We are returning this morning to first Thessalonians chapter one. And I don't know how many times I'm going to say that. We are taking it fairly slowly here through this book. Almost verse by verse today, actually, we're going to be taking three verses together. But I'm convinced that this method of looking at the scriptures and preaching is in the long run the most effective to get us exposed on a deep level to the word of God and really to let things sink in. You stare at something for a long time really has a greater impact on your consciousness. And that's what we're attempting to do with with this wonderful little epistle. But one problem is you do. tend to lose the train of thought overall in a chapter or in a book when you get so focused in on one part. And so what I'd like to do as we begin is to read from verses two to eight and try to recover in our mind just a little bit how this is all connected together. So you follow along. I'll read their first Thessalonians, chapter one, verses two through eight. Remember, this is all a thanksgiving prayer of praise to God for certain things that Paul sees going on in the lives of these people. We give thanks to God always for all of you making mention of you in our prayers. Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith. And labor of love. And steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, his choice of you. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. And then our text for today. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in 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. Those of you who are parents might relate to the Apostle Paul's excitement as he pens these words, maybe you have taken the time to show your child how to do something, maybe something little at home, some household task. You have taught the thing, you have modeled the thing. Maybe it was something bigger and more important. It is exciting. It is gratifying to see when the young person begins to do that and develop skill, anything from washing the dishes to cleaning the bathroom to reading their Bible or trying to have a positive influence on their siblings. And it's one thing to see them doing that for themselves. But have you ever had the experience of overhearing your son or your daughter talking to one of their siblings and then explaining to them how to do this and trying to show them where they have internalized so much that after having imitated you. Now, there are actually examples that other people can imitate. That really is what is going on here. This is what fills the apostle Paul with so much gratitude and so much delight as he thinks about these people. Look at the statements of verse six. You also became imitators of us. And that was one thing, but look at verse seven, so that Turning it around now, taking it to the next level, you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. From imitators to examples, that is the thrust of this passage, and that's what we want to consider this morning. Now, we do want to remember where this started in the first place, what the point was, and this does go all the way back to the prayer that begins in verse two. The Apostle Paul is very thankful to God as he thinks about these people and prays for them because he considers three aspects of the Christian life, three virtues, faith, love, hope, that he sees in their lives, not just as points of a creed or generalities, but he sees those virtues very active in them. The faith produces work, the love produces labor, the hope produces steadfastness. And if anybody asks, where did that come from? How did these people change so much to where they are characterized by those things? He says, verse four, here's the cause, knowing brethren beloved by God, his choice of you. The reason you're able to live this way is that God himself from all eternity chose you for special favor, not just to forgive your sins, but to actually change your character. And what we're saying is the working out of election in your life. Well, right away, as you might expect, in the mind of the Apostle Paul, he's anticipating, perhaps, people are going to have questions about this. This might be a little confusing, so we need to actually talk about it for a few more verses. What is this business about election? And particularly, how would I know? How would I know that I am one of these chosen? How would I know that God has been working supernaturally in my life? And so he says, well, we're going to discuss this really for the rest of the chapter, and we're going to see what are the evidences of election, how you can know for sure. Some of that emphasis may be coming from the fact that there was some false teaching infiltrating the Thessalonian church, or at least criticism of the apostle Paul. He's going to have to defend himself at length in chapter two, but it may well be that people, maybe these people's relatives were questioning their new faith. challenging them about why they follow this guy that showed up out of the blue and then disappeared. And he's saying it didn't start when I got there. In fact, this is the indication God from all eternity had his eye on you. And I want to just just prove that to you. I want you to be totally grounded in the knowledge that God is working in your life and that his eye has been upon you from before the foundation of the world. And so he's going to explain. That's why verse five begins with the letter, the word for here's how I know at least one of the reasons