The Manifestations of a Good Church: Part 1 - 1 Thess Lesson 4

The Manifestations of a Good Church

1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

Part 1

 Open your Bibles with me this morning to 1 Thessalonians. We are very early in our verse by verse journey through this letter from Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to this extraordinary church. The church of the Thessalonians is a remarkable assembly of followers of Christ. The way it came into being, the record of which is found in Acts 17, is an incredible story. Paul and his missionary companions did not spend a lot of time with these people after preaching the gospel to them. The Acts account tells us Paul reasoned with the Jews from the Scriptures for three Sabbaths. I think Paul was there a little longer than three weeks, but he certainly was not there for years and years and years. The fact that this church became what it is revealed to be in this letter is remarkable given the relative short amount of time Paul was there. This is a powerful testimony of the work of God in not just founding the church but in laying a foundation and establishing a solid church that immediately began to have a massive impact on the world around it.

 Let’s read this first chapter again together and let me give you the outline once again. After the salutation in verse 1 Paul gives the marks of a good church in verses 2-3. Then he gives the making of a good church in verses 4-5. And finally, Paul gives the manifestations of a good church in verses 6-10. Briefly, verses 2-3 describe what Paul could presently see as reality among those in this church. Verses 4-5 describe what had happened previously to produce these remarkable results. Verses 6-10 describe the ongoing evidences, or the manifestations of the work of God that had made this group into this really solid church. Read the chapter.

 By way of quick review, since we have some folks back who have been gone, and we have some new folks who have not been here for the first part of our study, let me give you a brief overview. I will just add a little substance on the outline. If you want to go to the church’s website you can listen to the last three weeks and get caught up with were we are. I have made the focus of these words about the good church, but remember, these are descriptions of what has happened in individuals who have come together to make up the church. These words don’t challenge us as a church unless they challenge us as individuals. The marks, and making, and manifestations of a good church are not a reality unless these things are true of the individuals who identify themselves as part of that church. The marks of a good church are the marks of a genuine Christian. The making of a good church results from the making of genuine Christians. The manifestations of a good church are simply the manifestations of an assembly of genuine Christians. This message is for every individual sitting in this room today. It can’t be about the church without being about the individuals in that church.

 The marks of a good church start with the good relationship between the leadership and the laity. Paul said, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers.” There is no such thing as a good church if there is not a good relationship between the leadership and the laity. We will get a comprehensive look as we study this letter of the relationship between Paul and the Thessalonian believers. This letter tells us more about that relationship than any other N.T. letter. The second mark is the work of faith. This is the work faith produces when it is gifted to the sinner in the work of regeneration. The work of faith produces a deep and abiding love for God the Father and Christ, love for the word of God, genuine repentance, humility, devotion to God’s glory no matter the circumstances, devotion to prayer, separation from the world, consistent and obvious spiritual growth, and the progressive transformation of one as a new creation in Christ Jesus. These things mark the genuine Christian and genuine Christians make a good church.

 The next mark is the labor of love. This is labor to the point of exhaustion. The motivation is genuine love for Christ and those who belong to Christ. The next mark is steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a hope so kind of hope but the desire for the fullness of God’s promises coupled with the confident expectation of receiving all that God has promised and provided in Christ. The final mark is the reality that the church lives in the presence of our God and Father. This is living with an awareness of God’s omnipresence and His omniscience. He knows every thought, hears every word, keeps record of every deed. These are the marks of a good church, and the genuine Christians who make up the church.

 We looked last Sunday at the making of a good church. The making of the church was something Paul understood. He starts verse 4 with the word “knowing.” This was something Paul understood intuitively. This is a key word in this chapter. Paul knew, or understood perfectly, that the making of a church started with God’s love of those whom He had chosen to be brethren. Paul says, “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.” The making of a church starts with God’s loving choice of the brethren who will come together to make up that church. While we might not all agree on how or when that choice takes place, the biblical evidence for choice demands that we all agree that God’s election is an indisputable reality. God saves those who are chosen, or elect.

 God does not complete the work all by Himself. He sent Paul and his missionary companions to go to these people to proclaim the gospel. So while the work of salvation starts with God, and is motivated by God’s love and is made a reality because of His choice, it always involves man’s proclamation of the gospel message. I gave you a detailed description of the gospel last week.

