The Gospel God
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
This is a unique morning. I never expected to be a television preacher, and yet here I am staring at a camera this morning prepared to share God's truth with people I cannot see. At the same time, I rejoice that God has allowed us to live in a time when we have the capability to have this level of communication during our current pandemic. I will do my best to communicate God's truth to you this morning, I trust you will do your best to hear what God has to say and to allow his spirit to speak to your soul.
Involvement:
My desire is that the word of God will encourage you and that you will be filled with increased wonder and awe for our God. I pray that as a result of spending time in God's word, the concerns and fears that might be arising because of the situation we are facing in our country will be reduced and replaced with renewed focus on God himself.
Context:
This morning we are coming to the end of our series through Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. My plan, Lord willing, is to dive into the Psalms next week to begin a new set of sermons. You may recall if you were part of our church at the time that in 2016 and 17 we worked our way through the first 41 Psalms, the group of psalms that make up the first of the 5 books comprising the Psalter. My plan is to start working our way through the second book of the Psalter next week.
Since August of last year, we have been looking at First Thessalonians. This is a letter that focuses on what we have been calling the gospel life cycle. The gospel is the means by which God calls people to new life through faith. The gospel is the means by which believers grow in this new life within their faith. And the gospel is the means by which people share the work of Jesus Christ with others so that new life and growth may continue.
The Thessalonians were part of this life cycle, even though their faith was recent. Paul’s point in this letter has been to encourage them to grow in their faith, to share that faith with others, and to continue the gospel lifecycle.
As Paul has been wrapping up of his letter to these young believers, we have seen over the past couple of sermons that he concluded it with several brief instructions. These are final thoughts that he wanted to leave with these young-in-the-faith believers who are facing difficult circumstances because of their faith in Jesus Christ. They were being persecuted by the unbelievers in the city because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And as a result, they were being forced to depend upon one another more and more.
Preview:
Last week you may recall that I modified my sermon plan and left behind 4 versus for this week that I had originally planned to include with last week's section. I still plan to finish Paul's letter this week, though. In the final verses of this letter we will see that Paul gives many quick instructions. We could slow down and really spend a week on each of these instructions, but that is not what I want to do. After all, Paul doesn't spend much time on these instructions, so neither will I. These are meant to be quick reminders of truths that these believers are expected to already know. For most of us, I would expect that we know these ideas as well. So, much like as it was for the Thessalonian believers, it should be useful for us to be reminded of these truths. These are not new ideas, but they are important ideas.
There are several ways in which we could approach these final verses down but this morning I'm going to break them into four main ideas. There will be subpoints under some of these ideas but we will limit ourselves to 4 main ideas.
Illustration
To me, this is a little bit like skipping a rock across a pond. I know I've given you this image before. As you skip a rock across the pond you only connect with the surface of the water at a few points. We could look at everything that's between the points that we are going to touch on this morning but that would slow us down. We could go deep at every point where we touch the surface of great doctrine and see what's below, but again that would slow us down. We are going to force ourselves to just skip across the surface and catch these main ideas this morning.
If you would like to think of one overall thought for these final verses this morning that collects all the ideas together, I would put it this way: We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel.
Our God is incredible, isn't he? And yet the most amazing thing about the gospel is that through faith in the message that Jesus Christ died for our sins, we have been brought into a relationship with our incredible God. Each of the four points that we're going to look at this morning tell us something about our incredible God.
Transition from introduction to body:
This morning I will read our verses as we come to them this morning. We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel.
The first thing that we discover about our incredible God comes in verses 19 through 22. In these verses we see that,…
BODY:
I. We have a God who reveals Himself, 19–22
A God who reveals himself. Let's read 1 Thessalonians 5:19–22…<read>
These verses, as I mentioned earlier, do not give us much in the way of details. What we can gather from them is that apparently there were a few people in this new church who were not giving proper honor to the prophecies that were being given by God to the church. Remember, this is one of the very first New Testament letters to be written. When Paul is writing this letter, we are at a time in the New Testament church in which they did not have our New Testament scripture available. For that reason, God was giving prophecy directly to people within the church that would reveal his will for the church at that time. Over the first few decades, God gave special prophetic revelation to the apostles that they wrote down so that we now have the New Testament, but in the interim God gave direct revelation to the churches as needed for specific circumstances.
Application
Today are not receiving new revelation, I trust we all know that. Still there is the principle here that applies to the revelation of God that we do have, our Bible. We should recognize that we have a God who reveals himself to us. We would not know God were it not for his revelation.
Transition:
Looking at these verses, there are two points from what Paul says here that we can apply to our current in which we have this fixed revelation in our hands. First of all,…
A. We should eagerly embrace His revelation
We should embrace it. It really is that simple. We should embrace what God has revealed of himself and his will to us. In fact, it should even be easier for us than it was for the Thessalonians because the church through the centuries has collected God’s revelation for us in this book. We do not have to go searching for it; all we need to do is embrace it.
