Sermon Notes

"First Thessalonians 1:

The Macedonian Call"

By Brother Parrish Lee

July 2^nd, 2017

Amen. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. You may be seated. I hope everybody had a great time at service today. We could, we could go home. I want to tell everybody. Not just because we sang a song, just because God is that good. Every day. I can't get over how good He is! Every time I think God is just great, He does some more. Anybody found that to be true? He is a good God! His power to reconcile; His ability to move in our lives. What a God! What a God we serve. What a mighty God we serve. What a rich God we serve. What a merciful God! What a gracious God! What a long-suffering—and I need God to be long-suffering with me. I'm hard-headed, sometimes hard-hearted, filled up with my own ways, I want my way, and I need God to be able to come in and say, “You're on your thing again, Parrish, but, never you mind, I am God, and I am able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you could ask or even think.” You—I--He is that God for us!

You know, I know we've got a message today, but this is the message, and that is the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a shame that the world don't turn to him. It really is! It's a shame that they don't come and say, “You know what? Let me find out what they're talking about. Let me find out what these Christians—I think they're a little caught up. Let me go over there—I think they're a little caught up, but let me get on my knees, let me find out what it is that they're talking about.” That marvelous Gospel might shine into their lives, that their heart might be opened. I was one of them; I was one of them, and then, one lonely day, I was just seeking a different god, and God opened my heart, and let me know that I was praying to a god who had no power, who had no mercy; his blood did nothing. And there was just a God who existed who was above all that I could envision in my little mind. There was a God who existed that didn't care how I was raised, who didn't care if I did wrong or if I got done wrong. He didn't care about all that; He was still God. Hallelujah! Thank You! The world needs to know. The world needs to know, Saints, the world needs to know. The world needs to know. Waukegan needs to know. Gurnee needs to know. Lincolnshire needs to know. Baltimore needs to know. Chicago needs to know. America needs to know. North America, Africa, Russia, they all need to know this Jesus. They need to know Jesus! There's no other way. No other way. He is the answer, the only way, the only Truth, and the only life. And He has never lost; He has never lost. Oh, He's never lost! Even when they thought that they had gotten rid of Him, even when they thought this Son of God, who was—I know; I now the message is coming, and I'll shorten it up, okay? I'll shorten it up, because this has got to be said. Even when they thought that they were putting Him down, even when they think, today, that they can shut Jesus down, even when they do, all it takes is for just one—God ain't looking for a crowd, He's looking for just one to say, “It's Jesus.” Just one. He ain't impressed by numbers. Just one soul to say, “Lamb of God, Jesus, I say it out loud, I call on Your name.” Just one. God ain't never needed a crowd of people to do nothing. He's filled people who were alone—in fact, if you're honest, you can have the greatest move of God through your life when you're alone, when you're alone. When you're alone, and you're about to go through a little something, God on His throne, sees what's happening. You might not have other people that are around, but the angels are around! They sing the song, they lift you up, they make up the crowd. Great God in Heaven! It needs to be said. It needs to be said. We've got to tell everybody! We have got to tell everybody! “I can't tell people; I'm shy.” It doesn't matter that you're shy! “But, I don't know...” It doesn't matter what you know. He didn't call you because you're loud, he didn't call you because you're so smart, he called you to make you one of His. That's why. You don't do the work; He does the work! Yes, God. Yes, Jesus.

Hello, everybody. I did promise to take some of that off the message so we won't be here too long. Oh, God. Anybody else in love this morning? Anybody else got that love of God this morning? Not asking about in your home, or what kind of things you're going through; don't want to know what you're going through. I'm asking you, are you in love this morning? Oh, my Jesus! Oh, whenever you just get a taste, just a taste... Just a touch... Oh, my goodness! Samson, after he got just a little Spirit of God came upon him, could slay a thousand people. But he said, “Oh, I'll tell you what it is, it's sweeter than honey! It's sweeter than honey, and that's the sweetest thing I know. And it's stronger than a lion, and that's the strongest thing I know.” “What is it? What is it?” It is that miraculous, awesome, wonder-working power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm sorry; it's hard to let go. It is hard to let go. You know, when you give audience to God, He's faithful to show up. He is faithful; you give it to Him, He's going to do something with it. He will, He will, He does, He does, He is, He is.

Giving honor to God, who is the head of our lives. Giving honor to that wonderful creator, that magnificent One, the omnipotent One, that omniscient One, the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-doing. That God. That God that loves us more than we love ourselves. He, who, all the way from Golgotha, from Calvary's throne, came and saw every single one of us, and loved us enough to raise His hands and die for us. Giving honor to our God, our Lord, and our Savior. Giving honor to all of those who have come and gone before us, all the way down from the ones that we read about in the marvelous Word of God, all the way down to those who were the incorporators of this ministry, this ministry here, from our founding pastor, he and his family, our pastor, now, he and his family, and all those who have stood in the gap to make up the hedge. I'm thankful, every day that there have been people for me to fall to, to come to, who would stand and let their lives be a hazard for the Gospel, an example, that I could—somebody like me, a little self-righteous kid from Baltimore, a Muslim guy—Black Muslim, at that, thought he knew more than everybody else—people could be that example, and I could see that there are people who know, actually know, the One true, honest, and living God. Giving honor to all of those who have come, stood in the gap, to make up the hedge. And, giving honor to all of y'all, who present yourselves before that true and mighty God and say, “As the Lord taught us to pray, 'Give us this day our daily bread.'” Amen. Giving honor to all of you who are here today.

We have taken, for ourselves, this month, to talk—actually, this month and next month, we're going to be talking about the two books: First and Second Thessalonians. And, I'll tell you, it is exciting. Every part of the Word of God is exciting, but, when you, every time you get into it it's a new excitement. I was excited before, but, every time, I mean, that's how unsearchable God is. He don't give you an old excitement, it's, all new, all over again. That is the God we serve. It's just been marvelous, and I pray, I pray that we are fed according as God has distributed to every man that measure of faith.

I'm going to ask Brother Jeff Interiano if he would come, and we're going to read our Scripture thought for today, the first one, and it's going to be from the Book of Acts, chapter sixteen, verses number nine and ten. Brother Jeff, if you would:

Acts 16:9-10 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

Thank you, Brother Jeff. If we could bow our heads for just a moment. Almighty God, You are the One. You are He, who is the creator and sustainer of all things. You are bringing us into Your presence, God, and we are not worthy; we don't deserve it, but You made us sons and daughters of Yours. You, the omnipotent One, have grafted us into Your vine. We thank You, this morning, to be able to come, to mention, call, and glorify Your name. You, alone, are worthy. You, alone, are worthy. And we ask, now, God, as we come before You, we present ourselves that we might learn and be nurtured and nourished by Your precious Word. God, that You would distribute to every single one of us what You have for us thus day, that Your Word might not return unto You void, but, as You said, to accomplish that to which You sent it. And we claim this, we claim this, as we present ourselves, that You are the God of these things, and, so, this we claim and pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said amen. Amen.

Well, as you can see—as we can see from Acts sixteen, verses nine and ten, there is a vision that appeared to Paul in the night, and there stood a man of Macedonia, praying him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” That is the beginning of our Scripture text for today. That is our foundation. Thank you so much, Brother Andy, for being able to bring that song, and I do believe God has a witness for what He has for us to do, and that is to listen to all of those who are doing the call, saying, “Come over and help us. Come over; we need you. We need you to come and bring what you have to us that we might have that same thing, that same hope, that same ability, that same birth, to be born again, to have Him for our Eternal Father.

But, first, if we're going to be talking about the Books of Thessalonians, let's first get just a little background on this. Thessalonica was a city that was in Macedonia, and it was, actually, the second most prominent city in Macedonia. Macedonia, which was—today we know it as Greece. And, it was actually at the intersection of two roads, two Roman roads. And Romans, the Romans had built really good roads for transport. It's not like it is today. Today, you see roads all over the place. The government takes care of them with our taxes; making sure that, if you get a pot-hole, make a phone call and gets somebody's attention, and they take care of it. They go ahead and fill it in because they realize how important those roads are. But, there weren't as many of them back then; they didn't have machines to make roads. They didn't have the technology way back when. So, they had two good roads, especially the Roman roads, intersecting, that would have been a major place for transport. And, it was also a city that was located by the Aegean Sea, over by the Aegean Sea, so it was a port city. So, it both was an intersecting place, and it also was a place of transport. And, so, this is why people would live there. It was the second most prominent city and it went on to become the most prominent city, later on, in the area of Macedonia. And, Thessalonica, itself, it was mostly a Gentile city, but they did have a synagogue there. So, that meant that there was a gathering of Jews there, in the city of Thessalonica. And that is just a little bit of background.

