The Marks of a Good Church: Thessalonians Lesson 2

The Marks of a Good Church

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

 Let’s open the Word of God to Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Last week we looked at the words of Paul’s salutation. Today we want to get into the rest of the first chapter. I have something of an outline of the rest of the first chapter that I will share with you prior to our reading this chapter together. This is the outline we will be following for the next few weeks. After the salutation of verse 1, Paul describes the marks of a good church in verses 2-3. Then he describes the making of a good church in verses 4-7. Finally, he describes the manifestation of a good church in verses 8-10. Today we will be looking at the marks of a good church in verses 2-3 but let’s read this chapter together as we begin.

 I told you last week that there was a special relationship between the Apostle Paul and this assembly of Christ-followers at Thessalonica. This special bond was the result of God’s work in these people. Paul was among them for a relatively short time. The work God had done in them between the time Paul was there and the writing of this letter is nothing short of miraculous and remarkable. This is a letter of encouragement and instruction to a good church. These people had done, and were continuing to do most things right. Paul saw extensive evidence that these people were genuine, sincere, faithful, and standing firm.

 Paul writes of what he knows to be true among these people because of what he had seen among them individually. When looking for a good church, don’t look at the building, or the kids playground, or the translation of the Bible they prefer. Look at the people. A church will not be a good church unless the people who make up that church are truly the redeemed of the Lord. A church with many tares sown among the wheat will not be a good church. A church with dangerous wolves in the midst will not be a good church. I would submit to you that there are not many good churches around today because the church as too many unregenerate people in the mix.

 I am convinced that we are in the last days. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1 these words. “But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…” The stage has been set for this falling away because there are many people who have made professions of faith in Christ but have not experienced the transformed life that the genuine work of salvation produces. When things get difficult, those who have made empty professions will walk away from the faith. This will not happen to a good church.

 Why? Because a good church is nothing more than a gathering of genuine converts. An assembly of empty professors cannot be a good church. If the people are genuine followers of Christ, the church will be a good church. What constitutes genuine conversion? If a good church must be made up of genuine converts, what constitutes a genuine conversion? I’m going to start with those evidences that neither prove nor disprove the genuineness of one’s faith. Visible morality – a person who is moral does not prove the genuineness of his faith by his morality. A lot of lost people are moral people. Intellectual knowledge is no proof of genuine salvation. Tons of memorized verses is no proof. Religious involvement and involvement in ministry is not reliable proof. Conviction of sin is no proof. Someone saying they have assurance is no reliable proof. Being able to tell you the date, time, and location of their “decision for Christ” is not a reliable proof.

 If you see these things in the life of an individual you can be sure that their conversion was genuine. If they have a deep and abiding love for God, if they have genuinely repented from sin, if they manifest genuine humility, if they are devoted to God’s glory, no matter what they are going through, if they are truly devoted to prayer, if they love others selflessly, if they separate themselves from the world and the things of the world, if they are growing spiritually, and if they are demonstrating a progressive transformation of their life, showing that they are new creatures, you can be fairly certain that these things mark one who is genuinely saved. If these things are true of them, then those things which are not necessarily reliable evidences will be evident also.

  I could have easily gone off on a month’s long tangent preaching a message on each of those evidences. Maybe sometime in the future I should. But I think you get the point. Paul knew what to look for. He saw the marks of a good church because he saw the marks of a godly, growing, regenerated group of people. 

 So let’s get into what he saw. What were the marks of this good church? The first mark of a good church is the strength of the relationship between the leadership and the laity. Laity is not a term you hear every day. It is fancy word to describe those in the church that are not in a leadership role. This letter reveals that the relationship between the missionaries who founded the church and the people in the church was special. In fact, in this letter Paul tells more about his relationship with them than in any other letter he writes. We will look at that in a minute.

Notice first the uniqueness of this statement in verse 2. Paul says, “We give things to God always for all of you.” Paul does not say this specifically to any other church. He uses the superlatives, “always” and “all” in this letter alone. To the Romans he said he was thankful for them all, but he does not say he was always thankful for all of them. Maybe it was implied, but he didn’t say it like this. To the Corinthians he said he was always thanking God concerning them for the grace of God which was given to them. That makes sense. That church was a mess. Without God’s grace they were in trouble. He said nothing about giving thanks in the first part of his second letter to that church.

 Galatians was not written to a single church, but to a group of churches in the region of Galatia. He said nothing about being thankful for them. He simply expressed amazement at how quickly they were deserting Christ and the grace of God. He calls the Ephesians “faithful in Christ Jesus” but says nothing about giving thanks for them. He gets close in his letter to the Philippians. He said, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.” To the Colossians he gave thanks always, but said nothing about “all” of them. The letters we call the pastoral epistles don’t count because they were written to only one individual, not to an assembly of Christians. This was also true of the letter to Philemon.

