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Resides in Jesus, our head.
The number was that brother 267.
Humbly.
The First Epistle of Thessalonians.
I think there have been references made already to.
To the Lord's coming and.
Our spiritual state.
If it's the mind of the brethren, could we read the 1St chapter of the Thessalonians and or gone further the Lord leads.
What do you think, Robert?
I think it would be very profitable. It's really ministry that concerns those that are newly saved, brought into the truth of Christ and as the last verse really brings before us or the last couple of verses that how you turn to God from idols.
Us from the rocks to come.
So we need to have a sense of our deliverance and the sense of how he has turned us from idolatry.
To look for his son, to wait for him. Maybe we could read the 1St chapter today and then.
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Look to the Lord for guidance the remainder of the reading meetings. Some brother would read it.
Chapter One.
Holland, Savannah, under the Church of Thessalonians.
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 and her 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, 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 it must assurance.
Men, we were among you for your sake, and He became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that he were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia, and I can't. For from you sounded up the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and IKEA, but also in every place. Your faith to Godward is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves know about what matter of entering in we had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
And to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised, Prince of the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Maybe a few words in the background of the epistle might be in order.
We know this was the first epistle that was written by the apostle, the earliest one.
Dates are given around 52 AD.
And.
The apostle was only a short time in Thessalonica. He was driven out by persecution.
Hugely thought that he was only there 3 Lords days.
You go back to Acts 17.
To get the historical background, when they had passed through Anthropolis and Apollonius, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews and Paul, as his manner was.
Went in onto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleghing, that Christ must needs have suffered, and then and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preached unto you is Christ. And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks, of great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few.
But the Jews, which believed not, moved with envy, and took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the House of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, and so on. So there was bitter persecution in this place.
Against those who had made a confession of Christ.
Remember that many of them were steeped in idolatry. This was their manner of life. Now some of the Jews were saved, but I would think the majority of those in Thessalonica were Gentiles and they had been involved in in idolatry for years. But the gospel came in mighty power through the Apostle Paul.
And he had to leave for his life and.
I think he went from here on to Berea and then to Athens, but he had no rest in his spirit, because he was burdened with the this little assembly of babes or new converts, like sheep without a shepherd, and he was very concerned about their condition and their state after the Gospel had been presented to them.
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Lest Satan should come and and destroy the work. So he sent Timothy back to Thessalonians.
And Paul went on to Corinth, and he waited in Corinth for the report of the condition of the assembly.
When he was in Corinth and when the news came through, Timothy, when Timothy left Thessalonica, came to Corinth with the report of how the Thessalonians were prospering. Paul was really encouraged and that led to the writing of this epistle.
Seeing the third chapter.
Verse 10 Night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.
So I don't know whether the Apostle ever got back to Thessalonica. Not at this time anyway, because the persecution was severe, however.
He desired that they would be established in the faith.
But they were new converts, they were babes in Christ. And yet in the no other epistles do you have the Lord's coming so prominent. It comes out in every chapter. You don't get a lot of doctrinal truth in the in this epistle, but you do have the establishing of the young converts.
There were several areas that the apostle was much exercised about how they were going to.
Meet the awful persecution they were suffering #2 which is very important. The moral condition of the assembly. The apostle deals with that in a number of chapters. The moral condition of these people before he presents doctrinal matters to them.
He doesn't develop the mystery of the church. He does not develop any.
Really. Doctrinal truth. He wanted them to have a moral condition that was in keeping with the holiness of God. This comes out in the third chapter and in various parts of the epistles.
And then the third thing was that he wanted them to know about the coming of the Lord.
You say there were babes that knew very little.
Had very little knowledge, say 3 weeks, and yet they were told about the return of the Lord and they were looking for the return of the Lord. They were anxiously waiting. Now they were not well informed, you might say, because.
They didn't know what would happen to those that had died. And the apostle brings out that marvelous truth of the rapture, and no other epistle is it developed to the extent that we have it here. So Paul had to teach them these things. But the coming of the Lord is prominent in these two epistles. Sometimes it is the rapture, sometimes it is the appearing.
Or the revelation. You have to distinguish between those two things, but the coming of the Lord is a prominent theme of these two epistles.
But you allude to there's the coming of the Lord Jesus for his Saints, that's the rapture. And then there's the coming with his Saints, that's the appearing. It's interesting too, to see in chapter 18 of the book of the Acts, just as introductory, how the apostle Paul was used of God to establish the Saints and establish assemblies during the time that he was doing his work and so.
In Acts chapter 18 it says in verse one after these things called departed from Athens and came to Corinth. Now he found some that were believers. And it says in verse three, because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought for their occupation. By their occupation they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded, persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And then a little bit further on he says in verse 11, he continued there a year and six months teaching.
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The word of God among them. And so there was the space of time that was required, not only evangelical work, but really in connection with the teaching of the truth of God that was necessary that they might be established. And both are necessary. Evangelism is necessary, but then that teaching is necessary as well. We have the principle brought out in Acts Chapter 11, and I'll just mention it very quickly.
So that we have an understanding of what Paul is doing and is teaching in the his epistle to the Thessalonians. He was really seeking to comfort their hearts and to point them to Christ and to clarify those issues that he couldn't clarify because he wasn't there. So in Acts Chapter 11, it speaks there of the preaching of the word of God. That is really evangelical work, verse 19.
They which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, traveled as far as Funici and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the Word to none, but under the Jews only. And some of them that were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake under the Grecians, preaching the Word, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. Well, there you have the work of the evangelism.
Of evangelism. And so that's really largely a work outside the assembly. And there was an assembly form in Antioch. And then it says that the brethren found out in Jerusalem in verse 22, the tidings of these things came under the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch, who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave under the Lord's. So here Barnabas was a pastor and a shepherd.
He longed to see the Saints of God to go on and he instructed him in such a way and encouraged their hearts that way. But then you know he he needed he knew that they needed some teaching and Paul or Saul at that time he called for Saul. It says in verse 24. He was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek salt.
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and talked much people and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. So there was real fruit for God. And there was there at that time of the year of establishing the Saints and ministering the truth of God in that assembly in Antioch. And he might say that that became Paul's home assembly. And then in verse 27 it says in these days.
Prophets from Jerusalem, Antioch. So each one had their work. And so in this passage of Scripture you have the four main gifts that are given to the assembly, to the Church of God, and the day that we live in, the evangelists. And then you have the pastor and shepherd, you have the 1-2 who is a teacher, and then you have those that are prophets. Now, a prophet in the New Testament sense is one that delivers the message from the heart of God for the people of God at a particular time.
And so he's spoken of in different passages in Scripture. It's just necessary for us, as we take up this epistle of First Thessalonians, to understand that what Paul was doing was teaching them and encouraging them. He had a pastoral work with them, but he was teaching them those things that were necessary as young converts to know and to lay hold of. And so the ministry is rather simple, if you might put it that way, but.
It is for the heart, it is for the conscience as well, but it's mostly for the heart.
And that cooperates what I mentioned, Robert, that there needs to be a spiritual condition before there's the the the reception of the truth and.
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The passage that you cited in Acts 11.
Emphasizes that first of all, Barnabas, who was particularly a pastor with a real desire for the encouragement of the Young Young assembly there he ministered.
And he comforted in, he exhorted to cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart.
But he wasn't a great teacher.
And that's why he sought Paul to come and establish them in the truth. And it's so in the the epistle that we're looking at, Paul is more a nurse and a pastor here, at least the beginning of the epistle, than he is as a teacher, because they need it to be.
Established.
They needed to have a moral condition. You know, there was a terrible amount of that.
Of immorality in these in these Gentile cities. Thessalonica was a large city, but the practices they were going on with were contrary to the holiness of God. Looking in chapter he deals with that very matter in chapter 4.
In some detail.
And what we had this morning in our hymn.
That body, soul, and spirit might be preserved, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul emphasizes holiness very much in this epistle.
So if you've mentioned, brother, it's not really an epistle that we have a lot of doctrine given to us, although the doctrine, a part of Paul's doctrine that is key to the ministry that he had among the Saints of God was in connection with the coming of the Lord. And Paul is used with God to give us the truth as to the details of the rapture, how it would take place.
The sequence of events. And he tells us too about the change of our bodies and how our bodies will be glorified. He goes through that in First Corinthians chapter 15. But in First Corinthians it's really a corrective epistle. But here in this epistle, it's really a pastoral epistle, you might say. And how how he long that these Saints that were saved out of the idolatry would have their hearts comforted. And so we don't find him upbraiding them for their.
Past practice of idolatry or upgrading them for their unholiness and so on, But he encourages them positively in a right way to go on in a righteous way before God, to live a holy life. And so he begins the epistle and he presents this.
Credentials. I still I suppose he says that it's from Paul and Sylvanus and Timotheus under the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and the Lord in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he had those that were companions in the path of faith and those that were fellow workers, those that had, you might say, the credibility to be a witness with him, that this letter was coming from him. And it was something that they could take. As modified, we could just turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2.
And just see that there were others that had written, perhaps not exactly at this time, but at some time some point they had written letters and signed Pauls name to those letters apparently. And so on. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. It says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter.
As from us as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means. And so these the Lord allowed that Paul wrote this epistle, his first epistle that he wrote to the assemblies and he uses these two witnesses. And it would be wonderful, wouldn't it be, to be in that day. I have often thought of these two individuals so heinous or Silas and Timothy Timotheus here Timotheus was a younger man, perhaps.
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But he was faithful, faithful young man and Silas, it says he's called in at first Peter chapter 5. He's called the faithful brother in let's just look at that. I, I don't want to misquote it. It's in Mr. Darby's translation.
He labored with Peter.
After he labored with the apostle, verse 12, first Peter chapter 5, verse 12, Sylvanus a faithful brother, or it says, as I say in Mr. Darby's translation, Sylvanus the faithful brother.
He was one that was noted for devotedness to Christ and suited to be included in the address addressing these words to this assembly.
I might just mention.
In way of passing that Sylvanus, that portion that we just read in First Peter chapter 5, his name is given to us something like 17 times in the New Testament. And that's the very last time that his name is presented to us in First Peter chapter 5. And the Spirit of God sums up the sum total of his life, gives us a snapshot of his life. He says Sylvanus, the faithful brother.
It's all he says.
The faithful brother, 3 words and he sums up his life. And so your life and mine is being lived. And we're going to every day that we live, we're going it's going to be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ. His whole sum total of his life as it were. The Spirit of God records in the Word of God that Sylvanus was the faithful brother. There are some others that are called faithful as well.
They had the knowledge of God as their Father. Though they were babes in Christ, they had that knowledge that God was their father. What a wonderful relationship that is for us to enjoy. Not only God is their father, but the Lord Jesus Christ. Bringing out the the Lordship of Christ. One thing to know Christ as our Savior.
Perhaps most of those present here do know, but do we acknowledge the the Lordship of Christ in our lives? That's a practical thought. Do we submit everything in our lives to His authority and allow Him to direct us in our daily?
Activities or whatever. Do we acknowledge that we are under His control, that no longer we are to live for ourselves?
But to acknowledge him as our Lord, and his remarkable that Paul with all his.
Extensive travels and laborers and.
Sufferings and privations in the work of the Lord, that he remembered these Thessalonians in his prayers.
Remarkably, that he had time not only the Thessalonians, but I think every church, a number of which he had established.
Were remembered at the throne of grace, and that's a good example for us.
The expression found in the first verse of our chapter.
Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We find that in almost every one of the epistles of the Apostle Paul where he and Peter as well where he says grace and peace.
A brother made this comment one time. He said the more that I understand the grace of God, the more I will enjoy the peace of God.
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And what is it? The grace of God, for ye know the grace.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. I think what it does, brethren, is it takes us outside of ourselves.
And occupies it with him. Because the more I know the grace of God, the more I see the nothingness that I am.
And in that position it brings me peace, because I know that all was settled. So you look back at John chapter 20, after the Lord goes to Calvary, and he meets with his own in the upper room, and what does he say? Peace be unto you? And when he had so shed said, he showed them his hands.
And his side so.
It's nice to notice it just in our readings when we go through the various epistles. Romans.
My mind goes particularly through Ephesians and Colossians and also first Peter. It mentions grace and peace.
He really brings the deity before them here as well and the deity of Christ and he he speaks of the Trinity. So you have the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and then a little bit further on in verse five, you have the Holy Ghost and that really brings before us eternal life, doesn't it? They he doesn't use the term really in this first chapter, but in John's Gospel we have this little expression that's used.
In verse nine he says umm just in the last part of verse 9.
Or verse 10 I should say John 10, verse 10. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly, or that they might have it abundantly, that is to have eternal life.
