We're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.
We're singing in Psalm 1a, the Sing Psalms version, page 1 of the psalm books.
We sing the whole of this psalm.
The tune is creditin.
Psalm 1, blessed is the one who turns away from where the wicked walk,
who does not stand in sinner's paths or sit with those who mock.
We sing the whole of this psalm.
We stand to sing to God's praise.
Blessed is the one who turns away from where the wicked walk,
who does not stand in sinner's paths or sit with those who mock.
Hence, yet he finds the holy law, his joy and the delight.
He makes the presence of the Lord, his sunny day and night.
He prospered, ever like a tree, as mounted by a sea.
And in due season yields its fruit, his season always came.
He prospered, ever like a tree, as voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy
The Lord who sees and knows
The way the righteous go
But those who live and leave the light
The Lord will hold my throne
Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer
Let us pray
Lord our gracious God
We thank you for this day that you have made for us
A day that you have given
From the very foundation of time
A day that we are to come and rest
And worship and praise
You as our Lord and as our God
And that we are to do it together
All of us as a body of people
From the youngest to the oldest
We thank you for all who are here today
For all who are tuning in online
And for all who gather just like we do here
In so many different parts of our island
Our nation
And indeed throughout the world
We are reminded so often that you have your people
To all the ends of the earth
Boys and girls
Men and women
In different situations and circumstances
And yet with you as their Lord
And as their God
And so we thank that we belong to you
To your family
That we are your children
And that your children are near and far
Here in this world in which we live
And that we as we pray here today
That you have people praying
All over the world
For us as we worship
And for all your people
As they worship you this day
To know your blessing
And your goodness with us
And we do pray that for us all together here
For our Sunday school
Our creche
Our tweenies
And for our Bible class
We pray that
As they will shortly go out to the classes
That you will be with them
To help them
To understand your word
And to know
That you are their God
And that you are there for them
We do particularly pray
For the Bible class trip
This coming weekend as well
We thank you for all
Who have helped to organise it
And for all who will be there
Over this coming weekend
And we do ask for safety and blessing
In the midst of all that they do
That they would know
That you are with them in it
That they would know more of Jesus
Our Lord and our Saviour
We pray that we would all know that today
That we would learn more of
How precious you are
And your great grace and love towards us
As we ask it all
In your precious name
Amen
Before you go out to your classes
I just want to say a little word to you
And it's about a word today
A particular word
That we find quite often in the Bible
And we're going to be looking at this word
In our sermon this morning
As we look at Paul writing a letter
To a place called Thessalonica
The letter to the Thessalonians
And he speaks about this word there at the end
And at the beginning
He mentions it
And it's the word grace
Grace
It's a great word
Grace
But what does it mean?
What do you think of
When you think of the word grace?
There's maybe a few things
That come to mind
Maybe first of all
You think of a person
Because there's plenty
People
Girls especially
That have the name grace
It's a lovely name
Behind that name
Is a lot of meaning
And I'm sure that's why parents
Give the name grace
To a child
Because it means goodness
It means
Favor
It means blessing
It means generosity
But even the best grace
In this world
Can't always be generous
And kind
And all of these things
Because we all make mistakes
But grace
Is a wonderful name
So maybe you think of it
In that way
You think of someone
Who's called grace
I'm sure we all know
Someone who's called grace
Maybe you also think of grace
In this way though
Something that you say
Before you have a meal
Maybe when you sit down
To have your dinner today
You'll say grace
You might say it together
Or maybe someone
Just one person
Will say grace
And what does that mean?
