[0:00] A year or two after I became a Christian, I bought a book and it was called Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, Dynamic Christianity.
[0:10] I thought, wow, what a title. And it was a great title, but a lousy book. But as I was reading it, I was thinking, this is not very good. So it went in the bin at some stage a few years later.
[0:23] But Acts, Dynamic Christianity, and this is what we're going to look at in Acts chapter 17. This evening, Paul is on his second missionary journey.
[0:35] He's had the Macedonian core, which has taken him from going into modern day Turkey and cross over into Europe. And he has preached the gospel to Europe.
[0:50] And he comes to this town called Thessalonica. So we're going to read the first 15 verses of Acts 17. Dynamic Christianity.
[1:03] When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures.
[1:20] And he said, this Jesus, I'm proclaiming to you is the Christ, he said.
[1:32] Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
[1:44] But the Jews were jealous. But the Jews were jealous. So they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city.
[1:55] They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, These men, who have caused trouble all over the world, have now come here.
[2:15] And Jason was welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
[2:31] And then they made Jason and the others post-bond, or a better way of phrasing it is they took money for security. So they made Jason give them money for security and let them go.
[2:45] As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
[3:08] Many of the Jews believed, and as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. When the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.
[3:27] The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who accompanied Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
[3:48] Chapter 1. In chapter 17, we read about Paul's visit to Thessalonica. As far as we know, he paid no other visits to Thessalonica.
[4:04] If you look on your maps and you see his third missionary journey, it looks like it's going through there, but there's no scriptural record of him actually doing so. And there was this great disturbance, but we do know that something really, really happened.
[4:21] And maybe you can pick it up as we read 1 Thessalonians 1 and 2 and look at it a little later on. So I'm going to read 1 Thessalonians 1 and go through to chapter 2 and verse 9.
[4:37] Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you. We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
[4:52] We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[5:05] Brothers loved by God, we know that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit.
[5:17] And with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord. In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit.
[5:33] And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere.
[5:48] Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God, from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath.
[6:13] You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know. But with the help of our God, we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.
[6:30] For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.
[6:46] We are not trying to please men, but God, who tests our hearts. And you know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed.
[6:57] God is our witness. We are not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ, we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
[7:14] We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you have become so dear to us.
[7:25] And surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship. We work nice and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel of God to you.
[7:40] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, would you turn to 1 Thessalonians 1, and if you want to keep your finger in your Bible, Acts 17, but mainly we'll be looking at 1 Thessalonians.
[7:57] And we've covered quite a bit of the introduction to what I want to say this evening. Paul is on the move with Silas and Timothy, his second missionary journey.
[8:09] He'd been prevented from going by the Holy Spirit to where he wanted to do into Asia Minor, and he heard the Macedonian call, come over here.
[8:20] And so he went from Troas across the sea and came into mainland Europe to Greece, which is in the news for all kinds of reasons today.
[8:34] Some were saved. Quite a number of people were saved as he preached the word of God. And in 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 5, we get an idea of what it was that happened.
[8:47] He says, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.
[8:59] Acts gives us a very matter-of-fact summary of what happened. They went and preached three days, three Sabbath days in the synagogue, and some Jews were saved, but a lot of Greeks were saved, and not a few prominent women.
[9:17] But what happened next in this wonderful cosmopolitan city, which was the capital of Macedonia, and it was of 200,000 people, it was a free city.
[9:32] It was a free city that gained its freedom from Romans. It was allowed to govern itself because it sided with Rome at the right time, made a political decision, and was rewarded.
[9:46] It was a port and a hub. It was a main east-west trade route. It was on the Ignatia Way. And this was a very, very busy city.
[9:58] If you go there now, you'll see that it's nowhere near the sea. It's the river that fed into the sea, silted up, and the castle walls where the water used to come up to is now two miles away.
[10:14] If you face the sea, if you turn to the right, you'll find there's nothing but land and lots of cities being built, which once was water. But then it was a great port.
[10:25] It's described as a port now, but the port's not where it used to be because of the silting. But Paul preaches the gospel, and there's this wonderful presence of God, the spirit of God coming with deep conviction upon these people.
[10:43] And what happened is not what you might want to happen or expect to happen. What happened was a violent reaction from the Jews. They organized some terrible individuals and formed a mob and started a riot in the city.