But, we're going to be going through the first chapter, most of the first chapter, this morning. Verse number one, First Thessalonians, chapter one, verse number one. The Bible says that:

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus; three wonderful brothers, but, here, Silvanus, you might not be familiar with the long version of his name; the shortened version of his name you are very familiar with, and that is, Silas. This was Silas. So, if we were reading it in a comfortable way for us, we would say, “Paul, and Silas, and Timotheus...” which would put a little bit of a different light on what we're talking about. But, he wishes that, not just the brethren who were at Thessalonica, he says, unto the church, unto the church of the Thessalonians. And he wishes to them two things: He says, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Verse number two:

1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

We thank God for you. This is something that could easily be read over and not taken seriously, not taken into our heart, but, if we would just take a moment: When we thank God for something, that we be to acknowledge that we—when we thank anybody for something, that is to acknowledge that we appreciate it, and it really does make a difference in our life. When you thank—when you are thankful for something, you acknowledge that it is appreciated, and it makes a difference in your life. Unless, of course, you were raised like I was raised; my mom and grandmom made sure that, no matter what it was, you said, “Thank you,” after you got anything. You get a bill, you say, “Thank you.” You speed, and get a ticket, you get it from the cop; “Thank you.” Don't matter what it is, you say, “Thank you.” But, I know, especially as you get older, you're supposed to say, “Thank you,” and it means you appreciate it and it makes a difference in your life. And, in fact, when you pray for something, as he mentioned, “...in our prayers...” and we know that, when we, as Christians, pray for something, what we are saying is, it is worthy of our prayers, it is worthy of our prayers. Because, we don't pray for anything that we don't think is worthy of prayer. Christians don't do that; we don't just throw begonias out into the sky. We don't just throw prayers away. When we pray, we pray, we mean it. So, to make mention of you in our prayers is to say, “You are worthy of our prayers,” and, God sees this. In fact, God knows that, “I'll see how worthy it is to you; how much worth it is to you by the length and the magnitude you spend on prayer. I will see how much it really means to you.” When you're in trouble, you can see people really pray. They tell me, and I've known a few people, and they've said, “You know, when I was in jail, I really prayed. I could get done. I could pray; I could reach some depths.” Yeah, yeah, because it really meant something to you a whole lot was freedom, safety, protection, and good food; maybe all those things. And I'd like to have a job and my family. I'd like to have all of those things so that I could really reach depth, because, at that time, everybody was gone away. So, Christians really spend time, worthy time, and pray, and the magnitude of their time that is spent in prayer determines—it shows how much worth it is to them. Verse number three:

1 Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

A common theme throughout the New Testament, a common theme throughout the New Testament: Work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope. From the Book of First Corinthians chapter thirteen, and verse number thirteen—a common theme throughout the New Testament, a common theme throughout even the letters of Paul:

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

And, just as a quick side note, there: “...the greatest of these is charity.” The Bible says that where there are prophecies, they shall fail, where there are tongues, they shall cease (1 Corinthians 13:8). As great and wonderful and as awesome as the gifts of God are, these three abide: Faith, hope, and charity, and, when we receive that which we had hoped for, we don't need to hope for it any more, so hope has an ending. And, when you have faith toward something, when I accomplishes what you had that faith for, you don't need to have faith, because it's already been accomplished. But charity, the Bible says, never fails , it never ceases, it never goes away. That is the one that is forever, charity is. Charity never fails. This is a common theme throughout the New Testament and the letters of Paul.

A work of faith—if we could talk a little bit about that work of faith. He said, “...work of faith...” and we have to say, we have to say, what work does our faith do? What work does our faith do? And, here, Apostle Paul addresses the Thessalonians, and he teaches them that he, and those that were with him, they remembered the work that their faith did, that they remembered the work that their faith did, and, if they remembered it, so do others, so do others.

I need to make a point, here: Brother Andy mentioned, just a little while ago, about we've had people in our families and in this congregation who have passed, and they've gone on to their reward, and, most recently was, of course, Mike Hooks. And, yes, some of us thought he was going to recover, in fact, I went to visit him on Saturday, and there was a group of people there. Brother Arman, you left, and, you came out of there, and who would know? Who would know? And then, Sunday, some other people came, and they visited, and I was actually fully expecting to go back on Monday, really expecting to go back. It was so sudden, it was such a surprise. And we've had people that have passed, and gone on to their reward, but, in the ministry, in the ministry, those believers, those who take that example of God and that dictate of God very earnestly, they put it, and make it their business to visit the sick and the shut-in. Those who are in need. They make it their business, because they've determined in their lives that they are going to hear, “Get on My right, because you are My sheep. Because you sought Me,” the Lord will say, “when I was sick, and you visited Me.” Yes, yes, that. And I wanted to say your work of faith, your work of faith in doing all of your visitations, and giving out of yourselves, none of that is going to be laid by the wayside. None of that is going to be forgotten. None of that is in vain. God holds onto every part of that. In fact, in the Book of Hebrews chapter six and verse number ten, the Bible says that:

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

God is not unrighteous to forget any of it. That's worth saying a third time: God is not unrighteous to forget any work and labor of love which you show toward His name in that you minister to the Saints. It's never forgotten; it never goes away. It is not by the wayside. It is not in vain. Every one of them is recorded before God. Every one of them is what God expects His people to do. That what God expects out of us.

Labor of love: The second part of verse number three. Your work of faith, and your labor of love, and, yes, people remember what our love does. Yeah, people remember what our love does, and Apostle Paul makes the point, here. “Yeah, we remember what your love did. We remember what you did in the name of love, that you have ministered to us. We remember it all. And, if we remember it, so do others. They remember that labor of love.”

And patience of hope, patience of hope. The Bible says that hope maketh not ashamed.

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

What this says is that, the reason you live like you do, and the reason you carry yourself like you do, and the reason you love like you do, and, at times, put yourself last, like you do, is because you have a hope. And your hope, the Christians that really have a taste of God, a taste of that good hope, that hope makes them not ashamed of what they do, no matter where you go. Somebody says, “Why are you spending your time doing that? It's waste of time!” I've seen Christians, young and old, black, white, Spanish, Filipino, Asian, whatever, I've seen Christians up and down, forward and back, male and female, I've seen them take a stand and shake that right off. “I have been called of God, and I love the Lord my God. It is Him that I do my works before. And my hope is rested, assured, and new.” And I've seen believers, they get bold about what God has done for them, and will continue to do. In the Book of Philippians chapter one and verse number twenty:

Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

I am not ashamed, and with all boldness, I come out and I let people know. It's all about Jesus. It's all about the Lord that saved my soul. It's all about Him. Verse number four:

1 Thessalonians 1:4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

Andy, as you were reading this morning, I was thinking, “Oh, you could just take it right there, because it's right there. The whole message is right there! You could start, and take it right there!” “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” Election, that you have been elected, that you have been chosen; not a carnal election, but a Godly election. That you have been chosen by the great Creator. That the God who has elected you as an individual believer unto eternal life. Chosen unto eternal life, because we obeyed what God has said. Chosen, elected, unto eternal life. Verse number five, verse number five:

1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

As ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. Not in word only, but also in power. There's a popular saying throughout the world today—you don't even have to be older to know this saying—it is, to practice what you preach. Practice what you preach. I'm sure all of us have heard that before. Anybody not hear that before? Practice what you preach? Amen. Practice what you preach; that saying has root in the Gospel. Not to just come in word only, but also in power. Yeah, Apostle Paul makes this distinction, because, you see, at that time, they didn't have these nice little gadgets that we have in our hands today that we carry around and we've got all the information we need. Amen. In fact, they didn't have daily newspapers, or even weekly newspapers. If there was some news, they'd have a crier, and he would come out, and he would have to get it from the right source, and he would cry out the news. And they didn't always have that. So, sometimes people would take advantage. You'd have somebody, and they'd walk the city or wherever you were, and they would try to bedevil you with words, and they'd have nice speech, and it would have a certain amount of reason, and it would be entertaining, and people would come, and they would give a little obeisance if you came and did that. But, Apostle Paul makes the distinction that this word did not come—his words came not in word only, but also in power, in power in the Holy Ghost, power in the Holy Ghost. And, you know what? I've got to say this: It wasn't his own power. It wasn't some power that he could attribute to himself. They saw what was in him was greater than him. It wasn't magical, it wasn't some mystic thing, but it was something that was divine and purposeful. They would see that, and they were drawn to it. Verse number six:

1 Thessalonians 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

Now, there's power of the Holy Ghost, and, here, there's joy of the Holy Ghost. They accepted the Word; he said, “...having received the Word in much affliction...” They accepted the Word when it wasn't convenient. But, this joy of the Holy Ghost, this joy of the Holy Ghost—we've got to say this—we've got to say—and this ought to be said everywhere, because, the truth of the matter is, we've all seen and known Christians who might be going through a little something, and might not have their vision tuned quite right. And I've been caught up, myself, and, you know, when I get to complaining about something, critical about something, and, in fact, we, as Christians, have even been party in some conversations where we heard, maybe, another Christian—nobody raise their hands, please—but we've heard, maybe, another Christian, almost like it's a drudgery. “Being a Christian, I had to give certain things up. I can't do some of those things no more. Being a Christian, I had to change, and I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I looked back across Jordan, and see what was on the other side again, and, sometimes, it seems like there's a lot of fun over there.” We've got to say this, we've got to say this: Christians who would say that something could be any ways nearly as desirable as that great grace of God, having their eyes fixed on the wrong thing. I've heard it—I've been caught up in it a time or two, and then God will come across, and say, “Wait a minute! Wait one minute!” If you ever get caught up, thinking, “Oh, if I wasn't so—maybe, instead of going to church on Sunday, maybe I could take my ease. If I wasn't so much of a Christian, maybe I could listen to some of that music that don't glorify God, watch a couple of them shows. Maybe I could really tell people how I feel sometimes, if. I wasn't. a Christian.” Wait one minute. That is what God delivered us from. That is what the Lord came, shed His blood, covered all of our sins, so that I could be washed in Grace, so that I could have that love, that unspeakable joy that passes all understanding. When get to thinking, wait a minute, I didn't have God as my Father before, the Creator of the universe, the great omnipotent—He—this wasn't a personal thing before, and, now, I actually have access to that great, wonderful God. Wait a minute! What could top that? What could top that love—there's all types of love: There's the love of your mom and dad, there's the love of your kids, there's sibling love, there's love of a good friend, there's love—there's romantic love. There's all types of love, there's love for a pet, there's love for a car, but none of them can top—there's all kinds of love, but this love, I've never known nothing like this. “Oh, Brother Parrish, what are you talking about? You're not married!” No, I'm not married, and I don't have kids, but, this type of joy that comes in, you can't break that. It's never going to—and, you know what? God is not the one who ever disappoints you or makes you angry; He’s the One who watches out for your soul! It is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Joy of the Holy Ghost. What, what, what a wonderful promise to have. Joy in the Holy Ghost, and power. Power to live right and walk right. Power to say 'no' to the things I need to say 'no' to. Power to say 'yes' to the things I need to say 'yes' to. Power and joy in the Holy Ghost. Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine, going along with this joy of the Holy Ghost:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

What God wants to give us. What He wants to give us. How He wants to bless us. He's got it already made up, it's already ready for us, we just might not be ready for it. Joy of the Holy Ghost. And, yes, yes, make no mistake about it, Saints, when you receive the Holy Ghost, you receive joy. There is joy with the Holy Ghost; that's not up for dispute. There is joy in the Holy Ghost. Verse number seven:

1 Thessalonians 1:7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

Ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. Ensamples. Now, ensample, or, a sample of the end, or example, we know it more closely by, is, this is an actual, you are an ensample, you are a shape of what that is, or, you are a statue, or, more specifically, you are a model to all those—and it says, to all, right? To all they that believe in Macedonia. Now, in First Timothy, it says to be an example of the believers. Those who have gone on before you, you are what we model ourselves after.

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

But, here, in First Thessalonians chapter one and verse seven, he says be an example to the believers. To be an example to the believers, in other words, those who are coming, as others have been an example or a model to you, you are required to be an example to others. We are in a twixt, where we are both an example of the believers, and we are an example to the believers. Hah! Great God in Heaven; He gave us a way to follow, and He gave us those who will follow us. Great God in Heaven! Verse number eight:

1 Thessalonians 1:8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

Evangelism! Every place, if your faith is to God-ward, it's spread abroad. Evangelism, from you, he makes the point, the Word sounded, not just in Macedonia and Achaia, not just in the close places, but it's spread out all over, not just in that region, but all over.

I have a couple of examples I want to share right quickly, and one example is, years ago, I met a woman who was about to get married, and she was over, and I was helping them set up things, I would just be a helper or whatever. And, as I met—I knew her husband, but I didn't know her—and, as I met her, and told her my name, she said, “Oh, I know you.” And I looked at her, and I said, “I don't really remember you.” And she says, “Oh,” she said, “You were helping out in a youth group, and my niece was part of your youth group. And she would come back after every service, and after every youth event, and she would tell the whole family everything, all the details about the great time she had.” And, when I remembered this young lady, I didn't remember ever having more than a small conversation with her. But she would tell about the great times she had with the other youth leaders and the other people. Something that was great to her, she shared abroad, and that is why this lady, that I never knew, knew about our ministry.

And, I've got another example: Some time ago, when there was a conference, there was a brother who was in the Navy—I had been out for a few years, and, no, this isn't about me, please. But, the fact is, that this brother, who was in the Navy, came up to me smiling, and he said, “Hey, I met somebody on my ship.” And I was like, “Oh, yeah? Who?” And he told me the guy's name, and I was like, “Oh! Yeah, I know him. As a matter of fact, when I was getting ready to get out, the last year and a half or so, he was a nub.” He was a new, stubby guy coming in, he was one of the guys that you teach and show around. I was like, “Yeah, he was really, really green.” And this brother was laughing. He said, “He came to me, after knowing me for a few months, and he said, he said to me, that I reminded him,” this brother that was speaking, “I reminded him of some people that he knew on his previous ship.” And the brother said to this man, “Oh? Who is that?” And he named the five of us that were on the U.S.S. Texas. The five of us. And he said, “Oh, yeah, I know them, they're brothers in my church. They're good people.” And he said, “Yeah, you act just like them.” Yeah. Yeah.

So, we see, this Gospel is noised abroad. And, the last one, the last example I'm going to share, is that, I was at work, and a person was coming, he was a salesperson, he was trying to sell stuff, and he worked at this company, there were several brothers that worked there. This was years and years ago. He worked there, and the guy came in, and when he told me the name of the company, I said, “Oh, I know somebody that works there.” And he said, “Oh, you do? Who? Maybe I know him.” and I said, “Jim Bailey.” And he said, “Oh, Jim Bailey. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I know him, blah, blah, blah. Nice guy. Blah, blah, blah.” And we talked for maybe a minute, and we laughed, joked a little bit, and then he said—he got real serious, didn't even matter what he was trying to sell to all the people around, he said, “So, are you a Christian, too?” That's what he knew about Jim. And he brought it right to me; if I knew Jim, that's the only term he figured I could know him by, because that is the strongest part of his testimony. “Are you a Christian, also?”

So, this noise of your testimony is noised abroad. And you don't even see it. You don't even know how it affects people. You don't even know how closely people are watching. And he says this to the Thessalonians: that it's noised abroad. And the last part of that Scripture is, “...so that we need not to speak any thing.” because your testimony has permeated so much that they are familiar with what the next group of Christians are going to say, because your life preaches it.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 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;

“...how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;” And, lastly, verse number ten:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

This, this could have been our theme for the month. “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead...” “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead...” “...whom he raised from the dead...” Gives a whole new permanence and importance to, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) Jesus rose, and we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death, that, like as Jesus was rose, we, also, should walk in newness of life. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5) We shall. Yes, this Jesus, even this same Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Hallelujah. Give the Lord a praise.

           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd