Jerry's Sermons

Believers are living letters, written for impact

2008-06-05T16:53:00.000-04:00

II Thessalonians 3

Introduction: Over the weeks of our studies in I and II Thessalonians, we’ve made note of many different individuals who left a distinguishing mark on our world. Perhaps you remember the nominees for the Darwin Awards for 1999, the West Texas gas company employees and the South African hospital cleaning lady. Both of these nominees made very significant marks, though tragic, on our world.
Then there was William Brown who had the hopeful face in Moscow. We included Arminius, the liberator of Germany from the Romans, and we saw Harrison Ford take a huge step of faith as Indiana Jones in the third movie, “The Last Crusade”. We also met Simon Bolivar, the liberator of five South American countries -- what an impact he made! We looked briefly at Scott Fischer, a veteran of Mount Everest, and we learned a bit about Walter Payton, the great running back for the Chicago Bears. We saw the impact made by Turlough O’Carolan, the Irish harpist, and we were fascinated by the school drop-out, Peter Giannini who in time bought the Bank of America.
We were challenged by the Iwo Jima flag raisers and the huge impact they made in 1940’s America. We learned the story of Grandma Moses, America’s best known folk-art painter, and we marveled that archeologist Heinrich Schliemann was able to discover the ancient city of Troy by reading the old classics.
We saw a brief part of the lives of Mike Schmidt, one of baseball’s most valuable players, Walter Reed, the vanquisher of yellow fever, Mary Lou Retton, the premier gymnast, and Lyman Spitzer, the driving force behind the Hubble Space Telescope.
Each one of these individuals made a conspicuous, telltale mark upon this world of ours. Each one did something that the rest of the world noted as uniquely his.
By way of introduction then, as we come to the last three verses of II Thessalonians, Paul tells us he leaves a distinguishing mark in every letter he writes. He makes a distinct stamp that identifies his letters as uniquely his. If the letter doesn’t have this mark, then it’s not Paul’s. This mark of validation is one of three final points Paul makes as he finishes his letter. He offers a last prayer as his first point, and a benediction is his last.
These three points, simple, clear, straightforward, become a launching pad for some final applications we want to make as we say good-by to 2 Thessalonians. Our text reads like this: 2 Thess 3:16-18 “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
Let’s take Paul’s middle point first. His mark of validation is his handwriting. He says, “This is the way I write.” No doubt a secretary took his letter down as he dictated it, and Paul signed off on it at the end. His personal greeting, in his own hand, marked the letter as his. We’ve all seen these kinds of letters, written by a secretary, and signed by the author.
As I think of application and what this could mean to us, consider that this same Paul described the Corinthians as “… our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men,…” (2 Cor. 3:2). He further wrote that these Corinthians are “a letter of Christ.” (2 Cor. 3:3).
So, if Paul had a particular mark that identified his letters, and if we are “letters of Christ” as the believers at Corinth were, able to be read by others --- what would be our distinguishing mark? What is that feeling that comes to mind in the hearts of those who interface with us in the community? What word do folks here in the church use as the particular qualifier of our life? If those we work with were to select one or two terms to describe us, what would it be? What is that distinguishing mark of our life?
Let me share what some our your marks are! I know I’m taking some risk here, but you know me as a risk-taker. I like how Lon Solomon said it in the latest “Leadership Journal.” He is the senior pastor of McLean Bible Church in McLean, VA., and he tells people who are considering membership there with them: “If you don’t like taking risks, this may not be the place for you – for at any given moment, we are a nanosecond away from disaster.” And since I’m leaving on vacation tomorrow, I can afford to take some risks today. Anyway…
Art Mahan has marked us with the video images he finds each week to make more clear the message I’m trying to communicate. He does that faithfully along with setting up the sound equipment. If you doubt that mark upon us, watch what happens when he’s away!
Terri Brooks and Judy Sutherland have good histories with our children’s choirs, nurturing our little ones in the truths of the faith. How we have been blessed with the music that comes through their leadership!
Ron Sutherland has marked all of us with most of the creative ideas that have blossomed around here. Several years ago Bob and Jean and Suzie and I went to Ohio for a seminar on creativity led by the great Howard Hendricks. On the little test for creativity we took at the end, I ranked last among the four of us. Did that cause me some concern? Not in the least, for I have lunch with Ron just about every week.…
Keri Manganello has marked this church family week after week on Sunday mornings and at funerals and weddings with her great skills at the piano. I am told her abilities and skills in the sight reading of music are beyond compare.
Virgil Corll has left his mark all over our facilities with numerous remodeling projects -- woodwork, cabinets, countertops, plumbing, painting, door locks, you name it; Virgil’s done it.
Geoff Schwartz is just a younger Virgil. Known for doing things right, Geoff has been resodding the grass around our parking lot, removing and replacing rotting railroad ties; he built the concrete retaining wall on the east side of the gym, and has plans to begin to pour curbing around the parking lot.
Ron Dudleston has marked this church family with his get-it-done approach to any kind of project. Whether it’s a BASSYCS banquet, or the food you ate in the park on July the 2nd, or these communion elements we’ll be sharing shortly, Ron is completely dependable with every project he undertakes.
Cindy Callison has left her green thumbprint on our sanctuary, altar table, and both entryways. Her skills with plants and artificial plants, wreaths and bows has said to visitors that this is a warm place to come for worship.
I doubt that many of you know that Bob Hodge has unique skills in the arena of stains, lacquers, varnishes, and other wood finishes. The new trim for these sanctuary windows that is awaiting installation is absolutely beautiful -- something special for this church building from Bob’s careful hands.
The one who takes care of our financial books and records, Barb Valerio, is a great steward of the funds that are given by us to the work of the ministry here. She has pinched every penny that has come through the offerings -- most, twice! -- so that the funds you entrust to us go as far as possible.
Any of us who know Mike Koch know that there isn’t anything he can’t do. If an elevator chair needs to be installed for Teresa Smith on the stairs of the funeral home, he’ll make sure it’s done, even if it has to be repaired, rebuilt, remodeled and adjusted. And when he finishes, it will work. I know; I rode it myself.
A person doesn’t have to be here long before he/she comes to know Pam Harrison is the congregation’s nurse. Pam will take your call and give you the right kind of counsel. She was still at the hospital with the Seaman family long after Alan and I left on the day Rick died.
Kathy Herrmann has left her mark all over this community. If someone needs to know what color scheme would be just perfect, he calls Kathy. The paint on the town depot was chosen by Kathy; the carpet used anywhere in the university was picked out by Kathy; the color scheme for this very room is the result of her gifted eyes. She has chosen carpet to replace this current floor covering -- when the funds come in to do that.
Everywhere I go in this community the patients of Heidi Lakanen tell me what a wonderful doctor she is. If anything ever happens to my doctor, I’m going to get on her waiting list. I remember the fellows coming back from Honduras one year relating accounts of how John Lakanen, a chemistry professor at the “other” university, had a daily devotion or commentary on something unique and unknown there in the jungle that everyone found fascinating. Of course, we all know that John and Heidi’s primary contribution to this church family is a little boy called David.
And who can tell me what Chuck Stevens has done to mark this church body? The better question is, “Who cannot tell me who Chuck Stevens is?” Greeter and recaller of names like no one else I know.
Ken and Beth Smith are master hosts, marking all of us with their gifts and resources of hospitality. There are not two harder workers in the area of trustees and music than these two.
Suzie Heth has brought credit to this congregation through her volunteer service to the elementary school. In fact she put together a whole program of volunteers that has helped the school staff immensely. And if a person ever needs an in-depth Biblical and theological study of any topic, thoroughly researched and footnoted, Bill Heth’s work will be complete.
And who hasn’t had a lump in his throat and tears on her face when some of our youth, led and trained by Joanne Seaman, have signed a particularly moving song or hymn in a worship service?
Larry Winterholter has impressed me as a superb communicator, saying powerful things in the emotional contexts of weddings and funerals and I’m left wondering, “How does he do that?”
Gary Johnson has always been available to help us with electrical wiring issues here in the church. If it’s tough, he can figure it out. And I’ve always been impressed with the breadth of Gary’s reading interests. He’s shared books with me -- bought me some -- from a great variety of topics and subjects.
Mark Cosgrove has often pinch hit for me here in this pulpit, and many of us appreciate his teaching, but I’m more impressed with the three young men that have grown up in that home, each one polite, courteous, responsible, and someone to make a mom and dad proud. It doesn’t hurt that their roots are in Texas, too.
Suzie’s folks are with us today; many of you have met them in their visits over the years. I’ve told you before of Bill Sweaney’s almost fifty years of ministry to the 2 year olds in his large church in Arlington, TX. There must be at least 10,000 people who know this man as Uncle Bill. Talk about leaving one’s mark on the world….
Sam Cocking is the kind of friend you need for troubled times. She and her husband Kent are generous, too, with the fruit of their Asian pear tree. In season, Kent brings them to our elder meetings -- healthier for us than those marvelous cookies Sam sends during the rest of the year!
Well, I’ve gone way too long on this segment of this message this morning, but I didn’t know where to stop! And there are many more of you who call this church your home that also deserve mentioning. Perhaps there’ll be another opportunity in another sermon soon….
But the point is clear, isn’t it? Paul left a distinguishing mark on all his letters. That mark proved its authenticity. As living letters of Christ read by many in our community, we leave a distinguishing mark wherever we go as well. That mark needs to authenticate our relationship with Christ.
And that leads us to Paul’s first point -- his last written prayer in this letter for his friends. “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!”
I want to make a couple of observations about this prayer. First, when we think of peace, we generally mean an absence of strife or a cessation of hostilities or a tranquil mind. But in the Scriptures, it means so much more than that. When Paul writes to the Romans (16:20), he describes the God of peace bruising Satan “under your feet shortly.” In a context of what seems like war, God is designated the God of peace. Paul wants us to know this peace, Biblically speaking, means a sense of general well-being. The Hebrew word, shalom, from which Paul would draw his meaning, has the thought of completeness, soundness, welfare.
And so often this ‘well-being’, this ‘spiritual wholeness and soundness,’ occurs in the context of struggle. It is possible to experience spiritual well-being, ‘a prosperity of soul’ (Leon Morris) all the while facing conflict, strife, and tragedy!
It can happen to us and for us and in us because of the Lord of peace. He is the One Who grants it. John reminds us of Jesus’ offer in his gospel (14:27), “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” What an incredible peace He offers! While in the garden, Jesus asks His disciples, (Matt 26:53) “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Remember the great storm we mentioned two weeks ago from Acts 27? When everyone has abandoned all hope of being delivered from death to safety, Paul is very much one who is at peace.
Notice in Paul’s prayer the use of the terms ‘continually’ and ‘in every circumstance’. Tell me, friends, what is not covered in the words ‘continually’ and ‘in every circumstance’? Describe for me in your own minds one condition or situation that lies beyond the parameters of ‘continually’ and ‘in every circumstance’.
A tragic accident? The sudden death of a family member or close friend? The diagnosis of a dread disease? A collapsing economy? (Ever wonder why those who handle our investments are called brokers?) The onset of unrelenting pain? A bad call by the umpire calling your son’s game? Shocking, unfounded gossip circulating about you? An unwanted pregnancy? Passed over for promotion? No, not one of these conditions escapes the lasso of ‘continually’ and ‘in every circumstance’.
My friends, there is nothing in this world that would mark us as followers of Christ better than a mind at peace, continually and in every circumstance. This peace is not just for an apostle named Paul or the Son of Man called Jesus. It is for all of us, too! We can leave a legacy like all of you that I’ve mentioned this morning from our church, or we could leave a heritage like all the people we’ve mentioned in the course of our Thessalonian studies… but nothing would quite compare to the aura of well-being that Biblical peace denotes, especially in every circumstance and situation.
The Lord’s presence makes that a very real possibility. Paul’s prayer is that “the Lord be with you all.” The proof of His presence is His peace.
And His grace, in Paul’s benediction, is the icing on the cake. Verse 18: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” God’s unmerited favor, His grace, makes possible peace in every circumstance. Whatever boat we are in, whatever storm blows up, whatever wind and whatever waves have blocked out our vision, God’s grace and the presence of the Lord Jesus guard our hearts with peace.
When Paul wrote to the Philippians about the peace of God guarding our hearts (4:7), he used the picture of military garrisons built near the gates of a city. From these garrisons soldiers could monitor the gates and control all the traffic. Any and every type of the wrong kind of traffic would be stopped and prevented from entering the city.
The analogy to peace and our hearts is quite clear. When the wrong kind of traffic seeks to enter… traffic like anxiety, anger, arrogance, bad attitude, belittling, bedlam, crankiness, crabbiness, conceit, etc., etc., the soldiers of peace lower the crossbars and prevent entrance.
(Conclusion) So, friends, what kind of mark distinguishes us? Do we know enough of the reality of God’s presence and His grace to be marked by peace all the time and in every situation? Is this living letter that is our life like a piece of junk mail easily tossed aside, or is it like a warm, personal letter quickly opened and quickly devoured?
“Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Playing hookie: Don't do it in church

2008-06-05T16:52:00.002-04:00

II Thessalonians 3

Introduction: Lyman Spitzer put the universe in focus. Christopher Tyner, in the July 7 Investor’s Business Daily, gives us a glance at the life of this Princeton University astronomer who was the driving force behind the Hubble Space Telescope. Spitzer, believe it or not, proposed the idea of a space telescope in 1946, a full 12 years before NASA even came into being!
Though his idea ignited skepticism and rejection, he persisted with discipline and diligence. The $2.1 billion space telescope, aloft now for ten years orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth , sent back pictures in early ’96 that astounded the world. Through its lens, pointed at a small patch of dark sky just above the Big Dipper, came the sight of 1500 galaxies spinning alongside each other at the edge of the universe. One scientist called this sensational discovery the astronomical equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Lyman Spitzer was a man of incredible discipline and diligence. His friends said of him, “He had a sense of obligation and responsibility and a sense of wanting to do what is right for the long range of the scientific enterprise, independent of what was good for Lyman Spitzer. He was a consummate politician, but unlike the ordinary political politician, he is someone who spoke only accurately and only the truth. He never engaged in hyperbole.”
We are incredibly richer today because of the discipline of a single astrophysicist who went diligently about his business, focused on his goal, taking small steps every day toward the realization of his dream.
We are not surprised to come to the next-to-last segment of Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians and find him writing about the value and fruit of a disciplined life -- in Christ. What Paul writes holds no secrets. As we look at this text this morning, we will not find something new and startling; none of us will leave here marveling that we had never seen this important truth before. For those of us who want to know Christ better and walk more closely with Him, we won’t find any 1-2-3 step process to follow and imitate.
But, as is always the case when we consider the Scriptures, we need to interact with his challenges and consider again why it is important to be disciplined in this matter of following Christ. All of us can leave here more committed to improving our walk with the Savior because of what we see here – if we want to!
Our text is 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;
not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
Our text unfolds around 4 commands that Paul gives to his friends under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
The first we see at both the beginning and the end of our passage. In verse 6 and in verses 14-15, Paul commands the Thessalonians to withdraw from unruly brothers.
The second imperative is found in verses 10-12, and that instruction is to the unruly brothers – “Work in a quiet fashion and eat your own bread.”
The third mandate covers verses 7-9 and consists of “Follow our example!”
The final order is verse 13: “Don’t grow weary of doing good!”
Out of these four injunctions we can draw some lessons that will improve the quality of our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s consider each one as the text develops and draw our own applications for today.
First, there is the bookend command to withdraw from unruly brothers. To stress his point, Paul starts and finishes this segment with the same emphatic point. In the NASV, we read “to keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life…” and “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him…”
The concept of ‘withdraw’ here is the image of “furling a sail.” As a sail is coiled up or curled up, so the Thessalonian believers are to retreat within themselves, away from the offenders, so the unruly sense a gap opening between themselves and the others.
The term ‘unruly’ conveys the image of “playing hooky”. We all understand how students who skip school, who cut classes, define the term ‘unruly’. They are a picture of a lack of personal discipline. They skip out on their assigned responsibilities, their expected behavior. ‘Unruly’ in a military context describes an army in disarray, men out of rank. When Santa Ana’s troops were outflanked by General Winfield Scott at the Battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican War, their flight in retreat was a perfect picture of ‘unruly’ – disarray to the max, headlong, pell-mell retreat back toward Mexico City.
There were some believers in the Thessalonian church who were known for their ‘playing hooky’ in the Christian life. It is clear from the original text that Paul knew specifically who these individuals were. The ‘some among you’ of verse 11 gives the impression that Paul knows the names of these playing hooky but has chosen to not give their names. He had addressed this problem in I Thessalonians; it hadn’t been corrected; and now he returns more sternly to the issue. Perhaps some of the brethren, feeling like they had missed the coming of the Lord, (chapter 2), had lost their sense of purpose and had given up on their commitment to keep on keeping on. Whatever the basic reason, there were some in this church (a great church, but not a perfect church), there were some in this church who had lost their vision, had lost their focus, and their lives reflected that fact in the undisciplined way they went about life day to day.
Because these specific individuals had not responded with repentance after his first letter, Paul commands a form of church discipline that requires some separation. Paul does not have in mind an absolute break (we see in verse 15 a place for ‘admonishment’ which implies contact and communication), but he does mean a withdrawal from intimate fellowship.
This withdrawal of close fellowship would be a shaming condition that ought to lead to repentance on the part of those known as unruly.
Though there is much more to understand here, one lesson we can draw is this: “The church is a fellowship of accountability.” When we place our membership here, or if we come regularly and call this our home church, we open ourselves up to each other in ways that are unique in this world. The blessings of intimacy and the joys of sharing the deep things of our lives carry the corresponding elements of accountability and admonishment. Lest that cause anyone of us fear, be reminded that the church is God’s agent for reaching a lost world. It is also His means of growing us into the image of His Son. The momentary hurt or embarrassment of rebuke by a loving brother is completely offset by the eternal reward and glory of becoming more faithful as followers of the Savior.
If we choose to be unruly, undisciplined, to ‘play hooky’ in the church, the church has the responsibility to withdraw, to withhold the deeper forms of intimacy and fellowship.
The second command is based in verses 10-12 and is addressed to the unruly. “Work in quiet fashion and eat your own bread.” Paul wants those who “are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies” (vs. 11) to get to work and provide for themselves. Their laziness must cease; their mooching off of others must stop. Paul uses a play on words here that means “busybodies instead of busy”. Their lack of work and idleness was one problem; it had led to another – that of meddling in the affairs of others. Swindoll says that “busybodies flit from house to house taking little nectared drops of gossip with them, leaving behind their own residue of irritating pollen.”
It is in this context that the issue of ‘unruly brothers’ really finds definition. Those “playing hooky” in their Christian lives evidence laziness, sponging off of others, and gossiping. Without work to do, with lots of free time on their hands, without a vision for their calling in Christ, hardened to Paul’s admonition in the first letter, these brothers have slipped into a pattern of living that was unworthy of the Savior’s sacrifice on their behalf.
Friends, as I think of this second command of Paul’s, I cannot think of a single individual in our church family who ought to hear this precise ultimatum. Perhaps some of us know some spongers and moochers, some who are lazy and unwilling to work, who ought to be here today, but none come to my mind.
For those of us involved in our Helping Hand ministry, the bread route and the food pantry, the Thanksgiving baskets and the Christmas gifts, we are overdue in needing to re-evaluate how we make food available to those who ask for assistance. Are we helping those with legitimate needs, or are we making it easy for those who ask to continue to be lazy and irresponsible?
But as we think about application, and as we consider some of the implications of ‘unruly’ and ‘undisciplined’, it is fair to state this lesson: (Lesson Two) “The church is a work of responsibility.” To sign on to projects and to then to disappear is undisciplined irresponsibility. Work, friends, at fulfilling the promises you have made. To join a meeting in progress because we didn’t know what time it was is evidence of undisciplined irresponsibility. Work, friends, at being on time and being in rank along with the rest of the committee.
How many times have we made commitments to ministries and then backed out, leaving the rest of the team holding a now-heavier load? Work, friends, at carrying your part of the load you said you’d carry with diligence and grace. This is a great church, friends, but it’ll be even greater when these kinds of occurrences become rare around here. Leave the playing of hooky to someone else. Everything, and I mean everything, we see of the Lord Jesus, the founder of the church, and everything we see of the apostle Paul, the builder of the church, is a work of responsibility. The church was worthy of their disciplined, diligent work. It must be for us, too.
The third command in our text is “Follow our example.” In verses 7-9, Paul twice says ‘to follow our example’. His example is seen in concrete terms: Verse 8 tells us “that with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.” He and his team did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it.
He had not been unruly nor undisciplined in his efforts on their behalf, and he wanted them to pick up on that same pattern. He didn’t ask these believers to do something that he himself was not doing. Paul was very conscientious and responsible in his relationship with the members of the Thessalonian church. He paid his own way; he picked up his own tab; he willingly forfeited his rights as an apostle to set the example before these friends that ‘if a person will not work, then he is not to eat, either’.
Paul’s example of a disciplined life brings to mind an account of Robert E. Lee I read this week in Jeff Shaara’s book, Gone For Soldiers. Before the battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican War, Captain Lee and a young enlisted man by the name of Fitzwalter are sent out to scout a way around Santa Ana’s force blocking the road to Mexico City. On their recon patrol, they come across a small spring of cool, sparkling, bubbling, running water. Being the officer and gentleman that Lee was, Lee let Fitzwalter take the first refreshing drink.
Before Lee had a chance to take a drink, the two Americans heard the voices and boots of approaching Mexican soldiers. Lee shoved the young Fitzwalter back down the path they had come to take cover in the shrubs there, and Lee himself dove behind a log beside the spring. The log was about 3 feet in diameter and Lee squeezed himself as far down behind the log as he could possible get.
Thus began a long afternoon of numbing stillness and silence as Mexican soldiers came and went, never leaving the spring completely unoccupied. Lee, not having had a chance for a drink, is getting more and more thirsty with each passing hour. Fortunately, the soldiers continue to come and depart the spring from the other side of the log. Lee prays through his trial, “God help me. God protect me.”
While lying there, Captain Lee feels a stab of pain in his back that he later discovers to be a cone shaped rock. His thought at the moment: “With just one more second, I could have swept that rock away. Another message from God. ‘You will stay awake’”.
Finally, with the coming of dusk, the Mexican soldiers return to their camps. Shaara writes: “He (Lee) tried to move his right leg, realized now both legs were completely numb. He pulled himself clear of the log, his legs dead weight, saw movement, under the log, and now a large hairy spider moved into the open, stopped, and Lee stared at it through watery eyes, thought, Yes, sorry old fellow. No doubt, I was the intruder. He slid his legs farther out, rolled to the side, unclenched his left hand, slowly, painfully, moved his arm down his leg, began to massage it.
The feeling crept into his legs, the slow spread of the tingling, the awful prick of a thousand needles. He rubbed harder, worked the stiffness out of his hand, tried to lift his head, and suddenly his hat fell off, rolled on its brim down the short hill. He felt a laugh trembling inside him, but he knew he could not make a sound. He looked down at the hat, thought, Well, thank you for doing that now. He was completely clear of the log, looked back underneath, saw the stain of wetness, saw now the small pebble that had been under his back, a tiny cone of rock.
He leaned over, picked it up, slipped it into his pocket, thought, I will remember you. He tried to stand, leaned against the log, slowly pulled himself up, and now there was a sound, behind him, from down the hill. He reached for the pistol, felt the ice in his chest, saw motion, the brush moving, then a figure, a man. It was Fitzwalter.
The young man moved quickly up the rise, and Lee saw the smile, a toothy grin, and Fitzwalter whispered, “Quite a day, eh, sir? Thought they’d never leave.”
Lee tried to speak. “Where did you go?”
“Right down there, sir. Just in those bushes there. I could see ‘em just fine. Could see you too, sir. If they’d a found you, I was ready.” He tapped the pistol in his belt. “We’d have made some noise, that’s for sure.”
Lee nodded, could see the young man’s excitement, thought, Yes, remember this day. You will never have another one like it.” When Lee finally gets a chance to get a drink himself, he finds himself thinking, “Not today. It was not my time. Thank you, God.”
The young American soldier Fitzwalter was given an afternoon-long lesson in the importance and the virtue of discipline. He saw first-hand a real live example, modeled before his very eyes, of the kind of discipline that can save a life.
Interestingly, that was exactly what Paul was doing for his new friends in the Thessalonian church. He was modeling the kind of discipline and training that would save their lives. No wonder he would repeatedly say, “Follow our example.”
The lesson for us is just this: “Following the example of a disciplined church leader will save your life!” How incredibly important it is that the church’s leaders live model lives of diligence and discipline! How incredibly important it is that church members follow the example of these kinds of leaders.
If we as pastors and elected church leaders do not measure up as models of disciplined lives, we need your admonishment! If we as members of this church refuse to follow good leadership, we need exhortation to get with the program. Our mission depends upon it. Our vision depends upon it. A lost world depends upon it. The discouraged, the depressed, the hopeless, and the wandering depend upon it. There is a great deal to be said about losing our souls that has nothing to do with heaven or hell. There is a whole dimension to saving our lives that has nothing to do with deathbeds. Being delivered from an unruly life is to be delivered from all kinds of heartbreak, pain, and unpleasant consequences IN THIS LIFE HERE AND NOW.
Leaders, be an example. Friends, please follow.
The fourth command is seen in verse 13: “Don’t grow weary of doing good.” The original text implies that these believers had not begun to grow weary, and Paul wants to make sure they don’t start down that road. John Calvin’s comment here is helpful: “…however ingratitude, moroseness, pride, arrogance and other unseemly dispositions…may have a tendency to annoy us, or to dispirit us, from a feeling of weariness, we must strive, nevertheless, never to leave off aiming at doing good.” ‘Doing good’ means doing the noble thing. As long as the Lord delays His coming, regardless of the unruliness and undisciplined living of others, we must continue to measure up to our high calling, and we must do it day after day.
The lesson is easily stated. “Even when others don’t and won’t, keep on with a noble heart.” It will be worth it on a certain coming day.
(Conclusion) In the 19th century, yellow fever attacked 500,000 people in the United States and it killed 90,000. It was the determined discipline of Army major Walter Reed that led to the discovery that mosquitoes were the culprits. Reed ascertained that “a female mosquito could get the yellow fever virus from a victim only in the first two or three days of the disease, and that approximately two weeks had to pass before the virus could multiply sufficiently within the mosquito to enable it to infect another person.”
On the basis of Reed’s hard work and important discoveries, a vaccine for yellow fever was developed in 1937 by Dr. Max Theiler. Who among us hasn’t heard of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.?
We may be more successful in moving away from an unruly life if we can visualize ourselves ‘playing hooky’. What we would not think of doing when we were going to school is something we fall into all too often in our life in the church. Don’t do, friends. There’s way too much at stake.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

The perfect harbor for every storm

2008-06-05T16:52:00.001-04:00

II Thessalonians 3

Introduction: “The Perfect Storm” is a new movie just released. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have seen the advertisements, and I’m impressed with the scene of a fishing boat headed almost straight up into a tsunami-size, monster wave. The boat is completely dwarfed by the size of that wave. I would not want to be on that small a boat in that kind of storm! I suppose ‘the perfect storm’ would have to have those kinds of waves.
Let’s leave the perfect storm behind for a moment and, on the other hand, consider some of the magnificent harbors that our Creator God crafted when He was creating the world. I haven’t been to Pearl Harbor yet, but from the pictures I’ve seen, it is a dazzling jewel perched just above the surface of the mighty Pacific. Some of us have been to Lake Tahoe in northern California, and we remember that small harbor on the west side of the lake that has the small gazebo built on the tiny island in the center. What a place of calm surrounded by incredible beauty! Suzie and I are planning a trip later this summer up to Copper Harbor in northern Michigan. We’ve seen pictures and heard stories of the area, and we want to see it with our own eyes. Copper Harbor was a place of calm for ships from the storms that could blow up on the Great Lakes.
In Acts 27 Luke records the journey of Paul to Rome as a prisoner, accompanied, interestingly, by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. In his travelogue, Luke tells of a harbor on the south side of Crete called “Fair Havens”. Verse 12 tells us it was “not suitable for wintering” so the captain put out to sea from there, “if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.” Of course we know the rest of the story. A violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushes down upon them and they find themselves caught in the grips of a devastating storm, one so bad that “…since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.” (Acts 27:20) Sounds to me like Paul and Luke and Aristarchus got caught in the “Perfect Storm”.
Great storms and magnificent harbors….when we come to our text in 2 Thessalonians today, we come to a passage that is best understood in the light of these two distinct images – the storm and the harbor. These two images are inseparably linked, and they offer us great encouragement for living well today.
We all have had experiences with storms, and we all know how precious a harbor is in a storm. Some of us have experienced literal storms, like tornadoes, hurricanes, violent thunderstorms, earthquakes, hail, and the like. I have vivid memories, even at my age, of being in a ‘storm cellar’ in Oklahoma in my youth, hearing a radio with more static on it than weather reports, feeling the tension in the air at the prospect of an approaching tornado. I was just glad at that time to be in a place that afforded protection from what sounded like and felt like something really terrible.
When Suzie, Toby and I went to Indonesia, we stopped in Taiwan along the way and spent a night in the Grand Hotel in Taipei. During our stay there a huge earthquake occurred on the northern end of the island, and I remember being in the lobby of this fine hotel watching the giant panes of glass on the ground level vibrating back and forth. I wondered if our missionary career might end before it really began. But the hotel withstood the shock and we were safe.
But let’s move beyond the literal this morning. All of us have experienced the reality of other kinds of storms. All of us who are married, I would guess, have known stormy times in our relationships. All of us who have lived very long at all have known the storms of suffering and rejection, the tempests of pain and opposition, and the squalls of grief, disappointments, and failed expectations. Well, that’s where Paul is when he pens this passage, and the harbor, the refuge, the sanctuary that he retreats to is also the harbor, the refuge, the sanctuary that we can withdraw to as well.
Friends, I don’t know what tomorrow holds or what next week may bring in the way of storms. Life certainly dispenses plenty of disappointments; debilitating disease is an ever present reality; and who hasn’t known the sorrowful pangs of death? But regardless of the nature of the storms, I know where the harbor is, and it’s important to me that you do as well.
It is a pitiful sight to see Job sitting in his pile of ashes, but how much more saddening if he never found a safe harbor from the storm of his trials.
It is a pathetic sight to visualize Jonah sinking into the depths of the sea and being entangled in seaweed to the point of drowning, but how much more depressing if he never found a place of safety.
How unnerving to see Joseph languishing unjustly in a dark, foul prison, but how much more disheartening if he never found release!
Harbors were made for storms, and storms have no real impact on those who are safely moored in a harbor.
Well, let’s consider Paul’s counsel to the Thessalonians and learn some lessons we can take home and put into practice. Our passage is 2 Thess 3:1-5 “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; (2) and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. (3) But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. (4) We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. (5) May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.”
The first image we want to see and understand is that of a storm. We see this mental picture of ‘storm’ in what Paul refers to as the opposition of evil. In verse two, he makes mention of evil and perverse men that he wanted to be rescued from. In verse three, he references the enemy, the evil one, that the church would need protection from. And in verse 5, he uses the word ‘direct’ (“May the Lord direct your hearts…”) which suggests the removal of obstacles or hindrances from growth in the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
Paul is corresponding with the Thessalonians about those elements of life that constituted what we can easily see as storms. He had experienced the high winds of opposition to his work of sharing the Gospel. Evil and perverse men had sought to cut his legs out from under him at many points along his journey. The expression in verse one, that “the word of the Lord will spread rapidly”, means “to have free course.” Paul knew what it meant to have the spreading of the Word blocked. He knew what it was like to be blocked himself. Though the word had spread rapidly and had been glorified in the Thessalonian context, it wasn’t that way everywhere! Paul’s desire was that the storms of evil hurdles, perverse barriers, and depraved ‘construction zones’ would not be effective in limiting the Gospel’s progress.
I was driving through Arkansas recently on I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis when the traffic was squeezed down from two lanes into one lane each way, eastbound and westbound. I lost a lot of time sitting in neutral as a lot of traffic had to be reordered along a five mile stretch of highway.. When I finally passed the construction zone, you can imagine my chagrin to find no work taking place, not even any workers in sight. It is an understatement to say that a storm cloud passed through my mind!
Paul had known these kinds of storms that stifled the progress of the life-giving Gospel. He had suffered the hurricanes of evil that sought to destroy his mission of bringing salvation to the lost. He knew the spiritual tornadoes that the devil was able to whip up to create havoc and destruction upon the newly established church in Thessalonica. Paul was wise to the stormy schemes of the enemy that sought to keep these believers from growing stronger in the love of God and in the endurance of Christ.
Spiritual storms in the forms of evil opposition were a fact of life for the great apostle as he sought to accomplish his calling from the Lord. They are a reality for all of us just as well.
But there is another image here in our text, and it is a comforting one. It is the image of a harbor, a safe place, a sanctuary of refuge. The harbor is seen here in the dynamic relationship between Paul the apostle, the Thessalonian believers, and the Lord Jesus, the head of the church.
Paul asks in verse one that the church pray for him (“Finally, brethren, pray for us…”). In verse 5, we see Paul praying for the church (“May the Lord direct your hearts…”). In verse one, Paul had shared the word with the Thessalonians. In verse 4, it is clear that the church had responded to the word from Paul and was continuing to respond. The church had a good track record of obedience to Paul’s teaching and he expected that they would continue in that same path. (“We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.”)
Verses 3 and 4 also state clearly that the Lord Jesus was involved in this dynamic relationship. It would be He Who would faithfully strengthen and protect them all. It would be the Lord Jesus Who was the source of Paul’s confidence in the Thessalonian church. It would be the Lord Jesus Who would direct their hearts into a growing love for God and into a growing capacity for endurance like Christ’s.
This image of a safe harbor grows out of what we see of the life of this church. The Lord Jesus as the Head of the church was imparting His life to the members. He was providing protection from the evil one and removing the barriers of evil men. The apostle Paul, as the church planter and pastor/teacher, was imparting his life and the Word of God to the members. He was praying for them and encouraging them and instructing them and expecting their positive response. The church members, as the unique and gifted individuals of the Body, were responding and obeying and praying and growing in love and endurance.
The three parts of this dynamic circle of life – the Lord, the apostle, the church members --, interacting together, made for the perfect refuge from every storm. Of course the wings of demons would stir up terrifying storms; of course the evil one would howl and roar like a tornado; of course perverse men would threaten and mock and ridicule like the blast of a raging forest fire; of course enemy agents of destruction could appear like a flash flood… but the church was a harbor where piers would be sturdy and hawsers or mooring lines would hold. The storms would be real, but the harbor would be safe.
Let’s draw some lessons out of what we’ve learned from our text this morning.
Lesson One, Prayer is one element that makes a church life dynamic. The Lord Jesus, the only One Who can provide real security and real protection, the only One Who can remove obstacles and barriers, the only One Who can nurture love and endurance, the Lord Jesus is moved by our prayer. Nothing expresses a sense of dependency like prayer does. As Paul was dependent upon the Lord Jesus (the one to Whom he is praying here), so he also is dependent upon the prayers of this church on his behalf.
Never ever let it be said in this church that we as pastors and elders, the spiritual leaders and teachers in the Body, do not need your prayer support. Some tell me regularly that they pray daily for me. Nothing in the world means more to me! Nothing in the world makes me more effective. Nothing in the world makes a greater impact through me. Paul knew the Thessalonians would pray for him. The praying church is the safest harbor in the world.
Lesson Two, Obedience to the Word is another element that makes a church a harbor. When we take seriously the counsel, the admonition, the challenge of the Word of God, we develop relationships like those described in Ecclesiastes 4:12 that are not easily broken. You see, the 32 ‘one another’ passages in the New Testament require that we forgive one another, that we love one another, that we serve one another, that we confess our sins to one another, that we not complain against one another, that we stimulate one another to love and good deeds, that we be at peace with one another, that we be devoted to one another, that we give preference to one another, that we not judge one another, that we be of the same mind one with another, that we build up, accept, admonish, and encourage one another, that we bear with one another, that we comfort and show tolerance to one another, that we be kind, hospitable, and subject to one another, that we not lie to one another, and a few more ‘one anothers’.
Who would not want to be a part of a church like that? Who could not weather any storm with friends in the church like that? Friends who would not judge, who would accept, comfort, bear with, be kind to, not complain against, etc., etc.? Who would not want to be in that kind of harbor when the storms of life are raging?
One widow in our church was so cared for after the sudden death of her husband and the father of her children, her sister, not yet in the household of faith, was heard to say, “When I get sick, I want to come here and be cared for by your friends.” The Thessalonian church had a reputation and a track record of doing what Paul instructed. The obedient church is the safest harbor in the world!
Lesson Three, Harbor churches keep in sight the character of God, not the strength of the enemy. Paul reminds his friends here that ‘the Lord is faithful’. He is the One who will strengthen them, and He is the One who will protect them. He is absolutely dependable, 100% responsible, fully committed to their welfare, their growth, their victories.
Of course the enemy is evil and perverse; of course he throws up road-blocks, hurdles, and obstacles. Of course we who are buffeted by him find it easy to be focused on the elements of the storm swirling about us. When Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water to the Lord Jesus, he was doing just great… until he was distracted by the elements of the storm. When he became focused on the wind and the waves, when he lost sight of the Master, he began to sink.
And we begin to sink when our grief becomes that which fills our horizon instead of the glory that the faithful Lord has promised to us who suffer. We begin to fall when the insults of ungodly, unprincipled people capture our minds and displace the Lord’s encouragement to follow Him through that kind of opposition.
But the Lord is faithful, and the great storms of the enemy are no match for the harbor that is the pure character of the Lord Jesus. The faithfulness of God and His loyal-love are to be our focal point as we seek to be the kind of church that provides sanctuary to all those buffeted by the storms of life. Harbor churches keep in sight the character of God, not the strength of the enemy.
(Conclusion)Well, friends, since storms are a fact of life, it’s so very important that we know where the harbor is. Paul knew that the Thessalonians would fare well in the dynamic relationship that was the church, the Lord, and the apostle. We will cope well with what life dishes out to us if we too retreat often into the relationships that make us this church great – our relationships together, our relationship together with the Lord, and our commitments to follow the leadership and the teaching of our spiritual leaders.
It would be good today to spot check this relationship I’ve been talking about. Are there any ‘one anothers’ we need to mend? Are there elements of focus that need to be sharpened? Are there commitments to prayer and obedience that need strengthening? Let’s don’t get caught in a storm out of reach of the harbor! And perhaps worse, let’s not fail those storm-tossed by failing to be the harbor they need when their storms are raging.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

The reward for those who endure

2008-06-05T16:51:00.000-04:00

II Thessalonians 2

Introduction: When Harry Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to an American warrior, he is said to have commented, “I’d rather have one of these than be President.” What Truman was acknowledging was that there was (for him) more honor, more glory in a medal recognizing uncommon valor than there was in fulfilling the role of the chief executive office of the United States. The reward for exceptional courage under fire is a degree of glory.
General Thomas Jackson earned his nickname, “Stonewall” at Bull Run, the first battle of the Civil War. As he rode up and down his Confederate lines encouraging his men to hold their positions, fellow general Barnard Bee said, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.” Before the era of the Civil War, Jackson taught at the Virginia Military Institute as a veteran of the Mexican War. While teaching natural philosophy and artillery, he once scolded a student for what he thought was a wrong answer. But lying in bed that night, Jackson realized that the student was right. He arose, dressed, and walked through a cold rain to the student’s dorm and apologized for the scolding earlier in the day. As a deeply religious man, it was important to the general that wrongs be righted if possible. There was glory and honor in that kind of behavior. A legacy of honorable character carries its own reward of a dimension of glory.
Joe Rosenthal’s picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi electrified the nation. The war in the Pacific had been hard fought, and Americans were looking for inspiration and hope on that front. Government officials decided to call the men back to the States to participate in a war bond drive to raise money for the war effort. By the time that decision was made, only three of the men were still alive on the island, for the battle still raged. Marines Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon and Navy Corpsman Robert Bradley made tours all over the United States, participating in parades, banquets, and county fairs, giving speeches and promoting war bonds. They were always greeted with great respect, admiration, honor, and glory. Inspirational acts of a timely nature in the history of a nation merit the reward of a measure of glory.
I share these three brief cameos with you this morning because they illustrate a dimension of life that is the central theme of the text we come to today in our continuing study of 2 Thessalonians. What Harry Truman wished for himself, what Stonewall Jackson lived, and what the Iwo Jima veterans received was a degree of, a dimension of, a measure of glory. And amazingly, nestled here in Paul’s letter to his friends at Thessalonica, is an astounding revelation regarding glory! But this glory far outshines those illustrations I’ve shared this morning, for it is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like comparing a lighted match to the brilliance of a lighthouse is the difference between these glories. And amazingly, this glory that belongs to Jesus is something we can gain! Imagine that, if you can!
As we ask God to speak to us today through His Word, I wonder what kinds of things we want to be recognized for. For in part, that is what glory is, recognition, commendation, and praise for deeds well done. Can’t every mom identify with the mother of James and John who asked Jesus if her two sons could sit on the right hand and left hand of the Lord in His kingdom? Her desire was for her sons to be recognized for their sterling qualities as disciples.
I am typically off on Wednesdays, and while working on the front porch of our house this past Wednesday, I was stopped in my work by a passing thunderstorm. (I seldom mind being stopped in any work—especially when it involves a paint brush!) I marveled at the awesome power of God that is so evident in long waves of rolling thunder. When a bolt of lightning struck nearby, the resounding crash of thunder was almost painful. I said out loud, “God, You are really something, there is no One like You.” Glory, in part you see, is also affirmation of greatness.
Whatever our dreams are, whatever our ambitions are, whatever our hopes and plans for life are, God has something magnificent in mind for those He loves. God has a plan to share with us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through many varied and assorted avenues! What incredible affirmation and recognition God has in store for us in the Lord Jesus Christ! Interested? Would you like to know what to do, what to be, in order that the God who makes the heavens roar with thunder might share the glory of the Lord Jesus with us? Anyone interested in being affirmed and recognized and counted significant by the God of creation?
Paul wanted his Thessalonian friends to know the three things that were key in receiving this kind of commendation and praise from the God of heaven. God wants us to know them, too.
Our text today is 2 Thess 2:13-17 “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. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”
This text pivots around verse 14. Perhaps you noticed that as we read. “It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So what is this glory, is it worth our efforts, and if it is, what must we give attention to in gaining it?
We’ve already given some definitions to the concept of glory. The principal word in the Old Testament for glory carries the idea of being heavy, important, or awesome. In the New Testament, glory carries the added element of what someone thinks, or what something seems. When the Lord Jesus asked in the Garden of Gethsemane “Whom do you seek?”, the soldiers and priests said, “Jesus, the Nazarene.” When Jesus replied, “I am He,” the text tells us that they all drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:6) What happened? When Jesus used the name of God, “I AM”, a burst of glory bowled everyone over.
When the shepherds heard the angels’ announcement of the birth of the Lord Jesus, they were dazzled with unbelievable splendor; the glory of the Lord shone around them.
So, when something or someone is awesome, and it or he is perceived to be awesome, that thing or that person has glory. Of course, the Lord Jesus has great glory. We know from the Scriptures that a day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord of all, interestingly, to the glory of God the Father.
The disciples with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration saw the glory of Jesus, according to Luke 9. “Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. (In Mark’s Gospel, His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.) And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.”
Now if gaining the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ means to us that we have shining faces and gleaming white clothes, maybe that’s not much of a goal to share in. It is so much more than that! Think Biblically with me for a moment. In Exodus 34, Moses’ face shone whenever he spoke to God. He had a glorious appearance when he came away from his encounters with God. Sharing in Christ’s glory suggests a radiance in appearance. We have all known and experienced the difference between a radiant face and a downcast one. And those faces are reflections of conditions in the heart. God intends that we gain a share in the glory of the Lord Jesus, that we have hearts at peace and hearts confidently trusting Him.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 3:17-18 about being transformed from glory to glory. He had in mind the gaining of Christ’s glory, a step-by-step process of being changed into the image of Christ. The things that frustrate us, the things that dominate us, the things that control us gradually lose their strength over us. We become more and more people of virtue and character and good reputation. We evidence more and more our relationship to the Lord by getting up in the cold of night to go and make an apology to someone we offended, or took advantage of, or cheated in some way. We become less and less individuals known for our lies and more and more people willing to pay the price to tell the truth.
There are many more issues related to the glory of Christ that we could discuss if we had the time, more than how a heart is transparent through a face and more than a process of transformation, but for now, I hope we all can see that obtaining a part in the glory of the Lord Jesus is indeed a worthwhile goal and objective. Only those who are content with their present slavery, only those who don’t care about the development of their character, only those who like their anxiety, their worries, and their sleepless nights, only these will have no interest in the following steps outlined by Paul.
The first step to gaining a share in the glory of Christ is being saved. We talked last week about what it means to be saved, how being saved is a good, solid Biblical concept, and now we see it again here in our text. Paul gives thanks to God in verse 13 “because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”
Do you see how salvation happens? God chooses and we trust. The Holy Spirit begins the wooing activity of God. He begins to draw us apart; that’s what that big word, sanctification, means. The Holy Spirit of God tugs and nudges and convicts and challenges us toward something better than we’ve known so far. Then we reach a point where we decide to trust in that truth of the Gospel that has grown clearer and clearer. Paul says in verse 14, “It was for this He called you through our gospel…” The Gospel is that body of truth that we put our faith in. Faith is just another word for trust.
We come to understand our situation in sin before a holy God; we come to understand that God Himself made provision for our sin problem by allowing His Son to be crucified on the cross to pay our sin’s penalty; we come to understand that we need to accept that payment so we don’t have to pay ourselves by spending eternity in a place of punishment and torment.
In order to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must begin by being saved. Some of here today are considering taking this first step. Our life just isn’t what we see others experiencing; we can’t seem to step away from our bad habits and character flaws; the attractions and allures of the world just don't provide long term satisfaction. That tugging by the Holy Spirit just won’t go away. Today would be a good day to say, “I’m ready to trust You, God.” “I’d like to get on the road to glory.”
The second step is endurance. Paul says in verse 15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” ‘Stand firm’ and ‘hold fast’ amount to endurance. ‘Hold fast’ conveys the picture of gripping something tightly with the hand. We remember that these new believers were suffering; they were under the pressures of afflictions and persecutions. Some were wavering under the false notions that the day of the Lord had come and gone without them. They were the ‘shaken’ and the ‘disturbed’ of verse 2. They had been shocked and that shock had turned into a state of jumpiness, worry, and constant fretting. Paul exhorts them to hold tightly to the truths, the traditions, they had been taught.
I suppose all of us have heard of Kevlar. It is the material that is 5 times stronger than steel (ounce for ounce) and lighter than fiberglass. It is used for bullet-proof vests that police officers wear, and it has saved the lives of more than 2000 officers since its discovery. More than half of the ships in the U.S. Navy have Kevlar mooring lines because they are light enough for a sailor to lift and yet strong enough to hold a ship in its place at the dock. People who regularly use a chain saw can buy chaps made from Kevlar to protect their legs.
Kevlar was the discovery of a chemist by the name of Stephanie Kwolek. When she came up with a cloudy chemical solution that she thought would be the foundation for the next generation of polymer fibers, her colleagues told her that cloudy solutions could not possibly generate polymer fibers. All chemists know that cloudiness in a solution usually indicates the presence of solid particles. Solid particles only clog up the holes in the spinneret which the solution has to go through in order to be made into fibers.
But Kwolek had a personality with a steely resolve as strong as Kevlar. She knew she had done her work right. She filtered her solution through the finest of filters and it was still cloudy. There just could not be particles in it. It was finally discovered that she had invented the world’s first synthetic liquid crystals. The cloudiness in the solution was due to light diffraction off of the crystals. When the solution was put through the spinneret, the crystals formed fibers that were strong, stiff, and when woven together became Kevlar.
Stephanie Kwolek knew what Paul meant when he said to stand firm and hold fast. Her endurance brought her sweet glory.
These Thessalonian believers were in need of endurance. And some of us are too. No one, friends, has ever obtained a place on the victor’s stand of glory without endurance. It just doesn’t happen. Job is a towering example of glory that is produced by endurance. Joseph is a shining model of the glory that perseverance produces. Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down in glory at the right hand of the throne of God.
God wanted these new believers to stand firm and hold fast to the things they had been taught. And the same applies to us. We are to tightly grip the truth of the Gospel. We are to believe everyday that all things work together for good to those who love God. We are to never doubt that God is good. We are to be convinced every hour that all afflictions are producing an eternal weight of glory for those of us who know God. We are to regularly draw upon the truth that the Holy Spirit is our indwelling comforter and guide. We are to daily, expectantly look for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to always be alert to our enemy who, as a roaring lion, seeks to devour us.
It is these kinds of things we have been taught; these are our traditions that we want to grasp tightly and stand tall upon.
There’s a third step to glory; that is an engaged heart. Paul prays for his friends in verses 16 and 17 that “ … our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father…(will) comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” Gaining the glory of the Lord Jesus is finally a matter of engaging our hearts in good work and good words. In the strength that God provides by His grace, we are to be saying good things and be doing good deeds.
Now as we’ve said before, in a context of suffering and pain, it is not easy to be others’ oriented. It is far easier to be crabby than it is to be comforting. It is a much bigger temptation to withdraw in pain than it is to be engaged in doing something for someone else. We understand this reality. Paul did, too. That’s why verse 16 and 17a precede the expectation of good work and good words. Let’s read them again: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts……..in every good work and word.”
It is God Who makes it possible for us to function in goodness when we find it impossible to do so. There is great glory to be gained when, at the outer boundaries of our strength, we tap into His resources and engage our hearts in good deeds and good words.
(Conclusion) So, friends, what do we say at the end of a text like this? We say, God is so great! He has a plan to share the glory of His dear Son with us! He has a plan to affirm us, to bring us recognition, to give us a reputation of virtue and character. He plans to bring us honor and esteem and glory! He has made a plan to bring us purpose and significance and meaning. He makes it possible for us to be saved! He provides the resources for us to engage our hearts and to keep on engaging them with endurance and perseverance!
And in the end, we get to stand before all the universe in the light and glory, in the acclaim and honor that by rights ought to be exclusively the domain of the Lord Jesus. Stand firm, friends; be engaged. One day, it will be worth it all. The reward for endurance, salvation’s glory, is reachable, it’s expected, and it is worth it. Don’t give up!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

The man of sin

2008-06-05T16:50:00.000-04:00

II Thessalonians 2

Introduction: According to James Bradley in his book, Flags of our Fathers, Iwo Jima is just “a trivial scab barely cresting the infinite Pacific…” The Japanese words, Iwo Jima, mean ‘sulfur island’, for the 8 square miles of this island are “a dry wasteland of black volcanic ash that stinks of sulfur.”
One of the most famous pictures in American history was taken on Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945, by an AP photographer named Joe Rosenthal. This immortal photograph is of six men, 5 Marines and a Navy Corpsman, raising the American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak.
In his book, Bradley tells the stories of the lives of these six American heroes, and for our purposes this morning, I want to draw your attention to the man on the far right. He is a bit separate from his friends, his right knee is near his shoulder, and he is jamming the base of the flag pole into the hard Suribachi soil.
For two years after this photograph was taken, this man was incorrectly identified. Oh, he knew who he was; his fellow Marines knew who he was; and of course, his mother, Belle, knew that this young man was her son. Though Belle was convinced that this famous Marine, with his back to the camera, was her son, no one else believed her, not her husband (the boy’s father), not her family, not her neighbors. To this day we would not know the real identity of Harlon Block if “a certain stranger had not walked into the family cotton field near Weslaco, Texas, and declared that he had seen this son Harlon put that pole in the ground.”
When we come today in our study of 2 Thessalonians to chapter 2, we are introduced to an unidentified man. Unlike the Texan Harlon Block, this man is still unidentified, though almost 2000 years have passed since Paul first made reference to him.
We want today to understand as much as we can about this figure of history-to-come, and we want to draw some lessons that will have application to life for us today.
Our text is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. In the NASV, it reads like this: “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.
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
In a nutshell, this is what the text seems to be saying to the Thessalonians: Contrary to what you have heard, the day of the Lord has NOT come. Don’t believe the false reports you have heard that it has. There are several things that have to take place before the coming of that day. According to verse three, there is a coming period in time when there will be a great apostasy, an aggressive, stubborn, climactic revolt against God Himself by most of mankind. After this time-frame has begun, the Anti-Christ has to be revealed before that day of the Lord can come.
This Anti-Christ is known in different parts of the Scriptures as the man of sin, the man of lawlessness (vs.3), the son of destruction (vs.3), the lawless one (vs.8). He has to be identified; he has to be revealed before the Lord returns. His identity will be known.
But before this man of lawlessness can begin to function, the restrainer has to be removed (vs. 7). There is a force in place that suppresses the evil outworking of this man’s purposes. That constrainer must be moved out of the way before the evil one can do his thing.
Paul’s point is that since the restrainer has not yet been removed (vs. 7), these Thessalonians can be certain that the day of the Lord has not yet begun, regardless of what the false teachers were saying.
If we were to lay out a chart on a time line of the Lord’s coming again, we would see first the coming of apostasy. Sometime after the beginning of this period of world-wide rebellion against God by men and women all over the world, the restrainer would be withdrawn from the world. After the restrainer is removed, the Anti-Christ would be revealed. He will have some time to hold sway over the world before the Lord Jesus returns to slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming.
If the Thessalonians just considered this information, they would not have to be worried about missing the return of the Lord.
For us today, looking from our vantage point, we could add another element to the chart/time line. Verse 4 makes it clear that there must be a temple rebuilt in Jerusalem before the anti-christ can be revealed, because (vs.4) “…he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Currently there is no temple in Jerusalem, though we would not be surprised if construction on one began at any time.
Now before we move to some lessons for us by way of application, we ought to consider a few of the details that Paul has included in this part of our text. By understanding a few other facts, we can be better prepared ourselves for that coming day of glory and judgement.
In verse three, Paul makes reference to ‘the apostasy’. Notice the definite article ‘the’ being used here. Paul has reference to a special time of apostasy that is coming. ‘Apostasy’, as used by Paul here, suggests more than just a time frame of unbelief. This term implies revolt. Men and women of this apostasy will be actively, aggressively, violently opposed to God and His kingdom. In I Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 3 and 4, Paul describes what this revolt against God looks like.
He says things like people falling away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, people having their consciences seared as if with branding irons. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. In this time of ‘the apostasy’, people will turn their ears away from truth, preferring instead myths.
We see evidence of these kinds of things all about us. When these kinds of things become more the norm, and when the temple begins to be rebuilt, we will be very, very close to hearing the trumpet of the Lord and being snatched away to the heavens. ‘The apostasy’ must come in with a vengeance before that important day of the Lord.
Another key term in Paul’s revelation is ‘the restrainer’. Paul says in verse 6 that these Thessalonians know who he is. It would have been nice if he had told us! The participle in verse 6 is a neuter participle with a neuter article. The one who restrains in verse 7 is a masculine participle with a masculine article. (See how important it is to be good students of English?)
It seems to me most logical to identify the restrainer as the Holy Spirit of God. Only God is powerful enough to constrain the devil and his evil influence and schemes. The use of the neuter may have been chosen because the Greek word for Spirit is in the neuter case. The use of the masculine in verse 7 points to the Spirit being a person, as we also see in John’s Gospel and in Paul’s Ephesian letter. (John 15:26, 16:13-14, Eph. 1:13-14)
So if this is true, then after ‘the apostasy’ begins, the restrainer will be withdrawn, i.e., the church will be raptured and the Holy Spirit will leave this evil world with the departing church. He has been resident in the church, in the bodies of believers, and when the church goes, the resident Holy Spirit goes with it. Until the church is called to heaven, evil cannot ultimately prevail, for the Lord Jesus had said in Matthew 16, “the gates of hell will not overpower the church.”
Notice, thirdly, ‘the man of lawlessness’. This title reveals his basic character as one who is absolutely opposed to God. His being called ‘the man of sin’ fully supports this characterization. If we are in the last days these days, then this man is probably alive and thriving somewhere in our world today. In the series by Tim LeHaye, Left Behind, we see a very plausible, though fictitious, account of the coming Anti-Christ. His revelation or his being revealed comes when he makes a covenant with the nation of Israel as described by Daniel in 9:27. With that revealing, the great tribulation begins.
Paul clarifies again for us and his Thessalonian friends the power of this man of sin. In verses 9 and 10, he is seen to have great power, able to perform counterfeit miracles, and to do false wonders. ‘False wonders’ is literally ‘wonders of lying’, or as Charles Ryrie interprets, “things which cannot be explained.”
This great evil power will promote deceit throughout the world. With the church gone, with no world-wide defender of the truth, people everywhere will perish! See how verse 10 says it? “…and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
There is a final element to this man, and Paul tells us of his judgment. We see in verse 8 that he is doomed already. The breath of the Lord Jesus at His return will be like a hurricane, sweeping away this man of sin from his position of power and arrogance. It is like this man of sin is standing before a furnace when the door is opened. He is blown away. Paul also says that the brightness of the coming of the Lord Jesus brings this man to an end, or renders him inoperable, or sets him on the sidelines. His great power will fail him in the face of the return of the Lord Jesus.
There is one last detail we need to understand. That is the group of people who will perish because they do not know the truth. In verses 10-12 we see that these people will perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. Paul also says that God is their judge. It is God Who sends upon these people a deluding influence so that they believe what is false. His judgment is certain because they took pleasure in wickedness and did not believe the truth.
Interestingly, the phrase, ‘those who perish’ is a present tense participle, meaning they are already perishing even though they are still alive. To take pleasure in wickedness is a silent poison to the soul; those being poisoned don’t even know it is happening to them. They think they are really alive; in fact they are perishing. A day is coming when it will be impossible to be saved! God has no more patience, and there is no way to escape His judgment.
Now, let’s consider some lessons that we can take home out of a passage primarily concerned with future things.
One, A life of victory requires a good memory. When Paul writes in verse five his question, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”, he is really saying, “Don’t you remember that I repeatedly told you these things?”
Friends, one of the reasons Art and I work so hard to present truth to you each week in audio AND video form is so that we can better remember the truth we’re exposed to. Take notes on the Sermon Supplement; make notes in the margin of your Bible; tell someone else during the week what you learned on Sunday: in the retelling is strengthened memory.
And better than all these is the practice of the truth. What we put into practice we don’t forget. Who among us this week sought to think on Jesus one second out of each minute, like Frank Laubach in the sermon from last week? Those of us who did have more resolve for goodness now than we had last week. A life of victory requires a good memory.
Two, Truth has always been designed to keep us safe and stable. Paul did not want his friends shaken or disturbed, as he relates in verse 2. The phrase ‘shaken from your composure’ carries the image of a ship being tossed by the sudden appearance of a tidal wave. And the term ‘disturbed’ portrays a continuing state of agitation resulting from the shock of the previous ‘shaking’. The picture’s rather grim, isn’t it. Falsehood, lies, and rumors that are embraced have a way of unsettling us. They first shock us, then they keep us agitated so there’s no rest for our souls, no peace for our hearts, no quiet for our spirits.
Friends, God never intended life to be like this for any of His children. The Lord Jesus had said in John 8:31-32: “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” One dimension of the freedom Jesus had in mind was the freedom from being shaken from our composure and being disturbed by falsehood. Jesus would go on to say in John 14:6, “I am… the truth.”
Let’s make it our goal to remember the truth we’ve been taught and to enjoy the protection, the buffering, the refuge that it provides.
Three, Today is the day to be saved, before it’s too late. The day is coming, and it could be very soon, when God decides that salvation’s offer is to be withdrawn. Then it will be too late to be saved. ‘Being saved’ is a good Biblical term, regardless of whether our church background is Presbyterian, Methodist, Wesleyan, Catholic, or Baptist. We see it here in our text in verses 10-12. To be saved means to be delivered from the power of sin, and it means to be delivered from the wrath of God coming upon this world of sin. Verse 12 reminds us that judgment is coming, but those who have received the truth will be saved from that judgment. Those who have not face unspeakable horrors. Those who are not saved will encounter the most terrible of holocausts, like nothing the world has ever seen before.
Wouldn’t today be a good day to acknowledge our sin, to accept God’s provision for our sin, the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, and to be saved? Being saved in a Biblical sense is as simple as that. Forgiveness for our sin from God is still available today; it may not be available tomorrow.
(Conclusion) Let’s give attention to truth. It’s the greatest life jacket known to man. And it will deliver us from that coming day of the wrath of God.
Harlon Block, from the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, died on the slopes of Iwo Jima six days after the famous picture was taken. He was buried in the 5th Marine Division cemetery there on the island, Plot 4, Row 6, Grave 912. There is an inscription just outside that majestic burial ground that says this:
When you go home
Tell them for us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
Let’s not waste our today, bought for us with the lives of others, by being careless with the truth, by being shaken and disturbed, or by remaining separated from God and unsaved.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Prayer: Bringing God's will to pass

2008-06-05T16:49:00.000-04:00

II Thessalonians 1

Introduction: In his small Bible Study guide on 2 Thessalonians, Chuck Swindoll quotes the following words from Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. The king is King Arthur, and these are some of his last words as he lies on his deathbed. “Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats that nourish a blind life within the brain, if, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”
If more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of… and if men know God… then we ought to lift hands of prayer for both ourselves and those who call us friend.
When we come to the last two verses of 2 Thessalonians 1, we find Paul very much believing these concepts attributed by Tennyson to King Arthur on his deathbed. Before we look at Paul’s very short prayer and see how his beliefs correspond to King Arthur’s, we have to ask ourselves a question. “Do we believe that more comes about by prayer than most of the world dreams of?” How much do we, who know God, lift hands in prayer for both ourselves and those who call us friend? If we could take the spiritual temperature of our prayer life today, what would the thermometer read? What could we testify of ‘dreams come true’ because God answered our prayer?
I’m convinced there are many among us today who pray faithfully, who could relate many experiences of working with God to bring His will to pass here on Earth. I’m sure there are a good number among us who often get counsel from the heavenly Father by means of prayer for issues we must act upon.
But who among us today would say, “Don’t bother me with another sermon about prayer! I know all I need to know; I’m highly motivated every day to pray; I’m as disciplined as can be in this spiritual exercise.”?
Though this prayer of Paul’s is very brief, it is loaded with good things for us to understand, to imitate, and to incorporate into the way we pray. In fact, I’m amazed at all that Paul said in only two verses! As we read 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, notice how easy it would be for us, for the next 30 days, to pray this prayer of Paul’s for ourselves and for those who call us friend.
2 Thess 1:11-12 – “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
As we examine what Paul is saying, we find him making three requests of God on behalf of his friends in Thessalonica. We could make the same requests of God for ourselves and our friends every day, and we could be assured that God would be pleased with what we are asking.
Paul’s three requests are these: one, that God would count these friends worthy of their calling; two, that God would fulfill their every desire for goodness; and three, that God would fulfill their work of faith with power.
As we think about what Paul is initially petitioning God for, and as we seek to understand what he means, it’s good for us to remember the circumstances that his friends have been experiencing. These believers were in the midst of afflictions and persecutions. Life was not much fun at this point, full of pain and suffering. These Christians probably felt a lot like the church member being investigated by the IRS. An agent of the IRS called the pastor of the church and inquired whether he knew a Herman Coffman.
“Yes, I do.”
“Is he a member of your church?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Did he give a gift of $10,000?”
“He will!”
Paul had affirmed these new converts and had bragged on them everywhere he went. He had just explained to them some of the reasons, some of the good reasons for pain and suffering in the life of a follower of Christ. Now he turns to prayer for them.
Notice in the first part of his prayer in verse 11, Paul prays that God would count them worthy of their calling. These Thessalonian believers have been called into the kingdom of God. They have been ushered into that realm where God rules, where they have a part of the life of God and He has a part of theirs. They have been given the status of children of God. They have been ushered out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Their sins have been washed away. They have been made partakers of eternal life.
They have been given a relationship with the Creator of the universe. They have been assigned a guardian angel to minister to them and to protect them. They have been baptized into the Body of Christ. They have been commissioned to carry the Gospel to the far corners of the world. They have been commanded to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their strength and with all their soul, AND to love their neighbors as themselves. They have been called to the standards of Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Paul prays that these Thessalonians will be counted by God as worthy of this high calling. I’m reminded of the life-story of the swimmer, Gertrude Ederle. She is 93 this year and now lives in a nursing home in Wyckoff, New Jersey. As a twenty year old in 1926, Gertrude swam the English Channel. In only her second attempt, she beat the men’s record by 2 hours, using a crawl stroke instead of the breaststroke, which was the common stroke of her day. And her record would stand for 24 years. Experts would later calculate that Gertrude Ederle had actually swum 35 miles in crossing the 21 mile wide channel because of the rough waters that 14 hour day on August 6, 1926. At one point in the crossing, both her father and her coach pleaded with her to come out of the water. She shouted, “No, No.” She had already decided she would finish the swim or drown trying.
Amazingly, this channel-crosser had fallen into a pond as an eight-year-old while visiting her grandmother in Germany and had to be rescued. Though terrified by the accident, she decided she’d better learn how to swim. And learn she did.
Gertrude Ederle felt like she had a calling, a high calling, the same kind of calling climbers feel when they contemplate Mount Everest. She set out to become worthy of that call. And she succeeded.
There is a certain high calling for pastors, policemen, and presidents, and that calling carries with it the expectation of certain standards of conduct and behavior and ethics and morality. The good pastor, the respected policeman, the worthy president measures up, in his behavior, to his calling.
Paul is praying for his Thessalonian friends, that their lives would reflect the standards of God’s call upon their lives.
We, like the Thessalonians, need faithful friends who will pray that we will be counted by God as worthy of what He has called us to. God has called each one of us to be light in this world of increasing darkness, to be salt in the context of growing corruption, to be kind in the face of rejection, to be merciful to failures, to be gracious to the stubborn, to be loving to the ugly, to champion justice for the downtrodden, to exude humility in the face of praise, to constrain anger in a setting of misunderstanding, to show hospitality when there is need, etc., etc., etc.
And friends, let’s not forget that this kind of conduct, conduct worthy of the call of God upon our lives, is often required of us in difficult circumstances. It is one thing to be a patient person when all on the home front is cool, all at work is satisfying, and life is good. It’s quite another thing when nothing in any part of life is clicking. Nothing rips our masks of piety off quite so quickly as pain. Nothing spotlights the condition of our souls quite so quickly as suffering. Nothing punctures the balloon of our image quite so quickly as affliction. Who we are and what we are is never so loudly broadcast as when we hurt.
Isn’t it interesting that when Paul begins to pray for these friends, he doesn’t pray for release from suffering; he doesn’t ask God to remove those responsible for the affliction; he doesn’t petition God to provide green pastures and quiet waters. What he does ask is that God would enable them to endure their pain with the kind of class and character that reflects positively on His power and grace.
Friends, let’s pray for one another. Let’s ask God to enable us to live in such a way that our claims to know God have merit in the eyes of those who see our behavior, especially in troubled waters.
Paul’s second request of God on behalf of these new believers is that God would fulfill their every desire for goodness. The term for “goodness” here in the Scriptures is always human goodness, and the term is a relative of the word “generosity”. And the word “desire” could also be the term “resolve”. Another translation, then, of Paul’s prayer is that God would fulfill ‘their every resolve proceeding from generosity.’
Paul recognizes that suffering can make Christians hard-hearted. He knows the tendency that pain fosters towards anger, bitterness, and stinginess. He knows we feel less open-handed, less open-hearted when pain and affliction overwhelm us. And we know it too. Who wants to think of someone else when our need for comfort is so great? Who has the energy to focus on being generous to someone else when our suffering is screaming full blast in our souls?
That’s why Paul is praying! He knew it was important to pray in this specific way that these believers would emerge from their trials having a reputation for goodness and generosity. He knew it was critical that these Thessalonians have a clear resolve to do good and that that resolve would bear fruit. Only God could provide that kind of energy! Only God could fulfill that resolve!
I read this week partial stories of three men of resolve. We are all familiar with Winston Churchill’s statement in 1940: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we will never surrender.” That is resolve.
I was also introduced to William Harvey this week. He was a physician, born in England in 1578, and through his resolve, he introduced to the medical community the bulletproof theory that the heart was a pump that pushed the blood through a circulatory system in the body. Up until then, it was generally thought that the body had two kinds of blood pushed through the body by the constant twitching of arteries. The heart was believed to be a device that heated the body and filtered the blood.
One of Harvey’s teachers who impressed him a great deal was the great astronomer, Galileo Galilei. Galileo always urged his students “to continue studying science by experimenting, measuring, and examining things for themselves, rather than believing blindly what others had told them.” William Harvey’s resolve to explore further than his collogues became the foundation for blood transfusions, open-heart surgery, and artificial hearts. That is another kind of resolve for goodness.
Perhaps the most fascinating example of resolve for goodness comes out of the experience of Frank Laubach Mr. Laubach rose from a lonely missionary assignment in the Philippines to become a Christian world statesman. He founded the World Literacy Crusade and exerted quite a great influence upon United States foreign policy after World War Two, though he never had any political appointment to any State Department post.
The fulfillment of Frank Laubach’s ‘resolve for goodness’ began with a process that started in January of 1930. In that month, he began to cultivate the habit of turning his mind to Christ for one second out of every minute. After four weeks of this practice, this is what he reported: “I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself. This sense of cooperation with God in little things is what so astonishes me, for I never felt it this way before. I need something, and turn round to find it waiting for me. I must work, to be sure, but there is God working along with me.”
Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, says that Laubach “always knew that his brilliant ideas and incredible energy and effectiveness derived from his practice of constant, conscious interface with God.”
Does anyone doubt that someone was praying for this missionary, that God would fulfill his every resolve, his every desire for goodness and generosity? It is patently clear that that is exactly what God was doing in his life!
Friends, this would be a good prayer to lay at the throne of God on behalf of our friends. We ought to ask God to give us and our friends resolve for goodness. We are well aware that ‘desire’ is abundant everywhere in our day; ‘resolve’ is much harder to find in our day of fast food and instant gratification. So, what resolve do we have that is growing our of our generosity? What would we say we are committed to in the arena of goodness with the resolve of Winston Churchill, William Harvey, or Frank Laubach? Then we need to ask God to fulfill that resolve out of His reserves of power and goodness. Let me offer a practical suggestion: in your next Bible study meeting, your next church board or committee meeting, your next small group meeting, when the leader asks for prayer requests, don’t offer a prayer request for someone who is sick. Ask those gathered with you to pray that God would fulfill your desires, your resolve for goodness and generosity. Then listen as you pray to see what things God might speak to you about resolve and goodness and generosity.
Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians was that they might be counted worthy of God’s high call of them, that He would fulfill their resolve to be generous, and thirdly, that He would fulfill their work of faith with power.
Notice that Paul speaks here of the ‘work of faith.’ Faith is supposed to be demonstrable; it is supposed to be seen with power. When Gallup surveys show that 94% of Americans believe in God and 74% of Americans claim to have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, and 34% proclaim a ‘new birth’ experience, and when these same groups reveal shocking statistics for unethical behavior, crime, mental distress and disorder, family failures, addictions, financial imbalances, etc., etc., we wonder where the “work” of faith is!
The great apostle prays for these friends because he did not want the suffering of these Thessalonians to be like a drought on a crop of good deeds. He didn’t want their efforts in faith to be blocked, stifled, choked, or short circuited by pain and affliction. His prayer is that their faith will know God’s power so that they can continue to bear fruit in the face of all their difficulties. His prayer is that all their acts of faith would be filled with the energy of God Himself. Paul’s prayer is that the charcoal of faith’s work would glow more brightly under the fanning of suffering.
This too would be a good prayer to pray in our next elder meeting, our next council meeting, our next small group study. O Lord, fulfill our work of faith with power that is obviously from You.
Let’s step back a moment and catch again a glimpse of Paul’s intent in this prayer for his friends. He doesn’t want these believers to give in to their desire for relief from their suffering before God has done His work of character development. Paul wants these new converts to be counted worthy of their high calling in Christ Jesus.
Paul also doesn’t want these new Christians to give up in their afflictions before they have a chance to see God carry them through the dark valley and out into the light of victory. God wants to see their resolve develop into a reputation for goodness and generosity that He has fulfilled.
And finally, the great leader of Gentile Christians, the one who always carried about in his own body a thorn in the flesh, prayed that his friends wouldn’t give out in bearing good fruit because they had run out of power. God would fulfill, with His power, their works of faith.
We ought always to pray that we ourselves and our friends would not give in, nor give up, nor give out in this wonderful calling we have received from our great God.
Finally, Paul tells us the great purpose in his prayer – that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you and you in Him. Paul’s desire is that these Thessalonians will be such a bright light, shining so clearly in regards to the reality of their salvation, that all who see them will see what a great Savior the Lord Jesus really is. Their character, their reputation, their strengths, their virtues bring glory to the One who is responsible for them.
It would seem that the Lord Jesus would have enough majesty and enough glory and enough splendor to stand alone above all His competitors. But God long ago decided that His Son would be glorified through us, the church. That’s a mind-boggling idea, isn’t it? God is seen to be magnificent because of our part in His plans! We indeed have a high calling; we indeed have a huge responsibility.
I want to conclude this morning with a few suggestions on how we might pray in the pattern of Paul’s prayer we see here.
Pray specifically. It is not hard to see how Paul has focused his praying on three specific issues related to his Thessalonian friends. We can do the same.
Pray situationally. How can we get in tune with what God is doing for the sake of His kingdom? What does this situation look like from the perspective of the Creator? Perhaps we ought to pray less for healing of sickness and relief from suffering and more for God’s will to be done and more for His glory to shine.
Pray sensibly. Suffering, affliction, and pain are not always to be avoided or escaped. Our prayers to be worthy of our calling are far more certain and likely to be answered than selfish desires for comfort and ease. Our prayers for resolve in being generous have a great chance of being answered. Our prayers for a faith that works with power will certainly please the Father.
When we pray in this way, we participate in bringing God’s will to pass in our world.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Handling pain in the plan of God

