From generation to generation, God has continually refreshed His church with a greater love for Him. God’s call for a renewed love and zeal to serve Him afresh, is a call to repentance. In our day and age, the very core beliefs of the Christian faith, have been reduced to feelings and the private convictions of an individual's heart. The widely known report of the Thessalonians was that they "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." This turning was followed by a visible and demonstratable change of lifestyle. The Reformation was no different; it was a call to repentance followed by times of refreshing. This is what we need today as well.

Let me ask you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. We'll spend our time in verses six through verse 10. First Thessalonians chapter one, verse six through verse 10. Now what is to just take a moment to come before the Lord in prayer.

God we thank you so much for your great goodness in our lives. God it has been said here so many times that we do not deserve any of your good things, O God, in our lives. We thank you so much that, Lord, by your grace you continue to pour your grace upon us, your mercies, your goodness, O God, and your love. We thank you that, Lord, your son has died, and so we have hope that There is forgiveness of sins because blood has been shed and the blood of your son Jesus Christ. Lord as we seek to understand repentance, that we may truly abandon our sins, oh God, and tend to you, we ask, oh Lord, that you would have mercy, that Lord you would teach our simple hearts, oh God.

You would cleanse our vile minds. You would make us your own. In Jesus' name, Amen. Throughout this year, we have had the opportunity to listen in to a number of conferences and mostly coming out of the West. And so as we sit there, seeing the way God is using the Internet and providing us with these opportunities.

And this year has been a blessing and just listening into sermons, audios on the Reformation. And so there's been conferences here in the States on this subject on the Reformation. And I couldn't help it, but notice how each and every conference, it seems to me that the conference organizers are trying to place a finger on what was the heart of the Reformation that began with Martin Luther. What was at the center of the Reformation? There's been conferences on justification by faith, there's been conferences on the period of the church, there's been conferences on the gospel, there's been conferences on worship, and all these I think this is a good question for us to be asking.

What was at the heart? What was central to the Reformation? We look at Luther's work which begins with his own repentance. That Luther, having repented and repented of sins in his life, that he came to a place where he had to repent of his own repentances. Aluthos' reformation begins with his own repentance, God bringing him, giving him faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to find peace in God.

The doctrine of repentance was at the heart of the Reformation And we want to see a reformation in the church in our day and age. We want to see God transform lives. We want to see churches that are truly working in holiness. That is our desire. And so even as I preach, as I I counsel, as I do conferences on the continent in Africa.

We're doing all these things praying that God would give us a reformation. Implied in that is that we want to see true or genuine repentance. We want to see biblical repentance. We are praying and crying and asking God the great shepherd of our souls, praying that Christ cause us to return to you, Cause our cities, our countries, our continent to turn to you. And that is our desire and I've heard those same echoes throughout this conference.

In our text this morning the Apostle Paul around AD 49 is on his second missionary journey and so he begins preaching the gospel earlier than acts chapter 13 but we see in acts chapter 13 that the church there is sending paul and barabas and others onto the mission field and three times paul goes out and retains And this time is on his second missionary journey. And through a vision God calls Paul into Macedonia, into Europe to preach the gospel. And so for the first time the gospel enters Europe. Something interesting there is that not only does God establish the church in Thessalonika but also eventually it becomes the hub of Christianity in Europe and the hub of Christian missions to the surrounding regions. Translanaiga was the capital city of Macedonia, the biggest port in that area and so there was a lot of a lot of businesses and a lot of economic activities there, consumed also in worship of idols.

This was the region where Artemis, the Greek goddess, was worshipped. The Greek goddess was worshipped. The Saronaika was a city completely consumed with the worship of idols. It is interesting as you look into what was happening in this region that we people can be consumed and passionate and devoted to worship yet the worship of idols. Now we see some of that in our day and age today.

One bible scholar points out that this part of the region at that time you could easily find a god than a man. There's still many parts of the world today where people, where there are more gods than people. There are more idols to worship than people. My poet tells us something very interesting in our passage this morning. If you look with me verse six and he says and you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy and of the Holy Spirit so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaea who believe for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaea but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.

In verse 9 he says, For they themselves declare concerning us what man of entry we had to you, how you turned to God from idols to save the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Paul says there was a majority report The word of the Lord has sounded forth but in verse 9 he says they themselves we don't need to say anything everywhere we go they are talking about your repentance. They are testifying concerning your repentance. They are telling us and degrading to us concerning what amount of entry we had to you and how you turned. There was a majority report and this majority report was concerning their repentance.

Paul writes, in every place throughout the region, news is out. And it's about how you turned to God from idols. I want to spend some time just to point out three elements to their repentance that we see as the church in Tz that there are three elements in their repentance, and it is important that when we talk about repentance, these three elements should be there. Here's number one. The majority report concerning the Thessalonians focuses at least it focuses on their quick response to the preaching of the apostle their agent renouncing of dead idols and quickly tending to God abandoning their idols and tending to God through the true and living God.

These idol worshipers they had to come to a place as they were listening to the apostle Paul preaching the gospel to them, they had to come to a place where they would see their desperate and agent need for a Savior, Jesus Christ. If someone says to us today how do I repent we say to them that do it quickly respond to the things you've heard do something about the things you've heard. Their quick response to the gospel as Paul preached to them. And so we see in Acts chapter 17 and verse four that the apostle Paul took time to explain to these men and women to demonstrate, to persuade concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, He was preaching concerning Jesus Christ as the supreme lurer, as one whom God has given not only to serve, but to be the judge of all the earth. Paul testifies in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13.

He says, for this reason we also thank God without ceasing Because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of man, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe. And so this is what we need to see in our churches. This is what we need to see and pray for in the world today that as we go out preaching the gospel, that those who hear the words of the Lord, that they would not listen to it as if they're hearing just men speaking as if it was the word of man but they would hear it as the word of God. This is what we need to be praying for if there is going to be an awakening in our day and age that we are asking, that we are talking about, that we need to be praying that God poured your spirit, open our eyes, open our minds, show us that this is your word that God has spoken. That God has spoken.

Paul looks back and say, we give thanks because We remember, we know that when you heard us preaching, you receive the word with fear and trembling, with great care and diligence, quickly laying hold of Christ by faith, and God brought you to himself. We live in a day and age where we say we are blessed so much with technology and all these things but we also live in an age where it is so difficult to listen to the word of God. We live in an age that is cursed with technology in many ways. We can sit down listening to the Word of God. A preacher is working so hard trying to communicate the truth of God and you can have people texting and talking to a thousand people out there.

We live in a day and age where we have lost our attention span. We can't sit and keep our gaze on the Word of God, not even for an hour. Once preached in a church, and this happened so many times, I stand there, and I'm about to start preaching, and I'm told that you have to preach for about, your message has to be about 30 minutes. And so every time I go up there, I always take my phone with me with a stopwatch and I put it there and every time I forget to pray start. Almost all the time.

And I have to keep apologizing and saying, you know, I forgot to press start because church members will complain during the week. Oh it was a good sermon but it was so long because I went over the 30 minutes mark. And I say to myself one day I say you know the solution to this is to just stop inviting me. The Thessalonians understood they applied before a holy and living God. They knew that they were objects of God's wrath But they also could see that in the preaching of Paul, this same God was offering to them His grace.

And they quickly responded. This sense of agency concerning our souls is what is missing in the church today. We seem to be so much at ease in our sins. Repentance, biblical repentance, is not just turning away from our sins it is urgently turning from our sins we turn urgently from our sins and we run fast to god where does our culture where does our generation, the church today, where does it get the idea that putting off repentance until tomorrow is okay? Where do we get the idea?

The idea that putting off repentance and say I'll do it tomorrow is digging our own grave and trampling on the masses of God and it must disturb us. A plain reading of the writings of the Reformers shows us, plainly shows us, that they considered repentance as an agent issue. Was an agent matter. Listen to what Luther says. Martin Luther once said, if anyone would feel the greatness of sin, he would not be able to go on living another moment.

So, great is the power of sin. Listen to Jonathan Edwards seeking to awaken his heroes in his sermon, sinners in the hands of an angry God. He says your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell. And if God should not let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf. They saw that this matter of repentance wasn't something to be negotiated.

We are being trained as a generation to give an opinion for every single thing we are told. You read something concerning repentance online, you go to the comment section. Instead of repenting you go to the comment section and you comment. You have an opinion. We have an opinion about everything we hear, that is very dangerous, we spend so much time communicating and sending messages than we should be listening, Every man and woman on planet who has access to the internet is now a preacher blocking all the way to hell.

Where do we get the idea that repentance is something we need to be negotiated? We see in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, for he says, in unacceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation repentance is always about now in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 15 the writer says while it is said today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Romans 13 in verse 11, and do this knowing the time, that now it is high time to awaken out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

The night is fast spent, the day is at hand, Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. The the the the church in the the So when Pope preached they responded with agency. And I speak to you today as I speak to myself I speak to you today that whatever you've heard today and God has been convicting you and speaking to you about something, do not wait till tomorrow because tomorrow is not promised. Biblical repentance means that can only happen if we just like the teslonians begin to see something about the holiness of God. That's my second point.

