Church as it’s supposed to be
When it was built for an international exposition in the last century, the structure was called monstrous by the citizens of the city, who demanded it be torn down as soon as the exposition was over. Yet from the moment its architect first conceived it, he took pride in it and loyally defended it from those who wished to destroy it. He knew it was destined for greatness. Today it is one of the architectural wonders of the modern world and stands as the primary landmark of Paris, France. The architect, of course, was Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. His famous tower was built in in 1889. In the same way we are struck by Jesus' loyalty to another structure--the church--which he entrusted to an unlikely band of disciples, whom he defended, prayed for, and prepared to spread the gospel. To outsiders they (and we) must seem like incapable blunderers. But Jesus, the architect of the church, knows this structure is destined for greatness when he returns.
John Berstecher.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father. 4 We know, brothers[a] loved by God, that you are chosen, 5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from 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: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
In this letter to the church at Thessalonica, we get a glimpse into what Church is supposed to be.
Of all the churches that Paul founded, and wrote to, the church at Thessalonica was one of the best.
Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica with encouragement, a desire to see them again, comforting them. Listen to these words from 1st and 2nd Thessalonians;
Let’s just take the outline of the book as an indication of how good the church was;
The church as it is supposed to be is:
1) a people of encouragement (1:2–10);
1 Thessalonians 1: 7 so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything.
2) a people of self-sacrifice (2:1–12);
10 You are witnesses with God how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe. 11 As you know, we exhorted, comforted, and implored every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 to the end that you should walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory.
3) a people of controversy (2:13–16);
13 For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen,
4) a people of joy (2:17–3:13);
17 But we, brothers, being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence, not in heart, tried even harder to see your face with great desire, 18 because we wanted to come to you—indeed, I, Paul, once and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus[a] at his coming? 20 For you are our glory and our joy.
5) a people of purity (4:1–8);
Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
6) a people of work (4:9–12);
9 But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, 10 for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; 11 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
7) a people of clarity (4:13–5:11);
13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
8) a people of unity (5:12–15);
Be at peace among yourselves. 14 We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all. 15 See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all.
9) a people of growth (5:16–22).
So, we’re going to look at these letters over the coming weeks, to discover “Church, as it is supposed to be.”
1st point- the church is supposed to be a people of encouragement.
Let’s pray
I. II. The church as it is supposed to be is a people of encouragement (1:2–10) Encouragement
How do we encourage each other in the church? Verse 1 through 10 give us an example from the relationship between Paul and this church, and between this church and other churches. It’s a symbiosis of encouragement.
3 ways that the church of Thessalonica encouraged and was encouraged; We covered the 1st last week.
Lifting each other up in prayer, Reminding each other of our position, Exhibiting for each other a Right Pattern
Well, what does Paul specifically describe that is a means of encouragement? Prayer, position, pattern
A. Lifting each other up in prayer-“What kind of prayer?” unceasing, specific, God-centered
1. Unceasing-Paul encouraged them with unceasing prayer
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
That indicates that he is thinking about each and every person who is a part of the church in Thessalonica.
This kind of reminds me of my uncle Mosby. He was younger than my dad. But he and his family attended a large church in Mobile Alabama. He helped monitor the parking lot. He kept packages of sticky notes with him. If a visitor came to church, he introduced himself, gave them any needed directions, and sent them on in to church services. But he wrote their name and pertinent details on a sticky note. Why? Well, his little VW Bug was covered with sticky notes inside. Number 1, he called them by name when the came back out of church, and number 2, he prayed for them.
2. Specific
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
Remembering-he is praying based on his memory of them. It’s not just some generic list of petitions that he would pray for any group of Christians. He calls to mind specifics about their walk of faith.
a. Work of faith: your salvation-the past
I listened to J. Vernon McGee this week preaching from this passage, and he pointed out a connection that I didn’t notice when I first studied this.
