The Marks of a Healthy Church

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Good morning church. It is good to be back this morning and starting a new series today. We spent the last year walking through the letter of James together and now we are going to be moving to a Pauline Epistle, which is just a fancy way of saying one of Paul’s letters. We will be starting in 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 this morning as our text, and todays title is The Marks of a Healthy Church, and as a subtitle you can add The Marks of a Healthy Christian as well.

I want to begin this morning thanking all of you for your prayers over the last month. The month of August was very crazy from one extreme to the other with the joyous birth of my son on Aug 5th, two days before my own birthday, and then the passing of my mom, who many of you have gotten to meet in the past, on Aug 20th. God’s blessing in both the good and the sad never failed and though we mourn the earthly passing of my mom, we, as believers in Jesus, know that we have an eternal hope. It is very fitting that Paul reminds the church at Thessalonica of this in our passage today. This world that we currently live in is not our home. These lives that we now live are nothing but a mist that is here today and gone tomorrow, but we have an assurance of eternity with our Savior. It is in this that we can truly find joy and hope in the midst of mourning. I am very thankful that I have the people of Asbury here as part of my family in Christ.

That being said we are moving from what was probably the first letter written to the churches in the letter of James, to what is most likely the 2nd or 3rd letter written in the New Testament. It is believed that Paul most likely wrote the letter to the Galatians first and that the letter to the Thessalonians would have been his 2nd letter written around 50 or 51 AD. This letter is unique as it gives a great insight into the heart of Paul, as a Pastor.

The joke of studying the letters of Paul is that the format would typically go;

Grace

I Thank God for You

Hold Fast to the Gospel

For the love of everything holy, stop being stupid

Timothy says Hi

Most of Pauls letters are to admonish and give correction to the churches as they experience sinful issues within the church, but the church at Thessalonica was the exception. There is not much to correct at the church in Thessalonica. Paul encouraged them and tells them you are doing great, now keep doing even better!

This lack of need of admonition might make us think that maybe this church was in a better area, or had less issues from without to deal with, less persecution, and this allowed the church to prosper, but the exact opposite was true. Thessalonica was a pagan city that was a large metropolis directly on the trade routes. It was the capital city of Macedonia and crime was so rampant that very few houses there even had windows in them. Over time the houses had been built this way to prevent people from being able to break in and steal in this manner and to make the house better fortified from attacks. John MacArthur said concerning this city:

It was controlled by an idolatrous, pagan group of wealthy elites. There was no middle class. And the rest of the people, the majority, were slaves. There was conflict between the slaves and the elites. Immorality was common. Prostitution was both legal and highly organized. Archaeologists found in some of the digs around Thessalonica that obscene, pornographic images had been painted on the outside of the houses, the outside of the homes. Babies were commonly abandoned, left for dead. Divorce was rampant, and murders happened all the time. This was a full-blown pagan city. (John MacArthur)

Paul came to this city around AD 49 and we read the account in Acts 17 :1-15 of the establishment of the church as the Gospel is shared. We read that Paul, on his second missionary journey, went to the temple for 3 sabbaths to reason with the Jews and share the Gospel. After the 3 sabbaths there were some that believed as well as “God Fearing Greeks”, greeks that had converted to Judaism, that believed and became followers of Christ. This was the beginning of the church in this city. It was not long before Paul was driven out of the city by persecution and he was worried about this new church full of new believers and whether they had fallen apart.

We are told in this letter how encouraged he is when, about a year after starting this church, he sends Timothy to check on the church and finds them doing what the church is supposed to do and growing in Christ daily.

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament Chapter 1

It is a wonderful thing when a pastor can think of his church and say, “We give thanks always for all of you!” Paul loved the church at Thessalonica; these people were on his heart, and he was concerned for their spiritual welfare. In this chapter, Paul tells us what kind of a church he left in that wicked city. When we see the characteristics of this church, we should examine our own lives and ask, “Am I helping to make my church a model church in the Lord?”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: A Church Is Born

Each New Testament letter has a special message, or blessing, that is uniquely its own. Romans, for example, emphasizes the righteousness of God and shows that God is righteous in His dealings with both sinners and believers. First Corinthians focuses on the wisdom of God, and 2 Corinthians on the comfort of God. Galatians is the freedom letter and Philippians is the joy letter, while Ephesians stresses the wealth that we have in Christ Jesus.

What is the special blessing in the message of 1 and 2 Thessalonians? It is the message of the return of Jesus Christ and how this vital doctrine can affect our lives and churches and make us more spiritual. Every chapter in 1 Thessalonians ends with reference to the coming of Jesus Christ, and each reference relates the doctrine to a practical aspect of Christian living.

As we begin this study into the letters to the Thessalonians, over whatever period of time that God allows for us, I pray that we will learn from this early church not only how the church should be, but how we, as the ones that make up the church, should be, as we continually look forward to the day when Christ returns. The return of Chris is our eternal hope that we will be reminded of throughout these letters.

