Search for Spiritual Healing
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
James R. Davis
A little boy was visiting a large museum. The father thought it was a way to entertain the boy for a couple of hours. But the little boy sighed and moaned the entire visit, and finally in his desperation he said to his father, “Dad, let’s go someplace where things are real!” In our contrived world people are searching for something real. The contrived reality shows on television point up this.
Christianity is about discovering a real life—discovering life as it was really meant to be—discovering the life God intends for you. Few experience this quality of life. Too many are confused thinking that Christianity is about getting God to give us the life of our man-made dreams. Most end up very confused and frustrated.
We make the same foolish mistakes of Solomon who used his God given resources of wisdom and riches to pursue his own selfish agenda. Yet, in every selfish pursuit he discovered the vanity of a life built upon the contrived dreams of the world. Each success gave him only temporary fulfillment. Then he was in hot pursuit of his next dream. Enough was never enough. He was always thinking of his next big dream until one day he sat down and discovered sad nature of his pursuits without God.
Many look at the Bible as an ancient book failing to understand its relevance to reality. The Bible stories are real stories about human nature. There is a deep hungering and restlessness within the vast majority to experience life as it was meant to be. Sadly, we spend our lives seeking to live up to the expectations of others, and seeking to move others into living up to our expectations. We build our lives around getting others to accept us, to love us, to praise us, as we sweat and sacrifice our lives for their expectations of us. We spend our lives seeking to prove ourselves to others as we seek their dream for our lives.
When we meet one another’s expectations it is never enough. Yet, we continue our never-ending struggle seeking to realize these false expectations. Sadly, we fail to turn to God. Instead, we labor under the false assumption that we are what others say we are. We strive to discover a meaningful life in how others value us and expect of us.
It is evident the world is lost in its search for meaning. This is the kind of loss Jesus came to save us from. The idea of being lost goes beyond the question, “If you died today, are you 100 percent sure that you would go to heaven?” But this question may seem meaningless to those who are looking for a life in the real world here on planet earth. God certainly wants you to spend eternity with him, but he also desires to give you a life now.
God Has Chosen Us
Our earthly dreams are always built around our need for love, acceptance and forgiveness. These are legitimate God given desires. Ultimately, only God can meet these needs. If we seek to fill these needs on the fickle approval of the world, our behavior will reflect insecurity, fear and anger.
If we base our pursuits in life on God’s truths, our lives will experience his love, acceptance, and forgiveness. It is not that the dreams we are chasing are always wrong. It’s that God is not in them. God promised Solomon wisdom and riches far beyond anything the world had ever seen. He kept his promise, but Solomon lost sight of God.
When God meets your god-given needs, you become filled with his grace and power. We fail when our dreams become the source of our love, acceptance and forgiveness. The Thessalonians to whom Paul wrote serve as living examples of people who found a life in God through Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
1:1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. NIV
Paul writes, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” These verses state that God has chosen us because of his love for us. Included in being loved and chosen is forgiveness and acceptance. God not only created us with the need for love, acceptance and forgiveness, he has chosen to fill these needs. This means he loves us, accepts us and forgives us.
They challenged the world’s expectations. The church in Thessalonica had a powerful impact upon their world. Paul writes, “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Fortunately the apostles were living models of Christ. Paul writes, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord. . .” They were not only taught the good news, they also had someone to show them how to live the good news.
The Thessalonians had a tremendous impact upon their world when they understood they had been chosen by God. They had been separated from God, but now they are reunited with God. Now their lives reached far beyond their abilities and the opinion of others. They are no longer controlled by their circumstances and how they feel about themselves. They have discovered God’s grace and power.
Christ only becomes real for a lost world as they see Christ living in us. The world needs to know Christ motivates every dream we pursue. They need to see him in every step we take. Have you ever been to a funeral and heard a person speak of the departed loved one saying, “I am sure he believed in God even though he never expressed it. His faith was very personal.”