2008-06-05T16:48:00.002-04:00

II Thessalonians 1

Introduction: Anna Mary Robertson Moses became a painter at the age of seventy-seven. By the time “Grandma Moses” died at the age of 101, she had been honored by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. She had also become a pen pal with an amateur painter of some note in England by the name of Winston Churchill.
Do you know what launched Anna Moses into the fame and honor she knew as the painter, Grandma Moses? The pain of rheumatism. As she had grown older, the rheumatism she had acquired earlier only seemed to worsen. Her housework and her farm chores had become harder to accomplish. The only cure her doctor could suggest was that she find something to do that would keep her hands flexible. The pain of rheumatism might be eased if Anna Mary picked up a paint brush and followed her interest in the art of painting. The rest of her story is history.
America’s best known folk-art painter, pursuing her own course of physical therapy, celebrated in her paintings the virtues of family, church, and community life. We as Americans are richer because of her experience of pain.
Let’s move from America to Germany. In 1871, the ancient city of Troy was unearthed by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. He found the famous city underneath nine other cities superimposed on his excavation site. Skeptics and critics had long thought that the city of Troy was just a name in the magnificent stories of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”. But Schliemann had read and studied Homer’s classic works in the original Greek as both poetry and history, and he set out to validate his ideas by finding the actual ancient city. He hit pay-dirt in August of 1871.
So where did Heinrich Schliemann get the wealth, education, and determination to become a successful archaeologist? These elements of his life grew out of the pain of his youth. His mother died when he was just 9 years old. Added to that pain and grief, his father, a pastor, was discovered in an affair with a servant girl and was dismissed from his position when accused of embezzlement. Because of his personal feelings of shame, young Schliemann dropped out of school.
One way the future archaeologist continued his education was to attend two services every Sunday at the English church in Amsterdam. (How did he get to Holland? In 1841, he booked passage for the New World, hoping to make his fortune there. But his ship sank in a gale off of Holland, and he was one of only a few survivors to make it to shore.) To better grasp English and to improve his accent, he would repeat, under his breath, the entire sermon, word by word. He soon became proficient, not only in English, but also in French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. When he began digging for Troy in Hissarlik, Turkey, he was quite able to communicate in whatever language he needed.
Heinrich Schliemann made our world a more fascinating place because of his experiences of pain and personal loss.
Pain and suffering --- universal, equal-opportunity, 800-pound gorillas that we would all just as soon avoid as often as we can. Whether it is rheumatism like Grandma Moses’ or grief and shame like Heinrich Schliemann’s, none of us prefer discomfort; not one of us would choose suffering if we had a choice in the matter. But sometimes there is no choice, and then we find ourselves in the same kind of predicament that the Thessalonian believers were in. What are we to do? How do we handle affliction? What do we do when the doctor mentions the dread “C” word? How do we deal with emotional and psychological pain? How do we endure when the suffering goes on and on?
Let’s read the six verses of 2 Thess 1:5-10 and let me suggest some paths we might take. Let’s consider the Thessalonians’ predicament, see how they responded, and profit from their experiences.
2 Thess 1:5-10 “This (endurance in suffering, from verse 4) is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed -- for our testimony to you was believed.”
First, let’s look at pain and suffering through a different prism or a special matrix. Instead of seeing affliction (whether it be joblessness, persecution, cancer, or some other horror) as an 800 pound opponent, let’s view it as a mentor, trainer, or teacher.
This is the approach Paul took with these precious believers. He describes their afflictions in verse 5 as an agent of God’s, getting them fit for the kingdom of heaven. Like a personal trainer, or in another context, a drill instructor, this suffering is preparing them to be worthy citizens of God’s kingdom. Only after the recruit has been through all the muscle building physical training and developed emotional and mental stamina is he entitled to wear the uniform.
In the same way a skilled trainer of mountain climbers must build endurance and strength into his students, so these hard times are working to make them suitable candidates for living and serving in God’s realm. Their fitness for God’s kingdom is something God has made a judgment about. His righteous judgment, that they are fit for His kingdom, is indicated by these hard experiences.
Pain is God’s equipper. Suffering is God’s soul builder. Affliction is God at work conforming us to the image of His dear Son. It doesn’t matter that the persecution comes from the enemies of God. It doesn’t matter that sickness comes to frail bodies in a fallen world. What does matter is that God is at work outfitting us for His kingdom!
From this day on, we ought to look at pain in a different way. In our grief, we ought to ask, “Lord, what are you wanting me to learn?” In our praying, we ought to ask that His grace will be found to be sufficient in our time of need. We know from the Word that it IS sufficient. We just need to know it in our experience.
There is a second lesson the Thessalonians shout out to us from our text. It is this: Pain makes us hugely influential. Said another way, pain gives us a platform to powerfully affect the lives of others for good. We see this lesson in verse 10 where Paul states, “…when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed -- for our testimony to you was believed.” Perhaps at first glance it seems hard to make a connection between this verse and the lesson as I’ve stated it.
But look: on the day the Lord Jesus returns, what we know as the Second Coming, the Lord will be both glorified in His saints and marveled at among all the believers. He will be admired by His followers and celebrated by every believer. He will be exalted and glorified by all those who have placed their trust in Him. So, who are these admirers, and who are these marvelers? Who are these exalters and these worshipers?
They are those who have become believers! They are those who have come face to face with the claims of the Gospel, and they have made a decision that has transferred them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. They are those who have been born again and will live for all eternity in the presence and the glory of the power of God. They are those that Paul says ‘believed his testimony to them.’
And remember how his testimony came to them? We have accounts in Acts 17 and I Thessalonians 1 that portray the Gospel coming to these believers in pain, affliction, persecution, and hardship. For example, consider 1 Thess 1:5-8:
“…for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For 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, so that we have no need to say anything.”
If there were ever two people who suffered as Gospel messengers, they were the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul. Out of their pain came the power of the Gospel that infected the lives of thousands, including the Thessalonians. And out of the Thessalonians’ experience of tribulation and suffering, being imitators of Paul and the Lord, came a message so powerful that pagans became believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia.
Pain makes us hugely influential. Pain gives us a platform to powerfully affect the lives of others for good. How you and I deal with our cancer, how we face our joblessness, how we respond to persecution, how we react to the pressures and afflictions of life has a profound impact on the lives of unbelievers who are watching us from nearby.
I talked this week with a gentle lady who knows the Lord and who has faced hatred on her job from some of her peers. She loves them, she prays for them, she refuses to respond in kind to them. Though it may not appear to be true on the surface, it is a fact that she will have influence in their lives in the course of time. It is already evident to these who hate that her response of non-retaliation and kindness is most unusual, like nothing they have ever experienced.
Pain is not only a mentor/teacher, it gives us a powerful platform to influence others for eternity.
There is a final lesson here, Lesson Three, Pain has an end. The bulk of our text, from verse 6 to verse 9, deals with Paul’s understanding of what takes place when the Lord Jesus is given the command to return to earth. At the Lord’s return, there will be relief for all His afflicted followers. When the Lord Jesus returns, pain will cease for those who have trusted Him. There will be no more suffering, no more persecution, no more distress, no more agony, no more anguish, no more confusion, no more uncertainty.
Paul’s primary consolation to these being afflicted, and to us who are suffering, is that a day is coming when relief will abound. Part of that relief is the assurance that persecutors will be given a dose of their own medicine. God will repay affliction to those who afflict; God will deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who have not obeyed the Gospel. Those who have been cruel toward the followers of Christ will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and away from the glory of His power.
Perhaps someone may ask, “Is it OK for me as a follower of Christ to want to see justice dispensed upon the wicked?” That doesn’t sound very forgiving or turn-the-other-cheek, does it? The Scriptures say it is OK to want to see justice done. Look what saints in heaven say in Revelation 6:9-10. These have come out of the persecutions of the great tribulation.
“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Friends, the day is coming when pain will be no more. There will be relief, there will be release. What a day that will be for us who have a personal relationship with the Lord of Glory!
Conclusion: So is it now clear how we ought to look at our experiences of pain? Pain is not an enemy to be feared, it is a teacher/mentor to be listened to. Pain is not something to be simply endured, it is a platform from which we exert great influence upon others, especially those who do not yet know Christ. Pain is not a superior force that runs freely throughout life, it has an end from which it can no longer have any impact upon us.
Well did the artist sing at the Gaither Homecoming in Indianapolis, “…there is too much to gain to lose.” When we don’t react to pain as God wants us to, we lose. What a shame when there is so much to gain!!! What a blessing God has in store for us through the difficulties of life when our response is one of trust in Him.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

What is the by-product of pressure in your life?

2008-06-05T16:48:00.001-04:00

II Thessalonians 1

Introduction: I was reading this week part of the life story of Mike Schmidt. If you are not a baseball fan, you may not know of him. Mike played 18 years for the Philadelphia Phillies, and out of that career he would win 10 Gold Gloves as a third baseman, he would be selected 3 times by the National League as its Most Valuable Player, he would win a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, and he would be chosen for the starting position at third base on baseball’s All-Century team. During his career, Schmidt would lead the National League a record 8 times in home runs, finishing with a total of 548!
It might interest you to know that Mike Schmidt, known for a strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, had a rocky start to his baseball calling. In his rookie year of 1973, he appeared to be headed into the tank. His batting average was just .196 and he struck out 136 times in 367 at-bats. After that initial season, he went to Puerto Rico to play in the winter leagues, enduring rattletrap old buses, sub-standard hotels, and dirty, drab ballparks. Even with all that, his spring training in 1974 was still nothing to write home about.
The Phillies manager, Danny Ozark, intended to send Schmidt down to the minor leagues before the regular season opened. With opening day a month away, he asked for, and was granted, that month to show dramatic improvement in his playing ability. He kept practicing, kept looking for a way to relax and allow his natural ability to flow through, and kept experimenting with his swing. On opening day, he hit a game-winning home run and never looked back. 1974 would be the first year Mike Schmidt would lead the National League in home runs.
What might we say was the by-product of pressure in this young believer’s ballplaying life?
Mary Lou Retton’s accomplishments are probably known to all of us. Her picture has graced many of the Wheaties boxes I’ve opened for breakfasts over the years. As a gymnast, she won an Olympic Gold Metal in 1984 in Los Angeles, the first American woman to ever do that. What many of us may have forgotten about Mary Lou is that just six weeks before those ’84 Olympics, she injured her knee. She was told that she would need surgery and a minimum of 3 months recovery and rehabilitation before she could hope to compete again. She went ahead with the surgery but refused to consider taking 3 months for recovery.
Mary Lou, 16 years old, got out of bed the day after her operation, and two days later she began jogging. The rest of the story is Olympic history.
In her new book coming out this month, she writes: “You can always avoid taking risks and meeting new challenges. Avoiding them is, without question, the easy way out. But it’s only by taking those risks and meeting those challenges head-on that you can ever break out of your personal comfort zone and reach new levels of… personal satisfaction. In sports terminology, it’s called raising the level of your game, In life, it’s called growing.”
What might we say was the by-product of pressure in this young gymnast’s life?
Now I know, friends, that none of us are baseball stars or world class gymnasts, BUT we are living life that does not discriminate between the big people and the little people. What Miss Retton and Mr. Schmidt experience on their level is not intrinsically different from what all the rest of us face in life where we are.
When we come to the book of 2 Thessalonians, we meet a group of young believers who find themselves in the vise of adversity. Their adversity is squeezing them in ways they’d just as soon not experience. Their hardship is a clamp that is applying painful pressure in ways they would not choose if they had a choice in the matter. Their afflictions are a vise that is putting them under tension and burdens that are extremely uncomfortable.
Perhaps that is where we find ourselves today. Certainly Teresa Smith and her family would rather not be battling cancer. Certainly the situation I have to tell you about his evening is one none of us would want to be experiencing. There are marital situations and parental challenges some of us are facing that we could wish would just go away.
For all of us experiencing life like this just now, the Scriptures offer us hope and a light for our path and the prospect of resolution and glory. As we begin our study in this little book of just 47 verses, I’d like you to imagine what would be the difference in outcomes if we were to crush a marble and a grape. When a marble is crushed, the result is shards and splinters of glass that would be dangerous to fingers and feet. The broken glass would be fit only for the trash can. On the other hand, when a grape is crushed, the result is both juice for drinking and pulp for making jam.
Pressure produces different outcomes, doesn’t it. Depending on the nature of the character of the object being squeezed, we might see something beneficial from pressure or we might see disintegration and destruction.
The character of the Thessalonians is on trial as Paul writes this short book. These young believers are feeling some very real pressure, and as we read, we might wonder what the outcomes will look like: will they be like juice and jelly or will they be like splinters and shards?
Let’s consider this morning the situation of these Thessalonian believers; let’s see what behaviors they exhibit in that situation, and let’s consider how Paul encourages them. Then let’s draw some lessons we can take home with us.
Our text this morning is the first four verses of chapter one. 2 Thess 1:1-4 “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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; 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.”
Now, what does the text tell us of the Thessalonians’ situation? We see a couple of clues: First, they are “the church of the Thessalonians in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Like we saw in our study of I Thessalonians, these are believers who live in two worlds. It is clear that they live in Thessalonica. This was a chief city of Macedonia, a free city in the Roman Empire. Its main street, according to William Barclay, “was part of the very road which linked Rome with the East. East and West converged on Thessalonica; it was said to be ‘in the lap of the Roman Empire’.
Trade poured into her from East and West, so that it was said, ‘So long as nature does not change, Thessalonica will remain wealthy and prosperous.’” So the Thessalonians were citizens with feet firmly planted in this world. But it is also clear that these folks live in the kingdom of God. Our text tells us they are ‘in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ’. The Thessalonians were part of our physical world and they were a part of the spiritual world known as the kingdom of God.
What we can conclude is that the Thessalonians lived in the presence of God and they lived in the lap of the Roman Empire. What becomes patently clear from these introductory verses regarding their situation is that living in this world, in the presence of God, did not keep them from experiencing the vise of adversity. To be the church of Christ, walking in His presence, did not keep them from the pressure-producing clamps of hardship. Their situation is then, secondly, one of pain. Verse four has Paul saying, “…so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure…”
Now we can understand some of the nature of these persecutions and tribulations from comparing this second letter of Paul’s with his first one. In I Thessalonians 5:2-6, Paul had written, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
Now here in II Thessalonians, 2:1-2, Paul writes, “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. Let no one in any way deceive you…”
Some of the afflictions these believers are suffering are mental! Someone has communicated to them that the day of the Lord has already past and they have been left behind. This false report has brought their spirits to the edge of a precipice. Paul hints that they are on the verge of losing their composure and becoming disturbed. They are suffering emotionally, in this case, a form of persecution and tribulation by means of untrue reports.
Now it’s important to note the behavior of these new believers up to this point. Paul makes reference to three good things that have marked this assembly of Christ’s.
First, they trusted God more. We see that in verse three where their faith is greatly enlarged. In the process of coming to accept the Savior, they have come into persecution and tribulation, and those external pressures have moved them to trust God more and more.
Secondly, they have grown more deeply in love with one another. Again, verse three states that their love for each other has grown ever greater. The pressures of adversity have not shattered them or divided them; on the contrary, they have been squeezed more closely together, and for them, that’s fine.
And thirdly, this vise of hardship has enabled them to stand steadfastly together. In verse four, Paul makes reference to their perseverance seen in the midst of all their persecutions and afflictions which they are enduring. ‘Perseverance’ is a word that means to bear up under a heavy load; it portrays one taking on a heavy pack and remaining standing. This church family has banded together under the burden of trials and they are standing fast.
Chuck Swindoll, the former Marine, describes these saints in this way: “Like soldiers on a long march, the Thessalonians were enduring the windswept rain of persecution and sloshing through the mud of affliction. But these were no ordinary soldiers. Up till now, they had been neither fainting in their tracks nor faltering along the roadside; these soldiers had been singing in step – songs of camaraderie and triumph, songs of love and faith.” (Steadfast Christianity )
If we were to assign an image to these believers and their character, we would do better with the grape than we would with the marble. Though they are on the edge of what they feel they can bear, what is oozing out of them in this vise of adversity is not brittle sharpness nor fragile tempers, but rather the fruit of faith, love, and steadfastness.
What we also see, lastly, in this introduction is Paul’s encouragement to them. He affirms them in two ways: (1) He reminds them that he always thanks God for them, verse 3. And (2) he speaks proudly of them among the churches, verse 4. I don’t know of anything more encouraging to anyone than for these two things to be said of him/her. To know that someone is grateful to God for you, for your life, for your testimony, for your ministry, for your faith, for your love, for your steadfastness… that is an awesome affirmation.
And to know that your traveling friend speaks proudly of you everywhere he goes, that he sings your praises to others, that he trumpets your strengths, that he honors you with praise before others, that he extols your virtues in the presence of other people…. these things are impressive affirmations.
You know, folks can put up with a great deal of unpleasantness if they have someone in their camp singing their praises and thanking God for them. Affirmation of this nature is better than any medicine, it is finer than any shield or flack jacket, and it is better than any other form of protection or defense.
That brings us to several lessons we can take with us today.
Lesson One, God allows confusion in life and sometimes chooses to remain silent in it. God knows these Thessalonians are new believers. He knows they have been told lies about the day of the Lord. He knows they have been placed in the vise of adversity by their enemies and may be reaching the edge of their ability to endure. He knows all this and He doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
So it very well may be with you and me… when we find ourselves in the C-clamp of hardship, when we feel we are being squeezed beyond measure, let’s not be surprised if God is quiet as a little church mouse! This has been the testimony of saints throughout the ages, from Joseph in Potiphar’s prison to John on the isle of Patmos. The great majority of the Psalms are David’s questions: Where are you, God? Why don’t you answer me, Lord? God, can’t you see my distress? Why don’t You respond?
There is great spiritual benefit to our being confused and not having an immediate way out of it.
Lesson Two, Having a relationship with God guarantees persecutions and afflictions. Paul had already been through many of the things these Thessalonians were beginning to experience. If the world hated the Master, it will hate the followers of the Master. If the Lord Jesus learned by the things He suffered, suffering will be our teacher as well.
I am not surprised that our two college students, going to secular universities, have faced opposition and ridicule. I’m not surprised when Kate tells us of friends writing Bible verses on notepads on their dorm-room doors and later seeing them defaced.
Lesson Three, Faith, love, and endurance grow best in the soil of trials. Faith is never required more than when we are being stretched. We hate being stretched! Our son Toby is finishing his college career, graduating next month from Purdue. He is also finishing his work as a counselor, overseeing Tarkington Hall’s first, northeast. As many of his immature residents also near the end of a school year, they are pressing the boundaries of the rules of dorm life. It’s been a huge headache for Toby; in the course of assessing fines, issuing warnings, and facing retaliation, he’s learning a lot of leadership lessons that will be helpful later in the airline world, dealing with immature staff, handling cranky passengers, etc., etc.
He would have preferred a different experience as he wraps up this final semester, but how do we learn to trust God more and more if we are not pushed farther and farther? Nothing presses us more toward selflessness and love for others than the pain of adversity. The stamina to stand comes from being burdened more and more. As much as we want a life of comfort and comfort zones, as much as we shy away from risks and danger, we need these elements in order to grow.
Lesson Four, Affirmation is the best fortifier of afflicted brethren. These Thessalonian believers were truly blessed to have an experienced apostle beating the drums of their virtues. It is so easy in the valley to forget what the peaks look like! We so often need someone else to remind us of what is important, of what lengths we have already come, of what victories we’ve already tasted. Our forgetters are too efficient. Affirmation stokes the fires of our endurance.
(Conclusion) So a final question: Does pressure make us sharp and cutting or more faithful and loving? Why fume when nothing goes right tomorrow? Even if God chooses to be silent, that cannot take away from the truth we know that He is present with us and we are present in Him. With what creative ways will we start affirming our brothers and sisters in Christ? How long will it be before we tell someone we thank God for them? When shall we start speaking proudly of our brothers and sisters in Christ to others?

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

What a difference a day makes

2008-06-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

Luke 19

Introduction: I would invite you this morning to think back with me to a day that changed your life. There was something about that day that moved you into a brand new direction, and as you look back, you see that that day was a turning point in your life for one reason or another. While you are thinking, let me tell you about a couple of individuals that I read about this past week that had very significant days that charted the whole course of the rest of their lives.
We have all heard the name, Helen Keller. At 19 months of age she fell ill with a high fever. When the fever passed, it took with it both her hearing and her sight. Unable to communicate in a world that only confused her now, she became known for violent rages. She would kick, bite, and pinch family members and had a track record of breaking things. Family friends encouraged her parents to put her in an insane asylum where she might be controlled.
Helen’s parents refused that option and began looking for a tutor. It was a long search; but by the time Helen Keller was 7, they had found the perfect candidate. Annie Sullivan was a partly blind, 24 year old teacher, and she began to teach Helen a touch-based version of American Sign Language so that Keller could begin to communicate. By spelling out words in the palm of Helen’s hand, Annie taught her how to identify objects, spell, read, and most importantly, how to communicate with other people. There are many interesting facts from Helen Keller’s life that we could share this morning, but one of the most significant ones is that she would graduate cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904.
Helen Keller would later say, “The day Annie Sullivan arrived in our home was the most important day of my life.” What a difference a day can make in the course of life!
William Allen is a name few of us would recognize, but he became the president of the Boeing Company on September 1, 1945. That would seem to be a great day for celebration! But just two days before that, the U.S. government canceled half of its remaining orders with Boeing for B-29 bombers. The next day it canceled pretty much everything else, including all its orders for the famous B-17. If we had been William Allen, I wonder what we might have been thinking as we awakened on the morning of our first day as the new leader of the Boeing Company? The one thing Mr. Allen didn’t do was panic. He set in motion plans for the building of a commercial airliner that would become known as the Stratocruiser, a civilian aircraft built on the platform of the B-29.
In William Allen’s first year as the president of Boeing, the company had revenues of $13,000,000. When he retired in 1968, revenues that year were $3.3 billion. Surely September 1, 1945, was a life changing day for Mr. William Allen!
What a difference a day can make in the life of an individual! No wonder the Psalmist would write: “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24) And again in another place, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Ps. 139:16)
Well, this day on the church calendar is Palm Sunday. This is always the Sunday that just precedes Easter. And I wonder what a difference this day may make in our lives? Let’s go back and look at the first Palm Sunday and see what a day it might have been. What that day had the potential to mean back then, Palm Sunday still has the potential to mean today!
Interested in exchanging the grumpies for joy and joyful praise to God? The first Palm Sunday was a day of joy and joyful praise. Interested in trading inner turmoil for peace? The first Palm Sunday offered those around Jesus complete and perfect peace. Interested in replacing disillusionment and disappointment with hope? Above all things, that first Palm Sunday suggested that tomorrow could be better!
Follow along with me in a text from the Gospel of Luke, Luke 19:28-44. Keep an eye out for these things I’ve been mentioning: joy, peace, and hope.
Luke 19:28-44 -- “After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them.
As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road.
As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’
When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’”
The key to our passage today, on this Palm Sunday, is the portion of this text covered by verses 41 and 42. “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, (42) saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.’”
That little phrase, ‘in this day’, or ‘on this day’, is a crucial phrase. That day, the day that the Lord Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, is actually a Monday, Monday, March 30, 33 A.D.
How do we know that this day is this date and why is it important? Let’s go back into one of the Old Testament prophecies found in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 9, verses 20-25a, we find a clue that gives us some understanding of what Jesus was saying.
Dan 9:20-25 “Now while I (Daniel) was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said,
‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.’”
Now these next two verses are key, verses 24 and 25. It is from understanding their meaning that we define the date of Monday, March 30, 33 A.D. We can know the very date that Jesus rode into Jerusalem from understanding the time-table that Daniel is given here by the angel Gabriel.
(Daniel 9:24-25) “‘Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.’”
Now there are 70 weeks or, literally, 70 sevens in verse 24. There are 69 weeks or 69 sevens in verse 25 – 7 sevens and 62 sevens. This morning we are primarily concerned with the first 69 sevens referenced in verse 25. These 69 sevens are a time frame with a definite beginning and a definite ending.
The beginning, according to our text, is a date on which a decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The ending is a date on which the Anointed One, the ruler, comes.
See again how verse 25 states it? “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…”
So, if we could know the beginning date, we could figure out the ending date. And we do know the beginning date. It is March 5, 444 B.C. This is the date that Nehemiah went in to see the King and Queen and got permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:5) Now if we use the King’s decree date, March 5, 444 B.C., and we add 69 sevens worth of years… Daniel’s 7 sevens and his 62 sevens, totaling 483 years…
And if we convert those 483 years into days… understanding that a prophetic year had 360 days in it (as opposed to a solar/calendar year which has 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.9 seconds in it), we come to 173,880 days. If we add those days through the centuries to March 5, 444 B.C., we arrive at March 30, 33 A.D. That was the very day the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, all the while being hailed as the king.
Daniel 9:26 says, “After the 62 sevens, the Anointed One, the Messiah, will be cut off and will have nothing.” In fact, 4 days after riding into Jerusalem, the King, the Lord Jesus, was “cut off”, that is, crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D.
(My source for all these calculations is the Ph.D. dissertation of Dr. Harold Hoehner, done at Cambridge University, published the year he graduated as “Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ”.)
The point I want us to understand this morning is that the Lord Jesus arrived in Jerusalem right-on-time! We know from Luke’s Gospel that He was headed that way. Luke 9:51 -- “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem…”
Luke 13:33 – “Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.”
Luke 18:31 – “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.’”
Luke 19:11 – “While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.”
Luke 19:41 -- “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it…”
And we know from Daniel’s prophecy and from history’s records that He was not one day early, nor one day late. And when He spoke through His tears, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace…”, He had in mind that very day!
It is not hard to understand what Palm Sunday is all about. Palm Sunday is God bringing His plan for all the ages to completion right on time according to His own very accurate timetable – right to the very day – just as Gabriel had said to Daniel hundreds of years before!
So, let’s ask the question, “What does all this mean to me?” What can we take away from here today from the things we’ve learned? A number of lessons come to mind…
One, if God is a part of our lives, every day is full of meaning! The inventor, Arnold Beckman, turned 100 this past Monday. Perhaps his most famous invention was the pH meter. He invented it in 1934 because a friend of his, a research chemist, needed to know how to measure acidity in lemon juice. That invention earned him a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1987. Mr. Beckman’s philosophy: “I tried to make the most I could of each day.”
If he lived life this way, why wouldn’t we -- who have a relationship with the God of Heaven? Every day is just one slice of His eternal plan that will come to pass!
Remember how Paul said it to the Ephesians? Eph 1:10-12, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”
Eph 2:4-7 “But God… raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Eph 3:10-11 “(His) intent (was) that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord…”
So, how is it we get grumpy and discouraged in the face of this kind of truth? Palm Sunday is a day of joy! When the apostle John wrote about this day, he included palm branches in his account. In fact, he is the only gospel writer who includes the palm branches. (12:13) John’s gospel is the gospel of symbols (bread, water, shepherd, sheepgate, light, etc.). The palm branch was always a symbol of joy. Jericho was the city of palms. It was the first city captured in the promised land. It was the first fruit of that campaign. It’s capture was an occasion for great joy.
When King David’s daughter was born, he named her “Tamar”, the Hebrew word for palm, because of his great joy.
In Revelation 7, the great multitude that surrounds the throne of God is made up on people wearing white robes and holding palm branches, and they are full of great joy.
If God is part of our lives, then everyday has meaning – no matter what happens – and we can rejoice in what He is accomplishing.
Lesson Two, If God is not part of our lives, then this day is a day of opportunity for peace, peace between God and us.
The Lord Jesus had said, “If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace…”
He was saying to the people of Jerusalem that He, the King, had come, and they did not know it. Because they didn’t know it, He would be crucified, and Jerusalem would be destroyed, which in fact happened in 70 A.D. Their opportunity for peace was lost.
Today, this day, would be a good day to give one’s life and one’s heart to the Lord Jesus. His death was for your sin; He invites you to make Him part of your life before that day of destruction and judgment comes.
Our car has an overhead console that digitally displays all kinds of information. It tells us which direction we are going, how many miles we can still drive before our fuel is gone, and a host of other things. This past Friday we noticed a little word, ‘cal’, had appeared on that display. We looked in the owner’s manual and were told to drive the car in three 360* circles to recalibrate the car’s compass. So Saturday afternoon that’s just what we did. At the very point where we began our first circle, when we had completed three, the little word ‘cal’ disappeared! Amazing! My point is this: We all are made for a relationship with God. The Gospel defines the way to “calibrate” our lives to His standards, to a relationship with Him, to life with Him. (1) If we recognize our sin, if (2) we acknowledge His sacrifice for us, and if (3) we accept His death for us by way of a conscious decision, then we are saved. Then we enter into a relationship of peace.
Palm Sunday is a day of opportunity for peace. Wouldn’t you like to leave your turmoil here today and leave this place at peace, rejoicing? It is simply a matter of making a decision…
Lesson Three, The King is coming – again, and we dare not lose sight of that hope! Palm Sunday reminds us of God’s coming. He came into Jerusalem for the first time that day as the king, the Messiah, and the disciples rejoiced “that the King had come in the name of the Lord.” If they hadn’t been rejoicing, the stones themselves would have burst into praise.
Every new day is a day to anticipate His coming again. Every day is a day of hope… we are being conformed to the image of His Son… He is moving everything forward according to His plan… forces of evil will not prevail… He always provides a way of escape… His mercies are new every morning.. Great is His faithfulness. Let’s not be unprepared the day He returns. Let’s get up every morning with that thought on our minds, “Could this be the day?” And if it is, how should I then be living? What would I want Him to find me doing?
(Conclusion) So, what a difference a day can make! The King arrived in town on March 30, 33 A.D. Everything could have been different. All the city could have rejoiced. Jerusalem would not have been destroyed a few years later. Hope could have burned brightly. Peace could have been everyone’s experience.
Could have been…
Should have been…
Might have been…
Since none of us knows what any particular day holds, shouldn’t we be at peace with God? Shouldn’t we plan to rejoice every morning? Shouldn’t we be full of hope? Palm Sunday says we should! What a difference a day can make…

