In the sermon 'Serving The Living and True God,' James Lundquist explores the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13, emphasizing the different responses to the Word of God and the spiritual growth that can result from it. He discusses how the Thessalonian church, despite facing persecution and tribulation, served as a commendable example of faith and perseverance. The sermon highlights the importance of joy derived from the Holy Spirit, even amidst suffering, and how such joy serves as evidence of serving the living and true God. Lundquist further explains how the Thessalonians became examples for other believers, demonstrating their faith through actions and spreading the word of God. The sermon concludes by discussing the transformation from idol worship to serving the true God, and the hope believers have in waiting for Christ's return.

Turn to Matthew 13. Turn to Matthew 13. In Matthew 13 we have the parable of the sower. In the first part of Matthew 13, Jesus gives the parable. And starting in verse 18, he explains the parable.

Matthew 13, I'm going to read verses 18 through 23. Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received the seed by the wayside. But when 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. Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. They are the good soil.

They when they came across in verse 21, when tribulation and persecution arise because of the Word, they did not stumble. They didn't. They didn't stumble. That's the words here. I'm not saying that Thessalonians Church was a perfect church.

We know they weren't. They were saved from their sins, just like us. They continued to sin, but they didn't stumble. They're being encouraged. The writers are giving thankfulness to God because they did not stumble.

They received the Word in much affliction, in much tribulation and persecution. And they are bearing fruit. They are producing a hundredfold, sixty and thirty. They are producing all kinds of fruit. Some in the church may be producing 100.

Some may be producing 30. But as a church, they are producing. As a church. As a church, they are producing. This is going to be a theme throughout 1 and 2 Thessalonians on how well they are doing in trials and persecution, on what has happened, what's happening in other churches, and to continue to encourage them to be steadfast and thankful for how fast they are standing.

Listen to this for 2 Thessalonians. That's going to be a while before we get here. But 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 4. 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, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God. It's evidence.

How you endure trials, no matter how strong or how light they are, afflictions, opposition, tells the world that you are serving the living and true God. That's what it's proclaiming to this. I'm going to keep on this a little bit. I'm going back to 1 Peter since we spent so much time in 1 Peter. I want to read 1 Peter 2.

Here's our example. This is why we can't endure. We can't endure any of ourselves. This is why 1 Peter 2, verses 21 through 24. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps, who committed no sin nor is deceit found in His mouth, who when He was reviled did not revile in return.

When he suffered he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. What a difference this made to that city, as we'll see to Macedonia and Achaia. How they responded to affliction, how they responded to opposition must just wowed them. We see that throughout history, and we'll talk here in a little bit about how you can have joy in the midst of this affliction. That'll be the next point.

So number two was they received the Word in much affliction, And that showed that they were serving the living and true God. Number three, the third evidence they serve the living and true God is joy of the Holy Spirit. We see in verse 6, they have joy of the Holy Spirit. We say joy. We say have joy very easily.

But what is joy? What is a biblical definition of joy? We know it can't be happiness. It can't be just feeling good. Those are things that we can, really happiness and feeling good are things that we can make ourselves feel like.

We know there's sorrow. There's definite times to weep. When I'm sick, feeling real bad, I'm not feeling good. I'm not real happy. But you can still have joy.

We can't make ourselves joyful. Let's go back to Nehemiah. Here's where I get that. Nehemiah 12. We were just there not too long ago.

Remember when they dedicated the wall? They dedicated the wall. They have this wall and they're sitting these two thanksgiving choirs around both sides and joining in the middle. It's Nehemiah 12 verse 43, the dedication of wall. Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy.

The women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard far off. God makes us rejoice. God makes us joyful. That is the source of our joy. Let me dig into it a little bit more.

The role of the Holy Spirit, His role is to exalt Jesus Christ, make much of Jesus Christ, to glorify Jesus, and he glorifies Jesus by conforming us to Jesus. That is the role of the Holy Spirit, to make much of Jesus. To do that, he makes us joyful. He makes us joyful by saving us, by saving us from our sins, by Jesus covering us with His blood, by our forgiveness from Jesus, by reconciling us to God, by giving us a peace that far surpasses all understanding. That is the source of Christian joy.

And that is how they can have joy in the midst of these afflictions. That's how we can have joy when we're sick. That's when we can still have joy when we're at a funeral. And weeping is very appropriate. I expect weeping, even over a Christian brother.

But we can still have joy, especially if it's a Christian brother or sister we're bearing. We can still have joy as We look to the future and say when I'm in that casket, when I'm headed to that grave, I can have joy because my God has saved me from an uncalculable weight of sin. You can have joy and that's the joy they have that can only come from the Holy Spirit. Romans 5, Romans 5, 1 through 5 reads this. Therefore, having been justified by faith, here's a source of our joy.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out on our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Hope does not disappoint. The Gospel delivers on its promises.

Serve the living and true God. You have hope. You have eternal hope. It does not disappoint. And it's because of Christ.

It's all because of Christ. This is why martyrs could be burned at the stake and still sing hymns while they're dying. I'm sure there are people around them weeping as they're watching their father, mother, sister, or brother, and uncle be burned at the stake for the gospel. This is why they could be singing. We have records of martyrs singing.

This is why Stephen could pray a beautiful prayer while being stoned. This is why Paul and Silas can sing while in jail, while the church is praying for Paul and Silas. And they're having sorrow over it. This is why they have a different countenance about us in the world. This is why we're going to look so much different because of our hope that is in us.

They're going to ask. They're going to ask. This is why our Savior could endure the cross because of the joy set before him. That's why he could endure it. So the third evidence of serving the Lord, serving the living and true God, was the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 7, verse 7 back to 1 Thessalonians. Verse 7. So that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. So the fourth evidence of serving the living and true God is being examples to believers. Being examples to believers.

This church became examples, they became models, They became patterns to other believers. They were a model for other churches in the region. There were a lot of other churches. Just because we're talking about the church in Thessalonica and then Paul went on to Corinth, we tend to think this may be the only church. But through this time, there were other churches.

You have Philippi. You have Corinth. You have Berea. You have Athens. You have other churches that are in the region that are either being planted or will be planted that are there being examples to there being examples to let's see what what's happened here in verse 1 they followed these men godly men the Lord Jesus Christ they imitated them they were imitating godliness they're imitating the Lord.

These imitators have now become examples and are now being imitated. The imitators are now being imitated. This is wonderful. This is disciple making. This is encouragement.

This is exhorting. This is building each other up. This is tremendous. This is tremendous. Churches helping other churches.

Churches being examples to other churches. This is tremendous. And what was their example? Their example is what we've seen so far and what we will talk about. Here's their example.

Follow the Lord. Imitate Christ as we. Imitate us as we follow Christ. That's their example. I'm going to give you a glimpse of how powerful their example was in 2 Corinthians.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is exhorting the Corinthian church on how to behave, on what they need to do. And they're holding up the churches of Macedonia as an example. And the church in Thessalonica is one of those churches in Macedonia. Listen to what Paul says about the churches of Macedonian in 2 Corinthians 8, verses 1 through 5. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God." They first gave themselves to the Lord. Back to the first point, that's the foundation for everything. Imitate Christ. First give yourselves to the Lord.

You first give yourselves to the Lord, and these other evidences will come out. They have to. You first give yourself to the Lord. You believe, you repent, you're filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to exalt Christ, you're going to give yourself to the Lord, and these things are going to come out.

And you're going to be an example to other believers. And other believers are going to be an example to you. And here we're going to encourage one another. We're going to build each other up. So the fourth evidence of serving the living and the true God being an example to other believers.

Verse 8. Verse 8. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything. The fifth evidence that they are serving the living and true God is that the Word of the Lord has sounded forth.

The word of the Lord has sounded forth. The word of the Lord has sounded forth. In verse 6, we saw that they received the word of the Lord. And what do we see here? Now it's sounding forth, the gospel.

They were imitators, now they're being imitated, they received the word of the Lord, now they're sounding forth the word of the Lord. That's the pattern for Christians. You imitate God, You become examples, you're imitated, you receive the word, you send out the word. You're not going to hoard it to yourself, because you want to proclaim Christ, you want others saved. You don't want them to be in the wrath that's to come, if they don't.

They're sounding forth this gospel, They're echoing it, they're trumpeting it. The gospel is ringing loud. The idea is that it's a constant ringing. This is constantly going out and it's loud evidence that they are serving the living and the true God. They are saved.

They are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are exalting Jesus. And it is ringing loud. It's not a gentle report, but a strong, sounded fourth. It's heard loud and clear that the people in Thessalonica are different.

They have been transformed by something and they are saying it's the gospel. They are saying it is Jesus Christ and Him alone. This is going out loud. They've been completely transformed by the Gospel, by Jesus Christ. They are sounding forth the Gospel, that the Gospel preached by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy is true, and that you can follow their example.

They are sounding forth to imitate Jesus, to follow Jesus. They're sounding forth that they are different because of the gospel. They're sounding forth their faith in God. They're sounding forth that idols are dead and they are worthless. They're sounding forth that God is living and true, and they are sounding forth that there is wrath to come, and only Jesus can save you from it.

And they are resounding, sounding this forth over and over and over, constantly it is going out of this church. You get the picture that this is not a passive action of theirs. It's not passive. They're not just saying, well, I'll just live my life and let that be the example. And hopefully they'll ask me what the hope is within me, and I'll have an answer for them.

And you may think you have an answer. Maybe you don't. When was the last time you explained the gospel to somebody else? You do it when you're baptized? You explain it to the elders?

When was the last time you explained it? How well-versed are you in the gospel? You can't know it enough. I can't know it enough. Every time I know when I do the Lord's Supper up here, I am just overwhelmed.

But it seems like I don't know it well enough. But yet I'll preach at the Lord's Supper many times. Can't know it well enough. And they are sounding this forth. Sounding this forth.

They're not just saying, just live and hopefully somebody will ask who is this active this is intentional sounding forth there God has made this city Thessalonica to be the center of activity in this region. He has made this happen. You have the Ignatia Road that we learned about, going from east to west. They're by a major shipping port. It's sounding for it.

They may be sending people out. They may be sending missionaries. We don't know. But it's getting out there. Hey, there's something going on in Thessalonica.

And these three men started it, and it is true, because look at their actions. What they are saying must be true. So look at them. Look at their life, far different than anything else we've seen. And this is what there's preaching.

FF Bruce says this about this church, having received the gospel, the Thessalonian Christians had no thought of keeping it to themselves. By word and life, they made it known to others. From the beginning, they functioned as a missionary church." That's one of the things I love about our church. From the very first meeting Jason held, the elders held in a home, to talk about what the purpose of this church was, the major purpose was we're planting a flag in Youngsville that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is true and that the exclusivity of Jesus Christ is true, you can only be saved through Jesus. And we also demonstrate, we demonstrate that in many ways, but we also demonstrate by sending forth the word, we support Chapel Library, We support Antioch Baptist in Malawi.

We have a missionary fund. That's fantastic. And God hasn't made us to have a, God's allowed us so we didn't have to touch that. We have not touched that money. That's pretty incredible.

It's $10, 000 in that missionary fund. We haven't had to touch it yet. We pray we don't have to until we either plan a church or send missionaries out. We pray that's what God uses. Yes, there are plenty of personal applications here for sounding forth the Gospel.

We know the Church is made up of Christians, made up of people. This letter is written to the Church. The encouragement specifically here is to the church. The example is the church. The message that's sounding forth is coming from this church.

It reminds me of Psalm 133, how great it is to dwell in unity. I encourage you, the family, go to Psalm 133. It's a short Psalm. Go to that this afternoon in your homes. Read Psalm 133, how great it is to dwell together in unity, to be one body, working together, caring for one another, encouraging one another, spreading the gospel together.

We as a church, so thankful. So thankful. We're, as different families, are ministering in a couple different nursing homes. We have the abortion clinic. Other than Sunday, Other than Sunday when we're together, based on what I'm saying, you can probably guess, what is my most favorite time of the year for our church?

What is the most favorite time? It's coming up in a few months. It's Thanksgiving at Griffin's. Because although we have these other activities where it's good, a family's here, a family's there, a family's here serving, helping, at Griffin's at Thanksgiving, We come together as one church. And we're sounding forth the gospel to Youngsville as one church.

Some are preparing. Lots of preparation goes into it. Some are serving. We have people singing, people leading singing. Definitely lots of preaching going on and feeding.

But we're coming together as one church. And in the three years we've done this, four years, three years we've done this, I've just, I sit back, there are times, and take this time this year, if you can, take the time, just kind of step back and look around. See what's going on. These are your brothers and sisters that you get to work with to sound forth the word of God. These are works of faith.

These are labors of love. This is patience and hope that's being demonstrated to Youngsville. And every year there are stories that come out of that that just encourage us and cause us to continue on. I love it. That's my favorite time of the year.

Sounding forth the word of God together. Sunday is number one, far and above. Then comes our time together at Griffin's. It's fantastic. So the fifth evidence of serving the living and true God is the word of the Lord sounding forth.

The sixth evidence, see in verse 8 as well, that this church is serving the living and true God is their faith toward God has gone out. Their faith toward God has gone out. Along with the word of the Lord sounding forth, and very tightly with that, is their faith toward God is going out too. They're not just preaching the Word. They're living the Word by faith.

They're works of faith. You can preach the Word. A lot of people can preach the Word but have no faith behind it. We know that. We know that.

Is your life, is your church, is our church preaching that the gospel delivers on its promises? You can preach truth. You can read scripture all day and that's the best truth you're going to get all day. But if there's no faith behind it, People can see through that. People look at your life, they look at the life of the church, they can see there's no faith there, they're just going there to be there.

How does their news of faith spread? It's their works of faith. It's their labors of love. It's their patience and hope. Back in verse 3, when we talked about that a couple weeks ago, faith without works is dead.

We know that. The reverse is true as well. The reverse is true as well. The reverse is true as well. Works without faith is dead.

Works without faith is dead as well. You can work. You can work, you can work, you can work, and it's not going to save you a bit. You can come to church and you can be so comfortable that you are coming to church and think well there's a great work of faith. You can come to Griffin's at Thanksgiving.

You can go to the nursing homes. You can go to the abortion clinic. Those can be dead works. And what's worse about that than faith without works with is dead is that you're fooling yourself. With these works, you are easily fooling yourself that you are saved and you are not.

You are not. You can be sitting there thinking you are saved. Think, I believe in Jesus. I believe He's God. But you're unwilling to be baptized.

You're afraid to go to the elders because you don't want to be in front of them. You know, I don't know how to talk to the elders. I can't explain the gospel like Mr. Lundquist or Mr. Santel's or other men that get up here, like my dad can, or my mom.

I can't explain it like that last person that was baptized. I can't do that. And so out of fear, you're saying, well, I'm saved. Look what I do. I'm fine.

But if you're saved, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will exalt God, will make much of Christ, will exalt Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you don't care how comfortable you are in front of God, you want to tell them, I've been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. I was a sinner, I was this, I was that, I now have a new heart, I've been transformed, and I want to tell you about this, and I want to be baptized, and I want to proclaim to the world, and I want to work with this church, and I want to serve the living and true God with this church, or whatever they may be. Or whatever they may be.

Faith without works is dead, and works without faith is dead. Their faith in God has gone out so loudly and so widely that Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, they're getting reports of what's happening in this church. Instead of these men having to tell her, but hey, let's tell you about what happened in Thessalonica, they're hearing what's happening. They're not having to tell everybody what's happened. They're hearing these reports as they come in.

