Sermon Tone Analysis

! 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

When God Says "Enough"!

/We also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.

They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.

In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.

The wrath of God has come upon them at last/.

On one occasion, driving through a Dallas suburb I saw a man on fire.

A knot of other men was filming his distress.

I later learned that he was enrolled in a course of cinematography at a local college.

As part of the course he and some other students were required to make a film.

Part of the scripting they decided upon called for a scene of a burning man.

He had donned a pair of blue jeans and a heavy shirt, placing over that a suit which had been doused in lighter fluid and then ignited for the scene.

Unfortunately, he had chosen a polyester suit and opted to film outdoors on a windy February morning.

The wind quickly whipped the flames out of control and the polyester quickly melted to the clothing under the suit.

Even his rubber-soled runners had melted by the time I knocked him to the ground and beat the flames out while laying on his body.

When all flames were out I wrapped him in a blanket from my car, uncoiled a hose attached to a tap on a nearby house and soaked him good to cool his body.

Piling him in my car we rushed to a hospital some three miles distant.

Suffering third degree burns over one-third of his body he was hospitalised near my laboratory.

His parents thanked me profusely, calling me a good neighbour.

But how does one distinguish a *good* neighbour from one who merely lives in the proximity?

I acted quickly for that young man, just as you would no doubt be quick to rescue a neighbour in danger.

Perhaps some would dispute my neighbourliness, but that young man and him family had no doubts about my willingness to take some risks for the sake of a neighbour.

Consequently I had a good hearing to present the Gospel, which I did in subsequent days.

In my library is a book of sermons by a gifted denominational leader.

The book title, Say, Neighbor, Your House is On Fire, is also the title of the first sermon in the book, the thesis of which is that when a neighbour's house is on fire we do not casually stroll over to the house, nonchalantly ring the doorbell and lazily announce to the occupants of the burning home, “Say, neighbour, your house is on fire.”

Rather, motivated by concern to quickly alert our neighbours to the danger they face, our voices betray excitement and anxiety for their safety as we warn them and urge them to leave the house.

We do not speak softly and in a cavalier manner, but we shout and argue if necessary to spare them loss and death from the flames.

Yet, despite the knowledge that we are to be concerned about the physical welfare of our neighbours, it is thought to be somehow gauche to be concerned for the spiritual welfare of those living about us.

Even if we should bring ourselves to speak of eternal verities, we tend to mask the concern with soft voices which speak in a lackadaisical manner.

Yet, I contend that the dearest neighbour one can ever have is that neighbour honest enough to speak urgently as he or she warns of danger to come.

I want to be a good neighbour today.

*The Holiness of God Demands an Accounting from All Mankind*.

Evangelicalism in this century has spawned a peculiar theology unknown to our spiritual forebears.

Though having a fine foundation, this particular theology, like the leaning tower of Pisa, is dreadfully unbalanced.

Contemporary evangelical theology has emphasised the love of God to the exclusion of the holiness of God, and the consequences arising from this distortion are nothing short of catastrophic.

Does the love of God preclude His just demand that all people render an accounting?

Is God the kindly old man upstairs who winks at sin?  Is God the gentle soul who though concerned for the welfare of His creation is nevertheless unable to intervene to halt man's self-destruction?

Is God so focused on accepting mankind that He is unwilling to call man to account?

When we preach that God is love, forgetting that such love flows from a Divine Being who may only be described as Other we set the stage for calamitous ruin of those who receive but half a revelation of God.

Indeed, /God is love/; but God's love is meaningless if God is not also holy.

How is a person saved?

What is necessary to be forgiven of sin?

What steps secure the redemption of the soul?

The Word of God is quite clear that salvation is a gift to all who believe the Good News that Christ died *because of your sin*, that He raised from the dead *for your justification*, ascended into the glory to intercede *for you*, and is coming again *to receive you*.

Salvation, the forgiveness of sin, redemption of the human soul, is all of grace; and it becomes effective when we believe in Christ as Master of life and Saviour.

When you remain aloof from commitment to Him as Lord, you remain outside the love of God and are thus under judgement.

Faith alone saves, but the faith which saves is not alone/, /was the consistent declaration of divines in ages past.

Just so, the redeemed are revealed through the manner in which they live out their lives.

The Thessalonians heard the Word of God from the missionaries and they received it as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in [all] who believe [*verse 13*].

Both faith in the Christ of the Word and commitment to Him were involved in their salvation, as is abundantly evident from Paul's statement of *verse 14*: For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.

The churches in Judea openly affirmed their faith in Christ, preached the Word of God with boldness, witnessed to the grace of God, stood against religious tyranny, endured unjust persecution; and the Thessalonians did the same things.

We are saved by faith, and having been saved our lives reflect the salvation we received.

We do not do good deeds in order to be saved; but because we are saved we do good deeds.

Why be baptised?

We openly identify with Christ in obedience to Him because we are saved.

Why unite with the church?

We gather with other believers to exercise the gifts conferred by the Spirit because we are saved.

Why speak of our salvation to others?

We witness to the grace of God, because we are saved.

Why teach the Faith?

Why refute heresies?

We resist religious error and spiritual tyranny, because we are saved.

Why continue steadfast in the Faith despite trial and opposition?

We persevere in the Faith, because we are saved.

I spoke in a previous message of the trials believers may anticipate because of their faith.

In that message I pointed out that it is not an option to consider such statements as conditional, they are imperative.

Sinners are offended by righteousness, recognising intuitively that all righteousness finds its source in the Living God.

Hating God because His righteousness exposes their enslavement to self and to sin, they assail the child of God, thinking that they will somehow rid themselves of every reminder of their vassalage.

The Thessalonians quite likely had been questioning why it was necessary to endure pressure and opposition, and especially pressure which originated among their own countrymen.

Whether or not this was the case, the Apostle sought to address the pressures they were even then called to endure.

Paul pointed out that theirs was a testing not unlike that of the Judean churches which were persecuted by their fellow Jews.

What had those Jewish persecutors done?

They had killed the Lord Jesus.

Two disciples walking toward Emmaus were joined by the Risen Son of God.

They explained to Him that The chief priest and our rulers handed [Jesus of Nazareth] over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him/ /[*Luke 24:20*].

What did the Jewish persecutors do?

They killed the prophets.

Even then the honour roll was expanding exponentially – Stephen, James, and a growing host of unnamed saints.

What did the Jewish persecutors do?

They drove out the Apostles … including Paul.  *Acts 8:1* solemnly states the case of this persecution.

/On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered/.

Later, when Saul of Tarsus was converted, these same persecutors lay in wait to slay him in Damascus, but he escaped their hand.

Then in Jerusalem, after debating with the Grecian Jews, he found it necessary to leave because /they tried to kill him// /[*Acts 9:23-29*].

The reminder Paul delivered these pressured saints was not mere hyperbole.

Neither were his words exaggerated nor could they be classified as ministerial speech.

Indeed, the Jews of whom he spoke could rightly be said to /displease God// /and to be /hostile to all man in their efforts to keep [the missionaries] from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved/.

Were these Jews religious?

Absolutely.

Were they pious?

Unquestionably.

Were they pleasing to God?  Never!

Would they give an accounting?

Assuredly.

You will recall that Paul was himself once committed to the Jewish Faith.

He studied under the respected rabbi, Gamaliel.

We have good reason to believe Saul may have been a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish judicial body.

In his letter to the Philippian church he made note of his heritage.

/If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless// /[*Philippians **3:4b-6*].

Was Paul only speculating when he referred to these despicable acts of the Jewish persecutor?