1 Thessalonians chapter 1.
Our main text is going to be verses 7 through 10.
Why don't we read this whole paragraph?
I think it will be helpful for us to kind of bring it all together.
We have squeezed four sermons out of the first 10 verses of this letter,
which may be good, it may be bad, I don't know, but it is what it is, right?
So there is a cohesive thought that's happening here,
so maybe it would be helpful for us to read the whole paragraph,
maybe starting at verse 2 down to 10,
and then we'll spend our time focused on 7 through 10, okay?
Verse 2.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
because our gospel came to you not only in word,
but also in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake,
and you became imitators of us and the Lord,
for you received the word in much affliction,
with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia,
but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere,
so that we need not say anything.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Amen.
Well, the World Series started this weekend,
and it is not going well for the team that I have set my affection on since I was a child.
It's between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The first two games have taken place, both taking place in California.
Well, in 1989, all of the World Series games were played in California.
The two teams who were battling for the championship that year,
some of you will remember,
both came from the Bay Area,
the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants,
with young stars like Mark McGuire before the steroids.
And a great series, right?
There's all kinds of documentaries about that particular series, and here's why.
Because just before the third game began,
an earthquake took place.
Just near Candlestick Park in San Francisco,
it shook the stadium.
Magnitude 6.9 earthquake shakes the stadium,
delays the series for 10 games,
but of course, the devastation was much worse than any baseball game.
It really had devastating effects on the area.
And you will know most notably that we remember in those documentaries and shows
that have reminded us of this incident,
a double-decker freeway in San Francisco collapsed.
Some people were trapped beneath all the rubble.
Many people were killed in those moments.
It was really a devastating time.
It was the largest earthquake in the area since 1906.
That's the largest one on record.
This was the second largest on record,
at least up to this point, 1989.
Its effects were so widespread
that it could be felt as far away as San Diego,
which is 500 miles south of San Francisco.
Now, to give you a range there,
that would be like an earthquake happening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and we feel it, the effects of it here in Cornelius.
San Francisco is often what we think of in relation to this particular event.
That's what we remember most in relation to the loss, of course, that was experienced.
But that's not actually where the earthquake originated from.
The epicenter of the quake was in a state park some 80 miles south of San Francisco.
Nearly 2,000 years ago now, as we are studying this letter,
something else of seismic significance happened in Greece.
But it wasn't an earthquake or any other natural disaster.
Shockwaves of gospel impact were being felt all over Macedonia and Achaia.
But the epicenter of all of it that was happening was the embattled congregation in Thessalonica.
That's what we learned from our text here this morning.
Despite facing severe affliction on account of their faith in Christ,
the Thessalonian Christians endured the suffering with a kind of joy that Peter said was inexpressible,
full of glory.
Word of their faith began to spread like wildfire, apparently,
so that Christians all over Greece were influenced and strengthened by it.
So that by God's grace, the Thessalonian church became a model of faith
that the Lord used greatly in Macedonia and Achaia and even the regions beyond it.
Now, we read the entire paragraph.
There's two contextual elements here that we should address
before we jump directly into our main text for the morning.
First is this.
These verses here at the end,
they are flowing out of Paul's thanksgiving to God
for the work of grace that he was doing in the church in Thessalonica.
This is in the context of thanksgiving.
The entire paragraph actually supports the opening statement.
If you just set your eyes on it in verse number two,
the very opening statement here,
we give thanks to God always for you.
Everything down through verse 10 is in support of that statement.
Paul is making an argument, so to speak.
The argument is we thank God for you, and here's why.
So when we get to verses 7 through 10,
he hasn't left that context, right?
So what he's saying here,
he's explaining to the Thessalonian church
in these closing verses of the paragraph
that he is thankful to God for them,
specifically in these verses
because of the gospel influence
that they were having on other congregations.
So that's the first thing.
Contextually, this is the context of thanksgiving.
Second, Paul's goal in writing,
why is he writing all of this?
Well, it was to encourage a church
who is enduring at this moment
significant opposition and persecution for their faith.
So he's offering thanksgiving,
but the purpose that he is recording this for them to read
is because he wants to encourage them.
It's a discouraged church.
Faithful church?
Yes.
Discouraged church?
Certainly.
How could they not be?
And here's the thing about it.
But it's unlikely that they actually understood
the kind of impact their faith was having on others.
So Paul writes to them right here
wanting to encourage them with the fact
that their suffering was not in vain.