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Awaiting Easter

2008-06-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

Luke 19

Introduction: Palm Sunday is the day in our church calendar that marks the beginning of the Passion Week of Christ. Why, you may ask, is it called ‘Passion Week?’ Certainly the Lord Jesus was not involved with lust or evil desire in the way the word ‘passion’ is most commonly used in the Scriptures and in our vocabulary.
The expression ‘Passion Week’ is a reference to Christ’s suffering during the week that led up to His crucifixion and resurrection. If we were reading from the Authorized Version of the Bible this morning, we would find the word ‘passion’ in Acts 1:3 where Luke is writing about the Lord Jesus presenting Himself alive after His ‘passion’, i.e., after His suffering and death on the cross. I don’t suppose any of us use the word passion for suffering today, but in days of old, that was how it was used. And we don’t want to be ignorant of our church history and traditions, do we? Of course not! 
So, Palm Sunday is the beginning of the week that culminates in the Lord Jesus’ death on the cross and His placement in the tomb. As a symbol, the ‘palm’ of Palm Sunday certainly gave no hints to what the week would hold for our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In fact, the ‘palm’ as a symbol stands in stark contrast to three other symbols that figure prominently in the unfolding of this momentous week.
In our time together in the Word this morning, I want us to look at these four symbols and see how they capture perfectly for us the importance of this day and the Sunday that follows, Easter.
For some days are more important than others, aren’t they. And if our days could be filled with joy and peace and hope, we would mark them out in our memories as important days, days to be remembered, days to be savored, days to be reported to our friends and shared with our loved ones. If our days were marked by more confidence and less depression, more patience and less anger, more mercy and less judgement, more forgiveness and less revenge, more sensitivity toward others and less focus upon ourselves, more trust in God and less frustration with the way things turn out… we’d have quite a story to tell, wouldn’t we?
Palm Sunday and the Passion Week that follows are marked by four symbols that point us toward the things that make for important days, for memorable days, for life changing days, and I invite you to join me this morning toward those ends.
The first of our four symbols is the palm. We find John making reference to it in his Gospel account of the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. John 12:12-16 reads like this:
“On the next day (now five days before the Passover, according to John 12:1) the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.’
Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY'S COLT.’ These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” (John 12:12-16)
The palm, as a symbol in the Scriptures, always represented joy. It was a symbol of gladness and exultation. The Old Testament city of Jericho was known as the City of Palms. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt and finished their excursion in the terrible wilderness, the first city they came to in the Promised Land was the city of Jericho. It was the first city they captured and always represented the first fruits of God’s gift to them of a marvelous homeland. When it was captured, there was great joy in the nation!
When King David’s daughter was born, he was so filled with joy he named her ‘Tamar’, the Hebrew word for palm. In Revelation 7:9, the great multitude that surrounds the throne of God is made up of people wearing white robes and holding palm branches, and the text tells us they are full of great joy. Knowing what the palm stands for, we are not surprised they are holding palm branches.
So on the day that King Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people rejoice in His arrival with palm branches. This is a great day! This is a marvelous day. This is a day to commemorate and celebrate!
We may want to ask, “So what was the big deal?” Knowing our Bibles as we do, we know that this was the very day that the prophet Daniel had predicted that the Lord would ride His donkey into the city of Jerusalem.
Johnny Hart, in his comic strip “B.C.”, communicated this truth a year or two ago in this way. (See power point slides)
Luke, in his Gospel, had said, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!” (Luke 19:41-42) That little phrase, ‘in this day’, or ‘on this day’, is a crucial phrase. That day, the day that the Lord Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, is actually a Monday, Monday, March 30, 33 A.D.
How do we know that this day is this date and why is it important? If we go back to Johnny Hart’s Daniel, Daniel 9, we find a clue that gives us some understanding of what Jesus was saying.
Dan 9:20-25 “Now while I (Daniel) was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said,
‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.’”
Now these next two verses are key, verses 24 and 25. It is from understanding their meaning that we define the date of Monday, March 30, 33 A.D. We can know the very date that Jesus rode into Jerusalem from understanding the time-table that Daniel is given here by the angel Gabriel.
(Daniel 9:24-25) “‘Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.’”
Now there are 70 weeks or, literally, 70 sevens in verse 24. There are 69 weeks or 69 sevens in verse 25 – 7 sevens and 62 sevens. This morning we are primarily concerned with the first 69 sevens referenced in verse 25. These 69 sevens are a time frame with a definite beginning and a definite ending.
The beginning, according to our text, is a date on which a decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The ending is a date on which the Anointed One, the ruler, comes.
See again how verse 25 states it? “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…”
So, if we could know the beginning date, we could figure out the ending date. And we do know the beginning date. It is March 5, 444 B.C. This is the date that Nehemiah went in to see the King and Queen and got permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:5) Now if we use the King’s decree date, March 5, 444 B.C., and we add 69 sevens worth of years… Daniel’s 7 sevens and his 62 sevens, totaling 483 years…
And if we convert those 483 years into days… understanding that a prophetic year had 360 days in it, we come to 173,880 days. If we add those days through the centuries to March 5, 444 B.C., we arrive at March 30, 33 A.D. That was the very day the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, all the while being hailed as the king.
Daniel 9:26 says, “After the 62 sevens, the Anointed One, the Messiah, will be cut off and will have nothing.” In fact, 4 days after riding into Jerusalem, the King, the Lord Jesus, was “cut off”, that is, crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D.
(My source for all these calculations is the Ph.D. dissertation of Dr. Harold Hoehner, done at Cambridge University, published the year he graduated as “Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ”.) The point I want us to understand this morning is that the Lord Jesus arrived in Jerusalem right-on-time! And what a day that very day was!! No wonder there was great joy in the city!
So the symbol of the palm branches conveyed the joy of God bringing His plan for all the ages to completion right on time, according to His own very accurate time-table, right to the very day, just as the angel Gabriel had said to Daniel hundreds of years before.
What all this means to us on this Palm Sunday is that if God is a part of our lives, every day is full of meaning! Every day is just one slice of God’s eternal plan that will come to pass. I’ve told you about Mr. Arnold Beckman, the inventor of the pH meter. A research chemist friend of his needed to know how to measure acidity in lemon juice. Arnold Beckman was inducted into the Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 1987 for this meter. His philosophy: “I tried to make the most I could of each day.”
If Mr. Beckman thought each day was a day of opportunity, of importance, then surely we know who God should too! If God is a part of our lives, then each day has meaning – no matter what happens – and we can rejoice in the knowledge that He is accomplishing His purposes, for His glory, for all eternity! Well did the psalmist write, “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24)
Helen Keller rejoiced with great joy on the day that Annie Sullivan arrived in her home to be her tutor. At 19 months of age Keller fell ill with a high fever. When the fever passed, it took with it both her hearing and her sight. Unable to communicate in a world that only confused her now, she became known for violent rages. She would kick, bite, and pinch family members and had a track record of breaking things. Family friends encouraged her parents to put her in an insane asylum where she might be controlled.
Helen’s parents refused that option and began looking for a tutor. It was a long search; but by the time Helen Keller was 7, they had found the perfect candidate. Annie Sullivan was a partly blind, 24 year old teacher, and she began to teach Helen a touch-based version of American Sign Language so that Keller could begin to communicate. By spelling out words in the palm of Helen’s hand, Annie taught her how to identify objects, spell, read, and most importantly, how to communicate with other people. There are many interesting facts from Helen Keller’s life that we could share this morning, but one of the most significant ones is that she would graduate cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904.
Helen Keller would later say, “The day Annie Sullivan arrived in our home was the most important day of my life.” Surely a day of rejoicing, especially in hindsight!
The special nature of Palm Sunday helps us understand how important every day is in the grand purposes of God. Rejoice!
The second symbol of Passion Week is a cup. For after the glory and the joy of Palm Sunday, we next find the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane talking with His heavenly Father about a cup. The cup will be a symbol of suffering. Luke mentions the cup in 22:39-44. “And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
Now this experience in the garden takes place on Thursday after the triumphal entry on Monday. Monday had been a pivotal day in history; Thursday would be a day in the valley. For Biblical writers, what was significant about the cup was its contents. In many cases, the cup’s contents were a blessing. From the cup would come life-sustaining liquid; from it would come a thirst quencher; a shared cup was a sign of fellowship. Do you remember when the prophet Nathan told King David about his sin with Bathsheba? Part of the story Nathan told to make his point concerned a poor man who loved his little lamb so much the lamb drank from the man’s cup (2 Samuel 12)!
On the other hand, often the cup’s contents were a curse. In this case, the liquid in the cup induced a drunkened stupor and sometimes the cup contained the poison of death. All of us are probably familiar with the phrase, ‘the cup of God’s wrath.’ This cup is a symbol of God’s judgement upon sinners; the cup is handed to the guilty and he is made to drink. A classic example is found in Jeremiah 25.
In the case of the cup in the garden of Gethsemane, the cup the Lord Jesus didn’t want to drink, what was represented was the anguish of bearing the sin of the world, the experience of suffering the wrath of God for satisfying the justice of God. Drinking from this cup would be a horrible experience! In fact, the Expositor’s New Testament describes Jesus in the garden in this way: “He fell again and again against the ground, staggering, stumbling and falling.”
But out of the experience of this cup would come the cup of the New Covenant. The contents of this cup would be forgiveness, fellowship with God, a forever in eternity, adequacy for all of life, confidence, and a thousand other blessings for those who would believe. So, the cup of Passion Week was a cup of grief and suffering, the likes of which has never been fully comprehended.
How is it that we deal so lightly with sin in our hearts in light of the symbolism of this garden cup? How is it that we live so poorly, condemned by guilt, constrained by regret, and bound by memories of past failures when Christ drank from the cup and set us free? Some of us today need to make a decision of faith because of the healing that is available because the Lord Jesus downed the contents of a most bitter cup.
The third symbol of Passion Week is a crown, a crown of thorns. Now, it’s Friday. Matthew, in his account of the events of this week, wrote (Mt. 27:27-31), “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head (where the crown of thorns is resting). After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.”
The crown normally depicted a state of honor or blessing. We’ve all seen a homecoming queen crowned, and we know what an honor that coronation is. And the crown in the Scriptures is generally a reference to a representative of God who rules. But this crown is one of thorns. The thorn in the Bible always represents something negative. The thorn always represents something worthless or useless, something of punishment, torture, or suffering. The Proverbs tell us that “the way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.” (15:19) Proverbs 26:9 says, “Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.”
The most famous thorn in the Bible was probably Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ which caused him great torment and pain. So when we put the symbols of crowns and thorns together, we get the image of a worthless, suffering king. That is surely what the soldiers thought of Jesus as they mocked, beat, and ridiculed Him.
So, in His Passion Week, the Lord Jesus bore the brunt of ridicule and pain from the very ones He came to save! To drink the cup of God’s wrath would be terrible; to be innocent and misunderstood by the ones you came to save would be almost unbearable! The cup and the crown of thorns amounted to double punishment.
Because the Lord Jesus knew the pain of a crown of thorns, He can feel the pain of the thorns in my life. He knows about rejection. He has experience with betrayal and abandonment. He can identify with the suffering we are dealing with. In His own special way, He is weaving all that together into a tapestry of glory that He will delight to share with you on that appointed day.
Later on Friday, the Lord Jesus experienced the fourth symbol of this Week, the cross. Again, it is Matthew who writes, “As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.”
The cross was of course a symbol of death. Death by a cross was so vile it was forbidden to be used on Roman citizens, no matter what their crimes may have been. The cross for Jesus was a symbol of anguish and abandonment at His death. It was the capstone of His suffering. The cup had been the prospect of facing God’s wrath for you and me. The crown of thorns was a commentary of rejection. But the cross was both the wrath of God and rejection by God all bound up in one sad, painful, and terrible experience. The cross would be the instrument of Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Because of the cross, you and I win, even when it looks like we lost! Every time we die, we live. Every time we lose, we win. Every time we act unselfishly, we gain. Every time we share, we benefit. Every time we give, we get. When we love, we are blessed. The devil looked at the cross and thought he had won. In reality, he had only sealed his doom. The angels had a hard time with the death of the Son of God. Little did they know that his death would mean life for millions.
The Passion Week of the Lord Jesus, His week of suffering, began with joy branches from a palm tree and ended with two other branches formed as a cross. In between came a tough cup and painful thorns. Because of Palm Sunday, we can go from this place with a new sense of freedom. God gives real meaning to every day! We are a part of His plans for all eternity. Our sins have been cleansed. Christ drank the cup!
Because of Palm Sunday, we can go from this place with a new sense of purpose. It is God Who oversees every dimension of our lives, especially the parts inflicted and infected by thorns.
Because of Palm Sunday, we can go from this place with a new sense of life. Palm Sunday ushered in a week of suffering that climaxed in a cross, the same kind of cross that the Lord Jesus asks us to pick up and carry every day, so that we might die to ourselves and then really live.
Freedom and joy, purpose and life… gifts from God for every day, clearly seen in the symbols of Passion Week. Don’t go from this place without making a decision. You are here by divine appointment.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Fragrant oil, palm branches, and grain seed

2008-06-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

John 12

Introduction: Ruth Holladay is a column writer for the Indianapolis Star, and on March 19 of this past week she wrote under the title, “Put the Angst on Ice and Pass the Popcorn.” Here is part of what she wrote: “…what is this ominous sense of doom that looms like a big, fat, funnel cloud on our humble, homespun Hoosier horizon?
I know. It’s the knowledge that we are mediocre (meaning) ordinary, so-so, and just plain crummy to the point of lousy. And yepper, it’s true, we are mediocre, although it hurts…to say it. But consider the evidence.
Out of 50 states, Indiana – sweet little Indiana! – waddles in at No.13 in obesity, blows rings around the competition at No.8 for smoking, and is first in per capita income decline. The latter means we’ve fallen like a chuck of limestone on hard times, plummeting from the top third in earnings to the bottom third in the past 35 years.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re really dumb, too; 41st in SAT scores, 44th in the number of college graduates, and 46th in enrollment in two-year colleges. …Which brings us to business. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce publishes an Economic Vision report card giving us the following grades: D in entrepreneurship, F in initial public offerings, and F in small business employment.
Had enough?
Just one more statistic, and don’t be shy. Marion County is No.2 in the nation in syphilis cases. So there it is folks: we are poor, stupid, and sexually diseased.
(All) these dark thoughts have invaded my head in light of the General Assembly’s recent failure to thrive. After 10 weeks in session, we have no balanced budget, no property tax relief, no business incentives, and no future for public education.”
With her title, “Put the Angst on Ice and Pass the Popcorn,” we know Ms. Holladay plans to finish on a higher note. And she does. It turns out we Hoosiers are No.2 in popcorn production, No.2 in tomato processing (Yea, salsa!), No.1 in ducks, No.5 in hogs, and No.5 in chickens (excluding broilers). We are first in “egg-type chicks hatched” and No.2 in ice cream production. And finally, “we’re in the top 10 for tornadoes.”
(If I could add a few other high notes, Indiana, sweet little Indiana, has been a great place for us to raise our two children. Our son has been able to follow his dream of flying by graduating from Purdue, one of the great aviation schools in all of America. Being a resident of the state made it easier for him to be accepted. And who knocks off Duke University in college basketball’s semifinal round of the NCAA South Regional but sweet little IU?! (Art, I have the front page of the Star from Friday – UPSET – if you want to take a picture of it.) And who hasn’t admired Indiana Jones and envied his life of adventure?
And Suzie’s family from Texas, who have visited us often, has said repeatedly, “The folks here are warmer and friendlier than they are where we live.”)
And there is more, but you are already asking, “What does this have to do with Palm Sunday?” What does Hoosier angst have to do with the Sunday we celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem?
Good question. And here’s the answer: Life has a way of being pretty messy. Poverty, ignorance, and sexually transmitted diseases may be cause for Hoosier anguish, but they are not unique to the citizens of Indiana – they are rampant around the world! Our world of sin has given birth to all manner of ills in every corner of the planet. That is why the Lord Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with cloaks on the ground and palm branches waving in the air!
In sending His Son into town on a donkey, God is shouting out a message that is too often not heard and too often not understood. God is making a way for life to be good; God is offering to anyone who will respond a way of life that can be satisfying and filled with contentment, regardless of outward circumstances.
Palm Sunday, that first Palm Sunday, was and is a drama spelling out a phenomenal message of hope and life and wholeness and peace and victory and triumph. Oh to God that every Hoosier understood the meaning of this day! And more than that, that every Hoosier believed what he understood about this day!
Here is the message of Palm Sunday: Disciples of Christ participate in the joy of God’s triumphs, God’s victories, through the oil of devotion and the experience of death. The followers of Jesus know joy in life, all of life, through devotion to Him and death with Him.
The challenge for all of us today is that we leave this place excited about the prospects of a life blessed by God, regardless of what is on tomorrow’s horizon. The hope of the Scriptures for our text today is that life can be better than we have known so far.
Interested? Turn with me in your Bibles if you will to John 12. I want us to read verses 1-26 and find the hope that God offers to all of us this morning.
“Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.’
Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

‘Hosanna!’
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!’
Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.’
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ‘You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!’
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”
We can understand this passage and remember its message by using just three images. One is the palm branches, another is the fragrant oil, called spikenard here, and the third is a grain seed.
Thinking about the palm branches first, they symbolize joy. Wherever you see palm trees and palm branches in the Scriptures, they represent joy, happiness, delight, and satisfaction. There are many examples, but perhaps the best is found in Revelation 7 where the great multitude that surrounds the throne of God in the future is made up of people wearing white robes and holding palm branches, and they are full of great joy.
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on this particular day, His coming was part of God’s plan for victory and triumph for all the earth. The people, not understanding all the details of the Messiah’s coming, were thrilled that King Jesus had arrived. Though their misconceptions would come to light at a later day, they nevertheless exulted in the coming of the king of Israel. And so they should have! Luke’s Gospel tells us that if they had not rejoiced in this manner, even the stones would have cried out!
Now it is an interesting fact that we know more about this day of palm branches than did the disciples who were there that day. Notice how John makes reference to this day in verse 12. “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!”
This day, the ‘next day’ of verse 12, is a very special day in the Scriptures and in the plan of God. I’ve often explained its importance in Palm Sunday sermons, and today I’ll sketch it out again for those of us new to our church this year and for those of us with failing memories.
This day, the day that the Lord Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, is actually Monday, March 30, 33 A.D. We know this date from understanding something told to the prophet Daniel hundreds of years before. In Daniel 9 we read, (Daniel 9:24-25), “‘Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.’”
Now you can look this material up on our web site courtesy of Ian Blair’s hard work (Go to the Sermon Center and click on the link to “Individual Sermons;” from there you can open the Palm Sunday sermons), but for this morning, I’ll just share a summary. Notice there are 70 weeks or, literally, 70 sevens in Daniel 9:24. There are 69 sevens in Daniel 9:25 – 7 sevens and 62 sevens. These 69 sevens are a time frame with a definite beginning and a definite ending.
The beginning of this time frame, according to our text, is a date on which a decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The ending is a date on which the Anointed One, the ruler, comes. See again how Daniel 9:25 states it? “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…”
So, if we could know the beginning date, we could figure out the ending date. And we do know the beginning date. It is March 5, 444 B.C. This is the date that Nehemiah went in to see the King and Queen and got permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:5) Now if we use the King’s decree date, March 5, 444 B.C., and we add 69 sevens worth of years…we are working with a total of 483 years…
And if we convert those 483 years into days… understanding that a prophetic year had 360 days in it, we come to 173,880 days. If we add those days through the centuries to March 5, 444 B.C., we arrive at March 30, 33 A.D. That was the very day the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, all the while being hailed as the king.
Daniel 9:26 says, “After the 62 sevens, the Anointed One, the Messiah, will be cut off and will have nothing.” In fact, 4 days after riding into Jerusalem, the King, the Lord Jesus, was “cut off”, that is, crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D.
(My source for all these calculations is the Ph.D. dissertation of Dr. Harold Hoehner, done at Cambridge University, published the year he graduated as “Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ”.) The point I want us to understand here is that the Lord Jesus arrived in Jerusalem right on time! And what a day that very day was!! All the Gospel writers make reference to this ‘triumphal entry.’
Now, the cartoon writer, Johnny Hart, has understood this incredible timing, and a couple of years ago, he devoted his Palm Sunday strip to this very issue. Here it is. (Go Art, you should have this in a file from last year…)
We understand from our study last week regarding Biblical victory that one element of victory is a parade. God has arranged this parade, on this very day, in anticipation of the victory that is going to take place on Friday’s cross and Sunday’s resurrection. Thus the palm branches are waving in the hands of the disciples of Jesus ‘on this day.’
The symbol of the palm branches conveyed the joy of God bringing His plan for all the ages to completion right on time, according to His own very accurate time-table, right to the very day, just as the angel Gabriel had said to Daniel hundreds of years before.
What all this means to us on this Palm Sunday is that if God is a part of our lives, every day is full of meaning! I have told you about the inventor, Arnold Beckman. His most famous invention was the pH meter, which he invented in 1934 because a friend of his, a research chemist, needed to know how to measure acidity in lemon juice. That invention earned him a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1987. Mr. Beckman’s philosophy: “I tried to make the most I could of each day.”
If he lived life this way, why wouldn’t we -- who have a relationship with the God of Heaven? Every day is just one slice of His eternal plan that will come to pass!
So, how is it we get grumpy and discouraged in the face of this kind of truth? Palm Sunday is a day of joy!
If God is part of our lives, then everyday has meaning – no matter what happens – and we can rejoice in what He is accomplishing.
The second symbol in our text is the oil. In verse three of chapter 12, we see Jesus’ friend, Mary, taking this very expensive oil, really a perfume, and pouring it on His feet and then wiping His feet with her hair. One of the other Gospels that refers to this same incident tells of her anointing His head, too. And we know the fragrance of this oil fills the whole house where they are gathered at dinner with Jesus.
Now friends, if the palm branches were a symbol of joy on a very special day anticipating God’s triumph, then this oil and the way it is used is a symbol of honor and devotion. Didn’t we just see in Daniel 9:26 that the Messiah is called the “Anointed One?” This text in the NIV says that this anointing takes place at a dinner which ‘was given in Jesus’ honor.’
We know from Judges 9:9 that the olive tree boasts, “by my oil gods and men are honored.”
And so Jesus tells Judas Iscariot to leave Mary alone, for she alone seems to understand that He, the King, is going to His death. She is anointing Him for that day of His great victory. In that anointing she is expressing honor and devotion.
The lesson for us is simple: we, as His disciples, get to participate in God’s victories through the oil of devotion. Palm Sunday calls us to devotion through the sacrificial symbol of oil. John, the Gospel writer, fully intends that we, his readers, make the connection between Mary’s act of devotion and the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem that immediately follows.
In Character Forged from Conflict, Gary Preston writes about Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China during and after World War II. “Gladys’ ministry in China was chronicled in the film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. She suffered terribly during her journey across the mountains of China in order to bring a hundred orphans to safety in Shensi. These children, ranging in age from 4 to 15, were saved because of Gladys’ faithful devotion to God.
But it was not without cost. When Gladys arrived in Shensi with the children, she was gravely ill and almost delirious. She suffered internal injuries from a beating by the Japanese invaders in the mission compound at Tsechow. In addition, she suffered from relapsing fever, typhus, pneumonia, malnutrition, shock, and fatigue.
Through her ordeal Gladys learned more about obedience to Christ. She learned to choose Christ over anything else life had to offer—so much so that when the man she loved, Colonel Linnan, came to visit her in Shensi as she was recovering and asked her to marry him, she declined. In her heart she knew she could not marry him and continue the work God had for her among the children of China. Out of her devotion to God, she said good-bye to Linnan at the train station, and they never met again. Gladys continued serving God faithfully in China and England until her death in 1970.”
What would we say today to our children to describe our devotion to King Jesus? How would they be able to see it? It is the message of Palm Sunday that devotion to Christ allows us to participate in His victories.
There is one last symbol in our text today. Very quickly, it’s the grain seed, the kernel of wheat, in verses 23-26. As Gentiles desire to see Jesus, for they are worshipers who have come to the Feast, Jesus makes reference to seeds. He illustrates discipleship as a sacrificial investment by referring to seeds that fall into the ground and produce many more seeds.
That production comes through the death of the initial seed. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.”(12:24) The image of a seed dying and creating roots, sprouting and bearing other seeds, is part and parcel of Palm Sunday and its message of impending victory. Jesus Himself is going to His death, Stephen will follow soon in the book of Acts as will James, the brother of John. Out of these deaths will come a strong and growing church, God’s victory over sin, death, and the evil one.
These seeds are an image of sacrificial investment. From one will come many others.
Out of our own personal acts of dying to self come victories for the kingdom of God. It is our experience of death that opens the doors for our participation in God’s triumphs.
(Conclusion) Palm Sunday is a day of symbols: palm branches of joy, the oil of devotion, and the seed of sacrificial discipleship that too often leads to death. God has placed before us in His word images that call us to victory. Disciples participate in the joy of God’s triumphs through the oil of devotion and the experience of death.
Are you full of joy today in spite of the circumstances? Are we ready to die to personal interests and desires? Have we been planning acts of devotion to God through serving others in costly ways? You have understood the meaning of Palm Sunday, God’s very special day as He anticipated the most marvelous victory known to man!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Power for Every Weakness

2008-06-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

John 20

Introduction: I saw an amazing sight recently. I was sitting on the couch in my office on a Monday morning reading the Scriptures. When I arrived that morning, I had seen a semi- tractor and trailer stuck in the mud on the west end of our property. I surmised the driver had turned into our parking lot from Berry Ave, intending to turn around and head back to the east. As he turned into our parking lot, he got off into the mud and could go no further.
Looking up from my reading and out the window, I saw a yellow John Deere tractor with front end loader and backhoe pulling up behind the truck’s trailer. The backhoe operator set the stabilizer’s on his tractor and extended the backhoe out as far as it would go toward the stuck truck and trailer. A chain was attached to the backhoe bucket and the trailer. As I’m watching, I’m thinking--”No Way!! The seals on those hydraulic rams on that backhoe will blow before that semi moves out of that mud.” But, lo and behold, as the backhoe bucket is retracted, the semi- truck and trailer begin to move backward. When the bucket has been retracted back to the tractor, the operator lifts the stabilizers, pulls the tractor forward, resets his _feet’, re-extends the boom/bucket, the chain is reattached, and the process is repeated. Now the semi- truck and trailer and load are free and back on solid ground! I was amazed! I never thought that backhoe had that kind of power in its hydraulics.
When we come to Easter, my friends, we come face to face with a story that tells of a demonstration of power that we never thought or imagined that we would see. If there is one word that is a synonym for Easter, it is the word power.
Now I know we think we know what power is. One of the coaches of a team opposing the Lady Boilermakers in this recent tournament said of Stephanie White-McCarty: “She brings life out of death!” That is high praise for amazing power on a basketball court.
This past week I changed the power supply for a set of neon tubes in our kitchen’s overhead light fixture. Without proper power, neon bulbs flicker, and they can be so very annoying--far worse than being burned out and black.
ABC’s program on Thursday evening called “The Century” focused on Adolf Hitler and his rise to power in Germany just prior to WW II. The title to this past week’s segment was “Ultimate Power”.
But friends, all of my experiences with power in these various vignettes--backhoes, basketball, ballasts and biography--only begin to hint at the reality of the power of Easter.
I wonder if you would you like to know in your experience the power of Easter? I’m not promising that you’ll leave here as Superman today, BUT the word of God does offer us
*the power to break away from addictions,
*the power to be free from the bonds of sin,
*the power to serve God acceptably,
*the power to love our spouse,
*the power to be transformed,
*the power to be strong in the Lord,
*the power to do all things He calls us to,
*the power to be unafraid of death,
*the power to face every new day,
*the power to dispatch demons,
*the power to be gracious and forgiving,
*the power to control our tongue,
*the power to make wise decisions and live well,
*the power to live life with satisfaction and peace,
*the power to leave a legacy of contribution and respect.
If I have whet your appetite for something better... turn with me to John 20. In just one verse, the first verse of this chapter of John’s Gospel, we see three images of Easter. In these 3 images, we can understand Easter, perhaps in ways we’ve never understood it before. And in that understanding will come power that can make life worth living.
As the first Easter dawned in history, here is how the story began. (Read vs. 1 here)
The three images of Easter we see in this verse are the tomb, the dawn, and the stone. These three images were preceded last week with three others--a cup (in the garden), a crown (of thorns in the prison), and a cross (on Calvary’s hill). The events of those images have now passed.
I want us to begin this morning with the middle image, the dawn, for it is a connection to the other two images. Now if you are a careful reader or listener, you are already saying to yourself, “Now pastor, I don’t see any dawn in this passage.” And you are partially right. John has said, “...it was still dark...” but we know from the other Gospel accounts that it is really dawn and just more dark than it is light. Matthew would say, “...as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week...”; Mark writes, “...they came to the tomb when the sun had risen...” (or was beginning to rise); Luke says, “...on the first day of the week, at early dawn...” It is not hard to conclude that it is dawn, and John has simply expressed the dark side of dawn rather than the light side. And there is a reason John makes his observation the way that he does. John is a writer of a Gospel full of images and symbols. In chapter 6, he portrays the Lord Jesus as the Bread of Life. In chapter 8, He is the Light of the World. In chapter 10, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. In chapter 14, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In chapter 15, the Lord is the True Vine. Knowing this feature of John’s writings, we know that there is more to _dark’ here in verse one that just a lack of light. He is wanting us to pick up on something else. It’s like his phrase in 13:30--Judas has just left the disciples to go to betray the Lord Jesus to the priests and scribes, and John throws in the little phrase, “and it was night.” Well, friends, it is more than just the nighttime hours after sunset. The time of day--or night--is of little significance. What is important is the spiritual blackness in Judas’ soul. It is a terribly dark moment in time and in history when the Son of God is betrayed to be crucified.
So what is the significance of it being _dark’ when Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb? The answer is found in part in Mary’s story. In John’s record, there is only the one Mary, Mary Magdalene, who is referred to. (Mt. has two women, Mk. accounts for 3, and Lk. has 3 plus _the other women with them’.) It doesn’t mean that John is mistaken; it only means he has limited his account for a reason. You may remember that Mary Magdalene (Lk. 8:2) had come to Christ possessed by 7 demons. In her life before a relationship with the Lord Jesus, she had lived at the mercy of seven demons--not a bright, shining, wholesome experience, I’ll guarantee you. What we read on the pages of the New Testament of the lives of those controlled by demons is torture, torment, anguish, bondage, poverty, hopelessness, spiritual darkness, and a hundred other unpleasant elements.
I have a friend who is a counselor. 6 weeks ago he shared with me about a client he has met with for 6 YEARS. He told me she would never be well. Two weeks later, my counselor friend told me that this same client had to get out of the counseling session because “there were too many angels in this room.” Two weeks after that, when their session was finished, the counselor said, “I’ll see you next time.” And the client said, “I hate you.” Asked to repeat her statement, she said, “I hate you.” The counselor asked, “Why?” The demons inside her said, “Because you found us!” So then the demons were dispatched, cast out of her, and she is becoming a new person.
Likewise Mary Magdalene has been delivered from her demons in her encounter with the Lord Jesus, and now her life is light. And that is the connection that illuminates for us the meaning of _dark’ and _dawn’ in John’s message. Dawn is the time between night and day; Mary’s life had once been night, and now in Christ it is day. In John’s Gospel, Mary is the perfect parallel connection to the image of the dawn! And the dawn is the perfect bridge between the tomb and the stone. The tomb is the image of death and darkness. The stone is the preeminent image of resurrection, of life, of an empty tomb, of the surrender of death to life.
So, the image of dawn is the image of the power of a new day. John is wanting us to grasp, in the reading of this verse, the power of a new beginning! Resurrection Day is dawning! Sometime just prior to Mary’s arrival at this tomb, the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead! The One Who was crucified has come back to life by the awesome power of God. And so Easter, and the celebration of Easter, is God’s offer of power for a new beginning!!! Yes, for sure, Mary doesn’t understand it all at this point, as the rest of chapter 20 makes clear. But it is so very evident that THIS day is like no other! And THIS day can be a new day for us, too. More about this offer in a minute.
The second image of Easter is the tomb. Seven times in the first nine verses of this chapter we read the word _tomb’. Seven times! And the first time we read it is here in verse one. “Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb...”
This tomb is a new tomb. It belongs to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Matthew, who had hewn it out in the rock of the Garden of Gethsemane.
A tomb conveys the image of death, of separation, of a certain finality to this life, but the beginning of one of two eternal destinies, heaven or hell. The tomb is always known for loneliness and solitude, except for the “worms” that consume the flesh. Since it was the flesh that could enjoy the pleasures of this life, the tomb represents all the opposites to what is good in this life. In the Scriptures, the tomb is not only a place in a rock, it is also the representation of death itself. The tomb and death are seen as powerful tyrants, monarchs, dictators, a prison from which no one escapes. The tomb is portrayed as having an appetite that can never be satisfied. Thus we also read of death and the tomb _swallowing’ (Prov. 1:12, Ps. 141:7). (Isn’t it interesting that the Lord Jesus, reversing the curse of the tomb, swallows up death forever in I Cor. 15:54-57!) So, like the dawn, the tomb is an image of power, too. Death eventually captures everyone. The tomb is an image of darkness, which may be the reason for John’s reference to the dark side of the dawn rather than the light side the other Gospel writers make reference to.
So one of Easter’s powerful images is the tomb. Jesus died. God died. He was laid in a tomb. Death laid hold of even the Christ. And death will take hold of each one of us in time. How fortunate we in our community are to have Dennis and Theresa Smith on our side. Their compassion and kindness are known to all. I was visiting with one of our church family this past week who had to deal with some others in the funeral business who had no compassion and little kindness; this was just a cold business where hard decisions had to be made. Yes, the tomb is the image of death. And as awesome is the power of the blessing of a new beginning, new beginnings don’t happen in a vacuum; they always take place in a context. That context more often than not is the power of death, the power of the tomb.
But Easter’s story does not end with the tomb. There is the final image of the stone. “Mary... saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” When John penned these words, he chose a very peculiar phrase to describe the stone being moved. His word means “taken, lifted out of”, suggesting the stone had been filling up the opening of the tomb and now it has been “lifted out of” the way, opening the grave. Now we must realize that the stone in front of the tomb’s opening did not prevent the Lord Jesus from coming out of the tomb. Look with me at vs. 19 in this same chapter. (Explain--locked doors, Jesus eats a piece of broiled fish in Lk. 24:42-43) No, the stone was lifted out of the way for the disciples’ sake, so they could see that the tomb was empty!
Now friends, there is nothing more lifeless than a stone, but this stone conveys the image of the power of resurrection. It is evident the tomb is empty! Mary and the disciples can see the grave clothes are empty! The Lord Jesus is no longer there! His body was not stolen as Mary initially thought. The burial cloths are too orderly, as verses 6 and 7 reveal, not the work of thieves! No, the Lord has risen just as He said. God the Father exercised His power, the surpassing greatness of His power, the working of the strength of His might as Paul would write to the Ephesians using all four words in the Greek language for “power”, and the Father seated the Lord Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places! All that is wrapped up in the image of the stone! The power of resurrection is portrayed by John in the simple image of a stone.
Conclusion: So that’s Easter, friends, according to John’s gospel. Resurrection power, seen in the image of the stone, is the power of a new beginning, communicated in the image of the dawn, because the power of death, visualized by the tomb, has been surrendered to life! Easter is an empty tomb, seen because a stone has been moved, seen in the light of the dawn of a new and glorious day.
John’s three images of Easter are so very important to all of us. We are reminded this day that a new beginning is available to each one of us. Not a single one of us has to remain bound to sin. Not a single one of us has to continue to be addicted to the disgusting things of darkness. Not a single one of us has to remain confined to living according to the flaws of our character. Not a single one of us has to keep on living under the weight of guilt and regret. There is power available to start a new life because the Lord Jesus is alive. The power of His life is present every moment of every day. But to ignore His offer of new life and a new beginning is to remain in the grip of the power of death and the tomb. And how very sad will that destiny be.
Now that tag that you are holding.... I want you to take a moment and write on that tag one of two things-- I want you to write something on that tag that you are grateful for because of the power of resurrection. Perhaps the cross is why you have been delivered from.... anger, lust, greed, selfishness, food, fear, pride, etc. OR, on the other hand, maybe you’d like to write something on that card that you would like to be delivered from by the power of resurrection. Maybe you would like to know freedom from... grief, debt, a sharp tongue, a stingy spirit, an ungrateful heart, bitterness, a grudge from way too far in the past. Maybe you would like to be saved this morning. Maybe you would like to give Him your heart. Write it down.
You know, the card has two sides to it. Make one side your praise side if you want. Make the other side your petition.
Then in a moment, I want you to get up out of your seat and come and hang that tag on the cross. John has shown us the power of images this morning. We want to participate in an image this morning. The Lord, and only the Lord, will see what we want to give Him thanks for and what we want His help with. He will deliver us from the power of death, He will give us a new beginning, because He is alive!
As the instruments play through the first verse of “It is Well with My Soul”, you think and write; then we will stand, and those who want to come, please come.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

