The Model Church, Part 7

If you have your Bible, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 1. We're going to pick up our study in 1 Thessalonians. We've taken a little bit of a hiatus. We've spent 7 weeks in chapter 1. This will be our 8th week in the 1st chapter. I'm sure that we won't spend 8 weeks in the next few chapters of 1 Thessalonians, but we have in the 1st chapter, mainly because it's the model church. So we're going to pick it up today, finish chapter 1 today, and then we'll pick up chapter 2 in September when I return from vacation.

Okay? So anyway, all that being said, is that the church of Thessalonica is the model church. And I want to be able to review for you all the things that we've already covered very briefly and then pick up where we left off a number of weeks ago in verses 9 and 10. But to begin with, I want to read to you what the late great Martin Lloyd-Jones said, that great prolific preacher and writer, when he recorded these words. He said, Though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody else who is not a Christian as we can possibly be.

Our ambition should be to be like Christ. The more like Him, the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian. When you are a Christian, you aspire to be like Christ, making you completely different than the unbeliever. Today we scream for relevancy in the church, and God screams for reverency in the church. But we seek to be relevant, and therefore we seek to be more like the world than trying to attract the world to be like us. The church of Thessalonica was a contagious church.

They were a unique body. They were different than most churches. In fact, they were so different, Paul says that they were an example. They were a pattern. They need to be emulated. And because they're a pattern, they set the standard for people like you and me. So in other words, instead of looking at the church in that direction, or the church in that direction, or the church in that state, or the church in that country, we need to look at the church of Thessalonica, because Paul calls them the model, the example.

So they become the one church that we are to pattern ourselves after. That's the church we are to follow. And we've told you that there are four key components to the model church in chapter one, verses one to 10. Let me review them for you.

Verse number one, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, and God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. The very first component of the model church is that they abundantly develop in the gospel.

There was this steadfastness of hope. There was this labor of love. There was this work of faith that was completely evident to everybody. And it wasn't just something that was a passing fad. It was something that encompassed the entire church. That's why Paul says, I give thanks to God for all of you, because all of you are this way. I know you're beloved of the Lord. I know His choice of you, because it's seen in your hope and your faith and your love, and it's evidence in all the things you do.

And then when you come over to chapter 1 in the second epistle of Thessalonians, he says this in verse number 3, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as it is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.

Therefore we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecution. In other words, you just kept growing abundantly, over the top. It's even greater than we ever expected, because that's the model church. They abundantly develop in the gospel. Number 2, they appropriately duplicate the gospel. That's in verse number 6. He says this, You also became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

In other words, they became imitators. They wanted to mimic the messengers as well as their master. They wanted to imitate Paul, Savannas, and Timothy, because they were imitators of the Lord. And Paul would say, Follow me as I follow Christ, and as he followed Christ, they would follow Christ. So they were duplicating what the messengers brought, because the messengers were duplicating the life of Christ. And so they wanted to live that life out. That's why they were so contagious. They looked like Christ.

They talked like Christ. They acted like Christ. Why? Because they became imitators of the gospel. So they would abundantly develop in the gospel. They would appropriately duplicate the gospel. And then number 3, they would audibly disseminate the gospel. It says in verse number 8, Wow, what a testimony. They lived on the Aegean Sea in a seaport village. And via Ignatia, that great Roman highway, went right through their town. And they took advantage of every opportunity to tell people about the gospel, to tell people about Christ.

They were so excited about their new life in Christ, they wanted others to experience that same kind of life. And so when they came into the town, they would gather them together, when they would trade, and they would engage in commerce, they would talk to them about the gospel. Because that's what they did. And Paul says, The word of the Lord blasted forth, trumpeted forth from you, like nothing I've ever seen. So much so, that there's nothing else for us to say, because everyone else has spoken about you already.

But then fourthly, there's a fourth component. And that is this, that they authentically demonstrated the gospel. There was an authenticity about their life. There was a genuineness about their life. They weren't artificial. They weren't superficial. But they were truly genuine. So in verses 9 and 10 it says this, For they themselves report about us, what kind of reception we had with you. Now you turn to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for a son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

If you want to authentically demonstrate Christ, and his gospel, there are three ways in which you do that. Number one, you clearly walk away from idolatry.

