Rejoicing in Grace

If God’s people would please
take your Bibles. I know the bulletin says first
Thessalonians, but I would have you to turn to Acts chapter 17. At least briefly this morning. There are times in life. When
things seem to be almost predictable. inevitable. And then there are
those times in life when God cuts against the grain and does
something quite unexpected, not necessarily a miracle, but uncanny,
unexpected, unpredictable, such as the case with the founding
of the Thessalonian church. It’s a church that by human standards
should not have been established. It’s only by the grace of God
and the seeds of the gospel that the seeds of the gospel germinated
and a church was planted. And that’s exactly the same for
Providence Bible Church. We are here against all odds,
purely by the grace of God. The Thessalonian Church was planted
during Paul’s second missionary journey, a journey that took
Paul from his home base and sending church in Antioch across Asia,
over the Adriatic Sea, down through Macedonia, modern-day Greece,
and back ultimately again to Jerusalem. Having parted with
Barnabas, that famous story, Paul enlisted the help of two
traveling companions for this particular journey, Silas and
a young man named Timothy. Both of the letters addressed
to this church were written during this same second journey, making
them among the earliest epistles that Paul ever wrote. During
this great tour, Paul had many stops and stays, one in particular
that by all accounts should not have borne fruit at all. It was
a visit that lasted less than a month, three weeks to be exact,
because the gospel was met with such hatred and hostility. And yet, Against all odds, the
gospel not only took root, it flourished. The city was Thessalonica,
a popular seaport town made up primarily of Greeks, but hosting
enough of a population of Jews to also have a synagogue. Before we turn to Paul’s first
epistle to the Thessalonians, I want to remind you how things
went on Paul’s missionary visit to that city, how difficult and
short-lived it was. Would you please glance down
at the book of Acts chapter 17, Acts 17, and we’ll take it right
from the top, verse one. Now, when they had traveled through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there
was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul’s custom,
he went to them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from
the scriptures. explaining and giving evidence
that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead
and saying, this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded
and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing
Greeks and a number of the leading women But the Jews, becoming
jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace,
formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. And attacking the
house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.
And they did not find them. They began dragging Jason and
some of the brethren before the city authorities. shouting, these
men who have upset the world have come here also, and Jason
has welcomed them. And they all act contrary to
the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. They stirred up the crowd and
the city authorities who heard these things, and when they had
received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released
them. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night
to Berea. And when they arrived, they went
into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these, that is the Jews of
Berea, these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for
they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures
daily to see whether these things were so. Just a few comments
on that passage. Paul, typically when he went
into a city that had a synagogue, waltzed right into the synagogue
as a Jew, converted to Christ, and proclaimed the gospel of
Jesus Christ. He told them about the Messiah. And it says here explicitly that
this lasted for three Sabbaths in Thessalonica. And there were
indeed some who responded when it says that they joined Paul
and Silas. It probably means nothing more
than they heard them then again a second and maybe even a third
time. Some of them were persuaded.
But the majority reacted strongly. They created this false charge,
even suggesting that Jesus was another king, the very charge
that put Jesus on the cross. Well, things didn’t go so well
there in Thessalonica. They were literally run out of
town. They fled in the night. And they went to Berea where
they were warmly welcomed. We’ll talk more about Berea in
a moment. Immediately upon their departure from Thessalonica,
Paul and his missionary team went to Berea, where they received
a much more favorable reception from the Jewish people. Their
warm welcome, though, didn’t last long because the Thessalonian
Jews blew into town and continued to wreak havoc on Paul’s ministry. Well, Paul and his team depart
from Berea, and we never hear about anything about Berea again. They made a good start. They
warmly welcomed these missionaries. We have no idea what became of
their interest. Paul then famously goes down
to Athens. where he preaches that epic message
regarding the Athenians’ unknown God, remember? There on the top
of Mars Hill, he receives a mixed reaction there. And so all things
considered, Paul moves on to the city of Corinth, where he
would labor for the next year and a half. As there had been
other cities, there still would be other cities that Paul and
his team would visit. As there had been other places
of ministry, there would still be other places of ministry.
