 We'll begin reading here in 2 Thessalonians chapter one at verse one. We'll read to verse four. We'll get into our study Paul, Sylvainus, and Timothy To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is fitting Because your love grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other so that We ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your Persecutions and tribulations that you endure and so we're beginning a study now in 2 Thessalonians we'll be looking at the first four verses as We go through 2nd Thessalonians first by verse so as is my normal way of beginning things Let me give to you a somewhat prolonged introduction a background Reminder if you will and then we'll look at the verses in front of us and so as a way of providing The reminder the background the second letter is believed to have been written a Few months after he had written first Thessalonians So the date of this if you're one who takes dates and all and puts them down the date of this particular letter is somewhere around AD 51 It's possible that the bearer of the first letter returned with an update and that would prompt the Apostle Paul to write this second letter so as we saw in 1st Thessalonians The the church there in Thessalonica was undergoing affliction and persecution From the beginning the church there was birthed in Affliction and from the beginning they experienced persecution and so When Paul was writing to them in chapter 1 of 1st Thessalonians in verse 5 He had said to them our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance As you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake and so he had begun his letter by reminding them That the gospel had come to them in power the spirit and assurance in other words the the gospel came to them in power That was evidenced by miracles as well as the transformation of their lives He said the gospel has come to you in the work of the spirit because it's a holy spirit who brought Conviction of their need for Jesus and then he he said it also came in much assurance because you have placed your trust in the Gospel and you have also trusted us as its messengers and so when they became Christians because of the work of the Holy Spirit and the power and all that was evidenced the result was that the Thessalonians Were afflicted this had caused Paul to become concerned about them And and as we went through 1st Thessalonians he addressed that in the first letter intending to encourage them in their faith You see both Paul and Jesus himself had been persecuted and they were to use Paul and Jesus as their models He said in 1st Thessalonians 1 6 and 7 you became followers of us and of the Lord Haven't received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Ikea who believe so persecution had arisen against them from their fellow citizens He had said in 1st Thessalonians 2 14 for you brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea and Christ Jesus You also suffered the same things from your own countrymen just as they did from the Jews So the persecution was continuing and Paul wrote a second letter to encourage them now He'd already revealed his concern that they would be discouraged yet said in 1st Thessalonians 3 verse 3 No one should be shaken by these afflictions you yourselves know that we are appointed to this and so They were undergoing persecution and affliction and so he says don't be shaken by this and don't be surprised by it You're going through persecution, but you should be prepared You know that I've been persecuted and you know the Lord Jesus himself has been and therefore stay strong in Christ But not only are they undergoing persecution something more dangerous is taking place false teaching has begun to infiltrate the church and the false teachers are Influencing the members of the church and false teaching is especially dangerous Now why would false teaching be more dangerous to the church than persecution? Somebody would think that they'd say now wait a minute If if if I can suffer violent harm if I lose my job if my neighbors turn against me You know that's that's that's difficult. That's hard. Why would you say that false teaching is? More dangerous the obvious reason is persecution has a way of purifying the church Persecution actually has a way of strengthening the beliefs of the body of Christ Because persecution actually refines and tests our faith as well as strengthening it in Romans 5 and verses 3 and 4 Paul said We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials for we know that they're good for us they help us to learn to endure and endurance Develops strength of character in us and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation It has a positive work at us when we go through tough times in James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 James said consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of Your faith develops perseverance Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything And so persecution affliction the various trials and all that we go through have a way of strengthening us and a Genuine Christian follows Christ through an entire lifetime Even though experiencing affliction in Hebrews 3 14 It says we have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence We had at first and so afflictions persecutions and things of that nature have a tendency of refining us They have a tendency of causing us to cast our cares on Christ and to be strengthened It has a way of purifying our