Well
It means that we're
Not just saying a few words
To ourselves
But we're saying a few words
To God
We're giving grace
To God
We're giving thanks
To God
For his
Generosity to us
And providing for us
In our food
And for all that we enjoy
When we sit down
To enjoy that food together
The peace that we have
The homes that we have
The people that we have
Around us
And the food
That's on the table
So we think of grace
In that way
It's something that we enjoy
Together around a table
But when Paul
Is writing about this word
Grace
And when he's using this word
Grace
It has a much deeper meaning
Than all of these things
It has the meaning of
Knowing his gift
To us
When he writes
To another church
In Ephesus
He speaks of it
In this way
He speaks of grace
As a gift
From God
It is the gift
Of God
For by grace
You have been saved
Through faith
And this is not
Your own doing
It is the gift
Of God
Grace
Is a gift
Something that we cannot
Earn ourselves
Or get ourselves
It is the gift
That God gives
When someone has
A birthday
You receive a gift
And you don't expect
To pay something
For that gift
You don't expect
Someone to give you
Something
And you have to say
Oh how much do I owe you
For that
They say no
You take it
It's a gift
And that's what God
Has done for us
By his grace
He's given us
A gift
And we might think
Well what can I do
To pay you back
He says you can't
Pay for it
This is my gift
To you
All you have to do
Is believe
Have faith
In me
Because it is a gift
As Paul says
That you have been
Saved through faith
That is the gift
Of his grace
To us
So believe
That he has come
To save us
That Jesus came
To save us
And that his grace
Is his gift to us
So we might know
That is his goodness
His generosity to us
In all of these things
He has been so good
To us
So let us believe
In him
And trust him
That we might know
His grace
More and more
Well may God bless
These thoughts to us
We're going to say
The Lord's prayer
Together now
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
The power
And the glory
Forever
Amen
Well we'll sing again
Of voy voy
The Lord so most entirely art
Hath waved with all my grace
For in my time before I see
Thought any word can be
But all together, O Lord
This is well known to Thee
Behind before the past be said
And laid on me Thy hand
Such knowledge is too strange for me
Too high to understand
From Thy split wither shall I go
Or from Thy presence I
Ascent I am, though Thou art there
And in heaven have I lie
If I in the morning wings can dwell
There that was parts of sea
In there, Lord, shall I hand me lead
Thy light and all shall be
We'll turn to read together now
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5
We'll take up our reading at verse 12
And down to the end of the chapter
1 Thessalonians 5
Around page 1189 of the church Bibles
We'll take up our reading at verse 12
We've been looking at this chapter
Previously, twice previously
We've looked at
I just want to look at
The last few verses
In this chapter together today
So we take up our reading at verse 12
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you
And are over you in the Lord
And admonish you
And to esteem them very highly in love
Because of their work
Be at peace among yourselves
And we urge you, brothers
Admonish the idle
Encourage the faint-hearted
Help the weak
Be patient with them all
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil
But always seek to do good to one another
To one another and to everyone
Rejoice always
Pray without ceasing
Give thanks in all circumstances
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you
Do not quench the spirit
Do not despise prophecies
But test everything
Hold fast what is good
Abstain from every form of evil
Now may the God of peace himself
Sanctify you completely
And may your whole spirit and soul and body
Be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
He who calls you is faithful
He will surely do it
Brothers, pray for us
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss
I put you under oath before the Lord
To have this letter read to all the brothers
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
Be with you
Amen
And may God bless that reading from his word
We'll again engage in a word of prayer
Let us pray
Lord our God we do thank you for your word
And just pray that as we approach it anew today
That we would come with that encouragement
That joy and delight in knowing
That it is you who is speaking to us
That you have not left us in the darkness of this world
But that you have sent your light and your truth into this world
That we have it before us
That we have it with us
Not just for today
But each and every day of our lives
We have your word to lean upon
And not leaning on our own understanding
As we think of the memory verse that the children have just now
But to lean upon you for all wisdom and help
And we thank you that you give
That you are a God who abundantly gives
As we think of your grace towards us
Your riches towards us in Christ Jesus
That we have so much to be thankful for
That we have such blessings in Christ
And in our fellowship
And in our families
And in the world in which we live
A world that we so often see
In all its wickedness and cruelties
And hurts and pains
And yet we realise too Lord
That there is so much joy in this world too
That you have given us much to enjoy
Your creation
That we see the beauty of around us so much
That we see in so many different ways
And we see it in the people that you give us in life
We see it in the places that you put us in life
We see your glory in our midst Lord
And we thank you for that
That you have not abandoned us as a people
That you have not left us
And so we continue to pray to you as our Lord
And as our God
To help us to acknowledge you
To help us to commit our ways to you
And to trust in you with all our heart
And we thank you Lord
That it is by your grace that we are enabled
And we thank you that that grace that was given
Down through all the generations
We think of all your people
From the very beginning of the creation of the world
And we go back to our
The beginning there in the garden
With Adam and Eve
And how grace was shown to them
And how we see it Lord worked out
Through the Old Testament and the New
We see it fulfilled in Christ
And we see it offered to us through him
By faith
And so we ask Lord that you will help us
That you would give us that faith that is so necessary
That faith that we so often doubt
As we look to ourselves
Help us that we would not look within
But look to you
And to the one who is able
The one who is faithful
The one who will surely do it
As we have read in these words
And so we thank you Lord
For your constancy towards us in every way
And we pray that you will hear all our prayers together today
As we offer them up
For all the different issues of life
Whether it's personal
Whether it's in our own church or community
National or international
We thank you that we have in prayer
Such a wonderful gift
That we can pray not just selfishly
Or for ourselves
But we pray for all
We pray for all around the world today
And we think of our meeting last Wednesday
And how we were reminded of
The great poverty of this world
And South Sudan and Haiti
And other parts of the world that we saw
And your people there
And yet the joy of the Lord in them
And we thank you Lord for that joy
That is a strength to your people
And we pray that your people everywhere
Would know it today and always
Whether it's in times of great needs
Or in times of great rejoicing
That the joy of the Lord would be a strength to all
So we thank you Lord for all that you do for us
We thank you for every need that you meet for us as well
Whether it's practical needs of food
Or comforts practical in this world
Or whether it's our spiritual needs
Or all the different issues that go on in life
We thank you that as we sang in Psalm 139
There is nothing hidden from you
Not any words or concerns that we have
Not any place that we go
That you do not see us
That you do not uphold us
And so we pray that people all around our communities here
We would know your great upholding power and strength
Especially those who mourn
We know that there are many in our own congregation
And in our community just now
Whose hearts are heavy
We pray for comfort
We pray for help
We pray that your strength will be towards them
And the comfort of your spirit and your word
Would be so precious to them at this time
We pray for those who are going through times of ill health
Or concerns about health
Their own or others
We pray Lord for help and healing in that
We pray Lord for those who are anxious and fearful
For those who are lonely and isolated
For those who have many different troubles in this life
And yet we come Lord pleading with you
To meet with them
And that they will be able to lean upon you
So Lord we ask that you will continue to bless us
And watch over us this day
Give us refreshment in your word
As we turn to it now
And rest this afternoon
And the joy of worship again this evening as we gather
Remember Gordon as he ministers here this evening
Bless him and uphold him in that
And all others who preach your word today as well
Lord we pray that there will be a real sense of your presence
As your word is proclaimed
And our praise Lord that it will be to your glory as well
That you would hear us in all of these things
And receive our thanks and all our worship
And may glory be yours in all of it
As we ask it all with the forgiveness of our sins
In Jesus name
Amen
Again sing to God's place
Before we turn back to look at this passage
We're going to sing in Psalm 36
We're going to sing Psalms
Page 44
Of the psalm book
Psalm 36
We sing from verse 1 to 7
The tune is Huddersfield
My heart has heard an oracle about the wicked sin
There is no fear of God in him
He feels no dread within
He views himself with blind conceit
His sinful nest in eyes
He speaks with evil and deceit
No longer good or wise
We'll sing from verse 1 to 7
To God's praise
His holy name is God's praise
Amen
Please voy voy voy
Please voy voy
!
Please voy voy
voy
!
voy
He speaks within the land he seeks, no longer good or wise.
And that he calls his evil ways, he schemes throughout the night.
I'll see the Lord lift himself to sin, rejecting want is fine.
Your steadfast love is great, O Lord, it reaches heaven high.
Your faithfulness is wonderful, extending to the sky.
Your righteousness is very great, like mountains high and sea.
Your justice is like ocean dead, of man and peace to hear.
O precious is your steadfast love, what confidence it brings.
O high and low, my shelter in the shadow of your wings.
We can turn back together to our reading in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5.
