The Thessalonians # 7

The conductor asked one of the passengers for his ticket. The man did not have his ticket, so he immediately told the conductor he was with the newspaper company. The conductor told him he would have to check with the editor who was riding in the rear of the train. If the editor would verify that he was a journalist, he would not have to pay. The editor was summoned forward. The editor took one look at the man and immediately identified the man as one of his reporters. The man later approached the editor and asked him why he had covered for him. The man answered, “Why? Because I’m not the editor. I am traveling on his pass and was scared you would give me away.” That’s what I call teamwork. It was not the right kind of teamwork, but no one could say that it was not teamwork. Those men knew that if they were going to get to their destination, they had to cooperate with each other.

One of the great lessons we, as a church, need to learn is, if we are going to reach the goal God has set for the church to meet, we also have to learn to cooperate and work together as the body of Christ.

Illus: Casey Stengel said, “It is easy to get good players. Gettin’ ‘em to play together, that’s the hard part!”

What’s true in baseball is also true in the ministry of the local church. WHAT MAKES IT SO DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO FUNCTION TOGETHER IN THE CHURCH? We all have our preferences, and a mind of our own. We are many individuals, but God’s work can only be accomplished as we move together as a single unit.

Illus: It is always thrilling to see our military men, who come from all walks of life, learn to march in lock-step together.

As Paul addressed the Thessalonian Christians in 2:17 thru 3:5 he divulges some guidelines on how to walk together in the same direction to achieve what God desires the church to achieve. First we must learn to work...

I. THROUGH FELLOWSHIP

Christian fellowship is essential to the Christian life. Some profess to be saved, but say they feel no need to fellowship with God’s people. Instead, they say, they worship God through the electronic church--television.

Illus: Joel S. McCraw has suggested that if you are one of those listening to the gospel on television, you might want to step up to the set after a service and “...give your TV a great big hug.”

Foolish isn’t it! The electronic religion of multitudes of people creates an emptiness. Personal relationships are so desperately needed to keep our faith glowing and growing. It only takes missing a few church services to be able to tell a big difference in your spirituality. There is no substitute for going to church and worshipping with others of like precious faith!

AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD DESIRE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP! Look at 1 Thess. 2:17. We read, “But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with GREAT DESIRE.”

Illus: Listen, if a person claims to be a Christian and had rather be with the devil’s crowd than be with the children of God, they are telling you something about themselves. What? That they still have that evil nature and feel more comfortable with the lost than they do with the children of God.

We who are saved desire to fellowship with God’s people. We come from all walks of life, but because of Christ shedding His precious blood on Calvary, we are all part of the family of God. We may not look alike, or be of the same race, or even like the same kind of ice cream, or drive the same kind of car, but yet, through Christ, we all are brothers and sisters in Christ and have our love for Christ in common. His love draws us together and makes us one.

Illus: A first grader went to her first day in a newly integrated school during the height of the anti-segregation storm. An anxious mother met her at the door at the end of the day. “How did everything go, Honey?” “Oh mother! You know what? A little black girl sat next to me!” “Oh my,” the mother said. “What did you do?” “Well, we were both so scared that we held hands all day.”

Christians seek fellowship, not out of a COMMON FEAR, as those little girls did, but because of a COMMON FAITH.

Look at verse 18. We read, “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.” Paul considered himself as a spiritual father to them and they were torn from him. Why? Because he was not able to be there to fellowship with those Christians at that time. He said, “...Satan hindered us.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone today who claims to be saved had such an intense desire to fellowship together? Sad to say, too often we have to literally beg, bribe, and blackmail to get some who claim to be Christians to fellowship together. For example...