Prayer & Fasting Day 4

The Christians at Thessalonica were young believers, perhaps not much more than a year old in their faith. From Paul’s rather gushing praises, they’re a healthy and growing church, actually becoming known among the other churches for their contagious faith. It might be helpful to read Acts 17:1-15 as preparation for the study in which the story of Paul’s founding of this church is contained.

The occasion for writing the letter to the Thessalonians seems to be four-fold. Paul’s first reason for writing is to express thanks and encouragement for the spiritual health of the church. Second, there seemed to be efforts to undermine Paul’s reputation and question his sincerity. As a result, a great deal of the letter is an explanation and defense of the sincerity of Paul’s love for the Thessalo- nians. Third, there seemed to be some confusion and wrong thinking related to the Lord’s return, so in both letters to the Thessalonians this takes a prominent theme. Last, though they were spiritually growing, Paul includes steady encour- agements to “excel still more” and to continue to make progress in their faith.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
Apparently, Paul’s sincerity has been questioned by some of his critics. But, before defending the sincerity of his love - which he does in chapter two - he begins by praising the Thessalonians for the sincerity of their faith.

The sincerity of their faith was manifested in good works, their love manifested in labor, and their hope manifested in perseverance. It’s important to note the correlation between the unseen quality and its visible manifestation. How do you measure something invisible like faith? By external works. How do you measure the unseen depth of someone’s love? By what they’re willing to endure (toil or labor). How do you measure the veracity of someone’s hope in the Lord? By their perseverance through adversity. Labor, works, and perseverance are the external manifestations of invisible qualities: the metrics by which we calibrate faith, hope, and love.

1 Thessalonians 1:4-6
Paul supplies additional evidence for the authenticity of their faith from what he A sincere relationship with God should manifest itself in faith that produces fruit, love that is willing to toil and hope that fuels perseverance. This is how we see that a person has turned from the idols of their old life to serve the living and true God. Such a faith is contagious; it spreads and multiplies. We are inclined to pridefully live in isolated independence, which is the opposite of humble, prayerful reliance. observed when he first came to preach to them. In I Thessalonians 1:5, Paul mentions that an authentic sign of their true faith is that the gospel came “with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.” He notes that he could clearly see God at work in them because when he preached the gospel to them, his words were vested with power from the “Holy Spirit.” This power produced a deep “conviction” of sin within the hearts of the Thessalonians, and a powerful transformation of life.

He further remembers how they had instantly become imitators of both himself and the Lord. This is a handy definition of “disciple:” a person who learns from and imitates both the life of mature believers as well as Christ. The Thessalonians’ hunger to be disciples portrayed the reality of their conversion. Last, just as the Holy Spirit was able to create sorrow in their hearts over sin, Paul notes that their ability to endure suffering with joy also displayed the presence of the Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 1:7-10
Paul again returns to the authenticating signs of faith, hope and love, but this time, he sites examples. Their faith was manifested in their commitment to share the gospel with others. As a result, the gospel “rang out” from them (v. 8). Their hope was seen in their waiting for the Son to return (v. 10) and their love was seen in how they turned from idols to “serve the living and true God” (v. 9).

Paul sites the powerful witness of the Thessalonian Christians as a testimony to the sincerity of their faith. As Paul puts extra emphasis here, the study follows suit. The word “rang-out” carries the picture of an echo, which persistently expands outward in ever-widening circles, in fact their faith had become know “everywhere.” it’s not just that the Thessalonians engaged in evangelism, but it flowed from their lives in what Scripture identifies as the reflexive way in which sincere faith expresses itself.

While Paul is not addressing a specific sinful condition among the Thessalonians, this snapshot of sincere conversion (turning from God to idols) is instructive as to what elements will be lacking in our life if we continue to cling to our old lives, sin and idols. Furthermore, faith, hope and love, as demonstrated by the Thessalonians, must continue to be cultivated, which is why Paul still “urges” them to do these things “more and more” (4:1). We never “arrive” in our walks with God, and even when we’re healthy and growing, we need to be diligent to continue upward and onward, and retain christ as our first and only love.

Read 2nd Timothy 2:2
II Timothy 2:2 in considering how the message of the gospel “rings out,” the study takes a detour to ii Timothy 2:2. in this passage, Paul encourages Timothy to find reli- able men to train in the faith, who, likewise, will train other reliable men. This is the model of ministry which Christ demonstrated in His discipleship. It’s the idea of spiritual multiplication.

Let’s say in one year, you discipled three people and taught them each how to share their faith. And lets say the next year, they each discipled three people and taught them how to share their faith, and this cycle continued. How long would it take to reach 7 billion people? The answer, surprisingly, is only about 19 years. This is often referred to as “spiritual multiplication” and it’s what we see evidenced in the ministry of Jesus. He invested in small number of disciples, but that number rapidly turned into millions.

This provides a helpful picture of how the message of the gospel “rings out” in our lives and ministry, and provides an easy-to-follow model of discipleship.

In 7-10, how did God get the glory for what He did in their lives?

Think about the time when the gospel powerfully invaded your life?

What would be an example of an “idol” today? in what ways did you “turn from idols” in coming to christ? How do these idols still hold sway in your heart?

In what ways is the gospel “echoing out” from your life. Where should it be, but it’s not.

With whom could you invest time in a II Timothy 2:2 relationship? How would you initiate such a relationship?