lives, but on the other hand false teaching is dangerous It undermines the hope we have in the promises of God that are revealed in scripture Because bad teaching will infect a church and it will bring the church into bondage spiritually In the Old Testament in Ezekiel chapter 13 verse 22 God said with lies You have made the heart of the righteous sad whom I have not made sad You have strengthened the hands of the wicked so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life He's speaking to false teachers. He said you're making the righteous sad You're strengthening the evil ones in their evil in other words. You're giving the wicked false confidence So the worst thing is false teaching causes people to reject the Lord The result is they enter into judgment in John 3 36 he who believes in the Sun has everlasting life And he who does not believe the Sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him false teaching is terrible it destroys and Believers who are influenced by bad teaching or are giving it receive less reward in God's kingdom That's why in second John verse 8 it says look to yourselves that we may not lose those things we worked for But that we may receive a full reward So a verse by verse said of the word of God combats false teaching acts 20 27 Paul said it like that. He said I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God So in their case false teaching was related to the return of Jesus Christ The return of Christ to planet Earth is referred many times to in Scripture. It's it's mentioned no less than 318 times in the New Testament and The return of Christ is the major theme of chapters 1 and 2 of Thessalonians You see bad teaching concerning his return has infected the church It's discouraging them some were saying that the day had already come and gone and that caused great distress Amongst the believers in the fellowship so Paul takes time to give details Concerning the conditions that will be present at that time and we'll look at that in detail when we arrive to that portion of Scripture So there's your introduction. Let's move into the study beginning at verse 1 Paul, Sylvainus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ So Paul Sylvainus and Timothy that's the same introduction we find in first Thessalonians We note that Paul didn't need to use his title. They knew him. Well Sylvainus is also known by the name Silas He was an elder as well as a prophet according to Acts 15 verse 32 and Timothy was Paul's son in the faith and was also well known to the church and So he introduces Paul Sylvainus and Timothy and then he says who he's writing to to the church of the Thessalonians and God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ now It says to the church of the Thessalonians and once again, I'll mention this the Thessalonians were Gentiles They were Gentiles. They were not Jewish. They were Gentiles and so Paul is making it very clear that these though They're not Jews are still believers. There's no separation between the two The church is not to be broken into groups and subgroups We need to remember that in these days, especially we have a tendency of breaking the church into groups and subgroups And so we'll have a group of people that go to a particular church and and they may be heavily Hispanic there And then there'll be another church that's heavily African-American another one. That's heavily Asian and Then churches that are are heavily heavily white or whatever and what happens is we begin to have division in the church Based on the color of our skin or our ethnic heritage and every time I come to passages like this Forgive me you've heard it before but I'm gonna say it over and over again There's only one body. It's a body of Christ. There's only one color and it's the color of the blood of Jesus Christ We all belong to one another and we have to remember that it's something I'm telling you the world sees it very clearly the world is always Marching for some form of unity this and that when the church divides into groups and subgroups We can't have that listen when you get to heaven. They're not gonna have a section over here for Mexicans Okay, they're not and we're not gonna be handed lawnmowers and dish towels, okay? You can mow the lawns. No, cut it out It's not gonna happen that way. We're together We're one in Christ. We belong together We are family in Christ and that's what matters and that's really a biblical message That needs to be repeated today. We have to be careful that we don't choose churches that we attend Based on the color of the people or the language that's spoken We need to go because Jesus Christ is there He is lifted up and we are drawn closer to him and we have people there who love him who could encourage Us to do the same and so the church is not to be broken into groups or subgroups It is the one body and it's the church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I've mentioned this before I'll say briefly grace always precedes peace Always you will never have peace without God's grace and in the writings of Paul You will not see him ever say peace to you and grace. It is always grace to you and peace in the society that Existed the Greek society as well as the Jewish society they had ways of Greeting one another if I were a Greek and I was walking through the city and I ran across a Greek friend My greeting to him the typical greeting would be the word Charis So I'd see him and I'd say Charis that means grace that was the greeting