The Gospel’s Life-Changing Power

Transcript

GRM 953
2/5/2006
The Gospel’s Life-Changing Power
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
Gil Rugh


Much discussion that goes on about the early church in the book of Acts and how we want our church to be like the church in the book of Acts. And I sometimes wonder whether people have really studied the book of Acts to find out what the church was like in the book of Acts. Indeed in the early days of the church there was an initial response from the Jews to the preaching of the gospel, and great number saved on the Day of Pentecost from among the Jews. And then that number continued to grow from 3000 to 5000, but you understand in the overall picture that was a relatively small number of people, the overall population. And furthermore, it was not very long before the opposition and persecution became so intense that the church at Jerusalem was reduced to poverty. And we find the Apostle Paul traveling and making a collection from churches in other places to help meet the needs of the church in Jerusalem. And then as Paul begins his ministry in Acts 13 on his first missionary journey that carried him over three missionary trips to various parts of the world, we find that he establishes churches. And regularly these churches are established in the midst of great opposition and persecution. In fact as he revisited some of the churches at the end of his first missionary journey, he reminded them, it is through much tribulation that we must enter the Kingdom of God. The blessings of enjoying all that God has provided for us, in the full sense, are yet future—the establishing of the kingdom. But we can expect tribulation and trials. And that follows on what Jesus told His disciples as He anticipated leaving them. In the world you have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So their victory is in Him.

In Acts 17 Paul was on his second missionary journey. And he has crossed over into Europe with the call from the Macedonian and the vision to come over and help us. So he crosses over from Asia Minor into Europe and now for the first time the gospel is preached by Paul in Europe. And the first convert took place with Lydia on that first missionary journey. And then Paul’s great ministry at Philippi, and there is a letter that will be written back to the church established at Philippi, the letter to the Philippians.

Now Paul comes after his persecution at Philippi, being beaten and jailed there, he leaves and travels, Acts 17:1, through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. And there’s a synagogue of the Jews, and as Paul’s practice, he goes in and unfolds the Old Testament scriptures to the Jews showing how the prophecies concerning Christ and His coming, His suffering and His death have been fulfilled. So verse 2, according to Paul’s custom he went to them for three Sabbaths, reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer, rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, some of the Jews, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, set the city in an uproar. And attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, these men who have upset the world have come here also. Jason has welcomed them, they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king, Jesus. They stirred up the crown and the city authorities who heard these things. And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them. The brethren immediately set Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.

So you see what has happened there. He’s had a relatively short ministry in Thessalonica. But it has been an effective ministry, because a number of people have been converted. But you also understand it is a ministry that has aroused intense opposition so that all are agreed it’s better that Paul and Silas don’t stay any longer. But they move on. But there is a church now established there in the midst of intense persecution and opposition. They come to Berea and what does Paul do? Re-evaluates his strategy. Decides that there’s probably a better approach. No, immediately he goes into the synagogue of the Jews and he starts the same thing.

Now these were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the Word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard that the Word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea, they came there also as well, agitating and stirring up the crowd. Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out and Silas and Timothy remained there. And Paul is going to stop at Athens and give his famous message there, and then on to Corinth.

You see how intense the opposition is at Thessalonica. When they hear the Paul is preaching the message of Christ in Berea, then they have them come to oppose his ministry in Berea. It’s not only that they are concerned about their city, Thessalonica; their hatred of the gospel strong enough, they want to drive Paul out of the whole area.

Turn over to I Thessalonians 1. I just want to highlight some things out of chapter 1 of Paul’s letter. Shortly after he left Thessalonica, Paul wrote this letter back to the Thessalonians to encourage them, tell them what a blessing they have been, to challenge them to greater faithfulness, to remind them of the coming of the Lord, and encourage them in their steadfastness in light of the fact that the Lord will come and deliver them from their sufferings and trials.

