Thank God for Faith

Scripture Reading

Will you turn over in your Bibles now with me to, sorry, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, if you're using your pew Bible, you can find that on page 1051. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, today's message will be from verses 2 through 10.

Hear now God's word. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples in all Macedonia and Acacia who believe. For from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.

Your faith towards God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything, for they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to 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 from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Brothers and sisters, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God, the word of our God endures forever.

In 2004, there was a young legal scholar on the rise, He was actually named one of China's 50 top intellectuals. But something happened a year later in 2005. He became a Christian. He was converted and he was baptized. Six years later, he was installed in 2011 as the first pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church and saw the ministry flourish there. And then on December 9th, 2018, Pastor Wang Yi was arrested. We've had one letter of communication from Pastor Yi, sentenced to nine years, nine years in jail in Communist China for proclaiming the gospel. But it wasn't just him.

Over 100 members of early reign were also arrested. Countless others have been forced out of their homes. Countless others, the government pressured their employers to terminate their jobs. Countless others found communist police standing outside their doors, seeing who was coming in and who was going out.

The communists found this group so dangerous that wives were not allowed to take their little children down to the playground to meet with other women in the church. Why? Well, they might pray with each other. These ladies with these little children might get together and they might sing to God's praises. This was so dangerous that you needed to keep them apart.

That's the type of faith we see here. The type of faith we read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 2 through 10 is not a bygone faith, but it is a living faith. It is a faith that's alive today in the East and in the West. Paul's point here, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, as they are co-authoring this letter here, are thankful. They're thankful for the faith that they see lived out in the lives of the Thessalonians. They're thankful for the faith that they see even under the affliction that they face in Thessalonia.

And so today, today your call is to likewise have a living, powerful, and enduring faith. Let's turn our eyes to the text this morning. Let's look at what God actually says here. We give thanks always for you all making mention of you in our prayers. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, they knew this church.

In Acts chapter 17, verses 1 through 9, we find out that they had gone there after they had left Philippi, after they had been arrested and ushered out. They go into Thessalonia, and there, as they are talking to the people, They find some Jews who will listen to them. And as they find some Jews who will listen to them, they also find a whole bunch of Gentiles who also come and are converted and believe in Jesus Christ.

There are others who come from around the area and they also, and the Jewish people who see all this happening, who don't believe, are upset about this. And so they go to the civil magistrate and they try to press charges. These people say that there's another king other than Caesar. And in the midst of this brand new baby church, probably only a couple months old, all of a sudden, there's a charge against them that they're turning the world upside down.

And they arrest Jason, in whose house the church was meeting, eventually let him out on bail, but the church sends Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to go. This was a church that was excited when they first met a church that was embracing the gospel, a church that was showing that they believed the gospel.

And as Paul leaves, and he's most likely writing this letter now in Corinth, he's looking back and he's saying, you're still enduring. And every time we get together, every time Paul, Silvanus, or Silas, Silvanus, however you wanna translate it. If you're using the NIV, it's just going to say Silas. Silas and Silvanus are the same name. And Timothy, whenever these group of guys get together, they pray. Notice the we.

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. When they get together for these prayer meetings, it's heavy on their hearts to thank God for the people there. To thank God for this church that's still enduring in the face of affliction. To thank God for this church that's still going on even though affliction is upon them. To thank God for them. And then verses 3 through 10 give us the content of their thanksgiving. Look with me at verse 3.

They remember without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God, our Father. They have a faith not just intellectually. They have a faith that does not just live in their souls to be kept by themselves, but they have a faith that's in action. They have a faith that's powerful. Look at what it says here, this work of faith, this labor of love. and their patience and endurance and hope. It's a moving faith, it's an acting faith.

It's not just a, oh, I'm saved, so I'm gonna come to the synagogue and hear about Jesus, and we got kicked out, so I went to the home church, and I was sitting there, and I was hearing about Jesus, and now I just go home and feel good about myself, but my life goes on just like I used to live as a pagan. No. No, that's not what happens. How did they receive faith? Look at verses four and five with me.

Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were for your sake. The gospel didn't just come to them and leave them in their pagan state. It wasn't just making them emotionally feel good, but it was clear to everyone that their election was sure. For the power of God was behind the preaching of the gospel.

That when they heard the word of God with their ears, it sank down deep into their souls, and God took out that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. That He had made old creatures new again. He had taken vessels fit for destruction and had transferred them over to be vessels for royal use.

For some reason, unknown to them, God had chose them, he had poured out his Holy Spirit upon their hearts and their hearts were assured. The Apostle Paul's heart was assured, Silas' heart was assured, Timothy's heart was assured, their hearts were assured that this is the truth, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one could come to the Father but through him, that God himself had become incarnate and had died a death for them and lives a life now for them. They believed this message. It was clear in their lives and it was clear in their hearts that they believed. They didn't just believe, again, they acted.

