The message of 1 Thessalonians is very clear. Jesus is coming back. And the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night – so we should all be ready, be on watch and be alert!
1 Thessalonians 5 11 Therefore (says Paul) encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

But just what does it mean to encourage one another and build one another up? At the end of this short letter Paul gives some guidelines for the church at Thessalonica. This series of instructions covers just four characteristics of any church who want to be ready when Jesus returns. So what are these four themes?
RESPECT FOR LEADERS
12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.
In various places the New Testament urges Christians to respect those who work as God’s servants as ministers or missionaries and to hold them in high regard and esteem. The Early Church clearly expected Christians to follow, and to some degree to obey or submit to those who God had appointed as their leaders.
Hebrews 13:7 says 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
But then Hebrews 13:17 goes on to say, 17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Obedience and submission to authority were part of the life of the Early Church. This is not always the case today. Let me be very clear that I am both appreciative of and humbled by the respect which you all give me as minister of North Springfield Baptist Church. But this by any means the case in every church. The minister is always a servant of the church. But sadly some churches forget that the minister is always ultimately a servant of Christ. The calling of the minister is to enable and equip and prepare all of God’s people to serve God, not to do all the work themselves!
The Anglican Michael Sayward wrote, “Free or independent churches tend to reduce the position of the minister to that of one who fulfils their wishes. It takes a very fine church to avoid that trap, which may be why relatively few exciting reforms have come out of the British Non-Conformist tradition in recent years.” I thank God every day that I serve “a very fine church”!#
When He was Principal of Spurgeon’s College, Paul Beasley-Murray wrote this about the role of pastors as shepherds leading the flock. “Pastors are called to feed the flock, to care for the flock, to seek the lost. But they must never lose sight of the fact that they are called to LEAD the flock. A pastor may delegate the teaching. He may delegate the caring. He may delegate the seeking of the lost. But he cannot delegate the leading. If he does then he is failing in his calling and the church will just go around in circles.”
But then somebody may ask, if the minister is doing the leading, then who does the pastoral care, the visiting, the caring, the supporting. The Bible is clear that the tasks of “pastoral care” are not restricted to the “pastor.” Caring is the job of the whole church – everybody shares in
MUTUAL SUPPORT
1 Thessalonians 5 Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

There is a church in USA who use an interesting letterhead. At the top it says, “Pastor – Rev So and So. Ministers – the whole congregation”! Every Christian should play their part by caring for each other.
Live in peace – the unity of the church for which Christ prayed is the principal witness of the church to the disunited, hurting world.
Warn the idle – those lacking in the self-control Paul had talked about in verses 6 and 8. Warn the indisciplined that every Christian should be “pulling their weight” in the life of the church. It is partly the role of the leaders to “admonish” and warn and challenge. But the whole church should be “stirring one another up to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)
Encourage the timid – we all need encouraging sometimes, and we can all play our part by encouraging other people!
Help the weak – we all need practical help sometimes, and we can all help others in different ways. Remember the old slogan, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.”
Be patient with everybody – no get out clause there, everybody, no exceptions!
In all these instructions, Paul is only telling the Thessalonians to do exactly the same things he had done for them.
Remember 1 Thessalonians 2 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
Do not repay wrong with wrong – there is a hard command to obey. No revenge, no retaliation, no grudges. But then the day of the Lord is coming when all wrongs will be put right – and we need to be ready!
Try to be kind to each other, and to everybody else. Remember Paul’s earlier challenge to holiness and brotherly love.
1 Thessalonians 4 9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Even there Paul was only repeating what he had written earlier.
1 Thessalonians 3 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you
Love expressed in mutual support – the second characteristic of a church that is ready to meet the Son. And the third is
JOYFUL PRAYER
1 Thessalonians 5 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice in the Lord always! We saw in chapter 1 how the Thessalonians had received the gospel “with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” This is not some vague and abstract call to “be happy.” But an encouragement to delight in our relationship with God and in the happy certainty of the return of Jesus Christ. And we experience that joy often in the context of prayer.
Pray continually. “Seven days without prayer make one week.”
Give thanks in all circumstances. Our lives would be transformed if we were to spend as much time thanking God for all His blessings to us as we do asking God for things!
Paul expands on this encouragement to joyful prayer in
Philippians 4 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Joyful prayer as individuals and joyful prayer as a church together in our prayer meetings and Home Groups and worship services. Respect for leaders, mutual support, joyful prayer and the fourth theme is
OPENNESS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt
It seems that even in the Early Church there were some people growing deaf to the voice of God. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that God wants to speak to individual Christians and to the church in words of prophecy, messages delivered through the Holy Spirit. This was God’s promise to the church through the prophet Joel.
Acts 2 17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
These promises were gloriously fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

So the Holy Spirit who had inspired the Old Testament prophets had been given to ALL believers. And Paul expected spiritual gifts of prophecy to be a part of the life of all churches.