After the initial greeting in verse 1 Paul starts by expressing his thanks. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers. And Paul is going to unfold his thanks and the foundation for his gratitude to God for the work that He has done in the lives of the Thessalonians, in verses 2-4 in particular. He starts out, we give thanks to God always for you. That’s characteristic for Paul. I mean one of the things you would have to say that stands out in Paul’s life is he’s filled with gratitude to God for the lives that are changed by the gospel. The Thesslonians aren’t perfect, they aren’t without their problems as a church, thing that will have to be addressed. But they are believers that have been changed. This is true of all those that Paul write to. The only group of believers that Paul does not begin by offering thanks to God for them is the church at Galatia. And that’s because the rebuke that he has to bring to them is so severe. But he is filled with gratitude. He’ll find in the people God has done a work of grace. They may not be everything they should be, they may not even be growing as they should, but it is amazing that God’s salvation has done a work in their lives. And for that he is filled with gratitude. And he wants that to become a pattern. At the end of the letter to the Thessalonians, I Thessalonians 5:18. In verse 17 he tells them to pray without ceasing, and he tells them in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will concerning you. So he wants them to have this quality of being filled with gratitude and thanks.

Back in verse 2, we give thanks to God always for all of you. I mean just thinking about you and your response to the gospel and the way the gospel changed your lives causes me to be filled with thanks to God. Now he’s not giving thanks to them, he’s giving thanks to God for them. Now that’s a great encouragement to the church at Thessalonica. I mean, to have somebody that we respect and has been used greatly in our lives write us a letter and say I just thank God every day for you. We say oh what a blessing, what an encouragement that is to me. But Paul realizes it’s God’s work in their lives, but he want the Thessalonians to know, I see God’s work in your lives in great ways.

We make mention of you in our prayers. And three matters are constantly in Paul’s mind as he prays for them. These kind of things as we look at how Paul prayed are good reminders for us as the Spirit has laid this out for shaping our prayer lives. What does he give thanks to God for them? What is he praying about? Three participles here that shaped his prayer life—constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, verse 4, knowing, brethren, beloved by God His choice of you.

First one, and then we’ll unfold the rest as we move along here. Constantly bearing in mind these things, I put constantly in my mind first your work of faith. The results of faith, they have produced work. Faith, saving faith as we’ve been talking about in our study in Corinthians changes a life, radically transforms a person, makes us new. The old person died, is raised a new person in Christ. Old things pass away, new things come. And now there is a commitment to service to our new Lord and Master. And that produces the work of faith, the work that is a result of our faith. And that word work, the word we see a number of times in Paul’s letters, it is the work that notes toil, exhausting toil, laborsome toil. Stresses the idea of exertion, fatigue. Paul used this word a number of times to describe his own life and ministry. There is no sugarcoating, that oh we do the work of the Lord in the power of the Lord and it’s not work at all. It is hard work, it is exhausting work, it wears you out, ??????? You are those who are involved in great ways in the ministry here, you know what it’s like. You know what it’s like to be tired and think, I’m just worn out as you give yourself in the service of the Lord and the work that He calls you to. That work is motivated by your faith in Jesus Christ. One of the great testimonies I think of this church is people’s comments about the way that people give themselves and work in the ministry in so many ways. And sometimes we begin to take it for granted because people have labored and toiled over long periods of time. And it brings a strength and an effectiveness in the ministry. And sometimes you don’t realize that until you’re in another place, and you realize this just doesn’t happen overnight. The ministry that is developed and matured and been blessed by God, the result of people because of their faith in Christ, pouring themselves in toil and labor into the ministry.

Your work of faith, your labor of love. It is labor, toil produced by your love. You do it because of your love for those that you are serving. So our faith in Christ moves us to work, our love moves us to toil and labor. It’s just an evidence of the genuineness of conversion. You see how radical the change has been in the Thessalonians. They are relatively short-term believers. We’re not even talking about people who have been believers for 25 years. This is about people who have been believers for a short time, a year, even less. And the change in the way they pour themselves into their service for others is a demonstration of the love that is produced in their lives by the Holy Spirit.

