Bible Confidence

Lead Vocalist (_______)

Welcome & Announcements (Mike K.)

Good morning family!

Ask guests to fill out connect card

____ announcements:

1) Announcement 1

What to do and how to respond

2) Announcement 2

What to do and how to respond

3) Announcement 3

What to do and how to respond

Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Ps. 145 (45))

Prayer of Praise (Sandra Lindell)

Rejoice

He Calls Me Friend

Prayer of Confession (Chris Steinberg), Fear of man

Assurance of Pardon (James 4:8-10)

Ancient of Days

My Worth is Not in What I Own

Scripture Reading (1 Thess. 2:13-16)

You can find it on page _________ in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Mike K.)

Prayer for PBC—Confidence in the gospel

Prayer for kingdom partner—Jeff & April Knapp (Cru)

Prayer for US—Election

Prayer for the world—Tanzania

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

START TIMER!!!

When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 he wasn’t looking for a fight. He was looking for a discussion. He wasn’t trying to break from the Roman Catholic Church, he was hoping to reform it.

But four years later, Luther found himself on trial in the city of Worms, Germany. The leaders of the Roman Catholic church demanded that Luther give an account for his writings that attacked their doctrines of penance, purgatory, and the authority of the pope.

Presiding over the trial was Emperor Charles V, who had the power to put Luther to death for his teachings.

Perhaps Luther arrived in the city thinking about another preacher named John Hus, who was publicly burned to death for teaching similar things a hundred years earlier.

When the trial began, Luther was given a stack of his books and asked “Did you write these?” Luther looked for a moment, then responded in the affirmative.

Then his accusers asked a simple, earth-shattering question: “Will you recant?”

Luther had been hoping for a debate. He wanted an opportunity to discuss his teachings based on the Scriptures.

But it was clear the Roman Catholic church had zero interest in debating.

His accusers demanded a simple answer, so after a night of gut-wrenching prayer, Luther answered them:

“Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

—Martin Luther [1]

How could the son of a coal miner, an obscure monk from a hick town in central Germany, stand so firmly in the face of such a threat? How could he resist the most powerful institution in the world, knowing he was risking his career, his reputation, his life, and—in the eyes of some—his eternal soul?

Luther could stand against all the powers of earth and hell because he was confident in the Word of God.

We see a similar confidence on display in our text in 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16.

About 20 years after Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Paul and his co-worker Silas planted a church in Thessalonica.

But their ministry was cut short after persecution arose in the city.

Paul and Silas fled the city, but quickly followed up by writing of this letter.

Like Martin Luther, the Thessalonian Christians stood firm in the face of suffering and death because they too were confident in the Word of God.

The Big idea I hope to communicate with God’s help is that A thriving local church is confident in the Word of God.

Consider with me Three Reasons for Confidence in the Word of God from our text:

First, in verse 13, we’ll notice how the Word of God Demands a Response.

Then, in verse 14, we’ll see how the Word of God Produces Results.

And finally, in verses 15-16 we’ll observe how the Word of God Anticipates Rejection.

We can—and should!—have confidence in God’s Word because...

1) The Word of God Demands a RESPONSE.

Almost the entirety of chapter 1 was devoted to Paul’s thanksgiving about this thriving local church in Thessalonica. And after defending his ministry in the beginning of chapter 2, Paul recalls how the Thessalonian Christians responded to his ministry and, once again, he is overflowing with gratitude.

1 Thessalonians 2:13—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.

The meaning here is quite clear: when Paul and Silas preached the gospel in Thessalonica, the people who eventually became the local church there responded positively. They received Paul’s message. And they did so because they really believed Paul and Silas weren’t proclaiming their own words, but the Word of God.

Paul is not denying that he and Silas really spoke. But Paul is claiming that his words to the Thessalonians were not merely human words. God Himself was speaking through the words of Paul and Silas.

This is not only true of the words preached in Thessalonica almost 2000 years ago. It is true of every single word in each of the sixty-six books that make up our Bibles.

Paul writes this in...

2 Timothy 3:16–17—All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

But how can the Bible really be the Word of God if it’s written by fallible human beings?

Isn’t it better to say these are the words of men, like Moses, David, Jeremiah, Paul, John, and others?