Most of the cities through which Paul traveled earned no more
than an honorable mention in scripture there in the book of
Acts. Think of it. places like Seleucia, Salamis, Perga, Antioch and Pisidia,
Iconium, Lyconia, Lystra, Derbe, Phoenicia, Samaria, Cilicia. All of those cities were places
where Paul proclaimed the gospel. Yet we have no indication that
Paul ever wrote a letter an epistle to any of those churches, if
they were established at all. But even more remarkable is that
of those few churches to whom Paul did write, the most surprising
has to be his letters to the Thessalonians. Against all odds,
the message of the gospel had taken root. Souls had been saved. A church had been established.
We can flip back through the narrative in Acts and see the
obvious workings of God in places like Philippi and Corinth and
Ephesus. Paul visited Philippi on numerous
occasions with favorable results, even amid persecution. We know well that Paul spent
18 months in Corinth and nearly four years in the region of Ephesus. Thessalonica, his efforts there
lasted three weeks. And yet, by God’s grace, the
seeds of the gospel germinated in the hearts of the hearers
and a church was born. But God’s grace did not stop
there. God’s magnanimous gift of grace
does not cease at salvation. Rather, it continues to flow
in and through the believer. And it certainly did so in the
lives of the Thessalonian believers. And that brings us to the passage
that I would have us to consider this morning. 1 Thessalonians
chapter one. 1 Thessalonians chapter one,
Paul’s first and most prominent letter to this fledgling little
church plant. We’re here in the opening chapter
of this letter. Paul acknowledges the obvious. The magnanimous grace of God
in the lives of these people and this church. It was not only
saving grace that they experienced, but sustaining grace as well. We’ll pick it up for our purposes
this morning in verse two. We give thanks to God always
for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly
bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and
Father. Knowing, brethren beloved by
God, his choice of you. For our gospel did not come to
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction. Just as you know what kind of
men we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became
imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became
an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For
the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has
gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they
themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with
you. and how you turned to God from
idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son
from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus, who
rescues us from the wrath to come. This morning According
to the title, I want to just take you to rejoicing in grace,
which all of us as believers should do, but that’s exactly
what Paul is doing in this chapter. He’s rejoicing in God’s magnanimous
grace, and we see the shepherd’s joy at the grace of salvation,
but not just in salvation, Because He makes several observations
that stir us to praise. And we want to do the same. Let’s go back to verse two. who
give thanks to God always for all of you. It was typical in
a formal letter in Paul’s day to follow the greeting with an
expression of gratitude to the recipient of the letter. And
sometimes it was kind of flowery language and not really sincere. But in Paul’s case, it was. In
every letter that Paul wrote, Galatians only accepted, Paul
followed the same pattern. Introduction, then thanksgiving.
Paul and Silas, Paul’s co-laborer in the gospel, had received news
of the good state of the church of Thessalonica. None other than
their fellow worker in the gospel, young Timothy, came bearing a
report that things were not bleak. They were not hopeless at all
in Thessalonica. Paul details this report at the
end of chapter two. If you would just turn there
for just a moment, I want to pick up a few verses. First Thessalonians
chapter two, glance down at verse 17. Paul’s writing to the Thessalonians
and he’s telling them about his emissary, Timothy, who has now
brought back a report about them. Verse 17, but we, brethren, having
been taken away from you for a short while in person, not
in spirit, his heart was with them. We were all the more eager
with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to
you, I, Paul, more than once, and yet Satan hindered us. For
our purposes, if you would jump into chapter three, verse one.
Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best
to be left behind at Athens, alone. And we sent Timothy, our
brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen
and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be
disturbed by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that
we have been destined for this For indeed, when we were with
you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer
affliction, and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason,
when I could endure it no longer, I sent to find out about your
faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our
labor would be in vain. Would you look at verse six?
But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought
us good news of your faith and love and that you always think
kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see
you. For this reason, brethren, in
all our distress and affliction, we were comforted about you through
your faith. For now we really live if you
stand firm in the Lord. Now keep in mind, All that Paul
knows is that a handful of people responded
somewhat favorably to his messages there for three weeks, but the
majority, especially the Jews, were hostile, and they fled in
the dark to the next city, Berea, and it’s certain that Paul wondered
what had become of those people. the people that were sympathetic
to his message. And in hope, he sends this young
man, Timothy, to find out. And here in verse two of chapter
one, Silas and Paul, their immediate response is one of gratitude. It’s a spiritual reflex. And so Paul begins, we give thanks.
