Greetings to you, friend. What do you think of an imitator? Well, we don’t usually hold him in high esteem, do we now-- unless of course, he is an entertainer or a stage performer? But if it’s religion we are talking about, we have another name for him, don’t we? He’s a hypocrite, who pretends to be something or someone he is really not. Am I right about that? That is our message today. Let’s see.
It’s a genuine joy, my friend, to welcome you to our program of Bible study In Search of the Lord’s Way to become and to be a Christian. And the Lord does have a way for those things. It’s revealed in the Bible-- nowhere else. So, ours is a Bible study program. I pray we will both be blessed by our study today about “Imitators.”
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My Webster’s dictionary says that “Imitation” is 1. “an act or an instance of imitating. 2. something produced as a copy: [something] that is “counterfeit.” Oh, oh say, that word “counterfeit” kind of, that grabs you, doesn’t it? When I began preaching many years ago I had a favorite preacher, and I tried to mimic him in the pulpit. That was bad. I must have done a pretty good job of it though, because it was noticeable-- to at least one man anyway-- because he took me aside and talked to me about that. He taught me out of that. However, perhaps you hadn’t noticed-- as I had until only a few days ago-- that the word “imitator” or “imitators” is always used in the Scriptures in a good way. And so it is in our text, which we will read after Ken Helterbrand leads us in a hymn and we pray together.
Our reading today is from the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2; and we are going to be reading two verses only-- verses 13 and 14. In the previous verses, the apostle Paul who is the author of this book, or this letter, was encouraging these people to walk faithfully in the word of the Lord. And here he says: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans.” And we read through verse 14. Now we are going to go to God in prayer. Will you bow please? Holy Father, we are so thankful to You for the revelation of Your will and Your word in these epistles that tell us so much about the early churches-- the churches that were established under the leadership of the inspired apostles. Those were inspired of the Holy Spirit and we pray, Father, that we may learn how we may mimic them so as to be more fruitful Christians today. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray this prayer. Amen!
In spite of the fact that the apostle Paul, who was God’s penman for the writing of our text, suffered so very greatly when he preached the gospel in Thessalonica, he had some very pleasant and fond memories of those people who were in the church there. The Bible says of that event that, when Paul and his missionary companions “had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” (Now let’s pause here long enough to make the observation that the apostle Paul’s custom was to reason with the Jews in their synagogue meetings-- and the fact that he did that on three Sabbath days in Thessalonica, doesn’t mean at all, that after his conversion to Christ-- as a Christian, he continued to keep the Sabbath day as a holy day as it was given to the children of Israel for a Memorial of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Christians are not under that law. They assembled for worship on the first day of the week (Acts chapter 20 and verse 7) which is called “the Lord’s Day” in Revelation 1:10. Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of the week according to Mark 16 and Luke 24. And according to John 20:19 and 26, after His resurrection Jesus met with His disciples on the first day of the week and established that as the practice for His disciples thereafter.)
Now, let’s get back to Acts 17. Paul was “explaining and demonstrating (to the Thessalonian Christians, of course) that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, That Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. But the Jews who were not persuaded, became envious, and they took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and they attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, That these who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Hey, friend! The first Christians were known as people who “turned the world upside down!” Well, that couldn’t be by any stretch of the imagination because they conformed to-- or accepted-- every religion of every culture into which they went preaching, could it? Anyway, Timothy remained in Thessalonica and worked with the new church and Paul went on to Athens. And you can read the rest of the story of the beginning of the church in Thessalonica in Acts chapter 17.
My friend, the first Christians were known as people who “turned the world upside down!” Do you suppose they gained that kind of reputation by conforming to the world’s religious faiths, and the religious faith and the demands of their religious faith? No! No! The apostles and the first Christians didn’t teach people to believe and teach and live in such a way as “to please men around them”-- the culture-- but God (1 Thessalonians 4 and 1). The Thessalonian Christians were at one time idolaters. In response to Paul’s preaching, however, they had “turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Why would they do that? Oh! Christianity was radically different-- whoops, I used a bad word there; that word “radically.” I guess I should have said “Christianity was extremely different from their pagan beliefs and lifestyle.” I did it again, didn’t I? When will I ever learn? Two words or characteristics that we must avoid for sure in our postmodern religion and religious teaching are “extreme” and “radical.” Surely you understand me, don’t you friend-- that what we are hearing nowadays, but, we mustn’t let it control our thought, our faith our preaching. Oh, that today Christians were known as the people who are “turning the world upside down!”
Well, that brings us to our text-- to the very thrust of the message today. Verse fourteen: “You, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans.” The Christians-- the church--(yes, that is what the church is-- the Christians). The church in Thessalonica became “imitators,” those Christians became imitators of the churches in Judea. After Jesus’ resurrection and just prior to His ascension, He met with the apostles. “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you (that is-- the apostles) shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now....But you (apostles) shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (apostles); and you (apostles) shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (that would include Thessalonica).