Your steadfastness of hope. That word steadfastness, Greek word … And it’s a compound word to live under, to live under, to abide under. So your endurance, that steadfastness that comes with the willingness to live under pressure. …. means to be under something. So your steadfastness of hope, your enduring under the pressure, that’s produced by the hope that you have. And that hope centers in Jesus Christ and His coming again. It’s interesting, every chapter as we have it broken down into chapters now in our Bibles in this first letter to the Thessalonians, ends with a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ. Jump down to verse 10 of chapter 1, they are serving the living and true God and await for His Son from heaven. At the end of chapter 2 verse 19, for who is our joy or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming. The last verse of chapter 3, so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Verse 17 of chapter 4, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we should always be with the Lord. And chapter 5 verse 23, now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely. May your spirit, soul, body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that fixed hope produces steadfastness, because we’re not living for the moment, so to speak, and overwhelmed by the present trials and tribulations. We expect them. We are staying steadfast and enduring through them because of our hope. Jesus Christ is coming and we will be brought into the glory of His presence.

Back in chapter 1 you’ll note, your work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope—faith, love, hope, that triad that appears a number of times in the New Testament. Faith, hope, and love go together as identifying marks as Paul says in I Corinthians 13, the greatest of these is love. But faith, hope and love, marking them out. Your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

Knowing, brethren, beloved by God His choice of you. So Paul said in verse 2, we give thanks to God, making mention of you in our prayers. I mentioned the three participle phrases, I need to go back and draw your attention to them before I forget. Second one, and our participles usually end in English in “ing” and each of these do. Making mention in verse 2, constantly bearing in mind in verse 3, and then knowing, brethren, in verse 4. So making mention of you as I give thanks. Remembering, bearing in mind. Knowing, brethren, beloved by God His choice of you. We spent recent studies talking about the biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty and His work of election. And that’s the word translated choice. Knowing brethren, beloved by God His election of you, His choice of you. Paul said behind all this I see God has chosen you. What a blessing that is. And he’s going to elaborate in verses 5ff how he can know that they were chosen of God. And that’s something that God has sovereignly done within Himself, how can Paul have the confidence to know that God has chosen them. It’s the evidence of their response to the gospel and the transformation of their lives.

So he picks up in verse 5, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in 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 know there’s a beautiful simplicity in the church’s ministry as we find it in the New Testament. We need to be careful that we don’t lose sight of that. We come up with all these programs and plans that guarantee that we can produce church growth. Paul knew nothing of that. He went with the simple gospel. We saw this in the early part of I Corinthians, and here we’re reminded again, all Paul did when he came, he came with the gospel. We saw in Acts 17 the establishing of the church at Thessalonica. What did Paul do? Comes, sits down in the synagogue and shows them from the Old Testament scriptures that the Christ must suffer and die and be raised. And Jesus is that Christ. He fulfills the scripture. Some believe and are saved, some are antagonized and begin persecution. But that’s the strategy. No subtle, we’re going to appeal to them in such a way that then we’ll draw them, and then after they’ve been drawn by our methodologies, we will work the gospel in. Paul gets right to it. How do I know God chose you? The gospel didn’t come to you in word only, we brought the gospel to you not just as words spoken, but it came in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Some things Paul doesn’t have any control over. He comes and presents the truth of the gospel in the power of the Spirit, and lives are changed. Other places he goes and presents the gospel and he doesn’t get the same kind of response. What you see is that where there is response, you’re dealing with those that God has sovereignly chosen. Remember we saw Paul’s letter to Timothy, I endure all things for the sake of the chosen, the elect, that they might come to the salvation which is in Jesus Christ. No one else will come, they fight it, they are opposed to it. We all would do that if it were not for the gracious intervention of God.

Our gospel, the gospel that Paul wrote to the Galatians and said, I received it from revelation, direct revelation from the God of heaven, the truth concerning Christ’s death and burial and resurrection. Our gospel didn’t come to you in word only, it came in power. Paul uses this contrast, and we’re not going to go back there because we looked at it when we worked through the opening chapters of I Corinthians. The contrast between mere words of men, the wisdom of men, and the gospel, which he told the Romans was the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And our gospel came to you in power, life-changing power. You, yourselves, are living testimonies that your lives were changed by the power of the gospel. It’s that power which is denied by the unbeliever.

Turn over, just after the letters to the Thessalonians, to II Timothy. And if you stop in II Timothy 2:10, the verse that I just referred to, for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory. Look in II Timothy 3:5, Paul introduced this chapter by saying, in the last days difficult times will come and men, verse 4, will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. They still want to go through the motions and keep the form of being godly, but they have denied the power of the gospel with its life-changing dimension.