It's all about victory

2008-06-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

John 12

Introduction: I read a short piece of news this past week that brought huge crocodile tears of sadness to my eyes. In a news brief from Reuters, the actor and movie star Hugh Grant was lamenting the end of romance. According to the London Daily Telegraph, Grant said that fame had robbed him of the thrill of pursuing women. Defeated, Grant, who has millions of female fans, said meeting girlfriends had become complicated…
“When I was younger, the great excitement in pursuing women was the sense of romance and chase. But when you are a celebrity, you discover that you are no longer the pursuer, but the pursued. You have to think about what things do you reveal about yourself, how wary do you have to be that the women you meet aren’t more concerned with your fame and celebrity status.”
Oh, the pity of fame and fortune…what should be desirable and victorious is really sadness and defeat for this Englishman! (I see some of us have moist eyes now, too, and I hope the sniffling of sympathy in the congregation doesn’t become too much of a distraction!)
I have also been reading this past week the first volume by William Manchester on the life and times of Winston Churchill. And Mr. Churchill, another Englishman, is a wholly different man, in both character and stature, than is the pitiful Mr. Grant.
In his youth, Mr. Churchill was torn from his beloved nanny and placed in a brutal boarding school. His treatment at the hands of the bullies in the school was even worse than what he received from the sadistic headmaster. “Sickly, an uncoordinated weakling with the pale fragile hands of a girl, speaking with a lisp and a slight stutter, he (was) at the mercy of bullies.” One dreadful day, “they beat him, ridiculed him, and pelted him with cricket balls. Trembling and humiliated, he hid in a nearby woods.”
Manchester writes, “This was hardly the stuff of which gladiators are made. His only weapons were an unconquerable will and an incipient sense of immortality.
(Churchill, at the age of seven,) already was memorizing Macaulay’s tale of a man with two comrades barring a bridge to an army:
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
‘To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?’”
Hugh Grant and Winston Churchill – one an adult, a confessed whiner, chasing skirts; one a youth, facing bullies, on his way to becoming acclaimed as a roaring lion – two men facing defeat, in different circumstances, with two entirely different stances, attitudes, and aims. I suppose the verdict will still be out for a season on Mr. Grant, but all historians recognize the place of Mr. Churchill in the annals of the world’s great victories.
With Mr. Grant and Mr. Churchill in mind on this Easter Sunday, I have a question for us: So how do we react when defeat is staring us in the face? What is our response when what we desire is elusively out of reach? How do we respond to the bully that is disaster? What would we do if our spouse were suddenly taken in death? What is our track record of countering the tormentors of adversity and tragedy?
What are we supposed to do when the one we love leaves us for another? How do we answer the browbeaters of harsh circumstances? Could we really make it if God were to call us to leave family and friends and serve Him in a far away place? Or perhaps worse, what if He were to call our child to minister in a place half way around the world? Is there a way to find victory and triumph when both appear lost and well-hidden, vanished and nowhere to be found?
There is a way, friends, and the way is called Easter. Easter is all about victory in a thousand different forms! Easter proved that what looked like victory for the devil on Friday was everything but! The enemy of our souls no doubt gloated across the universe on Friday at the death of the Christ. But then came Sunday! And Easter proved that what looked like defeat for Christ and His disciples on Friday was in fact the most marvelous of victories.
Easter is all about victory! As the Lord Jesus prepared Himself for those hours on Calvary, He had one last encounter with the crowds who followed Him. That encounter takes place in John 12. I would invite you to turn with me there, and let’s pick up where we left off last week with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We know that Biblical victories always have the element of a celebration parade, and that was what the triumphal entry was all about. We saw that last week.
Read with me John 12:27-36, keeping in mind that Easter is all about victory. “‘Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’ Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. (Even though the voice of God was for their sake, it appears that not many understood what was said. Some thought it thundered, some thought an angel had spoken. And what good is it that something is said if what is said is not understood? Well, some did understand, and John is one of them, for he writes here what was said by the voice of God from heaven.)
(Jesus continues:) Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.’ This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’
Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.’ These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.”
Understanding that Easter is all about victory in a thousand different forms, let’s make a few observations from John’s message here that may help us improve our reactions when we face defeat. One, we see Jesus troubled. “‘Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
I hope we are not surprised to find the Lord Jesus feeling just like we have felt in the face of defeat. This death at His doorstep, this climb up Mt. Calvary, would be imposed unjustly, would be cruelly executed, and would brand Him as a criminal and a rebel. The Lord Jesus finds that alarming; in fact, our text literally says, ‘Now my soul has been thrown into confusion.’ Commentators suggest that the Lord Jesus is close to breaking under the strain of what He knows to be coming. The dangers and the senselessness of this coming crisis are close to overwhelming Him.
That is just how you and I have felt at different moments in life: troubled, confused, nearly hopeless, on the verge of being overwhelmed.
What is so very important to see here is that in life, there can be no victory without conflict! We cannot experience the thrill of victory without having faced the possibility of defeat. What meaning can there be to victory if there has not first been struggle and conflict? Remember John Kennedy’s comments about Theodore Roosevelt, made in New York City on Dec. 5, 1961?
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement, and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Our text here in John’s Gospel suggests the Lord Jesus obviously had some reservations, but there would be no question that He would go to the arena! No cold and timid soul was He!! “Shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour!” To me, Easter is all about victory, but victory will always come with a price. Yes, I’m too much like Mr. Grant – I’d rather whine in the face of trouble than get into the arena and make a difference, perhaps even conquering.
Perhaps many of us have forgotten that the tingling, exquisite sense of victory must be preceded by the agony of conflict. The one who has known cruel and depressing grief, who has clawed and scraped his way up out of that muddy pit of grief, straining with slippery fingers and sliding feet, that one knows something of victory!
Easter, dear friends, is all about victory, and the Lord Jesus has known our conflict, our trouble, our struggle, our pain, and our sweat and blood. Easter’s message is that He passed through the arena to make a way for us to also pass through. He spent Himself painfully in a worthy cause, and He opens the door for us to follow, for us to know the same kind of victory.
A second observation comes from verse 31. “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” Time is drawing near for victory over Satan. The cross that the Christ would mount on Friday would spell defeat for the devil. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus on Sunday would publicly confirm that defeat.
The Lord Jesus would conquer the evil one through His own death and resurrection from the dead. Easter is all about victory, victory over the primary instigator of evil. Of course, Satan is still active in our world. I’m reminded of Paul’s comments to the Ephesians where he writes,
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (read Satan here), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:1-7)
Though the evil one is still active in our world, his power has been broken, his end is certain, and his desperate actions only bear the imprint of futility.
Easter, dear friends, is all about victory, victory with a price and victory over the Evil One.
There is a third observation I want to make and it comes from a little preposition. In verse 32, the Lord Jesus says, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” The preposition, ‘from,’ as it is used here, means ‘out from.’ As the text makes clear in verses 33 and 34, the crowd understood Jesus to be saying that He would die on a cross. Everyone understood that to be lifted up was to be crucified on a cross. But ‘out from’ suggests more than being suspended above the earth on a cross; it also connotes being brought up out of the earth.
The Lord Jesus was trying to make clear that He would not only be elevated on a cross, but He also would be exalted up by means of resurrection, out from the earth. Merrill Tenney makes the comment that the verb lifted up is used in John exclusively to refer to Jesus’ death, while elsewhere in the New Testament it means ‘exalt.’ ‘Lifted up’ thus lends itself well to the double meaning of both the cross and the resurrection.
The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus would be God’s instrument for bringing men to redemption. When the Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross, and when the Lord Jesus was lifted up, out from the earth by way of resurrection, He would draw all kinds of people to a new experience of life.
Easter means the victory where all men are drawn to Christ. They would be made alive together with Christ. They would be saved by grace. They would be raised up together to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And the ‘they’ I have in mind would be all kinds of people.
We understand this from our context, where we saw last week the Greeks who had approached Philip with a desire to see Jesus. So we understand John to be offering the Gospel to those beyond the Jewish nation. There would be men and women, boys and girls, from every nationality, race, and social standing who could be and would be redeemed.
Easter is all about victory, victory with a price, victory over the Evil One, and victory we call redemption to a new way of life for all kinds of people.
There is a fourth and final issue addressed by our text that is related to Easter. The Lord Jesus, with a sense of urgency, tells His listeners to put their trust in the light. “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (vs.36) Earlier in chapter 9, He had said, “Night is coming when no one can work.” If those listening to the Lord Jesus wanted to walk with certainty, they needed to make a decision at once. After His death, it was likely they would find themselves trying to get around in the darkness.
It is not a quirk of circumstances, friends, that it was dark for three hours over all the land, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, while Jesus was being crucified. A spiritual night had come. God died. God died bearing the sins of the whole world, all the sins of the past, the present, and the future. I guess it took three hours to figuratively place them on the sacrificial Lamb of God.
How sad for these listening to the Lord Jesus speak to be so close to victory, only to be overtaken by the darkness. How sad for some among us today to be hearing God speak through His word, to delay making a decision, only to be overtaken by the darkness. I was reminded this past week of a fellow coworker in Vietnam who was called ‘Red.’ He was just a few days away from rotating back to the States, to a choice duty station with Marine reserves in New Orleans, when he was killed in a rocket attack on our base at DaNang. As far as I know, he never responded to the Gospel I shared with him on several occasions while we were together at Phu Bai.
How sad to be exposed to the light, to fail to believe, and then to be overtaken by the darkness.
Easter is all about victory that can remain outside our grasp if the darkness overtakes us. Easter urgently calls us to decision. Who knows what will happen between today and next Easter? Did you notice all the references to time in these few verses? ‘Hour’ is used twice, ‘Now’ surfaces twice, ‘When’ and ‘While’ are used three times, and ‘a little while longer’ is used in verse 35. This passage vibrates with urgency.
“Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
Easter, friends, is all about victory, victory with a price, victory over the Evil One, victory we call redemption to a new way of life, and victory that demands an urgent decision to trust and believe lest it slip away from our grasp.
(Conclusion) Easter: it’s all about victory!
Let’s celebrate Easter with the rite of laughter.
Christ died and rose and lives.
Laugh like a woman who holds her first baby.
Our enemy death will soon be destroyed.
Laugh like a man who finds he doesn’t have cancer, or he does, but now there’s a cure.
Christ opened wide the door of heaven.
Laugh like children at Disneyland’s gates.
This world is owned by God, and he’ll return to rule.
Laugh like a man who walks away uninjured from a wreck in which his car was totaled.
Laugh as if all the people in the whole world were invited to a picnic and then invite them.
(Joseph Bayly, Psalms of My Life, David C. Cook, 2000)
Sure, life will be very difficult at times. Yes, there will be struggles, inequities, injustices, and, yes, sometimes the outcome will seem to be uncertain. Yes, there will be days when we will feel like Jesus felt, confused with a troubled heart. But God has called us to this hour, and we cry out, “Father, glorify your name!”
Yes, the Evil One still roams about, seeking whom he may devour, but his days are limited and his power has been broken. He is a roaring lion, but he has no teeth. He appears to be dangerous, but he is already defeated. His world system has been weighed in the balances and he has been found wanting.
Yes, we still have this sinful nature, with its desires and thoughts and cravings, but we have been given the keys to the door of redemption, to a new, redeemed way of living. There is no longer a need to be like my friends; there is no longer any profit in acting like they do. Redemption through the blood of Jesus, forgiveness of sins, glorious rich grace that God has lavished up on us, seated with Christ in the heavenly realms…what, my friends, is the appeal of that old way of living???
Yes, we are prone to hesitation, to fiddling, dithering, wavering, and vacillation, but victory can be grasped if we act before the darkness overwhelms us.
Wouldn’t today be a good day to decide to give up, forever, whining like a Hugh Grant and being overwhelmed by the hard circumstances of life? Wouldn’t today, Easter Sunday, be a good day to decide to hold the bridge against the enemy with a few good friends, walking in the light, trusting in the light, being known as sons of the light?
Wouldn’t today, Easter Sunday, be a good day to be born again, to acknowledge our sin, to accept Christ’s payment on the cross for that sin, to become a new person with options for victories in all of life’s days?
Wouldn’t today, Easter Sunday, be a good day to decide to walk in the light, to decide to laugh again, to start over with a clean slate, to sleep at night with a clear conscience, to face each new day unafraid?
Easter: it’s all about victory, triumph, winning, and conquering. “Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Easter: One man's story

2008-06-05T16:39:00.000-04:00

Introduction: “Sunrise was dawning when Los Angeles motorcycle police officer Bob Vernon saw a red pickup truck speed through a stop sign. This guy must be late to work, he thought to himself. He turned on his flashing red lights and radioed the dispatcher that he was in pursuit. The pick up pulled over, and the officer approached.
Meanwhile in the truck, the driver thought, The cops already know! He was scared. He rested his hand on the same gun he had used a few moments before to rob a twenty-four-hour convenience store. The sack of stolen money was beside him on the seat.
The police officer, Bob Vernon, said, ‘Good morning, sir, may I see your--’ He never finished the sentence. The truck driver shoved his gun toward the policeman’s chest and fired from just inches away. The policeman was knocked backward fully seven feet and landed flat on his back. A few seconds later, to the shock of the robber, the police officer stood up, pulled his service revolver, and fired twice. The first bullet went through the open window and smashed the windshield. The second tore through the door and ripped into the driver’s left leg.
‘Don’t shoot!’ the thief screamed, throwing the gun and sack of money out the pickup window.” (Charles Mylander, The Encourager)
Bob Vernon, the motorcycle policeman who would later become an Assistant Police Chief in Los Angeles, had a resurrection experience. His bullet-proof vest, made of dozens and dozens of layers of Kevlar woven to a thickness of 3/8”, stopped the gunman’s bullet cold. The super-strong Kevlar fabric enabled patrolman Vernon to rise, so to speak, from the dead and arrest the criminal shooter.
In May of 1995, Randy Reid, a 34 year old construction worker, was welding on top of a nearly completed water tower outside Chicago. According to writer Melissa Ramsdell, Reid unhooked his safety gear to reach for some pipes when a metal cage slipped and bumped the scaffolding he stood on.
The scaffolding tipped, and Reid lost his balance. He fell 110 feet, landing face down on a pile of dirt, just missing rocks and construction debris. A fellow worker called 911. When paramedics arrived, they found Reid conscious, moving, and complaining of a sore back.
Apparently the fall didn’t affect Randy Reid’s sense of humor. As the paramedics carried him on a backboard to the ambulance, he had one request: “Please don’t drop me!” Doctors later said Reid came away from the accident with just a bruised lung.
Randy Reid had a resurrection experience. A fall from a 110 foot tall water tower should have meant his death. He arose, so to speak, from the dead, only to plead, “Please don’t drop me!”
Both Bob Vernon and Randy Reid had resurrection experiences. Figuratively speaking, both came back from the dead, for by all that’s normal, both should have died. Yet they lived!
When we come to Easter on the church’s calendar, we come to the main day for celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. Unlike patrolman Vernon and welder Reid, the Lord Jesus really died. He suffered terribly on the cross. When it was evident to the soldiers at the foot of the cross that He had died, He was taken down and buried in a borrowed tomb. But three days later, His tomb was empty! The Lord Jesus was raised from the dead!
Here is how one of the Gospel writers conveyed the facts of this experience: “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.” After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.
Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and that He had said these things to her. (John 19,20 selected verses)

What a story! If you are visiting with us today, we want you to know that we believe these facts to be authentic history, and we are building our lives on these truths. And the truths of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus have huge implications for us on this day, 2000 years after the fact.
For you see, some of us, in the course of life, have taken a crushing blow to the chest, sort of like Bob Vernon. And that blow has knocked us more than 7 feet onto our duffs --- and we don’t have the strength to get up! We’ve been unfairly wounded, had a trust betrayed, or been misjudged. Others of us have been badly unappreciated in our work or in our marriage. Our self-esteem has been devastated. Some of us find it tough to get out of bed every morning, because our teachers don’t like us, we’ve lost a loved one who gave meaning and purpose to life, or our health is failing. We’ve fallen and we can’t get up.
Some of us, like Randy Reid, have slipped and fallen, and we’ve fallen more than 110’. Our pride or greed or self-centeredness put us on a slippery slope and we are falling, down, down, down! We got hooked on the wrong kind of supports --- drugs, drink, or debt, and now we’re depressed and we are falling down, down, and further down.
Some of us have given the devil a foothold in our life, and that foothold has become a fortress, and we are falling down, down, and farther down.
We are falling, and the slope is slippery, and we can’t stop.
Easter’s true story of the resurrection says there is hope. And that hope is not only for the other person who came to our mind who has fallen or is falling, but that hope is for YOU and for me.
Let’s look this morning at a man who could be any one of us --- and what the resurrection meant to him, it can mean to every one of us!
This man’s true story is found in Acts 3 where we meet the man, see a miracle, and learn an important message. (If you want to take notes on your bulletin insert, this is the structure of the sermon today.)
“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer-at three in the afternoon.”
‘One day’… What a day it was! It was a great day! Just like so many that preceded it. Love, joy, and peace reigned in the new Christian community. In the words of John Stott, “The good ship Christ-Church was ready to catch the wind of the Spirit and to set sail on her voyage of spiritual conquest.” It was a great day, characterized by sweetness and light. The Spirit of Christ had come, the apostles teaching was profound, the worship was a praise gathering, caring and sharing was the order of the day, and evangelism was bold and bearing fruit! What a great day!
But the days hadn’t always been so great. Think back with me to the day of the crucifixion. The Shepherd had been struck and the sheep had scattered. It was a dark day. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus said about Jesus and the crucifixion, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”
Remember that scene in the movie, Apollo 13, when the space craft goes behind… There’s a 3 minute time frame when all contact with the capsule is lost. Everyone holds his breath, wondering what will happen on the other side. So it is with the disciples. It’s been three days ‘since these things happened.’ Then there is the news of the resurrection!
And so, now in Acts three, these are great days! And on this day, Peter and John meet a man. Let’s continue reading in our text.
“Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.”
How could we characterize this man, the key figure in our Easter story? ‘Pitiful’ is one word that comes to mind. He is the victim of a birth defect, crippled from his mother’s womb, reduced to the daily humiliation of begging. He has been beaten down by the despair and hopelessness bred of forty-plus years of being different, despised, and dependent. My guess is that a sense of failure permeates his entire being. He’s unable to work, he is unattractive to marry, he is unproductive in society, he is unsure of tomorrow. He surely knows the whole range of meaning in the word ‘disappointment.’ Every nuance, every shade of meaning of ‘disappointment’ he knows full well.
No beach, no golf, no Smokey’s chimneys, no Harley-Davidson, no dates, no dancing, no savings, no IRA, no nothing… Well, perhaps, not ‘nothing’. Our text tells us he does have friends who carry him to this gate of the temple each day, so perhaps he has a place to live. Maybe…
And perhaps at one point, this man had a glimmer of hope. For his place of begging was outside the temple gate called Beautiful. This particular gate is on the east side of the temple, on the same side of Jerusalem as Bethany and Olivet. In and out of this same gate would have traveled a prophet by the name of Jesus on his way to His friends home in Bethany and on His way to the Mount of Olives. Could it be possible, he may have thought, that the Healer, the Ressurector, the Tormentor of demons… could it be possible, he may have thought, that He might see, come, touch, and heal?
But then there had come the nasty news of a particularly brutal crucifixion, and the Great Physician was gone. What little hope there had been was snuffed out. There would never be another chance to yell His name, to catch His eye, to plead for mercy. The Miracle Worker and the crowds that followed Him would never pass through this gate on their way east again. Or would He?
What were these two men on their way to pray saying?
“When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’”
The lame man momentarily may have wondered. “Is He back? How could that be? What could this mean? Dare I take this offered hand?”
Friends, this is where we all are or have been. We were born crippled by sin, unable to do anything that would please God in the slightest. He had no hope. Try as we might, we could never consistently do the right things. We may have had a reputation as a good person, but when we looked at ourselves in the mirror, we knew… No amount of iron will or self determination or personal discipline could keep us from making the same mistakes over and over.
In God’s eyes, and perhaps in our own, we were pitiful, worthy to be despised, unable to be productive in godliness, and certainly unsure of what tomorrow might bring and how we would face it.
Yes, if we were honest, we’d have to say we resembled this beggar at the temple gate. Disappointed, unfulfilled, without hope… If there are any who still feel this way, stay with me this morning. The story gets better. Back to Acts 3. The Miracle.
“Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade.”
The miracle is that this lame man is made whole. Dr. Luke, the writer of Acts, says ‘the man’s feet and ankles became strong.’ The crippled man begins to leap and walk and jump (and maybe performs some cartwheels, too!). The power of Jesus comes surging through the hand of Peter and the beggar is made whole. Peter will say in a moment, in verse 16, “…and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
So the Lord Jesus had seen this crippled beggar at the temple gate! So the Lord Jesus had just been waiting for a more powerful moment to reveal His power! Though the Lord Jesus had been murdered, and though the gloom of that day had been etched deeply into the memory of the cripple, suddenly He was back! And He did a miracle through the hand of His servant, Peter.
What was it that Peter had said? “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter is saying, “I have Jesus in me. He is alive! He can make you whole! He can pick you up where you’ve been knocked down. He can take you off the slippery slope and set you back on your feet, no matter how far you’ve fallen.” Jesus is alive, and He enjoys giving life to the depressed, the distressed, the disappointed, the despised, and the hopeless. He is in the business of making cripples whole, of giving perfect health to those known to be handicapped.
Would you like to put your hand in His hand today? Wouldn’t you like to have Him touch you through the hand of one of His servants? He is alive, doing those kinds of things today. Won’t you take His hand? What do you have to lose?
That is Peter’s message. Back to Acts 3.
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though he had decided to let Him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” Acts 3:1-16
Men of Israel, even though you handed the Lord Jesus over to Pilate, even though you exchanged Him for a murderer and became murderers yourselves, even though you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, even though you are the most guilty of any generation, even though your generation sets the standard for colossal failure, even though all this is true, your sins can be washed away, you can be forgiven, you can be made whole.
And what was offered to these people by Peter is what we offer today on this Easter Sunday. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead means that He is alive, and He is still offering life to cripples today. To those of us like Bob Vernon, knocked on our duffs… to those of us like Randy Reid who have fallen badly… Jesus says ‘Come,’ take the hand of one of my servants, put your trust in Me, and I will make you whole.
Friends, you can be forgiven of your sins. Those strongholds of sin and temptation in you life can be demolished. You can get back up from being knocked down. You can be rescued from the slippery slopes of poor choices and past failures. You can get up tomorrow with joy and purpose. You can be a friend of Jesus who He will use to reach out to others.
Easter’s resurrection means all of these things. You are just a decision away from its experience!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Freedom in Christ provides freedom indeed

2008-05-30T12:34:00.000-04:00

Matthew 5, I Corinthians 6

July 2, 2000

Introduction: Collins H. Haines was a Navy pilot when he was shot down over Hanoi on June 5, 1967. That day in June began a tortuous 5 years and 9 months confinement as a prisoner-of-war. On March 4, 1973, Collins Haines walked out of his Hanoi prison toward a homeward-bound C141 Air Force transport jet. Captain Haines remembers, “Those were my first steps to freedom… how very precious they were.”
Everyman’s first step to freedom has always been very, very precious.
On July 4th of the year 1776, 56 men of courage from 13 American colonies took their first steps to freedom by affixing their signatures to a declaration of independence.
Their first steps taken toward freedom, though precious, would be costly ones indeed. In the months that followed this declaration of independence, “five signers of the Declaration (of Independence) were captured by the British and tortured before they died. 12 had their homes… sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy, or burned. Two lost their sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died in the war, from its hardships or from its bullets.”
The steps to freedom have always been very, very precious.
In the case of these founding fathers of our great land, consider the magnitude of the impact of their steps toward freedom. There is no other country in the world that has developed the concepts of republic and democracy like this one has! Even 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson said, “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” Of course, with the hindsight of 200 years, we know more than they did! The initial steps to freedom taken by these 56 men and their countrymen started a journey that is beyond compare in history.
There is another dimension to their declaration of independence that many of us are aware of and all of us should be. These 56 signers also affirmed their dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of their proclamation, the climax to their bold statement to the world, read like this: “With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
These great men knew that God plays a role in the affairs of men and countries and nations. These early leaders knew that there was a Redeemer who proclaimed a Gospel that set people free to be free indeed.
John Quincy Adams wrote in that era, “From the day of the Declaration (of Independence)… the American people were bound by the laws of God, which they all acknowledged as the rules of their conduct., and (the American people were bound ) by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly all acknowledged as the rules of their conduct.”
James Madison would also write in that day, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Some of the parting words of George Washington are these: “…you do well to wish to learn our arts and way of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.”
What Mr. Washington, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Adams were communicating was the truth of the Scriptures. What they were communicating was a spiritual freedom that went hand in hand with their experiment of political freedom!
It was the Lord Jesus who had said in John 8:36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” It was the apostle Paul who had written in Gal. 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free…” The great prophet Isaiah had looked forward to the coming of the Redeemer and wrote, “(He will come) to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners…” (Isa. 61:1)
So what about the magnitude of the freedom Jesus offers? What did He have in mind when He offered a freedom that would make us free indeed?
When we look at His Sermon on the Mount, we get great exposure into the extend of the freedom He offered. To those poor in spirit (Mt. 5:3 ff.), He offered the kingdom of heaven. ‘Poor in spirit’ describes those who have no clue about spiritual things, no clue about religion. They are spiritual paupers with no spiritual qualifications and no spiritual abilities. Spiritually, they are bankrupt, deficient – beggars without a clue or a hope. To these, the Lord Jesus offers the gracious touch of heaven, a relationship with the One Who is now present in their midst.
To those who mourn, the Lord Jesus offers comfort. To those with broken hearts -- the heartbreak of rejection, the heartbreak of death, the heartbreak of financial loss, there are a thousand ways we are brought to grief…. To all these the freedom Jesus offers bursts forth in comfort and laughter. Tears are turned to joy; mourning gives way to comfort, tragedy becomes blessing. When Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed.
To those who are meek, gentle, they shall inherit the earth. (Mt. 5:5) The freedom Jesus offers takes the shy ones, the reserved ones, the unassuming, unassertive, intimidated people of the world and gives them standing as children whose Father holds it all in His hand and gives it as they have need. When Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed!
To those who are pure in heart, they shall see God. (Mt. 5:8) To the ones who are perfectionists, who can never see a thing without seeing its imperfections, who are never satisfied, not with everyone and everything else, most of all themselves… To those who constantly complain… the food isn’t cooked right, this dress doesn’t fit right, these colors don’t match and they don’t complement… To these miserable souls whose everyday is one frustration and disaster after another, the Lord Jesus offers the prospect of seeing God, the One who is perfect, the One who is good enough, the One who is able to satisfy all their expectations without fail. In the Lord Jesus, freedom is freedom indeed!
There is much more that Jesus offers, not only in the Sermon on the Mount, but in the rest of the Scriptures, but this is enough to help us begin to see the magnitude of the freedom that He intended that we experience in our relationship with Him.
And remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthians on this issue of freedom in Christ? “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (I Cor. 6:9-11)
Where the Gospel is proclaimed and believed, men and women are set free. They experience liberty! They are let loose from the bonds of sexual lust. They are set free from the constraints of perversions. The chains of greed are broken. The shackles of co-dependency are unlocked. They know freedom from the fetters of swindle. The handcuffs of contemptuous, abusive language are removed.
The steps to freedom are precious indeed. When the Lord Jesus sets us free, we know a freedom that is beyond compare.
July the 4th is certainly the day to celebrate our freedoms in this great land. The steps taken to provide these freedoms have been precious and costly. They should not be disregarded nor downplayed; they should not be overlooked or forgotten. They are our joy and the envy of the world.
But as great as these freedoms are, as far into our lives as they reach, as profound and blessed as we hold them, they cannot compare to the freedom we can know that was made available by the death of the Savior.
Today, friends, some of us need to heed the words of the Lord Jesus found in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The Savior said, in Mt. 4:17, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Savior, representing God’s rule in our realm, the kingdom of heaven, invites us to change the direction in which we are headed. That’s what repent means! When the rule of heaven comes down upon our lives through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we are set free!
Some of us, in our heart of hearts, would have to say today, “I don’t know the kind of freedom I’m hearing about today!” My life is one of hopelessness, characterized by day after day of quiet desperation (Thoreau). We don’t do much that counts, we haven’t been able to reach our dreams, we don’t feel secure, we are more frantic than peaceful, we are more despairing than delighted. “Repent, for the Savior is at hand.”
July 2, 2000, would be a good day to make a personal declaration: “From today forward, I’m going to make it a priority to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. Lord, I’m ready to take freedom’s road—I want to be under the rule of the Liberator.” Won’t you make that decision today?

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Final challenges for the church looking for His return

2008-05-30T12:17:00.002-04:00

I Thessalonians 5:12-28

January 9, 2000

Introduction: I read this week a brief biography of a harpist by the name of Turlough O’Carolan. He was born in Ireland in 1670, and he is known as the master of the Irish harp. During his lifetime he composed some 220 songs called jigs and planxties, and his songs are the only songs of his time to survive to our day. Interestingly, he was blinded by smallpox as a 17 year old teenager, but that didn’t keep him from becoming the best. He supported himself by composing music and playing for fans and supporters. He did this for 50 years.
Amadeo Peter Giannini dropped out of school at the age of 14, having lost his father at the age of 7.. He bought the Bank of America in 1928, and when he retired in 1945, his bank was the largest in America. As a one-time laborer, he had a dream for a bank that would market its services to ordinary people who were struggling to make something of their lives and who needed a helping hand to do it. He would be quoted as saying, “It’s no use to decide what’s going to happen unless you have the courage of your convictions. Many a brilliant ideas has been lost because the man who dreamed it lacked the spunk or the spine to put it across. It doesn’t matter if you don’t always hit the exact bulls-eye,” he said, “the other rings in the targets score points, too.”
Both O’Carolan and Giannini started out in life with huge challenges on their plates. They saw the challenges as obstacles to be overcome so they might make a mark in their world.
When Paul comes to the end of his first letter to these Thessalonians, he concludes with a number of challenges. He lays these challenges before his friends as a way for them to mark their world for the Lord Jesus and His Gospel. In light of all his emphasis in this letter upon the return of the Lord Jesus, it is obvious that Paul has certain expectations of this particular group of believers. These Thessalonians are a good church; they are an assembly with many strengths and many good qualities; there is the certain expectation that the Lord Jesus may return very soon. In that light, Paul seeks to encourage them on in their faith with some attention to a number of particular issues.
These issues can be grouped into three categories that will help us get a handle on Paul’s final instructions.
He first speaks to all those in the church who would be leaders and followers. All the church would be included in one of these two categories.
He then speaks to the church regarding some with particular needs, needs that are evident, needs that can be helped within the church body.
Then thirdly, he returns to general instructions for everyone—leaders, followers, needy, everyone who makes up this fellowship.
If those of us in this church will give heed to these commands, the church will continue to mature; it will continue to know the presence of God in its experience; it will continue to be a bright light to its community and its world; and perhaps most of all, it will be prepared for the return of the Lord Jesus.
What was good counsel for this first century church is good counsel for us! This is a great church; it has many strengths and many accomplishments. But it, we, can excel even more. And we can be better prepared for the Lord’s return. If the Lord Jesus was given the signal this afternoon to return, we’d want to be found doing these things. And if we have a week or a month yet to wait, there’s still time to be improving in these areas. How we live here is important, for one day our future involvement in God’s kingdom will be dependent upon how we have lived here. So let’s consider Paul’s final instructions and learn some practical lessons to take home with us.
Our text is the last half of the 5th chapter of I Thessalonians. It reads like this, beginning in verse 12: “But we request of you, brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
Paul’s first exhortations are to the church leaders and to those they lead. These are kindly requests. In verses 12 and 13, we see at least two characteristics of church leaders. (1) Those who lead are known for their labor on behalf of the church. Their work, verse 13, is done with diligence, vs. 12. Diligent work is indeed labor. (2) They have authority from the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. The text of verse 12 says these leaders have charge over you in the Lord. Leaders have the responsibility from the Lord Jesus to urge their followers in the church along to obedience and maturity. Leaders have the important obligation to guide church members into truth and commitment. The instruction they give is valuable, it is profitable, it is life-giving and life-saving.
Further, in these two verses, we see two requirements for everyone else in the church. (1) Followers are to appreciate those who lead them, and (2) they are to honor them. The expression ‘appreciate’ comes from a little word that means ‘to know’. Paul is saying that appreciation comes from knowing fully the value and worth of leaders who are working hard to lead the church in the paths of Jesus. We recognize it is hard to appreciate someone or something we don’t know very well. Paul’s request to the Thessalonians is that they acknowledge more clearly the role of leaders as valuable elements in the life of the assembly. That acknowledgement is a definition of appreciation.
Knowing leaders in this way leads to Paul’s second request: Honor them, esteem them very highly. Honor has always meant to express to someone how much he means to you. Honor takes a thousand forms, from the briefest note to the most expensive of gifts.
I had this kind of experience this week when Steve and Ron and I left Upland at 4 am Wednesday to pray and anoint Herb Frye with oil at the IU Med Center in Indy. During that time with Herb and Kathy, Herb motioned for me to lean close, he shared some thoughts with me, then he kissed me on the cheek, thanking me for being his pastor. That was an expression of honor.
Paul requests of these believers that they salute the high calling of their leaders, that they praise them for their hard work, and that they let their leaders know how valuable they are to them.
Notice, both appreciation and honor are to flow out of love.
And, leaders and followers are to live in peace with one another.
So, how do we at the UCC measure up? For those of us who are leaders, we want to evaluate how hard we are working on behalf of the local church. ‘Diligent labor’ and ‘work’ are the foundation in this text for the rewards of honor and esteem. It may be hard for the church family to appreciate us as leaders if the extent of our ‘work’ is a couple of hours a month attending a board meeting.
I would love to have all of us, at the beginning of this new year, take a few moments with our spouses or close friends and honestly evaluate our lives in relationship to the church. Some of us leaders are stretched way too thin because we are serving in too many ministries. Others of us are doing the bare minimum for conscience’s sake, or for a line on a resume, or whatever.
I would love to see all our church leaders spending 2 ½ hours a week in church work—elders making calls and visits and praying, trustees stopping by the church to walk around with eyes wide open, stewardship board members dreaming and brainstorming about inspiring stewardship among us, missions board members calling us to greater vision of a lost world, ed. min. folks visiting Sunday School classes and nurseries on Sunday mornings with an eye to evaluation and improvement. 2 ½ hours a week, out of 168, would be a step toward balance, wouldn’t it?
For those of us who are followers, how are we doing with our following? We do a great job in October honoring and esteeming our pastors, a great job! But how are we doing week-to-week, for example, in taking our Sunday instruction seriously? In our Sunday school hour and in our worship hour, we leaders are seeking to give guidance from the word of God that will be beneficial for the coming week. Is our first response to question, challenge, or criticize?
How are we doing with our attitudes of submission and respect? The writer of Hebrews (13:17) would say, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy, not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
I know in these days of independence and prosperity it is sometimes hard to think about authority and submission. But there is great advantage is developing these traits in this day, for our future in the kingdom will be far more profitable for it!
Peace will reign in the church when leaders work hard and when followers follow with respect and appreciation.
Paul’s second set of challenges are directed to groups within the church who have particular needs. While the first challenges were kindly requests, these are urgent summons. According to verse 14, the first are the Unruly: they need warning. The second are the Fainthearted: they need comfort. The third are the Weak: they need support. And the fourth group is Everyone else: all need patience.
I like how Peterson, in The Message ties these together: “Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet…”
When Paul uses the terms ‘admonish’ and ‘unruly’, he is drawing upon strong and unusual terms. ‘Admonish’ means to confront and call to account, even when it may be difficult for a leader to do and a follower to receive. ‘Unruly’ is a picture word of a soldier out of step or out of rank. It is also used of an army moving in disarray. I was once lined up in a parade formation in boot camp, and I was too far forward in this long line of Marines. The drill instructor walked down the line and punched me in the stomach. I stepped back a tad! That was a painful experience of being admonished as unruly!
For the Thessalonians, some had stepped out of line, some had left their duties, some were neglecting their responsibilities. Paul instructed the church leaders to warn these to return to a more disciplined approach to life and ministry.
Yes, there are those in the church who are undisciplined, idle, neglecting their duties, not keeping their word, out of line. It does no one any good to overlook this kind of behavior. It does the church’s testimony no good for leaders to wink at these kinds of actions.
On the other hand, there are those who need not admonishing, they need encouraging. The fainthearted need gentle touches, encouraging words, a smile, a shoulder to lean on. These are those who have suffered, who have been pressed down, who are discouraged, who feel temporarily overwhelmed by the stresses and pressures of life. They need tender understanding and reassurances.
The weak need support. They are exhausted and drained, perhaps burned-out. They need to know that others are strong, and these who are strong will not leave them, will not forsake them. It’s OK for us to be weak in the church; we need not fear being left behind. We need not fear being abandoned. The strong will be available to be clung to for support, for refreshment, for healing.
Finally, everyone needs patience. Patience means ‘long-tempered’. It means a long fuse, slow irritability, everyone giving everyone else a chance to grow up, space to mature. Patience means calmness when others are too slow to see their need to change, or having seen it, too slow to take action in the right direction.
So, how are we doing here at the UCC? Do the unruly get admonished? Do the fainthearted find comfort? Do the weak get supported? Are we patient with one another?
In the last segment of the chapter, Paul offers challenges to all the church, verse 15 to the end of the chapter. The first segment of challenges were kindly requested, the second set of summons were urgently needed, these final charges are always appropriate.
All need to pursue good and avoid evil, especially the evil of revenge. Pursue the good of the one you can’t stand. Look for ways to do good to the one who regularly offends you. Help your co-worker to succeed. Take down fences in the neighborhood. Seek after that which is good for one another
All need to rejoice always in all things. God is bigger than all our circumstances, and He is faithfully at work in all things to bring us to glory. I read in Psalm 37 this week the encouragement to “feed on His faithfulness”. When we see ourselves figuratively munching of fond memories of God’s help in times past, we have just cause for rejoicing. We can have a sense of humor, we can face the day with optimism. Our God is up to great things.
All need to pray at all times. This phrase means to be in such a relationship with God that you are conversing with Him throughout the day in praise and in petitions.
All need to give thanks continually. To learn to give thanks IN every situation develops a grateful heart. If God is at work shaping us into the image of His Son, then we can give thanks in everything. IN marks a crucial difference from FOR. We may not be thankful for a storm, but we can be, and God expects us to be, grateful IN the storm. There are great purposes at work that God wants us to thank Him for.
All need to never quench the Spirit. This admonition means to not put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit flames up in our hearts, when He nudges us in a direction we need to go, it is wise for us to obey. When He gives us a burden for someone, we need to follow through. When He won’t let us sleep about a dream or vision from God, we need to pay attention and be responsive. When He makes a verse leap off the page of the Scripture, we do well to pay attention. When we don’t… we have turned in the direction of disobedience.
All need to never despise prophecies. For these first century believers, this was an admonition to pay attention to prophecies. Perhaps because of the false prophets spreading tales of the Lord’s having already returned, the Thessalonians were skeptical of all prophecies. Paul wanted them to listen to real prophets who spoke the truth of God’s word. For us in this day, with a completed Word of God, this injunction would refer to those who speak the Word to us, to those that God uses to speak to us. One commentator suggests we need to listen to wise exhortations from people who challenge us to live according to the Word.
All need to test everything. In a nutshell, we need to be discerning. We need to ask certain kinds of questions: Is this instruction something I can verify from the Word? Does this teaching lead to the glorifying of the Lord Jesus? How does this strike my spirit, the place where the Holy Spirit gives me confidence?
All need to abstain from every form of evil. If an issue passes the test, hold on to it. If it doesn’t, avoid it decisively. Make no compromises. Don’t toy with it. Be separated from it completely.
That makes quite a list of challenges, don’t you think?
Finally, Paul’s Benediction follows in verses 23-28. God can be trusted to keep us; it is His work to preserve us; He is the faithful one. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Read this letter to everyone.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Y2K: A time to awaken unsaved sleepers

