 Yeah, welcome back. So before the break, we were looking at the first few verses in first Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul talks about these Thessalonian believers who are producing work Which is a result of faith So these people are not just working with monetary or material benefits in mind Their work is rather being produced by the faith which they have placed in Christ So their focus is on him. They're working for him and moreover Whatever work that they are producing it is something that is That is a product of faith in the sense God is giving them the ability that they need The talents and skill that they need to be able to work for him So it's being something that is being done by his power by his enabling grace and it is being done for him So in that sense, it is a work produced by faith So when we examine ourselves, we can ask ourselves the work that I am doing for God It may be something as simple as you know as as volunteering in the mornings at church You know before before the church service so many things need to be done So many things have to be put in place. So you may be doing something as simple as that But is your work produced by faith? Is the is the focus of your work to you know earn the respect of the church members? Or are you doing that work just to honor him and please him? In the same way the work that you know that you're doing it may be as Something as simple as know ringing up people and praying for them encouraging them. Are you doing it? Depending upon the Lord for his enabling grace for his annoying thing, or are you just doing it out of your self-confidence? So work that is produced by faith where Jesus is the focus and where Jesus is the enabler Who's helping you to do it if that is the way that your work is being produced Then oh that will be a work that will have eternal fruit You will definitely get a reward for it One day because this work has not been produced through self Effort but through dependence on God and it has been produced with him as the focus to please him to honor him Not to you know earn the approval of the church people so Our work should be produced by faith the second point that he Paul makes regarding these believers. He says about the love which they have for all God's people and the wording he uses is Labor prompted by love If the labor prompted by love so that word if you look in the first portion It talks about work produced by faith then it talks about labor prompted by love that word work It's just tasks which you are doing on the other hand that other word labor It's talking about something much more strenuous than just work So the Greek word which is used for work I think is the word. Yeah word ergon On the other hand the Greek word that is being used for labor is the word corpus Corpus talks about working so hard that you actually grow tired Ergon on the other hand it's just a task that you're doing. I mean you're doing it faithfully You're doing it sincerely it honors God that is good But corpus is talking about effort where you literally get exhausted doing it So these people are laboring out of love, you know that labor which they are putting in for God is Prompted by love for God and love for people So a second thing that we can ask ourselves is in what what kind of a love am I exercising? Is it a love that is literally laboring for God, you know working to the point of exhaustion for God And is it a love that really is serving people to an extent where you know, you grow tired so The these people they worked did their tasks through faith and They labored in love for God and for God's people and the third thing which Paul points out regarding them Is the endurance which has been inspired by hope? so We get we see later on in the letter that they have gone through intense suffering and persecution and Financially they are in a very bad condition. They're dirt poor. That's the condition that they are in So what is helping them to endure? It is the hope which they have that Jesus will will come he will collect them and he will reward them That is the hope that they are holding on to and that is giving them the the Energy and the strengths that they need to continue living and not going back into the world so This is something that you know, we can really learn from when we are feeling you know Kind of drained out or when we are feeling low We need to ask ourselves, you know, how can I renew my hope? so Renewing of hope is done through the power of the Holy Spirit We have that scripture Which talks about how you know, the Holy Spirit causes us to overflow with hope I put it down somewhere in my notes and I'm not able to find it Because that verse is Something that we can hold on to at times when we are feeling low I mean imagine these Thessalonian believers were in such a bad condition, you know I mean their situation was so Desperate and in spite of all of that persecution It talks about them in in second Corinthians chapter 8 Versus 1 to 7 where it talks about the Philippian believers and the Thessalonian believers there It says that in the midst of very severe trial They had overflowing joy is what it says. So how from where did this overflowing joy come? That was a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in them The Holy Spirit produced in them and overflowing hope and an overflowing joy Yeah, looks like I've not written down the reference over here But yeah later if you oh Yes, Romans 15 13 Okay, so Romans 15 13 is the reference where Paul says to the Romans May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit So when we are feeling low when we are feeling discouraged What do we