The True Church

 Receivers and Responders

Book of 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1

We go from the Books of James written by James the half-brother of the Lord to the writings of the Apostle Paul but Paul assured us that we know that it was the Holy Spirit who directed all the Scriptures.

Every chapter, every verse, every word given to us by the Holy Spirit are to make the Church to be strong.

The world will claim every building with a steeple is a church but we know only those groups of true believers make up the true Church.

The Church is not a building, the Church is all those who are trying to follow in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ and His truths!

The true Church has Preachers and Pastors who are faithful to the true Church by remaining faithful to the truth of the Word of God.

A strong church is a church that has accepted the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, the same Messiah who will return to first take His children home and then deal with this wicked world and complete the promises He has made to Israel.

The true church is founded on the oneness of God in His three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

There is no true church if that congregation does not accept the trinity of God!

*****1Th 1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

If we cannot understand the truth of this scripture then we do not understand the Love of God!

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

All other places that gather together are not part of the true Church unless they accept this truth!

They are only a man-created gathering, no matter what they call themselves!

The Lord was discussing this with His disciples before He was crucified.

Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 

Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

Now the Church is not built upon Peter but the fact that the Lord Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!

The true Church possesses God gifts of "Grace" and "Peace".

We know that "Grace" is the sum of all the blessings that God the father bestows on us through Jesus Christ. Grace is God's love and favor to us who are certainly undeserving of it!

We know that our Lord Jesus by God's "grace" is the death of His Son for all believers, in fact for all sinners.

We should know that peace is more than the absence of hostility and disorder: it also denotes good health and harmony with nature, and inward wellbeing.

This peace came through the blood of the cross.

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 

Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 

The peace comes only by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us these words of truth.

Paul as a Church builder never departed from this truth about our Savior but built upon it, just as we are to do today.

Silas and Timothy were with Paul when the Church at Thessalonica was established and the Holy Spirit always showed that Paul was not alone and that he traveled with others who had the same faith that he had.

Again we will see that prayers are the strength of the Church.

*****1Th 1:2  We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 

1Th 1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 

A strong Church is a praying church!

A true Church is one whose prayers reach into the throne room of God!

Mat 21:22  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 

It is our duty to be thankful for the personal benefits we receive from God but notice it is better to be thankful for the good of others.

Paul knew his own strength came because of all those churches praying for his success.

We need to pray for all the missions of our church because they need those prayers and we will still receive those benefits from God.

Our prayers must be a work of our faith or they are useless!

Remember what we learned from James, "faith without works is a dead faith".

We show our love to Christ by what we do for Him willingly!

We must take prayer seriously because it is the power behind the true Church!

Our faith in Jesus Christ will stir us up to do a work for God.

The stronger our faith, the more we can accomplish in the name of our Lord Jesus!

We must never get over the fact that we have been saved from a burning Hell!

Just as faith stirs the Church to do a work of God, "love" stirs the Church to labor, or we would say to get busy serving the Lord.

We know this work can be tiring but when we do get to rest, we will rest satisfied that we are working in the name of our Savior.

One day that true rest will come and our labor on this earth will be over.

Our faith works, our love labors, our hope patiently suffers all things!

We should remember our rewards come from the labor we have done in this life.

*****1Th 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

What does this election mean?

1) Election means that we as believers are elected and chosen by God to be His beloved people.

God has called each of us out of this world and away from our old life of sin and eternal death.

Being in the will of God means we are now separate and set apart for God's use!

2) Election means we as Christians are all in the same family because we have the same Father.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we are to hold each believer close to our hearts.

We are family because of our faith.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

When we look upon another Christian, we must see them as an object of God's love!

We are all brethren because we are all the object of God's "Grace".

When visitors come into our Church, they should be able to see that our members act like the beloved of God.

They should see clearly that each member treats each other member as the beloved brethren of God.

The "Gospel" is not just a bunch of words written down on paper!

*****1Th 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

1Th 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 

What is the greatest trait of the Christian? We believe the Word of God and it is this language that we speak. It is the language of Heaven!

The "Gospel" came in power! Not miraculously but persuasively because it came from the heart of God.

The "Gospel" came to us by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth.

When Paul preached, he was not concerned if he were a good preacher or not.

When Paul preached his only concern was sharing the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only in these terms that the Holy Spirit can do His work of conviction.

God honors His Word and His Word only!

If we do not believe the Word of God is from Heaven, then we cannot stand before any group in the power of God!

Even as teachers we have no power unless the Holy Spirit is with us and He will not be with us if we have no faith in God's truth!

