IN CHRIST AND ALL OF CHRIST - 1Thessalonians 1:1-10
We are going to embark on a series of messages in this magnificent book of 1Thessalonians. While it is not universally accepted, the great majority of commentators and writers consider this letter as being Paul’s first letter. It has the freshness of a letter written soon after the initial encounter with the saints at Thessalonica. In any endeavour or work to be done or anything that needs addressing, it is always necessary to go back to the beginning and examine that. This we shall so with Thessalonica:-
{{Acts 17:1-11 “Now when they had travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews, and according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and 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, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women, but the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar, and coming upon 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, and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” They stirred up the crowd 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 sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 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.”}}
Paul would go to the synagogues first when he came to a new destination, and minister to the Jews there, but often the Jews who were a rebellious lot, created trouble and even riots so Paul would then take the gospel to the Gentiles in the town or city.
Briefly we note the following from this account that will carry us into the Letter.
1. Paul proclaimed Christ. He did not argue theological points or go into abstractions. It was the gospel that was paramount. As he wrote to the Thessalonians – {{1Thessalonians 2:4 “but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God who examines our hearts.”}}
2. Paul was at Thessalonica for three weeks (actually three Sabbaths) and that was between two and four weeks.
3. Because of resentment and jealousy, the Jews caused trouble and that resulted in Paul having to leave.
4. It is most interesting to note that those at Berea (probably the Jews who were at the synagogue) were more noble than the Thessalonians because they were more earnest with the scriptures.
MOVING TO CHAPTER 1
{{1Thessalonians 1:1 “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 1Thess 1:2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, 1Thess 1:3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 1Thess 1:4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you,”}}
VERSE 1-4. PAUL’S FAITHFUL PRAYER MINISTRY
The opening verse contains Paul’s universal greeting which is grace and peace. It is not a mystery why grace was so important to Paul, because it formed the very basis of his own call to salvation. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is at the heart of the gospel. This is God reaching out to man because the unsaved man is reprobate and left to his own devices, will never seek God. It is God’s grace that saves us. He who is saved from the gutter and the slave market of sin best appreciates the grace of God. That is why grace was so vibrant to John Bunyan and John Newton. Bunyan wrote “Grace Abounding” and Newton wrote “Amazing Grace”.
Peace is also a precious position. Warring parties can not be at peace and Isaiah says there is no peace residing with the wicked – {{Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”}} No matter how cheery a life may be, any life outside of God has no foundation of peace. It is God who breaks down the middle wall, that wall of partition our sins have made, and makes us “as one.” “At-one-ment” being at one, sinner and God. “ment” is the suffix meaning “state of being” so that is the meaning of atonement – “state of being at one” - at one with God. That then is peace.
When writing to Timothy, Paul added one more quality – {{1Timothy 1:2 “to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, MERCY and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”}} Mercy was always married with grace in Paul’s mind because he was humbled all his life after conversion, and appreciated mercy shown to him when he did not deserve mercy because he had killed a lot of God’s own precious children. It is why he could describe himself as the chief of sinners. He knew he was responsible for the deaths of many of the saints, yet God reached out to him and saved him. That is possible only when a merciful God steps in.
After sending the usual greeting to the church, Paul states his reason for thankfulness. Paul was conscious of their work, their labour and their steadfastness. However qualifiers are attached to those. Their work of faith, their labour of love, and their steadfastness of hope.
Three of the great words of the Christian faith are used there – “faith, love and hope”. This church at Thessalonica was a good church. Those three key words are brought together by Paul in another early letter which he sent to Corinth in that well known chapter 13 – {{1Corinthians 13:13 “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”}}
All work for the Lord must be by faith, which is trust and dependence. Labouring in love is because we love the Lord. Some might say it is because we love others and want to see them saved. Maybe, but it is a labour motivated through the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is the certainty, the fixed assurance, not a maybe, perhaps. It is long settled in God, anchored in the Saviour. The Rapture is the blessed hope. Christ is the One in whom we place our hope and Paul lived by that – {{2Corinthians 1:10 “who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us - He on whom we have set our hope, and He will yet deliver us.”}} -
In Romans Paul used Abraham as an example of unwavering hope. He would not have done that unless we are to follow that example. The expression “hope against hope” means his hope remained steadfast against the fact that Sarah was incapable of having children and Abraham was hopeless in that regard. Faith held fast and did not cave in. {{Romans 4:18 “In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Rom 4:21 and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.”}}
Verse 4 concerns God’s choice of these people in the church. I am not sure in what context Paul meant that.
VERSE 5. HOW IS THE GOSPEL EFFECTIVE?
{{1Thessalonians 1:5 “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 proved to be among you for your sake.”}}
Some think it is great oratory, the ability of a speaker to convince his audience. That is so wrong when it comes to God’s work. In some places pastors who tell stories, the “story teller pastor”, are thought of as wonderful but if stories ar. about all the person has to say, then it is just hot air in the gospel. It is even possible to talk or lecture in good biblical words but not be effective. Note also in verse 4 that God has chosen us. We were sinners, far from God, but He chose us. Wonderful. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who brings about the conviction. Without conviction there can be no conversion. Preaching leads to conviction, leads to repentance, leads to faith, leads to conversion.
Paul asks them to recollect what sort of men Paul and Silas were among them when they brought the gospel. We do know something about Paul personally as he himself says – {{2Corinthians 10:9-10 for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters, for they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speech contemptible.”}}
Additionally, we have a comment a bit further on, this one - {{1Thessalonians 2:5-6 “We never came with flattering speech as you know, nor with a pretext for greed - God is witness - nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority,”}}
VERSES 6-7. THE BELIEVERS HAD GOALS.
{{1Thessalonians 1:6 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 1Thess 1:7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia,”}}
They imitated Paul and the Lord. I hope none of you will imitate your church pastor or some role model in the world, or me. Please don’t. Imitate the Lord in everything. Study His life and go and do likewise. There is a set of words here in verse 6 – “in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit”. Tribulation is unpleasant and we try all means to avoid it but often we can’t. It may be forced on us in which case it is persecution. It may be failure in our physical bodies which is affliction in the old, sinful body. Whatever the cause of tribulation the word states the remedy – “joy of the Holy Spirit”. The fruit of the Spirit includes joy. God does not want you to sad or joyless.
We can be under stress and that causes a number of emotions and fear and apprehension. In tribulation we think it is impossible to have joy. Think for a while on the great martyrs starting with Stephen who was bathed in the joy of heaven while the stones crashed into him. The disciples were sad when the Lord was taken from them but they were full of joy when they saw the resurrected Lord and later when the Holy Spirit was sent.
Joy in trial is hard. We don’t pretend otherwise. If we use our own resources here we are going to meet with failure because it is not in the human nature. But it is in the spiritual nature and is imparted by the Lord when we truly need it. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit who grows that fruit of joy in us.
Verse 7 is a fine testimony. How blessed are you if all the Christian world recognises your testimony as an example of godliness. Paul wrote to Timothy the following – {{1Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”}} What a great example to radiate from you and your church. Consider each of those points and you see they relate to our living the Christian life. Each point is a powerhouse in itself. What an example to set.
Christians and church fellowships that are fractured set no example at all. Sadly personalities and selfish opinions seem to rule causing discord when there ought to be harmony and “one mind”. The Lord is not honoured at all in some churches. This is said, not to be critical, but to face the reality of the situation. The solution lies in a sacrificial commitment to Christ from everyone.
VERSES 8-9. THE GOOD REPORT.
{{1Thessalonians 1:8 “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 that we have no need to say anything. 1Thess 1:9 They themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,”}}
7 = example. 8 = the gospel transmitted. 9 = the good report of conversion. What a wonderful church to have that testimony. This was a missionary church with a wide sphere of outreach, and with a vibrant witness to their own conversion recorded in Acts 17.
VERSE 10. THE WAITING FELLOWSHIP.
{{1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”}}
What a delightful statement for the purpose of the church. Those Thessalonians were saved and working for the Lord but at the same time they had a strong objective in their lives. While actively working for the gospel they were waiting. This is such a simple verse but so powerful and so chastising of churches today.
Each person there was waiting in expectation for the Lord from heaven. That is the Rapture. They were waiting to be caught up from the earth to be forever with the Lord as we learn in 1Thessalonians 4 and 1Corinthians 15. The early New Testament churches had this eager expectation of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus to snatch away His own redeemed ones.
What is wrong with churches today? They have lost this expectation. The people are so earth bound they don’t care less about the Lord’s coming. What a magnificent example was set by this church at Thessalonica. Why did they have that enthusiasm in ministry and a deep longing for the Lord to come to take them home? The answer lies in their full commitment to God. Carnal Christians have no such desire. They don’t care less. They are so bound up with earthly pleasures that God is given a very back seat. Ministers and pastors have failed the Christians, their flocks as well, in not teaching about the Rapture. It is our blessed hope.
And guess what? Those believers at Thessalonica had a crown waiting for them because they were loving His appearing. Contemplate this verse sent to Timothy – {{2Timothy 4:8 “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”}}
Wait in patience and good works. The good works include proper witnessing and activity for the Lord. It’s like when you know a long-time, no-see relative, is coming to stay with you, arriving in the afternoon, so you sit all day in the house just waiting because it is an important visit. No, that is wrong. You still must keep active, but in expectation. The blessed hope was the vitality of the apostolic church but was lost later on. The night comes when no man can work.
It is so important to know that Jesus has delivered us from the wrath that is to come. Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come! The wrath that is coming is the Tribulation when the wrath of God against a wicked world will proceed from heaven. Read Revelation chapters 6 to 19 to understand that wrath.
The Lord removes the true Church before the events of Revelation, in Revelation 4:1. Christians have NO part of wrath because Jesus took all the wrath for sin on the cross and we have none on our account anymore. Christians will never enter the wrath of God. Jesus is our Deliverer from that wrath!
CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER 1
This chapter is only 10 verses long but much is packed into those verses. The full fruit of the Holy Spirit was evident among them. I will list those aspects that the chapter contains but it may be lost in the formatting that will disappear. The names of the fruit of the Spirit are from the NASB.
Love Their labour of love – verse 3
Joy Their joy of the Holy Spirit – verse 6
Peace Their steadfastness of hope (implied peace) – verse 3
Patience Their waiting for the Son from heaven – Verse 10
Kindness Their example to all believers – Verse 7
Goodness Their work of faith and labour of love – Verse 3
Faithfulness Their work of faith – Verses 3 and 8
Gentleness Their imitation of the Lord – Verse 6
Self-control Their imitation of the Lord & suffering tribulation – Verse 6
Thus ends Chapter 1 of this beautiful letter to the Thessalonian church.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