But as a Jew if I were walking through a city and I saw a fellow Jew I would say so Shalom the Jews to this day You can go anywhere where there's a population of Jews and if a Jew greets another Jew They normally will say Shalom you'll see it in Jerusalem You see it all through Israel and there are places here in California that I've been at Dali's or whatever been in New York or in certain places in in LA that have a heavy Jewish population and they'll they still do it It's their greeting. It's their customary greeting grace to the Greek Shalom from the Jew So grace to you and peace was the common greeting in Paul's day now grace when we look at grace Grace is a free favor of God that's revealed in the death of Christ and his gift of life to us in Ephesians 2 verses 4 and 5 it says but God who is rich in mercy Because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved so the Greek would say grace but the Jews would say Shalom peace and peace is the condition that results from receiving the grace of God Peace is the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Jesus Christ I say at 26 verse 3 says it like this You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you And so God's grace provides me with God's peace And so the peace Paul speaks of is from God from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ Now I want you to notice this again in verse 2 God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ See we're not automatically children of God I grew up in the hippie generation. And so we as hippies would say that's a child of God. There was a a song called Woodstock by Johnny Mitchell wrote it, but Crosby stills National Young sang it Woodstock. It was the anthem of my generation I came across a child of God He was walking along the road and he said tell me where you're going this he told me right some of you are old enough to Remember that others you're gonna have to Google that I came across a child of God And that's the way we spoke of one another that we were hey brother. We're sister. Yeah, that's the way we spoke It was a common thing so we call each other brother We call each other brothers and sisters and all of that that was you know, so we thought oh, yeah You know, we're all descended from from Adam and Eve and we're all related when we're another and all But to be a child of God isn't speaking of God's creation of mankind to be a child of God speaks concerning the Relationship that you have with God through the born-again experience and it's something you become it's not something you automatically are in the book of The Gospel of John chapter 1 verses 11 and 12 speaking of Jesus it says he came to that which was his own But his own did not receive him yet to all who received him to those who believed in his name He gave the right to become children of God So it's not an automatic at all. So when he's speaking here and saying peace from God our father He's speaking to a church. He's speaking to people who have a relationship with God So he says grace to you in peace from God our father But he also speaks of Jesus in this way and the Lord Jesus Christ The Lord Jesus Christ the word Lord in the Greek is courios Courios it speaks of the owner. It speaks as one who has control over a person. It speaks of a master Jesus Christ's Lord and the bottom line is Jesus is already the Lord when he speaks of him as the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus is the Lord. He doesn't become the Lord. He is the Lord and And ultimately all will acknowledge that he is Lord I've heard people giving their testimonies and they'll say well Jesus was my Savior and then I made him my Lord That's really not accurate. I understand the sentiment, but that's really not accurate You see when it comes to salvation Jesus Christ is the potential Savior of all mankind the actual Savior of those who received him Meaning that before I got saved. He was my potential Savior. He could save me, but I hadn't received salvation But when I received Christ now I see him and acknowledge him as my Savior So potentially he was my Savior when I got saved actually he became my Savior But the fact is he's a Savior of all who come to him But some refuse to do so and because they refuse to come to him. They remain unsaved On the other hand, he's the Lord of all regardless of whether I'll come to him. He may be the potential Savior of all But he is the Lord of both believer as well as the unbeliever He is the Lord regardless of somebody regards him that way regardless if somebody says you are my Lord And I bow my knee to you. No, he's the Lord whether they will willingly do it Or like we do or ultimately do it in the book of Philippians in chapter 2 verses 10 and 11 Paul said it like this He said at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven of those on earth and Of those under the earth that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So I do that now. I do it willingly now Jesus you are my Lord But every knee will bow even those who obstinately refuse to do so All all will bow before him all who've ever lived Will stand before him and then kneel before him and say he is the Lord that includes Buddha That includes Muhammad That includes Freud That includes everybody we do it Right now willingly we say Jesus Christ you are Lord and with praise in our heart I acknowledge his lordship, but every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Our Lord and so he begins to the church of the Thessalonians