Turn - Serve – Wait. 1st Thessalonians 1:9-10 Three signs of true conversion to God are turning away from idols, serving God, and waiting eagerly for the Lord's return. Turning is a clear, personal choice. Serving is a conscious act that shows the new birth, gratitude for being delivered from darkness, and a fresh desire and motivation to live differently. Waiting each day for the Lord’s return means staying prepared and hopeful that it will happen.
Turning to God means I acknowledge a serious need I cannot fulfill. I may not even notice the idol's presence until it takes over my mind, and I pay attention to some personal thought or idea that distracts me from my fellowship and focus on the Lord. I will discover what new life in Christ is when I turn my needs over to God.
Serving the living God is a recognition that He is true. I know and love Him, and serving Him is a wonderful privilege I have the chance to experience personally. Representing the Almighty God involves acting with conscious integrity when interacting with my family, neighbors, and the Lord’s people. My business dealings with those I don’t know and my attitude toward strangers and the public in general will reflect my belief in God and my appreciation for being one of His children. The words I speak for God today may influence people for eternity.
Waiting for God's Son from heaven means I believe the Lord will come soon and “receive from the world His own.” At that glorious moment, millions of believers' bodies will rise from their graves, and living believers in Christ will be instantly transformed from mortal bodies to glorified ones, then go to be with the Lord. They will be forever with Him—those to whom they turned when they heard the Gospel and believed in Him. They served and waited for His return, filling that waiting time with a life of service that turned out to be far greater and more meaningful than we had expected.
When a soul is saved, Christians who know the newborn child of God rejoice, and the angels of God rejoice in heaven. Spiritual growth is common among those who love the Lord and want to please Him. It is a joy for older saints when they see evidence of changed lives, spiritual desires, attitudes toward life, and willingness to witness for the Lord. Those who follow the Lord aim to please, obey, and “walk worthy of Him.”
Being consistent in daily life and faithful during opposition and “much affliction” are ways we can testify to the reality of our faith in Christ. These acts of faith make our worship and witness genuine. Serving the living God with the labor of love shows what truly matters to us. Such service will be demonstrated toward other people as we serve God by helping others.
Waiting for “His Son from heaven” exemplifies the patience of hope that inspires and challenges us to live holy lives. “He that shall come will come and will not tarry.” Each chapter of this epistle references the promise of our Lord to return for His people, making it a letter of hope. Our hope is rooted in the resurrection of Christ— “Because He lives, we shall live also.”
Waiting for the Son of God to come does not mean we are inactive or just wasting time trivially. It does mean we wait patiently. We know the Lord is coming, and because we are certain of that but do not know when it will happen, we are highly motivated to work for the kingdom of God with expectation. What a blessed hope it is that we may be engaged in His service with enthusiasm when He calls us to Himself. Features that mark the Holy Spirit's work through us are effective Gospel work when the word is preached with power and understanding. It is confirmed when there is joy and suffering, and the believer rises above circumstances. He guards us lest we presume upon His love and reminds us not to quench the flame of zeal nor to forget our sanctification.
The coming wrath will be a time of judgment that impacts the entire world after the rapture of the church. The Jews will face a severe period of persecution that could lead to extermination if the Lord does not intervene. They rejected the Messiah, and there has yet to be a national repentance that will lead them to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The nations of the world will undergo unprecedented calamities because of their treatment of the Jews as a nation and their rejection of Jesus themselves. The church will escape this because, as individuals, each has responded in faith to God's grace and trusted in Christ. Faith, hope, and love are virtues linked to every true Christian, with the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.
FEATURES THAT MARK THE SPIRIT’S WORK:
- Effective Gospel activity, v.5: word – the preaching; power – the results; Holy Spirit – the power; much assurance – the understanding [Col.2:2]; the confirmation [Heb. 2:3].
- Joy in suffering and affliction, v.6: rising above the circumstances.
- Guards us lest we presume upon His love, 4:8.
- Reminds us not to quench a flame in ourselves or others, 5:19.
- Admonishes us not to forget our sanctification, 2 Thes. 2:13.
AN ENCOURAGING HOPE for the faithful servant. 1Thes. 2.