1 Thessalonians - The Ideal Church

We need to be this kind of Christian in our churches today, don't we? Receivers of the word, followers of the best examples, examples for others to follow, and then transmitters of the word of God, that the gospel might get to the ends of the earth.

Let me read you now a description of an ideal church. 1 Thessalonians 1, beginning at verse 5 and concluding at verse 8. "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia, who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything."

Now, here's an exciting church, here's an enthusiastic church. Here is a church that isn't satisfied just with orthodox theology. The Holy Spirit is at work and the word of God is going out with power. Now, this church has four very prominent characteristics. And I would say these are the four characteristics of every church that is really doing what God wants that church to do. Number one, they were receivers. Then they became followers. Then examples. And then transmitters. It's rather interesting that those who began as receivers became transmitters, and that's the way it ought to be.

Let's take this first characteristic, 1 Thessalonians 1:6. "Having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit." Now, the word of God came to them. In verse 5 we read, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only." The word came to them. The only way people can be saved is through the word coming to them. He says, "Our gospel." Now, it didn't mean he owned the gospel, it meant that the gospel had become very precious to him. It was his message of the gospel, the preaching of the grace of God. He came to Thessalonica, along with Silas and Timothy, and he preached the word of the Lord. The word came to them.

Now, there are a number of titles for the word. In the word, it's called the word of the gospel in Acts 15:7. In Acts 20:32, it's the word of God's grace. The gospel involves the grace of God. The only way to be saved is by grace. Oh, you say, "I'm saved by faith plus my good works." No, you're saved by grace. "For by grace are we saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." It's called the word of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:19. It's the word of truth, 2 Corinthians 6:7. It's the word of righteousness, Hebrews 5:13. Because when you believe the word of God and receive it, it brings about righteousness in your life. It's the word of faith, Romans 10:8. Because this word must be believed. It is the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17. Therefore, when you receive the word of God, you are receiving the life of God. When you reject it, you are rebelling against the God of the universe. They were receivers, they received the word. The gospel came to them. That's the way people get saved.

Now, don't let the doctrine of election paralyze you. Because we know God has his elect people in this world, we're going to preach the gospel and trust him to save those he has chosen in Jesus Christ. Now, he tells us that he is not willing that any should perish, so we preach to everybody. God who will have all men to be saved, so we witness to everybody. Because God alone knows those who are his own. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, Paul tells us how all of this is working together. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord because God from the beginning chose you for salvation, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth." Ah, there's where the word of God comes in. "To which he called you by our gospel." The same God who ordains the end ordains the means to the end. The word must go out.

Well, they were receivers. Now, they welcomed the word of God. The word "received" in verse 6 means to welcome. They welcomed the word of God. Now, they heard it, they welcomed it, they rejoiced in it. Here's an amazing thing. "Having received the word," says verse 6, "in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit." How do you have joy when you're going through affliction? Because you've received the word.

I can't explain this. I cannot explain to you the joy that comes to your heart through the word of God when you're going through difficult times. It's the work of the Holy Spirit of God. These people received the word of God, and the word was not just given in word only, says verse 5. It wasn't just an oration, a lecture, a speech that somebody gave. The word came to them not in word only, but in power, because the Holy Spirit was at work. The word brings joy and they suffered in the receiving of the word.

Now, most people today don't suffer because they receive the word of God. There's no persecution that goes on. Some people do. There are some people who listen to Back to the Bible who have family members who persecute them because they turn their radio on. They suffer for it, but not many. We have an easy time hearing the word of God today and we take it for granted. The first characteristic of the ideal church is the people there are receivers.

Secondly, they were followers. Verse 6, "And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word." The word "followers" here gives us our English word "mimic," "imitator." They became mimics. Now, we are not saved by imitating Jesus Christ. He is our example, but he must first be your savior before he can be your example. No, we aren't saved by imitating Christ, but when you are saved, you do want to imitate the Lord Jesus.

Notice, they first became followers, imitators of Paul and Silas and Timothy. That's normal. Little children in the home imitate mother and father. And that means we'd better be the kind of people worth imitating. And new Christians have a tendency to imitate the preacher, the Sunday school teacher. We learn by imitation. Nothing wrong with that. This is one reason why we have the word of God. We read about these great saints of God in the Bible, and these people are worth imitating.

By the way, everybody is imitating somebody. You have some ideal, some model, someone you imitate. By the way, you are the best Christian somebody knows. Somebody's watching you, imitating you. Oh, how essential it is that we be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:1 and said, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." Be careful that the person you're following is walking in the right direction and he is following, she is following the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were receivers, they were followers. Then in verse 7 of 1 Thessalonians 1, they became examples themselves. Others could follow them. "So that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia, who believe." This word "examples" gives us our English word "type." It's the Greek word "tupos." A type is an example. The word means an authorized model. They became authorized models of what a Christian ought to be. How did this happen? How do followers become leaders? How do followers become examples? Through the word of God. The word of God transforms us. Oh, how I wish I could get people to understand the power of the word of God. Now, the word of God, when it is received and believed and obeyed, establishes righteousness in our lives. We become like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the living word and that written word makes us to be like him.

Finally, there's a fourth characteristic. They were receivers, they became followers, they became examples, and they became transmitters, verse 8. "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth." Receivers ought always to become transmitters, transmitters of the word of God, that the gospel might get to the ends of the earth.

You know, it's wonderful when a church is talked about and what people say is good. Unfortunately, in some communities, the churches are talked about, but what people are saying is just gossip and the news is not too good. Here in Thessalonica was a group of people who were so excited, so enthusiastic, so transformed, so filled with the Spirit of God, so wrapped up in the word of the living God that miracles were taking place in their midst. Lives were being changed, God was at work.

Well, there were three special topics of conversation that related to the church at Thessalonica, and these three topics of conversation ought to be topics of conversation as far as our churches are concerned. The people talked, first of all, about the message, what the gospel is. Then they talked about the ministry, how the gospel comes. And then they finally talked about the miracle, what the gospel does. I hope this is what people are talking about in your community, about your church. Let's start with the message. People were talking about what the gospel is. Here is a wonderful new message they had never heard before.

Now, Thessalonica was not a little byway. Thessalonica was a very important city, in fact, the largest and most important city in Macedonia. Some 200,000 people, it was a city to which many people gravitated, and Paul and Silas and Timothy came to Thessalonica with a new message. Now, remember, these people had plenty of religion. They had plenty of philosophy. The Greek people have their philosophers and their religion, and they did not want to hear anything new.

Now, here come a Jew, Paul, Silas was a Jew, Timothy was part Jew, part Gentile. Here comes this strange team. They had been in Philippi. At Philippi, Paul and Silas had been arrested. They had been beaten. Now, here come these ex-jailbirds, so to speak. They had marks on their bodies that they had been beaten. Who would want to listen to them? After all, here are men who might be, uh, well, they might be people the law is looking for. They might be escaped prisoners, escaped criminals, who knows? But they came with a message, and the message they came with was a message these people had never heard before. It was a message about one Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Now, Greek religion had no good news. I'm sure you have read some of the myths that have come down to us from the Greeks, all about gods and goddesses acting like little children. Greek philosophy had no good news, regardless of which school of philosophy you followed, they had no good news. And yet here comes Paul with his friends, bearing good news. The good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, he died. Notice that, "whom he raised from the dead." So this Jesus Christ died. Now, why did he die? He died for our sins. He did not die for his own sins, he had none. He died for our sins. Then he arose from the dead.

Notice what verse 10 says, "whom he raised from the dead." He arose from the dead, proving that his sacrifice had been accepted by the Father. We have a living savior, a risen, victorious savior. Now, he has ascended to wait for his Son from heaven. He's not in the cemetery, he's not on earth, he is in heaven. And he has sent his Holy Spirit to represent him here in this world. Now, this is good news. It's good news that there is one who has conquered death. The Greeks did not know what to do with death. They had such strange ideas about life after death. And they were looking for some way to get some assurance for life after death. And Jesus Christ has conquered death, he has conquered sin, but that's not all. Notice that he is coming again, "to wait for his Son from heaven."

This same Jesus who died for you, who arose again for your justification, who ascended to heaven to represent you at the throne of the Father, is one day going to come and take his people home. Every chapter in 1 Thessalonians ends with a reference to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to come again. And when he comes, he's going to deliver his people from the wrath to come. So he is not only the ascended reigning savior, he is the savior who is coming again, he is the deliverer, but he's also the judge. There is a wrath to come. Now, some folks don't like to talk about that. Oh, if you've never called upon him, do so today, because the wrath of God is coming.

Secondly, the people talked about not only the message, but the ministry, how the gospel comes. Notice verse 9, "For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you." When Paul and Silas and Timothy came into Thessalonica, they were not like the other wandering preachers and teachers and philosophers who went from city to city. They were different. By the way, they ought to be different today. The way we do the ministry ought to be different from the way people sell used cars and toothpaste. Chapter 2 verse 1, "For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict." That word "conflict" gives us our word "agony," in much agony, not just physical, but spiritual, emotional. Here are three men who come from Philippi, and they are not like these other teachers who wandered around Macedonia and Achaia, trying to get a following, trying to make some money, trying to get something for themselves, using various devious devices. Paul said, "We don't minister that way. We don't use that approach at all in our ministry of the word of God." Here were a group of men, three men, who did not use deceit. They were open and honest and straightforward and bold and loving, and people were amazed. They said, "We've never seen this before. Why, our religious leaders aren't like this," but these men were different.

The Greek religion had nothing to offer to anybody, myths and stories and supposition. Greek philosophy had nothing to offer. Acts 17:30, Paul summarized all of Greek history in one phrase. Acts 17:30, "the times of this ignorance." Ignorance, idolatry. They had no hope, no life. This is why we send out missionaries. People say, "Well, why disturb the beautiful culture of these people?" You ought to examine their beautiful culture and see how ugly and low it is in some areas. You see, idolatry, immorality, ignorance. Jesus says, "I'm the way, the truth, the life," the only way, the only truth, the only life. And people were talking about the ministry, how the gospel came.

Thirdly, people were talking about the miracle, what the gospel does. What does it do? It changes people's lives. Changed their direction. "How you turned to God from idols." Now, the Greek people had idols all over the place. It was said it was easier to find a god in Athens than to find a man. Well, Paul was in Thessalonica and it was probably just as bad. I tell you, when you study the word of God and find how great our God is, when Paul preached the greatness and glory and grace of God, these people said, "We don't want our idols. We've found something better." They didn't turn away from the idols because Paul convinced them the idols were wrong. I'm sure he did that. They turned away from the idols because they saw the glory and the grace and the wonder of the true God. They turned from death to life. They changed their direction. The Bible calls this repentance and conversion.

Secondly, they changed their devotion, "to serve the living and true God." Now, they had been serving false gods. But Paul said, "You can know the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your friend, your savior. He will walk with you. You can serve him and he will help you." And so they changed their direction, they were converted, they changed their devotion, and they also changed their destination, "to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

What is your destination? Our God is a God of judgment. John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Oh, my friend, if you have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, the wrath of God hovers over your head right now, all day long, all night long, whether you think about it or not. How much better it would be to know Jesus Christ as your savior, to trust him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this is what people were talking about in Achaia and Macedonia. They were talking about a wonderful message. The good news that people can be saved from sin and death and judgment. When you believe the message of the gospel, when you receive Jesus Christ as your own savior, something happens to you. You changed direction. You turn from idols to the living God. You changed your devotion. You begin to serve this living and true God. You change your destination. You're no longer worried about the wrath to come because you belong to the savior who delivers you from the wrath to come. Oh, do trust him today. He is the only savior.