I Ths. 1:7 ... "You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia."
Thessalonica was a city in the province of Macedonia which Paul visited with Timothy on his second missionary journey. It was only the second city in Europe where he evangelized after receiving the famous "Macedonian call" in Acts 16:9 to "come over to Macedonia and help us." His first stop was at Philippi, where he converted Lydia and her household before being jailed. An earthquake sent by God led both to his being released and to the conversion of the jailer and his household. The nucleus of the church in Philippi was formed by these conversions. After proceeding to Thessalonica and planting another church there in the face of great opposition, he went on to establish a third Macedonian church in Berea before he left that province and journeyed on south into Achaia. At Athens he preached the gospel on Mars' Hill to the leading men of the city but was unable to begin a congregation there. Going another sixty miles southwest, Paul stopped for an eighteen month period at Corinth and built up a congregation there.
In the lead text above, the apostle warmly praises the Christians in Thessalonica for the outstanding example they were setting before the other congregations in the province. This example began with their ready conversion from idolatry to Christ. In v.9 he remarked how "you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God." In a world where idolatry was entrenched as a social institution as well as a religion, this was a great and much needed part of their example. Second, they became faithful workers in the Lord's service. In v.3 Paul commended their "work of faith." Third, the Thessalonians had labored in love (v.3). When Christians are motivated by love and energized by faith to respond to the duties imposed by the Lord, great results will follow. Fourth, these brethren had endured hardship in Christian hope. Verse 3 mentions their "steadfastness of hope in our Lord Christ Jesus," and verse 6 declares that they had "received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit." The reaction of hostile neighbors did not influence them to abandon their new-found faith for peace and security. Fifth, they had proclaimed the gospel as far as they could. Verse 8 reports that "the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth." Indeed, they became in many important ways a model church, and as such they served the Lord well.
The wonderful example of these ancient Thessalonian Christians still lives on today in the record of the New Testament to inspire and stimulate us. If we open our lives to the power and validity of the gospel, we will be motivated to respond along the same line of faith, endurance, love, hope and evangelism as they did. There is no reason why any congregation of the Lord's church should not be able to build itself up to be also such a good model. We should not be content to look at some other congregation in our region to perform this service. The motive is not to elicit praise from men, or to engage in vain competition, or to become dominant over others. Far from that, it should be our true love for Jesus and zeal for His cause that continually compel us to strive for such a commendable role. Later, in II Cor. 8, Paul used the Macedonian churches as a group to encourage the Achaean churches to fulfill their duty toward God. In doing so, he revealed the key to success in becoming a worthy example for Christ. He says there in v.5 that "not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." Any part of one's life which he holds back for himself will diminish his good example in direct proportion.