And please note, that Paul is thankful and that thankfulness
is for these Thessalonian believers, but that thankfulness is not
directed toward them. Thank you for being so faithful
to God. His thankfulness is directed
towards God for what God had done in them. We give thanks
to God, the one who had granted these Christians, as he does
all believers, the necessary grace of salvation and the necessary
grace for Christian living. The fact that these Thessalonians
believed and had a testimony at all was due only to the abundant
grace of God. I’d like you to note first here
in verse two, Paul’s expression of gratitude. He says that he
gives thanks. We only presume that that’s prayer,
but he says it explicitly there in verse two, making mention
of you in our prayers. Not surprisingly, Paul expressed
his gratitude during the course of his prayers to God. After
all, it was God who had done the work of salvation. And the
first thing that Paul says about his thankful heart is that it
found expression in his prayer life. making mention of you in
our prayers. A lot of times we can feel gratitude
for something, right? Something that someone has done
for us. We feel so thankful. But until that sentiment is expressed,
it’s relatively meaningless. When Paul thought about the Thessalonians,
that against all odds, The brevity of his stay, the simplicity of
his gospel message, the persecution that they experienced, in spite
of all of that, they had come to a saving knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that alone was worthy of
thanksgiving and praise to God on their behalf. Paul only mentions
his prayer on their behalf, but he delves into the specific reasons
for his gratitude in verse three. glance at that verse if you would,
where he gives the immediate prompting for his gratitude.
It was this report that he had received from Timothy. Verse
three, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor
of love and steadfastness of hope. Paul there mentions three
things that stood out to him from this report, things that
had quickly come to characterize the Thessalonian believers. their
work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope. So much
had these things become true of this church that Paul suggests
that his praise on their behalf was constant. And this, of course,
cannot be taken in a strictly literal sense. Paul had moments
where he had other conversations. Paul had moments where he did
other things. He did, after all, sleep, but
the Thessalonians were seemingly always on his mind. Every time he thought of these
believers, he uttered a word of praise to God. Paul was quite evidently a man
given much to prayer because he says things like this very
often. He told the Roman Christians
in 1.9 of that epistle, how unceasingly I make mention of you. And in
this very epistle, he makes the same expression in 2.13, we also
constantly thank God. And then he urges them to pray
without ceasing at the end of the, Epistle, what was it that
so moved Paul’s heart about these believers? It tells us three
things. First of all, their work of faith.
And I just will tell you this in no way can be construed as
suggesting an idea of somehow, some way working for their salvation. It’s not what Paul preached.
It’s not what Paul’s saying here. That is an entirely unbiblical
idea. No, this was the work, or rather
good works, that stem from faith. These are those things that James
challenges. Show me your faith without the
works, and I will show you my faith by my works. It’s not salvation
by good works, it’s salvation unto good works, remember? The second thing that prompted
Paul’s regular and enthusiastic praise for what God was doing
in these believers’ lives was their labor of love. Now, our
current day use of that phrase kind of seems to downplay that
virtue. Doing something for which you’re
not paid We’re not paid enough, a task that is done for pleasure,
not a reward, a labor of love. We can take out the garbage as
a labor of love, right? We can clean the garage as a
labor of love. But rather than downplaying the
effort of these believers, he elevates their service by acknowledging
that these believers service to one another was truly an act
of Christian love. First, the word labor that he
uses indicates real substantial work, bone-tiring work. Paul uses this little word to
refer both to his manual labor, his tent making ministry, and
the ministry by which he served other churches in his labor and
toil in the gospel. Whatever it was that the Thessalonians
were doing was hard, toilsome, legitimate service. But it was
all done for nothing more than the love of their brothers and
sisters in Christ. No wonder Paul commended this
same church. In the fourth chapter of this
very letter, he says, as to the love of the brethren, you have
no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves are taught
by God to love one another. Their loving service to one another
was a natural outgrowth of their faith. Genuine Christian faith produces
a love whose labors know no limits. There was a third thing about
the Thessalonians’ lives that prompted Paul’s gratitude. It
was their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian
hope is not the run-of-the-mill, wishful thinking kind of hope
that the world holds forth. Christian hope is born out of
a settled confidence in the already accomplished work of Christ,
which promises from God blessings in this life and eternity with
our Lord. And a steadfastness of such hope
is altogether immovable. It’s undeterred It’s unflinching,
it boldly perseveres through the most daunting challenges. And all of that gave Paul a glimpse
into eternity past. That’s right, because Paul says
in this connection, that given all that he had observed in the
lives of the Thessalonian believers, their reception of the gospel,
their work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope,
all of that was an unmistakable proof of one glorious truth. Would you glance down at verse
four? Knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you. The ultimate reason for Paul’s
gratitude as expressed in verse two was their divine election.
