1 Thessalonians 2:1-20

A Suicidal Church

 Our hearts are very heavy when someone takes their own lives. Undoubtedly the most difficult funeral services to conduct are those where someone chooses to terminate his or her own life. Suicides always seem so senseless and they are difficult for everyone. There are always so many unanswered questions. Only the Lord God can know the sickness and suffering which can grip both the mind and the spirit that leads to despair and hopelessness.

It is sad but true that churches can also make decisions over a period of time that ultimately leads to spiritual death. Just as there are warning signs and pleas for help by the person contemplating suicide, there are warning signs and cries for help by congregations.

In the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians we saw the signs of a healthy church which demonstrates faith, hope and love. In contrast to the characteristics of a healthy church there are negative characteristics of a church that is in danger of committing spiritual suicide. In our applications in1 Thessalonians chapter two we will draw out some of these obvious characteristics of a healthy congregation and by contrast we will point out some characteristics of  a suicidal church. Churches make subtle choices over a period of time that leads to spiritual suicide. Suicide of a church is a choice. It is a tragedy because all true churches have good beginnings.

A CHURCH WITH GOOD BEGINNINGS 1:1; 2:13)

The apostle Paul had gone to a city that did not have a single believer in it. He preached the Word of God to both Jewish people and Greeks and God blessed it and used it bring salvation to a group of people who became the church in Thessalonica, Greece.

God planted the church at Thessalonica (1:1; 2:13)

From that little nucleus of believers in Thessalonica God planted His church. These pagans came to a living faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. It is not an outward appearance of sugar coated Christianity that is admired by pagans (1:9). This was the real thing. It was no superficial religion because their lives had been transformed by a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. These believers are “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1). God planted the church in Thessalonica, Greece. He chose each one of those who put their trust in Him. “We love Him because He first loved us.”

The church was started in the midst of persecution and opposition (1:6). As Paul stood and preached the good news of Jesus Christ he did so “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v. 5). “For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition” (2:1-2). The Christian “life is caught up into and sustained from the life of the risen Christ,” writes F. F. Bruce. 

The word “opposition” is the word from which we get “agony.” Paul was going through a struggle or conflict. He experienced agony of soul as he preached. Yet there was a boldness inspired by an agony of heart. Paul had a tactful, winsome, bold witness for the Jesus Christ. The work will continue through eternity. To the Philippians he writes, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6). 

In spite of that opposition to the preaching of the Good News they preached with “boldness.” They were bold in the sense of speaking out publicly and making a public declaration of their faith in Christ. Paul had a bold testimony to both Jewish people and Greeks. He proclaimed boldly that Jesus Christ was the only Savior because He came and died for the lost world and they could be saved by faith alone in Christ alone. Cf. Acts 4:12; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8.

His gong to Thessalonica was “not in vain” (v. 1). Paul’s boldness was made more significant because of suffering. It was an “insulting and outrageous treatment, which was calculated publicly to insult and openly humiliate the persons suffering from it. Secret believers do not lead souls to Christ.

God planted our church right where He wanted it.

We are where we are because God put us here. God put our church here to minister to McGehee, Arkansas. God put you where you are to reach out to a lost world. We have been saved to serve. We have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to serve Him. The fruit of such a relationship will be evident in our changed lives. When we have a right relationship with God we want to please Him. Service is the outcome of a right relationship with God. Paul tells saved people how to serve. Indeed, Paul is a good role model of faith and faithfulness. A healthy church never forgets who it is and whom it belongs to.

When you forget who you are you are on the way to spiritual suicide.

A spiritually healthy church remembers its purpose.

We are saved to serve. God put us here to reach out to the world about us. We come together to worship a great God and prepare ourselves to lead our world to Christ. When we forget that eternal purpose we commit spiritual suicide as a church and we will die.

How much is done to reach out to a pagan world? How much do we do that is centered upon church members? We need to constantly ask ourselves where is God at work and let’s see if He will invite us to come and join Him in what He is doing. When we do we refocus our vision from ourselves to correct our priorities. The church at Thessalonica “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 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” (1:8). Paul reminded the church, “we had boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition” (2:2).

