Let's begin our worship now. We're singing firstly today from Psalm 105.
Psalm 105, and that's on page 374, a tune is Glasgow. We're singing verses 1 to 7.
Give thanks to God, call on his name, to men his deeds make known. Sing ye to him,
sing psalms, proclaim his wondrous works each one. See that ye in his holy name to glory,
do accord. Let the heart of everyone rejoice that seeks the Lord. Let's come before the Lord with
these words and trusting that we will indeed be among those who rejoice today in seeking the Lord.
Give thanks to God, call on his name, we'll stand to sing.
Give thanks to God, call on his name, to men his deeds make known. Sing ye to him, sing psalms, proclaim his
wondrous works each one. See that ye in his holy name to glory do accord. And let the heart of everyone
rejoice that seeks the Lord. The Lord Almighty, the Lord Almighty, and his strength, with steadfast hearts, sing ye.
His blessed hand, his gracious face, sing ye continually.
Think on the words that he has done, which admiration breeds. His wonders and the judgment's all, which from his path,
his wonders and the judgment's all, which from his path, his wonders and the judgment's all, which from his path, his glory and the glory of the Lord.
Think on the words that he has done, which admiration breeds.
Think on the words that he has done, which admiration breeds. His wonders and the judgment's all, which from his path proceeds.
write牧場, 여기는orde and the God of man thatнизetti organisations.
THEMSEL approach came to God, that insights were filled滟ING
HS cultured in the Lord and that he has done, which from his self and whether he has done,
And ye that gave of children that whom ye chose for his own.
Because ye and ye only is the mighty Lord our God.
And his most righteous judgment's heart in all the earth abroad.
Let's unite together now in prayer briefly. Let's call upon the Lord.
Amen.
Bless, we pray today, our young people and our children.
Be with them, Lord, as they too engage in learning more about you and examining your word.
We pray today that your blessing will be with them in the various classes and meetings that take place this morning.
And we ask that your blessing will follow through into every aspect of their lives.
Bless those who are leaders and teachers as well.
Lord, we thank you again for them and for their willingness and for their dedication.
We pray that they may know your blessing.
And ask that they come to once again give of themselves and of their time to the teaching of our young people.
And so go before us now throughout this day.
And be with us in all that we do, whether in church or at home or elsewhere.
We pray that we may do all things to your glory.
And we ask it all in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, children, you probably won't be able to see this from there, but you maybe get an idea of what it is.
It's a receipt.
It's a receipt from Home Improvement Center.
Some stuff that I bought there last week.
And it has the three items that I bought listed there.
And you'll find the price for each of them, beside each of the ones that are listed there.
And then at the bottom there, you've got the total of the three items that I bought.
And then down below that, you've got further details about what happened on that occasion.
You've got details about the card I used.
Not the whole number, but enough to identify that it was my card.
You've got the date.
And then you've got something called Authorization Code.
With a number of numbers after it.
Some seven or eight numbers after it.
And then it says, please retain receipt.
And please keep your receipt as proof of purchase.
Now, what uses that to us today when we're thinking about God?
We're thinking about his salvation and about a relationship to him.
Well, just like I bought these three items, this paper is proof that I actually bought them.
And proof that I paid for them.
I didn't go into the shop and try and escape without paying.
And this paper is the proof that I paid for these items.
So actually, these items, because I paid for them, they've now become mine.
They belong to me.
I paid the right price for them.
So I can say these are now mine.
They were belonging to the shop, but now they belong to me.
I paid that price for them.
And in the Bible, we're told about the price that God paid.
The cost of bringing us salvation.
Of redeeming us.
Of bringing us to himself.
And it describes that cost for us very plainly.
What did it cost to have our sins forgiven?
What did it cost for us to come to know and be friends with God?
It cost Jesus his life.
The Bible tells us we're redeemed not by corruptible things like silver and gold,
but by the precious blood of Christ.
And that's proof that God has loved his people and continues to love them,
that Jesus died on the cross for them.
So if somebody were to come to me today and say,
I don't think you paid for these items.
You have to prove that you paid them.
I can produce this receipt and say, here's the proof that I paid for them.
And if somebody comes to you and says, you don't deserve to be a Christian.
You're not a very good person yourself.
Why do you call yourself a Christian?
I can produce in my heart evidence that Jesus loved me.
And I can say, because Jesus loved me and because he died for me,
that's all the proof I need between myself and God.
Now, as I said down, about halfway down there,
you find an authorization or verification authorization code,
which then has these numbers after it.
In other words, that code, as far as I'm aware,
actually belongs to what I did there in the shop,
and it doesn't apply to anyone else.