We look at the end of the chapter from verse 23 down to the end.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so on.
We've been looking at this chapter.
We looked at it, I think, first of all, in the light of Advent,
and the coming of the Lord, not just thinking of it as the first coming of the Lord,
but thinking of the Lord's second coming.
That's when we first started to look at this chapter.
And you find that throughout this letter that Paul writes,
the coming of the Lord is something that appears throughout.
We see it even here in this final conclusion that he has in verse 23,
where we read that you may be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So that's a theme that runs right throughout.
That's a very practical letter as well in terms of how we are to live our lives.
Paul's writing to this young church where he's visited, he's preached the gospel.
The gospel has taken hold in many people's lives, but he's been torn away from them.
But he wants them to go on growing in the faith.
And the last time we looked at it, we looked at verse 12 down to verse 22.
We were seeing, in light of the coming of the Lord, how are we going to go on living?
How are we to live our lives?
But now we look at this last section, which we could easily just miss out, if you like,
just glance over it as not as important as the rest.
Maybe when you write a letter, or more so an email these days, or even as you're texting someone,
one of the questions you ask when you're finishing is,
how am I going to finish this off?
What am I going to write at the end?
And how are the people who are going to receive this,
how are they going to understand what I'm saying?
Does it sound cold?
Does it sound too warm?
You know, you think of writing a letter, it's usually yours sincerely or yours faithfully.
They have a different meaning.
One has more depth to it than the other.
But how do you write at the end of an email, or even just in a text?
What do you put?
And you think, well, I hope it's not misunderstood, whatever I put at the end.
Well, here Paul comes to the conclusion of this letter that he's writing to the people in Thessalonica.
And he leaves them in no doubt.
He leaves them in no doubt as to what his meaning behind it all is,
what he's looking to leave them with.
It's not about himself.
It's all about the Lord.
You see there in verse 23,
Now may the God of peace himself.
It's all about the Lord.
It's about all giving glory to the Lord.
And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
There's warmth, there's blessing, and there's concern in it.
So as he's saying almost like a goodbye to them for now, he's leaving them with that warmth.
And goodbyes can be a hard thing.
We all know that in life in different ways.
Saying goodbye to people in many different circumstances is hard.
It's emotional.
And here we find it's hard for Paul to write to them in this way and just knowing what to say to them.
Because you find throughout this letter that there is that warmth that you see between the people and Paul himself as well.
The verse that we're looking at today, Paul's closing remarks, are in many ways a hard goodbye for him.
But they're still full of confidence in God and looking for the people to know this confidence themselves.
And it's remarkable because he hadn't been with them very long.
And yet you see the bonds that the gospel brought between them.
He hadn't been there very long.
But when you go back to chapter 2, verse 17, it shows us there just the kind of parting that they had.
Since we were torn away from you, brothers.
For a short time, he's saying this hopefully, in person but not in heart.
We endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.
You see there's so much in these words.
Torn away.
It wasn't something that they wanted to happen.
But something that they needed to do for a time.
For their own safety.
But he says only in person, not in heart.
You're still very much in our hearts because we're praying for you and remembering you.
And we're endeavoring the more eagerly with great desire to see you face to face.
So there's just warmth and there's just love there as well.
And again, it's seen in chapter 3, verse 5.
It's almost like he couldn't wait any longer to hear what was happening with them.
They weren't living in the days of communication that we have.
We can keep in touch with people instantly.
They had to wait for a time to hear what was happening.
And when you look at chapter 3, verse 5, it says,
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer,
I sent to learn about your faith for the fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
There was this concern.
He was longing to hear what was happening.
And as he heard a good report, as he heard back from Timothy who had gone to them,
he wrote then this letter to them, encouraged to hear of their faith,
but still concerned that they would keep going.
And so now as he comes to the conclusion of his letter,
to his goodbye in this section,
the benediction as it's called from verse 23 to the end,
it's a prayerful concern for them.
And the hope and security that God is with them,
and that that's what counts.
It's not just yours faithfully or yours sincerely.
It's the full blessing of God be with you.
