Say that it is wonderful to be a Christian, taking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and identifying with that, with the name Christian. We're looking in first Thessalonians chapter one, and you should have received an outline in your bulletin, but there are some extra outlines on the back. If you did not happen to get a copy of an outline, just raise your hand and an usher will get you one. I trust that you'll be able to follow along this morning, uh, through this chapter. as we look at the transforming impact of the gospel. You know, the Bible is relevant. People always say that the Bible is not relevant to what we face today. But if you look in this chapter, you're going to see that this is very relevant. This applies to us today, because there are those who claim to be Christians who take the name of Christ, whose lives are no different than anybody else's. Their life really has not been transformed. And you're going to see again in chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians that the gospel has a transforming impact on an individual's life. Remember the definition of transform according to the dictionaries to change the nature, function, or condition of. To convert. People talk about having been converted. and yet there's very little evidence that they've been converted. We're going to see in a few moments what the word convert actually means. I say again though that the gospel has a transforming impact, but there's a problem. Many people who profess to be Christians, many people who profess salvation are no different than anybody else. There is no transformed life. The only transformation is that they now think they're on their way to heaven, but there's no evidence in their life. I again quote A. W. Tozer, who would have written this probably in the 1930s, 40s or 50s. He said, religion today is not transforming people, rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society, it is descending to society's own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender. Now Tozer in that quote is talking about religion. Religion is different than the gospel. Religion itself has no transforming impact. The gospel of Jesus Christ has a transforming impact. And if you claim to be a Christian, it should have transformed your life. And if it has not, you had better question whether you're really a Christian. The religions of this world allows the world to transform it. The gospel has a transforming impact on the world. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 is a testimony to the transforming impact the gospel will have. And the transforming impact of the gospel on the believers in Thessalonica can be attributed to two things. We talked about the first one last week, how the gospel was delivered. The way the gospel was delivered had a transforming impact on the believers in Thessalonica because it was delivered in much assurance. Look at verse 5 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, that is much conviction, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. Folks, today there may not be transfer making taking place in the people's lives because of how the gospel is delivered. The gospel today is delivered with doubt, with hesitation, with compromise. And if it's going to have a transforming impact, like it did in Thessalonica, it will be delivered in much assurance. It's sad to say that's lacking today. Secondly, the transforming impact of the gospel on believers in Thessalonica was attributed to how the gospel was received. And that's what we're going to look at this morning, how the gospel was received. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, when they delivered the gospel, did so in much assurance. Those who listened and heard the gospel in Thessalonica received it in much affliction. Please look at verse six. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." Notice that it says there in verse 6, having received. The word received there has the idea of welcoming or accepting something with a welcome attitude. So they welcomed the gospel in such a way that they became, number one, memorable. Go back to verse 3 because we see that Paul says remembering. And then he says something about these people, the way they received the gospel was memorable, remembering without ceasing. And then there's three things mentioned there in chapter in verse three, your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope. Those same three things are mentioned in first Thessalonians. Go please to chapter five and notice verse eight. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith, there's the first one, and love, there's the second one, and foreign helmet, the hope, there's the third one, of salvation. But Paul is not just talking about three virtues in chapter one and verse six, or verse three. but what these virtues produce. In other words, the transformation is evident. In fact, memorable in their, number one, work of faith. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith. So he could describe these Thessalonian Christians as people whose faith works. Their faith works. You know what it's like to get something, and you pay some money for it, and you get ready to use it, and it does not work. That's evident of a fault with the manufacturer, or it could be a fault with the operator. But the faith that God gives us and that we practice, if it is a true faith, works. It works. By that I mean that faith is evident by works. You'll read in James 2.26 that faith without works is? It's dead. You can talk about faith all day long, but if there is no evidence of your faith, let me tell you something about your faith. It is dead. Faith works. We are justified by faith, folks. We are not justified by works. But faith produces works and it was very evident in these Thessalonian believers. Paul is saying remembering without ceasing your work of faith. In other words, I cannot forget how your faith is constantly working and it's evident. It's transformed you. That's what happens when somebody truly gets saved. So it's memorable in their work of faith. Secondly, it's memorable in their labor of love. Note there in verse three without remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love. Now you would think that that word labor is the same word work in that same verse, but it's a different word. That word labor of love. It's the labor that love produces. This word labor has the idea of trouble. difficulty, listen, even to the point of fatigue. So I would say here love toils. Love toils. The problem in marriages today and other human relationships is that folks think that love is always just something that is exciting and that our emotions are constantly stirred up and we're going to live happily ever after without ever any difficulty. Then you don't have a true understanding of love because love, folks, toils. It labors, even under difficulty. Why? Because love is giving. And that is sometimes difficult. Do you think it was not difficult when the Bible says, For God so loved the world that He, His love was demonstrated by His giving. As the Lord Jesus said to Peter in John chapter 21, Peter, do you love me? Peter said, yea, Lord, you know that I love you. Then, feed my sheep. Do something difficult, Peter. Because if your love for me is genuine, it's going to involve some toil. Galatians 5.13 exhorts us to, by love, serve one another. Hebrews 6, 6, 10, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister. True love, folks, involves labor, toil. 1 John 5, 3, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. In other words, they're not heavy to where we cannot do them. Love toils. You know something? That was evident in these believers. There was some toiling even to the point of fatigue. Thirdly, it was memorable in their patience of hope. Patience is the same word endurance. Hope endures, hope endures. Now again, as we mentioned some time ago, the word hope in the Bible is not this cross your fingers type hope. Hope in the Bible is a confident expectation. But not just any hope, because note, after patience of hope or endurance of hope, it's in someone. By the way, hope is only as good as what it is in. These formerly hopeless pagans who were hoping, and that was with fingers crossed, in their gods, in their idols, now have this confident expectation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now their memorable, enduring hope is in Jesus Christ. There may be many setbacks. There may be delays. but their confident expectation endures until Jesus comes. And that, folks, describes a believer, a true believer, whose life has been transformed. He has an enduring hope. His hope does not fade in and out, but it remains steady. His hope is not where he's high on Sunday because the service was built with all kinds of emotion and they crash Monday through Saturday until they can get their emotions built up again on Sunday because of the music or because of whatever. Their hope is confident and it is steadfast, it is enduring because it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Paul told Titus in Titus 2.13, looking for that blessed hope. and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That, folks, is an enduring hope. Have you lost hope that Christ is coming again? Then you don't have the enduring hope that these Thessalonian believers have. By the way, when you look through the book of 1 Thessalonians, what does every chapter mention? It mentions the second coming of Jesus Christ. And their hope is enduring. Don't give up. He's coming again, and it could be today. Now notice the last part of verse three, this is in the sight of God and our Father. Any one of those three things or all three, if they're done before men, may impress men. You might be impressed with somebody who has faith that works, because that's just the way it appears to you. But only one person knows the hearts of men, and this is done in the sight of God. Some people, in their love that toils, looks like that may impress you. And it may impress us who can only look on the outward appearance, but God knows the hearts. And this was done in the sight of God. And it may be that some people, because they have this winning personality, it looks like their hope is enduring. But that's just on the surface. You don't know their hearts. But these people, Paul, for all three of those things says, this is in the sight of God and our Father. You could have fooled me, but I can see that this is before God and our father. So they received the gospel in a memorable way. Now, how is this so memorable? Well, I want you to note the order of verses six through 10 of how these things are listed, because number one, you're going to see that they received the gospel in such a way in verse six, that they became imitators. They became imitators. It says