Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul & Company had visited the city of Thessalonica on Paul’s second missionary journey.

They preached to the Jews in the synagogue and shared the Good News with the Gentiles (the non-Jewish population) living there.

There was a great reception to the message they preached and shared; the gospel took root in the lives of the Thessalonians and many of them were saved—by grace through faith (as people are always saved).

But this angered some of the Jewish residents of the town.

Paul and Friends (and all the new Christians in the town) were labeled as traitors guilty of sedition against Caesar.

All this because they dared to say “Jesus is Lord” instead of giving allegiance to the Roman Empire.

This caused an uproar from an angry mob and led to the departure of Paul and Silas and Timothy.

So, a few months later, Paul sends a letter (the very letter we have before us) to the church of the Thessalonians—this newly formed group of new Christians who are living in a difficult place, facing opposition and persecution as they try to live out their new life in Christ.

“Paul is a spiritual parent to the Thessalonians, and just as children are never far from the thoughts of their parents, so Paul is continually mindful of his children, the Thessalonians.” - G.K. Beale

Paul has a deep love and a hearty concern for his spiritual kids.

I’m sure Paul longs to be with them.

He’s praying for them and thinking about them.

What’s more, Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians gathered as the church there.

Paul and Silas and Timothy give thanks to God always for all of the Thessalonians.

Like the Philippians, the Thessalonians seem to have been a continual joy to Paul.

Thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

This, we must do.

We have a good example here of what that looks like.

Paul is thankful to God for these believers.

Paul is thankful for a lot of people and a lot of churches in the NT, but not every church.

His thanksgiving isn’t merely something he says to start the letters he writes; it’s not mere formality or ancient letter writing convention.

For instance, Paul doesn’t have a word of thanksgiving for the Galatians.

But here, where the Thessalonian church is concerned, Paul is thankful to God for them, always.

There’s something about these believers.

Something about their faith and hope and love.

Something about their example.

Something about their story.

Something about how God is using them.

After his initial greeting (last week’s sermon text), Paul writes to the Thessalonians some further introductory thoughts—thoughts which will be instructive for us here today.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn to 1 Thessalonians 1.

If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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The Work of the Gospel…

Paul is rehearsing the work of the gospel in Thessalonica.

If you stop and think about it, it’s a little strange to be writing to a group of people about what happened to that same group of people.

“Uh, yeah, Paul.

We were there.

That was us.

That’s me, buddy.”

He’s rehearsing the work of the gospel in their lives in order to remind them of the gospel’s work.

Sometimes we need that reminder.

Sometimes we’re blinded by circumstance; sometimes we simply forget.

I’m sure it was encouraging for the Thessalonian church to read about and remember the work of the gospel amongst them; to be reminded about what Jesus had done for them would have been bracing and incredibly helpful for the new believers.

In these 9 verses, Paul writes about what the work of the gospel does in the lives of believers and then describes the normal/expected pattern of life for the believer.

The Work of the Gospel is Triune (vv.

3, 5)

So we don’t get lost in the language, the Christianese, let me explain: “Triune” means consisting of three in one, almost always referencing the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

For our purposes here today, we don’t have to fully understand the Trinity (as if that’s even possible); we do however need to see how the Trinity is involved with the work of the gospel.

And it’s pretty clear.

In verse 3, both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are mentioned in connection with the Thessalonians faith and love and hope.

And then, in verse 5, the Holy Spirit is said to have accompanied the gospel Paul and Silas and Timothy preached.

The essence of the gospel—the Good News—is that God the Father saw our lowly estate, our deep sinfulness, our separation from Him and sent His one and only Son to save us, to redeem up, to reconcile us to Him.

There is no faith except that God grants us faith.

We only love because God first loved us.

We are hopeless apart from Jesus.

He is the source of our hope—hope for salvation, hope in the midst of this present evil age, hope for life after this life.

For there to be Good News, there must be a God who loves us and a Savior who seeks us and a Holy Spirit who empowers the message of the gospel to go forth with truth and power and conviction.

“Without [the Holy Spirit’s] witness, ours is futile.”

- 1974 Lausanne Covenant

The work of the gospel, the effectiveness of the gospel, the origin of the gospel is Triune—Father, Son, and Spirit.

It’s from Him and through Him and for Him.

The Work of the Gospel Expresses the Love and Choice of God (v. 4)

Verse 4 is absolutely beautiful and it’s a stunning reminder of a foundational and mind blowing truth.

1 Thessalonians 1:4 “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you,”

Paul is expressing to the Thessalonian church that they belong to the long line of God’s people whom He loves and whom He has chosen.

This teaching runs throughout the Bible, beginning with God’s choice and call of Abraham and God’s later choice of Israel out of all nations to be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

The vocabulary of those calls, of those choices God made, is deliberately transferred and applied to the Christian community.

This is the doctrine of election.

The Greek word here for “chosen” or “elect” is eklektos.

Election is exactly what it sounds like.

When Americans hold an election, its citizens choose their leaders.

The Biblical doctrine of election declares that God chooses His people for salvation.

There’s a lot of disagreement and division over this doctrine.

Some wish to ignore it all together or pretend it isn’t there; but you can’t do that.

What you believe about election can vary, but you must believe something about it.

John Stott says it best:

“He chose us because He loves us, and He loves us because He loves us.

He does not love us because we are lovable, but only because He is love.

And with that mystery we must rest content.”

That the gospel came to the Thessalonians and the Thessalonians believed is entirely due the un-earnable love and the sovereign choice of God.

As it was for the Thessalonians, so it is for everyone who believes.

The Work of the Gospel Brings About Repentance (v. 9)

If we jump to the end of our text for today, we see a clear picture of repentance.

Repentance—which the gospel brings about—is a clear turning from sin (in this case, idolatry) and a turning to God.

The Thessalonians had repented from their idolatrous past and had committed themselves to serve God.

It’s so striking that people were talking about the Thessalonians’ repentance, how they turned from idols to serve the living and true God.

They’re talking about it because it is absolutely incredible.

The Thessalonians had been worshipping idols and didn’t think anything about it; it’s what they knew.

A lot of people worshipped the Greco-Roman gods and goddesses (Apollo, Athena, Diana, “Hercules, Hercules”).

Nearly everyone who lived in the Roman Empire willingly bowed to Caesar and worshiped him.

But then the gospel—the Good News about Jesus—does its work.

The gospel came to the Thessalonians and revealed the folly of idolatry and the supremacy of the one true God.

And the Thessalonians turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

It’s what the gospel does; it brings about repentance.

This is the work of the gospel.

The Work of the Gospel Results in Faith, Love, and Hope (v. 3)

As Paul and Silas and Timothy are remembering the Thessalonians and giving thanks to God for them, they remember the three most distinguishing marks of Christians—faith and love and hope.

These three characterized their lives.

Faith is directed toward God, love toward others, and hope toward the future and Jesus’ return.

These three not only mark the Christian’s life, but reorient it as well.

Faith and love and hope in the believers’ lives are sure evidence of regeneration by the Holy Spirit (none come apart from the work of the Spirit).