If you are familiar with the Bible, you know that beginning with the first verse of the second chapter of Acts, the apostles did receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised, and the work began to which He had sent them. Peter gave witness (he preached Christ) on that day of Pentecost to the multitude and the church began. Three thousand souls were baptized and added to them. Luke, God’s inspired historian, tells how, because of intense persecution, the disciples were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria-- all of them except the apostles (Acts 8 and 1) were scattered. It followed the exact plan our Savior had said. Those disciples were the church that Jesus had promised to build in Matthew 16:18. And the church in Thessalonica was “mimicking” those churches of Judea who were developed under the leadership of the Holy Spirit through the God-inspired-apostles.
The King James Version says “followers” of the churches in Judea. The New King James, the American Standard, the New American Standard, the Revised Standard Version and-- well-- most other versions translate the word “imitators.” Yes, they did share the same persecution-- I mean, just as the churches in Judea suffered persecution of their kinsmen, so did these Thessalonian Christians. And that’s what the verse says. However, that was involuntary on their part; it was forced on them. They didn’t choose to be like the churches in Judea in that respect. The idea is that they became “imitators, (they chose to be imitators) of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus” by choice. That’s meaningful. In other words, they believed in God as the disciples in the churches of Judea did. They heard the same gospel preached; and they believed and obeyed the same gospel just as the members of the church in Judea in Christ Jesus had. They taught the same doctrine as the Judean churches. They patterned their worship after the worship of the churches in Judea. They were “sounding forth” the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place (verse 8). In short, they were mimicking the churches of Christ in Judea in Christ Jesus.
You see, the church in Thessalonica was not a “new denomination.” Jesus built just one church. He never built even one denomination. I can remember, --oh, maybe about forty years ago, I would say-- there were some 300 denominations in America. And, I read recently (this year) that the current number of denominations in our country now exceeds 330,000-- and the report said a new one is being born every day. No, no, the church in Thessalonica was not just another denomination. The denomination concept of “Christianity” was born in the “Reformation” period of the early16th century. I suppose it was inevitable-- well, maybe “inevitable” is not the word. No, it was not inevitable. It was “to be expected” I suppose, that the great reformers-- Luther and Zwingli and Calvin and others would each have his own following. And despite some of their urgent protests, these would crystallize into denominations within their several works.
Well, Jesus prayed His disciples would be “one.” The night before His death-- with that weighing so heavily on His mind-- still, Jesus prayed for His apostles; and then-- “also for those who will believe in Me, He said, through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). That prayer was for us, friend; for you and me that we might be one in Christ-- that there be no denominations or divisions among us; that the world may believe that God really did send Christ to redeem the lost. Yet, every Tom, Dick and Mary Jane that comes along with a measure of charisma can claim God’s instructions to start a new division, and get a following-- thus a new church-- or a new denomination, non-denominational denomination is born. And people flock to it by the thousands.
What about 1 Corinthians 1:11 to 13? Is that passage no longer relevant? Paul the apostle says, “It has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each one of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Well, that isn’t what happened in Thessalonica. They were imitating the churches of Judea which were in Christ Jesus! And, the Holy Spirit commended them for it!
Would it not be commendable for someone to start a church right here, just as Paul did in Thessalonica, that would imitate, mimic the churches of the New Testament in doctrine, in faith, in commitment, in morals and ethics, in worship, in polity-- well in every characteristic of the churches revealed in the New Testament Scriptures? That’s what we are striving to do, friend. We would like you to come along and see. Let us pray now. Thank You, Father, for the inspiration of this passage and this thought. We pray, Father, that we may adhere more closely to what the churches in the New Testament were, what they believed, and what they practiced and mimic them. In the lovely name of Jesus we ask it all. Amen!
My friend, do you think it would be a good idea for all churches today to “mimic” the churches we read about in the New Testament? That’s what the Thessalonian church was being commended for. Would it not please God today? Would it not please Christ? Wouldn’t it be an answer to His prayer? Is it impractical in our postmodern era? No, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” the end of the world (Matthew 28, verses 18-20).
What is there about New Testament Christianity that’s impossible in our time and culture? Oh, we live in different kinds of housing, of course, and travel in different kinds of vehicles, and wear different styles of clothing, and all that. But, we are talking about that. We are talking about our faith in God, and Christ and the Scriptures as God’s inspired word. We’re talking about our worship of God and our service to Christ. We are talking about how we live with one another and before God. There’s nothing impossible about being a Christian just like those Christians were in the New Testament.
What is there about New Testament Christianity then that’s undesirable? If you are a regular viewer of this program, you have heard me say it many times: The Christ way to live is the best way to live that has ever been introduced to the human family. There are millions now living, who once tried their way, and then turned to the Lord’s way who will agree with me about that. Oh say, we hope you’re a Christian, but if you are not, I urge you to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins today-- now-- at once. That’s what the apostle Peter told people to do to be saved in Acts chapter 2, verse 38. I hope you will.
If you would like a free copy or an audio cassette tape or a CD of this message, you may have it free by mailing your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or you may call us if that would be more convenient for you. You may use our toll-free telephone number-- 1-800-321-8633. Our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. And you may access the message-- and other interesting information on our website. God bless you now. We plan to be back next week. Hope you will, too. We love you.
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