 But the making of a Christian does not happen with the preaching of the gospel only. It also requires the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Paul preached the gospel but it does nothing unless the Holy Spirit brings the power that causes the gospel to transform. The study of how that works is well worth our time but we will save it for another occasion. Just know that God starts the work of making Christians with His choice. Man gets involved by preaching the gospel. God makes the gospel to become the power of God to save those who believe by the work of the Holy Spirit. And there is one more aspect. Paul said, “just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” Somehow, God used the example of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy as examples of the life transforming power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit used this to convince the Thessalonians to believe.

 In summary, the making of the church, or the making of the genuine Christians that make up the church, begins with God, involves the preaching of man, depends on the Holy Spirit’s power to convert, and utilizes the example of previously converted individuals to convince. So, what that means is that we must be faithful to preach the gospel to every man, because we don’t know who are among God’s elect. We must make sure our gospel is a biblical gospel. We must live the kind of life that is convincing. By doing these things we prove ourselves to be a church that God has made that He can use for His glory.

 A church that God has made will be a church that manifests the reality of His work. Beginning in verse 6 Paul begins to describe the manifestations of a good church. These are the things that resulted from the making of a good church. Again, just so we don’t forget. These are the things that will show up as manifestations in the individual Christians who are the genuine converts who come together to make up the church.

 The first manifestation of a good church is that it is made up of people who are imitators of Christ. Paul writes in verse 6, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord.” A good church will be made up of genuine Christians who show themselves to be imitators of Christ. Invariably, there will be a spiritual leader leading the way for them by being himself a faithful imitator of Christ. A good church is a church where the people and the pastoral leadership imitate Jesus Christ.

 The word “imitate” is the Greek word “mimetes” (mim-ay-tase). We get our English word mimic from this Greek word. We understand what it means to mimic someone. We are simply following the example. Paul would not have encouraged others to follow His example if he were not faithfully following the example of Christ. This is the mantra of Paul’s ministry. He said to the Corinthians, twice, once in 1 Cor. 4:16, “I exhort you, be imitators of me.” Again in 1 Cor. 11:1 he wrote, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

 Let’s make something clear. We don’t become Christians by deciding to imitate the life of a faithful Christian. If this were possible we could be saved by our own efforts. The Greek construction here indicates that the Thessalonian Christians had been made to become imitators. The verb “became” is an aorist tense passive voice verb. They received the action of the verb. They had been made to become imitators. The Holy Spirit made them to become imitators when He gifted them faith and gave them spiritual life in Christ.

 A good church is a church full of individual Christians who have become Christ imitators, or Christ followers. In front of those Christ followers will be a spiritual leader who is obviously leading they way. Paul knew how important it was to follow him as he followed Christ, or to be following someone else who was walking according to the pattern set by him as a follower of Christ. This is exactly what Paul told the Philippians to be doing in Phil. 3:17. “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.”

 A good church will have leadership worthy to be imitated. This is both challenging to me and convicting. I must be able to look at you and exhort you to imitate me as I imitate Christ. In order for me to be able to do that, I must be able to look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that my walk is worthy to be imitated. Who knows the truth about my walk better than me and the Lord? I am often reminded of the need to carefully guard my own steps so that I do not drift off the path of righteousness because if I do I will lead others astray.

 When I was a kid learning to hunt I would follow my dad through the woods. We would go squirrel hunting. We were after what Don Page told me is “tree bacon.” I like that description. Squirrel hunting requires that you be able to walk quietly through the woods. Walking quietly through the woods requires extreme caution about where you put your feet. If you step on dry leaves, they crunch. If you step on small dead sticks, they break. Squirrels live in trees. Where there are a lot of trees there will always be a lot of dry leaves and dead sticks on the ground, making it very difficult to walk quietly through the woods.

 I remember as a kid, following my dad through the woods, learning the importance of watching where he stepped and stepping in the exact spot where he stepped. He knew where to put his feet to be as quiet as possible. He was a good hunter. If I stepped where he stepped, I minimized the risk of unnecessary noise. I don’t remember for certain, but I am sure my dad strongly encouraged me to just step where he stepped.

 This is what Paul exhorted the Corinthians and the Philippians to do, and what he is acknowledging that the Thessalonians had learned to do. They were mimicking the walk of Paul and the others who were simply mimicking the walk of Christ. A good church will have leaders who are imitating Christ and members who are imitating the leaders who are imitating Christ. Therefore, obviously, the members will be imitating Christ.

