I Thess 1: 1-5

I'm going to begin with you today a study of the book of 1 Thessalonians, and Lord-willing
we will continue it and see it through to completion over the coming weeks and months.
Before we begin, we need to dismiss our kids for discovery clubs...as they exit, let me start
today with a question--does anyone know where Paul was when he wrote 1 Thessalonians?
This is your one clear chance at audience participation... Well, Paul seems to have likely
written it from Corinth. It was probably Paul's first or second apostolic epistle along with
Galatians, but probably the second, written around 51-52 AD during his second missionary
journey. Paul made it a sort of policy to establish churches in major city centers, bustling
with activity, so that out from these cities (Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome,
Colossi,) the gospel could spread out through smaller towns and reach all the people. One
interesting thing to note is that this book doesn't contain a single Old Testament quote. Its
predominant theme is the imminence of Christ's return, but there is also a second significant
theme of affliction.
We would be remiss, and you'll see why, if we didn't cover the historical background leading
up to Paul writing this letter. It gives us great insight into why the letter was written in the
first place, and into the spiritual battle going on, and how God's sovereign purposes are all
accomplished. You may recall from Acts chapter 16 that Paul had a vision of a man from
Macedonia (or Greece) asking for help, and taking this as being from the Lord, Paul sailed
across the sea to Greece, and he went to the town of Philippi. One day there he cast a demon
out of a slave girl, who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. Well, when Paul cast
the demon out, the girl lost her fortune-telling ability. Her masters were mad about this, as
she had been making them money on her soothsaying, so they seized Paul and Silas and took
them before the local magistrates, who ordered them both stripped and beaten, and then
thrown into jail, where they were put into stocks.
In spite of their wounds, Paul and Silas were singing hymns praising God that night, and
suddenly a violent earthquake shook the prison, opened the jail doors, and loosened
everyone's chains. Well, the jailer on duty woke up, and seeing the jail doors open thought
all the prisoners had escaped. In those days, a jailer who lost his prisoners would be put to
death. So, the jailer drew his sword and was about to kill himself, but Paul intervened telling
him that all the prisoners were accounted for. Then the jailer, who was clearly going
through a shocking experience, but probably knowing something about Paul being a prophet
from hearing him in the jail fell before Paul and asked, "What must I do to be saved?" And
that day the jailer and his entire household believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved.
The next morning the magistrates sent word via their officers to release Paul and Silas. But
Paul replied back revealing that he and Silas were Roman citizens and had been beaten
without a trial. Hearing this, the magistrates were alarmed because they could get into a lot
of trouble for it, so they came in person to the prison and begged Paul and Silas to leave
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town so nothing would come of it. Paul and Silas complied, and set out on a hundred mile
journey on foot from Phillipi to Thessalonica—a hundred miles on foot, only days after
having been severely beaten.
Upon arriving at Thessalonica several days later, Paul found a local synagogue of the Jews,
and preached the gospel boldly over three Sabbath days (Acts 17). Many received Christ as
a result of Paul's teaching, some Jews, many Greeks, and a few prominent women. But,
other Jews there were jealous of Paul's successful message, so they formed a mob and went
looking for Paul to take him before the local magistrates, but didn't find him, so they dragged
Jason and other believers before the local officials, making complaints of Paul's trouble-
making. Paul had proclaimed another king, Jesus, of course against Caesar's decrees, so his
message could be viewed as anti-government. Now, they didn't arrest or beat Jason and the
others, but the city officials made them post bail. If Paul had continued to preach in
Thessalonica, Jason would have forfeited the bail, and who knows what else would have
happened to Paul. Well, come nightfall, Paul and Silas agreed to be sent away and left for
Berea, where Paul began preaching again and the gospel was again well received. Paul
would leave Berea for Athens and later Corinth, each time leaving town under similar
circumstances as when he left Thessalonica.
At Corinth he was reunited with Silas and Timothy, and stayed and ministered for an
extended period of time. Of course, Paul had wanted to hear what was going on at the
church at Thessalonica, but he was worried about going there in person, as he might
endanger Jason and other believers, so he had previously sent Timothy back there. Paul
spoke of not coming in person in 1 Thess 2:17, “But we, brethren, having been taken away
from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great
desire to see your face. 18 For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet
Satan hindered us.”
