002 The Suffering Church at Thessalonica – part 2

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 (3-4)

May 22, 2011

In his commentary on this passage

John MacArthur makes the following statements:

“Churches take pride in many things: their large memberships roll or attendance, the size of their campus, the design of their buildings, their wealth, their music, the social status of their members, the prominence of their pastor, their political clout, their influence in the community, or their zeal for a particular theological cause. Others celebrate their creativity and freedom from traditional modes of worship… [But] God never evaluates a church based on external features. He is not impressed with innovative, clever repackaging of the gospel to make it more palatable for unbelievers. Nor are church’s elaborately staged worship services, political awareness, social prominence, or size reasons to boast before God. A church to be proud of is a place where the genuinely converted see their faith increase, their love grow, their hope endure despite persecution, and their focus remain singularly on God’s kingdom.”

(MacArthur commentary on 1&2 Thessalonians, pg. 221, 230)

And that is a good way to introduce

What Paul has to say to the Thessalonian church.

You may remember when we closed out the first letter,

We kind of talked about that very thing.

Noting that churches don’t have to be big or rich or super talented

To be pleasing to God.

Paul closed that letter by telling them to:

· Pray for your leaders

· Love the brethren

· Spread the word

· Trust Christ

Those concepts are not limited by size or money or talent.

And we said that a church can be faithful regardless of its resources,

So long as it is filled with God’s Spirit and seeks to obey God’s word.

Well, it is clear that Paul has carried that same train of thought

Into his second letter, because the encouragement he gives them

Pushes past all of that external fluff that is so prevalent today.

The Thessalonians were new believers and this was a new church.

They were babes in Christ and were just learning to eat meat.

And that is fine (for we all begin there) but this churches growth

Was extremely effected by the intense persecution around it.

Furthermore they were without Paul as a present leader,

For he had already been run out of Thessalonica

By the same people who persecuted this new church.

That is what makes the Thessalonian church such a blessing to meet.

If there was ever a church that should have folded…

If there was ever a body that no one expected to endure…

This would have been that church.

How can you expect a new church in a hostile environment,

Without a clear leader to survive?

And yet, that is precisely what they did.

They not only survived, they flourished.

But as you know, they had become confused.

Someone wrote a letter, or they had a vision, or something

That seemed to related that all of their persecution

Was a result of them having missed the rapture

And were now caught in the middle of the “day of the Lord” judgment.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

And so, as if their persecution wasn’t bad enough,

Now the Thessalonians were entertaining the idea

That their persecution was actually a result of being displeasing to God.

And put yourself in their shoes.

You were just saved, and your church just started, your leader left and persecution intensified.

Then someone tells you it is because you were believing wrong and living wrong.

WOULD IT UNNERVE YOU?

And so Paul writes to reassure them as to the truth about their suffering.

We began our study last week as we saw

THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER.

And namely that purpose was to dispense “Grace…and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul didn’t write to reprimand them.

Paul wrote to encourage them.

And that encouragement begins in verse 3.

So having seen the first point of our text,

Let’s look tonight at our second point.

First: Our Purpose

#2 OUR PRIDE

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

Now just in reading those two verses,

You can see that it does a lot to set the Thessalonians at ease.

He is not angry…

He is not disappointed…

He is not even frustrated…

HE IS PROUD

Certainly this would have been encouraging to a church who struggled

With the thought that God might be angry at them.

And we see two truths about this pride.

1) THE REASON FOR OUR PRIDE (3)

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;”

We first have to recognize the sovereign hand of God.

Paul doesn’t begin by thanking the Thessalonians,

He begins by thanking God.

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you”

And of course the reason is because

They are what they are only because of God.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;”

It was not the Thessalonians who chose God,

It was God who chose the Thessalonians.

And so as Paul writes this letter, he takes pride in the Thessalonians,

But the glory goes to God.

Paul even goes so far as to say, “as is only fitting”

To Paul it would make absolutely no sense whatsoever

To give all the glory to the Thessalonians.

As though they were smarter than any other congregation…

As though they were stronger than any other congregation…

As though they were more experienced than any other congregation…

Last Sunday morning we talked a little about the free will of man.

And we mentioned how man does not have a “free will”.

He has a will, but it most definitely is not a “free” one.

Man is a slave to sin.

But even to push that a little further here,

We realize that to magnify man for his free will

Is to give man glory he does not deserve.

For if I were to say that I chose God, then by default I am saying that everyone who is lost, is so, because they did not choose God.

And just that simple nuance allows me to believe

That I made the smarter decision.

Whereas all these other people in the world were not smart enough to see what I saw, and did not have the savvy to choose what I chose.

But we know that is not the case.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

The fact of the matter is that I am not saved

Because I make better decisions than lost people.

In fact, there are many lost people who make better decisions

Than I do about things.

· There are lost people who make better financial decisions than I do.

· There are lost people who make better health decisions than I do.

· There are lost people who make better political decisions than I do.

You see, I am not in Christ because of my superior ability

To make good decisions in regard to spiritual things.

I am in Christ because of God’s sovereign grace to choose me.

And so was Paul.

And so were the Thessalonians.

And so Paul says:

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting”

But what is Paul giving God thanks for?

You can see two things here.

“because your faith is greatly enlarged”

“and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;”

He is proud because they have an

ENLARGED FAITH & GROWING LOVE

And the point here is that both of those are the result of God in their lives.

It is God who enlarges our faith, and it is God who grows our love.

I don’t know if you ever realized this or not,

But both of those actually came from God to begin with.

FAITH?

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”

LOVE?

1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

So if you have faith know that it came from God.

And if you have love know that it also came from God.

Furthermore if either one of them grows or expands

You can rest assured that it was God doing that as well.

And that is evident especially here in the Thessalonian church.

If you were living in Thessalonica,

There is nothing in that culture to make you want to come to Christ,

Or stay with Him.

And yet the Thessalonians did both.

They trusted in Christ.

They persevered for Christ.

They clung to each other.

Now certainly that was all because of God’s work in their lives,

But Paul is proud none the less.

They were acting like a true church should act.

Forget about all our preconceived ideas

Of what a successful church looks like.

The successful church is one that perseveres through trial

And remains faithful to God and to each other.

THAT IS A GREAT CHURCH!

And Paul was proud.

Paul said, “your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;”

That is the Reason for his pride

2) THE RESULT OF OUR PRIDE (4)

“therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.”

WHAT A GREAT STATEMENT!

When Paul went traveling from church to church,

He didn’t go bragging on the churches with the largest attendance.

He didn’t go bragging on the churches with the most influence.

He didn’t go bragging on the churches with the latest ministry programs.

When Paul showed up in churches he bragged about this church.

· As one man stood and boasted about how much they gave to Lottie Moon…

· And as another stood up and boasted about their number of baptisms…

· And as another stood and boasted about their large television audience…

Paul said, let me tell you about a church I am proud of.

“There is this little church in Thessalonica, they haven’t been a church very long, and they aren’t very big.

They don’t have a sanctuary…

They don’t have a budget…

They don’t have a preacher you would know…

But they are persecuted like crazy for Christ and they refuse to give up!”

Paul said, “we speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.”

And right there we get more great insight into what it means

To be a praiseworthy church in the eyes of God.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

And the same could be said for churches today as well.

It is not that there is anything wrong with large buildings

Or big budgets or large numbers of attendance.

So long as we know that those are not the things that impress God.

God is impressed by those who remain faithful no matter what.

Those who walk in the faith He gave them.

Those who walk in the love He gave them.

You may remember when we studied the 7 churches of Revelation.

One church He was prouder of than all the rest.

Revelation 3:7-13 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”

And don’t you love the phrase:

“I know your deeds. Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and not denied My name.”

Of all the churches, God was most impressed

With this weak church that learned to hang on.

And that is what Paul is praising the Thessalonians for.

They remained faithful to God,

Even in the midst of all their persecutions and afflictions.

Certainly we want to reach the lost.

Certainly we want to grow the kingdom.

Certainly we want to succeed in all our missions.

And no doubt we will have to be faithful in those regards.

But to a very large extent we realize that

It is still God who accomplishes all of those things.

If a lost person gets saved we don’t take any credit for it.

If the kingdom grows, we don’t sign our name to the chart.

If the mission succeeds we don’t brag about our great strategies.

We know that God is the One who does it.

That means that while those things are important,

What we are really shooting for is faithfulness.

For if we cling to God, then God accomplishes His work through us.

John 15:1-5 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.”

We know that God is the One who is accomplishing these things.

We just desire to be faithful to Him.

AND SO THE OBJECTIVE?

Persevere in your faith.

But let me ask you another question.

WHAT DOES PERSEVERANCE LOOK LIKE?

I really like the imagery we gain from the book of the Revelation.

Revelation 13:7-10 “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

Now there is some real perspective.

God actually allows the anti-christ to overcome His people.

And some of God’s people will be destined for captivity and the sword.

Specifically for anyone who doesn’t worship anti-christ.

And then comes the simple statement.

“Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

WHAT DOES PERSEVERANCE LOOK LIKE?

It is not to worship the beast.

It is to cling to Jesus.

It is not so much about what we accomplish

As it is about staying true to Him.

We see it again in the very next chapter.

Revelation 14:9-12 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

There we see the same, only the angel adds the importance of

Keeping “the commandments of God”

This is perseverance.

This is faithfulness.

This is what the Thessalonians and the Philadelphians had

And God was pleased with them.

Contrast them to the church at Sardis.

Revelation 3:1-6 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 'Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”

Here was a church with many deeds and a great name.

In fact this churches reputation was that

They were an alive and vibrant church.

“you have a name that you are alive”

This is what everyone thought.

Except God – “but you are dead”

SO WHAT WAS THEIR PROBLEM?

Later God says, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments…”

They were not holy.

They were not devoted to Christ.

They were not devoted to His word.

They were vibrant.

They were exciting.

They were cutting edge.

They may have even been big.

But God was not pleased.

God wanted the weak yet faithful church.

BECAUSE THAT CHURCH GLORIFIED HIM.

And so to wrap this up, I want you to understand that

We must rid our heads

Of what man thinks a successful church looks like

And we must begin to seek out

What God says a successful church looks like.

We have to cling to Him.

We have to cling to His word.

We have to walk in the faith that He provides.

We must exercise the love that He has given us.

This is what God is looking for.

That was the Thessalonians.

And Paul was so proud of them, that everywhere he went,

They were the church he bragged about.

That is the church we want to be!

2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”