in God our father the Lord Jesus Christ Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ verse 3 We are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is fitting Because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all Bounds toward each other So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your Persecutions and tribulations that you endure. So I want you to notice this look at verse 3 He says we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is fitting Paul begins by speaking of an obligation. He has bound an Obligation he has to give thanks for them Now what has prompted this duty this obligation to thank God on their behalf? Under fire instead of wilting they have remained steadfast and that blesses him You see some professing Christians don't handle affliction. Well, they'll abandon their confession They they they enter into a hard time a hard season Maybe people on the job side are rejecting them. Maybe their family turned their back on them Maybe people that were very close to them have no longer want to hang around with them Now the society we live in right now is is very adamantly opposed to the Christian faith When it's well known with when the Christian faith is not compromised and they hear what we actually believe The society that we're living in right now gets adamantly angry about it I saw this just just this weekend Preachers preaching at the the funeral service for a wreath of Franklin And and he says some pretty cutting things pretty direct things Perhaps some of you might have seen it was on the news and I watched part of it And I have to tell you what he said was very strong But as a Christian, I I told my wife. I said this man's very courageous He's a very courageous man. He's telling the truth. What he's saying is accurate and it's right But boy everybody is angry at him calling him names and everything, but he was preaching the truth So we live in a society right now that people don't walk up and pat you on the back for believing what you believe You know that don't you they don't walk up and say thank you for telling me I'm a sinner I really appreciate that they don't do that They don't they get angry and all of that and so what happens is is you can come under fire our faith comes under fire and Some professing Christians don't handle affliction. Well, and they'll abandon. They'll just say I give up I don't need this now Jesus spoke of this in one of his parables the parable of the the sore the seed and the soils In Matthew 13 in verses 20 and 21 Jesus said he who received the seed on stony places this is he who hears the word and Immediately receives it with joy Yet he has no root in himself But endures only for a while for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles So as long as things are going cool and people like us We're on the Jesus bandwagon When I got saved back in 1970 and there was a Jesus movement hippie revolution People like myself many were coming to professing faith in Christ and and I'm telling you You know at one time the press the time magazine had had had a question back I think was around 1966 they had a question is God dead and then a few years later they had a picture of Jesus on the magazine same magazine and and it speaks of the Jesus movement the Jesus revolution and And we were living in such odd times and all that many people were Abandoning the faith, but God began to do a work and and a lot of hippies were Professing faith in Christ and I was one of those who came to faith in Christ during that movement of the Spirit And so there were a lot of people that that were joining the way the bandwagon there were there were Musicians you you would see guys who were putting out songs about God and Christ and and and you know odd songs That didn't even make any sense like like Norman Greenbaum's spirit in the sky and garbage songs You know that I thought man, that's stupid, you know But what you ended up with with all kinds of people they were starting to sing gospel or you'd have gospel songs They started to have Jesus Christ Superstar as a play they had God's spell They were playing these songs on the radio and and and well-known people were beginning to say things about Jesus John Lennon sent Lenin Senate You may remember John Lennon from the Beatles at one point was walking around in his Apartment and it was recorded how we were saying praise Lord praise Jesus Christ and yet. He's later on writing imagine And so there was this movement that was going that that a lot of people were on it was like a giant wave in many ways And and a lot of people were standing up saying yes, I believe in Jesus. And so the day I got saved I was in a Volkswagen van it was filled So there must have been eight to nine people in that band in that band and we that band and we went to to the Maronautha concert and heard the gospel I got saved and Then one by one of those eight or nine that were in that van those other eight one by one They fell away one by one Because the Jesus movement seemed to die off It was no longer cool to call yourself Christian to walk around with your Bible to wear this huge tuna around your Your neck of fish. There's as big as your chest to call it the tuna They carried family Bibles around with them and it's not cool anymore. They're not making songs about Jesus anymore They're not having specials on TV about Jesus anymore they're not putting out God's Bell and they're not putting out Jesus Christ superstar anymore and these rock Legends who were