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
Now look at verses 9 and 10, Paul is talking about the example the Thessalonian church set for other churches; other churches and people were talking about the Thessalonians as a positive example. But in his description of them, Paul mentions the very things that he said he was praying for them about.
Your work of faith, faith that produced work
9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols,
I’m specifically praying about you and your circumstances when you came to faith.
Your labor of love—your ongoing service
to serve a living and true God,
I’m praying for your day by day strength, and the specific work that you are doing.
Your perseverance of hope--
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven,
I pray for your perseverance to the day when the Lord returns.
Unceasing, specific, and God-centered. That means our prayers always have God and His purposes in mind.
2. We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
We pray always with a God-consciousness.
We can easily stray in our prayers in this way. We get to where our prayers are just a list of things that we want, or that our friends and family want. We are praying “magic box” prayers. God has become this magic box to us. We open the box, put in what we want, and abracadabra, we get it. And if we don’t, we think, “This thing doesn’t work.” So, we quit praying.
But God is not just a box you send your requests to.
James 4: Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? 2 You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Proverbs 3:34 7 Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
B. Reminding each other of our position—past, present, and future
4 We know, brothers[a] loved by God, that you are chosen, 5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance.
Chosen-elect, power, assurance
That’s your position before God. You were chosen by God, you have the power of Almighty God living in you, by His Spirit, and you have the assurance of eternal reward.
Past-chosen, present-power, future-assurance
God’s got you covered. And the gathering of the people of the Church should be where you are reminded of that and encouraged by that. You may not always feel it, but if you are a Christian, that’s who you are.
One of the ways that Church can be a people of encouragement is if it is a place where you are elevated in your position. Every other place in the world, you may feel worthless, a nobody, powerless, unsure of the future, but it shouldn’t be that way in the church.
You see, once we get past the message of salvation, once we repent of our sins, and surrender to Christ as Lord, it’s all grace from there. From that point forward you are a child of God.
And even if you come to church having failed in regards to sin, you’ve already been forgiven. You are God’s Child. You are chosen/elect. We don’t always feel that way do we? We beat ourselves up over failure. Now, you should grieve over your sin. But once you repent and confess, it’s time to move on.
Christian people get really messed up in their theology here. Somehow people think that when you become a Christian, that you are forgiven of the sins that you’ve committed up to that point. But from then on, you need to walk a sanctified walk, and make sure you ask forgiveness for every sin you commit. And you’d better adequately grovel over your sin. And even then, they think, that God is up there in heaven, after you sin, just shaking His head in disappointment, saying, “Are you ever going to get it right?”
That’s not a very encouraging message is it? I think that’s where Southern Baptists have dropped the ball. In many Southern Baptist churches we haven’t done an adequate job of teaching basic doctrines. One of those basic doctrines is the doctrine of election.
1. Chosen--past
4 We know, brothers[a] loved by God, that you are chosen,
Let me tell you something, the doctrine of election is encouraging. How is it encouraging preacher? Listen to what the Bible says about you being chosen, or elected. We were chosen before the world was even created.
1st: Jesus was chosen before the world was created, so we are in good company.
1 Peter 2:4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
What was He chosen for?
1 Peter 1:20 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with [g]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
God chose Jesus, His Son, to be the sacrifice for your sin, before the world was ever created.
Why did He do that? God chose Him so you could be chosen.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
We were picked by God. Doesn’t that warm your heart? He chose you. But let’s go further.
Jesus chose you. You say, “yes, I remember the day He chose me, it was on Sunday, August 8th of 1973. No! Do you know when you were chosen?
Ephesians 1:3-5 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
He chose you before you were ever born. Before you had ever called on Him, before you had ever committed a single sin. So, when Jesus died on the cross, He carried all your sin, even the ones you haven’t committed yet. That’s why the doctrine of election is encouraging. All my sin is gone, even the sins in my future.
