Passing the Faith Along - 2022-07-31

“Passing the Faith Along”

1 Thess. 1:6-10

Message #2 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

31 July 2022

INTRODUCTION:

When you get good new you want to share it with people. Right? You want to phone them up right away and tell them the news. For example:

Ø  After hoping and praying for 3 years for a child, you find out that you and your wife are going to have your first baby. You holler, cry, laugh and tell everyone.

Ø  You receive word that you got the big job advancement and raise that you had been hoping for. You give high-fives, do your little happy dance, and call your friends to share your good fortune.

Ø  You get a letter in the mail saying that you have been accepted into West Point with all expenses paid. You run right out and tell everyone you know the good news.

Ø  Your doctor finally calls you and says that suspicious spot on your recent X-ray turned out to be just a flaw in the film. You call up the prayer team at church and ask the pastor to put the good news in the church bulletin.

TRANSITION:

The same is true when people come to know Jesus—they want to tell people about Him:

Ø  John 1 – Andrew ran to tell his brother, Simon

Ø  Same chapter – Philip ran to tell his friend, Nathanael

Ø  John 4 – the Samaritan woman ran back to her village to tell them about Jesus, the Messiah, who knew all about her           

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 we read about this same joy and zeal inspiring the Christians from Thessaloniki to go out sharing the Good News with anyone who would listen. They were bold in sharing their faith, and their zeal and love for God paid off in a harvest of many other people coming to faith in Christ because of their testimony. Let’s look at Paul’s letter to them, probably written from Corinth a year or so after he took the Gospel to their city. But much had happened in that time. 

MAIN BODY:

¹ Paul and Silvanus [Silas] and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.  ² We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, and labour of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; ⁵ for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.  ⁶ You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.  ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.  ⁹ For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 

Verse 6: You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word [i.e., the Gospel] in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,  

·        This word “imitators” is the Greek word, mimetês, from which we get our English words, mime, and mimic. Coupled with the “to be” verb in the aorist tense [which indicates a point of time in the past] it is obvious that Paul is referring to their conversion experience in the past, when then they first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, “You believed in Christ the same way we had before you. You followed our example of giving your lives to Him too.”

·        “…imitators of us and of the Lord” – Of the two which is the more important? Imitating Christ, of course. But the fact is, we are the only Christ that people see. Paul recognized that the Thessalonian believers were patterning all aspects of their lives after Paul, Silas, and Timothy, their fathers in the faith. In the same way that children emulate their parents, baby Christians tend to copy their parents in the faith. That is why we as elders in the faith have a great responsibility toward new believers. Our job is to show them the path.

·        “Having received the Word in much tribulation” – When Paul, Silas, and Timothy took the Gospel to Thessaloniki they did so despite much opposition. In fact, if you remember back to the account in Acts 17 that we explored last Sunday, they risked their very lives to preach the Gospel there. The entrenched Jewish power structure was violently opposed to them spreading this “heresy” about Jesus.

·        “…with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” – But Paul remembers too that along with the persecution there was also much joy. That is normal when people come to know Christ. God fills the heart of the forgiven sinner with joy. [cf. Luke 15:7, 10, 32]

·        In Acts 8:8, referring to Philip’s healing and preaching ministry in the city of Samaria we read, “So there was great joy in that city” because people were getting healed and saved. Again, in verse 39, after Philp shared the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch it says, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” 

Verse 7: so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 

·        The Greek word here translated as “example” is tupos and it means “a pattern, an ensample, or a mould,” the kind you use to produce accurate copies. For example, when a craftsman makes his wood art, he uses a pattern to draw out all the pieces.  Then he carefully cuts them out and fits them together to make lovely wooden mosaics. Likewise, some of you have had dental work done. The dentist makes moulds of your teeth, top and bottom. From those he can make a perfect replica of every tooth in your mouth. The other way tupos is used is of an image stamped on metal. That always brings to my mind the ending of the old TV show, “Dragnet.” At the end of the show, after the credits, there would be this huge man’s arm holding a metal stamp up against a metal plate. Then the hammer would fall, and he would pull the stamp away, leaving a perfect image on the metal. That is how coins are made, by the way, by use of a tupos to stamp the image.

·        Putting verses 6 and 7 together we see that Paul is saying that he and his colleagues were the pattern for the Thessalonians, who in turn became a pattern for believers all over Macedonia and Achaia. Just as Paul, Silas, and Timothy had come to believe in the Lord Jesus and then gone out to share the Gospel with others, so the Thessalonians followed their example and trusted in Christ, then went out preaching the Good News to people all over their region.  

Verse 8: For the word of the Lord [i.e., the Gospel] has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

·        “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you…” – Here Paul uses the Greek word exechéo, which means to sound forth like a trumpet or thunder. Paul is saying that the powerful testimony of the Thessalonian Christians thundered throughout the whole region and beyond. He says, “We don’t need to say anything because it is common knowledge. Everyone already knows about the faith of the believers in Thessaloniki.”

·        “…your faith toward God has gone forth” Back up in verse 3 Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their “work of faith” meaning the fruit borne by their faith, the righteous results of their faith. Their pure, genuine faith produced genuine results and eternal fruit.

·        This verse gives us the formula for a successful church, namely:

1.      The Gospel sounds forth not only from the pulpit but also from the lips of every member, sharing the Good News with anyone who will listen.

2.     The people in the church demonstrate their faith in God and His Word by putting feet to their faith and living out the truths they claim to believe. Sunday-go-to-meetin’ Christians are a dime-a-dozen and are useless to the Kingdom and an embarrassment to the Gospel. Don’t be one of those. 

Verse 9: For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 

·        I love this verse! “For they themselves report…” To whom is Paul referring? Obviously, the new believers who were living roundabout in all of Macedonia (the northern region of Greece), Achaia (the southern region of Greece), and beyond. The people they have led to Christ in those places were telling the story of how the Gospel came to Thessaloniki and how the people there received the message with their whole hearts. The dedication, courage, and conviction of the Thessalonian Christians became common knowledge throughout the whole country. This is so cool… we can see at least five links in this Gospel chain.

Ø  Back in Acts 9 we read that a dear saint of God by the name of Ananias led Paul to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Ø  Paul, in turn, in Acts 16 led Timothy and his family to Christ (and he may have shared Christ with Silas as well, although we do not know for sure).

Ø  Then Paul, Silas, and Timothy shared the Gospel with the Thessalonians.

Ø  They, in turn, went out preaching the Gospel throughout their whole region, leading many to faith in Jesus. So, can you visualize the chain?

Ø  Ananiasà Paulà Timothyà Thessaloniansà Macedonians à beyond.

·        “For they themselves report… how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” The Thessalonians were steeped in the Greek religions and mystery cults, but they were polytheists, believing in many gods. And their gods were mean and capricious, playing cruel tricks on men. Notice the two key words that Paul uses here to describe the faith they received when they dumped the idols and the false Greek religion— “living,” as opposed to dead as a doornail, and “true” as opposed to fake, bogus, and phony as a three-dollar bill.

·        N.B., they turned from serving idols to serving the living and true God. When you turn from one thing you automatically must turn toward something else. What often happens, however, is that people turn from one idol to serve another idol. Most people go through life just switching from idol to idol. That is a treadmill that gets you nowhere. Only when you turn from all the idols to serve the living and true God does life have any meaning.

·        Anything to which we give allegiance (i.e., adoration, devotion, reverence, worship) that is not the true God Himself, is a form of idolatry. God said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before ME,” meaning “…in My place.” Anything besides God that we elevate to first place in our life is, by definition, an idol. That can be money, possessions, prestige, fame, sex, power, self, work, exercise, family, etc. Anything (even a good thing) can become an idol if it becomes the centre of your life and usurps God’s rightful place. 

Verse 10: and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 

·        Here the thought continues unbroken… “[It is reported] …how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” With the Gospel of sins forgiven comes the blessed hope of Christ’s return to take us to Heaven. It is a package deal—you receive Jesus… you get Heaven too!

·        “…and to wait” – This word is anamenein, a compound of meno, meaning “to remain or abide,” plus the preposition ana meaning “up.” The word carries with it the suggestion of “waiting with patience and confident expectancy,” in this case, for the return of the Lord Jesus for His saints, what we call the Rapture.

·        Notice how smoothly Paul works in the doctrine of the resurrection. That was a scarlet thread that ran through all the apostolic teaching. Without the risen Christ there would be no Redeemer, and without redemption there would be no rescue from “the wrath to come.” Our hope as Christians hangs on the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead. Without that we would be eternally lost, with no hope.

·        The theme of God’s coming wrath runs through both Thessalonian letters. It is also clearly seen in Romans (3:5; 5:9; 9:22; 13:5). By this Paul is referring to God’s final judgment, His personal retribution against sin, His holiness in action. One of the reasons Paul goes into this subject in some detail in these two letters was because the Thessalonian church was experiencing a season of increasing persecution. Apparently, some of the Christians there were concluding that they were experiencing God’s wrath poured out on them. They thought maybe God was punishing them. So, Paul wrote to encourage them and to instruct them. He makes it clear that while they were going through trials and tribulations, they were not experiencing The Tribulation that he had told them about when he was with them. But he also makes it clear… someday that judgment will come when God shall pour-out His wrath against the wicked and against the unbelieving nations (cf. Matt. 24:30; Rev. 19:11-15).

CONCLUSION:

I hate waiting. I’m not a patient man. Waiting is always hard. None of us likes to wait. We want everything NOW! But Jesus commanded us to wait on Him. He promised not to leave us or forsake us. He promised to return to take us to be with Him, but He also said, “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13). We have a job to do. We have our orders. We have authority granted to us by God Himself. Through the Holy Spirit we have the power necessary to complete the Great Commission. So, what are we waiting for?           

Jesus said in John 9:4 that we must work while it is day, for night is coming when no man can work. In Ephesians 5:16 Paul urges us to make the most of the time we have left because the days are evil.           

We are to wait for the Lord, but we are to do that from a fighting position, not from a resting position. We are to be about our Father’s business, just as Jesus was. When He chooses to return is His business. Our business it to be sure that when He comes, He finds us working for Him in His harvest fields. The Christian life is about warfare, not welfare. It is about fighting, not fleeing. It is about serving, not sitting.