And so that what is eternal life, it's to have a relationship with the Father, to know God as our Father.
And it's also to know the Lord Jesus as Lord, as Savior. It's to know to be indwelled with the Spirit of God. And it's also as a beginning really, to have put our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus, to know him, to trust him. I'll just point this out and ask John's gospel a little bit further on in chapter 16.
It speaks there of.
Eternal life.
I'm sorry, I'm looking at chapter 15.
Yeah, I was looking at a chapter. I was looking for chapter 17, verse 3.
This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
And so we have.
The Father presented here.
The Lord Jesus Christ and he presents. He really focuses upon the Lordship of Christ in this epistle, doesn't he? Because that is what will really help.
Help and recognizing the authority of the Lord Jesus in our lives will release us from the serving of self.
There's many evidences that that's the perhaps the burden of the first chapter is the evidences of this new life in the Thessalonians.
There was really the practice the report had spread abroad all over the region.
They were energetic in getting the gospel out, but their lives were a was a clear proof that they were elected of God so.
The Apostle.
He wants to gain their confidence.
And he expresses repeatedly his love for these Saints.
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And his self denying labor in Thessalonica, he didn't come there to receive money, he came there to preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Much assurance, but he labored with his own hands. And when the Thessalonians saw this self denying sacrificial life of the apostle.
They saw love in practice and that's something that we can be exercised about. Some of us do a lot of talking, but really it's our lives that count. And the apostle was a demonstration of of the gospel in his own life here.
It speaks there of them laboring night and day, that he might not be chargeable to them. No, he didn't receive money from them, and they saw the evidence of a man of God among them. And it says it's a little remarkable in our chapter. He became followers of us, but remember that they were.
Immersed in idolatry and they didn't know anything about God.
They were completely ignorant.
But when they saw the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in the apostle Paul and those with him.
They became followers of them really they were following the Lord, but it's remarkable. It says she became followers of us that should speak to us that our lives. Someone has said, and we've often heard the expression what you are speak so loudly that I can't hear what you say.
The way that the apostle dresses the Thessalonians.
Because they like ourselves. They had a, they had a character.
We all have a certain character and Paul and his shepherding care. He he addresses different characters in different ways and has has has been brought out when he wrote to the Corinthians.
He addressed them in a much different way than he did to Thessalonians, but why they had a different character?
Maybe we could go back to the book of the Acts to see part of this character.
That he seeks to address here.
In.
In Acts 17.
In Acts 17, in the 10th verse, it says the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews, and these were more noble than those of Thessalonica.
In that they received the word with all readiness of mind and search the Scriptures daily whether those things were so and so. Here we find that the Thessalonians had a certain character. It was different than the Brians. They heard things and they perhaps didn't bother checking to see if those things were so. Or maybe when they heard a message, they didn't go home and ruminate over it and, and, and, and look in the Scriptures as what was being said. They perhaps just received it just simply. And on they went. And the apostles saw that.
As a deficiency. And so as John brought before in the third chapter, there were those things that were lacking in their faith. In the 5th chapter, he uses a little statement to the Thessalonians. He says prove all things. Now, the reason he says that is because that didn't characterize them. So it's interesting to see how in this first chapter, the way he addresses the Thessalonians is the way that, you know, some people need to be addressed. Some people just need a little extra TLC when you're speaking to them.
Other people, they need to be told the way it is, just the way it is, because that's the way their character is. And so all of us have a different character, but it's good for us when we're speaking with people to recognize their character and to adjust our way of addressing them because of that character. And so here you go through this first chapter and you know, he, he commends so many things just like he's got his arms around them and he's so afraid of saying something that that's going to offend them. He does address that in the epistle.
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But he does it very, very softly, if I could put it that way. He knows that they need to be encouraged. He knows that they're they're full of energy.
Their, their, their, their love is expressed, their labor is expressed, and both things. And he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to disturb those things. And so he addresses them in a way that he commends so many things here and then later on they Thistle. He just gently addresses little things with them that need to be addressed. Much different. Perhaps as I said, that he addresses the Corinthians.
And so I think in, in, in any of us seeking to exercise shepherding care, that's very necessary in our addressing people to recognize the character that people have. I've got some children.