do? We say Lord? Yes, right now circumstances look very very bleak and dark But I choose to trust in you so from your side all you are expected to do is to you know Stand upon those Bible verses and believe that those Bible verses are true that God does not lie And so you say Lord even though I'm feeling discouraged. I choose to trust in you And when you take that simple step the God of hope will fill you With all joy and peace. It's something that he will divinely do inside your spirit so Even though your circumstances haven't changed you will start feeling a relief and a Assurance and a peace inside because the Holy Spirit has done that inside you So because of that it says in Romans 15 13 so that you may overflow with hope By the power of the Holy Spirit these people these Thessalonians and the Philippians They had an overflowing joy in the midst of toughest Persecution by the power of the Holy Spirit They put a childlike trust in God that what Jesus has promised he will do he will come one day He will you know collect them and take them to heaven They had that simple childlike trust and because they continued to hold on with that simple trust God did a divine miracle inside them He took people who in that in that very very serious condition and he filled them with all joy and peace and Caused them to overflow with joy with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit So when we are feeling down we can compare ourselves with the Thessalonians and tell ourselves if in their Circumstances they could overflow with joy It should be much easier for us to overflow with joy in our Circumstances and the same Holy Spirit who enabled them to respond in that way Because you know the Holy Spirit does not discriminate discriminate between his believers All of them will be given the same privilege so in the same way he caused them to overflow with hope and joy He will cause even us to overflow with hope and joy So we can claim the scripture and say Lord what you did for them you do for for me as well So we don't have to continue staying down. We don't have to continue feeling discouraged when you know when things go against us So whenever we catch ourselves in that in that mode know where we are feeling very low Immediately, let us know remember scriptures like this You know like Romans 15 13 and the scriptures which talk in second Corinthians which talks about the Thessalonian and Philippian believers Let's remind ourselves of these scriptures and tell ourselves if they could overflow with joy in their circumstances The Holy Spirit will do the same for me if I ask him and if I hold on to him No, so these these scriptures can give us Strength for our own situations All right, let's look at the third point about Okay, no, yeah, yeah, yeah Versus for onwards which have already been read out to us Here Paul says we know brothers and sisters That our gospel came to you not simply with words But also with power with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction So when Paul and his team Preached to these Thessalonians. They didn't just simply regard these as human words Rather, they accepted them as a message being given directly by God to them So in those days The way you made a speech Showed that you either were talented or you were not talented In fact, no, if you if you remember There were people who criticized Paul's teaching style They said, huh, he's not as good as Apollos and we listen to Apollos It's like it's like listening to one of those Greek philosophers, you know, it's like really grand But Paul on the other hand doesn't sound that nice So in those days the Greek oratorial style that speech You know style which they used was considered something very good It's like the TED talks that we have today, you know, people admire the way the TED talks are given so Paul did not bother with those kind of Greek oratorial I know speech skills He simply in Plainest language talked about the cross talked about in what way the cross can apply to their lives and You know what they need to do to be able to benefit from the cross He just talked about this plain and simple things. He did not use the fancy Greek style of speaking and teaching and so because he used the simple words Something happened. It says the gospel came to these people with power with the Holy Spirit and Deep conviction. So you see if Paul had spent many hours Preparing some very wonderful Greek style Messages and sermons Maybe it really would not have had the impact that you know that his sermons did He chose to keep his words simple and by doing that he gave the Holy Spirit the opportunity To display his power He gave the Holy Spirit an opportunity to convict the people using the simple words, which he has used so It is good for us to Prepare, you know, when we are teaching or preaching and it is good for us to try and make it as simple and as plain as possible but Let our focus not be on Whether, you know, people are going to like it and admire it and praise us for it and whether we will you know be known as a talented speaker Let that not be the focus rather let our simple goal be How plain can I make this to my hearers so that they will understand what I'm trying to say And then the Holy Spirit can work inside their hearts and do something divine So if you know if I am trying to use all kinds of fancy language and all kinds of fancy Examples and people don't really catch the meaning of what I am saying Then the Holy Spirit will not be able to do his convicting work He'll not be able to release his power into the people So this is a very wonderful thing which Paul did by keeping things simple, you know And he in