MESSAGE 1 - 1THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 1 - A CHURCH YOU’D LIKE TO BELONG TO
{{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.”}}
INTRODUCTION
The opening verse of 1Thessalonians is so typical of Paul’s introduction in all his letters. His co-worker at the point of writing is mentioned and the two key words of Paul in every letter are mentioned as his warm greeting to the saints at each place. Those two words are grace and peace, Paul’s own personal signature.
I think the momentous impact of grace and peace in Paul’s life was such that they embraced him throughout his ministry as they reminded him of exactly what was done for him. A murderer of Christians was confronted by grace on the Damascus Road, a grace that overturned his whole life and turned it around. All his horrible sins were forgiven and Paul came to appreciate very early what immense grace was afforded to him, a man who did not seek it and did everything contrary to grace. That great, undeserved favour of God laid hold on him. Grace that forgave his sins and made him a child of God was paramount in his life and ministry.
The second word is peace. At Paul’s conversion this was said by the Lord – {{Acts 26:14 “and when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”}} The goads are the restraints for animals to keep them confined but they are not happy about it and keep kicking at the goads to seek their freedom. Paul was not at peace before his conversion and was like an animal kicking to find freedom and peace even though he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. One’s education and bearing and position have nothing to do with finding peace and some of the most powerful men on earth are restless and miserable. It was at the same time as his conversion on the Damascus Road, that Paul found peace. That became so precious to him.
PAUL’S THANKFULNESS OF THE THESSALONIANS
{{1Thessalonians 1:2-4 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, 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, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.”}}
These three verses contain much about the close connection Paul had with the Christians at Thessalonica. Note the first line – “thanks to God ALWAYS.” That speaks of faithfulness and closeness as these saints were so engraved on his heart. It is useful to be reminded of the conversion of the Thessalonians. {{Acts 17:1-4 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.”}}
For three weeks Paul preached the gospel and there was much fruit, especially among the Gentiles. It is these people Paul speaks about in 1Thessalonians 1:2-4. The three Sabbaths is interesting for it covers a timeframe of 16 days minimum to 26 days maximum depending exactly on what day Paul arrived in Thessalonica and departed. In that time Paul taught these Jewish converts (a few) and the pagan Greeks (many) the fundamentals of the gospel and all the facts of eschatology as we will see later on. It must have been quite an intense period of preaching, teaching and establishing that assembly in the city.
Paul supported these believers constantly in his prayers while acknowledging their work of faith and labour of love and their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. What a great example of a proper church these people were – faith, love and steadfastness. Their hope was steadfast and we will see in this letter, that hope was centred on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who would deliver them from the wrath to come. We call that deliverance, the Rapture.
Their connection with the Father and the Son was excellent, and God chose them (verse 4). I am not going to expand on this “choosing” here and I know that can be a contentious issue. What we do know, is this was a wonderful assembly of God’s people.
THE IMPORTANCE AND AUTHORITY OF A GODLY PRESENCE
{{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.”}}
How many of us would cringe at what Paul just wrote? I refer to the words, “just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” How many of us have a measure of inconsistency in testimony so we can not say that, and we would back away from that testimony? Paul uses the plural “we” so this reference includes also Silvanus and Timothy. I would say only Paul could stand on that elevated platform and all the rest of us would fail.
The gospel is made up of words, but words alone are as useless as fighting a bushfire with a tight hand of straw. Any orator can sprout words, and the false teachers are good at that; silver-tongued and convincing, but it is all according to man’s wisdom. Man’s wisdom is foolishness with God and God’s wisdom is what the world considers foolishness – {{1Corinthians 1:17 Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. 1Cor 1:18 The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God, 1Cor 1:19 for it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 1Cor 1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1Cor 1:21 Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”}}
Paul continued to explain to the Thessalonians that the essential element in all preaching is the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God will take the words of man (which He Himself gives) and drives them home with power and authority, convicting the sinful soul, and leading men and women to repentance and faith. This is the power of God. It comes from the Holy Spirit and nothing of man alone is of any value whatever in Christian matters.
IMITATORS AND EXAMPLE OF THE FAITH
{{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, 1Thess 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.}}
How many sincere Christians would dare stand and say, “Be an imitator of me?” Like those who shrunk away at the call for stoning against the woman taken in adultery, how many of us would fail miserably at this hurdle? We know our sinful selves, our failures, our inconsistencies and lack of 100% commitment.
Paul told them to be imitators of him and of the Lord. What a wonderful testimony, but I believe only Paul could measure up to that high standard. We ourselves are most likely to say, “Be imitators of Christ. He is our example.” The world has an expression which is, “Do as I say, not do as I do!” It is sad but too often this is the way it is with our testimonies. It ought not to be.
These believers had received the word in much persecution. The church has always been purer and more committed and faithful and genuine in times of persecution. There is a purifying influence when the wheat is sifted and the solid, full grains remain. All through history this has been the case. Persecution refines. There is a passage in Malachi – {{Malachi 3:2 “But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. Mal 3:3 “And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.”}}
Israel is going to pass through a horrible time of great persecution in the Tribulation described by the prophets Zechariah (chapters 12 and 14) and Joel (chapters 2 and 3) but the Jewish saints will be refined, purified. The persecution will attack the dross and worthlessness and the believers will come through refined for the Lord. The same principle happens with Christians. That which is not “fair dinkum” (genuine) will slink away and what is pure and of the Lord will remain.
A similar process is in operation leading to the Rapture. Look at these verses – {{1John 2:28 “Now, little children, abide in Him so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practises righteousness is born of Him.”}} What John teaches is an abiding in Christ that is a path of refinement and purifying that will not leave the believer exposed and in shame at the coming of the Lord. We need to practise righteousness because we are born again of the Lord Jesus, and in that way we will not shrink away from Him through shame, at His appearing when He comes to Rapture the Church.
If you are reading this and you are not living for the Lord as you should be, then allow the Holy Spirit to refine you so you are in expectation of the Lord’s coming. God hates pretenders and imposters. He wants the true and committed ones in His fold. To put it plainly – GET REAL FOR GOD.
The testimony of the Thessalonian church had gone forth so all knew of their faith and spoken word. What a great witness that is to have.
JESUS DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME
{{1Thessalonians 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, 1Thess 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.”}}
Paul’s own time with the Thessalonians was known by others. It was a bright light. Others relayed to Paul about his own time with the believers at Thessalonica and the result of that.
What was the result of all that?
(1). They turned from idols to serve the living and true God. This is true conversion, an absolute turn around from the darkness of idols to the light of the Lord; from the deadness of man’s idolatrous creations to the living eternal God. The message of the gospel is adulterated today in so many places so the true gospel is not preached. In one great swathe of Christianity today there is an easy believeism, just come to Jesus - a way that bypasses any conviction of sin and repentance.
(2). They were a waiting people. Paul says very clearly they were waiting for “His Son”, that is the Lord from heaven. They expectancy of the Lord’s coming for His people has been the hallmark of the Church but it has often dimmed. The imminent return of the Rapture is what the bible calls “the glorious hope”, and is the impetus for all Christians to be living holy lives in the light of His coming again. Woe betide the lazy Christian who is sleeping instead of working for the Lord, and when the Saviour does come, is caught out when the Lord returns in the air with that great triumphant shout, “Come up here!” Are you waiting for the Son from heaven who comes with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God?
(3). The Resurrection is the linking key. The reference to the resurrection here seems almost out of place as if in the middle of a developing argument, but it is not out of place. The resurrection is the whole platform to our salvation, for no resurrection means no salvation. Praise God, the Saviour rose defeating death for all time. Now the Lord’s resurrection links our waiting for His coming with His deliverance of us from the wrath to come. It is vital for without it, our waiting is in vain and the world will only know chaos and possible fatalistic destruction. {{1Corinthians 15:20 “but now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”}}
(4). The second part of the link is this statement, “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” The Christian waiting for the Lord’s return, all guaranteed through the resurrection, is to be delivered from the wrath to come. Of course the Christian who has died and is in the Lord’s presence, does not have that matter of the “wrath to come” on his horizon. It applies to those who are living. All this needs to be explained.
The bible clearly teaches, most clearly teaches, that after the Church is taken to heaven, along with the Holy Spirit, the world will enter the time of the Great Tribulation which is the wrath of God against sin, when His judgements are poured out. Those who teach there is no Tribulation or that Revelation is a myth, or that Revelation is an allegory are fully misguided. Those who take all the future promises and prophecies that relate to Israel and the world and make them to mean the Church in a doctrine called Replacement Theology are grossly misled.
The wrath of God against sin and rebellion and lawlessness is most certainly coming on earth but it can not begin until the Church is removed in the Rapture of the Church, and only then do the trials and wrath begin to happen, starting with the breaking of the first seal in Revelation 6:1.
It is utterly impossible for the Christians to be here during the Tribulation because 1Thessalonians 1:10 expressly says that we (Christians) are delivered from the wrath to come. {{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.”}}
Do you remember Noah in a lawless, sinful world? The wrath of God against that evil world did not fall until Noah was taken up, out of the scene. When God says, “Enough is enough,” then the Church is taken and the wrath of God falls. All born again believers will be taken from this scene before the wrath of God descends. In fact every believer of every age since Adam will be taken before the wrath comes. Their bodies will be resurrected at the Rapture then no remnants of any believer will remain on earth for the beginning of the wrath of God starting from Revelation chapter 6.
There are other references to the removal of the Church before the wrath of God descends, and we could mention them but not dwell on them at this time, but this one is from the same letter – {{1Thessalonians 5:9 “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”}}
CONCLUSION
In this opening chapter Paul raised a number of important points with these believers. Even more amazing is the fact that he covered all of the issues when he was in Thessalonica. One might wonder what you teach pagans who have just come out of idolatry in a period of just three weeks. Some might say, “Just do the basics about salvation,” but Paul covered all of the teaching of the Christian faith. That included all the facts about the prophecies of the bible and the Rapture. In fact he even covered the facts of the Antichrist/world ruler who is to come in the period of God’s wrath. This is what he said to the Thessalonians about the Antichrist – {{2Thessalonians 2:5 “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”}}
Churches today place little emphasis on the coming of the Lord and the truth of the Rapture but it was a fundamental teaching for the Thessalonians, and in the apostolic years. In many churches there is little or no teaching of the Old Testament prophets and the future of Israel. Is it no wonder churches and individual Christian lives are flat and often meaningless when this great teaching is neglected? We can not do that. We must keep these precious truths before us. The Lord’s coming is imminent.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
