For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true GodFor they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
6 sermons cite this verse
For they themselves declared concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Here it comes, verse 10. And to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, here it comes, who delivers us from the, what? Wrath to come. Mark it in your notes. The word wrath in the Greek language is not the word for hell. It's not hell. Jesus didn't, look, he's talking to the believers who have already been saved. He gives them verse 10 and he tells them, I've got a really great infusion of hope for you. I'm blessed by you. I'm blessed by your witness, church. That is, you are waiting for his son from heaven. What son? The one he raised from the dead, the one and only Jesus, who delivers us from the indignation, wrath, judgment, the vengeance. The word mean all that. That little word wrath means all of those things. …
… and it has a purpose and it has a design. May our story be that story of 1 Thessalonians 1.9 where Paul writes, you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It doesn't have to go in just one way. You can turn from idols and serve the living and true God. Turn, turn, turn, and Christ will be there with open arms. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy word, inspired and inerrant. Shape our lives by it. Give us ears to receive it and hearts to believe in Jesus.
… So it came to you, came from you through all these places. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you. And I love this little phraseology, how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Now look at that again. You turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. In that verse are the three tenses of the Christian life. Past, present, future. You turned, past tense, to God from idols. to serve, present tense, the living and true God, verse 10, and to wait for his son from heaven, future tense, past, present, future. There are the three tenses of the Christian life. To wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Now, I think this ties in beautifully with verse 3 of chapter 1, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope. faith looks back to a crucified Savior. …
… We turn and we serve the living God, not dead idols. 1 Thessalonians 1.9. Again, we'll look at a little more of it. He said, they tell us how you turn to God from idols. Why did you turn? The reason you turned is to serve the living and true God. You turn from the dead idols to the living and the true God. Paul doesn't just say turn, but turn and serve. And who do you serve? You serve the living God. What's the problem with idols? A lot of things. First of all, they're lifeless. They're dead. They're deceptive. They promise freedom, but they enslave us. they promise happiness don't they every advertiser if you get it you'll be happy and you get it and you're still empty they're dead but our god is alive his word is alive it's living it's active it's powerful our god is living he he hears your prayers, our God moves, our God saves, our God is powerful. So what do you do? You turn from sin to God to serve. Now watch this. Turning to God to save you. That happens one time. You repent of your sins and you call on Jesus and he hears the cries of your heart and he makes you brand new. …
… this inheritance. What is that word of truth? He doesn't say it here, but that's what the whole chapter is about. When I baptized Donna, I read a verse out of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 9. And that's a perfect example of how Paul loves to put the gospel, the word of truth, in a single sentence. He does it all the time. He said, you turn from idols to serve the living and true God and wait for his son, Jesus Christ, who has rescued us from the coming wrath. There it is. Do you believe that there's one true God? Secondly, do you believe that Jesus is his son? Thirdly, do you believe that he died to rescue you from wrath, that you deserve God's wrath because of your sins? And then fourthly, have you then seen that your real problem in life is that you were worshiping the wrong things? That's the real reason you're miserable? That everybody has to worship something, and so we're all worshiping some kind of idols? And did you turn and say, I see that you're the true God. I see that Jesus died for my sins to rescue me from the wrath that I deserve. And I turn from worshiping anything else, and I commit myself to you. Have you ever done that? See, that's the word of truth. One verse. I know you've got the whole Bible. I know there's tons of theological books written, but Paul can always put the truth, the word of …
… so that we need not speak anything. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised up from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Well, we want to talk to you a little bit about the gospel ministry, serving the Lord. Now, preaching is more than words, but it includes words. And I want to talk to you young men about how to have power in the pulpit. and I speak not only to them, but I speak to every man on our staff, including the man standing behind the pulpit. I speak also to all of our teachers and all of the leaders and all of the witnesses in our church. Now look first of all, and I want you to think of the content of Paul's preaching. Notice in verse 5, for he says, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, However, it means that it did come in word. …