2008-05-30T12:17:00.001-04:00

I Thessalonians 5: 1-11

January 2, 2000

Introduction: Chuck Swindoll, in his little Bible study guide on I Thessalonians, tells the story of a New Yorker who lived on Long Island. In September of 1938, he ordered a barometer from the respected company of Abercrombie and Fitch. Now this barometer was no ordinary instrument. It was an expensive, extremely sensitive barometer. When the order arrived at his home, the new owner was disappointed to discover that the needle of the barometer was pointed to the sector on the dial marked “Hurricane”.
After shaking this new gauge vigorously a few times and seeing no change in the indicator, the New Yorker wrote a scathing letter to Abercrombie and Fitch detailing his disappointment with their defective product. He mailed his letter the next day on his way to his office in New York City. We can imagine his surprise when he returned home that evening to find his new barometer missing --- along with his house!
It seems the barometer’s indicator had been right all along; a hurricane had passed through his area and demolished his neighborhood.
The text we want to study together today is like a barometer whose dial is pointed toward “Hurricane” or “Tornado” or “Severe Storm”. This text warns us that there is a dangerous storm coming, a very dangerous storm like none other that has ever devastated the earth, and it describes for us what we need to be about in anticipation of its arrival.
The question we must face is, “Do I believe this warning indicator?” Like the man from Long Island in 1938, will we assess the indicator to be wrong OR will we begin to take precautionary action? Are there things we ought to be doing before the storm arrives, OR do we go about our normal routines as if nothing will be different today from yesterday? These are questions we want to answer before we leave here today.
Now the storm that Paul anticipates in I Thessalonians 5 is none other than the Great Tribulation, referred to here by the technical terms, Day of the Lord. We know from our previous studies in Daniel and Revelation in years past that this will be a time of unprecedented, world-wide disaster, judgment, and tribulation. So we are fortunate to have some warning indicators. We have been given a heads-up concerning how we should be living, both toward each other in the church and especially towards those who are outside the church, outside the fold of Christ, unsaved as the Bible calls them.
It seems especially appropriate on this Sunday, the first in a new year and a new century, that this particular text comes up on the screen of our sermon schedule. We paused in our studies of I Thessalonians to focus upon the hymns of Christmas, and now it’s time to return to this little book and finish it up. Interestingly, right after Christmas and the first coming of the Lord, we pick up with a text regarding the second coming of the Lord!
The text is I Thessalonians 5:1-11 – (The Message) “I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other – “We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!” – suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith , love, and the hope of salvation.
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with Him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.”
Our text before us today deals with three issues, so those are what we want to consider this morning. The first is the timing of this coming Day of the Lord and how that day will come. The second is how the coming of that day will have consequences that affect unbelievers. And the third is how the coming of that day should impact us who are believers.
First then, what is this Day of the Lord, and how and when will it come? Paul gives us a clue that he is shifting gears somewhat from chapter 4 when he begins with the phrase, “Now as to the times and epochs, brethren…” The New King James version translates this “But concerning the times and the seasons…” In Paul’s writings, this phrase, “But concerning” characteristically introduces a new topic, and that is the case here. Paul had finished chapter 4 with insights and instruction concerning the rapture of the church, what we know as the initial phase of the second coming of Christ. Now he wants to remind his readers of what follows the rapture of the church. Notice in your Bibles, Paul had instructed the Thessalonians about the rapture; he now reminds them about a matter they already had knowledge of, the Day of the Lord.
“The Day of the Lord” as a technical phrase is used throughout the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, to encompass two events. It is used in connection with both the coming judgment of God upon the world and the final dramatic return of the Lord Jesus to reign upon the earth. When we come across the phrase, the context of our reading lets us know which of these two elements is being emphasized. (If you have a good study Bible, you might look this afternoon at the Old Testament book of Joel to gain further insight into this particular Day.)
For Paul’s readers of this Thessalonian letter, they knew what Paul had in mind. They knew he was referencing the beginning of “that day”, for in verse 3 he writes, “While they are saying ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child…” Paul had also just made reference in verse two to that day coming “just like a thief in the night.”
So we have some clarity here in reference to our first issues. We know what the Day of the Lord is, and we know how and when it will come. As the Day of the Lord, this is the beginning of the great judgment of God upon the world.
Secondly, as to how it will come, we know now that it will come suddenly. I can still remember clearly that night in Indonesia when Suzie woke me to say she was having labor pains. She was pregnant with our first daughter, Stephanie, and it was too early for her birth. Though the pregnancy needed to go longer, there was no question that birth pangs had started. Labor pains, so I’m told, have a way of getting one’s attention! Suzie certainly got mine! So we know that this Day will begin suddenly and without warning, much as labor pains do, much as a burglar does when he breaks into a house.
And thirdly, we now know that this Day will begin in a time frame when, as Peterson has paraphrased it (vs. 3), “About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other – ‘We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!’…”
These phrases could be a description of our days, couldn’t they? How many times have we read in the newspapers and heard on the nightly news that the economy is purring along perfectly? In this “New Era” of economics, the old rules don’t apply. Now there is great productivity, there is no inflation to speak of, we have the fullest employment in decades, the stock market is going to the moon, people are spending more because their investments have made them wealthier…. How could life be any better? When this kind of news is wide-spread, it’s time to be alert and sober and perhaps a bit cautious.
One final thought on the “when” issue”-- For us who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, we are convinced that this Day of the Lord, this day of destruction and judgment and the wrath of God, this day will begin AFTER the church has been snatched away, out of the world. That was what chapter four was about; that’s why we started our study in this book with chapter 4 instead of chapter one! But having said that, we still don’t know exactly when the trumpet of the Lord will sound and when we who are believers will be called to the skies. That is a mystery! We know it will happen, we just don’t know the precise timing. That’s exclusively God’s business. But the same signs that indicate the coming of the Day of the Lord are valid for the Rapture, for the Rapture immediately precedes the time of the great tribulation.
Also in this passage, Paul addresses a second issue: what will be the consequences of this coming day upon unbelievers? How will those outside the fold of faith be impacted when this day suddenly arrives without warning? We know Paul has these folks in mind because of the pronouns.
Notice how the pronouns change from verses 1 & 2 and verse 3. In verses one and two, it is “you, you, you”, the people of the church who receive this letter. Now in verse 3, it is “they”, the people outside, those without faith, those without Christ as their savior.
For these, Paul uses a single word to describe their fate: destruction! Destruction here means utter ruin; it means a loss of everything of any value; it portrays hopelessness and despair brought about by cataclysmic losses. We only have to glance through Revelation 6-18 to get a perspective of the nature of this destruction. Because of the judgments that come from the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets, and the 7 bowls, the world and all in it are basically destroyed. For just a peek, consider Rev. 9:1-3 – “Then the fifth angel sounded (his trumpet), and I (John)a saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power…” It wouldn’t take 30 minutes this afternoon to read Rev. 6-18 if one wanted to get a clearer picture of God’s wrath poured out upon an unbelieving world. In a word, it is almost unbelievable.
Worse than all that, this destruction that Paul refers to is unanticipated destruction. It’s one thing to see the flares and hear the enemy’s’ bugles. It’s quite another to look up and see him ready to fire into your foxhole. It’s one thing to hear the weather report and see the sky turning black. It’s quite another to look out the window and see a funnel cloud a block away. For these unbelievers, Paul says that while in a spirit of peace and safety, while in a spirit of security and well-being, the whole world falls apart. It’s like the alarm system is set, but it didn’t go off. It’s a bit like playing soccer and having your knee suddenly and inexplicably crumple on you. It’s like the Y2K bug was real, but none of these folks took any precautions whatsoever. It’s like the earthquake fault lines running through California. Scientists have long anticipated a quake near the very top of the Richter scale, but few people living out there seem to think it will happen in their lifetime.
Destruction will be sudden and without remedy. Paul says in verse three, “they will not escape.” There will be no way out. There will be no back doors, there will be no bridges, there will be no trap doors by which to escape. Destruction will be total and complete.
In the third and final issue Paul addresses, he speaks to the church family and challenges it to a particular kind of response in light of this coming day. He says in verse 4, “But you, brethren…” But friends, you are not like those outside. That little word “But” could be spelled, r-e-l-i-e-f! All those terrible things wrapped up in the expression “destruction” are not for us! But there is a challenge for us. Let’s not sleep as others do!, vs. 6, i.e., to be asleep morally. Let’s be alert and sober!, vs. 6. Let’s be sober, vs. 8. Sober simply suggests senses that are un-numbed. Let’s be sure we’ve put on the breastplate of faith and love. Let’s be sure we’ve put on as a helmet the hope of salvation. Let’s be sure we are encouraging one another. Let’s be sure we are building up one another.
Did you notice the lack of panic in these challenges? Did you see the lack of anxiety and worry here? Yes, judgment is coming. A terrible judgment is just over the horizon. But for us in Christ, we are to be about the stuff of light. We are to be bearers of light. We are to be forewarning those who are yet lost in the darkness.
These are the smallest expectations that God has for those for whom Christ died. The Lord Jesus died for us that whether we are alive or whether we die, we will live together with Him. To be alive and to live with Him means that all of these things could be said about us!
Having a grip on what the text has said, there are a couple of lessons from this passage we can take with us this morning.
One, A safe tomorrow should not mean a complacent today. Yes, we who are in Christ have no reason whatsoever to be afraid of what’s coming prophetically tomorrow. Paul makes it very clear that we have not been destined for wrath (vs. 9) like the rest of the unbelieving world. Our future is as secure as the promises of God! Christ took all of our condemnation upon Himself upon the cross. There is therefore no wrath or condemnation for us. We want to be encouraging one another daily with this truth. The idea behind this word in verse 11 is of “strengthening by means of one’s words”. We need to tell each other these precious things.
But, our unsaved friends do not have the same assurances. They are in a different boat altogether. In fact, if we are complacent about sharing the good news with them, if we are careless in allowing them to continue to sleep in moral darkness, we can be very sure of the nature of their future! It will be destruction with no escape.
As sons of light, as daughters of day, our most distinguishing feature, our most prominent trait, is light. We are not to be known for things characterized by night or darkness. We are not to be spiritually insensitive as ‘sleepers’ would be. We are to be temperate and balanced. We are to be wary of situations and circumstances that look spiritually dangerous. For us to wear the breastplate of faith and love surely means that we are being bold for Christ (faith) and selfless for others (love). For us to wear the helmet of salvation’s hope surely means we are confident every day.
Sadly, sometimes we are easily complacent and careless because we are genuinely facing a very secure future.
Two, A calm today does not guarantee a calm tomorrow. If all is going well in your life, if you are healthy, your bank account is growing, life is good… if you are here today without a relationship to God through Jesus Christ, I want you to know, God wants you to know, today’s calm cannot last. The Scriptures make it very clear that judgment is coming. There is a storm coming. And when it comes, there will be no escape.
Today would be a good day to make a decision that locks in your future.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Will you be snatched away or left behind?

2008-05-30T12:16:00.000-04:00

I Thessalonians 4:13-17

September 19, 1999

Introduction: Many of us are familiar with the so-called Darwin Awards. If you do not know about these honorable mentions, they are given annually (and posthumously) to those individuals who did the most for the human gene pool by removing themselves from it.
For 1999, one of the finalists was an employee of the local gas company. In his small west Texas town, employees in a medium-sized warehouse noticed the smell of gas. Wisely, management evacuated the building and turned off all potential sources of ignition—lights, power, etc. Two employees of the gas company were dispatched to the warehouse to assess the situation. Upon entering the building, they found they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none of the lights worked. Witnesses later described the vision of one of the technicians reaching into his pocket and retrieving an object that resembled a lighter. Upon operation of the lighter-like object, the gas in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of it up to 3 miles away. Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter was virtually untouched by the explosion. The gas company employee who was suspected of causing the explosion had never been thought of as “bright” by his peers.
A runner-up in this year’s awards (a runner-up because she didn’t die) was a cleaning lady who greatly aided several others in hastening their trip to see the Almighty. A spokeswoman for the Pelonomi Hospital, in the Free State, South Africa, told reporters the following:
“For several months, our nurses have been baffled to find a patient dead in the same bed every Friday morning. There was no apparent cause for any of the deaths, and extensive checks on the air conditioning system and a search for possible bacterial infection failed to reveal any clues. However, further inquiries have now revealed the cause of these deaths. It seems that every Friday morning a cleaning lady would enter the ward, remove the plug that powered the patient’s life support system, plug her floor polisher into the vacant socket, then go about her business. When she had finished her chores, she would plug the life support machine back in and leave, unaware that the patient was now dead. After all, she could not hear the patient’s struggle and eventual straight-line beep of the monitor over the sound of her polishing machine.” The hospital spokeswoman went on to add, “We are sorry, and we have sent a strong letter to the cleaner in question. Further, the Free State Health and Welfare Department is arranging for an electrician to fit an extra socket, so there should be no repetition of this incident. The inquiry is now closed.”
One of these days, friends, perhaps very soon, maybe even tomorrow, we will all be going about our daily routines—some of us will be in the classroom, some on a factory assembly line, some making an ambulance run, some caring for hospital patients, some on the golf course, some changing a diaper, some visiting a widow, some milking cows and harvesting crops, some reading a good book, and whatever else is part of a normal day for each of us-- and in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye-- we are going to be confronted with a cataclysmic event even more sizeable than those faced by our Darwin Award finalists. We are going to be completely out of control, flying heavenward through the clouds like the angels. We will be totally at the mercy of God, completely dependent upon Him, newly clothed in a brand new robe (that fits us just right—not too loose, not too tight), and winding our way upward through the clouds toward heaven. This unbelievable experience is known in theological terms as the Rapture of the church. Now this event will not include all those who have memberships in local churches, but it will include all who are members of THE church of the Lord Jesus Christ. More about that in a little bit.
The central text for this Biblical concept is found in the first letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. We leave our study of the Proverbs with some sadness, at least for me, and for the next few weeks, we want to explore the books of I and II Thessalonians. They are rich in truth that is so encouraging. These are letters that Paul wrote, some of the earliest of the New Testament, that have a decided prophetic theme to them. In our study, we hope to be encouraged about life in the midst of a world that seems to be getting more bizarre by the day. Shootings of kids in a Baptist church in Fort Worth, the largest peacetime evacuation of Americans in history in the face of the largest hurricane ever, more and more earthquakes in Turkey, Indonesians killing Indonesians in East Timor… and perhaps some things closer to home that are just as earthshaking to some of us—loneliness, depression, discouragement, hopelessness, pain. What is our hope for tomorrow? Is that hope of tomorrow so grand that we live encouraged today? Is that prospect glorious enough to keep me moving in the right direction today? Is that expectation so compelling I leave my temptations to pornography, to overspending, to overeating, to laziness, to whatever… to continue walking with the Lord Jesus as closely as possible today? What Paul writes to the Thessalonians is just that, friends, a glorious, compelling expectation that stirs our hearts to faithfulness and steadfastness every day that we wait for His return!
Now I know it’s customary to start a book at the beginning, but like we did in Genesis, we are going to begin somewhere else. We’ll go back to chapter one next week, but for today, we want to look at one of the most famous passages in these two books. This is the passage that deals with the rapture of the church at the Lord’s return.
There are three dimensions of this concept called the Rapture for our consideration today. First, we want to know what happens. When the rapture takes place, just exactly what will happen? Secondly, we want to know what is its impact. What will be the effect upon the world, to both Christians and non-Christians, when the rapture occurs? And thirdly, what are the blessings on this cataclysmic phenomenon? What will be the benefits for us who experience the rapture?
The answers to our questions are found in our text for today, I Thessalonians 4:13-18. Follow along in your Bible or on the screen above as I read.
I Thessalonians 4:13-18: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Our first question was, “What Happens?” What takes place at the Rapture? According to verse 16, the Lord Jesus comes down out of heaven towards the earth. His descent is not a complete descent, for verse 17 tells us there is a meeting of the Lord in the air. The Lord Jesus’ coming down is accompanied by a loud shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet (call) of God. These three alerts are three signals.
1. The loud shout or loud command is a call for the dead in Christ to rise. We remember the Lord Jesus standing outside the grave where Lazarus was entombed (Jn.11: 43). Jesus commanded, with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And he did. And it’s the same here. At the loud command of the Lord Jesus, those who have died in the faith are raised again to life. (vs. 16c) Even those bodies of believers that went down on the Titanic and the Arizona, even those bodies burned in fires and destroyed in war, even those bodies of believers in airplane crashes at Little Rock and Lockerbye, even the bodies of believers cremated or buried at sea!
You see, for the God who holds all things together, as Paul had written to the Colossians, “He (the Lord Jesus) is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together,” for that kind of God, it is a small thing to pull all those pieces back together into a whole body once again. (As a sidebar here, I’ve had more questions this past year about what the Bible says about cremation. It doesn’t say anything, and so there’s no prohibition against the practice. Theologically, you can see why cremation is not a problem for God, just like fires and explosions are not either.)
And so the dead in Christ will rise.
Paul makes this point to the Thessalonians because they did not know what would happen to those fellow believers who died and the Lord had not returned yet. You see, all the believers in the early church expected the Lord Jesus to return at any moment—within days or maybe a few months at most. Everything the Lord Jesus had said seemed to suggest that they would all still be alive when He returned. He had said, Watch, Be ready, Don’t be deceived, the Son of Man will come at an hour that you do not think… There didn’t seem to be any likelihood that believers would die before that remarkable event. But some had, and the Thessalonians were confused. “What would happen to those who had died before the Lord’s return?”
Paul reassured these believers at Thessalonica that their loved ones in Christ would not miss out on the Lord’s return or be left behind when He called. Indeed, they would rise first at the Lord’s loud command. Why first? Dr. Walvoord, in the video we’ll see tonight says, tongue-in-cheek, that they rise first because, being in the ground, they have further to go!
2. Now there’s a second alert, and we see it in 16b—there is the voice of the archangel as the Lord Jesus descends. The only archangel named in the Scriptures is Michael—and according to the Old Testament book of Daniel, Michael is uniquely related to the nation of Israel. So it may be here, just maybe, that the Lord Jesus calls together the 144,000 Jews (12,000 from the 12 tribes) who will play a part in the great tribulation. In Revelation 7, the apostle John saw these 144,000 individuals, sealed and protected as Gospel evangelists, who serve during the 7 years of the tribulation period. So it may be that as Christ descends from heaven, He calls this remnant of Israel into a new relationship with Him by means of Michael’s shouting voice, calling them to their service of evangelism.
3. And finally, there is the third alert, after the loud command, after the voice of the archangel, there is the trumpet call of God, 16c. This is the call to the believers who are alive at the time—Paul had said to the Corinthian believers in I Cor. 15:51-52: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” So those who are not yet “asleep”—a reference to death for the believer—will be changed.
So when the trumpet call of God sounds, when its note reaches the ears of believers, we will be changed and caught up into the clouds to be with the Lord. This is what verse 17 says.
In a flash, we disappear; we meet in the air our deceased loved ones in the faith, and we join the Lord Jesus in the clouds! This is what I understand happens at the Rapture. The dead in Christ are called to life. The living in Christ are called skyward. The Jewish remnant is commissioned to a 7 year work of evangelism.
Our second question this morning is, “What is the impact of that event?” Well, upon the earth there is chaos and grief. Let’s put our imaginations to work for a few minutes.
**The captain of an airliner is suddenly gone-- there is his uniform, his cap, his watch, his wedding band, and his shoes are there on the floor at the rudder pedals. If the co-pilot is a believer, then he’s gone too. We can imagine what will happen to the airplane.
**All the cars being driven by Christians at the time of the rapture will become uncontrolled battering rams. Those of us who car pool to work or school with unbelievers may want to alert them to grab the wheel if we suddenly disappear. What a nightmare that might be
--at the airport where passengers disembark,
--on every highway and interstate where huge semi’s run out of control.
--in a parking garage after a concert. Just how much could a tow truck driver make clearing a parking garage like the one next to Purdue’s 6000 seat Elliott Hall?
**All the children in the world below the age of accountability disappear.
**Hundreds of band instruments in high school and college bands fall to the floor as Christian students disappear.
**Police forces find their ranks depleted. There are not enough firemen to man the fire trucks and emergency vehicles in their departments.
**Doctors and nurses vanish. Patients who know Christ disappear from gurneys in operating rooms.
**Husbands who never got around to going to church with their wives—who never bought into the Gospel—wake in the night to find family members missing. Husbands and wives are separated; one is taken, one is left behind.
**There will be much grief and anguish as youth realize parents are gone. So too the same for parents who try to come to grips with the fact their children are gone.
**Robbery and looting become epidemic when it’s noticed that so many homes are vacant, so many stores are understaffed.
There will be this dawning realization on the part of some unbelievers that there was something to that “Jesus” stuff. And for those, there may be the terrible self-accusing, recrimination that goes like this: Why didn’t I listen? How could I have been so blind? What do I do now?
But by far the greatest blow to those left behind will be the coming 7 years of tribulation. Shortly after the rapture of the church takes place, the whole world becomes subject to the wrath of God. Finally, God’s patience with sinful mankind has reached its limit. Finally, His anger and wrath and judgment fall upon a sin-filled world. It will be a terrible time of war, of famine and pestilence, of plagues and natural disasters, of persecution and deprivation and death. Believe me, no one in his right mind would choose to endure these experiences. They are described in detail in Revelation 6-18, about 40 minutes of reading material some afternoon or evening. And yet, all those who have rejected the claims of Christ upon their lives, who are not saved, who are not born again, will enter this seven year period of judgment, punishment, and condemnation. It will be a terrible time to be alive. Revelation tells us even some will seek to take their own lives and will be unable to do so!
So, in short, that is the impact of the rapture upon the earth. Believers will be snatched away, unbelievers will be left behind to face judgement and condemnation.
That brings us to the final question, “What is the blessing for us in this event?”
For one thing, it means there will be no dying for believers alive on that day. It means no walk through the valley of the shadow of death, or more literally, no trek through the darkest of valleys. Several older Christians—mature believers—have told me that death was not something they feared. But the process of dying—that was scary!! If you have ever watched a loved one die, then you can begin to appreciate what it will mean to be suddenly translated directly to heaven!! That will be a blessing indeed.
Another blessing is the beginning of eternity with the Lord Jesus (17d- …and thus we shall always be with the Lord.). We will know His daily presence more fully than we’ve known it here. We will begin to know the depths of His incredible love. We will become conformed to His image—no more of anything of our carnal and fleshly natures. No more sin, no more sickness, no more misunderstandings, no more – you name it.
Soon will follow the marriage feast of the Lamb, then the 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth, and finally a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, and an eternity of blissful worship and service of God almighty.
Well, that’s the rapture—the snatching away of the saints, the resulting chaos upon the world, and the blessing of coming into the presence of the Lord forever.
As we conclude this morning, we are left with just two questions.
(1) Will I be snatched away or will I be left behind? I want it to be clear this morning that the Gospel is a simple message. Christ died for our sins. He paid the price of our disobedience. If we are ready to acknowledge that we are people of flawed character, that we don’t always please God in what we do and say, then He is ready to receive us as our Savior. He simply awaits our decision to acknowledge our sin and invite Him into our life. His grace, His unmerited favor can handle whatever misdeeds I’ve done! Waiting to make that decision could be a disaster of incredible proportions!
A second question is for those of us who know we are saved, who have the assurance that we are His and He is ours. The question is this: If these things are coming to pass, how should we then live? If we are going to meet the King, perhaps very soon, how should we then be living? John would write in I John 3:3, “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Friends, of all the prophecies in the Bible, there is not one that must be fulfilled in order for the Rapture to take place. It is the next big event waiting to happen in our world. It could happen at any time. What will we be doing when the trumpet sounds? What kind of attitude will we have about the day?
We should be living with power. (That’s next week, chapter 1) We should be living in the presence of God. (That’s next week, chapter 1) We should be living as those known for faith, love, and hope. (That’s next week, chapter 1) We should be living free, unenslaved by obsessions, idolatry, and immorality. (That’s next week, chapter 1) We should be living joyfully. (That’s in a few weeks, chapter 5) We should be living in the Word which has power to perform its work in us who believe. (That’s in a few weeks, chapter 2)
Today is decision day! Some of us need to make a decision about our sin and accept the Savior. “Come just as you are, come and live forever!” Some of us need to shine brighter and move away from our worldly ways. Let’s decide today!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Biblical grief: The grave is not the last word

2008-05-30T12:15:00.000-04:00

I Thessalonians 4:13-14

Sunday, November 21, 1999

Introduction: The Pope met with his cardinals to discuss a proposal from Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel. The issue before them was an invitation by Mr. Netanyahu to a game of golf with the Pope to show the ecumenical spirit of the Jewish and Catholic faiths.
The Pope wanted to accept the invitation but he had never had a golf club in his hands. “Have we not a cardinal who can represent me in the game with the Israeli leader?”
“None that can play very well,” he was told. “But there is a devout Catholic by the name of Jack Nicklaus who plays very well. We could offer him a cardinalship, ask him to play as your representative, then we would be showing a spirit of cooperation, and we’ll also win the game!”
The idea was approved. Nicklaus accepted the offer to become a cardinal and agreed to represent the Pope in a game of golf.
The day after the game, Nicklaus arrived at the Vatican to report on the ecumenical match. “I have some good news, and some bad news, Your Holiness.”
“Give me the good news first, Cardinal Nicklaus.”
“Well, your Holiness, I don’t like to brag, but even though I’ve played some terrific rounds of golf in my life, this was the best I’ve ever played. I must have been inspired from above; my drives were long and true, my irons were accurate and purposeful, and my putting was perfect. With all due respect, my play was truly miraculous.”
“So what’s the bad news?” asked the Pope.
Nicklaus sighed, “I lost to Rabbi Tiger Woods by three strokes.”
Now friends, the game of golf is seldom a life and death matter, but we come today to a topic in our study of I Thessalonians that is exactly that, life and death. The topic is grief.
I doubt there is a soul here today who has not had an experience of grief. I remember my bitter sense of loss when as a young boy my uncle Arthur died as a result of an accident on a road repair project. When our 3 day old daughter died in Indonesia, it seemed I had a brick in my stomach for two weeks. Recently we had to have our dog put to sleep after 11 years with us, and I confess I wasn’t prepared for the emotional hit I took that day. And many of us have suffered grief to a far greater extent than I have, losing brothers, sisters, parents, spouses, and children. So what can we to do in the face of this all-too-common experience called grief?
How do we handle it? As followers of the Lord Jesus, what can we do to honor Him in the face of the wrenching emotions of grief? How do we not only bear it, but how do we conquer it? What do the Scriptures offer us by way of counsel for this most difficult of experiences? Are we doomed to continual defeat in the face of this monster, or is there a basis for hope?
Let’s consider what Paul says here on the subject, then let’s draw some conclusions, some lessons for life. Out of these lessons we can be encouraged, we can have hope as we journey through life, and especially when the journey takes us through the valleys of death.
Our text, I Thessalonians 4:13,14,18—“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” And then verse 18: “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The first observation we can make here from Paul’s statement is that he wrote so they would be both informed and comforted. Verse 13 and then verse 18 make these points. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep…therefore comfort one another with these words.” And this observation leads us to our first lesson (1) in dealing with grief—Truth is the key that unlocks the prison door of grief. We know from all kinds of experiences that grief is very much like a prison. It locks us up as genuinely as the heavy metal doors of the Grant County jail confine inmates there. In the early stages of grief, often we cannot function. I say ‘often’ because it’s not always so. Over the years, I’ve been with many members of this church family in the corridors and waiting rooms of the local hospitals. Reactions vary to that first news of the death of a loved one, in part because we are all different--different in our personalities, different in our temperaments, different in our maturity levels, different in our closeness to the Lord Jesus, different in our experiences with death.
We see the same differences in the men and women of the Bible. Abraham is dry-eyed and fully functional as he prepares to deal with Isaac’s impending death. No tears prevent him from seeing the ram in the thicket that will become the alternate sacrifice. Ezekiel sheds not a tear as he is told by God this message: ‘“Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache, and do not eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.’ (Eze.24) On the other hand, we see Peter in Luke 22 weeping bitterly in grief as the rooster crows and he comes to grips with his denial of the Lord Jesus. We know from Philippians 2 that Paul would have known ‘sorrow upon sorrow’ if Epaphroditus had died from his illness. We can imagine what forms that sorrow could have taken, knowing Paul as the emotional man that he was. So when grief comes, it takes different forms and expressions because we are different people in the way we are made.
But it is not uncommon that often we are in such a state of emotional shock we seem to have little control over much of anything. But with some time, in the course of the passing of some hours or days or weeks, what we know to be true, what God has said, is able to prevail over what I am feeling. Truth, what God has said, becomes for us the key that unlocks the prison door of grief. That’s exactly why Paul writes, “Therefore, comfort one another with these words.” There is comfort in the truth of what God has said.
Remember our earlier study in chapter 2, verse 13, how the word of God has the power to change us? “…the word of God…which performs its work in you who believe.” When the Thessalonians believed what God had said, they were forever changed. And those Thessalonians now grieving would find comfort in what God said through his servant, the apostle Paul. The term ‘comfort’ here has the idea of strengthening in it. Literally we could read this verse, “Strengthen one another’s hands with these words.” We can never say enough about the importance of the Word of God in this matter of grief. I’ve asked Terry Brooks to come this morning and share with us a vignette out of her personal experience of loss and grief. Her mother and father were both killed in a plane crash when she was a teenager growing up in Kansas.
(Terry’s story: Making sure no one was around, I slipped quietly into Mom and Dad’s bedroom. I ran my hand along the wall in search of the light switch but decided against turning it on. The sunlight coming through the lines of the draperies was adequate. Crossing toward the dresser, I noticed Dad’s picture. He had given it to Mom to put up while he was at the State Capitol. Staring into the picture, I recalled the picnics and political gatherings we had attended as a family. “What will happen now since Dad won’t be able to run for the election next month?” I wondered.
My eyes scanned the dresser. Books, magazines, folders, and music were stacked neatly. Music. It was so important to us as a family. Many evenings had been spent singing around the piano for enjoyment or practicing for a recital, concert, or church.
As I turned from the dresser, my eyes beheld the paintings on the wall over the bed. An old plantation house in a cotton field composed the painting on the left. It was painted for Mom as a reminder of her childhood home in Mississippi. The painting on the right was for Dad, a golden wheat field and granary symbolized Kansas, Dad’s heritage.
Sitting on the bed, I smothered my face in my hands. Would all of this soon be a thing of the past? Experiences with the whole family flashed through my mind—laughter around the dinner table, Sunday afternoon drives, planting flowers in the garden, so many family times together. I wanted something to hold on to. Something more than sweet memories.
My eyes focused on the bedstand as I lifted my head. Yes, that was it. There it was, the thing I had come in search of. The black leather had taken on a look I had never noticed before. It was like new. Or maybe it was the newness I felt within that made it seem so. I lifted it from the stand. My fingers guided themselves along the gold lettering: Raymond and Yvonne King. Opening the book, I turned the crisp page to the title page. The Holy Bible. Yes, this was my treasure. No inheritance of tangible items would really be important without the Christian heritage passed down from my parents. This tragedy could turn to triumph by the strengthening of my faith if God. Sure, there would be grief and hard times, but the promises in God’s Word would be my hope.
A second life lesson (2) for coping with grief is also nestled here in this text. I’m sure you’ve seen it already here in verse 18. “Therefore, comfort one another…” The lesson is this: Fellowship is the fire escape out of the burning house of grief. This is one of 30+ verses in the New Testament where ‘one’ and ‘another’ are tied together. Oh, how hard grief is to bear when one is alone! I was reminded in reading John 11 this week in personal devotions that when Lazarus died, “many of the Jews had come to Mary and Martha to console them concerning their brother.” Grief is always more bearable in the context of fellowship.
If we tie the ‘comfort’ with the ‘one another’ in verse 18, we could also read this verse, “Come to the side of one another, strengthening the hands of one another, with these words. Come alongside one another with God’s words, and grief will begin to loosen its grip on hearts and emotions.” With friends, friends of faith, friends who know God’s words, friends who strengthen us with God’s words, there is a way of escape. I hope we are all about building the right kinds of friendships. They will be absolutely necessary in the day of our crisis. I hope we are all working to find our niche in the Body of Christ, for it’s there that we become a part of ‘one another’.
The third lesson (3) this text holds for us in found in verse 14. “For if we believe that Jesus died…” God’s son, Jesus, died. Have you ever thought about God the Father knowing the pain of grief? Our lesson is this: God is personally experienced with grief; to Him we ought to run when it becomes our experience. Let’s think for a minute about God’s experience with grief. It all began back in the book of Genesis, back in the garden of Eden.
The first death that is recorded in the Bible is recorded here, and the first person to experience grief is none other than God Himself! We have read in Genesis (2:16-17) that God had given to Adam the privilege of eating from any tree in the garden of Eden except for one. Adam was solemnly warned that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in that day, he would surely die.
And of course, we all know what happened. Eve was tricked by the enemy, she ate of the fruit of that particular tree, she shared the fruit with Adam, and he ate too. Then “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’
Let’s put ourselves in God’s shoes for a moment. Dad, you’ve come home from work. All the way home you’ve been thinking about your wife, the delight of your life, and those munchkins, the gifts that God has placed in your quiver like arrows. You come in the door and announce, “Hey, I’m home!” The reason you went to work was to provide for them, to make it possible to meet their needs, to care for and support them. “Hey, I’m home! Tell me about your day!” But imagine that no one comes running. There’s no one there awaiting your homecoming. You ask, “Where is everybody?”
In one sense that is what happened to God. The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” When the man responds from his hiding place, God knows something horrible has taken place. The man and woman have disobeyed by eating the forbidden fruit, and in their sinning, they have died spiritually.
Friends, the first person in all the world to experience grief is none other than God Himself. There is no one better to turn to in the heartache of loss that God Himself. He knows how you feel. He has personally experienced what you have experienced. He knows your emotions. He made you in His own image. He has given us words of comfort to console us. He can give us understanding of “Why?” and “Why now?”.
So, how do we run to Him? We do the basic things: We find a place to be alone. We open His Book and read His words. We pray and pour out our heart to him. Perhaps we imagine Him in the chair across from us, listening to all our concerns and fears and loss and uncertainty. We reaffirm our commitment to Him. We ask Him to help us trust Him in the days ahead. We journal our thoughts and impressions as we read and pray. We record answers He has given to our prayers. Hopefully, friends, we are simply doing the things we’ve been doing all along the journey of life. Os Guinness, in his book, The Call, has a chapter entitled, “The Audience of One”. Guinness writes fundamentally about living in the presence of God, one’s Audience of One. He tells the story of General Charles Gordon, the peerless military strategist, the legendary commander, the mostly all-conquering victor who lived so closely before the Audience of One that when his time for death came, he had only a short step home. When Gordon was left abandoned to die at Khartoum, his friend John Bonar wrote to Gordon’s brother these words: “What at once, and always struck me was the way in which his oneness with God ruled all his actions, and his mode of seeing things. I never knew one who seemed so much to ‘endure as seeing Him who is invisible. Gordon seemed to live with God and for God.”
My friends, it will not be hard to run to God in our time of grief if we have been living with Him and before Him as our Audience of One. And it will not be hard to receive His comfort out of the His vast reservoir of consolation He can give, knowing full well exactly what we are going through.
There is a corollary lesson here in connection with lesson three (3a) that is not referenced in the Thessalonian letter: This lesson states: God authors good purposes in the pain of our grief. For example, one Biblical purpose of grief: Grief can be a wake-up call
Do you remember how Stephen was murdered in Acts 7, then Peter was imprisoned in Acts 12? We read in Acts 12 that the church was praying fervently to God for him. Why hadn’t the church been praying for Stephen? The church wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. To suffer the loss of Stephen was hard; to experience it again in the loss of Peter would have been doubly difficult. Grief is sometimes God’s wake up call to us. I don’t want to make that mistake again!
I heard Joe Stowell this week on WGNR talking about how trouble is an attention-getter. He was pretending that God was looking down from heaven, seeing a complacent Joe Stowell. Trouble or grief can shake us out of our complacency, out of our comfort zones.
I know a young man of this town who came to Christ at his father’s death bed. The thought of losing his father, the prospects of seeing him again brought the man to a saving relationship with the Savior. Grief is often a wake-up call. You have my attention, Lord. What is it you want of me?
Another Biblical purpose for grief: Grief enlarges our capacity for joy.
Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus, for the joy set before Him endured the cross… Contrast that with His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane where He sweat drops of blood in agony and grief at the prospect of His death on the cross.
Tell me, who has a greater appreciation for the greatness of America? The one who has spent his whole life in a little town in Nebraska or the one who has traveled the world and seen slavery, poverty, corruption, and abuse? Grief is a God-given adventure that enlarges our capacity for joy.
Another Biblical purpose for grief is
Grief is a call to trust God and His mysteries.
Consider Job. Who can forget the old man sitting in a heap of ashes, his head shaved, and his clothes torn and ripped after he has received news that all 10 of his children have died in a terrible wind storm? Perhaps only in time did Job finally understand what the Devil had been up to.
Stephen Curtis Chapman has a new CD out with a song titled ‘With Hope’. It begins this way: “This is not at all how we thought it was supposed to be. We had so many plans for you. We had so many dreams. And now you’ve gone away and left us with the memories of your smile and nothing we can do can take away the pain, the pain of losing you, but…
Grief is a call to trust God in the mysteries of life. Grief is a call to us to recognize that God is about things that we may not understand at the moment, like Job, like Ezekiel, like David, like the early church with Stephen.
A final lesson: Lesson Four-- There is no hope in grief without God. I Thess 4:13 introduces us to a category of people who have no hope. Paul writes, “so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope…” Our hope is defined in this context as seeing our loved ones again! Vs. 14 says, “…even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” We have the example of Mary and Martha in John 11 who received their brother, Lazarus, back again!
And Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, “With Hope” goes on in the chorus to say, “We can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope ‘cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no, and we can grieve with hope ‘cause we believe with hope, there’s a place where we’ll see your face again.”
Conclusion: I’m sure there is much more that could be said, from the Scriptures, about this topic of grief. But at least as Paul has touched upon the subject here in his Thessalonian letter, we have explored some of its dimensions. We can draw a number of conclusions from these three short verses: Only in God is there real hope for grief; because God is personally experienced with grief, we can run to Him for help and consolation; in the fellowship of others we find an escape; and truth is the key that unlocks the prison of grief to all who suffer it.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Job One: Excelling at pleasing God

