This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Ignite the Light Ministries radio and podcast. It is our mission to help listeners develop a deeper relationship with Jesus by sharing what the Bible says and what it means. We aim to encourage and equip you to serve others, share the gospel, and reflect Christ in every aspect of your life. I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd.
Thank you for tuning in.
Alright, so Continuing with our Thessalonian series here. Uh Last week we looked at what makes a strong church. Going on into verses five and ten of the first chapter of Thessalonians. We are going to be looking at what made the Thessalonian church's conversion. Strong.
See, no one is born saved. It is only by a confession of faith that one is saved.
Now when we look at the Thessalonian church contrasted with something like the Corinthian church, We can conclude just because you've converted To Christianity does not automatically mean we come out of worldliness into perfect holiness. Not how it works, there's work, effort, sanctification that needs to happen, and above all, a strong obedience to God.
So let's look this week at how the Thessalonians had A straw conversion. 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1. Verses 5 to 10, starting here at verse 5. As always, I'm going to do a read-through, let scripture speak for itself, and then we're going to go through and talk about it. Starting here at verse five.
Because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power. with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You knew how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord. For you welcome the message in the midst of severe suffering.
with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out. From you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore, We do not need to say anything about it.
For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turn 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 rescues us. from the coming wrath.
So, Paul tells us here that the Thessalonian church had become. The model. They were the model. Church. To the unbelieving world, and to the believing world alike.
They were the model church.
Now this means There's a lot of stuff that they were doing right. Many things that we can learn from. And their conversion was not one that was weak. or feeble, it was strong. It was explosive.
Like dynamite. Boom! Verse 8. Their faith had become known everywhere. And everywhere is a lot of places.
So, what makes for a strong conversion? We'll start here at verse 5. Because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power. with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
A strong conversion starts with hearing the word, and in order to hear the word, there must be a speaker. There must be a minister, and in this case the minister is Paul. And now we spoke last week about how a strong minister is part of a strong church.
Well, a strong conversion follows a strong minister.
Now, I am not just referring to a preacher or somebody who's ordained, because we are all called to be ministers of the gospel.
Now, Paul was certainly a good speaker. He was eloquent. He spoke with wisdom and his education, and he had novel illustrations. But when Paul would go to speak, He did not place his trust in his own ability. He placed his trust in the ability of God.
He was not concerned about speaking just right or using just the right illustrations. He was not concerned about what people thought about him. See, the only thing Paul was concerned about was sharing the gospel. And the only person's opinion. that mattered to Paul.
was Jesus. How much weight do we put and the opinions of others. How much weight will we put? In God's opinion, Now, this being said, Paul still had to speak to share the gospel. We see 1 Peter 3:15, it says, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give you and to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect.
So if we're to be effective in ministry, we have to be prepared. In our words, Paul used words to minister, yes, but he did not use words alone. He preached in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in full assurance. Verse 5: Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with words. Howard.
That word power, the gospel came in power. That word is dynamite in the Greek, and it's the same word we use to get the word dynamite from in English. And dynamite is powerful. And it's got a lot of uses. In construction, you can use it to rip through rock and concrete.
or to establish a new building foundation. It can be used in transportation, to form tunnels for subways or to clear way for railways. Dynamite can be used in war to breach through enemy walls. and defenses. And the gospel.
holds the same power. The gospel can rip through the rock and concrete of our old ways and establish a new foundation. In Christ. And the gospel is not for any one individual culture. The gospel can be transported to any nation, to any tribe, and transform them from the inside out.
And the gospel connects us together. That, you know, though we may be of different culture or language, we are still all brothers and sisters. under the same father. The gospel is also a powerful tool. It's spiritual warfare.
There is no stronghold of the devil. that the gospel cannot break through. and send the enemy fleeing. Jeremiah 23, 29, it says, Is not my word? like fire.
declares the Lord. And like a hammer that breaks rock, into pieces. The gospel The Word of God is Yeah. Dynamite. And it comes.
in power.
So in his preaching, Paul speaks in the power of God and trusts in the Holy Spirit. And it's a collaborative effort of the minister speaking and the Holy Spirit convicting the hearts of the audience. And in this, to convince the audience of the eternal truth of the gospel, Paul relies on the Holy Spirit, and as he speaks, the Holy Spirit is moving. And the minister speaks in truth and in the will of God. Holy Spirit moves.
And he also preaches with full assurance.
Well, how does he do this? How could Paul preach with the assurance that God would show up? Because Paul lived out the truth that he spoke of. He didn't just talk the talk. Paul lived completely surrendered to Christ.
And if we want to have that same full assurance in Christ, we must be. Completely surrendered. To Christ. 1 John 2.3, it says, We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Luke 9:23, Jesus says, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.