God was using it.
He was using it for his glory,
which would have been their primary desire,
the glory of God and the good of his people.
Isn't that what, as Christians,
becomes our primary hope and desire?
That all of our lives would be to the glory of God
and the good of his people?
Even if it means our hardship,
if it means that God is glorified in us
and that his people are edified in the process
and encouraged,
that we're content with that,
we're pleased with that.
That's the heart of the Thessalonians.
So Paul writes to them,
and he is encouraging them.
The Thessalonian example is,
of course, it's as useful for us today
as it was for the Grecian Christians then.
It is a mold of faithfulness
into which we would do well
to pour our own Christianity.
And as we look at this church
as a model this morning,
we are going to learn, once again,
what is at the heart of saving faith.
It's reiterated again and again
here in this passage.
But then we're also going to look
at the extent to which God will use a church
that perseveres in faithfulness.
That's what we're seeing in this model.
We're seeing what is the basis
of saving faith
and a faith that God will use.
And we are looking at the extent
to which God will use a church
that is faithful to his gospel.
Let's look at the second one first.
The boundaries of faithful influence
are limitless.
The boundaries of faithful influence
are limitless.
In other words,
there is no limit
to how God will use a faithful church.
Now look with me again
at verse seven.
Paul says,
this is the conclusion really
of the previous section,
so that you became an example
to all the believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
You became an example
to all the believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
Now in the flow of thought
in the passage that we just read,
verse seven technically belongs
to the previous passage.
That's what we studied last week,
looking especially at verses four through seven.
It identifies the result
of the Thessalonians'
spirit-empowered perseverance
and conversion
that is described for us
in verses four through six.
You know that because of the opening words.
There's just the transitional words
that help us in our study,
isn't there?
Verse seven,
so that.
This is a resulting statement.
All of this that Paul has said about them
in verses four through six,
all of this has happened
so that the result being
you became an example
to all the other believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
Well, then when we get to verse eight,
there's another interpretive tool for us,
interpretive conjunction.
It's the conjunction four.
And four, at the beginning of verse eight,
forces us to look back at verse seven
to see what this is expounding on,
what it's explaining.
And what we find is that Paul
is elaborating on the fact
that the Thessalonian church
had become an example,
that they had become a model,
a mold for all the other believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
They were the original OG influencers
in Greece.
And Paul wanted them to know
just how far reaching
their gospel influence was,
which brings us to verse eight.
Set your eyes on that again.
Four, this is in reference again
to example.
Four, not only has the word
of the Lord sounded forth from you
in Macedonia and Achaia,
but your faith in God
has gone forth everywhere
so that we need not say anything.
That's interesting, isn't it?
Far reaching influence
and impact of this church.
Now, it would be tempting for us
to look at verse eight
and conclude that
the Thessalonian church
had become a major sending agency
for missions in Greece.
I don't actually think
that's what Paul intends to mean here.
I don't think that's actually
what was happening.
Now, there's no doubt
that the church
was faithfully evangelizing.
It would be difficult
to explain the affliction
that they were enduring
from their unbelieving neighbors
if that were not true.
A hidden faith
is not a persecuted faith.
We understand that, right?
So, clearly,
they are living out their faith
in Thessalonica.
They are preaching
and proclaiming the gospel to others.
There's no question about that.
That is impacting their city
in such a way
that the city is turning against them.
And we see that again and again
in the narrative
of the book of Acts,
how that tended to happen
in these churches
that were started
in the first century.
However, when Paul says
that the word of the Lord
has sounded forth from them,
what he means by that
is that Thessalonica
was the place of origin.
Back to that earthquake illustration.
It was the epicenter
for the work
that God was doing
throughout all of Greece.
They were the origination.
It was sounding forth from them
and it was expanding
all over the place.
And this is not at all surprising,
is it when you consider
that not only
was Thessalonica
situated as a primary seaport
for Macedonia,
but it also was situated
on the Ignatian Way.
This is the main
and probably in many instances
the only roadway and highway
that connected Rome
to all of those countries
east of Macedonia
and all of those nations
east of them.
So constantly,
every day in Thessalonica,
it's a metropolitan area
of its time.
A melting pot of people
that are traveling
in and out of the area
either by sea or by land.
It's not surprising then
that people are coming
into Thessalonica.
They are being converted
through the witness
of the Thessalonians
and then they are continuing
on their way
and they're spreading
the word of this church
as they go
down the Ignatian Way
and to wherever else
they may have been going.