We don't know how long Timothy was at Thessalonica after Paul sent him there, but he
returned at some point to Corinth and gave Paul a good report. Apparently, there were some
questions the Thessalonians had that Timothy could not answer, so Paul set about writing
them a letter to further instruct them, to encourage them in their new faith, to rebuke some of
them, and to express his joy at their steadfast faith thus far.
Now I want to back up from what we've seen happen leading up to Paul writing the first
Thessalonian letter and make sure we are getting the big picture. Satan was forcing Paul out
of new churches or new groups of believers as they sprouted up, following Paul from place
to place, persecuting him, and driving him out again and again or trying to get him jailed to
try and interrupt the spread of the Gospel. And so, having planted this new church at
Thessalonica, Paul had been forced out of yet another town, leaving an infant church to face
persecution at the hands of Satan. You can best believe the Devil was pretty happy with
himself, thinking his plan of divide and conquer would yield a swift and decisive victory.
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He probably figured that without Paul around for direction and comfort, this new
Thessalonian church stood little chance of succeeding.
Well, Satan was in for a disappointment of a more far-reaching, eternal significance than he
could have imagined. Paul may not have been able to be physically present at Thessalonica,
but as Paul said (2:17) he was there is spirit, and we know he waged war from afar with a
pen and scroll. And what may have seemed at the time just an instructive, encouraging letter
from a friend, turned out to be something that will outlive Heaven and earth as we now
know them. This was not only a letter, it was what we would later recognize as inspired,
inerrant, infallible truth. It was new Scripture! A new book of the Bible that has lasted to
this day, just as it will last forever. Are you getting the big picture? Before Satan figured
out what was happening, by foolishly driving Paul out of Thessalonica, he had opened the
floodgates to God adding book after book to the Bible. When Paul was finished, he would
contribute 13 epistles (14 if we count Hebrews) to the 27 total books that make up the New
Testament.
Before we even get into the text in 1 Thessalonians, there is a lesson here we need to
assimilate just in how the book came to be written. Satan never thwarts God's plans. In fact
the opposite is true—God uses Satan’s interference, his persecutions of us, his temptations
of us—crosses we must bear—to advance Heaven’s cause. Christian author Nancy Pearcey
writes in her book, Total Truth, that the wonder of God’s goodness is that he can use these
“crosses” for our sanctification. The Lord used Satan’s persecution of Paul to add to the
written Word of God just as he used the death of Jesus to advance his redemptive plan. As
Joseph, whose obedience to God preserved the Davidic line of Christ, told his brothers,
“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”
Sometimes the road to our sanctification leads us through suffering, too. This gives us a
chance to enter spiritually upon the same journey Paul and Jesus endured, that of a suffering
servant. We make it difficult because we listen to our culture, which tells us to reject
suffering at all costs, rather than listening to what God says in Romans 3: " (that we) also
rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope."
Rejoice in suffering? Embrace suffering? Even unto death? In our culture where things like
assisted suicide, now called "death with dignity," aren't just accepted, but the law of the land
in a growing number of states, currently six, people think embracing suffering in your life is
insane! Often times "man's insanity is Heaven's sense." The next time you find yourself
facing adversity, or even suffering in the midst of you acting in obedience, but you seem to
be failing to accomplish what you set out to do, remember Paul! Remember the devil
pushing him around over and over again and seeming to squelch his efforts. And then
remember Paul writing more Scripture as a result of it. God is often accomplishing
something in your life bigger than you can envision, more than what you can see in the
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present, at the very least your ongoing sanctification, and that is no small task. In fact, once
you have come to accept God's saving grace for your life, your sanctification is the task God
wants to see accomplished in your life. As we will see in 1 Thess. 4:3, “For this is the will
of God, your sanctification.” We tend to focus too much on the outcome we want, often
delivery from our circumstances. Sometimes God chooses to bless us in difficult
circumstances rather than deliver us into happier ones. God's primary concern is our
sanctification. Never forget that “All things work together for good to them that love the
Lord,” for the simple reason that, "Nothing can thwart God’s purposes," (Job 42:2), and
while we may not see how something can be good for us now, because we only see in part,
one day we will see how everything fits perfectly into the will of God for our good.
Satan does his best to convince us otherwise. He will do everything in his power to
circumvent our spiritual growth and disrupt us playing our God-intended role in the
accomplishment of the Lord's will. Just as it was with Paul, Satan puts roadblocks in our
way in life; as I said, he persecutes us at times; he drives wedges between family members
and fellow believers; he lies to us just as he did with Adam and Eve, hoping we will stray
from God's path for us, maybe by deceiving us into thinking suffering isn't worth it, or by
testing our patience as we wait in prayer, trying to figure out God's plan for our lives, so that
we lose heart and sin. And he is a master at getting in your ear.
"Enjoy your life; do whatever you want; eat what you want; drink as much of that frozen
concoction that helps you hang on as you want; have relationships with whoever you want
to. It doesn't matter! God created all these things for your pleasure. You deserve to be
happy! You're not accountable to God for every little thing you do. Nobody is perfect, so
don't worry about trying so hard. But if it means so much to you, you can always just do
what you want today, and confess it tomorrow and you're off the hook, because if you
confess it, didn’t God say he has to forgive you? So there are no consequences to worry
about. What's the point really anyway? They've been saying the Son of God would return
"soon" for two thousand years? I wouldn't be so sure..."
I could go on and on about the deceptions that can pop into your head from the Father of
Lies. Many things—maybe everything—that makes walking by faith difficult, or the path of
holiness seem complicated and unnatural to us, is of Satan. Ultimately everything that Satan
whispers in your ear is meant to move you away from a deeper relationship with the Lord.
Nothing is new under the sun. Many of the same temptations we have today have something
in common with those the new converts in the Thessalonian church experienced. We will
read in the coming weeks where Paul encourages us, as he did the Thessalonians, to stand
firm in our faith, to be motivated to Christian service and sacrifice by the hope of Jesus'
return, and to sanctify our whole person as we wait actively, expectantly for His return.
Now, as we are about to finally get into reading Paul's letter, (I promise!), I want you to put
yourself in a place of what English Bible translator and scholar J.B. Phillips calls
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"imaginative sympathy" as we read Paul's letter. By that I mean I want you to think yourself
into Paul's mind and heart if you can, or into that of the new believers at Thessalonica
receiving Paul's letter. While we may lack a truly relatable knowledge of life in the first
century A.D., we all, all Christians, at least have in common with the Thessalonians the
experience of at some point having been new believers.
So, before we start reading, I want you to consider something as we try on our imaginative
sympathy hats for the first time. From time to time our church receives a letter or sometimes
a card, or a brief word of thanks from one among us who may have been sick, from a
missionary we support, or someone else, and we may take that letter or card and pin it to the
bulletin board out in the hall for people here to see. Nothing wrong with that way of sharing.
Well, in the first century church it was probably a bit different. As I said, put on your
imaginative sympathy hat and imagine the excitement when Paul's letter arrived and was
read to the Thessalonian church. Most likely the people would have gathered around as the
presiding elder at the church opened the scroll and began to read. "Paul and..." Right out
with the first word there would have been smiles all around the church that a letter had come
from their beloved Paul, and maybe even a sense of relief. From there the whole assembly
would have been hanging on every word to see what Paul had to say. It should be no
different for us today. What was Paul's personal letter to the early church is also God's
Word, his personal letter of timeless truth to us today. May we likewise "hang on every
word", focusing earnestly on what it has to say to us today. Let's begin.
I Thessalonians, Chapter 1, verse 1
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

This is a typical greeting from Paul, but don't miss that Paul doesn’t use the title apostle
here, not needing to establish his authority as it evidently was not in question with the
Thessalonians. He reminds the Thessalonian church that they are in God the Father and in
the Lord Jesus; one of the great ministries of the Holy Spirit is at the moment we trust
Christ, the Holy Spirit baptizes us or places us into the body of Christ, the church. (1 Cor.
12:13—“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”) Once you are saved it is
important for you to connect regularly with a local church body, a Bible-believing, Bible-
teaching fellowship of believers. That way you can be active in worshipping the Lord at
church, in being discipled as a new believer and later discipling others, in serving the body
and in being served by the body of Christ, and in imitating Christ by imitating other
believers who are worthy of imitation. Also in this first verse, Paul here, as elsewhere in
Scripture, extends the greeting “grace and peace to you.” These words capture the entirety
of our salvation, of our experience with God, and of His promises to us. Paul continues in
verse 2:
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2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
If someone wrote you or me a letter or e-mail, would they say they can always thank God for
you? Are there qualities in your life that cause other Christians to give thanks, and cause
them as they give thanks to continually pray for you? What a tremendous testimony about
the faithfulness of the Thessalonian church. Also, Paul giving thanks "always" in prayer
reminds us of how natural it was for Paul to pray, as natural as breathing, something he did
everywhere he went, at all times, in every circumstance, and for all issues great or small.
Paul prayed without ceasing! Martin Luther said, "To be a Christian without prayer is no
more possible than to be alive without breathing." There is no more honest measuring stick
for the level of our relationship with God than the quality of our prayer life. Now as Paul
thanked God for the Thessalonians in prayer, he did so, he says in verse 3:
3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
Paul is not only referring to the fact that the Thessalonians had trusted Christ by faith, but
that their lives demonstrated a work of faith! Work and faith always go hand in hand. John
Walvoord used to preach that work and faith were two oars in the same boat, that you
couldn't get somewhere without the two of them working together—faith without works is
dead, and works apart from faith is dead, too. I think we spend a lot of time in Christendom
today trying to separate the two to prove that works don't contribute to salvation. We don't
need to prove anything; God's word says it, salvation is a product 100 percent of God’s grace
through faith. De-emphasizing works in our life can be a dangerous ruse. We "were created
in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Eph 2), and part of the reason God perfects us, corrects
us, mends us, restores us, teaches us, and sanctifies us, is to establish in us a fitness for labor,
2 Tim 3:17-- "...so that the man of God may be adequate, prepared for every good work."
Paul saw this work of faith in the new Christians in Thessalonica.
Next Paul mentions their labor--labor that is inspired by love. A difficult task is in view
here, not something easy, but troublesome labor, which they were stimulated by love to bear.
If you truly love the Lord, you want to serve him. Love without labor is not really love. Our
labor before the Lord must be prompted by our love for the Savior. The third thing Paul
continually remembers as he prays for the church is their patience or endurance inspired by
their hope in Jesus Christ. When we face difficult times in life, we are supported and
enabled with an endurance or patience by the hope we have, every Christian, of a bright
future promised in Heaven with the Lord. Our hope is something far greater than the present
“blip” in eternity of our current circumstances. So we always have hope.
Where is your hope today? Is it in a political party? In a movement or some man-made
organization, in some charismatic leader? I hope not! No person in this world who has ever
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lived can solve the problems of this world, save the person of Jesus Christ. And he's going
to return and do just that, at precisely the right time. I read it earlier and I will say it again,
"All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to those who are called
according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28) The Thessalonians constantly looked forward with
great anticipation to the return of Christ to take them to be with himself. That was their
future hope, as it is ours. Now Paul continues in verse 4:
4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;
The word knowing here means knowing experientially—Paul had seen in their lives a
demonstration of their new birth--he's saying I know of your election, your being chosen,
because I can see it in your life! I wonder if people can see it in your life and mine that we
belong to the Lord Jesus, or do they wonder if something is lacking and they aren’t sure?
What if they have no idea? With the Thessalonians, Paul had no doubt about it.
