Sermon Tone Analysis

*1 Thessalonians 2:1-20*

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A Suicidal Church

 Our hearts are very heavy when someone takes their own lives.

Undoubtedly the most difficult funeral services to conduct are those where someone chooses to terminate his or her own life.

Suicides always seem so senseless and they are difficult for everyone.

There are always so many unanswered questions.

Only the Lord God can know the sickness and suffering which can grip both the mind and the spirit that leads to despair and hopelessness.

It is sad but true that churches can also make decisions over a period of time that ultimately leads to spiritual death.

Just as there are warning signs and pleas for help by the person contemplating suicide, there are warning signs and cries for help by congregations.

In the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians we saw the signs of a healthy church which demonstrates faith, hope and love.

In contrast to the characteristics of a healthy church there are negative characteristics of a church that is in danger of committing spiritual suicide.

In our applications in1 Thessalonians chapter two we will draw out some of these obvious characteristics of a healthy congregation and by contrast we will point out some characteristics of  a suicidal church.

Churches make subtle choices over a period of time that leads to spiritual suicide.

Suicide of a church is a choice.

It is a tragedy because all true churches have good beginnings.

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A CHURCH WITH GOOD BEGINNINGS 1:1; 2:13)

The apostle Paul had gone to a city that did not have a single believer in it.

He preached the Word of God to both Jewish people and Greeks and God blessed it and used it bring salvation to a group of people who became the church in Thessalonica, Greece.

!! God planted the church at Thessalonica (1:1; 2:13)

From that little nucleus of believers in Thessalonica God planted His church.

These pagans came to a living faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

It is not an outward appearance of sugar coated Christianity that is admired by pagans (1:9).

This was the real thing.

It was no superficial religion because their lives had been transformed by a vital relationship with Jesus Christ.

These believers are “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1).

God planted the church in Thessalonica, Greece.

He chose each one of those who put their trust in Him.

“We love Him because He first loved us.”

The church was started in the midst of persecution and opposition (1:6).

As Paul stood and preached the good news of Jesus Christ he did so “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v.

5).

“For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition” (2:1-2).

The Christian “life is caught up into and sustained from the life of the risen Christ,” writes F. F. Bruce.

The word “opposition” is the word from which we get “agony.”

Paul was going through a struggle or conflict.

He experienced agony of soul as he preached.

Yet there was a boldness inspired by an agony of heart.

Paul had a tactful, winsome, bold witness for the Jesus Christ.

The work will continue through eternity.

To the Philippians he writes, “/For I am/ confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6).

In spite of that opposition to the preaching of the Good News they preached with “boldness.”

They were bold in the sense of speaking out publicly and making a public declaration of their faith in Christ.

Paul had a bold testimony to both Jewish people and Greeks.

He proclaimed boldly that Jesus Christ was the only Savior because He came and died for the lost world and they could be saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

Cf.

Acts 4:12; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8.

His gong to Thessalonica was “not in vain” (v. 1).

Paul’s boldness was made more significant because of suffering.

It was an “insulting and outrageous treatment, which was calculated publicly to insult and openly humiliate the persons suffering from it.

Secret believers do not lead souls to Christ.

!! God planted our church right where He wanted it.

We are where we are because God put us here.

God put our church here to minister to McGehee, Arkansas.

God put you where you are to reach out to a lost world.

We have been saved to serve.

We have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to serve Him.

The fruit of such a relationship will be evident in our changed lives.

When we have a right relationship with God we want to please Him.

Service is the outcome of a right relationship with God.

Paul tells saved people how to serve.

Indeed, Paul is a good role model of faith and faithfulness.

A healthy church never forgets who it is and whom it belongs to.

/When you forget who you are you are on the way to spiritual suicide.

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!! A spiritually healthy church remembers its purpose.

We are saved to serve.

God put us here to reach out to the world about us.

We come together to worship a great God and prepare ourselves to lead our world to Christ.

When we forget that eternal purpose we commit spiritual suicide as a church and we will die.

How much is done to reach out to a pagan world?

How much do we do that is centered upon church members?

We need to constantly ask ourselves where is God at work and let’s see if He will invite us to come and join Him in what He is doing.

When we do we refocus our vision from ourselves to correct our priorities.

The church at Thessalonica “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything” (1:8).

Paul reminded the church, “we had boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition” (2:2).

/When you forget where God put you, you will commit spiritual suicide./

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A CHURCH WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES OF SERVICE (2:3-6)

Paul preached with pure motives.

He did not come peddling some particular private revelation or doctrine.

He came with the truth of God.

Critics were trying to use Paul as ammunition for their hostility against Christianity.

He called upon them to remember how he lived and conducted his ministry among them.

They are the best witnesses in answering his critics in the city.

Paul calls upon the members of the church to remember their personal knowledge of his visit.

!! They had the right attitude toward a holy life (v.

3).

Paul did not go to Thessalonica out of an impure motive or deceit.

He writes, “For our exhortation does not /come/ from error or impurity or by way of deceit” (v.

3).

“Not from error or impurity or by way of deceit.”

Paul preached from pure motives the Word of God.

It “was pure in its /content/ and in its /intent/,” says Walvoord.

His motive was pure and his message was without error.

Paul didn’t fall guilty of mixing some truth with error.

His message was without error.

It was doctrinally sound and pure.

It was the simple truth of God’s Word and not adulterated with speculation and humanism.

Moreover, Paul did not manipulate his audience, but preached a clear message that called for a clear-cut decision for Christ.

He did not use “deceit.”

There was nothing questionable in his tactics or message.

His methods and motives were clear.

He was honest and open with them.

He did not take off on crusades trying to get people’s mind off of emotional topics brewing in the church.