Application
I trust that you are connected this morning through the live stream because you have an urgent desire to embrace God's revelation. You want to know what God has said. Yet, embracing it goes beyond simply knowing what he has said; it requires that we also apply what God has revealed to our lives. Isn't it glorious that God has revealed himself to us? We can know who He is, what He has done, as well as what He expects from us!
Transition:
There's a second point in these verses as well,…
B. We should fiercely reject false claims of revelation
We see this aspect in verse 22. Not only must the Thessalonians embrace what God has revealed, recognizing that it is from God; They must also reject that which claims to be from God but is not. In fact, one commentator expressed it this way, “The intensity of our adherence to the good will be measured by the strength of our rejection of the evil.” We truly are not appreciating God's revelation of himself if we're not rejecting all counterfeit claims.
Application
In our day we have nearly as much of a challenge as in Paul's day. We might think that since we have God's word bound up for us in a book that we would not face difficulties in rejecting false claims of revelation, but sadly such is not the case. There are many people who are being led astray by the idea that God is continuing to give ongoing revelation to us. We should be saddened to see so many deluded by the charismatic movement. I think we also need to recognize the danger that we face ourselves, though. Between books that claim the Christian label and an endless number of people claiming Christian insight on social media and blogs, the danger remains real that we can be led astray by teaching that claims new insight. Much like Paul warned the Thessalonian believers to examine critically everything that claimed to be from God, we too must be critical of everything that claims to be expressing God’s revelation.
Transition:
We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel. Our God reveals himself. That is our first point this morning. Because God reveals himself, we should eagerly embrace his revelation, and we should fiercely reject false claims of revelation.
Moving on now to the second point which is found in verses 23 and 24,…
II. We have a God who completes His work, 23–24
Illustration
How many of you have unfinished projects stacked up around your house? Great ideas that you came up with and expected to finish quickly, but now have been set aside for months or years. In fact, maybe you hope that during this time of imposed self-quarantine you will be able to finally pick some of these projects up and finish them.
Well, our God is not a God who leaves things unfinished. We, those who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, are God's projects and we can be confident that he will finish what he has begun. We see this in the next 2 verses…read 1 Thessalonians 5:22–24…<read>
Transition:
We have a God who completes His work. In the verses that we just read we really see 2 aspects of God that I would suggest should cause us to praise him in response to the fact that He will finish what He has begun.
First of all,…
A. We should praise God for our sanctification
There are so many things that we could focus on in verse 23. For example, Paul mentions that he is praying to the “God of peace.” In this phrase we see a reference to the relationship that we have with God in which the hostility created between us and God by sin has been replaced with perfect peace through God’s actions.
What I want us to focus on, though, is that Paul's prayer is that God would continue the process of sanctifying these new believers. As I trust you recall that Paul has talked earlier in this letter about the coming of the Lord and now he concludes by reminding them that when the Lord returns the process of sanctification will come to its culmination. In other words, the believers will be perfect in every way—in their spirit, in their soul, and in their mind.
Application
The same thing is true for us. We look forward to the day when our Lord returns because we know that then we will discover that we are like him in spirit and in soul and in body. This process that God has begun to sanctify us, will come to his completion. What a glorious day that will be. But the comfort that we are to take now is in the fact that as we go through this process God is the one who is preserving us So that we do not fall out of the process. God is also the one who is doing this work in us. That is why we should praise God for our sanctification which is ongoing in all of our lives as believers.
Transition:
Secondly,…
B. We should praise God for His faithfulness
This is the simple point that Paul makes in verse 24. We do not have to be concerned about what God has promised because God, by his very nature, is faithful. God is the one who called us to this gospel life cycle, God is the one who is carrying us through this gospel life cycle, and God is the one who will complete this gospel life cycle; and all of this is because God is a faithful God.
Application
Let's not forget this great truth. Often over this past week I've seen efforts initiated to remind each other that amid the disruption and chaos we are experiencing in our country by this pandemic, we still have the faithful God. The character of God is something that we can hang on to in every situation, even during a pandemic. God has promised that he will bring us to himself through Christ. This is an eternally secure relationship. God is a faithful God.
Transition:
This is our second point this morning: we have a God who completes his work. For that reason, we should praise God for our sanctification, and we should praise God for his faithfulness. Remember our main point? We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel. Are you being reminded once again of how incredible He is ?
Looking at verses 25 through 27, we can find a third point this morning,…
III. We have a God who makes us a family, 25–27
Let's read these verses…<read 1 Thess 5:25–27>. The wonder of the gospel life cycle is that it makes us all a family. We have a God who unites us to one another by declaring that we are united to His Son by our faith. We have seen this truth throughout this letter as Paul, time and time again, refers to the readers as brethren. “Brethren” is a family turn.
Illustration
I suspect that one of the primary reasons that you are all connected this morning to our live-stream and listening to this sermon is because you recognize this family connection. You miss being with each other and that is as it should be. It should hurt to be separated from our family. You want to be as close to each other as you can, and you know that this week and for the next several weeks this live-stream is as close as we can all get to each other.
Transition:
Since we are family, I would like us to observe three things in these 4 verses. First of all, from verse 25 we should recognize that,…
A. We should pray for each other
Paul has told the Thessalonians at various points that he was praying for them and now he offers the Thessalonians the opportunity to return the effort by praying for him and his partners in the gospel ministry, Silas and Timothy. It is obvious that Paul is aware that he is as much in need of God's help as the Thessalonians were.
Application
Well, the same is true for us. We all need God's help. That means we need to be praying for each other. We need to be asking one another for prayer. We need to be taking time to pray as well. We need to be faithful in that effort.
I believe one of our weaknesses is to faithfully pray for each other. I don't think the problem is that we do not value prayer. Nor do I think the problem is that we do not intend to pray. I think the problem is that we are easily distracted and then we forget to pray. Well, we need each other's prayers.
Transition:
Because we are a family we should, first of all, pray for each other. Secondly,…
B. We should love each other
I'm getting the idea of love one another from verse 26 where Paul references greeting each other with a holy kiss. Again, this carries a strong familial idea. The greeting form of kiss as Paul is referring to it here was not romantic action; it was the common greeting between members of the same family. It was a way of recognizing their close relationship with each other in that close relationship is what generated their love and concern for one another. The early church quickly adopted this method of greeting because they recognized that through Christ, they had a similar close family relationship with each other.
Application
Now we no longer in our culture greet each other with a kiss, although I have traveled to places in the world where that is still the common custom. Actually, at this time we don't even greet each other with a handshake in our current pandemic crisis. Yet I hope we all recognize that the form of the greeting is only meant to express the underlying relationship of love that should be constant across all cultures in all circumstances.
Transition:
Because God has made us family, we should love each other. Thirdly,…
C. We should encourage each other with truth
in verse 27 Paul suddenly uses a very strong phrase when he says, “I adjure you by the Lord.” it may have not jumped out at you when I read it, but Paul suddenly switched to first person language in this verse and invokes the Lord. He is bringing full Apostolic authority to bear and reminding them that he's speaking with the Lord's weight as he tells them to ensure that this letter is read in their public gathering so that all of the believers may hear it. Paul knows that this letter contains encouraging truth that will help shape their lives as well as their response to the persecution that they are facing at this time. This strongly indicates that Paul understood that this letter was the word of God.
Application
We too should be seeking to use the word of God to encourage each other. As I mentioned last week, there is a parallel between the unknown future created by our crisis and the situation that the Thessalonians were in because of their persecution; both they and us have an uncertain future. But what they and we each need is hold on to God's truth. When the whole world seems like it is spinning out of control, we need the solid truth that God alone can offer. When the world is in panic, we can hold on to the truth of God. Let us use God's truth to encourage each other at this time. Then when this crisis passes, let us continue to use Gods truth to encourage one another. Encouraging each other with truth is what a family should do.
Transition:
We should encourage each other with truth. We have a God who makes us family. What a glorious idea that is. Since we are family, we should pray for each other, we should love each other, and we should encourage each other with truth. We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel…and with each other as family.
Now, in our final verse we can see one last point,…
IV. We have a God of incredible grace, 28
A God of incredible grace, that is our God. Let’s read the last verse of this letter…<read 1 Thess 5:28>.
Truly the gospel life cycle is all about God's grace. Grace, as we've discussed before, is the undeserved favor that we receive from God. Notice that grace is intimately connected in this last verse to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through the person of Jesus that we can experience the grace of God. It is through the work of Jesus that the grace of God flows to us because Jesus has purchased God's favor with his own blood. And it through the gospel of Jesus that grace of God can bring others to the point of experiencing His grace through faith.
Paul began this letter with a reference to the grace of God and he ends this letter with a reference to the same grace. He fervently wanted the Thessalonians to remember the grace of God that they had received through Jesus Christ via faith.
Application
Do you have faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation? If so, Gods favor rests on you as well. You do need not wonder whether you will receive God's grace or not, it is already yours. Let's remember that truth as we face these coming weeks of unknown. I do not know with the next weeks will bring in our country, in our lives, or in our church. But I do know that our grace in Jesus Christ is sure because we have a God of incredible grace.
Transition from body to conclusion:
We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel.
CONCLUSION
Our God is an incredible God. And we have a relationship with Him! We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel.
I trust this morning that as we have concluded looking Paul's letter that we have been encouraged by considering what we have through our relationship with our incredible God. We have a God who reveals Himself. We have a God who completes His work. We have a God who makes us a family. We have a God of incredible grace.
As we consider these points this morning our hearts should be filled with joy. Our hearts should be filled with wonder. Our hearts should be filled with adoration. Our hearts should be filled because We have a relationship with an incredible God through the Gospel.