1. The church in Thessalonica is new & strong.
2. The leadership is growing, their influence is spreading, and their love is expanding.
a. I’m sure it was an exciting time for them.
b. In a place where there was no church, now Jesus is turning their lives right side up.
c. And with their new lives, they are full of faith, hope, & love!
d. They are being accused of turning the world upside down!
Their church, like every strong church, was full of spiritual activity!
#1 - It was a TRAINING CENTER.
Col. 2.6-7 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
• Men and women would come and be taught, strengthened, and supported in the ministry.
• They would be trained how to study, how to serve, how to share the gospel.
#2 – It was also a LAUNCHING PAD.
Mark 16.15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
• The believers took this seriously and obeyed it immediately.
• So that by the time Paul writes to them, he says in 1:7
1 Thess 1.8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.
So as a Training Center, a Launching Pad, that meant that the church was also #3 - A TARGET!
• It didn’t take long for FALSE TEACHERS to show up!
• And with them came FALSE DOCTRINES & FALSE ACCUSATIONS
• That is, they tried to confuse the church about what they believed and also wanted to turn them against Paul!
NOTE: That shouldn’t surprise us. Satan is always on the look out for the strong, growing, the newly planted seeds…
• So that when he finds them, his mission is to destroy them!
• Let’s look at Matthew 13.18ff
SO WE ARE CONSTANTLY reminded to be on guard, to have our spiritual armor on, ready to do battle in the spiritual realm!
1 Peter 5.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Luke 22.31-32 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
I LOVE THAT… Jesus is praying for Peter, He’s praying for you!
• That our faith would not fail, but that we’d be strong!
Romans 8.34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
SO CHAPTER 2 opens with Paul appealing to their memory.
• Guys, I know they are coming against you, I know they are saying all these things about me, but remember our time together!
• I’m your BROTHER in the Lord! Not a BOTHER like those guys!
BY THE WAY… that’s one of the MANY JOYS of serving in the ministry here with you guys.
• You get to know me… OH YEH, WE KNOW YOU ALRIGHT!
• AND make lots of allowances for my inadequacies, my mistakes, my weaknesses.
• And get to do that for you too! That’s what the Body of Jesus Christ, the church is all about!
Philippians 2.3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
So we see ingredients for the brother, the sister, who is ministering among the church in integrity & sincerity.
• He’s a TRUE BROTHER and an HONEST TEACHER
I. (2:1-3) TRUE BROTHER
1. (1-3) We came with the Pure Word
a. You yourselves know… This isn’t new or made up!
b. You guys know me, you served with me, we were there!
c. We were brothers in the Lord! We connected.
d. Don’t you REM the wounds on our backs? Joy in our hearts?
e. I was like a TRUE BROTHER to you guys!
f. I lived there among you, alongside of you for 3 weeks!
REMEMBER: While Paul was in Philippi, they were physically beaten, imprisoned, and made a public disgrace!
• Then when they come to Thessalonica, a mob comes against them to accuse & harass them!
Acts 17:5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
KJV - took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort.
That’s a great way of putting it isn’t it? They were lewd fellows.
• Wicked & perverse and contrary to the things of God.
• They went after Paul and tried to kill them!
• But Paul says we were BOLD IN GOD to speak to you the gospel in much conflict.
• In other words, they weren’t afraid to continue on!
APP: Paul’s boldness came from his confidence in God’s power.
• He knew that God had sent them. He knew that God had protected them. He knew that God gave Him spiritual strength!
• Even though it was often in much ‘conflict’.
• V2 – next to conflict U can write, “struggle, fight, contention:”
• From it we get our English word ‘agonize’. It was tough!
The Bible tells us that a TRUE BROTHER is born for adversity!
• That’s when we need them right! When times get tough, when money runs short, when tempers start to fly… need A brother!
• We need TO BE THAT brother, that sister in the Lord!
Proverbs 17.17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
LOOK: there are a whole lot of ANY TIME friends, even a few FAIR WEATHER friends.
• But a real brother is someone standing by you in ALL TIMES.
Proverbs 18.24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
• Blood ties are close, but the blood of Jesus Christ connects us in a way that is so incredibly powerful!
NOTE: As believers, in this church, YOU ARE CONNECTED!
• It’s a done deal. It’s sealed and settled.
• Brothers, Sisters sitting in front, in back, left & right of you!
APP: The key is that YOU have to take the first step out of isolation.
• If you just come in and out every week and dabble at this.
• You come in for your meal. I hear it all the time.
• People saying, “I need to get fed.” Yes you do.
• But you can eat so much that it’s no good for you and it actually begins to work against you. Its feed & serve, receive & do!
Q: Do you know who’s sitting next to you? Do you care?
• Wait a minute Pastor Ed, that’s a little rough don’t you think?
• No, not really. I’m not trying to condemn, but stir up.
• I just want you to pray on this and seek the Lord through it.
Hebrews 10.24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
• That’s why we are here, week after week. To grow, to learn, to be stirred up, to leave with action!
NOTE: Families do care. And God’s family cares even more!
• Brothers, Sisters… caring, serving, giving, helping.
• If you have a need, the family, they step in to help!
BUT SEE there are those out there that describe the church in much different terms… not with the word family, but “PROSPECTS”.
• Yes, I’ve been around long enough to hear of the many business opportunities out there that train their people to look in the church for ‘prospective clients’
• In your ‘marketing plan’, they train a person that one of the best ways to connect and do business is in the church!
NOTE: I remember this happening to me at Calvary Downey.
• A brother literally cornered me in the hallway and began to talk to me about the kids, homeschooling, ministry.
• I really though he was sincere… until he said:
• “Are you happy with your current job?” I should have known!
• But you know, I had a bad day & I thought he was really interested so I said, “NO. It really stunk today.”
• WELL, He said, you can really do something better.
• Here’s my card. FOR WHAT?! Here’s a tape. FOR WHAT?!
• He could’ve prayed for me. He should’ve cared… but all he saw was a POTENTIAL CLIENT!
• He was trying to sell me into his organization! AT CHURCH!
• Let’s just say that left a BAD TASTE in my mouth.
• The Brother never did serve anywhere the time I was there!
• May because his eyes only saw PROSPECTS.
THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY, NOT A GROUP OF PROSPECTS.
STILL OTHERS say the church is filled with POTENTIAL HUSBANDS & WIVES!
• Yes, I remember the first time a man called for information on the church. I admit, I was naïve and went through the answers.
• Then he says, “What about the women?” What about them?
• Are they good looking? Many singles? I need a wife and my friend said there were some good looking women at Calvary!
• OK… SO I played with him a little… (My dark, depraved nature)
• There is this ONE WOMAN, dark hair, dark eyes, great personality, really good looking! REALLY?
• Yes, her name is Marie and I married her 15 years ago!
• Prospects? Potential? Hey… it’s FAMILY!!
• Brothers, Sisters, Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters!
• Authentic relationships leading to Awesome ministry.
NOW AUTHENTICITY doesn’t mean PERFECT.
• It simply means, “real, genuine, conforming to the original”
• The original. Who’s that? Jesus Christ!
Romans 12.1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
And so it is… the TRUE BROTHER gives an HONEST WORD.
Prov 27.6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
II. (2:4-6) HONEST TEACHER
1. (4-6) I gave you the word…
a. Notice, he wasn’t trying to please man, but God!
b. His questions were not, ‘I wonder what they want, I wonder what they are thinking, I wonder how the people might receive this?’
c. It wasn’t, “What will they think? How will they respond?’
d. It was, “God, what do you want me to do?!”
NOTE: he wasn’t spending his time trying to figure out man’s heart, the Bible is clear on that:
Jer. 17.9"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
• But rather, Paul was seeking out the Searcher of Man’s hearts!
Jer. 17.10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
WE KNOW THE HEART OF GOD… God is love.
• God loves you. He loves me.
• He took the initiative to reveal to us who we are & how to fix it.
• And as an HONEST TEACHER, we will care more about what God thinks than what any man thinks!
• It’s the attitude that says, “I want to please you no matter the cost.”
NOTE: We live in a day and age where it is getting less and less popular to be a Christian.
• So the pressure to fit in is always increasing!
Proverbs 29.25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.
I believe this will be THE TEST in the coming months and years… to trust in the Lord or to fear man.
• This is exactly what made the good desires of the Pharisees to be holy and committed to the Lord… empty baseless religion
• Let’s flip over to Matthew 23:1-7
• AND THEY devoted their entire lives trying to keep the Law.
• And OUTWARDLY, what people saw, looked pretty good.
That was their problem. They only wanted to LOOK RIGHTEOUS.
• They only wanted to APPEAR RIGHT with God.
• Jesus called them whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.
APP: Are you more concerned with outward appearances? Do you spend time trying to impress, trying to make an impression?
• It’s a common trap that can destroy your sensitivity to the Spirit.
• Instead we’re running around trying to make sure everyone thinks things are OK.
You’ll hear people say, “Well, you’re a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN aren’t you?” OR “You aren’t one of those Bible BELIEVING CHRISTIANS are you?”
• IS there anything else? People just don’t think it through.
• If we’re going to be followers of Jesus Christ, then we’ll be more concerned with what God thinks and less and less of what man thinks. Look at v6… no glory from men!
Romans 8.31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
SO There was not flattery, no buttering them up, just the real, authentic, love laced Word of God… he was a:
• A TRUE BROTHER… AN HONEST TEACHER. Authenticity.
• I see it so much among you guys… and I can see so much of it coming up through your growth and maturity.
