006 Genuine Christianity: The Proper Makeup of a Thriving Church

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1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 ESV
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 (ESV)
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

Sometimes God opens the door for the gospel immediately and sometimes it takes a while.
We can’t force doors open.
We can’t force hearts to be ready.
Colossians 4:3 ESV
At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

It is one thing to hear the gospel.
People hear the gospel all the time.
Paul said the gospel didn’t just come with words.
But with power.
Power means it has the ability to do something.
Romans 1:16 ESV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

I am not ashamed because it has the power to accomplish something we cannot.
The power and ability to convict of sin.
It shows us who we are and who God is and how much we have failed his standards.
Romans 3:23 ESV
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:12 ESV
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 6:23 ESV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Not just that a person will be dead but they are born dead in their sins.
Ephesians 2:1 ESV
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

The power and ability to give us faith to believe.
The gospel is not about how Jesus came so we could be successful in life, but that Jesus alone can rescue us from the wrath that is to come.
The Bible says we believe this by faith.
To be receivers and not just hearers we learn and understand by faith that there is nothing we can do of ourselves to be saved from our sin.
Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

When you hear the gospel, listen with a willingness to reflect on your own life.
Listen to what Paul says in chapter 2.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

1. Genuine Christians receive the gospel.

2. Genuine Christians turn from sinto God.

Before the gospel the people of Thessalonica put their hope in idols.
Those idols do not give us hope.
The things we chaise do not give us hope.
They understood this.
A job.
A car.
A political party.
Going to church.
Turning is repenting and repenting is turning.
They turned FROM the idols TO God!
Mark 1:15 ESV
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Acts 26:18 ESV
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

2. Genuine Christians turn from sinto God.

This was not simply adding Jesus to their life.
This was turning from a lifestyle of things that displease God to Him!
Maybe you are thinking this sounds like works not faith.
Repentance and faith are the two side of the same coin.
When you leave Grand Rapids and are headed home on 131 and you see a sign telling you that you are driving towards Kalamazoo you will turn around.
Your belief that you are going the wrong way impacts the change of action.
When our faith becomes real repentance follows.
Before repentance we are chasing the wrong thing.
We are going in the wrong direction.
This means to become a genuine Christian there must be a decisive change in the way you live your life.
Charles Spurgeon: “Conversion is the turning of a man completely round, to hate what he loved and to love what he hated.”
By the way this not only happens at salvation but is an ongoing process.
The Bible continuously reveals things in our lives that need to change.
We need to be careful what gospel we are giving.
Luke 24:47 ESV
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

2. Genuine Christians turn from sinto God.

The modern church has turned it into: repeat this prayer after me and God will forgive your sins.
Never a call to repentance.
Never an expectation given to turn from idols to God.
If there isn’t repentance there isn’t salvation.
Then we wonder why there are so many that have made some sort of a profession of faith but there is no life change.

3. Genuine Christians serve God.

“You turned for idols to SERVE the living and true God.”
It comes from the same Greek word doulos meaning: slave.
A slave is not free to do as he wishes.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

3. Genuine Christians serve God.

We are not our own.
We don’t get to do whatever we want.
You may think that sounds unfair.
Colossians 1:13–14 ESV
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

3. Genuine Christians serve God.

Our master gave His live to rescue us from Satan and sin.
To rescue us from eternal death.
So serving God is not a burden.
Letting him do whatever He wants with my life is not a bad thing.
1 John 5:3 ESV
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

3. Genuine Christians serve God.

So genuine Christians serve God with their lives.
Not just for a few hours a week, but it is a lifestyle.

4. Genuine Christians wait for Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Three thoughts we need to highlight…
Waiting for His Son (Jesus) has the idea of expectancy of something imminent.
The rapture can happen at any time.
Jesus could appear in the clouds to gather His people home.
Paul mentions this at the end of every chapter in this book.
This isn’t taught so we batten down the hatches and wait out the storm.
This isn’t taught just so we can fill out prophecy charts and sit at home waiting.
Waiting involves activity and endurance.
Paul was giving them hope and motivation for their work of faith and labor of love.
There was a point to their exhaustion.
It gives an urgency to the work.
It gives hope for the work.
John 14:3 ESV
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
God raised Jesus from the dead: the is what makes us different from other religions and is vitally important.
1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

4. Genuine Christians wait for Christ.

Jesus sacrifice was accepted by God.
He is alive and sitting at the right hand of God.
He rescues us from the wrath to come.
We can be rescued from our sin today but we are also rescued from the eternal impact sin has on our lives.
Conclusion
Christian: does my life look different? Is there evidence of turning from my old life to God, or did I simply try to add Jesus to what I already have in my life?
Am I serving God because of this? Is there clear evidence that everyone can see of my WORK of Faith and LABOR of love.
NonBeliever or NonChristian: what will I do with what I heard today?
Will I dismiss it or will I listen and reflect on it.
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