And so for ourselves today, as we look at these concluding verses of this chapter,
we think of what Paul's longing for the church at Thessalonica was,
the longing that he would have for ourselves today as well.
The longing that we should have together to see what he's saying here is so important
for ourselves today too.
To know this great benediction,
this great blessing of God on us,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with us today and always.
And there's three things that Paul gives in this benediction
that I want us to look at.
The first thing we see is godliness.
We see that in verse 23 and 24.
The power of God in our midst.
The godliness that we see here.
The second thing is the gifts.
The gifts that we see in verse 25 to 27.
There's gifts there.
And then finally we see the grace that we see in verse 28.
So we're going to look at these three things.
Godliness, gifts, and grace.
So first of all we see godliness.
Verse 23.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
And so he goes on there.
How well do you know God?
How well do you think the church at Thessalonica knew God?
They didn't have all the answers of faith,
but still they knew God in a powerful way.
And that knowledge of God is often the knowledge that we have ourselves as well.
We may not have all the answers.
We may not have all the understanding of every point that we find in Scripture.
But it doesn't mean that we don't know God.
God is known through his word.
God is known through his spirit at work in us.
God is known through Jesus Christ as our Lord.
And we see that when we know God in these ways,
we know God as a God who is steadfast towards us,
who is loving, who is gracious towards his people.
And as Paul concludes his letter here,
he concludes it not looking just to the people at Thessalonica
and saying,
you take care of yourselves,
look after yourselves,
I'll be remembering you.
He's not looking to himself as all important.
Don't worry, I'm still here for you,
although I'm at a distance.
They're looking first and foremost to God.
Now may the God of peace himself,
may he be with you.
He's written to them to believe in this God,
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And now he's reminding them in this conclusion,
in this benediction,
that this is all important
and it's all encompassing.
The gospel is at the heart of everything
that he's saying here,
the good news of Jesus Christ
and the God who makes all things possible,
the God of peace himself.
And then in verse 24, he says,
he who calls you is faithful,
he will surely do it.
There is godliness in this.
It's all about God.
And so his benediction here,
and we think of godliness,
it contains both a request and a reminder.
A request and a reminder.
And we see, first of all,
his request in two parts.
Now may the God of peace himself,
it's this prayer that the God of peace would be with them.
So do we know that it is only God that can give us peace?
The God of peace himself.
We are by nature a restless people.
We are by nature a people who don't always enjoy peace in our lives.
Sometimes it's because of ourselves.
Sometimes it's because of circumstances going on around us.
And when you think of what the church in Thessalonica was like,
they had experienced both sides of the coin.
They had experienced that restlessness,
that lack of peace,
that lack of assurance in their lives.
And yet, when the God of peace himself came to them,
they understood in a new way what peace really was.
It's not the absence of trouble,
but it's the presence of God in it.
And the God of peace himself was there for them.
And we as a people too,
we are restless without God.
We are restless.
We are anxious.
We are leaning on our own understanding, as it were.
We are doing all things and trying to do them all by ourselves.
And how do we cope?
How do we manage?
The reality, ultimately, is we don't and we can't.
If we're looking for peace outside of God,
that cannot be found.
And so as Paul concludes this letter,
he's saying,
now may the God of peace himself be there with you.
We are not in control of our lives.
He is.
And we have to look to him
in the midst of everything that goes on around us,
in the search for peace in our lives,
in our hearts,
or the lives of others.
It is found in God alone.
The God of peace himself.
Otherwise, we are pulled and tossed
in so many different directions,
going one way, then another,
searching for this peace.
And it's not there.
And so Paul's prayer, his benediction,
is the focus is on the God of peace himself.
We cannot have peace apart from God.
Then there's the second part of his request here.
The God of peace be with him,
but to sanctify you completely.
May your whole spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know that it is only God that can save you?
Only God can give you peace
and only God can save you.
He is sanctifying his people completely.
It says, may he sanctify you completely
with your whole spirit and soul and body.
May he work in you to the completion of all things.
And sanctification is ongoing.
It is God at work in his people
to be more like him.
You see it mentioned in chapter 4, verse 3.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
This is the will of God, your sanctification.