There is no mistake about the ancient world’s belief in gods. When they fought it was out of the belief that their god or gods would win the battle for them. When they prospered, for whatever reason, they believed they had been favored by the gods. It reflected the strength and wisdom of the gods they worshipped. Today it is much different we have become the masters of our own lives. We see people doing pretty good for themselves, or pretty bad for themselves.
There was not mistake that the lives Thessalonians were living were attributed to the God they worshipped.
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. NIV
The first Christians modeled how to live for God. They weren’t people who changed careers for Christ; they were probably losing their jobs because they became Christians. Yet, they were willing to take the hit where it often hurts the most—in the pocket book. They trusted in the Lord.
I remember when I was learning how to weld. The theory of welding in the United States Air Force involved understanding the atomic structure and make up of the metal. To weld you have to understand the nature of the different metals. You have to understand what can be welded and what can’t. You have to understand how each particular metal responds to heat and stress. That seemed easy enough, but actually fusing two pieces of metal together was another matter. The instructors taught us how to weld as we watched them weld various kinds of metal. We would then try to imitate the instructors. We would seek to run a more uniform welding bead than the instructors. That was usually difficult. Often they would literally take hold of our hands to steady them or to demonstrate how to make correct movements with our hands to improve our performance. Modeling and demonstrating what they wanted us to do was extremely important. It would have much more difficult to pick up a torch and do it without being shown.
It would be hard to pick up living for Christ without the association of Christians. We learn more through association than any other way. In fact, it often takes a life time to unlearn what we have learned through our association with others.
Salvation for a World Lost
Paul sums up what it is to model the life of Christ in one sentence: “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When Paul thought of the Thessalonians he remembered their “work produced by faith.” Nothing sounds out the message of Christ more than Christians who exemplify the life of Christ. This church became a model church. It is amazing that the apostles had to flee Thessalonica because of the persecution of those who refused to listen. They also persecuted those who did listen. Yet, it was their lives that overpowered their enemies and silenced the world.
My wife told me of Christian where she worked. One of the kitchen staff was a Christian. There was another woman working in the kitchen who had a fowl mouth. The Christian ask her why she wanted to use language like that in front of the young men she worked with. The lady using fowl language threw a bowl of cabbage at the Christian. She didn’t turn her in to the management. She was asked why she didn’t turn her in. She simply said, “I am going to let the Lord take of her!”
The world needs this kind of model for faith in Christ. There is no way the world will take us serious until we are so overwhelmed with what we believe that we spend our lives pursuing our faith. The apostles had not merely preached the word they exemplified their message.
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
Life is not about persuading God to give you the life of your dreams, life is about helping others discover God’s dream for themselves. Spiritual healing is not about building our self-image; it is about allowing the world to see the image of Christ through us as we labor out of his love for us.
Behavior often changes what we believe about ourselves. Have you ever sought to perform a task you really believed you couldn’t do and succeeded? It increases your confidence and changes what you believed about yourself. Often, this confidence begins to grow and lead us into other areas of growth. We begin to realize our feelings, behavior and beliefs interact to shape our lives. Yet, life goes beyond what we feel, believe and experience.
It shouldn’t surprise us that the epistles of the Bible deal mostly with how to live a godly life in an ungodly world. These were the topics of discussion within the first fellowships of Christians. The topics were very controversial. Topics ranged from how to manage their sex lives to how to spend their money; from how to live with their mates to the treatment of masters and slaves. Many of their discussions revolved around how to tolerate one another’s diverseness. Their discussions challenged the social fabric of society and religion.
Yet, the conclusions for their arguments were always the same. The conclusion was always about how to live to glorify God. They didn’t always have the freedom they desired, but they were always free to serve Christ in every thought, word and deed. They held on to their faith as they worked through the problems they faced.
The problems the first century world faced revealed the sincerity of their faith in the midst of their pain, rejection and failures. Faith in Christ gave them direction in their crisis. The apostles not only preached about the suffering Christ, they shared in his sufferings for the sake of the lost. They became all things to all men. They not only ask Christians to be content in their circumstances. They also enslaved themselves to Christians in those circumstances. Spiritual healing came to Thessalonica as they beheld those who were being healed in the midst of their pain, rejection and failures.
