"The Gospel & The Church" - Part One

Introduction

The OUTLINE of 1 Thessalonians in the broadest GENERAL terms would be as follows:

Chapters 1-3 - A CELEBRATION of FAITHFULNESS!

Chapters 4-5 - A CHALLENGE to GROW!

Within those two broad divisions, there are THREE prayers that provide a framework of the general outline:

A Prayer of Thanksgiving - (1:2-5)

Which we will look at in detail this morning

A Transitional Prayer for Endurance - (3:11-13)

A Final Prayer of Hope - (5:23-26)

John Stott writes,

The Message of Thessalonians Introduction

For 1 Thessalonians opens a window on to a newly planted church in the middle of the first century AD. It tells us how it came into being, what the apostle taught it, what were its strengths and weaknesses, its theological and moral problems, and how it was spreading the gospel.

The Message of Thessalonians Introduction

What is of particular interest, because it applies to Christian communities in every age and place, is the interaction which the apostle portrays between the church and the gospel. He shows how the gospel creates the church and the church spreads the gospel, and how the gospel shapes the church, as the church seeks to live a life that is worthy of the gospel.

I’d like us to travel down the road with Dr. Stott for a few weeks and consider the relationship between, “The Gospel of God & The Church of God!”

We begin with...

I. The Church of God - (1:1b-4)

You might expect a months-old congregation of newly converted Jews and pagans to be struggling!

As Stott describes: “Their convictions have been newly acquired. Their Christian moral standards have been recently adopted. And they are being sorely tested by persecution.”

Instead, Timothy discovers a vibrant, growing congregation! - (3:2, 6)

Q: How is this possible? A: This was God’s Church!

Paul describes it in four ways:

1. The Church is a Community Which LIVES “...in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” - (1:1b)

There were in Thessalonica all sorts of ekklēsiai (assemblies), both secular and religious, that would have used the same word (church).

This was an assembly/an ekklēsiai/a congregation “…in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...”

I believe this is an important truth to remember: The Church—this Church, belongs to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

You can join all sorts of clubs and organizations covering all sorts of causes or activities!

I found 162 nonprofits & charities in Livingston alone (which included a handful of churches)!

I believe the church should only do what only the church can do—to be a community of faith that lives “...in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”

2. The Church is a Community Which is MARKED by “Grace and Peace” - (1:1c)

I realize I’m pushing it a bit. “Grace to you and peace,” was a common greeting, both among Christians and others.

“Grace” being the Christianized version of the Greek greeting, “Chairein” (‘Rejoice!’ or ‘Hail!’), along with the Jewish greeting shalom (‘Peace!’).

However, we are to be marked by grace and peace, because we have all RECEIVED grace and peace!

The Message of Thessalonians a. The Church Is a Community Which Lives in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1b)

Still today we can desire for the church no greater blessings than grace and peace. God’s ‘peace’ is not just the absence of conflict, but the fullness of health and harmony through reconciliation with him and with each other. ‘The entire gospel is involved in this word’, writes Ernest Best. And God’s ‘grace’ is his free, undeserved favour through Christ which confers this peace and sustains it.

Consider GRACE for a few moments.

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.

MERCY is NOT receiving what I deserve; GRACE is receiving what I do not deserve!

God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!

Romans 5:20–21 ESV

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If grace reigns “…through righteousness leading to eternal life,” shouldn’t grace also reign in the everyday life of a local church?

Because we have EXPERIENCED the grace of God, we should also be a people marked by grace! Grace should flow from our lives!

How is that possible?

Like everything else in the Christian experience, it comes from God!

John 4:10–15 ESV

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

When you drink from the waters of grace, you become a spring of water—a source of grace to others as well!

We are also marked by PEACE!

Just like grace, we become instruments of peace when we experience the peace of God!

Before Christ, we did not experience peace. In fact, Paul describes the unbeliever with these words:

Romans 3:15–18 ESV

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

AFTER Christ, we have a new standing:

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:6 ESV

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Notice a change, not just in our standing, but in the intention or direction of our lives:

Romans 12:18 ESV

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 14:19 ESV

So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Galatians 5:22 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Ephesians 4:1–3 ESV

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 6:15 ESV

and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Philippians 4:7 ESV

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

James 3:18 ESV

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1 Peter 3:10–12 ESV

For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

2 Peter 3:14 ESV

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

One more (maybe the most important as it relates to our study this morning):

Matthew 5:9 ESV

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Peace marks you as a child of God!

3. The Church is a Community Which is DISTINGUISHED by Faith, Love, and Hope - (1:3)

1 Thessalonians 1:3 ESV

remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Stott points out two aspects of these Christian qualities:

FIRST, Each is OUTGOING!

Faith is directed towards God, love towards others, and hope towards the future!

J.B. Lightfoot writes, “Faith rests on the past; love works in the present; hope looks to the future.”

They are all sure evidences of being born again, because they completely reorient our lives!

The Message of Thessalonians b. The Church Is a Community Which Is Distinguished by Faith, Hope and Love (1:3)

The new birth means little or nothing if it does not pull us out of our fallen introversion and redirect us towards God, Christ and our fellow human beings.

SECOND, Each is PRODUCTIVE!

These are not abstract qualities, rather they have concrete, practical results!

Faith WORKS! - (James 2:14-26)

Love LABORS (from kopou - ‘intense labor, toil’)!

Hope ENDURES!

The key to remaining “…steadfast” is an UPWARD look!

It is “…steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Two questions: “Is God in control?” and “Do you believe that?”

Proverbs 12:25 ESV

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Psalm 37:8–9 ESV

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

I’d like to close Part One of this message with a a couple of voices from Church history:

John Calvin did not exaggerate (in 1550) when he refers to this passage as, “…a brief definition of true Christianity.”

Johann Bengel likewise affirmed in 1866, that, “…in these (sc. faith, hope and love) the whole of Christianity […] consists.”

NEXT WEEK, we will continue by looking at the fourth characteristic of the Church, which also serves as a bridge to the consideration of the Gospel!