Those that believe that our creation came in the process of evolution, have no power.

Those that believe that we are not to teach against sin as described in the Bible, have no power.

Those that believe that the Word of God is not the complete truth, have no power.

Those that say the Jesus is not the Messiah who is coming again, have no power.

The truth of God must be taught by example!

Those that are chosen of God are the same ones who have accepted the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The "Gospel" cannot be received without joy!

Our afflictions come by some man, but our joy comes by the Holy Spirit!

The "Gospel" will always bear fruit!

We must all guard our lives to be sure we are following in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ.

*****1Th 1:7  So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 

1Th 1:8  For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 

How were these Thessalonians examples of the Apostle Paul?

In their faith.

In their hope.

In their brotherly love.

In their good works.

We must not get caught up in what will people think of us!

It is not a terrible thing to be seen as a peculiar people!

The Church at Thessalonica became an example to other believers.

The new established church was so committed to the Lord Jesus Christ that their testimony spread all over Greece and then all over the known world.

This shows us that the Lord will use us if we just given Him control through the Holy Spirit.

This church was not afraid to show their faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We must understand that if we do not have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in us, then we do not belong to Christ!

Rom_8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Having the Spirit of Christ in us will show up in our daily life.

This is one of the greatest testimonies of witnessing in all the Bible.

Our greatest work we can show to those around us is that work for Jesus Christ.

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

Rom 10:18  But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 

When we speak with the voice of the Lord, His message will spread everywhere.

Psa 29:4  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 

When we do not speak with the voice of the Lord then we are not in the will of God!

When our church does not speak with the voice of the Lord, then we need to close the doors of the church and go home because we are not who we say we are!

*****1Th 1:9  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 

The world sees the Bible as just a book of fables as they serve their idols of this world.

The Christian sees the Bible as the revelations of the True and Living God who lives in Heaven.

Jer 10:10  But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 

Jer 10:11  Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

Once we have accepted the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have turned from the idols of the world to the True and Living God.

This is the time we begin standing on the truth of the "Gospel".

We might try to clean our lives up by ourselves but we will find this is impossible. We cannot reform ourselves!

We cannot turn away from idols and seek God.

We must turn to God first and then with God's help and God's strength we can repent and turn away from idols.

It is after we accept the truth of the Gospel that we can repent and be baptized.

Idols are dead images of some imaginary beings, but my Savior, My God is alive and will never die!

Conversion means we have turned completely around.

We begin to hate the things we loved and love the things we hated.

Conversion is to turn to God distinctly by an act and deed of our mind and our will because we see the truth of creation.

We begin to see that there is a purpose to our being on this earth.

This lost world will worship anything and those who say this is not true worship themselves and this is the worst of all false worship.

Every person has an opinion of what God is and what God is like and what God allows and what God does not allow.

The lost world will take these ideas and make themselves an imaginary god out of wood, or silver, or gold, or some other object of this world.

Others just have a picture in their minds of what a god should be.

Some have made this planet to be their god.

Others have made the stars or some alien to be their god.

So an idol is any image created in the mind of man other than the God who gave us the Scriptures that reveal the truth.

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 

Many of those in Greece had heard of the man Jesus and knew the truth of His crucifixion but were acceptable of His resurrection, but when they heard of His return they sought Him out for the truth.

You see, it is God's Son who is returning to earth, the One who died for us all.

We that know the Lord want to be acceptable to Him and live with Him forever.

This is the reason we are waiting upon the return of Jesus Christ so we can go home and leave this wicked world behind.

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 

*****1Th 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 

How do we know that the Lord Jesus is coming to take us home?

Because God raised Him up from the dead.

By resurrecting Christ Jesus God proved he is the God of all power and not some imaginary God.

God proved He has the power to raise all the dead in Christ.

God proved that He is going to do everything that the Lord Jesus has taught us.

The truth; God will raise some to eternal life but some will be raised to eternal death.

Eternal death is to be separated from the Living God for eternity, which is what they wanted and strived for, but it will be a terrible thing.

By turning to the Living God we will escape the wrath of God that is coming to this world.

Since all the world has now turned against Israel, including my own nation we can see that this day of God's wrath is very close.

Gen_12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The USA has just come under the curse of God by the works of administration that is in office today.

God will reward those who are in rebellion to His Word with eternal death!

The world is already condemned but all those who turn to God in any nation from idols that are all imaginary can still be saved.

I can assure you that you do not want to see the wrath of an angry God toward those who reject His Son!

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 

Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 

Amen