Nobody else can go into the shop and say,
here's my verification code that I bought these items,
because the shop could say, if they look up the records,
no, you didn't actually buy them.
James McKeever brought them.
That's his verification code.
And just the same as it is with our salvation as well,
because Christ has died for us,
God himself has a verification code for each one of us.
Every time we come to the Lord to place our trust in him,
God has, if you like, a spiritual verification code that says,
that person has come to believe in Jesus,
and he's acceptable to me.
She's acceptable to me.
And if somebody suggests to you,
you have no right to actually be a Christian,
you can say, well, but God says,
because of what Jesus has done,
he can prove that I belong to him,
because he paid the price of my redemption.
And I have a code between myself and God
that nobody else can share,
that cannot be given to anybody else,
but is between me and God a proof
that I am his,
that he has bought me,
that I belong to him.
And then as you go down,
you'll find some other items there.
It says, please keep receipt as proof of purchase.
Sometimes, as Christians,
we find it difficult, maybe at times,
just to be sure about how things are
between ourselves and God.
And then we look into our hearts,
and we find it difficult then,
because we start looking about our own faith,
and about the strength of our faith,
and how often we pray,
and things like that.
And God stops us and says,
look, that's not the proof that you need.
The proof you need is what Jesus has done for you.
And the devil might say to you today,
as young people or older people,
what's the proof that God loves you?
What's the proof that you've got?
Forgiveness of sins.
And you don't look at yourself and say,
well, I do this, and I do that,
and I do this other thing.
The proof is,
I believe what Jesus did for me.
And I believe that because Jesus died for me,
that's the proof,
above everything else,
that God loves me.
And at the top,
it's got the place that I bought this from,
Home Improvement Center.
It's a shop that I like in town.
I'm probably in it far too often,
but anyway, it's there,
and we buy some stuff from time to time.
Home Improvement Center.
But you know,
when you come to Jesus,
you actually come to the Life Improvement Center.
And whatever you actually take from that place,
it's always going to be for your good.
It's going to last forever.
And the proof of purchase
that God gives you for your salvation,
it's never out of date.
Nobody can turn to you and say,
well, that's two or three years old.
We need some more proof.
No, that's actually,
supposing 20 years from now,
somebody came to me and said,
did you really buy these things?
Are they still yours?
Yes, that's the proof.
And whatever the devil tries to persuade you of,
if Jesus has saved you,
you will always be saved.
If Jesus is your Savior today,
you'll be your Savior forever.
That's the Life Improvement Center
that Jesus is.
So may God bless these few thoughts to us.
We're going to now say the Lord's Prayer together.
You'll find it on your sheet
if you want to read it through.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Let's sing again now to God's praise.
We're singing this time in Psalm 119,
page 165.
And that's from verse 129 to 136.
The tune is Finart.
Your statutes, Lord, are wonderful.
So I obey them from the heart,
from my heart.
Your words as they unfold give light
and truth to simple minds impart.
Psalm 119, verses 129 to 136.
Your statutes, Lord, are wonderful.
So I obey them from my heart.
Your words as they unfold give light
and truth to simple minds impart.
With open mouth I hand and ear
To know the laws that you proclaim.
Show me the mercy you extend
To those who love and praise your name.
Direct my footsteps in your words
Let stand or hold me in its sway
From man's oppression set me free
That your commands I may obey
Upon your servant shine your face
It's me the statutes you have made
My eyes shed streams of bitter tears
Because your law is not obeyed
Let's turn now to read God's Word
as we find that in 1 Thessalonians
The first letter to the Thessalonians
And reading the first chapter
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy
To the Church of the Thessalonians
In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Grace to you and peace
We give thanks to God always for you all
Constantly mentioning you in our prayers
Remembering before our God and Father
Your work of faith and labor of love
And steadfastness of hope
In our Lord Jesus Christ
For we know, brothers loved by God
That he has chosen you
Because our gospel came to you
Not in word only
But also in power and in the Holy Spirit
And with full conviction
You know what kind of men
We prove to be among you for your sake
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord
For you received the word in much affliction
With the joy of the Holy Spirit
So that you became an example
To all the believers in Macedonia
And in Nehemiah
For not only has the word of the Lord
Sounded forth from you
In Macedonia and Nehemiah
But your faith in God
Has gone forth everywhere
So that we need not say anything
For they themselves report concerning us
The kind of reception we had among 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
Jesus who delivers us
From the wrath to come
Amen
May God follow with his blessing
That reading of his word
We're now going to sing from Psalm 115
Psalm 115
That's on page 152
I'm singing this time to June Tiverton
Verses 1 to 9
Lord not to us
To your name be the praise
Because your love and faithfulness endure
O Lord always
Why do the nations question us?