fact he talks about that in other places as well in first Corinthians Chapter 2 Versus 4 to 5. This is what he says over there He says my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words But with a demonstration of the Spirit's power and so over there in that Corinthian passage He says so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom But on God's power if he had used impressive language and totally impressed them What would happen one week later when they're in the middle of a crisis and they're feeling very desperate and Satan is tempting them at that Time, you know all those fancy Words of the speech are not going to come to their mind All on the other hand if he had if he has used simple language to explain a few scriptures to them God will remind them of those scriptures in their time of crisis The Holy Spirit will bring to their remembrance those scriptures which were explained to them in simple language And the Holy Spirit will do his work of power Inside that believers life and that person will be able to overcome Satan in that time of crisis so let our focus always be on keeping things simple if God has given you the beautiful talent to also make your you know speech very beautiful and Meaningful at the same time excellent. I mean go ahead and and and use your gifting and may you flourish in it But if you don't have those fancy speaking skills Just let your effort be to keep it simple to keep it Plain so that the Holy Spirit can demonstrate his power through your simple teaching, you know, so Just the way Paul did that has also be simple in our teaching And as a result of that what happened it says in verse 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord for you Welcome the message in the midst of severe suffering with a joy given by the Holy Spirit So Because he kept things simple these people became imitators of the Lord They didn't just become fan followers of Paul Rather they became imitators of the Lord because nowadays what what is happening is that People are becoming fans of people who can speak well But are they becoming imitators of the Lord in the process? That is very very important. It's good if you're a fan of some missionary or some preacher. That's good It's better than being the fan of some movie star So yes, it's good to be the fan of a preacher or an evangelist But is that evangelist causing you to become an imitator of the Lord? If that is happening then yes, you know the goal is achieved But if you're just just simply following The fancy words of people and those words are not turning you to Christ and causing you to take up your cross and follow him Then where's the point all those fancy words will just be empty sound, you know, which will accomplish nothing so So he says you know how we lived among you for your sake So first he used simple teaching second he used the teaching of a lifestyle He didn't just simply teach. He also lived it out and showed them by example How to be a Good believer So he says, you know, how we lived among you for your sake. They watched him I know because he lived among them. They didn't put him up in a hotel or an or a lodging facility He literally lived in their homes with them. So they got to see how he how he acts in different situations They got to see how he responds to, you know, tense situations By seeing and watching they learned from him. So they learned from his teaching. They also learned from his lifestyle So this is another important thing that we need to you know, adopt in our own ministries where it's not only our words Which are conveying something our lifestyle The words we use when we are interacting with people and the choices that we make and our actions also are teaching people something So that becomes very important. So because these people knew the way he lived among them They were willing to become imitators of him and imitators of the Lord, you know Whenever I read this I'm always reminded of something which one of our Family relatives, you know said they had put up some Preacher in their home. He had come for a conference for some three to four days So they invited him and he you know, he basically stayed with them in their home But the one thing that I'll always remember is that after he had gone, you know, they said what a bad tempered man He is we never knew that he's like that. I mean they were he was not very satisfied with what they could offer him So, you know, he was very irritated about their arrangements and their food preparations and this and that and So finally in the end, I mean Imagine I mean me who heard about this and that family of the family who with whom he stayed What impression are we going to have we have learned nothing from his sermons because now we know what he is actually like So sometimes more than our teaching our actions speak louder So it doesn't matter how beautifully that person spoke in the conference on those four or five days His actions showed, you know set a different standard for us, but it's okay for us to be irritable and Not be generous and not be, you know, kind That is what we walked away with those are the wrong learnings we walked away with, you know So it's very very important that we live in such a way that people would want to become imitators of us and of the Lord and So verse seven he says and so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia When he when he specifically mentions Macedonia and Achaia He's basically, you know saying the entire northern province of Greece and the entire southern province of Of Greece because Macedonia belong to the northern province and Achaia was the southern province So he is basically saying over here After watching us after listening to our simple teaching you became imitators of us and you became imitators of the Lord And by living in this very very exemplary manner You became a model to all the believers who are watching you throughout this, you know region of Greece I mean that's such a Amazing testimony that he's giving regarding these people the way they lived the work that they produced by faith The love that they showed God's people the hope that was prompted into the end of this that is prompted Yeah, the end here is it was prompted by hope all of these things Were done in such an exemplary manner that everyone wanted to imitate them So people throughout Greece all the churches throughout Greece were talking about them and their leaders were telling them Imitate those guys be like them in your faith be like them in your in your hope so look at the Teaching style of Paul and the vast, you know repercussions that it had The way he taught the simple manner in which he taught and the lifestyle that he lived among them That had such an impact on these people that they imitated him and they became models for an entire region So the simple things that we do can have you know a wave of effect Ripple effect and it can go on to accomplish much bigger things so if we are solid in our ministry and in our teaching and our personal walk People who are watching will get influenced and they will want to be like us and then they will become models For entire regions wherever they go So that little bit which I did in being faithful can have much wider Replications for the kingdom. Yes, these are all things that we these are practical lessons which we gain Even as we meditate on these scriptures So let's move into chapter 2 now in chapter 2 Paul is basically talking about two things The way he did his ministry and the way he was sincere and then he also praises these Thessalonian believers for their sincerity and for the way they lived Okay, so the basically this this chapter focuses on How ministry can be done sincerely and second how these Thessalonians really proved themselves to be excellent believers so If we could have someone read out for us maybe versus one two eight First the Thessalonians chapter two versus one two eight, please For you yourselves know brother in that our coming to you was not in vain But even after we had suffered before and the way I spent fully treated at Philippi As you know, we are bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict for our Exaltation did not come from the seat or uncleanness Nor was it in guide but well But as we have been approved by God to be interested with the gospel even so we speak Not as pleasing men but God who tests our heart for neither at any time did we use fraturing words as You know, no a clock for Convicts ness God is witness now Did we seek glory from men either for you from you or From others when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ But we were gentle among you just as nothing mothers cherishes her own children amen amen So Now, you know Paul is talking about the way he ministered among them. He reminds them and he says After what we went through in Philippi we was scared to come and preach in Thessalonica, you know Like the opposition was so bad in Philippi In fact, we're only given one single example, you know right in the beginning when Paul and Silas got beaten up And then they were thrown into prison. We're only told about that one instance But it looks like they went through a lot more because he says over here We were treated outrageously in Philippi, which means they must have gone through a lot of persecution And so after that They were only able to be bold and be able to come and come to Thessalonica and preach because of the Strength which God gave he says with the help of our God We dare to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition So it was in that kind of a tense atmosphere Environment that they came into Thessalonica and preached the gospel and planted that church that church was not planted easily There's a lot of opposition. They must have felt a lot of tension at that time And so in the middle of that strong opposition, that's the wording that is used over here It says strong opposition in the face of strong opposition. This church was planted so It's only by the help of God, you know, that sometimes we can move forward in ministry There will be a position There will be comments negative comments unnecessary negative comments I mean, we may be doing our work faithfully and still, you know, people comment and people say Things which will make us feel discouraged So Paul in fact talks about that he says, you know He says the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives nor are we trying to trick you So because that's basically what the Jews must have been saying about him. No, they were they were making three allegations First they were saying that oh, what this man is preaching. It's full of error The second thing that they were saying is that the motives were impure Oh, maybe he wanted to make money from them. Maybe he wanted to get something out of them That's why he was ministering to them So, you know, they were making those kind of allegations saying that he had impure motives Thirdly, they were saying that he is using trickery to deceive them. So Paul says over here, you know, we lived among you So, you know for a fact that we did not use any of these tactics On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel The word that is used over here approved. That's supposed to be the Greek word Dokimazo, which basically means approved by trial