Final Sermon MHBC

Introduction

1 Thessalonians 1:6–10 ESV

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned 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, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Nearly seven years ago, in an apartment in Ridgeland - having only been married for two months - I was preparing to preach my first sermon at MHBC.

I remember praying over that day. I remember wanting to say a lot of things. That’s the thing about the beginning of a new ministry - you have a lot that you want to say and do.

Today is much different. Much like cream rising to the top, I think some pastoral ministry some priorities rise to the top. It isn’t that aren’t a lot of important things to say and do, but over time, you just learn to prioritize certain things in ministry.

A share these two things both as an encouragement and a challenge. I have seen them increase, but their increase will need to continue to grow.

Of vital importance for you - (1) how well you receive the word of the Lord and (2) how fervently you share the gospel, the message of Jesus, with others.

CIT: A healthy church prioritizes the word of God in worship and the message of Jesus to the nations.

Explanation

PAUL IS MOST PLEASED BY HOW THE THESSALONIANS RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD.

With Obedience “imitators of us and of the Lord,”

I am not telling you to imitate me, but I am saying that we aught to imitate the Lord through the teachings of the apostles.

While I hope to have a life worthy of emulating, ultimately we obey the teachings of the Scripture as we look more like Jesus.

I am thankful to have seen a growth in many of you in the Word of God - in your love for it, study of it, and obedience to it. I am proud to see God at work in you. It is a great delight.

We do not just listen to the word, but we obey it. The Word is not meant to be exclusively learned. It is to be obeyed.

Slow obedience is no obedience. Delayed obedience is no obedience.

God asks us to hear the word that we might imitate Him.

Paul was pleased that they received the word and their receiving of the word made them imitators of them and Christ. =

In a world that will look less and less like Jesus, you will either make the decision to look like Him or to look like the world.

There will be a clear contrast between followers of Jesus and followers of the world.

Do not drift the way of the world. Look like Jesus.

In Difficult Seasons “you received the word in much affliction”

Brace yourselves to love Jesus and follow Him and delight in His word in a nation and world that does not love Jesus.

Receive the Word in affliction as excitedly as in prosperity.

Psalm 119:143 “Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.”

The word is our solace and refuge in difficult times.

Difficult season can mean seasons where worshipping Jesus will bring consequences.

It might be as small as your child doesn’t make the travel baseball or soccer team OR that you are drug out of the premises and thrown in jail.

May you cling to *this book - as you read it, sing it, and hear it in worship - as a life preserver in a stormy sea. It is no less important.

Joyfully “with joy in the Holy Spirit”

We obey God and we receive the word in difficult times WITH JOY.

The way you obey matters. Is God better than everything else that you have, or do you begrudgingly give him a certain percentage of your life.

Shouldn’t obedience be enough?

You require more of your children than you think the Lord requires of you?

I don’t have to be joyful. I just have to do it.

Tell that to your kid the next time you tell them to go to their room, and they slam the door behind them or mumble under their breath as they do it.

The Lord requires joyful obedience. Why? Because the Lord is concerned with your heart in the matter.

Some of you have lost your joy along the

BECAUSE OF HOW THE WORD WAS RECEIVED AMONG THE THESSALONIANS, IT MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THEM, AND THEY MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR THE KINGDOM.

“you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”

The kingdom must take root in you before you can effectively take it to the world.

When you believe the message of the gospel - that God forgives sinners. That He REALLY loves and forgives sinners - your life is forever, irrevocably changed.

And some of you have been playing with Him.

It is time to turn back to Him.

“to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come”

There is a centeredness and settledness that comes from our hope in Jesus.

We are a hopeful people. We are not wishfully hopefully like many of us were that MSU and Ole Miss would win their football games last night.

We are hopeful in the way that we know with all certainty that Christ will return.

When my little boy starts crying in the night for a bottle, Erin and I will wake up, feed him a bottle, and rock him back asleep. But when he is extra fussy, I will carry Him in my arms to the edge of the kitchen counter to look at the glow of the bottle warmer.

Just a look at the bottle warmer quiets him until He receives the bottle.

The words that we read and the promises that we see quiet our souls.

“the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you”

Finish the mission. We obey the Word, and we go.

If you have lost a fervency for souls to be saved, pray that God would grant it again to you.

There are BILLIONS of people alive right now - walking their dog, digging for scraps of food, working their grind, reading the newspaper - who would spend an eternity in hell should Jesus return today.

An eternity of fire.

An eternity of torment.

An eternity of misery.

An eternity of dying with no death.

I want you to place yourself in front of the Lord right now. You hear the cries and screams of torment from those who will spend an eternity in the torment of the great, just, holy judge of the universe

And this judge, the Lord, says to you, “These are the souls of the people whose lives you could have led to me. What were you doing that you failed to share the message of the cross with them?”

There will be no valid answer.

Invitation

Every fiber of the word is knit together into the message of the cross. The Bible at points whispers and at times yells of the cross. You cannot know the truth of the word outside of Jesus. Give yourself to Him.

Finish the mission. Go. Serve. See God move in extraordinary ways.