followers and ye became followers of us. That word followers is actually a stronger word. In fact, we get our word from that Greek word followers. We get our word mimic from that word, which means to copy or imitate closely. Hey, it's clear that their conversion was not just a profession. Because imitation demands moral effort. Note that these Thessalonian believers became imitators of Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Look with me in verse 6. And ye became followers or imitators of us. Now you say, that's bad. I shouldn't imitate any person. Really? What if you find somebody who's imitating the Lord. Can you truly imitate that person? Think about that. And we see here that they became imitators of Paul, Sidus, and Timothy, but it goes on to say, and of the Lord. Paul said something interesting in 1 Corinthians 11.1. He said, be ye followers, same word mimic or imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. Folks, you can follow a man insofar as he follows the Lord. And each one of us ought to be such that somebody could imitate us. Hey, let me ask you something. If people imitated you and the way you serve the Lord, What would this church be like? Let's say that we chose somebody every Sunday and at least we said, okay, this is going to be imitate Dave Tureen someday. Not talking about his quirks and because all of us have quirks, excuse me, Dave. We're not talking about the way he walks. We're not talking about the way he combs his hair because I can't do that. But we're talking about his Christian life. Let's say it was Imitate Dave Tureen Sunday. Or let's choose anybody else here. What would this church be like if everybody imitated you today? Some people, if you imitated, there would be nobody here. Because they're not here. Some people would never come on Wednesday. Because on Wednesday nights, if you never come, nobody else would come either. Nobody else would pray. Hey, is this kind of convicting? If everybody imitated you, what would this church be like? If everybody talked about other people like you do, would this be a hen house? You can follow a man insofar as he follows the Lord. What made them such imitators? Well, we haven't finished the verse yet. Go back to verse six. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word." How did they receive it? In much affliction. That is key. That is key. That word affliction, it's not talking about some little mild discomfort. Like, oh man, it's hot in here this morning. I need to fan myself. It's not very comfortable. That's not the word affliction here. It is literally tribulation or pressure. They receive the word in much pressure. Now, some people receive the word of God. They receive the gospel before affliction ever comes. But others like these Thessalonian believers receive the word in affliction. I was thinking about this this week as I was studying this and how often when the gospel is received and then affliction comes, you'll see how shallow that person's conversion really is. Because the circumstances under which they received the gospel, everything was going fine and they thought, well I'll add this on. And it's like Jesus said in his parable of the soils in Matthew 13, 21, then when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. That's when tribulation comes after the gospel is received. But folks, when the gospel is received in affliction, the cost is clear to the recipient of the gospel. Wow, if I receive this, this means, and he's counting the cost. You better believe that when a Muslim accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ, he's counting the cost. Because he realizes what's gonna happen. But the problem with American Christianity today is people receive the gospel, and then when affliction comes, you can tell they never received it. But when you receive the gospel in much affliction, and that affliction may just be that you are so aware of the sin that has condemned you and that you're on your way to hell and you are so afflicted in your heart that when you see the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and you're delivered from that, it has an impact in your life. But you'll notice something. The affliction, which is probably external here, because remember how they received the gospel in Thessalonica? Remember what was happening there? The Jews got all upset, went to Jason's house, surrounded it, pulled him out of there, said, where's Paul, Silas? We want to get these guys, Acts chapter 17. and they began to persecute these Thessalonian believers. That external affliction, notice the last words of verse 6, is counterbalanced by an incredible internal experience. Joy of the Holy Ghost. This is what the world can't understand. It is why you would ever accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. knowing what it's going to bring. But it brings an incredible joy that sometimes simply can't be explained to an unbeliever. I want you to go back to Acts chapter 13 with me and notice when this took place in the lives of the missionaries, different missionaries, Paul one of them though, Acts chapter 13, It says in verse 49, and the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts. But they, Paul and Barnabas, shook off the dust of their feet against them and came into Iconium. Now notice what's next. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. External affliction is counterbalanced by the incredible internal experience of the joy of the Holy Ghost. The same idea, back to 1 Thessalonians, is seen in chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Follow me as I read those two verses. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews." Imitators is mentioned first in verse 13, or verse 14, it says, you became followers of the churches of God. Then comes the affliction. But folks, when the gospel is presented in the Holy Spirit, verse 5, people can receive with joy of the Holy Spirit. Verse 6, affliction with joy. Folks, these new Christians did not find faith in God to be an escape from trouble and unpleasant experiences. But it was a power that enabled them to joyously endure their sufferings. So note first that they received the gospel in such a way that they became imitators. Now, a good imitator becomes what you'll find in verse 7. What did they become in verse 7? After they imitated the missionaries, now what do they become? Examples. They became examples. They themselves are able to have others imitate them. In fact, the word in samples there, as the King James puts it, so that ye were in samples. The word in samples originally meant a mark that is left by a blow. Kind of like when a die strikes the image on a coin. If you've ever gone down to the Denver Mint and you watch those coins being processed, there's a dye in it, under tremendous pressure, imprints a mark on the coin. That's the word here. They became marked in samples. They became examples. How do you know if somebody becomes a healthy Christian? Here's one thing. when he or she becomes an example to others after having become an imitator of those who imitate Christ. This is the only church in the New Testament that Paul designates as a model church. A church that became examples to others. Now to whom were they examples? Because I didn't finish the verse. So that ye were in samples to all that belief. Hey, it's one thing to leave a mark on pagans and unbelievers, because they're so much different. Folks, it's quite another thing to leave a mark on fellow Christians. And that's what they were doing to all that were believing in Macedonia and Achaia. Those two provinces make up the entire country of Greece. So they became in samples to everybody, mainly to the believers in all of the nation of Greece. Third, they received the gospel in such a way that they became not only imitators and examples, but note verse eight. Proclaimers, 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 word is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything. That word sounded out is where we get our word echo. It is a reverberation like thunder, the reverberation of a trumpet sounding. If you listen to brother Ortel when he plays this trumpet and hear the walls echo a little bit. What was happening with these folks? What sounded out from them? What did they echo? Not some Greek philosophy. Not some word of men that they had read in a book. But something that they could proclaim without apology. Something they could proclaim without alteration. For from you sounded out what? Read it out loud to me please. Follow with me. For from you sounded out the what? It was the word of the Lord. God's Word sounded out. Their transformation could not be hid. Jesus once said that ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot, cannot be hid. Remember the location of Thessalonica? Major seaport, major highway running through it, the Ignatian Way. A place where many travelers would come. From this city with a major seaport and a highway going through it, the word of the Lord was echoed by people who came through this city. Merchants were coming through this city. Sailors were coming through this city. And then it goes on to say, but also in every place, your faith to God's word is spread abroad. Their faith is being talked about everywhere. Now everyone has faith. That's why I'm troubled when somebody says, when they talk about your faith as if your faith or that you just have faith. Do you have faith? Well, everybody's got faith. The question is, what is the object of your faith? And it's clear here that these had faith to God word. They're dependent upon someone other than what their faith was in previously. Now, if you're worshiping idols, what is your faith in? Your faith is in your idols. But now their faith is God word. And it's interesting what Paul says at the end of this verse, so that we need not to speak anything. In other words, it wasn't necessary that we, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, Report to others how you're doing. Why? It's evident. It's been echoed all over the place by the way they're living. The people of Macedonia know. The people of Achaia know. Oftentimes, you'll find that somebody who makes a profession of salvation, you're not sure they're really saved. Their salvation is in doubt. And when somebody comes up and asks you, Hey, did such and such accept the Lord? Do you go? Well, they made a profession. Folks, what an encouragement when a life, when the life of a professing Christian has a report that I don't need to say anything about. That's exciting. When somebody gets saved. And nobody has to come to me and say, didn't they make a profession of faith? You know, they did. I don't have to say anything because you see it in them. It's been sounded out. It's been echoed so that I need not speak anything. You know, it too often today, someone supposedly gets saved and everybody doubts it. Why? No transformation has taken place. The report speaks for itself. That was the Thessalonian church. Folks, that's why I'm saying these people had received the gospel that had a transforming impact on their life. And everybody knew it. They received the gospel. In such a way that lastly, they became not only imitators and examples and proclaimers, they became converted. Here's what I said we were going to get to, they became converted. Read verses 9 and 10 with me. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye turned to God. from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come." Now Paul is writing this letter to these people in Thessalonica. He is writing this letter from Corinth. What do you know about the city of Corinth? Corinth was a seaport city like this one. Corinth was a place where merchants and sailors were constantly coming to. So you've got Thessalonica in the northern province of Macedonia, Corinth in the southern province of Achaia. Paul's writing from the south to this church in the north. Sailors and merchants up here. Sailors and merchants down here. What do sailors and merchants do? They travel. And they get between these two cities a lot. And so travelers are arriving in Corinth from Thessalonica. And they are repeatedly, look at verse 9, for they themselves show of us or are telling us, they're telling of the missionaries what kind of entering in the missionaries had toward these echoing believers. It's kind of a hard concept to understand that Paul puts in such a short sentence there in verse 9. But these travelers are telling us of what kind of an interest we had into you. How they received the gospel, in other words, was a testimony to how the gospel was delivered to them and how they now are delivering it to others. They received it in such a way that it is reported how ye turned to God. Do you see that in verse 9? How ye turned to God. That word turned, in a physical sense, means to turn around. Many times that word is used in the New Testament. It's used in Mark chapter 5, verse 30. When somebody touched the hem of Jesus' garment, the Bible says, he turned around. Same word. He turned to see who it was who had touched him. Turned, as it is elsewhere translated in the Bible, means converted. So if I'm walking this way, I'm going this direction, I'm heading west, and I get converted, would you please help me out? Where am I now going to go? I'm going to turn around and I'm going to go east. Folks, that is how evident it is when somebody gets converted. They turn around. It's not where I was heading west and now I go a little bit northwest. or I go a little bit southwest. No, it's a complete turn. That's conversion. That's why when somebody says they are a Christian and they've been converted and they used to be mean and dispirited and people who would strike people and that doesn't change, I would say, you know what? He probably never got saved. Many professing Christians never turn around. There's no conversion. There's no change. A good friend of mine who wrote an article, his name is Randy Leedy, he wrote an article once. And I've got the quote there in your outline, too. And I want you to see this. A good test of whether a person's life has been transformed by what he calls his conversion is whether anybody but himself can see that the gospel has made a difference. And I tell you, everybody saw that the gospel made a difference in the lives of these Thessalonians. Another commentator, Hebert, quotes from two men by the names of Hogg and Vine. Interesting name, Hogg. commentary in the book of Thessalonians. And when he talks, when he studies this word, turned to God, he makes this very interesting statement. And I hope this will arrest your attention like it did mine. Because when I saw this statement, I thought, can this really be true? And I did a search through my New Testament. Let me read his quote. In no case is God or Christ or the Holy Spirit said to turn or convert anyone. Conversion is always the voluntary act of the individual in response to the presentation of the truth. Conversion is always the voluntary act of the individual in response to the presentation of the truth. Never does the Bible say that God or Christ or the Holy Spirit turned or converted anybody. Does that kind of shock you? It did me, because I had never thought of it that way. So I said, okay, I've got to study this word. And I went to every occurrence of that word in the New Testament to see if these guys were telling the truth or not. You mean God doesn't, He doesn't turn me around? You mean that's up to me? And indeed, every occurrence puts the responsibility on that person. God saves me. He justifies me. But folks, it is now my responsibility to turn from the former lifestyle, to put off the old man and to put on the new. And this is where I and the Calvinists split. Because I have a responsibility and you have a responsibility. Notice it says they turned to God from idols. Note the prepositions there, the preposition to, the preposition from. The order is significant. In other words, they did not turn from idols to God. Notice, listen to me, they did not turn from idols to God. They turned to God from idols. That says this to me. They didn't first become dissatisfied or disillusioned with their idols. They were first made to see who God is and how gross their gods were. And the order is