The Witness of a Healthy Church
I Thessalonians 1:8-10
Introduction: This morning’s message is the last in a three-part series in which we’ve looked at the characteristics of a healthy church. We’ve been looking at the young church in Thessalonica, which the apostle Paul planted almost two thousand years ago. Two weeks ago we looked at some of the essential building blocks of a healthy church. Last week we looked at some of the examples set by a healthy church. Today, we’re going to look at the witness of a healthy church.
As we look at First Thessalonians 1, verses 8-10, we’re going to see that the witness of a healthy church, such as was the case with the church in Thessalonica, is distinguishable from unhealthy churches by three definitive characteristics. A healthy church is one that echoes the gospel message, employed in God’s service, and expecting the Lord’s return.
Again, our focus this morning is going to be on verses 8-10. “In v. 8 Paul sets forth the facts behind the good reports concerning the Thessalonians, [and] in vv. 9-10 [he] summarize the contents of those reports” (Hiebert, p. 65).
Remember last week how we talked about the importance of the conduct of the messenger being consistent with the content of the message? Well, we see the importance of that premise in verse eight. Without the message, the gospel message, being reflected in the life of the messenger, it could not hope to have the effect the Thessalonians’ message had on the world around them. Once the Thessalonian church received the gospel, there was no way they could contain it or even try to keep it to themselves.
Seeing how we are associated with the Missionary Church denomination, and one of our core values is the development of other new churches, I found theologian F.F Bruce’s description of the Thessalonian church to be very encouraging. He wrote, “From the beginning [the Thessalonians] functioned as a missionary church” (Bruce, p. 16).
I’m trying to make more than just a cute comparison, here. When I read things like I just shared with you, it just reinforces for me how practical and relevant God’s Word is today and for every generation.
As we study God’s Word we must do more than just read the pages and try to remember what it says. We must apply it to our lives. If we come to God’s Word with clear eyes, directed by the light of the Holy Spirit, we will see how incredibly relevant, timely, and practical it really is.
A healthy church is a missionary church. I’m not saying that a church has to be part of our denomination to be healthy. I’m saying that a healthy church is never content with keeping the message within the walls of the church. A healthy church is one that has a biblical and effective witness throughout its community and is always looking for ways to spread the good news around the world.
For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you . . . (1:8a)
Paul tells us in v. 8 that the witness of a healthy church is a witness that echoes the gospel message. Look at the first part of v. 8.
One of the reasons Paul was receiving good reports about the Thessalonians was that they were echoing the gospel message all over the place. There has been some debate over what the phrase “word of the Lord” actually means.
Some hold that the phrase is subjective in the sense that the Lord Jesus Christ is the author of the message. Others hold that the phrase is objective in the sense that Jesus Christ is what the message is all about. I believe we don’t have to come down on one side or the other of the discussion because both are true. Jesus Christ is the author of the message and He is what the message is all about.
This may be simple enough to understand, but it’s hugely important. You see, there are many messages going around the world, even going throughout our city that neither recognize Christ as the Author nor the as the subject of the message. Some of these messages even pawn themselves off as being Christian.
There are churches that are diluting the gospel message to the point that it can’t even be recognized as the gospel. It would serve little purpose this morning to name names or describe the ways the gospel is being minimized. What’s important for us to focus on this morning is that we must always, always, proclaim the gospel in such a way that there can be no doubt that we glorify Christ as the Author and subject of our message.
Paul writes that the word of the Lord “sounded forth” from the Thessalonians. What does he mean by that? The phrase “sounded forth” comes from the Greek word exekeo, which literally means, “to sound out of a trumpet or of thunder, to reverberate like an echo” (Robertson, v. IV, p. 12).
This word brings with it the picture of brass instruments sounding off and then continuing indefinitely, like a prolonged echo. If you’ve ever stood at the top of a mountain or overlooked a large canyon and shouted to hear the echo, you know that an echo doesn’t stay in one place. It doesn’t simply hang in the air around you. It moves out and covers a great deal of territory. And it moves at the speed of what? It moves at the speed of sound.
Paul wasn’t simply being colorful here. He was accurately describing the way the witness of the Thessalonians spread to other parts of their world. It covered a large amount of territory in a relatively short amount of time. The tense of the verb compliments the meaning of the word. One of the things I love about studying God's Word is digging deep into it and seeing how every word is used to form a beautiful tapestry of thought and meaning.