Number two, you conspicuously worship God wholeheartedly. And number three, you confidently wait for Christ, expectantly.

That was a church of Thessalonica. There was, number one, a genuine repentance. Number two, there was this, not just a genuine repentance, but there was this godly reverence, which led to a great reassurance.

This was their life. And that's how you know you are authentically displaying the gospel of Christ, demonstrating it for all to see. We talked about the first one last time we were together, that they clearly walked away from idolatry, because that's what salvation is, right?

When you're saved, you are saved from your sin, but you are saved from a life of idolatry. That's why the Bible says in John 4, 23, that Christ, when he came, he sought true worshipers.

Why? Because people are false worshipers. They are idolaters. They worship false gods. They worship empty gods. They worship worthless gods. They worship foolish gods. And so therefore, when you're saved, you're saved from idol worship. It might be the worship of yourself, it might be the worship of someone else, it might be the worship of something else, but you are an idolater. You are a worshiper of someone or something, because you're in the domain of Satan if you're not saved, but you're in the domain of God's kingdom if you are saved.

And those in God's kingdom worship him, and those who are not in God's kingdom worship someone else or something else. And so, Paul makes it very clear that you, you walked away from all that. You turned your back on idolatry. You turned your back on your previous lifestyle, because that's what salvation does. Salvation doesn't add Jesus to your present lifestyle. No, it turns you away from your lifestyle that you might serve the true and living God. And that's exactly what they did. So they clearly walked away from idolatry.

They clearly walked away from other gods. They clearly walked away from their selfish ambitions. They clearly walked away from their selfish lifestyles. They clearly walked away from all those things, because they wanted to serve the true and living God. There was a turning in their lives. That's what repentance is. That's a genuine repentance. There's a turning of your life from sin to a savior. And that's always been the call of God. Have you ever noticed that? God's call upon Israel was always to turn from their wicked ways.

Way back in the book of Ezekiel, the 33rd chapter, the 10th verse, God says this, Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have spoken, saying, Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them.

How then can we survive? Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back. Turn back from your evil ways. Why then will you die, O house of Israel? You see, repentance is a turning. Not that you yourself turn, but God turns your whole life around. Because repentance is a gift from the living God, therefore God can turn a life. Earlier, in the book of Jeremiah, the 25th chapter, God says, Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds.

Turn. Then over in the book of 2 Kings, verse number 17, He says, Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you through my servants, the prophets. In other words, if you go through the Old Testament, you realize that God is always compelling Israel. Turn from your evil ways. Turn from your idolatry. Turn from your wickedness. Turn from your selfish lifestyle. You need to turn from where you're going and follow me.

That's what the gospel is. That's what repentance is. Repentance is a turning of your life around to follow the true Savior. That's why Paul says, Listen, we know that you walked away from idols, that you might serve the true and living God. It's completely evident. That's why their Christianity was so contagious. Because everybody else was worshiping foreign gods. Everybody else was worshiping false gods. But these people were worshiping the one true God, the living God. So, they clearly walked away from idolatry in order to conspicuously worship God wholeheartedly.

They came to serve the living and true God. That's what they wanted to do. Why? Because they were compelled to bow before the king. And serve him. And the word serve the living God is an Old Testament phrase talking about how the priest, when they would go to worship God, they would be in the active service of the living God. So, they were serving God. That's why Paul says in Romans 12, verse number 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

I'm going to beg you, based on all the mercy that I've given to you in the first 11 chapters of Romans, I've explained to you the salvation of God, how he saves a sinful man, how by his mercy and grace, he bestows upon those that come to him and believe in him.

I beg you, I beg you, present your bodies a living sacrifice. This is this, because this is your logical, reasonable service of worship. That's Romans 12, verse number 1. In other words, this is the only logical thing you can do. Based on the mercy of God, based on all that God's done, everything else you do is illogical, but if you do this one thing, present your body a living sacrifice, this is the most reasonable, logical thing you can ever do, because it's based on the mercies of God. So, what's the living sacrifice?

What does that mean? Well, dead sacrifices cannot crawl off the altar. The living sacrifices, they can crawl off the altar at any time. But to understand the living sacrifice, you have to go all the way back to that Old Testament passage in Genesis chapter 22, where Abraham offered up Isaac on Mount Moriah. And God told him to take his only son, his beloved son, up on Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. And that's what he started to do. Got his son up there, tied him down, was about to slay him, and the angel of the Lord stopped him.

And the Lord said, now I know that you fear me. Why? Because you see, Abraham was going to do what God had called him to do, no matter what. Because you see, God wants an unrivaled affection and adoration for him. He wants no rivalry. Anything that's a rivalry to God in your life is your idol. Anything that takes precedence over God in your life is your idol. That's the God you worship. God says, I want no rival to my affection.

I want no rival to my adoration. I want you to be totally sold out for me. And so he says to Abraham, now I know that you fear me. Why? Because if he had slayed his son, Isaac would have been a dead sacrifice, but Abraham would have been a what? A living sacrifice. Why? Because he would have sacrificed all of his hopes, all of his dreams, all of his longings on the altar for the sake of God. That's a living sacrifice. So Paul says, based on everything that God has done, I want you to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your only logical form of worship.

This is it. Everything else you do is illogical, but this is logical because this is true worship and God seeks true worshipers. So important. That's why John in his epistle, in 1 John says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Why? Because the world is passing away and the lusts are up. But he who does the will of God abides forever. And at the very end of his epistle, 1 John 5, verse number 21, he says these words, Little children, guard yourself from idols.

What a statement. At first you think he just throws that in there at the very end. But it really goes to verse number 20. Because in verse number 20 he says this, And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourself from that which is untrue. In other words, God is real. Idols are unreal. God is true. Idols are untrue.

Guard yourself from that which is untrue. Guard yourself from that which is unreal. Guard yourself from that which is vain, that which is empty, that which is foolish, that which is futile. In other words, don't substitute in your life something that's empty and futile and foolish for the one true God. Don't do that. Guard yourself from that. Protect your heart from that. Turn with me to Psalm 115 for a moment.

Let me show you how this works. Psalm 115. Psalm 115. It says, Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory. Because of Your loving kindness, because of Your truth. Why should the nation say, Where now is their God? But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. Now we know that verse. We've heard that verse. We've read that verse. We've sometimes memorized that verse. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. In other words, our God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, to whomever He wants because He's God.

He's sovereign. He rules over all, right? And then He compares our God to the gods of the nations. Listen to this. Their idols are silver and gold. The work of man's hands. Now stop right there for a second.

When we think of idols, we think of things that we carve with our hands. But listen. Man craves it in his heart before he carves it with his hands. Right? So idolatry is something you crave on the inside. You don't have to carve it on the outside. It's because you crave it on the inside. You want it. That's why Paul would say that all covetousness is idolatry. Remember last time we were together? Eight weeks ago? And I said to you that the last commandment, the tenth commandment is thou shalt not covet.

It's not last because it's the least. It's the last because it's the root of all the other breaking of the previous nine commandments. There's something in your heart you want more than God. There's something in your heart you want more than anything else so you steal it. There's something you want in your heart more than anything else so you lie about it. There's something you want in your heart so you commit adultery. Right? That's called covetousness. It's called greed. It's the tenth commandment because it's the base of breaking all the other commandments.

Because at the base of covetousness is idolatry. Either you worship yourself or you worship another god or you worship someone else. But all of us are worshippers of someone or something. So God wants us to be true worshippers of himself. So the psalmist says the idols are silver and gold the work of man's hands. They have mouths but they cannot speak. They have eyes but they cannot see. They have ears but they cannot hear. They have noses but they cannot smell. Hands but they cannot feel. Feet, they cannot walk.