That you would be kept going, learning, growing,
and more and more becoming like him.
Robert Murray McShane was a famous preacher.
And he died at the age of 29.
He preached in what is now the Free Church in Dundee,
St. Peter's Free Church in Dundee.
And he described sanctification in this way.
He said, it is God making us as holy
as a saved sinner can be.
God making us as holy as a saved sinner can be.
We're saved, but yet we're still sinners.
We're never perfect.
They were not complete Christians here in Thessalonica.
Neither was Paul as he was writing to them.
He knew himself his own failings.
But he trusted that God was able to work in him and them.
And we are not the finished product.
If you see yourself as the finished product,
as good enough, you're not.
But that is where grace comes in.
It is the gift of God that by faith,
we can know that he can make us right.
We can try and live a holy life as we should.
But it is not that we are trying to do it to save ourselves,
because that's impossible.
It is only God who can save us.
It is only God who can bring us blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we have these two requests here in godliness,
that we would be knowing the peace of God
and the salvation that there is in God.
But there's also a reminder here in verse 24,
he who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
So when we think, well, we cannot do it,
I cannot save myself.
I cannot have peace with God.
But he who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
And isn't that a great reminder for ourselves today?
That in our own weakness and frailties,
in our own lack of godliness,
in our own lack of sanctification,
as we see ourselves,
he who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
We can trust God
and seek to be sanctified in him,
by him.
So there is godliness first.
The second thing we see here is gifts.
We see that in verse 25,
down to verse 27.
We see three gifts here.
Brothers, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
I put you under oath
before the Lord to have this letter
read to all the brothers.
As we said,
when Paul is writing this letter,
there's a sense of separation.
There's a sense of distance between them.
But in these verses,
he's showing the gifts that they share together,
even at a distance.
And the three things that we have here
is prayer, fellowship,
and the word of God.
Three things that distance doesn't matter in.
Distance kind of brings us even closer together.
As you think back to Wednesday evening
and Mission International
and the presentation Roddy gave,
when you're hearing about people
in different parts of the world
and yet realizing we can pray for them.
We have fellowship with them.
We don't even know them.
Yet we can have fellowship with them
as we pray for them
and as we are around the word of God,
that we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
And there's this great distance
between Paul and the church at Thessalonica.
Pray for us.
And there we have that first gift.
That first gift is prayer.
They prayed for them
and they were praying for each other
and prayer for the gospel to flourish.
Is there any greater request
that you could make to someone
than will you pray for me?
Or to know that somebody is praying for you.
What a powerful gift there is in that.
Just a simple message.
I'm praying for you.
But what it means.
And what it meant for the church at Thessalonica
to know Paul was praying for them
as he outlines at the beginning.
And now he's saying,
brothers, pray for us.
It brings us close to God.
I had a Sunday school teacher
who when I was leaving Sunday school,
he gave me a piece of paper
with a few words of a hymn on it.
And he promised that he would pray.
And the words of the hymn that he gave me
were this.
It was very much setting out on life.
And that's the theme of the hymn.
You're starting my boy on life's journey
along the grand highway of life.
You'll meet with a thousand temptations.
Each city with evil is rife.
This world is a stage of excitement.
There's danger wherever you go.
But if you are tempted to weakness,
have courage, my boy, to say no.
And those words remained with me.
And his prayers remained with me.
And they still do to this day.
I still know that he prays for me
because he often reminds me.
And what a wonderful blessing that was.
And having gone through life away from home
in so many different places
to know that he was praying.
And the power that there was in that.
And if I was to say today,
is there anyone here who does not need prayer?
Put your hand up.
No hand should go up.
Because we all need prayer.
And is there anyone here
who has asked someone to pray for them?
Hands up?
Well, probably not many hands will go up
because it's not something we do naturally.
Are we afraid sometimes to ask for prayer?
Yes.
Because we almost feel that maybe it's just
a sense of weakness or shame
to ask someone to pray.
And yet it's the greatest gift that we have
to pray for one another.
Brothers, pray for us.
And so you see that leads then
into the second gift.
That gift of fellowship.
Because this is what encourages prayer.