we talked about this last time. I know God has chosen you for special attention because when I showed up there to preach, something unusual was happening. From my viewpoint as a preacher, my consciousness was such that it convinced me God is at work here in an unusual way. And I wasn't just communicating words. There was the Holy Spirit deepening my own conviction, empowering me as I spoke, and I sensed God was at work. I recall that very vividly. And in fact, you, if you think back on that time, you know what kind of men we proved to be among you as well. And both in the preaching and in our lifestyle, it was evident God was using us as an instrument to do a special work among you. And last week, we talked about the preacher's perspective in this whole equation. All that remains is looking at it from the standpoint of the people sitting in the pew, listening to the preaching, getting exposed to that kind of servant of God, getting exposed to the message of the gospel and hearing it in such a powerful way. Well, what was the impact ultimately on their lives? How did it affect them? It's one thing for Paul to say, God was working in me when I was preaching. Well, how was God working in you when you listened to the preaching? What was your response? And that's how he gets on into verse six. Well, you also. Here's what happened. Here was your response. And as he develops that, he doesn't deal first with what you might expect. You might have expected him to say, you also, you know, came forward at the invitation and prayed and asked Christ to save you. Now, they did that, and in fact, that's what verses nine and 10 are going to talk about that moment of conversion, where in response to the preaching, there was an instant in time when they said, yes, we're going to turn from idols and we're going to serve the living God. But that is not what Paul deals with first. And perhaps, at least from a practical level, we could see a reason here why he might have done that. The proof of the reality of the conversion is not what happens at the invitation. It is not the immediate response. It is what happens as a result on the long term in people's lives when they respond. And so he deals with that more long term response And then it comes back to the actual conversion experience. And he says in verse six, you also became imitators of us and of the Lord. And then you also became an example to all the believers. And that's what we're considering this morning, what are those long term result of the preaching of the gospel in their lives that demonstrated God had his eye on you at that moment in time when he saved you. And as it goes on, it bears witness to the fact you're one of his chosen. They were turned, first of all, into imitators, and then they became actually examples. And those are two points this morning. First of all, that election produces imitators. Ever thought about your salvation in that life? In many ways, describing a Christian, one way is to say a Christian is an imitator. And I'm not making that up because those are his words exactly. Verse six, you also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Your version may say follower. And that is a part of it, actually following somebody's teaching. But it is more than that, really. This actually, the Greek term underlying this, is the one from which we get our word mimic. And that's a pretty good illustration of the meaning. It does have to do with patterning yourself after a role model, not just doing what he says or believing what he preaches, but actually looking at his life and saying, now there's somebody worthy to follow. I'm going to pattern my life after that man. And he's excited about their choice to imitate him. and what that conveys about their salvation. Now, that probably raises some questions, too. And so we're going to talk about it a little bit more, this whole imitation concept. First of all, the object of the imitation. Whom are they imitating? And what surprises us is that he says you became imitators of us. Paul is saying, I'm convinced God has worked in your life because you imitated me, a human being. That's a bit shocking, but in fact, this is not the only place in the New Testament Paul talks that way. Unashamedly, the Apostle Paul presents himself as an example Christian. And I have here a list of five passages where he basically tells people, you need to imitate me. And I'll just list the references for you. First Corinthians four sixteen might be good for you to write these down in the margin of your Bible. So you have them from now on. First Corinthians four sixteen. First Corinthians eleven one. There's a couple of these in Philippians Philippians three seventeen and Philippians four nine and then later in second Thessalonians chapter three Verses seven to nine, probably the most blunt of these is first Corinthians chapter four and verse sixteen. Therefore, I exhort you be imitators of me. You got to be pretty bold, pretty sure that you're. Telling the truth and that you're worthy of following to actually command people that way, how can that be? It sounds pretty arrogant. It sounds like Paul is convinced he's got his act together enough to where somebody could actually copy him. And furthermore, we all have been disappointed at times in our lives where we have set somebody up in our mind as a role model and they've let us down. They failed in some big way, perhaps, or as it turns out, they were leading us astray. And they may have been a good example of what they were teaching, but that really was not the scriptural teaching. We are very nervous about this idea of imitating people. You might choose the wrong person to imitate, and they are people anyway. They're just humans. There are dangers in choosing human models. I ran across this little anecdote. President Calvin Coolidge invited some people from his hometown to dinner at the White House. Since they did not know how to behave at such an occasion, they thought the best policy would be just to do what the president did. I've done that when I've been at a meal with somebody and didn't know what to do or how to act. I just kind of watched them and tried to follow along. Well, here's what happened. The time came for serving coffee. The president poured his coffee into a saucer. As soon as the home folks saw it, they did the same. The next step for the president was to pour some milk and add a little sugar to the coffee in the saucer. The home folks did the same. They thought for sure that the next step would be for the president to take the saucer with the coffee and begin sipping it. Strange, but that's what the president was doing. But the president didn't do so. He leaned over, placed the saucer on the floor, and called the cat. If you ever found yourself in such a position, following somebody that you thought was setting a pattern for you only to end up very confused and even disappointed. Well, thankfully, the Apostle Paul doesn't end there and say you became imitators of us, period. He says imitators of us and of the Lord. He does not view himself as the origin of these great ideas and great ways to live. He is saying, I am following Christ and to the degree that I do, then I am an example. And in fact, he makes that connection in first Corinthians, eleven, one, the imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. So that the human being is not elevated to the ultimate position, this is not a carte blanche. Do whatever I do just because I'm the preacher. It is assumed that the Thessalonians find this man worthy of imitation because they see the character of God, the character of Christ displayed in his life. And what they see is a practical working out of what they're exposed to through the scriptures about the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So that is the object of the imitation. Now. My point. As we go on is not going to be primarily what I'm getting ready to say, but I do think it is suggestive for us. And I think particularly for those of us who are in leadership, we just had an elder board retreat and we're talking about things that relate to the emphasis here. This has been a sobering statement to consider. Nobody expects the preacher or the church leaders to be the apostle Paul. He was a pretty unique individual, but on the other hand, his life and his ministry are the pattern, particularly for church leaders. And I think for those of us in that position, this ought to be a reminder of the weightiness of our responsibility. And in fact, when you look at direct statements made to church leaders, this issue comes up again and again. And just to quote one verse. Paul is talking to Titus, particularly about a church leader, and he says, in all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds. Folks, men, this really is our calling. May the Lord help us to flesh that out. That is the object of the imitation, Paul as he reflects Christ. What is the focus of the imitation? Because when you say, be like Christ or be like Paul, What does that mean? You could come up with a huge long list of specific areas in which you ought to be like Paul or be like Christ. And in fact, if you went through those verses I listed a moment ago, you would find a lot of different applications. Our question is, what is he particularly talking about here? What is the focus here when he says you became an imitator of me and of the Lord? Well, notice the verse goes on and he says, Having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. That's the focus. I might explain it in these terms. You became imitators of us and of the Lord in that you receive the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the particular imitation that they're doing is in how they're responding to God's word. particularly as they're receiving it in very difficult situations. How did they receive that word? They embraced it enthusiastically. They didn't stand there questioning, wondering, half-hearted. Maybe I'll do this. Sometimes I will. It was a wholehearted welcoming of the word. That's what the word receive means. You welcomed it. You embraced it and you did that knowing what would be the consequences in your culture of doing that. Because, in fact, they were making a break with what everybody else was doing, and this was going to entail persecution. It started right away. We've already talked earlier about Acts chapter 17 and how this raised such a controversy and how immediately they went after Paul and these new believers and end up arresting Jason. Remember that story? These people knew what was coming, and nevertheless, they embraced the word. And in fact, they embraced it with joy. I've been working on memorizing First Thessalonians, and this is one thing that has just. Sobered me as well, the paradox, tribulation, with joy. You received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. They were experiencing all this pressure and persecution, but they were glad about it. Now, that would have to be something done