Studiesin

1Thessalonians Presentation 03

The Advance of God’s WorkChapter 2v13-20

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IntroductionWhat excites and thrills your heart more than anything else? A football manager might say, ‘Winning the UEAFA cup!’ An actress might say, ‘Winning an Oscar!’ An athlete might say, ‘Winning an Olympic gold’.

How might the Christians answer? One of the answers Paul would surely have given is, “The thrill of seeing God at work”. And that involves seeing God make use of setbacks and difficulties as well as situations of obvious and immediate blessing. We too need to be able to see God at work in both sets of circumstances.

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Obvious BlessingThe obvious and apparent blessing of God is mentioned in v13.... In these verses Paul speaks of their hearing and receiving the Word of God. That distinction is significant and one that we find Jesus making in the gospels. In Mark 4:24, He says, “Take heed what you hear”, and in Luke 8:18, “Take heed how you hear”. The first deals with the content of the teaching that we expose our minds to, while the second has to do with the response we make to what we hear.

How, then, did the Thessalonians hear the Word? Paul tells us that they received it, ‘not as the word of men, but as the word of God’. They accepted the authoritative instruction presented to both their heart and conscience without any question or reservation. This response to Scripture thrilled Paul’s heart

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In describing their reception of scripture Paul uses two Greek words. The first translated as ‘receive’ describes an action that is formal and outward. But they did not stop there. The second word, translated ‘accepted’ conveys the idea of a warm reception. It was used to describe the ‘reception given to an honoured guest’. There are different ways of receiving gospel news;

1. We can do so indifferently, neither realising its significance, nor allowing it to register. Our minds may be elsewhere as we think, “What will I eat for lunch? What do I need to do in the garden?

2. Or, we can receive the news but with incredulity, “I refuse to believe that the Son of God would die for me!”

3. Or we can welcome it with great joy. “Praise God for his unspeakable gift”.

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Obvious Blessing

Indeed, it was in order to point out the danger of quite different responses that Jesus taught the parable of the Sower, with seed falling; 1. by the wayside, 2. on stony ground, 3. and among thorns, 4. as well as on good ground.

Some people harden their hearts to the gospel, or they allow other priorities to strangle its growth but the Thessalonians were different: they welcomed and nurtured it.

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Obvious Blessing

What might cause our listening to differ from that of the Thessalonians? It might be a failure to prepare our minds and hearts. Many attend church not really expecting God to speak to them. Others effectively prevent the Word from doing its work by putting hindrances in its way and by placing barriers around their hearts. In the book of common order, the following describes how best to benefit from the means of grace:“It is necessary that we come with knowledge, faith, repentance and love; not holding fellowship with evil or cherishing pride or self-righteousness, but conscious of our weakness and in sorrow for our sins, humbly putting our trust in Christ and thirsting after Him, and seeking His grace”.As we come to hear the Word with a sympathetic spirit there is also a sense in which we work a release in the preacher and draw the Word out of him.

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Obvious Blessing

Secondly, we must exercise a living faith when the hearing of the Word. Cf. Hebrews 4:2. Again in Romans 10v17 we read that ‘faith comes by hearing’. Does God’s word not create faith? Yes, but that is not the whole story. For in the Scriptures men are always held responsible for believing the Word and receiving the gospel.

Paul speaks of, ‘receiving the Spirit by believing what you heard’ Gal 3v2 . He is describing ‘the hearing of faith’. This is why the welcoming of the Word is never unfruitful, not only in drawing us into God’s kingdom but for our continued spiritual growth.

The Thessalonians held wide open the door of welcome to God’s Word and so grew and grew in their faith. This also thrilled Paul’s heart.

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Obvious Blessing

Difficult CircumstancesThere is a further dimension to Paul’s joy. These Christians persevered despite the opposition that they experienced. First, notice why they were persecuted. Having welcomed God’s Word their lives were transformed by it. They became imitators of Christ, just the churches in Judea had become imitators of Christ. And as a result it was the Jesus within them that drew out the opposition and hatred of unbelieving men and women.

Jesus clearly taught that if the world hated him it would hate his followers also. Jn. 15v18. Again he promised, ‘in the world you will [not might] have tribulation’. Jn.16v33

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A young believer in tears said, “As a result of coming to faith I found myself less selfish and more caring, more patient and understanding more forgiving and yet despite all of this my family and friends seem so hostile towards me – I cannot understand it!”

Quite simply it is Jesus in the life of the believer that brings out the opposition and hostility. Peter, writing to people in similar circumstances says, “In this you greatly rejoice though for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, these have come so that your faith...may be proved genuine.” 1 Pet.1v6

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Difficult Circumstances

Oh the Thessalonians were up against it. They were suffering for their faith in exactly the same way that the church back in Judea had suffered, but that very suffering authenticated the genuineness of their faith. Of course it’s possible for Christians to be obnoxious and to suffer because of their perverse personality but that is not what is in view here. There is a sense in which Paul is able to thank God for the suffering of the church in Thessalonica because their faith, just like gold, had about it the hallmark of authenticity.

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Difficult Circumstances

Now there is a challenge here for us all. Have we suffered for the gospel? Has the life of Jesus shone out clearly from our lives? As a result of standing up for Jesus and his value system have we become objects of ridicule and experienced opposition?

Or, have we resisted Christ’s call to be different and instead shown a willingness to bend and compromise? Have we become the kind of people who never rock the boat or contradict the world’s values because we want everyone to like us? If that is so then we must not be surprised to discover that there is little assurance in our hearts that we truly belong to Jesus.

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Difficult Circumstances

The second difficult circumstance that Paul records is the fact that he was torn away from them after only three weeks! He’d hardly got started in his discipling programme! This was an infant church that needed to be grounded and three weeks was very little time.

And so Paul describes how his heartfelt longing and plans to return to them had been frustrated. Indeed, he indicates that Satan stopped both him and his companions from returning! We cannot say how Paul was hindered nevertheless we should not forget to ask, why Satan sought to hinder Paul.

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Difficult Circumstances

Whenever a work of God gets underway, or a new church is being planted then Satan goes on the attack. He always mounts a counter-offensive. This is the developing pattern which is unfolded in the book of Acts.

Clearly, what Satan was intent on hindering in Thessalonica was the establishment of a church there, but in this he did not succeed, even though he seems to have managed to keep Paul away from it. And significantly, Paul came to recognise that his continued input was not an indispensible necessity.

This is a discovery that we all need to make.

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Difficult Circumstances

In 1936 the missionaries in Ethiopia were forced to flee the country when Mussolini attacked. They behind a handful of struggling believers. Their first thought was, “this will be a death blow to the church”. But when they returned seven years later, they found a vibrant church many thousands strong. God had used the ‘tearing away’ v17 of missionary support for good. It had the effect of implanting qualities of endurance and steadfastness in the lives of his people. God is able to turn Satan’s worst blows to his own glory.

The Psalmist tells us that God causes ‘the wrath of man to praise him’ Ps.76v10.

Evil does not have the initiative at any point, despite appearances to the contrary.

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Difficult Circumstances

When missionaries left Iran in 1979 the national church was dispirited and wondered how it would cope. But in the last 30 years it has witnessed unprecedented growth with over 100,000 coming to faith in Christ. Their faith is resilient in the face of on-going persecution. Many in Scotland at present are concerned by the prospect of schism and how that might mean the death-knell of the church. However, the question we need to be asking is, “Who is it that is in ultimate control?” The final court of appeal for the welfare of the church is not the General Assembly but the Court of Heaven.

This should not diminish our prayers. Paul, who had been torn away from the infant church in Thessalonica and was prevented from returning to it, continually remembered them in his prayers 1v3.

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Difficult Circumstances

ConclusionPaul was excited by a church that began its life by drinking in the Word of God and which continued to provide a vibrant testimony despite very severe opposition. Lives that love had touched and shaped and transformed, lives in whom the image of God had been renewed - these were his reward. Their testimony crowned Paul’s and were the source of great, comfort and pride. At Christ’s return they would be the source of great joy. The prophet Daniel echoed this thought when he wrote, ‘Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.’ Dan 12v3. Does the prospect of influencing others for Jesus excite us? These are true spiritual riches, there is no greater reward than knowing that God has made us the means of bringing glory to his name.

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