Thank You Lord! Series

Thank You Lord

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Numerous blessings in life warrant gratitude, including good health, food on one’s table, shelter, supportive family, and a secure retirement plan. However, contemplating one's blessings while standing at the future site of one's grave would undoubtedly alter one's perspective significantly. When we enter the church each week with what perspective do we greet one another? While it is important to celebrate temporal blessings, even though they are here today and gone tomorrow, are not we as God’s very own children to have an eternal perspective? Are we not called to keep our eyes upon Jesus, greet one another as brothers and sisters of Christ, build one another up in the faith, and strive to be holy so that our church family’s light might shine of God’s grace and love to the world around us? In the first part of Paul’s letter to Thessalonica he does not tell them he thanks God for the rich and free place in which they live but instead their deeds produced by faith, a labor that was prompted by love for God and one another! He was glad God chose them and that they with deep conviction, though they be persecuted, stood firm in faith, imitated the Lord, and became a model of God’s holiness to the world. As we dive into Paul’s thanksgiving part of his letter ask yourself is Paul describing the church that you are attending and if not, what can you do to imitate the Lord and let your light shine!

Remembering and Thanking God

In numerous Hellenistic letters, the customary beginning involved expressing wishes for the recipients' physical health and gratitude toward the gods. However, Paul diverges from this pattern by initiating his letters with wishes for the recipients' spiritual well-being in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a “nursing mother taking care of her own children” (2:7) and like “a father with his children” (2:11), Paul tells the church he, Silvanus, and Timothy have been praying for the church “without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). While Paul does not mean his day was consumed by prayer for them one can easily picture Paul and his comrades being like the Lord and arising before dawn to pray (Mark 1:35) or praying passionately for them long into the night (Matthew 14:23)! Unlike many of believers today, his intercessory prayer was not focused on petitioning God but rather on thanking Him for though they were orphaned from the apostle (2:17), Timothy and the whole region had given an encouraging report (3:6-10)! Paul commemorates that for their “work produced by faith.” It was clear that the outward expression of their inner transformation was a vibrant faith, demonstrated through acts of love (Galatians 5:6). Although these deeds weren't the source of their salvation, they undeniably served as proof of their rebirth! By engaging in "arduous, strenuous, and exhaustive" acts of love, they authentically showcased themselves as true disciples of the Lord (John 13:35), having learned sacrificial love from the Father (Romans 5:8). Their loyalty amid intense persecution and love for one another was the product of a unwavering hope in “our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father.”

Reflection. The greatest decision one has ever made is to give one’s heart to the Lord and be set from the wages of sin, death! It was on that glorious day when our eyes were opened, our ears heard, and minds rejoicing in the Truth that set us free. And yet when we come before God’s throne of grace how do we thank Him for grace and our salvation? How often do we pray passionately not for our wants but that He would daily transform our minds, teach, and enable us to obey His good, pleasing, and perfect will? Are we praying that we would love others, even our enemies? And are we willing to endure hardship and persecution for His name’s sake or only willing to serve Him when the costs are negligible?

Thankful God Chose You

After expressing gratitude to God for their “work produced by faith” (3), Paul shifts his focus to thanking Him for choosing them initially. In “language reserved exclusively for Israel,” Paul states his brothers and sisters in Christ in Thessalonica were chosen in the same way that “God chose Abraham (Nehemiah 9:7) and Israel (Deut. 4:37; 1 Kings 3:8; Isa. 41:8; 44:1; 49:7)! Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians were not “won over” by impressive rhetorical techniques but by “the power of the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (5). Evidence that their conversion experience was genuine was clearly shown in the “work of their faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.” While based on secular wisdom “salvation through a crucified Savior was more likely to arouse derision than admiration,” through the conviction of the Holy Spirit the Thessalonians believed Christ died once and for all (Romans 6:10) and those who believe in His atoning sacrifice are chosen and eternally accepted into the family of God (John 3:16)! Their profound conviction was manifest in their lives, as they opted to believe in only one God, refrained from extramarital relations, and refused to bow to the emperor. Instead, they fervently and willingly served God as their sole portion (Psalms 16:5-9), even amidst severe persecution! While they may have witnessed numerous miracles performed by Apostle Paul, it is improbable that their fascination solely rested on witnessing the impossible. Rather, it was the words of the sovereign Son of God, who selected and profoundly loved them, that sowed seeds of righteousness in their hearts. As John MacArthur rightly states, “Faith does not come by merely hearing those words of truth … [for] if the truth spoken is not accompanied by the power of God, it accomplishes nothing. But when empowered by God as it enters the prepared soul, the gospel truth saves.” Paul celebrates with profound joy that he shared and embodied the Gospel among them, resulting in a congregation he can lovingly and affectionately refer to as brothers and sisters in the Lord.