Look with me at verse six. There's an interesting translation difference here that in the New King James Version it says, and you became followers of us and of our Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. and you became followers, a better translation would be, and you became imitators. And you became imitators of us and of our Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't just hear it, but they lived it.

They didn't just let it go in one ear and out the other, but it moved their hands and their feet. We know what this looks like in the book of Acts, when people sold their possessions and they cared for one another. When people got together and they prayed for one another.

When people put aside their service to idols and they started to serve the living and true God. They became imitators of the Apostle Paul and of Silas and of Timothy. and even more so of Jesus Christ himself. They began to love their enemies. They began to put away the deeds of darkness. And so Paul, Timothy, and Silas give thanks. They give thanks because they became imitators by receiving the word, but notice how they received the word. Again, verse six. having received the word in much affliction and with joy of the Holy Spirit." Affliction and joy, can those exist in the same sentence?

There are preachers and pastors out there who will try to tell you that if you become a Christian, the Lord wants you to have health. If you become a Christian, the Lord wants you to be happy. If you become a Christian, the Lord wants to give you increase upon increase. They wanna paint a rosy picture, all rainbows and tweeting birds in the morning, beautiful sunrises all the time.

But I love you guys too much to tell you that type of lie. The joy that we have is not the joy in this world or the pleasures of this world, but it's that God loved us so much that he gave his only son to die and to live for us. That is the joy that we have in the Holy Spirit, not the joy that we find in the things of this world, but in who God is and what he has done for us. This is the joy that they have even in the face of affliction. even as they are under persecution.

Verses seven and eight, they go on with thanks. They give thanks for the manner of their faith. Look with me at verse seven and eight. so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and in Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth.

This is the idea of somebody, we just went to Farm King the other day. I love Farm King, I shouldn't go there. There's so many fun things to get. But Farm King is like this rural store that is hidden from the entire world except the Midwest. It's so wonderful because you can buy things like cowbells. And you can take that cowbell, you can get a big one or a small one and you can ring it out and the kids will run for dinner.

That's what the word idea here is, that your faith is ringing out, that as far as the ear can hear, people are hearing about their faith. People all over Macedonia in the north and Achaia, just north of Greece, that whole region, everybody's hearing about the faith of the people in Thessalonica. They're going there and they are hearing. that God has saved people even there and they're living out the gospel. And what does this look like? This looks like verses nine and 10.

For they themselves declare concerning among us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. They had welcomed the gospel preachers And when they heard the good news that there is one God who made heaven and earth and all creation must bow down to him alone, they didn't about face. They were going one way, they were serving idols and instead now they turned to serve the living and true God.

What does that mean about the idols? Well, they're false and they're dead. If God is living and true, then that means the idols, what they had devoted their entire lives to, were a lie and were dead. Nothing but stones, nothing but wood, nothing but vain imagination.

And they had turned from that and turned toward God. But they also lastly give thanks in verse 10, Paul and his companions give thanks that they wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come, they are thankful that they are waiting upon the Lord, thankful that they are waiting for him.

So this is what the text says, this is how we understand it, but I need to take you to school for a moment, and we need to understand, okay, so we've talked a lot about faith, we've touched on eschatology for a second, but what do these things mean? What do these doctrines mean?

We've even talked about prayer a whole bunch. In your outlines, you have the topic of corporate prayer. That just means as a body praying together. All the we's, we pray, we think, we think, we think, we think. When we look at the Lord's Prayer, the Westminster Shorter Catechism is so helpful here. What does the preface to the Lord's Prayer teach us? The preface to the Lord's Prayer teaches us that we can come to God as children to a father, ready and able to help us, and that we ought to pray with and for others. With and for others. Have you ever looked at the Lord's Prayer before?

Notice that it's not I, I, I, me, me, me, my, my, my. Lord's Prayer is all in the first person plural. Father, forgive us of our sins. Give us our daily bread. our Father who's in heaven. It's us as a corporate body. It's us praying together. It's us with a collective heart going to the Lord.

This is why we've spent so much time in worship devoted to prayer, because this is what Jesus even said, right? When he went into the temple and they were making an exchange or a den of thieves, a den of robbers, because they were just selling stuff, what did he say? What was this house supposed to be? His father's house was supposed to be a house of prayer, but they admit it into a den of robbers. This is why we pray with one another. This is why we, sometimes, doesn't it feel like when you tell someone, oh, I'll pray for you, it feels like, oh man, I'm not really doing much for them.

This is the greatest thing we can do, is go to the God of heaven and earth and go before his throne of grace and we can say, Lord, please hear this petition. Take this prayer from us. This is one of the things we do in Hebrews chapter 10, 24 and 25, when it tells us, and let us consider one another to stir up love and good works.