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
This is something we're going to introduce.
Don't panic.
We might not go right down the path
of greeting each other with a holy kiss.
We're not going to ask the people on the door
to greet you in that way.
But what's behind it?
We have to ask, what's behind it?
Well, it was the custom of the time.
It was the way many people,
even in different cultures today,
this is the way they greet one another,
with a kiss.
Sometimes on the forehead.
Sometimes on the cheek.
It's what different cultures do.
It may not be in our culture,
but what's behind it should be.
It is this greeting,
this welcoming,
this fellowship,
this warmth,
this sense of belonging.
We don't have a kiss,
although with some we may well do
in different circumstances.
But at other times,
it's a warm handshake.
You're welcoming people in.
Other times,
it's with words.
That's so powerful.
powerful words that we have
to say welcome.
You're here among friends.
You're here around God's word.
That you feel a part of this place
and this people.
Because there are times
when you hear of people
coming and going from church
and they'll say,
nobody even spoke to me.
Nobody said a word to me.
And what impression does that leave with them?
It's a sense of nobody was interested.
Nobody cared to say anything to me.
And so we have this powerful gift as well
of being warm greeters to each other.
To be concerned,
to be caring towards one another.
So we have that gift.
We also have this gift
of the word of God
that we should never take for granted.
Look at what he says in verse 27.
I put you under oath
before the Lord
to have this letter read
to all the brothers.
It's powerful.
He's not just saying,
well, read this letter
in your own time.
He's saying,
I put you under oath.
I want you to take this vow
before God
that you will read this letter.
And not just to one or two,
but to all the brothers.
Because what binds us together
in prayer,
what binds us together
in fellowship
is the word of God.
The word of God
that instructs us,
that guides us.
And you notice here,
he's saying,
make this promise.
Take this vow,
this oath
before the Lord
that this is your duty.
This is your calling.
This is what you are to do
as a people together.
Not just with some,
but with all.
Read it to all the brothers.
Why does he make this point?
Well, it's because
as you read through the letter,
you see there are different points
that are hints
that there were some divisions.
That there were some disagreements
along the way.
But he's saying,
don't let these divide you.
Let the word of God
bring you together.
Make this vow
before God
to have this letter read
among all the brothers.
And so for us,
it's that responsibility
in all of these things,
these gifts,
to pray for one another,
to greet and welcome
one another,
and to share the word of God
with one another.
This should be our oath
before the Lord,
that we will honor him
who has honored us
by being faithful to him
in all of these things
and to all
of our brothers and sisters
and all who we come
into contact with.
Pray,
greet,
and the word of God
is at the heart
of the gifts
that the church has today.
The final thing
I want us to see here
is the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The last verse there,
verse 28,
the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you.
In many ways,
Paul is concluding
and saying,
as I started,
so I'll finish.
You see,
when you go back
to the opening verses
in chapter one,
what does it say?
To the church
of the Thessalonians
in God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ,
grace to you
and peace.
Grace to you
and peace.
Now he has said
in verse 23,
may the God
of peace himself,
and then in verse 28,
the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you.
The close
is the same
as the opening.
He begins
and ends
with grace.
Why?
Because grace
underguards it all.
grace is what is needed
in everything
that we do.
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see,
it's not just
I'm remembering you
warmly,
faithfully,
sincerely.
I'm remembering you
in the Lord.
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you.
Because grace
is powerful.
Grace is not just
something that we need
at the beginning.
of our Christian life.
To see
our sins
are forgiven
by grace.
It's something we need
all through
the Christian life.
And so are there
any better words
that he could
leave them with
than this?
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you.
The generosity,
the favor
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All of these things
that they would be
with you
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
This is
the benediction
at the end.
And it's no less
important
than anything else
that you read
through the word
of this letter.
Someone put it,
it's not just
hollow words
to conclude
a letter.
It's not like
a story book
that says
the end.
It is not
a standard
yours faithfully
or yours sincerely.
This is the heart
of the gospel.
Grace
be with you.
And what is
grace?
Grace
is the gift
that we have
through faith
in Jesus Christ.
The one
who lived
a life
that we couldn't.