2008-05-30T12:14:00.000-04:00

I Thessalonians 4:1-12

November 14, 1999

Introduction: History buffs among us will recognize the name Simon Bolivar. He lived in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s and came to be known as the liberator of five South American countries. What we know today as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia owe their independence to the man Bolivar. The turning point in the history of these five countries was the Battle of Boyaca. Bolivar had called his rebel army commanders together on May 23, 1819, in Venezuela. He described a plan that would begin the defeat of Spain’s larger, better-equipped army.
Bolivar and his men would attack the enemy at its weakest point in New Granada (Colombia now)—on the other side of the Andes. The Spanish garrison commander had seen no need to post a large force to watch for guerrillas coming across 12,000 foot high peaks. Bolivar finally convinced 2500 rag-tag rebels to go with him, even though it was the rainy season, and they would have to cross swampy plains just to get to the base of the mountains. A number of the poorly clad and ill-equipped rebels died along the way, but their final entrance into New Granada completely astonished the Spanish army and victory was won.
As Scott Smith tells the story, Bolivar “rightly thought that any event likely to strike the imagination of the Granadinos as a dramatic defeat of Spain would determine a political landslide.” And that is exactly what happened, though there would be 6 more years of battles and campaigns. Simon Bolivar, as a leader of troops, knew that a battle could be lost by something as insignificant as a poorly shoed horse. His attention to detail was legendary. Bolivar would go on to become the leader of each of these five nations at one time or another. Who would dispute that he lived a life in the political world that excelled?
Perhaps the name Scott Fischer rings a bell with you. Scott led an American team up Mount Everest in May of 1996. Eight climbers died in the largest single death toll for any mountain-climbing accident in history. Scott Fischer was one of those who perished that day.
Newsweek called him “one of the strongest (mountain) climbers in the world.” His friend, Kevin Cusack, writing for World magazine (May 9, 1998), remembered a time twenty years earlier when they were preparing for a climb in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. Scott was by far the strongest climber on the team. His workout routine included 3 sets of 50 two-handed pull-ups, 25 one-handed pull-ups, and 15 two-finger pull-ups.
In the world of mountain climbing, Scott Fischer lived a life that excelled.
With the death on November first of 45 year old Walter Payton, we are reminded of a man who wanted to be the best he could be. He wanted to excel in the NFL, and he was willing to pay the price to achieve that goal. He knew that the only way to perform was to prepare and condition himself, and his favorite technique for developing his strength and stamina was to run up a hill. Near his Lake Forest home in Arlington Heights, Ill., he found the perfect site. This hill was 85 yards high and rose at a 45-degree angle. The first time he and some teammates tried it, they could only run it twice. But by the time training camp opened, Mr. Payton and his teammates could run it 25 times. By the time his football career had run its course, over 13 years, he was the best running back to play the game. Walter Payton lived a life in the world of pro-football that excelled.
History as recent as November 1, history as distant as 1819, and much of history in between would acclaim many men and women as individuals who lived lives that excelled in a number of ways.
When we come to I Thessalonians 4, we read about the kind of life that God acclaims as excellent. And that’s what we all want, isn’t it? Don’t we want to stand before Him and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”? As one of the church elders who must give an account for your soul… (You know that verse in Hebrews 13:17, don’t you? “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account…Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”); As one of the church leaders who must give an account for your soul, I certainly want all of us to live so well that God will be pleased with what we’ve done with this life He’s given us.
Let’s find what it is that God says is a life well lived as we consider His Word together.
I Thessalonians 4:1-12—Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not is lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
We can see three themes running through these twelve verses that help us to get a handle on Paul’s message in this text. Giving attention to these three things will enable us to live a life that excels. The first is, Live in Purity. The second is, Love the Brethren, and the third is, Light the Outsider. If we can trust God to discipline us each day in these three elements, we can live a life that He says is excellent.
First then, when I say, we ought to live in purity, I am paraphrasing what Paul has said in verses 3-6, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not is lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in this matter…”
It appears the Thessalonians lived in a society and culture not much different from ours—one that is sexually charged, lust focused, and far more explicit than we find acceptable. So what is ‘sexual immorality’ and what does that big word ‘sanctification’ mean that appears in verses 3,4, and 7?
In the Scriptures, there are 5 ways we can be involved in sexual immorality, so if we are committed to living a life that excels, to living in purity, we want to avoid all of these possibilities in every situation that they appear as temptations.
The Bible instructs us to avoid lust. Lust is a form of sexual immorality. Lust is a strong desire for things that are not ours. In the context of sex, lust is defined as the sinful desire for having someone who is not ours. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” In our recent study of the Proverbs, we saw many images of the adulterer: an ox going to the slaughter, a deer stepping into a noose, a person on a highway to the grave, a man walking on hot coals and scorching his feet… The sexual immorality of lust puts us in the same art gallery!
A second form of sexual immorality is adultery. Adultery is extramarital sex. It is prohibited in the Ten Commandments; its punishment in the Old Testament was the death penalty. Again, the Proverbs say adultery destroys the soul of the one who is guilty of it (6:32).
Lust and adultery will rob us of a life that excels in the sight of God.
The third robber is incest. Incest is sex with a close relative other than one’s husband or wife. Lev.18:6-18 lists those close relatives, including but not limited to, children, grandchildren, sons- and daughters-in-law, sisters, step-sisters, aunts, uncles, brothers- and sisters-in-law. Again, the Bible says the penalty for incest is death (Lev.20:11).
The fourth thief of purity is homosexuality. This term is defined as sex with a person of the same gender. This form of sexual immorality is called an abomination (Lev.18:22) and perpetrators were subject to the death penalty also (Lev.20:13).
The fifth form of sexual immorality is bestiality, sex with an animal. According to Leviticus 18, both men and women of the nations of Canaan had perverted themselves with this form of defilement.
These five forms of sexual immorality can destroy us. A sword came to the house of David and never left it because of his adultery with Bathsheba. Lust destroyed the ministry of Jimmy Swaggert. Incest has scarred the lives of more people than we want to know about. Impurity robs us of a life that excels.
So, what about that big word, sanctification? Sanctification is a good word, it means holiness. Chuck Swindoll suggests that holiness often wrongly conjures up images of stained-glass windows and hushed chambers of monasteries and cathedrals. Chuck Colson writes, “Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian.”
Paul is writing to these Thessalonians (and thus to us) that the will of God is a life of purity and holiness. If purity is the opposite of the sexual immoralities that we have defined so far, perhaps the question before us now is, “How do we do it?”
Verse 4 offers one clue. Each of us needs to know how to possess his own vessel. Translation? We need to know how our bodies function, what ignites our sex drives, how self-control works, what temptations have proven too strong for us, what situations we must avoid, what kinds of conversations lead to compromise, what kinds of touches are too personal, etc., etc. When we know these things about ourselves, we can make plans to avoid the wrong kinds of circumstances. We can plan to turn down certain invitations. We can move away from contexts that we know we are vulnerable to. We can invite the right kind of friend to ask us the questions of accountability that we all need. We can cultivate the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading that fortify our hearts and spirits against the wrong kinds of influences.
Then we live life free from anxiety, guilt, STM’s (sexually transmitted diseases), and emotional scars. We live freely with self-respect and confidence and a sense of well-being.
If knowing ourselves is one clue, another key to a life of purity is a healthy respect for consequences. Verse 6 warns us that God is the avenger in “all these things.” The one who is caught up in lustful passion and ends up defrauding his brother will find himself being pursued by an avenger! In this case it will be God Who is intent on exacting justice as the avenger of the Old Testament had the right and obligation to do!
Is there anyone here in his right mind who wants to experience the terror of knowing that God is on our trail, seeking justice for having taken advantage of someone else in this matter of sexual impurity? Is there anyone here in his right mind who wants to live as a fugitive, always looking over his shoulder to see if secret sins of immorality are catching up to him?
So friends, we can live a life that excels by living in purity. When we avoid sexual immorality, we declare that holiness, and the freedom and the blamelessness that come with it, is more important to us that a momentary, cheap thrill that sets God against us in discipline and judgment. God, give us the power to live pure!
A second theme in this passage that helps us to live with excellence is love the brethren. Verses 9-10 develop this thought for us.
“Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more.”
Paul is saying to his friends and to us, “Let your love for one another extend outward beyond the limits of their need!” Love others here in the church family even when they act hateful; love others here in our church body even when they don’t deserve it; love others we know are Christians enough to tell them the truth even when we know they don’t want to hear it; love the brethren enough to confront them when they are headed in the wrong direction; love others in the depths of their failures and embarrassments; love those who have used you and manipulated you for their own purposes.
The apostle John would write of the Lord Jesus as He approached His crucifixion, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” According to the commentator A. W. Pink, the Lord Jesus loved them out to the edge of His marvelous grace.
No one ever lived badly who loved greatly! A life that excels is a life lived meeting the needs of others out of the power that God provides.
The final theme of this passage that illumines for us a life that excels is the directive to light the outsider. Live in purity, Paul has said. Love the brethren, he adds. And finally, the mentor says in verses 11-12, “and… make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders…”.
All of us know what ambition is, don’t we. Os Guinness, in his book, The Call, tells the story of one young man’s ambition. Andrew Carnegie, a young boy growing up in poverty in Pittsburgh, had happened one day upon his mom, weeping in a moment of discouragement. He sought to console her by assuring her that one day he would be rich, and they would ride in a fine coach driven by four horses. “That would do no good over here,” she replied, “if no one in Dunfermline can see us.” Dunfermline was their home village in eastern Scotland. On July 27, 1881, Carnegie and his mother rode into their hometown at four o’clock in the afternoon in a carriage fit for royalty pulled, by a team of four. The Scottish weaver’s son had risen from a Pittsburgh ‘bobbin boy’ making $1.20 a week to become America’s King of Steel, the industrial Napoleon, one of the world’s richest men. He fulfilled his ambition that day.
The apostle Paul is saying, “Make it your dream, make the force that drives you day after day, make it your desire to shine the light of the Gospel on those yet outside the fold of Christ.” That is an ambition worthy of one who seeks to live a life that excels.
Here’s how to do it. Lead a quiet life. Attend to your own business. Work with your hands so you will not be in need. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it. Many folks will not come to Christ because of a great, county-wide crusade. Many will come to the Savior through our influence in the day-to-day grind of life.
In leading a quiet life, we will be seen to be good neighbors, those who support our families, those who are contributing to the good of the community. We will be seen as free from anxious busyness. One commentator asks us to put a stethoscope to our hearts and see what we might hear. Would we hear a breeze rustling the leaves on a pretty fall day? Or would we hear thunder rumbling in the distance? Or might we hear workmen sawing lumber and hammering nails? Or would we hear the final screaming lap of the Indy 500? Is there panic in our hearts today? That panic will ruin our testimony to those yet outside the faith.
In attending to our own business, we will be seen as those who do their assignments well, who are responsible for the tasks they have taken on. Walter Wangerin paints this picture for us: Imagine a carpenter crafting a fine rocking chair for a wealthy client. Now imagine him also building another rocking chair for his daughter. The difference between the two craftings is HUGE! Both chairs will be done well, and outward appearances may be slight, but the daughter’s chair will have a great deal of love woven into each detail. Paul asks us to be a testimony to those outside the church by attending well to our business, to our responsibilities.
In working with our hands, we will be seen as leading a responsible lifestyle. Laziness discredits the Gospel. Paul will write again to these believers these words (II Thess 3:11-22): “For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command… that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.”
When we lead a quiet life, attend well to our business, and work in a responsible manner, those outside the faith will see us as distinctive and attractive. I’ve probably told you too much about our son, a counselor in one of the men’s residence halls at Purdue. He’s not into sexual immorality; he’s a responsible employee of the university. His distinctive lifestyle is attractive to many who have come to know him. Some, mired in the complexities of sexual relationships, have said, “I wish I was like you.”
Conclusion: Chapter Four had begun where chapter three left off. A life of faith will establish one’s heart blameless in holiness. Paul wanted his readers to fully understand what that kind of life would involve. It would be free of sexual immorality, thus pure. It would be full of love for the brethren. And it would be a light to those yet outside the Gospel. That would be a life that excels! That would be a life that God would be pleased with.
Moses…

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Faith: Not blind but believing

2008-05-30T12:13:00.003-04:00

I Thessalonians 3

November 7, 1999

Introduction: The Indiana Jones movies were very popular just several years ago, well, ten years ago in fact as the copyright shows on the video jacket. One particular scene from the third film in the series makes a great illustration for the primary topic we find today in I Thessalonians 3. To set the context for some of us and to jog the memories of the rest of us, I need to tell you that Indiana Jones is on a trek in search of the ‘holy grail’. He has a guide book with him, and he has just overcome several major obstacles in arriving at the point where we see him. Jones’ father (Sean Connery) has been wounded and is lying on the floor back behind his son, thinking through the process his son is actually walking through. See if you remember this portion of the movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. (Video clip here.)
In order to continue his search, Harrison Ford has to take a step into what looks like a vast chasm. It is an impossible step. It can’t be done. But all is not what it appears to be. There is actually a pathway across the gorge that is not visible to the naked eye. The script for Indiana Jones has him saying something about ‘blind faith’, but as we all saw, his guide book instructed him in exactly what had to be done. So as he obeyed, he found his foot being supported by a bridge across the gorge. The bridge, though not seen, was really there, just as his guide book intimated.
Now as we read the text of I Thessalonians 3 today, watch for the references to faith; there are five in the version I’m reading from. Also watch for how faith is described and make a mental note of the benefits faith brings to those who will exercise it.
I Thess 3—“Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to you faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.
For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.
For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.
But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see you face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?
Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”
Now to just review a moment; we’ve been away from I Thessalonians for a couple of weeks: Chapter 3 is really an outgrowth of something we read in chapter 2. In 2:13, we read about the word of God “which performs its work in you who believe.” To believe is to exercise faith. Our two English words, believe and faith, come from the same root in the original text of the Bible. And so we see Paul continuing to develop the theme of his letter to these precious souls that he is separated from. He had started in chapter one with a description of their godly life which had grown out of the good news of the Gospel. He had written about Gospel messengers in chapter 2 and had described the kind of person God uses to be one of those messengers. Then he had finished chapter two with encouraging words about the power of the Word of God, how God’s word can change us and empower us for all that life throws our way.
Paul continues in chapter three with the role that faith plays in the life of those who know God. The Word works in those who believe it! Without faith, without belief, the Word doesn’t work and doesn’t accomplish its purposes.
I want to state for us this morning five lessons found in this short chapter that unlock for us secrets of faith. For surely there is not a one of us here today who does not want a stronger faith. I’d be surprised if there is even one among us who would say, “My faith is as strong as I want it to be!” I can’t imagine anyone saying, “I know all there is to know about faith, and I feel good about where I am in this matter of believing.” To understand faith better is to live better. To exercise faith more is to experience life more fully.
Then I want us to think of ways that this faith we understand actually works in life from day-to-day.
Lesson One: Faith will keep afflictions from disturbing us. Paul makes this point in verses 2 and 3. Timothy was sent to encourage them and strengthen them as to their faith SO THAT no one would be disturbed by these afflictions… Pain and heartache have their ways of disturbing us, don’t they! Circumstances and failed expectations have their way of sending us down the emotional tubes, don’t they. Social and economic pressures placed upon our shoulders are not pleasant visitors that we welcome. A faith that can see beyond the afflictions keeps the heart stable, steadfast, and unmoved. Paul would later write to the Corinthians, “…for momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…” This passage is famous for its contrasts. Did you see them there? Momentary vs. eternal, light vs. weight, affliction vs. glory…
Faith will keep affliction from disturbing us. A lack of faith allows affliction to send us spiraling off course. When we were recently in Dallas, we heard Prof Hendricks speak about his friend, Tom Landry. Hendricks was the chaplain of the Cowboys for many years and he commented that he knows no one who walks more in the presence of God than Tom Landry. That’s quite a statement when one considers where Hendricks works (Dallas Seminary) and who his other friends are!
The Prof commented further that the sports writers of Dallas are tough, no-nonsense pagans of the nth degree. They watched Tom Landry over the years he coached the Cowboys; they saw how he was treated when he was replaced by the new owner, and it was easy for them to see a huge difference between the life of this coach and their own lives. The Prof went on to say, “One best not criticize Tom Landry in this city these days, for the Dallas sports writers will crucify any critic of his in their newspapers.” Hendricks concluded with this remark, “The biggest pagan in this city once said to me, while pointing at Tom Landry, ‘There goes the genuine article.’” It is faith that enables us to keep our balance in the midst of afflictions, and those outside know there is something unique in that kind of life.
Lesson Two: Faith is potentially fragile in the face of the Tempter. In verse five, Paul hints that the devil might have destroyed the faith of these Thessalonians. “I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.”
Paul would later make reference to those whose faith had been shipwrecked. He mentions in I Timothy 1:20 the names of Hymenaeus and Alexander as two who had suffered this disaster. By the time Paul wrote this letter, James had already written that faith could become useless, lifeless and dead.
We have an enemy who fully delights in tempting us to not trust God, to not believe what God has said, to put off taking steps of faith and trust. Too much giving in to his devices and schemes renders our faith ineffective, useless, and empty.
I remember in our early days at the seminary in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a young man that had lots of potential as a church planter and pastor. One day he was sent to a church with some funds that were to be used for the church’s building program. He never arrived. We learned later that he had left his family, picked up his girlfriend, and high tailed it to some far off island where he planned to live the good life with the church’s building funds.
It is safe to conclude that the tempter claimed victory in the life of one of God’s servants. Some of our labor was in vain; my toil in communicating the Word of God to him was apparently for naught.
I am reminded of Peter’s words in I Peter 5:8-10—“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
Please, friends, let’s not kid ourselves. Our faith has a fragile side to it, and we dare not be careless in our exercise of it. Paul knew this to be true, and he was concerned for the Thessalonian believers. Peter knew this to be true, and he was concerned for his readers.
May I meddle a moment? How would we answer the following question today? “In what, for what, have I been trusting God in this past week?” If something doesn’t immediately pop to mind, we need to ask ourselves, “Why?” I still literally shudder every time I’m reminded of Proverbs 24:10—“If you fall apart in your day of crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.” (That’s Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase from The Message.) If faith isn’t used, its fragile side will show up in temptation and in crisis, and we will suffer loss.
Lesson Three: Faith is always found in the context of love. It is in verse 6 that Paul relates how Timothy has come with good news about their faith and their love. It doesn’t surprise me, and it probably doesn’t surprise you, that these two elements of life go hand-in-hand.
The reference here to love is the kind of love that God shows. It’s not the erotic kind, it’s not the brotherly kind. It’s God’s kind-- the concern for the unlovely, the reaching out to the one who doesn’t deserve it, the giving that grows out of a burden of care for someone else’s need. It takes faith to draw us out of ourselves in order to act on behalf of someone else. No one loves in this manner without trusting God to empower him or her to act in this way. Faith and love are a pair of gloves. They always go together.
Has God placed someone in your sphere of influence that needs love? Trust God to show you how to get involved. Left to our own schedules and desires, we won’t naturally move in that direction.
Lesson Four: God will use our faith to energize others. Verses 7-8 are the foundation for this idea. Paul shares how he felt when he heard that the Thessalonians were still walking by faith. Their faith energized his! “For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord!” “We were comforted in our affliction and distress… by your faith!” “What we are enduring is worth it because you are still trusting God!”
How many people have gone to the mission field because of the testimony of Marilyn Laszlo? Chuck Moore shared with me this week of a friend who was headed into the pastorate, and then he saw Marilyn Laszlo’s film, “Mountain of Light”, and then he felt God wanted him on the mission field. The faith of one energized the faith of another. Whose faith is not stronger today because of what we heard and saw last Sunday?
I read this week a brief bio of the inventor, Thomas Alva Edison. The author of this article, J. Barnes, writes: “Edison tried to learn everything he could about any subject. As a child, Al, as he was called, swamped school teachers with questions in order to satisfy his growing curiosity. He set fires just to see how the flames traveled and consumed different materials. Once he accidentally burned down the family’s barn! He tried to hatch eggs himself by sitting on them.
Although teachers concluded that his questioning showed a lack of intelligence, Al’s mother had faith in him. When he was 8, she started teaching him at home, giving him books on physical science and letting him conduct experiments with chemicals in the cellar.
‘My mother was the making of me,’ Edison wrote later. ‘She let me follow my bent.’”
Where would the world today be without the inventions of Thomas Edison? His mother’s faith in him energized him to become what he became!
Who has been emboldened to start giving a tithe because of the faith of someone else a bit further down that road? On the last Sunday of Marion Williams life, he stood here with Yetive and told how God had always provided for him and his family and how important it was for him to be a faithful giver. Rick Seaman died on a Sunday afternoon after coming forward with his family that morning to deposit their Christmas gift in the special container we use for that occasion. Both of these men were acting out their faith when neither knew he was close to glory.
Who has shared the gospel because he watched someone else lay out the plan of salvation and saw how it could be done, and then tried it himself?
When you and I have a word from God, and when we act upon that direction that He gives, our faith becomes an example that emboldens others to also trust the Heavenly Father. Take some steps of faith this week in a direction that is clear to you from God’s word, and then share that experience with someone else!
Finally, Lesson Five: Faith is an element that grows for a lifetime. Do you see this lesson in verse 10? Paul’s prayer was that he might see their faces and complete what was lacking in their faith.
There’s a word picture being used here that portrays a fishing net in need of mending. For the net to work like it was designed to, there could not be gaping holes left for fish to escape through. The Thessalonians had a faith that was not “perfect”, not complete. There were still ‘holes’, there were deficiencies that needed shoring up, that needed mending and completing. Paul’s fervent prayer was that he might get back to them and help them plug the holes in their faith.
Paul would also write later to the Romans what we find in 1:11—“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established-- that is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.” The Romans would be blessed by Paul’s exercise of his spiritual gifts in their presence, and their faith would be more complete.
It seems to me, friends, that we ought to be thinking about how our faith is maturing. Could we say today that we are trusting God for bigger things than we were last year? Would it be possible that some of us could bear testimony that we have seen God as bigger than we knew Him to be last year? Or is it true that we still worry like we did 10 years ago? Are we still prone to being anxious like we were 20 years ago?
Bruce Wilkinson shared with those of us who went to Dallas several weeks ago that he is currently working on his fourth vision. The beginning of Walk-Thru-The-Bible as an organization was his first. The pulling together of multiple mission groups to float CoMission was his second. I don’t know what the third was. But I’d guess that the fourth ministry plan is much bigger and much more demanding than the first was. It seems to me that his faith is growing. He told us he wishes he was in his mid-70’s instead of his mid-fifties because he is convinced that he will be more complete than he is now.
Faith is an element that should be growing for a lifetime.
Conclusion: So if these five lessons are important for us…
that faith keeps afflictions from disturbing us,
that faith has a fragileness to it,
that faith is love’s companion,
that faith has a way of energizing others,
and that faith can just keep on growing,
what is to be the outcome? What is the goal and objective? Paul clues us in by way of verse 13, the last verse in the chapter. He says, “…so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”
Paul’s concern is not primarily faith per se; he has spent the chapter talking about their faith, but he has another goal in mind; he is saying that faith is a means to a beneficial end, a glorious outcome, i.e., that at Christ’s coming, they may be found holy because of stable hearts! The idea of a stable heart brings us back to where we started this morning—that faith will keep us from being disturbed by afflictions! The heart that is anchored, that is not tossed to and fro, is an established, stable, solid heart that chooses holiness day after day in all the ups and downs of life. The life that is lived with this kind of heart will know great glory when the Lord Jesus returns. Paul wanted those kinds of hearts in these Thessalonians and I want those kinds of hearts in us who are the Upland Community Church.
So if faith has all these benefits, how do we get it? The answer is the simplest thing you will hear all day: We read the word of God and ask God to help us believe it. Paul would write to the Romans, 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Though this verse is in a context of salvation, the application goes on for a lifetime! If we evaluate that our faith is lacking, we ought to ask ourselves how much time we spend in reading the Word of God. And then we must ask, Do I believe this that I’m reading?
When you last read Matthew 25, you know, the story of the 3 servants who were entrusted with the master’s resources, the 5 talents, the 3 talents, and the one talent… what did you do by way of believing what is being said there about stewardship? I want to tell you one of these days what I did several years ago when those verses spoke to me.
In anticipation of the coming Christmas season, I was reading Luke 1&2 this past Tuesday. I read again Elizabeth’s words to Mary, the soon-to-be mother of Jesus: "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said!” Where would salvation’s plan be if Mary had not believed what God had said? Where will God’s plan for this world be if we do not keep on believing what He has said?
The Final Conclusion: Well, friends, Indiana Jones had it partly right, but he was wrong when he muttered, “Faith is blind, faith is blind!” Faith is not blind; faith sees and believes! Faith is not blind; it sees! It sees God’s Word as more real than what our eyes see of this world! Faith sees even when our eyes look and don’t!
In Randy Alcorn’s book, Dominion, we read the following account of a conversation between Dani, Clarence’s sister who is now in heaven, and C.S. Lewis: Speaking of her brother Clarence, still alive here in this world, Dani says,
“He’s totally disillusioned. I wish I could go tell him there’s so much more happening that he can’t see.” C.S. Lewis replies, “Elyon has told him that already, in His Word. He must find it there himself, learn to believe and trust what the Sovereign One has said to him.”
For some of us, we need to make a decision today to be saved. God has said that we may be saved by grace through faith. If we are separated from God by our sin, if that separation can be imagined as a gorge between two cliffs, then the way across the chasm is a boat called Grace. There are other boats at the dock: Good Deeds, Baptism, Church Attendance, Gifts to Charity, etc. but none will take us completely over to the other side. Faith is the act of getting in the boat! If you’ve never made that decision, today would be a good day to begin a relationship with God.
Some of us already have that relationship. But perhaps we’ve grown careless. If we were asked what we are trusting God for today, we’d be stuttering and hesitating and finally speechless. Let’s leave here today with a new commitment to read the Word and ask God to help us believe it. Then, when the crisis comes, we’ll be strong enough to weather it!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

The Word: The power that changes me

2008-05-30T12:13:00.001-04:00

I Thessalonians 2: 13-20

October 17, 1999

Introduction:
In Judges 13, we read a true-life story of a man and his wife who did not know many happy days. In fact, we could say their lives were pretty sad. As we read their story, we see two particular reasons for their misery. Outwardly, Manoah and his wife are living in a time of severe oppression. The nation of Israel has once again fallen into a cycle of sin that has brought on the judgement of God. God has allowed the Philistines to subjugate them, to oppress them, to rule over them. As if that weren’t bad enough, paying heavy taxes to foreigners, being jerked around at the whim of proud taskmasters, and all the other things that go with slavery, Manoah and his wife also are having to deal with an internal oppression. Manoah’s wife is barren, unable to have children. For a Jewish family, that was a heavy burden to bear indeed. All of their culture and all of their history highlighted the importance of having children. So on top of their difficult outward circumstances of living under foreign rulers, they lived each day with personal feelings of inadequacies—barrenness for sure, impotence perhaps, and surely some feelings of guilt for their own sin which had contributed to the judgement of God upon their nation.
Not a very happy picture, is it? Not a situation any of us would choose if we had any choices in the matter. But this is a portrait that some of us today can easily identify with. In a congregation this size, there are no doubt a number of us who find ourselves this day suffering under a ton of outward circumstances we’d love to change. “Goodness, if only my spouse could be more attentive to my needs.” “Boy, if the institution would just give me a $100 a month raise.” “Heavens, why can’t the pastor be more sensitive to my situation and offer more help?” If my kids were just more responsive to my leadership, if the tax bills weren’t so high, if the professor didn’t have such an ego—his assignments take up most of my time, why doesn’t the government do something more about the price of corn? Lord, don’t you know we need rain, etc., etc., etc.
And then on the other hand, how about the internal pressures! I’m sure there are some of us here today who are acutely aware of the defeats we have experienced because of our own inadequacies. Our feelings have beat us up and we feel pretty rotten. We didn’t see what was happening with our children. Nothing we do seems to please the boss. We can’t think fast enough in tense situations; only afterward do we think about all the things we should have said. My guess is that every one of us could add a statement here that we could all understand. All of us can identify with the man Manoah and his wife.
And so we find ourselves today suffering without much joy, without much peace, without much hope because of circumstances beyond our control AND/OR because of our own acute sense of inadequacies and their consequences.
We wonder if there is any hope. So what might be powerful enough to change us? What could give us hope in the midst of difficult circumstances? What could lead us into grace that would cover all our inadequacies? What could anchor our souls while the storms blow? What could surround us with a hurricane-proof hedge of inner joy until the sun shines again?
The story of Manoah and his wife reveals the rescuer that we are all looking for. The same thing that rescued this Israelite couple is what can rescue us! The same thing that reversed their fortunes can reverse ours! We find that “thing” in our text for today from I Thessalonians 2. I’ll encourage you to read Judges 13 for yourself this afternoon and learn the rest of that story. For us this morning, we will be reading verses 13-20 of chapter 2 of I Thessalonians. (We are on page 1169 of the pew Bible is you want to follow from there, or you can read with me from the screen behind me.)
“For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sin. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.
But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while—in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.
For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.
For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
The key to our passage this morning, the hiding place of “that thing” that is the secret of our hope, is verse 13. “…when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” The “thing” that burst into Manoah’s world was a word from God! It changed everything! And the word of God that came into the Thessalonian’s world did the same thing! It changed everything!
You all at the university are so blessed to have your new dean of the chapel. I was blessed to sit in on chapel this past Friday and be ministered to by Richard Alan Farmer and his exposition of John 5. I wrote down this line from his message, where he paraphrased Jesus saying, “When I show up, circumstances change!” When the living Word of God arrives on the scene, things change. When the written word of God bursts forth upon a set of circumstances, things change!
Now friends, when the word of God bursts upon a scene, it is so important to see the context of that explosion. There are three concepts here, three ideas here in chapter 2, that we want to explore that form the context for our study of the power of the word of God. Power is a relative term and must always be see in a context for it to be properly understood. Then, out of these three concepts we want to make personal application as we come to the end of our hour together.
Idea number 1, starting from the end of our text, is simply this: Satan, within the will of God, has the power to defeat us. It is a real possibility that our external circumstances and our internal feelings have been influenced by the devil himself! He does have the power to defeat us. Idea number 2 rhymes with #1: Pagans have the power to mistreat us. It is a real possibility that our external circumstances and our internal feelings are the result of painful mistreatment by the opponents of God. Pagans have the power to mistreat us. But our salvation is in idea #3: The word of God has the power to complete us! The power of God to change us, the power of God to complete us, to make us whole, to fill us with joy and peace, that power is beyond compare! It trumps all others.
So let’s look deeper. We see Paul defeated by the power of Satan in verse 18. " For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.” The word “hindered” here is being repeated. It had first shown up in our text in verse 16, so its repetition catches our eye. It is a term that conveys in the original language of the Bible the idea of breaking up a road so that it is unusable and impassable. Floods this year on the east coast have even made some of the interstate highways impassable and thus have hindered travel. We who have journeyed to other parts of the world have been on what is called a road by the local people, but with our Western eyes, we can’t see it as such. Paul wanted to travel the road again to Thessalonica, but the enemy made it impossible to do so.
Now friends, it is not hard to imagine Paul’s feelings at this point. He surely knew some anxiety about how those new believers were doing. He surely felt some frustration at being blocked from returning. He must have felt some disappointment and even some confusion at being prevented from doing what was surely the will of God.
What Paul didn’t know, and perhaps what he learned from this experience of defeat, was that in his absence, the new believers were turning to the risen Christ for what they needed. (This becomes clear to us in chapter three, that we will see on another Sunday.) God was at work drawing these new believers to Himself, using the devil to move forward His own purposes. I can’t help but imagine that the Thessalonians wanted to have Paul in their midst, to answer their questions, to encourage them.
But in Paul’s absence, they found all that in their relationship with Christ Himself! We conclude that Satan may indeed defeat us, may hinder our plans, may prevent our desires from being fulfilled, but he cannot keep God from doing His thing!
There’s a lesson for us here, friends. Our restraint in offering aid and comfort to someone who is broken and hurting may move that one closer to Christ. I know the Scripture’s admonition to bear one another’s burden, and that we must do. But as God would lead, it is far better a suffering saint become dependent upon the Lord Jesus than it is he become dependent upon us! It has been good for our children to be far away for their college experiences. By being far away, unable to intervene, I have watched both kids being stretched in the matter of their faith. But why trust Christ if Dad can handle it?
It is important for us to see and grasp here that the power of the enemy is great. In the will of God, we will know defeat at his hands. How do we learn apart from hard experiences? How do we mature except through being broken? And regardless of how that makes us feel, we can be confident that God is accomplishing His purposes anyway!
My friends, our hope when we find ourselves hindered by the devil, blocked by his devices, frustrated by his schemes, ambushed by his forces.. our hope is found in the power of the word of God to complete us, to bring us to exactly the place God wants us to be.
The second concept that makes up the context for the word of God here is this: Pagans have the power to mistreat us. Verse 14 says, in part, “…for you became imitators of the churches… that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews…” When these Thessalonians turned from their idols to serve the living and true God, they became the objects of persecution and affliction at the hands of those they had formerly worshipped with.
The price of their now living in the presence of God was physical pain and abuse.
The price of their now standing for truth was affliction and suffering.
When these believers became something new and different, when they stood out in their city and in their culture, they became the objects of hostility and persecution.
Now friends, the Thessalonian believers were normal people. They wanted to be liked by their peers. They wanted to be appreciated as good neighbors. They didn’t wish to be persecuted. They didn’t have a death wish. It was just that now they saw things differently! They had a new world view. They saw themselves as servants of God. They had a new calling and purpose in life. They wanted others to receive the same gift of eternal life that they had received.
But being transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light meant that there was trouble ahead. The enemy wouldn’t take that sitting down! And so the devil marshaled his forces to afflict and hinder and persecute and abuse.
God has always allowed pagans to mistreat His people. Paul will say even that in 3:4 as explicitly as it can be stated. God’s purposes in giving this permission to Satan are always glorious and redemptive.
And friends, it’s the same in our day. We’ve heard the stories of believers in other parts of the world. We see more and more of that persecution happening here even in our country. The charges leveled at Christians today are the very same ones that were leveled in that day: intolerance, bigotry, self-righteousness…
That context of mistreatment is always a context for the word of God to have an impact, to demonstrate the power of God.
Finally, we come to our third point. The word of God has the power to complete us! Our text tells us (vs. 13) “…the word of God… also performs its work in you who believe.” The proof in Paul’s mind is seen in what he says about these believers in verse 14. “For you became imitators of the churches in Judea…” The word of God changed them! They had been one thing; now they became something else! They became imitators of other believers. It is interesting to note that those they were imitating were those they had never met. The Thessalonians had not gone to Judea to visit the believers there to see how they were supposed to live. They certainly hadn’t seen any home videos from Judea!
What is at work is the Word of God that is doing its fundamental thing, and it always does the same thing in people everywhere! It calls them to faith; it gives peace; it imbues confidence; it reveals glory; it empowers love; it grants forgiveness; it showers grace; it establishes truth; it shows the will of God; it gives endurance in pain; it gives perseverance in anguish.
And so believers everywhere in the world have the same approach to life: they are known for love (though love may take many different forms); they have a reputation for mercy; they are bound in fellowship, etc., etc., etc. We are not surprised that the Thessalonian believers are imitators of the Judean believers. And we are not surprised that Indonesian believers are amazingly like Zimbabwean Christians. The word of God is conforming believers to the image of the Son of God.
But specifically in our text today, it is most clear that the work of the word of God is giving believers the ability to endure suffering. “For you brethren… also endured the same sufferings as they did from the Jews…” No believer ever became complete and mature without suffering! No one can be like Jesus without pain and sorrow.
When Satan defeats us, and when pagans mistreat us, we know full well that we are one the road to being complete in Jesus!
Conclusion: Ernie Pyle is one of Indiana’s most famous sons and millions of newspaper readers knew him as the “Hoosier Vagabond”. According to an article by Sonja Carberry, Pyle’s daily columns from the war zones he covered as a reporter brought into American homes the intimate details of what life was really like for the typical soldier at war. To get those details, he had to live like a foot soldier. We could say he imitated them!
One GI wrote to his family back home the following: “Pyle was sweating out the Jerry shells alongside of me for two nights, during which we had a suite of rooms in the only establishment open for business at that time—a remodeled pig shed. Old Ernie is a regular guy and all of us foot soldiers have a lot of respect for him.” The readers of Pyle’s columns also gained respect for the infantrymen who were ‘over there’. For 29 months he wrote articles from England, Africa, Italy, and France, earning for himself the title from Time magazine, “America’s most widely read war correspondent”. The subtitle for Carberry’s article is, “His Dedication to the Truth Helped America See Things as They Really Were.”
It seems to me that is exactly the impact the apostle Paul’s words had upon the Thessalonians. His proclamation of God’s Word, the truth, helped them see things as they really were. And that truth made a difference in the way they lived. It became the power that changed them from pagans to believers, from babes to maturity, from confusion in pain to joy and steadfastness in that same pain.
That word became the power that changed them. And that word came in the context of Satan’s ability to defeat and pagans’ ability to mistreat

