severe words of warning to the sinners at Thessalonica as well, hadn't he? And so this morning, if we can, in the time that we have, if God is pleased, I would like for us to just perhaps consider both of those things for just a few moments. The commendation that the Spirit of God has for the saints and the words of warning that he has for the sinners. And I think it's important that all of us consider both of whether we're a saint or a sinner here today, we need to consider the word of God and we need to take it to heart. The Apostle Paul begins, as he often does in his writings, by saying grace and peace to those he's writing to. Grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, that grace and that peace is to those who belong to the Lord and how thankful we should be for the grace of God. We just sang about it, didn't we? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Why is it so sweet? Because it saved wretches like us. That's why. Sinners. That's what we all were. That's what we all were. The words of warning that we're going to consider a little bit later here, once applied to every one of us, but no longer to some of us. Why? Because of God's grace. And only, only because of God's grace. Grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how thankful I am this morning for that. And I trust that you are as well, if you're a believer, If you belong to the Lord, I trust you're thankful for that as well. I hope that you are. Paul went on to say that those that were with him, together they were thankful, bound to give thanks for these folks, these brothers and sisters, because their faith was growing. They weren't just stagnant in their relationship to the Lord. They weren't just satisfied to be still where they were. They wanted to press on. They wanted to be more of what God would have them be. They wanted to grow in grace. They wanted to grow in grace. They wanted more of the grace. They wanted to experience more of what God had for them as his children. They wanted to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted to live by faith, to walk by faith, and not by sight, as the scripture so often in the New Testament exhorts believers to do. And they wanted to do that and they were being commended for that. And the Apostle Paul was saying, we're bound to be thankful for that because we see it in your lives that you're growing exceedingly in faith. And not only that, not only were they thankful for that, but they were thankful that there was such evidence of their being God's children. Because of what? Because of the love that was evident in their hearts and in their lives for one another. The love, the charity that every one of them had toward each other was abounding. The Lord Jesus said, men gonna know that you're my disciples how? Went on to say, we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. We sometimes don't stop and think about these folks in these places like Thessalonica and some of these churches in Asia Minor, what they did suffer, what they did go through. as Christians. These were Roman provinces. And those who lived in Roman provinces, who were they supposed to worship? Caesar is God. Right? That's who they were to worship. And if they didn't, they were persecuted. They were persecuted. and they suffered terribly because of it. They lost so much because of it. And yet Paul was passing on the commendation that the Spirit of God was giving them because they stood firm in the faith. They held true to their faith. their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of persecution, in the midst of the tribulation, even as severe as it was. And as I read this, I was reminded of some things that I read not too many days ago that Richard Baxter had said. I thought I would share these things with you. You might want to Well, you might not have time to jot them down. If you're interested in having them, I'll make you a copy later and you're welcome to them. But Richard Baxter made these comments. He says, heaven, heaven will pay for the loss of anything that we lose to get it. Heaven will pay for the loss of anything that we lose to get it. but nothing can pay for the loss of heaven. Did you hear that? Heaven will pay for the loss of anything that we lose to get it. I'm firmly convinced that these Christians at Thessalonica believe that. They believed it. They were willing to suffer just about anything. There's no telling what they were losing. Some of them probably lost loved ones. Family. Property. Wealth. No telling what they were losing in the persecution, in the tribulation that they suffered. But heaven. Heaven. Glory in the presence of God. Payday. Payday was coming someday. Yes, heaven was going to pay for the loss of anything they were losing to get heaven. And they knew that nothing, nothing would ever pay. for the loss of heaven. Baxter also said, heaven is such a thing that if you lose it, nothing can make up the loss. Heaven is such a thing that if you lose it, nothing can make up the loss. But on the other hand, Hell is such a thing that if you suffer it, nothing can remove your misery or give you ease and comfort. Well, it's a lot to think about, isn't it? It's a lot to think about. The Apostle Paul as he was writing these things, as the Spirit of God directed him to these folks at Thessalonica. He'd been on both sides of the fence, hadn't he? He knew what it meant to be the persecutor, but he also knew what it meant to be the persecuted. And he was also one that heaven was gonna be worth it. Worth it all. Worth it all. Well, we could go on talking about the commendation. The commendation of the saints. There's a lot more that could be said about that, isn't there? A lot more that could be said about that. And there's a lot more that is said about it. And we'll come back perhaps to some things about that a little bit later. But if you'll notice with me just a little bit later in this passage of scripture, He returns his remarks to the other folks. Verse seven, he says, and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. Well, that's encouraging in itself, isn't it? You know, to the saints. He