What A Church - 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Pt. 3

3. Their endurance which was inspired by their hope. Some translations say, "steadfastness," and that's a good translation as well because the idea that Paul is trying to get across here is they have stood strong under extreme pressure. One definition of the word said standing strong while bearing a heavy load. He is trying to get across the idea they are carrying a heavy load on their shoulders, yet they have planted their feet and they have stood strong. They have not been moved. They have not been changed, as we talked about just a few weeks ago.

No, this church has stood strong and they have stood the test. We don't know the exact details of their persecutions. We don't know the exact details of all they have had to stand strong through, but Paul is excited that whatever it was, they have stood strong. Time and time again, throughout 1 and 2 Thessalonians, he says, "Congratulations on standing strong through your difficult trials and your persecutions." How were they able to stand strong? Because they had put their hope in the right place.

He says, "In your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." If you put your hope any place other than in Christ, I promise it will fail you. I promise it will fade. I promise it will spoil. I promise it will crumble in your hands, and it will disappear as fast as it came. These people had not put their hope in anything material. They had not put their hope in a pastor. They had not put their hope in a building. They had not put their hope in a budget. They had not put their hope in anyone other than Jesus Christ. Paul is going, "That is why you've stood the test because you've put your hope in the right place." Wow! What a church! A church whose endurance was inspired by their hope in Jesus Christ.

First Peter says it this way, we're not promised perfect lives, people, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

Look at verse 6, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Where is your hope? Church, where is our hope? If we want to be this kind of church, if we want to be a what a church, we better not put our hope in anything or anyone or any place other than in Jesus Christ alone, and our personal lives and our corporate lives together.

Do you know what made this church so special? I was thinking about it. I was going, "Man, Paul, you are so excited." I tried to put myself in the shoes of Paul. I tried to imagine I was Paul and I was there, and I saw that vision and God called me to go to Macedonia, and I went to Philippi and I was beaten and put in prison, and I had to flee from there to Thessalonica. Then I had to flee from Thessalonica to Berea. Then I had to flee from Berea to Athens. Then I had to leave Athens and go to Corinth. I tried to imagine that I'm sitting in Corinth after all of this, and I send Timothy back. Timothy comes and he brings me this report about all of the great things this church is doing. I just said, I would have gone, "Whoa, what a church!"

What would have excited me the most, what made this church so special, what got Paul going was that what made them special wasn't their building. Timothy didn't come back and say, "Oh Paul, man, they have built an incredible facility. They have a huge campus and a huge building. They have air conditioning in it and everything, man. It is so cool!" He didn't come back and say, "Man, Paul, you will not believe this. That church has secured the best location in town. It's on the corner of Main and First. Everybody passes by there and they have a big sign up that says, 'Come join us on Sunday for worship.'"

Timothy didn't come back and bring Paul a budget and go, "Look how much money these people have." Timothy didn't come back and say, "Paul, you are never going to believe it. These guys went to a church conference in Jerusalem last month and they read this book that gave them this new church model and they are doing an incredible thing." Timothy didn't come back and say, "Man, Paul, you have to hear about this children's program they have going. The kids are memorizing Scripture and stuff is going really, really well. They have awesome children's and youth stuff going on at their church."

I don't think any of that stuff would have excited Paul the way this did. Timothy didn't come back and say, "Man, Paul, they have hired the best preacher in all the land. He gets up and he inspires people week after week after week." He didn't come back and say, "They have a great leadership team, and they have a great leadership structure, and boy you would be so proud of the way they've organized the church." I don't think any of that would have excited Paul and caused him to say, "Wow, what a church," because none of those things make a church.

Paul was excited because of what the people were doing because the people are the church. A building is not the church. A location is not the church. A pastor is not the church. A budget is not the church. A program is not the church. A model is not the church. A structure is not the church. The people are the church. Paul gets word that the people, the individuals, the families, the people just like y'all, the people who are coming to that church every single week were willing to work.

They were saved. They knew they were going to heaven, but they were still willing to work. Their work was produced by their faith. That stirred his soul and caused him to go, "What a church!" He was excited because they excelled in loving people, not just the people they liked, and not just the people they loved. They excelled in loving everyone. He was excited because they had put their hope in Christ, and they had stood the test and they had stood strong. He was excited because the people had done it.

As I got to about this point in my thoughts, one verse popped into my mind, 1 Corinthians. Paul is in Corinth as he is writing this letter to the Thessalonians. He hasn't written the letter to the Corinthians yet, but in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 13, Paul declares that there are three things that are eternal. Do you remember what they are? Faith, hope, and love. Do you know what excited Paul? The people were doing the three eternal things. They were loving people. Their works were produced by their faith. They were loving people and they had put their hope in Christ. This church was focusing on the eternal not the earthly, and Paul said, "What a church!"