Well, good morning to everyone. Thank you, Mark, again for leading us in wonderful hymns this morning, wonderful messages through those songs that we sing—truth based on the Word of God and encouragement.

We're gonna be going back to Thessalonians here, 1 Thessalonians this morning, going back to verses 1 to 10 in chapter 1. The reason I want to go back to these verses that we studied a couple of weeks ago is because I want to set the context and intent of this letter in our minds. I believe it will serve us well as we seek to rightly divide and apply several interesting and challenging passages that are yet to come in this epistle.

The key phrase in this section for our study this morning is in verse 10, right at the end, where Paul writes, "Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." That phrase, "the wrath to come," is an introduction to a major subject in this epistle and a major clue to understanding the context and the intent of the author, Paul.

When we get to chapter 5, we're going to take some time—several massive messages, in fact—to really dig into this doctrine concerning the wrath to come, particularly the phrase "the day of the Lord." So if you have some time, you might be, in the next couple of months, looking through the Scriptures at that phrase "the day of the Lord," how it's used, what it means, what it indicates. It's broadly used in the Scriptures all through the Old Testament and a little bit in the New Testament.

So I just want to introduce these things to you this morning to establish one of the major reasons that Paul is writing to these dear saints and some of the issues they were dealing with in Thessalonica. It appears from the internal evidence of this letter and Second Thessalonians as well that the believers were shaken. They were unsure, perhaps even doubting their faith, and there were several factors that attributed to this. One major factor was the severe persecution that they were enduring.

They were enduring a serious attack from unbelievers, and we see this in verse 6 of chapter 1. It says, "You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit." In chapter 2 at verse 14, it says, "For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us, and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved." 

So as always, to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

In chapter 3 at verse 1, "Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it has happened."

You know, for this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. All these words tell us that they were suffering greatly under persecution, and it was possibly shaking their faith. They were unsure about their salvation. We see that they were enduring serious persecution to the point that Paul was concerned they might be shaken. 

But Timothy came back and he brought good news, great encouragement to Paul. If you look at verse 6 in chapter 3, it says, "But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you, therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith."

Look at this in verse 8: "For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." What a statement by Paul! It tells us a lot about his ministry and his heart. We live if you stand fast. We will see another major theme of this epistle is the desire of God and the desire of Paul for the believers to grow, to mature, to live holy lives, standing fast in the Lord even in the midst of great trial and tribulation or in the midst of great prosperity.

As we endure, right? In chapter 4, Paul addresses the concern of the believers there about those who had died in Christ, and he assures them with the promise of the rapture of the church. They were unsure, they were doubting in light of all that was going on because of persecution, but also because of false teaching. We're gonna see this clearly in Second Thessalonians, particularly in chapter 2. 

But Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, "I do not want you to be ignorant." In other words, "I want you to know the truth—the doctrine." He wants them to understand about deliverance from the wrath to come, as we see highlighted in verse 10 of our text this morning, and this in the form of the rapture—Jesus coming to take us to be with Him forever, just as He promised us in John 14.

And then we get to chapter 5, and Paul talks about the things which are yet to come—the day of the Lord, the times and the seasons, eschatology, the wrath of God on the earth. He makes a tremendous promise, much like the one in verse 10 of our text this morning. In chapter 5 at verse 9, it says that "God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

This is a great promise. The believers in Thessalonica were struggling. They were shaken by persecution and by false teaching that led them to believe, as we will see in the second letter, that they had missed the rapture and that they were in the day of the Lord—the time of God's wrath on this earth. So the primary intent of Paul in writing this letter is to affirm the genuineness of their faith, of their salvation, and to comfort them. 

These are words of affirmation, consolation, and encouragement, my friends. We see him say that at the end of chapter 4, at the end of chapter 5, "Comfort one another with these words." The words are meant for comfort; they're meant for encouragement to assure them that they are saved. We must see them as such, interpret them as such, and understand them this way. Paul wrote what he wrote to comfort the believers, to assure them of our salvation. 

And if you read through these epistles, this will become very apparent to you in the words of Paul. 

Let's look at our text again in verses 1 to 10. "Paul, Silvanus, 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, patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God our 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, to both 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."

I've given you four points on your outline: first, gospel power; we're gonna review a little bit; number two, receive the word; third, wait for His Son; and fourth, the wrath to come.

Well, first we see concerning the genuineness of their faith—gospel power. Verse 5, "Our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance." There was much assurance. There was credible evidence—fruit that your faith was real, that you'd been saved.

Well, we talked last time in this text about God's plan and purpose for the church, and this is so important and encouraging. We come together on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights for one main purpose, and that is to grow, to be built up, encouraged, and strengthened in the faith—the truth, the Word of God. We are here to be equipped so that we can then go out and do the work of ministry—that is, the preaching of the gospel to the lost in the world. 

And we believe what Paul said in Romans 1:16-17—that it's the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and then for the Greek. For in it, in the gospel, Paul says, "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, hearing a message about Jesus Christ. As we study the book of Acts and see the ministry of the Apostles in the early church, what we see is simplicity, a focus on preaching the gospel. That's what they did. 

Paul would come into a city, he would go to the synagogue, he'd reason with them from the Scriptures, preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And he’d go to the Gentiles and he'd preach the same message—Christ crucified, buried, and risen from the dead. We don't see a lot more than this in the way of method or the way of means in evangelism in the book of Acts. Go out and preach.

Now, the local gathering of believers is meant to equip the Saints to do this ministry. It says they met daily for the Apostles' doctrine. Teaching should be about teaching. It's the Word of God preached through the power of the Holy Spirit that brings sanctification, growth, discernment, fruitfulness. And it is the gospel preached that is the power of God unto salvation.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 1, just as a reminder. 1 Corinthians 1:18 to affirm this truth: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." We find that when we go out and preach, don't we? "But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' Where is the wise? Where's the scribe? Where's the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." 

There's your method, my friends—the foolishness of the message preached. "For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified." To the Jews, a stumbling block; to the Greeks, foolishness. "But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen." 

In the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are. Here's the purpose: verse 29, "That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'"

And Paul continues in chapter 2 with these first five verses: "When I came to you, I didn't come with excellence of speech. I wasn't a great orator. I wasn't up there speaking in the Areopagus, you know, like all these guys you followed. I determined not to know anything among you except Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. When Paul came preaching in Thessalonica, he says it was not in word only, but in power. God was working; they were believing, receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ. They became followers of us and of the Lord, Paul said, having received the word and much affliction with joy in the Holy Spirit, so that they became examples to everyone.

What does it mean to receive the word? John 1 makes that clear to us in verse 10. He says, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name."

To receive the word, to receive Jesus, is to believe in His name. To believe in His name is to believe who He is. John just spent the first part of the chapter—1 of his gospel, explaining that Jesus is God. He's the eternal Son of God and also the Creator of all things. Nothing was made without Him. He created all things. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Creator. He's also the Sustainer. Hebrews 1 tells us that He holds all things together by the Word of His power. The Sustainer of all things. And in Him, all things consist. That is who He is. That's His name. 

And believing on His name also means believing what He has done, what He has accomplished. Jesus is the Savior who took on flesh and dwelt among us, who became a man and lived a perfect, sinless life. And Jesus is the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins in our place, having made propitiation—a full, satisfactory payment on the cross. He died, was buried, He rose again as victor over sin, Satan, death, and hell. And by His sacrifice, He delivers us from the wrath to come. This is what it means to believe on His name—to receive Him. 

It is to know and believe and trust that He is who He says He is and that He has done what He says He has done—accomplishing our salvation fully and finally. This is what we believe; this is what we trust; this is what we rest our faith on wholly. 

So we see in these affirming words to the Thessalonian believers, assuring them of their salvation, gospel power. We see the reception of the word, believing on Jesus’ name. And next, we see that they were waiting for His Son. Verse 8: "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 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."

Well, Paul really defines the intent of God for us in the Christian life in these verses and affirms the genuine faith of these believers for their encouragement and their comfort. He reminds them what happened when he came, preaching the gospel, and when they received the word with joy, even in much affliction.

The fact is that at that moment that they believed Jesus, that they repented—that is, they turned from idols to serve the living and true God—God did a powerful work of regeneration in their lives. And this work of regeneration, what Jesus called the new birth, a work performed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith, radically and totally transformed these people on the inside.

And here's the great biblical truth concerning sanctification and holy living: a man cannot be so completely changed and transformed on the inside without that transformation working itself out through the outside. There's often a misunderstanding of the grace of God in salvation, especially by religious men. And Paul faced this consistent criticism in his ministry when he preached the gospel of grace, and we hear the same thing again and again today by those who do not understand the doctrine of regeneration and God's means for producing holiness through us.

Let me just say, we are super concerned about holy living. We want to live holy lives. We want for you to live holy lives as a witness in this world. But how? Why? 

Romans 5:20—"Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

These verses make clear, along with so many others in the Scriptures, that the law was given by God for the express purpose of showing us our sin—that sin might become exceedingly sinful to us, that sin might abound, might become recognizable to us in our lives for what it is, to discover and understand our condition as sinners in Adam. 

But where sin abounded, it says grace abounded much more. And this is where the legalistic, religious man, such as the Jews that Paul dealt with continually, will raise an objection. What are you saying, Paul? That God didn't give us the law to keep it? That it doesn't matter if we keep the law? Are you antinomian against the law? Should we just go on sinning so that the grace of God might abound? I hear this when I preach the gospel, especially to religious men who are valuing the law and their works as their way to heaven.

Well, if salvation is by grace through faith alone, then we can just sin all we want. And Adrian Rogers would say, "I do sin all I want. I sin more than I want." He said, "If you want to sin, you've got to get your want fixed, right?" And that's what happens in regeneration—you get your want fixed. 

But this is a woeful misunderstanding of the salvation that God provides in Christ, of regeneration and the work that God does in us when we believe. 

Romans 6:1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Paul asked the very question because he was asked it so many times. "Certainly not!" 

And here's the key: "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" Paul says when we believe Jesus, God did a work in us. He changed us on the inside. He dealt with indwelling sin and its power, as Romans 8 says. We died to sin. We were united with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. We became new creations, born again with a new heart and a new spirit and the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling us. Paul says we cannot continue in sin on the outside because we have been transformed on the inside. 

Indwelling sin is still there. We still have to deal with it. But the fact is, we've died to it. This is the consistent exhortation of the Bible for the believer in the new covenant: live in consistency with who you are. You are new men. Live like new men. 

And the means that God has prescribed for holy living is not the law, because the law brings only wrath, but it's the Spirit. We no longer live by the letter, but by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in us. Jesus Christ lives in us and produces fruit out through our lives—our members—as we abide in Him by faith one day at a time. 

And this is what the believers in Thessalonica were doing. They were trusting, believing, depending on Jesus one day at a time in the midst of a severe situation of persecution, trial, and tribulation. And we see the fruit in their lives and testimony. 

He says they've become an example in every place. Paul said, "We don't need to say anything about you, because everyone knows." Everyone knows. Not like Corinth. Paul says, "Well, you know, they're really believers. I know they've got some problems. I have to say a lot of things about them." 

We want to be a church that no one has to defend us or say anything. Love is pouring out. It's evident that we want men to be saved. It's evident that we've been changed. This is the purpose and intent of God's salvation—to glorify Him in all that we do, to show the transforming power of the gospel of Christ of salvation through faith in Him, and then to be witnesses in this world.

And then, as we are witnesses enduring this cursed world, we should be waiting for His Son: verse 10, "to wait for His Son who delivers us from the wrath to come." All of these things we have seen were true in the church in Thessalonica. 

Paul had come with the power of the gospel preached. The people there had received the word in faith. They'd been born again, regenerated, and there was now fruit exhibited in their lives, which was a witness to all. But they were enduring harsh persecution, and life was hard each day. They had struggles similar to ours in some ways that are common to all believers. Their community, their culture—much of their families had rejected them because of their faith and their witness for Jesus. They struggled with these things, with a heartbreak for the lost, but they also had real enemies of the gospel attacking them. 

The struggle was real. And what I want you to see here in the example of these believers in this church was their focus, their hope, their anticipation. My friends, they had no delusions about making this world a better place, about fixing the social ills of their culture or reforming the emperor. Their hope, their full anticipation was the coming of Jesus to make things right and the fulfillment of the promises that they have in Him.

Last week we looked at Romans 4 along with Galatians 3 and the truth that Jesus is the promise. And for these believers who were suffering in this world, confused, distraught, wondering where the world was going, what was going to happen to them—doubting sometimes their faith, their salvation, shaken by hardship and false teaching—for them, the key was this: waiting for His Son from heaven. And the promise was this: that He will come and deliver us from the wrath to come.

It seems to me, in our life of ease and comfort and prosperity in the Western church, a lot of confusion has come about concerning what salvation is and what Jesus intends for us in life and eternity. I have to tell you that if this is my best life now, if my goal is to live my best life now, then that is tremendously disappointing to me. Because I believe my best life is yet to come—not on this earth, but in eternity with Jesus. 

Philippians 3:17 says, "Brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. Listen to what he says: 'For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.'"

Jesus did not come to give us our best life now. He did not come to fix our finances or fill our bank accounts. He did not come to make our lives easy and comfortable. He came to deliver us from the wrath to come. Jesus died in our place for our sins so that we can be saved from the wrath of God which is coming on this earth and which will result in eternal death in the lake of fire for those who are not in Christ through faith. 

