1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 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.
Today, I would like to share with you the message from the book of first Thessalonians. This book was written by Paul. First of all, let us look at the background of the church and the city of Thessalonica. There are about 200,000 people in this city. It is a very important port.
Paul established this church around 51 AD. If we look at this picture, it is the church that Paul established during his second missionary journey. He left this city because he faced many challenges, pressures, and persecution caused by opponents. After he left this city, he still remembered his brothers and sisters, and kept them in his heart and prayers. He continues to love the brothers and sisters here. Around 52 AD, he wrote this first letter to the Thessalonian church, and a total of two letters were sent out.
What is the purpose of his letter? As mentioned in verses 1-3, the first purpose of his letter is to give thanks to the Lord for brothers and sisters, for their faith, love and hope. This is a good example for the believers. The second purpose is to comfort them. He knew that believers suffered a lot of persecution, so he wrote the letter to strengthen their faith. In the letter, we see that Paul continues to encourage them to stay firm. Encourage them to look upon God in the midst of difficulties. The third purpose is to encourage them to live a holy life. When we face many challenges, pressures, and temptations, we can easily start to leave God, forget that God has a plan on us, forget that God wants us to live for him, and forget that God wants us to look to Him and rely on Him for everything. So, Paul continued to remind them and encourage them.
Finally, Paul explained the truth and hope about the Lord’s second coming. In chapter four, Paul encouraged them and told them what will happen when someone fall asleep, because at that time they are waiting for the second coming of the Lord. But the Lord has not yet come. Pastor Stephen Tong once said that we often hope that the Lord will come soon, but the Lord has not yet come, and finally we went to see him. It was the same at that time. Many brothers and sisters thought that the Lord would return during their lifetime, but unfortunately, many brothers and sisters, instead of seeing the return of the Lord, they went to see the Lord. These people have passed away and the Lord has not yet come. And many believers who are still alive was confused and asked, what will happen to them? On another hand, Paul knew that the people had been exposed to errant teaching from those in opposition to the way of Jesus Christ and the grace of God. And Paul also understood that unless the young church continued to mature in its faith, the danger would only increase over time. With that in mind, Paul gave them a good explanation in Chapter 4. Help them to understand correctly, so they will not panic and grief like those unbelievers, help them to have real hope.
Today, from 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, we are going to talk about the evidence of spiritual maturity.
Paul started his letter by mentioning that this letter was written by him, Silas and Timothy. Here Paul emphasizes a spiritual and ministry teamwork. Teamwork is very important to the ministry of the church. Because with teamwork we can do a lot of ministries that we can't do alone. Mother Theresa once said: I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot, together we can do great things. So, the ministry Paul showed us is not his own ministry. He said he has himself, and Silas and Timothy wrote this letter together. They are serving the Lord together as a team.
Then, Paul greeting them in in God the Father and the Lord Jesus. What is his greeting? He said grace and peace to you. What is grace? Grace is “the very center and core of the whole Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God.” –J. Gresham Machen. Grace is the most important concept in the Bible. It is most clearly expressed in the promises of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ. Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favor of God. “Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving.” (B.B. Warfield) “Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.” (John Stott) “[Grace] is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.” (Jerry Bridges)
Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit, and these result in judgment. That is why everyone wants and needs grace. Judgment kills. Only grace makes alive. Grace is the opposite of karma, which is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and not getting what you do deserve. The Bible teaches that what we deserve is death with no hope of resurrection. While everyone desperately needs it, grace is not about us. Grace is fundamentally a word about God: his un-coerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor. Michael Horton writes, “In grace, God gives nothing less than Himself. Grace, then, is not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action.”
Christians live every day by the grace of God. We receive forgiveness according to the riches of God’s grace, and grace drives our sanctification. Paul tells us, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” (Titus 2:11). Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen overnight; we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 2:18). Grace transforms our desires, motivations, and behavior.
Paul sincerely prayed and blessed his brothers and sisters before God: grace and peace to you! He hoped that the brothers and sisters who received the letter will have God's peace and joy in their hearts, and he really hoped that God's grace will truly come to the brothers and sisters. This is an important prayer word when we intercede with each other.