claiming faith in Christ are all fading away slowly But truly an affliction begins to rise up and before you know it those who are running around saying I believe in Jesus are denying that they ever knew him And that did happen Well Paul's endurance or rather their endurance gave Paul considerable joy It prompted his praise to God and what is it that he thanks God for on their behalf basically? He thanks God for three things for faith love and Patience so notice how he says in verse 3 we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as It is fitting because your faith grows Exceedingly so the first thing he thanks God for I'm bound to say thank you to God for is your Faith grows exceedingly your faith is outgrowing all boundaries Now when Paul's first letter he had mentioned a concern he had about their faith in Jesus It wasn't that they didn't have faith But it was something he desired improvement on and he made this clear in his first epistle in First Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10 He had said night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith So Paul rejoiced in the fact that the persecution actually was refining their faith in first Peter 4 12 and 13 Peter said beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial Which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings That when his glory is revealed you may also be glad with exceeding joy So in spite of opposition their faith is growing tremendously and this blessed him You see so many simply give up in the face of opposition, but they grew stronger They actually were living out their faith and as a result they were going Spiritually and maturing so one I thank God for your faith. It's growing second I'm obligated to thank God for your love because your love abounds to one another The hostility that they were enduring drew them closer Instead of abandoning relationships They increasingly depended upon one another when one of them suffered they all suffered along with the one who was hurting They listened to them. They prayed for them They spiritually and emotionally supported them The church was banding closer Because God's love was drawing them and through the affliction. They supported one another. I Was in India. I Spent 16 days in India. I've been there twice. I spent a month in India and This one trip that I joined in a group of pastors to go on we went from from from one Portion of India to the next we went all around the country and we were in a particular church and it was a house and it was a small home, but it was packed with believers and There's no fans or anything they had one fan and they had it in the front. That's about it and at that time the house itself probably was without Exaggeration anywhere from 110 to 150 120 degrees. That's how hot it was inside that house we were all seated on the ground and the men were seated on one side the women are seated on the other and As we were there the service goes for three to four hours So as we're seated there in 110 to 120 degrees They're doing their worship They're doing various things and then at one point they had testimony time And I'll never forget how that people would stand up and give what God has done in their life And it was testimony time By those who had been persecuted that week and I'll always remember a woman who stood up with a black eye her eye was swollen mostly shut and She stood up and she began to share how that her husband who is not a believer Was angry at her for being a Christian and had beaten her up Just a couple days before and she stood up to give her testimony and as she's giving her Testimony you can see the people there as they're giving her encouragement and saying things to her I can't help but think of that church when I think of these people here Paul is saying your faith has grown It's been refined. It's growing and abounding but your love for one another has grown also So in the midst of the persecution and affliction that you're going through you'll hear each other You'll pray for one another you'll love one another and you encourage one another and in doing so You're gonna strengthen each other the way that you ought to be stronger because of what this church is willing to do You see love for one another is the true mark of a Christian Not simply the things that we're opposed to and I think that today the church in many places is Really more known for what we stand against and I think we need to I think we need to say this is what God says We need to stand firm in those things. There's no doubt about it, but it seems to me That sometimes we are getting caught up with wanting everybody to know what we don't like and not everybody knows what we're in favor of a Lot of people know what we don't like we got mad that somebody told us not to eat in and out burgers That just happened this week some of you are aware of that a boy caught against in and out burgers And and then Christians showed those people something by standing in line to get a burger And I know it made them shake in their boots hungry Christians. I I um, I Saw pictures of People standing in line for in and out and by the way, I like getting out. I eat it all the time I think it's the best burger you're gonna get. Okay It's a great burger animal style as good, huh? So I do it I like it But I also think the human beings are funny Because I see lines of people to go get a burger. I wish I saw lines of people waiting to get to church I I would like to see that I would like to see lines of people saying let's get the word of God I mean, let's face it. I mean eat the burger. Don't eat the burger. I will I'll do it on your behalf If you won't I mean I'm good with it But I think that that that what are we saying? What are we saying? You know, you can't tell me to eat a burger. There are so many things going on in this world that we're quiet about But when you tell me not to eat something, that's when I get mad So the world knows that we are opposed to things Maybe the world needs to also know what we're in favor of listen when a pastor stands up and tells you what to be afraid of All the time it takes your joy from you and it makes you angry This property that we're on right now. We've been here since 92 this property was sold to us By a church that was pastored by a man who sowed fear into the heart of the congregation He sowed fear into the heart of congregation when he sold this property He got up and took as many of the church who were willing to go with him to another state and He actually they got some left their houses without being paid for they just got up and left their houses and They moved to another state and when we took possession We went into the different areas and we're going through cleaning and all we found a box of tapes From his church services and during the church services. They would have testimony time And one of the testimony times that we listened to were the voices we heard the voices of older people to older ladies who were saying things like I Was asleep this morning in my neighborhood I heard I heard in my neighborhood I was asleep on a house and I heard someone trying to open the door and I looked out and I saw a Mexican guy Standing out there. We need to get out of here and then another one says I heard this another one says We were in I was in the Montclair mall and I saw gangsters walking by and we're in danger We need to get out of here now listen if you're afraid of gangsters pray for him Pray for him. I know too many gangsters who got right with Jesus Christ God is a God who saves anybody who's willing to come to him pray for him. What are you so afraid of? pray for him Last week I was given a Sunday morning and a brother stopping was sharing with me. I can't give you his whole testimony But I will tell you this I was so blessed to hear and I'm gonna have him share I hope if you're here right now, I'm gonna have you share at the M to M but He was telling me how that he had basically grown many of his years of his life were here and then he had strayed And as he had strayed he was you know starting to think I got to get right with God I've got to get right with God and he's saying that I have to Lord. I have to get right with you I know I know I have to get right with you and he said I was at a mall and Somebody walks up to me and taps me on the shoulder and I turn and I look at this person I've never seen him in my life. He told me I've never seen him He taps me on the shoulder and the guy says I'm sorry But I'm a Christian and the Holy Spirit just told me to tell you something The Holy Spirit just told me to tell you you need to come back to God You need to get right with him and then the guy takes off and he's they're going whoa He says wow that's interesting. I've been praying God. I know I need to get right with you and this stranger Wow, and he says I did nothing then a short time later. He was somewhere else and Somebody another stranger. He says I feel the tap and I turn I said yeah, and the guy says I'm sorry I'm a Christian the Lord just told me to tell you you need to get right with him and he goes You know, that's interesting. You know, hmm. He says a couple weeks later I'm in a another mall. His wife drags him to mall for punishment. I guess and he goes he goes I'm in another mall and a guy walks up to me a third time Another stranger and says the Lord has placed it on my heart. You need to get right with him You need to come back to him. He said it was God Constantly sending people to speak to me that I knew I needed to get right. He serves here He goes to the sentinel of prisons to the prison to to minister to those in in chains right now God can reach Anybody and don't forget that and God will move and he will change hearts And and the Lord has a tendency of doing that and we need to be careful that we remember that that God Has given to us a love of the Spirit and and the love of God is a mark of a believer The visible identifier of a believer is Christ like love in 1st Corinthians 13 verses 4 through 8 Paul writes and defines love for us. He says love is patient love is kind It does not envy it does not boast it is not proud. It is not rude It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered It keeps no record of wrongs Love does not delight in evil But rejoices with the truth it always protects Always trusts always hopes always perseveres Love never fails and that's the testimony. That's the testimony That's what Christians are and it's even a testimony that the non-believers can say of Christians Tertullian a writer that lived 150 to 225 years before Christ wrote that the Christians deeds of love were so noble That the pagan world confessed in astonishment See how they love one another So this kind of love makes an impact on people living in a loveless world and Knowing how important love is Paul prayed that they would grow in love in 1st Thessalonians he had said in chapter 3 verse 12 may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and