in the sense you test something You try it out. You have some trial rounds and then when that thing successfully Succeeds in those trial rounds, then you declare that product has approved So it's approval by trial not just simply, you know approval just like that So which means God has Tried these people these apostles tested them Examined them and after trying them and putting them through trials. Yes found them to be solid He has found them to be completely reliable and so it's it's not just an approval Which has just been given just like that It's an approval which they have gone through trials and proved Themselves to be no worthy of that kind of an approval so What kind of a trial and testing was done it says we are not trying to please people but God Who tests our hearts? So God was throughout testing their hearts to see what kind of motives they had He was testing their heart to hearts to see, you know Do they have a burden for the people that they are serving? It was testing their hearts to see Are they going to be tempted by you know? Pay or from by any kind of material benefits or will they selflessly give themselves to the people? Even if the people can't give them anything back and return so God was testing them on all these levels and he found them worthy of approval and So he entrusted them with the gospel So a question that we can ask ourselves is when God tests my heart and sees the voluntary work that I do in the church You see approving of it with more with more what motives am I doing that voluntary work? With what attitude am I doing it? Am I doing it in a very grumbly manner or am I doing it? No cheerfully? So all of these things got desks our hearts to see in what way we are serving him with what attitude we are serving him and based on that he will either declare us as approved or he will you know Encourages and urges to improve you know to catch up so that you know He can declare us as approved. God doesn't disqualify anyone when he when he sees someone who has failed He will encourage them. He will correct them. He will warn them. He will give them a boost You know help them to get back on their feet. So Either he will declare us up as approved and say yes, I totally am pleased with the way You're you know serving me or he may say I'm not satisfied with the way you're serving me It's time for you to improve so he will correct us He will show us in what areas we have to make a change But he will never just disqualify us and dismiss us that we know he would never do so these are missionaries who have you know Proved themselves as being Trustworthy to be entrusted with the gospel. So they have conducted themselves in that pleasing manner So he goes on to say you know, we never used flattery and he says not Would not did we put on a mask to cover up greed? And he says we were not looking for praise from people not from you or anyone else Even though as apostles of Christ, we could have asserted our authority So in fact, he clarifies what he means by this later on What did he mean about you know the Apostles who can actually assert our authority if we want to is actually talking about the financial angle So as Apostles appointed by Christ himself They could have said, you know, you you be Deserved to be supported financially by you they could have made that claim Because after all they have been appointed by Christ to do this task But they choose not to use this privilege and they choose to support themselves on their own by doing part-time jobs Because we know right I mean Paul was a tent maker and then the other people on his team probably, you know Took up different jobs to support themselves so that the Thessalonian Believers don't have to shell out any money to look after them. So they supported themselves So he says in verse 7 instead, we were like young children among you In the sense, you know, young children are innocent So he's saying in the same way young children are innocent of any crime. We have proved ourselves innocent We have not used flattery. We have not tried to get anything You know money out of you. We have not used any kind of wrong tactics But just as a nursing mother cares for her children So we cared for you a Nursing mother doesn't say oh the whole night have to get up, you know for five times have to get up and feed this child So now when this kid grows up, I'm going to demand money from the from the kid and say, you know Many months you grow up and get a job. You have to repay me for all the effort I put in no no Nursing mother will ever do that. I mean Mother doesn't you know hold accounts and write down Okay, I spent this many hours and so on the so-and-so day and I spent this many hours on washing the child's clothes How ridiculous that would be a mother Ministers to the child out of love So Paul says we didn't keep an account of what we did for you and when we did it and how long we did it We did it out of love the same way a nursing mother deeply cares for her child If you ask that mother, oh, how long did you stay up in the night? She'll probably not even know how long she stayed up You know she a mother just acts out of love. It's not a business like arrangement So Paul says in that manner we cared for you and He says because we loved you so much. We were delighted to share with you Not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well. I Mean this is Not something that I have not a standard. I have reached I can just very plainly say that They just didn't share the gospel. They shared their lives with those people Literally lived with them suffered with them worked along with them. I Mean it's amazing these These missionaries