Sermon: God’s Small Faithful Church in Thessalonica 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4
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God’s Small Faithful Church in Thessalonica
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4
Truth Taught- The Apostle Paul is amazed at how the small church in Thessalonica was living out their faith. As He highlights aspects of their faithfulness, we learn what true Christianity looks like.
Much like Peter through his epistle, Paul also wants the Church to have the right perspective when it comes to what it means to be Christian.
If you asked people on the street what do the word Christian mean, I’m sure you would get a different answer every time you asked the question.
Paul was amazed at this new little Church in the middle of the great metropolis of Thessalonica. He was with them a few short weeks and then he was chased out of the city. There was so much more he wanted to tell them; so much they needed to learn. However, he had to leave them with the Holy Spirit. That’s all they really needed.
He will write to them sharing his love and pastoral care as they needed but for the most part, they were doing it. They were living out their Christian faith. Paul was amazed.
Most scholars believe 2 Thessalonians was written just a few weeks after 1 Thessalonians. Paul sent 1 Thessalonians to the Church and then received very encouraging news that the small church was doing very well. Yet there were a few issues Paul is made aware of and so, writes them a second letter to help them process what’s happening to them as new Christians.
Let’s begin this wonderful Epistle from Paul to the Thessalonians…
2 Thessalonians 1:1–4 (ESV)
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
1. The Church of the Thessalonians (1:1-2)
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
There is so much of the Christian life we could take for granted if we’re not careful. Paul tells these newly born-again believers that they are a Church. A few weeks ago, they were all lost and hell bound. God called them from death to life. They are an ecclesia the called out ones and are together a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They were individual Christians who together form the Church. They could be counted; they knew how many formed the Church. They knew who was in and who was out of the Church. They only chose leaders who were in or officially a part of the Church. They were members of the body of believers. They were accountable to one another. This is why we believe and practice Covenant Membership here. This is one of our vital doctrines and we see many passages of Scripture that speak of the Lord added to the Church those who were being saved. We see those who were in the Church may be qualified as leaders. Never those outside the Church.
Acts 6:3 (ESV)
3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.
What, then, do we mean by the words “covenant membership” when it comes to the local church? To be a covenant member simply means that an individual is identified with, is accountable to, and is a contributing participant to this local expression of the body of Christ. With covenant membership there are certain commitments that are made, responsibilities that are embraced, and relationships that are acknowledged.
Covenant membership in a local church, therefore, is the way in which the individual is known to be intentionally committed to every other member of the congregation, and the congregation is known to be committed to the individual. Covenant membership means, “I now put myself under the care of the Elders and I invite them to hold me accountable as a constituent member of this body.”
We see the Elders being responsible for those within the local church. We see Church discipline only working when certain people can be put out of the Church. We see only in Covenant Church Membership is there submission to church leadership and we see only with an official roster can the local Church exercise and possess the Keys to the Kingdom. Only in this setting can there be accountability etc.
The new believers were officially in union with one another. They were accountable to and cared for each other. They were in union with one another.
Notice, not only were they unified together in the local church but, watch this… they were also official members of the Universal Church…they were in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Colossians 3:3–4 (ESV)
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
They were in unity with Christ and in unity with one another. Their local church status matched their universal status. Not only are the Thessalonians a Church but they are in Christ. They are in union with Christ.
God desires as we are officially part of the Universal Church (in unity with Christ) we are also officially part of the local church (in unity with each other).
Oh, the grace of God at work in our lives! He has brought us from darkness to light and placed us into a local body of believers.
So, Paul tells us that a Christian is a person who is part of the Universal Church and part of a local church.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To whom is Grace and Peace given? Here, to those who are part of the Thessalonian Church.
We realize that the same is true for us. God grants grace and peace to His Church. Christ died for the Church. These truths were to be read in the Church.
This serves as sort of a benediction only at the beginning. Paul as God’s official messenger/apostle raises his hands, as it were, and places grace and peace on the people of the Thessalonian Church. Grace and peace will come from God as these new believers read the letter written to them. Beloved, we too will receive the very same Grace and Peace as the letter is read and studied within the gathered Church.
2. The Thessalonian Church is Growing (1:3-4)
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
Here are some marks of the Christian in unity within the Church. Paul is refining our understanding of what it means to be a Christian. What’s amazing is that these brand-new baby Christians were living out their faith to such a degree Paul was amazed. Paul was amazed and is giving thanks for them.
A. Their Faith is Growing
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly,
Here, their faith is directly connected to their knowledge of God. They were learning Christ rightly and their faith was growing. Beloved, if you desire to have a stronger faith spend time in deep study of God’s Word.
John 17:3 (ESV)
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
We must be convinced that eternal life is the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge thrusts us forward into God. When we learn of Christ accurately through the Bible it affects every part of our being. We will live a life that is pleasing to God.
This is exactly what was happening to these believers in this church.
Their faith was growing abundantly. The imagery is like a young tree that growing and healthy and you can continually see new growth on the limbs and new sprouts shoot out and produce leaves and then fruit.
Remember, from 2 Peter how he taught us that what you believe changes what you do or how you behave. This is what Paul is saying about these new believers. They are growing in faith and it is affecting how they live.
When I say how they live it also affects how they think and process life events.
B. Their Love for One Another is Growing
and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
Their love for each other was growing as well. All this happening in unison. They were discovering the riches of life in the local church. This love Paul writes about is a sacrificial love. It’s a love that cost us something.
Matthew 22:37–40 (ESV)
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
There can be such giving love found within a church who is growing in faith. For churches not growing in faith they can be some of the most heartless places you can be. I’m sure many can attest to how you have been hurt in the local Church. Beloved this must not be.
Jesus tells us to love your neighbor as yourself.
We must show sacrificial love to one another. We must be patient, kind, go out of our way for others. We must keep watch over our children they too can hurt others. Your little angel is not an angel but a little sinner and many times a little lost sinner.
The Thessalonians were a Church growing in love for each other. Notice, they were growing in their love for other Church members. That’s the context.
C. They are Remaining Steadfast Under Trials
4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
The faith was growing, their love for one another was growing and that was producing a steadfastness, and endurance through trials that Paul smiled at. He was a Pastor and loved to hear things about those whom he loved in Christ.
They were elect and Paul knew they were the good soil. They had been chosen from the foundation of the world unto eternal life. Their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. They were the ones who had been set apart for God’s glory.
Romans 8:29–30 (ESV)
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
They would endure to the end, they would persevere to the end. Yet, they had to persevere to the end. When Paul heard about how they were being persecuted and still remained and not only remained by were growing in faith and love…he smiled…his soul smiled.
When a true believer undergoes trials, he grows through it. After the trial is over, he will be a stronger more solid believer than before. He will bear the fruit of perseverance. When a nonbeliever undergoes persecution as Jesus teaches, he will fall away.
The proof that these Thessalonians are true believers and not just those who may call themselves Christians but are not is found in the fact that they were persevering through suffering.
Conclusion
Are you a true believer?
Is your faith growing?
Is your love for one another growing?
Are you persevering through suffering?
Philippians 1:27–30 (ESV)
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
LORD’S SUPPER
Benediction
To you who are in Christ and in unity with one another with a growing love and with steadfast endurance…Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Resources Used:
1 and 2 Thessalonians by Cara
Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus by Hendriksen
The Gospel and the End of Time by John Stott
1-2 Thessalonians by Grant
1-2 Thessalonians by Morris
The Letters to the Thessalonians by Green
The Epistles to the Thessalonians by Wanamaker