So as you come back to I Thessalonians, Paul’s methodology is so simple. But we don’t like, we’ve tried to work and think we can have the church of the book of Acts without the negatives. We want to see the kind of growth that is reflected in the early part of acts where it says 3000 people were converted. Then there are 5000. We don’t want to see any opposition, any persecution stirred up. So we’re trying to create a pleasing gospel that will be non-offensive, and we end up denying its power. Keeping the form for godliness, but denying its power. Serious matter. The Spirit of God is going to take the Word of God and do a work, lives are changed. But you understand the negative side of that as we look at it humanly speaking is, people are greatly offended. And the more intense the work of the Spirit is, the more intense the opposition that aroused is. That was true of Jesus’ ministry, it’s true of Paul’s ministry.

But the believers in the church at Thessalonica now are living evidence that the gospel came to them, not with just words, but with power and in the Holy Spirit and full conviction. The Holy Spirit is the source of the power that Paul is talking about. We’ve seen that again in our studies in Corinthians, and we see so much overlap and intertwining of God’s unfolding of His truth. It’s the Holy Spirit going to work. Sad, sad, sad if the church decides they’re not happy with the way the Holy Spirit does His work. We must have more success as the world would mark success, and there is no secret in this. What is offensive to the world, what is unacceptable to the world is the clear message of the cross of Jesus Christ, which declares that they are hopeless, helpless sinners and they must turn in faith from their sin to the Savior who died and was raised again. There are no other ways, there are no other options. And that means your religious convictions, strong as they may be, are wrong. Why do you think the Jews are in an uproar? They don’t want to hear this message. Why was Paul found persecuting the church, putting to death believers, imprisoning men and women alike. He hated the message of Christ. He was a very religious person, excelling in his religion, if you will, according to Philippians 3. But the cross just antagonized him until God supernaturally reached down, took hold of him and brought him to Himself. That’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Our gospel didn’t come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and full conviction. And that conviction goes grammatically, these are together. You have a second preposition in English to smooth it out. It says, in the Holy Spirit and full conviction. There is no second preposition there, the preposition with. So the full conviction goes together, in the Holy Spirit and full conviction. We came with the conviction, and it’s His conviction, that the gospel is what you had to hear. It’s the gospel that the Holy Spirit would use as the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. It is that passionate conviction of Paul and Silas, those who traveled with them, that gave strength to their ministry. It enabled the power of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be effective. You know I’m concerned that the church, its leaders, its pastors, lose that passionate conviction regarding the absolute necessity of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit to change lives. And nothing else will do it, and no other changes are of eternal importance and significance. And we can adjust the ministry of the church according to what will make it most successful. Paul says I came with full conviction. When I brought the gospel to you I had that burning conviction that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes. And it’s the gospel that the Holy Spirit uses in power to change lives, and that enabled him to go from Thessalonica to Berea. And he had come to Thessalonica from Philippi, and what had happened to him in Philippi? He had been beaten and thrown in prison. Didn’t alter his conviction one bit. You know we don’t share that conviction. We share the gospel with someone and they lash out at us and are offended, and we shrink back in our shell and say, oh, boy I shouldn’t do that, I’m not going to do that again. I just don’t know, I offend people. The gospel offends people. Paul had such a conviction, that the greatest opposition didn’t deter him. They could beat him, they could throw him into prison, he gets to the next town and what does he do? Sits down and preaches the gospel and the town is stirred up and there is opposition and there is persecution and he has to leave. And he goes to the next town, and what does he do? And you know what happens when the persecutors come from Thessalonica to Berea and Paul has to leave Berea and he goes to Athens. You know what he does at Athens? Preaches the gospel. And he leaves Athens and goes to Corinth, and you know what he does at Corinth? Preaches the gospel. He’s a man of conviction, passionate conviction that people must hear the gospel. I am convinced that the Spirit of God uses the gospel of Jesus Christ as His power to change lives. And Paul can say, when I came to you I came to you with that conviction.