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

The one God uses to share the Gospel

2008-05-30T12:12:00.001-04:00

I Thessalonians 2:1-12

October 10, 1999

Introduction: Scott Smith, in Investors’ Business Daily, writes in an article this past week the following: “To the Romans, the young man Arminius was just another barbarian they had civilized—an ungrateful one at that. Their arrogance—and his studied determination—changed the course of world history.” Arminius, who only lived 37 years, from 18 B.C. to A.D 19, had been sent away to Rome from Germany as a young boy to be brought up in Roman ways. His father, one of the chiefs of the Cherusci tribe in northern Germany, wanted to know how to relate well with big brother to the south, Caesar Augustus and his Roman empire. Arminius learned Latin, he wore clothes like his peers, he adapted to his new culture, and even trained as a Roman soldier. In time he came to hold a position of Roman citizenship and rose in rank to that of Roman knight. He returned to his home country at the age of 25 and assumed the role of German prince, an ally of the Empire. But soon he became angry at the conditions he saw his own people living under. They suffered oppression and the burden of heavy Roman taxes. Knowing Rome’s weaknesses from his years spent living as a Roman, he set out to set his people free. He knew the Empire was not as strong as it appeared to be. He lived a double life for a number of years, on the one hand regularly visiting the army camps, spending time with his Roman friends, laughing and drinking, and then on the other hand, traveling to the various German tribes, trying to persuade them to settle their differences and unite against their common oppressor. In the course of time, Arminius brought his plans for liberation to the fore at the Battle of Teutoburger Forest where some 25,000 Roman legionnaires, support personnel, and other foreign auxiliary soldiers were annihilated. Rome launched several huge campaigns to quash the rebellion, but the efforts would be called by Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, “Rome’s Vietnam”. The Roman historian Tacitus called Arminius “the liberator of Germany”.
There are more details in Smith’s article, but for now here’s the point I want to make by way of introduction to this morning’s message: Arminius held a certain position in the Roman empire: he was both a citizen and a warrior knight. But he didn’t live according to the expectations of that status and role. He lived pretending to be a loyal servant of the emperor, but in reality, he was just the opposite.
With the image of this man, Arminius, in our minds, let’s turn to I Thessalonians 2. In the text before us today, Paul wants to drive one main point home to these Thessalonian believers. He wants it to be crystal clear to them that God’s steward of the Gospel must be one who lives worthy of God’s kingdom and God’s glory. The one who has been entrusted with the Gospel must be on the face what he is on the inside. The Romans thought Arminius was someone he was not. What God thinks of us, His beloved, we must also be! Paul is going to tell the Thessalonians how he has lived as an example for them so that they might imitate him, so that they know how it is to be done, so that they might know it is possible to measure up to God’s expectations.
And I want the same for us. I want us to be on the outside what we are on the inside. I want us who know the Lord Jesus as our personal savior to be known as those who know the savior. I don’t want us who know God in a personal way to ever be seen in any other light! We never want to be people of the church of Jesus Christ who say one thing with our mouths and do just the opposite with our actions.
If indeed the Thessalonians are all the things we’ve said they were in weeks past… (see bulletin insert)
*they faced life securely as His beloved,
*they served Him faithfully in two worlds,
*they lived in the presence of God…
if it was the Gospel that opened the door for them to experience this relationship with God, then we want to see how they also can be messengers of that same Good News for others. God uses a particular kind of person to be the messenger of His Gospel. Paul was one of those, and he wants to be sure that these disciples know the importance of also being that kind of peculiar messenger.
In our text today, Paul describes the character of those who have been called by God into His kingdom and His glory. In fact, he is describing his own experience of living what he expected these believers to live. And by developing these four traits in our own lives, we can be assured we are living a lifestyle worthy of God, worthy of our calling, worthy of His glory, able to be used to introduce others to this same treasure.
Our text is 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
For you yourselves know, brethren that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.
Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
Do you see Paul’s goal there in verse 12? “…so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory”. He wants these believers to remember again what their position before God is—citizens of God’s kingdom and inheritors of His glory. Knowing their position, he has expectations of how they should live—in a manner worthy of that kingdom and that glory. Leading up to this goal, he shares 4 steps out of his own life that will enable any follower to live as God expects him to and thus be a worthy messenger of God’s good news.

The first step we could call (1) Getting used to trouble and being bold in it…
We see this characteristic in verses 2. “ For you yourselves know, brethren that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.” Paul had known suffering and mistreatment and much opposition in his ministry.
And my friends, that is our lot as well. As we said in a previous week, paraphrasing Bart Giamatti and what he said about baseball, “Christianity will break your heart, it was meant to break your heart!” Trouble is a fact of life; it breaks our hearts in order to keep our hearts from becoming too attached to the things of this world. But too often, trouble handcuffs us.
As stock prices turn downward, we get uneasy. The farther the price falls, the more likely we are to place a call and sell. But for some, the farther the price falls, the more likely they are to buy! Far from being handcuffed, these bold ones are poised to take advantage of trouble! The bold ones are buying!
In trouble, we become handcuffed and turn inward and become ineffective in the work of the Kingdom. Paul saw opportunity in crises. He had said in a Corinthian letter that afflictions are working for us a mighty weight of glory. James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, had written to Jewish believers that they were to count it all joy in all their trials, knowing that their trials were producing something for eternity! So, if we are to walk in a manner that is worthy of God, we have to get used to trouble. We have to accept the fact that we have an enemy, that we have been called to serve on the Lord’s side. Being on His side means that we are in a battle and that we are on a battlefield. That always spells trouble. If the Lord Jesus was called a ‘man of sorrows’, and if we have been called to follow Him, what does that make us? It makes us ‘men of sorrows’. It makes us ‘women of sorrows’. It means TROUBLE.
For Paul, trouble was always an opportunity for boldness. In the context of suffering, opposition, and mistreatment, Paul says in verse 2, “…we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel…”
It’s apparent here, isn’t it, that boldness comes from God. He is the battlefield commander Who dispenses to His soldiers all they things they need to continue the fight. Boldness is one of His resources in huge supply that is available to each one who will ask.
In our next experience of trouble, let us look to Jesus for the boldness to act in it, and let us try to find the opportunity that lies disguised in the noise and confusion of the battle. There is probably a lost soul nearby that is wide-open to the Good News of the gospel! And if we don’t turn inward and become focused upon ourselves, we can reap fruit for all eternity.
The second step toward the goal of living worthy of our calling and future glory is moving to please God rather than ourselves or other men. We see this concept in verses 4, 5, and 6.
“…we speak,…not as pleasing men…”
“…we never came with flattering speech…”
“…we never came with a pretext for greed…”
“…nor did we seek glory from men…”
Clyde Cook, the president of Biola University, likes to remind himself of this quote by Herbert Swope: “I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is : try to please everybody.” In his 18 years as the leader of Biola, Clyde Cook has given regular thought to this principle. He writes, “Only the president has a 360 degree responsibility for the organization. Everyone else has a slice of it, but the president has the whole. After being in office for a while you will have offended almost every department as some decision you have made for the good of the whole is perceived negatively by a particular part of the organization. Since you cannot please everybody, it is futile to try to do so.” (Lessons in Leadership, Randal Roberts, Editor.)
No one ever walked worthy of the Kingdom of God who failed to learn this lesson.
As an illustration, I’m reminded of the life of Thomas Lipton. Yes, he’s the man behind the Lipton Tea company. He was the son of Irish parents who had moved to Scotland and opened a small store in the poor section of Glasgow. At the age of 18, newly returned from America with the fortune of $500 in his pocket, he became excited about the prospects of opening more stores. He figured, if one store was profitable, two stores could be doubly profitable. His parents were neither excited nor open to his idea. Why, the store would make a fine inheritance for anyone! Inspite of his parents, he used his savings to open his first store on Stobcross Street in Glasgow on his 21st birthday! In time he owned more than 200 stores and shops. Each of his stores would eventually sell a ton of tea each week, tea that came from his own plantations in Ceylon, plantations he had bought to cut out the middleman and make his tea affordable to his primary customers, the poorer families of Scotland.
If Thomas Lipton had sought to please the parents he dearly loved, there would never have been Lipton Tea!
I’ve told you before of the statistic that 40% of any congregation would change the thermostat on any given Sunday if it could be reached. Some members are too cold, some are too warm. As the pastor with some heating and air-conditioning experience, I set the thermostat. It has to be cooler than comfortable when people first come in, because their body-heat will warm this room. And if it is too warm, people start dozing off during the sermons. Since it is impossible to please everyone, I do what seems best for us all.
Anyone who wants to walk worthy of God and the glory He wants to share with us must be able to put the task of pleasing God ahead of all others. Sure, sometimes that means being Joshuas and Calebs, standing against the vast majority. But in the end, the courage to stand for God will be richly rewarded.
My friends, when we are next faced with making a decision, let’s pause a moment and consider what God’s desire might be. When we have understood that, let’s move ahead with abandon, with no fear, committed to being His servant in this world. On that day, He will commend us for walking worthy of Him.
The third step toward our goal of walking worthy of Him is a combination of images. We see them in verses 7 and 11, where the nursing mother and the exhorting father are found. This step could be called being gentle as a nursing mother, bracing as an exhorting father.
Paul had become a master observer of people and what motivated them. Sometimes those he came into contact with needed gentle nurturing. At other times they needed bracing exhortation. We all much prefer the gentleness that is illustrated by the nursing mother. We all much prefer the care and selflessness, the sacrifice and giving that is best portrayed by a nursing mother.
But sometimes what we need is not what we prefer! Sometimes we need the bracing exhortation, the solemn warning that more characterizes a dad. We see Paul doing this in 4:6, “…just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.”
Love, the kind of love that God expresses, is sometimes gentle. Sometimes it’s tough!
I talked with a nursing mother this week as part of my preparation for this message, having no personal experience in this arena. This mom shared with me the picture of a mother as 100% nurturing as opposed to the picture of the baby, who is 100% consumed with his one selfish, self-centered, me-centered need, the need to nurse. In the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, I read this week about the Biblical nurse. She isn’t so much a picture of medicine or aiding in the recovery from illness as she is a picture of “the maternal connotation of suckling an infant child or caring for a growing child.” And that is exactly what Paul is doing for these new Christians of Thessalonica. They are new in the faith, and he is concerned that they grow up strong and mature, able to walk in a manner worthy of their Lord. Paul sees himself like a Rebekah who went to bat for her Jacob, like a Bathsheba who requests that Solomon be the successor of King David, like the mother of Rufus who was like a mother to Paul himself (Romans 16:13—“Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.”) Paul acts contrary to some of the prevailing philosophy of his day that said gentleness was “the technique of a flatterer.”
The other part of the imagery here is of a father who encourages and exhorts his children. The father in the Scriptures is primarily the teacher, the instructor, the one who administers discipline. He of course is a protector, a leader, and a provider, but as Paul suggests here, he is also the picture of a standard, a pacesetter, a model, and perhaps most clearly here, a motivator. He may be gentle, but more clearly, he is one who presses his children toward the high mark of walking worthy of God and His glory.
My friends, if we are to walk in this manner, we must be open to relationships that are sometimes gentle like a nursing mother, sometimes harsh like a father who dispenses tough love, who holds us accountable to God’s standards. I know it is easier to receive gentle nurturing; but it is critical we also receive bracing exhortation.
The fourth and final step in this passage toward a worthy walk before God is one we could describe as sharing a life of blameless behavior… We see this is verse 10: “…how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers…” Paul knew he could “sell” his product, the Gospel, if it came with integrity, innocence, and blamelessness.
I’m reminded by way of illustration of a Swede by the name of Ingvar Kamprad. Mr. Kamprad founded a company called Ikea (Ingvar Kamprad from Elmtaryd—the family farm—in Almhult, Sweden) that sells furniture directly to customers by mail order. So that his customers would know exactly what they were getting, Kamprad put a label on every piece of furniture in his stores telling what it was made of, how much was used, where the materials came from, and where the item was made. In a sketch by Meghan Cath, Kamprad “always tries to keep his word—at any cost. Once the price of a piece (of furniture) is set in the Ikea catalog, the price is good for a year. Kamprad refuses to go back on it. When the Berlin Wall fell, contracts with Eastern Bloc nations were still fixed in the old currencies. To pay for the furniture ordered at the old prices and keep the factory solvent, Ikea was going to have to take a big hit… (True to his character), Kamprad said that he’d back the factory and honor the old prices. Ikea took on increases in price up to 40% but kept its price in the catalog.”
Integrity and blamelessness—features of the life of Paul, the representative of God and the messenger of the Gospel.
Nothing hampers our witness to the lost and the unchurched as much as hypocrisy, as much as deceit, as much as inconsistency. To make a promise and not fulfill it is a huge error. To say one thing and do another is shameless conduct. Blameless behavior is a critical badge to achieve on the road to living worthy of God and His glory.
We must make it our goal, friends, to keep our word, even to our hurt. We must make the Gospel attractive by being attractive ourselves, attractive with virtues of honesty, innocence, and trustworthiness.
Conclusion: If we had only one goal in life, one primary desire to fulfill, it ought to be to walk worthy of the calling of our God.
The Marines are the only branch of the military services that made their goal of recruitment and retention for this year. In part, their success is built on the higher standards they set for their members and the expectation that those standards will be adhered to. If the Marines can succeed, then surely Biblical Christianity can also, for in Christ, we have greater resources, a perfect leader, and a higher calling.
Let’s make it our goal to walk worthy of Him by getting used to trouble and being bold in it, by seeking to please God above all others, by being gentle some times and bracing at others as God would lead, and finally by sharing our lives of blameless behavior. Then God will be pleased to use us often as messengers of the greatest news in all the world. That was Paul’s experience, and it can be ours too.

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Real Christianity: Contagious as the flu

2008-05-30T12:11:00.001-04:00

I Thessalonians 1:4-10

October 3, 1999

Introduction: The Cockings have an Asian pear tree that produces the finest little pears! If you take one, peel it, cool it overnight in the ‘fridge, slice it up on your Wheaties in the morning…. moma mia!! Your taste buds go flippity-flop!! Effects are the results of causes. Dancing taste buds are the results of Asian pears!
At a recent gathering of Wheaton alums, I listened to a number of stories of pranks done over the years on that campus. In one particular chapel service, cartons of marbles were placed on the floor at the back of the chapel. At an appointed time, they were all turned over, and because of the slope to the chapel floor, marbles rolled downhill all through the service. A marble might stop for a moment behind a shoe, but in time, it would be dislodged and roll further downhill. Effects are the results of causes. Marbles will always roll downhill.
How we act is always the result of how we think.
Consequences are always the result of actions.
Last week, we saw in the experience of the Thessalonian believers a certain effect, a certain impact. We could call it authentic, genuine Christianity. These believers had an awesome identity; they knew they were the beloved of God. Out of that identity came lives lived in the presence of God; lives that were empowered toward works of faith, labor of love, and enduring hope. Consequently, these Thessalonians lived well in two worlds; they had an impact in their city and they were a testimony to the kingdom of God!
When we think about that effect, that influence, those kinds of outcomes, we wonder, “What was the cause?” How did they come to live this way? What had happened to them? And maybe from the text last week, you are asking yourself, “How can I live that way?” What would it take for me to know I’m one of God’s beloved? What would I need to know and do to live in His presence? How can my life make an impact in this world for the other one?
Paul didn’t want to leave us wondering how those kinds of results came about. So in the rest of chapter 1, he writes about the three elements that make up the foundation of a fruitful, enjoyable, abundant life. Get your sermon supplement and follow along, and let’s see how he records the secret of a satisfying, purposeful experience of life.
Our text is I Thessalonians 1:4-10. “…knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth (You trumpet players, here’s your word in the original language, “trumpeted”) from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come."
The three elements Paul reveals here in this passage are three concrete truths. These Thessalonians have been (1) chosen by God, (2) they were confronted by the Gospel, and (3) they have had a conversion-to-Christianity experience. Let’s consider them briefly, one-by-one.
(1) First then, this life these believers were enjoying began with a choice in the mind of God. Paul says they were chosen by God, vs. 4. Now don’t let this idea throw you. The God who reigns in heaven does just as He pleases, says the psalmist, and He has chosen these Thessalonians for Himself. Paul had written to the Ephesians that believers were chosen by God before the foundation of the world.
Eph. 1:3-6—“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Romans 9 tells us God is God, He is sovereign, and He does the choosing. Verse 11 in part, says, “…so that Gods purpose according to His choice would stand…”
His choice was with salvation in mind.
Some of us may have a hard time with this idea. Some of us want to say that God looked down the hallways of time and saw those who would receive Him and thus He chose those for salvation. Doesn’t that make man God? Sure it does.
Perhaps someone would ask: what if I want to be saved but maybe I wasn’t chosen? The Scriptures make it very clear that whosoever will, may come! There is some tension here, and we just need to live with it. Look at Acts 13:48 with me: “And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed!” Both sides of the issue are here back-to-back. God did the choosing and appointing, these who wanted to believe, did!
The Thessalonians could experience the kind of life described here because God had chosen them to be His beloved. Our experience mirrors theirs. We can live this way because we have also been chosen by God to be His own.
(2) The second ingredient that makes up this foundation for these believers and their experience of life was their confrontation by the Gospel.
The Gospel came to them in words. Those words are familiar to many of us. God so loved the world…. But mankind had a huge problem: his sin put a chasm between himself and the goodness and blessings of God. God and man were separated. So God took the initiative to solve man’s problem: He sent His Son, perfect God and perfect Man to die and pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. Now the chasm has been bridged! The way to a relationship with God is wide open. Everyone who will accept the Lord Jesus as his savior can enter that relationship. When God looks at this individual, He doesn’t see a sinner; He sees the blood of Jesus covering over all the ugly and flawed elements of our character. When the Thessalonians heard this word, they knew they had been confronted by words of truth, the Gospel.
Our text also tells us that this good news also came with power. These Gospel words had something to them. There was a force at work behind the good words. Something vital and alive was in operation. This was more than simple exhortation. God was at work, as Paul had said to the Romans, (1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” When the Gospel is preached, God is in it and God is at work. If there are some among us today who are not yet saved, I’ll guarantee you that each one is feeling something in his/her own spirit and soul; and that is the power of God drawing that one to safety and release from sin.
The power of the Gospel is the power of the Holy Spirit. There are all kinds of powers at work in our world today, many of them evil and controlling and destructive. But the Gospel always comes with the distinctive power and authority and strength of the Spirit of God. He does not deceive; He assures. He does not coerce; He woos.
And finally, this good news came with conviction, “full conviction” according to verse 5. It came with words, with power, and with the Holy Spirit. This conviction or assurance was manifested in the hearts and lives of Paul and his team members. Paul and the other preachers knew with certainty that whenever the Gospel was preached, God was at work. Paul just knew that the Spirit of God was doing His grace thing behind the scenes and below the surface. No doubts lingered in his mind that this message of salvation would do its work in the hearts of many who heard.
All of us who preach and teach the Word of God know of its power. Even when I have felt that the message did not go well, I know that God is at work. On some of my worst days, I hear the most amazing things about the sermon. Over the years, I’ve come to the same full assurance that Paul had. I work hard to communicate well biblical interpretations of this Book, but no matter how I feel at the end of the hour, there are never doubts that God’s word was powerless or unable to accomplish its purpose. It is a great blessing, and sometimes a surprise, to hear how the word impacted various ones in these services!
The Gospel confronts with words, with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with the convictions of the messengers.
(3) The third element in the foundation of these Thessalonians’ experience was their conversion to the faith. God had chosen them; they had been confronted with the Gospel by Paul and his missionary team, and they were converted.
Paul tells us that they turned to God from idols. With the reference to ‘the living and true’ God, Paul is subtlely saying that their idols were dead, not living. Another important thing to notice here is that these people made a complete break with their old life. The old ways of living, the old habits, the old attitudes were dramatically changed. Their whole lives were reoriented by a single act of their will. They chose to leave behind the shadowy and the unreal for the true and the living.
When I went to India with Ray Eicher several years ago, we stopped one morning in Bombay at a soft drink vendor’s little shop. It was morning and the shop owner was washing his idol. It was a carved figurine, mounted on a pedestal, unable to speak, move, hear, or anything else except to get dirty from the dust and pollution of the streets. Throughout our conversation, the idol worshipper just kept splashing water on the statue, over and over.
Of course, we Americans are too sophisticated to have idols like those! But in reality our idols are just as dead… oh, they may be energized by electricity, or we may never miss one of their games, or we may be hoarding its bills and coins, but life is not in them.
So the Thessalonians turned away from their lifeless devotions and turned to God. Our text tells us they set out to serve the living and true God. We have some clues from this passage as to what that meant, to serve the living and true God. Vs. 8 says they served the Lord by sharing His Word. Vs. 8 also states they served the Lord by sharing their faith. Vs. 7 tells us they served the Lord by becoming an example to other believers in the region.
I read in my personal devotions this past week of an old prophet by the name of Ahijah. His story is found in I Kings 14. He is blind now because of his old age, the text tells us. But his dim eyes do not keep him from being the servant of the Lord. According to the text, King Jeroboam sends his wife to the old prophet to find out whether their sick son will recover from his illness. Foolishly, the king sends his wife in a disguise so the prophet will not know who she is. Isn’t that amazing? Did the king really think that the man who served God could be deceived by a disguise? Did he really think that the God who sees everything could not see through his ploy? And isn’t it really amazing that God would use an old, blind prophet to do His work? What does it matter if we can see or not if the God Who sees everything communicates to us what He sees? And so when the wife of the king knocks on the door of the prophet’s house, he invites her in as the wife of the king because the Lord Himself had forewarned Ahijah of exactly what would take place. (I Kings 14, if you want to read the story for yourself this afternoon.) Here is a man who was serving the living and true God with all the limitations of age and blindness.
Speaking of age, we know some missionaries who are faithfully serving the Lord at the age of 89, 84, and 81. Homer Payne is 89 and is planning a trip to India to serve the Lord. Rader and Ann Hawkins, 81 and 84, have been serving the Lord in Brazil for over 50 years. Their mission board has tried to get them to come home, but to no avail. Rader and Ann will probably die there in the boonies serving the Lord. How does one serve Christ that faithfully over the years unless he/she started early on and served with faithfulness? The Thessalonians turned from lifeless idols to serve the living and true God.
The final aspect of the Thessalonians’ conversion was their commitment to the return of the Lord. Verse 10 tells us of their waiting for the Son from heaven Who would rescue them from the wrath to come.
They had turned from their idols.
They set about to serve God.
They were looking forward to His return.
Their conversion came about from a confrontation with the Gospel. God had chosen them, and they believed.
Conclusion: What does all this mean for us, for me? The offer of salvation is the greatest offer in all of life. And to choose Christ, to accept Him as one’s savior, is the biggest no-brainer in the world! Who in his right mind would choose to spend eternity in hell to pay for his sins when Christ offers to make the payment Himself?
Coming to Christ opens the door to a life of purpose, satisfaction, joy, and peace.
Being converted opens the door to living everyday in the presence of God.
Being saved empowers one to works of faith, to experiences of love, to assurances of hope.
Being one of God’s, beloved of Him, is an identity beyond compare. To be a truck driver is fine. To be a professor is great. To be a salesman is good. To be an athlete, pilot, housewife, even a lawyer, is fine. But to be a child of God’s—that is the very best identity anyone can own.
The Thessalonians had come face-to-face with the claims of Christ by way of the Gospel. Their acceptance of it changed their lives!
That is what we are about here at this church. We offer, in Jesus’ Name, the Gospel, the opportunity to live differently, better, with satisfaction, with strength, and with eternal impact.
Anyone want to accept God’s offer today? As I pray this morning, join me, if you want, in praying the sinner’s prayer.
And for those of us who have already accepted God’s offer of eternal life, we can be challenged by these Thessalonians. Their faith was more contagious than the flu! Everywhere they went, they made an impact. They shared the words of the Gospel; they shared their faith experiences; they served God. And so ought we! Take note of those around you who are living this way and follow their example (vs.6). Watch as they share their faith and imitate them. And keep on serving God through the trials and tribulations, through the limitations of age, through the sorrows of disappointments. He is worthy!

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!

Hope is an anchor that will not float

2008-05-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

I Thessalonians 1:1-4

September 26, 1999

Introduction: William Brown made his first trip to Russia in 1993. He writes in World Magazine (3/6/99): “I felt conspicuous walking down the streets of Moscow and could not figure out why. I wanted to blend in but it was obvious people knew I was not Russian. I asked the group of educators with whom I was working whether I was noticeable because of my clothes: jeans and a Chicago Bulls shirt.
‘No, it’s not your clothes,’ they replied.
‘What is it, then?’ I asked.
The dozen or so teachers huddled together and talked for several minutes. One of them, speaking for the group, answered politely, ‘It is your face’.
‘My face!’ I laughed. ‘How does my face look different?’
They talked again and then one of the teachers… quietly said, ‘You have hope.’
Brown goes on to comment: “Faith and love are easy subjects for sermons and seminars. Hope often gets left out. Faith makes all things possible; love makes all things easy; but hope gives all things meaning. Our hope is an anchor, set deep, and it keeps us from the emotional rolling seas…” of successes and defeats, of victories and losses.
As we proceed into our study of the book of I Thessalonians, I want to ask you this morning, “In what do you hope? Of what are you certain and assured (for that is the meaning of this term in the Bible)? Where is your anchor, and what is it locked in to? What is it that holds you steady in the storms? What gives you emotional balance through the course of your day? What is it that locks your perspective onto the positive and gives you purpose and meaning in life?” Over the next few weeks, we’ll answer those questions that some of us are surely asking. For others of us, we’ll be reminded of some of these truths that have been lost in the lifestyle we’ve been living.
I want you to keep William Brown’s experience of “a hopeful face” in mind as we proceed this morning. For above all things, this Thessalonian letter is a letter of hope. We will see that over and over. In fact, it is interesting to me that Paul concludes each chapter of I Thessalonians with a reference to the hope, the certainty, of the return of the Lord. Let’s take a moment and see for ourselves.
*1:10--… and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
*2:19-- …For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
*3:13-- … so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
*4:17—that we saw last week—Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
*5:23-- …without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those repeated references are there to highlight an emphasis that Paul wants to leave with these believers.
Being reminded of this hope of the Lord’s return leads us to the first question we’ll want to ask today: “Who are these Thessalonians?” How might we be like them, and what can we learn from them?
Paul introduces them to us in the first 4 verses of chapter one. He writes: “Paul and Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 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…”
In these four verses, Paul tells us at least three things about these believers. (1) They are people of two worlds, (2) they are people who live life in the presence of God, and (3) they are people with an identity: the beloved of God.
Let’s see what Paul was saying about these saints and learn some practical lessons for living today.
What does it mean that the Thessalonians are people of two worlds? It is first of all clear that they live in Thessalonica. This was a chief city of Macedonia, a free city in the Roman Empire. Its main street, according to William Barclay, “was part of the very road which linked Rome with the East. East and West converged on Thessalonica; it was said to be ‘in the lap of the Roman Empire’. Trade poured into her from East and West, so that it was said, ‘So long as nature does not change, Thessalonica will remain wealthy and prosperous.’” So the Thessalonians were citizens with feet firmly planted in this world. But secondly, these folks live in the kingdom of God. Our text tells us (vs.1) they are ‘in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ’. The Thessalonians were part of our world and they were a part of the kingdom of God in this world. Our church chairman, Ron Sutherland, was in Washington, D.C. recently attending a conference of the ECFA, and I’ve asked him to come and share a bit with us to illustrate this point about living in two worlds.
Having been a missionary for 8 years, I have contacts in a lot of places in the world. So when my cousin who lives in Omaha forwarded me a Travellog Journal from 6th grader James Bailey of Taloga, OK, it was my pleasure to forward his journal to friends in Singapore. He’ll get a postcard from them and who knows where his journal will go next. I am a part of our world and a part of another we might call the missionary world. Jay Kessler has shared from this pulpit how two of his best friends, Chuck Colson and Chuck Swindoll, are part of a world of ex-Marines that he’d like to enter, but cannot.
The Thessalonians were people of two worlds.
What this means practically to us is just this: When I call the ChemLawn people to apply some applications to my yard, it is because I live in this world and have an investment to take care of. But when I call them because I am not pleased with what the technician did while he was there, I have to remember that I am a member of the kingdom of God. What I say and how I say it must communicate grace and patience and tact and other elements that demonstrate I am in God and in the Lord Jesus.
It is my hope that all of us are part of two worlds, also—this one, obviously, and the kingdom of God.
The second noteworthy thing that Paul says about these believers is that they live in the presence of God. Can we see that in verse 3?—“ 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…”
As these believers go about their day, as they exercise faith, as they express love, and as they experience hope, they are aware of being in the presence of God.
I wonder how many of us know what it means to be in the presence of God? How many of us have heard His voice? Who among us has developed a sensitivity to His ways of leading? Who has learned to sense His presence in decision-making, in reading His Word, in emotional turmoil? The Thessalonians give us clues to some answers to these kinds of questions. They were known for work of faith. In other words, they had a reputation for trusting God. I often ask, as I am asked, ‘What are you trusting God for today?’ ‘What has God said in His word that you are believing Him for today?’ ‘What are we asking God to do that only He could do, that if He doesn’t do it, it won’t happen, that when He does it, it will be evident to all that He did it?’ That my friends is faith and trust. We know from 2 Corinthians 8 that these believers of Thessalonica trusted God with their finances. Paul tells the Corinthians about the Thessalonians “wealth of giving overflowing out of their deep poverty”, how “according to their ability and beyond their ability they gave… begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints…” That kind of monetary giving is faith at work. It demonstrates an awareness of the presence of God, the God who has promised to provide for us and meet our needs.
Secondly, these believers were known for their labor of love. Labor is a term that suggests extraordinary effort expended. Child-bearing is a labor of love, extraordinary effort expended. This labor is described by some commentators as wearisome toil. “So great is its concern for the object that love does not stop with ordinary effort, but goes the second mile and even beyond for the sake of another.” I know some of us have loved this way. These Thessalonians were known for their great self-sacrifice, their labor of love, because they were aware of the great presence of God Who had loved them in this same way. God hadn’t loved them, because He found them emotionally desirable in some way, or because they were attractive in some way. And the same is true for us. The love of God is a matter of the will. Living in His presence fortifies that amazing concept.
Thirdly, these believers were known for their steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Steadfastness suggests endurance, an aggressive, courageous quality that leaves no room for self-pity. It proceeds onward even when the alley looks to be blind and when normal people cry ‘there is no hope’. Steadfastness casts aside discouragement because it stays focused on future certainties. Findlay says this is ‘the fortitude of the stout-hearted soldier’.
The 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, are so memorable because the U.S. defeated the Russians and won a gold medal in hockey. Perhaps some of you younger ones have heard about that game. Imagine with me that you did not see that game, and afterward, when you have already heard the score, you decide to watch the contest on videotape. No matter how the game goes, no matter how often it looks like the U.S. team is going down in flames, there is no cause for alarm, for discouragement, or distress. And why is that? We already know the outcome! We know who wins the game when the final buzzer sounds! The Thessalonians were living like that. They knew the truth of what C.S. Lewis would later write:
“If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
The Thessalonians were known for their steadfast hope in the Lord Jesus, in part because of their recognition that God was always present with them.
Fernando Ortega put it this way in his song, “Jesus, King of Angels”. Listen as he sings and follow along with the words if you’d like…
The third noteworthy thing that Paul says about these believers is that they are a people with the identity, beloved of God. Not only are they people of two worlds, and not only are they living in the presence of God, they are also beloved of Him. To understand that identity, to get a grasp of what it means to be loved by God, we only have to travel back into the Scriptures and look at a couple of true stories.
I’ve been meditating on the book of Esther over the last couple of weeks, and once again I stand amazed at what God did for His people. Through the faithful and courageous actions of Mordecai and Esther, God turned the tables on the enemies of the Jews. 9:1 says, “Now in the…month Adar…on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them.” These people were His beloved, and He was there protecting them. Metaphorically, this story conveys to us that we, too, may be victorious over all our opponents, for we are His beloved, and no circumstances, no evil spirits, no ‘coincidence’ of accidents need lay us low!
Another true story comes from II Kings 7, and many of us know it by heart. It is the tale of 4 lepers who were about to die from starvation outside the city gates of Samaria, the capital of Israel. The city had been surrounded by the Arameans, and there was great famine in the city. 6:25—“…a donkey’s head…sold for 80 shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for 5 shekels of silver.” No, I don’t know what that means; it’s just obvious that it was a terrible time to be alive. Well, you know the story. God chases away the army of the Arameans (He causes them to hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, a sound of a great army), the lepers decide that if they are going to die, they might as well take their chances with the enemy, so they go to the camp of the Arameans and discover everything left in the camp—food, gold, clothes, etc. And so with the supplies of the enemy army, the famine for Israel is broken. One of the Jewish king’s officials in Samaria had wondered out loud, “If the Lord should make windows in heaven, could a measure of fine flour sell for a shekel and two measures of barley sell for a shekel?” as the prophet Elisha had prophesied. God’s provision was just so abundant on behalf of these, His beloved.
But having the identity of being God’s beloved does not always mean great victories of personal experience for lepers and queens. Sometimes His love is shown in other ways.
Sydney Browning was the director of the children’s choir at Wedgewood Baptist Church and she was the first to die on 9/15/99 in Fort Worth, Texas when Larry Ashbrook did his evil thing.
Cassie Bernall was just 17 years old and a student at Columbine High School in Colorado when she was shot April 20, 1999, after answering ‘Yes’ to the question, “Do you believe in God?”
Being God’s beloved sometimes means being poured out and broken for plans and purposes that we don’t always immediately understand.
Marvin Olasky of World Magazine quotes Bart Giamatti, the late commissioner of baseball, as saying about baseball: “It breaks your heart, it’s meant to break your heart.” Why is that? Olasky says, “…much of life is made up of losing, not winning, and it’s good not to fool ourselves. The agony for players and fans that come so far only to fall short is real, but defeats in baseball…teach us to overcome emotional pain in relatively harmless settings; we learn that time does heal wounds, and so are prepared for greater sadnesses that may come.” Olasky observes further: “Christianity…breaks your heart, it was meant to break your heart…. through heartbreak we realize that this world is not our home. When Christ breaks our hearts spiritually, we have, alongside bittersweet seasons, a deeper hope to come back to, again and again.
Mr. Olasky and Sydney Browning and Cassie Bernall knew the truth of Hebrews 11:32-38, a passage that needs to be a segment of our Bibles that is circled and highlighted! The turn in verse 35 from victory to brokenness is so very important!
Conclusion: So these Thessalonians were quite a group of believers, weren’t they? They lived in two worlds, they knew how to live in the presence of God, and they knew who they were, the beloved of God.
So who are we?

DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!