1 Corinthians 14 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

The Bible teaches us that we can still expect God to speak to the church today in words of prophecy, in dreams and visions. As Baptist Christians we should be particularly open to this because we believe and expect that God can speak to us all through any one of us when we gather as the church meeting. I read a fascinating statement the Baptist Union made as long ago as 1948.
“The life of many of our church meetings has been transformed. Instead of being boring business meetings, they are becoming again the occasion when churches as individuals and as a community submit themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and stand under the judgment of God that they might know what is the mind of Christ.”
I am convinced that God’s people can expect Him to guide and lead us and I refuse to put any limitations on the ways in which God may speak to us. Of course we need to exercise discernment.
21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

We need to test messages which seem to come from God against Scripture and by the character of the speaker. But we need to learn to listen to God’s voice and not ignore Him!
When I do a Mission Consultancy for a church on behalf of EBA one of the exercises we do is to consider some of the factors which studies have found to contribute to spiritual and numerical growth of churches. It is no surprise that four of those factors correspond to these four characteristics of churches which are ready for the return of Christ.
Effective leadership – leaders who know how to give vision and direction to the church, and a church who respect those leaders and are eager to follow.
Mobilised membership – a community where each one plays their part supporting one another.
Constant prayer and eventful worship – which express our relationship with God and release His power in us.
Open-ness to God’s Spirit – listening to God in a variety of ways and being prepared to change if God commands it.
Characteristics of a church that is ready to meet the Son. Respect for Leaders. Mutual Support. Joyful Prayer. Open-ness to the Holy Spirit.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

No questions – no doubts there! We WILL be ready to meet the Son – God will see to that!

AMEN!!

Is there anybody here who slept through the night of 20th July 1969? Unless you are too young to remember, I doubt it. If you missed it, it was one of the most significant moments in the history of humanity. We weren’t expecting to stay up so late, but there were delays and so we stayed awake until the early hours. Half the world had been awake all night, eagerly anticipating. It was between 2 and 3 am on 21st July 1969 when the moment finally arrived. The Lunar Excursion Module of Apollo 11 touched down and human beings had landed on the moon. We watched it live, and saw it just a few seconds after it happened. It was a moment well worth staying awake for!
There is another event coming up in the near future. A day which will be even more special. Compared to the day which is coming, the moon landing will be trivial and irrelevant and insignificant. The day which is coming, more than any other, will be worth getting ready for and staying awake for. It is the day the Early Church were all looking forward to more than any other. The day that all Christians throughout the centuries have been anticipating. The day we can be expecting any day now. Because the entire future and destiny of humanity does not depend on the man they put on the moon but upon the man they put on a cross, the man who died but didn’t stay dead, the man who was God and who promised, “I will return.” His day is coming!
THE DAY OF THE LORD
5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

The Christians at Thessalonica didn’t really need teaching about the Day of the Lord. It was not just that Paul had taught them when he was with them. It wasn’t only that they had heard about the promises Jesus had made. The Old Testament had pointed forward to that day so many times. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah and Joel and Amos and Obediah and Zephaniah and Zechariah and Malachi all spoke about the Day of the Lord. The day which would bring deliverance to God’s chosen people and God’s judgment on the rest of the world. All the Old Testament promises of the Day of the Lord were carried forward to the day of Christ’s return.
Zephaniah 1 14 “The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly.
Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth.
18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.”
2:1 Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation,
2 before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon you.
3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

There were a number of common themes in the Old Testament prophecies of the Day of the Lord. On that Day
1 God will come
2 God will be with His chosen people
3 God will rule over the world bringing justice and peace which are universal and permanent.
After the Ascension, all those Old Testament expectations of the Day of the Lord were transferred to the Day of Jesus Christ, the Day of the return of Jesus. The Jews had been waiting for God Himself to come to earth. Christians recognised that Jesus WAS God and so it will be Jesus who will be returning to fulfil all those wonderful promises. And Jesus Himself had promised, “I will return.”
That return will be sudden. Jesus will come “like a thief in the night.” That dramatic phrase comes from Jesus Himself.
Matthew 24 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
This was the expectation of the Early Church. Twice in the book of Revelation the Risen Christ warns his church of his return, “as a thief in the night.” We cannot know the times or the seasons – the return of Christ is always unexpected, always imminent. The great preacher Robert Murray McCheyne once asked his congregation to put up their hands if they thought Jesus was going to return that night. Then he read to them Matthew 24:44 In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.
Billy Graham said this. “Our world is filled with fear, hate, lust, greed, war and utter despair. Surely the Second Coming of Christ is the only hope of replacing these depressing features with trust, love, universal peace and prosperity. FOR THAT DAY the world wittingly or inadvertently waits.”
Indeed for some that day of the Lord will be a complete surprise and a shock, because it will be
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
Many will not be ready to meet their Maker!
3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

For some the Day of the Lord will bring dreadful calamities.
Amos 5 18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