The verb is in the perfect passive tense. The sounding forth that Paul is talking about occurred in the past, yet continues to have an impact. Paul uses the word in such a way as to emphasize the prolonged affect, or the echo of the Thessalonians’ witness.
A way to determine how important a particular word or phrase is to the writer is by looking at how often or how seldom the writer uses the word. The Greek word for “sounded forth” is used nowhere else in the New Testament. So, we can see by the way the meaning and use of the word compliments each other, and the rarity of its use, that Paul was describing a very important characteristic of the Thessalonians’ witness.
The gospel message echoed from the Thessalonian church. For certain parts of the world that, up to that point, had not yet heard the gospel message, looked to Thessalonica as the starting point of the echo. Every echo has a source. Have you ever heard an echo and looked around wondering where it came from? By the time you hear an echo it has probably reverberated several times over. It’s difficult to pinpoint its origin.
One of my hobbies is studying civil war history. I’m fascinated to read about commanders on both sides of the war that were thoroughly convinced that God was on their side. The civil war was a war where the faith of the commanders played a critical role in they’re thought and decision making process.
Over the years I’ve come across all kinds of quirky facts. One bit of trivia that I found interesting was a phenomenon known as acoustic shadows. Observers of some of the great battles of the war reported that there were times when they could have been a mile or two from a large artillery campaign, maybe even close enough to see the muzzle flash of the cannons, but they couldn’t hear the cannon fire. Yet there were those who, when remarking about the same battles, were able to hear the cannon fire twenty miles away or more.
So what could that possibly have to do with what we’re talking about? Just as it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint the origin of an echo, there may also be times when those very close to us, within our own community or within our own homes, may not hear the message. Yet there will be others, seemingly a world away, who will. The point is this. If our message is clear, if it is on point and true to God’s Word, someone will hear it. People will hear it and it will continue to sound forth indefinitely.
. . . not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth . . . (1:8b)
It seems that there was little doubt about the origin and impact of the Thessalonian message—their presentation of the gospel¾at least in the minds of Paul and the other missionaries. Look at the middle of v. 8.
At first glance, it probably seems that Paul is referring to Macedonia and Achaia as two separate areas. In this context, Paul probably mentions the two areas together as a representation of all of Greece. Paul uses a bit of hyperbole, a bit of overstatement or exaggeration, when he says that word of their faith had gone forth to every place. We know, for instance, that when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, some five years later, the gospel had not yet reached Spain.
Paul uses the hyperbole not to embellish but to emphasize the fact that the gospel message, which came out of Thessalonica, was far reaching. In fact, we can be fairly sure that news of the Thessalonian church had reached Rome. Turn back to Acts 17. Let’s look at vv. 6-7.
The Jews accused Jason and the other Thessalonian believers of treason. They accused the Christians of saying that there was a king other than Caesar. Remember, the main road, known as the Egnatian Way, which connected Rome to her eastern provinces of the empire, went through the heart of Thessalonica. With as large and as busy as Thessalonica was, it probably wouldn’t take long for word to get back to Rome.
Undoubtedly, the Thessalonian message was received both positively and negatively throughout the Roman world. As is the case today, not everyone responds well to the gospel. Likewise, the Pico Canyon message will not always be warmly received. Should that worry us? I don’t think so. Let me explain why.
There seems to be an every growing concern within the body of Christ that people are turned-off by our message. So, to counter that perception many churches are diluting the message to make it more palatable for the world. Is there anything wrong with presenting the message in a practical way? Is there anything wrong with presenting the message in a relevant way? Certainly not. But we don’t have to make the gospel message practical or relevant. It already is.
In what at times seems like attempts to improve on the message, our generation has coined phrases like “purpose driven” or “seeker driven” to describe ministry models. I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we call our message “gospel driven,” share the whole truth of God’s Word with people, and trust the Holy Spirit to do what He has done for two thousand years¾enter the hearts of unbelievers and open their blind eyes to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Parts of the body of Christ has become obsessed, so it seems, with making sure everyone likes what they have to say that they’ve stopped saying everything they should. At Pico Canyon, let our message sound forth. Let it echo throughout Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, and the world.
Will everyone like it? Probably not. But as long as our message has Jesus Christ as the Author and the subject, and as long as we speak the truth with love, our message will reach each and every person God intends it to reach.
A position like this may go against the grain of some of the prevailing church growth wisdom. That’s okay. As long as it is consistent with the wisdom of Scripture, I’m willing to take my chances.
Paul adds a powerful little caveat that assures the reader that there was no ambiguity in the direction the Thessalonians’ faith was pointed. It was pointed toward God. Their heavenly Father was the sole object of their faith. The word “toward” tells us that their faith literally changed directions. It took a dramatic 180-degree turn.
They trusted in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. They did not rely on the words or wisdom of men. They did not rely on the traditions of men. They did not rely on their good works. They turned their backs on their sinfulness and self-reliance and took hold of the promise of “a face-to-face relationship with the living God” (Hiebert, p. 68).
. . . so that we have no need to say anything (1:8c).
The message was so good and so powerful about the faith of the Thessalonians that Paul and the missionaries didn’t feel the need to brag about the young church. Those outside the Thessalonian church were saying everything that needed to be said.
For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you . . . (1:9a)
Not only did the Thessalonian church echo the gospel message, they also were also employed in God’s service. Let’s look at v. 9.
The believers in Macedonia and Achaia, believers all over Greece, were talking about how the missionaries were warmly welcomed by the new believers in Thessalonica. It was a testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit and the sovereign grace of God. The quickness of the acceptance of the message and the rapid growth in faith and maturity of the young church could only be brought about by God’s sovereign will. And every believer who heard about this young church knew it.
. . . and how you turned to God from idols . . . (1:9b)
Having mentioned the way the Thessalonians received the gospel; Paul shows how the depth and reality of their faith was best expressed. As in the last verse, Paul expresses the conversion of the Thessalonians by emphasizing a change in direction. With the positive change toward God came the negative change away from idols.
Faith in Christ is an all or nothing proposition. That’s why I get so frustrated when I hear on the radio or on television people proclaiming only half of the gospel message. Yes, it’s true that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. But that’s not the entire message. The turn to God must be a full 180 degrees. You can’t turn 45 degrees and cling to both worlds.
Unless you repent of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life you have not turned to meet God face-to-face.
Idols come in many different shapes and sizes. An idol doesn’t have to be a totem pole in your living room or a pyramid in your back yard. It doesn’t have to be a hand-carved, graven image imported from a South American jungle, but actually made in Taiwan. Idolatry can be any activity that diverts our attention or devotion away from God and puts that attention on us, another person, or any other thing.
The best definition of idolatry is found in Romans 1. Turn back to Romans 1 and let’s look at verses 18-25.
Idolatry is the exchange of the truth of God, the truth of His Word, for the worship of self. This would include any activity that puts us above or before God. Idolatry also includes any religion, no matter how mainstream it may appear to be, no matter how many respectable people are involved in it, no matter how humanitarian or peaceable its followers may be, if it exchanges the truth of God for a lie.
And the truth is this. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me’” (Jn. 14:6). Anything else is a lie. For instance, “fans can go to the extreme in their devotion to musical performers.”
“In the April 25, 1994, news section of Christianity Today, it was reported that some fans of Elvis Presley were actually revering the king of rock and roll as a god. Pockets of semi-organized Elvis worship had taken hold in New York, Colorado, and Indiana. Worshipers raised their hands, spelled and then chanted Presley’s name, worked themselves into a fervor, and prayed to the deceased star.”
“At the First Presleyterian Church of Denver, a Reverend Mort Farndu said that Elvis worship was spreading. Followers believe Elvis watches over them. If someone reports seeing Presley, the high priests at the Church of the Risen Elvis in Denver hold Elvis worship services. They enshrined a look-alike doll of Elvis in an alter surrounded by candles and flowers. Idolatry is alive and well in America” (Larson, p. 115).
Admittedly, Elvis worship is an extreme example of idolatry. Each of us, at least I hope, can say with conviction that we would never be involved in such nonsense. But any religious activity that denies the truth of Jesus Christ’s nature and authority is idolatry.
Any religious belief that denies that Jesus Christ was fully God while, at the same time, fully man; any religious belief that asserts that there is any other way to heaven apart from the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; any religious belief that says man can some way earn his salvation through his participation in a particular church or religion or through his own abilities, is idolatry.