by the Holy Spirit, which is why he says joy of the Holy Spirit. For somebody to embrace this message that was going to Get them thrown in jail and be happy about it. That would have to be an indication. God is at work here. This would have to be displayed. God chose these people for a special favor and he sent his Holy Spirit to bring them to this decision and be willing to change their life. And in fact, that was an imitation of the apostles. You can think back to Paul's own conversion. When he heard the word, And he was blown away by God and the Holy Spirit got a hold of his heart with that truth. This man's life is radically altered and he gives himself enthusiastically to the word in spite of all the pressure that's coming. And I think of some other statements in the book of Acts. Listen to this one. After some of the early experiences of evangelism, the apostles were flogged and they were commanded not to preach, and it says they went on their way. from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. And every day in the temple from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus Christ. You see that combination again rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer shame. They were glad about being put to shame. What is that? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. But since they were under the influence of the spirit and that is how they responded, it is in that sense that they become an example. He says the Thessalonians are doing the same thing. And actually, the Apostle Paul had himself just done the same thing before he was at Thessalonica in Acts 17. Remember, he was at Philippi in Acts 16. And what happens to him there? It says he was struck with many blows. He was cast into a prison. His feet were fastened in stocks. And then it says at 1625, but about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. Rejoicing in persecution. And if you say, well, that's the example of the apostles, they're imitating that. What about and of the Lord? Did the Lord Jesus ever embrace the word of God or the will of God expressed in his word in spite of suffering that would come. And yet he does it with joy. Listen to Hebrews 12 to. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. The author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, meaning the shame business is difficult, is painful, But I'm thinking little thoughts of it. This is not a big deal. I can endure this because of the greater joy of the purpose that is accomplishing. And so both Christ and the apostles set that pattern and the Thessalonians end up imitating it. You know, in all of that, it is assumed that true Christianity entails suffering. It entails suffering. for the Savior, and it demands suffering like the Savior. Listen to something else that the Apostle Paul said on his first missionary journey. He's going back to churches that he had just recently founded. He's trying to disciple them. He's trying to encourage them about going on for the Lord. And here's what he does not say. He does not say. Look up, God has a wonderful plan for your life. God is going to enable you just to float above all these circumstances. And being a Christian is about being free from trouble. Listen to what he says, this is first century discipleship, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And Christianity is about embracing God's word joyfully in spite of those tribulations. Now, what a different picture that is from what goes under the name Christianity today. Is that really the message that you hear in the majority of churches coming from the majority of preachers, majority of books out there? Is that the message through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God? Well, I've chosen a pretty extreme example, but it certainly makes the point it is extreme. But nevertheless, it is very popular. You know the name, perhaps Joel Osteen. Pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, regular attendance, about forty seven thousand people, plus about two million viewers of their broadcast. Why do forty seven thousand people flock to hear this man? Well, he was asked in 2005 by Business Week to describe his message. And he's talking to a secular magazine that's really curious. What are you all about? What's going on here? And he says, it's a message of encouragement. I always try to put a seed of hope in the people's hearts. I'm not there to teach them doctrine necessarily. But to let them know that God is a good God and has a plan for their lives. Hopefully, that will restore their faith or draw them into faith. So I am absolutely trying to bring them to Christianity. He's trying to bring them to Christianity by softening the impact of Christianity. Instead of through many tribulations, we must enter into the kingdom of God. He's written some books. One of them is called Your Best Life Now, Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential. And again, here's a secular magazine, Publishers Weekly, reviewing this book. Houston megachurch pastor and inspirational TV host Osteen offers an overblown and redundant self-help debut. This is not a Christian writer saying this about this man's message. Many Christian readers will undoubtedly be put off by the book's shallow, name-it-and-claim-it theology, although the first chapter claims that, quote, we serve the God that created the universe. The book, as a rule, suggests the reverse. It's a treatise on how to get God to serve the demands of self-centered individuals. Osteen tells readers that God wants them to prosper, offering examples of obtaining an elegant mansion or a larger salary. In seven parts, he details how readers should enlarge their vision, develop self-esteem, discover the power of thought, let go of the past, find strength through adversity, give back to others and choose to be happy. The section on giving comes as too little, too late. Osteen's message to remember others and quote, get your mind off yourself, flies in the face of the previous 200 pages. There are some good pockets of advice, such as letting go of past hurts and avoiding bitterness. Editorially, the book would have packed more of a punch if a third of its repetitive slogans and stories had been pruned. Theologically, its materialism and superficial portrait of God as the grantor of earthly wishes will alienate many Christian readers who can imagine a much bigger God. This is not A Christian review, necessarily, but sometimes the children of the world are wiser than those who claim to be followers of Christ. That does not represent New Testament Christianity. According to Paul, one sign that God has chosen you and that you are a disciple is this. There's doctrine, you receive the word of God, there is an objective message. And you embrace it with joy, not because it's eliminating your problems. It's actually compounding your problems. It is harder to be a Christian than a lost person. It is compounding your problems, but that's OK. You're glad because you are convinced God is in this. And one way we know that we are elect and that God has worked is that we imitate Jesus and the apostles in that regard. Now. We come to verses seven and eight. Election produces not only imitators, it produces examples, it makes you an example. And isn't that what he says there, verse seven, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Nicaea. This is an interesting word, too. It is a word from which we get our word type, T-Y-P-E. And it was used, for example, to describe a mark left on an object by a blow. So like if you got a rock or a stick and you hit something and left a mark, an impression, that would be called a tupos. That's a type, which is pretty much the idea of our word typewriter. Some of you don't know what that is. A typewriter has an image on these keys and it hits the paper and leaves an impression. The impression is what we're talking about here. The mark that is left behind. An indelible impression that these people are having on others now, taking what they learned and saying, essentially, Paul is following Christ, we're following Paul, you can follow us. And at this point, we realize that this whole business of example is not limited to church leaders. He's talking about the entire church here. This is a corporate example. And actually, this passage is the only place in the New Testament where the Apostle Paul actually lifts up an individual local church and says, now, these people, they're a model. There had to be something pretty unusual going on in Thessalonica to distinguish these people in that way. And so we're going to ask some of the same questions we asked about the other point. What is the focus of the example again? You've been example in all kinds of different areas. What is he concerned about here? Well, look at verse eight. It begins with the word for which is, again, explanation, elaboration, reasoning. In what way are they an example? Why are you saying this? Well, because The word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith for God has gone forth. The focus of their example, what they're really shining in. Of any number of things about the Christian life, they're being an example in terms of their passion for getting out the gospel, he says. The gospel, the word of the Lord, you received it, and now you are sounding this forth abroad all over the place. And here we have another peculiarity, that is the only time that term sound forth occurs in all of the New Testament. And there are different ideas about what it could mean. Different ideas of the image that is behind this word. Some say it is the idea of the clapping of thunder, making this overwhelming, overpowering sound. Some say it's more the idea of a trumpet blowing, blasting away with this sound. Whatever the image is, I think that the idea, the meaning is clear. Actually, here again, we get an English word from this term that helps us. You know what word we get from here? We get our word echo from this term. What is an echo? It has to do with reverberation or repetition of sound. And really the term itself makes the important point. These people did not create the message. It was not their idea. They received it and they're just like a sounding board. off of which bounces this message to wider and wider spheres, it is echoing off of them. Now, there's another good description of a Christian. You could describe a Christian as an imitator, as long as you choose the right models. You could describe a Christian as an example. You could describe a Christian as an echo. Have you ever thought of yourself in that light? What are you really trying to do as a believer God has chosen you. He has saved you in order to echo the message that has changed your life. Now, we're not exactly sure what exactly these people did. To carry out this ministry, we just don't have a lot of information out here, not an X. We do have a little bit of an idea. There are a couple of guys, their names are Aristarchus and Secundus in Acts 19, 20 