They were chosen by God from eternity past, and he lays this
out definitively, knowing. He’s not wishful thinking. He’s not hopeful. He says, I
already know it. Knowing his choice of you, but
this is a concise echo of that solemn declaration expressed
to the Ephesian believers in chapter one of Ephesians. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us
in him before the foundation of the world. It wasn’t a matter
of conjecture or opinion for Paul. He had objective proof
before him. How could this apostle be so
sure, so certain about these simple believers? Where was his
proof? Glance down, please, at verse
five. His proof of their divine choosing
was that they had responded to the gospel call. For our gospel
did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Spirit. Just end with full conviction,
just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you
for your sake. Paul’s confidence in their choosing
came from observing the data in front of him. Simply put,
they responded. I love the humble manner in which
Paul presents this account. He personifies the gospel by
saying effectively, the gospel came. It was Paul and his fellow workers
who came preaching the gospel, but he takes himself out of focus. Ultimately, it was the gospel,
the good news about Jesus Christ, his atonement and his resurrection. The bearers of this good news
were not the focus. They had indeed been entrusted
with the gospel and faithfully proclaimed it, but it was the
gospel that saved souls. I will always be amazed at the
simple process of gardening. You take a seed, a tiny little
seed, a variety of seeds, and you place it into the earth.
and amazing fruit bearing plants develop and flourish and produce. That’s a simple picture of the
seed of the gospel. The gospel to the Thessalonians
wasn’t mere words, but it was attended with the power of the
Holy Spirit. And as such, it brought about
what Paul calls here full conviction, repentance from sin, and faith
in Jesus Christ, Paul knew and believed and taught, as he instructed
the Corinthians, that a natural man does not accept the things
of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually
appraised. So, for a person to suddenly
comprehend and receive the gospel, that meant that something amazing
had happened. The Holy Spirit was that great
power. Attending to the gospel, opening
the eyes of the spiritually blind, the power they experienced was
nothing short of supernatural. And that could only mean one
thing, that God had set his love on them from eternity past, from
before the foundation of the world. What an encouragement
this must have been to these new believers in Thessalonica.
Paul saw and was able to interpret that which they themselves were
up to this moment completely unaware. Divine election. And from his vantage point, Paul
could see their eternal standing very plainly. Paul was overflowing
with his gratitude to God. He gave expression to that in
his prayers. He cited things that prompted
his immediate thankfulness. But ultimately he was assured
that these were God’s people chosen by him from eternity past. Paul’s not being theoretical
here or deeply theological about the doctrine of election as he
does in Ephesians 1 or Romans 8. He’s presumptive about it.
This was a doctrine which he simply states as a fact. He presents
this doctrine to the Thessalonians as a humbling truth, because
it wasn’t anything in them that made God move. And this church, this church,
you saints here at Providence Bible Church, manifest this same
work of faith, same labor of love, same steadfastness of hope,
You’ve long since given up the foolish idea of salvation by
works. You’re prompted by God’s own
Spirit to show your faith by your works. And having come to
faith in Jesus Christ, you are naturally led by Christ’s example
and the Spirit’s promptings to energetic and practical service
to the Savior and to his body. When you serve or as you serve,
You do so motivated simply by your love for your Savior and
for his church. And your hope is not in yourself.