For not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. One of the ways in which we encourage each other is praying. Hearing the children pray. Hearing one another pray for the missionaries. Hearing somebody have the courage to say, I'm really struggling right now with such and such an issue. and hearing the whole body care for that one member. That's one of the things that the church is about. And indeed, in 1 Thessalonians 5, we're gonna get there probably in a few weeks.

1 Thessalonians 5, 16 and 18, they write, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What is the will of God in your life? That you would rejoice always, pray without ceasing. God's people are praying people. God's worship should be a house of prayer. Secondly, faith.

In this passage, we learn a great deal about faith, but what is faith in Jesus Christ? What is saving faith? In your bulletins, I've gone ahead and printed out the two catechism questions there. What is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. Faith is resting, receiving and resting in Jesus Christ. This is what the Thessalonians did. And it's by faith alone. They are saved by faith alone.

But none of us are saved by a faith that's ever alone. We're not saved, as I put a fancy Latin phrase there, fide non opera. It's not that we're saved by faith alone, never for that faith to operate. But no, we always have a faith that's in operation. The Lord convinces our minds, changes our hearts, and then uses our hands and our feet to live out the gospel.

And that's what the next question says. What is repentance unto life? These are literally right after each other in the catechism. Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavor after, what? New obedience. Turning away from dead idolatry, turning away from sin that leads unto death and turning to God. That looks like a whole bunch of different ways in your life, doesn't it? repenting unto life. What is the sin in your life that needs to be put to death? What is the idol of your heart? Is it covetousness? Is it lust? Is it greed? Is it immorality? Is it lying? What is it? Is it your gluttony? Has your belly become your God? Repenting looks like turning away from that and turning unto God, and this is what the Apostle Paul is saying he's thankful for. They have a faith under fire. They have a faith that's being tested. They have a faith that's enduring. This is the soil that Jesus talks about in the book of Luke chapter eight, when he talks about the four different soils.

Do you remember that parable? Just by the way, I learned something new since I moved to the rural area. You guys are so great. Farmers today, farmers today are amazing. You have tractors that have planters. That's something new. I didn't know that planters were different than tractors when we first moved here. But not just planters, but you have planters that you can tell every single seed that's put into the ground. You plant them in straight rows. You plant them in a certain place in a certain way. You know exactly where they are. That ain't how it was in the old days. You would have a sack. And in that sack, you would have a whole bunch of seeds. And you would just broadcast it. You would just throw it out there. Just throw it all out.

And you didn't know where it was going to land. Some of it would land on the rocky soil, or not on the rocky soil, on the path. And that didn't even have a chance to go in. That's like the seed going right onto the middle of the gravel road. It ain't got no chance of growing. If you find plants growing in the middle of a gravel road, let me know. I'll take a picture. But then you have also the seed that falls on the thorny soil. So it's on the edge of the gravel road. And it might come up fast at first, but then it's gonna die out. And Jesus says that's the seed that actually got choked up by the weeds on the side. Why? Because it's the deceitfulness of wealth and the cares of its life.

There's another type of soil, and that's a good soil, right? The soil that's really rich in nutrients and good and healthy, and that's like Iowa dirt. You spit and something will grow. I mean, this is good soil, and that's what our hearts are supposed to be. That's what the Thessalonians' hearts were.

But when Paul left, he didn't know what type of soil he had sown in, because there's another soil. There's a rocky soil. that sprouts up real fast with great joy, but then the sun comes out and scorches it and it dies away. Jesus tells us that that's like the seed that's thrown upon the rocky soil that shoots up fast, grows scorched away when trials and tribulation comes. Paul here is saying, I'm giving thanks because you were actually good soil. I didn't know what type of ground I was sowing in, where that seed was being broadcasted, but it made it into the good soil.

They're waiting for the judgment day. I'm going to hold off on that because there's a lot in Thessalonians, but let me just say, brothers and sisters, it is appointed for every man to die once, and after that, the judgment. Our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is going to come back one day, and He will judge the living and the dead. Jesus will return, and they're thankful for this.

This is all great, wonderful. We've talked a lot about the people in the ancient day, in the ancient church, what it was like then, but what does it mean for our lives now? How do we apply this to our lives? So we're gonna move out of the schoolhouse and I'm telling you now it's gonna get a little bit uncomfortable. We don't have much time, please stick with me.

The first thing I need to ask you is, do you pray? Do you pray? Do you pray for other Christians? We might call each other brothers and sisters, but how often during the week do you actually love someone so much that you would devote emotional, spiritual energy, time into praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ? When's the last time you have purposely said, how can I pray for you, and actually done and did it?

There's a cute little cartoon where A guy's walking into the church and the pastor's there at the front and he says, oh man, I'd asked him if I could pray for him last week. And he says, Lord, please help Steve. Steve walks up and he says, oh, I've been praying for you.

That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about do we spend concerted time praying for other Christians? Next question I have for you is how are you hearing the word of God? Even right now, man, it's so tempting. It's Sunday morning, it's late. This guy's been up there talking for like 40 minutes.

Are you receiving the word as it's truly from God? Do we come to church because we want to hear from the Lord God Himself and have our lives changed, our minds cleaned, our feet encouraged? Do we come here to just hear an encouraging speech or do we come here to hear from God, hear from His Word? This is why every single sermon, whether it's boring or not, is going to come out of God's Word. If there's ever a sermon from this pulpit by me or someone else and it's not from God's word, quickly show them the door and tell them not to come back until they have a word from the Lord. Do you receive God's word as it's from the Holy Spirit?

This is why we have to cry out to God that he would prepare our hearts, that he would care for us, that he would apply these things, because brothers and sisters, we can have all the intellectual knowledge we want, but we can miss the point by 18 inches. If it just goes in our ears and we think about it and forget about it when we walk out the door, but it doesn't arrive with power and seep down into our souls, why have we wasted our time? Do you come to hear God's word powerfully?

Third question, third question for you to ask yourself, does God's word produce joy in you? It's God's word, nothing but a law book, nothing but a billy club, nothing but a hammer, and you're the nail, and it's just going to constantly pound you, and you never actually find reprieve for your soul. Put away your legalistic heart, and come and find rest in Jesus Christ.

I think it's one of the beautiful things about singing the Psalms. Did you hear the last Psalm we sang, 105? Man, it had some hard things to talk about, didn't it? or about Psalm 6 when we read and sang Psalm 6. The Psalms are full of these beautiful Psalms that don't hide real life from us.

But it just tells God, Lord, save me, have mercy on me. These are evil people doing wicked things and they're coming to destroy me. And being able to find joy that God has heard your prayer. The day of judgment's coming and in light of eternity, you can have joy.

Fourthly, does God's word bring you to repentance? Everybody asks you this question, what's the idol of your heart you need to turn from? What's that sin you need to put to death? What's that pet thing in your life that you know has been hurting your marriage, keeping you at a distance from God, hurting your relationship with your children, that thing in your life that you have set up that you just say, but I just, this thing.

Today's the day. Put it to death. Turn to Christ. Serve the living and true God. Fifth, this is a hard one. I don't have a lot of time to talk about it. Am I ready to be tested? Am I ready to be tested? If our brothers and sisters up in Canada are the canary in the cage, I'm telling you the day of testing is coming.

I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, on the national radio yesterday, listening to IPR, I don't know why I do, I just yell at the radio, but as I was listening to the radio, A man walked into the church, dressed like a woman, blatantly, flagrantly, not because he wanted to hear the gospel, but because he wanted to make a statement, sat in the front pew of the church, and was upset when the pastor wouldn't give him a hug goodbye. And the commentators on the radio were saying that pastor was so bigoted, so backwards, that should change. Again, not seeing somebody who wants to come to learn from the living and true God, somebody coming and they're saying, I'm making a statement and I'm going to be here. It starts in little ways.

Our brothers and sisters in China, just register with the government, you can have your church. So you register with the government, they have their church. Okay, now you have a police officer who sits right there in the front queue and he just records your sermons, just making sure that you don't say anything wrong. Just in case you want to continue to meet together and to worship, well, maybe they'll put a fence around your church in higher security to keep you from coming. Are you ready for testing? Romans chapter one is the most offensive book, offensive chapter in the entire Bible. Do you believe it? The day of testing is coming. But are you waiting? Last question, are you waiting for the return of Christ? See, this world has always been going this way. There's always been persecution.

The Babylonians wanted to crush. The Assyrians wanted to crush God's people. The Chinese government wants to crush God's people. The world always wants to crush God's people. The people in Philippi wanted to crush them. The people in Athens wanted to crush them. The people in Corinth wanted to crush them. The people in Jerusalem wanted to wipe out the gospel. It's always been this way.

But Jesus Christ is coming back. And we can walk out of here with joy. Knowing that in the light of eternity, we get to give our account with joy that last great day that I trusted in Jesus Christ. Do we wait for that day? The wrath is coming. Jesus Christ's robe is going to be dripped in blood. But do we know that the lamb has taken us from being his enemies to being his loved ones? This is where our joy is, that we were the enemies of God, but he's given us new hearts, and we can walk out of here without fear.

Closing Prayer

And may we be those type of people that our joy would resoundingly sound forth into all Southeast Iowa, in the Midwest, and throughout the US. May we have this type of faith. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the hope we have in Jesus Christ. We thank you for his finished work. Lord, we pray that we would persevere to the end. Father, we pray that you would till the soil of our hearts. Pluck up the weeds, Lord. Take out the rocks. Father, we pray that we would focus upon you. and that you might be glorified in us.