[11:01] They went looking for Paul and Silas. They were probably out to kill him because they were seeing that their status in the synagogue was being threatened.
[11:12] But they can't find Paul and Silas. And so they find Jason instead, one of the people who had been saved. And he takes the brunt, poor man.
[11:26] And he's beaten up and has to place a lot of money, one presumes, as a security, which was basically saying, get this guy out of town because if you don't, if he sticks around, we have any more trouble, you lose all your money.
[11:43] So it's a bit like bail, only with real money. And they were being told in no ambiguous way that they had to get out of town.
[11:56] So Paul and Silas escape. They're not captured, but they hoof it off to a nearby town called Berea.
[12:07] And there we see, again, a similar work happening. But more Jews are saved. The Jews are far more considerate there. And so more Jews are saved and perhaps fewer Gentiles.
[12:18] But the otter on the heels are the Thessalonian Jews who were just out for his blood. It gives you an impression, doesn't it? You know, they had to walk there.
[12:30] You know, there wasn't like, let's get a number seven bus or hop in a car. Berea is still quite away. I forget now, maybe 10, 12 miles inland. And they'd heard that Paul was preaching Berea.
[12:42] And the reaction was, well, thank goodness he's gone. It wasn't that. It's let's get him and sort him out. Terrible, terrible things are happening. Huge amount of oppression and opposition.
[12:55] But what happens is that they escape again and make another getaway. Paul goes off to Athens and then ultimately on to Corinth.
[13:08] But Silas and Timothy stay behind in Berea and to meet up later with Paul in Athens, Acts 17, 15.
[13:20] So what we have is Paul after three Sabbaths, possibly longer because in 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 9 and 10, there's an implication that they were there perhaps a little bit longer, but not that much longer.
[13:36] But he is forced to leave behind a fledgling church. This church had no pastor. It had no elders. It had no experienced Christians.
[13:48] It had no Bible. Right? And it was in hot trouble with the Jewish leaders and possibly, potentially, with the Roman governance as well.
[14:00] So the question is, what should Paul do? What was it possible for him to do? No telephone. No quick means of communication. He's away in Athens.
[14:11] He's miles and miles away, several days away. What should he do? What can he do? What would you do? Okay.
[14:21] You've almost given your life in this situation and you've been basically kicked out of where you were. What are you going to do? What are you going to do for this fledgling church?
[14:32] Well, Paul does two things. Paul consolidates what he'd already taught. And in the process of consolidating what he taught, he authenticates his message.
[14:45] Let me explain what I mean by consolidate. If you turn to 1 Thessalonians and chapter 2 and verse 17, you read this.
[14:58] But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short while, in person, not in thought, think of the language here, torn away from you, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you.
[15:12] For we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again. But Satan stopped us, probably referring to the Thessalonian Jews who were chasing him.
[15:24] So he wants to consolidate his message and he wants to return, but he can't. And so what we do is in chapter 3 and verse 1, he says, so when we could stand it no longer, the anxiety of not knowing what had happened to these people, because we realize that we've seen Jason beat up as well.
[15:50] When we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.
[16:09] So what could he do? That he could write a letter, too slow. So what does he do next? He could send somebody. Who can I send? It's Timothy. Timothy is his right-on man, trustworthy man, a man who knew the truth and a man who could go and be, and Paul could be confident that he would indeed strengthen and encourage them and find out how they are, to find out if they're in further trouble or if things are ease up.
[16:39] And so, Timothy goes. And then Timothy, later on when he's been, he meets up with Paul in Corinth. The letter to the Thessalonians is written in Corinth, from Corinth.
[16:50] And he comes, he arrives with good news. Chapter 3 and verse 6. But, Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.
[17:06] He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us just as we also long to see you.
[17:16] So he consolidates the message through sending Timothy, who wants to encourage him and to strengthen them, who wants to instruct them in the ways of the truth.
[17:28] They were young and inexperienced and they were wondering what was, on earth was happening. They have this wonderful experience of coming to know the Lord and then the next thing you know they're in suffering great persecution.
[17:43] But the good news is that Timothy has come back saying that they long to see him just as I long to see you. So that was the work of Timothy.
[17:54] But, he also, Paul had to authenticate his ministry. And the reason he had to authenticate it was because of what had happened.
[18:07] We read in chapter 1, verse 6 about the severe suffering that they experienced. In chapter 2, verse 2, we read about the strong opposition that they met with the riot and the mob.