 I need to say a couple more things about this before we move on. The first thing is this. I am accountable to the Lord for my own personal walk, but I am also accountable to you. There is a reason the Bible clearly spells out the spiritual qualifications for an elder in the church. There is a reason that elder’s lives are to be examined to make sure they meet those qualifications. If you don’t know what those qualifications are, go read 1 Timothy and Titus. I have a responsibility to live up to those requirements. If I fail to live up to those requirements, I disqualify myself from the office of an elder.

 This is timely for me because a man that I highly respected recently proved himself to be an unworthy example of a man to imitate. He was a prominent figure in reformed circles. He was pastor of a growing church in the Dallas area. He had a ministry called One Passion Ministries that had an international influence. He was the head of the Doctorate of Preaching program at the Master’s Seminary, the pastoral training seminary associated with John MacArthur’s church. He was a frequent speaker at Ligonier Ministries which was founded by R.C. Sproul. This man’s name is Steve Lawson. Steve Lawson was surrounded by godly, gifted, grounded men. Steve was found out to have been involved in an appropriate relationship with a woman 40 years his junior. He was immediately removed from all duties and responsibilities in his church and those ministries with whom he was affiliated. This was tragic. This kind of thing brings reproach on the name of Christ.

 I am accountable to you and I will always be accountable to the church which I serve as the teaching elder. That is my role here. I am the teaching elder of Grace Bible Church and as such I am accountable to you and my Lord Jesus Christ. I would be a fool to think that what happened to Steve Lawson could not happen to me. It is undeniably true that but for the grace of God, it could be me. My best defense is a careful watch of my steps so that I can look you in the eye and tell you to imitate me as I imitate Christ. I want you to be like me as I stepped in my dad’s footprints while walking through the woods. I want to be certain that by imitating me you are imitating Christ. If you see anything in my life that concerns you, I want you to have the freedom to confront me. Please follow the biblical pattern for these kinds of things. Come to me first. Don’t go to everyone else in the church to see if they have noticed anything.

 Here is the second thing that needs to be said in this regards. There must be a mutual accountability. If I am imitating Christ, and I look at you and I see something that tells me that you are not imitating me and Christ, I have a responsibility to you, to this church, and to our Lord to speak to that concern. If one of you sees someone else in the church living in such a way that they are not imitating Christ, we have a responsibility to one another to address the concern. That responsibility is to speak directly to you about it.  Matthew 18 spells out this process. This process of church discipline was given to the church to protect the purity of the church and the integrity of the church’s reputation.

 Because the Thessalonians were imitators of Paul and the Lord, the church had an incredible reputation. According to verse 7 they were examples to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. Their reputation was known over the entire region. This was true only because they were careful to follow the example of Paul and imitate him and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Good churches are made up of genuine Christians and genuine Christians are genuine because they are following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Genuine Christians are made to become imitators of the Lord. So, the obvious question we must all answer today is pretty straightforward. Are we imitators of the Lord? If not, what must we do? I read Colossians 3 for our Scriptural call to worship for a reason. If you are not imitating the Lord, go spend some time in Col. 3. Just start prayerfully studying and applying what you find there and you will be doing well. When you get Col. 3 mastered go to Philippians 2 and work on having the attitude in yourself that was in Christ. There is a lot that could be said about being an imitator of Christ.

There is a second manifestation of a good church found in verse 6. Paul continues, “having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” If you  want to know whether or not a church is a good church, just look at how they respond to the word of God. There is no such thing as a good church that does not place a very high priority on the Bible. A good church will have a high view of Scripture. A good church will place a very prominent priority on the teaching of the word of God. And it will not just be a commitment of the church to the teaching of the Scriptures, there will be a commitment on the part of the genuine Christians within that church to learn and live according to the Scriptures.

