All followers of Jesus learn to share the gospel as Jesus did (Matt. 4:19; Mk. 4:17; Jn. 4). When the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Jesus, it empowered Him to share the gospel everywhere Jesus went. Jesus declared: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18). People begged Jesus to stay in their towns, but he refused because: "I must preach the good news ... to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose" (Luke 4:43). Jesus urged all of His followers to do as He did and proclaim "repentance and forgiveness of sins . . . in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47).
The Bible calls one New Testament church the model of effective witnessing. Do you know which one? The answer may surprise you because it consisted of new followers of Jesus. This model church exemplified three key qualities that caused them to be powerful witnesses for the Lord:
- The held a high view of God and high view of the Word of God.
- They proclaimed the full Gospel message with full conviction.
- They were motivated by a great love for a Great Savior that caused them to have Jesus' great love for the lost such that they were willing to proclaim the gospel despite the cost.
As we’ll see from 1 Thess., there is a direct correlation between one’s view of the Word of God and the degree to which one labors to share the gospel. As the fear of God and his word shrinks to anorexic proportions, gospel-first outreach withers and dies or it conforms to impotent, unbiblical methods. The drift away from biblical gospel outreach becomes clear as we examine the young, obedient Thessalonian church, the only church Paul applauded as a model of gospel-first outreach. Before we look at the outreach of the fledgling church at Thessalonica, let me update you on TBC’s Community Outreach Ministries.
II. THESSALONICA: THE
When you think of the Thessalonians, what comes to mind? If you’re like me, you think of the rapture and the second coming. You probably don’t think of the Thessalonians as the example of outreach. But follow along in chapter 1 and you’ll see that is in fact what they are—the model outreach church. [Read 1 Thes. 1].
Paul wrote this letter first
to commend the new Thessalonian believers for their extraordinary gospel
witness that quickly spread like a blazing wildfire through Macedonia Macedonia
Can you imagine? These new believers became such an example of
gospel outreach that Paul didn’t need to say anything! Wow!
G. K. Beale, professor
of NT at Wheaton, says the word translated “example” means not merely an
example for others to follow but a pattern that influences, like
rolling waves that push others on. Leon
Morris, often quoted by MacArthur, said this: "This is high praise,
for in the first place Paul calls no other church a pattern,
and in the second he thinks of the Thessalonians as an example, not only to the
heathen, but also to Christians throughout Greece
To see why Paul held up
these newborns as the pattern of gospel outreach, we’ll begin by examining the
context. From there, we’ll look at three
things that caused Paul to exalt the Thessalonians as a model outreach
church. The first is their high view of God and the Word of God. Second,
they imitated Paul and Jesus by proclaiming the full gospel with full conviction
despite the cost. Third, they were motivated by love for their Savior and brotherly
love for the lost.
A. Background and Context.
The context of the birth of this church is illuminating. Paul’s first mission trip targeted primarily
Obeying the call, Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to
Amazingly, Paul only spent a few weeks or maybe months in Thessalonica. Yet, those who believed the gospel and repented quickly became potent witnesses. Acts 17:2 tells us Paul only spent three Sabbaths sharing in the synagogue until a hostile mob attacked Jason’s home where they were staying and dragged some of the converts to court, while Paul and Silas fled to
B. A High View of God and a High View of the Word.
How is it that a group of believers who are only months old in the faith set the biblical pattern for gospel outreach? First, they inherited Paul’s high view of God and the Word of God. Paul writes in 1:5: “our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Paul then elaborates further in 2:4-6 as follows: "as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6Nor did we seek glory from people . . . ."
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had a high view of God and feared God more than man. God entrusted them with his word, the gospel. And they proclaimed the gospel in a manner intended to please God, not man. Because they feared God, they never diluted the full gospel message to please their hearers. Nor did the alter the message for fear of offending people, for they knew the power of God unto salvation is in the full gospel message (Rom. 1:16).
Paul’s high view of God began much like Isaiah’s. Before God sent Isaiah to proclaim wrath and judgment followed by grace and salvation, God granted Isaiah the high view and fear of God he would need to overcome the natural fear of man. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up. And when God spoke, “the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” In reaction, Isaiah said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
I’m sure Isaiah’s life-altering vision instilled such a sense of reverent shock and awe at God that his fear of man evaporated, enabling him to proclaim the word boldly. As Isaiah obediently warned wayward Judah of the wrath to come, I can’t help but believe the foundation-shaking, thundering Word of God echoed in his ears as he cried out in compassion, begging Judah to repent and look to God alone for salvation before it’s too late (Is. 45:22).
No doubt the thunderous voice of God inspired Isaiah to declare in Isaiah 66:2: “But this is the one to whom I will look [says the Lord]: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” When the Word of God thundered forth, Isaiah fell on his face in humble contrition and trembled at God’s mighty Word. After God graciously purged Isaiah’s sin, Isaiah forgot the sin that lay behind and pressed on to answer God’s call to warn people of coming judgment.
Paul had a similar experience on the road to
Because Paul didn’t dilute the message and proclaimed the full gospel with full conviction, the Thessalonians received the Word with a high view of God. In 2:13, Paul wrote: "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers."
Paul knew the Thessalonians trembled at God’s Word because they turned from the world to God and began imitating Paul and the Lord by sharing the full gospel powerfully despite the cost. The person who receives the Word as the Word of God and who trembles at the Word will obey it and share the gospel. The Thessalonians feared and loved God and his Word more than they feared man. As our fear of God grows, fear of man ceases to be an insurmountable obstacle.
C. Proclaiming the Full Gospel with Full Conviction.
According to 1:6-7, the Thessalonians were a model because they imitated Paul and the Lord by proclaiming the full gospel and sounding it forth with full conviction.
1. Elements of the Full Gospel Message.
There are five elements of the full gospel that Paul preached and that the Thessalonians imitated: (1) the Day of the Lord—Judgment Day; (2) wrath and sudden destruction; (3) belief that Jesus died for sins and rose again; (4) repentance—turning from earthly idols to God; and (5) the certainty of persecution.
Day of the Lord—Judgment. Scripture is replete with solemn warnings about the Day of the Lord, a day of judgment. Jesus went from city to city warning people to “repent” for that day “is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). Like Jesus, Paul warned the Thessalonians of that great and terrible day, noting in 5:1-2: “1Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” When sharing the gospel with non-Jews, Paul customarily emphasized God has set a day when he will judge the world (Acts 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27).
Wrath and Sudden Destruction. A second element of the full gospel is wrath and sudden destruction for the unrepentant. In 1:10, Paul declares the good news that Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come.” In 4:6, Paul reiterates that “6[do not] transgress and wrong [your] brother . . . because the Lord is an avenger . . . as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.” And in 5:1-3 he reminded them how he made them fully aware that “sudden destruction” loomed large on the horizon, like dark storm clouds.
Belief. The third element is Jesus’ death and resurrection. In 4:14, Paul taught that “we believe that Jesus died and rose again . . . .” And in 5:9-10, he encouraged them that “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us so that . . . we might live with him.” But, just as James made clear that even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19), belief is merely the doorway to salvation by repentance. I meet so many people who believe Jesus is the savior, but, like the rich young man, they aren’t ready to turn from the world to the Lord.
Repentance. The fourth element is repentance. Matthew and Mark both record that after his 40-day fast “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the
Persecution. Lastly, just as Jesus warned his followers they would suffer persecution, Paul warned the Thessalonians that if they followed Jesus, they would suffer, too. In 3:3-4, Paul exhorted them not to “3be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” Though they were persecuted, they kept sharing the gospel. Because Paul shared the full gospel with full conviction despite affliction, God granted genuine salvation to many Thessalonians. In 1:4, Paul assured them of their salvation, emphasizing he knew God had chosen them based on the evidence of their great gospel witness.
2. Proclaiming the
Gospel with Full Conviction.
The Thessalonians also imitated Paul and the Lord by the way they shared—they sounded forth the gospel with full conviction. Look at 1:8: “8For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in
After calling his disciples to repent and follow him so they could learn to fish for men (Matt. 4:17-19), Jesus taught them by example so they could imitate him. In Matt. 9:35, Pastor Jim pointed out how “Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, . . . proclaiming the gospel . . .” Jesus proclaimed the gospel to multitudes, and he shared one on one, as with the woman at the well, emphasizing to his disciples that sharing the gospel was his food (John 4). After Pentecost, the disciples imitated Jesus by proclaiming the gospel everywhere with full conviction.
Paul did the same. He proclaimed the gospel in Synagogues, and he shared with
Jesus and Paul sounded forth the gospel everywhere they went, and the Thessalonians followed their example in
More importantly, the Greek tense of the word is perfect, meaning a continual sounding forth, much like a reverberating gong. Leon Morris explains that the tense emphasizes the resounding nature of the continual gospel witness of the entire Thessalonian church.
The text does not suggest only those Thessalonians with the gift of evangelism sounded forth the gospel continually. Instead, MacArthur, Beale, Morris and others agree that Paul is speaking of the entire body of newborn Thessalonian believers.
It’s also crucial to see that Paul doesn’t imply we must first be free from wrestling with sin or conflict in our lives before we can share the gospel effectively. If that were the case, the gospel would never go forth. In
D. Two
Motivations: Love for the Lord, Love for
Others.
Finally, a model outreach church is moved by two motives: Love for the Lord and Love for others. In 2:19, Paul revealed his motives by sharing his two great hopes: 19For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20For you are our glory and joy.” Paul was moved by the hope of seeing Lord at his return and seeing all those who will be with the Lord because Paul denied himself, laid down his life, and obeyed the call to preach the gospel everywhere. Paul and the Thessalonians lived inside-out lives of love for God and others by sharing the word of life while they could.
In chapter 1, Paul commended the Thessalonians for their work of faith and labor of love. The only work and labor of the Thessalonians that Paul specifically mentions is their gospel witness. In 4:9-10, Paul writes: 9Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout
IV. CONCLUSION
In a recent letter, Tom White, the Executive Director of VOM, penned this thought-provoking statement: “The Holy Spirit brings each believer to one or more points—through a challenge, a Bible verse or a moment in prayer—at which he decides to move forward with God or to sit comfortably in one place.” I pray the Lord has challenged you tonight to move forward with God by following the example of the Thessalonians, instead of sitting comfortably in one place. What steps will you take to grow in sharing the gospel?
