This is Monday morning, May 7, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given to Brother Stephen Kong.
Will you please turn to the Book of Acts, chapter 17, beginning with verse 1?
And having journeyed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures,
opening and alleging, that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ.
And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.
And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few.
But when the Jews of Thessalonica knew that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Berea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still.
Now turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1.
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;
knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election,
how that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.
And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit;
so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.
That is all we will read this morning. Let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we commit Thy Word into Thy hands. We ask that Thou wilt bless Thy Word and make it very living and real to all of us this morning. Lord, we pray that Thou wilt reveal Thyself to us through Thy Word, because we believe Thou art the living Word. It is by Thy Word that we live. Lord, be with us together in Thy precious name. Amen.
In recent days, we have fellowshipped concerning the letter to the Galatians, which was written to churches planted by the Apostle Paul in the very beginning of his apostolic ministry.
You will remember that Barnabas and Paul, with others, were ministering to the Lord together at Antioch. The Holy Spirit said, “Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” So they went forth from Antioch, passed through Cyprus, and came into the region of Galatia.
There, in cities such as Derbe, Iconium, Lystra, and others, God used Paul and Barnabas to raise up churches in that area. So we see that the letter to the Galatians was written to the churches of Paul’s first love, because these were the first fruits of that ministry.
No wonder Paul loved them so much and was so concerned with their spiritual condition before God. In a way, that explains the tone of that letter.
Now, this morning, we would like to come to the first and second letters to the Thessalonians. If the letter to the Galatians was a letter to the churches of Paul’s first love, then these two letters to the Thessalonians were written to a church that was also very precious and personal to him.
As a matter of fact, these two letters were written by Paul before he wrote any other letters in the Bible. They were the first two letters written by the Apostle Paul to the churches.
Why were they written to the churches in their first love? Because these churches were just raised up. They were very, very young. Yet the church was in her first love toward God.
Before we enter into these two letters, we have to know a little of the background, because that will help us appreciate them.
On Paul’s second missionary journey, he had passed through Galatia and Phrygia. He intended to go into Asia, the Roman province of Asia, to preach the gospel; but he was forbidden by the Spirit of Jesus.
Then he considered going into Bithynia in the north, another Roman province densely populated with people. But again, the Holy Spirit forbade him. So he could go neither south nor north. He traveled westward until he came to Troas, on the seacoast.
There was the Aegean Sea before him. Beyond it was Europe. When Paul and his companions came to Troas, that was the end of the road. The sea was before them.
During the night Paul was given a vision: a man of Macedonia was standing and calling for help, saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
The next morning, when Paul related his vision to his fellow companions, they all felt that the Lord had called them to Macedonia. So they crossed the Aegean Sea and came into Macedonia.
Brothers and sisters, this was a tremendous move, initiated by the Holy Spirit. So far as Paul was concerned, he had been thinking all the time of laboring in Asia. He had never thought of going into Europe.
The gospel had not yet been preached throughout Asia. There were so many people there. Naturally speaking, we might think that the gospel should first be preached throughout the continent of Asia, and then go to another continent. Probably that was what Paul was thinking.
Yet the Holy Spirit forbade him to preach in Asia at that time—not because God did not want the gospel to be preached there, but because God had His own plan. The Spirit of God restrained Paul from going south or north, constrained him to go west, and then called him to cross the sea into Europe.
That was the first time the gospel came to Europe. It was a tremendous step, not planned by man, but initiated by the Spirit of God.
The first region they entered was Macedonia, and the first city was Philippi. We know that Macedonia was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great conquered the world of his time. History tells us that he wept because there was no more world to conquer. But Alexander was not only a military genius; he was a great dreamer. He dreamed of uniting East and West into one world under Greek culture.
When Paul set foot on the soil of Macedonia, we can imagine what may have gone through his mind. This was the land of Alexander. Philippi was called after the name of Alexander’s father, Philip. Thessalonica was called after the name of Alexander’s half-sister.
The whole place would remind Paul of the great Greek empire of Alexander the Great. Paul was a man familiar with history. Surely he could not help but ask, “Lord, Thou hast called us to Europe, to the very birthplace of Alexander the Great. What art Thou doing? What is Thy plan?”