The text tells us that the Thessalonians “received” the word. Received is “dechomai” (deck-o-my) in the Greek. It means to accept something deliberately and readily, to take to oneself what is presented. To receive the word is to admit with the heart, mind, will the truth of the word and to embrace it, approve it, and follow it. Turn over to 2:13. This verse gives us an explanation of what it means to “receive” the word. It is translated “accepted” in the NASB. The word “received” in the NASB in 2:13 is a different word which is synonymous to dechomai. The word “accepted” in 2:13 is the word “dechomai.” The Thessalonians “accepted it (the word of God) not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

 Not only did the Thessalonians receive the word of God, but they readily and deliberately continued to accept it even though the acceptance of the word of God was the very reason for the tribulation they were experiencing. This church faced immediate persecution because they accepted God’s word from God’s messenger. As soon as a people responded to the gospel and joined Paul and Silas (Silvanus), the response of the Jews was jealousy. They were loosing influence with the people and they were not happy about the defections so they enlisted some wicked men from the marketplace and formed a mob and set the entire city in an uproar. Evidently a man named Jason was among the converts and this mob attacked his house and dragged him and some of the other brethren before the city authorities claiming that they were upsetting the world.

 The word “tribulation” in our text means “trouble.” It is translated “affliction” in the KJV. We are not exempt from tribulation. Rather, we are especially subject to trouble, especially if we accept the word of God for what it really is, not the word of men but the word of God. That notion is abhorrent to the culture in which we live today. The tribulation these genuine Christians faced was persecution and opposition to their testimony which came from an ungodly and therefore unfriendly world.

 Listen, these were not a few tribulations. Look over at 2 Thess. 1:4. Look at 2 Cor. 8:1-2. These genuine Christians readily accepted the word of God because they knew it was the word of God even though embracing the word of God would result in tribulation. Accepting the word of God put them at odds with everyone else in their culture. The Greeks would hate them because receiving the word of God meant rejecting all the other gods. The Greeks had a bunch of them. The Greeks didn’t want to make any of their gods mad. Any drought, outbreak of illness, military defeat, or natural disaster was believed by these pagans to be the result of angering one or more of the gods. The fingers were often pointed at the Christians.

 The Jews would hate them because they embraced Jesus. The problem with Jesus for the Jews was the fact that He had died on a Cross. This was a sign of being cursed of God, not the Messiah of God, to the Jews. Many of the converts to Christianity were coming out of Jewish circles. These Christians were ostracized by the community. On every front they were facing tribulation, affliction, and trouble from an ungodly and unfriendly world. They had no constitutionally guaranteed rights to religious freedom. Just showing up at the home of another Christian could get you dragged off and beaten.

 Yet, these genuine Christians received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. With joy the word of God was received even though receiving the word resulted in trouble. The Greek word for joy is “chara.” It means to rejoice with gladness. This is the joy which the Holy Spirit imparts by His influence in the lives of those in whom He dwells and fills. It is the joy that accompanies genuine faith. This joy produces the gladness that arises from the gift of faith.

 This was a church that received the word in much tribulation in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Is that what we find in most churches today? In too many churches today the word of God is not being received, it is being replaced. It is replaced with stories, jokes, theatrical productions, or even worse – personal revelations and “a word from God.” My friends, replacing the word of God is a grave mistake. It is the same as rejecting the word of God. The word of God is rejected if we start taking parts out we don’t like. The word of God is rejected if we ignore what it clearly teaches about something.

 A good church is a church where genuine Christians love the word of God and receive the word of God. A good church will be the place where you will find genuinely transformed people who have responded to the gospel, and by the power of the Holy Spirit have been made to become imitators and followers of Jesus Christ. These people will be hungry for the word of God. Spiritual life requires spiritual nourishment and spiritual nourishment comes from the word of God. Genuine Christians hunger for the truth of God’s word. They want nothing more than the Bible. They will accept nothing less than the Bible. They will receive the word, regardless of how the culture around them responds to the word, and they are joyful, even when the hateful world afflicts them on account of the word.

 Ok, so we only got to two of these manifestations of a good church. That’s not a problem. The book isn’t going anywhere. It will be here when we come back next week. I don’t plan on going anywhere. If something happens to me just call a new pastor who will faithfully exposit the word of God and tell him to pick up where I left off.

 We kind of got a plate full from this verse. We are confronted with a couple of needful questions as we close. As we look at ourselves and the application of this text to our lives we need to be honest. Am I imitating Jesus Christ my Lord in all my thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions? Am I receiving the word of God? Am I committed to receiving the word of God no matter what opposition I might encounter by a hateful culture? Am I receiving the word with joy in the Holy Spirit?

 Good churches are made up of genuine Christians in whom these things are true. Let’s pray.