Now this is where
we should step back
for just a moment
and consider the fact again
the Thessalonians
probably weren't
very aware of this.
There's no social media.
They're not going to get
on Facebook and say
oh man there's this person
that came through.
Look they're telling
all about us
in this other place.
There's nothing
like that happening.
They're just being faithful
and the Lord is using them
and if we step back
and consider that
what we find is that
God is working out
a plan in and through us
that we don't often
see or understand.
Perhaps they never
even considered
at this point
in the young life
of this church
that just their
geographical location
was a mighty weapon
in the hand of God.
They're just being faithful
and the Lord is using it.
Now how much of that
could be true of us?
We don't know exactly
how the Lord is using
our church.
We're trying to be faithful.
We don't know
what God's plan is
and how He's using us.
He could be using
your influence
in people all over the place
and you don't even know
and it's because
there is an orchestration
of your life
that is in the providential
and sovereign hand of God.
He is doing His work in you.
He's doing His work
through you
and we don't often
get to see what that's like
and I think this passage
teaches us,
reminds us of it again.
This is amazing.
This is what the Lord
is doing.
Now the emphasis
of verse 8 then
is not on the Thessalonians
as like a mission
sending agency.
That's not it.
The emphasis of verse 8
is on the reach
of the Thessalonians' influence.
Not only had they
significantly impacted
Christians throughout
Macedonia and Achaia,
that is,
those were the two major
regions of Greece
at the time,
but as Paul ministered
in Corinth
for nearly two years later,
he was interacting
with Christians
as he's writing this letter
to the Thessalonian church.
Christians coming
from everywhere
through Corinth,
another metropolitan place
and as they're coming
to Paul,
they're saying,
hey, we heard about
the Christians
in Thessalonica
and they're talking
about them.
The impact
that they had,
the encouragement
of their own faith
that they had
through knowing
and hearing about
the Thessalonian believers.
News of the Thessalonians'
spirit-empowered conversion
and spirit-enabled
perseverance
outpaced the apostle himself.
He didn't need
to tell other people
about the Thessalonians
because they already knew.
God was using
their example
as an instrument of grace
to strengthen Christians
from all over the place.
But what exactly is it
about the Thessalonians
that God was using?
Look at verse 5 again.
We studied this last week.
Notice what Paul says.
Our gospel came to you
not only in word
but in power
and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction.
Now in verse 5 there,
Paul said it wasn't
merely the words
of the gospel.
It was the transformative
power of the Holy Spirit
at work through
the gospel message
that resulted
in the Thessalonians' conversion.
He's making the same argument
again just from
a different perspective
in verse 8.
Notice the language.
Not only has the word
of the Lord
sounded forth from you
but your faith in God
has gone forth everywhere.
Do you see?
It's not just that
they are declaring
the word of the gospel.
It's that the power
of the Holy Spirit
at work in their own lives
that is being demonstrated
and displayed
to these people.
The power of their
own proclamation even
is what the Lord
is using.
What sounded forth
from them
was not just words.
It was the display
of the Spirit's power
at work in them.
It was one thing
for the Thessalonian Christians
to declare the gospel message.
It's quite another thing
that they continued
to believe
and proclaim that message
through such
difficult circumstances.
People saw that.
They saw the Spirit's power
at work in their life
and that's exactly
what God was using
to do His work
in the lives of others.
The power of their influence
was in the authenticity
of their faith
and the authenticity
of their faith
was revealed
through faithful perseverance
in affliction.
So Paul says
you became an example
to everyone.
Now again,
here's the thing.
there is no indication
in this text
or in any other text
in these two letters
that the church
was very aware
of the fact
that God was using
their faith
to accomplish His work
the way that He was.
I just don't think
they knew.
I think that's part
of why Paul
is writing about it here.
It's not to tell them
something they already knew.
I think it is to inform them
in order that they might be
encouraged about it
at least mostly.
It's not like
they set out to do this.
There's probably
no meeting
of church leaders
in Thessalonica
to determine
how they would make
the strongest impact
on their neighboring cities.
They weren't sitting
in their living room
one day saying,
you know,
it would be great
if we could be
the influencers
of our generation.
How can we best do that?
Now maybe that kind
of strategic initiative
is helpful in some cases,
but in the context
of the local church,
most often
that quickly descends
into a gospel-less pragmatism.
