1 Thessalonians 1: Thanksgiving for True Transformation

Introduction

I want to begin by taking you back to a market stall in Ancient Greece at the time of Paul. As we go back in time, I want you to imagine the smells and sights of the place but more importantly I want you to hear the sounds.

In particular I want you to listen to a conversation which may have taken place quite often at the time. It goes a little something like this:

‘Have you heard about those new ‘Believer’s in Thessalonica? says the Grocer.

‘No, what about them?’ says the Customer.

And the Grocer replies:

‘Well, the apostle Paul came with a radical message— the gospel —and they welcomed him and his companions warmly. They didn’t just listen; they believed. Since then, they’ve been changed. They’ve heard that Jesus is Saviour and King, and they can’t keep it to themselves. They’ve left their old religion behind and suffered for it, but they won’t stop; they’re telling others that the same faith and hope can be theirs, and they’re living with a hope, joy, and love that spreads. I may have to try it myself!’

And so, another person learns about the Gospel and is impacted by the faithful witness of a tiny group of Believers in a far-off city.

In so many ways these Believers in Thessalonica were a model church. The Gospel had taken root and truly transformed them. And, in turn, their transformation in the Gospel was impacting the lives of people near and far. We should never doubt the Gospel and its power to transform the world.

So it is to this Gospel we turn today; to be encouraged and challenged to play our part in its spread near and far. Today we will consider:

The Advance of the Gospel (in verses 5 to 8)

The Authentic Response to the Gospel (in verses 9 to 10)

When we receive the Gospel in faith it will truly transform us and have impact near and far. Today, let us be challenged and encouraged by the Thessalonians’ true transformation.

But before we go any further, let us consider for a moment… God’s Activity in the Gospel

 

Being selected for a team or chosen for an award can be a great honour. Whether it is representing our local school, or receiving recognition for our achievements, there is a sense of privilege about being chosen.

Now, in both these examples, the choice is based on abilities and achievements. But we must always be aware that God’s choice of His People is always based upon His sovereign grace. And while we cannot point to any specific reasons why God would choose His People, there is still an enormous sense of privilege and joy in His sovereign choice.

In verses 2 and 3, after he has greeted the Thessalonians with grace and peace in verse 1, Paul is praying for the Thessalonians. Paul prays with joy and thanksgiving for their faith, love and hope- they have believed and now they are behaving like Believers.

Paul’s prayer is based on his knowledge about the Thessalonians. And so, in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4 we read:

⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you…

Though, as we learned last week, they had been rejected by their community, they were loved and chosen by God and completely accepted by Him in Christ.

We know from elsewhere in God’s Word that His choice of the Thessalonians was ‘before the creation of the world’. The Thessalonians’ transformation, then, was not simply about a decision they made when they heard Paul preach but was part of God’s eternal plans for His People.

Remember, Paul writes to bring these Believers assurance in the face of hostility. And their was to be rooted not in their choice of God but in God’s choice of them. And this was a choice that flowed out if His love for them, and His sovereign grace to them- it was not something they could earn or deserve.

Notice that Paul’s teaching here on God’s sovereign choosing of His People- what we call the ‘doctrine of election’- is not to provoke theological debate. Instead, Paul uses this truth from God’s Word to encourage these Believers going through difficulty.

As Believers, God’s choosing us in eternity past according to His good and eternal purposes should bring joyful encouragement to live fully for Him in all circumstances. Only when we are assured that we are chosen by Him according to His Will, can we live fully for Him by surrendering to His Will. As Believers we belong to One who is eternally at work in us and through us for our good and His glory.

 

We turn next to consider… The Advance of the Gospel

 

 

At times, and for various reasons, our confidence in the Church and the Gospel is tested. We look around and wonder if it is possible for the Gospel to survive and thrive in a world that’s indifferent at best and hostile at worst. When we feel this way, we can take great encouragement from what we read in verses 5 to 8.