truly deserve to be called ministers of God Way that they just didn't give service. They didn't they didn't just give gospel They didn't just give teaching. They didn't just give ministry. They literally gave themselves their lives That is really a high calling and I think that's probably what God really wants from all of us Where you don't just give ministry to the people you also give yourself Where you literally live with them suffer with them? Share with them in their joys and their sorrows So then you know, you can imagine how open they will be to anything that you have to teach Because now you're literally with them and living with them and walking with them They'll be much more open to anything that you have to share Rather than if you're just you know standing on the stage and just talking down to them So these people were not stage personalities these missionaries Literally lived with the people that they were ministering to so he says when verse nine Surely you remember brothers and sisters our toil and hardship We worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone and that were word that is used over there We worked night and day That's the word Walk on or something of that kind MOCHTHON So this is this is not the other word, you know where it talks about the labor of love Nor is it that work produced by faith work produced by faith was Ergon, which is just the tasks Labor of love was something harder more difficult. It was corpus where you know, you're you're you're really putting in a lot of effort And you it may even lead to exhaustion. This is an even more severe word Mokhton This is the kind of work which they did night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone Because you see basically Paul would have to balance his Tent-making, you know, they didn't exactly have machines in those days It's not like as you you put the fabric into a you know into the machine and the machine produces the tent Everything was had to be done by hand, you know like literally from scratch in those days No machinery no industrial revolution back then So Paul would have to spend enough time to make those tents to be able to actually go and sell it and you know earn money And he would have to take care of ministry responsibilities And he would have to spend time with the Lord because without spending time with the Lord his ministry would be highly weak So and he only had 24 hours So he these people they he and his team literally worked night and day To be able to balance these three things ministry and earning a livelihood and You know spending enough time with it with the Lord to you know Have his backup and have his strength and have his anointing Amazing people this is truly a very high calling and this is the kind of ministry that we are all called to So whenever I come across passages like this, you know, I just plainly say to the Lord It's true Lord. I am I'm definitely not at this level But Lord in one day in the future, you may want me to be like this So even from now start preparing me or Lord, you know Fine tune my attitudes Cut away from me the wrong things which need to be cut away start preparing me from now Oh Lord so that when the time comes for me to know to give myself the way these people gave Themselves to the ministry I will be ready So it there's no harm in being Frank with the Lord the Lord already knows at what stage we are So if you have not reached this level, it's quite alright to plainly humble ourselves in front of him and say Lord I have not reached this level, but I know that one day you will probably expect this from me You know situation may be such that where I will actually have to work night and day to serve So from now onwards itself Lord if you can start removing everything from the from my life that needs to be gone The Lord will start, you know doing doing doing that work of purification He will start cutting out those things which need to be cut out and it can be quite painful But if you can cooperate with him and start changing into a more Christ-like person Then when the time comes for you to work in this mock thorn No mode night and day you will be ready You will be ready to step into those shoes and do what God wants you to do So this is something that we need to aspire towards and we can ask the Lord to help us Become like that and he will do it for us. Okay, so so Paul says you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children What are the three things that a father should do? You know a spiritual father and also maybe just a biological father three very interesting things mentioned here Encouraging comforting urging you to live life's worthy of God So this is the three things which Paul did for his Thessalonian believers he encouraged them he comforted them and he urged them Encouraging and comforting, you know, it's easy enough to understand the third word which is used over there in the Greek Is Marthuromai that literally is actually the word which you use for testifying witnessing So what does he mean when he says that I have dealt with you like, you know Like as if you were my own children encouraging you comforting you and Testifying What does he mean? Basically the third point is talking about how he took examples from his own life Testimonies, you know, witness he witnessed about things which he had experienced in his life and used those Examples to teach them how they can live in their own lives So which means he in fact had that many personal experiences and examples to share with them So we who are in ministry who are serving the Lord do we have our own collection of Testimonies which we can witness about and