If you’d open your copy of God’s Word now to 1 Thessalonians. I believe that’s on page 1,255 of your pew Bibles. And I’ll be reading there the first chapter. Let’s give attention to the very word of God. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace.
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, and 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 of 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 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. Thus far in the reading of God’s word, amen.
Please be seated. Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we ask now that you would add your blessing to your word, which we have just read, and that you’d be with your servant, guiding and directing my words. Help us, Lord. Help us to hear. Help us to hear you speak to us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Are you rejoicing this morning in the choice of God? Are you rejoicing in the choice of God? Earlier this morning, we read Deuteronomy 7, and that’s Moses’s, as I said, his last book to the Israelites before they entered into the promised land, and in chapter 7 of Deuteronomy, He indicates to the people, to the Israelites, that they have been chosen. Been chosen to be God’s people, a treasured possession. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, He chose the Israelites.
And as we read that passage, we learned that it wasn’t because they were so numerous. That must have been an indicator of greatness of people. The numbers. But they weren’t. They were the fewest. And so Moses relates to the Israelites before they entered the promised land that they were chosen because the Lord loved them. And he was keeping that oath, the covenant, to bring the descendants of those whom he had entered into covenant with into the promised land. He reminds them, know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant. They were chosen. They were culled out from all the peoples on the face of the earth.
And in a sense that brings us to our text this morning, this first letter of Paul to those at the church at Thessalonica. Now, if you had read in Acts, you would have known that Paul was actually called to go to Macedonia, as he is on his second missionary journey with Silas. And they wanted to go elsewhere, into other places to preach the word of God, they were prohibited from doing so, and Paul receives that vision. In the night, a man of Macedonia, come over to Macedonia and help us. And so Paul and Silas head out, thinking that, and concluding that God had called them to preach the gospel there, and as they go along, they pick up Timothy, In fact, maybe Timothy was already picked up by this time.
And they ultimately arrive in Thessalonica. And they’re only there for three Lord’s days. Three Sabbaths. And they go into the synagogue and they preach the Word of God. And what happens? Some of them are persuaded. They come to faith. Jews, but also Greeks. And then as a result, because the Jews, not the ones who were saved, but others who were jealous, they drive Paul out. He and Silas go away immediately. They leave three weeks, maybe. Three Lord’s Days. Preaching the word of God. A church established.
And now, Somewhat later on, Paul writes to them. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy write back to the church. That’s what this letter is. Silvanus apparently is a Greek translation of Silas, and Timothy who had joined them in Lystra, or modern day Turkey. This is likely Paul’s first letter. Galatians may have been written before it, not sure. And the recipients, those to whom this letter was written, was the church. As you look at Paul’s letter, sometimes he’s writing to the saints, many times he’s also writing to the church, and in this particular letter, he’s writing to the church, this body of believers who had been established, set apart, chosen. And that’s the idea of this first Chapter.
Paul is remembering. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering. They were only with them three weeks, and they’re remembering the sweet fellowship they had with them. This letter, as some have put it, is a great encouragement to the church. They were under persecution. They were suffering. Paul mentions it. These that were leading the church were gone.
And so this fledgling body of believers now on their own, so to speak, and needing encouragement. And now we see there’s a description of those who were chosen. For we know, brothers, verse four, loved by God that he has chosen you. Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, and the Holy Spirit with full conviction. Paul knows. Paul has seen the fruit. He knows that they’ve been convicted of the truth of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is working in them, bringing them to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him alone for their salvation. He knows, it’s evident, that they’ve been chosen.
Chosen by God. We might sum up this first chapter this way, that the choice of God has brought idolatrous sinners to life in the steadfast hope of Christ’s return. The choice of God has brought idolatrous sinners to life in the steadfast hope of Christ’s return. We’ll see that in three points this morning, or three heads.
First, the chosen are thankful for the choice of God. Secondly, the chosen are thankful for the power of the choice. And then thirdly, the chosen are thankful for the return of Christ. We won’t spend a lot of time on that third point because this letter is much about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Lord willing, we’ll touch upon this subject as we walk through this letter. As we go through this first chapter, I’d like you to be asking yourself that question, am I rejoicing in the choice of God?
Well, first, the chosen are thankful for the choice of God. Did you notice how this letter begins? Yes, there’s a greeting, a very common greeting, an identification of who the author is and who the recipients are, and then there’s that common greeting of Paul Grace to you and peace. Yes, that’s certainly the way it begins. But in essence, after we get through the greeting, it begins with prayer. It begins with a description of the prayers of Paul and Silas and Timothy.
Verse two, we give thanks to God always, mentioning their prayer, for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers. The doctrinal portion of this letter in chapter three also ends with a prayer. Look at verse 11 of chapter three. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. This is a prayer. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
It begins in prayer, it ends in prayer with regard to the doctrinal portion of scripture before he gets to application. It’s important to note, we should never miss this truth. Because yes, as it begins with the greeting, it begins in worship, a theme. In fact, every letter of Paul is communion with the living God, is worship. We can’t miss that.
They’re giving thanksgiving to God. But they’re worshiping. And as they encourage the believers in Thessalonica, they’re setting that encouragement forth in worship, in prayer. Isn’t that how we encourage one another? As we pray, as we worship the living God. And yes, they’re giving thanks, aren’t they?
Verse two, we give thanks to God always for all of you. We might jump to the conclusion that as they’re writing to this new, this fledgling church, that they’re giving thanks for the individuals who’ve now come to faith. They’re giving thanks that they made the decision to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They’re thinking, wow, we preached Jesus Christ and you came to faith and we’re thankful for that. We’re thankful for what you’ve done. We’re thankful for the faith that is in your heart.
And while that was true, in a sense, giving thanks for what had happened there as they opened the Word of God to them, they’re giving thanks to God. Note that. We give thanks to God, always. We could just stop there. We give thanks to God, always. That’s the thrust.
That’s the thrust, and not only here in chapter two, at verse 13, and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of God, but not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God. Why? Why were they thanking God? Why not thank the Thessalonians for making the right choice, a good decision to trust in the Lord Jesus?
Remember, these were immersed in idolatry. Look at verse nine. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turned to God from idols. Isn’t that amazing? As Paul and Silas and Timothy come to these sinners in Thessalonica, they were worshiping idols. They were immersed in idols. They were covered in idolatry.
What is an idol? Webster’s defines it as a statue or an image or carved out of wood and stone, an image, maybe a person, anything on which we set our affections and excessive attachment. In other words, an idol is that thing or that person who confirms the righteousness of a sinful lifestyle. All idols, whether carved images or a human friend, which takes the place of the truly righteous and living God, tell or suggest to the idolater that what he or she is doing is good. It’s normal. Most importantly, it’s acceptable. And that confirmation, that acceptance brings about worship or excessive affection. That’s the idea. That was the golden calf, wasn’t it?
Where did Moses go? We don’t know. Make us gods. who will go before us. Make us gods who will confirm our sinful way of life. That’s what was happening as the golden calf was made. Make us something that will confirm for us what we’re doing is right and good as we sin against the living God.
And so the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. This is a description of what was happening in Thessalonica. This is a description of what was going on in the hearts and lives of these that Paul and Silas and Timothy were preaching to, not following God, not wanting the Lord, stuck in bondage, immersed in their idolatry. They were chained. Like the man in Gadarene’s lived in a tomb, suffering with an unclean spirit, chained with shackles, but he broke them apart because he was actually chained to his sin. No one had the strength to subdue him. That’s a description of those that Paul and Silas and Timothy encountered in Thessalonica, idolaters. Every intention of their thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. Nothing else mattered.
But then they turned. They turned away from their idols to God. So shouldn’t Paul and Silas and Timothy be thanking the Thessalonians? How did that happen? How did they turn? They were stuck. They were in bondage. They were in chains, loving their idols, worshiping their idols, living in sin. How did they turn? Was it a result of Paul’s coming? Was he such a powerful preacher? He was.
Remember that Macedonian call, come over to Macedonia and help us. No, it was the choice of God. For we know, brothers, loved by God that he has chosen you. Paul puts it this way as he writes to those of the church in Ephesus, in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace. Peter speaks of calling an election, John speaks of those who are called and chosen and faithful. It was only the choice of God, the selection by the Father, the election of the Lord, who chose these out of all others in that place. For we know, brothers, loved by God, he has chosen you.
