Thank God for Faithful Disciples (Pt. 3)
I. Introduction
A. Illustration
B. Context:
1. We are in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians
2. We have been studying his thanksgiving to God for them
a. Initially, we observed the how and the when
b. Last week, we began to study the cause of his thanksgiving – their election
(1) Said that he knew that they were elect (chosen) and gave two proofs or evidences
(2) The first was that they had come and preached the gospel powerfully
(3) They had the right message, motive, and method, having been sent by H.S.
3. This week, we are going to look at the second way Paul knew of their divine election:
a. The Gospel Was Preached Powerfully by the Apostles
b. The Gospel Was Received Faithfully by the Thessalonians
4. Proposition (vv. 4-10):
a. Since we broke this section into two parts, our proposition is the same this week as last
b. This morning we are going to study the second proof that he gives for knowing that they are elect, so that we can see what an exemplary church looks like and emulate it ourselves.
II. The Gospel Was Received Faithfully by the Thessalonians (vv. 6-10)
A. They Became Imitators (v. 6)
1. You also became imitators of us
a. “You” is intensive.
(1) Makes a contrast between “our” and “we” in v. 5.
(2) “You Thessalonians, on your part . . .”
b. “Imitators”
(1) Literally, “You also imitators of us became and the Lord”
(2) Imitators is emphatic
(3) They became mimics of the apostles
(a) mime,omai, from which we get mimic or mimeograph
(b) The apostles (Paul and Silvanus) were the type after which the hearers patterned themselves.
(4) The question is, how did they imitate them?
(a) This is so tempting to preach on discipleship here.
(b) Could take v. 5 (You yourselves know what sort of men we became) as their behavior while ministering to the Thessalonians
(c) This then could be taught that the readers imitated the apostles’ holy conduct.
(d) Could then launch into the need to pass on the faith, disciple others.
(e) Problem is, this concept is not in this text!
(f) It is a biblical concept, just not here (Matt 28:19-20; 2 Tim 2:2).
(g) This is why context is so important to biblical interpretation.
(h) We teach the grammatical-historical method of interpretation.
1. Rules of grammar
2. Facts of history
3. Illustration: Conversation at work on John 21:18-19
a. Was interpreted that it means, when one is young, he is unencumbered by many responsibilities; but when older, the responsibilities of life dictate our priorities.
b. Problem is, John gives a clear explanantion.
c. When I mentioned this interpretation, was told that there are “layers of meaning.”
d. Problem is, who says what is a valid layer and where does it end?
e. Are all interpretations valid?
f. When is it no longer God saying it?
2. . . . and of the Lord
a. Paul, almost as an afterthought, adds this phrase.
b. The question remains, however, as to how they imitated the apostles and the Lord.
c. Well, Paul tells us in the next clause:
3. Having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit
a. First, they became imitators when they received the word
(1) Receiving goes beyond merely hearing the word of God, but embracing it, believing it, and acting upon it.
(2) At the time of their embracing the gospel they became imitators
b. Next, he refers to the affliction that followed their conversion
c. Then, he adds that this affliction was accompanied by joy in the Holy Spirit
d. The point of comparison appears to be the joyful endurance in spirit under suffering, which the readers endured when they converted to Christianity from paganism
(1) Compare Acts 17:5-10; 1 Th 2:14, 3:2, 3, 5 with 2 Cor 11:23-28 and Heb 12:2
(2) Paul suffered much for his faith, as did Jesus.
(3) In the same way, the Thessalonians persevered faithfully in spite of tremendous pressure.
e. The Holy Spirit here is seen as the source of their joy.
(1) Joy is a deep-seated feeling of satisfaction, of gladness, not contingent on one’s circumstances.
(2) Joy goes beyond one’s circumstances.
(3) Happiness is fleeting; joy is founded on hope and faith and does not fade.
(4) Illustrate: our circumstances for the past year have not made us happy, but we are joyful nonetheless because we know that our sovereign God has ordained them for us and we can find good in them.
(5) No one is going to find joy in being separated from family and friends, ostracized, and kicked out of worship and society unless there is a supernatural power supplying it.
(6) In the case of the Thessalonians, it was due to the powerful preaching which led to their conversion that provided the source of joy in them.
4. So Paul sees this perseverance through trials as evidence of their election by God.
a. He doesn’t stop there, however. Next he gives the result of this behavior by the Thessalonian church.
b. Transition: not only did they become imitators, but they also became imitated (see v. 7),
B. They Became Imitated (v. 7)
1. Paul says that they themselves became a pattern to other believers.
2. This is the third time in 3 verses that Paul uses this term – to become
a. The apostles became power preachers
b. The readers became imitators
c. The readers also became an example for others.
3. The term example is from tu,ptw, to strike.
a. It originally meant the visible impression or mark made as a result of one instrument striking something else (LN).
b. Then, it came to mean a stamp struck by a die, and then the figure formed by the stamp (Thomas, 3, ED; Thayer).
c. Eventually it came to mean an archtype serving as a model (BDAG), a copy or image.
d. Then, it came to be used of the pattern or model used to make the image.
e. Finally, the idea of example to be followed.
f. Note that Paul uses the singular (not examples) in referring to the whole church as a unity, as one (Alford, 252).
