1 Thessalonians

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 9:1-2, 9-10
• Hymn — Psalm 9 (#9B)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — Strasburg Liturgy
• Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 51:17
• Hymn — Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken (#513)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
• Sermon
• Hymn — Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart (#528)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

---

Sermon Title: Four Marks of Saving Faith

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

I. The Mark of Good Works

A. Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians, recalling the triad of Christian characteristics found throughout the epistles: faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13)

1. Faith = trust in Christ's finished work
2. Love (agape) = selfless service to Christ and his church; not a love of the worthy, not a love that seeks to possess, but a love given irrespective of merit that seeks to give
3. Hope = faithful, active anticipation of Christ's return to make all things new

B. These are not passive qualities but active, energy-driven characteristics

1. Work of faith — not faith as a work, but works that flow from faith; Galatians 5:6 — faith working through love; Leon Morris calls it a "busy faith"
2. Labor of love — the Greek word kopos denotes laborious, unceasing toil borne for love's sake
3. Steadfastness of hope — not complacent waiting but active, manly endurance; staying the course of faith while laboring in love

C. Those whom God has set his love on will show forth the fruit of Good Works through faith, hope, and love

II. The Mark of Conviction

A. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 — Paul knows the Thessalonians are God's elect because the gospel came to them not in word only but in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction

B. Election cannot be known as God's secret decree, but as made manifest in its fruits and effects

C. The Thessalonians did not receive the gospel merely as eloquent oratory or interesting propositions; the power of the Spirit drove its content into the very marrow of their souls

1. Conviction = internal certainty; being cut to the quick (cf. Hebrews); an internal compass that the things of the gospel are true
2. Romans 1:16 — the gospel is the power of God unto salvation
3. The power to believe does not rest in human rational faculties; it rests in the Spirit and his work

D. The word for power is the Greek dunamis (dynamite) — the miraculous, awe-inspiring power of God is at work when sinners are converted

1. Philippians 2:12-13 — work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you

E. The mark of God's saving love is Spirit-wrought, internal conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, evidenced by a life lived in accordance with that truth

III. The Mark of Evangelism

A. 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 — the Thessalonians became imitators of the apostles and of the Lord, receiving the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit

B. A mark of saving grace is a change in role models — those we long to imitate become godly men and women rather than worldly figures

C. The gospel sounded forth — the Greek word conveys the idea of an echo

1. The gospel message does not stop when received; it reverberates through its recipients and echoes outward
2. Thessalonica's strategic location amplified this echo: it possessed the finest natural harbor in the Aegean Sea and sat at the junction of the Via Egnatia, the great east-west highway connecting Asia Minor with Rome
3. Traders from throughout the world passed through Thessalonica, carrying the echoed gospel back to their hometowns

D. Verse 8 — it is the word of the Lord that sounds forth, not the word of Paul or the Thessalonians

1. Christ is the source; we are the echo chambers
2. What a privilege: to sound forth the voice of the Lord as ambassadors of his word
3. Those pricked by the Holy Spirit will take advantage of this privilege

IV. The Mark of Monotheism

A. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 — the Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven

B. Thessalonica was an exceptionally polytheistic city

1. Temples to the Egyptian gods Serapis and Isis
2. Dionysus (god of wine and joy) was among the more influential cults
3. Other gods worshiped: Aphrodite, Demeter, Zeus, and Asclepius
4. Trade guilds required worship of their patron deities — economic livelihood was tied to polytheism
5. The Roman Emperor held divine status; worship of him was required for social and commercial standing

C. Turning from idols was therefore costly — social ostracism, economic hardship, and persecution; the "affliction" referenced is likely social rather than physical

D. The flesh cannot withstand the idol-making world on its own; only the dunamis of the Spirit holds believers strong amid affliction

1. Calvin: our hearts are perpetual idol factories; the world around us is one great mass idol factory
2. Contemporary application: pressure to conform to progressive culture — economic, social, and reputational consequences for standing on God's word

E. The patron god of Thessalonica: Cabirus — a martyred hero supposedly murdered by his brothers, buried with symbols of royal power, expected to return from the dead to help the oppressed

1. This was the most prominent deity in the city, and a counterfeit savior — a Satanic imitation of resurrection and return
2. The Thessalonians turned from Cabirus and his promised return to the One who has actually been raised and will return
3. All idols of this world are counterfeits — false saviors offering imitation salvation

F. Jesus Christ is the risen and returning God-man; his coming will be a day of wrath for those who serve dead idols, and a day of full restoration and salvation for those who serve the living God

Conclusion

• Is there fruit of saving faith, hope, and love in your life?
• Are you fully convinced and convicted that you are a sinner saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone?
• Are you echoing forth the word of the Lord, or keeping it to yourself?
• Have you turned from idols to serve the living and true God?
• If so, wait in joyful expectation — Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus