A Model Church

Introduction

Well, good morning!

Guys, I don’t know about you but I don’t think this’ll ever get old. I mean this is just super encouraging, its uplifting, being able to come together as one church family. Hearing you guys sing…hearing you recite our mission verse together…it’s encouraging. And listen, I hope you’ve been just as impacted as me over these past several weeks. I hope God’s using this time in your life to build you up…because this right here…this is what we were meant to be. And literally, I’m just grateful for you guys…I’m grateful for this church…and I’m just grateful for what God’s called us to here at FBC.

Alright, before we get into 1 Thessalonians this morning, let’s recite our mission verse together. Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. I’ll get us started:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if you have your Bibles, open ‘em up with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 this morning…1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This is our seventh week looking at the two letters that Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica…and what we’ve been talking about, it’s how a church can stand in a culture that’s completely against truth and yet still do what Jesus commanded them to do which is to advance His kingdom by sharing the gospel…How can we do that in a culture that seems completely contrary to that message of good news?

Well so far, during our study, we’ve really seen through the Thessalonian Christians, what it takes for us as a church to stand in our culture and still be obedient to Jesus’s commands. We saw that they were a impacted church…they allowed the gospel to impact everything about them…we saw that they were a contagious church…their love for the gospel, it was apparent and it was contagious…we saw they were an authentic church…they were real with people, real in their doubts, real in their failures, real with their emotions…we saw they were a transformed church…they heard God’s Word and believed God’s Word, allowing it to shape them and mold them…we saw they were a loving church…they genuinely loved each other because of the gospel…which we’ll expand on more today…and then last week, we saw the importance of being a pure church…a people that prioritize their walk with Jesus and a people that care most about God’s approval.

And so listen, as we continue on into chapter 4 this morning, we’re gonna learn about being a model church. If we’re gonna do what it is Jesus has commanded us…if we’re gonna be a disciple-making church…we have to model what it is that actually gives us the power to change…we have to model the thing that gives us hope and the thing demonstrates love. We have to model truth.

Listen, I know we live in some pretty dark times…I know sometimes it seems like there’s just no hope for those around us…But listen, the darker our world is…the more opportunity there is to be a light. The darker our world is, the more hopeless it seems…the more opportunity we have to point them to the only source of joy and the only guarantee of hope. And the way we do that in this kind of culture…it’s to model the very thing that’s changed our lives, right? It’s like monkey see, monkey do.

And as we’ll see in our passage today, modeling the gospel as a church, it’s not hard…it just takes all of us. Listen, there’s all kinds of books out there on how to grow churches…there’s all kinds of strategies on reaching people. I just read one recently put out by Grace Church in Erie…but it’s really not hard…it’s not complicated at all…We just have to know and apply what Jesus has already said. He said in John chapter 13:

John 13:34–35 (ESV)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And so, the answer’s love…Jesus says, “By this [by your love] others will know you’re mine.”

Listen, the only strategy we need for church growth…the only strategy we need to stand firm in our culture today, it’s the instructions Jesus has already given us…And guys, He said for us to love one another…let that be a sign to those around us. And listen, I know we’ve talked about this a little bit in our series already…but without love, without understanding it…without truly showing it…the apostle John tells us, you don’t understand the crucial elements of the gospel…because to be impacted by this love, it’s to demonstrate this kind of love.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning, let’s stand together as we read, starting in verse 9. It says this:

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 (ESV)

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Thank you, you can be seated.

Guys, if we’re gonna be a church that truly models the gospel to those in Cambridge Springs…we have to first evaluate our own model to each other…which as we’ll see, revolves around love.

And so, this morning…I just wanna ask you one question and then I want us to explore that question using our verses…Do you genuinely love one another here at FBC?

I. Our Love for One Another is Taught (vv. 9-10)

The first thing I want you to see as you think about that question…it’s what Paul shows us in verses 9 and 10. He says, “Concerning this kind of love, you don’t need me to say it to you because ultimately it’s been taught to you.”

Guys, the love we’re talking about here…the love that allows us to be a model church to those in our community…Paul says it’s taught. Our love for one another, it’s taught. And listen, it’s not taught by just anyone…Paul says its taught by God Himself.

And so, what does that mean? What’s it mean for us to be taught by God?