 

We know already that Paul was full of thanks to God for what he had witnessed in the Thessalonians (we see this in verses 2 to 3). However, the Thessalonians were a group of young Believers who faced opposition all around. And, on top of this, there were some who had questioned Paul’s credibility- after all he had fled so quickly and hadn’t returned. Some suggested that the Thessalonians hadn’t really received the Gospel at all- if the messenger wasn’t genuine then how could the message be genuine?

So the Thessalonians needed assurance. They needed to know he was a genuine apostle (an issue he will address in Chapter 2) and that His message had brought a genuine conversion- true transformation.

So, in verse 4 Paul declares that these Believers are loved and chosen by God. Then in verses 5 to 8 Paul grounds his confidence that the Thessalonians are loved and chosen by God in what has happened since he arrived in Thessalonica: the advance of the Gospel. So, let us consider what Paul says about the advance of the Gospel amongst these Believers in Thessalonica.

Firstly, in verse 5 we read about how the Gospel had been preached to the Thessalonians.

… because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 

In effect Paul is saying: …what you experienced in the Gospel we preached was more than information going into your ears; it came to you from God Himself as a life-transforming, Spirit-infused message that offers true hope! And we lived this message out in front of you as those convinced of its truth and life-giving power.

The Thessalonians did not simply hear a message about God’s love from a powerful preacher. Instead, they also saw the message of God’s love through the behaviour of the apostle and they experienced God’s Spirit at work in them as Paul preached.

The Gospel came to the Thessalonians through a preacher on fire for Christ and empowered by the Spirit. Paul was deeply convinced of the truths he declared. Paul was no peddler of empty philosophy, but a preacher of life-giving truth who had experienced the power of the Gospel in his own life.

If we wish to see the Gospel spread in our own day, then we must be a People of Word and Spirit- listening to God’s Word preached and gathering for prayer. We live in a town where thousands of people exist without knowing the fullness of life that is found in following Jesus. Our calling is to meet with God in worship, meditate upon His Word and fellowship with Him in prayer, and then show people what it means to follow Jesus Christ. People should sense that we have been with Christ by the way we live.

So the message came powerfully to the Thessalonians. And then they received the received the Gospel in faith. In verse 6 we see that the truth of the Gospel- that they were now adopted into God’s Family with a glorious eternal future- completely transformed them; we read:

 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 

In their behaviour and lifestyle, they began to imitate the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was convinced that the Gospel had taken root in these Believers because he could see it producing the fruit of a Christlike life. And related to this was their willingness to follow Christ in enduring suffering with joy. Such joy amidst suffering was evidence that both the Word of God and the Holy Spirit were at work in their lives.

Again, we are challenged to consider if those around us can see the love of God in us? And we are encouraged to remember that we face the trials and troubles of this world with the very Spirit of God inside us to produce the fruit of joy and peace and patience as we are pointed to Christ?

So, the Gospel had been preached and the Thessalonians had responded. Then in verses 7 to 8 we see further evidence that the Thessalonians to had indeed been chosen by God; we read:

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. 

The Thessalonians passed on the message by becoming living examples of the Gospel’s power.

The response of the Thessalonians was personal but not private. Their faith in Christ was not hidden from view – people across ancient Greece could see the effect of the Gospel on their lives.

And so the Thessalonians had been used to spread the Gospel further. The Thessalonian witness was all about word and deed- they declared Jesus with their words and displayed Him with their deeds.

The Gospel had come to the Thessalonians, they had received it, been changed by it, and through their example the Gospel was now bearing fruit across the world. Indeed, Paul goes on to sat in verses 8 and 8:

Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.

The news of their true transformation was so widespread that Paul did not need to say anything about their conversion. Instead, their lives preached the transforming power of the Gospel for him.

In the way in which the Gospel had transformed the Thessalonian Believers it was clear that they had been genuinely converted. Their true transformation revealed their profound grasp of the Gospel, and this spoke volumes to the world around them.