Your hope is not in the government. Your hope is not in your 401ks. Your hope is in God. Those things
are generally true of you. You’re not perfect, even the
Thessalonians who were exemplary in the way they exhibited their
love for one another. Paul exhorted them, excel still
more. This church, you not only understand and humbly
embrace the difficult doctrine of divine election, but you prove
out your lives that you are truly God’s, that he has truly said
his love on you. There’s a second thing that Paul
observes. He’s made a spiritual observation
that stirs him to praise, but he makes a second observation
here that does likewise. not only for the grace of that
instant fruit of salvation, their humble reception of the gospel,
but also the grace of the sustained fruit of salvation, godly example. And Paul recognizes this readily
in verses 6 through 10. Look at verse six. You also became
imitators of us and of the Lord. These believers in Thessalonica
were no flash-in-the-pan Christians. The first thing that we learn
about them from these verses is that they not only became
imitators, they themselves became examples. Paul indeed had seen,
or rather heard, of their initial response to the gospel as detailed
above, verses two through five. But the faithfulness of these
believers didn’t stop there. It didn’t stop with their reception
of the gospel. They observed those who were
stable in the faith, mature believers, and by God’s grace began to emulate
them. You’ve heard it said, imitation
is the purest form of flattery, right? Well, these believers
were not emulating their fellow believers just simply out of
a desire to build anyone’s ego. Rather, it was from a sincere
heart they saw a godly example, and they sought to cultivate
that in their own lives. The Apostle Paul was never afraid
of urging others to emulate him. That sounds proud to our ears.
It isn’t. To the Corinthians, to the Corinthians,
he urged them, be imitators of me. To the Philippians, he said,
join in following my example. But the key to his mindset on
this imitation, he states clearly in 1 Corinthians 11, be imitators
of me, just as I am also of Christ. You see, Jesus Christ, not Paul,
was the ultimate pattern, and this church saw it and sought
to cultivate those same Christ-like virtues. The circumstances of
their embrace of the gospel were less than ideal. On the contrary,
these circumstances were very grave. They received the word
amid much tribulation, great persecution from the Jewish leaders
in town. The same hostility that Paul
faced there initially continued long after Paul was gone. In
chapter two, verse 14 of this same epistle, Paul reiterates
there that they became imitators even of the churches in Judea
that were enduring the same sufferings. But that only added to the remarkable
nature of their conversion, that it was attended with the joy
of the Holy Spirit, even in the midst of all of that. One of
the sure signs of being indwelled by God’s own spirit. And the emulation of the Thessalonian
church and their godly guests was so great that in a short
period of time, they too became a pattern to be followed. Did
you hear that? They too became a pattern that
other believers could look to as example. Look at verse seven. Well, let’s take a running start
from verse six. You became imitators having received the word so that
you became an example to all the believers. That’s just an
astonishing transformation. They went from ungodliness to
saving faith to exemplary Christ-likeness. That can only be done by God
himself. And so they were not only imitators, but examples,
and their example was not only local, that is within the immediate
city in which they were placed, their testimony quickly became
widely known. Their notoriety for godly living. surely began in Thessalonica
as others began to see these transformed lives. It went from
house to house and then block by block throughout the whole
city, but it didn’t stop there. The word of their example soon
spread throughout the entire region of Macedonia, a wide ranging
area encompassing modern day Greece and Bulgaria. Thessalonica
was at the eastern edge, about halfway up the coast of Macedonia,
or modern day Greece. But theirs was a testimony where
they were not just imitators, but exemplary, and they watched
and learned from their evangelistic brothers so well that now they
were patterns to be followed. And Paul says, not only did the
news of their conversion spread throughout their own region,
it spread even further all the way down to Achaia, covering
the distance essentially equivalent to the state of Florida, from
end to end. Why does Paul say this? Or better, how can Paul say this?