When you forget where God put you, you will commit spiritual suicide.

A CHURCH WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES OF SERVICE (2:3-6)

Paul preached with pure motives. He did not come peddling some particular private revelation or doctrine. He came with the truth of God. Critics were trying to use Paul as ammunition for their hostility against Christianity. He called upon them to remember how he lived and conducted his ministry among them. They are the best witnesses in answering his critics in the city. Paul calls upon the members of the church to remember their personal knowledge of his visit.

They had the right attitude toward a holy life (v. 3).

Paul did not go to Thessalonica out of an impure motive or deceit. He writes, “For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit” (v. 3). “Not from error or impurity or by way of deceit.” Paul preached from pure motives the Word of God. It “was pure in its content and in its intent,” says Walvoord.  His motive was pure and his message was without error. Paul didn’t fall guilty of mixing some truth with error. His message was without error. It was doctrinally sound and pure. It was the simple truth of God’s Word and not adulterated with speculation and humanism.

Moreover, Paul did not manipulate his audience, but preached a clear message that called for a clear-cut decision for Christ.

He did not use “deceit.” There was nothing questionable in his tactics or message. His methods and motives were clear. He was honest and open with them. He did not take off on crusades trying to get people’s mind off of emotional topics brewing in the church. He kept his message centered on Christ.

Neither was he guilty of sexual deviation or license, or overthrowing whatever moral bonds he didn’t like, nor was he guilty of using flattery, guile, and deceit to manipulate them. He did not preach some cheap materialistic prosperity gospel. He did not come with a cloak of greed. He came preaching the pure salvation of grace through faith in Christ. He didn’t slant his message to appeal to the popular mind or the rich and famous.

They had the right attitude toward God’s word (v. 4-6)

“The final test of every life and every message or sermon is ‘What does God think of it?’ The judgment of God is not always according to the judgment of men” (Walvoord). Is the message true to the Word of God? Is it true to Biblical theology? Does it exalt the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ? My attitude in preaching and study has always been you show me where I am wrong in God’s Word and I will change. It is not someone’s opinion I cherish but the Word of God. What did God say? Is it pleasing to Him? Does it make Him look good? What does God think about it? “We speak, not a pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts,” Paul wrote (v. 4). What is your motive of preaching? Paul could say I am here because I am seeking to please God. “For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (v. 9).

Spiritual suicide takes place when we seek to please men rather than God. Paul reminded the Galatian Christians, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ”  (Galatians 1:10). It is good for us to remind ourselves of this truth. It helps to clarify our motives of service.  He did not seek fame or status in the eyes of men.

Paul was thankful for the sheer honor and opportunity of proclaiming the gospel (cf. vv. 2, 4, 8, 9). His joy and motivation came from the fact that God called him to preach the gospel. He realized the highest honor that can ever be given to a human being is to proclaim the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). There is nothing greater than that. That was his motivation during times of persecution and pressure. It should be ours, too.

Our sinful nature loves “flattering speech.” Paul says, I did not come “with a pretext of greed––God is witness, nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or others . . .” (vv. 5-6). Paul proclaimed the hard truth that they were sinners, bound for hell and needed desperately to put their faith in Christ to save them. He made it clear that their religions, both Jewish and Greek, were not enough. They needed Christ. There is no other way to be saved.

Paul reminds them that he did not use flattery to gain some advantage over them for himself. He did not use it to set himself in a favorable light so as to gain a following. He was not covetous of their possessions desiring more and more so as to “possess more than one ought to have, especially that which belongs to someone else.”

William Barclay, enlarges on this idea as “the sin of the man who has allowed full play to the desire to have what he should not have, who thinks his desires and appetites and lusts are the most important thing in the world, who sees others as things to be exploited, who has no god except himself and his desires” (New Testament Wordbook, p. 99). Paul would have some hard words for the crazy idea in our day that whoever has the most toys at the end of his life is the winner.

