These join for wrong reasons. For example, if you ask people what kind of church they are looking for, some answers will be:
• “Well, I do not really like that church, but I probably will join the one down the street because it is convenient.”
• “I am looking for a church with a good youth program.” (To that, some may think, “Wonder why they don’t join the YMCA.? They have a good youth program.”)
• ”I am looking for a prestigious church.”
• ”I am looking for a church that has a good choir.” (Again, one might sarcastically think, “The Mormon Tabernacle has a great choir.)
I mention these few things because I want you to realize people join churches for many different reasons.
However, a church that is going to be used of God has to be one where Christians have joined for the right reason and that has many Christians who love the Lord.
• That is, they do not just say they love the Lord; they love the Lord!
• That is, they do not just love the Lord when things are going well and there is excitement in the air. They love the Lord during the hard times also.
Our church commitment is similar to the commitment expressed in the marriage vows.
Illus: One thing included in the marriage vows is, “For better or for worse.” Why? Because this is a lifetime vow. It is important to know that while romance, wedding plans, the ceremony and the honeymoon are all exciting, it will not always be like this.
Illus: This reminds us of the story Charles Swindoll tells about the guy who fell in love with an opera singer. He loved her voice. He hardly knew her since his only view of her was through opera glasses from the third balcony, but he was convinced he could live “happily ever after” married to someone with a voice like that. He scarcely noticed she was considerably older than he. Nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her mezzo-soprano voice would take them through whatever might come. After a whirlwind romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they were off on their honeymoon.
As she began to prepare for their first night, he watched and his chin dropped to his chest as
• She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it into a container on the night stand.
• She took off her wig and placed it on a stand.
• She ripped off her false eyelashes.
• She yanked out her dentures.
• She removed her artificial leg.
• She took out her hearing aid.
• Then she slipped off her glasses and smiled at him.
Stunned and horrified, he gasped, “For goodness sake, woman, sing, sing, SING!”
Every young person should be aware that hard times will come. They may come in a week, six weeks, or even years, but they will come. They must truly love each other in order to spend a lifetime together. It is only in fairy tales that two meet, marry, and LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER! Real life is filled with difficulties. When we get to heaven we will not have all these difficulties, but remember, this is not heaven!
A person may join the most exciting church in America, but there will be times of difficulty. Christians must really love the Lord to be able to make churches survive!
If we are going to survive spiritually, we must have a sincere love for the Lord. Often people get into a relationship with the Lord without really knowing what they are getting into. Then when a few jolts come along, they fall out of the wagon never to be seen again.
For the next several messages we will be studying the church of Thessalonica so we can learn how to become everything God wants us to become as a church. We want to develop such a love relationship with the Lord that no matter what may come our way, as a church, we can stand together for Him!
Notice first the foundation this church was built upon. In Acts 17:1-3 we read, “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”
Notice Paul. “...as his manner was...” It was Paul’s custom to attend God’s house. As he came to Thessalonica he went to the temple and he “reasoned with them out of the scriptures.” He told them how that Christ came and...
• Had to suffer.
• Had died.
• Had risen from the dead.
• Was indeed God’s Son!
Paul established this as the groundwork they should build their lives on! This is exactly what the church of Thessalonica did. They heard the Word of God and built their lives on Christ.
This is the foundation of every successful church. Everything we do as a church should be built around these facts.
• All of our teaching and preaching should state that clearly.
• All of our singing should sound forth this message clearly.
• All of our missionary support should send forth this message around the world.
The church at Thessalonica was great because it was founded upon the fact that “Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”
Look at the kind of church this teaching produces. We will consider three things from this passage - one in this message and two more in the following message.
I. THEY HAD INTEGRITY
Look at Acts 17:4-7. We read, “And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.”
Notice when Paul preached the gospel to them two things happened:
(1) Some believed.
(2) Some refused to believe.
This is what always happens, but thank God there are always some who will believe.
When it comes to those who believed, verse 4 tells us, “...and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.” As humbly as he knew how, Luke was stating that many Greeks and chief women came to know the Lord.
Then he noted that the Jews who did not believe were ENVIOUS and caused trouble for the Christians. They “...took...certain lewd fellows of the baser sort...” to cause the city to be in an uproar against Christians. In verse 6 it says they accused the Christians of turning, “...the world upside down...”
What did that mean? It meant the gospel had caused a SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION.
Today we hear much about revolution in our land when it comes to sin.
Illus: Homosexuals have come “out of the closets” and are trying their best to invade our schools, collages and universities, and world of entertainment so as to brainwash the public that homosexuality is an alternate lifestyle.
We know God’s Word says this is an abomination in His sight. In Romans chapter one God tells that it is so disgusting that He gives them up to a reprobate mind.
But notice in our text the right kind of revolution. The message Paul had preached had spread like wildfire. It caused a spiritual revolution and was causing many to believe in the gospel of Christ.
There is something else we need to consider about the church at Thessalonica. It was conceived in the midst of evil. If it had been conceived when it was popular to be a Christian we all could point at it and say “That is why that was a great church. It was conceived in the midst of a revival.” But the fact is, it was conceived in the midst of all kinds of evils.
• Homosexuality was rampant
Illus: It was during that time that the Emperor Nero paraded through the streets of Rome fondling his 12-year-old male lover.
• Sexual permissiveness was the rule of the day
• Prostitution and all forms of sexual immorality were a major part of the various religions they were involved in
• Human life was cheap
• Pleasure was primary
This was the spiritual climate of Thessalonica. Into that world of immorality, Christianity came along and introduced a new element--called integrity.
How did evil people respond to Christians who came along with this new element of integrity? They considered them to be troublemakers.
Look at verse 5. We read, “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people...”
Why did evil men hate Christians? Because they were (and still are) addicted to sin. They could not get enough of it. When Christians came along and cut out their supply of evil, they got angry! Had Paul come along promoting some new evil, he would have become popular. We see a classic example of this today.
Illus: One of the most popular men among evil people in entertainment today is Howard Stearn. He has to be one of the most openly corrupt men ever to go public. What a terrible reflection on this country that someone could broadcast what he is allowed to get away with broadcasting. It is as if he represents a new level of sin in this country. It seems that the more evil he talks, the more popular he becomes.
But, do you know how he could lose all this popularity overnight. If he got saved and renounced all the things he stands for as evil. The evil people would turn against him overnight.
The people of Thessalonica heard the gospel Paul preached. Many believed it and introduced a life of INTEGRITY and the Jews got mad. The Christians were promoting nothing except INTEGRITY and sinners there thought of them as troublemakers. Hmmm!
Illus: Things have not changed today. If a Christian takes a stand against sin, ungodly liberals will try to undo his influence by trying to brand him as a “legalist” or “a trouble-maker.”
If Christians are trouble-makers, we need trouble-makers in our churches today. We need a fresh dose of integrity resulting from people coming to know Christ and turning from their “idols.” This is what happened in Thessalonica.
Look at 1 Thess. 1:9. This tells us the Christians at Thessalonica had “...turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
We are in the midst of an integrity crisis.
• In recent years we have seen many preachers suffering from a lack of integrity.
• Coaches have been fired and athletic programs have been put on probation because of a lack of integrity.
We are quickly becoming a nation that does not know what the word “integrity” means.
Illus: Speaking of no longer knowing the meaning of “integrity”, we are reminded of the story of President Bill Clinton when he stood before a class and asked them what the word “disaster” meant. He had heard the school rated as one of the lowest in the nation academically and he personally visited it to see what was wrong. When he asked them to define “disaster,” he got several replies.
-One student said it would be a disaster if a child stepped in front of a moving vehicle and was killed. To that the president promptly replied, “No, that would not be a disaster, that would be an accident.”
-Another student raised his hand and said, “A disaster would be when a bus load of students went over a cliff.” The president promptly again said, “No, that would not be a disaster. That would be a great loss.”
-A third student said, “Sir, I think I know what a disaster would be.” He continued, “If you sir, and Hillary were on an airplane and it blew up in mid air; that would have to be a disaster!”
President Clinton asked, “Can you tell me why that would be a disaster?”
The young man replied, “Sir, it would have to be a disaster because it would not be an accident and it certainly would not be a loss!”
We all should be concerned about one REAL DISASTER in our nation. That is that we have lost the meaning of “INTEGRITY!”
What is even more sad is that it is no longer an important word in our churches. Still, when people love the Lord, they do not love sin.
Illus: D. L. Moody said, “You can tell a person’s character by what he/she does in the dark.”
Macaulay said, “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out!”
During the last presidential election, people were saying that a person’s character did not reflect on the kind of job he/she would do in public office. Who are we kidding!!!! Everything we think, do, and say comes from our character.
When we lose our integrity, we have lost all!
• When we refuse to live by the truth, then we are not living the kind of life that will be approved by God.
• We, as Christians, must live lives of integrity so non-Christians will sit up and take notice!
In Acts 4:13, we read, “Now when they SAW the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, THAT THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS.”
You can not spend time in the presence of the Lord and not be affected by Him. You can not come to a church where the Word of God is preached and not be affected by it. You can not hear how Jesus came, suffered and died, and was raised to life again and not be affected by Him!
Conclusion/Summary:
We need to be sure the truth of the gospel is in our singing and preaching. A church has to KNOW WHO CHRIST IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THEM. When we know this, we can worship Him and let Him change our lives. The people in the church at Thessalonica were like this.
(1 of 2)
I. THEY HAD INTEGRITY
(2 of 2)
II. THEY HAD INTENSITY
III. THEY HAD INVOLVEMENT
