0:05 [Music]
0:07 welcome to back to the Bible radio
0:09 featuring best-selling author and
0:11 internationally known Bible teacher
0:14 Warren where's being let me read you now
0:17 a description of an ideal Church 1st
0:20 Thessalonians chapter 1 beginning at
0:24 verse 5 and concluding at verse 8 for
0:26 our gospel did not come to you in word
0:30 only but also in power and in the Holy
0:34 Spirit and in much assurance as you know
0:36 what kind of men we were among you for
0:39 your sake and you became followers of us
0:42 and of the Lord having received the word
0:45 in much affliction with joy of the Holy
0:48 Spirit so that you became examples to
0:50 all in Macedonia and Achaia
0:54 who believed for from you the word of
0:57 the Lord has sounded forth not only in
1:00 Macedonia and Achaia but also in every
1:03 place your faith toward God has gone out
1:07 so that we do not need to say anything
1:09 now here's an exciting church here's an
1:12 enthusiastic church here is a church
1:14 that isn't satisfied just with Orthodox
1:18 theology the Holy Spirit is at work and
1:21 the Word of God is going out with power
1:26 now this church has four very prominent
1:29 characteristics and I would say these
1:32 are the four characteristics of every
1:34 church that is really doing what God
1:38 wants that church to do number one they
1:41 were receivers then they became
1:46 followers then examples and then
1:48 transmitters it's rather interesting
1:51 that those who began as receivers became
1:53 transmitters and that's the way it ought
1:55 to be let's take this first
1:58 characteristic 1st Thessalonians chapter
2:03 1 and verse 6 having received the word
2:06 in much affliction with joy of the Holy
2:09 Spirit now the Word of God came to them
2:13 in verse 5 we read for our gospel did
2:16 not come to you in word only the word
2:18 came to them the only way
2:21 people can be saved is through the word
2:25 coming to them he says our gospel now
2:27 didn't mean he owned the gospel it meant
2:29 that the gospel had become very precious
2:32 to him it was his message of the gospel
2:35 the preaching of the grace of God he
2:38 came to Thessalonica along with Silas
2:41 and Timothy and he preached the word of
2:44 the Lord the word came to them there are
2:48 a number of titles for the word in the
2:50 word it's called the word of the gospel
2:54 in acts 15 seven in acts 20:32 it's the
2:57 word of God's grace the gospel involves
3:01 the grace of God the only way to be
3:04 saved is by grace all you say I'm saved
3:07 by faith plus my good works no you're
3:11 saved by grace for by grace are we saved
3:14 through faith and that not of ourselves
3:18 it is the gift of God not of works lest
3:21 any man should boast it's called the
3:23 word of reconciliation in second
3:27 Corinthians 5:19 it's the word of truth
3:30 2nd Corinthians 6 7 it's the word of
3:34 righteousness Hebrews 5:13 because when
3:36 you believe the Word of God and receive
3:39 it it brings about righteousness in your
3:42 life it's the word of faith Romans 10:8
3:45 because this word must be believed it is
3:47 the Word of God
3:50 faith comes by hearing and hearing by
3:54 the Word of God Romans 10:17 therefore
3:57 when you receive the Word of God you are
4:00 receiving the life of God when you
4:02 reject it you are rebelling against the
4:03 God of the universe
4:07 they were receivers they received the
4:10 word the gospel came to them
4:13 that's the way people get saved now
4:14 don't let the doctrine of election
4:18 paralyze you because we know God has his
4:20 elect people in this world we're going
4:23 to preach the gospel and trust him to
4:26 save those he has chosen in Jesus Christ
4:28 now he tells us that he is not willing
4:30 that any should perish so we preach to everybody
4:32 everybody
4:34 who will have all men to be saved so we
4:37 witness to everybody because God alone
4:42 knows those who are his own in 2nd
4:45 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 13 and 14
4:47 Paul tells us how all of this is working
4:51 together 2nd Thessalonians 2:13 but we
4:53 are bound to give thanks to God always
4:55 for you brethren be loved by the Lord
4:58 because God from the beginning chose you
5:02 for salvation through sanctification by
5:04 the spirit and belief in the truth
5:06 others where the word of God comes in to
5:11 which he called you by our gospel the
5:14 same God who ordains the and ordains the
5:17 means to the end the word must go out
5:19 well they were receivers now they
5:21 welcomed the Word of God the word
5:25 received in verse 6 means to welcome
5:27 they welcomed the Word of God
5:30 now they heard it they welcomed it they
5:33 rejoiced in it here's an amazing thing
5:36 having received the word says verse 6 in
5:38 much affliction with joy of the Holy
5:41 Spirit how do you have joy when you're
5:42 going through affliction because you've
5:45 received the word I can't explain this I
5:48 cannot explain to you the joy that comes
5:50 to your heart through the Word of God