That's not what
the Thessalonians were doing.
The influence
of the Thessalonians
wasn't the result
of strategic planning.
It was the result
of extraordinary faithfulness
through spirit-empowered preaching
and spirit-enabled perseverance.
That's it.
The limitless reach
of their influence
was God's doing,
and it was simply
their faithfulness
that He used.
The picture we have
of the Thessalonian church
is just a group
of Christians
who've got their heads down,
plowing forward,
being faithful,
trying to stay away
from sin,
trying to proclaim
the gospel,
trying to glorify
the Lord
and their Savior
and their Lord.
And as they're doing that,
God is doing a work
through them
that they were
completely unaware of,
I think.
And it'll be the same
for us.
We don't need
to develop
elaborate strategies
to influence
our neighbors.
We just need
to be faithful
in every season
and trust
that the Lord
will be pleased
to use us
for His glory
and for His purposes
so that when things
are good
and it's convenient,
we're faithful.
When things are hard
and it's really inconvenient,
we're still faithful.
And I think
that's what the Lord
will use.
when we are faithful
as the Thessalonians were,
honestly,
there is no limit
to what God might do
with our little
fledgling church
in Cornelius.
And we may not see
the results of that.
Lord willing,
one day in heaven
that will be revealed
to us
for the glory of God.
But for now,
we just stay faithful.
We keep our heads down.
We plow forward.
We do what God
has called us to do
and we trust that
He's going to do
something with it.
Secondly,
I want you to see
the basis
of faithful influence
is the gospel.
The basis
of faithful influence
is the gospel.
In other words,
there is only
one kind of faith
that God uses
like this.
Only one.
Now,
the text indicates
that Paul regularly
met Grecian Christians
who had been
personally impacted
by the faith
of the Thessalonians.
The last two verses
record the report
then that these
other Christians
were giving about
the church
when they interacted
with Paul
at some point
down the road.
And what you'll notice
is it had everything
to do with Jesus.
Shocker, right?
Not at all.
It has everything
to do with Jesus.
Look at verses 9 and 10.
4, again,
that's another one
of those grounding
statements, isn't it?
What's he doing?
He's explaining
the report.
For they themselves
report concerning us
the kind of reception
we had among you.
Now, reception,
that's a weird translation
to be honest with you.
It's the same word
if you just set your eyes
on chapter 2
and verse 1.
Paul will say,
we'll get to this next week,
but Paul says,
for you yourselves
know, brothers,
that our coming to you
was not in vain.
Coming,
that's the same word
that is,
for some reason,
in some of our translations
is translated reception.
Don't get the idea
that what is being communicated
is that the Thessalonians
were just super hospitable
to Paul
and that impacted
the other Christians.
That may be true,
but that's not what Paul's saying.
What he's referring to here
is that when he initially
came to Thessalonica
and preached the gospel,
that that coming to them
resulted in a powerful conversion
by the Spirit's work.
That's what he's referring to.
So as people are coming,
they're reporting
concerning the kind
of reception they had.
That is that they were converted
to the faith of Christ.
And how you turn to God
from idols
to serve the living and true God
and to wait
for his Son from heaven.
This is the perseverance dynamic, right?
So the first section is,
that's the conversion element.
Now, the waiting part,
waiting for his Son,
that's the persevering part of it.
Wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead.
Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.
Now, because that was
a really choppy way
for us to work through that,
let's just read through it again
without me stopping us, okay?
For they themselves report
concerning us
the kind of reception
we had among you,
how you turn to God
from idols
to serve the living
and true God,
and to wait for his Son
from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.
Verse 8 tells us
that the Thessalonians'
faith in God
had gone forth everywhere,
making them a model of faith
to Christians in Greece.
Verses 9 and 10
give us the basis
or the content
of their faith in God.
And just using this little report
that Paul passes on
to the Thessalonian church here,
I want you to consider
what the Thessalonian church
had as its confession of faith.
That's how I want to term it here.
Maybe it would have sounded
something like this.
Number one,
we believe there is only
one true and living God
who alone is worthy
of all our love,
worship, and obedience.
Look at verse 9.
How you turned to God
from idols
to serve the living
and true God.
This isn't just a statement
of their belief.
It's a polemic
against the foolishness
of idolatry.
The idols they once worshipped
were lifeless.
Now they worship
the living God.
Their former gods were false.
Now they were turning away
from them to serve
the true God.
