A Model of Faith

1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

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.

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?