Some have likened the Bible to a great cathedral where light shines through the stained-glass windows. Just as the pigment in the panes of glass color the light, so too the sinful personalities of the human authors of the Bible have discolored the truth. So what we have in the Bible may contain goodness, truth, and beauty. But we cannot say it is the Word of God because God’s Word is refracted through fallen human authors.

But 19th century Theologian B.B. Warfield replies, “What if the colors of the stained-glass window have been designed by the architect for the express purpose of giving to the light that floods the cathedral precisely the tone and quality it receives from them?” [3]

In other words, we can trust God’s Word entirely because God is the architect! He providentially created, guided, and inspired each biblical writer to record the exact message He intended, and all without error!

Let me ask you, have you responded to God’s Word? Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?

If not, why not?

Have you read enough to know what it is that you’re rejecting?

I realize the Bible is a large, intimidating book and sometimes it’s hard to understand.

With most books you begin in the first chapter and work all the way to the end. But if you’re new to the Bible, I recommend you begin by reading what it says about it’s most important character: Jesus Christ.

I believe one of the best ways to do that is by reading the gospel of Mark, and if you’ll talk with me after the service, I’ll connect you with someone who will gladly study the gospel of Mark with you.

For those of you who say you DO believe the Bible is the Word of God, are you living like it?

Jesus famously asks in...

Luke 6:46—“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

If you say you believe the Bible is the Word of God, you should obey its teachings.

Now, again, the Bible is a really large book with a lot of teachings. And it’s not always clear to everyone which teachings are directly applicable to us and which ones aren’t.

So here’s a simple way for you to start living like you believe the Bible is God’s Word: join a local church that faithfully preaches the Bible.

If you're new to following Jesus—or if you’re returning after a long time of wandering away from Him—you may not even realize the places in your life that are out of alignment.

But if you join a local church that faithfully preaches the Bible, you’ll be a part of a community of believers where people will point those things out to you—in love—so you can more faithfully follow Jesus.

If you are interested in learning more about what it means to join a local church, please talk with me after the service.

For those of you who are members of PBC, consider one more thing before we move on.

Notice in verse 13 who Paul thanks for the Thessalonian’s faith in God’s Word: “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.”

Why does Paul thank God for their faith?!?

Because faith in God’s Word is a gift!

That means if you have responded rightly to God’s Word, you shouldn’t be proud about it! The only reason you could respond rightly is because God gave you the faith!

A proud Christian should be an oxymoron. We of all people should be the most humble people because we understand that everything good in our lives has been received as a gift of mercy from a God of grace.

If, like the Thessalonian church, you have responded rightly to God’s Word, you cannot be the same proud person you used to be. Your life will be changed.

And that leads us to the second reason for confidence in God’s Word we see in our text...

2) The Word of God Produces RESULTS.

When we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany a few weeks ago, we picked up our rental car which was a little Hyundai i30.

We were told to examine it carefully for any scratches or dents because any new damage to the vehicle could result in a significant fine.

Shortly after that, we were cruising at around 120 MPH on the glorious Autobahn.

Now, if I crashed into a tree while driving 120 MPH, do you think there would have been any damage to our vehicle?

Yes, because you can’t collide with a tree at 120 MPH in a Hyundai i30 and not be changed.

In the same way, you cannot collide with the God of the universe and not be changed.

If you have a genuine encounter with God and His Word, you WILL look different!

But what does that change look like?

At the end of verse 13, Paul says that the Word of God “is at work in you believers.”

In other words, God’s Word changes us. It produces results.

Then he illustrates those results in...

1 Thessalonians 2:14a—For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.

What was the result that God’s Word produced in the Thessalonian church? They started imitating the behavior of other faithful local churches.

One of the marks of a faithful local church is that we start looking like other faithful local churches.

Paul isn’t talking about copying other churches in their decorations or their music selection or anything superficial like that.

He’s referring to imitating their faith and practice.

PBC will be impoverished if we fail to look to other faithful churches for guidance.

We can do this in the pages of church history, where we see how churches have dealt with any number of issues in the past.

We can also do this through networks like the Pillar Network, where a number of like-minded local churches are able to help one another follow Jesus by learning from each other.

If PBC comes up with some sort of new approach to church life that has never been done before, we’re in trouble! We are a part of a mighty river of church history, and we need to know our place within that river if we’re going to be faithful.

We should condemn—not celebrate—the so-called churches today that are coming up with new teachings on sex, marriage, and gender that Christians have never believed!

Paul encourages the Thessalonians, not for being fresh and innovative, but for looking like the other faithful churches around them.

And he mentions one specific way they are demonstrating their faithfulness…

1 Thessalonians 2:14b—For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.

Paul knew all too well about the persecution that the Judean churches had endured, since he had once been the one persecuting those churches years before.

But now Paul has gone from the persecutor to the persecuted.

And the Thessalonian church has been persecuted too.

This, perhaps, is the clearest evidence that the Thessalonians have rightly responded to the Word of God: they continue to faithfully follow Jesus even when it hurts.

That’s what Christians do. We follow Jesus even when it hurts.

Consider the example of Corrie ten Boom.

Even when Corrie and her sister Betsy were imprisoned in a Nazi prison camp, they fought to faithfully read their Bibles.

One particular morning they were reading in 1 Thessalonians when they came across 5:18, which commands Christians to “give thanks in all circumstances.”

Betsy reminded Corrie that this passage applied to them too, even though they were living in the overcrowded flea-infested barracks at Ravensbruck Prison.

Corrie was shocked. She eventually agreed to thank God “for jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds” in the barracks, but she could not and would not give thanks to God for the fleas.

Until she eventually realized that the Nazi guards didn’t want to enter their barracks because of the fleas.

So they were able to conduct Bible studies and prayer meetings in the barracks without fear of punishment.

So eventually Corrie even thanked God for fleas!

That’s what God’s Word produces in the hearts of God’s people.

Kids, can you believe God is good even when you feel like your parents don’t understand you? Or you feel like you don’t get what you want?

Can you keep trusting God, even when you lose your spouse? Or your child?

Can you rejoice in your infertility even while people around you are welcoming new little ones into their families?

Can you believe God is good even when you are crushed by loneliness?

Can you give thanks even if your candidate doesn’t win this week? Even if you believe the results of the election might be horrible for America, can you rejoice that the Kingdom of Christ is not in disarray?

Can you, like Martin Luther, stand in front of a powerful world that hates what you believe and say “my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not change what I believe about marriage. Or abortion. Or what it means to be male or female. Or Jesus being the only way to God.” Can you say that even when you know it may cost you?

The result that God’s Word produces in the hearts of God’s people is faithful perseverance, no matter the cost.

That’s what God’s Word did in the hearts of the Thessalonians.

And that’s what it will do in our hearts too.

But faithfully persevering may cost us greatly along the way.

Which leads us to the final reason for confidence in God’s Word we see in our text...

3) The Word of God Anticipates REJECTION.

The Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred on August 24, 1572. Historians estimate between 5,000-30,000 Protestants were murdered by the Roman Catholic authorities in Paris, France. And yet, a monument to this group of French Protestants—called the Huguenots—fittingly says this: “Hammer away ye hostile hands, your hammer breaks, God’s anvil stands.”

For two thousand years different groups have tried to extinguish the message of Christianity. And yet all those hammers break while the Word of God remains.

The group that was hostile to the gospel in Paul’s day were the Jewish religious leaders.

Of them Paul writes in...

1 Thessalonians 2:15–16—[the Jews] killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 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!

Some have accused Paul of being antisemitic in these verses. But remember, Paul was a Jew and everywhere he went he preached to the Jews first.

Paul is not being antisemitic, but he is anti-sin.

Notice five sins that Paul accuses the Jewish religious leaders of committing:

First, they killed Jesus.

Paul is not saying they acted alone in killing Jesus. Or that no one else is guilty.

But the fact of the matter is the Jewish religious leaders were highly culpable for Jesus’ death.

Second, they killed the prophets.

Paul is simply repeating the teaching of Jesus, who accused the Jewish religious leaders of killing the prophets in passages like Matthew 23.

And why did Jesus say that? Because the Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus, the One to whom the prophets were pointing.

So Paul effectively says, “By your continued refusal to believe the prophecies about Jesus, you are killing the prophets by rejecting their message!”

Third, the Jewish religious leaders drove out the Apostles.

All over the book of Acts the main group responsible for driving the Apostles out from one town to another was the Jewish religious leaders.

It was Jewish religious leaders—led by Paul himself before his conversion—who started the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem.

And it was Jewish religious leaders who forced Paul to leave Thessalonica in Acts 17.

Fourth, the Jews displeased God.

That’s a shocking statement, since the Jewish faith claims to follow after God.

How were the Jewish people displeasing God?

Hebrews 11:6a—“… without faith it is impossible to please [God]…”

Because most Jewish people did not believe in Jesus they couldn’t possibly please God.

Finally, the Jews hindered the spread of the gospel.

Paul says they “oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved.”

Because humanity’s greatest need is to hear the gospel and be saved, the easiest way to be a threat to the entire human race is to do anything that would hinder people from hearing and responding to the gospel.

And that’s exactly what the Jewish people were doing in Paul’s day!

Dear friends, you need to understand these five sins are NOT exclusively Jewish sins.

There were plenty of Jews—including Paul and all of the Apostles who wrote our New Testament—who did NOT commit these sins.

There are plenty of Messianic Jews today who have not committed these sins.

And there are plenty of Gentiles—past and present—who HAVE committed these sins.

Perhaps that includes some of us in this room today.

All of us are guilty of Jesus’ death, since He died because of our sins.

You too are guilty of killing the prophets and driving out the Apostles if you reject their message recorded in the Old and New Testaments.

No matter how moral you are, if your faith is in yourself and not in Jesus, you too are displeasing God.

And if you have done or said anything that would hinder the spread of the gospel you too may be guilty of opposing all mankind.

If that’s you, the wrath that came upon the Jewish people will also come upon you, friend.

I know it’s not popular to talk about, but the Bible is clear there is a day of wrath coming for all who will not repent and believe in Jesus.

When Paul says “wrath has come upon them at last,” he uses a word that describes something that has begun to happen with more to come. [4]

Wrath began to fall upon the Jewish people in Paul’s day when Emperor Claudius massacred thousands of Jews during Passover in A.D. 49 [5].

More wrath would come during the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.

But the final wrath will come—upon Jews and Gentiles who will not repent and believe in Jesus—when Christ returns.

But here’s the Good News, friend: You are hearing about this wrath now so you can repent and believe before it’s too late!

If Jesus can rescue Paul—who once persecuted Christians like the Jews he’s condemning—Jesus can rescue you too!!!

Would you please turn from your sins and trust in Jesus today?

Christians, don’t be embarrassed by the doctrine of hell. Instead let it move you to action.

Paul isn’t sadistically gloating about the wrath of God in these verses.

He’s simply stating a fact that God’s Word is the anvil that breaks all hammers. Wrath will come on those who will not believe.

But Paul longs for His Jewish countrymen to be saved.

In Romans 9:2, he says he has “great sorrow” and “unceasing anguish” over the lostness of the Jews.

We should have the same anguish when we think about those in danger of the wrath of God.

As Charles Spurgeon once said, “If sinners be damned at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

One of the most convicting things for me personally as I studied this passage is the reality that I don’t need persecution to keep me from telling others about Jesus.

My own fear of man is strong enough to keep me silent far too often.

What about you? What does it take to keep you from opening your mouth and boldly speaking God’s Word to others?

Perhaps, like me, your failures in evangelism are connected to your lack of confidence in the Word of God.

If we are truly confident in the Word of God we won’t be content knowing we’ve been saved and our lives have been changed by it. We will want more and more to know this Good News.

Twenty-five years after standing trial at Worms, Martin Luther was on his deathbed in Eisleben.

People often say, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” There’s something about the specter of death that can shake us to our core.

In Luther’s day they might have said “There are no Protestants in foxholes.”

Luther’s detractors were certain that on his deathbed he would finally recant and return to the Roman Catholic church.

Many expected him to ask for a priest to come and administer his last rites.

But as Luther’s breathing labored and he prepared to meet his Maker, he was once again confronted with a simple earth-shattering question: "will you die steadfast in Christ and the doctrines you have preached?”

This time Luther didn’t have the energy for a lengthy response.

There was no massive mic-drop moment. No legendary remarks like “here I stand I can do no other!”

With shuttered breath, Luther replied with one word: “Yes."

Luther would die with the same confidence in the Word of God that captivated the world 25 years earlier.

With God’s help, may we live and die with the same confidence in the Word of God.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Benediction (Deut 28 ( p 172))