Perhaps it came into Paul’s mind that God was doing something tremendous. Alexander and Macedonia had tried to unite the world into one, but here God was going to do a greater work. He was going to build His own kingdom.
His own kingdom would cover the whole world, uniting East and West under Christ. What a tremendous vision that must have been to Paul at that time!
God was not doing merely some piecework. God was doing a great work. He was building His own kingdom—the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of heaven.
He was going to bring all peoples throughout the world into one under the King. Paul was called into that work. We have to remember this even today.
This work was carried on with great opposition. Whenever God is building His kingdom, you will find that Satan is very busy. He will not allow the kingdom of God to advance throughout the world without opposition.
He has usurped this world long enough, and he is most unwilling to give it up. That is the reason why, when the gospel was preached in Asia and then in Europe, Paul met great opposition.
It was not an easy task. When God began to use Paul to preach the gospel, there was opposition. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison at Philippi.
But thank God, at midnight they were able to sing and pray to God. Even the doors of the prison were opened. The earth was shaken. Spiritually, this was true too. The church was edified.
Then they were asked by the authorities to leave the city. So they left Philippi and came to Thessalonica.
Thessalonica was a great city. It was a populous city, situated on the great Roman road from east to west, the Via Egnatia. Paul and his companions came into Thessalonica.
Paul was there only for three Sabbaths—perhaps less than a month. But according to his custom, when he arrived in a city where there was a synagogue, he went there first.
In Philippi there was no synagogue, only some Jewish women and proselytes meeting by the river outside the city. There were not even ten Jewish men to establish a synagogue. According to Jewish custom, ten men were required.
But Thessalonica was different. There were many Jews there, so Paul went into the synagogue on the Sabbath. He reasoned with them from the Scriptures and proved to them that Jesus is the Christ.
The power of God was upon Paul. Some Jewish people believed, many Greeks who attended the synagogue believed, and many chief women also believed.
For three Sabbaths Paul entered the synagogue and preached Jesus Christ, and many came to the Lord. Think of it: only three Sabbaths, less than a month in Thessalonica.
Yet within that month the power of God accomplished so much. The gospel was preached with such power, and the Holy Spirit worked in such a way that many came to the Lord—many came to the Lord.
This stirred up the jealousy of the Jews. The Jews felt that they were God’s people and that God’s blessings belonged to them. Certainly, they thought, God would not bless the Gentiles.
If any Gentile desired God’s blessing, he had to become a Jew first. He had to become a proselyte and be circumcised; then he would receive God’s blessing. But here God was blessing the Greeks in such abundance.
The Jews themselves did not believe, yet they were jealous when they saw others believing. So they acted in a very mean way. They gathered a crowd from the wicked men of the marketplace and tried to stir up a riot.
The whole city was in tumult. They cried out that these men were proclaiming something against Caesar, declaring another king, Jesus. In other words, they made it a political crime.
They tried to seize Paul, but Paul was not there. Evidently, Paul was staying in the house of Jason, so they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers. After they had received security from Jason, they let him go, because according to Roman custom there had to be a trial.
The brethren were concerned for Paul’s life, so they sent Paul away. He went to Berea. But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard what was happening in Berea, they came there also and stirred up opposition against Paul.
Brothers and sisters, the first letter to the Thessalonians was written very shortly after Paul left Thessalonica, probably from Corinth.
Paul was deeply concerned for the faith of the Thessalonians. They were new believers, persecuted by their own people, left as a church without much human care. Humanly speaking, they were in a very difficult situation.
Paul’s heart was concerned because he was like a father and a mother to the believers in Thessalonica. So he sent Timothy back to see how they were enduring persecution, to encourage them, and to strengthen them in the Lord.
Paul traveled on to Corinth. Most likely Timothy came back from his visit to Thessalonica and met Paul there. He told Paul what God had done in Thessalonica.
The young church was able to stand. Not only had they kept the faith, but their testimony had gone out throughout Macedonia and Achaia.
Paul was so grateful to the Lord and so encouraged. He wanted to write a letter to the church. On the one hand, he expressed his gratitude to God for that young church. On the other hand, he took the opportunity to encourage, comfort, and strengthen them so that they might go on and increase in love.
