Turn back to the book of Thessalonians or the letter of the Thessalonians, first Thessalonians, and we'll be looking again at chapter 1, verse 1. First Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 1. Once again, this is God's Holy Word. Paul and Selveinus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. Again, may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Holy Word. Let us go to Lord and prayer, dear Heavenly Father. We thank you truly that we do stand forgiven at the cross. And Lord, now as we come into this preaching hour, we pray that you will remind us of this as we hear your Word, Lord. We thank you for your Word, the Word that transformed, the Word that edifies, the Word that convicts, and the Word that will bring us, Lord, it gives us the hope of heaven. Father, we pray that you will have your way at this time, Lord, like you have in every part of this service so far. Lord, give me the words that I should say, hold back the words that I should not say, and ultimately, let Christ be glorified for all of it. And we ask your blessings in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. As we continue this yearlong study of the salutations of Paul and among the New Testament churches, today what I would like for us to examine is Paul's first greeting to the Church of the Thessalonians. Now what makes this particular letter stand out among all the other letters which Paul wrote is that this first letter to the Thessalonians really doesn't address any issues of concern. For example, like in the case of the letter to the Galatians where we saw Paul passionately defend the authenticity of the gospel and like in the case of the Philippians where we saw Paul deal with issues on how that congregation was to interact with one another, this first letter to the Thessalonians has more of a praiseworthy, celebratory, keep up the good work tone attached to it. Now to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I want to take you to three passages in this letter that will show this. The first passage we'll see, we'll look at is found in verses five and seven here in chapter one. So if you have your Bibles look with me at first Thessalonians chapter one verses five through seven and it's here where we'll find that Paul is praising the Thessalonians for receiving the gospel in the midst of turmoil. Let us read that passage. It reads, for our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and the Holy Spirit and with full conviction just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Now watch this, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers and Macedonia and Okea. So again, here in verses five and seven we see Paul in the midst of turmoil praising the Thessalonians for standing strong in the word of God. Now flip over to chapter three. Flip over to chapter three and we'll look at verses four through seven and it's here where we'll see that Paul is praising the Thessalonians for their support and faithfulness to him. Chapter three verses four through seven reads, for indeed when we were with you we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction. And so it came to pass, as you know, for this reason when I could endure it no longer I also sent to find out about your faith. For fear that the temper might, the temper might have tempted you and our labor would be in vain. Now watch this, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always think kindly of us longing to see us just as we also long to see you for this reason brethren in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith. Now as we know many people left Paul when he went through his afflictions during his ministry, but Paul here is praising the Thessalonians in chapter three for not leaving him, but rather by staying by him and staying faithful to him even in the midst of the persecution he was facing. Let's look at one more passage in chapter four looking at verse one. Chapter four verse one. And it's here where we see Paul praising the Thessalonians for living out there calling in the Lord. Chapter four verse one reads, finally then brethren we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us instruction as how you ought to walk and please God just as you actually do walk that you excel still more. So this is what Paul is saying. He's saying listen I want to leave a request. I want to exhort you on how you ought to walk in the Lord, but you're already doing it well so just basically excel more in it. So as we see if there's something of a model church in the New Testament, the church of the Thessalonians would really fit that bill. Now as a point of caution, I don't want to give you the impression that this church had no problems. You know like every church in the New Testament and every church in general, the Thessalonian church was made up of sinners who needed God's grace. So even though we don't read of any issues, because this church had sinners within it, we know that everything wasn't always rosy. But nevertheless, what the church of the Thessalonians does model is how believers should show maturity in grace. How believers ought to respond when they both understand and are impacted by the truths of the gospel in every circumstance and that is what Paul in essence is praising them for and celebrating with them in this letter. Now as we turn our attention back to Paul's salutation, this morning what I want to do is focus on this theme of celebration and look at three things that Paul mentions within it that should be a source of joy to us as Christians. And equally it's my prayer that these three things that we talk