The idolatry Paul is referring to in our text is the worship of false gods. The most prominent religious symbol to the Greek Thessalonians was nearby Mount Olympus. There was also a large segment of the city’s population of Roman birth that worshiped Caesar as god.
The Thessalonians could not assert with any credibility that they belong to God if any part of their heart or mind was still devoted to their false religions. In order to be face-to-face with the one, true God, a person must turn their back on the idolatry of their past.
. . . to serve a living and true God (1:9c)
Having established a face-to-face relationship with God, and having turned from their former lives in idolatry, the Thessalonians committed their lives to serving God.
“To serve” is a present tense infinitive that expresses purpose. The purpose of their lives was to serve God. The present tense shows that their service was a continual activity. They were constantly serving the Lord.
The Greek verb for “serve” is douleo. From the noun form of the word, doulos, we get the word “slave.” The Thessalonian believers were quite literally bondservants to God. They were given over completely to Him and to His service. There is true freedom in being a slave to Christ.
When you know you are in God’s will, when you know that you are serving Him for His glory and not your own, you are liberated from whatever the world may be throwing at you or holding you down. Drudgery comes from being a slave to our sin, to our desires and self-fulfillment. That drudgery is replaced with confidence, joy, and peace when we are face to face with the true and living God.
Something else that’s interesting here is Paul’s use of the word “living.” Paul is not simply using the word as an adjective to describe God. He is using it express the fact that all other gods are dead gods. There is only one living God. There is only one living Lord and Savior¾Jesus Christ.
Just as a side note¾I wonder if you’ve noticed something that’s missing from Paul’s description of the Thessalonian church. He hasn’t mentioned a particular litmus test used by many churches today to gauge church health. Nor will he mention it in the remainder of the passage. Do you see what it is?
Numbers. Paul makes no mention about how large the Thessalonian church is. When we talked about the building blocks for a healthy church a couple of weeks ago, Paul made no mention of how large the church was as being a critical component to the church’s health. When we talked about the example set by the Thessalonian church last week, Paul did not say that the number of people in the church was one of the ways they set an example for other churches. Likewise, as we look at the witness of a healthy church, we will not see the size of the church reported to be a factor in the depth or breadth of the Thessalonian church.
This should be very encouraging to us. It’s very easy to want to determine the health and effectiveness of our church by the number of seats we fill on Sunday morning. Certainly, if no one is coming and we’re not reaching anyone with the gospel it should cause us to take closer look at what we are doing. But the raw numbers should never be our litmus test for health.
Okay. We’ve seen that the witness of the Thessalonian church echoed the gospel message. We’ve seen that the believers in Thessalonica witnessed in that God employed them. Now, let’s look at how they witnessed by the way they expected Christ’s return.
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus . . . (1:10a)
The time in which the Thessalonians lived was filled with danger. Persecution unlike anything any of us have probably ever experienced was a real part of life for the early churches. Their hope in Christ’s future return encouraged them, motivated them, and inspired them.
Their hope was realistic. One of the stereotypes of Christians is the person who walks around with a perpetual smile on their face. No matter what is happening around them, they walk around with a blank stare on their face, their head cocked to one side, and a smile on their face that says, “Hello. I’m oblivious.” Aren’t people like that obnoxious?
The hope and expectancy shared by the Thessalonians was not the kind described in the story of a general who, upon being captured, was thrown into a deep pit with his men.
To make matters worse, there was a large, deep pile of horse manure in the pit. The general dove into the pile and yelled, “Follow me! There’s got to be a horse in here somewhere” (Larson, p. 110)! No. The Thessalonians’ hope was realistic.
Their hope was realistic because it was centered on the “historic, crucified, risen, and ascended Jesus Christ, God’s Son who delivers from the coming wrath” (Robertson, v. IV, p. 14). One of the hardest things for some people to understand is how we can put our faith and trust, our very hope, in a God we cannot see. I think it is far more unrealistic for people to put their faith and hope in gods made of wood or metal, to put their trust in people whose only remaining historic fact is that they are dead, or worse yet¾to hope in themselves and set themselves up as gods (ala Shirley MacLaine).
We live in a society that finds rationality in the ridiculous. What I’m finding in the conversations I have with people who have yet to meet Jesus Christ, is that they are getting tired of it, too. People who have spent years denying the truth claims of Scripture, the true facts about Jesus Christ, because of some of the ridiculous behavior they have seen in the Christian church, are beginning to come to the realization that the hope they see in real believers must have some basis in fact.
And as they investigate the Christian faith, they are discovering that the hope of true believers is based completely in fact. It is based on the historic evidences about Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and the overwhelming evidence of the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture. As the Spirit works in the lives of people like I just described, they begin to see that the hope of Christians is neither clueless nor crazy.
Our church needs to be vigilant to never lose our expectancy of Christ’s return. Our hope in His second coming must fuel everything we do. No command in Scripture should be looked at as overbearing or arduous. Every one of them should be looked at as preparatory for Christ’s return. We should seek to obey God’s Word with an attitude of expectancy.
We should seek to share our faith in Christ with an attitude of expectancy. Every unbeliever must matter to us. No one should be written off as a lost cause. The fact that they are lost makes them our cause. We should not share our faith with panic, but with a sense of urgency, because we hope and we fully expect Christ to return soon.
This is what the Thessalonians did. This was their witness. This is what made them effect in God’s service. This is what we should expect of our church.
. . . who rescues us from the wrath to come (1:10b).
The hope of the Thessalonians was not only in Christ’s return, but also in the fact that Jesus would rescue them from the coming wrath. Jesus Christ is coming to lead those who know Him as Savior and Lord to heaven. He is also coming to judge the sins of the world. Look at Psalm 98:7-9.
Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
The verb “rescues” points to Christ as doing the action. He is the Rescuer. It doesn’t say that man can rescue himself. It doesn’t say that Christ needs our help. The action is solely His. Man cannot save himself from the judgment to come. This is the other half of the gospel¾the half we must not shy away from sharing with those with whom we talk about our faith. Man’s only hope is to repent and turn to God.
Paul says, “who rescues us.” The Thessalonians had the assurance that Christ would rescue them from His judgment of sin. Only those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior can hope with the assurance the Thessalonians had. Paul did not write that Jesus would come to rescue everyone. He will only rescue those who are His. He will only rescue those who have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
To those who don’t have a real and personal relationship with Christ, this may sound ominous. It should. Look. We’re not going to scare anyone into the kingdom. If the Holy Spirit has not moved in a person’s heart, the idea of Christ returning to judge the world will only harden their hearts more. They may respond by asking the question, “How can a loving God be judgmental?”
What many people don’t realize, and what some people in the church tend to forget, is that the love of God is completely consistent with his anger over sin. “God must be angry with sin because of the destructive character of sin. His love will not allow Him to be tolerant toward the devastating effects of sin” (Hiebert, p. 76).
Because of their understanding of their position in Christ, because they understood that their relationship with Christ assured them that they would be spared from the judgment of sin, the Thessalonians witnessed to the world by the way they expected the return of Christ.
Well, next week we open our doors to a world in desperate need of our Savior. We have been called to an incredible task and a great blessing. We must make sure that we build this church with a faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that endures. We need to be a church that sets an example to other churches and the rest of the world by the way we imitate Christ. And we need to make sure that our witness always echoes the entire gospel message, that we are employed in God’s service, and that we always expect the Lord’s return with hope and assurance.
There’s a great deal of work to do, but it’s great to be involved in the work. Pico Canyon Community Church is going to have a significant impact in this community. But it won’t be because of our marketing campaign. It won’t be because we’ve come up with the latest gimmick to fill the seats. It won’t be because we have every possible ministry up and running and we’re running with the efficiency of a well running machine.
It won’t be because we disguise the truth of the gospel with a watered down message. We are doing nothing for those we are trying to reach, and we are certainly doing nothing for Christ, if we share our faith in such a way that we make it easy for people to remain in their sin.
Our impact is going to come through each of you. We will have an impact because of your commitment to Christ. It will be because of your commitment to His Word. It will be because you are imitating Christ, not only on Sunday morning, but every day of your life.
There are people who will be entering our doors next week who may be entering a church for the first time. Let them see our love for Christ. Let them see our love for each other. Let them see love for them. May our witness echo the gospel, not only with our words, but also with our lives. May our witness be employed in the Lord’s service, not under compulsion, but with a genuineness that is contagious. May our witness show the world that we fully expect the Lord’s return and that we want everyone we meet to share our hope.