We have no promise on this earth of comfort, ease, prosperity, or deliverance from the wrath of man. In fact, quite the contrary, we are promised suffering, persecution, abuse, rejection because of our identification with Christ. And yet we experience peace, joy, assurance, confidence—not in looking to deliverance now in this time, but in deliverance when He comes for us and takes us to be with Him forever. 

We do not put our faith in the social programs of our day and the psychologists and the human wisdom of our world. We have no hope in this world, of this world becoming Christian apart from Jesus coming to judge and set up His kingdom on this earth to rule and reign for a thousand years. Jesus will bring justice, but my friends, until He comes, we will not see it on this earth. Rather, our goal, our purpose is to save men out of this world through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ—to snatch them from the fire, as Jude says. 

The Thessalonians were looking for the coming Christ. They were anticipating, waiting patiently through suffering as witnesses for the rapture—for His Son from heaven. They were trusting in, depending on this promise for hope, for assurance that He will deliver us from the wrath to come. 

There's a most interesting word in verse 10. It's translated "wait for." It literally means to wait up for someone you expect to be coming. You know, like your mom used to do when you were out a little too late. You'd come quietly in the door, sneaking towards your room, and there she was, sitting in the chair with a scowl on her face, waiting up for you. 

Jim, I know you don't have any experience with that type of thing. But that's the idea here. The Thessalonians were living each and every day, every moment of their lives with expectation. They were waiting up for Jesus to come. This was their hope, their anticipation. 

It is significant to note that they were looking, waiting for Jesus—not signs, not events. In fact, when we get to chapter 5, we'll see that Paul instructs them that it's not for them to know the times and the seasons, but rather they are to be looking for Jesus. And what they needed to know, they knew well. 

That's exactly what we see here in verse 10. The word translated "delivers" is present tense participle and means to draw to oneself or snatch to oneself, to rescue or save. It's used 18 times in the New Testament and almost invariably speaks of deliverance out of evil or danger, and it's used of deliverance from some great evil specifically by a great power. The word translated "from" here is "ek," and it is a spatial separation—out from. In this sense, it's used with the verbs of motion, such as the word "deliverance" here. It would appear that the wording here—delivers us from the wrath to come—speaking of a deliverance by removal from rather than a protection through. 

And this is significant, as we're going to see as we work through this epistle. The literal translation of the last words here are "the wrath, the coming." Paul uses the definite article twice, and the word "coming." Clearly this speaks of a specific wrath that is yet to come. 

Now when we look at the context and the internal evidence of these two letters, it becomes clear that the confusion, the shaking up of their confidence of these believers was related to the rapture and the coming day of the Lord. Paul speaks of this wrath again in chapter 5, and he ties it to the day of the Lord and the truth that the church is not appointed to wrath in verse 9, but rather to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ.

Let's look at that passage, 1 Thessalonians 5, as we close here. 

1 Thessalonians 5:1: "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night." 

"For when they say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober." 

"For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." 

Much of Paul's teaching here is a result of the confusion of the Thessalonians—that perhaps the saints who had died had missed the rapture, and later false teaching that they had missed the rapture and were in the day of the Lord. And remember this tremendously important truth concerning Paul's intent in writing. He wanted to assure them of their salvation. He wanted them to remember how the gospel came to them in power, how they believed and were transformed and became witnesses for Christ.

He wanted them to know that they had not missed the rapture—dead or alive—and that they would not experience the day of the Lord judgment. This is why he writes these things—to encourage them concerning their genuine faith—to assure them they were still to be looking for Jesus, the coming of Jesus to catch them up before the beginning of the day of the Lord.

This is why he writes these things to real people, in a real place, in a real time, with real concerns and real suffering and persecution. What is their hope? What is their comfort? What is it that they should continually, constantly be waiting up for? Who should they be looking for? Jesus. 

It is this anticipation, this kind of day-to-day living that would give them peace and solace and make them productive as witnesses for Christ. And that's why we're here, my friends. Never forget that. And trust and believe and anticipate—wait up for Jesus, who is coming to take us to be with Him forever and to deliver us from the wrath to come. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for these great truths, these great encouragements. Thank You that You do encourage us when we need it most. Thank You, as You did for the believers in Thessalonica, that Paul wrote to give them words of truth and promise and point them back to Jesus. 

Father, help us to be witnesses. Help us to know our purpose and Your intent for us here. Help us to trust You to work out all the details involved with that and to empower us and to give us opportunity. But, Father, help us most of all to be looking for Jesus—to be waiting up for Him to come. That's our hope. That's our assurance. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.