Paul tells us that their turning was abandoning idols and turning to God, to the living and true God. So it is quickly turning, quickly repenting, quickly abandoning whatever idols or sin and quickly turning to a holy God, to the only true God. God. I will say that repentance is walking away, walk away and walk toward God. So they abandoned, quickly abandoned the idols, renounced, walked away, changed their minds about what they thought when it came to the subject of God they forsook their idols and tend to God when Paul says to us that they tend to the living and true God this kind of confession opens to us that we begin to see something about God that was not just turn into a living and true God that we have idols here then we have God here and probably this is the the problem in the preaching of the doctrine of God in the church today that we spend so much time just showing people the difference between idols and God there is only God and Paul is careful to show us that that they turned from dead idols to a living and true God there's only one God.

He is the I AM. He is not like anything compared to idols. The Thessalonians began to see that there is only one true God and by worshiping idols saying they are gods we had blasphemed against this god they saw that this god was the only true god the transcendent and all powerful the Creator and Sustain of all things. For the first time They understood that there's only one God, and could not be compared to anything their imaginations could conceive. To Moses he says, I am.

Meaning he cannot be comprehended unless he makes himself comprehensible. He cannot be explained unless he explains himself to us. He cannot be approached unless he approaches us. God had made himself known to them. And I believe that we cannot experience genuine reformation, genuine repentance, if we do not repent of our futile thoughts and twisted imaginations concerning God.

That's where our repentance must begin. We need to begin to see that by worshiping other things and making other things a priority in our lives that we are sinning against this God who should be everything in our lives. Then Job answered the Lord and said, behold I am vile, what shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth once I have spoken but I will not answer. Yes twice I will not proceed no further in Job 40 and verse 3 to 5 and Job had suffered so much and you and me could expect that God would come to him and say Job I studied all this.

You're suffering here I studied all this. I'm the one who asked the question first and God would give an explanation to him but God doesn't do that God begins to show Job His holiness. Listen to what Job says in verse 42 5 to 6. He says, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you, therefore I abode myself and repent in dust and ashes. When we see God, we repent not only of sin, but our good works also and that makes us able to run to Christ for what he has done for us on the cross of Calvary.

If only we could see God would be saying nothing in my hand I bring simply to the cross I cling. Paul tells us that they turned from idols to save the living and true God. And in verse 10 he says, and to work to work for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. I know in the church today, everywhere in the world, the doctrine of excatology is always used to basically find out whether you're gonna fellowship with this person or not. Now it's very, very sad.

And so one time I went to a church in South Africa and while there, I'd warned before about some things in that church and a brother came to me and asking me what I thought about the second coming of Christ and I refused to have that conversation that day. Because I knew that all he wanted to do was place me in a box and decide whether he was going to talk to me anymore or not. But Paul tells us that something happened with these men and women in Thessalonica. He says, and to wait and so they repented, abandoned their idols and turned to God, to the living and true God and they begun something happened to them. As Paul argued as we see in Acts seventeen as he preached to them as he exalted them and demonstrated the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Something happened to these men and women as they heard about the resurrection, they heard about their justification But beyond that, they also heard about a king who was coming back for them. And that led them to this place where there was this expectation in their hearts that Christ was coming back for them and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead and throughout first and second Thessalonians Paul uses the second coming of Christ as an exhortation to these men and women that they would encourage one another because of that. That they would remain encouraged because of that. That they would walk in holiness because of that. Wasn't just a place to go for contention, to show that we've read so much and to wait for his son.

There was this this eschatological hope in their hearts that someone who has given himself in death because of their sins was coming back to take them home. The uniqueness of their repentance was how fast they were gripped by the thought that this man Christ was died for their sins was living he was not dead anymore. They understood the resurrection. They understood what that meant for them as a board of believers. When you think of the resurrection, when you think of the ascension of Christ when you think of the many promises in the word concerning the second coming of Christ what does that do to you?

Paul continued to write to them later, exhorting them to walk in repentance, to walk in holiness, on the basis of the resurrection of Christ and his return. Biblical repentance begins with a deep sense of our need for Jesus and his agent, followed by a vision of God and his his holiness. And a warm expectation of life with the son of God in heaven. Does our preaching, does our faith, our thoughts concerning Christ arouse in us, a growing and sanctifying expectation as we wait for the coming king. Is there a hope springing up in your heart, in my heart, as we think of the final redemption from sin and death and all the troubles of this world to be with our king in heaven.

When believers see the resurrection of Jesus Christ they are given this eternal hope and so by faith They see him being crucified on the cross of Calvary. As they believe in him, the Bible tells us that we are crucified with him, and we die with him, and are raised to life with him, but it doesn't end there, and we are seated with him in the heavenly places and we look to him as he has promised to come back for us and take us home. Listen to John writing in first John chapter three and verse two he said, beloved now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. This is the hope I'm talking about. But we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him.