That’s why Paul and Silas and Timothy are giving thanks to God. They’re rejoicing. More lost sinners were covered with the blood of Christ. The Lord had brought more sinners into the fold. That’s what’s happening here. Paul and Silas and Timothy were already on the inside. They were already in the fold.
And what they were doing is they were watching as more were brought in, more lost sheep were coming in. because of the choice of God. And so they’re rejoicing, remembering before our God and Father of your work, of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you looking for lost sheep? It seems that’s what Paul and Silas and Timothy were doing. They were on the inside and they were looking out And they’re waiting for the Lord to bring more in. And as he does, they’re praying, they’re thankful.
Because they’re remembering what the Lord had done. They’re remembering it’s only by his love, by his choice. And that does beg the question, doesn’t it? Why did God choose these? Why did God choose these individuals out of all the Thessalonians? Why did He love these ones in particular, now part of the church, part of the assembly, such that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy write to the church and give thanks to God for His choice of these particular ones? Why did He choose them? Why did He love them?
That choice indicates that not all were selected. There were Thessalonians who were still outside and who would never come in. Not all will be sheep. As Jesus returns and separates the sheep from the goats, not all will be sheep. Not all will inherit eternal life. There has been a choice. And we read of God’s choice here to select certain Thessalonians. Why these? Why did God love these?
It was not because they were good. No, we began with Deuteronomy. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord has set his love upon you and chose you. If you were to continue reading in Deuteronomy, we’d also find out that it wasn’t because they were righteous. Do not say in your heart after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, meaning those who occupied the promised land. It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land. No, not because of your righteousness. Those in Thessalonica were not righteous.
So we need to look elsewhere. This choice of God came about for one reason and one reason only. It’s the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The purposeful, the intentional, the loving sacrifice of Jesus according to the will of His Father on the cross at Calvary has brought about this choice of God. You see, it’s the Father’s love for His Son increased, if we can think of it that way, and that’s really not the way it is, but maybe in our humanness we can think of it that way, increased by His atonement that has moved the Father to choose wretched sinners like those at Thessalonica, those idolaters. It was the blood of Christ that washed over these saints, that covered them, that covered their sins, that enabled the choice of the Father. But you say, well, I thought the choice of God occurred before eternity began, before the foundation of the world. Didn’t God choose them before Jesus went to the cross? Yes. But God is timeless.
And so the foundation of God’s choice is the sacrificial act of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus was founded in His love for the Father. He loved His Father so much and loves His Father so much. His love is so deep, He lovingly pursued His Father’s will to His own wretched and unrighteous death on the cross at Calvary. It was His love for the Father, and the Father’s love for His Son, which stands behind and is the ultimate cause and foundation of the choice of God for these at Thessalonica.
Are you thankful? Are you thankful for God’s choice of others? The will of God for others. The choice which came to rest upon the hearts of those at Thessalonica and the power of the love and the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It’s the same love and same cleansing blood which stands behind the choice of God to save you if you trust in him this morning. It was the same for those in Thessalonica 2,000 years ago as it is for you today. And so if you’re trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, the only reason that God has chosen you is because of the blood of His Son shed in love for His Father. And I’m certain you know that.
But are you thankful for others? You see, we can focus upon ourselves, and we do often, and we lose sight of others, don’t we? Others who are lost in their sins. Others who are blind to the truth. We tend to discount them. But Jesus never lost sight of the blind and the lame. The prophet Isaiah writes, I am the Lord. I’ve called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations to open the eyes that are blind.
How often do we think of those who are blind to the Word of God? How do we regain our sight for the lost? How do we regain our joy at God’s choice of those who are idolaters? It’s only by recognizing what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you, how He loved you when you were blind, how He called you out of idolatry, then, brothers and sisters, I think we can begin to remember and rejoice in God’s choice of even other idolaters. Brings us to our second point, the chosen are thankful for the power of the choice.
This is an amazing passage. These idolaters have now become imitators of us and of the Lord. Did you see that? Paul, one of the most godly men that we think of as we think of the New Testament, brought from the one who was blind to the one who saw so very clearly, even spoke with the Lord Jesus Christ. And now these idolaters in Thessalonica have become imitators of Paul, of Silas, of Timothy, and of the Lord. To imitate is to copy and form, so to speak, to imitate another in manners. And here Paul speaks he writes of affliction. I think that’s what he means when he calls them imitators, imitators of himself, imitators of the Lord, meaning the Lord Jesus.
We know there’s affliction, and we know that these in Thessalonica are suffering. They were certainly suffering because they had lost their leader after three Lord’s Days, but we also know that they were suffering, they were in affliction. And so as Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, yet he did so for the joy that was set before him. And so here now the Thessalonians, these in the church, are imitating Christ.
They’re imitating Jesus as they suffer affliction, and yet do so in joy. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction.” How? With the joy of the Holy Spirit. So that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
Not only imitators. They didn’t keep it to themselves. They weren’t just imitating within their own homes, and they probably were. But they were going out. Throughout all Macedonia. They were shining forth Jesus Christ in affliction and yet with joy. How’s that possible?
Certainly there’s a call here, a call to us, to each one of us, to imitate Jesus, to imitate Christ. to serve and serve well with joy and affliction, but there’s also a very specific call here to the officers of this church to be worthy of imitation.
See, Paul writes that they were imitators of us, the ones who preached to them, the ones who exhorted them, the ones who led the church. And so there’s a call here to the officers of the church to be worthy of imitation. to live in such a way before the members of the church, that the members of the church would want to imitate the officers. And so are you praying for your elders? Are you praying for your deacon? That they would be worthy of imitation. Not that that’s in them, but that it’s in the work of the Spirit. Are you praying for the Spirit’s work upon the hearts of your officers? It should be. Look at verse 8.
The change in these at Thessalonica is astounding. 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. We don’t need to say anything. This is astounding. Think of church plants in the OPC. This is a church plant. After three weeks.
These men and women who’ve come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are now going out so much so that everyone around them knows about their faith in God. And Paul and Silas and Timothy don’t need to say anything. Everyone knows. The word of the Lord has sounded forth from them. The power of God’s choice is working out in these believers, this work of faith.
Look at verse three. I know I’m jumping around, but in a sense, that’s what Paul does as he writes. Remembering before our God and Father of your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, that’s a breaking down of the word of the Lord sounding forth from you. Work of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness for hope. We’ll just talk about those very briefly. This is how the choice of God was being proclaimed. You were pulled out of idolatry to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, your work of faith. This verse shows us the extreme majesty and power of the will of God.
His choice set upon these saints at Thessalonica turned them from worshiping that which was false, that which was an abomination, that which was no God at all, to completely change them to worship the true God. No longer did these Thessalonicans run from God, but they ran to Christ. No longer did these desire to do that which was in opposition to God or directly opposed to Jesus. Now they desired to follow Him in everything that they did, all aspects of their lives. Notice that this was observed by Paul and Timothy and Silas. In their three weeks there, as they’re converted, as they’re turned, as Timothy goes and ministers to them and comes back and reports, there’s this observation of their work of faith.
Their labors are not labors in vain. They’re not labors to destroy the kingdom of God. Now each and every one of them whose hearts have been turned and changed through the choice of God now labor to please God. They work in faith. They’re trusting in the finished atonement of Jesus Christ. And that affects their work. That which is done in faith is that which pleases God. And so these desire so much to please God that everything they do is done in faith, the work of faith.
And then the labor of love. Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love. Again, this has been observed, that they’re working out of their love. They’re working out of the love of Jesus Christ for them and turning that around and loving their neighbors. This is how they live. Every day, they work, they labor, and their daily labors, they’re lifting up the interest of their neighbors above their own, beyond their own. They’re loving their brothers and sisters in church, which is indicative of their love for God and their love for Christ.
This is one of the easiest places for us to deviate from our faith, at work. A trap of Satan is that once you leave the four walls of this building, you’re kind of outside. And once you go to work, you’re really outside in your place of employment. And they treat others in a way that sometimes you become the recipient of as much gain as you can gather. They treat others not the way that the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us when we get outside of the church. But that’s not how the Thessalonians were living.
No, they were laboring in love for their neighbors. They were demonstrating their love for Christ. How’s your love for Christ demonstrated? Isn’t it by through and loving your neighbor? Isn’t that showing and demonstrating the choice of God? As you leave these four walls, that your love for your neighbor doesn’t stop here. That even in the secular environment, in the secular employments, that you’re demonstrating the choice of God and the power of His choice as you love your neighbors even there. And finally, there’s steadfastness of hope. Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.