You know, I didn’t always comprehend that. I would be walking my Christian life. Doing pretty good. Feeling pretty good about myself. Then I would fall into some sin. That same old sin that always besets me. And I’d think, “God’s got to be so discouraged with me.” “Bruce, I thought you knew better.” And I’d spend days, or sometimes weeks, just groveling around in my sense of worthlessness. Then I’d crawl back to God, “God, I am so very sorry, I am resolved to do better this time.”
Let me ask you this. When God chose you, back at the foundation of the world, do you think that He wasn’t aware that you were going to fail, repeatedly? Do you think He wants you to pay for your sins with a few weeks of feeling really guilty? No! He wants you to get off of your self-loathing hobby horse, and get back to work. Confess your sins, cry about it for a bit, then say, “Okay Lord, I’m ready for what’s next.”
That’s why the doctrine of election is encouraging, because it tells me that I serve a God who chose this flawed and failing sinner, before I was even born.
Now I know some of you are struggling with some discomfort here. Because the idea of God choosing before the foundation of the world raises some questions in your mind. 2 issues
Did I have a choice? And Were some chosen to be lost?
Now, I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers, I’m just going to tell you what the Bible tells you.
If He chose me, did I have a choice? Yes you did! It says in
John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Did God choose some to be damned?
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
Let me answer all your questions about predestination. The Bible clearly says that those who are Christians were chosen, elected, or pre-destined, before the foundation of the world. It also clearly says “whoever believes” will be saved. It also says that God wants everyone to be saved. It also says that anybody who will come to Him, He won’t cast out. By the way, it also says that you will be held accountable for your choice.
You say, “Preacher, how to you reconcile those two things?” How can He choose you, but you have the free will to choose Him? How can He choose, and yet accept all who come?
People struggle with this. Hyper Calvinist say, “well, the only ones who will come to Him will be those He has already chosen.” God will make them choose Him.
But that contradicts, “Whosoever will, may come.”
Hyper Armenians say, “Well God looked down through time and chose all the people who He knew would choose Him.”
We get all anxious. Which is true? Some people have rejected God because of the doctrine of predestination.
You say, “Preacher, how to you reconcile those two things?” Let me tell you my secret to theological happiness. I don’t reconcile them. I’m not going to answer that question.
Why won’t I answer this? Why won’t I give you an elaborate and detailed explanation of how predestination and free will go together? Because, the Bible doesn’t give us that explanation. It just tells us that both are true.
It tells us that God chose us before the foundation of the world, and that God wants everyone to be saved, and that whoever comes to Him, He won’t cast out. We have to choose Him.
How do I fit all that together? I don’t. I’m not going to stand here in the pulpit and spin a yarn out of my own head, my own logic. It may be wrong, and I will be guilty of preaching a lie. I just tell you what the Bible says, and I just take what it says on faith.
Back to encouragement
Church should be a place of encouragement, and it encourages my heart that God knew me, and chose me before the foundation of the world. He won’t cast me out. That’s my position.
What else is my position? We are in a position of power.
2. Power--present
4 We know, brothers[a] loved by God, that you are chosen, 5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit,
The Word of God came to you in power and in the Holy Spirit.
When we gather as the church, we are not only encouraged by our past-we were chosen before the foundation of the world, but by our present state of being.
We have an internal power source.
Paul is reminding these people in the church in Thessalonica, that they weren’t converted by some sort of self-improvement program. They didn’t just muster up enough gumption, or personal wisdom to reach a personal epiphany. They were saved because they believed the Word of God. And that Word of God was unleashed in their hearts with power and the very Spirit of God bursting out of their lives.
Talk about an encouraging doctrine that has been ignored by Southern Baptists. The power of the Holy Spirit. My theology teacher in seminary said that the Church has divided up the Trinity. The Episcopalians took the Father, The Baptists took the Son, and the charismatics took the Holy Spirit. We don’t stress enough the power we’ve been given. That power in the Holy Spirit is a source of encouragement.