Then in verse 2 he said: We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
Notice that this passage begins with Paul telling the Christians in Thessalonica that he thanks God for them always and that he prays for them. As Christians, we all know that we should do these things, but where the rubber meets the road do our actions follow our knowledge? How many times have you told someone that you would pray for them, only to never get around to it? I thank God for one of the faithful brothers, one day, over the phone I ask him to remember me in his prayer, he didn’t response by saying sure, I will. instead, he prayed with me right then and there! This is a very good example. If we are going to be the light of Christ in this world then we must once again become prayer warriors, on our knees before the throne of God lifting one another up before the Great I Am! This is what Paul has done in his ministry, he always remembers brothers and sisters in his prayer. Always be grateful for them. This shows us that the Thessalonian church had wonderful spiritual life, so that Paul was always grateful for them.
In verse 3, Paul mentioned the three main reasons for his gratitude for believers. This shows that Paul's gratitude is sincere and there are definite reasons, not just a superficial encouragement. He told us three reasons why he was grateful for believers, which are, their work produced by faith, their labor prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
These three reasons are the characteristics of Christians. Faith, Hope and Love. Let us see those reasons one by one:
First, their work produced by faith
This is the first manifestation and evidence of their spiritual maturity. Which is true faith will bear the spiritual fruit. James also reminds us that faith and deeds are inseparable. He wrote in James 2:26: "The body without a soul is dead, and faith without works is dead." It can be seen that there is living faith and dead faith. We ask ourselves whether my faith is dead or alive? But how do we know whether our faith is alive or dead? James told us that it depends on our actions. Do you have actions that show that your faith is alive?
As Christians, we talk about behavior, just like other religions also talk about behavior, but where are the differences? For other religions, good deeds are prerequisite of salvation, but for us, good deeds are the result of salvation. We are saved by faith, and after we are saved we have good deeds following our new life. This behavior is the result of faith .
Faith is invisible, but behavior will make our invisible faith visible. The Lord Jesus once said: A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. We need to constantly introspect whether the faith we have is alive or dead. May the Lord to help us, strengthen our faith, to bear more fruits for His Glory.
Second, labor prompted by love
The second evidence of their spiritual maturity is their labor prompted by love
The Lord Jesus said: " 34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35.
Love is a characteristic of Christianity, and it is also a request for Christian identity. But I want to ask you, is it easy to love everyone? How should a Christian love his family, spiritual family, colleagues, friends, neighbors, etc. or souls still in the darkness?
Paul Give thanks to God for the labor of love of the Christians in Thessalonica, what is the meaning of labor of love? The labor here is to work hard. So, labor of love means hard work done because you love it. For example: Someone love his garden, so he maintained it with great care. It was his labor of love. Another example, a husband knew his wife likes to watch fishes, he built a beautiful aquarium, so his wife can sit in front of it and watch the fishes. It was his labor of love.
Raising children is another good example of a labor of love. Mothers know that caring for a child is a labor, not merely a work. After giving birth, a new mother will have a tender love for her infant. For a while she will work happily to care for the child. Eventually, however, that work will become a labor/hard work that presses and exhausts her. How good it is that the Lord has created within this young mother a mother’s love for her child! Without such a love, she would not be able to bear the burden of caring for her child over the years. This love motivates her to care for her child. It is also the characteristic, the expression, of her labor. This illustrates that in the Christian life first we have a work of faith and then this work becomes a labor of love.
Sometimes you need to love the unlovable, and it takes more effort. How to love unlovable? We may start building connection with the person, search for the positive aspect of the person. Try to understand why he acts the ways he does. Some people push others away because they've been hurt in the past and are afraid of opening themselves up to the same kind of pain, while others may simply not know how to interact warmly because they were never taught.
To build a better interaction with the unlovable, we need to look for scriptural guidance, ask for God’s wisdom, and ask Him to fulfil our hearts with His unconditional love.
Remember that unlovable people need love most of all, and remember that God love this person, and He wants to use us to realize and extend His love to this person. And when we show our love to him, it is an act of our faith, a sign or testimony of the power of our faith.
Sometimes, you need to pay a price for loving others. Real love is explained in the Bible. Real love is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional. Jesus taught his disciples about love: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) By this we know love, that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (1 John 3:16)
In our self-indulgent world, a love so sacrificial and selfless may sound like some impossible ideal, but it’s not. It really happened, and it happened for us. Jesus gave up more riches than you could imagine to come on a saving mission. Although he didn't deserve it, he was betrayed, whipped, and beaten to fulfill that mission. He loved us and “gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus—died for love.
Joseph also gave us a good example. He was sent to his brothers, to extend his father’s caring for them. However, his brothers tied him up, threw him into the well, and even sold him to merchants. Did Joseph hate his brothers? No, he didn’t, he said to his brothers: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Gen 50:20 (NIV). It is very important that we believe that God is in control
Third, the patience in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ
The third evidence of their spiritual maturity is their patience in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is related to waiting, and waiting requires patience. People are very contradictory. When people wait for someone, 5 minutes feel very long, and when someone wait for us, 5 minutes is nothing. Sometimes in prayer, the toughest answer to receive from God is "Wait." When this happens, we need to remind ourselves that God is in control and can certainly handle our situation.
Are you currently in a place of waiting? Perhaps you are waiting for a job, for healing, for restoration in a relationship, or for wisdom to know where you should go next. Or for the ending of the coronavirus pandemic. That place of waiting is a place we are all familiar with. It's a place we find ourselves in often over the course of our lives. Though it's a familiar place and one we know well, we can often grow wearing in our waiting. Sometimes our hearts grow heavy with worry and doubt. Sometimes we might wonder if God has forgotten about us or given up on us.
Waiting is not easy, but we must wait patiently and not be discouraged, because the Lord we look forward to is a faithful and reliable. As the author of Hebrews said: " Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23.
There is a reason in this verse for us to be patience in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, it’s because our Lord is faithful.
The knowledge of the Lord is the motivation for us to wait patiently. There is a story about a little girl. When his father was on a business trip, he promised to buy her a talking doll when he come back. Dad hasn't come back yet, but when she plays with her friends, she tells her friends that she has this doll. Her friend asked her to show them the doll, she said, it was not with me yet. And her friend said to her, so you don’t have it? She said I have it. where? Her friend asked her, she said, I will show you when I dad come back from his business trip. She said to her friend, I know my father, he will do whatever he promised me. So, she believes her father will buy the doll for her because of her knowledge of her father, she knew that what he said would be done.
In a world and time were faithfulness is not always celebrated or protected, you can trust that God is and remains true… true to His word, His promises… He is Faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 says “If we are faithless, He remains faithful…” faithfulness is not something God does, it's His attribute, it’s who He is.
Faithfulness is essential to His being. Without it, He would not be God. In fact, for Him to be unfaithful would be to go against Himself. When God makes a promise, be encouraged that He will fulfill it. When God speaks to you, know that He will act. The Bible assures us of that over and over again. God never forgets. He doesn’t fail. He never falters. He never goes against His word.
SO, we can hold onto our confession of hope in Him completely, without wavering, without worrying, trusting fully, without any doubt that He who promised is faithful. Be encouraged to hold fast. Which means hold tight, fasten yourself to it, never let go of the fact that you can hope in Jesus Christ for today and tomorrow because of His faithfulness towards us. He always delivers on His word. It may not necessarily be in the way you expect, but it will be in accordance to His word. He brings peace that surpasses understanding, He empowers you to overcome sin and any situation that would bring your spirit down, He loves unconditionally but purposefully, He brings hope to hopeless situations, and He has already prepared a home for you in eternity so that not even death is the end. He is faithful. Trust that today
The bible over and over again tells us the faithfulness of God. In Psalm 71, the Psalmist recounts a lifetime of God’s faithfulness. From the time he was young until old age, God has helped him, saved him, given him hope, and been his strength and protection. He was so moved in thinking about God’s faithfulness that he wanted to get on his harp and praise God.
in Psalm 98:8 the psalmist also prayed: O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Don’t you love knowing that we serve a God who is completely faithful? He is faithful and powerful from every vantage point. His faithfulness surrounds Him. Great is His faithfulness.
Today, if you are in doubt about some issue in your life, why not invite the Lord to give you a bigger glimpse of His power and faithfulness! You might even want to pray the prayer of David, who bases his appeal on God’s character – His faithfulness and righteousness. As written in Psalm 143:1 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!”
In this Psalm, David is appealing to God in prayer. He’s asking God to “give ear” to his prayers of supplication. As God’s children, we can do the same thing. We can take our prayers to God and appeal to Him based on His character.
May God help us to revitalize our faith, rekindle our love, and refortify our hope. Amen.