See, these are really not three different things. They’re not three different aspects of the lives of the Thessalonians. They’re all describing the way they follow in Christ. They’re all describing the power of God’s choice upon their souls. And so how do they show their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ?
How do they show that steadfast? In a way, it’s hard to say. But in one way, it’s really not. I would think that one way that they would show that is by their lack of worry, their lack of anxiety. Consider, have you known someone, a brother or sister in Christ, who is free from worry and anxiety? Don’t you say, That person’s faith is really strong. They’re not worrying about the events of the day or the events of tomorrow.
Because their steadfast hope in the Lord Jesus Christ is fixed. See, as one hopes in the Lord Jesus Christ, as one’s hope is steadfast in Jesus Christ, it means it’s immovable, it’s fixed. And as it’s fixed, then the things of this world, the sin and misery of this world, in a sense, make no difference. I mean, they do make a difference, but because our hope is fixed in Christ, nothing can move us from that certainty. Not the events of the day, not the events of tomorrow, not the circumstances that you find yourself in, because your hope is fixed in Christ.
And that’s what Paul and Timothy and Silas were seeing in these saints. In the church of Thessalonica, that’s what has happened to them as the choice of God has been laid upon their hearts, a complete and utter change. And so their work was done in faith. Their labor was done in love and they were constantly demonstrating their steadfast hope in the Lord Jesus Christ for all to see, such that it could be seen throughout Macedonia.
Examples to all the believers because of the choice of God, the power of the choice of God. Are you able to see the power of God’s choice here in these 10 verses? Do you recognize the power of God’s choice in your own heart? Do you praise God for it? That brings us to our third point, the chosen are thankful for the return of Jesus. Remember that this church, this fledgling church, this church plant, this three week church, has been under attack.
For you received the word in much affliction. And yet they’re waiting on the return of Jesus Christ. That’s how this first chapter ends. And to wait for his son from heaven. They know where Christ is. They know where Jesus is gone. They know He’s ascended. They know He’s been raised from the dead. They’re confident. They’re convicted of that. They’re believing upon that. And they’re waiting for Him to return. They’re convinced that He’s coming back for them.
That they know that He has a bride. And the bride is the church, and he’s dressing them. Even through their afflictions, he’s dressing them for his return. He’s making them beautiful, and they’ve fixed their minds upon that, even as they’re under attack, knowing that even the persecution that they’re experiencing is making them beautiful for his return. persecuted, and yet they’re waiting.
They’re waiting for Him to return. Their certain hope is bound up, is caught up in the return of Jesus Christ. And that must call us to ask ourselves this morning, are we waiting for Him to come? Is that your hope this morning? Are you waiting on the return of Christ? Is that part of your certain hope? He’s coming back for you. He’s coming back for the church. He’s coming back for the bride. Is that what you’re trusting in?
These Thessalonica were. Now Paul needs to remind them of that. He will constantly throughout this letter. But they were. Three weeks. And they’re trusting. and their certain hope of Christ’s return. They’re looking forward to the return of Christ because God had chosen them, because he set his choice upon them, he set his love upon them.
Brothers and sisters, what a joy this letter is. What an encouragement this letter should be to each of you this morning who are trusting in Christ. And if you’re not, if you’re not here trusting in Christ this morning, this should be a call to you. It should be a call to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to ask him, to change your heart, to ask him. convert you from worshipping idols to worshipping the true living God.
Yes, the choice of God has brought idolatrous sinners to life in the steadfast hope of Christ’s return. God chose the Israelites not because they were more numerous and certainly not because they were righteous. but because of the love of His Son, which brought Him to the cross at Calvary, whose blood covered them such that His Father could make that choice. Rejoice, rejoice, brothers and sisters, in the choice of God, rejoice in the power of His choice, rejoice in the return of Christ.
Amen. Heavenly Father, We thank you. We thank you for this letter. We thank you for this recounting of the faith of these young, these immature Christians, and yet, Father, so mature in many ways. Help us. Help us to be like these at Thessalonica who are examples to their whole region, to their whole area, imitators of Christ. Father, we thank you for your choice. Help us to rejoice in your choice of others. We pray this in Jesus’s name.