Where is their God they say?
Our God inhabits heaven high
And over all holds sway
And so on
Down through to verse 9
Psalm 115
O Lord not to us
O not to us
Lord not to us
O not to us
To your name be the praise
Because your love and faithfulness endure
O Lord always
Why do the nations question us?
Where is their God they say?
Our God inhabits heaven high
And over all holds sway
Their gold and silver images
Are raftered cheerfully
But they have mouths which cannot speak
And minds which cannot see
Their noses have no sense of smell
Their ears can hear no sound
They have no feeling
In their hands
Nor can they walk around
Although these idols
Do have throats
No words
Have they proclaim
Their makers
And their worship words
Will all become like them
O house of Israel
Place your trust
Upon the Lord alone
He is the mighty help and shield
Of all who are his own
Well let's turn now to the passage we read there
In 1 Thessalonians
1
And today we're looking at the last couple of verses there
From verse 9
Paul has been commending
The Thessalonians for the clarity of their faith
And for the way that they have made it so clear
That they have come to trust in the Lord
And that they themselves as apostles
Are now in a position where they need not say very much about them
Because it's become evident
That these Thessalonians have embraced the gospel
And come to trust in Christ
And then from verse 9
For they themselves report concerning us
The kind of reception we had among you
And how you turned to God from idols
To serve the living and through God
And to wait for his son from heaven
Whom he raised from the dead Jesus
Who delivers us from the wrath to come
You'll be aware I'm sure I hope
That there is a current government
Scottish government consultation going on
And it's with regard to so called conversion therapy
And proposals that are going to be set before the government
Before parliament to address what's called conversion therapy
Though that doesn't seem to my mind to be any adequate definition
Of what's meant by conversion therapy
In any case it's important we engage with that
Because there are serious implications
If such proposals were to become law in our nation
The deadline for it is 2nd April
You can see details on the Free Church website
On the Christian Institute website
To give you guidance as to how to fill in the questions
And it's important that we do that
We mustn't just think
Well it'll work out okay
Or somebody else more qualified will do it
We have to actually address these issues
That are important to us all
In the churches and as Christians in our nation
It has serious implications
Because if this were to become law
It would actually mean that it would be dangerous for you
Dangerous in the sense of being liable to prosecution
To actually have a conversation with somebody
Where you are trying to deal with gender issues
Dangerous because even individuals
Praying with somebody
Would fall into the category of trying to coerce somebody
To change their gender
And that became a topic
In the matter of prayer or conversation
It's also important for you as parents
And grandparents
Because a serious question arises
As to who has the right
To determine what is and isn't
Acceptable or right for our children
Who has the right to say
About our children
This is really what they should believe
This is what we are putting before them
This is the lifestyle we commend for them
According to the scriptures
And anyway
Whatever our parental views may be
Parents ought to be the ones
That have the right exclusively
To actually teach their children
And look after their children's moral
And spiritual well-being
These proposals would actually
To some extent
Take that out of parents hands
And will place the powers
In the hands of others
Outside of that family home
Or parental home
So they become
Those who determine what is and isn't right
In terms of teaching our children
Obviously it also
Would have serious implications
For preaching the gospel
Because when we preach the gospel
And the Bible's teaching about gender issues
The so-called
When we teach us
We are going to look today
At the matter of conversion
It is well
Spiritual conversion
Then there is obviously
If you look at the proposals
A danger that the gospel itself
Or at least an attempt would be made
To curtail the gospel
And to curtail the teaching of the Bible
With regard to what is human
What is human life
What is human relationship
What human relationships
What marriage is about
And what gender
Is actually about as well
All of these areas
Are really critically important for us
As human beings
In this day and age
I am just saying that
Because it fits in with
What I am saying today
With regard to our topic
Which is conversion
I want to look at conversion
As it arises from verses 9 and 10
From the second part of verse 9
Verse 9 into verse 10
Where it talks about the conversion
Of the Thessalonians
From paganism
To be servants of Christ
And of God
And I am going to use the three verbs
That are used in these verses
Pretty much as our headings today
There are three main verbs
Throughout these verses
The first verb
The first verb is
To turn from
How you turned to God
From idols
So turning from
Idols to God
That is the first verb
Turning from
And then there are two things
As a result of that turning
The second verb is the one
Serving
You turn to God from idols
To serve the living and true God
You will see that conversion
Is very firmly attached to
Serving God
And thirdly
There is the aspect of waiting
For his son Jesus
From heaven
So that conversion
Is inseparably tied
To the mindset that waits
For Jesus to return
These three headings
Conversion as a turning to God
From idols