Hearing all these reports and they're saying, we don't need to say anything. Because what's coming in is great. The gospel has taken hold. This is a wonderful church. But they can't help themselves, as we'll see as I just read in 2 Thessalonians.

They can't help themselves but boast about this church. They don't need to say anything. They're not correcting the church, saying, yes, this is true. And guess what? We're continuing to boast about you.

We're continuing to boast about you. Their faith has gone out. It's point six. Let's read verse nine. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

The seventh evidence of serving the living and true God is the testimony of others. The testimony of others, for they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you. The testimony of others. They themselves declares, I was just talking about, those in Macedonia and Achaia are reporting to these men the testimony of the church. And part of that big testimony is that these men came into the city.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy came into the city, how they conducted themselves and how they preached. That's a big part of their testimony. When you tell your testimony, you're telling, hey, who told me the gospel? For a lot of you, it's your parents. For a lot of you, it's a friend.

Some of you may be a wife or a husband, but that's part of our testimony. When we say, how did God save us? What tools, what means did God use to bring us to Himself? What did the Holy Spirit do to draw us? And it's through other people.

And that's going to be a big part. That is a big part of the Thessalonian testimony. It was these men. God brought the gospel to us through these men and how they conducted themselves and what they preached. And when we get into chapter 2 starting next week, it's going to dive into that deeper about the conduct of these men and how they came and how they brought the gospel.

They're saying that by their lives and by this going out everywhere they go, they're saying this gospel is true. You can listen to these men. What they're saying is true. Listen to them. I can picture, I can picture Paul, Sylvainus, and Timothy as they're writing this letter.

Hey, Write this, write this, write this. And you can see why they were so anxious, as we see in chapter 3, why they were so anxious to go see for themselves what's happening. Chapter 3, verse 1, therefore, when we could no longer endure it, We thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy our brother. They could no longer endure it. They're hearing all these reports.

They're so encouraged. And it's truth that's coming back to them. And they're saying we want to go see for ourselves, not because they're concerned that, oh, it's not really happening, or we need to go correct some things. But the way we want to go see for ourselves, but we can't, we can send Timothy. Timothy, go.

Go. See for it. Be our eyes. Bring our joyful thankfulness to them. Bring this letter.

Tell them how thankful we are, how much we glory in their testimony. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy came to them so much different. We'll dig into this starting in a couple of weeks. But next week came so different than other philosophers, other religious leaders that would come bringing their worthless idols, bringing their sales pitches for new gods, for their own glory. Just get a taste of where we're headed in chapter 2, verses 5 through 7.

For neither at any time do we use flattering words, as you know, nor cloak for covetousness. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nourishing mother cherishes her own children. How sweet.

How sweet. And that's the testimony that is going out all around. The purpose of a good entrance to them was to gain hearers, gain disciples for people to be saved. And this testimony that is going out from this church is helping these men preach where they are. It is helping them.

I guarantee it's helping them. Hey, Why should we listen to you, Paul, Sylvainus and Tim? Why should we listen to you? Oh, wait a second. Yeah, you were the ones over here at Thessalonica that preached that?

Well, we've heard that testimony. Preach to us some more. Let's hear this. Preach to us some more. A little personal application there.

The way we are out there reflects on our church. It does. Seeing it firsthand, it reflects on our church. It Reflects on the work of Jason. What we see in the nursing homes, what we see at the abortion clinic, what we see at Griffin's, it helps Jason.

It helps our elders. It helps them be able to preach faithfully. Well, there's plenty of opposition, Let them lie. There's plenty of opposition. But can you be set up as an example?

Your faith toward God has gone out. The testimony of others preach that the gospel is true, that the gospel does deliver on its promises, that you are serving the living and true God. So point number seven is evidence serving the living true God, the testimony of others. The eighth evidence of serving the living and true God is that they turned to God from idols. It's in verse 9.

And how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. They turned. There was conversion. Turn to God. That is faith.

