1 Thessalonians 1:8-10

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
“The word of the Lord has sounded forth”: All commentaries on this provide the meaning of sounded forth means as a trumpet blast. One of the coolest things is to hear a shofar sound. A shofar is a ram’s horn that can be used as a musical instrument and for Jewish religious purposes. Just last weekend at the close of the Days of Awe, there was a march on Washington and a call throughout the US for us to repent as a nation and turn to the Lord. At the start of the march, the shofar sounded to commence the event. How appropriate! The Days of Awe is the ten day period in between the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). Suffice it to say, a whole thesis could be written on that topic alone and still fall shy of its importance. Simply put, the Jewish Feasts have great implications to the church. Surely, the Days of Awe which is a call to repentance has significance to us all. Each and every one of us has sin to confess, and surely our country has many sins to confess as well. 

The second part of verse 8 would be the greatest compliment one and the church could ever have: nothing needs to be said as your faith has gone out. This correlates to what our term today would mean: your reputation precedes you. Let our personal and corporate reputation be our faith in Jesus. 

Our testimony should be how our lives have changed since receiving the gospel of Jesus as it reads, “how you turned to God from idols.” Remember, idols of old have great implications today. We live in a society where it is easy to serve ourselves and place other things above our mission to serve the Lord. This by no means describes that we will be perfect in every situation, but it is our strive and goal, where our hearts should be. 

Verse 10 is our hope: we wait for the return of the King! God raised Jesus from the dead which is an attack on either heresy that the disciples hid his body or that Jesus was in a coma. One simple question that can be countered to anyone who believes the heresy that Jesus’ body was hidden by the disciples is, “would every single disciple really face martyrdom and some by very gruesome measures if they hid His body?” John was the only disciple who didn’t die from martyrdom, and it was attempted by dipping him boiling oil which failed. He was then banished to Patmos, a small Greek island, where Jesus gave him Revelation. It would be highly doubtful any of the disciples would have faced these means if they hid his body. Luke’s, a physician, gospel meticulously records Jesus’ crucifixion and lays to rest any inclination that Jesus would have been in a coma. His details from a medical standpoint are descriptive of death. Nonetheless, we await his return and our deliverance from wrath. There is much eschatology in this statement which will provide a varying degree of interpretation whether pre-, mid-, or post-Tribulation rapture. Regardless, wrath is also eternal. If we know and serve Jesus, we are saved from eternal wrath. 

To sum up Chapter 1, Wiersbe says this: 
“What every church should be is what every Christian should be: elect (born again), exemplary (imitating the right people), enthusiastic (sharing the gospel with others), and expectant (daily looking for Jesus Christ to return). Perhaps it is time for an inventory.”

MARANATHA!