In a way, Paul was exercising his gift of prophecy toward the church in Thessalonica. According to 1 Corinthians 14, the gift of prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort.
Because he was hindered from going there in person, he ministered to them through this letter. That was how the first letter to the Thessalonians was written. Shortly afterward, he wrote the second letter because he had more to say.
Now, brothers and sisters, the church in Thessalonica was a young church. It was not a mature church. Naturally, you cannot expect maturity in a young church.
Yet there is one thing that stands out in this church: it was full of freshness of life. There was freshness in that church.
You may not find the word life in these letters to the Thessalonians. Yet after you have read them, you cannot help but sense one thing, and that is life.
There was life in that church, and that life was very living and very fresh. Again, we would say that the church was not noted for maturity, because maturity takes time.
This church was not as mature as the church in Philippi later became. Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians after many years, and the church at Philippi had become more mature. Yet even this church, which had existed only a few months, showed such a demonstration of life.
Nothing is better than that. In preaching the gospel, it was like planting seed—not corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed.
When the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and received as the Word of God, the result is life. Preaching the gospel is not merely preaching some teaching or doctrine. It is not just telling a story or relating history.
When the gospel is preached rightly and received properly, the result is life. It is the life of Christ that comes to those who believe.
Paul preached the gospel not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The Thessalonians received the gospel as the Word of God, not as the word of men, and the result was life.
How do we know that there is life? This life is evidenced in three ways.
First, they turned to God from idols. That is the first evidence of life.
They turned to God from idols—that is the past. They served a true and living God—that is the present. And they waited for the coming of Christ—that is the future.
Whenever there is life in an individual or in a church, you will find these three things.
Many of those who believed were already attending the synagogue. Why? They were Greeks, they were Gentiles, and they had become tired of idol worship.
The heathen had many gods and worshiped idols. But the Jews worshiped only one God. Many Gentiles were attracted by the purity of Judaism, and because of that, many Greeks attended the synagogue. They were seeking the truth.
Even though they had already attended the synagogue, and no longer went to their temples to worship idols, strictly speaking, they could not yet be said to have turned to God from idols.
They were worshiping God in a synagogue, but without receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ and without being born again. They had not truly turned to God from idols.
Why? Because God must be worshiped in spirit and truth. Even though outwardly they did not worship idols made of clay, silver, or gold, idolatry covers much more than that.
Behind idol worship there is Satan, who receives the worship. Even though these people did not worship visible idols, they were still under the bondage of Satan. They had not yet been delivered from the power of darkness.
Brothers and sisters, only when we truly believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ are we translated out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. That is truly turning to God from idols.
We are delivered from the power of darkness, and we worship God in spirit and truth. Now that is evidence of life.
People can even worship God in an idolatrous way. How can that be?
You remember the story of the children of Israel. When Moses was receiving the law on the mount, they asked Aaron to make them a god.
Because God is Spirit, they could not see Him. They wanted a god that they could see and touch. They said, “We do not know what has become of Moses. Make us a god to go before us.”
Aaron made a golden calf, and they called the golden calf the god who brought them out of Egypt. They called the golden calf God, who had delivered them out of Egypt; but that was idolatry.
You do not need to worship another god in order to commit idolatry. Even when people want to worship God, if they worship Him in an idolatrous way, it is still idolatry.
Stephen, in Acts 7, was witnessing to the council of the Jews. He quoted the prophet concerning the wilderness journey. The people thought that they were carrying the tabernacle of God.
But Stephen quoted the prophet and said, in effect, “Did you carry the tabernacle of God? No. You carried the tabernacle of Moloch, your god.”
Physically, did they carry the tabernacle of Moloch? No. But spiritually, even the tabernacle of God was considered by the prophet to be the tabernacle of Moloch. Think of that.
You can turn the things of God into a place for the devil. You can call it God, and yet Satan is receiving the worship.
It is not simply a matter of going to a heathen temple and worshiping an idol made of wood or stone, called by another name. We can even make idolatry out of the things of God.
This has happened throughout history. You remember Jeroboam. After the kingdom was divided and he became king over Israel, he was afraid because the people still went to Jerusalem to worship God.
He feared that one day they would return to the house of David in Judah. So he set up two golden calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel.”