They cannot make a sound with their throat. Ah, but our God can. Why? Because he's in the heavens and he does whatever he wants to do. Idols, they can't speak, they can't hear, they can't walk, they can't feel, they can't touch. They can't do anything. But our God is in the heavens. He can do anything he wants. Because he's the one true living God. And then he says this. Look at this.

This is so good. Those who make them will become like them everyone who trusts in them. In other words, you become like the god you make. You become like the idol you worship. So if you worship an empty idol you become empty. You worship a foolish idol you become foolish. You worship a worthless idol you become, yeah you got it, worthless. That's right, you do. You become like the god you worship. If you worship the one true God you become like the one true God because he's the living God of the universe.

He's in the heavens, he can do whatever he pleases. So when you worship the one true living God then you become like that God. But when you worship a false God you become false. When you worship a foolish God you become foolish. So it says this. So Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. House of Aaron, trust in the Lord for He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord for He is their help and their shield. In other words, listen.

Idol worshipers cannot have help or protection. But if you worship the one true God and trust in Him, guess what? He is your help, He is your shield, He is your protector. He can do those things because He is the true and living God. See that? You become like the God you worship. And then He says this. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord. The small together with the great. May the Lord give you increase.

You and your children. May you be blessed of the Lord maker of heaven and earth. In other words, He is in heaven. He can do whatever He pleases. He made the heavens. He made the earth. He shields. He helps. He protects. He blesses. He makes you prosper. He provides for you. He protects for you because He is the true and living God. Every other God, well, when you cry out to them, they can't save you. They can't help you. When you cry out to your money, if you worship money, they can't help you. They just can't.

If you cry out to the one you're having an affair with because you live in adultery, they can't help you. They can't shield you. You've worshipped another God. No matter who you cry out to, if it's an idol worship, you can't receive what you need. But the one true God gives you everything you could possibly imagine because He's in heaven. He does whatever He pleases. That's why the Church of Thessalonica was so contagious. It was a model church. They clearly walked away from idolatry and very conspicuously worshipped God wholeheartedly.

They served Him with all of their heart. That's what they did. That's why they're the model church. That's why we place ourselves under the examination of the Scriptures because the Scripture gives us a standard by which we are to live. Not another church, but the Scriptures. What does the Bible say about how we're to live our lives? And this is that church. They became the quintessential example of what it means to follow the true and living God. And my prayer for you and for me is that exactly how we should be.

We are the marked ones, Philippians 3. We are the circumcision. We are the marked ones. We are the ones who worship God in spirit, who take no confidence in the flesh. We are the true worshippers of God. And when you truly worship God, your life is unlike that of the world. It's different. Not for difference sake, but because the direction of your life is upward, not outward. It's toward God, not toward man. And that was the nation of Israel. So, they clearly walked away from idolatry. They conspicuously worshipped God wholeheartedly.

And number three, they confidently waited on Christ expectantly. He says, verse 10, And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. There was this life of expectation. The phrase to wait for is one word in the original text. And that one word is only used here in the scriptures. It's a word that deals with waiting expectantly, waiting with great anticipation. This is what made them so contagious. They were actually enamored with the return of Christ.

You see, the Bible doesn't hint at Christ's return. It highlights Christ's return. The highlight of life is the return of Christ, His coming again. That is just so magnificent. It consumed them. They waited expectantly for the return of Jesus Christ, who rescues us from the wrath to come. They were looking for their rescuer. And that's who Jesus is, remember? That's His memorial name. Go way back to Exodus chapter 3, verse number 15. God says, This is my memorial name.

This is how I'm to be remembered from generation to generation. I am that I am. I am a deliverer. I am a redeemer. I am a rescuer. I'm a savior. This is how I will always be remembered. This is my memorial name. So they understood the memorial name of God, that He was a rescuer, a savior. And yes, He rescues them from eternal wrath. But I don't believe that that's what verse 10 is talking about. I think He's talking about the wrath that is to come with the tribulation upon this planet. I think that's the word, because He uses the word orge, and orge is used five times in the book of Revelation to speak of the wrath of God.

In fact, it says this in Revelation 6, verse number 16, at the breaking of the sixth seal, it says these words, The unbelievers will say, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. I'm always bewildered how the unbeliever knows that the wrath that's happening in the tribulation is the wrath of the Lamb. How do they know that? How do they come to that conclusion? How do they get that? Remember, eternity's been set in the heart of every man. There's no one who doesn't believe that God exists.

Romans 1 tells us everybody believes in the existence of God. But they know more even than they let on, because they know that this is the wrath of the Lamb. And then it says in verse 17 of Revelation 6, For the great day of His wrath is come. They know about the great day of God's wrath. And then when you come to Revelation chapter 11, verse number 18, after the Antichrist kills the two witnesses that are proclaimers of the gospel, and they're resurrected into glory, and the seventh trumpet's about to blow, and with the blowing of the seventh trumpet comes the seven bowls of wrath.

It says this, And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and Thou shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth. Thy wrath is come. And then over in Revelation 16, verse number 19, when Babylon is finally destroyed, Babylon will be the headquarters of the Antichrist and his false religious system.

In Revelation 16, it says, And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Same word, orge. And then in Revelation 19, 15, when Jesus Christ comes again, and that of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with which He should smite the nations, and He should rule them with a rod of iron, and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

They knew that Christ was going to rescue them from the coming wrath that will come upon the whole world. They knew that. So they weren't worried. Even though they received the word with joy, amidst much tribulation, they didn't worry about what was going to happen next because they knew they'd be rescued from the coming wrath to come. I'll show you with the first service, you know.

That's why we don't worry about the next election cycle. I'm not worried about November 5th. Why? Because God's going to put His man into office. The one God wants to put there. And I got news for you. Listen, I don't care who's elected on November 5th. It's not going to get any better. It's only going to get worse. How do I know that? I read the book. I read the Bible. It's only going to get worse. It's not going to get better. Your man might be in office, but let me tell you something.

It's still going to degenerate. It's still going to get worse and worse and worse and worse until Jesus comes again. So things aren't going to get better. We're not going to usher in a beautiful kingdom of God. No. It's going to get worse before the king returns again. But the good news is, He rescues us from the wrath to come. So we're not worried about the wrath, the fierceness of God's wrath upon this world. Why? Because Revelation 3.10 tells us it's for those who dwell upon the earth. And Bruce made very good reference to this this past Wednesday night, a phrase used ten times in the book of Revelation that only deals with the unbeliever.

It's coming upon the unbeliever, not the believer. We'll be rescued from all that. Well, the church of Thessalonica lived in anticipation of being rescued from the wrath to come. They weren't worried about who was going to be on the throne in Rome. They weren't worried about that. They weren't even worried about the persecution that they faced. And we'll look more about that when we come to Revelation chapter, I mean, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and chapter 3. They weren't worried about the persecution they were going to face.

Because they knew that ultimately, God was going to rescue them. He is their Redeemer, Savior, Deliverer. They knew that. And they lived in light of His coming again. That's why Paul said, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. You see, the church of Thessalonica becomes the model church. Why? Because they would authentically demonstrate the gospel. They were genuine. They were true. And everybody knew it. And they could audibly disseminate the gospel in such a way that people would hear and believe because they lived what they preached.

That's important. Why? Because they wanted to be imitators of Christ and of these men who came to bring them the gospel. And that's why there was this great endurance, this steadfastness of hope because their hope was in the blessed coming of their Savior. This was the church of Thessalonica. This is the model church. This is what we look to to determine how it is we are to live our lives and function as a church. And may God give us the grace to do so. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today.

We thank you for all the things you teach us and how you work in our lives. Our prayer, Father, is that we would be the people you want us to be. That we would look to your word as our clear direction for the future. And that we would know how you want us to live based on what your word says. And that we'd follow you. We thank you that we could gather together on the Lord's day to magnify your name. We're thankful, Lord, that you are our King and our God. We pray that there's someone here today who does not know for certain that eternity is their destiny.

That you saved them from their sin. And for those of us who have been rescued not only from the eternal wrath of God but from the temporal wrath that will come upon this world that we would live for your glory and honor every day putting you on display until you come again as you most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.