Be Encouraged! God is working in you! - I Thessalonians 1:3-10

Be Encouraged! God is working in you!

I Thessalonians 1:3-10

Introduction: With seven kids, six of them being boys, my mother had her hands full trying to keep us in line. Every now and then one of us would pick up on something my parents were doing (or not doing) and use that for a basis of challenging the rules. That never worked out so well for us! Have you ever said, or heard it said by others, “Do as I say, not as I do!” How effective is an admonition like that?  Like it or not, people are watching. What do they see and hear?

Context: In opening this letter, Paul is expressing his thankfulness for the evident faith, love, and hope of the Thessalonians (1:2-3a). His time with them was brief. He and his colleagues had preached in the Synagogue for only three Sabbaths, showing from the Scriptures that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise again, and proving that Jesus is that promised Rescuer, the One spoken of throughout the Scriptures. Some Jews who had not believed stirred up dissention, and the three missionaries were forced to leave under duress.

² We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,  ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ

The Maine* Idea: The message we share with people is inseparable from the way we live among them.

I. A Changed life validates a profession of faith (3-5a).

³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,  ⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. 

      Pastor and commentator John Stott makes the point that faith, love, and hope are inseparable from authentic Christianity. He said that

Faith, hope and love are thus sure evidences of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Together they completely re-orientate our lives, as we find ourselves being drawn up towards God in faith, out towards others in love and on towards the Parousia in hope. The new birth means little or nothing if it does not pull us out of our fallen introversion and redirect us towards God, Christ and our fellow human beings (Message of 1 Thess, Kindle, 284-287).

Do you see how these attitudes complement one another? Faith looks up to Him, love looks out to the world, to people around us, and hope looks forward to the promise of His coming! Paul was thankful that he could see these realities in the lives of the Thessalonians. Remember that this was a young church, these were new believers, but their lives demonstrated that they were the real thing, they were authentic Christians! He goes on to emphatically affirm that as he continues in v.4…

       “For we know brothers, loved of God… that He has chosen you…” First, he calls them “brethren,” brothers and sisters in Christ, part of the family of God. That language is pervasive in the Bible. God is the Father of the faithful, that makes us all brothers and sisters! They are “loved by God.” I occasionally talk with people who say they believe, but due to circumstances in life they have begun to question God’s love for them. “How do I know God loves me? I don’t ‘feel’ loved… Why does he allow such pain, such trials?” The first question is easiest to answer. How do you know He loves us? Look at the Cross. Remember that “this is how God showed His love among us, He sent His one and only Son, so that we might live through Him” (I Jn 4:9). Or, as Paul said to the Romans, “God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…” (Rom 5:8). As we read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life…” Does God love us? Look to Calvary, look at the Cross, He loved us that much!

       The next phrase might seem unusual, but it is important to understand: “…He has chosen you…” We can’t exhaustively work through the implications of that word, but let me quote from another important passage, Ephesian 1:4-6a…

…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love  ⁵ he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,  ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace…

I like the way our brother Herb M. used to put it: “He chose you on purpose, for a purpose…” Don’t read into it, and don’t try to explain it away, it’s what the Bible says. The problems come when we try to go beyond what the Bible says. Election doesn’t diminish the call to preach the gospel to all creation. It doesn’t change the fact that we are to urge people on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God, and that whoever believes will be saved. It tells us that God is that big, that He has a plan that reaches into eternity past. He began this story, and He will bring it to completion, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace. We don’t want to take human responsibility out of the Bible nor should we try to explain away God’s sovereignty. God is that big, let’s take Him at His word!

       Notice in 1:5a how Paul was sure that these Thessalonians were elect of God: “…because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…” The Thessalonians did not merely hear the teaching of the missionary team, and accept that it was true. It wasn’t only a decision to join a new movement. There was supernatural intervention. It did not come in word only, BUT… The message came with power and the Holy Spirit… The connection between the Spirit and power was well established since Pentecost: “…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you…” We are not told here how the reception of the Spirit was evidenced in Thessalonica, but it was clear and visible. And the message was received with “full conviction.” That is a more unusual word, plerosoria, which only occurs in three other passages in the entire NT. It’s not about just being convinced. We can know that we are His.

Colossians 2:2 …that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ…

Hebrews 6:11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end…

Hebrews 10:22 …let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

So in these passages the idea is full assurance, of understanding, of hope, and of faith. It is a real, supernatural, life changing encounter with the living God. It is what Jesus described in the “Good Shepherd Discourse” in John 10:27-28, when He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Do you remember when you first believed? You passed from darkness to Light, from this present evil age to Kingdom of the Son (see Col 1:13). Did the message come with power, the Spirit, and deep conviction, full assurance? It does not mean there is never a doubt or a struggle, because we are, after all,  still putting off the old and putting on Christ. It does mean that God is with us and in us, and that no one can snatch us out of his grip. That is Good News!  We proclaim it, and God has chosen through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. But, the message we share with people is inseparable from the way we live among them. Remember the famous saying of Saint Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel, and when necessary use words.” I think that was a deliberate exaggeration, because no one is going to get saved without the message, in words! But the point is that the Gospel changes lives, and how we live validates our testimony, it shows the Gospel to the world… Next, we see…

II. A Changed life is an example worth following (5b-7).

You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.  ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,  ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

      We lived out our faith before you (5b). Paul is not afraid to point to himself and his teammates and to say, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” They weren’t among them for long, but it was long enough for the Thessalonians to get a clear sense of the authenticity of the faith of Paul, Silas, and Timothy. They no doubt showed love and compassion in their preaching. They demonstrated commitment to this Jesus who they preached – It was clear that He had changed their lives! They showed courage in the face of opposition and difficulties. Like the first disciples in the early pages of the Book of Acts, it was evident that they had been with Jesus (cf. Acts 4:13)! Their “walk” validated their “talk,” it earned them a hearing.

