Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

I know that I have mentioned before that during my college years, I spent my summers working for a custom harvester.

The man that I worked for would take a couple of combines down to the very southern border of Oklahoma and then fall the grain harvest north, hiring his machines out to farmers to take in their grain.

I mainly served as a truck driver for him, hauling the grain from the fields to the large grain elevators in nearby towns.

The truck that I drove had a speed governor installed on its engine.

I could push the petal right to the floorboard of that truck if I wanted to, but that truck would not go above 60 miles per hour because that was the speed that the governor was set at.

It worked nearly as good as a cruise control.

I could put the pedal down flat and just drive.

Involvement:

That governor completely controlled the speed of that grain truck.

This morning I want us to ask what should govern our lives in a similar fashion?

Context:

This is our third sermon in our series through 1 Thessalonians.

By now, if you have been with us for the past two, you know that Paul wrote this letter in response to a very encouraging report that he had received from Timothy.

Paul, Silvanus (or Silas as he is also known in the NT), and Timothy had had to leave Thessalonica very quickly because of intense opposition from the Jews in the city.

They had only been in the city for a short time, but during that time, they had seen several people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and form the core of an infant church.

Paul had sent Timothy back as soon as possible to see how these young believers were doing.

In response to Timothy’s glowing report Paul has begun this letter with an expression of thanksgiving for God’s work—God had caused the gospel message to produce real spiritual life, that life was growing, and as we will see today even reproducing…the gospel lifecycle was moving along in a glorious fashion.

Since the verses that we are going to look at today round out this thanksgiving that Paul has been expressing, I think it will be useful to back up a bit and reread the verses that we have already looked at in the previous weeks…let’s back up and read verses 2–7 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 <read 2–7>

Paul has thanked God for the gospel product in their lives—the evidence of spiritual life that is on display in their work of faith and their labor of love and their steadfastness of hope.

He has thanked God for being the Source of the gospel product in their lives, displaying His divine electing love by creating their positive response to the gospel that has resulted in both their salvation and their example to other believers even while suffering tribulations of their own.

Preview:

And this brings us to our verses for today, the final verses in chapter 1 of this letter.

The Thessalonians are going through seriously hard times…the people who hated the message of Christ that Paul and the other messengers introduced to the city have not softened in their attitudes toward those who have decided to believe the message.

Yet, we will see this morning that the difficult circumstances that are surrounding the Thessalonians have not governed their actions.

Instead, it is the gospel that they have believed that is governing them.

The gospel has given them hope that is unaffected and even supersedes their circumstance.

Application

What struck me as I was preparing this passage over this past week was how much this message is applicable for us today.

We are beginning to face increasing levels of social hostility because of our belief in Jesus Christ.

I really believe that we can anticipate progressively hostile circumstances around us if we hold on to the truth of the gospel without apology…in other words, we may soon be modern-day Thessalonians, surrounded by hostility and tribulation…we need the lesson that we can learn from the original Thessalonians, the simple lesson that the hope produced by the gospel should completely govern our lives.

The hope produced by the gospel should completely govern our lives.

Now, our lives are pretty complex places…to say that they should be completely governed by gospel hope is a big statement; it may also be a bit too open-ended for us to really wrap our minds around so this morning we will notice three specific things that gospel hope should produce within our lives if our lives are completely governed by it…one item from each verse.

Transition from introduction to body:

Let’s read our three verses this morning…<read 8–10>.

The hope produced by the gospel should completely govern our lives.

In verse 8 we see the first thing that should be produced by gospel hope;…

BODY:

I. Gospel hope should produce bold proclamation of Christ to others, v. 8

As we saw last week and read just a few moments ago, the Thessalonians had become examples through a large area of the Roman Empire surrounding their city.

In verse 8, Paul tells them what has led to this situation.

It is possible that they were not even aware that their faith in Christ had had such a wide-spread impact, but it had and Paul tells them why…because they had boldly proclaimed Christ to others, “the word of the Lord has sounded forth.”

The term, sounded forth, has the idea of reverberating out in strong and clear tones.

You might think of bells chiming from a bell tower or a trumpet blasting out before the entrance of a king.

There is no mistaking the sound; it is clear and distinct and carries a message filled with meaning.

Illustration

As most of you know, the town I grew up in was very small…around 300 people.

Our town, as is the case with many rural towns, had a volunteer fire and ambulance crew.

Our town had a fire truck and ambulance stored in a central building with several people’s homes nearby connected to the emergency number.

When a call came for help came in, the first person to the building would set off a very loud siren mounted to the roof of the building that could be heard throughout the whole town.

When that siren went off, any volunteer members anywhere in town would drop whatever they were doing and rush to the building.

Within a few minutes the vehicle would be on the move because the need for help had sounded forth…that is the idea of this word.

The word of the Lord had sounded forth so clearly from the Thessalonians that everyone in the broad region far beyond the city had heard its reverberation.

Transition:

Looking carefully at the verse, I believe that there are two ways in which the proclamation of the gospel would have occurred.

First of all, there would have been…

A. Proclamation through direct statement

People knew that the Thessalonian believers believed in Jesus Christ; they could only know this if the believers were actually telling people that fact through direct statement.

Of course, the context of the previous verses suggests that some of those direct statements would have even been made in the face of open hostility and with the clear understanding that making statements about Jesus Christ would result in tribulation.

Yet, that is what they were doing…they were telling people about Jesus, accepting any tribulation that resulted from proclaiming Him.

Application

Let’s ask ourselves, are we doing that?

Are we proclaiming Christ?

Now, I am not talking about posting vaguely religious sounding memes on Facebook.

I’m not even talking about liking religious blogs or posting verses of the day.

I am also not talking about taking certain political stances that align with biblical principles.

What I am asking is whether or not we are directly telling people about the gospel hope that is found through faith in Jesus alone?

Is the “word of the Lord” sounding forth from our mouths through direct statements to people who do not know Him?

A genuine gospel hope produces boldness.

Not proclaiming Christ through direct statement is cowardly, the exact opposite of boldness.

Transition:

Bold proclamation of Christ to others begins with proclamation through direct statement.

It also, though, includes…

B. Proclamation through indirect reputation

I have to wonder if the Thessalonians were surprised to hear how far word of their faith had traveled.

Sure, there is likely a bit of hyperbole involved when Paul says that people “in every place” knew of their faith, but it is clear that he means word of their faith had traveled far beyond Thessalonica.

Certainly, the Thessalonians had not had the opportunity to talk to all of these people throughout the region about their faith in Jesus, but their faith was so remarkable… standing in the face of tribulation as it was…that their reputation was carrying the “word of the Lord” further than even their lips were able to take it.

Their lives were reverberating for Christ.

Application

How about our reputation?

When unbelievers think about us do they think of a people who are so sold out for Jesus that they really can’t quite understand us?

When other believers think of us do they become encouraged and joy-filled at what God is doing in our lives?

We all have an indirect reputation that travels further than we ourselves travel.

What does our reputation proclaim about Jesus?

Transition:

The hope produced by the gospel should completely govern our lives.

Gospel hope first of all should produce bold proclamation of Christ to others.

This proclamation should come through direct statement as well as indirect reputation.

Both forms of proclamation should be causing others to know about the hope that we have through the gospel.

In verse 9 we see a second item that should be produced by gospel hope;…

II.

Gospel hope should produce a complete change of goals in our lives, v. 9

Imagine the Thessalonians’ surprise when Paul tells them in this verse that everywhere he goes, he keeps hearing other people reporting that they have already heard about how he and Silas and Timothy were received by the Thessalonians when they came to that city…that there in Thessalonica was a group of people who listened to the gospel message that Paul and the others brought, who believed it, and who have now responded to it with transformed lives.

Specifically, what he kept hearing is that the Thessalonians had changed the direction that their lives were taking…see that word “turned” there in verse 9?

Illustration

There were several times…more than I care to really confess…after Grace and I moved into our current house that I found myself making a left off of Ryan Road a mile early.

The drive home was slightly unfamiliar; I didn’t know the landmarks on my new corner yet; and…I tend to drive somewhat distractedly at times, thinking about other things.

I would suddenly discover that I had turned onto on the wrong street and would not be finding my house on the one upon which I and my vehicle were at the moment.

Guess what I did?