Well, there’s actually a couple of ways you can interpret this verse…It could mean that these Thessalonians, they learned about the importance of love from God’s Word as Paul emphasized it during his time there…Or, and this the interpretation I believe Paul’s referring to here, it means that the work of God was at work in their souls and that God and His Spirit prompted this kind of love that they demonstrated to each other. Now, He certainly might’ve used His Word but what I’m saying here is that it was the Spirit that gave them the true understanding of love and the ability and the desire to demonstrate it to others. You understand?

Last week, we touched on this…you can’t put the cart before the horse…you might be able to go to the Bible and even understand parts of the Bible…but it’s powerless without the Spirit. The real power that comes from God’s Word, it comes from the Spirit. And so, what I think Paul’s saying here…it’s the same thing Jeremiah refers to in Jeremiah 31:33 when he writes, “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Paul’s using the same exact expression here when he says that love, it was taught to them by God.

John Calvin, in his commentary referring to this verse…he says, “that love was engraven upon their hearts, so that there was no need of letters written on paper…,but that their hearts were framed for love.”

Paul writes in Romans 5:5 “This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Listen, that’s interesting because of how we ended our passage from last week, right? Do you remember what Paul wrote? He said, “Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

Listen, this is the reason I interpret our verse this way…because of context. Paul just finished talking about God giving them the Holy Spirit and then says that He’s taught them love.

And guys, this theme of love…it’s all over Scripture when its talking about God’s people. John in 1 John 4:7 through 9, says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”

Guys, here’s my point this morning…loving others, it’s just an outflow of our relationship with Jesus…who imparted His own love to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. And listen, because faith in Christ brings us into the family of God, we naturally feel “brotherly love” for one another…in even greater ways than we do for our earthly families. And listen, the point of Paul mentioning it here…this love, it’s so closely tied to Christian salvation that the Bible, it actually makes the love we show toward each other the true testing of our faith. That was the point of what John wrote. Meaning, how you demonstrate your love for each other here in this room…that’s actually the true test of your faith.

Guys, I can’t tell you how many conversations I have weekly with someone who’s doubting their faith…doubting whether or not they’ve been saved. Listen, if that’s you…ask yourself this question…do I love the people at FBC? Do I demonstrate that kind of love for the people at FBC? Because listen, the point of everything Paul’s saying here and the point of all those other passages on love…its that, when we give ourselves to Jesus…when we’ve truly taken our hands off the wheel and given Him the leadership of our lives…when He’s indwelled us with His Spirit…when those things have happened…He’ll teach us love. And guys, we’ll demonstrate that kind of love in the church.

Just seeing the priority that Paul and so many others place on love, it should prompt us to consider that in our own hearts, right? Have our hearts been “framed in love” by God? And if not, you might just find that you’re seeking to approach God by your own works instead of relying solely on the finished work of Jesus Christ who is God’s chief gift of love. If we think little of the cross, we’re likely to feel little love from God and as a result demonstrate little love for those He places around us.

But listen, if we stand in the atoning sacrifice of God’s perfect Son…seeing how Jesus gave Himself in love so that we might be saved, it’s just impossible for us not to be moved and changed by that love. And this why Paul says that God taught us to love one another.

Have you been taught love? That’s the first thing when considering the question…whether or not you love the people here at FBC.

II. Our Love for One Another is Quiet (v. 11a)

The second thing we see here…its that our love for one another is quiet.

Look at verse 11 with me again. Paul says, “aspire to live quietly, mind your own affairs, work with your hands as we instructed you.”

Now, again…we have to remember, context is everything, right? At the start of our passage…what’s Paul talking about? He’s talking about brotherly love, right? And then he goes straight into what brotherly love looks like. And part of that description…he says, it’s aspiring to live quietly.

That’s kind of weird to say, right? That our love for one another needs to be quiet. What’s that mean…to love someone quietly?

Well, again…context, right? At the end of 2 Thessalonians…which we’ll get to soon enough…Paul, he addresses a concern that some of these believers, they were walking in idleness. That word idleness it literally means disorderly, or irresponsible, or even lazy. And most likely, these idle or lazy Christians, they had fallen into this vice because it was a self-serving response to the generosity of their other Christian brothers and sisters. Those that had the means to love generously, they were being taken advantage of. You understand? The work of other Christians, the things they were doing to love others, it was being gossiped about and this behavior it created busybodies in the church…which is why Paul adds, “mind your own business…that’s how you can demonstrate your love for one another.”

He literally says “aspire” to these things…make it your ambition…which that phrase, it’s kind of an oxymoron. Striving toward something…aspiring to attain something…typically there’s a huge outward display of energy in those things. However, here…Paul, he’s saying to be ambitious in the pursuit of quietness. It’s actually the same word used in the phase that so many Christians twist and distort where Peter speaks to women and tells them to have “an imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” What this word and phrase means, its that Christians should have a great ambition to lead steady, sober, useful lives that call attention not to themselves but to the grace of God in Christ Jesus…because guys, that’s what everything should point to.

Guys, the beauty of the gospel, its that we can find contentment in who we are in Jesus. We don’t have to make ourselves to be something we’re not. We don’t have to make a fuss to prove our value…we don’t have to draw attention to the things we do…because our freedom and our value, its found in Jesus alone. And so Paul’s saying here love your brothers and sisters quietly…you don’t have to draw attention to what you’re doing. Do you it because you love Jesus…do it because you love His church…do it because ultimately you love the gospel. And listen, when you do that…you’ll make it a lot harder for others and even yourself to fall into idleness or even self-pride.

And listen, the minding your own business piece of this…Paul’s not saying to neglect each other’s needs…he’s been clear about our responsibility to care for one another…he’s not telling us to let people fall into sin and not address it. Again, he talks about that in detail in other letters. Guys, he’s talking to the busybodies and to the lazy Christians…which typically, they’re the same people. Again 2 Thessalonians 3:11, Paul says, “For we hear that there are some among you who are idle. They are not busy but busybodies.” Meaning, they’re the exact opposite of what he’s saying here in our passage. They’re doing the exact opposite of what brotherly love looks like and what a model church should be.

He’s saying, “Don’t take advantage of a brother’s or sister’s generosity…don’t let that cause you to become idle or lazy.” And he’s says, “Don’t become so lazy that you’re more of busybody instead of being busy for the kingdom of God.” Learn how to love each other quietly…learn how to make things about Jesus and His glory. Love quietly so that it’s not about you.

That’s the second thing…is your love for one another quiet?

III. Our Love for One Another is Busy (vv. 11-12)

The third thing…its our love for one another is busy.

Look at the end of verse 11 with me again. Paul says, “work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”

And so, first, Paul, he says, “love quietly…mind your own business!” And now, he says, “Your love, it should be busy…you should constantly be working!”

And listen, for these Thessalonians, this was a strange thing to hear. Most Greeks, they thought manual labor, it was beneath them…they thought that kind of work, it was reserved for slaves.

Again, to understand this…just a little context here. Given the emphasis that Paul places on the return of Christ in both of these letters, a lot of scholars believe that some of these believers were so focused on waiting for the second coming that they stopped working and made themselves a burden to others…which is pretty ironic because even in Jesus’s teaching about His return…He said He wanted to find His people busy. But again, the idea of work in this culture coupled with their focus on His return, it caused them to see work as something other than it was…but if you remember, from the beginning of Scripture…all the way back in Genesis and all throughout Scripture, work is something deemed good for the believer.

And so for that reason, Paul reminds them of their call and he gives ‘em two different reasons as to why their love should be busy. First, he says do it “so that you may walk properly before outsiders.” For us to be lazy or for us to constantly depend on others, it only disgraces the gospel that we proclaim. It’s the same reason that Christian business owners should make it a special point to provide high-quality goods and services and treat customers with honesty and care…so that they may walk properly before outsiders. But in contrast, able-bodied men…men not working hard to provide for themselves and their families, they communicate a false gospel to the world. That’s why he says in 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” He says again in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”

So why’s Paul saying this? Because ultimately, the gospel…through the Holy Spirit…it changes you…and as a result, it naturally makes you a better citizen and a better neighbor…it makes you a better husband and father…it makes you a better member of the church…well, it makes you an actual member of the church. But listen, unbelievers, they see that in you, they see your work ethic…they see how you’re busy providing for those you love…those in the body and outside the body…and it gives them a great respect for you and it points them to the One responsible for that work in you…Jesus. You understand?

But secondly, Paul says, “be dependent on no one.” We should provide for ourselves…we should take care of our own needs within the family of FBC…so that we’re not a burden to others. Now, in order to do that, we’re busy…we’re all working to provide. Genuine love, it doesn’t take advantage of Christian generosity, but instead it works hard so as to contribute to those with needs.

Paul so believed in this gospel change that he wrote in Ephesians 4:28, “Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.”

Guys, we work hard so that we can, one, demonstrate the gospel and our dependency on Christ…and two, so that we’re not a burden to anyone else. God calls us together so that we’d care for one another in this way.

And listen, this is a huge reason why one of our goals over the next 7 years is to get out of debt…debt, its just us depending on someone or something else to care for our needs here at First Baptist Church.

And so, is your love busy for one another? Do you work hard all so that we can walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one else? That’s the third thing.

IV. Our Love for One Another is Revealing (v. 12)

The fourth and final thing…its that our love for one another is revealing.

Listen, as we hear the heart of Paul here, through this letter…he believed that the love of God at work in His people, it was an important witness to the world. His reasoning for having a love that was taught and quiet and busy…it was all so that it would be revealing to those on the outside. He encouraged them to increase in that kind of love because he knew it was that kind of love that would bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so for that reason, our love for one another, it should be revealing.

And listen, if you’re history buff…according to church history, that’s exactly what happened. In the second century, Tertullian (Torn-tell-lee-an) of Carthage explained the spread of Christianity by the power of its love. He said, “See, they say, how they love one another…for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.”

What he’s saying here…I know it’s kind of hard to follow…its that early Christians, they displayed this kind of love for one another within the church…but it didn’t stop there…they also spread that same kind of love to the world…which is exactly what Paul’s saying to do here.

Guys, the mark of Christianity, its not the cross you wear around your neck…it’s not the prayers you say before bedtime…its not coming to church week in and week out....the mark of Christianity, its a love that only God can give you…and its a love that spreads into our hearts…and that love it’s first displayed within the church among each other…and then it’s spread to the world.

Closing

Guys, we’ve been called from death to life…We were all at one point withering away, just buying our time until the consequences of our decisions caught up with us. But God, in His great love for us…He gave us His Son…and through Jesus, who died on the cross in our place…who took the wages of our sin on Himself…through all of that, He offered forgiveness and restoration…and even more than that…He gave us the power of God through the Spirit of God to demonstrate that same kind of love. And to help us display that love, He gave us each other…He gave us a body of believers to love and grow with. He gave us this new life and this new family. And as we constantly remind ourselves of the forgiveness won for us through the love of Christ, we’re able to reflect that same gospel to the world, together…we’re able to model the very thing that changed everything about who we are.

And so, as we close this morning…I wanna bring it back to our question…do you genuinely love the people that God gave you here at FBC? Because guys, that’s the true indicator of who you are this morning. That’s the true mark of your faith and salvation. Do you love the people here this morning? And if so, what’s the evidence of that?

If we’re gonna model the gospel to the people of Cambridge Springs, we have to get it right here first.

And so, as you close your eyes and bow your heads…I want you to reflect on that question.

Do you love the people here? Are you here because of the transforming power of Jesus…and this new found desire to love…do you wanna model the gospel to those on the outside? Do you care about that kind of stuff.

Maybe you just realize you’d been complacent in your love for the people here. Listen, that happens…just like any other marriage, right? Which for the record, we’re all apart of the same marriage…and its easy for us to become complacent with each other. And so, if that’s you…renew your vows, right? Talk to Jesus…ask Him to help you in this. Pull someone assign…ask them to help you grow and mature…to hold you accountable.

If there’s a conflict you have with someone here…deal with it. Go and take ‘em by the hand…pray with them, ask them for forgiveness.

Guys, we have to learn to love each other in this way…and we have to grow in this kind of love for one another here at FBC if we’re gonna model the gospel…if we’re gonna continue reaching people all for the kingdom of God.

And listen, as you reflect on that question…maybe the Spirit of God’s convicting you…maybe He’s showing you that you’re not His…that you’ve not let go and turned to Him…maybe He’s telling you to give Him your life…let Him change it and restore it. Listen, if that’s you…the Bible’s clear…the gift of salvation…the gift of restoration…its a free gift and all you have to do is repent and believe…all you have to do is recognize that you’re a sinner and in need of grace…ask Him for forgiveness and turn yourself toward Him…place your entire faith and trust in Him…ask Him to fill you and give you His Spirit…and listen, He’ll do that. But you have to take that step.

And so listen…whoever you are this morning…whatever’s on your heart right now…would you take this time and just respond to the Spirit of God? I’m gonna be down at the front, Wendy’s gonna play…you can take as much time as you need. If you need me…if you want me to pray with you, encourage you…you wanna learn more about being saved…or you wanna be baptized…or join the church…or you feel a call to ministry…listen, I’m here for you…and so you respond and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]