       You “imitated” our example, but especially the Lord (6a). Paul says “...you became imitators of us, and of the Lord…” Think about that. The original disciples walked with Jesus for three years or so. They saw His habits of prayer, how He handled interruptions, how He spoke to people. They saw His habits and consistency of life and message. They learned not only from what He said, but also from how He lived. Paul could similarly say in Philippians 3:17, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Follow my example, as I follow Christ! Whether we like it our not, people are watching. In only a matter of weeks the Thessalonians had learned from Paul and his colleagues. And already their lives had become models to others!

     You became an example to others (6b-7). “…in affliction with joy…” Now doesn’t that sound contradictory? How do those idea go together? The point is that tribulation or “affliction” cannot destroy our joy in the Lord. Joy goes beyond the circumstances of the moment, and is anchored in the certainty of our standing in Christ. We are not necessarily thankful for trials, but we can be thankful in our trials. We know that God is good, all the time, so we can trust Him, whatever the circumstance of the moment. We know the end of the story, we have the promise of victory in Jesus! And so as we read in Philippians 4:7,  “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That peace will command the attention of the world, especially those in our sphere of influence. It is part of our witness. And Paul could say of the Thessalonians, that they had become an example to others, their lives were a model of Christian faith and faithfulness. That is the Maine* Idea: The message we share with people is inseparable from the way we live among them.

III. The Gospel “sounds forth” from an authentic Christian (8-10).

⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.  ⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 

       Word and Witness go hand-in-hand (8). Notice the two aspects of their witness. First, “Not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you…” This term, “sounded forth” occurs only here in the New Testament. It has the sense, “sound forth, ring out!” According to F.F. Bruce, it denotes “a loud ringing sound, as of a trumpet blast.” (p.17). The idea is they weren’t whispering! They were shouting from the rooftops to whoever would listen! This news was too good to keep to themselves. Jesus is the promised Messiah, and he died and rose again as promised in the Scriptures. Trust Him and find life, true life! The Word sounded forth from them with clarity.

       But the Word was not in a vacuum. Their faith “sounded forth” everywhere, throughout Macedonia and Achaia, basically from the north part of Greece to the south, and beyond. That means not only the Word of the Gospel, but the testimony of their changed lives.  The story of their conversion, from the way they received the disciples and the message of Christ, to the radical change in direction that followed their hearing and believing.  

       “…you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God…” We are reminded that, authentic faith will be visible: a new life (9). Notice that they turned from their idols, false, lifeless gods, to serve the living and true God, the God who is, the God of the Bible. The Bible makes it clear that idolatry was not something that started in Greek culture, it was nothing new. You remember when Aaron collected the gold from the people and made a calf, and said “This is the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt!” You don’t get to decide who God is and what God is like. God is. Period. The prophets speak to the foolishness of just making up our own Gods. For example in Isaiah 44:14-17 we read that a man…

…cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.  ¹⁵ Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.  ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!"  ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!"

Ridiculous, right? Before we laugh too hard, realize that anytime we distort the truth about God, and begin to insert our own ideas, we are essentially falling into a kind of idolatry. Many people, when they hear some aspect of biblical doctrine that they don’t like or that they can’t understand, will begin to substitute their own ideas. “My God would never send someone to eternal hell.” Have you heard that? Or, “I think ultimately, since God is love, he’ll let everyone into heaven.” The problem is, we don’t get to make up our own idea of God, and we don’t get to make up the rules. The God who is, the true and living God, has spoken. And though no man has seen God at any time, the only begotten, Jesus, has made Him known (Jn 1:18). In fact, Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

       The sure hope of believers allows us to look beyond this current evil age (10). Paul expresses the sure hope of the Thessalonians, and us. We too “…wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Ok, there is bad news there, wrath is coming. But the good news is that those who believe are delivered from it! We have the promise that Jesus rose, ascended into heaven, and He will return. Paul will have a more to say about that in this letter—the Thessalonians need some clarification. Our sure hope enables us to be steadfast as we live life in this fallen world. We are His witnesses!

What is God saying to me in this passage?  That is the Maine* Idea: The message we share with people is inseparable from the way we live among them.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Are Christ-centered faith, love, and hope evident in your life, looking upward, outward, and forward? God has given us the church to help us. Is there a Paul or Barnabas or Silas in your life, who can encourage you and hold you accountable? The Lord’s design for discipleship is that we learn from others, and that we keep on learning. Our ultimate example is Jesus, but He has given us the church, to encourage one another, and provoke one another to love and good works. Who is your Paul? Someone who has been a Christian a bit longer or who has gone through a bit more and can help you on the way? Who is your Barnabas or Silvanus, a like-minded believer who can encourage you and hold you accountable? Is there a Timothy in your life, who you can be an example to, and lead deeper in the faith?

       These verses are somewhat convicting because I know how often my life can fall short. Not that we will be perfect, but because we are forgiven we’ll be different. What we long for is to be a good witness to the unsaved in our sphere of influence. It all goes into their processing: tweets, Facebook posts, what we say at the grocery or Hammond lumber… We are a witness… may we show by our lives that God is real, and that He is working on us and through us! May the way we live among our neighbors testify to God’s amazing grace in Christ. AMEN.