I wonder has the Gospel taken such a hold of us that it is plain for everyone to see and hear? If people spend a few moments with us, or their working day with us, is it drawing them closer to Jesus?

These disciples were now making other disciples. This must have given Paul further assurance that their faith was not superficial or temporary but was genuine and permanent.

And this assurance must have grown further when Paul heard about… The Authentic Response to the Gospel

Chapter 1 concludes with a report of what others were saying about the Thessalonians’ faith in Christ. In verses 9 to 10 we read:

…They tell 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 rescues us from the coming wrath.

Here we see that an authentic response to the Gospel, true transformation, involves both trust in the Gospel message and an appropriate change of behaviour; it consists of faith and repentance.

Firstly, in verse 9 we learn of repentance: the Thessalonians had ‘…turned to God from idols…’. There had been a clear change of direction in their lives. Their lives were no longer under the control of the idols of the day; they had left them behind and rejected them completely.

However, repentance involved not simply a turning away from past patterns of behaviour, but a positive turning towards God. And this turning towards God involved heart and hands as well as head- they turned to ‘serve’ God and devote themselves to Him.

The God whom they now knew to be both ‘living’ and ‘true’ (in contrast to the many false gods that they had previously worshipped) was not a ‘add-on’ to their lives. Their lives were now lived fully for God and in total obedience to His Word. Their lives revolved around Him completely

These Believers had turned from the things of this world to find security, significance and salvation in God alone. Have we grasped, or are we wrestling with, this truth in our own lives? Only in Christ can we know the security of an eternal inheritance, the significance of being adopted into a heavenly family, and the salvation that brings fullness of life both now and forever.

The Thessalonians had received the Gospel and been transformed. They now put their trust in God and lived accordingly. So we must consider the content of their ‘faith’.

In verse 10 we see their repentance was based upon specific truth about Jesus Christ. In receiving the Gospel, they had learned that:

• He has been raised from the dead. This was the decisive moment which proved that Jesus was who He claimed to be- the Son of God and Saviour of the World. Here we are reminded that we serve a Jesus who is alive and reigning as the victorious Son of God- death is defeated and sin is conquered.
• He will one day return from heaven. That day will be the Day when all will know God’s righteous judgement against all wickedness. On that Day justice will be done, and all will be put right under God’s righteous rule.
• He will rescue Believers. While the wicked will experience God’s righteous judgment and punishment of sin, those in Christ will be ushered into Glory on the basis of His sin-bearing sacrifice on the Cross. Only then will we fully know what it is to be rescued from sin, Satan, and death; and only then will we know the blessedness of being with the Lord Jesus in glory.

The Thessalonians had more than a basic, simplistic knowledge of Jesus. Instead, their faith was one which was future orientated and hope filled- they looked forward to Jesus’ return and the blessing that awaited them in Glory.

Though they had already put their trust in Christ and sought to be obedient to His Word, their main orientation was fixed on that day when they would meet and see the Lord at His return. Therefore, they waited for that great day.

Of course, such waiting was not passive, since each day was a day to serve the living and true God. Nevertheless, their faith was directed towards the future and towards personally meeting the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Do we live our lives today in the same way? Or are we too focused on the here and now ad what we can get out of life while on earth?

So, authentic response to the Gospel must include repentance and faith. There needs to be a genuine turning of our lives from our old idols to the living and true God and this needs to be accompanied by trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who will one day return and bring us full salvation. And it is this sort of lifestyle that will truly speak to the world around us about the truth of the Gospel and the Glory of God.

 

Conclusion

So, as we finish, it is good for us to ponder what we think we might hear if a conversation started with, ‘Have you heard about those Believers in Greystone Road Church?’ ?

May we be a body of Believers in which the Gospel has taken root and is completely transforming us. Let us constantly be open to Spirit’s guidance and Scripture’s instruction. And, through our transformed lives, may people near and far come to know fullness of life in following Jesus. And so, let us never doubt the influence of the Church and the power of the Gospel to transform the world.