 I don’t want to read too much into this, but this really is the only letter where these superlatives are used. “We give thanks to God always for all of you…” Paul was never afraid to say what needed to be said to a church in his letters and he says what he means. He and Silvanus and Timothy gave thanks to God always for all of the believers in Thessalonica. They all gave evidence of the work of salvation. Even if they were not all at the same level of spiritual maturity and understanding, Paul was thankful for them all.

 When we get into chapter 2 we are going to get a close look at the relationship between the missionaries who founded this church and the people who made up the church. Look at 2:1-13. This is a unique glimpse into the nature of the relationship between the leadership and the laity. It reveals to us that there was a deep, abiding, enduring love between them. The leaders were not in ministry for personal gain, or to promote themselves. They were always concerned about the spiritual well-being of the people. The people recognized the humility of their leaders. They respected the authority of the leaders. They received the word of God from the leaders. The leaders labored diligently. The relationship was special. The result was a church that had an impact on the world in which it existed.

 The relationship between the leadership and the laity will always be an important factor in whether or not a church is a good church. There is an old saying that Donna reminds me of occasionally. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Chapter 2 will show us how much Paul cared. The impact of the leadership was extensive because the leadership cared about the people. All this produced abundant thanksgiving to God always for all of the Thessalonian Christians.

 Besides all the labor and hardship Paul and the other leaders endured for these believers, there was one more way they actively demonstrated their concern for, and commitment to this church. It was prayer. Paul says “making mention of you in our prayers.” How often do we read something like this and move on. Let me encourage you to slow down and take this in. This may be the most important indicator of the strength of the relationship between the leadership and the laity of the church. Our commitment to prayer for others is probably the truest measure of our concern.

 The argument could be made that the most reliable indicator of our love and devotion to others is the time and effort that goes into our prayers offered on their behalf. It is fairly easy to say we love someone. It is a little more difficult to demonstrate love through sacrificial service. This takes time and effort and may cost us a little money. This is so much more meaningful than simply saying “I care about you.”

 Consider this. There is a potential problem associated with our efforts to demonstrate love with our deeds of service. We could actually be doing the deeds out of self-love. We could be doing these deeds of service, not because we really care about others, but because we want to be recognized for our deeds, or because we want to feel good about ourselves. I’m not saying we should not demonstrate love by meeting needs and ministering to others. We just need to be careful regarding our motives.

 Prayer, on the other hand, is a pure and powerful expression of love. Prayer alone, without meeting the need, will not show that you love others. But prayer alone will show how much you really care. We find it easy to tell someone we will pray for them regarding some need. But how often do we get serious in taking that need before the throne of grace. If you read Paul’s letters to the church you find so many references to his prayers for the people. For Paul, prayer was the greatest expression of love and concern for those he cared about. He didn’t have a cell phone to call them on to check on how they were doing and to exhort them in the faith. He knew they were in a hostile environment. He knew they were surrounded by evil influences and constantly bombarded with temptation. He also knew they were God’s children and I picture the Apostle Paul as that widow who was wearing the judge out with her request. Look at Luke 18:1-8.

 If there is a good relationship between the leadership of the church and the laity of the church, and God is working in the lives of His people within that church, there will be some things that will mark that church. Paul lists three of these marks, or characteristics that he saw in these Christians. He says in verse 3, “constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. There is a lot here.

 The good church will be marked by the “work of faith.” As I read this I can’t avoid having to deal with a question. Is this “work of faith” something we do, or is it something that faith working in us does. I hope that makes sense. 

Since we recently finished a study of the book of James we should have a good understanding of the relationship of the work of faith. Genuine faith will always produce works. Faith works. We are not saved by good works. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But the faith that genuinely saves is a faith that will result in good works which authenticate the saving nature of that faith. James told us that faith, if it has not works, is a dead faith. So, the work of faith could be a reference to the works we do which are the product of our faith.

 James gave us the example of Abraham who proved his faith to be genuine saving faith. He did this by obeying God’s command to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God stopped Abraham short of human sacrifice, but not before Abraham had proven his faith. He was willing to obey because he believed God would have raised his son from the dead.

 There is no argument that saving faith will be accompanied by good works that serve to verify the nature of saving faith. But I think Paul has something else in mind here. I think Paul is talking about the work which is done in the Christian as a result of faith. I know there is some debate over the interpretation of Ephesians 2:8 where Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God.” I understand that to mean that faith is God’s gift to us. This is why salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. When we are granted the gift of faith we are born again, redeemed, placed in Christ, and made to be new creatures in Christ.

 When this happens there is an accompanying work of faith. There are results that come with the gift of faith. These are the works we talked about as evidences of genuine saving faith. The work of faith is the work that produces in the true Christian a deep and abiding love for God, love for the people of God, and love for the word of God. The work of faith is the work that produces the fruit of repentance from sin. The work of faith is the work that humbles us and makes us long for God to be glorified in our lives. The work of faith is the work that makes us selfless lovers of others. It is what separates us from the world and the things of the world. The work of faith creates the motivation to live obediently.

 Let me show you another verse to the Thessalonians that explains the “work of faith” as something God does in us rather than something we do. Look at 2 Thess. 1:11. “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.” The context here is coming judgment. Paul’s prayer for them is that God would count them worthy. Who does the counting worthy at the time of judgment? That would be God’s job. The verb “fulfill” is an active voice verb. The subject of the sentence does the action associated with the verb. Who is the subject of the sentence? It is God. God is taking the action to count you worthy of your calling. In fact, He does the calling. He does the counting one worthy of that calling. He fulfills every desire for goodness and He fulfills the work of faith with power.

 Paul was just remembering all the evidence of new life in these people who had been called of God into salvation. We are going to look more at that calling next week. The mark of a good church is a bunch of people in whom the evidence of the work of faith is not just present with a few. It is evident in all those who are part of that church. Paul was so thankful always for all of them because in all of them he saw the evidence of the work of faith. When God gifts us faith and saves us that doesn’t happen without some results being produced.

 The next mark of a good church is the labor of love. The word labor is the word “kopos” (cop-os). It describes a difficult, arduous, wearying toil that brings one to the point of utter exhaustion. This is not a word that describes the easy stuff. This is the kind of labor that wears you out. It is the labor that will only happen if there is sufficient motivation to make it happen. Paul tells us what produces this kind of labor. It is love. This is the “agape” sacrificial love that we are to demonstrate.

 We know we are commanded to love one another. We know that we are to be known by our love for one another. We know, from our recent study of 1 John, that if we do not love, we abide in death. On the other hand, if we have love for the brethren, we know we have passed from death to life. 

 Paul informs us that the mark of a good church is a willingness to labor to the point of exhaustion because love motivates us. This does not describe a love that loves a little, or occasionally, or when it is convenient, or not too much trouble. The mark of a good church is a love that motivates deeds that push you to the point of exhaustion. Even when the needs of another are wearing you out you are motivated to keep on loving, keep on meeting needs, keep on helping. We are laboring out of a love for Christ and for His people. We understand what Paul was talking about in 2 Cor. 5:14 when he said, “the love of Christ controls us…” When the love of Christ controls us there is no effort that is considered too much.

 The next mark of a good church is steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. This hope is something we find often in the Scripture. It is not a “hope so” kind of hope. Rather, it is the desire of some good coupled with a confident expectation of obtaining it. When I go fishing I hope I catch some fish. I don’t always have the confident expectation that it is going to happen. That is a “hope so” hope. The hope of the true Christian is the desire for all that God has promised, coupled with the expectation and confidence that everything God has promised is a future reality. 

 Peter wrote these important words regarding our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:3-9. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time…” Read through verse 9.

 This hope, which is the mark of the genuine Christian, produces steadfastness in the life of that Christian. Steadfastness is the Greek word “hupomone.” It means to persevere, to endure. It describes the one who can remain under pressure. As we work our way on through this letter we will see that these people weren’t accepting Christ so that they could have a rich and full and meaningful life on this earth. When these people were granted faith, they were signing up for some tough duty as followers of Christ. They were headed for trouble. They would be hated by the Jews because the message of the Cross was a stumblingblock. They would be hated by the Greeks because of their polytheism.

 These faithful believers were marked by a steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every chapter of this letter is going to end with a reference to the return of Jesus Christ. The Thessalonian Christians lived in light of the imminent return of Christ and they endured the hardship because their hope was in Christ alone and His return and His reward He was bringing with Him.

 Unfortunately we struggle with remaining steadfast in hope because too often our hope is in something other than Christ. If our hope is in someone other than Christ, and we are counting on some relationship to another person to make life fulfilling, you are going to be disappointed. If your hope is in some investment account that is going to give you a secure retirement, you are hoping in something that is like a sheet of thin ice on a pond. Good luck getting across that pond. If your hope is in good health, you know that isn’t going to last. God never intended for our hope to be in anything or anyone other than Christ.

 Your hope must be in our Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Listen to what Paul wrote to Titus in Titus 2:11-14. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

 There is one final mark of a good church. It exists in the presence of God. This literally means “in the sight of God.” It means to live knowing that God is the witness to everything that happens. It is to live with the understanding that nothing escapes His notice and that we are accountable to Him for every thought, every word, every deed.

 A church will not be a good church unless it is full of people who are genuinely converted. Genuinely converted people are marked by these same marks. The life of a genuine convert will be marked by the work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope in Jesus Christ, and the presence of God the Father.

 I told you a couple weeks ago I was convinced Grace Bible Church was a good church. I believe it is because these are the marks I see in many of you. So you are left with the question, “Does he see these marks in me?” Ultimately you are not accountable to me. You are accountable to God. So ask God, “Are these the things that mark my life?” If not, what needs to happen? You need to humble yourself before God, repent, and cry out to God for mercy and grace. He will grant the gift of faith and do His great work of making you a new creature in Christ.