The Church of The Thessalonians

The Church of the Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 1:1

ome years ago, I heard a marvellous story of faith and perseverance in the face of extreme opposition from an elderly lady born and raised in La Belle Province.  Young preachers, many of whom she knew well, suffered persecution in order to preach the Gospel in Quebec.  This occurred, not in the 18th Century, but as recently as thirty years ago.  Bev Ward, long Pastor of the First Baptist Church of North Vancouver, on numerous occasions, related the same story of courage and faith in my presence.

            In 1960 you would not have given even odds for the establishment of an evangelical church in Quebec; the opposition appeared too great!  The "state" church was virulent and vicious in its attacks and assaults against the Faith.  Yet, today, among the French believers in that province, a virtual revival is taking place.  I read of the establishment of churches, the continuing salvation of families; and those churches planted by young men of vision a few decades back, are thriving today!  I view that scene of endeavour and I see a parable – a parable of a poor start for a great church.  You will find the identical story throughout history, and you will find the same story written in the pages of the Book.  One such church was the church of the Thessalonians.  Permit me to introduce you to this congregation by means of an excursion through the Word of God.

The Founders – Paul, Silas and Timothy — Luke tells in Acts 17 how Thessalonica came to be evangelised; and though I intend to invest time in exploration of the founding of that congregation, for a brief moment I ask that we consider those God employed to establish that congregation.  The founding of the church in Thessalonica occurred during Paul's second missionary journey soon after the Jerusalem Council.  Silas was his chief missionary partner in the early days of this missionary endeavour [Acts 15:40].  In Lystra Paul invited the young man Timothy to join the missionary band [Acts 16:1-3], and in Troas Luke was added to the team [Acts 16:11].  So Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke were the four missionaries who sailed across the Northern Aegean Sea into Europe.  After a remarkably successful mission in Philippi, Paul, Silas and Timothy moved on in a south-westerly direction to Thessalonica [Acts 17:1], while Luke stayed behind.

            Paul, Silas and Timothy were the missionaries the church would remember; and thus it is appropriate that Paul should begin his letters to them with those three names.  This is not to say that all three participated in the writing of these letters; it is a courtesy that Paul included each in the salutations since all alike had participated in the work of establishment of the congregation.  There are at least three lessons I would ask that we learn in reminding us of these three individuals.

Paul we know quite well, although I sometimes fear that he assumes unrealistic gigantic proportions in our minds.  Timothy was simply a young man zealous for the cause of Christ despite his timidity and inexperience.  Silas was a prophet from the Jerusalem church serving as a stand-in after the open rift between Barnabas and Paul.  Before us are seen three different individuals with vastly differing gifts and greatly differing abilities.  Could we expect to witness the birth of a congregation from such disparate individuals?  Even a cursory examination of their lives will reveal grave weaknesses; but such examination serves only to reinforce a neglected or forgotten truth: Establishment of a church is a shared ministry.

            No one individual is responsible for the growth of a church.  Both the establishment and the subsequent growth of a church always result from a united effort.  I well remember hearing a slighting remark made by an uninformed individual during a previous pastorate in which the ignorant made a slighting reference to "Stark's church."  I quickly reminded the one relating the incident to me that the church in question was not "Stark's church," it was "Christ's church."  I stated then, and I still believe, that if a broader human reference was necessary, it was sufficient to name each and every individual who had invested life and loving concern in that work.

            The same is true for us.  The presence of this church is the result of the investment of life and love by multiplied people over multiplied years; and if the work will prosper and grow it will be the result of continued investment of many people.  Who is the most important person in the work of this church?  Who is the one individual without whom we cannot advance?  That individual is you – you are the most important person in the church.  If you do not believe that, consider the impact of the absence of any one person from serving in the congregation.  Each absence hurts, but your absence cripples!

            There is a tendency to depreciate our own presence if we are not involved in open, visible service to the people of God.  That tendency is fostered in some part by the fact that we tend to take one another for granted and by the fact that we exaggerate the importance of the public ministry of a few.  But because we forget the importance of the less visible among us does not make them of scant importance; when they are absent we suffer.  Neither is the church defined by a Lord's Day performance of a few; the church is defined by the whole of the people of God labouring daily, ministering to one another, praying for the blessings of heaven, and building each other up in the Faith of the Risen Christ.  The church is defined by the ongoing ministry of all the people of God.

            Reviewing the names of the founders of the Thessalonian Church, I also observe that Missionary work is conducted by ordinary people empowered by God.  Not one time, despite his great prowess and stature in our estimate, was Paul solely responsible for the establishment of a congregation.  We forget that and often need to be reminded.