5:52 when you're going through difficult
5:55 times it's the work of the Holy Spirit
5:58 of God these people receive the Word of
6:00 God and the word was not just given in
6:04 word only says verse 5 it wasn't just an
6:07 oration a lecture a speech that somebody
6:10 gave the word came to them not in word
6:14 only but in power because the Holy
6:16 Spirit was at work and there was much
6:19 assurance in their hearts God's Spirit
6:21 bore witness with their spirit that they
6:24 were indeed the children of God do you
6:27 rejoice at hearing the Word of God the
6:30 word brings joy and they suffered in the
6:32 receiving of the word now most people
6:34 today don't suffer because they receive
6:35 the Word of God
6:38 there's no persecution that goes on some
6:40 people do there are some people who
6:43 listen to back to the Bible who have
6:45 family members who persecute them
6:46 because they turn their
6:49 they suffer for it but not many we have
6:51 an easy time hearing the Word of God
6:54 today and we take it for granted the
6:56 first characteristic of the ideal Church
6:59 is the people there are receivers
7:02 secondly they were followers verse six
7:04 and you became followers of us and of
7:07 the Lord having received the word the
7:09 word followers here gives us our English
7:12 word mimic imitate they became
7:15 mimics now we are not saved by imitating
7:19 Jesus Christ he is our example but he
7:21 must first be your Savior before he can
7:24 be your example no we aren't saved by
7:26 imitating Christ but when you are saved
7:29 you do want to imitate the Lord Jesus
7:32 notice they first became followers
7:35 imitators of Paul and Silas and Timothy
7:36 that's normal
7:39 a little children in the home imitate
7:41 mother and father and that means we'd
7:43 better be the kind of people worth
7:45 imitating and new Christians have a
7:47 tendency to imitate the preacher the
7:48 sunday-school teacher
7:51 we learn by imitation nothing wrong with
7:53 that this is one reason why we have the
7:56 Word of God we read about these great
8:00 saints of God in the Bible and these
8:03 people are worth imitating by the way
8:06 everybody is imitating somebody you have
8:09 some ideal some model someone you
8:11 imitate by the way you are the best
8:13 Christian somebody knows somebody's
8:16 watching you imitating you oh how
8:19 essential it is that we be followers of
8:23 the Lord Jesus Christ Paul wrote to the
8:26 Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 11:1 and
8:30 said imitate me just as I also imitate
8:34 Christ be careful that the person you're
8:36 following is walking in the right
8:39 direction and he is following she is
8:42 following the Lord Jesus Christ
8:45 they were receivers they were followers
8:47 then in verse 7 of 1st Thessalonians 1
8:50 they became examples themselves others
8:53 could follow them so that you became
8:57 examples to all in Macedonia and Akaya
9:00 who believe this word example
9:02 gives us our English word type it's the
9:06 Greek word to pus a type is an example
9:10 the word means an authorized model they
9:13 became authorized models of what a
9:16 Christian ought to be how did this
9:19 happen how do followers become leaders
9:22 how do followers become examples through
9:25 the Word of God the Word of God
9:28 transforms us oh how I wish I could get
9:31 people to understand the power of the
9:32 Word of God
9:34 now the Word of God when it is received
9:39 and believed and obeyed establishes
9:41 righteousness in our lives we become
9:44 like the Lord Jesus Christ he is the
9:47 Living Word and that written word makes
9:49 us to be like him
9:52 finally there's a fourth characteristic
9:54 they were receivers they became
9:56 followers they became examples and they
10:00 became transmitters verse 8 for from you
10:02 the word of the Lord has sounded forth
10:05 receivers are always to become
10:07 transmitters now this word sounded
10:10 fourth means to sound a trumpet and the
10:14 echo of that sound just keeps on going
10:17 it is an echo that just keeps on going
10:19 indefinitely he's saying that they
10:23 shared the Word of God first they became
10:26 followers then they became examples then
10:29 they became missionaries witnesses who
10:32 transmitted the Word of God throughout
10:36 Macedonia and Akaya and Paul says
10:38 wherever I go they tell me about
10:41 Thessalonica I want to tell them what
10:42 happened and they say oh we've already
10:45 heard about how God has transformed
10:49 those people well God wants the message
10:52 to spread everywhere Thessalonica was a
10:55 city of about 200 thousand people it was
10:58 on the Ignatian way an important route
11:00 it was a capital city it was a busy
11:03 Seaport a lot of people came and went in
11:06 Thessalonica and they heard the Word of
11:08 God and because of that the Word of God
11:12 spread and it spread abroad
11:15 transmitters of the Word of God that the
11:17 gospel might get to the ends of the earth
11:24 you know it's wonderful when a church is
11:28 talked about and what people say is good
11:30 unfortunately in some communities the
11:32 churches are talked about but what
11:35 people are saying is just gossip and the
11:37 news is not too good here in
11:40 Thessalonica was a group of people who
11:42 were so excited so enthusiastic so
11:46 transformed so filled with the Spirit of
11:50 God so wrapped up in the Word of the
11:52 Living God that miracles were taking
11:55 place in their midst lives were being
12:00 changed God was at work well there were
12:01 three special topics of conversation
12:05 that related to the church at
12:08 Thessalonica and these three topics of
12:11 conversation ought to be topics of
12:13 conversation as far as our churches are
12:16 concerned the people talked first of all
12:19 about the message what the gospel is
12:21 then they talked about the ministry how
12:25 the gospel comes and then they finally
12:27 talked about the miracle what the gospel
12:29 does I hope this is what people are
12:31 talking about in your community about
12:34 your church let's start with the message
12:36 people were talking about what the
12:39 gospel is here is a wonderful new
12:42 message they had never heard before the
12:45 Thessalonica was not a little byway the
12:47 Salonika was a very important city in
12:50 fact the largest and most important city
12:53 in macedonia some two hundred thousand
12:55 people it was a city to which many
12:58 people gravitated and Paul and Silas and
13:01 Timothy came to Thessalonica with a new
13:04 message now remember these people had
13:06 plenty of religion they had plenty of
13:09 philosophy the Greek people have their
13:13 philosophers and their religion and they
13:15 did not want to hear anything new now
13:20 here come a Jew Paul Silas was a Jew
13:23 Timothy was part Jew part Gentile here
13:25 comes this strange team they had been in
13:29 Philippi at Philippi Paul and Silas had
13:31 been arrested they had been beaten now
13:33 here come these X
13:37 jailbirds so to speak they had marks on
13:39 their bodies that they had been beaten
13:42 who would want to listen to them
13:45 after all here are men who might be well
13:47 they might be people the law is looking
13:50 for they might be escaped prisoners
13:53 escaped criminals who knows but they
13:55 came with a message and the message they
13:58 came with was a message these people had
14:00 never heard before it was a message
14:04 about one Jesus Christ the Son of God
14:08 now Greek religion had no good news I'm
14:10 sure you have read some of the myths
14:11 that have come down to us from the
14:14 Greeks all about gods and goddesses
14:17 acting like little children Greek
14:19 philosophy had no good news regardless
14:21 of which school of philosophy you
14:23 followed they had no good news and yet
14:27 here comes Paul with his friends bearing
14:30 good news the good news about the Lord
14:33 Jesus Christ first of all he died notice
14:35 that whom he raised from the dead
14:40 so this Jesus Christ died now why did he
14:42 die he died for our sins he did not die
14:45 for his own sins he had none he died for
14:48 our sins then he arose from the dead
14:50 notice what verse 10 says whom he raised
14:54 from the dead he arose from the dead
14:56 proving that his sacrifice had been
15:00 accepted by the father we have a living
15:04 Savior a risen victorious Savior now he
15:07 has ascended to wait for his son from
15:10 heaven he's not in the cemetery he's not
15:13 on earth he is in heaven and he has sent
15:16 His Holy Spirit to represent him here in
15:19 this world now this is good news it's
15:20 good news that there is one who has
15:23 conquered death the Greeks did not know
15:25 what to do with death they had such
15:29 strange ideas about life after death and
15:32 they were looking for some way to get
15:36 some assurance for life after death and
15:39 Jesus Christ has conquered death he has
15:42 conquered sin but that's not all
15:45 notice that he is coming again to wait
15:47 for his son from
15:50 heaven this same Jesus who died for you
15:54 who arose again for your justification
15:56 who ascended to heaven to represent you
15:58 at the throne of the Father is one day
16:01 going to come and take his people home
16:05 every chapter in 1st Thessalonians ends
16:07 with a reference to the return of our
16:10 Lord Jesus Christ he's going to come
16:13 again and when he comes he's going to
16:15 deliver his people from the wrath to
16:18 come so he is not only the ascended
16:21 reigning Savior he is the savior who is
16:24 coming again he is the deliverer but
16:27 he's also the judge there is a wrath to
16:30 come now some folks don't like to talk
16:31 about that
16:33 oh if you've never called upon him do so
16:38 today because the wrath of God is coming
16:41 secondly the people talked about not
16:43 only the message but the ministry how
16:47 the gospel comes notice verse 9 for they
16:49 themselves declare concerning us what
16:53 manner of entry we had to you when Paul