about will serve as a means of our maturing in grace as we continue to walk our Christian journey. Now the first thing Paul mentions in his salutation, that should be a source of celebration to us as Christians, is that as believers we are God's church. As believers we are God's church. Verse one Paul addresses this letter in this manner. He says to the church of the Thessalonians. Now as a point of clarity and for some reminder, I feel it necessary to define what exactly is a church. Well the Greek word for church is the word ecclesia. And it's a compound word meaning that it's one word that's made up of two different words. So here's what I'm saying. The Greek word ecc and ecclesia means out. And the Greek word ecclesia is actually a form of the Greek word kaleil which means to call. Therefore the word ecclesia or church literally means to call out. Or here a formal definition would be this. The church is a group of people who have been called out of sin and darkness into the holiest and marvelous light of Christ. So in essence beloved the church is not a physical building. But rather the church are people who have been built on the saving grace of Christ who serves as their chief cornerstone. And again as Christians that is something we should celebrate. You know for most Christians Psalm 118 verse 24 is one of the more beloved and quoted passages in all the scriptures of the Bible. In fact like at many churches we here at Glendale often sing this verse in our worship services on Sunday morning. And for those of you who are not familiar with this verse here is what it says. It says this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Now if I were to pose this question to you what exactly is it about this day that should make us rejoice? I'm pretty sure the most dominant answer would be because the Lord has given us another day to live on earth. Or if you grew up in church settings like me you probably heard something to the effect of. Well I'm rejoicing because the Lord has allowed me another day to be numbered among the land of the living. Now beloved don't get me wrong. Every day the Lord wakes us up and every day we can experience his abundant mercy here on earth. That is something to celebrate. There is no question about that. However if we look at the context of Psalm 18 here's what we'll find. Namely that it is a Psalm that celebrates the saving power of God. In fact let me invite you to go there for a moment because I want to look at three verses here too. Go with me to Psalm 118. And again I want to look at three verses. Psalm 118 and I want to start at verses five and six of Psalm 118. Psalm 118 and we'll start at verses five and six. Once again here the reading of God's word Psalm 18 verses five and six. It reads I called on the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side I will not fear what can man do to me. Now notice what it says there. I called on the Lord in distress and he answered and set me on a broad place. He moved me out of my distress. Beloved that is salvation language. Okay. Now look with me at verse 14. At verse 14 in Psalm 118. It reads the Lord is my strength and song and he has become my what? Salvation. So here we have the actual word there. Okay. He has become my salvation. Now look with me at verse 21. Look with me at verse 21. And this is what we read in verse 21. I will praise you for you have answered me and have become my what? Salvation. So we see this theme over and over and over in this Psalm and this is what ultimately verse 24 leads to. Therefore what the Psalmist is ultimately saying beloved is therefore the believer every day is a day of rejoicing. Every day is a day to be glad in because every day is a day where the saving power of God is on display before us. And not only that when we as believers see the Lord doing this great work it also becomes a day where we are reminded of how he was so gracious in doing this wonderful work in and for us. Now in saying this here's where I want to get a little practical and ask another question. Since God has given us these days to rejoice and be glad in his great work of salvation then why don't we find it as wonderful as we should? Why don't we find it as wonderful as we should? Well beloved there may be a lot of answers to that and I guarantee they are. But one definite answer is that for most of us we don't see sin the way we should. Namely we don't see it as dreadful as God does. In fact the reason why we don't see sin like we should is because of sin itself. Because sin blinds us to how ugly it really is. And then when we commit it we try to justify it as not being as bad as it is. You know we may try to make the excuse of well that's just who I am. Or we may try to highlight someone else's sins and attempt to minimize our own evil. And all the time we do these things beloved we don't realize that our praise has been shifted. It's been shifted from God's delivering work to the very thing we need deliverance from. However beloved if we were to see the reality of our sin like the woman called an adultery. Namely that it exposes us as unrighteous. It puts us in a place where we're staring at eternal damnation with no apparent hope of escape. You see we would see the beauty and celebrating the precious words of our Savior when he tells us I don't condemn you. When we were to see the reality of our sin like the man with leprosy like it's made us unclean and all are being so much so that all we can do is cry out and beg the Lord to have mercy on us. Then beloved we would celebrate in the words of our Savior when he tells us I am willing be cleansed. If we were to see the reality of our sin like the woman with the issue of blood namely that it is spiritually banked roughed us. And no matter how many works we perform we're powerless to stop it and over time it just keeps getting worse and worse. And our souls will experience the true joy when we hear our Lord say child be of good cheer. Your fate has made you whole go in peace. Beloved I once heard it said like this when I think on the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for me. Then my soul cries out Hallelujah. I thank God for saving me. Oh yes beloved to be counted among those in the Church of God is something to celebrate because there is no greater joy no greater comfort. As a Christian then knowing that we have been called out of sin we have been called out of darkness we have been called out of despair and we now live as the precious people in possession of Almighty God. And speaking of being the possession of God this now leads us to the second truth we should celebrate in the salutation namely that we are secure in our salvation. We are secure look at the first half of verse one and we'll add emphasis to the point that we'll talk about it reads to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to take a moment and deal with something in this statement that as a preacher I'm constantly convicted by and namely that is what does it mean for someone to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason why I'm convicted by it is because as preachers we develop this vocabulary that we get comfortable with. And sometimes we give it to the congregation and you get blank looks because you think they know what you know. So I just want to ask the question again what does it mean to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well beloved to be in Christ in particular means to be in union with him. It means to be bound with him or to be more direct it means to find your identity in him. So for the believer here are some of the blessings of being in Christ. Number one it means that you were chosen to be saved through his work. Ephesians chapter one verse four reads just as he that is God the Father shows us in him that is Christ before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him. Secondly it means that Christ has purchased our redemption and our forgiveness. Ephesians chapter one verse seven reads in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trust passes according to the riches of his grace. Thirdly it means that Christ has earned our justification and righteousness before God. Second Corinthians chapter five verse twenty one reads he made him who knew no sin to be sent on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Fourth it means that Christ has made us sons of God. Galatians chapter three verse twenty six reads for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Fifth it means when Christ rolls from the grave we also raised with him and have been seated into heavenly places. Ephesians chapter two verse six reads God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Sixth and finally it means that Christ has given us eternal life. Romans six twenty three reads for the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So here are some of the blessings of being in Christ. Now in addition to this to be in God the Father not only highlights the unity and the indivisible relationship between God the Father and Christ but it also tells us about the unity and indivisible relationship that the Father has with those in Christ. And short beloved if I can put it like as simple as I can the way God feels about his son is the way he feels about those in his son. And once again here are some of the blessings of being in God the Father. Number one to be in God the Father means that he has an inseparable love for those in Christ. Romans eight verses 38 and 39 reads for I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us. So watch this from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Secondly to be in God the Father means that he has said yes to all his promises found in Christ. Second Corinthians chapter one verse twenty reads for as many as are the promises of God in him they are yes. Thirdly to be in God the Father means that he has given us peace to he has given us peace rather to those in Christ. Romans chapter five verse one reads therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And fourth and finally in God the Father means that he will provide for all the needs of his children. Olympians for nineteen reads and my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. So again these are the blessings or some of the blessings of being in God the Father. Now beloved why is it important to be reminded of these things? Well here's why because in the daily struggle with trials the daily struggle with tribulations or even with the concerns of life in general we as believers can develop what called trip calls identity amnesia. Namely we forget who we are and we forget what we have been given. And sadly when this identity amnesia kicks in here is our natural response to it. To look inwardly to see what we can do to gain God's love to see what we can do to invoke the promises of God upon our lives to see what we can do to get God's peace. And short we abandon the security that we have been freely given and an attempt to gain security through our works. However beloved here is the thing that we should celebrate by being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Namely since we have security in him this means we are free from ourselves. See we no longer have to try to gain God's love. We no longer have to try to gain God's peace. We no longer have to try to gain eternal life because in being in God the Father and in Christ we have all of these things and more and abundance. You know I find it very ironic and comforting that we're looking at this passage on a day that we will celebrate the Lord's supper because one of my favorite moments of that portion of the worship service outside of actually doing that or taking the elements is when the table is actually what we call fence. That is when the warnings and the exhortations are given to those who can and cannot partake of the table. And I love in particular when the encouragement is expressed to believers who may be struggling with the sin but yet are in good standing in the church to not discipline themselves. But to take the supper and be reminded of the graces they have been given through Christ. And the reason why I love this encouragement is because the tendency for some of us is to bypass the table because we feel our sin has made us unworthy to commune with Christ. In fact I actually know some churches that encourage people not to take the table if they're in this situation. And I find that deplorable personally. However beloved here's the thing we need to keep in mind. In and of ourselves and even on our best day we are always going to be unworthy to take the Lord's supper. Okay let's just get that on the table first. But here's what gives us the right to celebrate and fellowship at the table. Namely that Christ is worthy. And since we are in him beloved it doesn't matter how we may feel it doesn't matter what we may be struggling with. Our Lord says come come to the table come in fellowship come and be reminded in me is where you have the father's love you have his promises you have his peace and you have his supplication for you. Beloved to refuse the table by disciplining yourself is to rely on your works as the basis of your status and security with God. But beloved we are not saved by our works but rather we are solar gratia we are saved by grace alone. We have been redeemed by the works of Christ and it is our identification with him which gives us the assurance that we have absolute security in God. So as we go through this Christian journey building our hopes on things eternal and holding on to God's unchanging hand. Let us always remember to celebrate beloved the fact that our eternal security is not rooted in our holding on to him but rather our eternal security is rooted in him holding on to us because as Sam storms in his book kept for Jesus tells us our loving and gracious father will never let go of our hand. He will never leave us he will never forsake us nor will he allow us to leave or forsake him. Beloved we are secure and God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ and now all this leads us to the final point that we should celebrate. And the Salutation namely that we are benefactors of God's abundant grace and peace. Look with me at the latter part of verse one it reads grace to you and peace. Now as we've mentioned in prior messages in this series the blessing of grace and peace is a common staple in Paul's salutations. Equally we've mentioned in this series on several occasions that grace is defined as God's unmerited and unprovoked favor towards sinners. And we've also said that God's peace can be defined as God removing his eternal anger and his wrath away from those who have been saved by the work of Christ. Now in regards to the gift of grace we've already stated in our last point that as believers we are so La Gratia or saved by grace alone. However when we look at how Paul mentions grace in this context we see that he is expressing another aspect of grace. Namely the grace we have in walking the daily Christian journey. Beloved just ponder on this true form moment. Just ponder on it for just one moment. As a believer you have God's favor on you every day. Every day you wake up with it you go throughout your day with it you lay down at night with it it is always with you in every situation you face. So beloved this is how this everyday grace looks. When you're going through a time when you keep falling into a particular sin and you feel the anxiety that God will never forgive you this time when you've committed this sin. This is what grace does it leads you to the words of the Apostle Paul who says there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We are going through a time in life and it brings you into a situation of hopelessness grace leads you to these words to look to the hills which comes your help knowing that all of your help comes from the Lord. When you're going through a time in life when you're weak and heavy laden when you're comfort with a load of care. Grace reminds you that your precious savior is still your refuge and that you can take all your concerns to him and prayer when you're facing that proverbial fork in the road in life. And you need guidance on how to move in a situation you're in. Grace leads you to these words trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not towards your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. When you're facing a spot in life where you feel like you've lost everything and everyone's abandon you in your time of need. Grace leads you to the words of the Savior who says this and low I am with you always. Even until the end of the age beloved this is the grace that we have been given in abundance by the hands of Almighty God. So we see that God's grace is not something that saves us and then does a disappearing act. But rather beloved it's available to us in any area and at any time we need it and again that's something to celebrate. You know I've always said that one of my favorite lines and all the hymns that I've known and sung over the years is the one from the him amazing grace. To us grace that brought me safe thus far and grace that will lead me home. Beloved when we understand that God's grace is our constant companion. We not only will see how amazing it truly is but we will also find ourselves celebrating the various and amazing ways that it expresses itself in our lives. But not only does Paul give the blessing of God's grace but he also gives the blessing of God's peace as well. And once again he's not speaking of a peace that comes at salvation and then goes away. But rather just like the grace of God beloved this is a peace that's always with us. In essence as believers we can always celebrate the reality that God will not forsake us nor is his eternal wrath over us because the prince of peace the Lord Jesus Christ has given us his peace by being forsaken for us and taken away the wrath that was over us. In fact in John chapter 14 verse 27 Jesus gives these words. He says peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you do not let your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful. And beloved when I hear these words I often think to myself how many times have we as believers fallen into the trap of seeing God's peace like it's the world. For instance how many of us when going through those rough seasons in our lives would make statements like well I hope God hasn't forgotten about me. Or I wonder why God is angry at me because I'm going through what I'm going through. And beloved what we don't realize is when statements like these are made we are defining God's peace like it's the world. That it's temporary that it's not sustaining that it's fluctuating that it's conditional. However beloved Jesus says his peace is not as the world gives it's permanent it's sustaining it's fixed it's unconditional beloved. That's because his peace is rooted in his work and it is his work that has totally pleased and satisfied the father. Therefore beloved if we are in Christ no matter how rough the season we face and are going through no matter the heaviness of the trial we're dealing with no matter the amount of tears that may run down our face because of them we can celebrate in the fact that the father has not and will not forget about us. We can celebrate the fact that God's love is always here with us and his anger has been turned away as we quote it earlier if we are one of God's children nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. There is now no condemnation to those in Christ and the reason why we can hold on to this beloved is because in Christ we have been given eternal and unmovable peace from God and beloved that's something to celebrate. That's something to find joy in so while life may bring us temporary moments of pleasure while the world may put a temporary smile on our face our happiness should be found in the fact that as God's children we have been given a peace that is not of this world. Therefore as our Lord tells us don't let your hearts be troubled don't let it be fearful. Beloved don't think for a moment that you serve a God who would go back on his word and his promises don't think for a moment that you serve a God who would one day get fed up with your fallen and write you off as a lost cause. No beloved we have Christ and because we have Christ we have peace with God. So as we end yet another sermon on the salutations of Paul once again we see they're not irrelevant ramblings but instead they bring us spiritual truths that are encouraging to our souls. And when we look at this particular greeting one that reminds us of the blessing we set we can celebrate namely that we're God's church that we have security and Christ and God the Father and in having God's grace and peace with us every day as we walk this Christian journey. Beloved how much more encouraged can our souls be the knowing these things. So now as we prepare to come to the table as we prepare to be reminded of the shed blood and the broken body of Christ and that he has provided all this for us let us keep in mind all of the blessings we spoke about today are things that are ours and abundance because of this. And once again that should bring us joy beloved that should bring us celebration to our hearts because God has made us in Christ to be partakers of all of these things and more let us go to Lord and prayer dear gracious father. We thank you that we can celebrate and your abundant blessings immerses and Lord forgive us for the times that we have allowed things in this world to distract us from the things that you have given us Lord we pray that we will be vessels where you will shine forth even more the beauty and the glory that you have given through Christ and through the things he has given us Lord. Lord make us see these things new every day when we protect of the table on a few moments help us to see that in our communion together because truly Lord we do celebrate the fact that we are your church we thank you that you have made us secure we thank you that we do have your grace and peace and Lord we thank you that even when we are at all Lewis they are not only still ours but that you remind us that we have them even in those days. So father thank you for this time thank you for this word thank you for this reminder to our souls and we ask these blessings in Jesus name amen amen we are now going to prepare for the Lord's supper and I'm going to invite the choir to come down.