To all just as we do to you in chapter 4 1st Thessalonians verses 9 and 10 He said concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another and Indeed you do so toward all the brethren in Macedonia But we urge you brethren that you increase more and more So the times of pressure they were enduring produced the fruit of love they went through pain They went through persecution, but they learned to care deeply for one another and then third They were exhibiting great patience in the face of persecution He says and notice this in verse 4 We ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your Persecutions and tribulations that you endure so we boast of you among the churches of God When I'm speaking to somebody I will say you know God is moving in the church of Thessalonica when I'm preaching a message from a pulpit I'll say and God is moving in the church there in Thessalonica He says I boast of you among the churches of God and I boast of you for your patience and faith and all your persecution and tribulation that you endure So that reveals what actually should matter to a minister of the gospel Paul glories in their patience and faith because they endured persecution and affliction in Spite of the opposition and affliction they endure they remain strong in the Lord and that comforted Paul's heart Because he was concerned for their spiritual state. He he wasn't bragging about the numbers of people who showed up he wasn't bragging about the the amount of influence that that that they were exerting in in some Worldly way. He said the thing that that charges up my heart the thing that that causes me joy the thing that makes me pray a Prayer of gratitude is the fact that that that you are patient in your faith and God is moving You have not forgotten who you are. I glory in your patience. I glory in your faith You have endured persecution. You have held up under affliction And I am blessed Now he had already written to them in 1st Thessalonians 3 verse 5 And he had said for this reason when I could no longer endure it I sent to know your faith lest by some means the tempter had tempted you our labor might be in vain in The phase of rejection and affliction and persecution They exhibited great patience Now in the New Testament patience does not speak of meek submissiveness. Oh, well, what can I do? Patience speaks of heroic endurance in the face of great trouble and pain This was a church that was a victim of people who were organizing Concentrated persecution against them But in spite of that they courageously and heroically were holding fast to what they were taught and that's because their faith Is grounded in God and they had hope in him In Psalm 146 verse 5 happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help whose hope is in the Lord his God Psalm 56 verse 3 whenever I am afraid I will trust in you So Paul was blessed these relatively new believers were standing strong and under trials or persecutions It is possible for believers to momentarily lose those qualities But this had not happened to them and Paul rejoices and the reason he can is because their faith is growing The love is abounding because they are deeply rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ Jesus the true vine said in John 15 verse 5 without me You can do nothing and that's the foundation of our Christian faith To be a Christian speaks of being attached to Jesus He is the source of our life and the love of the Lord is the evidence of salvation and Jesus is the center of all attention and Love sets you free to be faithful to the one you love. It's the core of our service to God So he rejoices because their faith and love is demonstrated by their patience his concern has been sued by their Continuation faith love and patience is exhibited in the face of prolonged and aggressive hate towards them And his heart is overcome with relief and gratitude and he uses them as examples. I Want you to know something I Want you to know That as he says we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith I want you to know from my heart to yours that I boast about you Just so that you know I boast about you I talk about you when I go to other churches and I say they're stinkers. No, I say I Say how much I love you and I think that love should not be said just to others And not the person who's loved I think that a lot of men will say yeah, I love my wife But they say it to their friends But they need to also say it to their wife, right honey I love you and I think there are women who say yeah, I love my husband, but they never say baby I love you so what's nice when you say I love you or I love somebody to others But I think I owe it to you to tell you from my heart to yours. I love you I love this church and I boast about you God has blessed us with you We we had a woman's thing the other day 350 hamburger hungry women You know there were 350 you bought hamburgers were closer to 500 who attended the study and And I'm blessed by that because because there are people who are busy serving In there those there are those who are there arriving and they're cared for but you realize how many people are Serving you when you come to church. I do that we have hundreds of people involved in our children's ministry We have people in this church who took their vacation during VBS their week's vacation When they could be somewhere else at at the river or at a beach or just staying at home but they're here every day in a hundred plus weather caring for our children and Hundreds and hundreds of kids are coming and many are hearing the gospel claims We have somebody who drives over an hour plus to get here to serve here and does it faithfully and I love you for that I thank God for you and your service to Jesus Christ for those who are out in that parking lot when it's raining And they're saying could you please park here for those who are standing there when it's a hundred and ten degrees and they're Sweating and they're saying could you stand here for the ushers who stand and help you for the people who are in the cafe for the People who are on the bay and our worship team We have one paid employee at our worship team and the worship groups that we have are all volunteered and I thank God for your service to Jesus Christ. I thank God for that. I do and I And I'm controlling my emotions because they're that deep. I love you I love you so much and I boast about you. You guys don't know But I do I'll say I love my church. I've got some Loving people in this church and I run across you sometimes Different places and you'll walk up and you'll say hi pastor. I just want to say hi I don't want to take your time. I say this every time I mention this. You don't take my time I give you my time. It's worth me giving you my time. You are my family I love you and I boast about you before the Lord and I'm telling you personally how deeply I'm committed to you the way Paul said I love you Thessalonians. I boast about you You need to know I boast about you too. Thank you for your service to Jesus You are an example he was saying of what a fellowship should be in the face of persecution In the face of organized opposition You have remained faithful you have become a great example to others You have been thoroughly convinced of the truth of the gospel and no persecution No trial of faith has turned you aside from it in the gospel of John in chapters chapter 6 verses 66 through 69 We have in that portion of scripture a question that I believe is asked of Every believer sometime in their life maybe more than once and in John 6 verse 66 through 69 It says from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more and Jesus said to the 12 Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ the son of the living God. I believe that Through affliction through tough times you are someday going to hear if you haven't already heard it that question Do you also want to go away? Jesus had been speaking he had just fed the five thousand and These people had come and pursued him they followed to him to where he had gone and and and he says you're following me Because I fed you and and you ate some bread and yeah He ate some fish and and you're following me for that reason But the bread and the fish isn't enough you have to eat of my flesh and drink of my blood Or you have no life in you and when he said that they said this is a difficult saying who can understand it And from that moment on they turned and they began to walk away And all of these people that you would see crowds of people that had walked up to follow Jesus And he sees a crowd and he makes that statement now picture them as they turn and they walk away from him And you can see them as their white robes are disappearing out of sight and he turns to his disciples Do you guys want to go away too? Do you? You will hear that question You will hear that question some of you have some of you have heard it more than once. I have heard it I have heard it. I have heard the Lord speak to my heart saying do you want to go away? And I have I have been there in that place where I'm thinking and I have answered Lord to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life There is nothing else for me There is no other life for me. There are no other friends for me. There are no other relationships for me There is nothing left for me except for you for it. No, I don't want to go away persecution affliction tough times sorrow of heart anxiety concern There'll be a voice you will hear one form or another Are you ready to give up? Do you want to turn around? Do you want to go back? No, Lord No, Lord. I gave everything up You said Pick up my cross and follow you and I have has it been easy No No It hasn't been Have there been times when I've said There's got to be something else to do Yes many times But at the end of the day to whom shall we go? to whom Who's been better to you than him? Who has left you deeper? Than Jesus who has gone as far on your behalf as he? Who wept for you in a garden who allowed Thorns to be pressed onto his brow who allowed himself to have nails piercing his hands and feet It was Jesus and you say do you love me and he stretches out his hands and he says I love you this much and he dies Three days later he rises from the dead and he says what seems to be dead remember. There's life in me There's life in me and I give you my life because I've given you my love And I will never leave you and I will never forsake you and I am preparing a place for you And I will call you to be with me for where I am there you shall be also So you have hope hold fast to the Lord and watch God see the salvation of the Lord And he will cause you to rejoice in the end and that's why Paul could say Jesus Christ and I thank God for you That's how it works You could have turned away, but you didn't your faith your love and your patience has increased and for this I thank God and I brag about you because of what God has done in you may he Do the same work in us