says, in flaming fire taking vengeance, on them, and this is what I want to get to, on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That know not God. Know not God. A little over two years ago, Donna mentioned the Bible study group down there at the senior's apartments. We started Bible study down there. And the thing that we started with, if I recall correctly, was the thought that the problem in the world with man is he just doesn't know God. Doesn't know God. That's always been the problem. Still the problem. And that was the problem that Paul was pointing out right here with these folks that were doing the persecuting. of the Thessalonians, they did not know God. Or they knew of God. They knew about God. I'm sure they'd heard about Him. If they'd talked to these believers, I'm sure they knew about Him, because I'm sure these believers told them about Him in their witness and in their testimony about the Lord Jesus. But they didn't know Him. Even the Jews, even those that were supposedly God's people in the Old Testament, they didn't really know him, did they? They didn't really know him. Under the New Testament, when God came in the flesh, The scripture tells us that he came unto his own, and his own received him not. Why did they not receive him? They didn't know him. They didn't know him. But God promised that his people would know him, didn't he? He promised that his people would know him. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 31. This is the new covenant promise that Jeremiah talks about. Jeremiah chapter 30, 31. Verse 33 and verse 34. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. At those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. They shall all know me. They shall all know me. Well, this knowledge that Jeremiah is talking about here, what is it really? What is this knowledge that he's talking about? When we come to the New Testament, we find the Lord Jesus telling us exactly what this knowledge is that the prophet Jeremiah talks about in this new covenant. And you find it in Jesus' prayer, actually, in the 17th chapter of John. John chapter 17, if you'd care to look at that with me. John 17, verse 3. This is the knowledge that we're talking about. John 17, verse 3. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. It's eternal life. And that's the knowledge that these folks that were persecuting the believers in Thessalonica didn't have. They didn't have life. They were dead to God. They didn't have life. and have the kind of life that Ezekiel prophesied about in Ezekiel chapter 36. We're familiar with that, aren't we? Let's just take a quick peek at that. Ezekiel chapter 36. Beginning with verse 25. This is the same new covenant promise of Jeremiah we just read about in Jeremiah. Ezekiel goes into a little more detail, a little different detail. Chapter 36 of Ezekiel, verse 25 and following. It says, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh. and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them." What's he talking about here? Regeneration. A new birth. The giving of new life. The same thing that Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about. Regeneration. Knowledge of God. That's where knowledge of God really begins, isn't it? in regeneration. Well, that's what these folks did not have in Thessalonica. When Paul says, Jesus is going to be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. On those that do not have life. Those that are not alive unto God. Those that are dead to God. A word of warning, I would take so. As I thought about this, one of the things that really gripped my heart is that so often today the teaching about regeneration is bypassed in the preaching. Have you noticed that? There's very little, if any, mention of the new birth and its necessity. A lot of talk about believing in Jesus. Accepting Jesus. Inviting Jesus into your heart. What kind of a heart is If it's the heart you had when you came into this world, he doesn't want it. It's sinful. It's depraved. It's not fit. Sad, isn't it? Sad. A so-called sermon is preached. And at the end, an invitation is given. Come and accept Jesus. Pray this prayer after me. Okay, now you're saved. You're on your way to heaven. But you're still dead in your sin. And you don't know it. And I just wonder how many there are who've been deceived, misled, because they've not must be born again. You don't know God. You don't know him because you don't have life. Years ago, George Whitefield, although we had more George Whitefields, Years ago, before the Revolutionary War, George Whitefield came from England to America. Two or three different times, preached up and down the East Coast, out in the open air, to multitudes of people. On one occasion, he spent a week or two at one place preaching. And this one particular place, every sermon he preached was on the text from John chapter three, you must be born again. After about four or five sermons, one lady came to George Whitfield after the message and she said, Mr. Whitfield, why do you, I constantly preach on you must be born again. And he simply said, my dear lady, I constantly preach on you must be born again because you must be born again. You must be born again. There's no life without it. You never know God without it. And if you never know God, what are you gonna face? Well, we just read about it. Well, we just read. Mighty angels of God in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God. Oh, are you born again? Has the spirit of God quickened you and made you alive unto God? You be a changed person. It has. Isn't that what the scripture says? 