Cheering Champions To The Finish

Take your Bibles this morning and turn to the book of 1 Thessalonians. As you're turning, let me just remind you that Dan Jeffers will be leaving tomorrow for California to represent us in the fire conference. So you pray for him as he goes, and I'm looking forward to hearing from him when he gets back. 1 Thessalonians. I want you to follow or listen as I read this book.

We're going to begin our study in 1 and 2 Thessalonians today. And so we want to fly over, get the view of the book from about 20,000 feet. so in order to do that we're going to have to read the whole book so you follow or read along Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace to you and peace we give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. for not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come for you yourselves know brothers that our coming to you was not in vain. Though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel so we speak not to please men but to please God who tests our hearts For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed.

God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct towards you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you, and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it really is, the word of God, which is in work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God and Christ Jesus that are in Judea. for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out and displeased God, and opposed all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last.

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time in person, not in heart, We endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, again and again. But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus that is coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this for when we were with you we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as this has come to pass and just as you know For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought to us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live if you're standing fast in the Lord.

For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints finally then brothers we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God just as you are doing that you do so more and more for you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus for this is the will of God your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you for God has not called us for impurity but in holiness therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man but God who gives his holy spirit to you now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia but we urge you brothers do this more and more and aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one though we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Not concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night while people are saying there is peace and security then sudden destruction will come come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape but you are not in darkness brothers for that day to surprise you like a thief for you are all children of light children of the day we are not of the night or of the darkness so then let us not sleep as others do but let us keep awake and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night but since we belong to the day let us be sober having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation for God has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves and we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test them. everything, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Let's pray. Father, we have heard your word. Just listening to it, just hearing your voice encourages us and helps us. Now, Father, help us as we look at this. Help us so that we will be encouraged, that we will be encouraged to continue to go on and to serve you.

Lord, as we enter into the study of these books, we pray that this would not just be a study, an academic way of understanding more of the Bible, but that you would truly change us with these words of Scripture. Do that today as we seek to understand some of this book, and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. How many of you have heard of the miler? He runs the mile.

His name is Jake Studer. Anybody heard of him? Yeah. Guy's a champion runner. He's a champion runner. The other day I saw him running the 4x1600 at the Elgin Relays.

The 4x1600 is when every person, every guy on the relay team runs a mile. So Jake ran the first leg of the 4x1600 for the team. And he was doing really good. He was ahead of everyone else. And on the last lap, I don't know what school the kid was from, got ahead of him and started pulling away from him. Jake kept up with him.

And when he came around that last corner, he poured it on, and he burned that kid by about 30 yards. All right? Now the whole time he was running every time he came around where I was I was screaming I was yelling me and about 20 other people Every time he came around because we wanted to encourage Jake We wanted to help him do his best You see even though Jake is a champ he still needs encouragement.

He still needs people yelling at him. He still needs people to encourage him to do his best as he gets to the finish line. Now that's exactly what's going on in 1 Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul encourages a championship team, the congregation in the city of Thessalonica, to keep running the race until they reach the finish line. That's what the book is about.

And when I read this epistle, I get the impression that this church is a healthy, faithful, hope-filled, loving congregation. In many ways, it reminds me of this congregation at LaRue Baptist Church, a healthy, faithful, hope-filled, loving congregation. But like LaRue Baptist, the church in Thessalonica also had problems, and the Apostle Paul does not ignore those either.

So as we begin the study of this book, let's first of all understand the origin of this book. Let's understand the origin of this book. Why was the book written? Where did it come from? Why is it even here? First of all, this book, if you read the heading in your scriptures, it says the epistle of first Thessalonians or the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.

This, of course is a letter as much of the New Testament is. It's an epistle. Epistle means letter. Okay. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to that congregation in the city of Thessalonica. But why did he write it?

What's the story behind the writing of this letter? If you want to know the story behind the writing of this letter, you have to go to Acts chapter 17. Now this week we're not going to read it okay because I just took 10 minutes to read the whole book to you so in interest of time we won't read it this week another week we will but let me just give you the highlights of what's happening in Acts chapter 17 here's what's going on Paul has embarked on his second missionary journey this time taking with him not Barnabas they had a disagreement about whether they ought to take Mark or not and so they went their separate ways So Paul took Silas or as he mentioned here Silvanus It's kind of like whether you call him Jonathan, John, or Johnny, okay?

It's not a different guy, it's just a different way of saying his name. Luke calls him Silas, Paul calls him Silvanus. Now, he's taken Silas with him, and on the way, on the second missionary journey, on the way, he picks up his young protege by the name of Timothy. This was someone that was converted, a young half-Jewish, half-Greek guy that was converted on his first missionary journey.

As he comes back around through the cities where he went on the first journey, he picks up Timothy. Timothy is his protege, his son in the faith. and they come to the Macedonian city of Philippi where Paul and Silas are thrown in jail. You remember the story. They cast out the demon from this fortune-telling girl. The owners of the girl don't have any income now, so they get really mad.

They trump up some charges. Paul and Silas are thrown in jail. And you recall they have a midnight concert, you remember? They're sitting there all chained up, and they start singing. Right? There's a whole sermon right there, isn't there?

They're chained up, and they're singing. and all of a sudden this earthquake happens and all the doors fly open and the flipping jailer comes down and he's looking down there and he says oh no they're all going to escape he pulls out his sword he's going to just and Paul and Silas go whoa whoa stop everybody's in their cells relax it's okay and he says what must I do to be saved I don't think he was talking about what's what must I do to know Jesus I think he was saying what I'm going to do and so they turn that in an opportunity to say, I'll tell you how to be saved, if you really want to know how to really be saved. And so he and his family are converted. Well, here's what happens.

You remember, Paul's really ticked off at the way they treated him. That was illegal for them to throw him in jail. So he says to the fathers of the city, oh, no, no, when they say, oh, no, he's a Roman citizen, we shouldn't have done that. So what does he do? He says, you want us to leave town? You take us, you escort us out of town, right?

I think he did that on purpose, obviously did it on purpose. I I think he did it to say, don't mess with these people. Nevertheless, they escorted him out of town. And he and the two other guys left. So they head down the road And a couple of days later probably two days later they come to the city of Thessalonica And as usual Paul heads for the synagogue He always goes to the synagogue first Remember he talks about the gospel goes to the Jew first and then the Gentile?

That's how he did his missionary work. He would go to the synagogue because these people had their Old Testaments and he would try to prove from the Old Testament that Jesus was the Messiah that they were waiting for. So he does this for three Sabbath days. He reasons with them and a number of some Jews are converted and a number of God-fearers are converted.

God-fearers are Gentiles who've attached themselves to a synagogue. They're attracted to Judaism, but they don't want to go the whole nine yards, which means they'd have to be circumcised and then become part, then become Jewish, if you will. And so So they're the ones who don't go that the whole route, but they're there in the synagogue worshiping with the people there, with the Jews there.

So a number, some Jews, a bunch of Gentile God-fears, and some prominent women of the family, of the town, are converted. Well, now, a number of the Jews, no doubt from the synagogue, and it's possible angry because now they've lost a good portion of their income, get a mob up. They get a mob up and start a riot, and they try to find the three missionaries.

Evidently, they're hidden. And they can't find them, and so they go to Jason, a guy named Jason and some other Christian brothers who evidently maybe they were meeting in their house or something, and they drag Jason and some of these brothers before the authorities, and they make their life difficult. They trump up all these charges against Paul. They're saying, hey, he's talking about another king in defiance of the emperor.

And so what eventually happens is Jason posts a bond for them. That is, he puts up some money promising that they're not going to cause trouble anymore. Well, at this point then, they escort. They say, okay, you've got to get out of town. You've got to get out of town, Paul. And so that's what they do.

They whisk Paul and his companions out of town as fast as they can. Next stop, Berea. And so they again proclaim the gospel there, and again God blesses their efforts with some converts and believers. Again, the Jews of Thessalonica up the road get wind of this, and they show up in town, and they get another riot going. And so, again, the believers have to get Paul out, and they take him as far as Athens, but he leaves Timothy and Silas behind for a bit.

And then you recall that Paul spends some time in Athens presenting Jesus to the intellectuals there, the ones who are meeting at the Areopagus. And it was soon after that that Silas and Timothy joined him. But at this point, Paul is absolutely sick with concern. He's concerned about that little congregation he left in Thessalonica. Because when you look at it, he was there for maybe a little over three weeks.

That's all the time he had there before he had to get out of town. so he is really really concerned about them were they still faithful to the gospel were they still standing with Jesus or had they abandoned him under the force of persecution were his efforts to preach Christ in vain what was happening to those dear sit to those dear people in that city what was going on. And so from Athens, he sends his young colleague Timothy back to Thessalonica for the purpose of strengthening them in the faith and to bring back a report to him. And you read about that in chapter 2, verse 17.

So let's look at that. We're here, the Apostle Paul is writing, and he says, but since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time, in person, not in heart, We endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to faith because we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, again and again. But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore, when we could bear it, no longer we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as has come to pass and just as you know. For this reason when I could bear it no longer I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain You can see his concern there He was just absolutely sick for those people. What were they going through?

Were they still faithful? Was my work profitable or was it in vain? So he sends Timothy back. While he sends Timothy back, he goes on to the city of Corinth. That's his next stop. And so while Timothy goes back to Thessalonica, he moves on to Corinth.

No doubt telling Timothy, you'll find me in Corinth, look me up there. And then Timothy arrives in Corinth with an amazing report. The Thessalonian church stands true. They had not caved. They had remained true to Christ. And Paul is dizzy with joy and thanksgiving, Which is why I think the whole tenor of this letter is one of thanksgiving and encouragement.

And it's kind of a happy letter overall. And here's what he says in chapter 3, beginning in verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith.

For now we live if you're standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. You see, he's happy, he's joyful, he's thankful because Timothy's come back and told them, told him that they're standing true.

They haven't caved. And so from Corinth, he takes pen in hand and writes this letter to the people whom he loves so much. That's how we got the letter. That's how it arrived. That's how we got it in the scriptures. Now, if we're going to understand this book, the next thing I think we need to do is understand the structure of the book.

When I read through a book, what I want to do is to see how it's structured. Now again this is a letter you know it not a formal essay You know how it is when you writing an essay you got your outline here my main point and so forth But I think you can divide this book into two parts I call them reflection and direction Okay? Reflection and direction.

Before Paul gives direction, how to live in a way that pleases God, he engages, first of all, in reflection. God wants you to know how to live for him in a hostile age, how to honor him with your lives as followers of Jesus. But before that happens, he wants you to think about the transforming power of the gospel, how you minister that powerful gospel.

What does a successful ministry of the gospel look like? What does genuine faith look like? And so he reflects on those things. But after reflection comes direction, how you ought to walk in a way so that God is pleased. So first of all, his reflection. And that goes from chapter 1, verse 2, through chapter 3, verse 13.

Here is all his reflection on all that's happened and as he reflects on them. He reflects first on the power of the gospel, essentially chapter 1, verse 2 through 10. He reflects on the power of the gospel. Look at what the gospel has done there in Thessalonica. As he gets word of the fact that they're standing true to Christ, he starts reflecting and he says, Yeah, I remember when I came there, and you guys were transformed by the gospel, and as I've made my way to Corinth, I keep hearing about it.

I mean, I was just there a few weeks ago, and already people are talking about you. The gospel has done an amazing thing in your lives. It's incredible to see that. That's what's happening in chapter 1. But then he reflects on his own ministry of the gospel from chapter 2, verse 1, to chapter 3, verse 13. Here you find him reflecting on the ministry of the gospel.

And here's what you find here is going on. But in chapter 2, he is saying, verse 1, For you yourselves know brothers that our coming to you was not in vain Now he didn know that at first He thought it might be in vain until he got the report from Timothy And so then he says, our coming to you was not in vain, and he reflects on that. What he does now from chapter 2, verse 1, to the end of chapter 3, verse 13, is to reflect on the fact that it was not in vain.

And what he does first of all then is he says, here's how I came to you. Well, so I'm coming to you in vain. Here's how I came to you. All right? He describes his coming in 2, 1 through 12. And then he notes after all that effort in the gospel, it was not in vain, for they continued in the path of the gospel.

Chapter 2, verse 13 through chapter 3, verse 13. All right? So here we go. He reflects chapter 1, 2 through 3, 13. He reflects first of all on the power of the gospel. first chapter, he reflects on his coming and the fact that it was not in vain from chapter 2, verse 1, to the end of chapter 3. And he says, look how you receive the gospel.

Look how you imitate Jesus. Look at your faith, your love, and your hope. Look at how you stand fast in the Lord. Now, after all that reflection, then comes direction. Then comes direction. How to walk in a way that pleases God, chapter 4, verse 1.

Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. So he says, I'm going to give you instruction on how to walk and to please God in sexual matters. How to walk and please God in loving one another.

How to please God in encouraging one another to holiness with the truth of Jesus' return. and in your relationship with the leaders of the congregation and in all your other relationships in the congregation. He gives them direction in those areas. Now, you put all that together, and you're thinking this. You look at the origin of the book. Why is it written?

What caused it to get there? You look at the structure of the book. What's he trying to communicate? And now you ask this question. Why is this book here? All right?

This is the most important question when you're studying scripture. Why is this book here? What is God's purpose in giving us this book? What does the Holy Spirit intend to do with us? What does he intend to do with this book in our lives? So we need to understand, lastly, the purpose of this book.

And I think it's this. This book should motivate you to live like champions of Christ in light of his coming. To live like champions of Christ in light of his coming. That's why I've entitled this series, cheering champions on to the finish. Cheering champions to the finish. That's going to be the name of this series as we begin.

This book is written to a church like ours that is doing well to champions. Now listen. I'm not, I'm one of the shepherds here. I know we still have problems, okay? you put a bunch of people fighting against the flesh, the devil, and the world, and we're still going to have problems. But folks, I'm telling you now that, and I don't think this comes as any surprise to you, I think we're a healthy church.

We're a healthy church. That doesn't mean we don't need instruction, right? And so that's what he's doing. This book is written to a church, written to champions. What are champions? Okay?

What are champions? Here we're going to depart from Jake Studer as example of champion to what God means by champions of Christ. Okay? What are champions? Paul overflows with thanksgiving. As you look at this congregation, what does he see?

He sees a church that has a great reputation, a church that is joyful in affliction, a congregation that shares Christ, a church that is faithful, loving, filled with hope, steadfast in hope, a church that's a great example for other churches. He's already, he's only been a few weeks away and their reputation has already followed. as he talks to people in Macedonia and Achaia, he's saying their reputation, your reputation, even your reputation, how you received us, has been talked about in these other churches. It a church that responds to the careful ministry of the gospel by receiving it in the right way And they remain steadfast when everyone around them hates them They remain steadfast And he says about them at the end of chapter 2 right For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming?

Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Right? Even as he instructs them as to how they must live. Do you notice what he says in chapter 4, verse 1? Finally then, brothers, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.

Right? That you do so more and more. Chapter 4, verses 9 and 10. Now concerning brotherly love, we have no need for anyone to write to you. for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia and if we say that we don't possess all of those characteristics at least we know at least we know what it takes then to be a champion we know what we should be doing we know what characteristics should be part of our lives here as a congregation there is.

And Paul cheers them on. That's what impresses me about this book. He's not wagging his finger. He's like in the stands yelling, right? We give thanks to God always for all of you. Chapter 1, verse 2.

Chapter 2, 8 and 12. Remember how we loved you like a mother and we exhorted you like a father? When I was there, I loved you and I exhorted you. I told you what you needed to do. Chapter 2, verse 13. And we also thank God constantly for this.

And then he lists some things. Chapter 2, verse 20. For you are our glory and joy. Chapter 3, 8 and 9. For now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God? you see not to mention what he's already said so do so more and more i know you're doing this but do it more and more and so he cheers them on and and listen god cheers us on by his grace he saying to us keep at it don give up right he cheers us by his grace he cheers us in in that and he cheers you on to the finish notice how many times paul refers to jesus return in this book a number of times chapter one look at it chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turn to god from idols to serve the living and true god and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our lord Jesus at his coming is it not you for you are our glory and joy chapter 3 verses 11 through 13 now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints chapter 4 verse 6 where he says to them that no one transgressed and wrong his brother in this matters because the lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you and of course we're very familiar with chapter 4 beginning in in verse 13 right we hear it at funerals all the time about the lord returning encourage one another all the way through chapter 5 verse 11 about the end times we don't have to write to you about those times we've already written you know we you don't actually really need a lot of that and then finally verses 23 and 24 now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ he who calls you as faithful he will surely do it so god encourages to live like champions of Christ until you cross the finish line, until you cross the finish line.

So what does God intend to do with this book He intends to motivate you to live like champions of Christ until He comes Now in this book you find the grace of God You know what's great about this book? It's grace in this sense. He reminds you of how you've been changed by the Gospel. He doesn't just harp at you about your failures. He doesn't. God doesn't harp at you about your failures.

He does not just remind you of what needs to be done yet. You're not done yet. Right? Does he tell us there's more to do? Absolutely. But he doesn't chide and he doesn't nag and he doesn't say, yeah, yeah, I know, you've been changed, great.

Now get to work. In this book, he cheers you on by graciously saying, look at what the gospel's done. He thanks God that the gospel has changed you. He reminds you that you aren't the same person you used to be. And yet, he doesn't stop there. He's cheering on champions, not patting them on the back.

You see that? You've done well, but there's more to do. You see? He's gracious. You've done well, but listen, there's still more to do. Let's keep at it.

It's not time to step up to the podium for the medal ceremony. We're not there yet. There's still more to come. You've got to compete. Yes, you've done well. But, you know, the champion, you're still cheering him on until the medal ceremony, right?

We're not done yet. There's still more competition. Stay busy until the king returns, and then you'll receive your reward. You've done well. Let's keep going. may God help us to continue the race until we finish right let's pray Father we're thankful for your word we're thankful for a gracious God and Father who reminds us what he has done to us, in us and for us but then he tells us look there's still more to do let's keep going I thank you Lord that you're that way and I pray Father that you would encourage your people here in this congregation to motivate us to go on to bring us to thanksgiving and joy because of what the gospel has done in our lives, and then to encourage us on to greater holiness until that day when Jesus returns.

So, Father, we commit this study to you, and we ask that you would work. We anticipate your blessings because it is you who speaks to us here. and we anticipate those blessings because you've given us your holy spirit to empower us to think this way and to act the right way so lord as we commit this study to you we ask that you would work marvelous things in our lives encourage your people here and help them and we will thank you in jesus name amen