And then two things as a result of that
Conversion results
In serving the living and true God
And conversion results
In waiting for Jesus to return
Let's look at these quickly
Just one after another
Notice how he says here
This is what has been true
Of these Thessalonians
They themselves report
Those who are reporting about the way
The Thessalonians received the gospel
How you turned to God
From idols
To serve the living and true God
Now he mentions idols there
And of course we associate that
With paganism
With the kind of paganism
In Thessalonica
Prior to the gospel arriving
Paganism that reaches back in history
In those times to Greek and Roman
Paganism and even beyond that as well
It's very similar in fact
The emphasis in this passage
To what you find in Acts chapter 17
In Acts chapter 17
I remember Acts chapter 17
Where Paul was for a while in Athens
And he was just aghast at the sheer scale
Of the idolatry in Athens
And the number of idols
That were actually part of the lifestyle
Of the Athenians
And it was a very lucrative thing
To actually provide for
Paganism
Because there were certain religious objects
That you could say were used in devotion
To the gods so called
And people made a lucrative living out of that
So every time the gospel challenged that
And people turned from that way of life
To God
Obviously these things were then left behind
Anyway, idolatry
Idolatry
Had a very strong hold
Of people in Thessalonica
And in Athens
And these cities
At the time of the apostles
Because
They could see from Athens
They could see from Thessalonica
They could see Mount Olympus
And Mount Olympus
Was thought in Paganism
To be the home of the gods
That's where the gods lived
And the gods were looking out
And looking down upon you
And if you left their ways
And if you tried to
To abandon that
And especially follow the way of Christ
There was a great fear of
Revenge from these gods
And you can imagine the hold
That that actually had on people's lives
And in some ways you can find that
In different parts of the world today
Even within certain world religions
There's a great fear of
What will happen if I change
And become a Christian
There are many Christians throughout the world today
In various places in the world
That are persecuted
Because simply they've left
Their idolatry
If they've left their religion
And come to know Christ
And that's what it was like in Thessalonica
Now of course you'd have to expand on this
In terms of how we define gods
In our society
We mustn't just think that today
We're thinking here of the gods
The idols of the Thessalonians
And that's really all that has to do with idolatry
The Bible tells us
That idolatry really involves
Anything and everything
That you place instead of God
As a substitute for God
To which you give your devotion
Instead of giving it to God
Our society is crammed with idols
There are at least as many
If not more idols in our society today
Than there ever were in Thessalonica
All you've got to look at and see is
What do people devote their lives to?
Fame, celebrity, money, sport, sex, self
You could add to that list
And each one of these and all of them together
Involve idolatry
The Bible talks about covetousness
Which is idolatry
The love of self
The envy of others
So there's so many things
You could expand on this text
And expand on the whole definition of idolatry
To embrace the idolatry
That's currently so evident in our day as well
And in fact, as John Calvin put it
In one of his writings
And it's true of you and it's true of me
That we are naturally or natively
As we are born as sinners
As we follow the ways of sin
Calvin said
The heart of human beings
Is a factory of idols
A factory of idols
We manufacture, we create idols for ourselves
And it is the power of Christ
The power of grace
The power of God
That destroys and breaks
That relationship with idolatry
And here are the Thessalonians
The Thessalonians being commended
For the fact that they turned to God
From idols
And that word turned
Is also an interesting word
It actually means to actually have a complete turnaround
A 360 or 180 degree turn
If you like, you're going one direction
You turn back in the very opposite direction
And you're coming from one way of life
And following one way of life
To which you're devoted to be completely
The opposite direction
You turned to God
From idols
Now it's obvious as you read your Bible
The following of idols
Is the very opposite direction
In lifestyle
To following God
And to worshipping God
Whatever idol we might follow today
Whatever occupies our heart
In terms of giving it our devotion
Instead of giving it to God
We're travelling in the wrong direction
We're travelling in the opposite direction
To what we know is pleasing to God
And good for ourselves
And the Thessalonians
They turned to God
From idols
Now conversion
Is always that
Whether it's dramatic
And sudden
Or sometimes gradual
Some people here would know
The exact moment perhaps
When they were converted
When Jesus came into their life
Powerfully
When the Holy Spirit
Convinced them of their sin
Of their need to turn to God
And seek His forgiveness
Other people
Myself included
Could not put a finger on
The exact moment
Even the exact week
Or day
Or month even
That that happened
It was a process over time
Where you came to know
That something was wrong in your life
You came to know the Gospel
You came to work through
The implications of not being right
With God
And you came to trust in Christ
Whatever sudden or gradual
At the end of the day
It amounts to the same thing
You turn around
From the life you live as a sinner
And you turn back and face God
And come to Him
You turned from to
From idols