We shall see him as he is. Doesn't that sound like sanctification? And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure. We say repentance is abandoning sin, abandoning idols, and it doesn't end there. We continue to walk in repentance.

But how does it happen? It is through this eschatological hope, swirling up in our hearts, causing us to walk in holiness, to purify ourselves as we think of Christ and His second coming. 2 Timothy 2 and 3, this is a faithful saying, for we died with him, we shall also live with him. Luther, whether he knew, and most historians assume that Luther didn't plan the Reformation. Praise the Lord he didn't, a man.

But we know that this reformation began with his own reformation. There are a number of things that we see with Luther having repented of his own sins, he begun to have this great concern for the church and for others. It reformed, God reformed and changed Luther in many ways. And I want us to think about a number of things that we see in the life of Martin Luther, but more importantly, we see them in the church in Thessalonica. I want to take you back to verse 6 of our text.

When we have repented of our sins, have come to Christ and God continues to sanctify us as we expect and continue to wait for his son Jesus Christ. There's a number of things that follow and that's what repentance does. Number one in verse six Paul tells us and you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. And so repentance leads to joy. Even in the midst of suffering, this expectation of Christ and his second coming leads us to joy.

You look at the Thessalonians with all the things that went through, there were a happy church. And verse 7 he says, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Archaea who believe, for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Archaea but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything even here commentators begin to wonder whether the Thessalonians actually actively got engaged in missions or it was just news going out and those who traveled began to preach the gospel but it is clear that where there is biblical repentance, repentance will fuel missions. There will be evangelistic zeal to see others come to Christ. We preach because of God, but we also preach because we love men. I always tell my church that if we understood the measure of the wrath of God we would be going out and begging even our enemies saying you don't want to be a part of what's coming.

Run! Biblical repentance fuels a measure of evangelistic zeal and missions and we see that with this church whether they were deliberate or not but we see that they became such an evangelistic church encouraging the believers in that region. What does David say to us in Psalm 51 in verse 13? He says, then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to you out of his own repentance. Isn't it true or a possibility that the lack of zeal for the nations is a result of sin and repented sin in our hearts.

Our repentance will lead us to preach to the nations to be concerned for the glory of Christ among the nations who have burning desires to see others come to Christ to join us in the hope that we have. And people say why is there such a lack of zeal for the lost? Not just in terms of cross-cultural missions, but even reaching out to our neighbors. Isn't that a possibility? Isn't there a possibility there that is because of our lack of repentance?

Because of sin in our own lives. The church in Tesronaica became the next missionary sending hub. Preaching the gospel to the rest of the region, encouraging the believers, sending relief, helping others. Paul says in every place we do not need to say anything about you. Your gospel, your faith, your repentance, your concern for other believers speaks for itself.

There is a clear majority report concerning you how we see that being coming from their repentance as they abandon their idols, turning to the living and true God. Sanctification, we want a holy church, we are praying for a holy church, We need a holy church. This particular church, this particular board group of people were being sanctified. A boy encourages them to look to Christ, to think of him as one who sits at the right hand of God the Father interceding, not only waiting for the time to for him to come and take his church but he's up there giving us aid interceding for us and we're waiting and Jesus as he taught in scripture in the Gospels, he uses his return to encourage his hearers to walk in holiness, to be prepared, to watch and pray, for we do not know the day or the hour. As you think of Christ, as you think of the King of Kings retaining for you, as you think of him and his power to transform our bodies into glorious bodies.

Does that send you to prayer, repenting of sin in your body, in your mortal bodies and asking for forgiveness and cleansing and continuing to repent and to walk in holiness and righteousness. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turned to God from idols, to save the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven. Do not be consumed with that which is visible in this life. Do not be consumed with that which you see and hear. Be consumed with this secret life as you think of God the Son descending.

Coming back for you as he's promised. Let that be something that consumes us something that guides us something that causes us to be afraid and to walk in holiness To rejoice in what god has done for us. Let that be something that sends us out to seek out the lost and say, you do not want to experience the wrath that is coming. Be saved. Come to Christ.

Now, you and me would be busy going out and saying, repent for the kingdom of god is at hand. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we come before you, oh Lord, knowing that some of us are putting off repentance. Lord, in a place like this, it's easy to hear all these messages, O God, all these warnings, exhortations, comforting exhortations, and to say, I will think about it. For us to say, I need to pray about it.

God I pray that you'd help us, like the believers in Thessalonica, to forsake our sins with agency, and turn to you, O God, and turn to you our holy God one who has loved us and sent his son Jesus Christ in love to rescue us from the wrath to come. God I pray that you would make us a people who have genuine desires oh Lord to be with you in heaven when your son descends. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.