1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Receiving the Gospel WC McCarter
Introduction
I have a scenario that I would like for you to imagine,
and some of you may have been in this situation at one time or another. Imagine that you have an awful,
life-threatening disease. Imagine how
desperate you would be. Now imagine that
you have the cure: you have the medicine and the treatments. You know exactly what it takes to cure the
disease, and there are millions of people all over the country and globe that
have the same disease. What would you
do? Would it suffice to think that you
could just live a healthy life, be positive and encouraging, and people would
see you and discover the cure? Could you
just set a great example of what a cured person looks like?
What if you had a neighbor that lived directly beside
your house, a woman who had the same disease that you had? Would you just smile and wave when you saw
her? Could you love her to the
cure? Or, what if another neighbor had a
teenage son who was struggling with the same disease and was on his
deathbed? Would you visit him and show
him how healthy you are? Would you keep
your mouth shut and let your life do all the talking? Or, would you visit the woman beside you and
tell her exactly what combination of treatments and medicine she needs? Would you visit the teenaged boy and his
family to tell them how simple the cure is?
Would you lead the way with your life and example as well as with the
words and directions to the cure?
I hope that you would open your mouth and share.
READ Scripture-
This is the Word of God
Main
Point:
The apostolic team greets the
Thessalonians and state their practice of regularly giving thanks to God for
the church. The missionaries are
confident that the Thessalonians are born again. They have seen the fruit of it with their own
eyes, and their faith was being talked about all over the place.
Faith, Love, and
Hope (1-4)
Isn’t it nice to have some Christian friends whom you can
be thankful for? How often do we give
thanks to God for those people? How
often do we thank the Lord for our church family? Paul could not help but remember the
wonderful conversion of the Thessalonians and the relationship that he had
built with them in only a short time.
When he thought of them, he could not help but be thankful to God for
them.
Notice what it was that he remembered. There is a triad of things in the third verse
that the missionary team constantly remembered of them: (1) work of faith, (2)
labor of love, and (3) patience of hope. Here we can see one of Paul’s favorite triads:
faith, love, and hope which has been called by another author, “The trinity of
classic Christian virtues” (Green, 89).
Chapter three shows us that Timothy returned to Paul and the others with
the report of the Thessalonians faith and love and their steadfastness (see
3:6-8). These three fruits are “in our
Lord.” These are activities that they
are carrying out because of their conversion.
They are being changed from the inside-out. We can spend day-after-day and
year-after-year attempting to change someone’s behavior, but only the work of
God in someone’s soul can do that. They
may, for a time, be able to get things straight, but it would only be
artificial. Behavior can truly change
for the long-term if there is an inner conversion. That is what happened among the Thessalonians
Christians.
It seems to me that these three actions are in a certain
order. Faith comes first. We must believe that Christ is who He claims
to be. We must trust that what He has
done on the cross is enough to bring us into a right relationship with God and
to save us. The next phase in the
Christian’s conversion is growth in our love for God and one another. We may even say that love for our neighbors
develops so that we evangelize those around us.
Love is what Jesus said is the fulfilment of all the Law, and it is the
theme of the New Testament. As we
continue to develop in our Christian lives, we begin to see more clearly and
want more deeply to experience the return of Christ. Our hope is in Him for the future and for all
eternity. So, these three virtues are
not some abstract idea. These are
experienced deep in the soul and effect how we interact with the world around
us. We are not closed off from the
world. We live in the here and now
working by faith, laboring in love, and patiently hoping in God. Paul knew the Thessalonians were the “elect
of God” because he could see the work of God in their lives and in their
church. I hope the same is said of us.
The Gospel’s
Coming (5)
Another triad is given in verse five. The Gospel most certainly came to the Thessalonians
in words. The Gospel always comes in
words. We should strive to demonstrate
the Gospel in our behavior, but the Gospel must be shared in words. Think back to our original scenario of being
cured from a life-threatening illness.
If we found a cure for cancer, we would broadcast it all over the world,
wouldn’t we? We would write articles
about it. The news would show it
endlessly on TV. We would write books
about it. We would call our
friends. We would post it on the
internet and more. The Gospel must be in
shared with words. It must be shared
fervently. Pulpits may reach a few
people. I may be able to share the Good
News with 70 on a Sunday, but if each of us shared the Good News during the
week, how many could we reach?
Excitingly, Paul says that the Gospel came to them not
simply in words but was accompanied by: (1) power, (2) the Holy Spirit, and (3)
much assurance. Then, at the end of
verse five, we are told that the word also came by example. We should strive to live a life that
exemplifies the Gospel AND to open our mouths and share it. God uses that testimony and works miracles in
people’s lives. The power comes from
Him. By the Spirit, He changes folks
inside-out.
The Marks of True
Conversion (6-10)
How does the apostle know that the
Thessalonians are the “elect of God?” He
can see their faith, love, and hope. He
can see the fruit of their Christian commitment. There are marks of true conversion that are showing
in their lives and in their church. The
apostle recognizes growth in the believers.
The have become imitators of the
apostolic team and the Lord (6). They
received the Gospel in much affliction.
Like their apostle and their Lord, they suffered much, but continued
with the joy of the Spirit. Their church
was born into affliction, but they pressed on.
Not only did the Thessalonians
receive the Gospel, but, in turn, they became preachers of the Gospel. Like Paul, they experienced Christ’s
redeeming work and wanted others to have the same. Remember, Paul says in another place, “Follow
me as I follow Christ.” Disciples are disciple-makers. Disciple-making is a mark of true conversion.
The have become a model for the
gospel (7-10). In every place people were
talking about them (7-9a). Their
conversion is exemplary (9b-10). They
welcomed the apostolic team (9b). They
turned away from idols (9c). They turned
to the true God and now await eschatological salvation (10).
Description of Jesus: God’s Son
from heaven
raised from the dead
delivers us from the wrath to come
Conclusion and Christian
Application
(1) What fruits have you seen in your life and the lives of those
around you that confirm a new birth?
(2) What kind of example are you setting for those around you? Should we plan to influence others?
(3) Do you have the Spirit? He
is our only guarantee.