Now, what does it mean to be chosen? Well, the word here for choice (some translations,
"election") is the same word Jesus used in Acts 9:15 when the story is recounted to us of
when he sent Annanias (after appearing to him in a vision) to visit the newly reborn Paul at
Damascus, and the Lord Jesus said, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My
name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel (we saw this fulfilled a few weeks
ago in Acts); for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake." To “bear
my name” means to bear witness about Christ before men. For Paul, and the Thessalonians,
and for us, as God's chosen people, there are many more things that come with being chosen
than being promised Heaven. We have great responsibility and opportunity to serve the
Lord this side of Heaven. Every person who has ever lived was made in the image of God,
so all are His image-bearers. But as chosen instruments of God, we are also His name-
bearers, and we can also expect to suffer for his name's sake. Bearing His name carries with
it the responsibility to guard Jesus’ reputation before men by living a holy life in step with,
or imitating, the life of Christ. We’ll talk about imitating Christ more in verse 6 next time.
But, do you realize that part of your responsibility before Almighty God is to guard Jesus’
reputation before men? That should give us pause, and it must impact how we live! The
nation of Israel got into a lot of trouble for not guarding God's reputation in the Old
Testament. Consider Ezekiel 36:22-23, "Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the
Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy
name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will vindicate the
holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have
profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord
God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight." God is no different today; he
jealously protects His name and His reputation, and you and I are His name and reputation-
bearers. The world around us is watching, and we must walk in such a way that unbelievers
will be won over without a word by the way we live (as in 1 Peter 3:1.) Our conduct carries
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more influence than anything we may say. St. Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel at
all times. If necessary, use words." Truly, we must walk worthy of our calling. Now, listen
to what Paul says in verse 5, the last verse we will cover today:
5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy
Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be
among you for your sake.
It would be easy for me to stand here and just read a sermon, easy for you to listen but only
hear mere words, for your eyes to move across the words of the verses on the page, and not
allow God's power to work through his Spirit in your heart and mine through the Word of
God. God wants it to impact our lives and transform us into the very image of Christ. As
you listen today, and when you go home and read the Bible, does it come to you in power,
and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction? How do we experience this power? God
doesn’t give us power; He has given all power to Christ. Jesus said, “All power is given
unto me in Heaven and in earth.” (Matt 28:18) Our resurrected Savior is the bearer and
mediator of all spiritual power. If you want the power, then you must have Christ, who
exercises it in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Then, we must have unstiffened hearts,
otherwise we suppress its ability to work in and through us.
The term “full conviction” here, or in some translations “in much assurance” means “most
certain confidence,” in other words confidence that what you are reading is indeed the Word
of God, and that it must be listened to, payed attention to, heeded and followed. Colossians
2:2 gives us more insight on what it calls, ”…full assurance of understanding, resulting in a
true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
If the Bible is in fact the Word of God, the God-ordained means for transformation of our
lives and of God revealing himself to us and all the hidden treasures of wisdom and
knowledge, then what is our excuse for spending only mere moments a day in it? We must
be more than just casual readers and Sunday morning studiers of God’s Word. We've got to
commit ourselves to more than that! Your heart and your walk must be yielded to the Lord
for you receive his word in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction. Don’t
settle in your life, don’t be content with, anything less than the holiness of heart to which
God is calling you when he says, “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” (Lev. 19:2)
and from Jesus in Matt 5:44, “…be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” If you
aren’t striving for that today, if you aren’t experiencing God’s Word coming to you in power
and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, right where you sit, then beloved, what are
you doing? Sitting on the sidelines, or up in the stands somewhere watching life go by,
politely applauding in your heart when you hear a good sermon, or maybe filing away what
you read in the Bible as useful information? Christianity is not a spectator sport! You
weren't chosen by God to sit on the sidelines and watch while you kick the dirt and wait
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 around for God to beam you up to Heaven and give you your standard-issue halo!
Christianity today prepares you for Heaven tomorrow.
You say, well I’ve tried before, and I really want to live the life God wants me to, but I’ve
messed it all up, I just make too many mistakes and I’ve learned to just live with them, I
could never be perfect—rubbish! We’ve all made mistakes! “All have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God.” You’re missing the point! We must be of the mind that we aim
for perfection, or better said, being perfected by God. Listen to what Paul said in Philippians
3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on
so that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not
regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The “it” Paul is referring to here is to know Him, to
know Christ! That is the ultimate goal; that is the point! To be perfected by fully knowing
Jesus Christ! Paul is telling us that to achieve it, to know Him, you’ve got to get in the
game, forget what has already been attained--put the past behind you; you need to set new
spiritual goals and run the race to achieve them, keeping your eyes fixed on Christ! Start
with a simple goal, like reading the Bible every day, with the goal to read the entire Bible
this year. And with praying every day, laying your heart bare before Almighty God.
