1 Thess. 2:1-12, Empty Service

Let us begin with some notes concerning the layout of Paul’s letter.

·        In 1 Thess. 1 Paul spoke of what kind of men we were among you (v5) and what manner of entry we had to you (v9).  In Ch. 2 he speaks of their coming to you (v1).

·        Chapters 2 and 3 are tied together by the “empty” theme.  Paul is concerned that his ministry to them be not in vain (2:1; 3:5), a frequent concern of Paul (1 Cor. 15:2,10; 2 Cor. 6:1;; Gal. 2:2; 4:11; Phil. 2:16).   Paul was not self-seeking in this thought.  Rather his concern was with those to whom he ministered.  They were his joy and crown (1 Th. 2:19), his boast (2 Cor. 1:14). 

·        When Paul came to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9) it was to a city without a church.  Thus Paul’s ministry was what we call church-planting, a ministry he describes in 1 Th. 2:1-9.  But in v10-12 that he speaks of his behavior among the believers.  Like all Christian ministry, it involved evangelism (outreach to the unsaved) and edification (building up believers).

·        Ch. 1 emphasizes God’s work among the Thessalonians.  He loved them (v4), chose them (v4) and brought great power and deep conviction to them by His Spirit.  They believer God’s message (v8).  Ch. 2 emphasizes man’s work.  As Paul said elsewhere, God gives the increase, but He uses men to plant and water (1 Cor. 3:5-10) and those men must carry out their ministry properly.  Thus you should expect in Ch. 2 that there will be numerous opportunities for us to learn from Paul.

Ministry is vain when it is empty or useless.  We might call it ‘blowing smoke’ or ‘smoke and mirrors.’  Peter called it clouds without rain and springs without water (2 Pt. 2:17).  What can make ministry empty?

·        An impotent gospel.  If you preach another gospel, one that omits the cross (1 Cor. 1:17) or resurrection (1 Cor. 15:14) or a call to faith (Rom. 4:14) ministry will of necessity be vain (Gal. 2:2).  If we omit the gospel all-together and fill our sermons with godless chatter (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16) ministry will beempty.  I had an acquaintance tell me he was leaving the church he had grown up in because the pastor, who was known to preach more science than Bible, had not once mentioned the name “Jesus” in his Easter sermon.

·        An indolent servant.  When the servant of Christ is more the servant of money (1 Cor. 9:15) or who thinks the ministry is his production rather than that of the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10, 58) ministry will be empty.

·        An incomplete faith.  There are situations where the reception of the gospel is the problem.  For example, when faith does not produce the change (Eph. 5:3-7), the works (James 2:10) that will naturally come, then ministry has been vain.  The Galatian Church had folks who were in danger of receiving God’s grace in vain (Gal. 6:1).  Their reception was empty and thus the ministry to them was empty.

By God’s grace let us serve God in a way that our service is not in vain.

1 Thess. 1:10; Rom. 5:1-11, The Waiting Church

Today we are considering the phrase, and to wait for His Son from heaven.  This is a major issue in the Thessalonian letters.  Note the following.

It seems that it was especially the teaching with reference to Christ's return upon the clouds of heaven that had captivated the minds and hearts of the readers.  As they saw it -- and rightly so -- a man is not truly converted unless he glories in this doctrine and shows its force in his life. (Wm. Hendricksen)

The prominence given to the second coming is in sharp contrast to so much that calls itself Christianity in modern times. ... there being a reference to it on the average once every thirteen verses from Matthew right through to Revelation. Its neglect in many quarters is something which cannot be countenanced from Scripture. (Leon Morris)

Waiting involves patient and confident expectancy.  The primary word in this compound word means to remain, to abide, to be constant.  The prefix indicates this waiting takes place in the midst of our current life.  It is remaining in the place where God has put us.


For whom are we waiting?  We await the Son of God (Rom. 8:32), Gods only begotten (Jn. 3:16) beloved Son (Mt. 3:17).  And where is He?  He passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14), ascended far above all heavens (Eph. 4:10), and is sitting at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Hb. 8:1).  We await His return!


Why is our waiting so full of hope?  It is because our waiting is tied to an indisputable past event; the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.  He is the one who tied His resurrection to our future bodily resurrection (1 Th. 4:13-14; 1 Cor. 15:20-23).  But His resurrection is also tied to our present spiritual resurrection (Rom. 6:4).  We have been raised with Christ to live a new life.  Our life now as well as our life eternal is assured because of the resurrection of Christ.

For what are we waiting?  We could say many things to answer this question but we are interested in 1 Thess. 1:10 which speaks of the wrath that will come.

·        The fact of future wrath: Luke 21:20-24; Rev. 6:16-17.  Even if we struggle to combine God’s love with His judgment we cannot deny either one.

·        The cause of wrath: John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; Rev. 14:10.  In a nutshell: unbelief!

·        The basis of deliverance from wrath: Rom. 5:9; Eph. 2:3-5.  Through the work of Christ God in grace offers deliverance.

·        The timing of deliverance from wrath; 1 Th. 1:10; 4:16; 5;9.  This deliverance has a strong connection with the rapture, the future removal of believers from this earth. Believers are not destined for wrath but for salvation.  The removal of the Church during the future tribulation fulfills this promise.  Like Noah, Lot and the Israelites in Egypt the Church will be delivered from the wrath to come.

Remember: this is a message to those who have turned to God from idols that they might serve the living and true God.

1 Thess. 1:9; Jer. 10:1-10, The Enslaved Church

Now let us consider the phrase, to serve the living the true God.  The word for serve is the Greek douleo referring to the bond-slave, the most severe term for slaves.  The two main terms are seen in Col. 4:7 where Paul, referring to Tychicus, says he is a faithful minister (Greek diakonos; emphasizing the way we serve each other) and fellow servant (doulos; emphasizing our complete submission) in the Lord.  


This submission, this lack of rights, may seem out of line to some.  But in Scripture there are some pretty famous slaves: Moses (Rev. 25:3), Mary (Lk. 1:38,48), Paul (Rom. 1:1) and above all, Jesus who took on the form of a bond-servant (Phil. 2:7).  


As Americans we relish in our freedom.  Slavery is a hideous chapter out of our past so we want to say, like the Jews did, we are no one’s slaves (Jn. 8:33).  As Christians we might remember that we are now sons of God (Jn. 15:15; Gal. 4:1,7).  If you are a son then you are not the slave.  


But we are followers of Christ (how can we forget that).  Christ, who is the Son of God, became the bond-slave (Phil. 2:7).  He was free; yet He took on enslavement.  Peter said we are free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God (1 Pt. 2:16).  Paul said we have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve (douleuo) one another (Gal. 5:13).  

Here, in outline form, are passages that describe our slavery.

·        Matt. 8:9: we are to be obedient.

·        Luke 12:35-40: we are to always be ready to do the Master’s bidding.

·        Matt. 25:14-30: we are accountable to the Master and must be found faithful.

·        Luke 17:7-10: we are to be selfless in our service.

·        Matt. 10:24-25; Jn. 13:16: we are to serve in humility.

·        Rom. 12:11: we are to serve with zeal.

·        Matt. 6:24: we are to serve with singleness of mind.

There are some limitations that we need to keep in mind. 

·        We are not the slaves of men or even ourselves (1 Cor. 723; Gal. 1:10; Rom. 16:18) but we are slaves of God (1 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 22:3,6).

·        We are not to be slaves of impurity (Rom. 6:6,19; Titus 3:7) but of righteousness (Rom. 6:18,19,22).

·        We are not to be enslaved to fear (Rom. 8:15; Heb. 2:15).

·        We are not enslaved to the master of “law” (Gal. 5:1; Rom. 7:6) but to the new way of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6).

In the Jeremiah passage (10:1-10) we see how being bond-slaves of God is a good thing because of Who He is, especially in contrast to idols.  He is the Creator.  He can do good.  He will judge.  And He is the true and living God, the everlasting King.  How blessed to be His servants.  There is none like You, O LORD.

1 Thess. 1:9; Acts 14:8-18, The Converted Church

Being a Christian demands a good pair of “trifocals”  as this chart demonstrates.

PAST	PRESENT	FUTURE
v3: Faith	v3: Love	v3: Hope
v9-10: Conversion	Service	Waiting
v10: Christ Incarnate	Christ Resurrected	Christ Delivering

Today we are considering the phrase: how you turned to God from idols (1:9).  This was well-known about these believers.  They had literally turned around.   It is used of someone who just turns around (Mt. 9:22);  Peter called the people to repent and be converted (Ac. 3:19); many people turned to the Lord (Ac. 9:35); God promised to open the eyes of the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Ac. 26:18).  All these uses can be applied to the Thessalonians.  

·        It was an immediate conversion.  This is based in the Greek tense of the word which indicates it was a decision with immediate results.

·        It was a deliberate conversion.  The tense denotes deliberate choice.  Furthermore in Scripture conversion involves the action of men.  Read Lk. 1:16, James 5:19-20 and Ac. 9:35 and you will see why in W. E. Vine’s NT dictionary he says that in no case is God, Christ or the Holy Spirit, said to turn, or convert, anyone.  It is tied to the gospel ministry of believers and the response to the gospel of sinners.

·        It was a visible conversion.  This is suggested to us by the word ‘how’ in the phrase we are considering.  But it is fundamental to the definition of the word.  Change is the essence of conversion.

·        It was a forward conversion.  They turned to God from idols.  Some had known of God through their ties to Judaism as God-fearers.  Others may have paid attention to the voice of creation.  But they came to know they were sinners, turned away from the Creator, and at enmity against God.  They turned away from idols, those worthless things (Ac. 14:15), as Paul called them.  The world is full of tourist spots famous for statues of gods or goddesses.  Every religion except Christianity has them.  You may have remarked as to the beauty of these images.  But we need to remember that Scriptures condemns the whole system of idolatry.  It was a major problem in OT Israel and it was the former life of NT believers.  

·        It was a Biblical conversion.  In Acts 3:19 to repent is properly to change your mind.  Conversion is an act of the will, the actually change.  Unlike Judas who only had remorse over his sin (Mt. 27:3,5) so that he killed himself, the Thessalonians through Godly sorrow that resulted in true repentance.

It doesn’t matter how old you were when you were saved or if you grew up in a Christian home.  If you have trusted in Christ you have turned to the Lord. And it will show more and more as you grow in His grace and knowledge.

Psalm 77

One of the great pastor-teachers of Westminster Chapel in London, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, wrote a book entitled Spiritual Depression: It’s Causes and Cures.  We highly recommend it as one of the most helpful books ever written aside from the Bible.  It is a thoroughly exegetical (i.e. a deep study of Scripture) consideration of a subject that the Bible actually meets head-on.  The subject of depression is very real to people, and all too often treated with drugs of some sort without ever truly considering the Bible’s provision for a cure.  I mention this book as a further study of the subject that is presented in this Psalm.


Psalm 77 has a simple plan.  In vs1-9 the Psalmist expresses the depth of his discomfort.  In v10 there is a determined commitment by the Psalmist to change his mental focus to the great works of God in the past (vs10-15), especially the great works of God involved at the Red Sea in the time of the Exodus.

·        77:1-9:  One issue in depression is the recognition that our problem is not unique.  We tend to think that no one knows how we feel, how difficult our situation or how impossible the solution to our problem.  This is a denial of God before Whom all things are open and naked and a denial of His word which is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12-13).  God fully understands our depression as is seen in these verses.  My soul refused to be comforted (v2).  I am so troubled that I cannot speak (v7).  Has His promise failed forevermore (v8)?  You may be asking questions such as this.  Remember that you are not the first to do so.

·        77:10-20:  The solution to depression is usually not the solving of some problem.  It is rather the determined choice to think differently, to focus on the goodness of God.  Psalm 73:17, Lam. 3:19-21, 2 Cor. 4:16-18 and Col. 3:1-2 are other illustrations of Godly men determining to think differently even though the situation had not changed.  The Psalmist commits himself: I will remember (v10-11), I will meditate on (v12).  And the specific focus, on the time when God led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (v20), is not just a trick to divert attention from the negative.  It is quite relevant.  He remembers that God’s way was in the sea.  God led Israel in a path that put them in an impossible situation, with the impassible sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other.  And God’s footsteps were not known (v19).  In other words the path was not marked out in advance.  They had to wait until God miraculously gave them a path through the sea.

One thought from God needs to be emphasized for us.  Your way of God is in the sanctuary (or in holiness, v13).  God is always leading us in the way that only makes sense when we commune with Him in His sanctuary, the place where He dwells.  We do not need to know the next step.  We need to trust in the One who in His goodness is always leading us in the path of holiness. 

1 Thess. 1:8; Mt. 22:1-14, An Evangelistic Church

The Thessalonian Church was regenerate (v1-2), mature (v3-4), genuine (v5) and connected (v5-7).  In v8 we see they are evangelistic.  They were involved in a PERSONAL CHRIST-LIKE WORLDWIDE PROCLAMATION INVASION. 

·        Proclamation.  They were sounding forth the word of the Lord.  That is what evangelism is: the preaching of the gospel.  This same term is used in Matt. 22:10 when it said they go out to the highways and declare.  This is a prediction of Christ that the gospel, when rejected by the Jews, would go to the Gentiles.  The Thessalonians were part of this proclamation.

·        Invasion. Sounding forth indicates this was a church that was not ingrown but reaching out.  This is the Great Commission: to GO into the world, GOING to make disciples of all nations.  Paul never said to stay away from the sinners in the world but only those who brought their sin into the church (1 Cor. 5:10).

·        Worldwide.  The Great Commission is given to the Church, to local churches, and it extends to the ends of the earth (Ac. 1:8).  Look at the progression: from Jerusalem to Judea (their province) to Samaria (the next province) to the ends of the earth.  Do you see how this worked in Thessalonica?  The Thessalonians impacted Macedonia (their province) and Achaia (the province next door) and every place (beyond the immediate borders towards the ends of the earth.