That is “the dark side of hope.” If we believe in hope for Christians, we cannot escape what the Bible teaches us about those who do not know Jesus, who do not share the Jesus hope.
In various places Paul tells the Thessalonians that the whole world is in darkness, estranged and alienated from God because of sin. Selfishness, pride, drunkenness, sexual immorality and all kinds of rebellion. And God’s righteous anger and just condemnation of sin are being saved up. For those who reject God’s wonderful salvation, the Day of the Lord will bring only judgment.
2 Thess 1:7 …. when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.
On the Niagara river there is a small mound called Redemption Point. Once a boat or a swimmer has gone past that point they are inescapably doomed to be carried over the Falls. For each person there is a point in the river of their lives beyond which, if they pass it, they are doomed!
The Day of the Lord will see the “great divide” when the choices we have all made in this life are confirmed into eternity. Those without Christ face a punishment of total and eternal exclusion from the presence of God. They will lose everything which makes existence worthwhile. Those who have ignored and rejected God all their lives will continue to be separated from Him forever. Those who are asleep and in the dark now will stay that way into eternity. Many will be very surprised when the God they have rejected finally rejects them.
But the Thessalonians were not doomed! They had accepted God’s gift of eternal life, as we read in 1:9-10
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
So for Christians the day of the Lord should not catch us by surprise. It is the day we should be ready and eagerly waiting for! For Christians the Day of the Lord will be
THE DAY OF SALVATION
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
Christians are not in darkness but in the light. We are sons and daughters of the light – Jesus the Light of the World. We are sons and daughters of the day, the Day of the Lord.
So we should be awake – metaphorically and spiritually. We should be awake, not asleep, with our eyes open, ever watchful, ever on our guard, waiting for the Son. In chapter 3 Paul has already challenged Christians to be holy and to be loving, avoiding sexual immorality and practising brotherly love. And here he expands on what it means to be awake and on our guard.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alongside holiness and love we should have self-control. And here is another picture of the armour of God. Faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Because our destiny is to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s gift of salvation, never earned or deserved but freely given. C.S.Lewis wrote, “The salvation of a single soul is more important than the production or preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world.” God in His grace has chosen us not to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
We will live together with Him forever. Eternal life starts now – and it never ends. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether we are still alive or whether we have already died when Christ returns, we will be with the Lord forever! So we want to be completely ready when that Day comes.
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
You’ve seen the T-shirt. “Be alert – the world needs all the “lerts” it can get!” We need to be preparing ourselves for Christ’s return. You probably know the American magazine “Time”. For many years there also used to be a Christian magazine called “Eternity”. A famous journalist once became a Christian and changed jobs between the two magazines. She announced to all her friends, “I’m not working for Time any more. I’m working for Eternity.” That is what all Christians should be – not working for time but working for eternity.
2 Peter 3 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
As we look forward to the return of Christ, we must make sure we will be ready to meet the Son!
Matthew 24 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Be alert. Keep watch! In holiness. In love. In self-control. Warning our neighbours and friends who don’t know Christ yet about the Day which is coming! Working not for time but for eternity. We need to be ready to meet the Son!

