WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
INTRODUCTION
This morning we are going to return to the 1st Chapter of Thessalonians as we continue with our series A Sure Faith For Uncertain Times…As we noted last week, the people of Thessalonica to whom Paul originally wrote these words lived in a time and in a culture not unlike our own…As men and women seeking to live out a Christ-like life, they often experienced troubles and tribulations…It was not always easy living a life of authentic faith then, any more than it is for us today.
Last week we looked in detail at Paul’s visit to Thessalonica—how he came to minister there and what his ministry looked like…A year or so after he left the city, he wrote this letter to them, and the opening chapter gives us a pretty good picture of the type of people to whom he was writing…So this morning we’ll attempt to answer the question, Who Are These People?
Let’s start reading with verse 2 of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1:
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
From these verses, we can identify at least four truths about the original recipients of this letter.
I. THEY WERE DELIVERED
We know that the people to whom Paul was writing were delivered—that is they were saved—because they were a part of the church at Thessalonica…But Paul specifically identifies these people as saved… In verse 9 he makes it clear that these Thessalonians have a testimony of an authentic relationship with God.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 …They [the people in Macedonia and Achaia] tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
Paul is describing here the process of repentance:
• Turning to God.
• Turning from idols.
• Serving the true and living God.
There is a definitive order of events described here…Starts with turning to God, then turning from idols, which results in being able to serve the living and true God.
• Too many people get it backwards.
Paul makes two things about salvation very clear in this passage.
A. Salvation Was Imparted by God
1 Thessalonians 1: 4-5 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…
God is the author and initiator of salvation…It is God who makes us aware of our sins…It is God who reaches down to us and makes us aware of His great love…It is God who opens His arms and invites us into a relationship with Him…Although many people profess to “seeking God”, the truth is that apart from God reaching out to us, we’d never even know that we were sinners in need of a Savior.
Paul refers to these Thessalonian Christians as loved by God…The Greek term translated this way was used a few other times in the NT, usually to describe the love of God the Father for God the Son…
Paul speaks here of our gospel—the gospel Paul preached…We don’t have to guess what Paul preached, because we looked at it last Sunday in Acts 17…It is the message of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…And Paul gives all the credit for the salvation of these believers to the power of the Gospel…To Paul, and to these believers in Thessalonica, the Gospel was not just some abstract idea…It wasn’t a theory or a philosophy…It was, as Paul describes elsewhere in the NT, the power of God unto salvation.
Note verse 5 tells us the Gospel came:
• With words (not simply with words), but with words nonetheless.
• With power (DUNAMIS)
• With the Holy Spirit (worthless if the Word is preached without the HS)
• With deep conviction (on the part of the preacher as well as the believer)
B. Salvation Was Embraced by the Thessalonian Believers
1 Thessalonians 1: 6 …in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
in spite of sever suffering = tribulation = pressure…What kind of suffering did these Thessalonians experience?...If you were here last week, you should remember the account from Acts 17 that described Paul’s visit to Thessolonica…The Jewish leaders and city officials were unhappy about these converts to Christianity, so some bad characters dragged some of them (including JASON) before the city officials and punished them for following Jesus.
That was real suffering folks…In fact, when you read through the NT, or even do a study of Church History in the first 200-300 years of Christianity, you become aware of how much more our forefathers in the faith suffered than we have ever considered…We count it as suffering if we only get two weeks of vacation instead of three…Or if we have to eat hamburger instead of steak…Most of us—and I count myself in the mix here—don’t really have any idea what it is to suffer for Christ.
But these Thessalonians suffered real, legitimate adversity—and they welcomed the message with joy… Here’s my point—they RECEIVED and ACCEPTED the Gospel message…Yes, God imparted Salvation…God initiated the act of saving grace in their lives—but they had to make a decision about what they would do with that message…Let me just remind you from last week’s study of Paul’s visit to Thessalonica what we read in Acts 17:4: Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
• But it never suggests that everyone who heard the Gospel welcomed it…Not everyone who heard Paul’s sermon believed.
So the original recipients of this letter were those to whom God had imparted salvation, those who embraced the Gospel message…THEY WERE DELIVERED.
THEY WERE DISCIPLED
II. THEY WERE DISCIPLED
1 Thessalonians 1: 5-6 …You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord;…
Paul and Silas and Timothy didn’t just preach to these people, lead them to the Lord and then move on… But they invested themselves into these people to help them to grow and mature in their faith…They lived among the Thessalonians…They worshiped with them…They taught them…They fellowshipped with them…While there is some uncertainty about just how much time Paul actually spent in Thessalonica, it is clear that during the time he was there—he was ALL THERE…He and the other missionaries lived among them in such a way that they had a pretty good idea as to who these men really were.
Christ has charged the church with making disciples…Not just making converts, but disciples…We want to see people accept Christ as their Savior…I am disappointed that we don’t see more people saved…But I am also mindful that we have a responsibility to see saved people grow in their faith…And while we are not perfect and there is always room for improvement, I think we take this responsibility pretty seriously here at Life Spring.
Through teaching opportunities on Sunday mornings to Life Groups and periodic Bible studies, we seek to help one another grow in our understanding of God’s Word.
Our Men’s and Women’s ministries both have strong discipleship components…Over this past year, we have been encouraging everyone at Life Spring to be involved in at least one discipleship relationship… It was just last February that we had a special month-long emphasis on discipleship, inviting Pat Murphy from Antioch Community Church in Waco to lead a seminar and preach for us…Since that time, many new discipleship relationships have been formed…Unfortunately, in the press of other things, too many of those relationships were allowed to flounder.
So here we are—11 months later—how are your discipleship relationships going?...If you never followed through, or if it just didn’t work out—let me encourage you to start afresh right now…Talk to Kim if you are a lady interested in getting involved in a discipleship relationship…Guys, talk to Pete.
I want to emphasize—this is not merely some program or some fad—this is the pattern established by the early church for spiritual growth…Paul says in verse 6: You became imitators of us and of the Lord…
imitators = examples, followers, literally MIMICS
Paul wasn’t embarrassed to hold himself out as a model for others to follow…He never claimed he was perfect…He never said that people should do exactly as he did…In fact, his attitude was expressed in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
If you are in a position of Christian leadership, then you should live your life in such a way that you could issue a similar challenge to others…To the extent that you see Christ in me, follow me…To the degree that you observe Christ-likeness in me, follow my example.
That’s what was happening at Thessalonica…Paul and Silas and Timothy attempted to live Godly lives and set an example, so that the Thessalonians could MIMIC, or imitate them…THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP.
And here’s the really neat thing—not only were they DISCIPLED, but they became DISIPLERS.
III. THEY WERE DISCIPLERS
1 Thessalonians 1:7-9 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us…
The Thessaloian Christians were disciple by Paul and the other missionaries, then these believers began to disciple others.
Kind of interesting:
1 Thessalonians 1:7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
Compare that with verse 1 Thessalonians 1:6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord.
Verse 6 is plural, verse 7 is singular—you became a model…Paul is saying that discipleship so permeated the body of believers at Thessalonica that—AS A CHURCH—they became a model to other believers around the world.
• Before Twitter, Facebook or CNN.
They had a testimony that rang out = reverberated…Word was used to describe the sound of a trumpet…
Everything they went through—the good, the bad and the ugly forged the church at Thessalonica into becoming a model of what God wants Christians to be.
If you back up to verse 3, you get a pretty good picture of the characteristics that these Thessalonians were modeling for others:
1 Thessalonians 1:3 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Thessalonians were known for their faith, love and hope…Their faith produced Godly works…Their love prompted Godly labor…Their hope inspired endurance...Once again, we see the connection between faith and works...We aren’t saved by our works, our labor or our endurance, but if we are saved—if we have a genuine relationship with Christ, then faith, love and hope will produce tangible results.
Finally: The Thessalonians Were DETERMINED.
IV. THEY WERE DETERMINED
Verse 10 speaks of the determination of these believers: 1 Thessalonians 1:10 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The Thessalonians lived in such a way that they had a powerful testimony throughout the region…Their faith was personal and their faith was practical…But they also knew that their best days were yet to come…And they were determined to live in such a way as to be ready for Jesus when he returned.
It seems pretty obvious from reading this letter that the believers at Thessalonica had a strong belief that Jesus would return in their lifetime…Every one of the five chapters of this book makes some reference to the coming of Jesus…And these believers were anxiously awaiting His return.
Wait = to wait with a patient, but confident expectation.
Sometimes I have to wait for Kim, and while I may be confident that she will EVENTUALLY be ready, I must confess I’m not particularly patient.
Sometimes we wait for things without a lot of confidence that they’ll come to pass—like a pay raise or a promotion at work.
But the type of waiting to which Paul refers is both patient and confident...And the fact that Jesus didn’t return in their lifetime didn’t change the fact that He is coming back one day, just as He said.
I think that most of us this morning believe that the return of Jesus is near…We can’t imagine things getting much worse before He comes back…But if we’re gone, and our children are gone and our great great great great grandchildren are gone before He returns, that doesn’t change the fact that He’s coming back…And those of us who believe should be determined to live each day as though it could be our last.
