In the sermon 'Serving the Living and True God' by James Lundquist, the speaker explores the example set by the Thessalonian church as depicted in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10. Highlighting nine specific evidences of serving God, Lundquist emphasizes the importance of following godly leaders and the Lord, receiving the word amidst affliction, experiencing the joy of the Holy Spirit, and becoming examples to other believers. The Thessalonians are commended for sounding forth the word of the Lord, demonstrating faith that is evident to others, and turning from idols to serve the true God. The sermon underscores the active and ongoing nature of serving God, involving both personal transformation and outward testimony. Lundquist also stresses that true joy is rooted in salvation through Christ, contrasting it with fleeting happiness based on circumstances. The speaker encourages believers to examine their own lives for these evidences of true service to God and to wait expectantly for Jesus' return while actively engaging in godly service.

Good morning everyone. We'll now read the sermon text. Verse 1. Paul, Savilius, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father knowing beloved brethren your election by God For our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 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. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This morning, 1 Thessalonians 1, 6-10. For the next couple of weeks this week and next week, we'll be out of Joshua. Very helpful for both these preachers, me preaching back to back weeks. And then Jason coming back from Malawi Prey for their travels tomorrow. Goes well.

So he'll preach next week something from what he preached this last week and a half so that he was in Malawi. We were in Thessalonians in 2015 and 2016, So it's been a while. I preached this message in September of 2015 and as I was going through it and looking at it, a lot of things happened over six years. You look at things, you look back on things. I could re-preach the sermon from last week and it would be different this week.

And not that I'm expecting anybody to remember it, but it's about half of the sermon is different than it was six years ago. So I'm looking forward to it in this. I love this Thessalonian church even more than I think I did six years ago. Sure, let's pray. God, thank you that your gospel goes out everywhere.

Even the darkest of lands, God, we've heard of your gospel there. God, would it continue to sound for us. Thank you for this great example that you built in Thessalonica. Through Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, The Word came to them and the great example we have of them, the great evidences of them serving you. If God would, we'd learn from them.

We'd be challenged by you through your word. Maybe look at our own church, our own selves candidly. Our evidence is of serving you, the only living and true God. Please bless this time. Glorify it to you.

In Jesus' name, Amen. The background to 1 Thessalonians is in Acts 16 and 17. I'll talk about that more, about how the gospel came to Thessalonica. We'll see it, I'll talk about it a little bit more, but that's the background. We see it in Acts.

It's not the first time we see this church. But in 1 Thessalonians 1, we have Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Silvanus is also called Silas. If you remember in Acts 16, it was Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. That same Silas is Silvanus here.

So we have Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. I love it in this church. I got Silas here. We got another Silas back there. Another Silas.

We've got a Timothy. We do need a Paul somewhere, some way, it'd be great. Anyway there's my recommendation for a name. But we have Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. And In the first part of 1 Thessalonians 1, they are full of thankfulness to God, our Father and Lord Jesus Christ for this church, for God's grace, for His mercy, for His peace, for his work, for his salvation, for his power that is shown in this church, how these people have been transformed.

We're going to go through this. But they're just full of thankfulness. And in verse 3, verse 3, their thankfulness is in remembering, things I said, but remembering without ceasing in their prayers. And they talk with other people, but in their prayers specifically, their works of faith, their labors of love, their patience of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. What we are going to see in verses 6-9 are our nine specific ways that the Thessalonian church is serving the living and true God.

I'm going to walk through those nine evidences of serving the living and true God. So the first evidence, Serving the living and true God is found in verse 6 that they are followers of godly men and the Lord. You became followers of us and of the Lord. In the New Testament especially, it's common for people to be told to imitate church leaders. It's common.

Here we have church leaders, we have missionaries. Here in Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, It's common. 1 Corinthians 11, imitate me also as I imitate Christ. It's the imitate Christ that we know is the key part of that. Imitate people.