What is death?
“There is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.” (Bertrand Russell)
“We die only once – and for such a long time.” (Moliere )
“Death isn’t romantic – death is not anything – death is … NOT. It’s the absence of presence, nothing more …. The endless time of never coming back.” (Tom Stoppard)
Nearly 2000 years ago the apostle Paul wrote this.
1 Thessalonians 4 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
We live in a world without hope. As human beings have run away from God they have turned their backs on the hope which only the immortal God can offer to mortal man. People have turned to substitutes for hope. Some to a naïve optimism, others to the escapism of eastern mysticism or New Age religions or the cults. Some have put their trust in astrology, others in politics or idealism. Many fill the void in their lives with self-indulgence, drink, drugs, sex, “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Others are realists and facing a future without hope they end up in despair.
In this hopeless world, with no hope for the future and no hope beyond death, the church has the answer. And that answer is “The Jesus Hope”. Jesus Christ is coming back again. That is the happy certainty the world desperately needs to hear about. That is a message the church has neglected in recent years. But that is the hope that Paul writes about to the Thessalonian Christians who are worried about their friends who have died under persecution. Is there a future for those martyrs? Is there a future for any of us when this life ends? Yes there is a future, says Paul. We have “The Jesus Hope”.
And Paul begins by talking about Christians who have already died. We needn’t be worried about them. They’ll be back! Christians who have died will be
RETURNING WITH THE LORD
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
When He returns the Lord Jesus Christ will bring back with Him all the believers who have already died, or using a metaphor, “fallen asleep in him.” Paul didn’t invent that language of course. Jesus Himself said about Lazarus who had died, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” (John 11:11) Jesus said of Jairus’s daughter who had indeed died, “The child is not dead but asleep.” (Mark 5:39).
14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
They’ll be back. The comic horror actor Vincent Price has as his epitaph, “I’ll be back.” “I’ll be back” was the promise of Arnold Schwarzenegger as “The Terminator.” But of course it was Jesus who first promised to return.
15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
We have the promise of Jesus Himself that He will return, and bring with Him believers who have already died. The Greek word for “the coming of the Lord” is Parousia. It occurs 18 times in the New Testament and seven times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Parousia means a royal visit or a state visit, the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The theme of the Lord’s return is certainly neglected by the church nowadays. Perhaps the rise of science makes it harder to believe that one day the whole of human history will come to an end and God’s Kingdom with come. Or perhaps it’s because 2000 years seems like a long time still to be waiting. But Christ’s return is certain. It is nearer now than at the hour we first believed! And when Christ returns, the whole world will know about it!
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Christ’s return will not be in secret, but in public. The Lord Himself will come down. There will be a loud command. The Arkangel will speak and God’s trumpet will sound. Nobody will miss it! Jesus Himself promised in Mark 13,
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
And when Jesus comes, the dead in Christ will rise first. That is the Jesus Hope, the happy certainty Christians have of life beyond death. 1 Corinthians 15 puts it this way.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Here is God’s promise. Those who have already died, those who have fallen asleep in Christ, will not miss out! They will be there when Christ returns, as will those who are still alive on that day. How can we be sure all of this will happen?
14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Our confidence in the Jesus Hope comes from the death and resurrection of Christ Himself. Jesus is alive and because He lives, we will live also!
But what about those believers who are still alive when Jesus returns? What about us?? We will be busy,
WELCOMING THE LORD
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Caught up together with them in the clouds. The word which Christians use for this event is “the rapture.” We sing it in Graham Kendrick’s song, “There’s a sound on the wind.”
“Now the King of the ages approaches the earth, He will burst through the gates of the sky,
And all men shall bow down to His beautiful name, We shall rise with a shout, we shall fly!”
We have to ask – is this language of the rapture meant to be literal, or poetic? There are American Christians who buy soft-top cars so that they won’t be hurt if the Lord returns and they are caught up while they are driving. They have bumper stickers which say “If Jesus returns today, somebody grab my steering wheel.” It may be that this idea of the rapture is a poetic or symbolic way of saying that Christians will pass straight from mortality to immortality without tasting death. We will simply be freed from the limitations of this world and put on our new glorified resurrection bodies. Or maybe it is literal. Maybe we will be caught up in the clouds. Maybe we will fly! I don’t know.
Whether literal or poetic, meeting Christ in the clouds is a sign of the glory and majesty and power of God – just as the cloud covered Mount Sinai as the 10 Commandments were given, and Jesus was surrounded by cloud as He was transfigured and also as He ascended into Heaven.
Acts 1 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
That was the root of this hope the Early Church had of the way in which Christ would return.
1 Thessalonians 4 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Welcoming the Lord – in the way that all the dignitaries of a town would go out to welcome a royal visitor on the road so that they could escort them into the town. That is the word used of meeting, giving a royal welcome to the Lord. All Christians will share in this welcoming of the victorious conqueror, Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords as He brings in God’s Kingly Rule.
So the dead will return with the Lord and the living will be welcoming the Lord. But then what will happen? Paul has saved the best until last!
BEING WITH THE LORD
Verse 17 . And so we will be with the Lord forever.
That is the Jesus Hope – to be with the Lord forever. There are many pictures of heaven in the Bible. The city where God lives with His chosen people. A never-ending worship event. A heavenly banquet. Whatever heaven is like, it will be better than anything we can look forward to or even imagine.
1 Corinthians 2 9 …. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
But the most important thing about heaven is this. Heaven is being where God is. Heaven is being with Jesus.
John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
That is the best test to see whether we really understand the Jesus hope. What we most have to look forward to in heaven is simply this – being with the Lord forever. Timothy Dudley-Smith outs it beautifully in a hymn you may remember from Mission Praise.
When the Lord in glory comes. Not the trumpets not the drums.
Not the anthem not the psalm, not the thunder, not the calm,
Not the shout the heavens raise. Not the chorus not the praise,
Not the silences sublime, Not the sounds of space and time
But His voice when He appears shall be music to my ears.

When the Lord is seen again, not the glories of His reign,
Not the lightnings through the storm, not the radiance of His form.
Not His pomp and power alone, Not the splendours of His throne,
Not His robe and diadems, Not the gold and not the gems.
But His face upon my sight shall be darkness into light.
But His face upon my sight shall be darkness into light.
And so we will be with the Lord – forever. THIS is the Jesus Hope.
Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:
“Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet, Thy blessed face to see;
For if thy work on earth be sweet, What will thy glory be!
My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim;
But ’tis enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with him.”
And so we will be with the Lord – forever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Comfort one another with these words! The dead will be returning with the Lord. Those who are still alive will be welcoming the Lord. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Encourage one another with these words. This is the Jesus Hope. God’s answer to the hopelessness of this sin-spoiled world.

Do you share this hope? I‘ve said before, hope is the combination of expectation and desire. I expect to mow the lawn this week but since I have no desire to mow the lawn it would not be appropriate to say that mowing the lawn is my great “hope”. Equally I would love to go on safari in Africa this summer but since I have no expectation of doing that, very sadly I cannot say I hope to go on safari this summer.
But I really want Jesus to return – I am looking forward to that Day! And I absolutely do expect Jesus to return – He has promised and it is certain, maybe even today. So the return of Jesus Christ is the happy certainty my life is based on – the Jesus Hope. Do you share the Jesus hope?

I put more preparation into that one day than any other day of my life. More than for exams. More than for my ordination.
I’m not just talking about the two haircuts or the new suit and shoes. Not just sorting out the details of the service or the buying of the rings or of the invitations. It took us FOUR YEARS to get ready for our wedding day. And the preparations the groom has to make are almost nothing in comparison to all the things the Bride finds to do so she will be ready for wedding day – the greatest and happiest day of her life.
There is a wedding coming up soon. I don’t know the exact date but it is getting nearer every day. It will be the most important marriage in the history of the universe. It will be the wedding between Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and His Bride, the Church. It’s the marriage feast John talks about in the Book of Revelation which will take place when Jesus Christ returns. And we are invited. We will be there. Every Christian will be there. But will we be ready? When Jesus comes to take His chosen people to be with Him forever – will we be prepared? Will we be ready to meet the Son?
Paul want the Thessalonians to be ready. The whole of life waiting for the Son is to be spent getting ready to meet the Son. Because
JESUS CHRIST IS RETURNING
312 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

So what should we be doing to be ready to meet Christ when He returns with the glory of all the angels? Paul suggests two things – and we will think about them in the reverse order.
BE HOLY
313 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Holiness is not merely a negative quality, an absence of sin. Holiness is something very positive. It is being set apart and belonging to God. And the standard God calls for us is to be blameless. That’s why we need to God strengthen our hearts so that we can resist temptation. Be HOLY.
BE LOVING
312 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Loving each other as God has loved us in Christ. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.” Increasing, overflowing love.
Every Christian needs BOTH of these qualities. To be Holy AND to be Loving. Holiness without love risks the legalism of the Pharisees. Love without holiness risks compromise. Increasing holiness and increasing love. More and more!
4:1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
And Paul urges the same in verse 10. More and more.
10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

More and more. Moving on, not standing still. Some Christian friends of mine used to sing and play guitars as a duo. The name they chose as a group was most appropriate. “Not perfect yet.” That name described not only their music and their singing but also the life of Christian discipleship. “Not perfect, yet.”
Paul urges the Thessalonians to holiness and to love by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
4:1 … Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is coming back. Maybe soon. Maybe even tonight. We must get ready to meet the Son by living a holy life and by loving one another. Paul goes on to unpack these two themes.

LIVE A HOLY LIFE.

3 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Paul could have gone on to talk about all kinds of sin. Stealing, lying, arguing, idleness, selfishness, pride, jealousy, anger, self-righteousness. Paul could have reminded the Thessalonians that our thoughts matter to God as much as our actions. But as it turns out, Paul goes straight to the point of the sins which were threatening that church at Thessalonica. And his message is simple – avoid sexual immorality.

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.

Avoid sexual immorality. Any sexual activity outside the pattern God has decreed. Faithfulness within marriage. Celibacy outside marriage. In the biblical understanding, anything else is immorality.
The heart of sexual morality is learning to exercise self-control.
4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen,
Self control isn’t made any easier by the pressures from society all around us, from television and books and films and adverts. For young people especially there can be all kinds of pressures from their friends around them. Self control, so that
Verse 6 in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.
It seems clear that at least some of the Thessalonians were finding it difficult to leave behind their pagan backgrounds and some were falling into immorality, some even within the Christian community. We don’t know what sins they had fallen into, but they were serious! So serious that here in these few verses Paul gives no less than SEVEN reasons for sexual purity.
Jesus Christ is returning!
So we should be living to please God (verse 1)
We must obey God’s instructions given in the authority of Christ (verse 2)
It is God will that we are sanctified, that is, made holy (verse 3)
There is the threat that God will punish those who sin (verse 6)
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (verse 7)
8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (verse 8)
We should not forget that sexual activity has a spiritual dimension. Paul spells this out in 1 Corinthians 6
13 … The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Of course, sexual activity is not of itself evil or dirty in any way. On the contrary, in its proper context of marriage sex is the most magnificent and beautiful expression of love and intimacy. It is as close as we can get in human terms to the unity of Christ and His church. That is why sex is so precious. That is why we should avoid sexual immorality, and avoid the passionate lusts of the heathen who do not know God, says Paul. And the sexual morality of the world around isn’t any better today than it was in the first Century. Sex remains the substitute which many run to in the face of the emptiness and hopelessness of a life without Christ. So the command remains for Christians to be holy, and avoid sexual immorality. But alongside the call for holiness is a second call.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
312 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Christians should not need “the passionate lusts of the heathen” because we have found true love, God’s love. The kind of self-giving love we see Christ showing on the cross. Love for God. Love for our neighbours. And particularly love for other Christians, increasing and overflowing. Sexual immorality uses and takes from the other person. God’s kind of love serves and gives to the other person. We all need to be growing in this kind of brotherly love.
9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Brotherly love shows itself in very practical ways. Concern for those who are ill. Support for the weak. Friendship for the lonely. If Christians are showing that kind of love for one another then all their needs will be met in Christ’s love, and none will be drawn to sexual immorality out of loneliness or sadness or boredom. Brotherly love in everyday Christian living.
11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