And I don't want to just
quickly dismiss
this thought of idolatry
as if this is a thing
of the past.
It is not a thing
of the past.
You may not pray
to a shrine,
but we are all tempted
to bow before
lifeless idols.
idols.
And they take many
different shapes
and forms in our lives.
But as Calvin said,
the heart is a factory
of idols.
Elections coming up
in just a few days.
We see this in
the political culture
of our nation.
Every candidate
presents themselves
in messianic language,
don't they?
If I'm not elected,
we're all going to lose.
If I'm elected,
we'll all be saved.
That's essentially
the rhetoric
that comes from
every politician,
isn't it?
Trump even recently said,
it got a lot of attention,
that if you're a Christian,
if I'm elected this time,
you'll never have
to vote again.
That sounds a little bit
like when Jesus says,
come to me
and you'll never thirst again.
You'll never hunger again.
It's amazing, isn't it?
And every politician does it.
It's not just him.
All of them do.
They are presenting themselves
to us as if
they are the messiahs for us.
If they are the ones,
and some of us,
we get sucked into it.
We get all torqued out.
Of course, culturally,
we get all torqued out
about all of this.
This can become
a subtle idol of our hearts
where we're resting
in some person
other than Christ
to provide the salvation
that we think
we most desperately need.
And all of that
is just idolatry.
It's at the heart
of our idolatry.
That's low-hanging fruit,
isn't it?
There's other idols we have.
I heard somebody say
one time that
the hardest thing
about being a youth pastor
is that most people
think you're just tasked
with babysitting
the church's favorite idols.
Some of us
would sooner
offend Jesus
than our children.
Some of us
would sooner
disobey God
than dishonor
our parents.
Some of us
would sooner
abandon
the fellowship
of God's people
than abandon
the worldly relationships
relationships
that do nothing
for us
but point us
to sin.
It's all idolatry.
And it's not just
something we struggle
with before we come
to Christ.
It is something
we struggle with
even as Christians.
The constant tug
of our hearts
to abandon
the true and living
God in some way
to serve the gods
of this world
even if they're just
gods of our own
making in our minds.
And of course
all of our favorite
gods
are the God of self.
That's not the testimony
of the Thessalonian church
here.
The reason God
was using them
is because they
had decisively
continually
turned away
from this world
to serve
the true
and the living God.
If the Lord
is going to use us
it will be
because we are
constantly
turning from idols
to serve the living
and true God
as a matter
of intention.
Second,
perhaps their confession
said something like this.
We believe that
all who do not love,
worship,
and obey
the true and living God
will in the end
face
His eternal wrath.
This comes at the end
of verse 10
doesn't it?
It's the last four words.
The wrath to come.
What is that about?
It is a future judgment.
The coming wrath
refers to the final judgment
when all people
will stand before God
and give an account
of their lives.
All who have failed
to perfectly love
and worship
and obey the Creator
which the Bible says
is all of us,
that judgment
is characterized
by divine wrath.
wrath.
The fact is
your life
is headed
to an inevitable end
at which time
you will stand
before the Holy God.
That is a reality
for all of us
and it is a reality
that should cause us
to tremble.
That's a part
of their confession.
We believe there's
one true and living God
who alone is worthy
of our love
and worship
and obedience.
We also believe
that all who do not love
and worship
and obey Him
will face
His eternal judgment.
Third,
we believe that Jesus
is God's Son from Heaven
who offers us salvation
from God's wrath
through His death
and resurrection.
Look again at verse 10.
His Son from Heaven
whom He raised
from the dead.
Jesus,
who does what?
Delivers us.
delivers us from what?
His own wrath.
Jesus,
the sinless Son of God,
came to this earth
as we talked about
in Matthew 5.
Perfectly fulfilled
God's law.
Died on the cross
to make an atonement
for sinners.
And then as Paul
tells us again,
God raised Him
from the dead
to prove that
the sacrifice of Christ
was sufficient.
That is,
it fully propitiated,
satisfied,
appeased
God's wrath
against sinners
who will turn from sin
to trust in Christ.
That's key to their confession,
isn't it?
Now, do you see a pattern here?
Do you remember
back during the summer
we did a series
on the gospel
in our Lakeside Connect series?
Do you remember
what the four categories
of the gospel presentation
was that we went through?
God.
There's one true
and living God.
Man.
Man has sinned
against the one
true and living God.
Savior.
Jesus died on the cross
and rose from the dead
so that we might be saved
from God's wrath.