And he is willing to say at the end of verse 5, you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. Paul was never afraid or ashamed to tell the converts to look at his life. And when people would attack his character and that, he didn’t mind saying, well look at me. How did I conduct myself with you? There were no shady deals going on, nothing underhanded, no false veneer put over his ministry to make it look better. See, he wasn’t being honest, he wasn’t being open. Paul was blunt and right up front, this is the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that’s what it’s about. You know what kind of men we prove to be among you. We came with this conviction, our lives supported that conviction. And you know what kind of men that we prove to be among you.

Verses 6-7 further how he sees they were chosen of God. Verse 4, knowing brethren beloved by God His choice of you. You know what kind of men we proved to be, the end of verse 5. And verse 6, you became imitators of us. In that sense the transformation, you became like us, you became imitators of us and of the Lord. And Paul doesn’t see that there should be a major difference. Again, he’s not elevating himself in the wrong way to the level of Christ, but there’s none of this, oh don’t look at me, I don’t want anybody to see me. I want them to see the cross, oh don’t look at me, look at Jesus. Why? What is wrong with you? I’ve shared with you, I had a professor in Bible college, he used to pray and it grated on me and I still don’t like it, but I think it’s got enough truth in it to be acceptable. He said, oh, Lord, make us little Christs. I don’t think that’s the best way to put it, but what he was saying was true. We ought to be just like him. So Paul has no problem, imitate me. And if there’s something in your life as a believer in Jesus Christ that isn’t like Christ, get rid of it. Paul says you became imitators of us and of the Lord because Paul patterned his life after the Lord, imitated the Lord in his character and conduct. And so you became imitators of us and of the Lord. We get the word mimic from this Greek word. It’s more than a follower, it’s someone who patterns himself after someone else.

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. In much tribulation. This is not mild discomfort, but serious difficulty is the idea of the word. It’s used outside the Bible to mean literal pressure of a severe kind. It’s used in the Bible to denote intense difficulty, great trials. You received the Word and became imitators of us in much tribulation. That’s an evidence of their genuineness. They didn’t jump on a popular bandwagon, they didn’t do this because it was the in thing to do. They received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. There is something supernatural about this. You know anybody jumps on something that’s popular. There was a period of time, we talk about it, a number of years ago where the in thing was Bible studies. Everybody was interested in Bible study. And I’ve shared with you, a Christian leader in the area said to me, Gil, they’re breaking down the doors to get in to hear you teach the Bible. The real test will be when they’re not breaking down the doors to get in, are you still going to be teaching the Bible? And that is the test—in season and out of season. Here people that hear the gospel, it’s not the popular thing to do to respond. This can only bring trial and difficulty and hardship to their lives. You received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. I mean when you received God’s salvation, the Spirit of God produces joy in your heart, even though they’re dragging you off to jail, even though you’ve lost your job, even though your family has turned against you. I mean this is not joy produced by a good raise, a promotion, a family encouragement. This is supernatural joy produced by the Holy Spirit in the life.

You received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Seems like two incompatible things, tribulation and joy, tribulation and joy. That’s confirmation to Paul of the genuineness of their salvation. Much tribulation and the joy that only the Holy Spirit can produce in the life. And you know what happens? Verse 7, so you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia. You became imitators of us, you mimiced us and then you became an example, a type, tupous, it’s the mark left by a blow or a stamp. And here the church at Thessalonica has become an example for other believers in Macedonia and Achaia, not only in their own province, but in Achaia as well. Macedonia being in the north and Achaia being in the south, Corinth being in Achaia, Philippi, Thessalonica being in Macedonia. I mean the whole region of Greece is impacted by the testimony of this relatively small group of believers brought together as the church of God at Thessalonica in the midst of intense persecution and opposition that’s severe enough it necessitated the departure of Paul. And not only in Thessalonica, but out of Berea as well.

And you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. What a testimony. And we are encouraged to see a church that stands for truth and in the intensity of its suffering. I shared with you in other places, particularly in China, what a challenge and encouragement to see believers standing in the face of persecution and suffering and loss that we don’t know anything about. The worst we have is somebody says something negative about. There are people who go to prison for 20-25 years, have all their possessions taken away, their children removed from their home. They sit there and smile and talk about the Lord. Aren’t you afraid they’re going to put you back in prison? Oh I spent 25 years there, I don’t think they want me back. They have to feed and clothe me if they put me back I in prison. What an attitude. We think what your house, what about your retirement, what about, what about. What a testimony.