If you are there in your copy of God’s Word, once again our text for today will be 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

This is the Word of the Lord to His people.

1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 ESV

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 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, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This is the Word of the Lord, Amen.

At the very beginning of this letter Paul points out three things the church is doing, that he, Silvanus, and Timothy are giving thanks for in their prayers. As a traditionally trained Jew, Paul would most likely have prayed at least three times a day as was the custom in Judaism. In the morning, at midday, and in the evening. Each of these prayers Paul was thanking God for the church at Thessalonica and the work they were doing. How encouraging this must have been for this new church that was full of new Christians that were experiencing some of the worst persecution they could face.

These are the three points that I want to cover today that are listed in vs. 3. When listening to another Pastor preach on this passage he coined these three points that Paul points out that that He thanks God for as the three S’s to better remember them:

Work of Faith (Salvation) (vs 4-6)

Labor of Love (Service) (vs 7-9)

Steadfastness of Hope (Steadfastness) (vs 10)

The church was encouraging to Paul because they showed the marks of a true Christian church in Salvation, Service, and Steadfastness.

Salvation, Service, and Steadfastness.

Work of Faith (Salvation) (vs. 4-6)

Paul first writes that he is encouraged because the church at Thessalonica is a “saved” church. There is not a doubt in the mind of Paul that the church is a true church and that they are truly following Christ and preaching the Gospel. Paul writes in verse 4 that God has chosen the people of this church. Some translations use the word that God has elected the people of this church.

The word church in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 means a called out people. The word ekklesia, what we translate as church, in the Greek, was used for assemblies of all types, political or social, but here Paul is specific that this is a people that are called out from the world in Jesus Christ through the grace of God the Father. Throughout the Bible we read of God calling people, the doctrine of election. That throughout the Bible, we read of God, before the very beginning of time itself, looking through the ages, and knowing and calling, or electing, those who He would bring to salvation.

In John 17 alone Jesus refers to believers 7 different times, as the ones that the Father gave to Him, out of the world. We must understand certain things about our salvation.

We must first understand that Salvation begins with God. Before the very beginning of creation, God knew that man would disobey, and there would be a separation of man from the Father. The plan for salvation was not something that God came up with as a backup plan after Adam and Eve fell in the garden. He knew mankind would sin against Him, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, laid out and knew the plan that would bring about salvation for us from the penalty of our sins.

We also must know that Salvation involves Gods love. One of the most famous if not THE most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love for His chosen people is what made Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary possible. It is because of the love, and the grace, and mercy of our God that we are able to be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. It is only because of His mercy that we are not destroyed where we stand because of the blasphemy and evil acts we have spoken and performed. Because of His love the Psalmist writes Psalm 103:12 “12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: What Every Church Should Be (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

it is not God’s love that saves the sinner; it is God’s grace. God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve, and God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve.

Salvation involves faith. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” When Paul preached in Thessalonica it tells us in verse 5 that the Gospel came not only in word but in the power of the Spirit. There is a power of the Holy Spirit that opens our blinded eyes to truth when the Gospel is proclaimed. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, on the proclamation of the Gospel, that breaks the chains of slavery to sin that hold us captive. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that takes our heart of stone, a heart that is hardened and detests the things of a Holy God, and removes that heart and replaces it with a heart of flesh. A heart that is living, beating, that feels, that is full of life. This is the power of the Holy Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God, the proclamation of the Gospel to generate faith in our lives, without which we cannot be freed and begin to follow Jesus. Romans 10:17 “17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Salvation involves the Trinity. As we go through this letter the doctrine of our trinitarian God is laid out as all three persons of the God head are involved in our salvation. The Father chose me before the beginning of the world to be adopted and called a child of God. The Son bled and died to save me when He was crucified on the roman cross at Golgotha. The Holy Spirit was brought into my life in Fall of 2017, and He opened my eyes to the true Gospel, and gave me a heart that longed for God and the things of God. The Holy Spirit generated faith in my life and I was no longer dead in my sins and I was no longer a slave to the sins I had continually fallen to my entire life, but I was now freed to live in Christ and to be changed every day to be more like my Savior!

Salvation changes your life. Paul knew the church and the people in it were chosen by God, because he saw them be changed by God. They no longer were the way they had been but now the had turned to God from idols, they endeavored in their labor of love, in service, to serve the living and true God, and they stood steadfast waiting for the return of Christ from heaven despite persecution and trials. You cannot have an experience with the God of all creation, where you are saved and the Holy Spirit is given to you, and still remain the same person. This does not mean we will be perfect, this does not mean we will not sin, but it does mean that God will change us, and sanctify us to make us more like Christ, and the change will be seen by those around us.

We are saved by Grace alone, but the work of God’s grace in our lives will bring about permanent change. God’s grace will begin to change our lives so that we no longer seek after the temporary things of this world, we no longer seek and run after our own selfish desires and lusts, but we seek after the will of God and the plan of God for our lives. God does not save us and leave us where we are, but shapes and makes us into the perfect vessel He has designed us to be in order to fulfill His purpose for our lives.

Colossians 1:4–5 “4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,”

Faith, Hope and Love are evidences of God’s election in our lives. These qualities only come from God, and the local church, the true church, is composed of those who have been saved by the grace of God. This church was a church that was saved by God, and the work of Faith was evident in their lives.

Labor of Love (Service) (vs 7-9)

The second thing that Paul points out in verse 3 is the church’s labor of love or service. There was a difference between the church and the world around them in how they acted. They received the word of God in power through the Holy Spirit, and then they showed the inward change with their outward actions. We are saved by grace alone. I repeat this over and over. There is absolutely nothing we can do, no work, no action, no good deed, nothing that we can do to obtain our salvation. It is only by God’s grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit giving us faith, that we are saved. It is a free gift and we do nothing to obtain it. What we learned in James 2:20 “20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” Faith without works is dead. When we are changed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit, then there will be an outward change as well, and the works we do will be the natural outward flow of the inwardly changed heart.

Pauls tells us in verse 6 that the people followed their spiritual leaders. The word followers here can actually be translated as imitators. They didn’t just accept the message of the Gospel and go on their way, they also imitated the lives of those who led them to the Gospel. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” This is a powerful statement of what leadership is to be within the church body. The elders or pastors of the church should live lives that are holy and set the example for the people of the church.

Hebrews 13:17 “17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” There is an accountability that comes with standing in this pulpit that should be held in grave regard. There is an accountability for the pastor over the congregation that God entrusts to him that brings a heavy responsibility. We must not just win souls for Christ as believers but we must watch over each other and encourage new Christians to grow in their walk with Christ.

This is why the local church is so important. This is why we are commanded in Scripture not to stop assembling together. The mature believers must be there to help encourage the new believers, and we must all be there for each other to lift each other up through every circumstance and trial we might experience.

By following the example set for them, by following Pauls example and by spreading the message of the Gospel, the church at Thessalonica was subjected to severe persecution. The church suffered greatly for Christ. By turning from the pagan idols and beginning to serve the one true God these believers signed their social and possibly even physical death sentence. They lost jobs because of their faith, friends and family refused to talk to them, they had their property taken from them, they were beaten and tortured for the sake of Christ. Some may have even been put to death for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.

2 Timothy 3:12 “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” The life of the true believer is not going to be wealth, prosperity, and favor among the world. The life of the true believer will experience persecution of some sort for the name of Christ. Jesus told us in John 15:18 “18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” We will be hated by the world because we stand for truth and good while the world around us is celebrating and glorifying evil.

The church also encouraged other churches. The example they set in Thessalonica became an encouragement to Macedonia and Achai we are told in verse 7. Churches that are truly following Christ should never be in competition with each other. Instead we are told as believers in Hebrews 10:24 “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,” We should encourage each other and stir each other up to share the Gospel to all. The church is not a contest to see who can have the most members, or the biggest name, or the most fame. The local church is a refuge for the edification and building up of the believer and a spring board for the believer to go out and proclaim the Gospel to the unbeliever.

Matthew 9:37–38 “37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” There is a great harvest to be gathered to proclaim the Gospel and it is up to the Church universal to work together and do so. There are many churches out there, and many of them proclaim a false gospel, wether it be one of politics, working for your salvation, universalism that all pathways ultimately lead to God, prosperity and wealth gospel, and many more false gospels that are being preached from pulpits across the world. The laborers that are proclaiming the true Gospel are few. The Gospel that Jesus Christ came to save sinners and we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. That Jesus is the only pathway to God. He is the way, truth, and the life and no comes to the Father except by Him. We must be the hands and feet and the body of Christ as a whole, and work together to proclaim the Gospel while there is still time.

The church was an example not only to Macedonia and Achai, but the word of their faith and suffering for the Gospel went out everywhere as a testimony of Gods grace. They didn’t just share the Gospel with their words but they lived it with their whole life, and this went forth reaching many places so that wherever Paul traveled, people told him of the faith of the church in Thessalonica.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: What Every Church Should Be (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

A recent survey of church growth indicated that 70 to 80 percent of a church’s growth is the result of friends witnessing to friends and relatives to relatives. While visitation evangelism and other methods of outreach help, the personal contact brings the harvest.

But election and evangelism go together. The person who says, “God will save those He wants to save and He doesn’t need my help!” understands neither election nor evangelism. In the Bible, election always involves responsibility. God chose Israel and made them an elect nation so that they might witness to the Gentiles.

In the same way, God has chosen the church that we might be witnesses today. The fact that we are God’s elect people does not excuse us from the task of evangelism. On the contrary, the doctrine of election is one of the greatest encouragements to evangelism.

Salvation is not the work of man but it is the work of God. If it were up to us then we might as well go ahead and quit now. There would be no hope at all. If it were up to me to make sure I say the exact right thing to bring someone to Christ then I would fail miserably time and time again. As believers it is our responsibility to share the Word of God. To share the Gospel message, and it is the power of the Holy Spirit that will do the work and bring faith to whomever God calls.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: What Every Church Should Be (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

The same God who ordains the end (the salvation of the lost) also ordains the means to the end (the preaching of the Gospel).

As the church, as believers we should have a passion for evangelism to go share the Gospel. Each one of the Gospel books in the New Testament and the book of Acts end with a commission for the church to obey. It is the responsibility of every Christian to shout the goodness of God from every home, every street corner, every workplace, every school, everywhere we go. We must be enthusiastic and share the Gospel with all! Matthew 28:18–20 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

We are commanded to go and proclaim the good news to everyone and we go with the power of the Holy Spirit with us and in us to boldly proclaim the Gospel.

Steadfastness of Hope (Steadfastness) (vs 10)

Finally, the church was steadfast in the hope of Christ. They were an expectant people, looking for the return of their Saviour. In the final two verses, verses 9-10, Paul relates the second coming of Christ to their salvation. Because they had trusted in and followed Christ, because they were the sons and daughters of God, they had a blessed hope, to look for the return of Christ with a joyful expectation. When they were worshiping idols there was no hope of a future, there was no life, but when they trusted in the living God, there was a hope that was alive that was planted in their lives.

1 Peter 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: What Every Church Should Be (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

The word translated “wait” in

We await the resurrection of all, we await the return of Christ to conquer and destroy this present earth and create a new heavens and a new earth where He will reign forever and we will worship before the throne of God. If we will live our lives in light and expectation of Christ’s return then we will be full of joy and we will be victorious no matter what trials we face.

Churches are not a they, churches are a “we.” We as believers in Christ are the Church universal. We must aim to have these characteristics we see at work in the church of Thessalonica both in our local churches and in our own lives. It is by doing this that we will see our churches become what God has created them to be. It is by these characteristics that we will reach the lost with the Gospel, and God will be glorified.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: What Every Church Should Be (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

What every church should be is what every Christian should be: elect (born again), exemplary (imitating the right people), enthusiastic (sharing the Gospel with others), and expectant (daily looking for Jesus Christ to return).

CLOSING

Saved, Service, and Steadfastness. We must remain steadfast in the faith and stand for truth. Proverbs 23:23 “23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” The world around us will want us to give way on the truth. The world around us doesn’t want to accept a Gospel that says Jesus is the only way. They don’t want to accept a Gospel that says there is nothing they can do, that as Paul wrote in Philippians 3 that even his best is nothing but filthy rags without the love of Christ. Faith, Hope, and Love are the characteristics the Christian should show in their lives to those around them.

The world is lost and has no faith in anything or anyone but themselves, and they will fail. The world has no hope that will not be destroyed. The world has no knowledge of what true love is, for without Christ no one can understand what true love means. The believer has faith that has been supernaturally given to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. The believer has love, knowing the great love of the Great Shepherd, that lays down His own life for the sheep. The believer has hope, in the resurrection of Christ, because death was conquered and will be no more, Christ will return for His bride, the church. All those that have gone before will rise and be given new bodies and then we will follow them and death is no more for us, as we spend eternity with our God. The world has eternal torment to look towards, an eternity in the presence of the wrath of God, while those that trust in Christ have eternity in the presence of the love of God to place their hope and trust in.

Revelation 21:1–8 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

PRAYER

Father let us be what You have created us to be. Don’t let us look to the things around us for our hope but Father let our hope be placed in You and the work of Jesus on the cross. You defeated death and the grave and we now get to stand in victory alongside You. Give us a passion and a fire in our hearts to share the Gospel with all those we meet. Father let Your Word and the power of Your Holy Spirit be like a fire in our bones that we can’t extinguish. Give us boldness to proclaim Your love and mercy to everyone we meet. Lord, set divine appointments in our lives to minister to those around us and to share Your Gospel. Lead us and guide us with Your Holy Spirit to recognize the times You set people in our paths, to recognize those moments You have ordained for us to be used to glorify You and bring others to Your grace and mercy. We thank You that we do not have to live without any hope or joy in our lives but that You give us expectation of what is to come and we rejoice in the knowledge and the promises You have given to Your people. We praise Your name for You are The mighty God, You are everlasting, and You are our good Father who loves His children and gives good things to us. We thank You for all of this and pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

BENEDICTION:

Colossians 1:24–28 ESV

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.