and 27, that are accompanying the Apostle Paul. They're from Thessalonica. They're going with him on mission trips. So there is a very aggressive kind of full time sending out of a few individuals to do kind of primitive evangelistic work. There's a name, Jason, that comes up at the end of Romans chapter 16, verse 21. Perhaps the Jason from Thessalonica who had again joined the apostle Paul and was with him at the point that he writes Romans, whatever the method. Whatever any individual was actually doing to evangelize, this is talking about the body as a whole viewing itself in terms of a sounding board. And they respond to the evangelistic zeal of the Apostle Paul by developing that themselves. And in that way, they're imitating him, too. Now, that is the focus of the example. What is the scope of the example? That'll be our last consideration here. That is, how far out did this go? Were they limiting themselves to their neighbors or to the community immediately around wherever they met? Not at all. He says to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia, those would have been other cities fairly close to toward the north of where Thessalonica was. And he goes on to say, not just Macedonia. That's where places like Philippi and Berea are toward the north, but also in Achaia, that's toward the south and the west, you're dealing there with places like Corinth and Athens. And this was a very natural thing for these people to be involved in, given, as we have already mentioned, that Thessalonica was at the center of two major trade routes. And they took seriously the providential position that they ended up in. And they're going every which way with the gospel. whether by sending out missionaries or by sharing their testimony with people who are passing through or talking to other Christians who then go on to go back to their hometowns and talk about the Thessalonians. However, it happened. These people, their lives are given over to echoing the message. Paul even says in every place. Maybe he's being hyperbolic, but I think in any case, he's making the point, these people got the word out far and wide. And he says, we don't have any need to say anything. Again, we're not totally sure what all he's imagining there, what he has in mind, but it's feasible that Paul shows up in some community and he is thinking he is going to give the gospel to somebody for the first time. And it's already heard that. I got an uncle over there in Thessalonica and some guy showed up and was telling him these things and he's a different man. I know what you're talking about. Paul says there are times where I go out to give the message and I don't need to say anything because these people through their lives, through their testimony have already done the job. Now, are we getting the point here as we put this all in context? We started talking about election. And so often election is divorced from evangelism. What Paul says is the way that God's election shows itself is that people who are chosen are passionate about giving the gospel. You are an imitator. in your reception of the word and you are an example in your reverberation of the word. There is a summary of the passage, imitators in the way they receive the word, examples in the way that they reverberated the word. That is what showed they were truly saved. Now, this morning, as we try to apply this to our lives, I think we ought to walk away from here saying, you know, I really I really need to do a better job. at following Bible examples. I need to do a better job of being an example myself. I need to do a better job of echoing the gospel. That is appropriate. We ought to be challenged about that. But actually, the application is more probing than that. Because the way he connects us all together, really, if somebody In general, we're not saying you're perfect. We're not saying you are a highly gifted evangelist. We're not saying that thousands of people are coming to Christ through your ministry. We're saying if your life does not, to a significant degree, follow this pattern, that you view yourself, I'm here to embrace this message, to live this way, and particularly to share this. And that's what my life is all about. That's why I'm here on earth. That's what I care about, ultimately. If that is not your life, folks, how do you know? How do you know you are safe? How do you know that you are chosen? This is how election shows itself. It changes your life. It makes you an imitator of the apostles. It makes you an imitator of Christ. It makes you an evangelist. This is how you know that you are chosen of God. This is how it is proven. And I want to end with a quote along those lines. From the Puritan Joseph Lane, he wrote a famous book called Alarm to the Unconverted. And he says this, you begin at the wrong end if you first dispute about your election. Prove your conversion. And then never doubt your election. If you cannot yet prove it, set upon a present and thorough turning. Do not stand still disputing about your election, but set to repenting and believing. And I don't know, it may be that someone here needs to take the heart, this admonition, this warning. We're going to come back to it next week because verses nine and ten talk about conversion specifically. The way we know or God's chosen is that there is evidence in our lives that we're given over the following example of Scripture and to echoing the message of the gospel. Is there any evidence? Is there evidence that you are left?