THE EXAMPLE OF THESSALONICA
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 (KJV)
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Of all of the different places that the Apostle Paul traveled in his lifetime, few of them are more memorable than his trip to the city of Thessalonica.
We, who are involved in the work of the ministry, would consider it miraculous.
Paul was accustomed to opposition and persecution in his work of preaching Jesus Christ and planting churches.
· The Jews viewed his work as an heretical sect of Judaism
· The Gentiles viewed his work as a threat to their pagan gods.
Paul very often was only able to stay in a particular town a short while – usually less than a year.
Amazingly, in that brief time he would see souls come to Christ and a church established.
But Thessalonica was an extreme case.
Acts 17:1-10 records that Apostle Paul was only able to preach in the Jewish synagogue three Sabbath days, before the people became so angry that Paul was forced to leave town.
Three Sabbath days…… That is just two weeks.
· Depending upon what day of the week he arrived in town. And
· Depending on what day of the week he left town, Paul
oWas not there more than one month and
oMay have been there as little as 15 days
And yet,
· Despite the shortness of Paul’s stay
· Despite the opposition of the unbelievers and
· Despite the persecution the new believers surely faced
The Bible is quite clear that the church in Thessalonica was a dynamic and vibrant one.
We don’t know how many people composed the church.
In fact, I am fairly sure that
· Given the shortness of time Paul spent in each city and
· Given the opposition this new doctrine faced in every place
None of these churches were huge in numbers.
So I am not saying that the church in Thessalonica became a “mega-church” with attendance consisting in the thousands or even hundreds.
But Paul did say of the church in Thessalonica that they were “…ensamples to all that believe…”
The word means to be a model to imitate.
God’s Word says this church in Thessalonica is one to imitate.
The list of things about this church worth imitating could go on and on.
But there are three things specifically mentioned in verses 9-10 I want to focus on today.
First the Word of God says
I. THEY TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (KJV)
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
The book of Acts says that those who were saved were both Greeks and Jews.
What we know of the Greeks is that they were a very idolatrous people.
Just down the road from Thessalonica, was Athens, where Paul preached, not long after leaving Thessalonica.
In his message on Mar’s Hill Paul said
Acts 17:22-23
… men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. (KJV)
They worshipped about every kind of god and goddess imaginable.
· Diana, the goddess of fertility
· Zeus was the most powerful of the gods.
· Hera was the goddess of marriage, children, and the home
· Poseidon, the lord of the sea
· Hades, lord of the dead.
· Ares, was the god of war.
· Hermes the messenger of the gods.
· Apollo god of the sun, light and music.
· Artemis was goddess of the hunt
· Dionysus was the god of wine.
· Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
· Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty
· Eros was the god of love
And just in case they missed one, Paul said they had an idol to THE UNKNOWN GOD.
What I find interesting is that Paul did not distinguish in 1 Thessalonians that it was the Greek believers only who turned from idols.
Apparently, Paul believed that even the Jews in Thessalonica were idol worshipers.
There are a couple of ways to explain that.
First, we know from Old Testament history that
A. The Jews were very prone to worship the gods of the people they dwelt around.
Here they were, a race of people uniquely called of the one true God to worship Him.
· They had been protected by Him
· They had been provided for by Him
· They had seen and heard Him through their prophets
But it seemed like every time they got around another people, they embraced their false gods.
It is very possible that the Jews in Thessalonica had done the very same thing.
Secondly,
B. The Jews had turned the truth about God into a false religion of its own.
The reason the Jews killed Jesus is because He exposed their religion for what it was.
· False and
· Dead
Here is the application:
We can claim to worship the living God: but
· If we do not worship Him the way He says to and
· If we do not worship Him for who He says He is,
We are really worshiping a false god.
God’s Word said that the believers in Thessalonica were an example to imitate because they had turned from those idols and had turned to the true and living God.
Secondly God’s Word says
II. THEY TENDERED TO GOD THEIR SERVICE
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (KJV)
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
They not only turned to God from idols in the sense that they now believed in Christ instead of the idols, but they began to serve the Living and true God.
The word serveliterally means “to be a slave.”
As a pastor over these many years now I have seen two kinds of Christians….
· Those who say they love God but really do as they please and
· Those who say they love God by giving their lives to Him
The Apostle Paul was not allowed to stay in Thessalonica very long, so he was thrilled to learn that the Christians there had learned quickly to be the serving kind of Christians.
Here is a thought:
God never needs our service.
He is omnipotent, sovereign, all powerful.
God spoke everything that is into existence out of nothing.
· He did not have to work at it
· He did not have to have any help in it
He does not need our service.
So the fact that He requires us to serve Him must be for a different reason than His own benefit.
The reason God has us serve Him is because it is good for us, not because it is good for Him.
You and me?
We will be much more happy people when we come to the place in our lives where we see that it is better for us to serve God than to expect God to serve us.
· When we pray prayers that are all self centered
· When we do things for God, but for a selfish motive
· When we read our Bible trying to find the secret to getting what we want from God
We are not really serving God, we are expecting God to serve us.
· When we search the Scriptures trying to learn who God is
· When we want to know what God’s wants
· When we live our lives following God’s plans
· When we pray prayers asking that God’s will, as we have found it in the Bible be done
Then we become filled with joy and gladness and victory in our lives.
I remember the days living under my parent’s roof.
I thought it was bad and I could not wait until I grew up and could do what I wanted.
But once I got out on my own I realized how really good I had it at my mom and dad’s.
For the little bit of chores they had me do
For the few hours of school work I had to do each week
I had nearly completely freedom.
· I never worried about how to pay the bills
· I never worried about whether I would be able to keep a roof over my head
· I never worried about whether there would be anything to eat
I did a few errands around the house
I took a few classes at school
And then I
· Played sports
· Road bikes
· Went fishing and hunting and
· Hung around the park or the pool
Being a servant of God is not restricting, it is liberating.
· There is freedom in knowing that the Lord has taken care of my sin problem
· There is freedom in knowing that I will never have to go to hell
· There is freedom in letting the Lord use me as He pleases today, trusting that He has much better plans for me in eternity.
God’s Word says the Christians in Thessalonica were models for what Christians should be like everywhere
· Because they turned to God from idols
· Because they tendered to God their service
And thirdly because
III. THEY TARRIED FOR GOD’S SON JESUS CHRIST
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (KJV)
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Waiting for the Lord….
This is a very interesting Christian discipline.
The Bible makes me believe it is one of the most important things I can do.
· Here the Bible says they were ensamples because they did it.
· Paul says there is a reward for those who wait for Jesus
2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.(KJV)
This waiting does not mean that they sat around staring into the sky all the time.
Acts 1:9-11
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (KJV)
The angels told the Christians, “Why stand here and gawk? Jesus is coming again just like you have seen Him leave.”
And the Bible says they returned to Jerusalem and turned the world upside down for Christ.
Waiting for Jesus isn’t sitting around then is it?
Here are three Biblical principles about waiting for Jesus
A. They waited expectantly
…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.(KJV)
They believed He would come again.
Read the Apostle Paul’s letters and you will read a man who was absolutely sure that Jesus would come again.
· It was more than a fable
· It was more than a wish
· It was more than a fantasy for him
Paul knew – just absolutely knew Jesus was going to come again to this earth.
And that conviction impacted everything Paul did for the rest of his life.
· He knew some Christians would die before Jesus came again and
· He knew some people would scoff and mock and say Jesus will never come again
· That did not deter him
· Nor the rest of the apostles,
· Nor these believers in Thessalonica
They expected Jesus to come again and lived with that as their focus.
B. They waited patiently
2 Thessalonians 3:13
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (KJV)
They just kept doing what was right regardless of what the world was doing around them.
· They continued in the faith
· They continued in the Apostles doctrine
· They continued in prayer and
· They continued in the Son, watching for Jesus Christ
Sometimes continuing gets pretty hard to do.
· We’ve been beat up
· We’ve been disappointed
· We’ve been misinformed about spiritual things
· We have tried to obey the Lord and
· We have not gotten the results we thought we would from it
The Lord says those people in Thessalonica, they were ensample to imitate because they kept waiting for the Lord anyway!
C. They waited holily
Titus 2:12-14
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (KJV)
1 John 3:2-3
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (KJV)
When a person has his eyes fixed on the fact that Jesus is coming again, it helps him stay pure from the sins of the world.
· He is slow to fall into the trap of sin and
· He is quick to confess his sins whenever he does
Because he knows that at any moment the Lord could come again.
Conclusion
The Bible says that the Christians in Thessalonica were ensamples
They were models we should imitate.
Because they turned to God from idols
Because they tendered to God their service and
Because they tarried for God’s Son, Jesus Christ