Just by way of passing,
it would be helpful
for us to recognize
this is one of the earliest
mentions of the resurrection
of Jesus
in all of Christian literature.
It's not the earliest.
It's one of the earliest.
This coming about
25, 30 years
after Christ
died and rose
and exalted
back into heaven.
Rose back to heaven.
Now, I say that
so that I can point out
to you at the same time
that when Paul mentions
the resurrection of Jesus,
I want you to notice
the presuppositional character
of this mention
of the resurrection.
He doesn't explain
the resurrection.
He's not instructing
the resurrection
as if it's not something
that they didn't already
know and believe.
No, what we find
is that it's assumed
in the text
as he's writing
to this very early
group of Christians.
And what is at the heart
of it?
The resurrection of Jesus.
This was not
a later invention
by Christians.
This has always been
at the heart
of the Christian gospel
from the very beginning.
That Christ rose
from the dead
to prove
that he has power
to give life.
That God,
the Father,
received his sacrifice
as a sufficient payment
for our sins.
That is the heart
of the gospel.
Without the resurrection,
there is no gospel.
Without the gospel,
there is no Christianity
and there's no point
for us to be here today.
Fourth,
perhaps they said,
we believe
that Jesus
is now reigning
over his people
from heaven
as Lord
and will soon return
to defeat
all wickedness
and to deliver us
finally from sin,
sorrow,
and death
for all of eternity.
Look again
at verse 10.
To wait for his son.
Waiting
being the key word here,
right?
Christians are so certain
of their future hope
that much of Christianity
might be characterized
as watching
and waiting.
Faithful Christians
are not in love
with this world.
We're not trying
to turn this world
into heaven.
No,
we are longing
for another world
that is to come.
We know
that Jesus
will return soon.
He's going to make
all things new
and we keep our minds
fixed on that hope.
This is at the heart
of Christian endurance.
Why are they persevering
in the faith
in Thessalonica
despite all the affliction?
Because they were willing
to trade
the hardships
of this life
for the certainty
of hope
and peace
and security
in the next life.
And they were spending
their days
enduring the affliction
waiting
for Jesus' return
and it is the same
that we do now.
Now,
from the time
that Paul arrived
in Thessalonica
and through significant
hardship,
the Thessalonian church
persevered
in a faith
rooted
and grounded
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ
and it was
this gospel
endurance
that the Lord
used
so tremendously
to do His work
in others.
Indeed,
it is only
through faith
in Jesus Christ
that you can be saved
and it is only
faithfulness
to Jesus Christ
and His gospel
that God
is pleased
to use
to accomplish
His work
through you
and me
in our church.
So what am I saying?
There is no limit
to how God
will use
a faithful church
and a faithful Christian.
And the only faith
that God uses
and that ultimately
matters for any of us
is rooted
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ,
His death,
burial,
and resurrection
and His soon return.
Now as we close,
I want you to notice
that the text
includes
four generations
of examples.
That's the main heading,
right?
They have become
an example
and there's four generations
of examples
listed here.
The Grecian Christians
in Macedonia
and Achaia
and maybe beyond there
were influenced
by the Thessalonians.
The Thessalonians
were told
in verse 6
were influenced
by Paul,
Silas,
and Timothy
who were influenced
by who?
Jesus.
That's right.
Jesus.
Now I want you to think
about that word example
one more time.
It's the word
for model
or mold.
If the Thessalonian church
was to be poured
into a mold,
what would come out
would not look like
the church
in Thessalonica.
it would look like
Jesus?
And that's the point
of application,
isn't it?
If your life
was to be poured
into a mold
for your kids,
what would they look like?
Do they look like Jesus?
Do they look like
nominal Christians
who treat their Christianity
and their worship
as a matter of convenience?
Do they look
not like Christian
at all?
What about our church?
If our influence,
our Christianity
as a church,
our church
as a whole
is poured
into a mold
for other churches,
what do they look like?
Do they look like Jesus?
That's the goal.
That we would look like Jesus.
Is our influence,
is it actually
leading people
to love
and serve
and obey God more?
What we gain
from the Thessalonians
in this passage
is not that they were perfect,
they certainly were,
but what we gain
from the text
is that they were faithful
and that they had become
an example
worth imitating,
which is the question
for us.
Are we faithful enough
that we're an example
that's actually worth imitating,
that will actually make
any kind of eternal difference
in anybody's life?