It's fine to imitate people, but as they imitate Christ. Because Christ is our ultimate example, is the one that we are called to imitate at the height of that. We see that through examples. Leaders are way more than doctrine. They better be more than doctrine.

When you choose elders, you select elders, it better be more than they know how to preach. They know doctrine. They know the 1689. Oh, they are so reformed. They read this and read that.

It needs to be about their life example. When you look at the qualifications in Timothy and Titus, it is way more about their character. You can only judge their character, determine their character, whether they're fit to lead by their examples. You can test for knowledge and doctrine, that is part of the qualifications. You can test for that, a person can sit up here like they do and you can examine them on their doctrine and that is right to do.

But the character, the examples, are they following Christ? Is this somebody that I can follow because they imitate Christ? That's the key. That's the key to saying it. And for Paul, Silas, and Timothy, the answer is resounding, yes.

You can follow them. God has said we can follow their examples. Imitating Jesus is the highest evidence that we would serve the living and true God. Back in Ephesians 5 verses 1 and 2, "'Therefore be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma. Be imitators of God.

Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. Jesus is God. Be imitators of God, be imitators of Jesus as dear children. How do children obey?

Children obey the Lord. This you were to obey. You obey. That's an imitation. Our Christ obeyed God.

Our Christ loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind. Our Christ perfectly kept the law. Our Christ was our great example. So the first evidence of serving the living true God is they are followers of godly men and of the Lord. The second evidence, the Thessalonian church, and as we go through this, this is us.

We need to be thinking, are these our evidences that we are serving the living true God? Number two is, they received the Word in much affliction. Verse six, and you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction. They received the word. What did they receive?

They received the gospel. This is talking about them hearing it and believing. They were redeemed. They were saved by the Word of God in affliction, in tribulation with a lot of opposition. The NIV says they welcomed the message in midst of severe suffering.

When they receive this, in Acts 16, 17 is where we see the word of God coming to Thessalonica. In Acts 16, as I mentioned, you have Paul and Silas in jail in Philippi. You have the Philippian jailer who is saved. Paul and Silas are beaten. Then they are let go and then they pronounce, hey we're Romans you shouldn't have done that.

And where do they go from there? They go to Thessalonica in chapter 17. So in chapter 17 they go to Thessalonica and they preach the gospel and it says here that they believe, that many believed and some of them were persuaded as they preached in the synagogue for three Sabbaths. Many believed, some were persuaded. Then it says in verse 5, but the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, " this is in Thessalonica, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people.

There was great opposition. There was a mob. They didn't want to hear the gospel. There was a mob. They don't take it just out on Paul's side as in Timothy's.

These men have just come from being beaten. Having their stripes probably still on them, and here they take it out on Jason and his household, which then affects the other believers. The gospel is against, the gospel is contrary to worldly thoughts, to all thoughts, to the beliefs, to the feelings of the world. The gospel is in complete opposition to the world. Complete opposition.

It was complete opposition to us whether you realize it or not. Whether you were saved and you don't remember being in opposition to the gospel, you were. There are many here that remember being in opposition to the gospel and would have been a part of that mob. In James, this doesn't surprise us that there is this great opposition. James tells us in James 4, adulterers and adulteresses, Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. This enmity with God is hatred. It's a hatred. The world is going to hate you for the message of the gospel unless God softens their heart, unless God gives them a new heart and gives them faith to believe. You didn't want to hear and non-Christians and believers do not want to hear that they are sinners, that they are enemies, that they are dead, that they are wrath-deservers.

They don't want to hear that they have to be humbled. They don't want to hear that they are hopeless. They don't want to have their feelings hurt. There is great opposition to the gospel. It doesn't make them feel good about themselves.

It lays you low. And it has to. It has to lay us low. And there's going to be great opposition to the Gospel coming at times. And thankfully to many, God reveals Himself, draws Himself, gives them a new heart, makes them born again.

Turn to Matthew 13. In Matthew 13 we have the parable of the sower. Christ tells us the purpose of parables and he explains the purpose of the parable of the sower in 18 through 23. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower. He's explaining what he did in the beginning of this chapter.