From sin
From a life of self pleasing
To God
And that's what conversion really is
To be converted
Is to be turned around
Of course there's things like
Repentance
And faith
And other things associated with this
Not going into that just now
Today I'm just going to focus on
Conversion itself
And the meaning and definition of it
From these verses
So you're turning from one thing
To the next
It's a movement in your soul
It's a movement in your whole life really
Your whole life comes to a turnaround
And as you turn around
As you turn to God
You come to a new
Allegiance in your life
A new devotion
An allegiance to a new master
You no longer live to please yourself
You no longer live to please your friends
You no longer live to please
The ideals of the society you live in
You please God
Your concern
Your concern is to please Him
Thomas Chalmers
Was for quite a number of years
Preaching the gospel
Or preaching from the Bible
At least he would say himself
When he wasn't converted
He was one of the moderates
As they were called at that time
Ministers in the church
But weren't actually themselves
Converted or believers
And they generally preached as Chalmers did
As Chalmers did
A moralistic message
A message to do with
With morality
In general
Sometimes specific sense
But there was little of Christ in it
There was no emphasis in it
On conversion
Or the need to change your life
But when Chalmers was converted
And the Lord came into his life powerfully
He described it as
Coming under new ownership
But it was he said
The expulsive power
Of a new affection
The expulsive power
Of a new affection
Why did he put it that way?
He didn't just say
It was the power of a new affection
A new affection for the Lord
That he hadn't had before then
No, he called it the expulsive power
Of a new affection
Because as the affection for the Lord
Came into his life
It expelled affection for idols
Affection for sin
Affection for self
It was an expulsive power
And wherever you and I
To whatever degree
Come to know the Lord Jesus Christ
If we know him at all
If we know him properly
It will be an expulsive experience
It will be something that deals with sin
As something to be expelled
Something no longer to be given
A place of welcome in your life
Something that you want to be without
You turn from sin
To God
And indeed that's part of the catechism's definition
Of repentance
Saving grace
By which a sinner turns
From sin unto God
And there's the first thing they said
That he said about
The Thessalonians
And their conversion
How you turned to God
From idols
To serve the living
And through God
And obviously that would make an impact
In that society
Here were people whose life
Was devoted to the idolatry
Of society at the time
Here were people who made it their business
To actually gain from that idolatry
Some of them
Here were people whose lifestyle
Corresponded to their belief in these idols
These gods that lived on Mount Olympus
As they thought
All of a sudden
That's come to an end
All of a sudden
People know them as
They're now under a new ownership
They're saying that they serve
The Lord Jesus Christ
It's a complete turnaround
Completely different
And obviously that would be
Have a mighty impact
That's why Paul says
They themselves report
Concerning the kind of reception
We had among you
So today
You have to look in your heart
And I have to look in my heart
And say
Who has or what has
My primary affection
What do I love more than anything else
Who do I love more than anyone else
Who has the first claim on my attention
Who has the first claim on my devotion
Who has the first claim on my service
On my time
On my gifts
In my relationships
They turned
To God from idols
So conversion
As a turning point to God
From idols
And there are two things that follow from that
As we said
That conversion firstly
Results in
Serving the living and through God
They're turned to God from idols
To serve the living and through God
That's life going
In the opposite direction
To what it was
They were serving idols
And here is something entirely different
And it's very obvious that
That Paul is describing God deliberately
As the living and through God
In contrast to the idols
That they once served
As we sang in Psalm 115
Very often idols were crafted
Or shaped to have a human form
Sometimes distorted
Sometimes very often ugly
But nevertheless
A form that
Was recognizable
And not that every idol was like that
But here is Paul saying
And the psalmist was saying
They have noses
They have eyes
They have faces
They have ears
They don't hear
They don't smell
They don't see
They're dead
They can do nothing for you
And you turned
He said
To God from idols
To serve
The living
And through God
We are here today
Worshipping
The living and through God
And that includes
Every alternative
To Christ
Every alternative
To salvation in Christ
Every alternative
To that
We can use the word religion
If you like
The religion that focuses
On Christ
The Christian faith
Every alternative
To that
To some degree
Or other
Is following idols
And being involved
With idolatry
It doesn't matter
Which one you take
Of even the major world religions
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
All of them together
Or secularism
Which itself
Becomes idolatry
Those who are devoted to it
It doesn't matter
Which of them you take
And it's not hatred
And it's not phobia
To mention disagreement
With these ideologies
Otherwise we are being untrue
To Jesus and to the Bible
But we can say lovingly
And tactfully
That the Bible does not allow us
To embrace any aspects
Of what is idolatry
And think we can just tack that
On to Christianity
That's what it tried down
The years of the Old Testament
Wasn't it?
When the people of Israel
So often imported
The paganism
And the idolatry
From the nations around them
God sent
The prophets especially
The likes of Isaiah
Jeremiah
All the way through
These books of the prophets
You'll see
How frequently
Idolatry is mentioned
And how often
Idols are described
And a wonderful phrase
Which the authorised version has
I can't remember
Exactly if it's like that
In the ESV
Lying vanities
Vanities
Which lie
Futile objects
Which take you away
Into falsehood
Lying vanities
But he says
To serve the living
And true God
Instead of that
The living God
Well why does he call him
The living God?
Well for one thing
Because
He is the only life
That's uncreated
God does not have a created life
The life of God is eternal
Life of God is uncreated
Nobody gave him life
Nobody created life for him
Unlike for you and for me
And not only is he uncreated in himself
But he's the one who creates life
He created human beings
He created animal life
He created plant life
He created life whatever it is outwith of himself
And he created human life
Especially human beings
In his own image
The life we have
That we have from God
Is a life that originates with God
Yes it's become corrupted by our sinfulness
And fallenness
And disobedience against God
But he's the one who creates life for us
And the wonderful thing is that this
You could trace this into another avenue
Which I'm not going to do just now
But as the uncreated life that he is
As God
As the one who creates life
Including our human life in the beginning
So he's the one who has created life for us in Christ
When you look at the way in which Jesus was buried
And then rose from the dead
And you can see in that itself
That here is the one who creates life for us
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead shows us
This is God's concern that we might have life
How did Jesus put it?
I have come in contrast to all who are thieves and robbers who came before me
Who didn't care for the sheep
I have come that they might have life
And have it more abundantly
And that care, that concern, that compassion, that love that Jesus has for his people, for his flock
Led him to the cross
Led him to the death of the cross
So that life would be created for us
Who deserved it not
But who welcome it nevertheless
And today
Your greatest privilege
Or one of your greatest privileges
Is to know the gospel
That tells you about the life
That Jesus has brought about for you
And your great privilege
In terms of your own human experience
Is to come to know this for yourself
To have this living Christ
This living God
In your life
At the centre of your life
Foundational to your life
The living
And the true God
You see he mentions as well the true God
Whether
So called God or idol is false
Lying vanities
We mentioned the phrase earlier
And so
Now you're relating to the true God
And that corresponds with having truth
In our hearts
Conversion results
In serving the living and true God
But notice this word serving as well
You turn to God from idols
To serve the living
And through God
To serve God
You see the test
The test of conversion
Is not just being able to claim something
As having happened in your life
Any of us can really make that claim
And say well I'm fine
I go to church I'm a Christian
And Paul is saying
Well one of the great tests
One of the great
Not just a test
Evidences of being converted
Is that you've come to turn
To serve the living God
Serving God
Honouring God
Knowing that it's a privilege
To be a servant of God
Well that's something
That actually marks you out
As a Christian
You know when you go to
The likes of John chapter 13
That famous incident
Where Jesus
Took off his outer garments
He girded himself with a towel
Taking this form of a servant
And began to wash the feet
Of the disciples
That was Jesus saying
That's what makes a person great
Not what they claim to be
But what they show themselves
To be in service
The service of others
And especially in the service of God
And this is what
The apostle is saying
In Thessalonians
To serve the living
And through God
Your aim
As a Christian
Is to please God
I know you and I can say
Every day we live pretty much
I'm sure I fail
In meeting that standard
You come to confess that
Before God
That you haven't made it today
A hundred percent
For the whole of the day
To set out to please God
But nevertheless
You know that
That's the bias of your heart
The intent of your heart
The desire of your heart
And in Colossians
Paul gave us a text
Just in the previous letter
Of Colossians
He gave us a text
That really should seek to
Place in our minds
Every morning we get up
Because it's one of those texts
That really should follow us
Should follow us into every day
Where he says
In chapter 3 verse 17
Whatever you do
In word or action
Do everything
In the name of the Lord Jesus
Giving thanks to God the Father
Through him
See how comprehensive that is
Whatever you do
In word or deed
In word or action
Do everything in the name
Of the Lord Jesus
In other words
For the glory of Jesus
For the praise of Jesus
Set that
As the benchmark
As the direction of your life
That every day
You would like to
Rise up with that conviction
In your mind
To follow it through
For the rest of the day
I must do all
To the praise of my God
I must endeavor to do everything
For the honor of Jesus
As the seven
Why?
Because he has bought me
He has made me his own
He has paid the price
Of my redemption
And I owe it to him
To live a life that pleases him
Not myself
So
Conversion is a turning to God
From idols
And that results
And that results firstly
In serving the living and through God
And results secondly
In that conversion
Results in waiting for Jesus
To return
And you notice how waiting
Is coupled here with serving
To serve the living and through God
And to wait for his son
From heaven
Even Jesus
And he makes it clear
This is his identity
He makes it clear who he means
To wait for the son of God
Well who is the son of God?
It is the same Jesus
Who lived in this world
As the son of God
In our nature
To wait for his son
From heaven
And waiting here
It's not something that you just do passively
And just wait for it to happen
Waiting always
In this sense of it
In the New Testament
Involves
Waiting expectantly
Waiting eagerly
Waiting for something with anticipation
That it's really of supreme importance to you
And in fact
As you actually go through
Both of these letters to the Thessalonians
It's interesting that
In each chapter of both letters
You have a reference
To the return of Jesus
In some way or other
You can go through that yourself later
Just read through the other very short letters
You can read through them pretty quickly
And in each of these chapters
Somewhere or other
A reference to the return of Jesus
In other words
For the apostle here
In writing to the Thessalonians
He obviously saw it as really important for them
To take on board
To take into mind
The fact that Jesus was returning
And the fact that they ought to wait for that
Expectantly
Knowing that it was going to be
The crowning of the redemption
As he came
And revealed himself
As the glorious
Son of God
Now in his exalted glory
To take them back
To be with himself in heaven
That was so important
Is it important
To yourself to think of
The return of Jesus
How does the return of Jesus
Fit into your thinking today
Where do you place it
Among the things that are important for you
Not just to know and to know about
But to actually have your heart set upon
Because if you follow
The thinking of the apostle
His heart
And he's wanting the Thessalonians heart
To be absolutely set upon
The return of Jesus
Just as much as they ought to
Still consider the death of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus
This Jesus whom God raised from the dead
As he puts it here
There's a reference to the resurrection
Whom he raised from the dead
Jesus
So we have to actually eagerly anticipate
His return
And if we are his today
It's going to be one of the great moments of our life
To actually have the Lord's return
In our experience
To experience that for ourselves
To welcome him
It's such a huge feature
Of these letters to the Thessalonians
And it should be
In my life and in your life as well
Notice he says
He raised him from the dead
He doesn't just say
Jesus the son of God
Whom he raised from the dead
I wonder why he's actually including
These verses
Well it's so that
They will actually realise
This is the same Jesus
Who was raised from the dead
That is going to return
It's not a different person
The same Jesus who died on the cross
Is the Jesus who rose from the dead
Here is the emphasis on God the Father
Raising him from the dead
And by raising him on the dead
Giving assurance
That his work on the cross
Was fully accepted
That's another angle of theology
Let's leave it there
But to whom he raised from the dead
It's the same person
Who's going to return
Though not in the same form
If you like
He's going to return in his glory
He actually came the first time
As a servant
In his lowliness
But it's an argument in favour of
The return of Jesus
That he has in fact
Been raised from the dead
You see some people constantly
Will say to us
What proof do you have that Jesus lives?
What proof do you have that Jesus is going to return?
What proof do you have that the end of the world
Is going to be at the return of Jesus
Or associated with the return of Jesus
And of course you've got to come back at that point
And say well I can't do anything for you
Unless you believe the Bible
But if I believe the Bible
As the word of God
As the word of God that's been given to me
From his own mouth
Then I have to believe what he tells me in this word
As being true and dependable
And dependable
And again in the book of Acts
It's interesting how
That same passage in Acts 17
Dealing with the idolatry of Athens
That Paul as he was addressing these men of Athens
In verses 30 and 31
He went on in his argument in presenting
These things being then God's offspring
29
Think that divine beings like gold
Or silver or stone
An image formed by the art and imagination of man
The times of ignorance God overlooked
But now he commands every people everywhere to repent
Why?
Because he has fixed a day
On which he will judge the world in righteousness
By a man or by the man whom he has appointed
That's Jesus
He has fixed a day
God has fixed a day
It's in his diary
It's not going to go beyond it
In which he will judge the world in righteousness
In other words
Every single one of us
Will be judged in righteousness
No bribes
No excuses
Nothing's going to be in our favor on that day
Apart from the righteousness of Christ
Apart from having Jesus as your savior
But then he goes on to say
He has appointed the day
In which he will judge the world in righteousness
By a man whom he has appointed
And of this he has given assurance to all
By raising him from the dead
Isn't that interesting?
