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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,
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.
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!
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.
MERCY is NOT receiving what I deserve; GRACE is receiving what I do not deserve!
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!
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!
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:
AFTER Christ, we have a new standing:
Notice a change, not just in our standing, but in the intention or direction of our lives:
One more (maybe the most important as it relates to our study this morning):
Peace marks you as a child of God!
3. The Church is a Community Which is DISTINGUISHED by Faith, Love, and Hope - (1:3)
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 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?”
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!
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