The church at Thessalonica was like that. Here is a church under persecution and they’re becoming an example for believers to follow. Is it any wonder Paul was assured and confident that God had chosen them, the transformation of their life was demonstrated to be real, to be genuine. They weren’t like the shallow ground hearers that Jesus talked about in the parable of the soils where immediately they respond to the Word, but when persecution comes they wither because there is no root. The church at Thessalonica was standing and becoming itself and example, having become an imitator of Paul and of the Lord.

And the follow through of this, for the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone forth so we have need to say nothing. The Word of the Lord, that Word that has come from the Lord. Paul received it from the Lord, he has passed it on to the Thessalonians, the Thessalonians are passing it on to others. It sounded forth from you. That sounded forth, that denotes the resounding reverberation of a loud noise. It’s just not the subtle, we’ve got to lay low, we’ve got to be careful, it’s not the right time. The persecution is intense enough, Paul, we had to get him out of town for his own survival. It’s just not a good time to be overly bold, overly vocal. Here Paul says it sounded forth. You’re making such a loud noise with the gospel that it’s reverberating in other places. In the tense here, the perfect tense, this continues. This is what they have been doing in the past and this continues to be their characteristic. The Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you.

Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place. Your faith toward God has gone forth. These are not shrinking violet Christians. I sometimes wonder if you brought the church at Thessalonica down to today and put them here, would they wonder why we are all speechless? I mean here the fires of persecution are costly for them. Paul reminds them again and again that they have the hope of the coming of the Lord because things aren’t good here and now and their testimony is reverberating, not only through Thessalonica, but through the whole province. Not only that province, but through the whole country of Greece. And not only that, but Paul said they get to other places and they’re talking about you. You know sometimes we shrink back at the very time our testimony could have the greatest impact. We allow ourselves to be timid, and as Paul wrote to Timothy, God doesn’t give us the spirit of timidity, of cowardice, but of boldness. We come up with reasons why this is not a good time, why it’s not the best time. And I think sometimes we’ve lost our greatest opportunity. What would have happened if the church at Thessalonica said we’re just going to lay low and we’re going to wait until it’s a good time. There’s no sense in offending more people, there’s no sense in stirring up more opposition to the gospel. We need to be wise. We wouldn’t be studying the letter to the Thessalonians like we are now. They would have missed the opportunity to have the greatest impact that they could have, not only in that town, but in other places.

Your faith toward God has gone forth. I don’t even have to tell people about you, Paul says, they’re talking about you. For they themselves report about us, what kind of reception we had with you. I mean they get there and they’re talking about it. I don’t have to come and tell them, I want to tell you what happened at Thessalonica. They want to tell me we’ve heard what happened at Thessalonica. And what happened? They hear about what kind of reception we had with you, how you responded to the Word. Now note how Paul is focused in on those that have believed the truth. You understand, he got run out of town. You could say the overwhelming majority of the city was opposed to the gospel, it just didn’t go well. But here it’s the opposite, what kind of reception we had with you. Those who didn’t respond positively, they don’t count. But there are those who got chose and they believed and people are talking about your response to our ministry.

And how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. You’ll note that. In verse 4, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you, your election. Yet down here in verse 9 we hear how you turned to God. We talked about that tension that’s there. We need to be careful that we don’t try to resolve what God hasn’t resolved for us. God has made His sovereign choice and that’s why people believe. But they must turn, and this word to turn is used regularly and we wouldn’t have time, we’ve got a list (I don’t want to count them right now) of a number of verses used regularly for conversion. Involves a turning. You turned from idols to God to serve a living and true God. That’s the evidence. We talked about transformed lives are the evidence of the reality of conversion. People want to give a testimony that yes I’m Christian, I’ve trusted Christ, but I didn’t leave my former religion, my former church. Not a place where the Word of God is believed or proclaimed, but I have family ties there. You understand this kind of community, if you leave your church………… And our family, we’ve been this kind of religious people for…………. I mean that would just probably harm my ………… What are we talking about here? The whole impact of the testimony is the change it brought about. Well yes they served idols. What did Paul have to do? I was thinking about that this week. Those that Christ took, he takes fisherman, these kind of people to be His original disciples. Then He gets somebody who counts in the world, Paul, I mean a man of stature in the world, a somebody, and He reduces him to nothing. And then He uses them. We like to think, oh boy if we could just get some well-known people, some people of influence. That’s not the way God does it, and so here He takes these people at Thessalonica and they turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. That’s the impact of their testimony, that’s the demonstration that the response to the gospel was genuine. That’s the evidence that they were indeed chosen of God. Life’s not the same, not in any way. They now serve the living God.

And they wait for His Son from heaven. reminder in all of this, how he draws their attention back to their hope. They’re not passively waiting, they’re not just sitting……… Oh God deliver us, oh we don’t know what to do. I mean we’ve seen, we get to this point, they are aggressively, I mean the message is reverberating loudly throughout the world from Thessalonica. And in the midst of their faithful service they are waiting for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. These are days of tribulation, but we will not have to endure coming wrath, the tribulation that awaits this world, and then the wrath of hell that will follow that. So we don’t have tribulation, we have trials. But the coming wrath we will be spared from, both in the tribulation that is going to come upon this earth and talk about the rapture of the church in chapter 4 of this letter, and then ultimately the judgment that will come upon the unbelieving world.

Remarkable church. Say, boy, I would like our church to be like the church at Thessalonica, that our testimony would stay strong, that the word of the gospel would continue to reverberate loudly from here, that we would be people that imitate Paul and the Lord. We bring the gospel and the truth of the gospel to people, it comes in power in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction, we’re allowing the Spirit to work in our lives in such a way. We don’t have the spirit of cowardice, of timidity, has nothing to do with your natural character. Some people are more outgoing, some people you might say are more bold, more aggressive. We’re talking about supernatural character, what the Spirit of God produces in a life. Timothy evidently, perhaps naturally was more retiring. Paul said God doesn’t give us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice. And so that conviction that controls us that nothing but nothing but nothing can save a person but the message of Jesus Christ. And people must hear this message, they must hear it. And God is not going to use angels, He uses us. Are we so passionate that that is our conviction so that the message continues to reverberate, resound. I don’t like persecution, I don’t like opposition. I sometimes say to Marilyn, you know what I would like to do? I would like to find a small church someplace where they just want somebody to teach the Word, we’re not going to have trouble, we’re not going to have opposition, we’re not going to have trials. I just want to go and we’ll just teach the Word. And she gently reminds me, it won’t stay that way. If we’re faithful to the Word it won’t stay that way. You know we always think of those quiet little resting places that are in our future. We can’t be faithful and do that. This isn’t the time of sitting back, taking our ease. That is yet in our future. We have all eternity that God has promised and planned for us, blessings and eternal rest. This is the day of battle, this is the day of conflict, this is the day of soldiering, this is the day to be faithful. God raised us up for this purpose and blessed us. How honored we are to have been called of God to be His chosen, and now be a center of His truth, a center of the Spirit’s ministry. May it be true in our lives personally, be true of our church corporately.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Even when we are unfaithful, you are faithful. You cannot deny yourself. Thank you, Lord, for calling these people to yourself. Lord, thank you for the abundant evidence of your choice of them in their faithfulness to you, their willingness to let go the things of this life and this world, commit themselves to Jesus Christ, to give of themselves in toilsome labor and service to the body of Christ. Thank you for the message of the gospel that has been entrusted to us, that we can preach it and teach it and share it. Thank you, Lord, for the faithfulness of these people through trials and difficulties, losing friendships and having loved ones become antagonized. Lord, in all these things we count it an honor to be identified with Jesus Christ. We count it a privilege to imitate Paul and to imitate our Lord. We count it a badge of honor if we are misunderstood, misrepresented. Thank you, Lord, for the encouragement of the testimony of the church at Thessalonica, Lord, a testimony that 2000 years later continues to bear fruit. Lord, we don’t know how you are using us, in what ways our testimony as a church that would be faithful will encourage others, impact others, be used for the salvation of souls. Lord, we must concentrate on being faithful and looking for that blessed hope, even the appearing of the glory of the great God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that time when He will transform these bodies of humility into conformity with the bodies of His glory. May that hope give us an enduring steadfastness as we serve you. We praise you in Christ’s name, amen.