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 seed by the wayside. But 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 cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received the seed on good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." The Thessalonians, unlike the person in verse 21, when tribulation or persecution arose, the Thessalonians did not stumble. They stood and they withstood the opposition. They stood firmly. They are being so commended for that here.

They are bearing fruit, some 100, some 60, some 30. These men, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy continue to commend for this in 2 Thessalonians. In 2 Thessalonians 1, 4, and 5, 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, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer." them receiving the gospel with this opposition is great evidence that they are serving the living and true God. They didn't wilt, they didn't stumble, they didn't fall, they continued forth. I'm by no means Am I saying this church is a perfect church?

They're made up of people like us. There was sin in the church week in and week out. But God's commending them for their trajectory, what they're showing, what they're demonstrating, their evidence amongst persecution. I'll come back to this about how to apply this to us a little bit later at the end. So the third evidence now of serving the living and true God is joy of the Holy Spirit.

Joy of the Holy Spirit. This finishes verse 6. You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. So what is joy? It's not happiness.

Happiness can be a part of joy, but happiness does not define joy. It's not just a sentimental good feeling. This is Christmas time. There are people all over the world building up this sentimentalism. I am all for the images of Christmas, all for lights, all for celebrations, getting together.

The celebrations you have together, the songs that we sing, I'm all for that. But joy, that does not determine joy. That's sentimental. If it's that, then our joy is based on circumstances. Then our joy is fleeting.

Then our joy can come and go. Happiness can come and go, our good feelings can come and go, and nothing wrong with good feelings. You know I talk about feelings, how they lie to us, but there's nothing wrong with good feelings. But it's fleeting, right? There's sorrow in the world.

There's lots of sorrow. We get sick. I'm not happy when I'm sick, but I can be joyful when I'm sick. If joy was determined by our circumstances, our jobs, our possessions, our children, our abilities, our vacations, our checklists, then it's just fleeting. It comes and goes and beaten down and up each day.

But if the foundation of our joy Is Jesus completely satisfying God's requirement for sin? Taking the wrath of God that we deserve, dying on the cross, atoning with his shed blood, broken body, atoning for every sin, once and forever, completing the work, being buried and raising from the dead, and giving us an eternal hope through eternal life by repenting and believing in him alone, that gives us joy in any circumstance in life. Anything that God would bring our way, we can still have joy in the midst of sorrow. Our joy doesn't look like smiles all the time. The world says we should be able to smile all the time, and it's about my happiness.

It's not. You're lying to yourself If you can have that kind of life, not. But there's only one way to true joy. True joy is permanent, everlasting, because joy is tied to salvation in Christ alone. And Christ is the eternal God.

The Holy Spirit produces joy. Love, joy! Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Love, joy! That's a product of being saved, of having the Holy Spirit living within us, being sealed by the Holy Spirit, is joy.

You would think John Piper would have a definition of joy and he does. Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul. If I just stopped right there, we would all argue, hopefully, with Mr. Piper. But he roots that good feeling.

Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world. It's all rooted in Christ, in his work, and revealed in the Word of God, revealed in the world, revealed in each of us. So we see that powerful transformation through the Gospel that only he causes. This is why our Savior could endure the cross. Man of Sorrows, we read Isaiah 53, I think we read Isaiah 53, I think we're in 6 as well.

But, Man of Sorrows, how could he have joy as the man of sorrows, the one that was treated the worst ever in history, getting what nobody ever deserved is Christ. We deserved what he got, but he had joy because it was all rooted in the gospel. He's God and he saw what he was going to do and he knew the joy we could have through the Holy Spirit. So that's evidence number three. Number four, the fourth evidence of serving the living and true God is examples to believers.

Examples to believers, verse 7. So that you, Thessalonians, became examples to all in Macedonia and the KI who believe. They became examples, they became models, they became patterns to believers. We talked about this imitating leaders. Now we're talking about imitating each other.