Well, consider the reasoning he provides in verse eight. For
the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has
gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. This is
remarkable. You see, we learn something else
about the sustained fruit of their salvation. Their influence
is greater still, not only locally known, but widely known. not
only throughout the entire region, but even beyond. And you can
imagine this proud papa of a church planter, Paul, right? He’s eager
to tell people about what’s going on up there, and he goes to reach
in his pocket to pull out his wallet to show them a picture,
if you will, about Thessalonica. And before he can even Pull the
picture out of his wallet. Others begin telling him. That’s
the amazing thing about the Thessalonian believers. He didn’t have to
say a word. Their testimony took on a life of its own. And Paul
says that like a giant brass bell, news of their influence
echoed far and wide. Their solid Christian testimony
was widely known. What a beautiful sound. What
a beautiful sound. And there’s one last distinctive
about their godly example. They were not only imitators,
but examples. Their testimony was not only
locally known, but widely known. And third, they were known not
only for their willingness to serve, but also their eagerness to wait,
to wait upon their Savior’s return. In one of the most descriptive
sets of verses about any one of his churches, Paul describes
their conversion in verses nine and 10. Would you look down at
those verses briefly? Verse nine is fascinating because
it captures the testimony about the Thessalonians that Paul was
hearing, not from them, nor even from his fellow workers, but
from other believers throughout the region. It says, they themselves
report to us what kind of reception we had with you. Everybody knew
it. And that was just remarkable. Other believers throughout the
entire region heard that though there was a strong reaction from
the Jews, that the seeds of the gospel indeed had found fertile
soil, they had germinated and they were growing, flourishing. But look at how beautifully Paul
describes their conversion in verse nine. He says that they
report how you turned to God from idols. The repentance was
thorough. This is a graphic picture of
repentance in which the sinner repudiates and turns his back
on sin. Here, idolatry. And he turns
to God in faith. This turning is not without purpose.
Salvation is not the end of the Christian life, it’s the beginning. And Paul notes here that this
turning was not only a turning to serve, but also a turning
to wait. The observation of their intention
to serve is not remarkable, given the immediate prompting for the
apostles’ gratitude. Verse three, remember we went
through this, their work of faith and labor of love. where after all, we’re saved
to serve the body of Christ. What is remarkable is the second
intention that the apostle identifies, that they turned to God, not
only to serve, but to wait, to wait for Jesus to return from
heaven. This is one of the significant
things for which the Thessalonians were known. that they were looking
and waiting for Jesus’ return. Paul mentions the waiting for
the Lord, the Lord’s return three times in his letter, eighth chapter
of Romans. He urges really in 819, the creation
waits eagerly. 823, we are waiting eagerly for
our adoption. 825, with perseverance we wait eagerly. He urges the Corinthians to wait
until the Lord comes in 4-5. He acknowledges that believers
are waiting upon the Lord’s return in Galatians 5-5. Philippians
3-20, our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for
a Savior, the Lord Jesus. But the Thessalonians, they didn’t
need to be exhorted. They didn’t need to be commanded
to wait upon the Lord. As the Apostle Peter put it,
they were already looking and hastening for the coming of the
day of God. Jesus, their Savior, had ascended
into heaven to take his rightful seat at the right hand of God.
He had promised to go and prepare a place for them, and they were
looking, waiting, longing for Christ’s return. Christ promised to return in
glory to take his church home forever, and this was the Thessalonians’
faith in action. And this church, the Saints of
Providence Bible Church generally, exhibit the same godly example
as did that first century church. You’ve not only become imitators,
but examples. You have your role models, your
heroes of the faith, your disciples. You’ve learned of them and soon
began to emulate their godly examples, so much so that you
soon found yourselves leading and teaching and discipling others,
setting forth a new generation of examples to follow. Your example
is known not only locally here in town, but widely. Think even of this past year.
Your testimony abroad in the support, both prayer and financially,
not only for locally the Alpha Center, but also of the Tetros,
literally a global ministry, and of the Syringas and the Supreacans. We don’t even know where they
are now. Brett Laird, the Syringas, the Supreacans, all ministering
in Ukraine because of the support of this
church. These people all know the name
of this church, and they think of her fondly. And like the Thessalonians,
you are not only eager to serve, but you expectantly wait upon
the return of your Savior. We’re looking, we’re waiting. Almost to a person I hear it
expressed all the time. You’re longing for the Lord’s
return, not unlike the Thessalonian church. This church too is a
surprise. This church, too, is an unpredictable
phenomenon, even a miracle. Against all odds, this church
was planted. Amid great challenges, she has
survived. And just like the Thessalonian
church of old, it is all by God’s abundant grace. Would you humble
yourself before him in gratitude?