·        Personal.  The passage says their faith had gone out.  Look at how the gospel went out in other passages.  After the raising of the ruler’s daughter news of this spread through all that region (Mt. 9:26).  After the healing of a blind man and a mute they went out and spread the news about him all over that region (Mt. 9:31).  The same thing happened after driving an evil spirit from a man (Mk. 1:28), the healing of a leper (Mk. 1:45) and the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7:17).  It happened spontaneously and personal testimony predominated.  This is what happened in Thessalonica: the news spread about what Christ meant to them.

·        Christ-like.  Jesus said as the Father has sent me, I am sending you (Jn. 20:21).  How did the Father send Christ?  The following verses have the same word as went out in 1 Thess. 1:8. 

o   Jn. 8:42: As Christ was sent, so are we.  Evangelism is the ministry of Christ.

o   John 16:27-28: We are sent into the world.  Like the Incarnate Christ who came into the world so we must enter the world.

o   John 19:17: Jesus carried His cross out to Golgotha, to the place where He was lifted up for all to see.  So we must go to Him outside the camp (Heb. 13:13), bearing the disgrace He bore. 

In terms of Christ-likeness, Jesus ministered in the power of the Spirit (Lk. 4:14).  We cannot do this in the flesh but only in the Spirit (Ac. 1:8). 

1 Thess. 1:5-7; 1 Tim. 4:12-16, The Power of Example

Let’s consider the Importance of example in the home.

·        Jacob favored 2 of his 12 sons; for what it's worth his parents played favorites between him & his brother.

·        Amnon raped his half-sister; for what it's worth, his father committed adultery.

·        Absalom murdered his bro; for what it's worth, his father murdered a man.

·        The Rechabites would not take wine when offered by Jeremiah; for what it's worth, that has been the tradition of their ancestors for generations.

·        Timothy had a sincere faith; for what it's worth it dwelt first in his grandmother and then in his mother.

·        The OT predicted that the sins of the father would be visited on the 3rd & 4th generations.

It is no different in the Body of Christ and in the relationship of one local church to another.  We are called to be blameless. 

·        Heb 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19: it's who Christ is.

·        Eph. 1:4: it's why God chose us.

·        Eph. 5:27: it's why Christ died for us.

·        Col. 1:22: it's why Christ reconciled us.

·        Jude 24; Rev. 14:5: it's our destiny.

·        Phil 2:15: it's our best testimony.

To be a church that sets an example for others to follow we must be willing to follow the example of those who have gone become us.  That is what we see in the Church at Thessalonica.


First Paul refers to his own example among them (v5).  What Paul says tells me two things.  For one, he lived his life publicly, before others.  He was visible to others.  He wasn’t locked up in his study all day.  In another place (1 Tim. 4:12) he reminded the young Timothy to be an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity.  To do that you have to be with the people who need the example.


For another thing, if you are going to follow someone’s example you have to be with them.  Paul was an example for your sake, meaning he was committed to them and their sanctification.  For him to be their example they had to avail themselves of his ministry; they had to be willing to be with him.  That’s the point of the fellowship of believers. Through fellowship we encounter examples of Christ that encourage us.

Second Paul refers to the mimicry of the Thessalonians (v6; 2:14).  The word followers is the Greek word from which we get the term mimic.  We are called to follow Christ so the example we follow must be like Paul who called people to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).  A. W. Tozer emphasized this:

That terrible zone of confusion (about what is "worldly") so evident in the whole life of the Christian community could be cleared up in one day if the followers of Christ would begin to follow Christ instead of each other.  For our Lord was very plain in His teaching about the believer and the world. (Divine Conquest, p112)

To find examples like this we need to look for people who have been faithful to Christ through trials.  The Thessalonians received Paul’s ministry in much affliction.  He, of course, had been faithful through a lot of persecution, included some in Thessalonica; he was an ideal example for the Thessalonians.


Where can we look for good examples?  Look to God (Eph. 5:1).  The question, what would Jesus do, is good to ask as long as we find the answer in God’s word.  Then we say, look to the Old Testament for both the good and bad examples (1 Cor. 10:6,11).  We should also look to leaders (elders, deacons) in the church (2 Th. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12).  And we should look to faithful brothers in Christ (Heb. 6:12).  We find them in our own local church.  And may I also encourage you to find them in the history of the Church.  A good book on Church History can be a great read.


So Paul set an example.  The Thessalonians followed Paul’s example.  Then they became examples to others (v7).  They didn’t showboat their example, like the Pharisees who did all their works just to be seen (Mt. 6:1ff).  But they were models.  Just as we need to follow people who follow Christ, so we need to follow Christ so others have something of value to see in us that will lead them closer to Christ.


The word in 1 Th. 1:7 for example is the Greek tupos meaning a type.  It is used of someone like Isaac who was a type of Christ.  In other words Isaac appeared earlier to give people in his time an idea of what the Christ would be like.  So we can be a type of Christ, an image of what Christ is like so that others will be drawn to Him.  Let us commit to living the life of Christ before others that they might desire Christ!