Paul was not one of the wandering charlatans peddling their religious philosophies in order to make a profit off the people. Paul lived as a model of sincere faithfulness to Christ. The enemies of Paul could not make their charges stick because of the kind of life he lived before the people.

The strongest word Paul ever used was, “God is witness.” As God is my witness I do not come here with a flattery whose motive is gain. It is with a pure motive that we preach the gospel. I do not preach to live; I live to preach. I have refused to sell my sermons and research for sermon preparation. I will always make it available free to anyone who wants to grow in knowledge and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. My mission is simply to let the Bible tell its own eternal message. May we all come to preach and teach with the motive, “As God is my witness.” One day we will stand before Him and give an answer for everything we speak in His name. 

We are not here to please a modern humanistic, self-pleasing culture (vv. 5-10). A church that is serving self-pleasing interests will eventually die.

Paul goes on with his explanation in verse six, “nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.” He did not come promoting himself. He was there because he had a vital message to proclaim from God. Paul’s secret was simply to deliver God’s message without error, in power and full-conviction of the Holy Spirit from a heart right with God. There is no other way to preach (cf. Philippians 1:15-18).

Are my motives pure in the sight of God? I desperately want an accurate understanding of God’s Word and to proclaim it with accuracy and clarity in personal and practical application. What does God say in His Word?

A suicidal church has impure motives of service.

A CHURCH THAT HAS HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS (2:7-20)

Paul felt compassion for the people in the church. He saw every believer as a trophy of God’s grace.

The apostle Paul was good model of loving people with a pure motive (v. 7-12)

“But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (vv. 7-8). Paul uses an interesting expression. He says he took care of these new believers literally as a professional “nurse taking care of her own children.” He loved the people in Thessalonica.

Sometimes love must be tough, sometimes it must rebuke, but at all times it must be gentle.

He had a “fond affection for them.” It was literally, “a yearning, a longing for you.” It is that feeling when you feel your heart goes out to help someone, to bless them and nurture them in God’s Word. He worked at relationships with the people (v. 9). He was a bondslave of God who worked at it night and day. Like many a pastor he was alone on his knees before God getting the power and strength and wisdom to know what to do the next day as he sought God’s will.

A suicidal church forgets that everyone is important in the church family. A healthy church is not centered on a few people, or a couple of families, or a tight knit group. It works at bonding with all of the members of the congregation.

Integrity (vv. 10-16)

You wont’ find a better model of faithfulness than in the apostle Paul. “You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (vv. 10-12).

We live in a day when integrity is in short supply. It is a sad fact that many cannot tell the difference between the Christian and the lost.

Observe his choice of words carefully: “devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly” (v. 10). He does not suggest that he is sinless, but that he is honest, open transparent before God and men. He has dealt with all his sin the way God wants us to deal with it. As the Holy Spirit made him aware of it, he judged it the way God sees it, confessed it to Him. Paul is honest with himself and his people. 

We must have a worthy walk before a watching world. People are watching us all the time. They are asking what is authentic Christianity? What makes you different? What makes you tick? Let’s pray they do not look at any of us and say there is a hypocrite. There is one who wears a mask on Sunday at church and puts on another one on Monday at work.

Our highest motivation is “to lead a life worthy of God.” He has called “you into His kingdom and glory.” There is no greater incentive to live a holy life than to bring glory to Him through our daily life. The character of our walk is in a manner “worthy of God.” Are we walking worthy of our calling?

We “walk worthy” because we are different. What would Jesus do is not just a fad. It is something every believer must ask himself daily. Will this be pleasing to God? Will it honor Him? Will it make Him look good? Will it point people to Christ? Will it cause them to want to live lives that are pleasing to Him? “Lord, what would You do in this situation?” “Lord, how would You answer?” God has called us to a holy walk.

When we become aware of sin in the church we need to go with humble hearts as suggested in Galatians 6:1-2 and plead with them. We need to be honest with them and say you are headed for trouble if you continue what you are doing. If you continue with what you are doing you are going to hurt or destroy yourself and your family. You do not have to live like that. You are going to destroy that which is most precious in your life. On the other hand, we need to give warm words of encouragement when we catch them doing what is right.