            When we think of missionary endeavour we are prone to relegate such endeavours to those classified as experts.  Yet it pleases God to employ ordinary men and women to accomplish such work as glorifies His Name.  I make the sad observation that there are no Baptist churches being planted at the present time in the Alberta Area of the BUWC.  Though membership increased by six percent in 1997 and while baptisms were up by thirteen percent, Sunday morning worship attendance was stagnant.  How can churches grow without a corresponding increase in attendance at worship?  There are over sixty churches in the Alberta Area.  Why were there not at least six churches started from a group of over sixty churches?  Why was not even one church started by sister churches?

            In no small measure I am convinced that such a powerless state exists because Christians, and especially we who are affiliated with the several Baptist denominations, have adopted the view that the work of advancing the kingdom of God must be left to experts.  I remind you that an expert is only a drip under pressure!  The work of God is too important to be left in the hands of a select few; it must be entrusted to the whole of the community of Faith!  If God gives us strength, and if God will bless us as a congregation, it should be our goal to look beyond our immediate trials … to establish churches throughout this province beginning in the valleys and mountains nearby, to evangelise, winning the lost and building up the saints in the Most Holy Faith.

            Why build a strong congregation in this place?  Certainly each of us longs to see many souls won to the Faith, and each of us yearns to see believers made strong through mutual ministry.  There can be no question but that we each eagerly desire to see the Name of the Lord magnified.  These are good reasons to want to see a strong assembly in this location.  But may I recommend one reason is that if we have a strong central assembly we can provide expertise and strength to see daughter churches established in towns nearby, in the interior of the province, and finally throughout the whole of the world.  Such can happen when ordinary men and women, imbued with a great vision, dare great work in the Name of the great God of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ the Lord.

            Reviewing these three names, I am compelled to remind you of yet a third truth: The impact of godly lives extends far beyond the moment.  Our lives are not lived out in isolation, but just as evil spreads throughout society mirroring the penetration of dough by yeast, so righteousness has an impact far beyond the moment.  What we do in the Name of the Living God is not restricted to a brief moment in time, but our actions reverberate throughout the years, blessing others and glorifying the Name of our God.  There is no question but that Paul touched the lives of many people directly.  His travels and the ministry God gave to him insured that he would directly influence many people.  But like the waves generated when a pebble is thrown into a pond, the influence of the godly continues on until it strikes a distant shore and then again returns to the centre.

            Consider one example which is drawn from the nineteenth chapter of Acts.  The Apostle Paul held daily discussions in the lecture hall of one Tyrannus.  This went on for two years, so that all … who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord [Acts 19:10].  How did the whole of this province hear the Word of the Lord if it were not through retransmission of the message by those who heard Paul?  Those converted, excited in their new-found faith, spread the Word of God widely and rapidly.  Paul was open to discussing the Faith of Christ the Lord.  Those who heard him in turn relayed to yet others in surrounding towns and villages what they had heard and become convinced of.  Something akin to this occurred in Thessalonica.  Paul had a brief ministry which was disrupted by personal attack in that city.  In his first letter to this fledgling congregation he observes of the Thessalonian Christians: The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith has become known everywhere [1 Thessalonians 1:8].

            I was converted at age twenty-three.  Superficially it was the preaching of Dr. Jim Higgs at the Trinity Temple Baptist Church in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas which God employed to win me to the Faith.  But in preparing for my conversion God used the sermons of an old cowboy preacher during my early childhood, the multiplied tears and prayers of godly grandparents, the prayers and the witness of a daddy who pleaded with me to believe throughout the early years of life.  The witness of a college professor and the pleas of a concerned wife also served to prepare me for salvation.  Who was responsible for my conversion?  All alike share in the ultimate decision, though throughout the entire process it is God who is glorified.

            That's how it was with you as well.  Salvation is the result of the witness of many individuals.  Just so, your witness to Christ and the prayers you present before the Lord are employed to touch many lives so that together we are building the Kingdom of God.  Don't quit witnessing and don't quit praying.  What you have done, keep doing.  In His time, God will bless your witness.  Know that God is pleased to use your petitions before His throne and your pleas and invitations addressed to the lost.

            Perhaps you have imagined that you have had no impact on the advance of the church or in the salvation of souls.  May I encourage you that the story of this church is not yet complete.  Not until the final accounting is provided in eternity will you know the impact of your prayers for the salvation of the lost.  Not until the books are reviewed before the Bema will you know the impact of your witness or of your invitations to lost people.  Until that day, console yourself in this knowledge that as others are turned to the Faith, they, in turn, touch the lives of yet other individuals.  Every prayer, every word of witness, every act performed in the Name of the Lord Jesus, serves to glorify the Name of Christ the Lord and serves to win others to the Faith.