4. They became an example, or an exemplary church, that other believers in Macedonia and Achaia could follow or model themselves after.
a. Macedonia refers to the Roman province to the north (including Philippi and Thessalonica) and
b. Achaia refers to a separate Roman province to the south (Athens and Corinth).
c. Together they make up most of modern-day Greece.
d. Remember, the first church in Macedonia was in Philippi, followed by Thessalonica, then Berea. In Achaia, it was first Athens and then Corinth.
e. From them, others would have sprung up as the gospel was spread.
f. However, the hot-spot in the area was Thessalonica because of its prime location.
g. As we will see, their reputation spread rapidly, as did the gospel from them.
h. Don’t miss the significance of this:
(1) Not all churches begun during this time were initially persecuted (Corinth).
(2) However, when persecution would come, they would remember the Thessalonian church and how it responded in the face of trials and affliction, and it would become an encouragement to them to persevere also.
(3) There is something about not being alone in a venture that gives us the ability to endure a little longer, to hang on a little tighter.
i. In verses 8-10, we see how they became an example to others.
C. How They Became an Example to Others (vv. 8-10)
a. In v. 8, the word for is explanatory.
b. Paul is going to explain how they became an example to others.
c. First, in verse 8, they became an example by their own testimony, and in verses 9-10, we see they became an example by the testimony of other Christians.
1. By Their Own Testimony (v. 8)
a. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you,
(1) Literally, from you (emphatic) has sounded forth the word of the Lord (again emphatic).
(2) From their home base in Thessalonica, the gospel rang out like ripples in a pond.
(3) To sound forth means to resound, is propagated, made known.
(a) “from your city or from your church the word of the Lord has sounded forth i. e. has been disseminated by report (Thayer).
(b) The perfect tense reflects a past action with continuing result.
(c) The term may also carry the idea of reverberation or an echo.
(d) Here, Paul seems to indicate that the gospel had gone out from this group, like the sound of thunder, or like a trumpet blast, probably by the natural means available to them – travelers to the city would be exposed to them and would carry back the message.
(e) Frankly it was a strategic location that bore tremendous fruit for the Lord.
(4) The word of the Lord
(a) Some take this to mean the report about the Thessalonians
(b) Others see it as the word about the Lord
(c) However, the biblical evidence weighs heavy in favor of it being equivalent to thus says the Lord of the OT.
(d) Here, it is the word of God that He caused to be powerfully preached, i.e. the gospel.
1. Then it was propagated orally by the NT apostles and prophets.
2. Now we have it in Scripture form.
(e) It is possible that the Thessalonians had begun missionary ventures to other places.
1. Paul had been gone from Thessalonica for 4-5 months before writing from Corinth.
(f) However, it is more likely that they had proclaimed what had been proclaimed to them in their own backyard.
1. Remember the strategic location of the city.
2. Not only were they examples to other churches (v. 7), but their conversion to Christianity and their subsequent perseverance had become famed around the empire.
3. Look at the next clause
b. not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth
(1) Here, Paul indicates the extent of their reknown.
(2) Paul now refers to these two provinces as one geographical unit.
(3) Not only did they have an impact in their own backyard, but beyond that.
(a) He uses a little hyperbole to indicate that the gospel had gone out from them to the whole world.
(b) Grammatically, the verse should end here.
(4) However, Paul has become so excited, as he often is when he recounts the faith of others and the work of God in them, that he then limits his comments.
(a) Faith here refers to their subjective faith, the faith that they have expressed in God, based on the message they heard.
(b) Notice too that he states it is faith directed toward God
1. It refers to their faith as it was directed toward God and away from the idols they once served (Alford, 252).
2. That Paul uses God instead of Christ emphasizes the monotheism to which they turned from their polytheism.
3. Certainly they placed their faith in Jesus Christ as preached by Paul
4. However, God the Father is the one who has designed our salvation, accomplished through the means of Christ.
5. So this is an appropriate way to say this.
(5) He limits the range to every place (other than Macedonia and Achaia) that their faith has gone out
(a) This would be accomplished by travelers from other locals who would have been to Thessalonica, had heard the news or observed the church first-hand, possibly even coming to know Christ during their contact, and then going back to their own environs.
(b) Perhaps Aquila and Priscilla, who recently came to Corinth from Rome, have reported to this him (see Acts 18:2).
(c) Both Thessalonica and Corinth were great cities of commerce. It is not unlikely that travelling Christian merchants would have brought news to Paul.
(6) Look at the result of this amazing expansion of the gospel. Paul says:
c. so that we have no need to say anything.
(1) Paul, sitting in Corinth, does not have an opportunity to say to those Christians who might come to him, “Hey, did you hear about the faith and endurance of the Thessalonians?”
(2) Those who traveled to Corinth and stopped to see Paul were the ones asking him that question.
(3) The change in the Thessalonians was so dramatic, so impactful, that those who witnessed it were glad to go and tell others about it.
(4) And what was the catalyst? What was the change agent that brought this amazing transformation about? The gospel.
(5) So as the report went out, so did the gospel with it.
(6) Illustrate: a traveler to Thessalonica, selling a few Xerox copiers, perhaps trading some leatherwork, perhaps there on military business, comes home and says, “Man, you won’t believe what’s going on in Thessalonica.”
So the group by their own testimony, preaching the gospel and living the Christian life became well known throughout the empire.