Not just imitating leaders, it's imitating each other. And they were models for other churches in the region. What happened after the word of God came to Thessalonica and the mob came to Jason's house and they had all that opposition, the church of Thessalonica said, Hey, Paul, Syphanus, and Timothy, we will be fine. Leave. Go somewhere else.

And they pushed him away, not because they didn't want him there, but they said, go. So where did the gospel go? The gospel went to Berea. The mob from Thessalonica chased them to Berea. There were believers there.

Then what happened? They went to Athens. This opposition is all in God's sovereignty. The gospel spread because of this opposition. The Thessalonica church, as Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy went on, their examples, their encouragement spread to Berea, spread to Athens, and throughout the whole region of Macedonia and the Kaai.

These imitators became examples themselves for others to imitate. And this is what God exhorts us to. We shouldn't be surprised what God exhorts us to in Hebrews 6, 11, and 12. The writers say, And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Very similar description here as what was described in the Thessalonians. Their hope, their patience and hope, their faith we'll talk about.

Imitate, find those, seek those people out. We all have them. Myself and Jason, we're not on a special level where there's nobody for us to imitate. No, we all have people imitate. There's always somebody else that's ahead of you on the trajectory in some level, in some area that you want to grow in.

There always is. Seek them out. Encourage those brothers. Let them know, those brothers and sisters. Let them know, you encourage me so much in faith.

You encourage me in joy, in love, in peace, in gentleness. Patience, of hope. The way you wait, as we'll talk about, for the coming. Whatever it is. Encourage them.

Seek them out. And then you become an example in those things as you grow. All of us can be an example to somebody else. Lord, may He continue to bring new believers. We can all be examples to new believers for sure.

That's number four. Number five. The fifth evidence of serving the living and true God is the word of the Lord sounded forth. The word of the Lord sounded forth. Verse 8.

For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. The word of the Lord has sounded forth. So they received the word of the Lord. Remember they were imitators. Now they became examples.

They received the word of the Lord and now they are sounding out the word of the Lord. They are sounding out the gospel. They are sounding out the transforming power of the gospel. They are sounding out that the gospel promises are true. They are sounding out the riches that we have in Christ Jesus.

The sounding forth is echoing. It's trumpeting. It's ringing out. It's not just a gentle report. Let me tell you about Paul.

Let me tell you what's happened. No, this is trumpeted. This is sounding forth. This is loud. It's intentional.

It's heard loud and clear. There are people different in Thessalonica because of God. Because of the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who have repented and believed in Christ alone. And listen to what's happening. Look what's happening people.

And it's sounding forth. They are telling people why that's happened. And it's going forth all over the place. They're sounding forth that the gospel preached by Paul, Silas, and Timothy is true and you can follow their examples. They're sounding forth that they are transformed because of the gospel.

They're sounding forth that they have faith in God and Christ alone. They are sounding forth that idols are dead and worthless. They are sounding forth that they serve the living and true God. They are sounding forth that there is wrath coming and only Jesus can save you from your deserved wrath. You get it?

This is not passive. Sounding forth, there are so many adjectives in this section that are actions, that are not passive. This is not just lifestyle evangelism. I'm just walking through life, and people are going to notice that something's good about me. There's a place for that, and it should be that way, in many ways.

But that isn't necessarily sounding forth all the time. F.F. Bruce, quote, 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." When he says this, we're not talking about just they sent out missionaries, they may have, but they're missionaries in that they're sounding forth the transformation that's happening to them.

That's what he means. Because of this church there is a sounding forth. This church and others. There is a sounding forth in Turkey. We support the Carrington's.

There is a sounding forth right now in Malawi as we support the churches in Malawi by sending people over there. Those churches, they can come over here and sound forth very, very well, and we would be so encouraged at their teaching. We would be so helped by their teaching. If anybody ever moved to Malawi, you've got at least two churches you could go to with full blessing and love it. But this sounding forth that's being talked about here isn't just about Turkey and Malawi.

