Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020421.htm

1 THESSALONIANS: STRENGTHENING CHRISTIANS
Part I: Evidences Under Duress For Biblical Christianity's Validity
(1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Because of challenges, setbacks or discouraging events in our lives, we can struggle with real doubts about God, or about the Christian faith, and that even if we have believed in Christ!

(1) Eight days after last year's September 11 terrorist attacks, Ron and Kristie Casciani e-mailed me a true account of a missionary named David Flood who became so distraught at the difficulty of his work in Africa that he rejected even God Himself.

He had toiled only to lose his beloved wife in childbirth on the mission field. He dug a crude grave, buried his 27 year old wife's body in it, gave the newborn baby girl whose birth had led to his wife's death to some missionaries named the Ericksons, and left Africa.

Though there is a wonderful end to this story, when I received it September 19, 2001, I could only wonder how many other people WORLDWIDE were tempted to give up on God because of the terrorist attacks. I found myself asking, "What about all the disillusioned people around the WORLD right NOW -- what are THEY going to do to HANDLE the trauma we have just witnessed on television?"

(2) I once overheared a nurse in Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, Connecticut express her dismay about God. As she turned to another nurse at the nurse's station, she spoke of an upstanding citizen in a room nearby who was in great physical pain, saying, "When I see that man in there who has given his life to help other people himself suffer like that, I just don't know how there can be a God in heaven -- I just don't see it!"



Well, what does ANY Christian, let alone the NON-RELIGIOUS person do to handle DISILLUSIONMENT about GOD due to such troubles and evils he sees in the world?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Even as a CHRISTIAN, when I face TRIALS in life, I can be left WONDERING if God has let me down, and doubt the VALIDITY of the Christian faith! Do you any suggestions?!"
  1. When Paul wrote First Thessalonians, he knew his readers, new converts to Christianity, stood to be DISILLUSIONED about the Christian faith due to great TRIALS they faced FOR their faith:
    1. Acts 17:1-10 reports when Paul preached of Christ at Thessalonica, Hebrew enemies of the faith caused a stir against his new converts.
    2. Paul left town for Berea, and was chased even from there to Athens by enemies who had opposed him at Thessalonica, Acts 17:13-15.
  2. Paul then sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how the new converts fared, and found them dedicated to Christ, 1 Thess. 3:5-8!
  3. Relieved, Paul wrote to edify these Christians, AFFIRMING and CONFIRMING their faith with EVIDENCES of its VALIDITY:
    1. Paul first affirmed their new faith in Jesus Christ, 1 Thess. 1:1-2:
      1. Paul affirmed God the Son coexisted with God the Father (1:1), a belief opposed by the persecutors of Paul's readers, Acts 17:2-5.
      2. He greeted his readers with "grace and peace" (1:1), affirming their unity though they came from opposite religious heritages:
        1. As we know from Acts 17:1, 4 these converts were both Hebrew and Gentile, meaning Paul's use of "grace" appealed to his Gentile readers who used this greeting and his word, "peace" edified his Hebrew readers as it corresponded to their "shalom" greeting [translated "peace"] (1:1b; Bib. Kno. Com., N. T., 690)
        2. He thus affirmed their brotherly unity in God in Jesus Christ!
      3. Paul exchanged the usual secular letter's prayer to a pagan deity with a prayer to the true God, contrasting the past paganism of his Gentile readers with Christ, 1:2; Hendriksen, I-II Thess., p. 45f
    2. Then, Paul confirmed the validity of their faith, noting EVIDENCES of God's influence as itemized from their EXPERIENCE:
      1. Paul's readers had performed works in accord with the Christian faith, signaling God's influence upon them, 1 Thessalonians 1:3a.
      2. They had performed a labor (kopou) of love for others, signaling God's presence in them, 1:3b; UBS Grk. N.T., p. 704; John 13:35.
      3. These converts patiently hoped for Christ to take them to heaven, strong evidence of God's influence upon them, 1 Thess. 1:3c-4:
        1. The "patience of hope" phrase depicted a wait for Christ to return and bless them in His Kingdom, 1 Thessalonians 1:10.
        2. Though they did not yet know of the Pretribulation Rapture (as Paul would inform them in 4:13-18), their hope of Christ's return dramatically countered their former Hebrew AND pagan religious beliefs, exposing God's work in their hearts!
      4. Paul's readers had believed with JOY AGAINST pressures of persecution as evidence of God's supernatural work in them, 1:6.
      5. His readers had become EXAMPLES of outreach to other more established Christians, revealing God's work in them, 1:7-8.
      6. The Gentile converts had turned from tangible, pagan idols to serve the unseen God Who is a SPIRIT, an exercise contrasting to paganism and a sign of God's influence in their hearts, 1:9.
      7. Also, as former Hebrews and idolatous pagans were united from opposite religious poles testifies to God's work in transforming these new converts' relationships, Acts 17:1-4; 1 Thess. 1:9b.
      8. Paul's readers trusted in the Gospel in part due to the superhuman acts and attitudes of Paul and his coworkers, 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:1-12:
        1. Regardless of previously being shamefully treated, Paul and his coworkers were unusually bold in sharing Christ's Gospel with the Thessalonians even in the face of strong opposition, 2:1-2.
        2. Paul and his coworkers had been noticeably truthful, morally upright and unhypocritical unlike false religious evangelists, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, footnote to 1 Thessalonians 2:3.
        3. Paul and his coworkers had not tried to trick their hearers, but were unflattering, not covetous, gentle and self-sacrificing toward them as fathers would be with their children, 2:4, 5-12.
Application: (1) If we have NOT believed in Christ, and want EVIDENCES of the VALIDITY of Bible Christianity, (a) observe its HERALDERS and DISCIPLES for PRACTICAL evidence to trust in Christ, John 3:16; 1 Thess. 1:1-2:12. (2) If as a BELIEVER we DOUBT the Christian faith due to TRIALS, (a) we may apply 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:12 (b) to recall God's POWER we saw in those who TOLD us of Christ, and (c) the change in OUR OWN lives, and (d) TRUST in God to produce CURRENT PRACTICAL evidences to RENEW our TRUST in the VALIDITY of Biblical Christianity, Romans 5:1, 3-5!

Lesson: As (1) Paul AFFIRMED their Christian faith, and (2) gave PRACTICAL EVIDENCES of its credibility (a) in their OWN lives and (b) in their TEACHERS, he (3) testified of the TRUTH of Christianity! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 When I arrived in the office Tuesday to prepare a new series of messages for the Morning Worship Services, I had thought of focusing on "The Life Of Christ In Old Testament Prophecy." In fact, I spent hours preparing the first sermon on this series, but with deep unrest!

After an hour of this, a believer in our Church called and asked if I had a moment to listen to her, so I said I had a few minutes to spare. She told how God had led her to interact well with a difficult party in keeping with what our Sunday School lesson last week taught on relating to such people. As I listened to this believer, I noticed a degree of spiritual maturity in her that I had not known before, and rejoiced over this evidence of God's discipling in her life!

After this call, though this believer then had no idea what I had experienced in trying to get settled on the right sermon series, I erased what I had written on the computer monitor and started perusing through Scripture to find a "match" with what I had just witnessed in her testimony. I found that "match" in 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:12! So, I chose to begin a series out of 1 Thessalonians, developing this sermon as the first of the new Sunday Morning Worship Sermon series!

However, before I could begin to type on the computer monitor's new sermon template, my wife, Nadine drove up ahead of schedule. She told how the lady for whom she had just worked had given her a delicious Italian pastry, and asked if I could help her eat it! Can you imagine that? I agreed to help her, and thought of how this fulfilled 2 Timothy 2:6: there, the hardworking farmer is said to be the first to partake of the crops. I knew from past studies the verse means God gives encouraging signs of His approval of our works when we function in His will in ministry; I thus knew my decision to switch from a series on Christ in Old Testament prophecy to 1 Thessalonians met with God's approval! I put me at great peace re: this new series!

Such an EXPERIENCE of God's INTERACTION with ME DOWN where I LIVE brings so much JOY and ASSURANCE, it is at times hard to contain! Jesus promised this in John 14:21, 23.