The raising of Jesus from the dead
Is giving assurance, Paul says, to all
To all human beings who come to know and read the gospel
Because the gospel is saying to us
Here's your assurance that there is a day of judgment coming
Because Christ has been raised from the dead
And it's this Christ who has been raised from the dead
Who will be at that day the judge of the living and the dead
You know there's a day of judgment coming
Because you read in your Bible that Jesus was raised from the dead
And because Jesus was raised from the dead
And God is giving us assurance
That he has appointed a day
In which he will judge the world
By this man
By this person
And he finishes by saying
In this text we have today
To wait for the son from heaven
Who he raised from the dead
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come
The wrath to come is of course God's judgment
God's judgment on the wicked
God's judgment on the ungodly
God's judgment on the Christless
It's the wrath to come
The wrath of God
The indescribable
Awesome
Wrath of God
God's righteous
Indignation
Against sin
That fell on Jesus
So that it need not fall on you and me
But fall on you and me it will
If we haven't made Jesus our Saviour
He will judge the world
This Jesus
Who delivers us from the wrath to come
And why does he say
Deliver us
Why is it present tense
Well there are different views of that
But I think it's saying that
He has delivered us
There's a sense in which we're already delivered
If we're saved
If we're converted
If Christ has rescued us
From sin
From guilt
That's going to remain the case
But there's a process going on
It's really associated if you like
With our sanctification
Or with being kept by God until that day
And so in a sense there's that
He is still delivering us
He is still keeping us
From that wrath coming to overwhelm us
He delivers us
From the wrath to come
Experts
Predict that
A major earthquake will take place
These are people who are experts in that field
That a major earthquake
That a major earthquake will take place
In the vicinity of Tokyo in Japan
Sometime within the next 20 to 30 years
And they speak about it
It's not something that's maybe possible
But something that's almost certainly going to be the case
It's not if
It's a matter of when
There are, I don't know, 30 or 40 million people
Living in Tokyo or around these areas
And these experts are saying
We know that this is coming
We have to prepare for it
We have to do everything possible to try and mitigate
This disaster
We're sure it's going to take place
Because we judge, we measure the various forces that are at play at the moment
So it's not a matter of if it's going to happen
We can't tell precisely when
But it is going to happen
And isn't that how it is with the day of judgment
It's not a matter of if
But when
But you needn't worry about that today
If your life is in Christ
You are safe
The earthquake of wrath
Will not overwhelm you
Jesus will be your protector then as he is now
But you need to make sure
That you are found in him
Not having a righteousness of your own
But the righteousness
That is of God
By faith
May God bless these thoughts to us
Let's pray
Almighty God
We give thanks for the grace of conversion
The grace of regeneration
The grace that changes us inwardly
From what we are by nature
Into being servants of the living and through God
Help us, we pray Lord
To value your grace day by day
Help us to measure ourselves
Not by our own achievements
But by what you have done for us
Help us each day to be concerned
To live out our faith
And especially to be known as people who serve the living and through God
Enable us to counter the various ways in which this age in which we live
Seek to counter the gospel
And remember every effort made Lord to uphold your cause
And to uphold that gospel and to uphold your laws
In that age in which we live
Receive our thanks now
And cleanse us from our sin
For Christ's sake
Amen
We're going to conclude our service today singing in Psalm 27
Let's sing psalms again
Psalm 27
On page 32
Singing this time to the tune Belmont
We're singing from the middle of verse 9
Four verses to the end of the psalm
O God my Saviour
Leave me not, do not reject my plea
My parents may forsake me Lord
But you will welcome me
Teach me O Lord how I should live
And lead me in your way
Make straight my path
Because my foes oppress me
Every day
And yet I am sure that in this life
God's goodness I will see
Wait for the Lord
Be strong
Take heart
For Him wait patiently
These verses O God my Saviour
Leave me not
O God my Saviour
Leave me not
O God my Saviour
Leave me not
Do not
Reject
My plea
My
O Lord, how I should live and lead me in your way.
Make straight my path because my foes oppress me every day.
Give me not over to the will of human enemies.
For liars rise to slander me and breathe out cruelties.
Yet I am sure that in this life of goodness I will see.
Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart.
For him wait patiently.
Forgive me, I won't go to the door today.
I don't want to pass this cold on to anybody, so please excuse me for that.
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
Amen.