From idols, that is repentance. Turn to God from idols. Now let's think about Thessalonica rightly. Thessalonica, don't think that they were a good city, a generally good city, had some issues. You know, Thessalonica had the same rampant immorality, the same polytheistic sense of all the other cities in that region.

Don't put Ephesus or Corinth on a special pedestal that they had a corner on immorality and polytheism. No, They didn't. It was right there in Thessalonica, and maybe even worse in Thessalonica, because it was the center of that region. And everything was coming in there, all the influences. And they were more than happy to bring all these influences in.

In Rome, you also had this idea of an imperial cult, which is just the worship of Caesar, worship of the ruler, that he's a deity. And that may have even been higher, even worse in Thessalonica as a center of that area. So Thessalonica was a heart. We already know how mean and how opposing they could be to Christians, anything coming in there to challenge their belief, even for the Jews. The Jews were against these people.

Although they were monotheistic, they still hadn't turned from their idols. They thought the Messiah was still coming. They still think the Messiah is coming. So whatever they think of as coming is not Jesus. Therefore, it must be an idol.

Even the Jews were opposing them, because They were saying, no, Jesus has come. The Messiah has come. Listen to this from Matthew Poole on this point. They, the Thessalonian church, had not only faith toward God, but toward Christ. They did not only turn to the true God in opposition to the heathen, the Greeks, but to the Son of God as the true Christ in opposition to the unbelieving Jews.

The opposition was from everywhere. And them turning to the living and true God, to Jesus Christ, was opposed by everybody. This is a very visible transformation. Turning to God from idols. They're turning from sin as their master to God.

They're turning from darkness to his marvelous light. They're turning from dead idols to the living God. From idols that they would just try to appease and hope there would be no wrath, to a God of mercy who through Jesus Christ saves them. They turned from where there was no hope, they had no hope, and they knew they had no hope, to eternal hope, from no peace to a peace that surpasses all understanding, including in times of severe affliction. And they did all this in order to serve the living and true God.

They're yielding to God. They want to be a slave to God to be able to obey him. There's no syncretism here. They're not just taking God and putting them on the shelf next to their other idols, hoping that they can play the field and one of them will work out well for them. No, they are taking that shelf of idols and they're just throwing them all away.

It is a visible transformation. And they're not putting God back on the shelf. They're not putting any idol back on the shelf. They're saying, no, our living and true God is Jesus Christ, who is raised from the dead, as we'll see here in the next verse. And He's in heaven, and He reigns forever, and He's coming again.

And He's totally transformed us. He's given us a new heart. Total transformation. This is a complete turn. This is not just a preference.

I'm preferring that God now. This is a complete conviction proven. It's proven out by all these points, by the works of faith, their labors of love, their patience and hope and how they're serving the living and true God. So the eighth evidence of serving the living and true God is that they turn to God from idols. And then verse 10.

Verse 10. And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. The ninth evidence of serving the living and true God is waiting for Jesus. They are waiting for Jesus. The evidence is in their wait and how they're waiting.

We just saw eight ways that they are waiting for Jesus. Their hope is in Jesus and His return. This is in a complete contrast as I've mentioned to their previous life. The previous life where they tried to appease the gods and just hope there would be no wrath upon them. Nothing would go bad for them.

No, instead now the church is shining brightly. The word is sounding forth. Their faith is going everywhere. Their joy and their confidence. They had no confidence.

They had no hope. Now they're exuding confidence in their hope. When people ask, why do you have so much hope? They're able to say, here's the gospel. Let me tell you about Jesus.

Let me tell you about the men that brought and told us this gospel. How God has been so merciful to give this to us. How the Holy Spirit has been so kind to transform us, to make us what we weren't. This is what waiting looks like. The way they're waiting is proving through their life that the promises of the gospel are true.

They're true. And Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy leave no doubt who they are waiting for here, do they? See, they wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus. God's Son from heaven. No doubt to the Jews that he's talking about the Messiah.

And then he names him Jesus raised from the dead. No doubt to everybody who is the Messiah, it's Jesus. There's no doubt here. Jesus is raised from the dead. He is the Messiah.

There's no doubt that when he returns, he will deliver us from wrath. He will deliver Christians from wrath. This is the gospel wrapped up in just a few words. Here's the gospel. Jesus was raised from the dead by God.

He came to earth. He is God. He came to earth. Lived the perfect life in our place because we couldn't. Died the death we deserved.

He took on that wrath. So we will not have to take on that wrath to come and he is raised from the dead he is seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us and he will return that's what they're waiting for he will return and only Jesus is worthy of all this devotion, all this affection, all this worship. Jesus rescues us from the wrath to come. To the idol worshipers, to the idol worships, the wrath of their God was random. It was random, and the people just hoped to appease them with Jesus though.

With Jesus, the only living and true God, you know how to be rescued. You know how you've been rescued, believers, brethren, from the wrath to come. It's because of you believe and you've repented. And the Holy Spirit did that, as we talked about last week. That only happened because God did it.

Your belief, your repentance is because of God. Our afflictions that we have are not from the wrath of God. Get that. You go through trials. There are some that are going through trials, afflictions, opposition.

The opposition that we may get at the nursing home, how slight it is, but great at the abortion clinic, is not from the wrath of God. Not from the wrath of God, it's to test our faith, to produce patience, to complete us. You see in James 1. It's not from wrath, it's God's love toward us. It's the Holy Spirit wanting to conform us to Jesus Christ.

Make much of Jesus Christ and the world would see how we did this. Yes, the work is finished. The work is finished. Jesus has saved us from slavery to idols, but in a real sense we still have not seen what that wrath looks like. We will never see it upon ourselves, but we will still see that wrath.

We will still have visible evidence. We will see what it looks like to be saved from the wrath of God. Remember Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats? That's Jesus giving the illustration. We will see this happen.

Jesus separating the sheep from the goats in that day of final judgment. The sheep will go off to eternal life, and the goats will go off to eternal punishment. They'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then we will see real, and we will see before us, yeah, We've been delivered from the wrath of God. And it's only by the work of Jesus Christ.

That's how that happened. So the ninth evidence of serving the living and true God is that we're waiting. How we wait for Jesus. Conclusion. Just a couple remarks on conclusion in one application.

Conclusion, there are nine ways We've seen that the Thessalonian Church is preaching that the Gospel delivers on its promises by the way they are serving the living and true God. And There are nine ways that Sovereign Redeemer Community Church should be preaching that the gospel delivers on its promises by how we serve the living and true God. They became followers of godly men and of the Lord. They received the word in much affliction. Now we said it's hard for us to say that we received the word in much affliction, but we did have to turn from idols.

There was opposition. I'm thankful for those of us that were raised in Christian homes and it just seemed, we became Christians. There are others here that in much affliction, in opposition, complete opposition to their family and friends, they receive the gospel and they know what opposition is. But no matter how you came, no matter what means God used, Satan didn't want you saved. And the world didn't want you saved.

And there may have been some tear within your heart, which, you know, Gavin, do I have to give this up? I mean, there's a lot of arguments you might have made. There was at least some affliction, some opposition, whether you saw it or not, it was there. And God may have saved you from seeing that, or being part of that. Maybe He saved you through that.

Seek the word in much affliction. Joy of the Holy Spirit. Examples to believers. The word of the Lord sounding forth. Faith toward God has gone out.

The testimony of others. Turn to God from idols. We've all turned to God from idols whether you recognize it or not you might have had you might have been saved later on when you had idols of greed, of money, of other people, other activities. But you were still saved from the idol of your own heart. And you still need to guard yourself, right?

John tells us at the end of one of his epistles, little children, keep yourself from idols. We still have to battle that. But the complete turning, if you're a Christian, that turning and serving the living true God has happened. You still have to guard your hearts, as we sung today, praying that God would guard us. Guard us.

Turn to God for Midles, and we're waiting for Jesus. So my one question is, what is your list of evidences that the gospel delivers on its promises, and you serve the living and true God. It's really what the third application was last week. It's the same thing. I've just had the phrase that you're serving the living and true God.

I want us to really consider that. Look back on our life and see those evidences. What are the evidences in our church? And here's where my hope comes from that examination. If you want to examine your heart, I pray you examine your heart before this morning, before the Lord's Supper, But we need to examine our hearts weekly anyway, at least weekly if not every day.

But here's where my hope comes out of that, a bunch of thankfulness. If you're a Christian, I want that to come out. I want to well out a bunch of thankfulness. If there's sin in these breeder that root it out, repent and be thankful. Repent and be thankful.

I hope there's a lot of thankfulness, but I know if you look honestly at it in your heart, I know when I look honestly at it in my heart, I know when I was looking at this going Boom, boom, boom, boom. But it's because I want to demonstrate I serve the living and true God. I mentioned some, there's a drastic change for others not, but all Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit and will produce fruit. You will. You will to different extents.

You have a new heart. You have to produce new fruit. You have a new heart. Listen to this. If you're examining your heart and you see no evidence, you see no evidence that you have turned from idols, that you are serving God and waiting for Jesus, what hope are you holding onto?

What are you holding onto? If none of this rings true in your heart, if none of this wells up in thankfulness for the Thessalonian church, and you look at our church and the thankfulness of this, and look at the Church of Hope Baptists that planted us, and thankfulness for that, and thankfulness for what's happening in Malawi, thankfulness what's happening in Mount Zion, thankfulness that it happens in other churches. What are you holding on to? What are you holding on to for your hope? It's been said this way, and I'm going to clarify, it's been said this way, would you be convicted in a court of being a Christian?

Now, I need to clarify that, right? That's not the way judgment works, and I'm so Thankful. Judgment does not work on the last day. All right, James, show me your works of faith. Show me your labors of love.

Show me your patience of hope. What's your list? No. All that it says is, James is written in the Lamb's brook of life. I have saved him.

I have interceded for him for all these years. I saved him from eternity past. That's all that matters. None of your works will save you, so be careful what I'm saying here. But what would be the testimony of others?

What would it be? Children, ask your parents. They've been telling you, I'm pretty confident. Ask your parents, Mom, Dad, what is my testimony about what I believe? This is what I want my testimony to be, is it?

Brothers and sisters, encourage one another. Build each other up. Tell everybody, just like Paul, Sylvainus, and Timothy are doing here with this church, Let's tell each other, not for some bravado, or not for any falseness, or lying, just building ourselves up to make us feel better, but out of praise for God. I'm thankful for you, brother. I'm thankful for you, sister.

I'm thankful for how God's working through you. That is encouraging me. That's building my faith in God. You are serving the living and true God. We are serving the living and true God.

Our church is serving the living and true God. We are all sanctified at a different pace, right? We are. We are all sanctified at a different place. This is not pitting any one person against another.

Somebody that was just saved yesterday, we can be so thankful and we can be encouraged by that. And they can bring encouragement to us. Same with the person that's on their deathbed and has lived a long life of serving God. Anywhere in between. We're sanctified at different places at different times.

We are a body. We are a body, and I'm thankful we're not all ears, we're not all feet, we're not all hands, we are a body. And each Christian brings something to this body to help in our mission. And our mission, Sovereign Redeemer Community Church, is to show the world that the Gospel delivers on its promises by serving the living and the true God. Let's pray.

Oh, great God, great Savior, Holy Spirit, triune God, thank you for working together to make us a people that would serve you, that would turn from idols, that would sound forth your gospel. Thank you for giving us faith. Thank you for filling us with your fruit. Help us as a church. Oh God, would you bless Sovereign Redeemer Community Church that your word would go out and ring loud, true.

Your true word would ring out. God help us to honestly look at our hearts and use that to sanctify us. We would show that your gospel delivers on its promises. You do conform us to Jesus. Someday we will reign with you.

Someday we will see you. Someday you will welcome us into glory, into eternity, forevermore. We thank you so much for your word. In Jesus' name, amen.