There was a risk in Thessalonica which we read more about in 2 Thessalonians that some Christians were so looking forward to the return of Christ that they had “downed tools” and were just sitting around waiting for the Son. Some were sponging off other Christians. That is NOT brotherly love. Brotherly love is about every Christian playing their part. Not being dependent on others but each pulling their weight and doing their bit, “so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.”
Holiness – and love. The two go together. Ever increasing, overflowing, more and more, ready to meet the Son.
Suppose you were invited to meet the Queen. Would you go dressed just as you are now? Of course not. We would want to look our best! I am sure we would be talking at least new clothes, haircut or hairdo, in fact all the same preparations a bride and groom make for their wedding day.
Jesus Christ is coming back again. Jesus Christ, King of King, Lord of Lords is returning to take us to be with Him forever. Until that day we are simply “waiting for the Son,” getting ready to meet Him. Being holy and loving one another are simply the ways we can become more like Jesus – ready for that Day!
And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.
(1 Thess 3:12-13 The Message)

Who is your favourite evangelist? Billy Graham? Louis Palau? David Watson? Michael Green? J.John? Steve Chalke? Nicky Gumbel? Or what about the greats from history? John Wesley? D.L.Moody? William Booth?
And who is your favourite missionary? Hudson Taylor? William Carey? David Livingstone? Gladys Ayleward? Jackie Pullinger? George Verwer?
If we want to learn about evangelism we can look at the lives of these evangelists used so powerfully by God. If we want to learn about mission we can follow the patterns of these missionary giants. If we want to learn about evangelism and mission and church planting there is no finer example in the whole of Christian history than the apostle Paul. He called himself “the least of the apostles” but he was in many ways the greatest. Writing to the Corinthians Paul described himself as “a skilled master-builder”. In 1 Thessalonians we find Paul defending his ministry against his critics and opponents. And so here we find six marks of Paul the Master-Builder. Six elements of effective evangelism and mission. Six characteristics which will transform our personal witness to Jesus Christ and guide us as a church as we seek to reach out to our friends and neighbours with the gospel. Six Marks of a Master-Builder.
1 SINCERITY
1 Thessalonians 2:1 You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.
J.B.Phillips translation: “our message is true, our motives are pure, our conduct is absolutely above board.”
NO error – because we proclaim Jesus the way, the truth and the life.
NO impure motives – having the right motivation in outreach and evangelism is absolutely vital. There are plenty of honourable motives for proclaiming the gospel. We are grateful for what God has done for us. We have a concern for God’s honour. We have a sense of responsibility before God to share the gospel. We care about those who are lost and perishing without Christ. And we are obeying Christ’s commission to go and make disciples and preach the gospel to the whole of creation. Our motives are pure, not selfish.
NO tricks – some may water down the claims of Christ, some may preach an “easy-come” gospel, but we do not.
NO flattery – always honesty
NO greed – no selfishness
NOT trying to please men, not looking for popularity or success or reputation, not looking for anything for ourselves,
NOT trying to please men but content to be pleasing God and approved by God. God has entrusted us with the gospel and we are responsible and accountable to God for our outreach and evangelism. So we must start with sincerity.
Then the second mark of effective mission and outreach and evangelism is
2 LOVE
2 Thessalonians 2:6b As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
We do not only love God. We must also genuinely love those we are trying to lead to Christ. Not being a burden. That means turning the other cheek and going the extra mile. The most important people in the church are the new people, the guests, the visitors. We must not demand of inquirers or seekers or new Christians more than they are ready to give. We must not be a burden to them. We must not put any obstacles between them and their Saviour. True love means
Sharing not only the gospel, but our lives as well.
Our responsibility to God and to others is not limited to sharing our testimony, or giving a friend a book to read, or taking them to church. Sharing the gospel is not about winning intellectual arguments about the existence of God or the historical truth of the resurrection. Mission is about sharing love in action!
Sharing our lives as well! Love hurts! Love costs! For Christ, love meant going to the cross. For some of us it will mean opening our homes to strangers. For others it will mean going into tough areas or tough jobs to live and share Christ. For some it means sacrificing a “normal life” for the demands of missionary service or pastoral ministry. Somebody has said, “There are many translations of the gospel but the best is the gospel translated into daily living.” Loving other people is not something we FEEL but something we DO, sharing out lives with them. That is why the third mark of the master-builder is
3 HARD WORK
9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