We must be in submission to Christ.
Now, taking up your cross daily, it's not just enduring the pains and sufferings of today. I'd say that's part of it. Crosses are built for dying on. Deny the self. Die to the self.
Crucify the will of the self and see how God makes you alive. in Christ.
Okay. The gospel is to be preached and fully lived out, and this is where we will have our full assurance. A strong conversion follows strong ministers. Not just the preacher. We're all to participate in the ministry of the gospel.
Alright, looking at verse 6 here. You became imitators of us and of the Lord. For you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with joy given by the Holy Spirit. A strong conversion requires a strong Decision. The Thessalonians accepted the gospel, imitated the character of the apostle and Jesus amidst severe suffering and persecution.
We see in Acts 17 where Paul establishes the church of the Thessalonians. There are many Gentiles that come to faith. There are many prominent women that come, and some Jewish people as well. But many of the Jews were jealous. They stirred up a massive mob and caused riots in the streets of this city.
They went and they ripped church members from their home and arrested them. This church was dealing with severe persecution. Paul and Silas had to escape Thessalonica under the cover of night to get away. See, if we are half-hearted in our decision. to follow Jesus.
All it will take is a little bit of resistance. little bit of pushback from the world. or a little whisper of temptation. in our ear. and we fold like a cheap lawn chair.
We have to make a strong decision. to follow Christ. No matter what. Fully committed, ready to tell the enemy: bring it on! Show me what you got.
I stand firm in Christ. Nothing will shake this foundation. It requires a short time. Verse 6, you became imitators of us and the Lord.
Now, the word imitator in the Greek is mimetae, and it's where we get the word mimic or mime from. The church became imitators, mimicking Paul and Jesus.
So let me ask you guys. Is it good? for the people to imitate the preacher and minister. And all times? Is it good?
Well, I mean it didn't. Depends on what he's doing, doesn't it? A little bit. Yeah, I mean, the pastor's living wild and loose or drinking alcohol like he's a fish. Cramming his face with 10,000 calories of taco wagon every day.
Maybe we don't imitate that. Maybe that's not a good model to follow. Probably shouldn't replicate that. Give that guy a new occupation, too. And this is why Paul says, imitators of us and The Lord.
Paul says it even more plainly, 1 Corinthians 11, follow my example as I follow Christ. The leader must be living and speaking in line with biblical truth for him to be worth following. Amen? Yeah, we we want that. And this is why you often hear me say, test every word I say against Scripture.
If what I say is not in line with the word of God, go with what God says over what Wyat says.
So, I still encourage you to test my words, test my actions, listen to my sermons with a healthy level of skepticism.
Now maybe it's to my detriment to say that, but it's certainly not to yours. Be critical thinkers. And do not imitate me if I am not imitating. the Lord. And if I do imitate the Lord, well Praise God.
So two important lessons from this first year. First, nothing should keep a person from receiving the gospel of life, not opposition, persecution, or tragedy. In fact, Jesus is the only one who can even help us deal with these things, to overcome them. He is the one that helps us overcome them. Second, every believer Must be ever so careful to guard their lives from sin and strive for holiness.
Why? Because people watch us. And people imitate us. Our friends, our friends. Our neighbors, brothers, sisters, even our children, they watch us, they pay attention.
Monkey C, monkey do. They imitate us.
So it's in our best interest, our community's best interest, that we are modeling Christ, that we imitate Christ.
So what kind of change do we want to see in the world?
Well, if we want change, we have to be the change and be persons of change. But what kind of person do we want other people to see and imitate? We need to be that person too. None of this is easy. That's why a strong conversion It requires a strong decision.
Moving on to verse 7 and 8 here. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. Your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it. A strong conversion gives a strong witness.
The model church had become an example to all.
Now, Macedonia and Achaia. The Romans had conquered Greece and they divided it into these two provinces. And Paul is saying that this church's faith had become known across all the nation of Greece and beyond. To to put that into like uh you know put that to scale. That would be like if Trinity Became a household name across all of Virginia.
That all of Virginia knew Trinity for our faithfulness and obedience. That's amazing. That was this church. This church had been known across all of Greece and beyond for their faithfulness.
Now, they were certainly well located. You know, they had a lot of trade and commerce coming through the city. But just because there's foot traffic, there has to be a strong witness to match it. And in this case, this church's case, there was. And it's a good lesson for us today as well.
Like, we can have. All the traffic in the world come by us. But we must witness. We must witness to them. And our witness must be supported by a changed life.
So I did my undergrad in Christian apologetics. And Christian apologetics was giving reasonable defense for the faith that we have. I did this major because I had questions that I wanted to know the answer to. But before I came to Liberty, I would go out and I'd present these apologetic arguments to people. And most people had no idea how to respond.
And I find often I would win the argument, but I wouldn't win the soul. In time I learned, you know, I'm going about this all wrong. It's not about winning the argument. And it's good to know the sheer breadth of Christian reason edifies our faith. It's not blind faith, it's the only answer.
But you wanna know what the strongest argument is? For Christianity. I changed life.
Somebody who loves me in a way I've never loved or been loved before.
Somebody who lives for God unlike anything I've ever seen before.
Somebody who speaks truth and hope with a conviction unlike I have ever heard before. That person. That person has my attention. Who is this person? Why are they not like the rest of the world?
What do they know? I want to know that person.
So we must be engaging the people God puts in our lives, but we have to live out the truth we proclaim. We have to be experientially different. We have to feel different than the rest of the world. And in this way, we become an example of what God can do for them. A strong conversion gives a strong witness.
Moving on to verse 9 here. For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell us how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. A strong conversion. turns from idolatry.
Now, the Thessalonians went through a lot of persecution, as we've talked about. Paul had to flee the city because the Jews were hunting him. Paul hears from other people about how things are going with the Thessalonians. And this young church of believers, you know, they're very it's a very young church, they're very new, but they're standing firm in the gospel. Verse 9, had you turned to God from idols.
So in the Ten Commandments, we know the second commandment is that we should not have any idols before God. What is an idol? You know, what is an idol? If I'm watching American Idol, am I sitting. But what are we even talking about here?
What's an idol? We typically think of an idol as some sort of image or graven statue that represents a man-made God. And this is accurate.
However, a broader understanding can be that it's an idol is anything we place of more importance or higher than God. We can idolize money Drugs, alcohol can be an idol. Sexual gratification can be an idol. We can even idolize status, reputation. We can idolize our family.
We can idolize our spouse. Anything that we put at a higher level of importance than the will of God. We commit idolatry.
Now we may think, yeah, you know, sometimes I don't put God at the highest priority all the time, but that doesn't mean I'm like worshiping something else, does it?
Well Worship is what we put. where we place worth. Worth ship. When we place worth in something When we place worth in something that is not God, or put it at a higher level than God, we commit idolatry. We may not pray to our idol, but we lay down our time, lay down our attention and our devotion to it like a sacrifice, and we assume the position of worship.
So I'd ask What in your life occupies your attention. Are there things that you find yourself running to before you even consider Jesus? If we want to remove idolatry, From our lives. We will be required to reorient ourselves to find worth in Christ. first.
Now, how do the Thessalonians do it? They're a model church, they get it right. How do they do it? Verse 9, they turned to God from idols.
Now, it does not say that they turned from idols to God, they turned to God. from idols.
Now the difference is They turned to God despite their idolatry. They didn't try to clean their mess up. First, before they went to God, they went to God despite being in a mess. And we can get that backwards sometimes.
Now, we should not think that we have to clean up our act, clean up our sin before we turn to God. No, we turn to God first despite it. We need help. In the midst of our mess. And it's Jesus who steps into the mess with us.
and helps us work through it. No matter what you might be dealing with, don't try and clean it up on your own. Turn to God. First. and He will help us deal with what afflicts us.
Because our strength is God's strength. First ten. And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. The Thessalonians turn to God from idols because Jesus is coming back. This is their authentic hope that they have.
And as I mentioned in the previous sermon, hope. is what gives us endurance to the work. It is their hope that moved them to work through their mess with God. Verse 10, Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. They turned to God from their idols and escaped the wrath.
I forgot. And the day of wrath is coming. has to come. God, being perfectly good, perfectly just, cannot just excuse sin or turn a blind eye to it. It has to be dealt with.
Otherwise, He is not good. The day of wrath is coming. The fact that it hasn't come already is grace. It's the grace of time that there might be more that come to know Jesus before the day is coming. And Jesus has rescued us, pulled us out of the wrath of God that we deserve into mercy.
John 3.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned. but whoever does not believe stands condemned.
Alrighty.
So in conclusion here today, The Thessalonians, they were the model church. They were a strong church and had a strong conversion. We've been looking at several key markers of what makes them strong. A strong conversion follows strong ministers. A strong conversion requires us to make a strong decision.
A strong conversion leads to strong witnesses. And a strong conversion turns from idolatry. By God's strength. and in favor of the authentic hope we have in Christ. Let's pray.
Hey there. I hope this sermon has enriched your day. If you like this message, I want to personally invite you to join us for Sunday worship. We have two locations in Virginia, Trinity Methodist Church in Concord and Mount Comfort Methodist Church in Appomattox. Come join us Sunday morning at 9.45 and we will help you get connected.
As always, I'm Pastor Wyatt Hudd. Thank you for tuning in.