He used the name of God, set up priests who were not of the tribe of Levi, and imitated everything that was done in Jerusalem. But it was a counterfeit. It was done in the name of God, yet it was counterfeit.
Because of this, the nation of Israel was finally taken into captivity. So what is the difference? Unless a person has really turned to Christ, unless a person is really born again, even if he is not worshiping idols outwardly, he is still under the power of darkness.
But after you believe in the Lord Jesus, there is life in you. This life is evidenced by the fact that you have truly come away from idols and turned to God. Now you are no longer under the power of darkness. Now you worship God.
Then they turned to God. But it was more than merely turning to God. Having turned to God, they began to serve the true and living God.
You cannot turn to God without serving Him. Israel was delivered out of Egypt. Why? God said, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
Turning to God and serving God go together. Lots of people today turn to God in a sense, but how many are serving God?
We are not free; we have never been free. Before we knew the Lord, we served Satan, the god of this world. We thought that we were serving ourselves, but everyone who serves himself is serving Satan. He is behind everything.
You may not know it, but one day you will wake up. After we are saved, whom do we serve? We serve God. We serve the true and living God.
Serving the world and serving Satan is hard—very hard. But serving God is a service that comes out of love.
We all serve. We serve the Lord in many different ways. As one brother said, our profession is serving God; all other jobs are sidelines.
Whether you are a housewife, an office worker, or a student studying, these are sidelines. Our main purpose for living on this earth, after turning to God, is to serve the true and living God.
Now that is evidence of life. If a person professes to be saved and yet has no desire to serve God, and does not serve God, you wonder whether there is life.
The very life that we have received desires to serve the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. The Thessalonians, even though they were only a few months old as a church, showed their service to God in many ways.
The third evidence is that they waited for God’s Son from heaven. Where there is life, there is a desire and a longing for Christ’s return.
The Thessalonians did not know very much. If you read the first and second letters to the Thessalonians, you will find that they still had questions about the second coming. They were very young and did not know much.
Yet they were waiting for the Lord to come. That is important.
Today we may know too much, perhaps, about the second coming, and yet we are not ready. But these people did not have so much knowledge, and yet their hearts were waiting for the Lord’s return.
Why? First love. They were so loved; they were so touched by the love of Christ. They loved Christ so much that they longed to see Him.
These three things are evidences of life: turning from idols to God, serving the true and living God, and waiting for the coming of the Lord.
These are the marks of a church in her first love. Because there were these three evidences, they produced practical results.
The practical results are found in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Paul said, “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.”
Life is very practical. Life is not a theory. Life is not something we merely talk about. It will come forth in practical expression and demonstration.
With this young church in Thessalonica, you find that life was demonstrated in work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope.
You have faith, love, and hope. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul said that these three abide: faith, hope, and love. The young church had all three.
They had work, labor, and endurance; but their work, labor, and endurance were the result of faith, love, and hope. Not merely work, not merely labor, not merely endurance.
Their works were works of faith. Their labors were labors of love. Their endurance was endurance of hope.
When you come to Revelation 2, you remember that our Lord Jesus looked upon the church in Ephesus. He said:
I know thy works, and thy toil and patience.
But then He said:
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.
You see, the church in Ephesus, at the end of the first century, still continued to have works, labor, and endurance. But the inward power was gone. They had left their first love.
Work became merely work. Labor became merely labor. Endurance became merely endurance. Outwardly, all these things continued, but the inward motivation and power were gone.
Because of that, the Lord said, “I have this against thee.” The Lord was not merely looking for work. He was not merely looking for labor. He was not merely looking for endurance. He was looking for faith, love, and hope.
Where there is faith, love, and hope, there will be work, labor, and endurance. But it is very easy for us to have work without faith, labor without love, and endurance without hope.
When you are doing that, who do you think you are? It is not the life of Christ being manifested.
In the Bible, you find that even our works have to be tested. We are told to repent of dead works.
What are dead works? Of course, dead works do not refer to doing bad things. Dead works refer to doing good things.
Whenever you are convicted or uneasy in your conscience, the common reaction is, “Let me do some good things. Perhaps by doing good things I can cover it up.” But such works are dead works, because they are done by a dead person spiritually.
God is not looking for dead works. God is looking for works of faith.
