What A Church 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Pt.1

In the third verse of the book 1 Thessalonians Paul outlines 3 specific things that have excited him about this church.  His disciple Timothy has recently come back from a trip to check on this church and the report that Paul received was extremely encouraging.  Paul writes in 1Thessalonians 1:2-3   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.

1. Work produced by faith. Great churches always have a great work ethic. Paul is excited to hear from young Timothy that this church is working hard. Great churches have always had to have a great work ethic because getting the gospel to people is not easy. Getting the gospel to people isn't always fun. Getting the gospel to people isn't always the easy road. Great churches have to work hard if they want to win people to Christ because it's hard work.

 Yes, the fields are ripe for the harvest (John 4:35), but somebody has to go out there and do the work. If you've ever worked in a field, it's hard work. Paul is excited to learn this church and these people have continued to work hard. Now Paul isn't saying their works are somehow getting them into heaven. Paul isn't saying their works are good because they're being drawn in closer to God. Paul is not preaching works are important when it comes to salvation. In fact, we know the apostle Paul, above many others, said it's not about works.

 In fact, if you read from the book of Ephesians, for example, chapter 2, verses 8-10, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

 He says, "Yeah, God has given us good works to do, but these works are not what gets us into heaven. It's through Christ and through Christ alone." We read time and time again as we go through and as we read the book of Romans, for example, that Paul says over and over and over again, "It's not about works. Works will not get you into heaven." He is not saying their works are getting them into heaven. Instead, he says, "Their work was produced by their faith." He did not say, "Their faith was produced by their works." There is a great difference in the two. He says, "Your work is produced by your faith."

 So many times in America, so many times all around the world, so many times in our lives, we flip this thing around and it perverts our theology. Too many times it's not our work produced by our faith, we believe it's our faith that is produced by our works. That is not what is happening in this church. When Paul gets word their work is produced by their faith, he is excited because he understands the Thessalonians know it is Jesus Christ alone who saves them. He understands they realize it's not about how hard they work, or how much they work, or what they do, none of that will get them into heaven. They realize that and yet they still continue to work. Their faith compels them to work.

 Their work is produced by their faith. Their faith is not being produced by their works. He says, "That is the way it's supposed to happen." He says, "What a church! A church that is ready to go out there and is willing to work, not for the salvation of their own souls." They weren't working for their own salvation, but for the salvation of the souls of those who lived around them. Their faith compelled them to work. It called them to work. They could not help but get out of bed and go to work for Jesus every single morning because they had it in the proper context and perspective.

 The book of James says it this way in chapter 2, verse 18, "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."

 James 2:26, if you jump down a few more verses, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Our faith compels us to work, not for our own salvation, not for our own sake, but for the sake of others and salvation of others because great churches understand that doing the work of the gospel is indeed hard work. They don't do it for themselves; they do it for those around them like the Thessalonians were doing.

 See, we have to understand the world around us, the world at large, the people we pray for, the people we talk about, the people we long to be saved, they will never understand our faith, they will never understand our reasoning, they will never understand what compels us to work so hard until they first see our passion and the urgency in our lives that says we are willing to go out there and work not for our own salvation but for the sake of others. We're saved by grace, not by works. We understand that, yet we still go and work not for our sake, but for yours so that you can receive the same thing we have; that our work would be produced by our faith, and that we would not try to make our faith be produced by our works.