Mission is hard work. Outreach is hard work. Evangelism is hard work. Serving the community is hard work! Other people, probably false teachers leading the church astray or Jews who were persecuting them, were accusing Paul of taking advantage of the Thessalonians and exploiting them. But Paul insists he was never a burden to them. On the contrary, he gave himself to them in toil and hardship, working night and day. Paul makes the same point in his second letter to the Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 3 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
Not idle – but working day and night, labouring and toiling. I am sure you know what than is like. I remember being a leader on Crusader Camps and Boys Brigade Camps. And the years of running youth groups, week after week. The hard work of delivering leaflets and hosting coffee parties. When God gives us true love for other people we won’t run away from the hard work, sacrificing time and energy and money to share the gospel. We will love our neighbours as we love ourselves.
The fourth mark of effective mission and evangelism and outreach is
4 HOLINESS
2 Thessalonians 2 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.
We should never forget that our lives are an example to seekers and new Christians. Folk who are new to the church and Christian things will imitate the example of older Christians and established members. If we are grumpy – they will be grumpy! If we are indifferent or uncaring or self-important they will think that is what Christians are meant to be like. If we worship enthusiastically and joyfully so will they. If we sit in church looking bored or critical, they will think that is what they are meant to do! If we are truly welcoming they in turn will welcome others too. They will become like us.
Paul could honestly say he was holy, devout and pious. He was righteous, upright. He was blameless among them – what an amazing claim to make!
Leonard Ravenhill wrote, “The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world, and make that man holy, and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it.”
Holiness is our witness to the world. The difference Jesus makes to our lives. Actions speak louder than words. There is a tremendous pressure from the world around to fit in. To be still “one of the gang.” But God calls us to be holy!
And the fifth mark of the master builder is
5 PARENTAL CARE
2 Thessalonians 2 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
Caring for the new Christians at Thessalonica as a father cares for his children. And we have also seen Paul earlier compare himself to a mother nursing her babies.
7 we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
Mission does not end when a person is converted. We older Christians need to care for young Christians and new Christians like parents care for their little children, feeding them with Bible reading and Bible study and worship, having realistic expectations, loving them as they are, setting a good example for them.
Encouraging them, being supportive and positive. We need to work hard at encouraging each other, especially new Christians.
Comforting and consoling them – we all need help and support, especially in the hard times.
Urging and imploring them to live lives worthy of God. Too often younger Christians experience criticism and discouragement from older and more mature Christians who should know better. They need patience and support. Encouragement. Comfort. Occasional gentle urging. The kind of care which loving parents show for their children. And Paul expands this theme in the sixth mark of effective mission and outreach and evangelism
6 NURTURE
When somebody becomes a Christian we don’t just carve another notch in our Bibles and move on to pastures new. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Our obligation to new Christians carries on until they reach spiritual maturity, and does not end even then.
The Thessalonians had received the gospel, repented and believed.
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
As we saw last week, the Thessalonians had responded in joy, faith, love and hope. But Paul’s concern for these new Christians continued.
17 But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.
Paul really cared about the Thessalonians. He really wanted to see them again especially because he knew that they were suffering persecution. So Paul gives them practical help.
3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.
Paul sent Timothy to help and strengthen and encourage the Thessalonians in their times of trial. The church has the dreadful reputation of being the only army which shoots its own wounded. On the other hand some Christians can be too proud to accept help, let alone ask for us. We should all be willing to let others help us. Because Paul is well aware that all of our lives are a spiritual battleground.
2 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.
3 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
All Christians live in the middle of a spiritual battle between good and evil, between God and Satan. Christ has already won the decisive victory on the Cross, but we must play our part in the mopping up operations. In particular that means supporting young Christians and new Christians in the temptations they face against the world and the flesh and the devil.
So here we see the six marks of the Master-Builder. Six essential elements in mission and outreach and evangelism. But what was it motivated Paul in all of this?
2 Thessalonians 2 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians arose from his expectation of the return of Jesus Christ. Paul wanted them to be ready to meet the Son, so that they would welcome Christ as Saviour rather than face Him as Judge.
Six marks of the Master-Builder. Sincerity. Love. Hard work. Holiness. Parental Care. Nurture. May they be at the centre of all our mission and outreach and evangelism.