The Founding – [Acts 17:1-10a] — When Paul and his companions visited Thessalonica in AD 49 or 50, it was already a well-established city with a long history.  It had been founded in the fourth century BC by Cassander, an officer in the army of Alexander the Great.  He named the city after his wife, Thessalonica, who was Alexander's half-sister.  The city occupied a strategic position, for it boasted a good natural harbour at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, and it was situated on the Via Egnatia which was the main route between Rome and the East.  Thessalonica became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.  Today as Thessaloniki it is the second most important city of Greece.

            The Jewish population of Thessalonica was large enough to justify a synagogue, and there Paul preached on three successive Sabbaths.  Luke describes Paul’s approach [Acts 17:2,3].  First, he argued from the Old Testament Scriptures that the long expected Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead.  Next, he proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth to those gathered at the synagogue, doubtless telling the story of His life, death and resurrection.  Thirdly, he declared that this Jesus was that long awaited Messiah.  In other words, Old Testament prophecy had been fulfilled in Jesus, so that the Jesus of history and the Messiah of Scripture was the same person.

            Some of his Jewish listeners were convinced, joining the missionaries in the Faith.  Likewise a large number of God-fearing Greeks, Gentiles who had been relegated by prejudice to the fringe of the synagogue, followed the missionary faith.  Additionally, we are informed that not a few prominent women [Acts 17:4] believed.  Paul may have conducted a mission of some months, but he had only three weeks among the synagogue worshippers.

            Opposition soon arose.  Jealous of Paul's influence in the city, the Jews recruited a gang of thugs and started a riot.  Not finding Paul or Silas in Jason's house, where they were staying, the ringleaders dragged Jason and some other believers before the city magistrates and lodged a serious accusation against them.  These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house.  They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus [Acts 17:6,7].  This allegation of lèse-majesté threw the city into an uproar.  Jason and his friends were put on bail, and that night under cover of darkness Paul and Silas were smuggled out of town [Acts 17:5-10].  The leaders were effectively silenced through fear for the converts.

            From a human point of view the Church of the Thessalonians was destined for failure.  Besieged by hate mongering religious bigots, impoverished, untrained and unprepared leadership without a single seminary trained leader within the church, the church could not be expected to make an impact in the real world.  Suspected by civic leaders, slandered by religious leaders, hated for even existing, there was little to recommend that the church could long survive.

            Would you attend a church such as described by this Thessalonian church?  Would you invite others to share in services at such a church?  Would you be comfortable worshipping with people such as those of Thessalonica?  On the surface there was not one thing which would recommend the Thessalonian church to us.  But what appears on the surface does not always tell the entire story.

As he wrote, Paul neglected that which is esteemed by the world, noting instead that the members were distinguished by commodities rare and precious even among believers.  He noted work produced by faith … labour prompted by love and … endurance inspired by hope in [the] Lord Jesus Christ [1 Thessalonians 1:3].  Paul was careful to note that the saints were loved and chosen by God [1 Thessalonians 1:4].  It was this church under assault which the Apostle held up as a model to all … believers because of their evangelistic zeal, because of their open commitment to the Faith, and because of their steadfast perseverance in the face of persecution [1 Thessalonians 1:7-10].

            When we choose a church in which to worship, we are often seen to be amazingly superficial.  We weigh prestige which may result from our attendance, consider whether the programs offered will benefit us, or we focus on physical facilities.  But do we think in terms of evangelistic zeal?  Or do we think in terms of perseverance in the face of opposition?  Do we even consider that the world’s opposition may be a mark of God's approval?  Do we consider what we ourselves may invest in that work?  How is it that we have twisted the thinking of the Word of God to focus on the elements which will pass with time, neglecting those aspects which actually demonstrate the presence of the Lord?

The Foundation – God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ — I have invested considerable time discussing the founders and the founding of the church, but that should not be interpreted to mean that I consider this final point to be inferior.  Every church is dually located.  The church of the Thessalonians was located in the city of Thessalonica, but it was also situated in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  It does no violence to the text to make the application that in the same way, our church is dually situated – it is located in this community and it is also situated in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

            How shall we understand the phrase in question?  What sort of relationship is implied by the use of this little preposition – in?  The relationship implied is certainly not spatial, as if the church were somehow inside God.  Nor does it seem that Paul meant that the church is founded on God or that the members belong to God or simply that they have God as Father and Jesus Christ as Lord.  Neither does it seem proper to take the preposition as instrumental, translating the phrase brought into being by God.  Each of the foregoing statements are doubtless true, but the context does not allow us to restrict the meaning of the preposition to these concepts.