When I discipline them, I've got two that before the discipline even started, they were bawling their eyes and they were saying they're sorry and and that was their that's their character. They got two others.
That the closest they'll ever come to saying they're wrong was would be, you know, I'm not really proud of what I did. It's a very different character. Both is a work of God, but both has to be addressed differently. And so the apostle in his seeking to address the Thessalonians Saints, he addresses a character here that's very necessary and brings these things out of his first with his first chapter that is very tender before he starts.
Later on to address the things that are necessary.
That's chapter 2 and verse 11. Would you think it's that ye or as you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father dot his children. And so it was with intelligence and really by the power of the Spirit that he addressed them in very softly, very tenderly and his children. And so you don't deal with a teenager the same way as you would do deal with a child and one who is an adult would be treated a little bit differently. While the Corinthians were more responsible they had.
More depth of knowledge of the truth of God than Paul had spent a year and a half there. He speaks to them quite differently. They were more responsible. So it's nice to see the tenderness. And the Lord deals with us according to our state of soul and the depth of knowledge that we have. The truth of God, our responsibility is according to what He has brought before us. And so he speaks to us by his Spirit accordingly. It's wonderful.
They may have been.
In the idol temple.
But the first verse we have now they're in the church.
The red says the red blood.
Which is in God church.
The Father and then the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whole new position altogether they found themselves in.
And.
The new position that they found themselves in brought new desires to their heart.
And so they had a work of faith that was there.
Before perhaps we just their own desires and energies that throw them along. And so it is with us when we get.
The Lord works the work in our hearts.
Were brought out of one whole set of conditions that we were in into a brand new place.
Looking in Galatians chapter 5.
And verse six says therefore in Christ Jesus neither circumcision available anything.
Nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love didn't matter whether they were a Gentile. It didn't matter where they if they hadn't been Jewish before this happened, they were now separated from all of that, and they were in the Church of God.
A whole new position and what mattered there, as it does with us.
It's when we're in the church, it's a thing that we have which worketh by love. So we see the energy that's behind our faith that works is love. That is the energy and of course the power.
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That works. It's not the flesh anymore, which it was with these ones that were serving idols and now they were in Christ. But as the Holy Spirit is the power behind our lives and so we have a whole new position that we're brought into, whole new set of desires, a whole new walk and the Lord.
Father was so pleased in the Lord. Jesus was so pleased.
So without the burst of praise from the vote for these young believers.
So nice to see you.
Galatians chapter 5. Those verses have first five essentially.
Hope, faith and the versions we have loved and in the verse we just dropped before we.
Verse four he remembers those ceasing their work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God, our honorable and we have the same things help.
To see too, but at the end of that third verse, but it says patients of hope and I'm thinking of the next expression in our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is made man, that he must have an object.
And we know that the only way that the object can be the heart can be filled and satisfied is through Christ. And so in the world today, why there's all kinds of motivation that is presented to mankind to stir them up to drive man on from children and being taught in school to be something and and.
And.
So it is through life that the advertising the whole world is set into try to make man comfortable in a world without God. But here these Thessalonians.
Were in this state of idolatry and what happens? God steps into their lives.
And they find out about him and where where they are in relation to him. And they turn to God from idols.
And and so the object before them, it affects their whole being. And what they do, they turn first of all, to God. That's the work of faith, I take it, the labor of love, to serve him and to wait for him. And that should be what characterizes, should it not, the lives of those of us who are believers in this world, passing through a world.
That has rejected the Savior, and we see it getting worse and worse.
And so the motivation for moving on in life should be Christ himself, and it'll affect every part of our lives.
Before them, the sovereignty of God and verse 4 knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now election is always individual. It's the same word as being chosen. And we might look at that in Ephesians chapter one.
And.
Let's read from.
Verse three, blessed be the God and Father Ephesians chapter one, verse three of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. And so the reason these Thessalonians were saved and the reason why you're saved is the election of God, the sovereignty of God.
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Now, when the gospel goes forth, you're responsible to hear it and to believe it, to receive it. But really in a sense, in the truth of the matter is that nothing would happen. There would be no fruit for God in this world apart from the sovereignty of God. Mr. Kelly made that comment. He makes it several times in his writings. The soul enjoyed it. It's a help as you read the Scriptures to understand that nothing would ever, there would be no fruit for God in this world.
At all apart from the sovereignty of God. And so he speaks to them this way, and he says, Knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. And so they had a sense of the sovereignty of God, having called them out of idolatry, and have placed before their souls that prospect of being with Christ and like Christ.
Well, that was evident by their works, by the way in which they acted, that the apostle concluded that they were elect. We don't have any access to the eternal councils of God.
We present the gospel to man as a responsible being. We don't know the decrees of God.
Or who is going to be saved. But we know that the invitation is to whosoever. I was thinking going back to verse 3.
The patience of hope.
The labor of love and the work of faith. As has often been mentioned in the book of the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2. There was work, there was labor, there was patience. But these the qualities of faith, love and patience.
And hope are missing there. So outwardly in the Church of Ephesus, everything seemed to be in order. It was energy put forth, but the motive spring.
That should have been the impetus was missing there.
I've enjoyed in the book of Second Samuel that we have an illustration of these three qualities.
Faith, love and hope. It's a very interesting study in the case of Jonathan.
Definitely that was a work of faith. He had faith in David. He saw the marvelous victory over the enemy there. He had full faith in David.
It I the get tight, which is I think second Samuel 15 probably won't turn to it now, but he demonstrated wonderful love for David when he was fleeing from his son Absalom, who had usurped the throne and David was in rejection and.
Disowned as though the rightful king it, I showed a wonderful love to David.
Very interesting study. Then you come to Mephibosheth, who was left in the city of Jerusalem and he wasn't able to follow David because he was lame on both his feet.
But he was loyal and true to David in spite of all the opposition. He didn't have anything to do with the merriment in the the.
Whole state of things in Jerusalem, glorying in Absalom, who was a usurper of the throne. He had no part in what was going on in Jerusalem. He was a stranger there.
And he was loyal and true to David. There you have the patience of hope.
And this was manifest in the in the case of the Thessalonians, the Lord is now a man of patience.
He's waited 2000 years and he's still waiting to have his church with him and we are waiting down here.
For his return, which is brought out so clearly here in the case of the Thessalonians, waiting for God's Son from heaven. It was the present hope. It was something that practically influenced their lives. You know, sometimes people talk about the coming of the Lord and there's so much error in Christendom today about this, about this whole subject, that you become a dreamer and you're not practical. Certainly wasn't the case with the Thessalonians.
00:55:18
It affected their whole manner of life, and it wasn't turning from idols to God, it was turning to God from idols. They had an object before them that filled their hearts. What it's like Ephraim, what have I to do in Hosea? What have I to do with idols? I have heard him, I have seen him. They had God in the Thessalonians, had God before their vision, filling their souls. They didn't want anything more to do with the idols.
You know, there's some boys and girls, you know, I guess they're not here this morning, but.
The threadbare illustration. But I had a dog when I was young and he was a very nice disposition. Nice dog, but boy if you got a hold of a bone.
You couldn't get it from him. Yank him, hit him.
Do anything. You couldn't get that bone out of his mouth.
But if you dangled a piece of juicy meat in front of him?
Immediately he would drop the ball.
Why? Because he had something much better. And this is the case with the Thessalonians. They had God now as their object and it it fell off like autumn leaves, the whole system of idolatry and all their their objects there.
Of an ungodly wicked world.
They let it drop. They had something infinitely better. So do we.
That has been brought before us.
Revelation Chapter.
Chapter 2.
Just in future relation with the third verse of our chapter in Revelation chapter 2.
The.
Also John addresses.
Build an oversight in Ephesus and he says in verse two, I know thy works by labor. Thy patience has been quoted to us and how that can stop fair than what you're evil and has tried them which say they are apostles that are not and must found them liars as born and as patients for my namesake as labored was not fainted. Nevertheless they have someone against thee because thou hast sometimes it's quoted this White House forgotten my first love, but that's not what it says.
It says that it's left by first love, you know, just to be practical. We, we, we all, we all enjoy weddings. We have one in our home in our assembly just a couple weeks ago. And just the, the, the freshness of, of the couple in their first love and the joy that they enjoy.
We, we really appreciate, you know, but it's sad when we see someone that have been on the pathway for maybe 10 or 15 years and you look at them and think why? I wonder if that's the way they were in their wedding day. And I don't think so. Or maybe it's maybe it's 40 years later or whatever.
We see a difference that perhaps we see in the wedding picture when we look at them. Well, you know, the Thessalonians, they were in the enjoyment of their first love. That's where they were.
But with them as well as us, there can be the tendency to leave that. And if it's left, what you have is what you have in Revelation.
You have do you have work? Do you have patience?
You know, you have labor, but it's mechanical. It's absolutely mechanical. And why? Because that freshness of first love is not there. Now the apostle, he's writing the Thessalonians because they're in the enjoyment of first love. And it's beautiful to see. But what a sad thing in our own lives.
When we leave that and we're left with a mechanical Christianity.
Instead of.
Response from the ravishing of the Lord's love to our hearts.
01:00:07
Could be translated the best love. It's a really remarkable that the Lord uses that language in connection with the prodigal son. He gave them the best robe. You and I have been given the very best that God always gives the best and he has given his son. Could we have any better? You and I have a life to live through this scene as we imitate Paul and his life, but we can imitate Christ, we can follow him.
And I've just mentioned that in First Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul many times in his ministry says to follow him in verse one, the followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And so we ought to remember the Lord gave the very best, God gave the best of heaven, and the Lord Jesus gave us the very best, and He's provided the very best. Now for us to set it aside.
And to be taken up with a prosperous life or whatever it might be.
Is really setting our hearts affections aside. And what he really wants is the heart and the heart's affections. And if he doesn't have the heart's affections, if he doesn't have your heart's affections, he doesn't have what he wants. He doesn't want the wealth, he doesn't want the gifts. He doesn't, he wants the heart.
And so Paul is appealing to the hearts of these Saints, isn't he?
Now they had only seen him for probably 3 weeks as has been previously mentioned. And apparently we really only learn, we learn most of what we learn by observation. And we have some school teachers in the room and or former school teachers and they would probably attest to this, that you can give instruction, verbal instruction to children. You can tell them all you want, but really most of what we assimilate is by observation.
Maybe perhaps I've heard the figure of 85% of what we learned, we learned by observation. So we have a procedure to do to fix a part on a car or whatever, and you look on the Internet to see if you can find a video, and that tells you exactly how to do this. And you learn by observation. You can read the instruction sheet and you can get all the instructions right. But really you're missing that key element of being able to see. And so they had observed Paul's life.
They have observed that in verse five, that God had intervened in their lives and in power. The gospel came to them. They didn't go to the gospel. The gospel came to them unto you, in a word, not in Word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men. We were among you for your sake, and ye became followers of us, and so they.
Saw something of the life of the Apostle Paul and his devotion to Christ and his love.
They saw something of his faith, of his love, and of his hope.
And they said we want to be just like Paul and follow the Lord, just like Paul following the Lord. That's essentially what they said. And so we have examples as well in the day that we live in, and we might just turn to it. In Hebrews chapter 13, it says.
In verse 7, Hebrews 13 and verse seven, remember them which have the rule over you, those that have gone on before, really who have spoken unto you the word of God.
Whose faith follower imitates, considering the end of their conversation. And so we might want to just follow the Lord, like some of our older brethren have followed and are still following the Lord. No, Brother Gordon Hill used to often remind us, and some of us remember him well. He would say, you know, young people, it's a wonderful thing to have a good beginning. And he'd say, you know, I'm so encouraged to see you taking some notes as young people and just wanting to be at the meetings and everything.
He say it's a good thing to have a good beginning, but make sure you have a good ending. A good ending is better than a good beginning. And so here the apostle is really pleading in this sense with these Thessalonians that they would have a good ending and that they would continue on until the Lord came.
01:05:09
I think what Dave brought out was a very, very good that the exhortation of the epistle doesn't come until chapter four and five.
And the the apostle is very sensitive to the way in which he addresses them, and as mentioned, he doesn't scold them.
But He wanted them to be established. And the expectations do come in the end of the Epistle. It's the same Ephesians, isn't it? First of all, the Lord gives us all the blessings that we have in Christ, our position, our eternal portion, all that is presented to our hearts, first of all. And then the apostle deals.
About speaks to our state.
In the last part of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where we have the exhortation in chapter 4-5 and six, but not at the beginning of the book.
Shall we sing 200 and 87287?
Is not for.
Fear.
When Christ will.
Play Hillsong.
With sunshine.
Here thy voice.
Of heart.
Whoever can stop shall come.
God.
No.