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any man be in Christ, That's what happens when you're born again. You're united to Christ. You're in Christ. If any man be in Christ, all things pass away. Behold, all things become new. You're a new creature, he says, a new creation. Just like Ezekiel said. Now, I may be preaching to the choir here this morning, but you know someone who doesn't know God, don't you? What are you telling them? What are you telling them? Have you told them you must be born again? Will you perish forever without him? He's a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. What kind of things? Well, one thing is whereas we once We're at enmity with God. As Paul says in Romans 8, 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God, hostile to God, hates God. Now, something's changed. Something's changed. Now we begin to love the Lord with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, like we're told to do. Like we're told to do. Before, our heart was not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. Couldn't obey God. Couldn't love God. But oh now, now it can. Now it can love God. Perfectly? No. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 3, as we read it earlier? Look at it again. Talk to you about those things that he gave up for Christ. In verse 10, he says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, But I follow after it that I may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended in Christ Jesus. He said, I haven't arrived. I haven't already done everything perfectly the way I should, but what's he say? But I press toward the mark. I press toward the mark. Some of the Jewish religious leaders came to Jesus, as is recorded in Matthew chapter 22, and said to him, what's the greatest commandment? And Jesus said what? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. So that's what we're to do. That's what we're to do. Can we do it perfectly? No, but what's Paul say? Press toward the mark. Strive, strive for it. Strive for it every day. Seek to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. What about trusting the Lord completely? What about trusting the Lord completely? Do you? Isn't that what the scripture says to do? Live by faith. Habakkuk the prophet says that. The just shall live by faith. That's the way we're to live. We're to walk by faith and not by sight. That means always. But do we do it perfectly? No. So what are we to do? Press toward the mark. Press toward the mark. Strive for it. Seek to trust the Lord completely. What about obeying the Lord? Obeying the Lord without questioning Him. You ever question the Lord? When you read in the scripture something that the Lord commands, you ever find yourself questioning? I did. We need to stop, don't we, and consider who it is we're questioning. It's a sovereign of the universe, a sovereign creator of all things that we're questioning, who can do no wrong. He can do no wrong. So what do we do? Acknowledge it and press toward tomorrow. The Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter six, verse 33. He said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. He said that in response to those who were worrying anxiously anxiously worrying, fretting, stewing about what they were going to eat, what they were going to be clothed with, or where they were going to have a roof over their head, and all these types of things. And Jesus said, you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Seek first the kingdom of God. Get your priorities right. Seek first the kingdom of God. Well, you can't seek the kingdom without seeking the king, can you? There isn't a kingdom without a king. What Jesus was saying is you got to acknowledge the lordship of Christ. The lordship of Christ. Bow to the sovereignty of the Lord. Acknowledge Him. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Not your own. Not your own. How good is our own righteousness in God's eyes? Not worth much, is it? Not worth much at all. Just a pile of filthy rags, according to Isaiah. Just a pile of filthy rags. The apostle Paul, was so burdened about his brethren. Listen to what he says in Romans chapter 10. Let me get there. Romans chapter 10, verse one and following. It says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. See, there's this knowledge thing. They didn't know, did they? For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that They didn't know. They didn't have life. They didn't have life. And when you don't have life, you can't see. And what Jesus told Nicodemus, unless you're born from above, you cannot see the kingdom of God. You can't see the kingdom of God. You can't recognize it. If you don't recognize the kingdom, you certainly won't recognize the king, will you? And if you don't recognize the king, you won't submit to him, you won't bow to him in his lordship. Oh, but what do you do then? If you find yourself not seeking first always the kingdom, Scripture makes it very clear that we strive to be holy. Strive to be holy. Boy, Peter quotes from Leviticus where God says, be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Have we arrived? Well, I can only speak for me, for sure. But I haven't arrived. All I can do is press toward the mark. Press toward the mark. I want to be. I long to be. And by the grace of God, I shall be holy. Because God promised it. He promised it. Well, one more thing, let me say. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, whether you eat or whether you drink, do all to the glory of God. That little word all is pretty inclusive, isn't it? Didn't leave out a whole lot. Knew all to the glory of God. That means the minute you get up every morning, to the minute you lay down and go to sleep every night, everything you do is to be done to the glory of God. Do you do it? So what do you do? Press toward the mark. Press toward the mark. Press toward the mark. It all begins with knowing Him. Knowing Him. And knowing Him Those Thessalonian believers were commended by the Spirit of God. Why? Because they were alive under God and they stood firm in their conviction by God's grace. By God's grace. Because they were alive They had new life, and the Spirit of God Himself indwelt them and enabled them to live their life for God's glory. Were they perfect? No. But they, like Paul, were pressing toward the mark. Are we? Are we pressing toward the mark? Oh, how I pray we are. And how I pray that if we've got loved ones or friends that have been misled and deceived, that we'll bear witness to them of the truth and tell them as George Whitfield preached. You must be born again. You've got to know the Lord.