What are you looking forward to in life? Perhaps it’s a summer holiday? Or a celebration of a birthday or an anniversary? Perhaps a baptism, or a wedding? The one event we should be looking forward to more than any other, because it is the most certain event the future holds for all of us, is the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming back, and that is one hundred per cent certain!
That is what the church at Thessalonica were looking forward to most of all!
1 Thessalonians 1:9 … They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
For the Thessalonians and for the apostle Paul, the Christian life was simply a life “waiting for his Son from heaven”. This is the overarching theme of this whole letter, which may well be the earliest document written in the New Testament.
Here in chapter one Paul starts with his favourite topic, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only one thing could have turned pagans like the Thessalonians away from their idol worship and that was the gospel. And the gospel is the only thing that can save men and women today from the judgment which is coming soon.

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
On their second missionary journey, just after they had been thrown out of Philippi, we read in Acts 7 how Paul and Silas preached the gospel in Thessalonica. And that gospel came
Not simply with words – with much more than just words, because the gospel is not merely words or ideas. The gospel is not some philosophy invented by human beings. Some corners of the church seem to have lost confidence in the gospel and spend all their time defending it and protecting it and preserving it. As somebody famous once said, “The gospel is no tame pet cat to be defended, but a lion waiting to be uncaged!” The gospel came to the Thessalonians not simply with words,
But also with power – the gospel is the power of God!
Romans 1 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
The gospel is simply the message that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus is risen from the dead, that Jesus has died on the cross for our sins and that God offers new life to all who trust and follow Jesus. That message is the power of God!
With the Holy Spirit – It is the Holy Spirit who enables people to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. It is the Holy Spirit who brings people to new birth in Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who is at work both in the person who preaches the gospel and at work in the person who hears the gospel.
And with deep conviction – Christianity is not taught but caught! We need to be people who believe what we preach and who preach what we believe. When we are really convinced about what we believe, others will see our deep convictions and believe as well. We need to be prepared like Paul to stand up for what we believe it, and proclaim the gospel with passion, however much that costs. So Paul can say of the Thessalonians
We know that God has chosen you – We remember that we do not choose God but it is God in His grace who chooses us. It is not our efforts which will bring a person to faith in Jesus Christ, but the work of God the Holy Spirit.
Paul took the gospel to the Thessalonians not simply with words but with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. And this is what happened next.
RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL
1 Thess 1 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
The Thessalonians welcomed the message. Paul says more about this in chapter 2.
1 Thessalonians 2 13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
Indeed the gospel is not men’s message but God’s message, the word of God. That is why the gospel is so powerful in transforming lives! The Thessalonians welcomed the gospel. And Paul lists FOUR signs of their genuine conversion.
JOY given by the Holy Spirit
1 Thessalonians 1 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
Joy is the surest mark of the Christian. C.S.Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” Not superficial happiness or frothy praise but a deep down certainty that God is in control and we are safe and secure in His love and His promises. So God gives us plenty to rejoice about.
FAITH
7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.
The faith the Thessalonians showed was exemplary – a model to all the believers. Not merely an intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel but trusting in God and living our lives on the basis of what He has said. David Watson defined true faith as “taking God at His word.” And this kind of faith leads on to work produced by faith:
3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,
Hard work for God is the sign of true faith. It is not that we are trying to earn or deserve our salvation. We know we never could. But our grateful response to all that God has done for us in Christ is to serve God in obedience and hard work.
Joy and faith are accompanied by two other signs of true conversion.
3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Labour prompted by LOVE
Our motive for serving God is not only faith but also love. These are the greatest commandments. To love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind. To love our neighbours as ourselves. And to love other Christians just in the same way as Christ has loved us. Love isn’t something we feel. Love is something we do!
Endurance prompted by HOPE in our Lord Jesus.
Just like the apostle Paul himself, the Thessalonian Christians were facing hostility and persecution. What kept them going? It was their hope. The happy certainty that Jesus Christ is coming back and when He does He will put the world right again. That is why they wanted to be ready to meet the Son!
Joy, faith, love, hope. The four marks of true conversion. The proof to Paul that the Thessalonians were truly saved. Marks which we hope others will see in our lives too.
There we have the ways in which the Thessalonians had responded to the gospel. But there were other signs in their lives which were shining out like a beacon to the whole of that region. Other people knew what their lives had been like before they heard the gospel. Other people could see the difference Jesus makes.

THE EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL
8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

We all have our own testimony. The story of the wonderful things God has done in our lives and the difference Jesus makes to us day by day. Paul didn’t need to hear their testimony from the mouths of those Christians in Thessalonica because everybody told him about them wherever he travelled. How wonderful it would be if people were chattering about us. Have you heard about the amazing things God is doing in North Springfield?
They had turned from idols
In those days there were plenty of false gods to worship. All the Greek gods and the Roman gods and the weird gods of ancient Eastern mystery religions. So many unworthy objects competing for worship. Nowadays people have their own false gods of shopping and entertainment and money and sex and power and self sufficiency, quite apart from the cults and false religions and all the dangers of the occult. Men and women need to be rescued from false gods today just as much as the Thessalonians needed to turn away from idols.
To serve the living and true God.
Jesus Christ is the living God. The true God. The only God! Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”
That isn’t a popular message in these days of pluralism. People don’t like to hear that Jesus is the one and only way to God. But that’s the gospel!
And to wait for His son from heaven.
Jesus said in John 14 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
What a wonderful and comforting promise that is! Christians are waiting for the Son to come and take us to be with Him in glory. We aren’t living for the present any more. We aren’t the “here and now” people. We have become the “tomorrow people.” “The people of the future.” Our lives are shaped by the day when Christ will return. We are waiting for God’s son from heaven,
Whom He raised from the dead
Death has no hold on Christ – His love broke open the grave. Jesus promised that He will return, and the resurrection is God’s proof that Jesus can keep His promises.

Jesus – who rescues us from the coming wrath.
There is the greatest change in the Thessalonians lives – and in our lives. Invisible from the outside, but of eternal importance. Before they heard the gospel and believed it for themselves they, and we, were doomed! For them and for us, the return of Christ was a day to be dreaded, the day of God’s judgment, when they and we would face only punishment for our sins. But now the Thessalonians, and we, can look forward to Christ’s return with joy and hope! Because Jesus has rescued us from the wrath which is to come. Christ will bring not punishment but life in all its fullness in the glory and the presence of God Himself. So now we have this wonderful happy certainty of a marvellous future. Our lives are filled with excitement and anticipation – because we are waiting for the Son.
Right after his visit to Thessalonica, this was the message Paul preached in Athens.
Acts 17 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
The fact is that every single human being, everybody in the whole wide world, is waiting for the Son, one way or the other. Most don’t realise it, but their eternal destiny will be settled once for all when Jesus returns. Most are continuing to live life their own way, worshipping all kinds of false gods and denying the existence of the one true God. Most are waiting to face the judgment seat of God.
But for Christians the return of Christ promises eternal blessing and peace which are well worth any amount of opposition or suffering we may experience in this short life. Like the Thessalonians our lives should be filled with joy and faith and hope and love. We should be waiting on the edge of our seats, straining on tiptoe, for that day when we will welcome back God’s son from heaven. Here’s the challenge. Are we really ready and waiting to meet the Son?