[18:19] But there's also a smear campaign. So Timothy comes back and he's given a report of how they are and Paul picks up there's a smear campaign going on against him and that's why he needs to authenticate his ministry.
[18:34] And so most of chapter 2 is actually taken up with Paul saying, you know, this is for real, chaps, men and women. You know, the message I brought to you is for real.
[18:46] I'm not a charlatan. I'm not a cheat. I'm not a liar. I'm not a play actor. And so he reminds him in verse 3 of chapter 2, he says, the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives.
[19:03] You need to understand I had absolutely pure motives in what I was doing. And you need to know that I am an apostle of Jesus Christ, verse 7. You need to know that my speech was not one of flattery.
[19:18] I didn't come to butter you up. I came to convict you of sin through the preaching of the word and through that you were saved. And I need to also remind you that I didn't take any money from you.
[19:32] In fact, I did the opposite. I worked hard and I supported you whilst I was there. And we read that at the end of our reading there. So he has to authenticate his ministry.
[19:45] It says in that section that he didn't, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. And the word there is all about hypocrisy or play acting.
[19:59] We didn't put on a mask. We weren't playing charades. You know, what you saw was the real thing. You heard the gospel from an apostle and you heard it for what it is, which is the power of God to salvation.
[20:13] That's why it came with power and conviction. So, consolidate, authenticate. That's the two things that he set out to do.
[20:25] Now, how were the Thessalonians weathered? How were they fed in all that had gone on? The gap in time would not have been great. Perhaps just a few months.
[20:37] We believe that the letter to the Thessalonians was written probably spontaneously as Timothy comes back with the report. His travels would have taken a few weeks, a couple of months, something like that.
[20:50] I don't know how long he stayed in Thessalonica. But time is moving quickly. You know, half a year at the most, right? How did they get on? How were they making out?
[21:02] Well, the wonderful thing is that they stayed true to the message. they were living out an exemplary Christian life and an exemplary church life.
[21:15] In 1 Thessalonians 1, 3, we have this wonderful three-stranded cord, and he says this, we continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[21:36] So faith and hope and love were just shining from these believers. They were just radiant with faith and hope and love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for each other.
[21:49] And so much so that in chapter 1, verse 6, Paul says, you became imitators of us in spite of the severe suffering. You welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
[22:03] And so, you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. That's where my thoughts for this evening started.
[22:23] Let's talk about the model church. And there you have it, this young church that I've tried to describe which was born out of persecution, born out of all kinds of antagonism, are a model church.
[22:37] They're not a perfect church, they're a model church. And they're a model church because they've been impressing their lives in modeling the apostle Paul and the people with him.
[22:51] So, you know, how did they become a model church? That's what we're going to try and look at this evening. So, they were living out this faith and hope and love.
[23:04] They were imitating Paul and so they become a model church. and so in chapter 2 and verse 13 we read that they had received the word and because they had received the word in verse 13 of chapter 2 he says, we also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is the word of God which is at work in your belief.
[23:34] for you brothers became imitators of God's churches in Judea which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the same thing those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.
[23:53] So, what he's saying is look, you've been imitating us in your faith and your hope and your love but you've run into trouble but you haven't run into the buffer stops of a railway station.
[24:07] You just run into something actually that you can count on as an imitation of what happened to the Christians in Judea. They were kicked out.
[24:17] They were persecuted. The martyrdom of Stephen was a great reason why people were driven out and so persecution was all part of the warp and the woof of Christian living in those days and it's so today isn't it?
[24:34] It's so today. If it's not open persecution it's persecution that goes on in a way in which people look at us in a way in which you may talk to somebody in the high street as was done in Cambridge and you find that people will oppose.
[24:53] People will oppose but in that opposition that comes is a strengthening and a resilience that comes through faith in the living God.
[25:05] They were living in faith and hope and love. They were imitating good teaching. They were a model to other churches and the idea of a model is almost like a seal and so it was an impress.
[25:22] So you have a seal and melted wax and you put it on and that's what it means by the model. It's an impress of me says Paul and it's an impress of the truth that you received.
[25:34] They had weathered well. They'd done alright. You know when you think about it you know you do a church plant and it might take years and years and years in this country for something to happen and for the church to grow but here this church plant was born over three weeks they were kicked out there was riots there were people who were hurt in those riots and yet they still stood the test.
[25:59] They were still there six months down the line and they were remembering Paul and Silas and Timothy fondly wanting them to come back but probably never saw them.
[26:14] So far so good. What about the future? how was this church going to continue and how was it to grow?
[26:25] How was it going to make an impact? And this is what this letter is all about. Sorry Timothy's return was the catalyst for Paul to write the letter the first letter to the Thessalonians the second letter probably followed just a few months later maybe they'd heard some more reports some more feedback some more questions about their faith it's almost like a correspondence course that's going on between Paul and the Thessalonians so the first letter is there to sort out a few issues and to encourage and strengthen them the second letter takes some other issues and tries to develop those.
[27:10] So what was the core teaching that they received? well we get a flavor of that in chapter 2 verse 11 and 12 this is Paul he's saying for you know that we dealt with each of you as the father deals with his own children encouraging comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and his glory.
[27:36] So the main the core teaching that the Thessalonians received was to live a life worthy to walk worthy to put aside the world and to live in accordance to good teaching.
[27:51] So what about the future? Well the future is this do the same thing carry on I want to encourage you to continue in the way that you have begun and so when you get to chapter 4 in 1 Thessalonians we read this finally brothers we instructed you how to live in order to please God instructed past tense chapter 2 as in fact you are living and now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[28:31] So it's do the same carry on press on so are you living a holy life? are you seeking to please God? Are you involved in the work of the church?
[28:45] Are you loving one another? Well carry on keep on doing it is the message that Paul has for the Thessalonians. So in chapter 4 and I want to read these in verses 3 to 8 we find that they have to please God through holy living so that we want to imitate the Thessalonian church which was imitating Christ imitating the apostle Paul and so we want to do that and how do we do that?
[29:18] Well there's three things he says in chapter 4 holy living he says this it is God's will that you should be holy that you should avoid sexual immorality that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him and the Lord will punish men for all such sins as we have already told you and warned you for God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life therefore he who rejects this instruction does not reject a man but God who gives you his holy spirit this is found this teaching is found of Paul throughout all these letters if you just go back to Colossians to Colossians to Colossians chapter 3 he says since then you've been raised with Christ set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and then he goes on and he says put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature sexual immorality impurity lust evil desires greed and so on it's a whole chapter most of the chapter that Paul dedicates to this pleasing God through holy living the second thing he brings out is in verse 9 and 10 which is to do with brotherly love he says now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other and in fact you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia yet we urge you brothers to do so more and more okay you love the brothers well carry on do more and more express it in ways that will be of great benefit and blessing to the church
[31:11] Paul uses this term of endearment of brothers 12 times in this epistle it's not something that he uses lightly he has great affection for them they have great affection for him they have great affection for one another and he basically says carry on just carry on loving one another expressing that love it's not love as in a passive sense it's a dynamic thing you know acts dynamic Christianity acts love is dynamic love love is doing things and you know read 1 Corinthians 13 with and use use them as verbs doing words rather than nouns love is being kind love is gracious love is patient love is being patient they're all verbs and so he's saying carry on press on with brotherly love and then the third thing he says to do is to lead an orderly lives well gosh that's difficult isn't it when people are after you but he says this make it your ambition to lead a quiet life to mind your own business and to work with your own hands just as we told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody so he's saying lead a good life lead a productive life get on with working as he says later on and then also again in his second letter he says mind your own business work with your hands just as we told you and just as we gave you an example we work with our hands we weren't a burden to you we didn't take money off you so that we could live well no we worked and earned cash so that we could live independent of your generosity and so he says and the reason why I want you to do this is so that your daily life may win respect of outsiders you're going to live differently folks he's going to say you know you're not going to be like the you know the cutthroat traders who are going east and west and going through Thessalonica coming from there to
[33:23] Athens and then across the world to Rome perhaps eventually you're not going to be like those cutthroat traders you're going to be people who are productive you're going to be people who are loving one another you're going to be people actually which would be so different to the culture in which you live that people will respect you well do you want respect I'm sure we do don't we but the point is what he's saying is this is an opportunity to drive in a wedge into the unbelief and the opposition of people if you live a life which is exemplary if you live a life which is displaying love and a life which is holy and not picking up the things of the world people either love you or hate you but some people will want to know more and they'll say I respect that person I think I'd like to find out more and that is where it begins it's getting people to stop and turn their heads and to listen to see to observe how Christians live if they were to live as the
[34:27] Thessalonians did as the you know the travelers did as they went through with all the immorality with all the sexual promiscuity that was going on well they're no different so what's the point what's the point of being a Christian no but if you make your life different if you live holy lives if you have brotherly love if you live an ordered life then you will make a difference and things will happen so in the future Paul has been talking about direction the direction you're to take is in this way it's what you know but it's carrying on and doing more and more developing these things but it's also about correction what about the future direction we know about correction what's the issue what is the big issue that Paul has to deal with well the big issue is not a newspaper but it's found in verse 13 of chapter 4 brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope the big issue that they had is what happens to
[35:37] Christians when they die and then this next section which in the NIV is talking about the coming of the Lord is all about don't worry it's all salted and so this whole section here is to talk about what will happen that we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him it's okay you've lost some people some people have died don't worry when Jesus comes they're going to be there with him and according to our Lord's own word we tell you that those who are still alive who are left to the coming of the Lord will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the archangel and with a trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first and after that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the
[36:38] Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever we're all going to be together right and so I want you to encourage one another with these words that's what's going to happen when is it going to happen well the first eleven verses of chapter five explain that and how it's going to happen is probably the most critical thing because he's saying in the meantime there's a way in which to live and we find that in chapter five verse eight but since we belong to the day let us not let us be self controlled putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet faith hope and love continue in faith and hope and love be self-controlled put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet and they were to be encouraged by that so this is this fledging church this is this fledging church with not a degree in theology and
[37:43] Paul is saying well this don't worry about the ones who died it's all sorted don't worry about when because you know we don't know but it will come like a thief in the night if you're not a believer and he's saying put your hope and trust in God so are we a model church is a question I wanted to ask a few smiles now you see I didn't ask are we a perfect church you see so because we're not are we but are we a model church you know are we a model church I think it's good to examine ourselves in these areas well do we have faith do we have hope do we have love do we want to live holy lives do we seek to live ordered lives well presented lives lives that are examples to others you know well we do so in that sense we're a model church we have those characteristics don't we that the
[38:49] Thessalonians had their salvation was brought out of persecution ours has been brought out in so many different ways some people here suffer and have known persecution some don't but we are a model church and I would suggest that every God fearing church in that sense is a model church these things these characteristics will be there they're a mark of authenticity of who the true church really are and how they are seen but there's always room for improvement isn't there there's always that's the message to the Thessalonians you're a model church right but there's room for improvement so you go to school a few smiles there isn't it you know you know they say you're massive very good but there's room for improvement you know and that's what my school reports used to say do very well if it worked so there's always room for improvement and that's so with the Christian life our calling is to continue in faith holding fast to the word to live
[39:57] God pleasing lives our calling is to love women each other to love each other deeply as we serve we're called to be salt and light to those around us and that's surely what happens in in 610 and mums and tots and food bank and everything else that we're engaged in we seek to be salt and light people will know that we're different people will know if we don't people understand if we don't swear they'll think well I've never heard them swear if you don't cuss you know then people will notice that because that's what the world does so you live exemplary lives when people start moaning about this and that you don't go along with the crowd you have something wiser and better to say and so we live out this salt and light existence as children of the living God and the hope that of the Lord's return is the thing that guides us every chapter in 1 Thessalonians 5 ends with a comment on the coming of the
[40:57] Lord I didn't know that I know the chapters are not sort of divinely inspired but every chapter ends with some comment on the coming of the Lord the hope we have is Christ is coming and he will sort out the injustices and the evils of this world this is what Paul says in Hebrews 1 he says faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see that is our hope we are certain that Christ is coming we're sure of that but faith is living that out in the here and now the glorious riches of the mystery of Christ is Christ in us the hope of glory and that's what we seek and as we continue to renew our minds let us seek to live those lives which are so challenging aren't they you know we're all so flawed we're all so aware of our sin but we have
[42:07] Christ in us the hope of glory and we have a saviour who's going to return and a saviour as we heard this morning who's written his name at the bottom of the list of sins and stamped across it is forgiven and that's what we are we're going to sing our final song now which is do not put out the spirit's fire do not treat prophecies with contempt test everything hold on to the good avoid every kind of evil may God himself the God of peace sanctify you through and through may your whole spirit soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ the one who calls you is faithful and he will do it amen as as and He will do it and the
[43:26] Fuel