This is about the Gospel week in and week out being sounded forth at the abortion mill. It is sounded forth with opposition at the abortion mill. This is about it sounding forth in our community, sounding forth in our homes, with our neighbors, Youngsville, Raleigh, Franklin, Lewisburg, all the places, Oxford, all the different places we live here. It's all over. People need to know why we have joy, why we have peace.

Those tornadoes had come through here. How would it have sounded forth from us if we had a bunch of funerals to plan? In the midst of sorrow. The world should know and not just have pity on us. That was what happened to us.

That's the fifth evidence. The sixth evidence of serving the living and true God is that their faith toward God has gone out. Their faith toward God has gone out. For from you, verse 8, for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and in Kaai, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out.

So that we do not need to say anything. So the word of the Lord is going out, the gospel is being spread, people are seeing the facts. It's not only that, it's their faith towards God, that this is a faith towards God. Why are you Thessalonians still acting? Look at all the opposition you have from this mob.

It's talking about the Jewish believers, particularly, so we know we have probably Gentiles and Jews in this church. The Jewish leaders are against you. Your family is against you. Why would you stay with this when your mother and father, husband, wife, children, co-workers are against you? Society is against you.

You're all alone. Why? Is it really worth that? Let me tell you about my faith. Let me tell you what God has said.

Let me tell you about my riches in Christ that I have. Do our riches, do our lives preach these riches we have in Christ that we have by faith in Christ. Remember when we were going through Ephesians? We talked about this all the time, the riches that we have in Christ. Ephesians 1, 3 through 7.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glory, of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Of course they have faith. They know the riches they have in Christ.

It's being lived out. They're seeing it in their neighbors, seeing it in their friends, in this new church that God has wrought. The news of their faith is spreading by their works of faith, their labors of love, their patience and hope. It's sounding forth. Their faith has gone out so much, so widely, so loudly.

Paul, Czajc, and Timothy, they're saying, we don't have to tell anybody about it. People hear about it. We get somewhere, and they've got the news of what's happening over there. And that's laying such fertile ground for these men when they go into these towns in this region. Because it's sounding forth from there.

They don't have to talk about it. Are you the guys from Thessalonica? Yes. Oh, we've heard about them. Tell us.

Tell us what's happened. How did that happen? What's the faith they have? What is this that they have? That's number six.

Number seven, the seventh evidence of that they were serving the living and true God is the testimony of others. The testimony of others in verse 9. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we have to you, the testimony of others. They themselves declare, those of Macedonia and Achaia are reporting to these men the testimony of the church of how Paul, Silas, and Timothy conducted themselves.

So they come into these towns, they've heard about what happened in Thessalonica, eventually Berea and other places, in Macedonia and Achaia, there's lots of towns in there, Philippi is one of them. They're hearing this, right? We know that. So tell us about these men. They're hearing about these men.

These men can be trusted. These men can be trusted. How they conduct themselves. They're telling me these people are coming different. Coming different than other philosophers and other deceivers and other people with trickery.

Other people for their own self-glory. It is talked about in 1 Thessalonians 2. Let me just read 5 through 7. For neither at any time did we use flattering words as you know, because they've been telling that to people. Nor cloaked 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 nursing mother cherishes her own children.

Their purpose and How they came in was to gain here for salvation, ease here, the sweetness here. How they came in gently as a mother, gently with compassion, with the simplicity of the gospel. Their only desire was salvation of souls. They didn't come in berating, they didn't come in puffing up themselves. They came in gently, with compassion.

And the testimony of the Thessalonians is you can trust them. You can trust their preaching, You can trust what they're saying. You can invite them into your homes. You can invite them into your synagogues. You can invite them into your places.

They're going to be gentle. They're going to be careful with you. They'll be patient with you. Three Sabbaths. Invite them in.