significant. Folks, you do not turn from sin to God. You turn to God from sin. Or as Hebert puts it, salvation does not begin with giving up something, but with receiving someone. And when I truly receive Jesus Christ as my Savior, I turn to Him first, and that's when I turn from. Otherwise, it becomes a works salvation. Otherwise, I'm turning from something, that's mine, and then I turn to God. No, I turn to God from sin. And they turned to God from idols to do two things. Number one, to serve God. Notice that in verse nine, how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, as opposed to the dead and false gods they served before they turned. So they turned to God from idols to do, to serve God. And secondly, to wait for Jesus. What an ending to this chapter. to wait for Jesus. That word wait has the sense of expectancy. In other words, or it could be said this way, to wait up for. Have you ever waited up for somebody at night? Somebody said, well, we're going to arrive around such and such a time between nine and ten at night. And so you're waiting up for them. When you're waiting up for somebody, is there a sense of expectancy? That's the word here. They're waiting up For what? For His Son. Where is He coming from? Help me out. Where is He coming from? He's coming from heaven. I'm awaiting, folks, for God's Son to come from heaven. I'm not waiting for somebody to come from Jerusalem. I'm not waiting for somebody to come from Mecca. I'm not waiting for anybody to come from anywhere as my Savior, but Jesus Christ, who is coming from heaven. Hey, go to chapter four, look at verse 16 of the same book. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven, that's where he's coming from. How could he be in heaven? I thought he was crucified. Well, he addresses that to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Yeah, he was crucified. Yes, he did die, but folks, he was raised from the dead by God the Father. And when that took place, 50 days later, he ascended up to heaven. From whence he shall come. But it also goes on to say, even Jesus. Literally the last part of the verse reads, who is delivering us from the wrath that is coming. And I close with this this morning. Wrath to come is the wrath that is coming. Even Jesus, the one who is rescuing us from the wrath that is coming. Listen folks, God's wrath is coming. You look at the world in which we live and how wicked it is. I want to tell you something, God's wrath is coming. You look at the man who thinks that he can live any way he wants to and he can reject the gospel. I'm going to tell you something, God's wrath is coming. You look at relatives and friends who are living their own life and living as if they're shaking their fists in the face of God. And I'm telling you something, God's wrath is coming. But for us, we're rescued from it. Jesus is delivering us from the wrath that is coming. But God's holy anger against sin is coming. And people don't think that's going to take place because, well, God, if I'm doing wrong, strike me dead. The Lord is not slack concerning His promises. Some may count slackness, but as longsuffering. In your stupidity, He will give you another chance. John 3.36 says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Think about what that is saying. It's almost as if the wrath of God is hanging over his head. It abideth on him. God's wrath against sin arises out of his holy nature. But Paul says, Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come. In other words, Jesus has not delivered everyone indiscriminately. He has delivered us. Who is us? Paul, Silas, Timothy, and the Thessalonian believers. Those who have accepted and welcomed the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are the ones who are saved from the wrath that is coming. Now the wrath that is coming takes place immediately after Christ's coming for us. The rapture could take place today, folks. Jesus Christ is coming. That's what he says. We're waiting for his son from heaven. If that takes place today, what takes place right after that? It's the wrath of God during the tribulation on this earth like has never been seen before. In fact, Revelation 6.16 calls it the wrath of the Lamb. It's the wrath of Jesus Christ. The wrath of God poured out on this earth during the great tribulation and for all eternity upon all those who do not welcome Him as their Savior. Folks, if the gospel is going to have a transforming impact, Through us, like it did these Thessalonian believers, it will be delivered in much assurance. What is your witnessing life like? Secondly, it'll be received with much affliction. You may not be afflicted externally, but internally with conviction. And when you receive the gospel that way, you become imitators of the Lord and of those who follow him. You become examples to others. You become a proclaimer. And it is obvious that you turn to God from your former life. turning to serve him and to wait up for his son, Jesus Christ, who has rescued you. Folks, the coming wrath is bad news. But without bad news, there's not the good news of having been rescued. That's called the gospel. How can you be rescued from the wrath that is coming? Well, God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Have you been saved? Are you for sure that you're on your way to heaven because Christ is coming from there at any time? Would you bow your heads? The purpose of preaching?