1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 - Hope In Tribulation

13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

Target Date: Sunday, 17 July 2022

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Thoughts on the Passage:

The measure of a follower of Jesus Christ is his devotion to God in every circumstance.

Persecution is not a reaction of the world primarily to what we teach or how we live; it is a reaction to Who we represent.

Those who seek out persecution are NOT doing so for God’s glory or for the love of Him, no matter what they tell themselves.

They selfishly try to raise their own esteem in the eyes of others, or to confirm their own devotion by action (works) rather than faith.

Or perhaps they believe they are obeying God, even doing service to His kingdom, but

It should not proceed from BEING offensive (in the sense of unloving) – that is not persecution, but justice.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:11-12

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. – 1 Peter 4:12-16

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. – 1 John 3:12-13

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. – Matthew 10:32-36

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. – John 1:10-11

There are those throughout history who would use the church of Jesus Christ for political purposes, regime change, or for their own selfish purposes.

They deserve neither our approval nor alliance simply because they might agree that our message helps them in their goals.

Conservatives without Christ are NO CLOSER to salvation than the most deviant Liberal.

And alliance with either

They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. – 1 John 2:19

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:3-4

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

Endure trials.

Glorify God.

Rejoice in God’s Favor.

Sermon Text:

Last week we began looking at the 14th and 15th verses of this passage.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind

I would remind you briefly of some of the things we already looked at in this passage we should keep in mind again this week.

The primary thing is that God works through trouble to accomplish His work in his children.

Whether persecution or difficulty or sorrow or trials, God causes everything to work in His purposes on behalf of His people.

He does not, in His providence, cause difficulties to vanish from the lives of His followers, but uses these same difficulties to accomplish His own loving purposes.

That is perhaps the most important thing we must hold on to when we are in the midst of trouble, sorrow, or persecution.

That God is always and in every way in control.

The darkest night and the gloomiest path we walk, we know, amounts to nothing more than the shadow of His loving hand.

And we should remind one another often that God’s great will for us is not necessarily our success, our victory, nor even our comfort,

But His great will for us is our faithfulness, our holiness, and our love for Him and for others.

So in that light, we looked last week at some positive things God brings out of persecution and trouble.

The first we looked at was that trouble tends to reveal who are the true believers in the church and who are the temporary believers.

Those who truly love our Lord will be driven to Him by trouble;

Those who do not love Him will flee from that same trouble, denying our Lord in the process.

The more the trouble, the greater the persecution, the sharper and more distressing will be those who are exposed as temporary;

Peter and James in their epistles each refer to this aspect of trouble as purification –

Purifying the church.

Related to that, we also saw that trouble clarifies our own level of devotion to our Lord,

Allowing us to find ways we may be loving the things of this world or our own lives more than God through Jesus Christ.

That is not a trivial benefit. It is real grace to show us where we are in danger in ourselves of falling away.

We are too often guilty of the accusation made against Job by Satan:

“Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. – Job 1:9-10

Put simply – it is an easy path to follow God when everything is going well.

But when calamity comes, particularly trouble where we cannot even seek justice,

That is where the voice of the enemy rings from mouths all around us urging us to “Curse God and die”.

And it is those times where our faith or our falseness will come to the surface.

If you are following God because you depend on Him to make every step smooth and bring you health, prosperity, and ease,

You are not following the one true God.

That is not what God promises – that is what the idols promised.

“Sacrifice your children and Molech will give you plenty.”

“Corrupt your hearts, and the Baals will give you ease.”

“Betray the one True God, and the Asherah will bring you pleasure and rest.”

And every one of these lies led people who had been loyal to God to their destruction.

The measure of a follower of Jesus Christ is his devotion in every circumstance, not just the easy ones.

The third reason we looked at last week that God allows His people to go through trouble is that it builds our compassion for those who are hurting.

We stand in constant danger of becoming hardened to the plight of those who are hurting.

To be tempted to see someone struggling and simply trace back the effects of their sin and declare their trouble “justice” for their godless choices and actions.

Christian, so far as we know, that person who is at rock bottom in their life is the very one we have been sent to take the gospel to!

God forbid that we would ever consider anyone beyond His grace.

God forbid that we should ever consider someone beyond deserving our compassion and aid.

Pharisees walk by on the other side of the road;

Followers of Jesus stoop to carry the gospel to the “least of these”.

Those followers of Jesus whose hearts have been softened by the trials they have successfully endured will find compassion flowing from them.

Those who have been carried through the difficult times by the Great Shepherd will think nothing of carrying someone else for a while.

We love, because He first loved us. – 1 John 4:19

There may be some who hear me today and think “Wow, you aren’t much of a salesman, preacher.”

When you talk about persecution or trouble, you should be using illustrations like Daniel in the lion’s den or Elijah being fed in the wilderness and by the widow during the great drought and famine.

You know, where God came in and miraculously saved His people.

The Bible is full of those illustrations:

Esther’s saving of the Jews in Babylon.

The three men that God saved from the great fiery furnace.

But in each of these cases, I would point out that God did not deliver them FROM trouble – He delivered them THROUGH it.

Those three men who were thrown into the furnace had NO IDEA that this was not their last breath when they were put into it, yet they were faithful, declaring:

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” – Daniel 3:17-18

Brothers and sisters – that is faith.

Even if God DOES NOT deliver us, we will be faithful to Him alone.

Every other example I mentioned – their faith was PROVEN through trial.

Daniel was IN the lions’ den.

Elijah was IN the famine.

Esther’s and the Jews’ lives were in REAL PERIL.

And they were faithful even IN the trial.

You can hear how the writer of Hebrews describes the faith of these great witnesses (martyrs) of God:

by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; - Hebrews 11:33-35

That sounds good to us – powerful.

God’s mighty warriors, God’s overcoming servants.

But then the list changes:

and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. – Hebrews 11:35-38

Christian, if you hear nothing else today, hear this:

This second group of people were JUST AS FAITHFUL as the first.

Those who gave their lives because they obeyed God are just as important to our Lord as those who saw God’s greatest miracles among them.

Never, never, never confuse success with faithfulness.

We are called to FAITHFULNESS, not to success.

Some might quibble with that statement, but success is God’s domain, not ours.

The success of the gospel call is due to His drawing, His regeneration,

Not our eloquence or skill.

We proclaim, we serve, we grow in sanctification because that is what His faithful people do.

Our success, then, is defined entirely by our faithfulness to God’s instructions to us.

Success isn’t how good our reputation is.

Nor is it how many attend our congregation.

Nor is it that we win people over to our way of thinking.

Success for we who follow Jesus Christ is that we trained well in the Scriptures,

Obeyed well in our lives,

Prayed always, constantly guarding our communion with God,

And saw the godly traits growing in us:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

So what is our hope in these times of tribulation? To what expectation are we holding on?

1. The hope of being found faithful to God.

2. The hope of the glory given to His faithful servants.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. - 1 Peter 4:12-13

3. The hope of His enduring presence.