Spurgeon told the story that he was once taking a long hike in the Swiss Alps. There were two men in front of him, walking very slowly, looking at the ground on either side of the path. As the preacher caught up to them, he heard them reciting an endless stream of scientific names for all the tiny plants around them. They didn’t have a word to speak about the beauty of the flower, or its uses, or its habits, just a torrent of useless and almost unpronounceable names.
There are Christians who can debate for hours on the differences between supra and infralapsarianism. There are others who have no trouble quoting from memory the Baptist historians. And there are even more who can discuss the tenses of verbs in the Book of Obadiah. But if there is anything to learn from I Thessalonians, it is that God wants us to be practical. In these verses which we’ve just read Paul says, “I’m convinced that you are the elect of God, because you came to Christ in repentance and faith. You came to the Lord, and you’ve stuck with the Lord. You are full-time children of God. You’re not playing dress-up.” We could put it another way, “I know that you are Christians, because the evidence is abundant.” We have thousands of people in America who say they are “born again,” but the evidence just isn’t there.
How can we better give evidence of our election unto salvation? Paul lists seven things here, but we can’t consider them all this evening. Evidential Christianity was seen in the Thessalonian’s ready ears, powerful presence, eager assimilation and their willing confirmation. These things go from the lesser to the greater. We might call this the pyramid of precious proof.
If any of these things were missing Paul might not have been so bold as to say, “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.”
The Thessalonians had ready ears for the Word of the Lord.
This is without question the least of the evidences that Paul was considering. I’ve seen too many people attend the House of God for years without being saved. By their own testimonies they listened and watched and even participated, but they were unmoved. I have seen many Christians faithful in their attendance, but who never progressed in the Lord.
Paul began his European campaign in Philippi, but he was forced to leave because of persecution. He passed Amphipolis and Apollonia and then headed straight to the next largest city in the region. The first Saturday he was in Thessalonica he went into the synagogue and began to speak. Surprisingly and the Jews there listened to what he had to say. And they did again on the next Sabbath and on the following one as well. Acts 17 says that he was opening and alleging that Jesus was the Christ, suffering death but rising again. Some of Paul hearers listened, believed and eventually consorted with Paul and Silas, but some of the early listeners eventually became persecutors.
I believe that the stronger the Christian is the more he loves and listens to the Word of God. On the other hand, so do many of the lost – to a degree. In high school I had teachers who hated the scriptures but who accurately quoted those scriptures. I’ve met people who knew the Old Testament, but who hated the Saviour and the way of salvation. Many go to church because of their family or friends, but who have no intention on hearing the Word. Bible nobility is described as “receiving the word with all readiness of mind, and searching the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Hearing the Word of God is good.
Far greater evidence, however, is God’s blessed power in the working of that Word.
The Lord Jesus was discussing the future ministry with his disciples some time before the crucifixion: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. The word “reprove” means to convince or to convict. Part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to activate the conscience, crush pride and devastate hearts. It is like the ministry of the plow before the sowing of the seed. The blade which peals us is the Word God wielded by the Spirit.
Paul said, “I know that you are really Christians because the plow dug deeply into your hearts.” We need a repetition of Pentecost. “Now when they heard” the preaching of Peter, “they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” I don’t believe in high emotion religion, but I’d like to see a little more emotion. When the Holy Spirit works he cuts through the dull, dead tissue and it makes people jump. David Chamberlian went to Hyderabad to preach the Gospel, and a crowd gathered to stone him. He politely asked them if they would quietly listen to one story and then he would willingly allow himself to be stoned to death. He then preached to them the gospel of the love of God. Conviction came on those people and instead of stoning him, they accepted his Bibles. Paul said, “When I came to Thessalonica, I saw the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your hearts.” There is nothing that excites the preacher more than seeing the Lord working in people’s hearts.
But one word of caution, conviction of sin is not equal to repentance of sin. We recall the ministry of Stephen before the Jews in Acts. 7:51-60: Those men heard what he had to say, and the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin, but their response was rebellion and murder. To listen and marvel at the Word of God is good, but to let grasp and break your heart is better. Yet neither one is a guarantee of anything. But when we think about Stephen and the Jews, we have to recall a man named Saul of Tarsus.
So I ask, “Has the Lord spoken to your heart in the last month? What did you do about it?”
The Thessalonians made professions of faith and gave their lives to the Saviour and his servants.
Here’s were we begin to see evidence that we can count on. They assimilated the message and changes were made in their lives. Changes – one of the interesting things about New Mexico is what a little water can do to the desert. South of where Judy and I lived, there were some wonderful farms – out in the middle of the desert. And even where there wasn’t a farm, when it rained even just a little, beautiful things grew.
It was not easy for the Christian in the first Century. They were considered traitors, lunatics and even criminals.
The Saviour, Peter and several other Apostles were crucified. Stephen and Paul were stoned. John the Baptist was beheaded. Paul says, “If you turn away just because the road is rocky, I’d question your election. I hold to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, as well as the preservation of the saints. But you folk rejoiced with joy unspeakable in the mist of your afflictions. You smiled in the face of the lions. You willing put your heads on the chopping block, when that was what the Lord asked of you.”
“You became follows of us and of Christ.” Do you know what “follow” means? It is the word “mimetis” – “imitate.” After these folk received the Saviour, they began studying the lives of Paul and Silas, Timothy and Christ. Is it unscriptural to follow so closely another human being? Well, what does the Bible say? The Corinthians had problems, so Paul wrote to them: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” He wrote to the Philippians – “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” Why was Paul so bold as to say “follow me?” Because he knew where he was going and Whom he was following.
It is the Christian’s responsibility to be a follower of Christ – and of the men of the Lord. If we all had the Lord as our model what a powerful force Christianity could be. What are the Christian’s orders? “If any serve me, let him follow me.” Even Peter repeats this thought – “For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also left us an example that ye should follow his steps.”
Are you an imitator of Christ? Do you love with the same kind of love, degree and sacrifice? Do you obey the Heavenly Father the way that the Saviour did, striving with every ounce of energy to do His will? Do you actively fight sin and temptation in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you strive to know and apply the Word of the Lord, pray, meditate on the Heaven Father? Do you set your affections on thing above? Seeking first the things of God?
These things mount up the best way for the world to see that you are a Child of God
But one more thing in the case of the Thessalonica – they were ensamples.
There was once a little boy who was asked to read verses 6 and 7; he said, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were “STAMPS” to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.” These Thessalonians received the impression, assimilated the message and then spread it. There was only one church in Europe before Thessalonica – all eyes were on these.
When people think about Calvary Independent Baptist Church, what do they picture? Is it a bunch of Sunday morning saints who can’t be relied upon any other day? What is the fruit of your life? Can you say, from your fruits the Lord will produce prize winning jelly? He has said, that by our fruits ye shall be known. Paul wrote to his friends – be aware of your example. 1 Timothy 4:12 – “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Titus 2:7 – “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.” When the first missionaries on Madagascar they found some who might have become Christians before their arrival. They asked about their first exposure to the gospel Was it a tract, a sermon, a book, the Bible itself? The reply was a bit of surprise: “There was a man who was a drunkard. Now he calls himself “Christian” and he is no longer a drunkard.” The gospel was made personal through the salvation of another person.
We have been called to be a light on the hill? Are you a fruitful vine or a stunted bonzai? How does your life compare with that which Paul saw in Thessalonica?