            A review of the words of Jesus and of other instances in which Paul wrote will no doubt prove instructive to us in this case.  Jesus spoke of His disciples as being in Him as branches are in the vine [John 15:1-8].  Paul speaks of believers as being in Christ – united in His Body [1 Corinthians 12:27].  In either instance the relationship is a vital, organic union which makes possible the sharing of a common life.  When Paul wrote the Church at Colosse describing our new life as hidden with Christ in God [Colossians 3:3], did he not mean virtually the same thing he meant here in this first Thessalonian letter?  The thought here, then, is that we draw our life from God and from the Lord Jesus.

            God's church was living in Thessalonica, and the Thessalonian church was living in God.  Likewise God's church lives in this community as the church to which you belong; and the church to which you belong, located in this community lives in God.  Ours is not uniquely God's church any more than the Thessalonian church was uniquely God's church, but let no one of us miss the point of this observation: we are God's church.  Each church of God is in the world only as occupying the sphere in which it lives, but each church is in God as the source from which life is derived.  Each church has two homes, two habitats, two environments; each church lives in God and in the world.  Underscore this thought in your mind.

            Dually situated, as we are, small wonder that we may anticipate grace and peace.  Though the world about us may rage and though we may be targeted for opposition from that world, our heritage is peace because we now enjoy the grace of God.  Our immediate founders were not Apostles, but among them were men of God standing in the lineage of those adhering to apostolic doctrine.  Our founding may not have been such as that of the Thessalonian church; we faced no severe opposition when services first began, but we do face opposition now.  We do face a great challenge imposed by the need to evangelise, to win the lost, to bring many into fellowship both with Christ and with His Church, to build up believers in the Most Holy Faith.  We do face opposition to fulfilment of our divine mission of winning the lost and building up the saints in the Most Holy Faith.  To accomplish this glorious task, we have grace and peace.

Lessons for Consumption — In order to insure that the message finds residence in our hearts, permit me to recommend several lessons or applications which are worthy of remembering.  Reviewing the Thessalonian church, I suggest that we remember that impact of ministry is unrelated to size, wealth or political influence.  The congregation left behind when Paul was forced to flee was denoted as having an impact far beyond its size.  As we saw, and as we shall see in the messages planned for the days ahead, this assembly became a model to all the believers in their own and in surrounding provinces.

            Our church is not at this moment a massive congregation; I suppose that in the estimate of the world we would not be considered a great congregation.  But I contend that in the eyes of the Living God this church is a great church.  We are great so long as we demonstrate His grace and His power in our midst.  We are great so long as the message of salvation rings out from us.  We are great so long as He is magnified in our midst.  Though I anticipate a day when we are recognised as a great and growing congregation within these northern climes, I maintain that we can now make a great impact through adjusting our missionary endeavour to reflect our vision, through adjusting our evangelism to reveal our faith, and through adjusting our worship to glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

            A second lesson I would recommend to each of member of this congregation is that character is measured neither by popularity nor notoriety.  The church was more concerned with how God viewed them than with how the world about them viewed them.  They had no difficulty in turn[ing] to God from idols to serve the living and true God.  Someone has perceptively stated that character is what you are when no one is looking.  Reputation is what others think you are; character is what you are regardless of what others think.  If you honour the Lord, walking in His ways and doing those things which bring glory to His Name, in His time He will exalt you.  In the Proverbs, the wise man has stated:

When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,

he makes even his enemies live at peace with him

[Proverbs 16:7].

In His time, God will reveal that those who have lived to honour Him are worthy of bearing the glorious Name, Christian.  Don't cease living lives consistent with the Name by which we are called.  Don’t give up living so as to glorify the Lord who has redeemed you.  Don’t quit living a vibrant Christian life.  Keep on walking in the Faith.

            The third and final lesson I urge upon each of you as worthy of remembering is that effectiveness of the message is not dependent upon the audience.  We will speak of Christ to many people, and not all will receive our message.  That we should experience such a lack of reception to our message is no indication that the message has failed; it is but a revelation of the darkness of hearts blinded by sin.  Dear people, our responsibility is not to be successful, but to be faithful.  Of the Thessalonians it was said your faith in God has become known everywhere.  May as much be said of us.  Amen.