This church was so sweet to Paul, Sylvain, and Timothy. In chapter three, Paul talks about how urgently, how much I want to go back and see you. And so they can't all go, but they send Timothy, which is fantastic. So that's the seventh evidence, the testimony of others. The eighth evidence of serving the living and true God, that they turned to God from idols.

They turned to God from idols. Finishing verse 9, 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. Thessalonica wasn't unlike our land, wasn't unlike most countries around the world at that time and now. Rampant immorality, polytheistics, they had many gods, they had a lot of of gods, a lot of idols. In Thessalonica, like some countries in the world, they believe that their emperor, their leader, was a god himself.

So that's what they had in Thessalonica. These are natural dead people. These are natural desires. These are what you can expect, rampant morality. You can expect lots of idol worship.

I'm not talking about the statues, wood and gold and stone. I'm not talking about just that. They're lifestyle idols. They're lusting idols. They're desire idols.

They're entertainment idols. They're work idols. They're family idols. And this is what you can expect is you're going to have this rampant. You see it all over.

We have it in here. You have it all over. And the only way that that can change is not from them picking themselves up and saying, you know what, this is worthless. I'm going to turn to this God. I'm going to clean myself up.

I'm going to stop that. I'm going to turn to God. No. Understand what he says here, you turned to God first. God is the initiator of your ability to turn.

The Thessalonians could not turn to God from idols without God first giving them a new heart. Because if they try to do that with their own stony heart, with their old spirit, their old mind, they're not doing it. I'm not doing it. You wouldn't have done it. This turning to God from idols is a repentance that comes by faith alone and Christ alone.

And repentance, children listen, it's simple. I want to try and be simple as maybe Paul, Silas, and Timothy would be. When God gives you a new heart, then you see God, you see His holiness, you see His mercy, you see His grace, and you see His goodness and say, I want that. Because of your mercy and grace, I can have that through the work of Christ because I haven't done anything to earn that, I haven't done anything to that. And I don't want these idols anymore, I don't want this sin anymore, I don't want these attractions of the world anymore.

They're getting me nowhere, They're taking me further and costing me more than I ever thought it would. And there's really no happiness there. It's fleeting. It comes and goes. Christmas will be gone in a few weeks.

Your birthday, The enjoyment of a birthday, a vacation will be gone. That great event will be gone. Those women and men, they're fleeting. Movies, entertainment books, they're fleeting. I'm not saying any of these you shouldn't have, but it's fleeting.

You're saying, that isn't bringing me joy. That is sin against a holy God. God, you have made yourself beautiful through Christ, And I repent of that in just you. Just you, God. Reveal in my heart the other idols.

You repent. Repent, you're born again. And we continue to repent as God continues to reveal these idols. We can't clean ourselves up first. That's impossible.

You can only be washed clean by the blood of Christ through His remission of sins, through His shed blood. It's the only way. Don't ever think that you have to clean yourself up to be accepted by God. God will clean you up. God will wash you clean.

He'll make you whiter than snow. He'll make you His child. He does the work. He does the work and gives you a new heart that you can repent and see the sin and hate the sin like He does and turn to the living and true God. And there's no syncretism in these Thessalonians and there should be none in us as well.

Syncretism means, I choose the God of the Bible, I'm going to keep these others. Today that's helpful to me. It's helpful to me as I'm around these people at Sovereign Redeemer Community Church because it helps me live among them, I get things from them, I'm invited to their houses, I get hugs, I get this. But then tomorrow, the idol of my job, the idol of my family, the idol of my personal comfort, the idol of my lust will bring me more comfort tomorrow. Or in their polytheism land, they actually have other gods that they have made, just putting another one on the shelf.

This isn't secret and this is completely being cut off from that and turning to only and serving only the living and true God. John Stott, quote, there will of course be different idols from which people need to turn, and different forms in which they will express their service of God. But always the break with the past will be decisive. It has to be that way. The experience of the present will be liberating and the look to the future will be expectant to wait for his son from heaven.

And without this turning, serving, and waiting, one can scarcely claim to have ever been converted. You have to turn, you have to repent and believe the gospel. Serve the only living and true God. And then we wait, which is the ninth evidence, the last evidence here of serving the living and true God, waiting for Jesus. Waiting for Jesus.

Return, 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." Their hope, their eternal hope, is not just what Jesus has done, but what Jesus has promised and what He's going to do, just like we see in Joshua. What was that hope for over 400 years? Their hope was in God. That God would make these things happen, that God would give them a land.

And he does. And it could be over 400 years from us still, it could be 10, 000, it could be a million years. I don't know. But their hope in Jesus' return is evidence of how they're serving. The way they're waiting is evidence of how they're serving the living and true God.

All these evidences are how you wait. The way they're waiting is proving that they believe in the riches we have in Christ. And this is active waiting. This isn't just sitting around and waiting. There's an activity to this.

I'm talking about more than just our activity in our homes when we're out and about. Everybody has that activity. Everybody in the world has activity. We've got to provide for our families. We have shopping to do.

We have children to care for. We have husband-wife relationships to care for. We have other relationships. We have all kinds of things that go on. That's not necessarily what we're talking about, but how we do those, how we are waiting.

Does it demonstrate that we know mercy, that we know the grace of God, that we know his forgiveness, that we know that Jesus is the one that's done all the work. I don't have any work to do for salvation. Jesus has done that. That he's coming again. That he's the judge.

That he has filled you. If you are a Christian, loud and clear, loud and clear on this, if you're a Christian, you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit for all of eternity. The Holy Spirit who will make much of Christ, who will make much of the Father, will produce fruit in you. Will! He will!

He loves to because that makes much of Christ and his power to save. And he will. And it will seem so small at times. Progress will seem so small at times. At times it will feel like you've made backwards progress.

It will. That happens to me. It does. There's a sweetness Christ will reveal to you. No, look back with these right eyes.

You're just looking back on last week. Look back 10 years ago, James. Look back 20, look back 30, look back 40, look back 45 now. Look back and see. Paul Silvatus and Timothy leave no doubt who this church is waiting for.

They're not waiting just for their death, for their own personal gain, for whatever is going to happen. They're not just waiting, they're waiting for Christ. God's Son from heaven, Jesus raised from the dead. You have the Gospel here in one verse. Waiting for Jesus, his son, whom he raised from the dead.

Why did Jesus have to raise from the dead? Because he died. Why did he die? Because he was crucified. He was crucified, shedding his blood, breaking his body for all who repent and believe could be saved.

And only He could do that because He lived a perfect life because He's God. And what's the result of Him doing that? He saves us from the wrath to come. What are we saved from ultimately? We will say, and I'll take this verbage, I'm saved from my sin.

I'll take that. I'll be fine with that. But what you'll hear from me next, if you say that to me, what you'll hear from me next is, yes, It's more than that though. You are saved from the effect of your sin. You are saved from the righteous judgment of God, the wrath to come.

That's ultimately what we are saved from. We're saved from God and His wrath. And we're saved too, being children. Being children, being a bride of Christ. That gets real sweet.

When people hear, I'm saved from my sin, A lot of people just think about, I've got to put all that away. Back to your idols. You can't do that on your own. But Jesus can save you from the wrath to come by forgiving you and cleansing you from all unrighteousness. Matthew Henry, full and final deliverance from sin and death and hell.

From that wrath which is yet to come upon unbelievers, it is everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I want you to understand what you are saved from. And those who have not repented and believed, I want you to understand what's still heading your way. You hear that from me, you hear that from Jason, you hear that from your parents. Don't take that lightly because you've heard it so many times.

It is true. From those tornadoes, Over 100 people are thinking they're dead from that? Be very naive to think that many of those are facing the wrath of God right now. Right now. But for those who repented and believed in Christ, there are many right now that are enjoying, rejoicing in eternal life right now.

And understanding more fully than I will ever understand this side of heaven, what they've been saved to and from. Brethren, just on our afflictions, talk about our afflictions. We will have afflictions. We will have opposition. And do not conflate those.

Do not think that it's from the wrath of God, brethren. It is not. There is not an ounce of wrath that God has for His people, not the tiniest amount. It's all been laid on Christ. Any afflictions you have, the testing you have, which God promises that we will have, are to test our faith to produce patience and to complete us, to conform us to Christ.

John Stott, we have no liberty to wait in idleness, with arms folded and eyes closed, indifferent to the needs of the world around us. Instead, we must work even while we wait, for we are called to serve the living and true God." When you think of serving, you don't think of someone that's sitting around. When you think of serving, you don't think of someone that's sitting around. When you think of serving, you might think of a vision of servants. They're not servants very long if they just sit.

They'll be let go and we'll find other servants. I do not equate, don't take that further than what that means right there. But this serve, this is an adjective, this is a verb. We're active, we're serving, living in true God in so many ways. So many ways.

And these Thessalonians, I don't know how many elders they had. They had a couple. Most of them are not elders and they're all being commended for serving the living and true God. Not because they can stand up and preach. This is the church being commended by God through these men in two letters.

Give Isaiah, God through Isaiah gets the last word here. Isaiah 40 verse 31. And we understand in Isaiah, when they were going to read about waiting, they had the focus on waiting for Christ to come in the first place. We know the Messiah coming in the incarnation, but it definitely applies to us now. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." I was saying there aren't times of weariness and tiredness, but with the joy of the Lord, the strength of the Lord, His armor, Him sheltering us under His wings, Him hiding us in the cleft, Him being our strong tower, Him being our good shepherd, Him being our living and true God. We can wait this way. And we can have these evidences of serving the living and true God.

So the application is what we just went through, these nine evidences. Salvation Redeemer Community Church, these should be our nine evidences, and I commend you. You know, I love to commend you. Because it's true. I'm not lying.

It's true. We can all look at these and say, oh I can do better. Absolutely. But the Holy Spirit rots us in us, and as a church we move forward. The church we can move forward in these things.

We are followers of godly men in the Lord. I'm not saying I'm Paul, Silas, or Timothy, or Jason is. You're so gracious towards us. Pray for us. Pray for us that we would be these examples.

But mostly pray that we would follow Christ, that you would see Christ, that you would imitate us as we follow Christ. And only that. Please, may God be merciful to us. Receive the word in much affliction. We don't have a mob after us all the time.

There are forms of mobs at the abortion clinic at times. But the mobs are getting real. The mobs are real out there. We've seen it over this last couple years especially. They don't want to be told.

They want us to just give in to them. As long as it doesn't affect others, they say, well, it affects others, and it affects their own souls. We have people here that have opposition from immediate family. There are people here that have opposition from their immediate family and hard opposition in some cases. We need to be prepared and encourage others at our faceness and be prepared as this opposition shrinks in from government and from other people.

Have joy in the Holy Spirit and make sure that's linked to salvation. Study the cross. Study the crucifix. Study the gospel more than anything else. So you can have that joy of the Holy Spirit linked to salvation.

Be examples to others. Seek out those examples to you and be examples to others. Be intentional about this, how you talk, what you encourage others to read, to watch, to listen to. Encourage other behaviors. These examples.

Sound forth the word of the Lord. Look for those ways. Look for those ways to sound that out. Our faith, and I know it's because of the faith that you've been given by God. Ephesians, right?

It's a gift of God. This gift you've been given of faith and the testimony of others. Proclaim others. Proclaim where you see they're going well. Antioch Baptist Church, they hear that from us.

There's churches in Malawi. Hope Baptist, other churches, other pastors, other things that you'll hear commended to you. I'm so thankful. You've heard over the years many people that God has used to encourage me and my family and our history. Faith goes out.

We turn to God. Keep turning to God. Keep repenting. And keep waiting. Waiting and serving.

Waiting in these ways for Jesus to return. Let's pray.