Paul spoke of the Thessalonians’ “labor prompted by love.” When faithfulness becomes a labor of love our neighbors are impacted. Discovering the joy in living is wrapped in loving what you are called upon to do. I believe this is what we call enthusiasm.
A waiter served my wife and me at a restaurant a few days ago. We asked the waiter to bring us something. We knew he was very busy, but we emphasized he should not make a special trip. He could bring what we ask for when he was coming our way again. We told him we didn’t want to create more work for him. He said, “What I am doing is not work, I enjoy what I am doing.” His work was a labor of love. That’s the way he served us the entire meal. He seemed to enjoy it.
When our faithfulness becomes a labor of love we discover spiritual healing in the midst of our pain, rejection and failures. This is what turned the persecution of the first century Christians into a means of spiritual healing and growth for themselves and their world. Enduring and overcoming the hardships of living out our faith reveals the power of God to a lost world.
Paul writes, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
Paul says, “our gospel came to you not simply with words—but in power.” The healing power of God is discovered when we live our lives for others. It brings healing to us, and to those witnessing our healing. Paul says, “You know how we lived among you for your sake.” We are not only seeking to obey Christ for ourselves, but for the sake of others.
The power of the Holy Spirit through the apostles preaching was made possible because they chose to obey the word they preached. They didn’t just simply preach the word; their deep conviction led them to obey the word. The Holy Spirit strengthens and empowers us as we respond to the word. The Spirit makes us living witness for Christ. There is nothing more powerful than a living example. Obedience out of deep convictions creates an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to lead others to Christ.
Endurance in difficult times reveals our passion. In turning from their idols to God many of their friends and relatives were angered. The Jewish unbelievers persecuted the Jews who became Christians. The idolaters here in Thessalonica persecuted those giving up idols. Yet, they were overwhelmed in their passion for the Lord.
Faith always tests our willingness to endure. Our endurance reveals our sincerity. The first Christians discovered a fulfilling life in Christ not by using their skills to avoid problems, but they sought the ability to apply God’s specific solutions to those problems.
Persecution has a way of allowing the sincerity of our labor to shine. Life is not about how we act when things are going great; it is about how we live against seemingly insurmountable odds. Paul was moved by the Thessalonians “. . . endurance inspired by their hope in Jesus Christ.” The church in Thessalonica grew because they saw the suffering the apostles were willing to endure to bring them the message.
1 Thessalonians 1:6-10
6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Reality isn’t discovered in living up to the expectations of our world. It isn’t discovered in getting the world to live up our expectations. Reality begins when we begin to live up to our own expectations of others. The apostles lived what they taught. They made the life of Christ real to those they taught as they suffered for the Thessalonians just as Christ suffered for them. We can’t ask the world to do something we aren’t unwilling to do.
Conclusion:
We are fortunate that Christ came to give us a model of a meaningful life. The world says, “You need to get a life!” Jesus says, “I came to give you a life.” Christ came challenging the expectations of others as he sought to reveal himself. Christ challenged the expectations of the religious as he challenged their teaching and traditions. In those days there was an aggressive religious climate that compassed land and sea to make one proselyte. The proselytes were coerced into meeting the expectations of the religious teachers. But it left the proselytes lost—a two-fold child of the devil. Christ’s life challenged a religious world failing to live up to its own expectations of others.
Bible Study Questions
1. What is the purpose of Christianity?
2. In what ways do we seek to live up to the expectations of others?
3. Why do we seek to live up to the expectations of others?
4. What does it mean to be lost?
5. What basic God given needs are our earthly dreams built around?
6. How can we know that God has met these needs? (1 Thessalonians 1:4)
7. How should we challenge the world’s expectation of us?
8. How do we make Christ real to a lost world?
9. What part does Christian fellowship play in living for Christ?
10. What prompted the Thessalonians labor for the Lord?
11. What affect does behavior have on us?
12. What did the problems of the first Christians becomes a means to spreading Christianity?
13. What was the conclusion always reached as they sought to solve their problems?
14. What does endurance in difficult times reveal?