Knowing Jesus is the ultimate goal! That is eternal life, John 17:3, “…that they may know
You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
I read recently about a great example applying Paul’s exhortation to us to “forget what lies
behind” and to focus on what lies ahead with our eyes fixed on Christ. It was in a speech
delivered at the Keswick Convention by Evan Hopkins many years ago, and stresses the
importance of where our focus lies. “If you are looking at your work, (or anything else in
the past) your progress will be little. There was a certain ploughman, a good man, an
excellent servant in many ways, but I heard a farmer say he was a miserable ploughman
because, while he was driving the plough, he was continually looking back to see if he made
a straight furrow; the consequence was it was always a crooked one. There is only one way
to drive a plough—steadily to look before you. Do not look (back) at your attainments
(accomplishments), but (look) to the Lord1.” The Lord Jesus synthesized this illustration
down in direct, simple words in Luke 9:62, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and
looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” If that sounds like a hard lesson, it is! Looking
back often ends in going back! Don't even look back! Remember Lot's wife. She had
divided interests and looked back and tried to cling to her old way of life, and in so doing
lost her life like [snap fingers] that! There may be some here today that are doing the same
thing, just dying a lot slower death. You've got your hand on the plough, ready to follow
1
ed. by Herbert F. Stevenson. (n.d.). Keswick’s Authentic Voice.

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Jesus, or about to go deeper with Him, but you're looking back, clinging to the ways of this
world. Your interests are divided. Beloved, make up your mind today about what you are
going to do; spend your life for Jesus’ sake, bearing Jesus' name and guarding well his
reputation before men, and in so doing you will find life! Real life--eternal life--a life
continually perfected by knowing Jesus Christ, a life spent preparing for the life to come.
To do that we must keep our eyes fixed forward on the Lord, and that all starts with coming
before Him, to His word and in prayer, often, earnestly seeking him. When you begin to
seek after the Lord, the Holy Spirit will cultivate a passion within you for the Word and for
knowing God. Theologian D.A. Carson warns us about what happens if you don't seek the
Lord thusly, “Where there is no passion for the Word of God, other passions take over.”
Ask God to create a passion in your heart for His Word and for knowing Him, that your
delight might be in His ways, and your full faith and trust in Christ alone.
I took us on a detour to Philippians to give us a clearer picture of where our hearts and the
habits of our lives need to be focused for us to receive the Word of God in power, and in the
Holy Spirit, and with full conviction. Now as we close let me try and relate to you what the
experience looks like to me in everyday life. It isn't a mountain top experience most of the
time, and it doesn't come with signs and wonders, but this is as real as I can put it to you. I
have to confess that there is not a time in my life when I’ve come to God’s Word humbly,
with a penitent, receptive, unstiffened heart, or come to church likewise and heard a sermon,
that the Lord hasn’t shown me some personal, practical application for my life. And my ears
were bent and the Holy Spirit was stirring, working in my heart, and I thought, yes Lord, I
know what you are saying is true, I must listen to it and I must do it! That is God’s Word
coming to you in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction. The Word of God
plus the convicting power of the Holy Spirit equals transformational dynamite in our lives!
When we set our gaze on Jesus and walk in His ways, the Holy Spirit can take the Word of
God and make it real to us. To experience that in its fullness we must be faithful, daily
students of this life-giving, life-transforming Word of God! Such is the challenge that I
believe the Lord tasks us with as we close today. Let’s pray.
Father, give us a passion for your Word and a desire to know you fully, even as we are fully
known by you, that we may receive your Word in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with
full conviction, that it may change our lives. Stir in our hearts that we may continually be
reminded to fix our eyes forward on you, Lord, so we may know you and so we can discover
and do your good and perfect will. We ask it in Jesus precious name, amen.

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