You will never try to live a life that is pleasing to God if you do not love Him. The strong, impelling motive to please Him comes from love. If you love Him because He first loved you, you will obey Him. The “want to” problem is solved very quickly if we love Him.

A church that forgets its integrity commits spiritual suicide and will die (cf. v. 12).

There is a world watching everything we do everyday. Integrity of a church is not just the pastor and deacons. It involves everyone. The integrity of the church is always at stake.

My wife often told our daughters before they left for a date, or on their way to school, “Remember whom you belong to.” You represent the Pounds’ family. God says to us, “You represent the kingdom of God right where you live work and go to school.” I cannot count up how many times I have had people walk up to me and in the course of a conversation say, “You are different. What makes you tick?”

Live a life worthy of your King

Paul admonishes us, “Walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (v. 12). His whole argument is we have been brought into God’s kingdom; therefore, let’s live here and now so as to be worthy of such a King!

In some sense the kingdom is present and in some sense future. Men enter it here and now and experience some of the joys now. “But the full apprehension of what it involves cannot be attained until the end of the age . . . It is God’s righteous rule operating within men and over men . . . In the Scriptures it is clear that God and no other establishes the kingdom.”

The kingdom of God will “be manifested with the inbreaking of the age to come, at the resurrection of the people of Christ (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5). The interval between the resurrection of Christ and that of His people is the period of Christ’s reign; when the period is completed, with its destruction of death, the last of the enemies referred to in Psalm 110:1, Christ hands over the kingdom to God (1 Cor. 15:23-28).” We are going to inherit the kingdom. “The manifestation of the kingdom of God will coincide with the revelation of His glory, in which His children will share; cf. Rom. 5:2, where they ‘rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,’ 8:18, where the sufferings of the present is actually preparing for believers ‘an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’” (F. F. Bruce, Thessalonians, p. 37).

What is the reputation of SMBC in this community? What is the brand, or the image people have of SMBC?

A church that forgets its reputation will make decisions that lead to spiritual suicide.

What is my attitude toward the Word of God (vv. 13-16)?

Do I come with an open heart to receive a message from God? Am I preoccupied with the messenger instead of the message from God?

“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (v. 13).

These people heard the word and responded to it, realizing Paul was simply God’s messenger and that he spoke “the veritable word of God.” When he preached he did not submit it as a theme to be debated and discussed. As James Denny put it, “He put it above discussion. He pronounced a solemn and reiterated anathema on either man or angel who should put anything else in its stead. He published it . . . as the word of God, for the obedience of faith.”

The Holy Spirit took His word and changed lives. Leon Morris says, “The power manifested in the lives of the converts is not of this world, but divine. Where the word of God is welcomed with obedient faith, there the power of God is at work . . . It is the condition of the working of God in men that they continue to exercise faith . . . . We cannot live today on the spiritual capital of yesterday.” (Thessalonians, p. 88-89).

These Thessalonians had the right attitude. They heard the Word of God and believed on Christ. They accepted it as the authoritative Word of God, not idle speculations of men. Paul stood before them and preached and as he spoke they were conscious that what they were hearing was far more than the words of another man. They were hearing the Word of God that brought “full conviction” to their soul. Nothing can supercede the ultimate revelation God has made in His Son, Jesus Christ. God never contradicts His Word. If we listen to His Word and act on it our lives will be changed. However, the church that turns from the inspired and inerrant Word of God will be fast on the road to spiritual suicide.

The world does not want Christ.

The world does not want a Christianity that changes people’s lives (vv, 15-16). The world wants a Christianity that is tolerant and inclusive of everyone and everyone’s values. They can‘t stand Acts 4:12; John 14:6. Paul said, “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost” (vv. 14-16).

They were his crown and joy (vv. 17-20).

“But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy” (vv. 17-20).