We often tell people that salvation is not by works but by the grace of God. If you want to be saved and try to do good works, your works will not justify you. Your works will not save you, because all your works are like filthy rags before God.
You have to repent of your good works. You should not depend on them. Many people are not saved because they have confidence in their good works. They do not feel their need to be in Christ; they want to save themselves.
But we need to repent of dead works and trust the Lord for our salvation. That does not mean that, after we are saved, there should be no good works.
Ephesians 2 states this very plainly:
For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not of works, that no man should glory.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
What is the difference? Before we are saved, our works are dead works. We think that we can be justified by doing them.
But after we are saved, we are recreated in Christ for good works, which God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Now, when there is life within, there will be works—the works of faith.
Faith without works is dead. How do you know that you have faith? How do you prove your faith? You prove your faith by works. Faith is perfected by works.
In other words, out of faith there will be a work. Not merely work, but works of faith.
James uses the illustration of Abraham. Abraham believed God; therefore, he offered Isaac upon the altar.
Consecration, brothers and sisters, follows faith. If you really believe in the Lord, there must follow consecration.
You say that you believe in the Lord, yet you will not present your body a living sacrifice to the Lord. How do people know that you believe?
Not that you will be justified by your works, but if you have faith, out of your faith in the Lord Jesus there must be devotion and consecration to the Lord. That is the work of faith.
Rahab believed in God. What happened? She separated herself from her own people and joined herself to God’s people.
She hung the scarlet cord in the window, proving that she had separated herself from her own people and now joined God’s people.
Brothers and sisters, think of it. If you believe and yet are not separated from the world, how do you prove that you are not of the world?
These are works—not merely good works, but works of faith. God is not very interested in dead works, but He is looking for living works. That is the practical expression of life.
Then there is labor of love. Not merely labor. You can labor yourself to death, but if there is no love within you, or if your labor is not motivated by love, it is nothing in the sight of God—nothing.
The Lord said, “I have this against thee: thou hast left thy first love.” You may have labor, but if you have left your first love, it is not labor of love.
But the Thessalonians loved the Lord, and out of their love they labored. You know, love labors.
You cannot really love and do nothing. That is impossible. If you are really in love, your eyes are wide open to see the need, your heart is wide open to sympathize, and your hands are always ready to help. You cannot help it.
A mother, because of her love, labors for her children. She cannot help it. Yet it is labor of love. There is no compulsion. It is not forced; it is voluntary, willing, and joyful.
Now that is labor of love. Sometimes there may be a little murmuring: “It is too much.” But if there is love, you do not really feel it that way.
Then there is endurance of hope. You can grit your teeth and endure merely by strong will: “I am going to endure it. No matter how hard it is, I am going to endure it.”
But that kind of endurance is not life. It is endurance of hope.
Why do you have the power to endure? It is because there is hope. What you endure is working toward your conformity to the image of Christ. Therefore, you are able to endure.
The Thessalonians were able to endure persecution. Why? Because Satan could not take their hope away. Their persecutions only increased their hope.
They had the hope of meeting the Lord and becoming like Him. That hope brought them to perseverance.
Here, then, in this young church, there were these practical manifestations of life. Brothers and sisters, do we have work, labor, and endurance that come out of faith, love, and hope?
Life—life. Before God, nothing is more important than life.
Without life, you can imitate many things, but imitation cannot replace life. God is looking for life.
When there is life, there will be these things. If there are not these things, then life is questionable.
The whole letter to the Thessalonians emphasizes one point: life—the freshness of life. The life there was very fresh. It was not yet fully grown, but it was fresh.
May the Lord use these letters to help us, that we may not become old in a spiritual sense—not old, legal, and dry—but may always remain young in the freshness of His life.
That is what the Lord is looking for: the freshness of His life in all of us.
This was a young church, and because she was young, she had freshness. But who can remain young all the time? Our Lord never grows old. Our God is the living God.
May the Lord keep us in the freshness of the Lord all our days.
Our Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for this young church that manifested such freshness of life to us. O Lord, how much satisfaction it must have brought to Thy heart.
We pray that we may never grow old, but that we may always live in the freshness of Thy life. We pray that our life may be manifested in our works, in our labor, and in our endurance, that Thou Thyself may be glorified.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.