The one
who died
a death
that we couldn't.
the one
who died
a death
he never
deserved
that we might
receive forgiveness
of sin.
The one
who rose
from the grave
that we might
know him
as the resurrection
and the life.
All at his
expense
freely
given.
It is the
gift
of God
in which
there is
forgiveness
and which
there is
power.
Grace
empowers
and makes
us willing
and without
grace
we are
lost.
And so
Paul is
leaving us
with these
words.
The grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ
be with
you.
I read
in one
commentary
and I
want to
quote it
in full
because it's
so powerful
what was
being said.
One
commentator
puts it
like this.
Paul does
not simply
wish
strength
or prosperity
on them
but rather
invokes
a blessing
on them
for what
they needed
most.
The grace
that comes
from the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
This letter
began with
this desire
for grace
and peace
and here
as there
it summarizes
the essence
of the faith
they have
received.
The person
of Jesus
the Lord
and Christ
is the
fountain
from which
the grace
of God
flows out
to them.
This
benediction
is far
from being
a formality
tacked at
the end
of the letter.
The blessing
of grace
from the
Lord Jesus
Christ
embraces
the fullness
of salvation
that comes
from one
who is
the soul
and sovereign
saviour.
The grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ
who is
our soul
and sovereign
saviour.
it is
not just
a few
words
tacked
to the
end.
It is
the power
of God
to salvation
to know
the grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ
with us.
Why do I
say a
benediction?
Why does
every minister
say a
benediction
at the
end of
a service?
It's not
just something
tacked on.
It's not
just something
just before
we go out
the door.
It is
pronouncing
a blessing
and a
longing
that the
grace of
our Lord
Jesus
Christ
be with
you
until we
meet
again.
So Paul's
last words
are grace
to you
until we
meet again.
He doesn't
know when
that will
be.
He has a
longing to
meet them
face to
face.
But he
knows one
day that
through grace
he will be
with them
again and
forever and
eternally.
And that's
the power of
the gospel in
the midst of
all that we
experience in
this life.
That we
would know
the grace of
our Lord
Jesus Christ
with us.
With us
every day
but with that
powerful reminder
that it is
this grace
that will bring
us together
at the
coming of
the Lord.
The coming
of the Lord
runs throughout
this letter.
And it is
this grace
the gift of
God in
Christ that
will help us
in that day
and for all
eternity to
be safe
with him
and with
all his
people.
The grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ be
with you.
Let us
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven we
do rejoice
in the
godliness of
your word.
How it
encourages us
that we
who are
imperfect are
sanctified through
your working
in us.
We thank you
how it reminds
us of the
gifts that we
have as a
church and
as a people.
The gifts of
prayer and
fellowship and
your word.
And we thank
you above all
Lord for the
gift of grace.
The grace of
our Lord Jesus
Christ poured
out upon us
freely.
By our
sovereign and
soul saviour.
And so we
thank you for
all of these
things and
pray that they
would become
more and more
precious to us
as we ask all
with the
forgiveness of
our sin.
In Jesus
name.
Amen.
We'll
conclude by
singing to
God's praise
in Psalm
28 in the
Scottish
Psalter.
page 238 of
the Psalm
books.
Psalm 28
sing from
verse 7
to verse 9.
The Lord's
my strength and
shield.
My heart
upon him
did rely
and I am
helped.
Hence my
heart doth
joy exceedingly.
We thank God
for the strength
and help that
he does give
us and the
joy that is
found in
him.
We're going to
sing verse
7 to 9.
The tune is
Arlington
and we
stand to
sing to
God's
praise.
The Lord
I
strength
and shield
my heart
upon
him
did
rely
and
I
am
there
against
my
heart
and
I
am
helped
with
hence
my
heart
of
joy
exceedingly.
And
with
my
song
I
will
embrace
and
send
this
thought
voy
!
voy
!
voy
!
voy
!
For people do our share,
Bless time and evidence,
And also do our kingdom,
Forevermore and grand.
After the benediction, I'll go to the main door.
We'll close with the benediction.
Now may grace, mercy and peace from God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.
Amen.
Please pray,