It was a source of power and encouragement to the church at Thessalonica. You say, “Yea, but they had miracles and signs.”
I would be encouraged to if I saw a miracle.
But let’s stop for a moment and think about Thessalonica.
Was there some sort of miracle, healing, or resurrection performed at Thessalonica? The book of Acts gives us no record of any. Did they all speak in tongues as a result of the filling of the Spirit? The record in Acts doesn’t indicate that. Now let’s be totally up front. Some of that may have happened at Thessalonica. We don’t know. There’s no record. But, all we get is that Paul,
came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.
No mention of a miracle, sign, tongues
So, where’s the power, and the Holy Spirit?
Here it is, they heard the Word, believed the Word, repented, were saved, received the Holy Spirit, and God changed them.
How do I know that God changed them?
2: 13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
1: 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
2: 14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus.
Now this was not written to the church in Thessalonica, but it applies to anyone’s salvation.
1 Corinthians 6:10-12nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were [a]sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
What is their position? They are a people who are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Church is a place of encouragement because it is a people who are changed, and being changed by the power of God. The Holy Spirit can beat alcoholism, false religion, secularism, sexual immorality, Satanism, all the “isms.” Where else can you go for that?
We have the power to be a changed people, and the Church is a people who should be encouraging each other with that message.
What is the third aspect of our position that encourages?
3. Assurance
4 We know, brothers[a] loved by God, that you are chosen, 5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance.
This is the future aspect-hope for the future
Paul reminds them that the faith they hold wasn’t just established in the past, chosen before the foundation of the world, held in the present by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it affords them the confidence of their future.
In Hebrews, “the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Let’s look at the words here
5 and that our Good News came to you…. with much assurance.
We’ve been given a gospel with “much full assurance.” What that says to me is that we have a faith that elicits confidence in the bearer.
We’ve got a future home. Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.
Think of how these people of Thessalonica gather- they gather knowing they are chosen, that they are indwelt by the Spirit with power, and they have the assurance that whatever this life dishes out, even in suffering and death, they have an eternal home.
What was Paul saying to these Thessalonians? That they had chosen Christ, and had no buyer’s remorse.
How many times have you bought something, or joined something, and within days, or even hours, you had buyer’s remorse? You immediately see the negative. You realize that it’s not going to work the way you thought it would. And maybe you give the product or membership a decent try, but you know, deep down, that you got suckered.
But Paul is saying here that this church at Thessalonica received the gospel that immediately made sense out of their past, present, and future. It was as though their eyes were finally opened and they knew the truth, they knew wisdom, and there was nothing that could dissuade them from this life.
The church in Thessalonica was a people of encouragement, because their faith was real. And also because…
C. Exhibiting for each other a Right Pattern
The is a people of encouragement when they are examples of faith for each other. We are encouraged in our faith when we see others victories.
1. Paul to the church—his example
You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.
Acts 20:33-35 33 I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. 35 In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
1 Thessalonians 2:9-10 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God. 10 You are witnesses with God how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe.
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord,
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Well that’s kind of arrogant. We don’t say that. “Follow my example.” But he didn’t just say, “Follow my example.” He said “imitate me, as I imitate Christ.” He was the visual illustration of how to follow Christ. And that’s the right way of thinking about our example to each other.
As a pastor, I can say, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.”
That’s where we go astray. You say, “some pastor or church leader let me down, they went astray, so I’m leaving the church.” “I looked up to them.” You shouldn’t be looking up to them, you should look up to them, as they look up to Christ.
It’s sort of like the Bereans. Remember Paul preached the gospel to Berea, and it says that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians, because they heard the Word, then they searched the Scripture to see if what they were being told was true.
So, we follow each others examples in church, but not blindly. We see a fellow Christian, we watch their life, and all the parts which are examples of following Christ we imitate. “Well what about the parts where they are not following Christ? Don’t imitate that.
having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
2. The Thessalonian church to other churches
7 so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from 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: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.