tell people see this is the way God helped me. I was very weak and Backslidden in this particular area and this is how God built me up. This is what I did I fasted I spent this much time on the scriptures These are the scriptures which I meditated upon and then when I went through this process God began to bring me out of this Practical testimonies like that can be highly helpful in Ministering to the children God has given you the spiritual children that God has placed under you So you speak out of your life you testify what God has done in your life How he has worked in you how he has helped you to overcome different things step by step and Then even I know as they learn from you what God has done for you. He will do even for them so These are the three things that Paul did in mentoring the people that God had placed under him Was 13 and We also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God which you had heard okay that we've already covered Yeah, it says you accepted it not as a human word But as it actually is the word of God which is indeed at work in you who believe The word that is used over there in verse 13 To talk about the word of God which is at work in you, you know, that's that word Energeo it talks about how the word of God Energeo inside the believer it energizes him it activates something inside him So when a believer accepts the word of God not just as a human word But as a message directly from the Lord and Places their faith in that word and they choose to act upon that word even if it involves sacrifice when they Act upon God's word in that manner It does something inside the person that word of God it Works inside you it Energeo inside you it releases something in you it activates something inside you So there's power in the word of God When we choose to believe it not just as a human advice But as the command of the Lord as the promise of God as the Prophecy that God is speaking over you when we accept it as divine God's word Then that word of God it works inside you it activates something So we should accept the word of God as coming from him directly and no and not just dismiss the word of God and say Oh, what is that preacher? No, because sometimes we do that we listen to something from the pulpit and we say What is the preacher? No, and we dismiss God's word So the Thessalonian believers did not do that. They didn't say our what is Paul? No, they did not say that they accepted what Paul was teaching as the word of God and as a result That word of God it Energeo inside them it activated something inside them It energized and released something inside of them and know it completely changed their lives All right, we only have a few minutes left Yes, we can squeeze in one last thought because in verse 14 he says for you brothers and sisters became imitators of God's churches in Judea Which are in Christ Jesus you suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews Because one thing that we know about the church in Jerusalem They were under attack day and night from the Jewish community. I mean at least here in Thessalonica the number of Jews available would be limited But for the for the for those people those believers who are literally in Jerusalem surrounded by Jews Their family members would be Jews their relatives would be Jews They would have gone through hell Because you see the Jews were very angry when people became followers of Jesus and abandoned the mosaic covenant So they would have been thrown out of their jobs. They would have lost their jobs They would not be invited for any social event They would be treated like dirt by their own relatives and family members That Jerusalem church would have gone through a lot So Paul in fact places these Thessalonian believers on level with those Jerusalem believers and he says in the same way those Believers suffered among the Jews you guys have suffered among your own people So that's a very high compliment that he's giving to the Thessalonian believers All right, there's so much more to say but we will stop over here and of course we will continue in the next class Yeah, let's close with the word of prayer Lord even as we Read this letter to the Thessalonians. It just pricks our hearts a lot It convicts our hearts and it lays before us A model an example that you want us to follow There's so much a lot said in this letter That you would like us to imitate So we pray oh lord that even as we look to you and even as we make a choice to Co-operate with you you will begin to do your divine work in us a lot Change us a lot so that we will become like these Missionaries and we will become like these Thessalonian believers We pray oh lord that even as we look to you and trust in you and place our hope in your word You would cause us to overflow with hope and joy You would fill us with your joy and peace So that lord no matter how difficult the christian walk becomes No matter how many sacrifices we have to make We will be willing to do it because we are overflowing with joy in christ We are overflowing with the hope that is awaiting us in heaven Oh lord in the same way you worked in the lives of these people and made them into such amazing spiritual giants Do the same thing in our lives today. Oh lord that today We too in apc can be spiritual giants We will not be a weak church But we will be a church that jesus christ would look upon with approval And say that he is pleased with us And lord we pray that you would do that for all of our students in all of their churches Wherever you have placed them Lord we ask for you to work divinely in all of us. Thank you lord in jesus name amen amen. Thank you so much