16:55 and Silas and Timothy came into Thessalonica
16:56 Thessalonica
16:59 they were not like the other wandering
17:03 preachers and teachers and philosophers
17:04 who went from city to city
17:07 they were different by the way they
17:09 ought to be different today the way we
17:12 do the ministry ought to be different
17:15 from the way people sell used cars and
17:18 toothpaste chapter 2 verse 1 for you
17:21 yourselves know brethren that are coming
17:24 to you was not in vain but even after we
17:27 had suffered before and were spitefully
17:29 treated at Philippi as you know we were
17:32 bold in our God to speak to you the
17:36 gospel of God in much conflict that word
17:39 conflict gives us our word agony in much
17:41 agony not just physical but spiritual
17:46 emotional here are three men who come
17:48 from Philippi and they are not like
17:51 these other teachers who wandered around
17:54 Macedonia and Achaia trying to get a
17:56 following trying to make some money
17:58 trying to get something for themselves
18:00 using various
18:04 devices Paul said we don't minister that
18:08 way we don't use that approach at all in
18:10 our ministry of the word of God here
18:13 we're a group of man three men who did
18:17 not use deceit they were open and honest
18:20 and straightforward and bold and loving
18:23 and people were amazed they said we've
18:25 never seen this before why our religious
18:28 leaders aren't like this but these men
18:31 were different the Greek religion had
18:34 nothing to offer to anybody myths and
18:37 stories and suppositions Greek
18:40 philosophy had nothing to offer acts
18:44 17:30 Paul summarized all of Greek
18:47 history in one phrase acts 17:30 the
18:52 times of this ignorance ignorance
18:56 idolatry they had no hope no life this
18:58 is why we send out missionaries people
19:00 say well why disturb the beautiful
19:01 culture of these people
19:03 you ought to examine their beautiful
19:07 culture and see how ugly and low it is
19:11 in some areas you see idolatry
19:15 immorality ignorant Jesus says I'm the
19:17 way the truth the life the only way the
19:20 only truth the only life and people were
19:22 talking about the ministry how the
19:25 gospel came thirdly people were talking
19:27 about the miracle what the gospel does
19:29 what does it do it changes people's
19:32 lives change their direction how you
19:37 turned to God from idols now the Greek
19:39 people had idols all over the place it
19:41 was said it was easier to find a God in
19:43 Athens than to find a man well Paul was
19:45 in Thessaloniki and was probably just as
19:48 bad I tell you when you study the Word
19:51 of God and find how great our God is
19:54 when Paul preached the greatness and
19:57 glory and grace of God these people said
19:59 we don't want our idols we found
20:01 something better they didn't turn away
20:03 from the idols because Paul convinced
20:05 them the idols were wrong I'm sure he
20:08 did that they turned away from the idols
20:10 because they saw the glory and the Grace
20:12 and the wonder of the
20:15 god they turned from death to life they
20:18 changed their direction the Bible calls
20:22 this repentance and conversion secondly
20:26 they change their devotion to serve the
20:27 living and true God
20:30 now they had been serving false gods but
20:32 Paul said you can know the Lord Jesus
20:35 Christ he is your friend your Saviour he
20:38 will walk with you you can serve Him and
20:40 he will help you and so they changed
20:43 their direction they were converted they
20:45 changed their devotion and they also
20:48 changed their destination to wait for
20:51 his son from heaven whom he raised from
20:54 the dead even Jesus who delivers us from
20:57 the wrath to come what is your
21:01 destination our God is a God of judgment
21:05 John 3:36 he who believes in the son has
21:07 everlasting life and he who does not
21:10 believe the son shall not see life but
21:16 the wrath of God abides on him oh my
21:18 friend if you have never trusted the
21:19 Lord Jesus Christ
21:22 the wrath of God hovers over your head
21:25 right now all day long all night long
21:27 whether you think about it or not how
21:29 much better it would be to know Jesus
21:32 Christ as your Savior to trust him the
21:36 Lord Jesus Christ well this is what
21:39 people were talking about in Kyah and
21:41 Macedonia they were talking about a
21:44 wonderful message the good news that
21:47 people can be saved from sin and death
21:50 and judgment when you believe the
21:53 message of the gospel when you receive
21:56 Jesus Christ as your own Savior
21:59 something happens to you you change
22:02 direction you turn from idols to the
22:04 Living God you changed your devotion you
22:07 begin to serve this living and true God
22:11 you change your destination you're no
22:13 longer worried about the wrath to come
22:15 because you belong to the Savior who
22:18 delivers you from the wrath to come all
22:23 do trust him today he is the only Savior
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