True Christianity

1 Thessalonians 1v2-3

18^th June 2021

1 Thessalonians 1v2-3
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Paul, Silas and Timothy wrote this letter to the church at Thessalonica, this church, only the second church ever planted in Europe, was very inexperienced and relatively untaught; it wasn't much more than two years old, it was suffering persecution, and it had some very unbiblical ideas. What would you say to a group of Christian people in that situation? Paul, Silas and Timothy realised that this young, suffering church needed to be encouraged. They wanted them to know they were accepted and secure in God, and they found several ways of communicating that.

The first thing Paul and his friends wanted to do in their letter was to give these young Christians an understanding that they're not individuals, but a community of God's people, and that they're in God. They were truly accepted by God and therefore they were eternally safe.

There are lots of words and phrases we use to say that we're truly Christians. We say were "saved", we're "born again", we're "redeemed", we're "members of God's church", we've "come to faith", we've "been converted", we've "given our lives to Jesus". But Paul usually describes us as "in God" or "in Christ". Many of us have wonderful stories of the time we became a Christian, but what makes us Christians is not the memory of an event; it's our position, now and for ever. We're in God, in Christ. We're safe for eternity.

Paul and his friends then prayed for them that they would experience Gods' grace and God's peace.

They now tell the church members at Thessalonica that:

1 Thessalonians 1v2
We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

It's encouraging and reassuring to hear that our leaders, and our friends, pray for us and give thanks to God for us. Perhaps we should tell each other that we're praying for them and giving thanks for them more often than we do. Praying is the most important thing we do for each other. When we help each other we only have our limited, human resources, but God can do anything.

Just as the Thessalonians need to know that God is for them, it's helpful to know that their apostles and their leaders are for them. We all need to be reminded sometimes that we're not alone.

Paul and his friends loved their churches deeply. Some church leaders seem to be more interested in their own welfare and their own ideas, and even their own careers (as if leading a church is a career!) than the well-being of the people under their care. Jesus said:

John 10:11-13
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep."

Obviously, no pastor should compare himself to Christ, but all pastors should share some of Christ's attitudes, however imperfectly. We shouldn't be like hired hands; who clock off at 5:30 and forget about the people in their care. We should be true shepherds. We can't be The Good Shepherd, but we can be good shepherds. Day by day, a pastor should give his life for the well-being of his church (I'm not saying that I do; I'm just saying that I should).

Like all good church leaders, Paul, Silas and Timothy pray for the churches under their care. Like all good church leaders, they're thankful to God for the people who've been born again, adopted as children of God, though their preaching and encouragement. In this letter, they're going to have to address some problems in the church but, first, they want to encourage the church. They say what they can that's positive about the church before going on to deal with some things that aren't so positive.

So, first the good news…

1 Thessalonians 1v3
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

John Calvin describes this verse as "a brief definition of true Christianity". When these men pray and think about the Christians in Thessalonica, they particularly remember three aspects of that church's life.

Firstly: Their work produced by faith.

The Thessalonians believed in Jesus. They believed He's God. They believed He died for their sins and rose again. They had confidence in Jesus, in His love and His power. This confidence wasn't shaken by the persecution and other problems that they faced. The fruit of this faith was work. And the work they did for Jesus demonstrated the genuineness of their faith.

Anybody who has real faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who truly believes that Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day, will inevitably want to serve his Lord. Every true Christian will want to share in the work of telling others about Jesus, and to do what he can to encourage and serve the other Christians in their church.

Anybody who wants to, as it were, accept the salvation that Jesus offers, put it in his back pocket, and please himself until the day he dies, has never received that salvation. If we show absolutely no gratitude to God for the amazing sacrifice of Christ and the amazing mercy of God, surely that's because we've never experienced that mercy. And actions speak louder than words. If we don't care about the health of our church, or the salvation of our neighbours, if we don't give financially, practically, emotionally and consistently, then what makes us think our salvation is real?

A Christian will become more and more like Christ. Christ gave all He had for us. A true Christian will give back to Him. The Thessalonians were true Christians. They worked. And this gave them assurance that they were truly in God.

Secondly: Their labour prompted by love.

"Kopos", The Greek word translated "labour" here, means just what "labour" means in English: the sort of exertion that brings weariness. To labour is to wear oneself out.

Faith causes us to work for Jesus, for the church and for those who don't yet know Jesus. But love goes further than faith. Love causes us to labour. If we truly love Jesus, we will labour for His glory, for His church, for His mission to save the lost. We will make ourselves seriously tired. This idea has become rather unfashionable among British evangelicals, I think. But it's here, in the Bible.

We can't be saved by our hard work; we can only be saved through faith in the redeeming blood of Christ. But being saved, being grateful to our God, we will want to work for Him. And if we truly love our God, we will weary ourselves for Him. If we truly love our neighbours, we will weary ourselves for them.

We all need to rest sometimes. But what better way is there to live our lives than to pour them out in service to God and our neighbours? As George Mueller once said, "Nobody lies on his deathbed thinking, 'I wish I'd served God less'".

Of course, some of us are busy earning a living or raising a family, and our time is limited. Some retired people are frail and don't have the energy they used to have. Some of us are sick. And the Coronavirus lockdown has made things difficult for everybody. But all who truly love God will find ways to serve Him, and His church, and our neighbours, even when we're tired.

The Thessalonians loved God. They wearied themselves in His service. And this assured them that they were truly in God. Let me ask you, does your consistent and costly service to God, your church and your neighbours reassure you that you're truly saved?

Thirdly: Their endurance inspired by hope.

As we'll see as we read further in this letter, the Thessalonian Christians were persecuted for their faith. At the moment, persecution in Britain is still at a relatively low level. Soon, it may get significantly worse. If that happens, we'll learn the meaning of endurance. Christians endure persecution, as we endure other forms of suffering, by focussing on our hope. Every true Christian knows that things are going to get enormously, infinitely better.

Things will get better for us when we go to be with Him in glory. We will be in Paradise. There will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more sorrow.

And things will get better for the world. One day, God says:

Isaiah 9:6-9
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra's den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Our confident hope that our eternity will be perfect, and that God's mission to redeem and renew the world will succeed, means that all our present suffering is worth it:

Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Most if not all of us experience times of great sorrow and great struggle. At such times, it's tempting to walk away from God. We can imagine we'll feel less pain and distress if we give up on the idea of a loving and merciful God. But the times of sorrow and struggle are when we most need to cleave to God, to focus on our Saviour, and His work, and the eternal reward He's won for us.

The Thessalonians were just baby Christians, but they'd learnt to hope. And they'd learnt to find such comfort and inspiration in their hope that they were able to endure. Perhaps it's the very presence of persecution and suffering that helps us to learn hope and endurance.

Are you confident of your future, and the world's future? Are you sure God knows what He's doing, and His plans for you and for the world will prevail? Does this confidence assure you that you're truly saved?

So this was the Thessalonian church: baby Christians, persecuted and confused over doctrine, but full of faith, work, love, labour, hope and endurance. Would people say the same about me? About you? About us?