Satan, our adversary is always trying to get his hands into your lives. Paul wanted to go and visit this new church and encourage them, but “Satan thwarted us” (v. 18). Satan broke up the road. It is the idea that he made it impossible for Paul to return to Thessalonica. It was impossible for some reason for Paul to return. We do not know the specifics.

In the New Testament Satan is always the “adversary par excellence” He is always putting obstacles in the path of believers to prevent the will of God from being accomplished in and through them. His goal is to frustrate the success of the will of God. W. E. Vine reminds us he is not a rival deity, co-equal with, or even slightly inferior to God, but “always a creature of God, subordinate to God, and holding his authority from God, even when he uses it in defiance of the will of God” (The Epistle of Thessalonians, p. 83). We know his destiny already (Revelation 20:1-10). He is already defeated. He has power to distress the servants of God, but he is not omnipresent or omnipotent. We already know who is going to win (Romans 16:20). 

I have been asked often how do you know when it is the Holy Spirit overruling a direction you are headed in as in Acts 16:6, 7, as opposed to satanic hindering as in this situation? How do you know when you are resisting the Holy Spirit or the roadblock is a blockade by Satan?  F. F. Bruce has a good response, “It was probably evident––in retrospect, if not immediately––that the one checked out for the advance of the gospel and the other for its hindrance.”

However, Paul’s thoughts turn once again to the Second Coming of Christ and he speaks of the joy that will be ours when Christ returns. The apostle brings all these words of encouragement to an excited climax in vv. 19-20. He demonstrates his esteem for them when he says; one day I will present you to Jesus. You are my joy and my crown. You are my trophy of grace. The King is coming to be present. He will arrive on a royal visit and it will be my joy to present you to Him! Jesus will be here with His people. When He returns it will be completely realized. It will be a royal presence.

When Christ comes (parousia) His true glory will be revealed on that day (3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1, 8; 1 Cor. 15:23). “This is the earliest occurrence in literature of parousia in its distinctive Christian sense of the advent of Christ in glory” (Bruce).

 “Who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation?” You are our trophies of God’s grace “in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming” (v. 19). Perhaps a better rendering is, “Is it not indeed you? Yes it is you; for you are our glory and joy.”

Who will you present to the Lord Jesus when He comes? “Lord Jesus, here is John. He was the professor at Cotopaxi school that I introduce to You.” That was Paul’s crown of joy.

God uses those who are willing to be used in His service. Will you have some trophies of grace to present to Christ when He returns?

Some abiding principles

We have examined some powerful contrasts in this chapter. We are constantly making choices in life and in our churches that affect our future.

q       Suicide of a church is a choice. Spiritual health and wholesomeness is also a choice we make.

q       When you forget who you are you are on the way to spiritual suicide.

q       When we forget where God put us we commit spiritual suicide. A spiritually healthy church remembers where God put her and His goal to reach that community for Christ.

q       When we seek to please men rather than God we make choices that lead to spiritual suicide.  

q       When a church is serving self-pleasing interests rather than God’s will she will commit suicide. 

q       When a church has impure motives of service she will die.

q       When a church forgets that everyone is important in the church family––everyone she commits spiritual suicide.

q       When a church forgets her integrity she is fast on the road to spiritual suicide.

q       When a church forgets her reputation she will make decisions that lead to spiritual suicide.

q       When a church that turns from the inspired and inerrant Word of God she will be a suicidal church. 

Lord Jesus, You have brought us into Your kingdom through your grace. Enable us by your grace and power to live lives that are worthy of Your kingdom.

If you need help in becoming a Christian here is A Free Gift for You.

The Complete Series on 1 & 2 Thessalonians

Title:  1 Thessalonians 2:1-20  A Suicidal Church
Series: Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians

This message was preached by Wil Pounds at South McGehee Baptist Church, McGehee, Arkansas.

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 1999. Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent. Scripture quotations from the New American Standard Bible (c) 1973 The Lockman Foundation.

Wil is a graduate of William Carey College, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries for over nine years. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters.